“Anyway, we’ve already exceeded our budget, how about… how about we just go a little more over it??”
“Traveler, think about it carefully. The smooth and tender texture of the Black-Back Perch Stew, paired with Xiangling’s secret sauce—just thinking about it makes my mouth water.”
Paimon was dancing in mid-air, her tiny feet stepping on nothing.
These few words completely hooked the memories of Lumine next to her.
A beautiful blonde girl with golden eyes couldn’t help but swallow a mouthful of saliva upon hearing Paimon’s description.
However, she still shook her head and said righteously,
“N… No!!”
“Even though Xiangling generously gave us a discount, our funds really can’t handle such tossing right now~~”
Paimon: QAQ
“Then… let’s just have Liyue Vegetable Soup for lunch. Having a bowl of fragrant vegetable soup with rice is also pretty good.”
Liyue’s delicacies were diverse.
There were cheap ways to eat.
A bowl of Liyue Vegetable Soup was economical, practical, and extremely delicious—undoubtedly the best choice.
However…
Lumine’s expression became a bit amusing.
She slowly opened her wallet, and Paimon flew over curiously to take a look.
Not looking wouldn’t have been a big deal…
But one look gave her a fright!!!
“Three hundred…”
“One thousand…”
“One thousand three hundred!!!”
“No way, Traveler, is this all the Mora we have left? This must be a joke, right?”
“Right, Traveler???”
Paimon looked at Lumine with an anxious expression.
Alas…
Lumine let out a very helpless sigh.
“This is really all the Mora we have left. Today, we might not even be able to afford Liyue Vegetable Soup.”
It was true.
One bowl of Liyue Vegetable Soup cost eight hundred Mora.
Two bowls would be one thousand six hundred Mora.
Unless…
Unless the two of them shared one bowl!!
Don’t be fooled by Paimon’s small size; this little one could really eat.
She alone could drink two or three bowls.
“How exactly did we spend all our Mora?”
The two began to recall the events of the week.
The more they thought about it, the deeper their frowns became.
They had been eating and drinking extravagantly every day, and the day before yesterday, because Zhongli didn’t bring any money, they even paid an advance of ten thousand Mora.
Now…
It would be a miracle if they weren’t over budget!!
“How about we just make do for lunch and go to Master Wang’s to buy a few steamed buns to fill our stomachs.”
As soon as Lumine finished speaking, she noticed Paimon was staring at something.
Following Paimon’s gaze, she realized that in Chihu Rock, a place she was very familiar with, there was an extra shop!!
“Lin’s Huaxia Cuisine??”
At this moment, a handsome young man was looking at them.
Lin Xiao’s appearance even startled Lumine.
If Liyue had a beauty ranking, this handsome guy could probably rival Zhongli.
Paimon pointed at the restaurant’s menu and said in surprise,
“Traveler, look! The fried rice here only costs six hundred Mora!!”
“But ‘Scallion Oil Fried Rice’ probably means just frying rice with scallions and oil… It sounds very ordinary, but at least it’s better than chewing on steamed buns.”
Lumine looked carefully, and it was true!!!
However, Paimon bluntly saying these things right in front of the boss was simply too rude.
Lumine grabbed Paimon and covered the little one’s mouth.
She smiled apologetically at Lin Xiao.
“Boss, please don’t misunderstand. She always talks like this; she doesn’t mean anything by it. This Scallion Oil Fried Rice probably isn’t just ordinary… right…”
Lin Xiao was already used to Paimon’s personality.
After all, when he played the game, his ears had almost grown calluses from this little one’s chatter.
He laughed heartily.
“Hahaha~”
“I’m just seeking truth from facts. It’s originally a very ordinary bowl of fried rice; no matter how good it tastes, it can’t be hyped up to be anything extravagant.”
Paimon and Lumine exchanged a glance.
They immediately felt that Lin Xiao was very genuine, looking like someone who spoke straightforwardly.
“Traveler, look how broad-minded the boss is. Paimon loves making friends with people like this. It’s just a very ordinary bowl of fried rice after all.”
“With a personality like the boss’s, there must be many signature dishes not listed. Maybe any random dish could amaze us. After all, there are no fools who would rent a shop in Chihu Rock just to sell fried rice.”
She knew how to praise people…
But not much.
Unexpectedly…
Lin Xiao said very calmly,
“Sorry, but currently my restaurant only has this one dish—fried rice.”
Silence…
Dead silence…
Lumine was taken aback, then flicked Paimon on the head.
“If you don’t know how to praise someone, then don’t! Boss, I’m really sorry, Paimon really didn’t mean that. She was trying to compliment you.”
Paimon: QAQ
“I was wrong… Please don’t misunderstand, boss~~”
Lumine and Paimon sat obediently inside the restaurant with apologetic hearts.
In a white dress, with a gentle smile, she had a somewhat healing presence.
Her beauty in real life was truly breathtaking—skin like cream, face like flawless jade.
“Boss, we’ll have two bowls of Scallion Oil Fried Rice.”
“Alright, please wait a moment!”
Lin Xiao’s straightforward personality left a good impression on Lumine.
She looked around; the restaurant was moderately sized with decent decor, but why did it only sell fried rice?
Finally unable to contain her curiosity, she asked,
“Boss, why does your restaurant only sell this Scallion Oil Fried Rice? Although I’ve never heard of Huaxia Cuisine, it feels impossible that there is only this one fried rice dish.”
Lin Xiao replied while taking the ingredients,
“Huaxia Cuisine has Eight Great Culinary Traditions, and each tradition has multiple branches. The recipes are dazzling and extremely complex!!”
“This doesn’t even include our Huaxia local folk delicacies. Many chefs can’t claim to have mastered the Huaxia cuisine in their entire lifetime!”
Lumine and Paimon listened in a daze.
Their mouths slightly agape, they found it hard to believe!!
Liyue had a plethora of delicacies, but the culinary styles were mostly the famous Li Cuisine and Yue Cuisine, plus some unclassified dishes.
But it was far from the exaggeration Lin Xiao described.
Huaxia…
It sounded like a nation of gastronomy!!
So aspirational…
But the question remained, why did this Huaxia restaurant only have one plain fried rice dish?
“Ahem, this shop will gradually introduce more dishes in the future. We are currently just in the trial operation phase.”
“However, although Scallion Oil Fried Rice is unadorned and plain,”
“Often the simplest cooking methods lead to the most ultimate taste experiences.”
The boss’s words seemed somewhat profound, which the two couldn’t quite grasp.
“It’s fine if you don’t understand, you will gradually experience it in the future.”
As soon as Lin Xiao finished speaking!
A bunch of green scallions was placed on the cutting board.
With a twirl of the kitchen knife in his hand, a dense, scalp-tingling sound of chopping resounded!!