Chapter 253: Jade Dragon Tendon
Heading upstairs to pretend he was searching for something, Qi Han quickly placed an order with Ru Yi for a customized pale-yellow delivery uniform set. Unlike the system-provided sets, this one wasn't free—it had to be purchased out of his own pocket.
It must be said, the delivery uniform set was far more expensive than the maid-style work uniforms, primarily due to the advanced tech embedded within it.
Handing over a gold coin worth 10,000 to Ru Yi, Qi Han brought the brand-new four-piece set downstairs to the eagerly waiting Ping Xinyan. He smiled as he handed it to her. "Here, this is your uniform."
Cradling her new uniform as if it were a precious treasure, Ping Xinyan's head bobbed excitedly. "Thank you, boss!"
Though she hadn't started working yet, she'd already begun calling Qi Han "boss," just like the other three women.
Off to the side, Qin Yuezhu smiled softly at the sight.
While he admitted Ping Xinyan's reasoning made sense, he still worried about his girlfriend overworking herself.
Fortunately, Small Shop's short working hours—and the fact that he was a regular customer—made this job the ideal choice for the two of them.
To be honest, even Qin Yuezhu felt a twinge of envy at the generous pay.
But as an inner-court disciple, he faced intense competition among his peers, where relentless hard work was the norm. There was simply no time for part-time jobs.
Moreover, rumors suggested that after the Sea God Fated Blind Date Festival, the Sea God Pavilion was planning to recruit inner-court disciples into a group called the Inspection Corps, tasked with combating evil spirit masters. If that happened, he'd likely be even busier.
Shaking his head slightly, Qin Yuezhu glanced at Ping Xinyan, who seemed so eager to try on her uniform that she could barely contain her excitement. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself.
His girlfriend is absolutely adorable.
As the shop closed for the day, the three women cleaned up and prepared to leave, while Ping Xinyan and Qin Yuezhu didn't linger either. After confirming her delivery schedule, they bid farewell to the shop.
Watching everyone head home, Qi Han smiled faintly, prepared new cat food for Pururu, and turned to enter his system space.
It was time to begin training with the Jade Dragon Tendon.
He'd already left Master Tan Yuzhi waiting all morning—it wouldn't do to keep the master waiting any longer.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, a week had passed.
As the newest employee, Ping Xinyan quickly adapted to her delivery duties at Small Shop.
Her abilities as a flying spirit master gave her a distinct advantage, even surpassing Ji Yunruo in some respects.
Although Shrek City, the continent's largest metropolis, maintained an open and neutral stance, it also upheld strict rules.
One of these rules was a no-fly zone—flying above Shrek City without permission was considered an act of provocation.
However, this prohibition didn't extend to low-altitude flight. It wasn't a blanket ban, and hovering just above the rooftops was permissible.
As such, Ping Xinyan often delivered orders in a straight line, greatly speeding up her deliveries.
While Ji Yunruo frequently leaped between rooftops to shorten her routes, it was still more cumbersome compared to Ping Xinyan's method.
Additionally, Ping Xinyan's higher spirit power level gave her another edge.
It wasn't long before Ping Xinyan's delivery count caught up to Ji Yunruo's, even surpassing it at times.
Ji Yunruo, however, bore no resentment. On the contrary, she seemed genuinely happy about it.
Though fewer deliveries meant less income, the money she was earning was already more than enough for her needs.
With Ping Xinyan on the team, Ji Yunruo's workload significantly decreased. No longer overwhelmed, she could now take the time to enjoy the scenery along her delivery routes—an unexpected bonus.
Ping Xinyan's cheerful personality and sweet demeanor also quickly won over her coworkers. Within no time, she had bonded with the other three women, and the group found themselves sharing many common interests and lively conversations.
Though Qin Yuezhu occasionally showing up to pick up Ping Xinyan after work often fed the other three women a hearty serving of "dog food" (public displays of affection), the four women generally got along very well.
Watching the harmonious interaction among his four female employees, Qi Han couldn't help but feel that the gender imbalance in his shop was growing ever more pronounced.
At present, the shop had three males and four females.
Wait… where did the three males come from?
In Qi Han's logic, Pururu the cat was male, and so were Pururu One and Pururu Two.
Sounds reasonable, doesn't it?
Regardless, Qi Han silently made a decision in his heart:
Next time he hires someone, it must be a male employee.
As for when that next hiring would happen, well… he wasn't too sure.
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Over the past seven days, the shop had been bustling yet peaceful.
Having been closed for a month, Small Shop experienced a surge of customers shortly after reopening. Fortunately, this wave of frenzied dining didn't last indefinitely. After seven days, customer traffic began to normalize.
Though business saw a slight dip, both Qi Han and his employees were perfectly content.
Being too busy wasn't ideal either.
The only thing Qi Han found slightly disappointing was that, despite being more observant of the customers over the past week, he had yet to uncover a second story tied to food.
Gradually, he adopted a more laid-back attitude.
Forget it. Let fate take its course.
In the training space, the practice of cooking the Jade Dragon Tendon had progressed steadily over the past seven days.
Master Tan Yuzhi was a patient elder, his detailed and meticulous guidance making it easy for Qi Han to immerse himself in the process.
Under the master's teachings, Qi Han's familiarity with and control over the dish improved at an impressive pace.
By the time Master Tan's lingering soul faded away, Qi Han had gone from addressing him as "Senior" to calling him "Teacher," just as he had done with the four masters before him.
When Qi Han finally mastered the Jade Dragon Tendon and exited the training space, it was already noon on the seventh day.
This dish, a delicacy so rare that even emperors of old would only get to enjoy it a few times a year, had taken over 200 days of practice in the training space, equivalent to seven days in the real world, to perfect.
Looking up at the sky, Qi Han couldn't help but smile slightly.
There was still some time before the lunch shift began, making it the perfect opportunity to prepare a portion of Jade Dragon Tendon and give it a taste.
And perhaps… he could also see what unique phenomena this dish would produce.
The original version of Jade Dragon Tendon used the tendons of fish as its primary ingredient. On the Douluo Continent, however, the dish required tendons from the Hellfire Dragonfish, a beast Qi Han had gone to great lengths to hunt down.
The chosen fish had lived for exactly 1,000 years, its massive body stretching over ten meters in length. Extracted from it was a tendon of equal length, slender as a pinky finger but more than sufficient to prepare the dish.
The supporting ingredients required for the dish were no less extraordinary.
The thousand years old Five-Colored Brocade Chicken—already a frequent victim of Qi Han's culinary endeavors—was, of course, essential for the broth. This pitiful species had long become one of the most tragic spirit beasts to cross his path. Wherever broth was needed, it could not be spared.
Other supplementary ingredients for the broth included leg bones from the thousand years old Cassia Pig, ham cured from its hind legs, and sun-dried Sea Dream Clams.
But these were still not the most critical components.
Qi Han's gaze shifted to the workstation, where two crab-like creatures with dark green, menacing shells the size of basins lay.
They were the dish's second "soul."
These were thousand years old sea spirit beasts known as Forbidden Giant Claw Crabs, creatures that resided in the deep sea.
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