Chapter 358: Excited Diners
"Wow! Fu Ya, Fu Ya, is this really our restaurant?"
Looking at Han Shi, now visibly larger than before, Ying Shuang's eyes sparkled. "What a huge change!"
"The sign is still there, so of course it's Han Shi," Fu Ya replied as she carefully observed the shop's exterior, her eyes glowing with excitement.
With this size… it might even be bigger than the Star Luo City branch!
"Ying Shuang! Fu Ya!"
Two graceful figures walked up together—it was Ping Xinyan and Ji Yunruo.
The two girls were shocked as they looked at the store they hadn't seen for twenty days. "This change is amazing!"
"…"
The four girls couldn't help but start chatting animatedly.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the diners who had already started lining up early were just as astonished.
At the very front of the line stood Tang Qianqiu and Qi Poxiao side by side.
"This renovation… isn't it a bit too fast?" Tang Qianqiu raised an eyebrow. As the Sect Master of the Tang Sect, he had personally witnessed a Tang Sect branch rise from the ground up, built into a grand structure—he knew a thing or two about construction. The renovation of Han Shi looked almost like a complete teardown and rebuild. For such a large-scale project to be finished in only twenty days… that was truly astounding.
Unfortunately, during that time, he had taken advantage of Han Shi's closure to go handle some affairs at the Tang Sect headquarters in Heaven Dou City. He had missed the entire renovation process and would never get to satisfy his curiosity.
Due to Han Shi, he'd already been away from headquarters for quite some time, and the elders were starting to complain.
"You being away is the strange part. I'm not surprised at all," Qi Poxiao said with a chuckle. "From the day that young Boss Qi left, even I couldn't sense anything about Han Shi. I'm more and more convinced that someone powerful is backing him."
"To block my perception… it must have involved some rare treasure—possibly even something linked to the legendary gods. That's not something ordinary people or forces could possess."
"With that kind of power, what's a twenty-day rebuild?"
"True." Tang Qianqiu nodded in agreement. "So, how many new dishes do you think we'll see today?"
"At the rate young Boss Qi releases new dishes…" Qi Poxiao narrowed his eyes. "I'd say at least three to five."
"Heh, then we're in for a feast today."
"No doubt." Qi Poxiao nodded again, then suddenly lowered his voice. "But there's another matter we might need to pay attention to."
"What is it?" Tang Qianqiu asked.
"A few days ago, Lengxin took some inner academy students to the Star Dou Forest to obtain spirit rings," Qi Poxiao said, pausing for a beat. "There, she encountered a six-ring evil spirit master. According to her, this one could control beast spirits and human spirits—truly wicked and insidious."
"That…" Tang Qianqiu grew more serious at the mention of an evil spirit master. "Did he escape?"
"Of course not." Qi Poxiao shook his head. "With Lengxin's strength, a mere six-ring evil spirit master wouldn't stand a chance."
"But what worries me is something else." Qi Poxiao hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Do you think… we've been looking in the wrong direction all along?"
"We've been organizing Inspection Corps to search rural villages for evil spirit masters, based on the idea that they appear most often in places high-level spirit masters rarely visit. But what if… what if the Holy Spirit Cult is actually hiding deep within one of the spirit beast forests?"
"After all, even if evil spirit masters don't kill humans, they can still grow stronger by slaughtering spirit beasts, even if it's just a bit slower."
"That's very possible." Tang Qianqiu's expression turned graver. "The beast tide in the Star Dou Forest thirteen hundred years ago was caused by evil spirit masters wantonly slaughtering spirit beasts. That was when we first realized the forest even housed such ferocious beasts."
"The spirit beast forests are more dangerous," Qi Poxiao said with a faint smile. "So we won't be sending the Inspection Corps in. How about this—after a few more days, you and I can go investigate them ourselves? But first… we've got to try all of young Boss Qi's new dishes before we leave."
"Agreed." Tang Qianqiu nodded firmly. "I wouldn't be able to leave without tasting them all."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"Han Shi has expanded several times over," not far behind the two men, Yu Lengxin looked at the restaurant in surprise.
This scale… it was clearly even larger than the Star Luo City branch had been.
Back during the Advanced Spirit Master Academy Fighting Tournament, she had eaten at that Star Luo branch almost daily—she knew it very well.
Now that the store had grown, business would probably be even better than before...
Would he become even busier?
If so… would he start saying he was too busy and losing his mind again?
Yu Lengxin found herself shaking her head, as if to dismiss the thought.
"I don't care if he's busy or not!" she muttered to herself.
Come to think of it… after this renovation, Han Shi now had a third floor, just like the one in Star Luo.
Does that mean this Han Shi will also serve hotpot in the future?
Her eyes slowly moved upward, from the entrance of the restaurant to the second floor. She looked at the outer wall, which had no windows at all, and her heart became even more certain.
The second floor in Star Luo was just like that—completely windowless. Who would've guessed that the decor inside could be so magical?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
It wasn't long before the four girls had all gathered. After their reunion, Qi Han opened the store door with a smile on his face. "Come on in!"
The four of them greeted him cheerfully and quickly walked into the restaurant. Qi Han didn't shut the door right away.
Instead, he walked inside and, under the eyes of the diners waiting in line, quickly brought out a brand-new announcement board and placed it at the entrance. Then, with a nod to the crowd, he gently closed the door.
The notice board again!
In an instant, the waiting crowd fell completely silent. All eyes turned toward the new announcement, their gazes burning with anticipation.
Every time Han Shi posted a notice like this, it meant something major was happening.
And sure enough, the board read clearly:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Starting tomorrow, Han Shi's lunch and dinner hours will remain unchanged.
In addition, we will begin serving breakfast and late-night snacks.
Breakfast hours: 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM
Late-night hours: 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM
Note: Breakfast and late-night menus will differ from lunch and dinner offerings.
This experience is completely different from all existing dishes. Please look forward to it.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
After a brief silence, the crowd erupted in excitement. Gasps of surprise and joyful cheers echoed in the air.
At the very front of the line, Tang Qianqiu and Qi Poxiao were among the first to finish reading the notice.
Afterward, both men wore expressions that were a mix of amusement and resignation.
"Say…" Tang Qianqiu asked with a wry smile, "can we really eat all this in just a few days? Judging by young Boss Qi's announcement, the breakfast and late-night menus must be entirely made up of new dishes."
"Probably not," Qi Poxiao said, shaking his head and sighing. "This old man's half a foot in the grave—I can't stay up that late anymore. Young Boss Qi's business hours are just unhealthy. Totally disregardful of proper rest."
"So… are you coming tomorrow night?"
"…Well, now that I think about it… one night of bad sleep won't kill me."
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