Chapter 2: Pine Nut Beef Sauce

After Yang Xinzhi and Xu Jun left, the restaurant became quiet again.

With nothing to do, Nan Tu tidied up various miscellaneous items, packed them into bags, and prepared to go outside to throw out the trash.

Her hand rested on the door handle at the back of the restaurant.

Suddenly, a voice sounded:

[A qualified host has been detected…Meets the binding conditions… binding complete…]

[The Plane Restaurant System is at your service!]

The garbage bag in her hand fell to the ground. Nan Tu looked around, wondering what was speaking.

What exactly is the Plane Restaurant System?

[Yes,] the voice reappeared, and it was directly in Nan Tu’s mind, [The Plane Restaurant System will connect your restaurant to different planes^[1]“planes” in this context refers to different worlds or dimensions., attracting more customers to dine and helping your restaurant prosper and thrive!]

Nan Tu slowly sat down, holding the backrest of the chair, and tried to communicate with this voice.

After some conversation, she finally understood what this system was for.

After connecting to other planes, the back door of the restaurant would become a portal, and customers from different planes could enter Nanlai Restaurant to dine.

There were many planes that could be connected, but only one plane could be accessed at a time. Each time the system absorbs enough energy, it could attempt to connect to the next plane.

Nan Tu’s main concern was just one thing: “Do the customers from other planes pay for their meals?”

The system responded seriously: [The host can charge customers in the common currency of their respective planes based on the system’s pricing guide. The system will convert it into the legal currency of this plane for the hos, taking only a 5% service fee!]

There’s a service fee? Nan Tu realized that this was how the system absorbed energy.

Well, the restaurant’s business was bad, so having more customers wasn’t a bad thing. Also, the system repeatedly emphasized that if Nan Tu felt threatened, she could immediately expel customers from other planes and even permanently ban them, ensuring her personal safety.

“Can I open the portal now?” Nan Tu nervously looked at the back door of the restaurant.

[Current planes available for connection: 1. Would you like to select one?]

“Yes.”

[Connecting to plane… Current plane connected: Post-apocalyptic plane!]

A brass-colored wind chime appeared near the back door. When customers from other planes arrived, the wind chime would ring automatically without wind.

“Can I open the door and take a look?” Nan Tu was curious about the world outside.

[Yes, just silently think of ‘Plane Door,’ and the door will lead to another plane. Otherwise, it will remain the regular back door of the restaurant.]

Nan Tu turned the door handle.

Before her was an endless desert. The sky had no clouds, and there was not a single gust of wind. Even the birds avoided flying over this desert. Only sand, like waves, left marks on the ground. Nan Tu stared until her eyes dried up, looking all the way to the horizon, where only a thin, sharp line of light could be seen. Nothing else.

Nan Tu slowly closed the door. “Prosper and thrive?”

[…]

“Grow and flourish?”

[…]

The system hurriedly explained: [The location of the plane door is randomly selected… the desert… but there are still customers in the desert… The natives of the post-apocalyptic plane are very physically strong!]

“Are you saying they’ll cross the desert to come to my restaurant to eat?” Nan Tu asked softly.

If the system had a physical form, it would be sweating by now.

Nan Tu seemed gentle, but there was something about her that made people uneasy.

The system quickly added: [Receiving customers from different planes will accumulate points toward rewards.]

[System reward: 1 free attribute point. Would you like to allocate it?]

Nan Tu’s interest was slightly piqued.

The attribute points were divided into three categories: Sensitivity, Strength, and Senses—each related to cooking skills.

Cooking was not just a skill but also an art that required inspiration and creativity. A chef with high Sensitivity could find ideas from daily experiences and combine ingredients and seasonings in more creative ways, thus improving their culinary level.

Strength doesn’t need much explanation. A chef who can’t control a spoon is not a good chef.

Finally, when it comes to the five senses, a dish must have the perfect balance of color, aroma, and taste. If a chef is lacking in one of the five senses, they can’t make a good dish. It might seem like the senses most used are sight, smell, and taste, but even picking a watermelon requires tapping and listening, right? This is where touch and hearing come into play.

“I now have one free attribute point, right? Then I’ll add it to the five senses.”

After adding the points, Nan Tu didn’t feel any obvious changes.

The system was unreliable, so she decided to focus on increasing the fame of Nanlai Restaurant in the real world.

Lately, Nan Tu noticed that whenever she made beef sauce, more customers would stay to dine after entering the restaurant.

Let’s make more.

She took a piece of beef, cut it into small cubes, making sure each piece was of a suitable size. It shouldn’t be so small that it loses the beef’s texture, nor so tough that it’s hard to chew.

After frying the various seasonings, Nan Tu added the beef. Not long after putting it in the pan, the fragrance began to grow stronger. Once the beef cubes darkened, Nan Tu reduced the heat and continued to fry. This was to make the beef crispier and more flavorful.

Meanwhile, pine nuts and sesame seeds were also ready. No oil was needed in the pan. She lightly toasted them over a small flame to bring out the aroma, then mixed them into the fried beef sauce.

For a moment, all the ingredients combined, creating an incredible fragrance, as if a scent bomb had been set off in the kitchen.

After letting the beef sauce cool slightly, Nan Tu took a bit to taste and nodded in satisfaction. It was the same recipe, but this was the best beef sauce she’d made recently. Upon reflection, she felt that this time she made the beef sauce especially smoothly and had a better grasp of when to add the ingredients.

The system appeared at the right moment to take credit: “This is the effect of the [five senses] attribute points increase!”

Really? Nan Tu thought about why this batch of beef sauce was so successful.

There were several key points in making beef sauce, such as how long to fry the beef cubes. If they were fried for too long, they would dry out, but if the frying time was too short, they wouldn’t be fragrant or crispy enough. She could only rely on her eyes to judge the shrinkage of the meat and its surface color.

Also, the perfect level of toasting for the pine nuts was crucial. If the heat wasn’t enough, they wouldn’t release their fragrance, but if the heat was too much, the texture wouldn’t be as smooth. At this point, observing the color wasn’t helpful, so she relied on her sense of smell, the feel when stirring, and the sound of the pine nuts clashing together.

It could be said that this time, she made all the right decisions.

In fact, it was just a series of small details, but when these details added up, it elevated the flavor of the beef sauce.

Attribute points really weren’t added in vain. Nan Tu said to the system: “It seems like you are useful after all.”

The system, feeling proud, responded: “This is just the beginning. As long as the host continues to serve customers, you’ll gain more attribute points.”

Customers? Nan Tu glanced towards the back door. This wasn’t something she could decide.

———

In the vast desert, a tiny figure appeared, like an ant.

Ji Xiangming was struggling to move forward. His lips were cracked, his face was sunburned, and his skin was burning, yet he wasn’t sweating—this was a sign of dehydration.

Earlier this morning, the team Ji Xiangming was in had been suddenly attacked by alien beasts. In the chaos, Ji Xiangming and his teammates were separated.

As for how he ended up in the Anjin Desert, it all started with an event that happened ten years ago in this world.

It was a time of great chaos. For reasons still unknown, the entire planet’s magnetic field became disturbed, climate changed drastically, and natural disasters became frequent. Ji Xiangming’s hometown, Tianling City, which he had lived in for half his life, was buried under sand.

But people never gave up on rebuilding their homeland. A few years later, on the edge of the desert, people rebuilt Tianling City and regarded it as a base for restarting their lives.

However, the disaster wasn’t over. Giant beasts, with varying abilities, appeared in the Anjin Desert and were referred to as alien beasts. If left unchecked, these beasts would breed in large numbers and form a beast tide that would threaten Tianling City.

People formed teams, armed with weapons and water, to venture into the desert to hunt these alien beasts. Later, they discovered that hunting these beasts also solved their resource shortages. The meat of non-toxic alien beasts was made into food, their hard shells, claws, and sharp teeth were turned into weapons, and their brain cores were used as an energy source.

Thus, hunting alien beasts and becoming mercenaries in hunting teams became the main occupation for half the population of Tianling City.

Ji Xiangming was one of them.

Being alone in the desert meant something Ji Xiangming understood better than anyone. In just one day, he had already consumed all the food and water he had. Then he encountered a star-point sand viper. After a fierce battle, he ran out of bullets. To lighten his load and increase his chances of survival, he had no choice but to abandon his heavy firearms.

If he couldn’t meet up with his teammates before nightfall, Ji Xiangming, without weapons and lacking water, would be in great danger.

Water… water… he needed water.

In the distance, a low rumble could be heard from the horizon. Was it thunder? Rain? Could rainwater fall on this parched land?

Ji Xiangming couldn’t help but stop and look up at the sky.

Disappointment came quickly. The sun above was still scorching, and there wasn’t a cloud in sight.

It was “singing sand,” a sound that occasionally appeared in the desert. When sand dunes collapsed, they could make a loud rumbling noise. This was irrelevant to Ji Xiangming’s current situation. If anything, it gave him a fleeting hope, only to crush it.

Weary, he continued walking, but miraculously, a building appeared in the monotony ahead.

Ji Xiangming smiled bitterly, pulling at his lips. As if the disappointment from the singing sand wasn’t enough, now a mirage was appearing.

If it were an oasis, he would have run towards it in excitement, hoping it wasn’t just a mirage.

Instead, it was a… store? That made him almost certain this was a hallucination his body was creating as it reached its limit.

The sign had words on it: “Nanlai Restaurant?”

Ha… a building in the depths of the Anjin Desert was already absurd enough, and now it was a restaurant.

Even so, he still subconsciously moved his feet, heading toward this direction. He was in a daze, not knowing what he was thinking, but his legs were already uncontrollably rushing toward the distant, illusory hope.

Ding ling ling—

Nan Tu suddenly looked up. The wind chimes swayed gently, making a crisp sound.