2 Pine Nut Beef Sauce

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

With nothing to do, Nan Tu tidied up the miscellaneous items and bagged them, preparing to take out the trash.

She placed her hand on the handle of the restaurant's back door.

Suddenly, a voice rang out:

[Qualified host detected... Binding conditions met... Bound...]

[The Dimensional Restaurant System is at your service!]

The trash bag slipped from her hand and hit the floor. Nan Tu looked around. What was speaking?

And what on earth was a "Dimensional Restaurant System"?

[Correct,] the voice appeared again, directly inside Nan Tu's mind this time. [The Dimensional Restaurant System will connect your establishment to different dimensions, attracting more customers to dine here and helping your business thrive and prosper!]

Nan Tu slowly sat down, holding onto the back of a chair, and tried to communicate with the voice.

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

Once connected to other dimensions, the restaurant's back door would turn into a portal. Customers from those dimensions could enter Nanlai Restaurant through this door to eat.

There were many connectable dimensions, but only one portal could be active at a time. Once the system absorbed enough energy, it could attempt to connect to the next dimension.

Nan Tu cared about only one thing: "Do these customers from other dimensions pay for their meals?"

The system replied solemnly: [The host may charge in the currency of the customer's home dimension according to the system's recommended prices. The system will convert this into absolutely legal currency of the host's dimension, charging only a 5% handling fee!]

A handling fee? Nan Tu realized this was how the system absorbed energy.

Oh well. Business was slow anyway, so a few extra customers would be a good thing. Besides, the system repeatedly emphasized that if Nan Tu felt threatened, she could immediately expel customers from other dimensions and even ban them permanently. This ensured her personal safety.

"Can we open the dimensional portal now?" Nan Tu looked at the back door with a hint of nervousness.

[Current number of connectable dimensions: 1. Would you like to draw?]

"Yes."

[Drawing dimension... Connection established: Post-Apocalyptic Dimension!]

A string of brass wind chimes appeared on the back door. When a customer from another dimension arrived, the chimes would ring without any wind.

"Can I open this door to take a look?" Nan Tu was highly curious about the world beyond.

[Yes. Just silently think of the 'Dimensional Portal,' and the door will open to the other dimension. Otherwise, it will remain the restaurant's ordinary back door.]

Nan Tu turned the doorknob.

Before her lay an endless sea of sand. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky, nor a breath of wind in the air. Even birds dared not fly across this desert. Only the sand, moving like waves, left shifting tracks on the ground. Nan Tu stared until her eyes grew dry, looking all the way to the horizon, where nothing could be seen except a thin, blade-like sliver of bright light.

Nan Tu slowly closed the door. "Thrive and prosper?"

[...]

"Business is booming?"

[...]

The system tried to salvage the situation: [The location of the portal is random... The desert... it's not like there are no customers in the desert... The residents of the Post-Apocalyptic Dimension have very strong physical constitutions!]

"Are you saying they will walk across the desert just to eat at my restaurant?" Nan Tu said softly.

If the system had a physical body, it would be breaking out in a cold sweat right now.

Nan Tu looked so gentle and soft, so why was she so intimidating?

The system immediately tried to make amends: [Serving dimensional customers to a certain extent will grant attribute points as rewards.]

[A free attribute point has been rewarded for binding the system. Would you like to allocate it?]

Only then did Nan Tu show a trace of interest.

Attribute points were divided into three categories: Comprehension, Strength, and Five Senses, all of which were related to a chef's skills.

Cooking was not just a technique; it was also an art that required inspiration and creativity. A chef with high Comprehension could draw inspiration from daily experiences, combining ingredients and seasonings more creatively to elevate their culinary skills.

Strength went without saying—a chef who couldn't toss a wok was no good chef.

Finally, there were the Five Senses. A dish needed to appeal to all senses—color, aroma, and taste. A chef lacking in any of the five senses could not produce excellent food. It might seem that only sight, smell, and taste were used the most, but even when picking a watermelon, one had to tap it and listen, didn't they? That was where touch and hearing came in.

"I have one free attribute point, right? Put it into Five Senses."

After allocating the point, Nan Tu did not feel any obvious change.

Since the system was unreliable, she decided she should still think of ways to increase Nanlai Restaurant's popularity in the real world.

Over the past few days, Nan Tu had noticed that whenever she made beef sauce, noticeably more customers would choose to stay and eat after entering the shop.

She decided to make some more.

She took out a piece of beef and cut it into small cubes, ensuring each piece was just the right size—neither too small to lose the texture of the beef, nor so tough that it would hurt one's teeth.

After stir-frying the various spices until fragrant, Nan Tu tossed in the beef. Not long after it hit the pan, the aroma grew richer. Once the beef cubes darkened in color, Nan Tu turned the heat down to low and continued to stir-fry, aiming to make the meat crispier and more flavorful.

Meanwhile, the pine nuts and sesame seeds were ready. There was no need to add oil to the pan; she dry-roasted them over low heat to release their fragrance, then tossed them into the cooked beef sauce for a few quick stirs.

Instantly, the ingredients melded together, releasing a stunning aroma that felt like an olfactory bomb going off in the kitchen.

Once the beef sauce had cooled slightly, Nan Tu took a small taste and nodded in satisfaction. Even though the recipe was exactly the same, this was the most satisfying batch of beef sauce she had made recently. Thinking back, she had felt exceptionally adept while making it this time, mastering the timing for adding each ingredient perfectly.

The system chimed in right on time to take credit: [This is the effect of increasing your Five Senses attribute point!]

Was it? Nan Tu pondered why this batch of beef sauce had been so exceptionally successful.

There were several key steps in making beef sauce. For example, if the beef cubes were fried for too long, they would dry out; if fried for too short a time, they wouldn't be crispy enough. She had to rely on her eyes to observe the shrinkage and color of the meat.

Another example was the pine nuts. How to roast them to perfection? Under-roasting wouldn't bring out the aroma, while over-roasting would ruin the rich, oily texture. At this stage, observing the color wasn't enough; she had to rely on her sense of smell, the feel of the spatula as she stirred, and the sound of the pine nuts clinking against each other.

It could be said that throughout the process of making this beef sauce, she had made all the right decisions.

These were minor details, but when combined, they elevated the flavor of the beef sauce to a whole new level.

The attribute point had indeed not been wasted. Nan Tu said to the system, "It seems you are useful after all."

The system swelled with pride: [This is only the beginning! As long as the host serves more customers, there will be more attribute points.]

Customers? Nan Tu glanced toward the back door. That wasn't up to her to decide.

***

In the vast sea of sand, a tiny figure, small as an ant, appeared.

Ji Xiangming was trudging forward with great difficulty. His lips were chapped, his face burnt red by the fierce sun, and his skin was burning hot but sweatless—a sign of severe dehydration.

Just before dawn today, Ji Xiangming's squad had been ambushed by mutant beasts. In the chaos, he had been separated from his teammates.

As for why he was in the Anjin Desert, it went back to the upheaval that had occurred in this world ten years ago.

That was a chaotic period. For reasons still unknown, the entire planet's magnetic field went haywire, the climate shifted drastically, and natural disasters struck repeatedly. Tianling City, where Ji Xiangming had lived half his life, was buried beneath the yellow sands.

Yet, humanity never gave up rebuilding their home. A few years later, on the edge of the desert, they rebuilt Tianling City, establishing it as a stronghold to survive and multiply.

But the disasters were far from over. Giant beasts with various bizarre abilities, known as mutant beasts, began to appear in the Anjin Desert. If left unchecked, these beasts would multiply in massive numbers and form hordes that would storm Tianling City.

People formed squads, armed themselves with weapons, food, and water, and ventured deep into the desert to clear out these mutant beasts. Later, they discovered that hunting these beasts could also solve their current shortage of resources. Non-toxic beast meat was processed into food, their tough shells, sharp claws, and fangs were crafted into weapons, and the energy crystals in their heads could be used to supplement power sources.

Since then, joining a hunting squad as a mercenary had become the primary occupation for more than half the population of Tianling City.

Ji Xiangming was one of them.

Ji Xiangming knew better than anyone what it meant to be left alone in the desert. In just one day, he had exhausted his meager supply of food and water. Then, he encountered a Star-spotted Sand Boa. After a fierce struggle, he ran out of bullets. To lighten his load and increase his chances of survival, he had to discard his heavy firearms.

If he couldn't reunite with his teammates before nightfall, Ji Xiangming, without weapons or water, would face certain death.

Water... water... he needed water.

A low rumble echoed from the horizon. Was it thunder? Rain? Would rain fall upon this parched land?

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

Disappointment came quickly. The sun overhead was still scorching hot, without a single cloud in sight.

It was the "singing sands." This sound occasionally occurred in the desert when sand dunes collapsed, producing a loud rumbling noise. It had nothing to do with Ji Xiangming's current situation. If anything, it merely gave him a glimmer of false hope before instantly crushing it.

Trudging on numbly, a building miraculously popped out of the monotonous landscape before him.

Ji Xiangming pulled his lips into a bitter smile. Was the desert not satisfied with the disappointment from the singing sands, and now presenting him with a mirage?

If an oasis had appeared before him, he might have rushed toward it with joy, hoping it wasn't a mirage.

But of all things... a shop? He was almost certain this was a hallucination caused by his body reaching its absolute limit.

There were even words on the sign: Nanlai Restaurant?

Ha... A building in the depths of the Anjin Desert was absurd enough, but a restaurant?

Even so, he subconsciously shifted his steps and headed in that direction. His mind was in a daze, not knowing what he was thinking, but his legs uncontrollably carried him toward that illusory hope.

*Ding-ling-ling—*

Nan Tu suddenly looked up. The wind chimes swayed gently, letting out a crisp, clear sound.