Today, Luo Huai’an made savory bamboo rice with cured pork. The bamboo rice was filled with glutinous rice and cured pork, and after being roasted over an open fire, it was now full of salty and savory flavor. In just half an hour, all one hundred servings of bamboo rice with cured pork were sold out.

After finishing their bamboo rice with cured pork, the people returned to the window and stared intently through the glass at the kitchen. When they saw that the lush green bamboo rice were all gone, they became unhappy. 

“Boss, this child wants bamboo rice.”

“Give me a serving of bamboo rice. Don’t be ungrateful and force me to kneel down and beg you.”

Luo Huai’an asked doubtfully, “But I used a large bamboo. It has a large capacity, and I packed the glutinous rice very tightly. Don’t be fooled and think that this bamboo only holds one bowl of rice; after packing it tightly, it holds twice as much rice. Aren’t you full after eating two bowls of rice?”

Shu Wenwen, standing in the crowd, touched her stomach, on the verge of tears, “Boss, I always thought I had a small appetite, but I’ve just realized that I have Schrödinger’s stomach, which changes size depending on how delicious the food is.”

Luo Huai’an: “…”

Luo Huai’an calculated Qi Ze’s efficiency and then said, “But our staff who is responsible for cooking bamboo rice only has time in the evenings, and there really isn’t any available right now. Why don’t you come back tomorrow? I’ll have him make more tomorrow.”

Seeing that her hopes had been dashed, Shu Wenwen said somewhat aggrievedly, “Boss, I don’t think your kitchen is particularly efficient.”

Luo Huai’an nodded in agreement, saying, “I think so too.”

Shu Wenwen said, “Before, the ice shaver wasn’t working properly, and now the employee in charge of the fire only works the night shift.”

Luo Huai’an nodded again upon hearing this, agreeing with her assessment. If she could keep Phoenix locked in the kitchen roasting for her all day, she could become incredibly wealthy.

Seeing that she agreed, Shu Wenwen became bolder. “The employee in charge of stoking the fire only works the night shift. We should exploit him, no, that is, we should motivate him and make him work all day.”

Other students also agreed, “Even a god wouldn’t trade this bamboo rice away; we should make this employee make more.”

“Surely this employee isn’t a part-time student.”

Just then, Qi Ze walked out of the door next to the food serving window and overheard their conversation, falling into a long silence.

Seeing him leave, Luo Huai’an raised her voice and shouted at him, “No wages today, pay is at the end of the month.”

Upon hearing this, Qi Ze paused slightly in his steps and fell even more silent.

Among the onlookers were many freshmen, and almost everyone recognized Qi Ze. People from other years had also seen his photos on the forum.

As a freshman, Shu Wenwen had met Qi Ze in person at the freshman ceremony and knew about his outstanding grades and appearance.

Shu Wenwen’s jaw nearly dropped when she saw him emerge from the kitchens. She was filled with astonishment and confusion, as if she had just realized something. “Boss, could that employee stoking the fire in the kitchens be Qi Ze?”

“Yes, it’s him. He works part-time in the cafeteria.” Luo Huai’an nodded frankly and said, “The bamboo rice you ate were all cooked by him.”

Shu Wenwen and the onlookers: “???”

… …

That evening, a post appeared on the university’s internal forum ‘Shocking! I actually ate food cooked by the school heartthrob!’

[Hahaha, this is hilarious! It’s not even night yet, and you’re already dreaming? The school heartthrob would never cook for you!]

[If he had eaten just one more peanut, he wouldn’t be this drunk¹.]

[To be honest, I eat the school beauty’s cooking every day (dog emoji).]

[OP: I’m really not kidding you guys, the school heartthrob works part-time at the Eighth Cafeteria, and I got to try the bamboo rice he cooked—it was so delicious!]

[I’m not the original poster, but I also had bamboo rice grilled by the school heartthrob today, and to be honest, it was really good.]

[A campus beauty who’s a cafeteria boss, a campus heartthrob who’s a kitchen helper—I’m shipping this couple!]

[Haha, you actually called the school heartthrob the kitchen fire stoker? Are you a devil?]

… …

Seeing how well the bamboo rice was selling, Luo Huai’an decided to double the quantity of bamboo rice with cured pork. Not only that, she also decided to introduce a new type of bamboo rice.

The bamboo rice with cured pork was savory; she wanted to add a sweet version to the menu.

She would make money from both sweet and savory lovers!

When she went back to Fragrant Mountain, she specially went to find a batch of tender fragrant bamboo.

Fragrant bamboo was different from thick moso bamboo. Fragrant bamboo had very thin bamboo tubes, only slightly thicker than a flute, and was emerald green in color.

She rinsed the glutinous rice and red beans with warm water, then poured the mixture into a cut section of bamboo, filling it only to about eight-tenths full. She pressed the rice down firmly and finally rolled up a clean banana leaf to seal the opening of the bamboo tube.

Just then, Qi Ze arrived, so she invited him to steam the bamboo rice.

Qi Ze looked at the bamboo in front of him, which were almost five times yesterday’s number: “…”

Seeing that he didn’t move, Luo Huai’an turned to look at him in confusion.

When she met Phoenix back then, he told her some secrets about his cultivation technique. His Phoenix True Fire was a fire born from his very soul. As long as his soul was not destroyed, this fire would always keep burning. All that was needed to ignite the Phoenix True Fire was spiritual energy as fuel.

So when they first met now, although Luo Huai’an discovered that he was a mortal, she knew that his Phoenix True Fire had not disappeared.

Mythical Beast Cafeteria translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

---

T/N: The text didn’t mention putting water in the bamboo (rice needs water to cook!) but perhaps soaking it and then steaming it would be enough? I thought that’s what the 20% space would be for.

KO-FI has unpublished my page and denied my appeal. Some of you have been supporting me from Day 1 and I can’t even reach out because Ko-fi won’t let me DM my subscribers. I hope your coffee is always hot and your pillow cold on both sides. Much, much love. You can always reach me at maela.translations@gmail.com.

In the meantime, check out my PATREON. You can subscribe to get advance access to all ongoing translation works, single work only, or bundled works. Or just leave a tip! Thank you for your support! 

FOOTNOTE:

1. The saying is that if you eat peanuts, you wouldn’t get drunk. ↩︎