After a busy day until evening, to avoid unnecessary conflict, Hoshino Sora calculated the remaining pig trotters and then asked Rika to flip the 'Open' sign at the storefront to 'Closed'.
He hadn't expected his business to be so popular, so he only bought enough pig trotters and side dishes for about fifty people, which sold out in just over five hours.
Because it happened to be mealtime, a large wave of customers was attracted, and then many more came in continuously. Some even took pictures at the storefront, planning to visit again.
Overall, the opening was a success.
One pig trotter rice sold for 1500 yen, which, calculated for fifty servings, was 75,000 yen. After deducting various miscellaneous costs, he netted about 50,000 yen.
Fortunately, chefs in this world hold high status, and the price of dishes is directly proportional to their taste. Sky-high dishes are everywhere, so his prices were already very affordable.
"Sora, that's a lot of money!"
After all the customers were served, the shop officially entered its closing phase, and it was already nine o'clock in the evening.
"Asaka-nee, Rika-nee, this is your salary for today."
Casually pulling out a handful of money from the cash box, Hoshino Sora generously gave each of them 10,000 yen. After all, they were siblings, and there was no need to be so clear about money between them.
"Ten thousand yen?! Isn't that too much?"
"We don't need that much money."
Calculating the time, the hourly wage already exceeded 2,000 yen, which was a sky-high price anywhere!
"Don't talk about that between siblings. Use the extra money to buy some clothes you like, or anything else you want. Consider it a gift from me."
Seeing the two sisters seemingly about to return the money, Hoshino Sora quickly stopped them. He wasn't short on money; this stuff was no different from waste paper to him, so he might as well do them a favor.
He learned from his father that the two sisters had lived a relatively poor life before, and it wasn't easy for their mother to raise them alone, so he was told to be good to them.
"Then we'll save it for you for now. Just come to us when you need it later."
"Mm, rest assured, it's safe with us."
"It's fine, just spend it. There will only be more and more money in the future. The influence of gourmet food is truly terrifying!"
A net income of 50,000 yen in one evening, if combined with lunch, would be 100,000 yen. In a month, it would be 3 million yen, and in a year, 36 million yen. In three years, he could achieve his small goal of 100 million.
Calculating it this way, it does seem a bit terrifying.
However, if various losses are added, he probably wouldn't earn that much in reality, but it's still very substantial. You should know that an ordinary office worker's annual salary is only a little over 4 million yen.
"Asaka-nee, Rika-nee, please help clean up. I'm going out for a bit, and we'll go home together later."
Because he didn't want to clean, Hoshino Sora handed this part of the work over to the two sisters and went out to check the market. While he said he was checking the market, he was actually just trying out food at nearby restaurants, checking prices, and avoiding creating dishes that were too similar.
Uniqueness and taste are the foundation of a shop's existence!
Hoshino Sora thoroughly investigated from beginning to end. Because it was late, not many shops were still open. Hoshino Sora usually just went in, glanced at the prices on the wall, and then left.
As he expected, the prices of gourmet food in this world were generally high, especially in some dilapidated old shops where the items were clearly ordinary but sold at exorbitant prices, with profits possibly reaching 500 percent.
After determining which dishes were available and not available on Sanhe Street, Hoshino Sora bought three ice cream cones—original, matcha, and chocolate—from a roadside vendor who was packing up.
"Such a rich milky aroma, this must be colostrum."
The milky aroma of the ice cream was exceptionally noticeable, which was the main reason Hoshino Sora was attracted. It could only be said that the food industry in this Food Wars world was too competitive; without some unique characteristic, one would only be eliminated.
Fortunately, his fundamentals were solid under Hoshino Tani Ren's guidance. He specialized in Chinese cuisine and was said to have studied at Oriental Academy when he was young, which was China's highest culinary institution.
Its status was comparable to Tsinghua and Peking Universities, and it even subtly surpassed them. This was a unique cultural structure formed under a unique worldview.
It is worth mentioning that there is no so-called war in this world, or rather, no war in terms of military force. The kitchen is a battlefield without smoke, and Food Wars have replaced the original forms of warfare.
Hoshino Sora initially couldn't understand this point, feeling it was a bit too childish, but he gradually accepted it now. Thinking carefully, a world without war and with peace—isn't this an ideal utopia?
Another point is that the most famous battle in history, the Eight-Nation Alliance's war against China, involved chefs from eight different regions challenging the Chinese God of Cooking, Feng Qingyang, using the Eight Great Cuisines to counterattack, ultimately defeating the eight nations and establishing the title of World Chef.
At that time, China was at its zenith, occupying half of the culinary world, but now it is experiencing a generational gap. The root cause lies in exam-oriented education, where the creativity of most students is suppressed.
There are also powerful geniuses emerging, but these are ultimately only a small portion. Compared to the most glorious culinary golden age a century ago, it has already declined significantly.
"I'm back. It's so clean! I brought you ice cream. There's cream, matcha, and chocolate. Which one do you want?"
Looking at Ya Xiang and Rika, who had finished cleaning the restaurant and were waiting for him at a customer table, Hoshino Sora held three ice creams and asked. Then he saw the two sisters glance at each other and each take a matcha and a chocolate ice cream.
Then the three locked the shop door and left.
"So smooth, and so much milky flavor."
He licked an ice cream, closed his eyes, and savored it. This was much better than any ice cream he had tasted in his previous life—rich, creamy, sweet, and delicious, cool and refreshing.
[Analyze Dish]: Frozen Milk Ice Cream
[Quality]: Black Iron
[Analysis 60%]: Ingredients include fresh milk, eggs, light cream, sugar...
[Analysis Complete]: Do you want to watch the cooking process?
As Hoshino Sora ate the ice cream, a progress bar suddenly appeared in front of him, advancing at a steady pace. In about a minute, it went from zero to one hundred.
Then the system's prompt sounded in his mind, and a virtual screen appeared in front of him. Clicking to play the video, there was also a detailed ingredient list with proportion explanations.
Well, this was a new discovery.
"I want to try the original flavor, Sora, let me have a bite of yours~"
"I want to try the original flavor too."
Just as Hoshino Sora's eyes were glazed over, actually looking at the virtual screen, clear voices came from both sides. Then, without waiting for his consent, two heads, one from the left and one from the right, stole most of his ice cream.
He turned his head and saw that because the two sisters were eating too eagerly, white residue remained on their faces. Their small pink tongues probed at the sides of their cheeks, but they couldn't reach, only licking the edges and taking away a streak of white.