"Daddy, is this our shop?"
"Yes! Do you like it?"
"Mm-hmm, I like it~"
"Then from now on, Daddy will make lots and lots of delicious food for you here, okay?"
"Yay~ yay~"
Wenling, West City.
On a rather ordinary old street, there is a rather ordinary little shop.
The shop doesn't look large, but the decor is quite new.
Inside, there are 6 two-person tables, 4 four-person tables, and 5 single-person tables arranged neatly.
The shop sign, with the words "So Delicious," is bold and strong.
A handsome man in his late twenties is holding the hand of a four or five-year-old, delicately lovely little girl, standing at the shop's entrance.
The conversation just now came from this pair, one big and one small.
The handsome man's name is Huang Tao, 29 years old, a local of Wenling.
The little girl's name is Huang Jingxuan, nicknamed Xuanxuan, and she's Huang Tao's daughter.
She's 4 years old, currently attending Golden Sun Kindergarten, in the junior class.
As for Huang Tao's wife!
Very unfortunately!
She passed away last summer.
When Xuanxuan was 3 years old, she was diagnosed with acute leukemia.
This news, like a bolt from the blue, instantly shrouded their once happy family with dark clouds.
For a time, no one could accept it.
Saddened, Huang Tao composed himself, comforted his wife, and immediately took leave from work to run around the hospital, arranging for his wife's smooth admission and treatment.
He also stayed close by, attending to her without a moment's respite.
Although the bone marrow transplant was very successful later, there was a very severe rejection reaction after the surgery.
Ultimately, treatment was ineffective, and she departed this world, leaving behind a heartbroken Huang Tao and his barely three-year-old daughter Xuanxuan, making friends and family sad and regretful…
Fortunately, with the caring support of his parents and the consolation from friends and relatives, Huang Tao gradually learned to face things with strength.
However, since his wife's passing, Xuanxuan became more silent and relied on him even more.
Additionally, his parents weren't retired yet, had their work to attend to, and weren't in the best health to take care of the child long-term.
Hire a nanny?
He didn't feel comfortable or secure.
Send her to daycare?
He felt Xuanxuan was too young.
Couldn't bear the thought.
So, he chose to resign and stay home to take care of Xuanxuan.
Took up the role of a stay-at-home dad.
During his spare time, he did freelance work at home to earn money.
Just half a month ago, while cooking for Xuanxuan in the kitchen, he was suddenly chosen by a system called [Kitchen God].
Once bound.
The system immediately issued an initial task: [Open your own small shop].
Task details: Please open a qualified restaurant within one month.
PS: All procedures and licenses must be complete, the shop must fit at least 5 tables, have a separate kitchen, and complete basic kitchen utensils.
That night, after putting Xuanxuan to sleep, he took out all his possessions and calculated carefully.
Back then, to treat his wife, the once prosperous family quickly became strapped for cash.
Adding to that, his focus now was on childcare, doing freelance work on the side, and his income wasn't high.
All his savings, plus the assistance from his parents, added up to just over 80,000.
80,000 isn't too little, but not enough for starting a business.
Don't ask why.
If asked, it's because shop rents are expensive nowadays.
Take the shops near his residential area, even with slightly better locations, the rent starts at 10,000 per month.
Couldn't afford it!
Had to settle for a shop in a less favorable location.
Rent paid every six months, cost him 36,000.
The remaining money was used to set up a simple kitchen and purchase some kitchenware, appliances, tables, and chairs.
All in all, after setting up this small shop, his wallet severely shrank, leaving only 3,000 dollars.
Except for telling his little sweetheart, no one else knew about this restaurant, including his parents.
It's not that he's afraid of his parents opposing it.
Judging by how well he knows them, they would definitely support his decision.
He just didn't want them to worry about him.
He wanted to give them a pleasant surprise once the shop was on track.
They!
Only needed to share the joy of his success!
[Congratulations to the host for completing the task, you get a Perfect Level Noodle Specialty Snack raffle once, would you like to draw now?]
A cold, emotionless voice from the system suddenly sounded in Huang Tao's mind.
"Draw!"
He silently thought, and a large round wheel instantly appeared in his mind.
The spinning wheel was filled with various noodle specialty snacks:
Flatbread, crystal dumplings, buns, mantou, soup dumplings, soup-filled buns, fried dough sticks, donkey meat sandwich, roujiamo, wonton, preserved vegetable pancakes, butter pancakes, pumpkin pancakes, sweetheart cake, pan-fried rolls, cold skin noodles, stewed noodles…
A dazzling array of noodle specialty snacks made Huang Tao stare in awe…
Just as he was engrossed, the wheel started spinning slowly, faster and faster.
"Stop!"
Huang Tao willed it.
The wheel started to slow down and finally, the pointer stopped on one of the sections.
[Congratulations, host, you've won a Perfect Level Noodle Specialty Snack—Delicious Pan-Fried Buns]
[Recipe for Delicious Pan-Fried Buns...]
[Ingredients for Delicious Pan-Fried Buns...]
In an instant, countless experiences flooded into Huang Tao's mind.
Sheng Jian Bao!
Huang Tao's eyes lit up.
As a native southerner,
he loved eating Sheng Jian Bao since he was a child.
For breakfast, having a steaming hot serving of Sheng Jian Bao, with white smoke wafting and the aroma filling the air, taking a bite, the meat juices mixed with the fragrance of meat, oil, green onions, and sesame burst out, the taste was perfect.
And paired with a bowl of steaming millet porridge, it's so delicious, eating more than ten would be no issue!
The key is that Sheng Jian Bao is also his precious daughter's favorite!
That's really great!
After receiving the experience point, Huang Tao couldn't wait to make some Sheng Jian Bao for Xuanxuan to taste.
Then open for business early tomorrow!
"Xuanxuan, do you want to eat Sheng Jian Bao?"
"Yes~"
Xuanxuan's big, bright eyes were shining, and when she smiled, little dimples appeared faintly.
"Okay, then let's go shopping together..."
Huang Tao locked the door, holding Xuanxuan's small hand, preparing to go to the nearby larger market to buy ingredients.
...
"Daddy, look, chickens~"
"Daddy, look, there are also ducks and pigeons~"
"Daddy, fish, swimming fish~"
Xuanxuan was strolling through the market like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden, everything she saw was fresh!
Huang Tao smiled and followed beside her, accompanying her to look at chickens and ducks for a while in the poultry section, then accompanied her to see the fish.
The fish stall owner, seeing them, picked up a fish and cheerfully handed it to Xuanxuan: "Little friend, do you want to touch it?"
"No, won't it bite me~"
Xuanxuan, who was initially squatting, suddenly stood up and quickly retreated a few steps, with a small expression of "I'm scared," hiding behind Huang Tao.
The reluctantly working carp: ╥﹏╥...
Nonsense, I'm so cute, why would I bite people!
The fish stall owner: "..."
What bad intentions could I have, I just want to sell you a fish, that's all!
"It won't!"
"Daddy, I'm scared."
Xuanxuan hid behind Huang Tao, peeking with her big eyes, stealing glances at the fish stall owner, and then at the lively carp, feeling torn.
"Xuanxuan, don't be afraid, fish won't bite..."
Huang Tao crouched down, comforting Xuanxuan while giving her an encouraging look.
"Really?"
"Really, when has Daddy ever lied to Xuanxuan?"
Xuanxuan blinked, thought for a moment, then stretched out her chubby little hand, cautiously trying to touch the carp...
Once and again.
She couldn't put it down!
"Daddy, fish really don't bite... look, it's even wagging its tail... Daddy, the fish is so cute... Daddy, can we buy it home?"
His precious daughter had asked, so he agreed without hesitation.
"Alright!"
After buying the fish and getting two complimentary river shrimps, the father and daughter arrived at a pork stall, glanced at the price list, and started picking out pork leg meat.
"Young man, my meat, you don't need to look closely, it's all very fresh, all freshly slaughtered and delivered this afternoon, and my shop never buys overnight meat, feel free to choose."
The pork stall owner, seeing Huang Tao picking out pork with such skill, couldn't help but chat a bit.
"Boss, your pork is indeed the freshest I've seen along the way."
This wasn't flattery from Huang Tao.
It was because the pork in this shop came from local pigs, not fed with feed, the meat was firm, and most importantly, fresh.
"I'd like a pound of this pork leg meat, and these fatty pieces with skin, weigh those for me as well."
"Got it!"
The pork stall owner smiled, slicing the pork for Huang Tao and quickly weighing it.
Nearby Xuanxuan raised her pink little face, said in her baby voice, "Uncle, give us a discount~"
The pork stall owner was taken aback.
Wow!
So young and already helping her daddy haggle.
Really capable!
Unlike his own daughter, who couldn't do anything right, always giving her dad a hard time.
Alas!
Why is there such a huge gap between daughters!
The pork stall owner looked at Huang Tao with envious eyes: "Alright, since this little friend asked, I'll give you a discount, originally 47 yuan, let's make it 45."
Hearing this, Xuanxuan cheerfully looked up at Huang Tao, her face full of "Praise me" expression.
Huang Tao was not stingy with compliments, giving a thumbs up: "Xuanxuan is really great."
"Is this your daughter? She's truly adorable."
The pork stall owner put the weighed pork leg and lard into a bag, also giving some leftover good trimmings, handed it to Huang Tao across the stall.
Mainly because this girl Xuanxuan was just so cute.
"Yes, my daughter..."
"Boss, let me discuss something with you, can you set aside 5 pounds of pork leg for me tomorrow morning, pick the good ones to reserve please."
For the first day of trial opening, he didn't plan to buy too many ingredients, to avoid waste if they couldn't be sold.
For the Sheng Jian Bao flavor, he planned to start with the popular... pork filling.
"Sure, that's not a problem."
The boss agreed immediately, then took out a small notebook and jotted it down.
Their pork sells well, daily there are many customers asking to reserve pork and ribs.
20 minutes later.
With the shopping completed, Huang Tao carried a bag of flour on his left shoulder, ingredients in his right hand, followed by a little helper, ya-yi-ya-yi, back to the store...