Universe Infinite Canteen

However, this time Old Wang had a different opinion.

"He's right, creating dishes that move the hearts of customers is indeed a cosmic chef's responsibility," he said. "Actually, I wanted to tell you last time, dishes are not necessarily better just because they have more stars."

"Hmm? But higher star dishes are indeed tastier than low-star dishes," Ma Lu said, stroking his chin.

"The deliciousness index is just a reference, it's an evaluation metric with some universal applicability, but everyone's food preferences are actually different."

"I can understand that, like some people like spicy food, others like sweet, some places have a lighter taste, and some prefer heavy oil and salt, right?"

"Exactly." Old Wang nodded.

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"But that werewolf didn't tell us beforehand what flavor he liked, I still feel like he just wanted to mooch off us," Ma Lu said.

Ma Lu handed over a packed Earth Dragon Meat in flatbread to a young associate professor waiting in front of the stall, who had the same Mediterranean hairstyle as Old Wang.

This dish had one less ★ than the Flameheart Earth Dragon Orange Brew, primarily because the latter had more steps in its preparation and took longer to cook, plus it required the second stomach of a Lava Giant Lizard—a part of which they had little left it was not suitable for street vending.

So, in the end, Ma Lu designated the Earth Dragon Meat in flatbread as today's special.

Old Wang had already fished out another piece of marinated meat from the pot, spread the tender and fragrant Earth Dragon Meat thin, added a spoonful of broth and then took out a golden, crispy flatbread from the oven, filled it, and continued.

"No, even if we knew his taste, we would only be catering to it even more. But what he said was very clear, he doesn't just want satisfaction, but to be moved."

"What's the difference between the two?" Ma Lu asked as he wrapped up the flatbread in wax paper and handed it to the next customer.

"Satisfaction can be achieved as long as the food is tasty enough, but moving someone requires more than just taste—it needs a touch of sincerity."

"Sincerity?" Ma Lu furrowed his brow, "What does that mean?"

"Simply put, it's about creating dishes specifically tailored to the customer's race, life experiences, or their special emotions at particular moments," Old Wang explained.

"It's one of the fundamental skills of a cosmic chef, if my sector hadn't been damaged and that data was still there, this should be easily accomplished, but now..."

"I get it," Ma Lu snapped his fingers. "So, the dishes we choose have to be related to that werewolf, right?

"Like a phrase often on the lips of film fans, 'What moves you isn't the movie itself, but the life experiences it reflects that resonate with you.'

"Yeah, that's basically it."

"Then I might have a rough idea..." As Ma Lu spoke, his hands didn't stop moving, and he had already packed another three servings of Earth Dragon Meat in flatbread.

In the meantime, he even took a photo with a young girl who had come in a Han costume after hearing about the stall.

Since The Universe's Number One Snack Stall became popular, there have been more such requests. In theory, as long as it doesn't interfere with business, Ma Lu wouldn't specifically stop them, after all, even if it's called the same, Ma Lu didn't own the street.

As for more advanced services, like one-on-one photos or even featured interviews, as long as there's extra pay, it's not a problem.

Nowadays, diversification in business is encouraged, and if it weren't for the numerous secrets Ma Lu could not reveal, he would have already started live streaming riding on the wave of popularity.

In fact, an MCN Company had approached him not long ago, and out of curiosity, Ma Lu had even looked at the contract they offered. He felt that even the treatment of black slaves in the 18th-century American sugar cane plantations was better than that.

After all, slave owners had to provide slaves with food and shelter, some even arranged marriages, while most MCN companies were purely exploiting without giving anything in return.

Not only do they take a cut of the profits, but they also swallow up account ownership and advertising rights, all the while not even providing a basic salary. They bait with so-called professional training and traffic support, but in reality, they just let the signed streamers fend for themselves.

At most, they throw you some training materials scraped from the internet to study on your own and buy some zombie fans to like your posts, considering that as fulfilling their obligation.

The rest is just a gamble, with enough people signed on, someone is bound to become popular. And then these MCN companies can bleed them dry.

What's that, you realize something's off and want to break the contract? Sorry, but a hefty penalty fee is waiting right here for you.

......

Because he had detoured to Jin Xin Hardware, The Universe's Number One Snack Stall opened later than usual today, selling all 1,000 servings of Earth Dragon Meat burgers by almost 7 p.m.

At a unit price of 23, the total income was 23,020, with the extra 20 being from a joint photo opportunity. The cost was 211.6, leaving a net profit of 22,808.4, successfully reaching the two thousand mark!

Ma Lu didn't hesitate to whip out his phone and order the rowing machine immediately, but instead of heading straight home afterward, he had made plans to view a place later in the evening.

After deciding to open a shop, he had been looking everywhere for a suitable location, viewing more than forty shops in total, each with its own set of problems, not quite hitting the mark.

The shop Ma Lu was going to see this time was not far from Aerospace University, only 1.4 kilometers away according to Gaode Maps, located on a side road between three residential areas, a typical community shop.

He had stumbled upon the rental information online two days prior, less than 24 hours after it was posted.

Ma Lu had contacted the person who posted the information in advance to get a better understanding of the situation.

The place was previously occupied by a hot pot restaurant that, reportedly, did quite well, but due to some family issues, the owner didn't renew the lease when it expired.

The total construction area was 90 square meters, larger than what Ma Lu had anticipated.

But that's how it goes with searching for rentable space, it's rare to find one that fully meets the requirements. If it feels roughly suitable, it's worth taking a look; after all, it doesn't cost anything, so Ma Lu set up a time for a viewing anyway.

Heading there now would put him right on time.

Ma Lu mounted his trike, with Old Wang in tow, arriving at the location marked on the map in less than seven minutes.

They found the hot pot restaurant called Wang Ji Copper Pot Shabu Meat nestled between a massage clinic and a tobacco and liquor store.

The lights were on inside the restaurant, and a white Mercedes GLC was parked out front.

Ma Lu pulled up in front of the GLC on his trike, and just as he got off, a middle-aged woman with permed hair and carrying an LV bag came out from the restaurant, yelling at him and Old Wang.

"Hey hey hey, you can't park here!"

Ma Lu pointed at the white Mercedes, "But isn't this car parked here already?"

"This is our shop, so of course we can park our car here."

"I'm here to see the shop as well."

At this, the middle-aged woman looked Ma Lu and Old Wang up and down with a skeptical gaze.

"You must be Ms. Chen, right? I've spoken with you on the phone before," Ma Lu said, unfazed.

"Oh, you're that young fella Ma from the day before yesterday," the middle-aged woman suddenly realized, but she didn't invite Ma Lu and Old Wang in straight away, instead, she added,

"Let me make it clear first. The rent for this shop used to be 17 thousand a month, and there's no point talking if it's less than that. I have no trouble renting this place out, and later on, Boss Zhang is also coming to take a look."