While introducing the sliced boiled chicken to his viewers, Li Xiao pulled out his phone to check the rewards the system had just granted him.
He quickly noticed a new contact on his WeChat: a real estate agent named Wang.
After a brief exchange, Li Xiao obtained the specific details of his ten commercial properties. These ten storefronts were scattered across various districts in Yangcheng. Some were located on bustling commercial streets, while others were situated inside shopping malls. Despite the different areas, all the properties were situated in high-foot-traffic locations.
Although they didn’t come with permanent property rights, a sixty-year lease was more than enough. As the old saying goes, the tides of fortune are ever-shifting. In this era of rapid development, a crowded commercial street today could easily turn into a deserted ghost town tomorrow. Therefore, sixty years of usage rights were perfectly adequate. After all, it was impossible for a single street to remain prosperous forever.
Li Xiao was pleasantly surprised. He had originally planned to ask Lai Chunjiao to help him find suitable locations to open new Xihan’er Milk Tea Shops. But now, that wouldn’t be necessary. Ten storefronts might not seem like a massive number, but they were more than enough to meet his short-term needs.
Although the Xihan’er Milk Tea Shop currently had relatively well-established processes and systems, its initial expansion rate would undoubtedly be slow. They needed to cross-reference their operations to iron out any kinks and fill in the gaps. Li Xiao wasn’t in a rush. Taking things one step at a time was always better than stumbling and falling later.
Soon, the second dish was served.
"Hello, everyone. This is the Golden Tofu. Please enjoy your meal," the waiter said.
This dish was equally exquisite. Three pieces of golden tofu, each the size of a mahjong tile, were neatly arranged in a straight line on a pale-yellow circular saucer, presenting a simple yet elegant aesthetic.
Li Xiao leaned closer to the golden tofu and gently wafted the scent toward his nose with his right hand, searching for any trace of greasiness. Instead, he only smelled a faint, pleasant aroma. The chef had likely used rapeseed or olive oil for frying, minimizing any heavy oily smell.
He picked up his chopsticks and gently grasped a piece of tofu. His original intention was simply to test its texture. However, to his surprise, the entire piece of tofu could be picked up effortlessly without breaking. He raised an eyebrow. Was the outer shell of this tofu a bit too hard?
Could there have been a mistake in its preparation?
Harboring doubts, he placed the golden tofu onto a spoon, refraining from popping the whole thing into his mouth. Li Xiao wasn’t in a hurry to swallow it whole. He knew that the internal temperature of deep-fried tofu like this was bound to be scalding. Biting into it recklessly would likely burn his tongue.
In an ordinary restaurant, it would be perfectly normal for a waiter not to issue a warning. However, in a high-end, new-style Cantonese restaurant like this, failing to remind the customer about something so important was a dereliction of duty.
Silently deducting a point for their service, Li Xiao raised his spoon and took a small, careful bite.
The next moment, his gaze instantly turned serious.
His taste buds were conquered by the complex layers of the tofu. The golden exterior was crispy, yet the inside was incredibly soft. The seemingly hard outer shell was actually light and airy. The tender, silky texture of the tofu within formed a sharp contrast with the fragrant crispness of the exterior.
As he savored it carefully, the rich aroma of the tofu bloomed in his mouth. Amidst the flavor of soy milk, there was also the sweet fragrance of cow’s milk.
At first, Li Xiao thought that milk had been blended into the tofu during its production, but he quickly dismissed the idea. Using his chopsticks, he gently probed the tofu’s core and discovered that a small cube of milk pudding had been cleverly embedded inside.
This discovery made him smile. This wasn’t just a delicious dish; it was a creative exploration.
The golden tofu, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, wrapped around the milk pudding cube to present a perfect pairing of sweet and savory flavors. It also subtly paid homage to the traditional Hakka stuffed tofu. The concept was truly ingenious. Replacing the traditional meat filling with milk pudding wasn’t a design an ordinary chef could conjure up.
Li Xiao nodded with a smile. The dish had distinct layers—the crispness of the outer skin and the delicate smoothness of the inside. It was an impressive masterpiece, both visually and gastronomically.
The most remarkable aspect of this dish was its execution. Usually, when a dish with such a high moisture content is deep-fried, the crispy outer shell easily absorbs a large amount of water, causing it to become soggy and lose its crunch. However, it was handled brilliantly here. The chef had used a double-layer structure to maximally seal in the moisture of the tofu and the milk cube, preventing the internal steam from softening the outer crust.
As he swallowed the tofu, the system’s notification chimed in his mind.
[Congratulations! You have unlocked the 26th culinary illustration.]
[The culinary illustration unlocked is: Golden Tofu.]
[Dish Rating: 92 Points (Excellent).]
[Since the dish is rated Excellent, Rewards x4.]
[Congratulations! You have received a cash reward of 800,000 yuan.]
[Congratulations! You have received a cash reward of 800,000 yuan.]
[Congratulations! You have received an experience reward: Soybean Selection Insights.]
[Congratulations! You have received a recipe reward: Tofu Preparation Recipe.]
Both the innovative flavor and the texture of the dish were quite outstanding. Although it seemed simple, the ingenuity behind it truly made it worthy of the title "New Style Cantonese Cuisine."
Li Xiao spoke to his live stream audience, "This Golden Tofu tastes incredibly good. Its texture is especially unique, boasting rich and varied layers.
"However, there is one thing they did poorly here. The waiter failed to fulfill their duty to warn the customer.
"The temperature of this deep-fried tofu is extremely high. If a customer isn’t paying attention and takes a big bite, their tongue will definitely be burned."
Hearing this, some viewers in the chat disagreed.
"They already said it’s deep-fried tofu. Who wouldn’t know the inside is scorching hot?"
"The streamer is just nitpicking!"
"Someone who hasn’t eaten it before definitely wouldn’t know. Or careless people wouldn’t pay attention to it either. The streamer isn’t wrong, is he?"
"If this tofu cost eight yuan, I’d think the streamer was being pretentious! But this tofu costs over eighty yuan. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to expect a warning from the waiter!"
...
Li Xiao paid no mind to the comments accusing him of nitpicking.
He continued his critique, "In addition, there’s another thing the waiter failed to do. He didn’t remind the customer to eat it as soon as possible.
"The preparation of this tofu is highly unique. The chef used a double-layer protection structure, attempting to isolate the moisture of the tofu and the milk as much as possible.
"The idea and execution are excellent, but this measure is only effective for a short time. If a customer spends too long taking photos, or if the dish is left sitting for too long, there’s still a risk of the crispy crust becoming soggy.
"Once the crust goes soft, this dish is completely ruined.
"Even though this dish is incredibly delicious, I still have to criticize them for this. If they had just offered those warnings, the experience would have been absolutely flawless."