Kitagawa Marin rushed in anxiously, looking at Hoshino Sora, who was leisurely chatting with Aka-ri and Rika, her face filled with urgency.
"Are they copying what we did yesterday? How shameless. But it's okay, I've prepared a secret weapon. All you need to do is smile at the customers."
Glancing at the customers waiting at the shop entrance, Hoshino Sora wasn't in a hurry. He merely sighed inwardly at Eizan's shamelessness, then stretched and returned to the kitchen, his gaze falling upon the mountain of stacked bento boxes.
"Let's get to work!"
"Alright! Then let's do something big."
"Senior, hmm, you're eating Hoshino's food again, and two portions at that. Is the food there really that delicious?"
Igarashi Futaba asked, looking at Senior Wutian Qinghai, who was holding a bento box with the Hoshino Restaurant logo. Although the food at that restaurant tasted good, it wasn't good enough to eat every day.
"This one is for Igarashi Futaba. It was so delicious that I couldn't help but bring it back. The chef of that restaurant improves his cooking every day. As a regular customer, I'm really happy for him!"
Wutian Qinghai put one portion next to Igarashi Futaba, his expression eager, urging his junior to try this exquisite delicacy. In fact, he had already eaten one portion at the restaurant.
"I brought my own bento, and I'm not a child. If I want to eat, I'll go buy it myself."
Igarashi Futaba shook the bento in her hand and said, pouting, with a subtle hint of disdain in her eyes, especially feeling the ambiguous gazes of the people around her, which added to her dissatisfaction.
"Sorry, I was being presumptuous."
"Senior is not wrong, it's just too sudden. You should have LINE-messaged me first. Now the bento I brought can only be eaten tonight."
Looking at Wutian Qinghai, who was scratching his head awkwardly, Igarashi Futaba's heart softened. She immediately returned to her seat and opened the bento that Senior had specially brought for her.
In an instant, a rich aroma diffused through the office, making Sakurai Momoko's stomach rumble, who was busy with work and hadn't eaten yet. Then she turned her gaze over.
"Futaba, what are you eating? It smells so good."
Sakurai Momoko put down the pen she was using for work and came to Igarashi Futaba's side, shaking her head from side to side, looking at the opened dish in front of her, and couldn't help but swallow.
"It's Hoshino's Beef Tongue Bento. There are six flavors inside, and each piece of beef tongue is made with a different cooking method, so the texture is also different. It's Hoshino's latest dish."
Wutian Qinghai explained from the side, opening his own beef tongue rice bowl bento as he spoke. Saliva secreted in his mouth, and without hesitation, he picked up his chopsticks and began to savor it again.
The first one chosen was the salt-baked beef tongue. The taste was extremely savory and fresh, a perfect ratio. Eating it with rice was simply too delicious!
"Is it that exaggerated?"
The rich aroma made Igarashi Futaba show an expectant expression. Without hesitation, she picked up a piece of beef tongue with green Sichuan peppercorns. Its surface had a beautiful golden texture, clearly fried beforehand.
As the beef tongue entered her mouth, an electric-like sensation arose from within Igarashi Futaba's body. Then, illusions appeared before her eyes. She felt as if she was in the clouds, her whole body light and airy. Around her were fine currents of electricity, not harmful, but able to make one tingle and feel completely comfortable.
Her legs involuntarily clamped together, her body trembled slightly, and a mysterious blush appeared on her cheeks. Emerging from the fantasy, Igarashi Futaba looked at the other pieces of beef tongue with longing.
What would the other beef tongues taste like? What kind of sensations would they bring her?
"Wutian Qinghai, can you bring me a portion of food tomorrow as well? And can you tell me the address now?"
Looking at Igarashi Futaba, whose state had suddenly become a bit strange, Sakurai Momoko shifted her gaze to Wutian Qinghai, then asked with great anticipation.
"The address is at the intersection of Sanhe Street. The name is Hoshino Restaurant. Bringing food is fine, you can tell me if you need anything."
Looking at his colleagues gathering around them, Wutian Qinghai spoke very loudly. He would also feel a great sense of accomplishment by letting his colleagues taste such delicious food.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
"Me too!"
"Please give me a portion."
"Then I'll leave mine to you, Wutian Qinghai."
In an instant, the originally quiet company became lively, and finally even the president joined in, patting Wutian Qinghai's shoulder and asking for favors.
"Only sold thirty-something portions in one afternoon? You guys stay in the shop, I'll go out and check the situation."
Looking at the deserted shop, Mimasaka Subaru, who had nothing to do, frowned slightly. This was a bit different from the script he had envisioned. The taste of the unagi don was roughly the same as what Hoshino Sora made, so why were there so few customers?
He was very confused, so he left the shop and walked towards Hoshino Sora's shop, but he didn't go forward immediately, instead observing from a distance.
"Beef tongue? Did they change the menu? But why can they steal so many customers? The unagi don I make shouldn't be any worse than his."
Looking at the long queue at the entrance of Hoshino Restaurant, and then comparing it to the deserted scene at his own shop, Mimasaka Subaru couldn't help but ponder, what was the difference between him and Hoshino Sora?
Beautiful female staff? It must be that.
Looking at Kitagawa Marin, who was smiling at every customer, Mimasaka Subaru nodded as if he had gotten something. Marketing with beauty, the owner of this shop really had a way!
After observing for a while, Mimasaka Subaru went forward and bought two bento boxes, preparing to take them back to decipher and replicate, and sell them as dishes in their restaurant tomorrow. He also needed to find a beautiful girl to be a salesperson.
He looked deeply at Hoshino Restaurant. He had already watched all the recordings of Hoshino Sora's matches. His thinking and cooking methods should be the same as his.
Moreover, he had also improved the dishes to a certain extent, making them even more delicious. If it were a Food War, Hoshino Sora would definitely not have a single chance of winning!
But business competition is different. Sometimes, good products don't necessarily lead to good sales. People nowadays pay attention to reputation. People are always more willing to go to famous shops because they can become a topic of conversation.
Hoshino Restaurant's momentum has already picked up, and the cluster of customers is a beautiful sight. For Ruishan Restaurant to surpass it, they must produce dishes far superior to his and establish their own customer base.
Generally, when a shop opens, it usually holds promotional activities to attract new customers and rely on taste to turn them into regular customers.
However, due to the clumsy cooking skills of the previous Master Chef, the taste of the dishes was inferior to Hoshino Restaurant in all aspects. It clearly did not attract many regular customers for him, but instead created many bad reviews, which led to the current deserted situation.
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