Back at the hotel room, Nicole excitedly forwarded the still fresh food photos to her friends, hoping to see if she could get a few people to come and taste Lin’s culinary skills next time.

"What is this, oyster dish? Oysters are best eaten raw."

"Oh my god, who would turn fresh oysters into a patty, it’s such a waste of food!"

"That golden fried oyster looks pretty good. What’s that sprinkled on top? Bread crumbs?"

"This is the garlic roasted oyster you mentioned last time, right? It does look pretty good, but I suppose it tastes similar to American hand-held seafood sauce, doesn’t it?"

"Isn’t every major hotel raising prices now? I read online comments saying that the Radisson Hotel’s restaurant is only open to hotel guests. Spending hundreds of euros on a room just to eat a few meals, I can’t do something that foolish."

Watching her friends reply one after another, Nicole’s smile gradually disappeared, and the excitement in her heart slowly cooled.

Though a few people seemed quite interested, the majority still maintained a critical attitude.

Putting everything else aside, taste is a very personal thing after all, but this hotel room issue alone...

Her face gradually became unpleasant.

The hotel was booked in advance after returning last time, before the price hike, she didn’t realize this issue at all.

Only this time did she discover that the number of tourists has increased significantly compared to last week, even on weekdays the flow is half of what it was during the weekend kite festival.

"Oh no, after we check out tomorrow, will we not be able to book next time?"

Thinking of this, she quickly opened the app to search for rooms at the Radisson Hotel.

Sure enough, what appeared before her was a uniform phrase of ’No available rooms’.

With the Olympics approaching, tourism will maintain this state for at least half a month, she couldn’t sit still, she got up and rushed to the bathroom, yanking the door open.

"Bad news! There’s a huge piece of bad news!!"

"........."

The woman taking a shower was covered in foam, frozen in place, helplessly and speechlessly looking at her.

"Nicole, I know I have a great figure, but you don’t have to barge in and look, do you sometimes suspect you’re into women?"

"Get lost! It’s truly bad news!"

As currently the only friend in the circle with a similar taste to hers, Nicole truly hoped she could accompany her to continue exploring unknown delicacies.

Most importantly, now the room rate is really expensive!!

After repeating the news that rooms couldn’t be booked in the short term, the woman washing up also changed her expression.

"You mean that once we check out tomorrow, we won’t be able to eat Chef Lin’s food for nearly a month?"

"Exactly, you finally got it!"

"Then there’s a problem."

"What?"

"We’re checking out tomorrow, why are you chatting while watching me shower now? You secretly admire my voluptuous figure, right?"

"...Goodbye!"

Half an hour later.

After a brief discussion, the two finally decided to extend the room for one more day before making any decisions.

After all, it’s really expensive, a twin room costs over six hundred euros a day, enough to go on a two or three-day trip or have a luxurious meal.

On the other side.

Su, lying on the bed scrolling through her phone, suddenly received a bombardment of text messages.

"What about tomorrow morning, are there any plans?"

"Su, how was your massage? What’s the follow-up?"

"Are we renewing the room tomorrow, who’s doing it?"

"I might not make it tomorrow since I have to take the baby for a health check at the hospital, can you save me some food? I’ll come over after the hospital visit!"

"That’s not possible, we agreed that only those present can eat, otherwise if everyone wants a takeout, the amount will be too much and it’ll be revealed!"

Quietly looking at her phone, Su glanced unemotionally at her boyfriend still playing games in the living room, silently turning her phone to silent mode.

"The massage was pretty good, it hurt during the process, but afterward there’s an indescribable relief, you should try it."

"Anyway, you guys discuss first, if in the end no one renews, I can renew for one more day, but it can’t always be me, if still no one continues, I’ll have to talk to the others."

"That’s impossible!"

"Don’t inform them, even we don’t have enough food, more mouths will starve us!"

"Maybe discuss after breakfast tomorrow, everyone will be there, it’ll be easier to talk."

"Okay."

"What time to meet?"

"Same as usual, let’s aim for ten minutes earlier to avoid unnecessary trouble with long queues."

"Wait, no. Only Su can buy food tomorrow. It’s no use going early; we can only wait for her in the room."

"Oh, right. How did I forget that?"

"Then Su will have to work hard again. Thanks in advance! Love you~"

"God bless you!"

"Is there a possibility that tomorrow’s breakfast might be something that can’t be packed? What then?"

"Just shut up, will you?"

Thursday morning.

Around six o’clock, white steam was already rising from Lin Chen’s food truck window.

This time, the traditional breakfast challenge had simple dishes, but he was required to complete it all by himself, staying inside the food truck for the entire preparation without using a restaurant kitchen.

There were also restrictions on stall time and sale quantities. He had to sell at least one hundred portions within an hour, or risk losing positive feedback points.

Any extra time spent would feel like working for free, and it could even cost him more positive feedback points, making it not worth the effort.

He needed to sell at least one meal every thirty seconds to meet the target of one hundred portions in sixty minutes.

The congee, side dishes, and soy milk could be prepared in advance. Even if the side dishes ran out, they could be stir-fried quickly.

But the fried dough sticks were a bit more problematic.

With the experience of making them before, he could now perfectly control the dough and the frying time and temperature. The issue was that the food truck had limited space, preventing him from frying a hundred portions beforehand.

Moreover, pre-frying them would affect their taste. The best fried dough sticks are those served hot, within minutes of coming out of the oil.

The main challenge of this task was balancing the frying speed of the dough sticks with the overall breakfast serving speed, all within an hour.

Additionally, he needed to maintain a positive feedback rate of at least 90%, or he wouldn’t receive the Recipe Exchange Coupon.

However, compared to the additional difficulty rewards, a single coupon wasn’t much.

If he completed all three challenge difficulties, he would receive an extra prize of three thousand euros, plus a Food Truck Upgrade Card. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Although completing any single task would earn him a thousand euros, as the head chef, he held himself to a high standard. He aimed for perfect reviews.

He lifted the pot lid, and dense steam rose. The congee grains had fully dissolved, with hardly any whole grains visible. A thick layer of congee oil floated on top.

This method took inspiration from the production process of Chaoshan congee, which is famous and familiar to many foreigners, given the numerous Chaoshan congee places abroad.

Whether people have eaten it or not, they’ve likely seen it just by walking through Chinatown.

He placed the pot lid aside, holding a large spoon in both hands to continuously stir the congee to prevent sticking, while also helping the rice grains break apart, making the congee more aromatic and sweet.

The essence of Chaoshan congee lies in its smooth texture; there should be no grainy feel when drinking it. The rice should be broken down to fully release its aroma, making the congee thick and smooth.

The desired consistency is like honey, with noticeable fluidity, yet visibly thick enough, not like thin watery rice soup.

This thickness makes the congee delicious but also has the crucial flaw of being prone to sticking to the pot.

Unlike frying, where color changes indicate readiness, sticking happens without warning, relying solely on the chef’s control of heat and timing, requiring occasional stirring.

The difficulty lies in the timing of the stirring.

Handling multiple tasks, he needed to multitask efficiently—stirring every couple of minutes to prevent the congee from sticking while continuing other food preparations, testing his skills fully.

"The congee is about ready. Let’s reduce the heat. Should we stir-fry the side dishes now or right before serving? Never mind, let’s do it now. We’ll need to fry the dough sticks later, so we can’t leave everything for the last minute."

His glance shifted between the dough stick dough and the prepared side dish ingredients, quickly deciding on his plan for the next hour.

The side dishes prepared today were simple, familiar flavors from his childhood.

Back in primary and middle school, breakfast stalls at his neighborhood entrance were always bustling, selling small side dishes to accompany congee, charged by the plate for self-service.

He’s adopting a similar model today. Since he can’t get help, having customers serve themselves is more practical than trying to serve everyone alone.

Stir-fried green peppers and potato strips, pickled vegetables with bamboo shoots, snow peas with edamame, pickled mustard with shredded pork, stir-fried eggs with peppers, plus the leftover pickled radish from the last sticky rice ball session, made for a simple selection of six side dishes.

The side dishes meant to accompany the congee didn’t need to be sophisticated, but salty and flavorful to complement the meal.

After preparing five big pots of side dishes and setting them on a foldable table in front of the food truck, only a little over ten minutes had passed.

Just as he caught his breath, he saw two figures dashing from the hotel entrance.

As they got closer, their faces became familiar.

Who else could it be but Nicole and her friend!

"Hello! Good morning, Lin~"

"......?"

Lin Chen opened his mouth, an exasperated look in his eyes as he glanced at his watch.

"It’s only six twenty. Don’t you guys ever sleep??"