1: After the boss ran away, he bound the food intelligence system

Bin Harbor City.

In front of Zhang Lao Er Braised Food Shop.

"What? You're saying the boss ran off with his sister-in-law?"

As the sun set, a hint of coolness permeated the hot air.

But Mo Li, listening to the news from Old Wang on the other end of the phone, felt his whole body flush with anger.

Mo Li was a salesman for a logistics company.

For the past two months, the company had withheld Mo Li's salary, citing financial difficulties.

The company boss had originally promised that once funds were recovered today, salaries would be paid tomorrow.

Mo Li never expected the boss would suddenly run off with the company's finance manager, who was also his sister-in-law.

Even worse, Mo Li had less than a month to pay his rent, and his meager savings weren't even enough for that.

This sudden turn of events plunged Mo Li into an extremely difficult situation.

Mo Li barely managed to control the urge to curse, and after hanging up the phone, he glanced at the braised goods neatly displayed in Zhang Lao Er Braised Food Shop.

He had originally come here today, on his 25th birthday, to buy some braised food for a treat.

Should he still buy it now?

Forget it, he wouldn't buy it. He'd just go back and eat instant noodles.

Until he found a new job and new income, every penny had to be carefully budgeted.

After forcing himself to self-comfort, Mo Li decisively turned and left.

Suddenly.

A line of small text appeared on Mo Li's retina.

"Ding! Detecting that the host has encountered a change but maintains a stable mood. The Gourmet Intelligence System has been activated and is binding. Please wait."

Mo Li rubbed his eyes, trying to confirm this wasn't an illusion.

The small text on his retina quickly changed.

"Binding successful!"

"Today's Intelligence"

"Ingredient Express (Normal): 'Zhang Lao Er Braised Food Shop's boss will welcome a son this evening. The boss is rushing to see his newborn son, so buying braised goods now will surely yield a huge discount!'"

"Secret Recipe Legend (Rare): 'Page 127 of 'selected home recipes (1985 edition)' at the East Street old book stall contains a 'five-spice tea egg secret recipe,' which is actually a lost recipe from a State-Owned Brand!'"

"Intelligence refreshes daily, with a minimum of one and a maximum of six pieces of intelligence. Types include Secret Recipe Legend, Vendor Chronicles, Ingredient Express, Special Diners, Business Opportunity Storm, and Culinary God's Lost Skills."

"Different types of intelligence will randomly appear in three different grades: Normal, Rare, and Legend."

"Create delicious food and receive good reviews from diners to upgrade the system."

"Upgrading the system can increase the intelligence range and the probability of high-grade intelligence appearing."

"Current System Level: LV1 (0 / 1000)"

Mo Li glanced at Zhang Lao Er, the boss in Zhang Lao Er Braised Food Shop.

Zhang Lao Er was bald and looked about forty years old.

What was this 'welcoming a son' business? It felt a bit unreliable.

He couldn't be like those programmers who just looked forty but were actually in their twenties due to premature aging, could he?

Was this intelligence system reliable or not?

To verify the intelligence, Mo Li decisively turned and left Zhang Lao Er Braised Food Shop, retreating some distance, and intently watched the situation inside Zhang Lao Er Braised Food Shop.

He didn't know how much time had passed, just as Mo Li was starting to feel the intelligence system was an illusion.

Mo Li saw the boss answer a phone call. He was too far away to hear what the boss said on the phone.

In any case, after the boss hung up, he started packing up his stall.

Mo Li vaguely had a few guesses and walked a few steps to the front of Zhang Lao Er Braised Food Shop.

"Boss, give me a braised duck."

"I'm really sorry, I have an urgent matter and need to leave. Come back next time."

"Boss, I see your forehead is full, your jaw is square, and your face is beaming. Could it be that you've welcomed a son? Congratulations, congratulations... Then just give me a whole duck, I'll take it home and chop it myself, it won't take much time."

Mo Li bluffed a bit, trying to probe the boss.

The boss, hearing Mo Li's words, looked at him with some surprise.

"Oh... How did you know? Never mind, I really am rushing to see my newborn fat son. Since you've congratulated me, this braised duck is on me."

Saying that, the boss took a braised duck, put it in a bag, and handed it to Mo Li.

Mo Li's eyelids twitched.

Free?

This discount was indeed huge!

This intelligence system was too reliable!

"This... This is too much trouble..."

"It's not your first time buying from me, you're an old regular. Consider it my treat for welcoming a son, take it."

The boss, without further ado, shoved the braised duck into Mo Li's hand, then shooed Mo Li out of the braised food shop, so Mo Li wouldn't hinder him from packing up his stall.

Mo Li, holding the braised duck the boss had given him, watched the boss's retreating figure and soon fell into deep thought.

The intelligence system had been verified—it was reliable!

One line in the system's description, "Create delicious food and receive good reviews from diners to upgrade the system," caught Mo Li's attention.

If he wanted to maximize the use of the intelligence system, the best way was to open his own shop.

But the catering industry was definitely not as simple as it seemed on the surface.

Rushing into the industry without any special skills would likely lead to losing everything.

"Damn, it's as if I can come up with hundreds of thousands to open a shop..."

Mo Li scoffed at himself.

Let alone hundreds of thousands, Mo Li couldn't even come up with tens of thousands.

His only 4,000 yuan in savings in Yu'e Bao was all of Mo Li's assets, still 800 yuan short of the 4,800 yuan needed for rent.

This insignificant amount of savings was light-years away from the tens or hundreds of thousands required to open a shop.

Mo Li knew that opening a shop was not something he should be considering right now.

After a few self-deprecating remarks, Mo Li turned his attention to another piece of intelligence.

"Secret Recipe Legend (Rare): 'Page 127 of 'selected home recipes (1985 edition)' at the East Street old book stall contains a 'five-spice tea egg secret recipe,' which is actually a lost recipe from a State-Owned Brand!'"

He definitely couldn't open a restaurant now, firstly because he didn't have the capital, and secondly because the risk was too great. It would be better to get the tea egg secret recipe first.

Theoretically, making tea eggs wasn't difficult.

As long as the secret recipe was reliable, he could likely make quite tasty tea eggs.

It wouldn't be like making other dishes, where you learn it easily but mess it up when you try to make it.

As long as he mastered the method for making tea eggs, setting up a temporary stall to sell them would count as taking the first step on the path of catering.

"The East Street old book stall isn't far from here, just a few minutes' walk."

"To prevent any complications, I'll go now!"

With a decision made, Mo Li, carrying the braised duck given by the braised food shop owner, rushed to the old book stall.

A few minutes later, Mo Li appeared in front of the East Street old book stall.

"I have some really good stuff here, many family heirlooms, take a look!"

The old book stall owner, seeing Mo Li stop in front of his stall, greeted him warmly.

Mo Li acknowledged him, his gaze sweeping across the bookstall, quickly locking onto his target—selected home recipes.

This book was inconspicuous among many old books.

Mo Li casually picked up another book from the stall and glanced at it; the cover boldly displayed a few large characters—"The Postpartum Care of Sows."

"Young man, I didn't expect you to be interested in this craft?"

The bookstall owner looked at Mo Li with interest, making a teasing remark...