Chen Ze glanced at his phone, realizing it was almost time to close for the day, which made him breathe a sigh of relief. He truly had been working all day long.

Chen Ze twisted his wrist, feeling a bit of pain from using the kitchen knife for an extended time.

If it weren’t for the solid effectiveness of the animation effect, Chen Ze reckoned he’d have to stay up late working for a while longer; otherwise, he wouldn’t even dream of getting all those tentacles prepared.

"Manager~ long time no see~" Sebastian’s deep voice came through, causing Chen Ze, who was just putting down his headscarf, to pause.

"Hey, Sebastian... Riesel?!" Chen Ze said with surprise, seeing Riesel following behind Sebastian. It had indeed been a very long time since he had seen this old friend.

"Manager, it’s been a while. Quickly, give me a serving of firepot," Riesel said with a smile, greeting Chen Ze.

"I want a special recommendation. Manager, please serve me the best dish you have," said Dragone, stepping in. He looked his usual self, except this time he was dressed in form-fitting clothes.

"Mr. Sebastian, Mr. Riesel, Mr. Dragone, please enjoy your meal," Betty said with a broad smile, clearly delighted to see the three, especially Riesel.

"Betty, it’s been a long time," Riesel said warmly, but Chen Ze thought there was something off about Riesel’s expression.

It had a certain vibe of a time management guru, especially with those prominent dark circles.

"Sebastian, what would you like?" Chen Ze didn’t ask directly but inquired about Sebastian’s preference first.

"Hehe, I’ll have the same as Dragone, I’m not picky. Just make sure there’s also some dessert for me," said Sebastian as he took a sip of his cola, then let out a satisfied sigh.

"Alright, you guys wait a bit," Chen Ze nodded, then headed back to the kitchen.

The firepot was easy enough: just add the base ingredients, chop the veggies, and pour in a generous amount of chili oil, and it was all set.

Sebastian glanced over at Riesel playfully, teasing, "Riesel, I’ve heard that there have been frequent earthquakes recently in the Moonlight Forest of the Prime Material Plane."

With a blank expression, Riesel took a sip of his cola to wet his throat, then looked back at his buddy and replied, "It’s all rumors."

Dragone rolled his eyes; he admired Riesel’s composure. If it had been him, he would’ve punched Sebastian in the chest by now and then taught him how to be a dragon.

"But Riesel, are you really okay?" Dragone asked with concern, looking at his good friend. After all, Riesel had set the Dragon Clan’s record for the fastest pregnancy.

"I’m fine, really good, nothing’s wrong," Riesel said, taking another sip of cola.

"Lord Sebastian, what happened?" Betty asked curiously. She wasn’t aware of the lives of the Ancient Dragons, and the Dragon Clan tended to be quite exclusive.

"Hehe, it’s just that in following the divine teachings of the Dragon God, Riesel has made a contribution to our Dragon Clan~" Sebastian said with a mischievous grin.

"Eh?" Betty blinked, the divine teachings of the Dragon God? Had Lord Riesel made a hefty tribute?

"Actually, it’s like, the waterfall dried up, and the pool beneath became even deeper~" Betty instantly understood. With a resigned look, she headed to the kitchen, as Riesel’s gaze towards Sebastian grew even less friendly.

Chen Ze stood in the kitchen, cutting ingredients for the firepot—it was all that was left to do.

"Manager, is there anything I can help with?" Betty poked her head in to ask.

"Then you can help me cut these ingredients, and plate them, and then take them to Riesel along with the hot pot," said Chen Ze without any formalities, directly assigning the task.

Chen Ze then went on to handle the char siu; this time, he planned to prepare a serving of "Sorrowful Rice" for Dragone and Sebastian.

The method of making char siu was not complicated—at least, that was what Chen Ze thought after looking at the recipe. The key issue was that Chen Ze wasn’t sure how much honey was appropriate.

Ingredients are often better the more upscale they are, like top-tier black goldfish caviar, which might not taste as good as your skewers but still sells for a high price.

Take matsutake mushrooms as another example: they only need to be simply grilled to give the most delicious enjoyment.

However, this principle doesn’t usually apply to seasonings, like the pepper and other spices in ancient times that were expensive but indeed good seasonings.

But if you used a whole lot of pepper for grilling meat, all you would get is the taste of money, not a delicious dish.

So, every chef has their own understanding of the right amount of seasoning to use.

And now, Chen Ze was somewhat troubled. If it were ordinary honey, he felt that one spoonful was fine, but this was honey given to him by Stan.

Its flavor was rich and long-lasting; it was top-tier honey, and Chen Ze had never tasted honey as good as this before.

"Then just a small spoonful," Chen Ze finally made up his mind. It was the first trial, and he preferred to err on the side of less. That way, if there were any issues, he could still fix it.

Once the issue with the amount of honey was resolved, Chen Ze’s speed in making honey glazed char siu also increased significantly, and Betty had also taken Riesel’s hot pot out.

"Mr. Riesel, please enjoy your meal," Betty said with a smile, placing the hot pot in front of Riesel. The pungent spicy aroma hit her face, making Betty want to duck and cough.

Riesel smiled and nodded at Betty, then took out a white handkerchief from his chest, wiped his hands, and started to enjoy the food.

Dragone shook his head at Sebastian, whose dark circles under his eyes had also darkened, and wondered how his old friend never understood that trouble comes from the mouth.

Betty, of course, noticed the dark circle under Sebastian’s left eye, but she made no comment and just suppressed her laughter as she returned to the kitchen.

"Hiss...Riesel, you really did have a heavy hand," complained Sebastian, rubbing his eye socket, completely unable to understand why a Golden Dragon’s strength was so great.

"You asked for it," said Riesel as he dropped a plate of enoki mushrooms into the pot, one of his favorite things to eat.

"Tsk, tsk, I thought it was some gender-ambiguous violent dragon that hit you; truly terrifying. Could a flat chest increase attack power?" The moment Sebastian said this, Riesel looked at him with a pitying gaze.

It seemed his good friend had gotten amnesia from his own punch, not even noticing Dragone beside him.

"Sebastian~ I find it necessary to have a chat with you," said Dragone, clenching his fist and standing up.

[You have made an excellent char siu rice, Huaxia cooking experience has increased by 7.5 points]

Chen Ze frowned, why wasn’t it "Sorrowful Rice"?