Chapter One: Midlife Revelations and Culinary Discoveries
Summer evening.
Seaside City, Boss Xie’s Seafood Shop.
A father and daughter stood in front of a bubbling glass tank, watching intently for half an hour.
Suddenly, the Boston lobster resting at the bottom of the tank lifted its claw and snapped it toward the girl.
Feeling safe in her father's arms, the girl refused to be outdone. Her little face turned determined, and she waved her fingers at the lobster.
She declared loudly, “Pinch you, pinch you, pinch you!”
Chen Zhou smiled knowingly and, holding his daughter, pretended to charge at the lobster.
Seeing the lobster coming closer step by step, the little girl immediately surrendered, turning her head to Chen Zhou and hugging his neck tightly.
Realizing it was her father's mischief, she asked, “Daddy, why isn’t this shrimp red?”
“It turns red when it’s cooked.”
“Slurp~”
Of course, not everyone found this scene of fatherly affection and filial devotion so heartwarming and cute.
Especially Boss Xie, the seafood shop owner with a protruding beer belly and wearing a purple polo shirt.
He stood with hands on hips, muttering internally, ‘Do they think this is an aquarium? Didn’t even buy tickets.’
Boss Xie had sold hundreds of lobsters, never had a customer spend half an hour just to pick one.
Sensing the owner's slightly displeased gaze, Chen Zhou felt the need to say something:
“Boss, if the lobster dies, will you give a discount?”
Brother, you’re a father yourself, so speak steadily… Boss Xie insisted, “My lobsters are alive and well. Two and a half pounds, two hundred ninety-eight yuan, no discount.”
He knocked on the tank as he spoke.
Just then, a burst of crackling blue light rippled through the tank.
“Oh, damn!”
Boss Xie remained unharmed, though the commotion was considerable.
As everyone regained their composure, a burnt wire smell lingered in the air.
Turning back to the tank—
The Boston lobster, gleaming with freshness, flipped over from the bottom.
The once arrogant lobster was now clearly lifeless.
Little Chen Taotao, a kindergarten child, scratched her head and said, “Daddy, it’s dead.”
Chen Zhou gently pulled back his daughter's pale arm and explained, “It’s not Daddy who died, it’s the lobster.”
“Oh!”
The seafood shop owner wasn’t in the mood for playful banter. He rushed to yank out all the sockets, attempting damage control. He looked at the lobster as if it were an old friend.
Chen Zhou reminded him, “Could the aerator have leaked electricity? You might want to check.”
Boss Xie took apart the aerator, and sure enough, the wiring had aged and caused the issue.
He turned to Chen Zhou with newfound respect for his professional acumen: “You’re quite sharp, are you an electrician?”
Chen Zhou smiled, “Worked as one for a while.”
He pointed at the lobster. “Will you sell this dead one?”
“Sell, sell. Take it for half price. You two are lucky—no difference from fresh. You saw it yourself, I never cheat customers. Wouldn’t sell a dead one as alive…”
Chen Zhou had no idea what the boss was defending.
Nor did he realize the boss initially pegged him as a penniless guy who couldn’t afford Boston lobster.
Truth be told,
Given his financial situation, even a half-price lobster was a luxury.
Thirty years old, with parents to care for and a child below.
A mortgage in the middle.
He and his wife were ordinary wage earners, making just enough each month to get by.
But today, Chen Zhou didn’t hesitate to take advantage of the deal on the freshly dead lobster.
His daughter’s happiness came first.
The little girl carried the two-pound lobster herself, grinning and refusing to let go.
More importantly, Chen Zhou now possessed a gourmet intelligence system.
[Urban Secrets (Rare)]: The recipe for a state banquet chef’s buns is tucked inside a second-hand book, “Practical Tractor Maintenance Guide,” currently for sale at the northwest corner bookstall.
[Ingredient Bulletin]: The Boston lobster at Boss Xie’s seafood shop will die unexpectedly this evening due to an aerator malfunction.
[Customer Insight]: Chen Taotao dislikes the skin on scrambled eggs with tomato.
[Market News]: Food blogger Teacher Li will soon terminate his contract with his MCN company and revert to an independent status.
[Intel updates in 4 days; accumulating positive ratings from diners can upgrade the intelligence system]
[Current system level lv1 (0/200)]
When Chen Zhou woke up this morning and first noticed these lines of text in his mind, he was a bit alarmed.
He even wondered if he was losing his grip on reality.
After all, no matter how many novels he’d read,
A middle-aged man couldn’t possibly take such fantasies seriously.
But when he found a yellowed recipe inside the tractor maintenance book he bought on his commute,
And the seafood shop’s lobster really died unexpectedly,
Both [Urban Secrets] and [Ingredient Bulletin] were proven true.
He now believed the intelligence system was real.
And Chen Zhou’s initial doubt had turned into excitement.
Buying this lobster was almost inevitable.
“Daddy, put my helmet on.”
Taotao’s request snapped Chen Zhou out of his thoughts.
He took a pink small-sized helmet from the basket of his electric scooter and fastened it on his daughter’s head.
The little girl had a strong sense of safety but couldn’t free her hands.
She lifted her face and pleaded again, “Please buckle it for me, Daddy.”
Father and daughter got on the scooter and headed home.
Luckily, the sun was almost down, so the seat wasn’t too hot.
‘Should get a car for more comfortable school runs.’
‘Could I just get some cash?’
With this intelligence system, Chen Zhou began to imagine ways to improve his family’s life.
For now, most intel was related to food.
Recipes went without saying, the lobster was already in hand.
The market news about the food blogger matched online rumors—he’d stopped updating for a while, likely due to a contract dispute with his MCN company, and the gossip seemed accurate.
As for Taotao’s dislike for tomato skins,
Chen Zhou understood, but asking directly might not yield a real answer.
He still remembered asking his daughter why she didn’t want to go to kindergarten; every suggestion he made, she would echo.
Considering that Taotao’s intel was labeled Customer Insight and good reviews would upgrade the system,
Chen Zhou thought opening a small restaurant might be more efficient.
With the rare recipe for buns, now was the time to try.
Especially since his current company wasn’t doing well—only basic wages of two or three thousand yuan, the main performance bonus hadn’t come through in over half a year.
This couldn’t go on.
...
The electric scooter rolled steadily into the neighborhood, the familiar outline of home emerging in the twilight.
The distant chirping of cicadas and the aroma of meals drifting from households made Taotao drowsy.
Chen Zhou lifted his daughter down, noticing she was staring intently in another direction.
“What are you looking at, Taotao?”
Taotao perked up and shouted, “It’s Mommy!”