Upon hearing the notification of a payment received, Ye Jiujiu hurriedly ran outside, but the little chubby boy and his mother were already gone. She quickly found their contact information and sent a message, asking why money had been transferred to her.
Lele's mother insisted she accept it.
Her child had eaten two delicious meals in a row—of course she should pay.
She also thanked Ye Jiujiu again for calling the police the previous day.
Left with no way to refuse, Ye Jiujiu could only accept the money. Seeing the extra amount in her account put her in a good mood—it meant they truly loved her steamed clam and egg dish.
She looked at the empty plates, then turned to the large silver-gray refrigerator in the corner.
"The seafood delivered from the refrigerator tastes amazing. The guests are all satisfied," she muttered.
"What do you think about me opening a specialty seafood private kitchen?"
She answered herself immediately, "I think it's a great idea."
She originally planned to continue her grandmother's business by making simple home-style dishes, but now—with this mysterious refrigerator providing top-tier seafood—why not open a private kitchen focused on seafood?
Just cook whatever the refrigerator delivered.
But… would the refrigerator cooperate?
Ye Jiujiu gently knocked on the fridge door.
"You can deliver seafood every day, right?"
She paused, then added boldly, "Can you deliver more variety each time? Just one type is too monotonous. And the quantity is too small. How about… a hundred jin per type?"
Refrigerator: "..."
Even the donkeys in the production team didn't suffer this much.
"It's settled then!"
Plans fully overturned, she immediately began researching private-kitchen restaurants. Since private kitchens emphasize small but exquisite, she needed to work hard on the environment and dishes.
Cooking wasn't an issue—she loved experimenting with recipes and had learned a lot from working at the seafood restaurant.
Renovating the shop was the real hurdle.
She calculated her remaining money.
After reimbursements, she had a little over 20,000 yuan.
Not enough for major renovations—she could only replace old tables and chairs and add some decorations.
To save money, she contacted a familiar supplier and bought several sets of natural wood long tables at cost price. She only needed to pay a deposit first; the rest could come later.
After they agreed, the supplier sent dozens of pictures. She carefully selected tables while planning how to match decorations to each style.
Once she made her choice, she confirmed delivery and ordered matching tableware—all in stock, arriving the next day.
Next, she braved the scorching afternoon sun to visit the lighting wholesale market for antique-style lamps and wall décor.
Since she couldn't afford real renovations, she focused on tasteful ornamentation.
Afterwards, she rushed to a plant market outside the city and bought several large potted plants—still keeping the overall cost under three thousand yuan.
Even though each decision was carefully budgeted, watching money flow out piece by piece still made debt-ridden Ye Jiujiu's heart ache fiercely.
By the time she returned home, evening had fallen.
She casually cooked a bowl of loofah soup and sat under the pear tree, slowly sipping it.
After a few mouthfuls, she realized it wasn't as sweet as usual. It didn't compare at all to the seafood of the past two days.
Was she spoiled already?
After finishing her soup, the sky darkened. A few stars twinkled, a cool breeze rustled through the branches. She enjoyed the night air for a while, then returned to her room, showered, and went to bed early.
She slept soundly.
---
The next morning
The first thing she did upon waking was rush to the kitchen to check the refrigerator.
Inside, attached to the inner compartment, were several fist-sized mussels and scallops, as well as reddish-brown sea snails with spiral square patches.
Her eyes widened.
"These are… sweet snails?!"
Not the cheap small ones—big, nearly one-pound-each, top-grade wild sweet snails.
In the seafood market, these things could go for tens of yuan per snail—and even more at this size.
"What kind of heaven-defying luck is this?!"
Excited, she plucked each seashell off and tossed it into a basin. She looked even happier than when harvesting seafood at the beach.
Like a money-lover hugging treasure, she shouted, "I'm rich!!!"
After counting, she had:
15 sweet snails
20–30 mussels and scallops
A small handful of clams
Altogether about 30 pounds of seafood.
"You did great today, bro!" She patted the refrigerator proudly. "Excellent work, continue tomorrow."
Refrigerator: "..."
The seafood haul was impressive, but the store wasn't open yet. Without a proper seafood tank at home, she placed the sweet snails, mussels, and scallops into the refrigerator for low-temperature storage, adding a bit of salt water to keep them "comfortable."
The remaining clams went into clean water with a little oil and salt to help them spit sand.
Just as she finished placing everything, a knock sounded at the door.
Ye Jiujiu ran out to the shop.
It was the deliveryman from the lighting store.
"Is this number 99, Pear Blossom Lane?" he asked.
"We're here to install your lights."