Clearly, this customer was short on cash and couldn't easily buy another jar. This was also a problem that had been bothering Ye Xu; not many people carried containers with them, and many customers weren't adventurers and couldn't afford storage rings.
"How about this?" Ye Xu pondered for a moment, "You can go back and get the container first and then come back to buy it, or you can pay some copper coins as a deposit for the jar and return it later. If you think the soup in the shop tastes good, you can bring the jar directly to buy it next time, and you won't need to rent a jar again. When you don't want to buy it anymore, you can return the jar and get your deposit back."
The customer paused for a moment, processing the meaning of the words, and then nodded repeatedly: "No need to rent, no need to rent, I'll go back and get the container. It's just..." He looked around and hesitated a bit: "I've been in line for a long time."
He worried that if he left and came back, he would have to queue up again, wasting a lot of time.
Ye Xu assured him, "You placed your order first. When you come back later, just come find me directly. You don't need to queue anymore."
Hearing this, the customer felt relieved and quickly left the shop to go home and get a container. He planned to compare it with Ye Xu's jar and choose one that was about the same size, so that he wouldn't run out of space.
With the first one secured, a second one naturally followed. Ye Xu took some time to go back and inquire about Shuangshuang's situation, checking if they had managed to collect enough money to hire a waiter.
"Don't worry, manager." Shuangshuang pointed to the new robot, "The waiters are already in place."
Ye Xu was satisfied: "Then have them take some time to put more base material into the packaging machine, I need it later."
Before the customers who went back to get their containers arrived, Ye Xu sold a lot more base ingredients, successfully reducing the number of people in the waiting area by more than half. When those people returned, Ye Xu used a backpack to carry the containers into the kitchen to bottle them, and then brought them back to the customers.
This task couldn't be given to robots; they don't have backpacks and can't carry many containers at once. Even using a small cart would be inconvenient due to the various steps and thresholds, so Ye Xu had to brave the cold wind to go back and forth.
Because the backpack has too few compartments, you can't carry many jars in one trip. The jars provided by the guests are all different styles, so they can't be stacked at all.
After making two trips, Ye Xu felt this couldn't go on. Checking his points balance and confirming he had enough money, he went to the mall and bought a portable mini air conditioner. It was supposedly some kind of high-tech product, a small necklace-style item worn around the neck, designed to regulate the surrounding temperature.
After buying the air conditioner, I opened a few more compartments in my backpack. When you're tired, you should prioritize taking care of yourself; money is just an external thing.
"Good job, store manager." Shuangshuang offered a few words of encouragement, trying to motivate the manager to work even harder. "Keep it up!"
Ye Xu glanced at her but said nothing. Before binding with the system, she was a workaholic, always busy. Even after binding with the system, she's still like this. When will she ever be able to retire?
As new customers kept joining the queue, Ye Xu was constantly busy delivering pottery jars. After a while, Shuangshuang started to feel sorry for the shop manager and suggested that Ye Xu could call Tangtang down to help.
Tangtang usually plays by herself on the fifth floor when the store is open, and she's quite lonely with no one to keep her company. But there's nothing we can do; she's too big, and she gets in the way if she stays in the store.
"Can't Tangtang do it?" Ye Xu wondered. "How is it going to carry me from the door to the kitchen?"
The passageway is barely wide enough for a person to pass through; if a waiter or customer blocks the way, it becomes impossible to walk.
"We can put the sealing machine at the store entrance," Shuangshuang said.
The upgraded machine has unlocked some functions. For example, the base ingredients no longer need to be removed. You can just throw them in with the packaging on, and it will automatically remove the packaging, filter out the residue, and then recycle those things back to the system, leaving only the pure broth.
This makes it much easier for the waiters to deliver the base ingredients; they can simply wrap them in a cloth so no one can see what's inside and toss them into the inlet without the customers' knowledge. Shuangshuang thinks this machine is very useful and is already considering whether to buy a machine specifically for filtering and heating the base ingredients.
"Go ahead and buy it." Ye Xu didn't care much about it; as long as it helped the business, he was willing to back down.
After placing the sealing machine at the shop entrance using his backpack, Ye Xu saved a lot of effort, no longer needing to traverse the entire shop to enter the kitchen. Tangtang was also called down, and the appearance of the giant jelly caused a slight commotion.
Slimes are common creatures in Western fantasy, but it's rare to see someone keep a large slime as a pet or even a mount. The enormous slime struggled to squeeze out of the passageway, took a couple of steps, seemed a little angry, and suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" Ye Xu quickly took some candy and went to coax the big cutie.
Tangtang looked at Ye Xu with a wronged expression and twisted her body: "Chirp."
Tangtang was too big, and Ye Xu couldn't solve this problem for it. He could only advise it to be patient and wait until it got outside. Tangtang squeaked again, then suddenly took a deep breath and began to shrink back into itself.
Soon, the cone, which was 2 meters in diameter, shrank to 1.5 meters, and its originally uniform shape became much longer and thinner. Now it could finally pass through the passage easily. Tangtang chirped proudly twice, her whole body filled with the joy of "Come praise me!"
"Tangtang is great," Ye Xu praised readily.
She had just finished praising him when Big Jelly picked her up and ran to the door in one breath. It wasn't very convenient to operate the machine while sitting on Tangtang's lap, so Ye Xu had to get down to do it. After that, she was picked up again and taken to the waiting area where she had to get down and sell things.
It was a bit of a hassle, but it saved me even a few steps, so it was totally worth it. Aren't mounts meant for transportation? It would be a waste to have a mount that hasn't been used after all this time.
Ye Xu happily strolled back and forth between the three shops until—
"Hey boss, if you have slimes, why are you running around yourself?" The group of mages who came back that night couldn't stand it anymore. The female mage in the lead gave him a piece of her mind, "Slimes are such a good means of transportation. Why don't you have them transport things for you? You can even transport more at once."
They didn't question why Ye Xu's storage space was so small, only able to hold these small ceramic jars. In reality, adventurers on the Transi Continent could generally only afford small storage rings; larger ones weren't just a matter of having money, but also required hiring an alchemy master to craft them.
Ye Xu didn't understand what the mage was saying, so he humbly asked, "How does a slime transport things? It doesn't seem to have a personal storage space, does it?"
A note from the author:
Why is it that some authors can write an entire article without a single typo? My eyes are practically going blind from looking so closely, yet there are still some that slip through the net?
Chapter 18 Breakfast
The mage was speechless: "It wasn't a personal space! Only grand mages specializing in spatial manipulation possess such things!"
Ye Xu coughed lightly. He was new to the Western fantasy world and didn't know many common facts.
Fearing that Ye Xu might say something strange again, the mage quickly taught him the method: "I once met a summoner who would have his slimes wrap around items to help transport them. For small jars like yours, transporting dozens or even hundreds at a time is no problem."
Referring to hot pot base from later generations, a 150-gram serving is enough for 2 to 3 people for one meal, and a 400-gram serving is even more suitable for the whole family. Ye Xu's serving is generous, containing 500 grams, which can last a long time if used sparingly.
However, 500 grams isn't a lot; it's about the volume of two bottles of pure milk. Looking at Tangtang after she returned to her original size, it seems she can actually fit quite a lot inside.
"Slime is easy to transport, as long as the total volume and weight are not too large."
Ye Xu nodded after listening: "Thank you, I'll have Tangtang try it."
Worried about accidentally breaking someone's jar, Ye Xu asked Tangtang to bring over some pre-packaged clay pottery from the shop. These pottery pots didn't have the same anti-breakage features as other items, and since they were meant to be sold, they couldn't be too exaggerated and arouse suspicion. Fortunately, if their own jars broke, it wouldn't cause any disputes.
In no time, Tangtang arrived carrying a hundred jars, several times more efficient than Ye Xu in terms of transport efficiency. Ye Xu's eyes lit up instantly, and he decided to entrust the task of running back and forth to Tangtang.
There are staff members inside the shop helping to operate the machines; Tangtang only needs to load and unload the goods. The neighbor who owned the jars we brought, having already received payment, helped us stack them up nearby so those who want to buy can come and line up.
The neighbor's shop owner volunteered to take over the delivery job. Ye Xu was in charge of collecting money, and customers would go to the shop owner to pick up their jars. If they brought their own jars, they would wait a while at the shop owner's place until they had collected a certain number, then hand them over to Tangtang. Once Tangtang brought them back, Ye Xu would help distribute them.
Ye Xu felt he hadn't paid his boss enough; the boss had done a lot of work. Since the system hadn't stopped him from hiring people and hiring places outside this time, he decided to give his boss more money, as if it were a pre-deposit.
If he needs the other party's help again next time, and the system doesn't allow currency transactions, he can get the other party to help without spending money. Even if he doesn't need to bother the boss anymore, a close neighbor is worse than a distant relative, and there's no need to be stingy with this little bit of money; Ye Xu doesn't need that many copper coins anyway.
Even with two more waiters and Tangtang's three capable assistants helping out, the store was still incredibly busy, both inside and out. As night fell, the store's points accumulated faster and faster, leaving them with even less time to rest.
Many customers, worried about safety walking outside after dark, voluntarily sped up their eating, which significantly increased the number of customers the restaurant could serve each hour. Previously, many people deliberately slowed down their eating just to enjoy the warmth of the heating for a little longer.
Finally, midnight arrived, and it was time to close the shop. Even though customers were still waiting outside, Ye Xu decided to shut down. The current number of robots couldn't support 24-hour operation; they needed to be charged, otherwise it would affect tomorrow's business.
Ye Xu had the foresight to tell new customers half an hour in advance that they would no longer accept queues, so there weren't many customers left. Seeing that the hot pot restaurant was really about to close, they reluctantly bought their soup base and left.
Because Ye Xu had specially sold off the unsold ingredients to them at a low price, these people naturally felt embarrassed to complain anymore. When they got home and did the math, they found they had saved a lot of money, and they were actually quite happy, wondering if they should still try to queue up near closing time tomorrow.
Ye Xu checked that the robots still had the capacity to tidy up the shop, and there was enough time left for them to recharge, so he simply went upstairs to rest without staying to help. He returned to his dormitory on the 5th floor to tally up the day's earnings and found that the income had exceeded one hundred thousand yuan, far surpassing his expectations.
However, when the store manager tallied up the day's expenses and saw that the points balance had been squandered down to a pitiful few thousand points, his face instantly turned green: "What did you buy?"
The system notified him that he still had dozens of renovation opportunities and dozens of machine vouchers to use, but Ye Xu had no idea what these two things were.
"Oh, the renovation opportunity is just buying renovation attempts with money first. One machine voucher can be exchanged for a machine worth 500 points." Shuangshuang explained nonchalantly, "Didn't we say we should combine orders? Both renovation and machine have corresponding cumulative tasks, up to 100. After completing them, you get 20 experience points each. It's not a bad deal. It's much cheaper than directly buying employee vouchers with real money."
Ye Xu: "..."
Ye Xu seemed to see his former classmates who had been tricked into buying membership cards and topping up their accounts at hair salons and karaoke bars. But the money was already spent and couldn't be taken back, so he could only console himself that he would need those things sooner or later.
The only consolation is that the level 10 and above gift packs can give you 2 employee coupons at once. Looking at the price of buying coupons with real money and then at the money that Shuangshuang spent, it is still much more cost-effective.
Having already spent all her money, Ye Xu decided to accept reality: "Since we have a chance to renovate, let's make the place better."
On the bright side, 2000 points could be used to expand an apartment by one room. In first-tier cities, a single room can sell for hundreds of thousands of yuan, so 2000 points would be a huge profit. After considering the housing prices, Ye Xu felt confident that he could do it again.
Taking advantage of his remaining attempts, Ye Xu expanded the house he had always dreamed of, adding a game room and a home theater. After finishing, a sense of satisfaction welled up inside him. He couldn't afford such a large house even if he worked his whole life, and yet, after only a few days of being bound to the system, his dream had come true.
"Shuangshuang, how about we expand your treehouse a bit more?" Ye Xu asked.
Shuangshuang shook her head: "My treehouse is already very spacious."
Ye Xu strongly disagreed, asking, "Where is the spaciousness in such a small place?"
Since Tangtang didn't have a place to stay, Ye Xu simply unlocked the Pet Paradise and then went inside to create a private space for each of them. He also let them pick out some decorations from the store to display there.
With the accommodation sorted out, all that's left is to expand the shop. The shop is still too small for our needs; we need to find a solution.
Adding another floor to the lobby was definitely not feasible at the moment. Adding tables on the same floor would allow staff to keep an eye on each other, but adding tables on different floors would be inconvenient and leave them short-staffed. So, in the end, Ye Xu expanded the area of both floors considerably.
Previously, in order to complete the task, Shuangshuang had even taken the liberty of opening a small private room, thereby unlocking the private room function. However, after thinking it over, Ye Xu decided not to open the private rooms. What he wanted was points; the more people there were, the more points he would get. Private rooms took up too much space, but the number of guests they could accommodate was limited, so it was not worth it.
Others open private rooms to earn currency, but Ye Xu doesn't need currency. The rooms that are already built can only be left there for now, serving as temporary staff rest areas.
"Since I don't book a private room, I should be able to use the floors reserved for private rooms whenever I want, right?" Ye Xu asked.
Shuangshuang nodded, puzzled. "What does the shop manager mean?"
"I don't want to add another floor to the private rooms. Let's just keep using them as they are."
Shuangshuang: "..." This is really not an unexpected answer at all.
Ye Xu, however, felt incredibly clever, saving 10,000 points on floor construction costs in one go. Shuangshuang, on the other hand, was just too frugal; she couldn't afford to waste money during the shop's expansion phase.
Shuangshuang: Beautiful girl speechless.jpg;
Before drowsiness set in, Ye Xu quickly made plans for tomorrow's business operations.
The main issue is personnel adjustments. There are too few people in the store, so we need to be very careful with budgeting. Otherwise, there will be situations where some people are very busy while others are very idle, which is very unfavorable for the manager, Scrooge, to exploit the surplus labor of the robots.
For some positions, it's simply impossible to alleviate the pressure through work allocation. That's when machines come in handy. By purchasing a dishwasher with a voucher and then upgrading it to increase its capacity, we can ensure that a large number of dishes can be washed at once, finally solving these problems.
In addition, the layout of the lobby and kitchen also needed to be adjusted, as the current layout had many inconveniences. Ye Xu already had a plan in mind, and the revisions didn't take much time.
A new staircase and waiting area were added, so there's now a staff staircase, and customers can sit inside and enjoy the warm air while waiting for their number to be called. Of course, the main reason for creating the waiting area was that Ye Xu himself didn't want to stay outside any longer.
"So many modifications, can it really all be done in one night?" After finishing, Ye Xu couldn't help but complain, "Won't the customers get suspicious?"
Shuangshuang said with a serious expression, "The magical world, you know what I mean."
Ye Xu didn't understand; he felt that magic couldn't explain it.
"Ahem." Shuangshuang had no choice but to tell the truth, "The shop has a special buff that makes the natives ignore the unreasonable parts. Otherwise, with your black hair and black eyes, you would have been seen as a strange sight by people long ago."
There are no native Easterners in this plane. If it were just hair color, that would be one thing; perhaps one could find someone similar. However, his facial features are different. Ye Xu is absolutely unique and will definitely cause a sensation.
Ye Xu touched his face: "This buff won't cost extra, will it?"
The store manager's focus was as down-to-earth as ever. Shuangshuang shook her head wearily, indicating that she wouldn't charge any money and that all the features were free.
Even with its own little nest, Tangtang still didn't want to live there. It reluctantly said goodbye to Yexu and went inside to rest, looking rather sullen.
Ye Xu got up early the next morning and went downstairs to take a walk around the first and second floors. While walking around, he discovered a problem: with so many more tables, it seemed like there weren't enough pots.
Last night I was so focused on the renovations that I forgot the details. I guess I was too busy all day and my brain wasn't clear, so I'm making sure to catch up before the store opens.
Looking at the tables and chairs, Shuangshuang suddenly had a new idea: "Manager, why don't we change the four-person tables to two-person tables?"