Shuangshuang pretended not to hear and continued talking: "We'll definitely need to hire a few more delivery drivers later, but we can have the waiters do it for now, so we don't need to hire any for the time being. However, the waiters sometimes help clear the tables, so it might not be very hygienic for them to go get the skewers."
The second half of the sentence really got the store manager, who was a bit of a germaphobe, completely under control. She immediately agreed with Shuangshuang's idea that the food delivery robots really needed to be separated.
In addition, cashiers are also indispensable. If they are not hired, Ye Xu will either have to count copper and silver coins every day, or spend points to unlock the self-service checkout program.
As for those who go out to solicit customers, there's no need to hire them. The hot pot itself can attract people, and if all else fails, there are always human employees. Ye Xu should find some things for these guys to do, so they don't just take the money and do nothing.
"The cashier's name?" Ye Xu asked eagerly.
Shuangshuang immediately stopped her and quickly came up with a suitable name: "Let's call her Chanjuan! The seasons and solar terms are all related to the moon, so this name has a more consistent style. If one cashier is too busy, we can hire another one named Chaoxi."
"I love the tides," the gesticulating shop manager declared in an important speech.
"Then let's call the first one 'Tide'."
They've only hired one employee so far, and they really don't know why they need to decide on a name now. Shuangshuang felt exhausted, but thinking that she had at least stopped the store manager from coming up with a random name made her feel much better.
Ye Xu had used up all her employee coupons and had no more reason to cause trouble. She glanced reluctantly at the dishwasher, then steeled herself and exited the app.
After closing the window, Ye Xu remembered that he hadn't checked out the modern world yet. Even if he couldn't afford to hire someone, taking a look wouldn't cost anything, so he might as well try his luck.
Besides, what does it matter if I'm not in the modern world right now? I'll open a new store in the modern world sooner or later. When that happens, I can hire those employees with just one coupon, right? Ye Xu thought that if he could draw a good card, he could hire them directly when he changed worlds. That would save him so much trouble.
So I reopened the hiring interface, opened the selection box, selected "Modern", and as usual, washed my hands before clicking OK.
Ye Xu washed his hands four times to process the three cards. Whether it was due to his lucky bloodline or the magic of handwashing, the final result surprised the two of them. The first two cards were gray-bordered N cards, while the last one had a gold border that they had never seen before.
Ye Xu gasped, grabbed Shuangshuang, and asked, "Is the gold one an SSR or a UR?"
Shuangshuang struggled to break free from the shopkeeper's grasp and landed on the faucet. She tenderly touched her little wings but didn't answer.
Ye Xu didn't need her answer; he could simply click on the gold card's description to find out.
"UR Suspense Writer Jiang Yuexuan"
Dimension: Modern;
Rarity: UR grade;
Salary: 10,000 points per month + 10,000 Chinese Yuan per month (equivalent in other currencies can be used for payment);
Additional information: Basic services are provided at the base salary. Requests for additional assistance must be negotiated with the individual, and compensation will be increased at the discretion of the staff. This additional information has the air of a big shot; it's clear the other party is no ordinary person. Ye Xu patted his heart, trying to calm it down and not get so excited about seeing a top-tier card.
Although she didn't quite understand why a hot pot restaurant owner would need a mystery writer as an employee, anyone with half a brain knew that the system's decision to assign this powerful figure a UR rarity meant she must possess extraordinary abilities. Even if the current hot pot restaurant couldn't utilize her, she could provide significant assistance when opening other shops in other dimensions in the future.
In short, hiring her is a great deal.
Ye Xu's hands were itching to act, but his heart was filled with sorrow. Employee coupons were so expensive; why was the system so stingy?
"Manager, stop looking, it's not yours anyway." Shuangshuang swung her short legs leisurely. "Let's focus on leveling up and accumulating coupons."
Yes, upgrade!
Ye Xu suddenly realized that leveling up would give him free employee coupons. Since the business was still in its early stages, achievement tasks were particularly easy to complete; he needed to find a way to get more employee coupons.
Ms. Jiang from UR doesn't expect to hire them right now; she can wait until she returns to the modern world. But robot employees, of course, are always better the more the better.
The SR-level vegetable cutter's resume says he's worth five people, so there's no need to buy another vegetable cutter in the short term. The saved coupons can be used to buy a dishwasher.
It's time to free the manager from the kitchen! There are still over twenty plates, two pots, a dozen bowls, and a bunch of chopsticks and spoons waiting to be washed!
Chapter 8 Adding Orders
Ye Xu first opened the achievements section, intending to see what easy tasks were available.
Most tasks involve unlocking a product with points, which in turn earns experience points. So, if you want to collect employee coupons, you'll have to spend some money.
With no money to spare, Ye Xu had to be careful with his spending and dared not squander it. The few points from the gift pack were practically worthless; they would be gone in no time after buying just a few things.
To gain experience, Ye Xu painstakingly unlocked a few things, making Shuangshuang want to advise him to just take out a loan. "No need," she said, "it's really not necessary. Letting the system earn a little interest is fine."
However, the self-reliant store manager was very capable and managed to achieve his goal without relying on the system, quickly obtaining the second upgrade gift pack.
Ye Xu washed his hands at the nearby sink before using the three food vouchers. It seemed a bit wasteful of water, but thankfully Shuangshuang wasn't an environmentalist and wouldn't scold him.
This time, the ingredient voucher included enoki mushrooms, tempura, and onions. The rest were fine, and they were actually quite good for hot pot, but the onions…
"Isn't it weird to cook onions in hot pot?" Ye Xu asked with a complicated expression.
Shuangshuang rested her chin on her hands: "It's alright. There are onions in Mala Xiangguo too. Aren't they all made with hot pot broth?"
Thinking about it that way, it makes sense. Besides, Westerners often eat onions, and the natives of Transylvania are no exception. Perhaps onions will become a very popular hot pot ingredient.
Thinking about this, Ye Xu couldn't help but feel fortunate. Luckily, he hired a vegetable-cutting robot; otherwise, who could stand chopping piles and piles of onions? He had decided that he would never go into the kitchen unless absolutely necessary.
There's one employee voucher left, but unfortunately I didn't get the intelligent creature voucher before. Ye Xu is quite curious about how intelligent creatures are better than robots.
Shuangshuang tilted her head: "You can refresh the card if you're not satisfied, it costs 10 points each time."
Ye Xu knew this; he'd noticed it when he was randomly clicking around, and as soon as he saw it required points, he'd immediately close the window. Let him spend money to gamble on luck? Absolutely not!
"But unless you decide on all three cards, the card pool won't refresh automatically. You're not planning to buy that dishwashing part, are you? Then without spending points, you'll never get any new cards."
Ye Xu was about to curse. The day wasn't even over yet, and the system had already inflicted a lot of mental damage on him. But no matter how much he cursed, the system was unaffected, and in the end, he was the one who had to give in.
"It's only 10 points." Ye Xu had to admit he was being hypocritical. "It's not like I can't afford it."
He then selected the dishwasher from the interface and clicked the refresh button. 10 points were deducted, and the cards were dealt anew.
Before flipping the card, Ye Xu claimed the task rewards in the achievement section, and then unexpectedly discovered that he was just a little short of leveling up again with enough experience points.
Ye Xu had a vague feeling that something was wrong. Why did this endless cycle of trying to reach the minimum order amount seem to never end? Every time, he was just a little short, which made him unable to resist buying more and more.
Ye Xu felt like he was trying to reach the minimum spending requirement for Singles' Day discounts, but the upgrade gift pack was really tempting, and the reward points he received were likely to be more than what he spent to reach the minimum spending requirement.
This was a blatant conspiracy, and Ye Xu knew he had to fall into the trap anyway, because the employee coupons were really tempting. But he didn't have any money, so he could only continue to scrimp and save, until Shuangshuang finally couldn't help but blurt it out this time.
"Manager, one shouldn't be too stingy."
Ye Xu pretended not to hear and unlocked the most suitable items with the least amount of money. Looking back at the unlocked list, it was small but excellent, absolutely perfect.
Holding the employee coupon back in his hand, Ye Xu declared boldly, "I'm going to draw an SSR!"
However, no SSRs were released; only three Rs were obtained.
Ye Xu wavered between hiring directly and refreshing the draw. He didn't know how much luck he had left for the day, and whether he should take a gamble and refresh. After all, he had already used up all his luck by getting a UR.
However, hiring an R-level robot without refreshing the page feels like a waste; Ye Xu wants an SR-level one.
"I shouldn't have rushed to hire that R-level dishwasher," Ye Xu said with some regret. "At worst, I could have spent a few dozen more points to refresh the server. What if I had gotten an SR-level dishwasher?"
Shuangshuang chose to remain silent.
"Forget it, I'll just try again after midnight. There aren't many hours left anyway." My luck stat might be full after midnight.
Shuangshuang had never heard of such a saying: "You humans have so many different kinds of luck and metaphysics."
"Thank you for the compliment, but this is just a personal whimsical idea of mine," Ye Xu said modestly.
"If we're not going to draw cards, what's next? Shouldn't we take a break?" Shuangshuang asked.
The new dishwasher was already efficiently clearing the dishes; there didn't seem to be anything else to do in the shop. If it was just a break, it was only a little before eight o'clock, which seemed a bit early.
More importantly, Ye Xu hadn't adjusted to the time difference yet. He had just woken up and eaten breakfast and wasn't sleepy at all, but it was already completely dark outside. He needed to adjust his sleep schedule to fit the current world as soon as possible.
Ye Xu indeed disagreed with Shuangshuang's suggestion, but he gave a different reason for refusing: "It's only 8 p.m. now. What hot pot restaurant closes at 8 p.m. Anyway, I have enough savings to buy the equipment. Why not take advantage of the fact that there aren't many people at night to try it out and see if there are any other shortcomings, and also earn some more points to prepare for tomorrow's tough battle."
Despite numerous unexpected setbacks, Ye Xu remained true to his original intention: to buy the machines. The sterilizer and the skewer machine together cost 1000 points, and with his current savings of 2800, that was enough.
"But, aren't we going to build a charging station?" Shuangshuang was a little anxious, as buying two machines wouldn't be enough to build a charging station.
Ye Xu helplessly shrugged: "Let's deal with it tomorrow. We really need to buy these two right away. We also need to unlock the tableware. Only after unlocking the tableware can we buy the tableware we need. We only have two pots so far!"
If Ye Xu hadn't mentioned it, Shuangshuang would have truly forgotten about the tableware. She let out an "Ah," and deflated.
The newly opened store really has nothing. The system is too much; it's just trying to force the store manager to take out a loan. It's infuriating! The store manager won't fall for it; they'll discuss and solve any difficulties together.
“Then let’s buy the machine and tableware,” Shuangshuang said firmly. “I’ll calculate how much tableware you need.”
Chapter 9 Activities
It's hard to control the quantity of dishes to buy, since we don't know how many customers will be tomorrow. Fortunately, there's no rush; if we buy too few, we can just buy more tomorrow.
In short, you can buy less, but you can't buy more, because buying more would be a waste of money. Every penny must be spent wisely at the beginning of the business, and Ye Xu wished he could split his points in half to spend.
After buying the necessities, there was still a little change left, which was just enough to unlock the self-checkout function. Counting coins is really a pain; it's okay when there are few customers, but when there are many, it's impossible to count them all, so this function is quite necessary.
After unlocking the self-checkout, guests can simply place their coins into the small drawer at the dining table, and a program will automatically count and record the amount. If a guest underpays, they will be stopped at the glass door before leaving and must pay the outstanding amount before leaving.
"Money really doesn't last long," Ye Xu remarked, putting away the system panel and turning to leave the kitchen.
Shuangshuang flew out and saw the store manager standing in the lobby, seemingly deep in thought.
"Manager?" she called out.
Ye Xu turned around and looked over: "I'm thinking about attracting customers."
It snowed heavily outside in the evening, but it has stopped by now. After the snow stopped, people started to come out one after another, and a large portion of them must have been stuck at home because they hadn't had dinner yet. So, setting up a hot pot table at the door and letting the aroma waft out should attract quite a few customers.
However, after walking around the shop, Ye Xu quickly realized that the tables in the main hall couldn't be moved outside. If he wanted to set up a pot at the entrance, it seemed he would have to make do with chairs.
Ye Xu was looking for a suitable spot to place the item, making sure it wouldn't obstruct guests' entry and exit. The glare from the glass was slightly obstructing his view, making it difficult to see the entrance clearly, so he had to open the glass door and peek out to check.
As soon as the door opened a crack, Ye Xu immediately abandoned his previous naive ideas.
It's too cold outside; the boiling soup will cool down quickly, and the aroma won't linger for long. The only solution is to move the heater outside and keep it boiling continuously. But the heater is attached to the table and can't be removed.
"This won't work, that won't work either," Ye Xu couldn't help but frown. Shuangshuang thought the shop manager was about to give up and was about to say a few words of comfort when she saw the shop manager simply open the glass door.
"Huh? What's going on here?" Shuangshuang was startled by the cold wind blowing in and quickly hid inside.
Ye Xu walked to the table and put on the jacket he had taken off earlier because it was too hot while eating hot pot. Thanks to the constantly running heating and air conditioning, the restaurant was still very warm even with the doors open. Ye Xu waited quietly for a moment, making sure the lobby wasn't affected by the cold, and nodded in satisfaction.
"Since we can't move the table out, let's just cook it in the restaurant."
The system provided a total of nine initial dining tables, arranged in a 3x3 grid in the store, so there was exactly one table in the center near the entrance. Without the excellent sealing of the glass door, cooking hot pot at that table would perfectly meet Ye Xu's expectations.
Today he earned over 700 copper coins, and after deducting costs, he still had a profit of several hundred. Copper coins were too easy to earn, and the system didn't accept them, so Ye Xu didn't feel much pressure. He planned to hold a free hot soup giveaway event.
Shuangshuang quickly understood what the manager meant: to cook hot pot broth and then give each passerby a small bowl of soup. While they claimed it was to offer warmth and let people drink some soup to warm themselves, their real intention was to get people to try the food. Even if only one customer came in, they would still make a profit.