Ye Xu said seriously, "You must give me an SR robot with the last employee coupon for today."
Shuangshuang flew over and landed on Ye Xu's shoulder: "Keep it up, try to get another waiter!"
After experiencing the second wave of customers, Shuangshuang now feels that no targeted robot is as useful as a waiter. Waiters can perform multiple tasks, and they can handle almost anything except for highly specialized jobs like chopping vegetables.
Ye Xu thought so too, so he went to the small bathroom in the studio apartment to wash his hands.
Ye Xu suspected that the reason he had taken out his pet earlier was because he hadn't washed his hands.
A note from the author:
Tangtang: Shall I leave?
Chapter 13 Battle of Wits
Perhaps the magic of handwashing really does work wonders; after just one refresh, Ye Xu got the SR waiter he wanted. He hired the robot, used the food vouchers he had, stretched, and prepared to go to sleep.
"That's all for today. We'll open at 10 a.m. tomorrow, but we'd better get up early, how about 7:30? Seven hours of sleep should be enough." The devilish shopkeeper felt a little hungry, so he ate most of the plate of watermelon that the vegetable cutter had brought over in one go.
Shuangshuang slumped into the sofa: "Can't I sleep in on such a cold day?"
"The shop has heating, so it's not cold when you get out of bed." Ye Xu remained unmoved. "Why don't you sleep until eight o'clock? I'm getting up at seven-thirty anyway."
Shuangshuang had always thought that humans loved being lazy and unambitious, but she never expected to encounter such a diligent shop manager. She sighed painfully and shook her head in refusal.
"Let's do it at 7:30. How can the assistant let the store manager get up early alone?"
Seeing this, Ye Xu couldn't help but laugh: "Don't worry, it'll only be tomorrow. There's still one problem that hasn't been solved today, but it's too late, and I can't stay up any longer, so I need to get up early tomorrow to figure out a solution. I won't need to do that after this. Actually, I quite like sleeping in a little longer."
Shuangshuang couldn't recall any problems that needed to be solved in the store, but the store manager had already gone inside to sleep, so she couldn't go after him to ask. She could only fly back to the treehouse with a head full of questions.
Big Jelly Candy didn't stay obediently in the living room. It didn't want to let go of Ye Xu, and seeing that Ye Xu insisted on going downstairs, it followed closely behind. When Ye Xu tried to close the door, he found that it wouldn't close, and that's when he saw that Candy had already squeezed half of its body in.
"Why are you so clingy?" Ye Xu patted it helplessly. "I'm going to sleep."
Tangtang stretched out her little tentacles for a hug: "Chirp!"
It means that Ye Xu should come into its arms, and it will hold her to sleep and even make a rocking chair.
"No, I like to roll around all over the bed when I sleep, you're too small for me to move around freely," Ye Xu said firmly.
The jelly feels slightly cool to the touch, which is quite comfortable to lean against in a well-heated room. However, body temperature naturally drops when sleeping, so leaning against the jelly could cause you to catch a cold.
"Chirp!" Tangtang sadly retracted its tentacles, letting Ye Xu close the door.
Ye Xu woke up promptly at around 7 a.m. the next morning. He hadn't expected to be able to sleep for six or seven hours straight, far exceeding his need for a nap. It seemed he was quite good at adjusting to time zones.
Ye Xu went to the bathroom to wash up, and when he opened the door, he found a two-meter-high lump of jelly blocking the way. Ye Xu was speechless for a moment, not knowing what to say. Had this guy been guarding his door all night?
Upon discovering the door was open, Tangtang happily twisted her body, turning herself to face Ye Xu. The jelly on her body rubbed together, making a "gurgling" sound, much like the sound of squeezing a stress ball.
He stayed with his back to the door all night, more like a gatekeeper. He really treated Ye Xu like a little baby who needed protection, automatically taking on the role of the patriarch.
"Chirp?" Tangtang stretched out its tentacles.
Ye Xu had a feeling that he wouldn't be let out the door if he didn't agree, so he could only give up resisting and let Tangtang hug him. The big jelly was indeed happy, quickly adjusted its position, and moved downstairs according to Ye Xu's command.
It's a bit slow, but it really does resemble an escalator. Since the problem I needed to solve this morning could be handled on the system, Ye Xu didn't urge it to speed up. He simply lay back on the jelly sofa and scrolled through the control panel.
The main problem left over from last night was that counting skewers was too time-consuming. It would be great if the self-checkout function could automatically calculate the total price of the skewers taken by the customer. That way, he would only need to install a few refrigerated display cases in the store. Customers could take what they want, and the robot would only be responsible for skewering and arranging the skewers.
Shuangshuang's permissions only allowed for minor modifications to the self-checkout system; such a large change was not permitted. Ye Xu had no choice but to search for upgrade features for the self-checkout system in the backend to see if these features could be implemented after the upgrade.
When Tangtang arrived on the first floor, Shuangshuang had also finished washing up and flew down. She listened to the store manager's instructions and spent a long time checking the assistant panel.
Finally, Shuangshuang said, "It's possible, but it requires upgrading a whole series of things."
First, the cashier function needs to be upgraded to include a function for calculating the number of bamboo sticks.
Secondly, the dining table also needs to be upgraded by adding a place to put bamboo skewers, which can also double as a garbage recycling bin.
Secondly, buy several skewer machines, each using different sizes of bamboo skewers to skewer different ingredients.
Finally, a refrigerated display case is also essential; otherwise, there will be nowhere to put the skewers, and where will the customers get them?
Ye Xu waved his hand and said, "Buy it!"
Shuangshuang's eyes lit up and she seized the opportunity to suggest: "The refrigerated display case should definitely be placed near the kitchen exit for convenience. The wall that faces the main door is shared with the kitchen. Why not modify that wall so that we can put the skewers directly into the refrigerated display case from the kitchen without having to walk out of the kitchen?"
"Change it!" Ye Xu said boldly, only then realizing that renovating the wall would likely cost the same as a full renovation. How much is a full renovation? 2000 points.
"Uh..." I'm starting to regret it.
Shuangshuang immediately interrupted the store manager: "It's too much trouble to carry a bunch of skewers out the door, and there's also the risk of them getting dusty. For the sake of food safety, this modification is essential."
Ye Xu reluctantly nodded: "Alright then."
Shuangshuang looked like she was going to spend all the money, and Ye Xu couldn't help but clutch his kidneys, feeling like his wallet was about to be emptied: "Can't you keep some money for emergencies?"
"Then keep one thousand. You can use the remaining thousand to buy two more services."
Ye Xu was speechless and choked with emotion.
When purchasing bamboo skewers, Ye Xu realized that buying skewers of different sizes was less convenient than simply buying skewers distinguished by color. The point-of-sale system was far more adept at recognizing colors than skewer sizes.
Since there's a better option, let's go with this one. Bamboo skewers of the same size are also convenient for calculating bills.
After resolving the potential issues in the store, we can start preparing the ingredients. The system's renovation speed is comparable to a one-click refresh, completing the transformation in the blink of an eye without delaying the kitchen staff's work at all.
Since there was no need to prepare skewers according to customer orders today, the workload of the purchasing staff was greatly reduced. Ye Xu assigned two waiters to focus on serving customers, while the remaining three robots performed their respective duties.
Shuangshuang is still handling the purchasing, but she no longer needs to refer to orders; she directly checks the remaining ingredients in the refrigerated display case from the kitchen. She buys whatever is in short supply, making it quite easy.
Ye Xu helped deliver unprocessed ingredients and skewers. Although it was a bit busy, it was better than dealing with customers outside. Last night, he took some time to test out the robot waiter. The robot waiter had an excellent service attitude and was very good at handling various situations. It was more suitable for serving customers than Ye Xu himself.
"Work hard to get more employee coupons today." Manager Ye set the goal for the day, then looked at the two waiters and said, "When customers leave, be sure to remove the dirty dishes and empty plates as soon as possible. I'll buy a cleaning cart and put it at the kitchen entrance. Put the plates on the counter and empty the trash underneath. After you collect the dishes, remember to wipe the table too."
Yesterday, thankfully there were only two groups of guests, the first group only had eight people, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to clear all the tables.
Seeing that the robots were already doing their jobs, Ye Xu suddenly thought, "Have I not named the cleaners yet? How about we call them..."
"Let's call it January, February, March, and December," Shuangshuang interrupted him in time.
—There's no way around it. If we don't interrupt, the store manager might very well name someone Qin Yi Er San Si Wu. That would be too much to bear.
A note from the author:
Store Manager Ye: ? ?
Chapter 14 Store Expansion
At 10 a.m., Ye Xu sent Tangtang upstairs to play and opened the shop on time.
He had expected the area outside to be deserted, but to his surprise, it was packed with people. Many of them were familiar faces; he saw the monk and the group of guests from the previous night.
They didn't get enough to eat last night, so they couldn't wait to come back today.
Ye Xu quickly opened the glass door, gesturing for everyone to line up properly. The chaotic crowd soon became orderly, probably because after waiting last night, they had developed an awareness of the importance of first come, first served.
"Boss, we're here to patronize your business again." The mage greeted them, followed by six or seven people. "These are members of our adventure team. They heard your food is delicious and couldn't wait to have me bring them over."
Ye Xu led them to two adjacent tables, and Shuangshuang quickly set those two tables to linked checkout mode. Surprisingly, many of the remaining customers brought friends, mostly in pairs. These pairs could have a divided hot pot, so the two pairs sat together, and the two cash register drawers for each pair were set to linked mode.
There were too many people and the situation was too complicated, so Shuangshuang was sweating profusely. Ye Xu tried his best to get four people at each table, and asked those who didn't want to share a table in advance so they could sit alone.
Surprisingly, not a single person said they were unwilling this time. I don't know if they were moved by the lively atmosphere of sharing a table last night, or for some other reason.
A regular customer who had refused yesterday noticed Ye Xu's confusion and took the initiative to explain, somewhat embarrassed: "We've all been freezing outside for half a day, so we got together to chat since we had nothing to do. We had quite a good time chatting."
I understand. On one hand, it's out of consideration for others who have been waiting for so long, and on the other hand, it's because they've developed feelings for each other and feel bad about refusing. Anyway, since it's in Ye Xu's best interest, he didn't say much more, only reminding everyone to throw the bamboo skewers into the trash can on their right, and not into the bins next to other people's seats.
Everyone readily agreed, and then rushed forward to get the skewers.
"Why did you change the format today? I remember I didn't collect it myself yesterday," someone asked.
Ye Xu answered loudly, "The team that delivered the refrigerated containers yesterday was delayed and didn't deliver them on time, so the skewers are all in the kitchen and it's inconvenient for everyone to pick them up themselves."
This excuse sounds plausible, and in the magical world, no one would bother with something like "not seeing the delivery team enter the store." What if the family used invisibility magic? It's perfectly normal for the delivery people to be cautious, worried about being robbed on the way.
Compared to the later guests, the nun had even more questions. She grabbed Ye Xu and bombarded her with questions, asking why it had turned into skewers, whether other people had dined there last night (wasn't it supposed to be closed?), and how the ingredients looked so much better than last night's.
Ye Xu was stumped by her questions and racked his brains to come up with an excuse. Fortunately, the indigenous people were relatively easy to fool, and even his less-than-perfect reasons still got him through.
Seeing that the monk still wanted to ask questions, Ye Xu quickly called over a waiter and told him to handle the situation. He then excused himself to go get the soup pot and made a hasty retreat.
There were two servers, one male and one female, and the male server was the one who came over at the moment. Shuangshuang said that there were four types of servers: adult men, adult women, teenage boys, and teenage girls, in order to cater to the different preferences of customers.
While all are adult males, they will have stylistic differences, but all are very handsome. As the store manager, you can choose the realistic appearance yourself; the system library offers many combinations.
Ye Xu replaced the male waiter with a more common, handsome young man, perfect for serving difficult female customers. With such a face, they probably wouldn't dare to find fault.
The other waitress in the shop was an adult woman, and her initial appearance was quite nice, so Ye Xu didn't change it. However, Shuangshuang, considering the preferences of adventurers on the Transi Continent, specially changed her appearance to a charming and glamorous one.
Last night, when serving guests, male waiters were present, so no one paid much attention or cared about the change in the robot's appearance. But today, the new female waiter has attracted frequent glances from male customers.
Ye Xu was a little conflicted: "It feels like we're letting robots sell their looks to attract customers."
"It's definitely your imagination," Shuangshuang said calmly. "They were clearly attracted by the food."
Ye Xu was a little conflicted, but also felt that what he said seemed to make sense.
Shuangshuang's inner self was vastly different from her girlish appearance. Seeing that the shop manager was still hesitant, she added with a grin, "Actually, there's nothing wrong with selling your looks. Many dessert shops use handsome waiters to attract young girls to spend money. As long as it increases the shop's revenue, it's fine. Making money isn't shameful. Anyway, our quality is excellent, and it's not like our food is bad and we're just wasting consumers' money."
"That makes sense."
Ye Xu had a sudden realization: his mindset hadn't completely shifted, and he was still subconsciously worrying too much. For example, he was overly concerned about the customer's dining experience. Of course, there's nothing wrong with that, but sometimes you don't have to be too upright, and you still need to use the appropriate sales techniques.
The guests were quite a mixed group, and Ye Xu couldn't remember the details of each table, so she simply served them all four-compartment hot pots. That way, regardless of whether the people at the table knew each other or not, they could all enjoy their meal happily. People who knew each other could also use their own small pots, saving on serving chopsticks—much healthier!
Most of the customers in the shop were regulars, or regulars bringing new customers, which greatly reduced the workload for the waiters, unlike last night when they needed to make various introductions. Ye Xu watched for a while and felt that one waiter could handle the situation. There were also relatively few female customers in the shop, so he simply transferred the male waiters back to prepare the skewers and took a break.
Bosses should let their employees work while they rest; otherwise, why hire so many people?
But once people have free time, they always want to find something to do. Seeing the customers queuing outside the store in the cold wind, Ye Xu felt a pang of conscience.
There was no space left to rest inside the shop, not even a chair, so people had to wait outside. But it was too cold outside, so all Ye Xu could do was open the glass door to let some of the warmth out.
However, the large crowd at the entrance only attracted more passersby. Everyone was curious about how delicious the food was and why they were willing to wait in the cold wind.
As a result, the line of tourists outside grew longer and longer, and the view was filled with heads of all colors. It is evident that Biyue City was indeed a prosperous tourist city in the past, and it is still bustling with people today.