"Setting up a sheltered waiting area at the entrance should only cost two thousand points, right?" Ye Xu turned to ask Shuangshuang.
Shuangshuang nodded: "It's the price for a one-time renovation. We can add a transparent plastic curtain, but the entrance is too small; it might not be able to accommodate many people."
"What should we do then?" Ye Xu frowned. "There isn't enough space in the shop; we can only fit nine tables."
Shuangshuang said matter-of-factly, "It's about expanding the area. In a magical world, you can just say you used spatial magic."
Since the actual area is fixed, we can only focus on advanced technology. Fortunately, this is a Western fantasy world, so everything can be blamed on magic.
Of course, you can't expand in front of everyone; that would be too conspicuous and easily reveal the problem. It's best to expand secretly after closing at night to avoid being caught.
"So now there's nothing we can do?"
"Not necessarily." Shuangshuang suddenly remembered something. "Some hot pot restaurants are two-story, so you can set up a bunch of tables on the second floor as well. But it's inconvenient for customers on the second floor to get their skewers, so if you want to do that, you need to buy a few refrigerated display cases on the second floor and arrange for people to make more frequent trips to deliver the ingredients."
Ye Xu asked in confusion, "Isn't the second floor reserved for private rooms?"
“We can temporarily requisition it. The second floor is currently empty; we haven’t started building the private rooms yet. We can just use it directly. Later, you can spend money to build another floor to fill the empty private rooms.”
Adding a floor sounds expensive; it's definitely not something that can be done for two thousand. Ye Xu searched in the back office and, sure enough, adding a floor costs ten thousand points.
Regardless, the most urgent task is to solve the current problem; the points for the extra credit can be accumulated more slowly.
The second floor was empty, so Ye Xu needed to buy new tables and chairs. Ye Xu looked at his bank account; his points were accumulating rapidly.
Everyone had been waiting outside for a long time, and finally they could come in to eat. The portions were incredibly generous. The main thing is that we had eaten there last night and couldn't stop thinking about it. Knowing it would taste good, our expectations were even higher.
But this level of efficiency wasn't enough; by the time they finished eating, they hadn't accumulated enough points to buy all the tables and chairs needed for the second floor. Left with no other option, Ye Xu got up, grabbed a large pot, and started cooking soup, distributing free tomato soup to everyone, just like last night.
It can warm you up, serve as an apology for the long wait, and earn you some points. Even a small mosquito bite is still meat, so don't be picky.
No one expected to get free soup while waiting in line for food, which definitely eased their frustration. Some people were so hungry that they finished the soup in a few gulps, only to regret drinking it too quickly and not tasting it at all. They were extremely envious of the others who sipped it slowly.
Ye Xu waited around, collected all the bowls, and took them back. His eyebrows were covered in frost. Luckily, it wasn't snowing, or he would have suffered even more.
No, we still need to think of a way. If all else fails, we can open the second floor in advance, tell them that the tables and chairs are in the warehouse and it's difficult to find them, and that the tables are temporarily incomplete, and then send new tables over gradually.
It seems the Transi Continent has magical items that allow for spatial storage. Ye Xu figured he could pretend to put the tables and chairs into his storage ring, then go upstairs and retrieve them. He just didn't know if the system could specifically place the purchased tables and chairs into his inventory; if they just refreshed to the second floor, he might give himself away.
Ye Xu bought a set of tables and chairs to test the waters. After confirming that the operation was feasible, he used up all the points he had. He bought two refrigerated display cases and eight sets of tables and chairs, and he would have to save up for the remaining seven sets little by little.
Eight sets are enough for now; we can bring 32 customers into the store. Ye Xu asked the male waiter, Li Chun, to take a bunch of skewers to the second floor first, then returned to the door to explain the situation.
"The second floor has just been cleaned urgently, and we can only accommodate eight tables, 32 people at the moment. Please understand."
Everyone was flattered; they had all prepared to wait a long time, but unexpectedly, the manager had cleared out the second floor at the last minute. The first 32 customers in line immediately followed, heading upstairs with high spirits.
Chapter 15 Profit Sharing
Once the second floor was available, Ye Xu realized how important the elevator really was. Running up and down to deliver skewers was too tiring; thankfully, the robot didn't get tired.
However, robots don't have three heads and six arms, so they can't bring too many at once. After settling the guests in, Ye Xu volunteered to help.
Ye Xu had an idea: put the plates full of skewers into the food delivery cart, and then put the cart into his backpack. Wouldn't that allow him to carry a lot of skewers at once?
Some systems will default to classifying filled items as "a bunch of junk" in their backpacks. While these items cannot be stacked, they can be stored and are ideal for short-distance transport. However, some less efficient systems won't recognize this and won't allow filled packages to be placed in the backpack.
Ye Xu thought he'd give it a try, and if it didn't work, so be it. Surprisingly, it actually fit, taking up only one slot.
The food delivery carts are no longer needed on the first floor; people only start ordering from the ordering system when there are more dishes available. Currently, the ordering system is practically ignored, since there are no hot pot base options, and people don't care about anything else on the menu. They just go for the skewers as soon as they come in.
Actually, the menu also included bread and juice, but without the ordering system, no one knew they had those. Thinking of this, Ye Xu simply asked the waiter to remind everyone that if they weren't full, they could order bread; if they were thirsty, they could order juice; and if they didn't like juice, the restaurant offered warm water.
Upon hearing that juice and warm water were offered, many guests immediately asked for the warm water, as they were indeed thirsty after drinking so much tomato soup. Not many people ordered juice; these days, even the most affordable juices tend to be expensive.
Ye Xu went upstairs to deliver the vegetables, and after a few trips, he filled the refrigerated display case. Only he could do the job of delivering food to the second floor, so the waiter Li Chun went back downstairs to help use the skewer machine.
The food supplies upstairs were decreasing at a similar rate as downstairs, and everyone preferred the same ingredients. Shuangshuang simply doubled her order based on the consumption on the first floor, without having to fly upstairs to check. If anything was occasionally out of stock, Yexu would promptly inform her to restock.
“I think they’ll take more,” one customer said, rubbing his hands together eagerly.
The customers on the second floor had been watching the first wave of customers for a long time. After the skewers were restocked, they swarmed to the refrigerated display case to get their things, and they had already decided what they wanted to take.
The bottom shelf of the refrigerated display case was originally for storing ingredients served on individual plates, but the restaurant didn't have those yet, so they used it to hold bowls and plates instead. People would take out a large plate, pick out what they wanted one by one, and put it on top. Once it was full, they would bring it back to their table. This novel approach was quite interesting to many.
However, the amount of plates consumed was truly terrifying. Every time Ye Xu walked around the restaurant, he could collect quite a few empty plates, and then while he went downstairs to restock, he would give them to the dishwasher to wash. It seemed that Qiu Yi was about to be overwhelmed, and Ye Xu was thinking of hiring another dishwasher as soon as possible.
The dirty dishes upstairs were also difficult to collect. The cleaner ones could be stacked in a backpack, but the greasy ones had to take up a separate compartment, and the backpack wasn't big enough. The store only had one cleaning cart, and the staff also needed to use it, so Ye Xu had to buy another one. They couldn't keep using the delivery cart to carry the dirty dishes.
The second floor was busy for a while at first, then it became a little quieter. Ye Xu quickly seized the opportunity to slip away, disappeared for a while, and then returned to the second floor. Using the excuse he had prepared beforehand, he released a few new sets of tables and chairs, and then repeated the previous operation, leading people up.
It took more than half an hour of effort to fill up the seats on the second floor. By then, the group on the first floor had also finished eating, paid their bills, and left, freeing up dozens of seats.
During the wait, quite a few people who had come to join the fun left early, so gradually, the number of people waiting outside the restaurant remained at around ten or twenty.
With no shelter from the wind and rain at the doorway, Ye Xu had a sudden inspiration and went to his neighbor's shop next door, paying him to help serve the waiting customers. Although there was no heating or warm magic runes there, it was still better than standing outside, and at least he could sit down and rest.
The hot soup was still being served continuously, and almost every new customer received a bowl, which they would then take to the next table to sit and rest. If they finished their soup, the manager next door would offer free tea, which Ye Xu had paid for.
Even though the crowd outside the hot pot restaurant was gone and it didn't look as impressive as before, it didn't attract fewer new customers. The enticing aroma wafted from the wide-open glass doors, irresistible to passersby.
Once they entered the store, the staff politely invited them to queue at the next counter. Except for a few who hesitated when they saw the long queue, most of them happily sat down.
Guests came and went, and by a little after 1 p.m., Ye Xu had completed quite a few tasks. After collecting all the rewards, he successfully accumulated enough experience to advance from level 6 to 7.
As before, I used the food voucher, but considering that the restaurant doesn't have a chef and the purchased dishes might not be hot, I didn't add them to the menu.
Ye Xu didn't want anything else with the remaining employee voucher; all he wanted was a cleaning job. There were two floors to clean, and he couldn't possibly have the waiters do it tonight, could he? The waiters' work was important too.
Ye Xu's biggest fear right now is that he won't get the Cleaner card, but will instead get other rare cards, and then he'll have to agonize over whether to hire him or not. However, things in this world don't always go as planned. There's something called Murphy's Law, and what you fear most is what happens.
A purple light suddenly appeared in Ye Xu's card, a color he had never seen before. Excluding N, R, SR, and UR, only one possibility remained—SSR!
Grass (a type of plant).
Ye Xu could still harden his heart to refuse an SR, but how could he bear to part with an SSR? Was the system really not doing this on purpose?
Ye Xu took a deep breath and opened the resume to check it. Even SSRs aren't necessarily good; maybe their work ability is just average.
That's what Ye Xu thought. He didn't really expect the other party to be a fake; after all, its rarity was so high, there must be a reason for it. But after looking at it carefully, Ye Xu's expression turned into a question mark face.
Judging from the information, he's just an ordinary office worker, sending out resumes everywhere, with little to no work experience. If he had any experience in the catering industry, Ye Xu would have felt that he could be a significant help to the shop, but this guy is clearly not very capable and has no experience in the catering industry.
"What's going on?" Ye Xu asked Shuangshuang.
Shuangshuang glanced at it and immediately understood: "All intelligent races are like this. After all, the lowest level is SSR, so it's normal for their quality to vary. If intelligent races were also divided into SR and UR like pets, then at least 90% of the SSRs would have to be relegated to SR."
Ye Xu was devastated. Wasn't this rarity rating a scam? He had been secretly pleased, thinking he had gotten another lucky card.
"Don't be discouraged, store manager." Shuangshuang patted his shoulder with her little hand. "I heard from a senior that if you raise the salary and benefits, it will be easier to recruit powerful intelligent races. You can give it a try."
Ye Xu shook his head and refused: "No, I'd rather have a robot right now."
Robots are great; they never get tired or complain about hardship, and you can exploit them without feeling guilty. Intelligent species are different; using them would definitely not be as enjoyable.
—Unless you give him a UR card.
Since the SSR card he drew wasn't any good, Ye Xu ruthlessly refreshed the page. He continued to spend his points to draw the janitor, but failed several times.
Shuangshuang leaned on his shoulder and looked at him for a while. Feeling that this was a bit unfair, she said, "Boss, I think you should change the salary and benefits."
"Why?" Ye Xu asked, puzzled.
Shuangshuang argued confidently: "If we change it first, we'll have a better chance of drawing UR-level intelligent races. We don't really need cleaners that urgently anyway, and UR cards are much more cost-effective. You just spent half the day drawing R and N cards, and it pained me to see that. I couldn't help but wonder if we would have gotten UR cards by now if we had changed the salary."
Hearing Shuangshuang say that, Ye Xu suddenly felt a pang of heartache, as if he had missed out on a fortune: "Then... shall I change UR's treatment?"
Shuangshuang nodded repeatedly: "Mmm!"
UR's current salary is 10,000 points and currency per month, but judging from the current store turnover, Ye Xu feels that this amount of money is indeed too little.
Even if today's high customer traffic is due to the opening of a new store and will decrease by half later, as long as the store continues to expand, the monthly income can still be at least several million. If business is good, the wages will be less than 1% of the net profit.
In any other normal shop, this wage ratio would be fine. But Ye Xu's situation is different. UR cards are so valuable; each one is a precious asset to the shop, and they absolutely cannot be let go.
Ye Xu felt that at least 1% of the net profit should be distributed as dividends to people in order to keep them committed and prevent them from constantly thinking about running away.
Putting everything else aside, that card from before—the young lady was a suspense writer who even managed to get a UR rating; in reality, it's impossible for her monthly royalties to be less than ten thousand. Although Ye Xu didn't know her personally, he guessed she was a famous writer from another modern world, but he could deduce that she was a formidable figure.
"Do you think giving me 1% of the profits is a bit too little?" Ye Xu asked Shuangshuang.
Shuangshuang thought for a moment, resting her chin on her hand: "Then you can set it to 2%, and say that if the store's monthly profit is less than 1 million, the dividend will be 2%, and if it is more than 1 million, the dividend will be 1%."
Ye Xu: "..."
Oh dear, isn't this eating style a bit too unseemly?
A note from the author:
UR writer sister: Yes.
Chapter 16 It's so good!
A floating dividend is definitely not acceptable; if you're going to give 2%, then give it generously. It would take 50 UR cards to share all the profits, but the highest UR group in the achievement tasks is 25. Ye Xu suspects that the number of UR cards might only be 25-49, with a higher probability of getting fewer than 40.
“That’s not right,” Shuangshuang objected. “The achievement cap for N cards is still 100. There can’t be only 100 N cards.”
"It's different. The N card has a 100 cap because there are no more related missions, but the UR card has a 50 tier after 25, based on other cards. So why doesn't the UR card have a 50-card mission? Because you can't collect 50 cards. It can only collect 49 at most, but if you only collect 49, why not just collect 50?"
Shuangshuang accepted the first part of the explanation, but regarding the last question, she gave a heartbreaking answer: "Maybe it's because the system doesn't have obsessive-compulsive disorder."
Ye Xu: "..."
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
No one in this world is immune to obsessive-compulsive disorder, and systems are no exception. Therefore, the number of UR cards must be a multiple of 5, or even an integer.
After the pointless argument ended, Ye Xu adjusted the profit sharing to double 2%. The exact number of UR cards didn't matter, since he had never collected all the highest rarity cards in his previous gacha games.
Although Ye Xu had adjusted the salary and benefits, he didn't expect to get a UR card as soon as he refreshed the page. He figured it was all up to fate; his main purpose for drawing cards right now was to recruit cleaners.
After seven refreshes, the Cleaner didn't appear, but the SR Vegetable Washer did.
"Do you need someone to wash vegetables?" Shuangshuang asked. "The cleaners can be handled by the waiters, since they're all just hanging around in the lobby anyway. Didn't you say before that you didn't have enough people to wash dishes? I think a vegetable washer would be perfect. They're all washing things, so it should be about right. Besides, the kitchen is under a lot of pressure to prepare vegetables right now, so they definitely need a vegetable washer to help out."
Ye Xu hesitated for a moment upon hearing this: "But the cleaner..."
"Please, store manager, work a little harder." Shuangshuang thought that since the store manager could also clean, why not make the most of him? In Ye Xu's own words, the store manager was the highest-paid employee in the store, so why should he do nothing and leave all the work to the robots?
Ye Xu was speechless and couldn't refute it for a moment. Actually, the arrangement was quite reasonable, but the store manager would need to overcome his reluctance and temporarily act as a cleaner.