Chapter 5: A Prime Location with Good Wind and Water

Jiamu City is very large, and there are few players during the internal test period.

Lin Bai stopped wasting time searching for players and instead turned to walk toward the agency.

He did not know what the time ratio between the game and reality was!

If the time was one-to-one, then he would have a huge advantage; after all, players could not stay online for long periods.

But it was more likely that it was not; no game would set its time to match reality, as there would be too little one could do in a day.

Therefore, he could not waste his time playing hide-and-seek with players.

To live a good life in this strange world, he had to ensure he grew faster than the players.

The system was his only shortcut to growth.

Therefore.

The priority of system tasks had to be set to the highest level.

……

Half an hour later.

Lin Bai stood beside a shop deep in Copper Sparrow Alley, silent and speechless.

The shop was a two-story building.

The total area of the two floors was only about eighty square meters.

It was truly a bit small for a restaurant.

A small area would be one thing, but it also looked very dilapidated; the main entrance was sealed by spider webs, and it looked gloomy and quite aged.

The most critical point was that its location was extremely remote; in this bustling city, its surroundings were surprisingly desolate, and the nearest shop was over two hundred meters away.

No matter how one looked at it, this place was not suitable for opening a restaurant.

"Young Master, such a large shop is only selling for one hundred taels; you've made a huge profit." The young clerk from the agency stood beside Lin Bai with his hands tucked in, a fawning, fake smile on his face. "I'm not bragging to you, but only our agency has such high-quality inventory. If you went to another agency, your money would at most rent a storefront, and it might not even be enough."

"With me, for the same money, the land is yours. You won't find this shop again once you miss this village. Don't look at how broken it is now; that's just because it hasn't been tidied up. If you put a little effort into the decor, it won't be any worse than Huibin Building."

"As the saying goes, good wine doesn't fear a deep alley. As long as you know how to manage it, there will be plenty of guests. Look at this wasteland in front of the door; hire someone to clear it, and parking seven or eight carriages won't be a problem. Which restaurant in Jiamu City has such a wide private plot in front of it..."

When things are abnormal, there must be a demon.

The more the agency clerk tried to sell it, the more Lin Bai felt there was a problem with the shop.

Carriages, boats, shops, porters, and agents—even if they are innocent, they deserve to be killed.

Expecting them not to cheat people would mean his own head had been kicked by a donkey.

But who told him he was short on cash? Two hundred taels of silver sounded like a lot, but when applied to business, it really wasn't enough.

"This is it." Lin Bai interrupted the chattering clerk.

"What?" The agency clerk was stunned, then immediately beamed with joy. "Alright, Young Master, please wait a moment; I will go find someone to transfer the deed right away."

"Don't rush." Lin Bai said, "The deed isn't urgent. I also need to trouble you to find some craftsmen like carpenters and Blacksmiths; I need to renovate the little shop..."

Being greedy for small gains leads to big losses; Lin Bai understood this principle.

But now, his needs were different.

If this were a normal world, Lin Bai might save money slowly and choose a prime storefront on the street to open for business.

But now, players and the system were his wealth. To survive in an environment ravaged by the Fourth Calamity, he had to prioritize system tasks above all else—the faster, the better.

Time waits for no one; he had to grow before the players.

And.

The Kitchen God System required him to open a restaurant, but it did not specify that the restaurant had to be grand. Otherwise, the ten-tael silver reward it gave would not even count as a tip compared to the investment. How could it stimulate anyone to complete its tasks? Who would be that stupid?

Ultimately, all Lin Bai needed was a fixed base for grinding tasks!

So, what if it was remote?

What if it was dilapidated?

As long as there was a storefront, even if there was only one dining table inside, it could be called a restaurant...

……

Having finally sold this remote shop, the clerk collected a deposit and quickly turned to leave to find people according to Lin Bai's requirements.

The clerk might not understand what sunk costs were, but he knew that the more one invested, the lower the possibility of the client backing out.

Agencies played the role of intermediaries in ancient times.

The carpenters, Blacksmiths, painters, and other craftsmen Lin Bai requested were quickly gathered by the clerk.

The clerk was quite shrewd; seeing that Lin Bai was someone who wouldn't do manual labor, he even brought people to do odd jobs and help clean up.

He didn't feel bad about the money he had swindled.

Lin Bai was happy to have some peace and quiet.

Two hundred taels of silver was nothing to a wealthy family like Luo Congwen's, but for ordinary commoners, it would take at least five years of not eating or drinking to save up.

Aside from purchasing the property, the expenses for decoration and renovation were actually not that high.

……

In front of the new shop, the craftsmen all had somewhat unnatural expressions. Occasionally, the looks they cast at Lin Bai flashed with a hint of pity, as if they were looking at a fool.

Lin Bai took it all in, realizing more and more that there was a major problem with the shop.

But he also knew that he certainly wouldn't be able to get anything out of these people's mouths.

The craftsmen were in league with the agency; they were one entity, and he was merely an outsider!

But Lin Bai didn't care. So what if there was a problem?

Who told him he had been swindled out of so little money? A single coin can stump a hero; besides, he was opening a restaurant to grind tasks, not really relying on selling food to survive...

……

"Shopkeeper, are you going to call this broken... *cough*... this shop the Chef God Restaurant?" The carpenter looked around, eyeing the environment where not a blade of grass grew for a hundred meters, and his mouth twitched involuntarily a few times.

"Of course." Lin Bai's face was radiant with confident light, "Do not underestimate this shop; it won't take long before it becomes world-famous."

The carpenter curled his lip, once again casting a look at Lin Bai as if looking at a mentally disabled person: "Whatever makes the shopkeeper happy."

"The plaque should be made into a rectangle, but the top right corner must be missing a piece. Use gold-leaf lettering for 'Kitchen God Rice Divination'; for the last character, 'shop', omit the 'guang' radical at the top, and don't color it in. Oh, and don't seal the 'kou' radical in 'divination' either."

Lin Bai picked up a tree branch and drew the appearance of the plaque on the ground, describing his requirements for the plaque in detail.

This was what he had learned from the Incomplete System; if it could reward the Nine Suns True Scripture, he could open a Kitchen God Rice Divination.

The carpenter listened, completely stunned.

The Blacksmith and the young clerk from the agency nearby were also dumbfounded.

"Shopkeeper, I cannot do this job." The carpenter stood blankly for a long while, his brows furrowed tightly.

"Your craftsmanship isn't up to par?" Lin Bai raised his eyebrows, naturally revealing a look of disdain.

【Anger from Zhang Achun +1】

"It has nothing to do with craftsmanship." Zhang Achun's face darkened, "Making a plaque like this would ruin my shop's reputation."

"Master Zhang, if you think the money is too little, you can just say so. I am a person who likes to be straightforward. I'll add 19.85 percent to your wages." Lin Bai snorted, looking at the carpenter Zhang as if he were a mercenary villain.

Having enjoyed the benefits brought by the system, he began to pursue the ultimate completion of tasks.

Compared to seeking positive Positive Emotion, Negative Emotion was far too easy to stir up.

He persisted in being outspoken and insisted on speaking his mind directly.

It was enough not to be afraid of offending people.

As for the 19.85 percent, that was something he learned from the Incomplete System; if the math weren't so troublesome, he would have even considered saying 3.1415826...

19.85 percent?

Either add ten percent or add twenty percent; if that really wouldn't do, fifteen percent would be a reasonable number!

What the hell is with the odd numbers?

Do I need to find an accountant specifically to calculate wages after I finish the work?

Zhang Achun's back molars clenched repeatedly. Looking at Lin Bai, he secretly thought, is there something wrong with this guy's head? He deserves to be swindled by the people at the agency!

"Twenty percent." Zhang Achun took a deep breath and gave a round number, "You are not allowed to tell outsiders that the plaque was custom-made at my shop."

"21.37 percent." Lin Bai remained expressionless, willing to pay more just to have odd numbers, "I have several other requirements."

"Speak."

The carpenter did not know if Lin Bai was doing this on purpose, and he suppressed the urge to slap the sole of his shoe onto Lin Bai's face.

Making money is not shameful.

He was a craftsman; he would not lower himself to the level of a madman.

"The tables custom-made for the shop also cannot be standard squares. Every table must either have a missing corner or a hole in the middle; the missing corners should preferably be in different positions, and the holes should not be circular. The four table legs cannot be the same height; one of them must be shorter than the other three. The stools are the same..." Lin Bai vividly sketched out the decor for his new shop to the carpenter.

"Wait." Sweat poured down the carpenter like rain, and he looked at Lin Bai increasingly like he was looking at a patient, "The plaque doesn't matter, but if the table legs are of different lengths, they probably won't be usable..."

"I can prop them up with bricks." Lin Bai smiled, "Just make them according to my requirements; you don't need to worry about the rest."

"..." The carpenter took a deep breath. The image of the finished product appeared in his mind, and he closed his eyes in pain, secretly resolving that this set of furniture must absolutely not have any mark from their shop. Fortunately, it was unlikely anyone would come to this broken shop anyway, so there was no need to fear ruining his reputation.

Since the customer requested it, it couldn't be counted as him earning money against his conscience...

After finishing his instructions to the carpenter, Lin Bai turned his head to look at the Blacksmith: "Master Blacksmith, I must trouble you to custom-make a batch of bowls where every chip is different, and chopsticks where every one is of a different length and thickness..."

"..." The Blacksmith's temple throbbed, and he gave a dry laugh, "Shopkeeper, most restaurant bowls are porcelain, and chopsticks are bamboo. You coming to me is not very appropriate."

"Iron bowls are sturdy; I worry that porcelain bowls won't withstand customers dropping them." Lin Bai smiled bashfully, "If someone manually snaps the bamboo chopsticks to make them even, it wouldn't be worth the loss. It's always good to take some precautions in advance!"

"..." The young clerk from the agency.

"..." The carpenter.

"..." The Blacksmith.

Is this guy actually opening a restaurant?

He's just here to be purely annoying, right!

【Depression from Zhang Achun, Feng Liu, and Zhang Shutang, +3】

【Collected ten portions of Negative Emotion (10/10), reward (already issued)】

【Let ten people experience the... of the Flaw (3/10... 】

(End of chapter)