They didn’t plan on returning to the base for the time being; they intended to stay here for a few days, so they first had to find a place that was absolutely safe, even at night. Otherwise, even with a dozen people, all of whom were ability users, they wouldn’t be entirely safe.
Qian Chuanchuan didn’t sleep in for very long before getting out of bed. After dazing off for a while, she got up and headed to the bathroom to wash her face with fresh water to refresh herself.
She wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but her skin felt a tiny bit smoother and more tender than before. She touched it again and felt it wasn’t a delusion. These skincare products worked this fast? It seemed her points hadn’t been spent in vain!
Exiting the bathroom, she ate some fruit for a while, staring blankly at the steamer trays as she ate. After a long pause, she suddenly spoke up, “Sansan, don’t you think relying solely on me to make and sell buns won’t keep up with the demand?”
“Today, only a dozen people showed up, yet several of them couldn’t get any. In the future, there will only be more and more people. What will we do then? Hire people?”
【Host, you are currently in the trial operation stage, so some issues are to be expected. Once you complete the 1,000-bun mission, the shop will undergo a comprehensive upgrade. At that time, the current problems will no longer exist.】
【As for the hiring issue, after the official opening, if the host needs help, you can hire one or two people, but they will need to sign a contract with me.】
“Trial operation! How come I didn’t know about this!?”
【Did I not tell you before?】 System Sansan’s electronic voice suddenly grew weak. It was clearly feeling guilty. It seemed it really had forgotten to mention it…
Qian Chuanchuan: !!!
“You only said that after selling a thousand buns, the shop would upgrade. When did you ever mention a trial operation!!!”
【I’m sorry, Host.】
The system wasn’t great at much, but it was quite fast at admitting its mistakes. It made Qian Chuanchuan lose her steam, not knowing how to vent her anger.
Qian Chuanchuan took several deep breaths to suppress her irritation and asked, “Sansan, does the System Mall sell steamer trays?”
【Yes, Host! They are 50 points per tray!】
“50 points! That’s so expensive! How exactly do you determine your pricing?!”
Qian Chuanchuan was indignant, but she had to buy them anyway. She needed to speed up the completion of her 1,000-bun KPI to see what would happen after the comprehensive upgrade. If she continued like this, relying only on herself would exhaust her to death, and she still wouldn’t be able to supply everyone. People weren’t just buying enough to eat; they wanted to stockpile!
But from the system’s words, it seemed that hiring people might not be strictly necessary.
Qian Chuanchuan directly bought three more steamer trays. It wasn’t that she was unwilling to buy more, but rather that she couldn’t finish making that many buns herself! Now with seven trays, and each tray holding a maximum of 15 buns, she would have to make 210 buns a day! This was her limit. After all, she wasn’t a professional chef, nor was she a bun-making machine; she was just an amateur!
At 12:40 PM.
Qian Chuanchuan had just placed all the buns into the steamer trays. Just as she was about to stretch her aching arms, she saw the silhouette of a man with broad shoulders and a narrow waist approaching from the distance. Without looking closely, she knew the “Wealth God” had arrived.
However, hadn’t he just bought thirty buns this morning? Why was he back already? But in the next instant, she realized those thirty buns were likely being stored for emergencies.
Ling Zhanlou wasn’t wearing an outer coat today. He wore only a black short-sleeved shirt, leaving his forearms exposed, where muscle lines and protruding blue veins were clearly visible. His masculine charm was as prominent as those veins.
Although Qian Chuanchuan was loath to admit it, she had to acknowledge that male pheromones were the third most wonderful thing in the world. The first and second were money and material comforts, respectively.
As the man drew near, Qian Chuanchuan flashed a brilliant smile and greeted him familiarly, “You’re here!”
“The buns aren’t ready yet; you’ll have to wait a moment. I’ll get you a stool so you can sit while you wait.”
Without waiting for him to reply, she turned to grab a folding chair, opened the door, and handed it to him.
Ling Zhanlou looked at the chair the girl offered, his dark eyes landing on her face. He keenly noticed that the slight shift in her attitude from this morning seemed to have vanished. He unconsciously felt the corners of his mouth quirk up, but he quickly suppressed it once he realized. It happened so fast that Qian Chuanchuan didn’t see it at all.
The gloom that had accumulated in Ling Zhanlou’s heart all morning seemed to dissipate entirely in this moment.
And his intuition wasn’t wrong. This morning, Qian Chuanchuan had indeed felt a slight resistance toward the man because of the manufacturing method of the spatial items. But it really was just a little bit. And that resistance had only lasted for a short while before disappearing. The reason was simple: she felt the Wealth God wasn’t the kind of person who would forcibly rip out someone’s crystal nucleus just for a spatial item. She was usually a good judge of character and trusted her own judgment.
“Thank you.” He took the folding chair but didn’t sit down immediately.
Just as Qian Chuanchuan was about to ask why he wasn’t sitting, a massive object suddenly appeared by her feet in the next instant.
“Holy…!” A certain exclamation nearly escaped her lips before she forced it back.
She took a step back, focused her gaze, and then asked uncertainly, “Is… is this a wild boar?!”
The creature lying on the ground had a pink pig snout and a curly little tail, but its size was comparable to an elephant, with tusks nearly twenty centimeters long. Most bizarrely, its body was covered in scales similar to a crocodile’s.
“This is a mutated guinea pig,” Ling Zhanlou introduced calmly. “The meat is decent, non-toxic, and edible.”
Mutated guinea pig? Why did that sound so familiar?
Oh! She remembered. The four people yesterday mentioned they were here to hunt a Level 3 mutated guinea pig, but the pig had escaped. Could this be the one that got away?! Qian Chuanchuan felt this was very likely. This pig was that pig.
But this guinea pig was way too big! Truly worthy of being a mutated version.
“Why did you bring this out?” Qian Chuanchuan didn’t quite understand his move.
“A return gift,” the man replied simply.
A return gift?
Just as Qian Chuanchuan was about to ask what kind of return gift, she saw the thermos she had given him this morning appear in his hand. She understood instantly!
See! See! She told you she was a good judge of character! She had bought him a thermos using his own money, and yet he still wanted to give her a return gift. What a great person!!
This kind of person usually hated owing others, so his spatial item definitely wasn’t obtained by forcing others. Even if it was forced, that person must have owed him! They deserved it!
At this moment, Qian Chuanchuan’s heart had completely leaned toward her distinguished customer. A Wealth God with “Generosity” written all over his face!
Except…
“You should take it back.”
“That thermos was a customer benefit; no return gift is necessary.”
Although it was the first time Qian Chuanchuan had seen a mutated animal from this apocalypse and was curious about the taste of mutated guinea pig meat, no matter how thick-skinned she was, she couldn’t bring herself to accept this “return gift” so righteously.
Besides, she had never processed a pig, let alone a mutated one. Even if he gave it to her, she wouldn’t know what to do with it!