Chapter 90 - The New Shop
“Sir, I think it’s time to expand your shop again.” Liang Shi arrived later than usual today, so he was still waiting in line. After what felt like a century, he went up to Fang Qi and began complaining.
Fang Qi’s business was truly booming!
“The new shop will open tomorrow,” Fang Qi replied emotionlessly.
“Tomorrow?” Liang Shi laughed, “I bet expanding the shop will be difficult!”
Fang Qi shrugged, neither agree with or denying Liang Shi’s assumption.
“Wait, I forgot!” Liang Shi slapped his forehead. “It may be a difficult task for us, but to that person, it is probably as easy as lifting a finger!”
The person whom he was referring to was that ‘powerful cultivator’ that stood behind this internet café. Upon hearing this, Fang Qi didn’t explain and just nodded his head.
At this moment, Jiang Xiaoyue was learning how to cook in the kitchen.
When she put her heart into something, Fang Qi felt like this little girl was pretty smart – as long as her dirty face didn’t betray her when she walked out of the kitchen.
Upon seeing her face, Fang Qi couldn’t help but chuckle, “Did you bake yourself as well?”
Jiang Xiaoyue glared at Fang Qi; she really wanted to take a bite out of him.
After a few days of learning, Jiang Xiaoyue mastered quite a few cooking techniques. Fang Qi glanced at the dishes on the table; they didn’t look too good, but the smell wasn’t bad.
Fang Qi reached out and grabbed some green pepper and pork stir-fry with his chopsticks, and Jiang Xiaoyue immediately became nervous.
“Your promotion and raise will depend on this,” Fang Qi said as he took a bite.
“What’s promotion and raise?” Confused, Jiang Xiaoyue asked, “How is it?”
“The meat is a little overcooked and the spices aren’t evenly distributed.” Fang Qi shook his head. Her skills were far from chefs who were paid with crystals.
“I made this dish according to the cookbook; how can it be overcooked?” Jiang Xiaoyue placed her hands on her waist and asked unhappily, “How is the seasoning not evenly distributed?”
Then, she slammed the cookbook onto the table and said, “You don’t even know how to cook; you’re saying this on purpose! If you’re not going to eat it, I will!” Jiang Xiaoyue said as she moved the dishes to her side.
“Uh… I don’t know how to cook?” Fang Qi froze.
Then, he flipped through Jiang Xiaoyue’s cookbook before replying calmly, “You need to marinate the meat before stir-frying it. Also, controlling the heat is an art. Even though stir-frying is the most basic cooking skill, it can be divided into raw-frying, cooked-frying, plain-frying, dry-frying, soft-frying, and more. You also need to decide if you want to cook the ingredients individually or if you should cook them together. The books don’t tell you that.”
Flabbergasted, Jiang Xiaoyue stared at Fang Qi as he patted her head.
“Keeping learning; I’m going to head over to the other shop and do some cleaning up.”
Embarrassed, Jiang Xiaoyue felt like crying as she thought, How do you know so much…
She had no idea what Fang Qi was talking about, but it felt fancy!
Fang Qi was finally ready to open the new shop across the street; it was a decent location for him.
He calmly walked over to the other shop, leaving the sad Jiang Xiaoyue behind.
He decided to do a little tidying-up since Jiang Xiaoyue could take care of things over at the old shop. Then, he thought about his tasks.
He currently had two tasks: one was about the Legend of the Sword and Fairy, the other was about learning skills.
Both tasks were equally important, but once he could start live streaming, he would probably place emphasis on the first task, at least until he got through to the end of the game.
Once he finished the first task, he would be able to focus on leveling up his skills.
…
The next day, both of Fang Qi’s shops transformed.
Aside from the bedrooms and kitchen, the second floor of his first shop had been transformed.
The system was very diligent in its construction, creating a sky bridge between the two shops that were made of similar material. This way, his shops were connected as one.
At first glance, one would think that someone built a small bridge on top of the street. The buildings on either side of the street were made with white bricks and black tile, and the bridge in the middle merged with the existing street perfectly, making the area more interesting and livelier.
The front walls of Fang Qi’s two shops were made of glass, so it stood out from the other shops. They looked like two gems that were inlaid into a bundle of bricks, giving the buildings a fresh and unique feel.
The inside of the shops became more modern as well. For example, each of the shops had a giant screen for livestreaming.
The computers were arranged differently as well. Because of the extra room, the computers were rearranged from the simple row-to-row formation, making the shop seem more special
At the same time, Fang Qi noticed that his system expanded the lounge areas in both shops. All in all, his internet café seemed much more spacious than it used to be.
The lights were the same. If Fang Qi opened the curtains, the entire café would become bright, but the screens would reflect some light. Therefore, he chose to keep the curtains down and rely mainly on indoor lighting.
The smaller shop was untouched before; Fang Qi bought the place just in case he needed it in the future. Now, both shops could be put into operation.
He now had more than 150 computers. As long as the customers didn’t all come at the same time, it would be hard for the place to reach full capacity.
After opening his shop, Fang Qi bought some buns to eat.
Jiang Xiaoyue had begun eating her own cooking. She ate her breakfast as she glared at Fang Qi and thought, “One day, I’m going to make you eat my food until your tongue falls out!”
Old customers like Song Qingfeng came early in the morning if they didn’t have anything else to do. After all, they didn’t want to wait in line for so long.
If they came late, they would have to wait for a couple of hours before getting to play.
When he came today, Song Qingfeng immediately noticed a difference.
“Sir, why are there fewer computers in here than usual?”
Fang Qi pointed across the street. “Two shops are operating at the same time today.”
Song Qingfeng followed Fang Qi’s finger and saw an almost-identical shop across the street. Although the shop wasn’t too big, it wasn’t a small shop anymore.
Curious, Song Qingfeng walked across the street. Both shops were spacious, but only the old shop had a counter and a fridge.
Confused, Song Qingfeng came back and asked Fang Qi, “No one’s going to tend to the other shop? What if someone causes trouble?”
Fang Qi shrugged. “I don’t have to be there to punish trouble makers.”
Song Qingfeng froze for a second as he suddenly remembered those mysterious lightning strikes. “You’re right, no one has the courage to cause trouble.”