Chapter 313: The Old Man Feigning Madness

Chapter 313: Chapter 313: The Old Man Feigning Madness

’Just lie around every day to earn money, plus free food?’

The old man was skeptical... but this kind woman in front of him sounded so sincere, as if she were telling the truth.

Lily Hart, tired of talking, nodded helplessly. "All right, all right, I’ll show you."

She turned and walked to the steamer, which was taller than her. It was probably for steaming buns. There was a red switch at the bottom, and she reached out to turn it.

But nothing happened...

The System provided a friendly reminder: [The breakfast shop has set operating hours~ 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM.]

Lily Hart couldn’t even give a demonstration. She had no choice but to turn to the bewildered old man and say, "It’s fine. You can rest here tonight. Just make sure you don’t leave, okay?"

The old man reluctantly believed her. He nodded, pointed to the empty room, and said simply, "Bed."

Lily Hart understood. She bought a single bed and a four-piece bedding set from the Mall.

’How the tables have turned,’ she thought. ’It used to be others begging to stay, but now I’m the one insisting someone else does.’

The old man was satisfied. He had no other requests; a place to sleep was enough. He then pointed to the door, signaling for Lily Hart to get out. He wanted to sleep.

"..." ’Fine, fine. Respect your elders, respect your elders.’

Cynthia Whittaker was waiting for her outside the shop and immediately hurried over when she saw her emerge.

"That’s the prize the crazy old man won from the scratch-off? That’s incredible!" Cynthia Whittaker said, slightly shocked.

"Yes." Lily Hart nodded, feeling utterly helpless.

She asked the System in her mind, ’What exactly determines who wins a first prize? The person? The time? The place?’

The System replied with profound mystery: [The person.]

Lily Hart was a little confused. ’So, you’re saying that if a specific person never plays the scratch-off game, then certain first prizes will never be won?’

[That is correct~]

She felt even more helpless.

It was all a matter of personal destiny.

So that’s why the System had called itself a "mobile lottery shop" when they first bonded. The goal was to open up in every single base in Cathaya, giving everyone a chance to play.

Only then could all the first prizes possibly be won.

Lily Hart got it.

So far, she had only activated seven bases: Hope Base, Bloomfall Base, Riveria Base, Fortune Base, Spring-Watch Base, Auspice Base, and Central Command.

’It’s a long and arduous journey.’

As Lily Hart mulled this over, she pulled down the breakfast shop’s rolling shutter and headed back to the RV with Cynthia Whittaker.

The two of them decided to officially open for business tomorrow at noon. Now, it was time to price the menu.

Currently, one Level 1 Crystal Core was worth 100 points, and Cynthia Whittaker planned to price everything in points. She didn’t want to make it too expensive, or else a single hot pot meal could bankrupt someone.

A standard soup base was a flat 88 points, while a four-quadrant pot was 48 points.

Meat dishes varied in price; for example, fatty beef rolls were 58 points, tripe was 78 points, and basa fish fillets were 68 points.

Vegetables were relatively rare in the apocalypse, even more expensive than meat. After all, the meat from some mutated animals was edible after being processed, but it was impossible to find any edible mutated plants.

It was also impossible to grow fruits and vegetables.

A portion of baby napa cabbage was 58 points, celtuce was 58 points, winter melon was 48 points, lettuce was 68 points, and corn was 48 points, and so on.

The self-serve bar, which had fruit, white fungus soup, and braised rice, required a separate fee of 50 points per person, since it included all-you-can-eat fruit.

Cynthia Whittaker did a quick calculation. For one person, ordering five dishes plus a soup base and access to the self-serve bar would only cost about five Crystal Cores. That wasn’t expensive at all.

But was it too cheap?

After all, a single fast-food meal from the factory sold for 288 points!

If her prices were this low, would it affect the factory’s business? She shared this concern with Lily Hart.

Upon hearing this, Lily replied, "Then just set the prices higher. People have plenty of money. They’ll work harder to kill zombies for a good meal. And once all the zombies are dead, won’t the apocalypse be over?"

"Besides, I’ve got the Grand Lotto here. Sometimes a first prize is worth five hundred Crystal Cores, and the scratch-offs can award Crystal Cores too. The residents of Central Command are loaded!"

"This is hot pot we’re talking about! With all these ingredients and all-you-can-eat fruit, it’s not expensive at all. Don’t worry about it."

After she finished, Lily Hart muttered to herself, "The fast food pricing does seem a bit high, doesn’t it? I remember two hours on the second floor of the bathhouse is only 388."

But one was food and the other was entertainment; the two weren’t really comparable.

Cynthia Whittaker felt much more relieved after hearing that, so she raised the price of every dish by 10 points.

A filling hot pot meal would probably cost six or seven Crystal Cores. If someone wanted to come alone just to try it, three or four would be enough.

Ordering a soup base, having some fruit, and then adding two or three meat dishes would be a perfectly satisfying meal.

Cynthia Whittaker grabbed a pen and paper and began scribbling furiously. She first wrote down all the dishes and their prices on the paper, then adjusted the prices on her Light Brain.

She hadn’t written by hand in so long that she was a little out of practice, her handwriting shaky and crooked.

After setting all the prices, Cynthia Whittaker breathed a sigh of relief. But as she was exiting the software, she saw a line of text: A monthly ingredient fee of five hundred Crystal Cores is required.

’That’s reasonable, not too much at all.’

She was completely confident she could make her money back.

Or rather, instead of trusting herself, she trusted Boss Hart.

With Lily’s reputation and the "hot pot" brand, people would definitely come to try it out.

Soon, it was dinnertime. Two grand prizes had been won in a single day, so Lily Hart was in a pretty good mood. She felt her business empire had expanded yet again.

’Getting out and about more often was definitely the right choice.’

There was one more person at the dinner table tonight. Lily Hart once again formally introduced Cynthia Whittaker to everyone. Other than Lily herself, Cynthia was the only adult woman in the group.

After another round of introductions, Cynthia Whittaker was much more comfortable and less reserved. She claimed the seat to Lily Hart’s left and happily dug into her meal.

Roman Rowe: ’Damn it, she took my spot!’

Frost Shaw, firmly planted in his usual spot to Lily Hart’s right, was secretly glad he had gotten there early.

The seat opposite Lily Hart had always been Leo Colby’s. It seemed to have become a habit; every time he came, he would instinctively take that seat, where he could see her just by looking up.

Owen Warren and Seth occupied two corners of the table. Although Owen Warren was silent, his powerful aura gave him a strong presence.

Stan Sterling sat with Seth. The two of them had been spending a lot of time together recently and had become good friends, providing each other with companionship.

The other six little ones squeezed in wherever they could find an open spot.

Roman Rowe pointed to the conspicuous breakfast shop outside the RV. "And who won that one?"

"An old man," Lily Hart said.

"A crazy old man," Cynthia Whittaker added, her stereotype of him firmly in place.

She couldn’t help it. Out of ten times she had gone outside the base, she would see the crazy old man eight times and hear him muttering the same few phrases on six of those occasions. It was hard to shake that impression...

Leo Colby frowned. "Is he really crazy, or is he faking it?"

Lily Hart felt that someone had finally grasped the main point. "I think he’s faking it."

"Why would he pretend?" Seth asked.

"And he’s still alive and well?" Roman Rowe questioned.

In the apocalypse, many people took their frustrations out on society by torturing and killing the elderly, women, and children. They claimed such people were useless burdens, but that was just an excuse to satisfy their own twisted desires.