Chapter 365: Bain Base

Chapter 365: Chapter 365: Bain Base

A customer, full and satisfied, gave a strong recommendation. "It’s basically a restaurant? You can order dishes from a menu, and they’re amazing!"

Someone else asked, "How much is it? Is it expensive?"

The customer shook his head vigorously. "Not expensive at all! Look..." He pointed at the menu posted on the wall.

"See? That’s the menu. I just had the Meatball Medley Stew and the Sweet and Sour Crispy Pork. They were incredible!" he gesticulated.

He drew a circle in front of his chest. "A serving this big! One dish alone is enough to stuff you completely!"

Coincidentally, Donnie was adjusting the progress bar at that moment. Lily Hart had ordered six dishes, and the previous customer had ordered two.

’Forty-two dishes left for today. Great, this will be a piece of cake!’

Others pointed at the progress bar and asked, "What does that mean?"

"I don’t know, why don’t you go ask? I really want to try it myself, I bet it’s delicious!"

"You go try it first. If you think it’s good, I’ll go try it too."

A few of them nudged each other, all a little too hesitant to be the first to try.

Donnie stood at the entrance, actively drumming up business. "Come on over! Grand opening special! Every order comes with a free pork rib and corn soup!"

It was just a single bowl, but it had pork ribs, corn, and even carrots.

For them, that was already quite a feast. And what could be more comforting than a bowl of hot soup in this weather!

"Me, me, me! I want a Softshell Turtle and Chicken Clay Pot!" a customer exclaimed excitedly.

Donnie immediately answered, "You got it!" He quickly jotted the order down in his little notebook and handed the customer a small number tag.

He had been mulling over these things for the past few days: the menu, the pricing, all sorts of miscellaneous details.

The number tags corresponded to the dishes ordered. He was afraid he wouldn’t be able to keep track if it got too busy.

Donnie announced, "I’m limiting it to fifty dishes a day, and there are only forty-one left! First come, first served~"

’Don’t blame me if they run out. I can only do so much.’

The other customers, who had been hesitating, immediately jumped into action when they heard this.

"Then I want a Stir-fried Beef, and a Stir-fried Tripe! Make it extra spicy, I don’t care if it kills me!"

"Hey, how can you order two dishes? They’re already limited!"

"If you don’t order now, you’ll miss your chance completely!" the man retorted. He took the number tag from Donnie and, following his instructions, headed to the night market.

’Oh damn, he’s right!’

The others stopped dithering and began shouting their orders all at once.

It was noisy and crowded, but Donnie had a knack for it. He first jotted down all the orders, then matched the dishes to the customers, and finally handed out number tags in the order they were placed.

With all the shouting and excitement, the remaining forty-odd dishes were quickly claimed. Donnie then led everyone to the night market to be seated.

Luckily, with only about forty people, there was plenty of seating. He gave them a heads-up, "Since it’s so busy, I’ll be preparing the food in the order it was placed. Please be patient, everyone~"

Everyone agreed, and Donnie returned to the kitchen, brimming with confidence, to start cooking.

Lily Hart watched Donnie bustling back and forth. Seeing that business was clearly booming, she felt at ease.

The residents of Bain Base were all quite friendly. They gave Lily Hart a warm welcome, greeting her with the greatest enthusiasm they could muster.

When they heard she could only stay for one day and would be leaving tomorrow, many of them even looked sad to see her go.

’But Lily Hart knew they weren’t sad to see her go. They were sad to see the lottery shop, the hot pot restaurant, and all the other shops go.’

’It wasn’t her they’d miss.’

During lunch, everyone seemed to have an unspoken agreement to eat quickly. As soon as they finished, they went right back to work with impressive discipline.

Just as she finished eating, Bain arrived.

That’s right—the Base Commander of Bain Base.

As he introduced himself, Lily Hart’s mind wandered a little. ’His name is really Bain?’

The moment he finished speaking, Lily Hart snapped back to reality. "I’m Lily Hart. Base Commander Bell, you were looking for me because...?"

’A wild guess: he’s here to procure supplies.’

Sure enough, it was the same old routine. Lily Hart readily agreed, but mentioned that she would be leaving behind a vending machine.

It would be connected to her convenience store, offering a wide variety of goods at very low prices.

Bain said gratefully, "I’m well aware. I heard all about it from the Base Commander of Kervan Base. It’s just... we have elderly, weak, sick, and disabled members in our base who need looking after. Having supplies in our own warehouse gives us peace of mind, doesn’t it?"

Lily Hart smiled. "That’s true. You’re very thorough."

"I also heard that Boss Hart can leave one of the shops behind? And that you hold a daily vote for the residents to choose which one?" Bain asked tentatively.

’He’d been drooling over this possibility for a long time, but so far, only the four bases in Kaelus had been granted such a privilege.’

’Even Central Command hadn’t received such treatment, so he didn’t dare to get his hopes up.’

’Ah... I completely forgot about that. I didn’t leave a shop for Kervan Base; I just set the destination and crashed for the night.’

She fidgeted with her hands. "Oh, right, right! Yes, I’ll start the vote in a bit. They can just pick one."

Bain’s eyes lit up. He never imagined she would actually agree to it just from his tentative probe! ’This Boss Hart is an absolute goddess! A fairy godmother sent to grant everyone’s wishes.’

"Wonderful, wonderful! Thank you, Boss Hart," Bain said profusely. He then stood, excused himself, and hurried back to prepare a procurement list.

’Any shop would do, as long as they got one!’

’The convenience store could be ruled out, since the vending machine was a decent substitute. What he really hoped for was... the clinic.’

’It could reduce casualties, and maintaining the population was one of a Base Commander’s primary duties.’

’He might have said any shop would do, but he was secretly praying. No, I’ll have all the departments spread the word. Everyone has to vote for the clinic!’

After Bain left, Lily Hart came out of the meeting room.

And saw Donnie, tray in hand, skillfully weaving through the crowd without spilling a single drop of soup.

’That’s a pretty impressive skill.’

’Looks like all his customers have gathered at the night market? That’s fine, I guess. It’s just that the kitchen is a little far from there...’

’I should just move the kitchen next to the night market. It’s not that big anyway, just a round glass building.’

Deciding to act, she opened her Light Brain and pulled up the layout page.

She long-pressed the kitchen building icon and dragged it... all the way over to the edge of the night market.

The entrance now directly faced the night market. This way, you’d walk right into it, no more detours.

Lily Hart felt an odd sense of satisfaction after doing this, but she completely forgot to inform the kitchen’s owner, Donnie.

It wasn’t until a beaming Donnie returned, tray in hand, that he saw the empty space where the kitchen had been, as if it had never existed at all.

Donnie panicked, thinking he must have been dreaming.

’In his dream, he’d won the first prize—a kitchen. He was busy taking orders and cooking for customers, and then...’

He woke up!

’Wait, that can’t be right. Then where did this tray come from?’

Donnie spun around on the spot, but there was no trace of the kitchen anywhere! He couldn’t stop himself from grabbing a nearby customer.

He asked frantically, "Excuse me, did you see the glass building?"

The customer was dumbfounded. "Yeah, I saw it. It was right here just a second ago... Huh? Where did it go!"

Donnie was even more bewildered. "I know! How could my huge kitchen just disappear?! My life is over!"

’Right! Boss Hart! I have to find Boss Hart! She’ll definitely know what to do!’

Donnie rushed frantically into the RV, only to find Lily Hart sitting leisurely on the sofa, sipping milk tea.

She took a sip every now and then, pairing it with a piece of sinfully sweet cantaloupe.