Chapter 355: Are You Sure You’re Not Here to Rip Me Off?

The wet market was drafty, but unlike Little Deer Cuisine which was completely exposed, it had enough structure that the wind was bearable.

Shen Lu handed Sang Yue a mask, gesturing for her to put it on before they got out of the car.

The vegetable merchant, Boss He, was bustling in and out of his shop. When he saw Shen Lu arrive, he politely invited her into the back office.

"Boss Shen, what brings you here in person today?" Boss He habitually reached for a cigarette to offer her, but then remembered the young lady didn’t smoke and lowered his hand. "Is there a problem with the vegetables?"

"The vegetables are fine. I just came to take a look. We need to switch up the menu at the restaurant every now and then."

"Then I’ll get a price list. Boss Shen, feel free to take a look around the warehouse."

Boss He called someone over to accompany Shen Lu and her companion to the warehouse in the back to inspect the goods.

Shen Lu casually handed the price list to Sang Yue and followed the young woman Boss He had assigned for a tour of the warehouse.

After the tour, Shen Lu made a list of the vegetables she needed for tomorrow, then took Sang Yue to the butcher and the seafood shop.

After visiting those three shops, they went to a seasoning store to make some purchases. Once they left the delivery address, the two of them took a car back to the restaurant.

Today’s ingredients had already been delivered. Shen Lu had Sang Yue join her in prepping them.

Sang Yue was handling the ingredients for the fast food meals, while Shen Lu handled the ingredients from the System Mall.

Placed side by side, anyone who wasn’t blind could tell which ingredients were of higher quality.

Having held her tongue for hours, Sang Yue couldn’t help but ask, "Boss Shen, why don’t we use only the ingredients you’re handling?"

"You think these ingredients are better, right?" Shen Lu asked.

"Yes."

"I don’t know what kind of family you came from, Miss Sang, to be so careless about money," Shen Lu said with a smile, though her tone held no hint of a joke. "I’m running a business, not a charity. There’s a saying: ’When you’re struggling, look out for yourself; when you’re successful, help others.’ Right now, I’m just a small business owner. I only make a few Star Coins on each fast food meal. When you give someone an extra half-scoop of food, Miss Sang, not only do I fail to make a profit, I actually lose money. If I were to use these high-quality ingredients, my restaurant would be out of business in two days."

"It’s not..." Sang Yue started to say it wasn’t that serious, but then she remembered the price lists she had seen. The price of every single ingredient had been unbelievably high.

This wasn’t her original world, where you could buy radishes for a few dimes and pork for a few dollars. Here, a simple pound of bok choy shoots cost several dozen Star Coins—so expensive it left her speechless.

By this point, Sang Yue already understood what an outrageous mistake she had made by giving out that extra half-scoop of food yesterday.

Her self-righteous act of kindness was, in fact, a huge mistake.

"Miss Sang, running a business here isn’t as simple as you think. Of course, if you’re not in it to make money, then by all means, do as you please."

"I’m sorry," Sang Yue said in a small voice. "Boss Shen, I shouldn’t have been so reckless yesterday."

Seeing her apologize, Shen Lu let the matter drop.

It wasn’t a major incident, after all. Still, Shen Lu added, "The person you should really be apologizing to isn’t me, but Sister Cai."

Sang Yue pouted. "I’ll go and apologize to Sister Cai in a little while."

After finishing her task, Sang Yue timidly went to find Cai Su.

Cai Su wasn’t the type to hold a grudge, and since Sang Yue’s apology was sincere, she accepted it.

Shen Lu took the opportunity to place Sang Yue under her care again. "Sister Cai, I’ll have to trouble you to keep an eye on her."

’I don’t want to bother with this anymore.’

[DING! Daily Quest Issued: Sell 3,000 meal sets with a customer satisfaction rating of three stars or higher. Time limit: eight hours.]

When the daily quest appeared, Shen Lu sucked in a breath at the required number.

’Three thousand meals. That’s a huge number.’

After a moment of thought, Shen Lu posted a recruitment notice on DouDou.

What Cai Su had said last time certainly made sense, but they were simply too short-staffed right now. She had no choice but to hire two more people.

To that end, she even made sure to specify in the benefits that room and board were included.

This way, the new employees could stay at the restaurant, quickly familiarize themselves with the environment, and she wouldn’t have to worry about them being unable to show up for work due to bad weather.

Additionally, Shen Lu ordered several Light Brains, paying an extra fee to have the shop deliver them to her door.

With all that taken care of, a new business day was about to begin.

The fast food customers were still as numerous as ever. The booth area welcomed its first customer, but their first question was whether they could get their order to go.

"In theory, we don’t recommend takeout. The food gets steamy inside the container, which affects the texture."

"That’s fine. I brought special food containers that can keep everything in its just-cooked state for up to two hours."

The person lifted two enormous food containers, clearly having come prepared.

Shen Lu blinked. "Alright then."

The person rattled off an order of ten dishes. "Just these, please. Thank you."

"Is this all for one person?"

"No, for three people."

"Got it."

Shen Lu took the containers to the kitchen and got to work. The grilled fish took a bit longer, and it was forty minutes before she could give the containers back to the customer.

Wang Daguo helped carry the containers out; Shen Lu couldn’t lift them on her own.

The Light Brain on her wrist vibrated. Shen Lu glanced down and saw a transfer notification from Li Zexing.

It was for the exact cost of the ten dishes, not a Star Coin more or less.

Tsk...

’So it was him.’

"Are you Li Zexing’s assistant?" Shen Lu asked curiously. "I don’t think I’ve seen you before."

She had gone looking for Li Zexing twice but had no memory of this person.

"I’m not the young master’s assistant. I’m the family’s backup driver."

The backup driver placed the food containers into a spatial pocket and drove off without a moment’s delay.

Shen Lu asked the system, ’Does a takeout order count toward completing the quest?’

[That depends on whether the final consumers meet the quest requirements!~]

Shen Lu shrugged. ’Oh well,’ she thought, ’I just hope the other two people at Li Zexing’s place are also Superpower Users.’

’I wonder who the customers for the other two tables will be today. And how many of them will there be?’

Shen Lu looked toward the restaurant entrance with anticipation. A moment later, several familiar figures appeared.

Mo Bei and seven or eight other mercenaries walked in, greeting Shen Lu enthusiastically.

"Boss Shen, good afternoon! We’re back for more."

Shen Lu showed them to their seats. Since there were so many of them, they had to push two tables together to fit everyone.

"Boss Shen, there are a lot of us today. Can we order one of everything on the menu?" Mo Bei asked.

"You can, but can your wallets handle it? My food here isn’t cheap, you know."

"Of course! Don’t you worry, Boss Shen, we can definitely afford it."

’They were mercenaries, after all. Who among them didn’t have at least a hundred thousand Star Coins in savings?’

The group boisterously ordered over a dozen dishes, and Mo Bei even had the cheek to ask Shen Lu if she could throw in some fruit for dessert.

"Sure. Seeing as you’re such a regular, it’s the least I can do." Shen Lu didn’t want Mo Bei to lose face, so she generously agreed.

As soon as Shen Lu walked away, the man sitting next to Mo Bei nudged him with an elbow. "Are you sure you didn’t bring us here to get fleeced? One order of Pickled Vegetable Fish costs me a whopping 1,888! It’s not even this expensive in the Upper City District!"