Chapter 5

Unable to eat on time, Yuan Zhou looked at the two newly acquired certificates in his hand, feeling a bit excited.

He found a small, shabby restaurant, ordered a plate of fried rice, and sat in the greasy eatery. Yuan Zhou quietly opened the task and found it still showed as incomplete. Only then did he realize that perhaps the task would only be completed once the restaurant opened for business.

"Here's your fried rice. The soup is in that bucket over there; you can drink as much as you like."

The arrival of the fried rice interrupted Yuan Zhou's thoughts.

Since the system's reward was a divine-level fried rice, Yuan Zhou wanted to try the ordinary version first.

The bowl of ordinary fried rice in front of him had a few pieces of ham, some diced carrots, and the essential chopped green onions, with a small dish of kimchi on the side.

He finished it in a few bites, but didn't find the fried rice particularly delicious.

"Could the divine-level fried rice from the system actually glow like in 'Chinese Chef'?" Yuan Zhou muttered to himself as he walked out of the shop.

On the way, Yuan Zhou found someone to put up wallpaper and bargained the price down to 18 yuan per square meter. He then hitched a ride on the person's tricycle back to his own shop, saving even the bus fare with his cleverness.

Back at the shop, Boss Wang had already repaired all the pipes, including the dual-burner gas stove, and the kitchen, now cleaned, looked clean and bright.

After arranging for the wallpaper, Yuan Zhou went to Boss Wang and said, "Thank you, Boss Wang. It's been a lot of trouble. Here's the money; please count it."

"It's no trouble. The money is just right. I'll be going now. If you have any problems, just call me." Boss Wang took the money, counted it, put it in his pocket, and politely left for his own shop.

"Swish, swish"

Apart from the sound of the workers, the shop was very quiet. The old tables and chairs had been cleared away, leaving the hall empty. While waiting for the wallpaper to be put up, Yuan Zhou thought about what kind of tables and chairs to buy.

Yuan Zhou was very confident in the system, so he planned to fill the hall with tables to attract more customers.

"Ha ha ha."

Thinking about the future with a steady stream of customers and one branch after another, he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The two workers who were seriously putting up the wallpaper heard the laughter and couldn't help but look back. The younger, taller one gave the older one a questioning look, and the older one glared at him, "It means do your own job and don't meddle."

The younger one shrugged and, seeing the older one about to get angry, quickly pleaded for mercy and resumed his work.

After laughing a couple of times, Yuan Zhou realized his image issue. He looked around and saw no one passing by the shop, then turned to look at the two workers who were working diligently.

Bored, Yuan Zhou started calculating today's expenses: 1500 yuan for repairing the gas pipes and stove, 1080 yuan for 60 meters of wallpaper, 600 yuan for the certificates, and 10,000 yuan budgeted for tables, chairs, and kitchenware. This added up to 36820 yuan out of the 50,000 yuan, plus 320 yuan from selling scrap.

The remaining money made Yuan Zhou a bit unhappy. Just the basic renovation had cost so much, which was hard for the frugal Yuan Zhou to accept.

Thinking about the need to buy tables and chairs in the afternoon, his heart ached. Therefore, Yuan Zhou decided to buy more tables and chairs to fill the 30 square meters of space, allowing more customers to sit. If not for the strict regulations from the city management, he would have placed tables and chairs outside as well.

The wallpaper was put up quickly, as Yuan Zhou had already removed the old wallpaper the night before. The two workers finished quickly, and after Yuan Zhou inspected it, he paid the final amount, and they left.

After the renovation, the light yellow wallpaper with small floral patterns made the space feel warm and cozy. Yuan Zhou tidied up the floor, making it clean and bright.

Pulling down the roller shutter, Yuan Zhou took the bus to a second-hand market, where he could fully display his frugal and thrifty virtues.

Of course, Yuan Zhou was just practicing the excellent virtue of thrift passed down from his ancestors, but he wouldn't buy old things. Although it was called a second-hand market, it also sold new items, which were relatively cheaper and of good quality.

Following the tradition of comparing prices, Yuan Zhou toured the entire second-hand market and finally chose a shop in the corner with a "Clearance Sale" sign.

Hearing that the shop was being transferred and the goods needed to be sold, Yuan Zhou asked, "Boss, how many sets of these tables do you have left?"

"You like this set? It's the best quality left in the store. There are four sets in the warehouse. How many do you want?" The boss adjusted his glasses and smiled kindly.

"Only four sets? I need six sets." Yuan Zhou gestured at the size of the table and thought about the size of his shop, frowning.

"Maybe this red set? There are six sets of this one." Seeing the deal about to fall through, the boss quickly pointed to a red set of tables and chairs.

In the end, after some clever negotiation, Yuan Zhou bought four white sets and two red sets, using the lack of six white sets as a reason to further lower the price. Ignoring the boss's sweating, he happily continued browsing the shop and found pots, bowls, and other kitchenware. After some price haggling, he bought enough.

"Boss, since I've bought so much from you, can you help me deliver it to my shop?"

Looking at the packed items, Yuan Zhou said to the boss, who was standing at the door with a "see you off" look, his tone familiar and friendly.

"I don't provide delivery. You can look for delivery trucks at the front of the market. I can help you watch for them." The boss directly declined.

"Boss, that's not right. Even if you don't provide delivery, you should at least introduce me to a good driver. How else would I know which driver is good?" Seeing the boss's firm attitude, Yuan Zhou compromised.

In the end, the boss, unable to resist Yuan Zhou's persistence, found the cheapest delivery truck. Using the perfect excuse that he couldn't clearly describe the address, Yuan Zhou hitched a ride with the delivery driver, saving another 2 yuan in bus fare, enough for two tea eggs.

As the sky darkened, Yuan Zhou neatly arranged all the items, not even wiping the sweat from his forehead. He sat in the new chair and eagerly opened the task display.

[Task] Own a shop of your own—[Completed]

(Task Prompt: How can a future culinary god not have his own shop? Young man, go and strive.)

Before Yuan Zhou could be happy, the system's text appeared in his mind.

System text: "Initial task completed. The culinary god system is now officially activated, entering shop renovation mode."

"Clang, clang"

"System, what does 'renovate the shop' mean?" Yuan Zhou asked urgently, hearing the noise coming from the kitchen.

System text: "The system will upgrade the shop you own for free to provide better dishes for customers."

A bad feeling flashed through Yuan Zhou's mind.

"If that's the case, why not just renovate it directly?"

System text: "The system will upgrade the shop you own for free to provide better dishes for customers."

"What about the things I bought earlier?"

Yuan Zhou felt a pang of pain as he watched the tables and chairs disappear one by one.

System text: "The system will provide free renovation, and the original items will be recycled."

"Damn!"

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