Chapter 136 "Get To Work!"
"Why is there such a large amount of people waiting outside? I am not late or anything!" Jin checked his phone to look at the time and subsequently assured himself that is it was indeed not opening time yet.
When Jin got off from the taxi, the first person he saw was Xiong Da. "BOSS! Why did you not tell me that you would not be opened in the morning?" Xiong Da shouted
"Did I say that I would open in the morning for you?" Jin asked and Xiong Da was stunned for a moment. "Besides, Zhen Qing is here, isn't she? Why did you not ask her?" Jin looked at Zhen Qing and she nodded her head to confirm the fact that Xiong Da had not asked her.
"Hahaha, it's kind of embarrassing, but the truth is that I did not want to leave the queue." Xiong Da shyly spoke after Jin reprimanded him.
"Then what's everyone else here for?" Jin was curious as to exactly what was happening.
"Eh? You were the one who sent out the message saying that the Qixi Festival Dungeon was up and running. The people queuing here are the ones who bought the tickets from the loot box machine and Pandamonium stated this morning that it would be up today." Xiong Da explained and curiously looked at Jin for an answer.
"Even Bin Yong and Jia Le are queuing, despite it still being the afternoon." Xiong Da pointed at the newly formed couple waiting patiently in the queue.
"Happened to be our off days today." Bin Yong blushed when he said it whilst holding Jia Le's hand. "So we thought it would be nice to participate in the event at your store and perhaps have some lunch in the store as well before we go watch a movie in the evening."
Jin knew the one who played this trick was either Yun or the system. Yun looked at him innocently and shook her head, denying her involvement. Jin could only sigh at the system taking the initiative to post those Pandamonium messages.
"Okay, give me five to ten minutes for the store's equipment to be up and running," Jin assured the queue and the group of bellator entered with him.
"Who are they exactly? Why are they allowed to enter Jin's store before us?" A customer asked and Xiong Da replied back before baseless accusations could be thrown around. "They are the instructors and helpers hired by Jin. Don't tell me you can't even recognise Yun?"
The customers that were queuing started to mellow down after Xiong Da's explanation. They trusted him because he was a well known regular customer that frequented Jin's store and Xiong Da would therefore probably know more things about the shop than all of them combined.
"Still, it's rare to see Boss Jin going out with such a big group." Bin Yong commented casually and Jia Le giggled. "Boss Jin has a personal life outside of this shop too you know, like how we have to be outside of our jobs to enjoy each other." She placed her arm closer to Bin Yong, which caused the customer right behind them to become slightly envious of their lovey dovey relationship.
"Ah, what are you looking at." That particular customer's girlfriend then pinched his arm and nearly gave him a death stare before he tried to save himself. "It's just that I suddenly feel how fortunate I am to have you by my side. I imagine that if I were still single, I would be cursing and swearing at how affectionate the couple in front of us is."
"Really?" His girlfriend pouted a little but blushed too.
"Definitely." The customer smiled widely, which caused his girlfriend to hide her face in his chest and giggle. Meanwhile, in the customer's head…."Safe~!" was all he could think about.
———–
"Are you angry Jin?" Yun saw Jin hurrying to power up everything in the store. Even Zeru and Milk went to the second and third floors respectively to turn on the equipment.
"A little, but when I think about it logically, it's not really that a big deal. I knew the system would do things that would make things difficult once in a while. I believe this is something small, and besides, if the system pushes me to earn money, it means that I can complete the short term goals I have faster, like recreating the monster homes." Jin checked the Panda Port to see if everything was working normally.
When Zeru and Milk came down, Jin decided to take advantage of this chance to request for the Bellator's help. "Zeru, do you mind being the instructor for not just Xiong Da but for everyone who goes into Panda Muscles?" Zeru immediately knelt down and gladly accepted the work.
"And Milk, do you mind helping out at the recovery instance in replacement of Yun?" Jin asked Milk and Milk readily agreed but then realised something. "If I work at the Recovery instance, then what would Yun do?"
"She would help out with the food orders here," Jin answered and immediately looked at Peppers. It was obvious that she wanted to help in the store too.
"I have a very important mission for you Peppers." Jin squatted down and talked to Peppers. Jin knew not to underestimate this little kid. She might be young but she undoubtedly held a universe of knowledge in her head. Like pepper, she could be hot and sharp but if you knew her well enough, she would bring you many benefits.
"I need you to go to the Dungeon Maker and learn about each and every customer. Their cultivation, their techniques, their flaws, and how to improve. Is that okay? Or is that too much?" Jin asked gently and Peppers scoffed.
"Are you kidding me? That is like the best job I could ever hope for! To collect data! To analyse! Also, finding out about their flaws and helping them make improvements? That's the greatest pleasure a sage could ever get. I honestly prefer that over you asking me to wash the dishes or something." Peppers answered so truthfully that Yun walked over to where Peppers was and pulled her ear.
"Is there something wrong with washing dishes?" Yun used her authority as the system's spokesperson to overpower Peppers so that all Peppers could do was apologise before the pain got even worse.
"Alright, Bellators let's officially get to work!" Jin ordered and the entire group went to their respective instances. "I should also check on Zhen Qing before I open up the store." Jin realised he was too caught up with his bellators that he forgot his first real employee.
"Hi Zhen Qing, how are the preparations coming along?" Jin called using his phone as he found it awkward to go out of the shop at the moment since the customers would be expecting him to open the store instead of going to the caravan. Also…he was just too shy to see Zhen Qing face to face.
"All good! When I saw the queue outside growing, I decided to go back into the kitchen instance to prepare some more ingredients. I should have enough ingredients now to serve them all." Zhen Qing replied using the earpiece she was wearing that allowed her to listen to the Kitchen AI. She did not know that it could be used to communicate with Jin too.
"Excellent, if you need some Black Ivory Coffee, don't hesitate to come into the store and have a cup. You need your energy to serve the customers. Do not faint on me." Jin showed some concern to Zhen Qing but all she said in reply was "Okay, Thank you."
"Do not worry, one step at a time." Jin took in a deep breath before he opened the shutters of his store. Qixi Festival Dungeon? If only, he could celebrate Qixi, which was coming in a few days time, with Zhen Qing…that would be the best.
"Hahaha, do not push your luck and lose a potentially good chef." Jin bitterly smiled to himself as he raised the shutters up and welcomed his customers. "Welcome! And Xiong Da! To your training now!"
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