"Even though the food on Fishman Island is great, home-cooked meals still taste the best." Zhang Da Ye leaned back in his chair, embarrassingly picking at his teeth with a toothpick.
Tom mimicked him, though those perfectly aligned little white teeth needed no cleaning at all.
"It's not that home meals taste better, it's that Teacher Tom's cooking is amazing, right?" Rui Meng Meng said, flicking the food scraps into the trash and stacking the empty plates. She was always this diligent, even when everyone else was too full to move.
Zhang Da Ye glanced at Tom. "That's probably part of it. By the way, you've been learning cooking from Tom for nearly two months now. How's it going?"
"Pretty okay, I guess… I'm really only good at chopping vegetables." Rui Meng Meng said, lacking confidence.
Chopping vegetables? Zhang Da Ye suspected she might have picked up the skill from sword training. He had doubts about Tom's teaching skills, considering how he once taught a kitten to catch mice and ended up making the kitten a friend to the mice instead.
But Zhang Da Ye didn't want to discourage her. "Chopping is still a skill. I think even cutting blocks pays well. But honestly, learning combat techniques might have better prospects for you."
While chatting, Rui Meng Meng carried a tall stack of plates back to the kitchen.
Back when she had worked part-time, she dared not stack plates so high. Once lifted, the bottom plate would crack under the weight, sending all the plates crashing down, and she'd have to worry if her wages that month would cover the damages.
Here, there was no such worry. She had seen Tom carrying a towering stack of plates nearly as tall as himself, wobbling and walking freely. Only doorframes limited him.
Once Rui Meng Meng finished with the dishes, Zhang Da Ye grabbed a cloth and wiped the table clean. "Alright, alright, meeting time!"
"We've been talking about going to sea, right? We currently have over 120 million Berries. If we sell all the gold we have, we should be able to buy a really good ship."
Zhang Da Ye remembered that the Straw Hat crew had brought back a huge amount of gold from Sky Island, which only converted to 300 million Berries. Their own gold stash was probably similar.
"So do we sell the gold to buy a ship and set sail, or keep running the tavern and earn Berries as bounty hunters?"
Tom raised his hand to oppose selling the gold. He couldn't bear to part with his statue.
Artoria said, "I agree. The golden armor is more for display anyway. I wouldn't wear it."
Shark Chili said, "I don't care. I'm not lacking toothbrushes, and a golden one isn't more comfortable. It's just a pity to waste Neptune's gift."
Rui Meng Meng looked around. "If everyone agrees, I guess mine too…"
"Yours can stay." Zhang Da Ye interrupted. "You're different. One reason you came here was to earn money. Bringing a bit of gold back is fine; Berries can't be used anyway."
"But if everyone else wants to contribute, I want to help too." Rui Meng Meng looked down. The gold was valuable—she could sell that sword for a fortune—but since everyone wanted to pitch in for a ship, she couldn't just stand by.
"Meng Meng, if every employee were as committed as you, even capitalists would be moved to tears," Zhang Da Ye said helplessly. "That gold was Neptune's gift. Using it is like winning the lottery and giving the prize to your boss for a fancy car."
"But the boss doesn't treat me like an employee. With the current food and lodging, my little daily workload barely covers my meals. Everyone gets along well. Artoria often looks out for me, small as she is, she feels like a sister. Even if Shark Chili is late and unfamiliar, when customers flirt with me, Shark Chili steps in to help. And who else takes employees on trips and vacations just for fun?"
Rui Meng Meng spoke quickly and chaotically. Maybe she had faced too many setbacks before, so she remembered every bit of kindness shown to her.
Zhang Da Ye had no real instinct for being a boss. He didn't even pay wages on time, though he gave them plenty of pocket money.
After all, they were summoned from another world. It was hard to treat them strictly as employees. During summer, he worked as an employee for others, never as a boss himself.
Food and lodging were provided because they helped him. Most of the money came from hunting pirates together.
As for leisure, fun only came when everyone enjoyed it together. Zhang Da Ye considered whether he should nod and say, "I treat everyone like family."
Ugh, too cheesy to say, so he said instead, "Think of it as company culture."
Rui Meng Meng retorted, "Boss, I read little but work a lot. You can't fool me. Company culture is just shouting slogans at the store entrance, right? Real benefits? Rarely. And when they do, it's massive."
Yes, Pei's company does that… Zhang Da Ye wanted to say.
Shark Chili finally understood: one wanted to contribute like everyone else without being singled out, the other wanted to respect that wish.
He rolled his eyes and said, "Boss Da Ye, I thought about it. That golden toothbrush is really nice. I want to keep it, so I won't contribute mine. We won't need much time raising money from hunting pirates anyway."
Zhang Da Ye was stunned, then noticed Shark Chili wink at him. Suddenly, Rui Meng Meng's mindset made sense.
It was like a class donation drive for disaster relief: give too much, and you can't manage; give too little, and you fear people think you don't care.
Truly, Dr. Takayama went to lengths designing flexible eyes and expressions for the robot. Zhang Da Ye's thoughts drifted, then he followed Shark Chili's lead: "Alright, keep it then. I'm not ready to part with the golden stool either. At least let me test how it feels for hitting first."
He looked at Artoria expectantly.
Artoria seemed confused. "I really don't mind. The golden armor is useless anyway. Do whatever you want with it."
Zhang Da Ye facepalmed. Isn't the joke that the king doesn't understand human hearts?
He quickly added, "Keep yours too. I can see your gift is the most delicate. Selling it would feel like betraying Neptune's effort."
Before Rui Meng Meng could protest, Zhang Da Ye made the decision. "Alright, that's settled. Keep your gifts. Tomorrow, we continue running the tavern, gathering intel, and working as bounty hunters to earn money for a ship."
[Please give powerstones if you're enjoying the story.
500 stones = 1 extra chapter
patreon com/GuessMyName33 for up to 40 chapters ahead]