After the first round of pleasure, the second round of their card game went even more harmoniously.
Lin Jiang's luck was great; he drew a lot of good cards. Throughout the night, the words Xu Lin said most often were, "No, no, no."
Sunlight streamed through the gap in the curtains. When they got up, both felt refreshed and invigorated.
But it was hard to tell who was *more* refreshed.
[You dominated last night. Martial Force +1]
'Tongzi, you really know how to put things.'
"Hurry up and get ready, don't dawdle. Ma Shangxi's cousin's shop is opening today. You've got a busy day ahead."
"It's fine. I've got it under control."
After getting up, they had a simple bite to eat, and Lin Jiang headed to his shop.
When he arrived, he found Chen Jingxian was already there.
Since she was here to work, Chen Jingxian was dressed smartly in slim-fit black casual pants and a brown t-shirt. It made her look much younger, like a female college student.
"You must have been waiting for a while."
"Not that long. I popped across the street for a bit and bought a few things." Chen Jingxian tucked her hair back and said,
"On my way back, I saw the shop next door is running a promotion. Buy noodles, get a free drink, and a three-yuan voucher."
Lin Jiang glanced at the entrance of the Spring Harmony Noodle Shop. There were two rows of flower baskets and a red carpet. People were bustling about at the entrance, and they had even brought out firecrackers.
"They're making quite a scene," Lin Jiang muttered.
"So we should have a sense of urgency, too."
"Don't worry, everything is under my control."
He took out his keys and opened the shop. Before long, Li Yuanyuan and Zhang Guofu arrived as well.
Lin Jiang made some brief introductions, and they officially opened for business.
"Fifty percent off? This discount is insane. It's basically a loss leader."
Chen Jingxian said in surprise upon seeing the promotion plan Lin Jiang had written up.
"It's the most effective method. Put some pressure on them first. I can afford the loss."
"Got it."
CRACKLE... POP... CRACKLE... POP...
Just then, the sound of firecrackers erupted. Li Yuanyuan, curious, went outside to take a look.
"Brother Jiang, the place next door is opening! They're setting off firecrackers."
"Put our promotional sign up on the door. We're officially open."
"Okay!"
After the firecrackers stopped, Li Yuanyuan posted their shop's promotional sign on the door.
Not long after she put it up, customers started coming in.
Lin Jiang glanced at them. They looked familiar—a regular customer.
"Fifty percent off everything today? That's a crazy promotion!"
"You guys are always supporting the shop, so I can't be a greedy landlord. Gotta give the family some perks, haha..."
"Haha... You've got a way with words, kid. Keep up the good work. No matter how many noodle shops open on this street, I'll always come to yours."
"You got it! Have a seat inside."
With customers arriving, the shop got busy.
At the same time, because the online delivery platforms also had the 50% discount, delivery orders soared. In just a few minutes, they had already sold over a dozen bowls.
...
「Spring Harmony Noodle Shop.」
Zhou Chengrong, his wife Wu Liping, and Ma Shangxi were in the shop, ready for battle.
Zhou Chengrong was slightly overweight but not short. Unlike Ma Shangxi, who looked frail, he had a sturdy and solid presence as he sat there.
But more than half an hour passed, and not a single person came in. Not even a delivery order.
"What's going on? It's almost lunchtime, how come no one's here?" Wu Liping grumbled.
"Don't be anxious. It's not Berkeley's lunch break yet. It'll be at least another half an hour before people start showing up."
Half an hour later, there was still no one.
Only a single, pitiful delivery order had come in.
"Something's not right. Where is everyone? I'm going out to take a look."
Wu Liping couldn't take it anymore. She got up and went outside, her main reconnaissance target being Lin Jiang's shop.
'If his shop is also empty, then our situation would make sense.'
"How are there so many people at his shop!"
"What are you shouting for? You scared me."
"Come see for yourself! This is a disaster!" Wu Liping slapped her thigh in frustration.
With a cigarette dangling from his lips, Zhou Chengrong uncrossed his legs and walked out the door, casually glancing toward Lin Jiang's little shop.
"Why did everyone go to his shop!"
Outside Lin Jiang's shop, two extra tables had been set up, and customers were slurping down their noodles with great relish.
"Our promotion is so good, there's no way we can't compete with them."
Zhou Chengrong muttered. Wu Liping was also bewildered.
'Taste is something you only know after trying it. They haven't even tasted our food, yet they're all going to his shop. This is too weird.'
"Wait here, I'll go take a look."
To avoid being noticed, Zhou Chengrong tossed his cigarette butt, got in his car with Ma Shangxi, and drove over to the front of Lin Jiang's shop.
He saw a constant stream of people going in and out, along with many delivery drivers. His shop was the busiest on the entire street.
"Son of a bitch! He's running a 50% off sale!"
The average price for a bowl of his noodles is about 20 yuan. Fifty percent off means 10 yuan a bowl.
You couldn't find a price like that even in the suburbs, let alone in the city center. No wonder all our customers were snatched away.
"What the hell!"
The booming business at the noodle shop almost made Zhou Chengrong see red.
"I take off my goddamn tank top, and you strip down to your underwear!"
"Just to show off how big you are, huh!"
"Fuck!"
"This won't work. I suggest you also do 50% off, and throw in a free drink. That way, we can win the customers back."
Ma Shangxi had worked at Berkeley Mall for many years and quickly thought of this desperate measure.
"This is the only way now. We have to fight him!"
...
Inside Lin Jiang's small shop, it was so busy that there wasn't even time to go to the bathroom.
Stealing a moment amidst the chaos, Lin Jiang glanced at the sales figures. It was just 12:00 PM, and they had already sold more than 80 bowls.
'At this rate, I can complete the 200-bowl mission with just the lunchtime rush.'
[A Boss has appeared. Player, please be on your guard.]
The sudden game prompt made Lin Jiang freeze for a second.
'I've been doing missions for so many days and have met a lot of NPCs, but this is the first time I've seen a prompt like this.'
'This must mean the "Boss" the system is talking about is nearby, but not within my line of sight.'
'But what exactly is this so-called "Boss"?'
'Interesting.'
'If this were a computer game, I'd definitely have to be more careful, because the Boss could pop out at any moment.'
'Even though my life has been gamified, something that ridiculous won't happen in the real world.'
'So there's no need to worry. I'll just keep busy with my own work. As for when it will appear, I'll leave it up to fate.'
Ignoring the game prompt, Lin Jiang went back to work.
Gradually, the number of customers in the shop started to dwindle, but delivery orders were still booming.
"The shop next door lowered their prices. Not only are they doing 50% off, but they're also giving away free drinks. A lot of people have gone over there to eat," Chen Jingxian said as she walked over.
"So that's what happened. I was wondering why we had fewer customers."
"What should we do now?"
"We do nothing. We just wait them out."
"Huh? If we do that, won't all our customers get stolen?"
"It doesn't matter. I can still afford the loss."
'The main goal right now is to complete the mission.'
'Once the mission is done and I get the Delicious MSG, dealing with them will be a piece of cake.'
"Then I'll get back to it. There are still a lot of delivery orders to pack."
"Mm."
Even though some of his customers had been poached, Lin Jiang wasn't nervous at all.
He opened the two delivery apps and saw that Spring Harmony Noodle Shop's prices hadn't changed online, so they couldn't compete with his online sales.
'With delivery orders propping up sales, completing the mission will be a breeze.'
'Hackers never lose.'
And so it went. They stayed busy until after two in the afternoon, when both the dine-in customers and delivery orders began to decrease at the same time.
Zhang Guofu and Li Yuanyuan could now handle the workload by themselves.
At the same time, a notification sound chimed.
[Mission Complete: Reward Delicious MSG x1, 50 EXP]
Lin Jiang rubbed his hands together, eagerly anticipating the effects of the Delicious MSG.
Just then, a delivery courier appeared at the door.
"Is Lin Jiang here? There's a delivery for him."
"That's me."
The courier got off his three-wheeled vehicle and pulled out a box that was about a meter square.
"It's so big!"
Lin Jiang let out the same exclamation as Xu Lin had.
"Bro, come give me a hand. This thing is heavy, I can't lift it by myself."
"Sure thing."
Together, the two of them moved the large box. It was incredibly heavy, weighing well over a hundred pounds.
Lin Jiang and the courier carried the box into the back kitchen together. He didn't open it, deciding to wait until everyone had left for the night.
"Brother Jiang, is business this good?"
Hearing the voice, Lin Jiang turned to see it was Qin Youyou.
"We're running a discount promotion today, so business isn't bad. What would you like to eat? I'll have the kitchen make something for you."
"I'm not hungry yet. I came to see if you wanted to have dinner tonight, but looking at how busy you are, it seems that's not going to happen."
"Today's definitely a no-go. Some other time, maybe."
"How about tomorrow?"
"We'll see about tomorrow. I can't say for sure."
"Alright, I'll message you tomorrow then."
"OK."
After exchanging a few more words, Qin Youyou left, and Lin Jiang went back to work in the shop.
In the afternoon, because Spring Harmony Noodle Shop had started a price war, some customers were lured away. As a result, business wasn't as explosive as it had been in the morning, but they were still constantly busy without a moment's rest.
At eight o'clock that night, Lin Jiang shut down the delivery platforms. He was tired after a long day and didn't plan on taking any more orders.
"Master Zhang, Yuanyuan, thank you for your hard work today. Let's close up early so you can get some rest."
"Thanks, Brother Jiang."
The two of them cleaned up a bit, then clocked out and went home.
As an accountant, Chen Jingxian habitually sat at the cash register to tally up the day's earnings.
Lin Jiang returned to the back kitchen and eagerly opened the cardboard box.
Upon opening it, he found it was filled with many small packets. They were tiny, all one-gram servings.
On top was a folded A4 sheet of paper. He unfolded it and saw it was the instructions for use.
[For every 50kg of soup base, add 1g of Delicious MSG for better flavor.]
[For every 50L of water, add 1g of Delicious MSG, and use it to knead dough for better flavor.]