Chapter 70: [Expand Restaurant to Second Floor – 1,000 Points]
Total Revenue: [9,972 / 12,800]
Today’s intake was 3,240 points.
With the introduction of new offerings, many regular customers were eager to try something fresh.
New customers had also continuously joined the vegetable-harvesting ranks, steadily contributing points to the Chinese Restaurant.
Some had even opted for takeout.
Zhou Xue and Long Qian had likely paved the way for that trend.
After seeing those two groups walk away with bags of food, a small number of diners had started asking Ling Jing if they could pack up their meals as well.
The portions they purchased were usually enough to feed two or three people.
It made sense; in an apocalyptic wasteland, not everyone could be able-bodied.
Being able to buy food and bring it back for those who couldn’t easily leave the city was a good thing.
She claimed the 60 points from the daily quest and deducted the 50 points for routine maintenance.
Today’s net earnings came to 3,250 points.
Yesterday, she had expanded the storefront, bought new cooking pots, and upgraded several functions.
Adding in a few miscellaneous restocks—Malatang soup base, whole milk powder, cooking gas, skewers, disposable tableware, and the like—she had 1,280 points remaining.
Adding today’s 3,250 points, Ling Jing now held a grand total of 4,530 points.
Since opening the business, this was practically a fortune.
Setting aside 50 points for routine maintenance and reserving 100 points to recharge Caicai, Ling Jing had 4,380 points at her disposal.
Standing at the front entrance, she turned back to look into the dining hall.
She pulled up the system panel before her and navigated to the storefront expansion category.
Ling Jing was gearing up for a major undertaking.
Previously, with customer numbers climbing, she had worried she might be stretched too thin if she introduced more dishes.
Now that she had Caicai, however, she wouldn’t need to lift a finger for any front-of-house service duties during operating hours.
Counting skewers, setting out Malatang seasonings, replenishing sold-out pickled radish and one-pot stew—even taking orders, serving food, and collecting payment for the upcoming additions—could all be handed off to Caicai.
Ling Jing clicked into storefront expansion.
Looking at [Expand Restaurant to Second Floor – 1,000 Points], she tapped it without hesitation.
[Are you sure you want to expand the restaurant to a second floor? (The expanded restaurant will be upgraded. The upgraded restaurant will bring changes to attributes, daily turnover requirements, and other aspects. Please ensure your current operational capabilities are sufficient before proceeding with the upgrade.)]
[Confirm / Cancel]
Oh?
Adding a second floor would trigger an upgrade for the entire restaurant?
Ling Jing hadn’t anticipated that.
Still, it suited her plans perfectly.
She tapped “Confirm.”
[Congratulations! Your business entity’s operational floor space has met the criteria. Upgraded to ‘Standard Restaurant’!]
[Congratulations! Please claim your Business Entity Upgrade Reward!]
[Congratulations! You have completed the business entity upgrade in three days. Please claim your Rapid Upgrade Gift Pack!]
[The restaurant’s second floor has been placed into your ‘Assets.’ Please select a suitable placement under ‘Interior Décor & Layout’!]
A chorus of melodic chimes rang out, just like when Ling Jing had upgraded to a rudimentary restaurant three days prior.
In fact, this upgrade had taken a full day less than the last one.
Automated facilities drove up productivity, and daily revenues naturally swelled along with them.
The Chinese Restaurant was no longer the humble cart that scraped together a mere 110 points a day selling roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes.
Across seven days in total, Ling Jing’s establishment had undergone a world-shaking transformation.
She tapped into [Assets].
Host: Ling Jing Points: 3,530 Business Entity: [Standard Restaurant] Equipment Owned: Tier-3 Roaster, Cash Box (Item Exchange Box), Electric Tricycle Stall, Large Stovetop, Large Stainless Steel Broth Vat x2, Automatic Vegetable Slicer, Automatic Skewer Machine, Malatang Skewer Table x2, Large Pressure Cooker, Large Steamer-Boiler, Drum Roasting Machine, Fully Automated Service Robot. Ingredients: Potatoes (10,237 catties), Sweet Potatoes (7,362 catties), Cabbage… Cultivation: Two plots (Growing) Livestock: None Hidden Achievements Completed: 1
The asset overview was vastly richer than before.
Ling Jing hadn’t expected hidden achievements to count among her assets as well.
Hidden quests, however, were nowhere to be found on the list.
What was the connection between hidden quests and hidden achievements? Perhaps completing a certain number of hidden quests was the catalyst for unlocking a hidden achievement?
Ling Jing deduced as she studied the screen.
The system never cluttered the asset log with trivial fluff, so did this imply hidden achievements held some kind of tangible value?
‘Your current business entity is classified as a [Standard Restaurant].’ ‘A [Standard Restaurant] will incur a daily maintenance fee of 100 points at settlement, covering sanitation, electricity, water, and utility upkeep.’
Daily Quest: [Standard Restaurant] Tier – Daily Turnover (0 / 1,000) (Takes effect starting at midnight.) —Failure to complete the daily quest will result in a 20% deduction from the day’s turnover.
With the restaurant’s upgrade, the corresponding upkeep fees and daily quota had increased.
They had doubled outright this time.
Still, a daily turnover target of a thousand points posed no real challenge for Ling Jing at this stage.
[Would you like to claim your Business Entity Upgrade Reward?] [Yes / No]
Ling Jing tapped [Yes].
[You have claimed: Entrance Red Carpet x1, Staircase Runner x1, Menu Board x1, Cashier Lucky Cat Figurine x1!]
Ling Jing: “…”
The rewards for business entity upgrades remained as stingy as ever.
She clicked into Interior Décor & Layout, dragging the newly granted red carpet to the entrance of the pixel-art storefront and confirming its placement.
She dragged the Lucky Cat figurine onto the counter by the door, setting it right beside the previous Lucky Cat figurine so both could wave their paws in unison.
Next came the Rapid Upgrade Gift Pack.
Ling Jing felt a flicker of genuine anticipation for this one.
The last rapid upgrade pack had yielded an automatic vegetable slicer, which had proven remarkably timely.
She wondered what this one would offer.
[Would you like to claim the Rapid Upgrade Gift Pack reward?] [Yes / No]
Yes.
[You have claimed: Kitchen Upgrade Reward (Area expanded by 10 square meters, infrastructure upgraded).]
A kitchen expansion?
Splendid. Ling Jing had been wanting just that.
After bringing in the automated slicer and skewer machines, usable prep space on the counters had grown cramped.
With the simmering broth vats taking up a large footprint, the kitchen hadn’t been tiny, but it certainly hadn’t felt roomy either.
For the new ventures Ling Jing planned to introduce next, having dedicated space for mise en place was essential.
The gift pack handled the upgrade for her on the spot—ten square meters saved her an immediate 250 points.
Not bad at all.
She stepped into the kitchen to inspect the revamped space.
One look revealed that this “infrastructure upgrade” was worth far more than a simple 250 points.
The four-burner range and spacious sink remained in their original positions, but alongside the range sat an aligned prep station of identical height, where her crocks of rendered lard were neatly arranged.
On the far side of that counter sat a brand-new two-burner commercial gas stove.
—The original four-burner setup had functioned more like clay-pot burners arranged in a square grid, suited primarily for simmering small pots and slow-cooking broths.
A large iron wok could be propped up for stir-frying, but the sheer diameter of the wok inevitably obstructed access to the adjacent burners.
These newly added commercial burners were clearly purpose-built for high-heat wok cookery.
The two burners were spaced generously apart, fully capable of accommodating two large iron woks simultaneously.
Adjacent to the gas range stood a single-tier stainless steel worktable. Ling Jing’s various seasoning jars were arranged on top, while two large propane tanks were secured below to supply cooking gas.
Beside that worktable stretched an extended, widened prep island.
Hovering directly above the entire cooking and prep line hung a commercial integrated fume-purification hood.
It was infinitely more professional than her previous ordinary exhaust hood.
Ling Jing lifted a hand, brushing her fingers across the sleek housing of the purification unit.
If the kitchen was her battlefield, then the blade in her grip had just been ground to a razor-sharp, mirror finish.
