Chapter 91: Expanding the Ground Floor and Cultivating the Farm
First, the expansion.
Seating around the Malatang tables was sorely lacking, so she expanded the left wing of the ground floor by forty square meters.
This allowed for two brand-new eight-seater long tables dedicated to Malatang skewers.
On the interface, Ling Jing adjusted the layout of all four Malatang tables.
With more breathing room, the clearance between tables widened considerably.
No longer would a stockier diner find themselves sitting back-to-back, shoulder-to-shoulder with the guest behind them.
Now, even with people seated in every chair, there was ample aisle space for someone to walk through comfortably.
Four communal tables could host thirty-two diners simultaneously. If each table turned over eight times a day, that meant serving roughly two hundred and fifty people.
That covered well over half her current customer base—more than enough for the time being.
Time to upgrade all four tables!
[Auto Skewer Counting] function — 100 points.
[Auto Replenish] function — 100 points.
Across four tables, that came to 800 points.
Spend it!
Once upgraded, the tables synced directly with the cashier’s exchange box at the front, allowing patrons to settle their bills on their own.
Caicai’s payment module was linked to the main exchange box as well, meaning guests could pay the robot directly if they preferred.
Along the far left wall, Ling Jing intentionally reserved a compact nook.
She purchased a condiment counter, positioned it in place, and paid for an immediate upgrade.
The upgraded condiment station featured seven small tubs and one large vat, with storage beneath for tableware and an automated restocking function.
Ling Jing loaded the bins with sesame paste, chopped scallions, minced garlic, salt, cilantro, and vinegar. The sesame paste claimed the large vat, while the remaining two compartments were left empty for now.
Disposable plastic trays were slotted into the dispenser below.
Above the counter, she mounted a neat sign: [Self-Serve Condiments: 1 City Coin (Tableware free of charge)].
She’d leave the choice to the customers.
Individual seasonings carried their own subtle buffs, a fact Ling Jing confirmed by mixing a trial dish herself.
With sesame paste as a base, different ratios yielded slightly varying bonuses… but the enhancements on raw, uncooked ingredients were trace at best.
They hovered in the hundredths of a percent, meaning their culinary purpose far outweighed any tactical value.
She decided against listing their micro-buffs; let the diners dress their bowls however they pleased.
Revamping the entire skewer zone had devoured 2,900 points in one go.
Yet it completely freed her hands.
Just like the self-serve display by the entrance, the Malatang skewer corner had achieved total automation.
Well, the only step untouched by machines was prepping the condiments.
The scallions, garlic, and cilantro still had to be diced by hand.
No matter—she spent 40 points on a heavy-duty electric garlic chopper; scallions and cilantro were quick work with a knife anyway.
This alone lifted a staggering weight off her shoulders.
Tomorrow, there would be no repeat of sprinting back and forth between the kitchen burners and the skewer tables, starving with no time to eat.
Ling Jing would never be chained to the Malatang tables again!
Exhaling a long breath, she glanced at the lopsided layout of the ground floor and casually expanded the right wing by forty square meters as well.
She added eight four-person tables and thirty-two round stools.
With that, the general dining hall downstairs felt vastly more open and inviting.
Today had been a claustrophobic squeeze; with this expansion, tomorrow would run much smoother.
She bought twelve more waste bins, placing one beside each of the new tables.
Another 1,528 points spent.
Now, the central thoroughfare on the ground floor was crisply divided.
Right past the entrance lay the self-serve counters; pushing inward, the Malatang skewer zone sat to the left, while the standard dining tables lined the right.
Between both floors combined, the Chinese Restaurant could now seat one hundred and twenty-six patrons at once.
Hmm… something was still missing.
Ling Jing took a slow stroll from the ground floor up to the second.
Ah, napkins.
Back when the restaurant first opened, the menu consisted solely of dry roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes.
There was zero grease, and virtually no need to wipe one’s mouth.
Now, the menu was expanding rapidly, particularly upstairs and in the skewer corner.
Even Ling Jing instinctively reached for a napkin after finishing her meals.
Assuming four hundred visitors a day, with each dining twice, that equaled eight hundred customer visits.
Ling Jing had plenty of experience procuring paper goods; she recalled from national industry surveys that diners used an average of 3.7 napkins per meal.
Rounding up to four, that was 3,200 sheets a day.
The cheapest pack of clear-wrapped napkins in the Mall held a hundred sheets. Rounding up… that only required about thirty-two packs a day.
Hmm… Ling Jing browsed the Mall’s listings.
A bulk case of one hundred packs of [Economy Paper Napkins] cost 30 points.
Practically matching the wholesale bargain sites from back home.
One case would last roughly three days.
A cost she could shoulder with ease.
Ten points a day to vastly upgrade customer satisfaction.
She bought ten cases outright, stashing them in storage.
The restaurant’s property remained sacred and inviolable.
The napkins were offered free of charge for customers to take what they needed, and grabbing an extra sheet or two was no big deal.
Should anyone maliciously attempt to swipe them in bulk, the system’s security countermeasures would handle it.
Next, she logged into Caicai’s backend console and queued up a minor new task: restocking napkin dispensers.
Task logged.
Caicai: “My absolute pleasure! O(∩_∩)O”
Excellent.
Surveying the revamped second-floor hall, Ling Jing trotted down to the ground floor, taking in the full view.
She gave a nod of deep satisfaction.
Alright.
Time to tackle the farm!
…
[Would you like to convert your Plant Cores into Flora Tokens? (Currently held: 5)]
[Would you like to convert your Beast Cores into Fauna Tokens? (Currently held: 9)]
Ling Jing converted the whole batch in one breath.
[Conversion successful!]
The upper-right corner of her HUD updated: Fauna Tokens: 1,000; Flora Tokens: 500.
One hundred of those Fauna Tokens were left over from her previous conversion, untouched till now.
Whether by coincidence or design, every single core Yves had brought tonight was C-rank.
Ling Jing tapped into the [Cultivation] panel first, reviewing her two existing plots.
Both the paddy rice and sweet corn plots were ready for water.
She hit the [Irrigate] button.
The two plots responded with distinct visual effects.
On the interface, the pixelated rice paddy filled with a shimmering azure sheen, while the corn plot simply deepened to a rich, moist loam.
The system had even animated the distinction.
Looking up, she saw the real-world plots out front mirrored the display, their water levels visibly different.
The rice patch was now an authentic, flooded wetland terrace.
[Paddy Rice: Your crop is thriving! (Germination Phase — 4 days remaining until Growth Phase)]
[Sweet Corn: Your crop is thriving! (Germination Phase — 3 days remaining until Growth Phase)]
The life cycles felt remarkably like a cozy farming sim.
Watering done, Ling Jing opened the [Farm Supermarket] and scanned the fertilizer aisle.
[Standard Fertilizer]: 10 Flora Tokens / bag — Accelerates growth by 20%.
[Organic Compost]: 25 Flora Tokens / bag — Enhances crop grade + Boosts yield by 20%.
[Premium Fertilizer]: 30 Flora Tokens / bag — Accelerates growth by 40%.
[Solanaceae Nutrient Solution]: 40 Flora Tokens / bag — (Specialized for nightshades; Tomato / Eggplant yield +50%).
[Leafy Greens Nutrient Solution]…
It didn’t feel strictly necessary for now.
With so few plots, accelerating growth or squeezing out extra harvest was of marginal benefit.
Besides, Ling Jing wasn’t hurting for most vegetables right now.
She had hundreds of wild “suppliers” hauling fresh crates to her doorstep every single day.
Better to buy land.
Securing a self-sufficient supply of staple grain crops was paramount.
Investing her five hundred Flora Tokens, Ling Jing purchased four new plots.
She aligned them alongside her original two, laying them out in a neat, orderly row to the right.
As for seeds… Ling Jing ultimately chose four bags of wheat seeds from the Farm Supermarket.
Cost: 80 Flora Tokens.
Since opening its doors, the restaurant had never offered flour-based staples.
No flour meant no wheat.
Not a single grain had ever turned up in the Item Exchange Box, either.
Perhaps the agricultural ruins near the Chinese Restaurant hadn’t grown wheat, meaning scavengers would need to venture deeper into the outer wastes to turn up old grain stores.
Ling Jing couldn’t afford to sit on her hands and wait.
Purchasing wild salvage was one path, hunting outside was another, and her own private farm formed the third leg of the stool.
A diversified supply line was essential.
Now that the farm module was active, staple crops had to be phased into domestic cultivation step-by-step.
There were so many noodle dishes, buns, and dumplings she was dying to cook.
She sowed wheat across all four newly cleared plots and watered them down.
The auto-generated perimeter fence expanded outward, boxing all six plots together in pristine order.
The fields now formed a proud, uniform row.
No rush.
Six plots was a modest start, but day by day, her harvest would grow into an empire.
