Tang Ya's Birthday

To be honest, the prices at Huo Yuhao's barbecue restaurant were indeed not low. Though they could not compare to medicinal cuisine made with high-level Soul Beast meat, they were far more expensive than most food on the market.

At Huo Yuhao's barbecue restaurant, whether lamb or beef skewers, each cost one Silver Coin. Grilled fish remained steadily priced at five Silver Coins per fish, or three fish for one Gold Coin.

If ordinary students came to eat, they generally spent seven or eight Gold Soul Coins. Fifty beef and lamb skewers, three grilled fish, then a few mugs of draft beer or ale—more or less that was the price.

Although that price could be considered expensive, for most students wealthy enough to attend Shrek Academy, it was not excessive at all. Their families sent them anywhere from a hundred or two hundred to one or two thousand Gold Soul Coins in living expenses every month. Not to mention anything else, setting aside one day a week to gather with a few friends was perfectly reasonable.

Because of this, Huo Yuhao's daily revenue soared again from its original five hundred Gold Coins, reaching nearly two thousand Gold Soul Coins a day. Even after deducting the labor costs of hiring people to skewer meat and serve dishes, as well as rent, Huo Yuhao still earned over fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins each month.

One had to know that this was an extremely staggering number. The annual tax revenue of many remote counties and towns might not even exceed five hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, while Huo Yuhao's annual income was even more outrageous than that of those remote counties and towns.

This showed just how concentrated wealth was on the Douluo Continent. Soul Masters, despite making up only a tiny proportion of the population, controlled most of the Gold Soul Coin reserves across the entire continent. And among Soul Masters, the top-tier group, despite being an even smaller fraction, held nearly all the Gold Soul Coins within Soul Master circles.

As a result, Huo Yuhao merely had to open a relatively high-end barbecue restaurant at Shrek Academy's West Gate to amass his first fortune at an unbelievably fast pace.

Huo Yuhao always remembered those who had helped him. The alcohol supply channel Jie Chu had initially brought over from his family's bar had been a tremendous help, so Huo Yuhao continued to purchase alcohol from Jie Chu's family bar afterward. The prices were twenty percent higher than wholesale, which counted as repaying the favor.

Of course, compared with the alcohol sold directly at the bar, the prices at Huo Yuhao's barbecue restaurant were not especially high. But the issue was that no matter how expensive the drinks at a bar were, they still had to sell.

Although Huo Yuhao's barbecue restaurant had its head chef clock out promptly at ten in the evening and closed precisely at midnight—operating for only six hours, with the head chef absent for two of them—even so, the amount of alcohol sold there each day far exceeded the bar run by Jie Chu's mother over three or four days.

"Bei Bei, you aren't lying to me, are you? Nannan really is at this restaurant?"

Outside the entrance, a deep, resonant voice rang out, though it was clearly tinged with excitement. The speaker wore a purple school uniform and was actually a fourth-year student. He looked about the same age as Bei Bei, tall and broad, with thick brows, tiger-like eyes, a straight nose, and a square mouth. He cut an impressive figure. His originally fair skin was flushed with excitement.

"Come on, why would I lie to you?" Bei Bei strode toward the barbecue restaurant with a dragon's gait and tiger's stride as he said, "Today's Xiao Ya's birthday. As Xiao Ya's roommate, how could Nannan not be here? After I go in, come upstairs a little later. The tables will definitely be full at this hour, so just drag over a chair and join a table."

A helpless look appeared on Bei Bei's face. "If your family's Mystic Water Pills weren't genuinely useful, I couldn't be bothered helping you this time. Remember, join a table on the second floor. Xiao Ya and I are at the table in the northeast corner upstairs. Yuhao specifically saved it for us."

Before he could ask who the Yuhao Bei Bei had mentioned was, Bei Bei had already strode into the barbecue restaurant and gone straight upstairs, leaving him alone at the entrance, unable to sit or stand still.

The purple-clad senior was named Xu Sanshi. According to Bei Bei's plan, he had brought Xu Sanshi here today without expecting him to make any grand move. He simply hoped Xu Sanshi would eat quietly and find an opportunity to chat with Jiang Nannan while everyone was shooting the breeze, advancing gradually and plotting for the long term.

After all, meals had to be eaten one bite at a time, and roads had to be walked one step at a time. But unfortunately, Xu Sanshi clearly had not understood Bei Bei's intentions.

That year, during the Black Tortoise inheritance, I took the wrong path and left Nannan scarred for life. When I saw Nannan lying on the bed, crying her heart out, I thought then that if I ever found a chance to make amends, I would make up for everything.

Now that chance is right before me. I have to consider whether this may be the only opportunity I will ever have in my life. I believe that as long as I show my sincerity, Nannan may give me a chance to repair our relationship. Today, I cannot shrink from my duty!

With that thought, Xu Sanshi strode into Huo Yuhao's barbecue restaurant. He walked to the counter, stared directly at Huo Yun'er, who was keeping the accounts, and declared loudly, "Bring me one serving of the most expensive food in your restaurant. I want Nannan to know my determination!"

For a moment, the restaurant fell silent. Nearly everyone on the first floor turned to look at Xu Sanshi. Huo Yun'er was also somewhat taken aback. After thinking for a moment, she said gently, "Certainly. One grilled fish is five Silver Coins, one beef skewer is one Silver Coin, one lamb skewer is one Silver Coin, and one mug of draft beer or ale is two Silver Coins. That will be nine Silver Soul Coins."

Xu Sanshi had already frozen when he heard about one beef skewer and one lamb skewer. He knew that he seemed to have made another blunder.

Sure enough, Huo Yun'er looked at Xu Sanshi with some concern, her eyes carrying a trace of care for a special group. Mixed in were quiet chuckles and whispers from the students at the other tables.

"Then... then make me some dishes you don't have here. The best ones. Money isn't a problem."

An embarrassed expression crossed Xu Sanshi's face, but he immediately took a pouch of Gold Soul Coins from his Storage Soul Guidance Device and slapped it onto the counter, drawing a soft laugh from Huo Yun'er.

"All right, but you'll have to discuss that with the head chef, and you'll need to provide the ingredients yourself. The head chef just went upstairs to greet his friends. Why don't you go up and ask him?"

Huo Yun'er naturally was not worried that anything would happen. Shortly after Huo Yuhao's stall had opened, quite a few people had set their sights on the secret recipe for his grilled fish. But they had only been petty tricks not worth mentioning, and both Huo Yuhao and Huo Yun'er had dealt with them easily.

Later, some people still could not suppress their restless thoughts and tried to seize Huo Yuhao's barbecue recipes by force. But by then, Huo Yuhao had already become quite famous. He did not use any special means. He simply grabbed the man and loudly repeated the threats he had made. Then the man was surrounded by furious students.

Everyone, just have a laugh over Douluo's currency system. Don't think about it too seriously—you won't figure it out anyway. (lol)

The new students enrolled in September, and Tang Ya's officially listed birthday was December 11. The timeline was very rigorous. (certain)