Kachi licked her lips, reluctantly set down her chopsticks, and followed Chu He into Gluttony House, still wanting more.
The interior was dim, but astonishingly spacious.
The first floor alone held at least fifty antique-style square tables, complete with chairs and benches, all scrubbed spotless.
There was a counter, a kitchen, stoves, even a huge freezer... Every facility a restaurant could need was here, and all of it looked top-of-the-line.
Chu He opened one of the freezers.
Whoosh—
A blast of cold air swept over him.
It was completely empty—not so much as a single hair inside.
He opened another. Still empty.
Across the entire three-story restaurant, every place that could hold anything was clean enough to reflect a person. There wasn't a scrap of food or a drop of water.
It was downright bizarre.
For no clear reason, Chu He felt an ominous premonition rising in his heart.
Gluttony House had definitely had other tenants before. But where had they... gone?
"Little He He, have you figured out how to fleece—cough, I mean, how to set the prices?"
With her hands clasped behind her back, Kachi strolled about like a little queen inspecting her domain, breaking the dead silence with her clear voice.
"How are we going to turn this pile of offal into twenty million?"
"I've already figured that out!"
Chu He temporarily pushed aside his doubts and confidently snapped his fingers.
He walked behind the counter and gestured with all the authority of a seasoned manager.
"Our hot pot is the best in the entire city. That's our core advantage! So we have to go high-end!"
"I'm thinking of offering a few set meals. The basic one will cost 2,000 ghoul coins, the deluxe one 3,000, and the premium one 5,000!"
The more he spoke, the more excited he became. His eyes were practically glowing.
"Look, there are fifty tables on the first floor, forty on the second, and thirty on the third—that's 120 tables in total!"
"Even if each table spends an average of 3,000, that's 360,000 in revenue when we're full!"
"If we turn the tables three or four times a day, we'll make over a million!"
"And the best part is the cost!" Chu He grinned from ear to ear. "Our ingredients are practically free! The rent's free too! How much could utilities possibly cost? The profit margin will be terrifying!"
Starting tomorrow, we'll go all-out buying up the stomachs and intestines of all kinds of animals from every slaughterhouse in the city!
"Oh, right. We'll need to hire a few servers too. We'll pay them 7,000 a month. In Myriad Phenomena City, that's definitely a high salary for a server!"
Chu He could already see his bright future: paying off his loan within a month and reaching the pinnacle of success.
But to Kachi, his supposedly flawless plan sounded laughably naive.
"Pfft."
Kachi couldn't help laughing.
She walked up to Chu He, rose onto her tiptoes, and tenderly patted his face with her soft, fair hand.
"Little He He, that's not making money."
"You're doing charity!"
"Huh?"
Chu He was dumbfounded. He thought his prices were already outrageously high.
Two or three thousand ghoul coins for a meal would be considered an astronomical price for hot pot in any city in Dragon Country.
And most of the ingredients had practically been picked up for free. How was this charity?
Kachi ignored his bewilderment and walked over to a square table. She ran her soft, fair fingers lightly across its spotless surface, her starry eyes gleaming with an ancient, cunning light.
"Little He He, you've made three fatal mistakes."
She raised one finger.
"First, you've misjudged what you're selling. You're not selling hot pot. You're selling a 'miracle,' an 'experience they've never had before.'"
"To ghouls who've been eating pig slop for years, this meal is worth as much as a divine miracle. And you'd price a miracle at two or three thousand? You're insulting the gods—and yourself."
Kachi raised a second finger.
"Second, you've misjudged your customers. Which of the people living on this street is poor? To them, money is just a number. What are they after? Status, prestige, and a sense of unmatched exclusivity! And you want them to queue up and turn tables like ordinary ghouls? You're lowering their standards. They'd be in a good mood if they didn't tear your restaurant apart—and it's a good thing Xia Yao and I are here to keep things under control."
"As for the third..."
Kachi turned and smiled at Chu He, who was standing there like a stunned statue, raising a third finger.
"You actually thought you could make money from them with the 'small profits, high turnover' approach... that foolish, kindhearted mindset of ordinary people."
"Little He He, you're not ruthless enough."
Chu He swallowed. In front of this little girl, his business sense had been crushed to pieces.
"Th-then what do you think we should do?" he asked humbly.
"Simple." Kachi snapped her fingers, and the atmosphere in the dining hall seemed to shift with them. "My plan has three steps too. I call it the 'Three-Step Squeeze-Everything-Out Plan.'"
"Step one: screening."
Kachi swept her little hand toward the throng of ghouls gathered outside the door.
"Most of these people don't even qualify to come inside.
We're not going to open our doors to everyone. We're going to set a bar! Want to eat? Sure.
But not just anyone gets to.
We'll limit the numbers! We'll let only thirty people in each day!"
"How do we choose them?" Chu He asked without thinking.
"Good question!" Kachi nodded approvingly. "We're not selling meals. We're selling Gluttony Tokens! Each token grants one person entry. We won't set a price for them. Anyone who wants one can come negotiate! If they don't have enough wealth or status, they can forget about it! We'll make carrying a Gluttony Token through these doors the ultimate symbol of status in Myriad Phenomena City!"
Chu He sucked in a sharp breath.
Holy shit... This was the scarcity marketing strategy used in the luxury goods business!
"Step two: exploitation."
Kachi's smile grew even more innocent—and even more chilling.
"Once they're inside, the soup base is free."
Then she changed tack.
"But we'll sell the ingredients by the slice."
"B-by the slice?" Chu He's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"Yep." Kachi said it as if it were obvious. "A slice of tripe costs 100 ghoul coins. A piece of intestine costs 150. Dipping sauce is extra. Want more broth? Sure. That'll be 5,000 per refill."
"Holy shit!"
Chu He finally couldn't hold back and swore.
"How the hell is that any different from robbing them?"
Kachi wagged a finger and drawled, "Robbery is illegal. We're a high-end restaurant, and our customers are paying of their own free will."
Chu He was speechless.
His heart was pounding wildly, and a jumble of shock, fear, and... intense excitement churned in his chest.
He could almost see mountains of ghoul coins beckoning to him.
"Then what's step three?" His voice was trembling.
Kachi walked over to him, rose onto her tiptoes, and lowered her voice mysteriously. Every word she breathed carried the devil's temptation.
"Step three: squeeze them dry. Once they've eaten and drunk their fill, and are completely satisfied, what do you think their biggest regret will be when they're about to leave?"
Chu He thought it over and ventured, "That they didn't eat enough?"
"No."
Kachi shook her head, a hint of pity for mortals flickering in her starry eyes.
"It'll be that pot of broth, brimming with the essence of every ingredient and so fragrant it could melt a ghoul's soul! They can't take it with them, so when they get home, they'll have to go back to eating pig slop. That drop from heaven into hell will drive them mad."
"So..."
The curve of Kachi's lips grew more and more unsettling as she enunciated each word:
"We can sell them the leftover broth to take home."
"One pot of original broth, packed to go, for 10,000 ghoul coins. They can take it home, and even if they boil a lump of mud in it, it'll taste like a gourmet delicacy. That's called... after-sales service and extending the value."
"..."
Chu He fell completely silent.
He looked at the little girl before him, so delicate and harmless-looking, and felt a chill creep up his back.
Even the most ruthless capitalists would weep and call her their master.
Compared to her elaborate business empire, designed to wring out every last drop of profit, his own clever ideas were nothing but child's play.
So this was how you made money by being utterly inhuman.
He drew a deep breath and looked at Kachi with unprecedented reverence.
What a witch. Thank goodness she was on his side—thank goodness she was his woman.
"Kachi..."
"Hmm?"
"You really are a genius!"
Kachi lifted her chin proudly, like a little peacock.
"That's just the basics." She clasped her hands behind her back again and spoke like a seasoned old hand. "Come on, Little He He. The theory lesson is over.
Now it's time for the practical lesson.
Before you continue