What a Witch, Fortunately She's My Woman!

Kachi licked her lips, put down her chopsticks with lingering reluctance, and grudgingly followed Chu He into Gluttony House.

The room was dimly lit, but astonishingly spacious.

The first floor alone had at least fifty antique Eight Immortals tables, complete with chairs and benches, all wiped clean to a spotless shine.

The counter, the kitchen, the stove, even a massive freezer... every facility needed to run a restaurant was here, and it all looked like top-of-the-line equipment.

Chu He pulled open the door of one of the freezers.

Whoosh--

A blast of cold air hit him.

It was completely empty, not even a speck of dust inside.

He opened another one. Still empty.

The entire three-story restaurant, every place that could hold anything, was so clean it reflected like a mirror. There wasn't a single scrap of food, not a drop of water.

This was too strange.

A bad premonition inexplicably rose in Chu He's heart.

This Gluttony House must have had other tenants before, but where did they... go?

"Little He He, have you decided how to rip off... cough, how to price things?"

Kachi clasped her hands behind her back, like a little queen surveying her territory, her crisp voice breaking the dead silence.

"How are we going to make twenty million with this pile of offal?"

"I've already figured it all out!"

Chu He temporarily suppressed his doubts and snapped his fingers with confidence.

He walked behind the counter and made a show of gesturing.

"Our hot pot's flavor is unmatched in the entire city, that's our core competitiveness! So, we have to go for the high-end market!"

"I plan to offer several set menus. The most basic will be 2,000 Ghost Coins, the deluxe ones 3,000, and the top-tier set 5,000!"

He spoke with growing excitement, his eyes gleaming.

"Look, there are fifty tables on this floor, forty on the second, and thirty on the third, that's a total of 120 tables!"

"Even if each table averages 3,000 in spending, filling them all once brings in 360,000! Turn the tables three or four times a day, and over a million a day isn't out of reach!"

"The most crucial part is the cost!" Chu He's grin stretched from ear to ear. "Our ingredients are basically free! The rent is free! How much can utilities cost? The profit margin is terrifyingly high!"

Starting tomorrow, we'll go all out to buy all sorts of stomachs and intestines from slaughterhouses across the city!

"Oh, right, we also need to hire a few waiters. We'll pay them 7,000 a month. That's definitely high salary for waiters in Myriad Phenomena City!"

Chu He could already see his beautiful future of paying off his loan within a month and reaching the pinnacle of life.

However, his plan, which he considered foolproof, sounded laughably naive to Kachi.

"Pfft."

Kachi couldn't help but chuckle.

She walked up to Chu He, stood on her tiptoes, and gently patted his face with her fair little hand, a look of fondness in her eyes.

"Little He He, you're not making money here."

"You're doing charity!"

"Huh?"

Chu He was stunned. He thought his pricing was already exorbitant.

A meal costing two to three thousand Ghost Coins would be considered sky-high hot pot in any city in Dragon Country.

Most of the ingredients were practically free, so how was that charity?

Kachi ignored his bewildered expression and walked over to an Eight Immortals table. She lightly traced the spotless tabletop with a delicate finger, her star-like eyes flashing with an ancient, cunning light.

"Little He He, you've made three fatal mistakes."

She held up one finger.

"First, you've misjudged your product. You're not selling hot pot, you're selling 'miracles,' an 'unprecedented experience.' For a bunch of Anomalies who have been eating pig slop for years, this meal is equivalent to a divine miracle. And you want to price a divine miracle at two to three thousand? You're insulting the gods, and you're insulting yourself."

Kachi held up a second finger.

"Second, you've misjudged your customers. Who among those who can afford to live on this street is poor? For them, money is just a number. What do they pursue? Status, prestige, a unique sense of nobility! You actually want them to queue up like ordinary Anomalies and wait for tables? You're lowering their class. It's a miracle they won't tear down your shop. Luckily, Xia Yao and I are here to keep things in order."

"As for the third..."

Kachi turned around, smiling at the now dumbfounded Chu He, and held up her third finger.

"You actually want to use the... foolish and kind commoner's mindset of 'low profit, high volume' to make money from them."

"Little He He, your heart isn't black enough."

Chu He's Adam's apple bobbed. He felt his business logic being utterly crushed in front of this little girl.

"Then... then what do you suggest we do?" he asked humbly.

"It's simple," Kachi snapped her fingers, and the entire atmosphere of the lobby seemed to change. "My plan is also divided into three steps. I call it the 'Three-Step Squeeze Plan'."

"Step one: Culling."

Kachi waved her small hand, pointing to the dense crowd of anomalies outside the door.

"The vast majority of these people don't even have the right to enter this place.

What we need to do isn't to open the doors and welcome guests, but to set up a threshold! Want to eat? Fine.

But not everyone is qualified to eat.

We need to limit it! Only thirty spots will be allowed in each day!"

"How do we get the spots?" Chu He asked subconsciously.

"Good question!" Kachi nodded approvingly. "We don't sell food, we sell 'Gluttony Tokens'! One token is one entry qualification. We won't set a price for these tokens; those who want to buy them can negotiate themselves! If you don't have enough wealth or status, don't even think about it! We want holding a 'Gluttony Token' to enter here to become the ultimate status symbol in Myriad Phenomena City!"

Chu He gasped.

This was... playing the scarcity marketing logic of luxury goods!

"Step two: Exploitation."

Kachi's smile became even more innocent and pure, and even more chilling.

"Once you enter, the pot base is free."

She changed her tone.

"But the dishes will be sold by the slice."

"By... by the slice?" Chu He's eyes nearly popped out.

"Yes," Kachi said as a matter of course. "One slice of tripe, one hundred Ghost Coins. One piece of large intestine, one hundred fifty Ghost Coins. Dipping sauce is extra. Want to add soup? Sure, five thousand per serving."

"Holy crap!"

Chu He couldn't hold back anymore and swore.

"What's the difference between this and robbing people!"

Kachi wagged her finger and said slowly, "Robbing people is illegal. We are providing high-end catering services that people willingly pay for."

Chu He was speechless.

He felt his heart racing wildly, a mixture of shock, fear, and... extreme excitement crashing in his chest.

He seemed to see mountains of Ghost Coins beckoning him.

"And the third step?" His voice trembled slightly.

Kachi walked up to him, stood on tiptoe, and mysteriously lowered her voice, each word she spoke carrying a devilish temptation.

"Step three: Squeeze dry. When they've had their fill, are satisfied, and are ready to leave, what do you think their biggest regret will be?"

Chu He thought for a moment and tentatively said, "Not eating enough?"

"No."

Kachi shook her head, a hint of the pity a superior being has for mortals flashing in her starry eyes.

"It's the soup base that has gathered the essence of all the ingredients, so fragrant that even ghost souls would melt! They can't take it with them. After going back, they'll have to eat pig slop. That feeling of falling from heaven to hell will drive them mad."

"So..."

The curve of Kachi's lips became even more bizarre as she said word by word:

"We can sell them the leftover soup base as a package."

"One pot of original soup base, packaged for ten thousand Ghost Coins. Let them take it home, and even if they boil mud with it, it will taste like a delicacy. This is called... after-sales service and value extension."

"..."

Chu He fell completely silent.

He looked at the exquisitely carved, harmless little girl in front of him, but a chill ran down his spine.

Capitalists would cry and call her their ancestor in front of her.

His own petty cleverness was like kindergarten make-believe compared to her intricate, interlocking plan for a commercial empire that squeezed out every last drop of oil.

So, making money could be this inhumane.

He took a deep breath, his gaze towards Kachi filled with unprecedented reverence.

She was truly a demoness. Fortunately, fortunately, she was on his side, fortunately, she was his woman.

"Kachi..."

"Hmm?"

"You're a genius!"

Kachi cocked her chin proudly, like a little peacock.

"This is just basic operation," she said, putting her hands behind her back again, speaking with an air of aged wisdom. "Let's go, Little He He. The theory class is over.

Now, it's time for practical teaching."