Chef God Restaurant's grand opening

Zhang Achun glanced back at the sign he had made, hesitated, then said quietly, "Shopkeeper Lin, this isn't how you do business. Even a mighty dragon doesn't lord it over the local snake. I know you're capable, but at the end of the day, you're still an outsider..."

Was that a threat?

Lin Bai shook his head disdainfully and interrupted him. "Master Zhang, causes come first, consequences follow. You still need to do business honestly..."

Before he could finish, a voice suddenly cut in. "Shopkeeper Lin, are you still looking for staff?"

The speaker was Deng Libuduo. He rubbed his hands together and looked expectantly at Lin Bai. "Shopkeeper, your new place is opening, so you probably haven't had time to hire anyone yet. How about me? I work hard, and I don't ask much in wages..."

Everyone turned to look at him.

Lin Bai was amused. Well, well. I hadn't come looking for trouble with you, but here you are, rushing right up to me.

"Xiao Deng?" Blacksmith Zhang looked as though he had taken another heavy blow to the chest. He stared at Deng Libuduo in astonishment. "You..."

"Master, a fine bird chooses the tree it roosts in." Deng Libuduo puffed out his chest, his face full of pained indignation. "While we were forging yesterday, filthy language kept pouring out of your mouth. You kept cursing Shopkeeper Lin, wishing him an early death. There's too much malice in you. I may be a rough fellow, but even I know that those near vermilion turn red, and those near ink turn black. I'm ashamed to be in your company."

Blacksmith Zhang's face instantly flushed red. "Don't talk nonsense! I didn't..."

He gritted his teeth and glared at Deng Libuduo. "Xiao Deng, you'd better think this through. Jiamao City has a Blacksmith Guild. Once you leave my shop, you'll have a hard time getting back into the trade."

"When I left this morning, I never intended to go back." Deng Libuduo stole a glance at Lin Bai and spoke with righteous conviction.

Lin Bai quietly watched the player and NPC tear into each other. Deng Libuduo really taught that NPC a lesson. Anyone who wants to learn blacksmithing in Jiamao City from now on will probably find the difficulty doubling again and again!

That damned Fourth Calamity. If they keep this up, Jiamao City will turn into Gotham. There won't be a decent person left in it.

In that case, let me continue your education...

"Xiao Deng, was it? You can work here, but there won't be any wages," Lin Bai said, looking at Deng Libuduo.

Deng Libuduo froze. "That's fine, too. Just provide room and board."

"I run a restaurant, so naturally there'll be food." Lin Bai smiled. "Employees get a discount—twenty percent off whatever they eat. As for lodging, I suppose I could scrape by on eight hundred copper coins a month."

Motherfucker!

Deng Libuduo went rigid. How could an NPC be even more ruthless than a capitalist? He saw me leave the smithy and jacked up the price on the spot?

"Serves you right!" Blacksmith Zhang gloated. A fine bird chooses its tree, my ass. Did you really think Lin Bai was a good tree? He's a black-hearted piece of timber that devours people without even spitting out their bones.

The carpenter watched the performance, dumbstruck. He had already forgotten that Lin Bai wasn't paying him.

Deng Libuduo fell silent. Looking at Lin Bai's faint, ambiguous smile, he remembered that the man was possibly a hidden NPC. He gritted his teeth. "Fine. I accept."

Masters had their own peculiar ways. Of course he'd be different from ordinary NPCs. Time to take a gamble!

"..." The carpenter was speechless.

"..." So was the blacksmith.

The two exchanged looks and saw the same disbelief in each other's eyes. Did all outsiders act this unreasonably?

How had the world suddenly become impossible to understand?

Xiao Deng, I didn't force you. You jumped into this pit yourself...

Lin Bai glanced at Deng Libuduo and smiled. "Congratulations, Little Deng. From now on, you're part of the God of Cooking Restaurant."

"Shopkeeper, shouldn't that be Chef God Restaurant?" Deng Libuduo corrected him.

"It only looks like the wrong character. It's still 'restaurant.' Don't fuss over the details." Lin Bai waved a hand. "Tidy up and get ready to work! We're opening today, and there's plenty to do. You came at just the right time."

Strange things happened every year, but this year had an especially generous crop.

The carpenter and blacksmith exchanged looks, then simply stayed where they were. They stopped bringing up their wages, too. Right now, all they wanted was to see how Lin Bai's lousy restaurant was going to make money.

As for the money they had lost, they could consider it the price of admission to this farce.

Before long.

A man carrying a large basket of steamed flatbreads on a shoulder pole hesitantly approached the entrance of the Chef God Restaurant. Just as he was about to speak, he turned his head, saw the sign, and froze.

Flaw +1.

The Flawed Creation System's progress automatically ticked up by one.

Beaming, Lin Bai went out to greet him. "I ordered those flatbreads. Bring them inside! Xiao Deng, lend a hand..."

[Deng Libuduo] hurried over and helped carry the flatbreads into the restaurant.

The young delivery worker took a look around inside. When he came out, his expression was as ugly as if he were constipated. "Shopkeeper, forgive my bluntness, but this place of yours..."

"It has character," Lin Bai interrupted. "Bring your friends and family over sometime. Suppliers get twenty percent off."

"..." [Deng Libuduo]'s smile froze on his face. I work for you without wages and only get twenty percent off my meals, but you offer some delivery boy twenty percent off the moment you open your mouth? Is that discount really so cheap?

[Depression from Deng Libuduo, +1]

Lin Bai shot [Deng Libuduo] a sidelong glance. I knew the systems could work together. It just takes a little finesse.

The delivery worker's lips twitched. "Shopkeeper, I appreciate the offer. It's your opening day, so I won't keep you from your work. Wishing you a booming business."

With that, he turned and walked aside, muttering as he went, "I'd have to be fucking sick in the head to eat my own shop's flatbreads in your restaurant."

"Twenty percent off? You got twenty percent off when you bought them from me, too!"

The young worker spotted the carpenter and blacksmith nearby and went over to join them in watching the show.

He knew the rumors about the haunted house. Now someone had actually opened such a bizarre restaurant in it. Staying to watch the fun would be worth missing a day of flatbread sales.

A little later.

Someone else arrived at the shop carrying a basin of braised beef.

After having [Deng Libuduo] take it inside, Lin Bai cheerfully offered the beef supplier twenty percent off as well...

Then came the braised egg delivery;

the peanut delivery;

the rice porridge delivery;

Basket after basket of prepared food arrived at the restaurant.

Everyone who saw Lin Bai's decor contributed a point to his flaw tally.

It couldn't be helped. Everything in the restaurant looked so awkward that even a normal person would want to hit someone, never mind anyone with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Lin Bai couldn't cook, but he could buy food. If customers actually came to eat on opening day, he couldn't have nothing to serve them and jeopardize his sustainable development.

As more people arrived, the Flawed Creation System's progress advanced slowly but steadily.

Finally.

A lion dance troupe arrived, banging gongs and beating drums, with a crowd following behind.

When the newcomers saw the sign, they all froze for an instant.

A quest notification sounded in Lin Bai's mind:

[Have fifty people experience the mysteries of flawedness... (Quest complete). Reward: 4.9 years of inner force (delivered)]

In an instant.

Lin Bai's Dantian swelled as a warm current appeared within it. The current circulated ceaselessly through his meridians, as though his body had gained a new power source. He felt strong all over.

It worked!

Lin Bai clenched his fists. Even if not a single person came in to eat, all the fuss he had made over this opening had been worth it.

Then the Flawed Creation System issued a follow-up quest:

[Have three hundred people experience the... of flawedness; reward: Dragon-Subduing Ten-Stroke Palm · Incomplete.]

Lin Bai's heart leaped. So the Flawed Creation System was the real big shot. The quest difficulty had shot up, but it gave me inner force, then combat techniques. That was far more generous than spirit or fortune. No matter how hard the players ground, how could they ever catch up with me?

Do it. I had to do it.

If I could grow this quickly, keeping a low profile could go to hell!

Looking at the townspeople before him, Lin Bai pondered for a moment, then beckoned to Deng Libuduo, who was standing nearby in a daze. "Xiao Deng, I have a task for you."

“Go ahead, Shopkeeper,” Deng Libuduo promptly replied.

“I’ll teach you a few lyrics. In a bit, sing them outside our entrance to advertise the restaurant,” Lin Bai said. “We still don’t have enough people here.”

“No problem,” Deng Libuduo said.

Lin Bai glanced at him, recalled that familiar melody, and lowered his voice. “You love me, I love you, Chef God Restaurant welcomes you.”

“...” Deng Libuduo widened his eyes and stared at Lin Bai in disbelief. He swallowed. “Shopkeeper, you’re not joking, are you?”

“Xiao Deng, what are you talking about? This is a legitimate business.” Lin Bai frowned. “Look on the bright side. If business picks up and puts me in a good mood, I might even waive your meal charges!”

Free meals?

Deng Libuduo’s expression shifted back and forth. Finally, he gritted his teeth. “Fine. I’ll do it.”

It was only a game. This was a customized face anyway. Raising the NPC's affection was what mattered. Singing might be embarrassing, but once his level was high enough, everything he'd been through would become legend...