In the back kitchen, Uchiha Izuna was preparing pastries.
Flour, butter, icing, and several kinds of fruit lay on the cutting board. Izuna had his sleeves rolled up and worked briskly, his knife skills as steady as if he were handling ninja tools.
He cut the fruit.
Mixed the fillings.
Kneaded the dough.
Every step was clean and skillful.
Zhang Yu watched for a while, then couldn't help remarking, "With skills like those, Izuna, it's a waste not to open a dessert shop."
Tobirama didn't even look up.
"If we want to increase pastry revenue, we need to establish a menu, pricing, and daily supply first."
Zhang Yu laughed.
"Look at you. I just gave him an offhand compliment, and you're already thinking about how to make money."
Tobirama said calmly, "When running a tavern, every advantage should be converted into revenue."
Zhang Yu gave him a thumbs-up.
"That's you, all right."
The tavern doors stood open, letting sunlight spill across the polished floor.
All sorts of alcoholic drinks were neatly arranged in the liquor cabinet.
The refrigerator beside it also held juice, soda, chilled cola, and several fresh drinks.
Zhang Yu had gradually stocked all of these over the past while.
At first, the tavern had sold only alcohol, which had certainly been a selling point.
But the problems were obvious too.
Minors couldn't come in, ordinary female customers felt awkward entering, and many people passing by caught the aroma and wanted to take a look, only to hesitate when they heard the word "tavern."
Zhang Yu had long felt that wouldn't do.
If the Undead Tavern wanted to grow, it couldn't rely on a bunch of drunks to keep it going.
It had to sell alcohol.
It had to sell pastries.
And it had to sell drinks.
Male customers could drink alcohol, female customers could eat pastries, children could drink juice, ninjas could discuss missions, and villagers could relax and pass the time.
That was a real business.
As he was thinking, he suddenly heard light footsteps at the door.
Izuna walked in from the doorway.
"Boss."
Zhang Yu looked up.
"What is it?"
Izuna glanced outside, his tone steady.
"There are two girls at the door."
"Judging by their ages, they're still minors."
"They said they wanted to come in, but this is a tavern, so I came to ask whether you'll allow them inside."
Zhang Yu laughed as soon as he heard that.
"Of course."
Izuna paused in surprise.
Tobirama looked up as well.
Zhang Yu put down the account book, his tone casual.
"This is a tavern, sure, but alcohol isn't all we sell."
"We've prepared juice, drinks, chilled cola, and pastries, haven't we?"
"Minors can't drink alcohol, so they can have drinks and pastries."
"From now on, that'll be another feature of the tavern."
"Who says only adults can enter a tavern?"
Tobirama looked thoughtful.
"Expand the customer base."
"Increase nonalcoholic revenue."
"At the same time, reduce the impression of danger the tavern gives ordinary villagers."
Zhang Yu slapped the table.
"Right, that's exactly what I mean."
"We're not trying to run an ordinary little tavern. We're building a popular all-in-one establishment unlike any other in Konoha."
"Alcohol is only one of the main attractions. We need pastries, drinks, atmosphere, and service too."
Izuna understood and nodded. "I understand."
Zhang Yu stood up.
"Come on, let's see who our two young customers are."
As soon as he reached the door, he saw two girls standing at the bottom of the steps.
One was tall and blonde, holding an enormous bouquet of fresh flowers in her arms.
The bouquet was so large, with layers of flowers in all sorts of colors, that it almost hid half her body.
The other girl stood beside her, wearing a light-colored jacket. Her black hair was smooth, her white eyes gentle, and her hands were clasped lightly in front of her. She was clearly a little nervous.
Ino Yamanaka.
Hinata Hyuga.
Zhang Yu recognized them at once.
Ino's eyes lit up as soon as she saw him.
"It's you!"
"The customer who bought flowers last time!"
Zhang Yu smiled. "Oh, it's you."
Hugging the bouquet, Ino took a step forward, a hint of excitement in her voice.
"I finally found you!"
"After you bought seventy-three kinds of flowers last time, I kept thinking about the kinds that were still missing."
"Later, I asked the flower merchants, went to several forests and wetlands, and even asked people to bring some back from other places."
She hoisted the bouquet in her arms a little higher.
"I've gathered the hundred kinds of fresh flowers you wanted."
Beside her, Hinata added softly, "Ino... has been getting them ready these past few days."
Her voice was very quiet, and after speaking, she lowered her head a little self-consciously.
Ino immediately turned to look at her.
"Hinata, don't be so quiet."
"We're already at the door."
Hinata's cheeks turned slightly red.
"Mm..."
She looked up at the tavern entrance, then quickly looked away again.
The reason was simple.
Tobirama Senju was still standing by the door.
Tobirama had simply come out to check on the situation as usual.
He hadn't released any Chakra, nor had he spoken harshly.
But his face was naturally far too stern.
With his white hair, red eyes, and expressionless face, he looked as though he were interrogating a prisoner just standing at the door.
Ino was usually quite bold, but after Tobirama glanced at her, even her voice grew much more subdued.
Hinata needed no mention.
She was shy to begin with, and after Tobirama looked at her like that, she immediately shrank half a step behind Ino.
Zhang Yu felt like laughing when he saw it.
"Tobirama, don't stand at the door scaring people."
Tobirama remained expressionless.
"I'm not scaring anyone."
Zhang Yu looked at Ino and Hinata.
"Don't be nervous. He just looks stern."
Ino gave an awkward laugh.
"He really does... look stern."
Hinata quickly said in a quiet voice, "N-no, we're the ones intruding."
Zhang Yu waved a hand.
"You're not intruding."
"I couldn't be happier to have you here."
"Come on in."
Ino looked at the sign and hesitated a little again.
"Can we really go in?"
"We're still minors."
Zhang Yu smiled. "You can."
"Besides alcohol, we have juice, soda, cola, desserts, and pastries."
"Minors just have to avoid the alcohol."
"Since you're here today, you can try out our tavern's new direction."
Only then did Ino relax.
"That's good."
She tugged at Hinata.
"Come on, Hinata."
Hinata nodded gently.
"Mm."
The two followed Zhang Yu into the Undead Tavern.
As soon as she stepped through the door, Ino froze.
She had imagined the tavern would be dark and gloomy, reeking of alcohol, with tables and chairs in disarray and a bunch of uncles drinking loudly.
But what she saw was completely different.
The main room was bright and clean.
The wooden tables had been polished until they shone.
The liquor cabinet behind the bar was perfectly neat, its transparent bottles gleaming in the sunlight.
In the refrigerator beside it were rows of colorful drinks.
Red juice.
Orange soda.
Pale blue sparkling drinks.
There was also a black drink with a strange label, its bottle covered in fine droplets of water. One look told her it was ice-cold.
Even more enticing was the newly displayed pastry tray beside the counter.
Small slices of cake.
Iced cookies.
Fruit tarts.
And flaky pastries that had only recently come out of the oven, their outer layers golden and their aroma wafting straight into her nose.
Ino's eyes lit up.
"Is this really a tavern?"
"How does it look even nicer than a dessert shop?"
Hinata couldn't help looking up and taking a few extra glances too.
She was quiet by nature, but when she saw the delicate pastries, there was unmistakable surprise in her white eyes.
"They're so pretty..."
Zhang Yu felt pleased.
That was the reaction he wanted.
When girls entered a shop, the first thing they looked at definitely wasn't the vodka.
It was whether the place was clean and attractive, and whether there was anything to eat or drink.