Chapter 393 - 158: I, Zhang Li! I Won’t Be Secretly Eaten Anymore

Chapter 393: Chapter 158: I, Zhang Li! I Won’t Be Secretly Eaten Anymore

Just as Su Chen was about to peel off the Magic Sticker to try it somewhere else, a prompt appeared in his mind again.

[Removing the Magic Sticker will reset its effect. Do you wish to remove it?]

Su Chen paused and read the message carefully, starting to understand what it meant.

’So, that means whenever I apply the Magic Sticker to a specific spot, its effect will last for 24 hours.’

’But if I take it off, the effect ends early, while the cooldown continues!’

’That means I can stick the Magic Sticker in a different place every day, and the effects will surely be different too.’

’This thing is pretty interesting.’

With the Magic Sticker still stuck to his hand, Su Chen left the practice room.

’Now that I’ve temporarily delegated everything, and with the nineteenth-floor buns being sold in limited quantities, there’s almost nothing left for me to do.’

’This is how a boss is supposed to live!’

’I just need to set the example, and the employees can handle the rest.’

The only unfortunate part was that he was the only one who could make SS Level food, so mass production was completely out of the question.

But that was probably for the best. ’If I could teach others how to make SS Level food, I’d probably become the richest man in the world in no time.’

’Then I could even write a book titled, *From Bun Shop Owner to Richest Man in the World*.’

Thinking about this, Su Chen couldn’t help but chuckle.

’I just wonder how many of my martial brothers will choose to stay after this is all over.’

This was a big deal. Without them, the third floor would really struggle to operate for a while. ’But I’ve already extended the invitation; whether we can actually retain anyone will depend on President Ling’s abilities.’

And there was a reason they had set the opening time at four in the afternoon.

If they opened too early, the staffing shortage would become more apparent. More importantly, many children came to eat around noon, and Su Chen didn’t want to disrupt their normal meal and rest schedules.

As long as things were well-organized, everything was fine. And so, Su Chen found himself with free time once again.

When four o’clock in the afternoon arrived, Su Chen sold out of the nineteenth floor’s Cthulhu buns in less than an hour.

Amidst the grumbling of the long line of customers, he calmly made his way to the third floor.

’I wonder how long this hype will last...’

The third floor was a sea of people, and Su Chen wasn’t sure what to make of it. Most of the customers were holding up their phones, livestreaming. It was clear they were mostly streamers chasing the hype.

While it served as a form of promotion, the online stories about a streamer visiting a shop and making it go viral were always overblown.

’Everyone has their own lives. People who would make a special trip just for a single meal are few and far between.’

After a stroll around the third floor, Su Chen decided there was nothing for him to do and headed back to the nineteenth floor to take a nap.

’Once you get used to an orderly work routine, it doesn’t feel so tiring.’

This continued for a full week. The major streamers were gone within the first two days. The smaller streamers, after riding the wave of hype for a bit longer, also began leaving Jingzhou one by one.

During that week, Su Chen went ahead and removed the Cthulhu buns from the nineteenth-floor menu entirely.

’Now that the main quest was complete, the buns weren’t that useful anymore. Making them occasionally is fine, but to sell them as a main product? It would be easier to just make the SS Level Pork Knuckle and Meat Buns.’

「A week later.」

Su Chen listened to Liu Shengnan’s report and heaved a huge sigh of relief.

"Revenue over the past few days has been quite stable, holding steady at around 10,000, with fluctuations not exceeding ten percent."

Su Chen asked, "Are many of the current customers from out of town?"

Ling Shuyu clicked her mouse a few times. "I ran some rough numbers. Out-of-towners have accounted for less than twenty percent of our customers these past few days."

This meant that for the last three days of the week, nearly all the diners had been locals.

This was a very good sign.

"If all goes well, we should be able to maintain this level of revenue most of the time going forward. By the way, what’s the word from the eight martial brothers?"

At the mention of this, Ling Shuyu looked torn between laughter and tears.

"Seven of the martial brothers are very keen to stay, but they haven’t handed off their current jobs yet, and their families all live elsewhere. Only one of them has already quit his job."

"Huh?" Su Chen uncrossed his legs. "Someone already quit?"

"Yes, Shi Qi has already resigned from his employer. Now he’s just waiting for you to sign his employment contract."

Su Chen remembered Shi Qi quite clearly.

He was the head chef at Baihua Restaurant near Mount Tai. Pot-roasted pork knuckle was his signature dish, and it was no exaggeration to say he carried that entire restaurant on his own.

’Logically, Shi Qi’s salary over there must be pretty high, and his old boss would surely have tried everything to keep him from leaving. I never would have thought he’d be the one to quit.’

Seeing Su Chen’s puzzled look, Ling Shuyu explained, "Shi Qi is forty-two and still single... He said he’s been ’infected’ by Second Brother’s life philosophy and wants to follow in his footsteps..."

’I can’t believe it!’

Su Chen pressed a hand to his forehead, at a loss for words. This Shi Qi’s real name was Wang Jianhua. He was from a village in Boshan, and his family had been poor, so he’d dropped out of school at a young age to learn a craft.

Saying his specialty was pot-roasted pork knuckle was actually selling Wang Jianhua short; his Boshan-style cuisine was in a league of its own.