"Wu Jun, you must be exhausted. Come on, take a break," Xu Fei said, rushing to greet him as he walked in and pulling up a stool for him.
"Yeah, I’m beat," Wu Jun replied, not standing on ceremony with Xu Fei as he plopped down onto the stool.
Even though he’d only delivered a dozen or so bags of rice today, he had visited nearly every large restaurant in Xinhua District.
On top of that, it was his first time driving in years, and he’d been at it for the better part of the day. The soles of his feet were killing him; he really was exhausted.
"Have some water first. I let it cool down. The rice is ready and being kept warm. I’ll go make the other dishes now," Xu Fei said, handing Wu Jun a thermos before turning to get busy in the kitchen.
Watching Xu Fei busy herself in the kitchen while he drank the cool water from the thermos, Wu Jun thought, ’It’s really great having such a thoughtful employee.’
In less than twenty minutes, Xu Fei turned off the stove. Still in her apron, she called out from the kitchen doorway for Wu Jun to come wash his hands and eat. "Wu Jun, come wash your hands. The food’s ready."
"Coming," Wu Jun replied. He got up, glanced at the wall clock—it was almost 9:30—then closed up the supermarket and went into the kitchen.
As she spooned rice into bowls, Xu Fei said, "Wu Jun, business was much better today than the past two days. Even though we were only open for half the day, we sold 98 bags of rice. We were just two bags short of a hundred."
"It’s probably because of the shorter hours the last couple of days. Yesterday’s customers must have all come back today," Wu Jun said, drying his hands after washing them.
By the time he finished washing his hands, Xu Fei had already served the rice. Wu Jun had visited over a dozen restaurants today, but time had been tight, and he hadn’t had a chance to eat. He had left for the traffic bureau that morning before Xu Fei finished cooking, so he had skipped breakfast entirely. He’d been starving all day.
In about twenty minutes, Xu Fei had made three dishes and a soup. Her efficiency was incredible.
Stir-fried pork, fish-fragrant shredded pork, and garlic broccoli—all of Wu Jun’s favorites—plus a seaweed and egg soup. The small dining table in the kitchen was completely filled.
Seeing the three dishes Xu Fei had made, Wu Jun tossed all courtesy aside. He took the chopsticks she handed him and started wolfing down the food, eating like a man who hadn’t seen a meal in days.
Xu Fei sat across from Wu Jun, watching him devour the food she had cooked with such relish. A great sense of accomplishment washed over her.
"Xu Fei, you eat too. Don’t just stare, or I’m going to finish it all," Wu Jun said, placing a piece of food into her bowl with his chopsticks and urging her to eat.
"Thank you, Wu Jun." Xu Fei’s face flushed as she recalled the moment in the small restaurant last night when Wu Jun had taken her hand under the table. She picked up her chopsticks and began to eat in small, delicate bites.
In less than ten minutes, the three dishes on the table were picked clean. Wu Jun had eaten the vast majority of it.
The small bowl of seaweed and egg soup was also downed, not a single drop remaining.
After dinner, while Xu Fei did the dishes in the kitchen, Wu Jun sat in the boss’s chair behind the counter, rubbing his stomach.
’I’d lost a bunch of weight before Xu Fei came,’ he mused. ’She’s only been working here for a few days, and I feel like I’ve already gained it all back. When you hire an employee who’s this capable and also a great cook, it’s hard not to put on a few pounds.’
It was nearly 10:00 PM by the time Xu Fei finished the dishes and came out of the kitchen.
"Wu Jun, if there’s nothing else, I’ll head upstairs," Xu Fei asked as she untied the apron from her waist.
Wu Jun noticed that Xu Fei had let the apron strings out a little again, and a flicker of disappointment went through him. "You’ve had a long day," he said. "Go on back and get some rest."
"I’ll head up now, then." Xu Fei placed the apron on the small stool she usually sat on, said goodbye to Wu Jun, and turned to leave, gently pulling the door closed behind her.
It was getting late, so Wu Jun got up and went to the bathroom to take a shower.
As soon as he walked in, he saw that the clothes he’d changed out of yesterday, which he hadn’t had time to wash, were now clean and hanging on a rack to dry. Even his underwear had been washed.
’It had to be Xu Fei,’ he thought. ’No one else would be kind enough to do his laundry for him.’
After his shower, Wu Jun checked the remaining stock of rice in the mini-mart, then went back to his bedroom and withdrew another 2 tons of rice from the game for tomorrow’s sales.
Between the 98 bags sold in the mini-mart and the dozen or so given away for market development, he had gone through a little over 2 tons today.
After withdrawing the 2 tons for tomorrow’s sales, and adding the 38 tons newly produced today, his total in-game inventory was now 71 tons. He was still 54 tons short of the 125 tons needed for the Industrial and Commercial Bank’s order.
He had a day and a half left to prepare the shipment. The game’s production settled at 10:00 PM and 10:00 AM. Although the morning settlement was only for half a day’s output, it would be enough to fulfill the order.
At his current production rate, he could generate 57 tons in a day and a half, leaving him with a 3-ton surplus.
Although the Industrial and Commercial Bank’s order was important, the vast market of the restaurant industry was even more so.
Now that he was saddled with nearly two million in debt, he had to accelerate his money-making pace.
Wu Jun had great confidence in the game’s rice, a fact proven by the brisk sales at the mini-mart recently.
Before, without a trademark, he hadn’t dared to sell it with much fanfare, which was why he hadn’t tried to break into the restaurant market.
But now, with the branded packaging bags ready and a massive 125-ton order from the Industrial and Commercial Bank landed, there was no reason the rice wouldn’t sell.
After setting aside the phone linked to [Resource Tycoon], Wu Jun went to bed.
「Early the next morning.」
The moment Wu Jun opened his eyes, he smelled the fragrant aroma of food cooking.
He got out of bed, dressed, and left his room. Hearing a noise from the kitchen, he went to take a look and saw Xu Fei stir-frying some dishes.
Wu Jun asked her, "It’s so early. You didn’t sleep in?"
"Wu Jun, you’re awake! Go wash your hands, the food is almost ready," Xu Fei said. "I figured you’d need to head out early again today, so I came over a little earlier."
Wu Jun glanced at the wall clock. It was only 5:07 AM.
Xu Fei had almost finished cooking, which meant she had probably arrived at the store sometime after four. ’Her dedication is unreal,’ he thought.
Wu Jun shook his head with a smile and turned to the bathroom to wash up.
When he came out from washing up, Xu Fei had already plated the dishes, ladled the rice porridge into bowls, and set out the chopsticks. All that was left to do was eat.
After breakfast, it was just 5:30 AM, and customers hadn’t started arriving yet.
While Xu Fei washed the pots and pans in the kitchen, Wu Jun washed his hands, came out, and sat behind the counter, glancing at his phone from time to time.
RING RING RING~
At 5:40 AM, the first call came in. The contact name read "Manager Li, Hu Family’s Grand Chef."
Wu Jun was instantly alert. He swiped to answer the call. "Hello, this is Wu Jun, the general agent for Hongyun Rice."
"Hello, Agent Wu." A woman’s voice came from the other end. "I’d like to order 20 bags of Hongyun Rice to start. What time can you deliver? Would it be possible to get them here by around 6:30?"
Wu Jun thought for a moment about the specific location of Hu Family’s Grand Chef. "Yes, that’s fine," he said. "If you’re sure about the order, I can head over to deliver it right now."
"That’s wonderful! Yes, I’m sure, absolutely sure," the woman said. "The rice you brought over yesterday received unanimous praise from our customers. The quality is fantastic, and the price is so low. If you can provide a stable supply, we could definitely have a long-term partnership."
"Thank you for your high praise of our Hongyun Rice, Manager Li. I’m confident you won’t be disappointed," Wu Jun said politely. The two of them exchanged a few more pleasantries before ending the call.
"Xu Fei, I’m heading out for a bit! I’ll leave the store to you," Wu Jun called out to her as he got up and walked out the door.