Chapter 28: Happy Jumping Fish Soup

After finishing her morning workout and breakfast, Qin Yueran returned to the modern world to open her shop, leaving the island under Huhu’s care.

There were even more people today. It seemed that some tourists stuck in traffic had finally arrived, and there were likely several more batches still gridlocked on the road. That is how holiday travel goes; if you are unlucky, half of your vacation is spent stuck in traffic.

As Qin Yueran tended to the shop, she idly cast her Appraisal skill around. Suddenly, she slapped her forehead: "Look at my brain. I meant to use that on the cultivators, but I completely forgot."

However, people were indeed arriving on the island one after another, and Huhu was already calling her to unlock new rooms. Hearing the constant "cha-ching" of income, Qin Yueran noted that the points were quite substantial, with the bulk coming from Gu Yuanyuan and his group.

Qin Yueran: "?" Had they lost their minds?

Gu Yuanyuan, who had heard Qin Yueran mention that they could spend points elsewhere, suddenly sneezed: "Achoo!"

Gu Yuanyuan: "?" Why the sudden sneeze? Never mind, he had better hurry up and spend money at the boss’s place to earn more cleansing points.

After enjoying the sound of incoming points for a while, Qin Yueran turned off the notifications and opened the inn interface to unlock all the rooms on the third floor. Unlocking rooms did not qualify for new-user discounts, and the price increased as more rooms were unlocked. Since unlocking the third floor cost double that of the second, she spent a total of 40,000 points.

Theoretically, she could now accommodate 40 people, though in reality, it depended on whether they were willing to squeeze together, which would allow for even more guests. After unlocking the third floor, Qin Yueran felt the number of rooms was still insufficient, so she spent 150,000 points to upgrade the inn to level three.

The inn expanded once more. Since she had posted a notice before the upgrade, the guests weren't too alarmed by the massive commotion. The number of single and double rooms on the second and third floors increased—ten additional single rooms and five additional double rooms per floor.

The fourth floor now had thirty single rooms, the fifth floor thirty double rooms, and the sixth and seventh floors were designated for family suites. On the sixth floor, there were 15 two-bedroom suites and 15 three-bedroom suites. The thirty family suites on the seventh floor were all two-bedroom units. This unlock also included a bonus of two family suites on the sixth floor: one two-bedroom and one three-bedroom unit.

Unlocking all the new rooms on the second and third floors cost 60,000 points. Furthermore, Qin Yueran unlocked all 30 single rooms on the fourth floor, costing another 120,000 points. Thank goodness she had earned a decent amount of points over the past two days; otherwise, she might not have been able to afford it.

Qin Yueran nodded with satisfaction. The total capacity had now increased to 117 guests. Oh, she suddenly remembered something and quickly called out to Huhu through her consciousness.

[Huhu, Huhu, answer if you can hear me.]
[What is it, Xiao Ran?]
[I suddenly remembered, ordinary people don't have storage rings or other spatial tools, so they can't bring many things in. How do they exchange for points?]
[Some have cultivators give them items to facilitate their registration and exchange. Others use knowledge for registration, such as sword techniques, music, chess, calligraphy, painting, or embroidery.]
[Oh, that's fine then~]
[Alrighty, call me if you need anything else, Xiao Ran! ε٩(๑>₃<)۶з]

Qin Yueran shook her head with a smile and went back to tending the shop. Her memory had improved, and she noticed that customers who had bought fruit yesterday were returning to purchase more today.

"Boss, this fruit is truly excellent. I’ve had severe insomnia, but last night I fell asleep quickly and slept until dawn," the man said, pointing under his eyes. "Look, my dark circles have faded quite a bit, and it tastes delicious, too!"

"Right? It’s a new variety, very effective," Qin Yueran said with a smile.

"So, expensive things really have their reasons... No, it’s not that the fruit is expensive! It’s clearly that I’m not working hard enough. If I worked harder to earn money, I could indulge in this without worry, right?"

Qin Yueran paused and looked at him in surprise. He scratched his head sheepishly. "Am I wrong?"

Qin Yueran smiled. "The guest is always right." Since you’re the one spending the money, you get to have the final say.

She packed the fruit and handed it to him. After paying, he looked dejected. "Sigh, it's a pity I'm only here for a holiday. Who knows when I'll be able to come back."

Qin Yueran comforted him: "It's alright. Work hard, save up some money, and you can indulge to your heart's content next time you visit."

"You're right!" The man brightened up, waved goodbye to Qin Yueran, and left.

At noon, Qin Yueran had sweet and sour pork and corn rib soup for lunch, which was incredibly satisfying. It was delicious, free, and she didn't have to cook it herself—what's not to love? The afternoon followed the same pattern, with new customers interspersed with a few regulars. Today's newcomers, like yesterday's, were just testing the waters.

But they were all potential regulars—who knew if they’d be back tomorrow?

Just after seeing off a guest, she received an urgent call from Huhu.

[Xiao Ran, Xiao Ran! There’s an emergency, come back and take a look!]

Qin Yueran had no choice but to close the shop early and return to the island. As soon as she arrived, she received another message: [Ah... I don't think it's necessary anymore. Wait? Xiao Ran, you're already here.]

Qin Yueran: "?"

Before she could react, Huhu rushed over, flustered. "Xiao Ran, follow me quickly."

Huhu skidded to a halt and turned toward the inn. From a distance, Qin Yueran saw a large crowd gathered on the open ground in front of the building. She was startled—why were so many people gathered there? Could something fatal have happened? But that didn't make sense; if it were a life-or-death situation, Huhu wouldn't have said it wasn't necessary to come back.

Qin Yueran hurried over. As she approached the crowd, she caught glimpses of people laughing and hopping around, looking anything but sensible.

Qin Yueran slowly formed a question mark in her mind: "?"

She looked closer at the dancing group, struggling to suppress a smile, her face twisting slightly in the effort. Biting her lip, she asked in a trembling voice: "My goodness! Huhu, what is going on here?"

Huhu, looking utterly helpless, explained: "Remember the Happy Jumping Fish Soup you drew? Someone ordered it..."

After a guest ate the Happy Jumping Fish Soup, his mood improved, he felt incredibly happy, and he couldn't stop himself from jumping around. Ten minutes later, when the effect wore off, he realized no one else knew about the dish's magical properties, so he rushed to the restaurant.

He burst in and told the diners: "I’m ordering a new dish for you all on my tab. It’s super delicious! I just had to share it!" He spoke so sincerely that it seemed he genuinely felt the dish was too good not to share. Seeing their hesitation, he added: "I’ll order it right in front of you, and the restaurant will serve it directly, so you don't have to worry about me playing any tricks, right?"

"Fine, is it really that good?"
"Absolutely!" he promised, patting his chest. "Do you dare say that anything the restaurant sells is bad?"

They shook their heads. So far, absolutely not! And so, the people in the restaurant agreed—and fell right into the trap.