Universe Infinite Canteen

After ending the call with Lao Hei, Ma Lu remembered the spaceship he had parked on the Moon and considered hitching a ride with the pirates' ship.

However, the Moon had thin oxygen and strong radiation. Casual clothes definitely wouldn't suffice, so Ma Lu checked Taobao and JD, but couldn't find any sellers. There were some on Little Yellow Fish, though they seemed dubious and more suited for photoshoot purposes.

Thus, before opening the store in the afternoon, Ma Lu made another trip to Jinxin Sanitary Hardware, hoping to find equipment that would meet his needs from Yan Wu.

Ma Lu parked his car and saw the Werewolf Boss carrying a small drill at the doorstep, installing surveillance cameras on a step ladder.

Ma Lu was surprised. "Boss Yan, do you really need surveillance for that nose of yours?"

"This is just a model for discouraging those with ill intentions. I'm busy with business, and even with a sensitive nose, I can't spend every day chasing thieves," Yan Wu replied as he tightened the last screw and came down from the ladder. "It's almost Chinese New Year; there's been an increase in petty theft. Having this at the door deters some trouble."

"Makes sense."

"What did you come here for?" Yan Wu asked, putting away the small drill.

"I need to take a trip to the Moon, and I need a space suit or similar gear."

The hardware store owner was surprised. "You're going to the Moon? What for?"

"Um... to check on my plane spaceship, see if it's still worth salvaging."

That reminded Ma Lu of something else, "I remember you once told me you also had a plane spaceship. You used it to travel around the Multiverse until it broke down here, trapping you in this plane. You then spent a long time trying to fix it."

"Correct," Yan Wu placed his small drill back in the tool box. "The core of my ship broke, beyond repair."

"So, you mean if it weren't for the core issue, you could fix it, right?" Ma Lu perked up upon hearing this.

Yan Wu thought for a moment. "Well… I'm just a hardware store owner. Fixing spaceships isn't my main job, and it's been centuries since I last did that kind of work. I'm quite rusty."

"No worries, let's go together then. I don't know much about plane spaceships, nor am I sure if that ship can still be repaired."

"Okay, two thousand Star Currency and I'll join you. I'll provide the equipment for activites in outer space, but you need to figure out how to get to the Moon."

Yan Wu paused and then said, "I saw in the news that Chang'e 6 is supposed to launch in a few months. If you really can't find transportation, we could take that."

"Ah, Boss Yan, do you have friends at the space agency too?"

"No, of course we'll just sneak on during the launch. But that one isn't manned. I shouldn't have a problem, but I'm not sure if your body can handle it."

Yan Wu also lamented, "It's too bad, the Pink Whale Smuggling Group is no more. Rumor has it that the Dimensional Pirates wiped them out. If they were still around, we could have taken their ship. Speaking of which, where did you get your spaceship?"

"It was gifted to me by a group of Dimensional Pirates."

"........."

Seeing the Werewolf Boss speechless, Ma Lu quickly clarified, "The fall of the Pink Whale Smuggling Group has nothing to do with me. They messed with those Dimensional Pirates by stealing their dough mixer and ended up being wiped out by them.

"I guess their spaceships have also been thoroughly plundered by now, otherwise they wouldn't have been so generous in giving it to me. If you don't believe me, you can ask Lao Hei."

"Lao Hei survived?"

"Yeah, but now he's turned into a female college student, and also works for my restaurant as a contractor."

"What do you need contractors for?"

"Provide food for that group of Dimensional Pirates."

"......"@@novelbin@@

Yan Wu was once again silenced by this suggestion, and after a while, he finally said, "Your restaurant isn't big, but you sure do have a lot of customers."

"I can't help it, I owe a huge debt, so of course I have to work hard to make money and pay it off."

Ma Lu said, "Let's not hitch a ride with Chang'e 6, just in case my extra weight causes it to crash—I'd become a national criminal. I have a way to get to the Moon, and I'll come to find you before we depart."

Having resolved the spaceship issue, Ma Lu went back to continue running his restaurant.

As the New Year approached, everyone had more tasks to deal with; however, the line of people waiting outside the restaurant didn't decrease at all.

What the hell, don't these people have jobs?

Well, actually, some of them really didn't have jobs, as Ma Lu saw Hou Yihan in the crowd.

As a longtime customer from the days of The Universe's Number One Snack Stall, Hou Yihan had significantly decreased her visits since the opening, having only shown up during the first week to support the new venture.

There was no other option, being a financially strapped college student, the high prices at Universe Infinite Canteen were obviously beyond her budget.

Hou Yihan wasn't there to eat this time, either; she was peeking around outside the door before it was even mealtime. Ma Lu noticed and walked out to ask,

"What's up, is there something you need?"

"Hey boss, it's winter break now, have all your part-time student workers gone home?"

"Yep, they've all left."

"Does that mean you're short-staffed?" asked Hou Yihan, her eyes gleaming as she volunteered, "What do you think about me?"

"Aren't you going home for the winter break?"

"I plan to go back on the Eve," Hou Yihan replied, "There's almost a month left, and I wanted to find a part-time job. Don't worry, I don't ask for much salary, as long as I can have staff meals."

Her last words betrayed her real motive.

"Sure, but we order takeout for staff meals."

"What?" Hou Yihan was taken aback.

"Just kidding, but actually, we're not really short on staff right now." Ma Lu said.

"Really? But I see that there are only three servers in the front of the house," Hou Yihan said, puzzled. Your journey continues with My Virtual Library Empire

"Two, I don't count," Ma Lu corrected, "My main job every day is just to scroll through my phone and give some guidance to the workers."

"Can just two servers handle everything alright?"

"They can, now everything in the restaurant is ordered through scanning QR codes, even generating invoices is fully automated. The servers just need to serve the dishes and clean up a bit."

All this was thanks to the Gold Medal Producer, who turned the opening of the restaurant into a simulation management; not only did she unlock decorating functions, but many day-to-day tasks were also automated.

Moreover, Ma Lu could now see the satisfaction levels over the customers' heads—a very satisfied customer had a green smiling face, if waiting too long for dishes it would turn yellow, and if they got angry, it would turn red, perfectly transplanting the previous video game's mood value system.

But indeed, it made things much more intuitive, especially last week when Ma Lu sold Gastrodia Elata stewed with Wolf Camel; many who came in might have been bothered by something, originally showing yellow or red, but after eating, they immediately turned green, visibly healed.

As a boss, Ma Lu felt quite a sense of accomplishment watching this.