Gratitude

By the time the last customer left, it was already 11.30pm. And that meant that Jin finally had the chance to take a seat after an entire day's worth of work. He took two pieces of the random flavoured onigiri from the drawer and walked out of the store.

He also noticed Zhen Qing taking a short break after standing the entire day serving the customers outside. However, she was extremely satisfied. For the first time in Zhen Qing's life, she not only sold all her stock that she had baked for the day, she had even gone back home to obtain all of her reserved stocks of ingredients during Jin's dinner break.

Her reserved stocks were so heavy that she decided to leave her mobile stall at Jin's place and hailed a cab to get everything she needed to Jin's store. Zhen Qing then painstakingly knit the bun dough and prepared the vegetable and meat stuffing on the spot to have sufficient food available for sale after Jin's dinner.

Jin had initially wanted to help but he decided that if he interfered with Zhen Qing, he would not know the extent of her determination and that was a key factor in deciding whether she was a suitable employee for the store in the future or not.

"Here, an onigiri for your hard work today." Jin passed her an onigiri along with a can of Bamboo Juice from his shop.

Like every customer that ordered the onigiri from him, the weary face of Zhen Qing immediately turned into one filled with delight and satisfaction. It was a simple pork meat stuffing but Zhen Qing was able to taste superior quality of the onigiri. There were hidden ingredients that she could not identify at the moment but she knew of their presence since the umami from the pork stuffing could not be enhanced by itself. The rice was hands-down the best rice she had ever eaten. Zhen Qing even thought that it was possibly the rumoured emperor tribute rice in the ancient past. Or perhaps, she was just so hungry that she was hallucinating. However, the taste was impeccable and undoubtedly one of the best pieces of food she had ever eaten in her life.

"This onigiri is delicious! Where did you buy this from? Wait, could it be that you made this yourself?" Zhen Qing was wondering why Jin was trying so hard to rope her into his store. Was it because he was looking for a cooking apprentice despite his shop's speciality?

Zhen Qing knew and heard street rumours regarding Jin's mouth-watering food but at the cost of buying his dungeons. Just then, when she tried the onigiri, she theorised that Jin was talented in cooking but used dungeons as a way to cover his cooking talents.

"Unfortunately no, it's from a food supplier, but due to their wish to remain unnoticed, I cannot name them at the moment. They want to keep themselves as a secret for now. This bamboo juice is from them too. Give it a try." Jin unwrapped his onigiri and took a bite.

"Oh. I am sorry." Zhen Qing replied with a tinge of embarrassment. She guessed she was thinking too much and perhaps all Jin really wanted was someone cheap to employ while taking a percentage of the profit for the day. Maybe, Jin was using this onigiri chance to show her that she was inferior and could be replaced anytime. The more she thought about it, the more depressed she became since she could not believe that such an amazing opportunity could come knocking in her life. There definitely be some strings attached to Boss Jin's peculiar store.

"So erm Mr Jin, how much of the profit are you going to take from me? Is 20% sufficient?" Zhen Qing figured that if she took the initiative to ask first, then she might have the upper hand in the negotiation. She was willing to give a profit of up 35% and she decided to start out from a reasonably low percentage to try her luck. There was possibly a chance that Jin might agree to such a low number.

"Hmm? What are you talking about?" Jin was just enjoying the silent company of Zhen Qing. He was a simple man to begin with. He had always been an introvert in high school and university but that did not stop Jin from wanting to be a dungeon supplier. Jin thought that he understood the challenges of being a Boss of his own shop since he had been working part time for various different shops as he was growing up.

His grandfather Ming encouraged him to do so even though he was financially stable. Ming believed a bit of hardship and real world experience would teach Jin what it was like to be a proper working adult in the future. Of course, there was a chance that these hardships and experiences would not help Jin and might instead derail him from his path of success. These bad experiences could range from meeting up with the wrong company of friends to being fired from his job, but Jin was fortunate enough to not encounter any of those.

Still, Jin had it real easy with the system's help. The system in Jin was such a cheat in life that it made all his previous work experiences invalid. However, the system definitely did not make it easy for him either. The immense size of the crowd every day exhausted Jin to such a point that he felt like giving up too.

Of course, he did not ask Yun what would happen if he gave up. Maybe the system would leave him rather than giving him a second chance in life? That also meant he would need to start from the bottom with little money to his name. Right now, the system was literally providing him with all the necessary things in life such as good food, decent entertainment and a sufficient 'salary'.

"I mean, this trial thing that you are conducting. Surely you will want something in return for the investment of your property, right?" Zhen Qing replied when Jin's face was totally blank.

"Ehhhh, no you can keep your money for this trial. Maybe I might charge you in the future if I decide to employ you. Wait, I should be the one giving you a salary if I employ you…" Jin could not think of any other excuses although what he truly wished for was another helper. Sure, Yun could help around the store, but she primarily needed to take care of the fallen cultivators that fell unconscious from the dungeon battles. Technically speaking, the AI Nurse Pandas could take care of them but cultivators had already dubbed Yun as the store's Beautiful Nightingale of Nursing. The pep talks and care were given by Yun when she was in the recovery instance encouraged the cultivators to move forward and try the dungeons once more. Hence, she was a vital part of the store, despite Yun being hidden behind the scenes with the AI Nurse Pandas.

"Haha, okay and Thank you, Mr Jin, for your food and drink. It has really been a long time since I have eaten and drunk so well." Zhen Qing laughed at Jin's clueless face and his slightly awkward reaction.

Jin, on the other hand, felt a slight tugging in his heart. The smile and laughter that Zhen Qing had portrayed for the first time this entire day made him feel pleased. "Jin will be fine. Having a Mister in my name makes me feel old." Zhen Qing nodded but she suddenly became serious again.

"I would like to continue for tomorrow but I do not have enough ingredients after today's sale. I even finished my reserved stock of ingredients and I need to contact my supplier for the goods, but those will take a while to come. I really underestimated your customers' appetite for food." Zhen Qing started to stand up and pack her mobile stall.

"So...I might not be able to complete your trial for these two weeks. That was why I asked how much of the profit you want as compensation." Zhen Qing lowered her head and appreciated the opportunity that Jin had given her.

"What do you need? I might be able to provide you but you might need to come to the store to take it and prepare it in the morning." Jin had secretly whispered to Yun in his head and it seemed like it was an easy task for Yun to accomplish.

"Pork belly meat, it would be better if there was some skin. Minced Pork, ginger, soy sauce, rice wine, oyster sauce, sesame oil, ground black pepper, granulated sugar, salt, spring onions...Oh, I am sorry. I think asking for all this stuff is a little too much." Zhen Qing realised she had blabbered too much until she saw Jin earnestly speed typing what she said onto his phone.

"Anymore?" Jin innocently looked up at her.

"Erm...Lard, plain flour, vegetable oil... and sesame seeds." Zhen Qing decided to finish the list of ingredients she needed to him.

"Okay, got it. Hmm, I remember you hastily trying to make the dough and meat stuffing. Do you have more equipment to prepare your stuff? I mean, you probably need some time to do all the preparation work." Jin was thinking of opening a dungeon instance using the Dungeon Maker to create a kitchen instance for Zhen Qing to work her magic. Of course, without monsters for now.

"I think I can handle it in my mobile stall if you can supply me with the ingredients." Zhen Qing was really embarrassed to ask for any more. Firstly, she was already keeping all the profit, and now Jin would be providing the ingredients for her. Any more, and Jin might really think that she was shameless and trying to take advantage of him.

"Okay, I believe I can get you the ingredients by tomorrow morning. Come to the store by 8 am. I should be here. Now, go travel home safely and get some rest ." Jin smiled as he noticed Zhen Qing had already completed packing her items. He had forgotten how fast she could pack her stuff, trained during the times when the police inspector was chasing after her.

"Once again, thank you Jin for this opportunity." Zhen Qing bowed a little and took off in her motorcycle. All Jin could do was watch her silhouette disappear at the end of the street and he waited for the sound of her motorcycle to die out in the night before he started to close the store and return home.