Famine 215: Old Acquaintance

More than seventy thousand!

Si Zhiyan was extremely satisfied with this number.

On average, each merchant had over two thousand in sales, far exceeding his initial expectations.

On reflection, it was perfectly reasonable.

The night before, Si Zhiyan had been blazing the trail—his first time running a shop as a player for the anomalies; he’d spent most of the night observing, negotiating, and getting settled, opening his stall only at dawn, and selling hot dogs, which took some time to prepare… Even so, he’d managed to make more than a thousand sales. It was clear that the anomalies’ purchasing power was astonishing.

Moreover, Si Zhiyan had set very reasonable prices, holding hot dogs at just one coin apiece. The point was to test whether this business model worked.

But the farm players Si Zhiyan brought in were not nearly so restrained.

Take Rong Bei, for example. Late into the night, realizing that the queue of anomalies far surpassed expectations and that his stock was running low, he promptly introduced several new flavors—raising prices on the spot.

Ah, what a happy problem to have—everyone was too enthusiastic! “We’re out of the original Pirate Banana Split! But look here, we also have Bloody Pirate Ship, Sunset Pirate Ship, and Magical Plant Pirate Ship…”

A few new names—strawberry ice cream, orange ice cream, and matcha ice cream—soon sold for double the original price. Sales instantly doubled.

Later, he added combo deals: Bloody Pirate Ship plus a glass of Crimson Special (strawberry juice with iced tea) for just three coins.

Not only that, Rong Bei had also prepared several dozen large wooden boat-shaped bowls in advance. On the menu he wrote, [Family Set: Ocean Pirate Fleet]—every flavor in one huge serving, for maximum satisfaction!

The price was equally maximized, a full ten coins.

Now, that was a steep price—most anomalies wouldn’t go for it, but…

Still, Rong Bei took the time to prepare a sample family set amid his busy rush.

His leg was trembling, cramping with pain from standing so long on damaged muscles.

But Rong Bei never sat down, not even to sip water. He pushed his speed buff to the limit, squeezing out time for just one sample.

He always needed to present it at the perfect moment.

…For instance, to the last pair of customers before sunrise.

[So pretty… so pretty!!]
[I want this one!! I want this one!! Ahhh!! I love it! I want to eat this!!]

A severed head of a woman with curly hair was screaming in delight, blood and tears streaming, banging, banging her head against the table.

The screech was so ear-splitting that even without malicious intent, players nearby were bleeding from the ears, their heads spinning. Rong Bei, being closest, caught the brunt of it, but he merely stuffed his bleeding ears and said nothing.

Behind her, a headless man of muscle quietly lifted her up, setting her on his shoulder.

[It’s expensive.]
[I don’t care! I want it! I want it!!]

The head thudded against his chest again and again.

[……]

Although the man had no head, everyone could clearly see—somehow!—his impressive pectorals reflected three parts helplessness, seven parts doting.

A gentle, magnetic voice said, [Alright, I’ll get it for you.]

He patted himself down and finally scraped together the ten coins.

Without a word, Rong Bei heaped the huge family set high for this couple.
Since they were his last customers, he was generous, scraping every last bit of ice cream from every corner of his containers and piling on almost one and a half times the usual amount of each flavor.

[So much! So lucky!!] The curly-haired woman was nearly weeping with gratitude. [You’re the best boss ever!!]

Rong Bei smiled and accepted the ten coins with pleasure.

His stock depleted, he finished the evening on a perfect note.

That single order alone was worth the satisfaction of ten regular customers.

……

When morning came, the farm’s official staff arrived to audit accounts and collect the 5% rent.

Two tactical squads in all.

Not that the audit was much trouble—they merely walked up to each stall to check operations, and the Farm Owner’s data appeared before their eyes automatically.

By now, after so long in business, everyone understood: anyone caught trying to cheat the Farm Owner would be in for a world of pain.

No joke—the Farm could use the force of a rules-based horror story to act as law enforcement!
To try and pull tricks on them was suicidal.

So everyone paid their taxes honestly.

But rent collection was not the real reason these people were here.
Their main task was… assessment.

As the staff made the rounds—

“Let’s see… 2,305 coins… Nicely done, boss. That’s 17,287 points in tax revenue, received.”

“Next: octopus takoyaki… 1,004 coins… great.”

Nearby, Yi Zheng let out a heavy sigh of relief and relaxed. “Whew! Just made it.”

That’s right: in Candy Town,

Si Zhiyan had made it clear from the start that every shop here was expected to sell at least 1,000 coins’ worth per night.

If you couldn’t, you’d be asked—regretfully—to vacate and make way for someone else.

Tonight, Yi Zheng’s performance hadn’t been especially strong, but in the end several groups of baby ghosts arrived, buying enough to fill her quota.

Rong Bei passed her a cup of water. She accepted it with a wry smile and shook her head. “Barely squeaked by. How did you manage to sell so much, Boss Rong…”

Rong Bei’s brow furrowed, thoughtful.

He was about to say something when, suddenly, a pig-killing howl erupted from the other side of the grounds:

“Give us another chance!!!”
“Please, sir, one more night! It took so much to get this spot!”
“It’s only the first night, we’re just not used to it. Those monsters are so dangerous, so disgusting! It’s only natural to hesitate!”
@Jinjiang Literature City

“……”

A moment later came a harsh shout: “I understand how you feel, but I advise you put away those thuggish tricks of yours!”

There was a new loud crash, followed by a metallic clatter—possibly gunfire with a suppressor, maybe even a fight breaking out.

…That’s what the tactical squads were for.

If you couldn’t take a hint, the Farm would give you one.

The ruckus was so loud that even Rong Bei looked over at the commotion.

Just then, the tactical team finished their rounds and approached Rong Bei’s stall. The squad captain rapped on his table. “Boss, your turn… Hey? Rong-ge!”

The voice turned instantly joyful.

Rong Bei looked up and smiled. “Xiao Li. Doing well, I see.”

One of the subordinates asked, “Boss, you know him?”

The squad captain, Xiao Li, now fully armored, burst out laughing. “You joined late, so you don’t know!”

“This is Rong-ge! He was my squad leader in the first Farm Defense battle! I was assigned to my very first team—my life was saved by Rong-ge. It was my first real fight with that kind of horror—the walls crawling with ghost moths—and Rong-ge kept it together, braving the poison to run the heavy artillery and saved the whole squad. He fought like he had no fear, didn’t care he was being corrupted, didn’t even notice the aftermath…”

As he spoke, Xiao Li’s voice grew softer.

Ah. Here we go again.

Rong Bei sighed inwardly, lowering his head to tidy his things, avoiding Xiao Li’s gaze.

He didn’t need to look to know what Xiao Li’s expression was.

After his disabling injury, that look was the only one he saw.

Sympathy, regret, reluctance to meet his eyes, that guarded, pitying demeanor—as if they beheld the world’s most pitiful sight.

With no ill-will—far from it. They cared for him all the more.

But that look made Rong Bei’s stomach turn.
That was why he stood here alone, never asking any old comrades for help.

Skkrrtt…

At that awkward moment, a scuffling noise passed by.

Everyone looked up to see a different tactical squad dragging a group of men, all tightly bound.

It was the mercenaries who had bullied Rong Bei the day before.

As they were hustled along, they shouted and cursed fiercely, putting up a wild show.

These days, it was rare to see such types. Shopkeepers and staff poked out their heads, and the crowd swelled with onlookers, including newcomers hoping to claim vacated spots.

As the hubbub mounted, the squad had trouble hauling their prisoners along. Furious, an officer kicked one: “Quit whining! It’s your own damned contract!”

Suddenly, the muscular mercenary spotted Rong Bei and shouted even louder, pointing: “A cripple like him gets in, but we can’t open a shop?!”

“Why are we the only ones audited? Are they checking him too?!”
“I bet he didn’t meet the quota either! Why pick only on us?!”

All at once, a crowd of eyes turned to Rong Bei.

Rong Bei: “…”
What’s this got to do with me?

Xiao Li flared up. “Watch your mouth!”

That only made the muscular mercenary more unhinged. Scraping his nails on the floor, he shrieked, “You guys know each other! I knew it! You know him!”

“Everyone saw! This grain pit must have connections—got special access, tons of supplies, even has the staff in his pocket!”

“We opened his crates yesterday, people saw it—right, fellow shopkeepers?”

He sounded so convincing that the surrounding merchants began whispering and giving Rong Bei odd looks.

Xiao Li trembled with rage, hand going to his sword. “You looking to die…”

“All right.” Rong Bei cut him off.

With all eyes on him, Rong Bei lifted his head.

His leg still unsteady, he leaned on the table, looked up, and swept his gaze in a full circle. @Jinjiang Literature City

He found himself surrounded by all sorts of eyes—bewilderment, disdain, sympathy.

For a long moment, Rong Bei took a deep breath and said to Xiao Li, “Check my numbers.”

Xiao Li’s expression shifted but, in the end, couldn’t gainsay him. Carefully, he replied, “All right, let’s see… Rong-ge’s revenue… today’s sales…”

From the look on his face, he seemed ready to go to the wall—perhaps even prepared to fudge the numbers or help Rong Bei find other work if things went badly.