CHAPTER 88

"Pearl milk tea, caramel milk tea, pudding milk tea, one cup for 800 stars coins. Watermelon coconut, strawberry juice, one cup for 1000 stars coins. Additional toppings for 100 stars coins. Wow, is this shop trying to rob people? It's so expensive!" Shan Pan raised an eyebrow in astonishment, hesitated for a moment, and still pressed the button for pearl milk tea.

Just as she placed the order, she heard the voice of the robot saying, "Detecting that the customer is pregnant, we recommend purchasing fruit juice beverages!"

Shan Pan raised an eyebrow. "Pregnant women can't drink it?"

An explanation immediately appeared on the purchasing screen: "Exercise caution when drinking milk tea during pregnancy. Although our shop uses high-quality fresh milk and tea leaves, tea is a stimulant and have invigorating effects. Milk tea is high in sugar, and to avoid gestational diabetes, it is recommended for pregnant women to consume it in moderation."

"Oh, I see." Shan Pan didn't expect the shop to be so considerate. After thinking for a moment, she replied, "Then I'll have a cup of strawberry juice."

As soon as she spoke, the screen switched to the purchase options for strawberry juice.

To maintain the taste of the strawberry juice, there were options for room temperature or ice. Shan Pan chose room temperature and selected seven levels of sweetness with no additional toppings.

After selecting the options, Shan Pan noticed another option behind, which was whether she was allergic to strawberries.

She pressed "no" for allergies, and the screen changed to the payment page. Shan Pan placed her optical brain on the payment recognition area of the screen, and the payment was immediately deducted successfully.

The screen displayed: Order No. 1, Strawberry Juice, room temperature, seven levels of sweetness, no additional toppings, no strawberry allergy, cup in progress.

"It looks pretty good." Wan Baiyun stood by the side and waited with Shan Pan for five minutes until a robotic arm extended from the cup outlet.

Shan Pan took the strawberry juice as the robotic arm retracted.

The cup was made of biodegradable material, with a pleasant light green color. On it, there were musical note characters, giving it a lively and playful appearance.

Looking through the transparent part of the cup, it was evident that the drink inside was red.

Shan Pan inserted a straw into the cup and took a sip.

"Mmm, this is so delicious!" Shan Pan raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Yunyun, you should buy a cup too. It's really good."

"Really? Let me try." Wan Baiyun lowered her head and took a sip from the strawberry juice straw in Shan Pan's hand.

"Mmm, it's really delicious." Wan Baiyun's eyes lit up slightly. "How did they make this?"

"I have no idea. I wanted to buy another cup." Shan Pan asked Wan Baiyun to hold her drink and walked towards the screen to purchase another one.

But the mechanical voice sounded, "One cup per person per day, please."

"Ah..." Shan Pan pouted and turned to look at Wan Baiyun.

Wan Baiyun sighed helplessly and walked up to order a cup of watermelon coconut.

Shan Pan ended up with one cup of strawberry juice and one cup of watermelon coconut, happily heading to the classroom.

After escorting Shan Pan to the classroom, Wan Baiyun walked back and looked at the shop. After thinking for a moment, she approached and selected the option for sample tasting.

The mechanical arm presented five small cups of drink, each about the size of a thumb. Wan Baiyun tasted them one by one and shook her head in admiration. "The flavors are really good."   

"Why didn't you buy a cup if it's so delicious?" Qin Zhaoci suddenly appeared behind her, startling Wan Baiyun.

Wan Baiyun rolled her eyes. "Can you stop appearing out of nowhere? I almost slapped you just now."

Qin Zhaoci pouted. "I'm asking why you didn't buy one."

Wan Baiyun pursed her lips. "I did buy one, but Shan Pan took it. This shop has a limit of one cup per person, and it's not only expensive but also hard to get."

"Because the ingredients are limited. You tasted it just now. Which flavor did you like the most?" Qin Zhaoci asked.

Wan Baiyun blinked. "I quite liked the taste of caramel milk tea."

"Okay." Qin Zhaoci nodded and walked up to the screen. "Two cups of caramel milk tea, one cup of pearl milk tea, and one cup of strawberry juice, all iced, seven levels of sweetness, no allergies."

"Alright, boss." the mechanical voice sounded as the shop began preparing the drinks.

"Boss? Is this your shop?" Wan Baiyun widened her eyes in astonishment.

Qin Zhaoci nodded. "Yes, it is. We limit the purchase to a hundred cups per day, with a maximum of twenty cups per flavor. Once they're sold out, there won't be any more due to limited ingredients."

"Do the drinks you order count towards the limit?" Wan Baiyun asked curiously.

Qin Zhaoci shook her head. "No, it doesn't. If they did, my Yinyin wouldn't be able to get any if all one hundred cups were sold."

"Your Yinyin?" Wan Baiyun furrowed her brow. 

"What's going on?"

"Yinyin and I are together now, just as you suspected." Qin Zhaoci smiled, her eyes sparkling. "I'm going to bring her the milk tea in a moment."

"Oh... You really..." Wan Baiyun struggled to find the right words as she observed Qin Zhaoci's obvious state of being in love.

"Boss, the milk tea is ready." at that moment, the mechanical arm delivered Qin Zhaoci's ordered drinks.

Qin Zhaoci handed the caramel milk tea Wan Baiyun requested to her and carried the remaining three cups happily to find Ye Lianyin.

Watching Qin Zhaoci's joyful figure, Wan Baiyun lowered her head and took a sip of the caramel milk tea. She nodded to herself. "Qin Zhaoci is becoming more and more extraordinary."

When Qin Zhaoci reached the entrance of Ye Lianyin's classroom, Yang Xizi was already waiting there. As she saw Qin Zhaoci, she immediately pointed inside to where Ye Lianyin was sitting.

Qin Zhaoci understood what Yang Xizi's intention was. She smiled and nodded, walking to the entrance of the classroom and calling out, "Yinyin!"

Ye Lianyin looked up and smiled when she saw Qin Zhaoci. She walked out of the classroom and asked, "What's up?"

"Don't you notice that the milk tea shop has opened?" Qin Zhaoci shook the three cups of milk tea in her hand. "Which one do you want?"

Ye Lianyin glanced at the labels on the cups and took the caramel milk tea. "I'll have this one."

"Miss Ye, can I take a few photos of you? I want to post them on the student forum." Yang Xizi, admiring Ye Lianyin's appearance, waved her camera in front of Ye Lianyin.

"She's the store manager of the shop I'm operating." Qin Zhaoci whispered to Ye Lianyin.

Ye Lianyin nodded after hearing that. "Sure, how do you want to take them?"

Yang Xizi pointed towards the corridor. "You can pose freely, with the milk tea straw inserted, you can drink it while looking down, or you can hold it and stand here. I'll capture a few shots. Boss, please don't block the camera."

After picking up the camera, Yang Xizi immediately entered a state of focus. She waved her hand somewhat dismissively, signaling Qin Zhaoci to come closer.

Qin Zhaoci sighed and walked behind Yang Xizi, holding her own drink.

Ye Lianyin watched Qin Zhaoci's frustrated expression,  and couldn't help but lower head and insert the straw into her milk tea, finding it quite amusing.

Seizing the opportunity, Yang Xizi captured a series of shots. With her already good photography skills and Ye Lianyin's stunning appearance from every angle, even a few casual shots turned out incredibly beautiful.

"Alright. Thank you, Boss." after only five minutes of shooting, Yang Xizi felt satisfied and quickly transferred the photos to her computer, starting to edit them for the forum.

"She looks really capable." Ye Lianyin walked over to Qin Zhaoci's side, looking at Yang Xizi editing the promotional text right at the entrance of the classroom, and expressed her surprise.

Qin Zhaoci nodded. "Indeed, she is. I just gave her the name, and she designed everything, from the store's floral motifs, logo design, to the cup design style."

"She specializes in food safety, and she was the one who obtained the certificate of compliance from the Food Safety Department. She also registered the trademark. Even the ordering process, the reminders, and the little details like drinking precautions were all her proposals. She's really capable."

"Then how much salary do you pay her per month? She's handling all the work by herself." Ye Lianyin tapped Qin Zhaoci's waist, expressing her concern that Yang Xizi's enthusiasm might be taken advantage of by Qin Zhaoci.

"50,000 star coins per month." Qin Zhaoci raised an eyebrow. "I'm not the kind of person who freeloads. Originally, I offered 30,000 per month, but seeing her capabilities, I added another 20,000."

"That's really good." Ye Lianyin nodded in satisfaction. Currently, the average white-collar salary in the empire was around 30,000 star coins. According to the employment data of the school's graduates, fresh graduates could only expect an average salary of 20,000 star coins. Qin Zhaoci's offer was indeed hard to come by.

"That's settled then." Qin Zhaoci proudly tilted her head back. "But I do set targets for her. There must be monthly sales targets that need to be met. If the subsequent sales are good, I'll even open more branches."

"Mhmm." Ye Lianyin nodded, taking a sip of her milk tea. "I'll go to class now. Are you giving one of these two cups to her?"

Qin Zhaoci shook her head. "No, employees are entitled to two free drinks per day. It's a benefit I offer. These two cups are for Teacher Bai and Mr. Zheng."  

"What about yours?" Ye Lianyin was somewhat surprised.

"I'll take a sip of yours." Qin Zhaoci lowered her head and glanced at the milk tea in Ye Lianyin's hand.

Ye Lianyin instinctively raised the cup, thinking that Qin Zhaoci would take a sip. However, just as she handed it over, Qin Zhaoci tilted her head and gave her a peck on the lips before happily bouncing away.

"Hey, you!" Ye Lianyin helplessly laughed, shaking her head. When she turned around, she coincidentally locked eyes with Yang Xizi, who had finished editing the promotional text at some point.

Ye Lianyin thought about what had just happened and wasn't sure how much Yang Xizi had seen. Her ears immediately turned red.

Fortunately, Yang Xizi was good at reading the atmosphere. She quickly averted her gaze, pretending she hadn't seen anything, and muttered to herself, "Um, yes, just like this, just like this, very good."

Ye Lianyin quickly seized the opportunity to return to the classroom and took her seat.

Meanwhile, Yang Xizi posted the edited text on the student forum.

When students browsing the forum saw the post with Ye Lianyin's photo, they immediately became interested and clicked to view it. Soon, following the hints and reminders in the text, they noticed the milk tea in Ye Lianyin's hand.

Yang Xizi continued to pretend to be an ordinary student and told them the location of the shop and the specific type of milk tea that Ye Lianyin was drinking.

With Yang Xizi's efforts, it was no surprise that on the first day of its opening, "Melody's Tea" was an instant hit. One hundred cups were sold out in an instant.

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