Chapter 15: Xu Tao's Request

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“Take care, and we hope to see you again!”

With a professional smile, Lin Xiao saw the last customer out, then turned around and hung the “Closed” sign on the door.

His wristwatch showed that it was already ten o’clock at night. He rubbed his aching shoulders, then turned his gaze toward Xu Tao, who was still lounging on the sofa.

“Had enough?” Lin Xiao asked. “Are you planning to spend the night here?”

Xu Tao leaned comfortably against the sofa, a satisfied smile on his face. “Honestly, watching the customers’ expressions change from anticipation to complete intoxication is even more satisfying than experiencing it myself.”

Lin Xiao: “…”

Xu Tao’s group of friends had left contentedly in the afternoon.

Only this shameless fellow had stubbornly remained, insisting on observing the reactions of the other customers as they underwent their experiences.

The behavior seemed somewhat perverse, but Lin Xiao understood it perfectly.

It was just like those addictive reaction videos from his previous life. Witnessing someone else share the same shock and excitement could sometimes be even more fascinating than enjoying it alone.

Understanding was one thing, but now that Xu Tao looked determined to stay until closing, Lin Xiao decided it was time to drive him out.

Xu Tao, however, showed no intention of leaving. Instead, he asked, “Aside from the friends I brought today, there were another eleven customers. How much did you make in total?”

“Isn’t asking about someone’s turnover quite a violation of boundaries?” Lin Xiao countered.

“We’re friends, aren’t we? Can’t I ask?” Xu Tao protested. “I’m worried that your business is going to fail! You’re far too stubborn. Even when I want to help you, you won’t let me!”

The teasing in his words was accompanied by genuine concern, warming Lin Xiao’s heart. He answered, “Thirty-seven thousand yuan in total.”

“Only thirty-seven thousand? I alone contributed twenty-seven thousand five hundred!” Xu Tao exclaimed.

Although the ten people he had brought along had not completed the maximum of five experiences each, they had all paid in full in advance.

At five hundred yuan per experience, that came to exactly twenty-seven thousand five hundred yuan.

Aside from the young masters’ entourage, eleven walk-in customers had visited that day.

Notably, every one of them had expressed complete satisfaction, and not a single person had tried to avoid payment.

Eight of the walk-in customers had even purchased an additional experience, bringing the total to nineteen experiences and generating nine thousand five hundred yuan.

That was how the total turnover had reached thirty-seven thousand yuan.

“Five hundred yuan per experience is already expensive for ordinary people,” Lin Xiao said calmly. “Once word of mouth starts spreading, business will improve.”

“You…” Xu Tao shook his head helplessly. “You’re just too honest. The price is far too low! How about this? I’ll buy everything at five thousand yuan per experience.”

Lin Xiao waved his hand helplessly, rejecting the suggestion. That fellow was always making outrageous proposals.

It felt like having a girlfriend ask to be treated like a princess, only for you to send her off to a karaoke bar instead.

“What are you looking at?”

Lin Xiao noticed that Xu Tao was staring fixedly at his hand as he waved away the offer.

Was he still concerned about this Time wristwatch?

But Xu Tao’s next words left him stunned.

“The original owner of today’s gourmet memory was you, wasn’t it?”

Before Lin Xiao could answer, Xu Tao continued.

“Although you deliberately altered your voice, I know it far too well. The dining venue was an ordinary private business room, but I’ve visited your shop too many times not to recognize it at a glance.

“And then there are your hands. They’re exactly the same as the pair in the memory.”

Lin Xiao: “…”

He had never seemed particularly sharp before. But the moment food was involved, he became practically Sherlock Holmes.

“Yes. It was indeed my memory.”

“Damn it! You actually got to taste such peerless delicacies yourself! I’m so jealous I could go mad!”

“Do you realize how many secrets you just revealed?”

Xu Tao waved his hand dismissively. “It’s only my Painful Oath. You’ve probably already guessed it, haven’t you?”

Lin Xiao: “I…”

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Xu Tao interrupted him before he could continue.

“You don’t need to feel burdened. If I don’t want to break my oath and die horribly because I can’t control my cravings, then I have to satisfy myself with virtual culinary experiences from time to time.

“That means I have to let someone know eventually. If that someone is you, I’m completely at ease.

“Don’t worry. I’m only off guard around you. In front of everyone else, I’m extremely careful!”

Lin Xiao remained silent.

He was afraid Xu Tao’s disguise was not nearly as convincing as Xu Tao imagined. At the very least, that childhood friend who cared so much about him had already figured it out.

“There’s something I want to ask. You don’t have to answer if it’s inconvenient,” Xu Tao continued.

“Go ahead.”

“This feast today was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Did you make it yourself?”

Lin Xiao froze for a moment, unsure how to answer. Did it count or not?

The feast was a creation produced at the cost of consuming source energy. Technically, it should count… right?

“Yes. You could put it that way.”

After saying this, Lin Xiao instinctively drew his neck in slightly. Only after confirming that no divine punishment had descended did he relax.

“Holy crap! You really made it? Why didn’t I meet you years ago? That’s the greatest regret of my life!”

Lin Xiao did not know what to say, so he could only wait for Xu Tao to calm down.

After a long while, Xu Tao asked seriously, “Lin Xiao, since your culinary skills are so incredible, if I let you experience a delicacy from one of my memories, could you recreate it in reality?”

Lin Xiao was momentarily stunned. Xu Tao had clearly mistaken the feast for something Lin Xiao had prepared through his own cooking skills.

Confused, he asked, “If you simply want to relive a delicacy from your memory, I can help you experience it again directly within the memory. If I truly recreate it in reality, would you even be able to eat it all?”

“Answer me first. Can you do it or not?” Xu Tao asked anxiously.

Lin Xiao nodded. “If I can enter your memory, it should not be a problem.”

“Wonderful! Then you have to help me!” Xu Tao cried out in delight.

“What kind of help?”

“I can’t reveal too much yet, because this concerns an elder of extremely distinguished status whom I deeply respect. I need to obtain his permission before I can tell you anything.

“But I can promise you this: if you can help, the reward he offers will be enough to make you rich overnight and ensure that you never have to worry about food or clothing again!”

Lin Xiao smiled and shook his head. “You know I have my own standards. I’ll decide how much to charge.”

“It isn’t merely a matter of money. If you can help him and make him owe you a favor, then from now on, you won’t have to worry about anything in the whole of Donghai City, no matter what happens,” Xu Tao said.

To be honest, what Xu Tao was saying sounded somewhat exaggerated. If anyone else had made such a claim, Lin Xiao would have mocked him inwardly.

It was nothing more than a promise from Louis the Sixteenth—a worthless blank check.

But because Xu Tao was the one saying it, Lin Xiao believed him. Even so…

“Xu Tao, you’ve revealed too much information,” Lin Xiao warned.

In Donghai City, there were no more than ten people who could resolve any problem whatsoever simply by lifting a finger.

Xu Tao waved his hand unconcernedly. “Then I’ll wait until I’ve confirmed everything with that elder before I contact you. That’s all for today. I should be leaving.”

With that, Xu Tao headed toward the door.

Just after stepping outside, he poked his head back in. “I only experienced three memories today. Remember to save the remaining two for me.”

Lin Xiao said helplessly, “Go on, go on! I know!”

Only after receiving that promise did Xu Tao finally leave with peace of mind.

Once he had confirmed that Xu Tao was truly gone, Lin Xiao returned to his office and locked the day’s earnings inside the safe.

Looking at the thick stack of banknotes within, he felt an overwhelming sense of security.

The approval slip Chen Xin had given him had produced immediate results, allowing him to avoid more than six thousand yuan in business taxes.

That meant the thirty-seven thousand yuan in cash was enough to cover his current essential expenses, officially declaring his financial crisis over.

Next, he only needed to earn another forty thousand yuan to pay for the next painful memory. Mr. Zhang’s case, in which he had paid only thirty thousand, had been an exception.

“But by the time I’ve earned enough to purchase the next painful memory, the gourmet memories will nearly be exhausted.” Lin Xiao pondered.

“Since gourmet memories are so popular, I might as well create another one.”

For an expenditure of only one point of source energy, a single gourmet memory could bring Lin Xiao one hundred thousand yuan in revenue. It was an extremely profitable transaction.

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With that, Lin Xiao closed his eyes and once again entered Mr. Lu’s banquet.

This time, however, when he reached out to touch the delicacies on the table, the information that appeared in his mind was different.

Three points of source energy required.

The revelation left Lin Xiao completely bewildered, and he withdrew from the memory.

“Why has the direct cost suddenly tripled?”

By now, he had vaguely realized that the limitation on his Creation ability was not merely the consumption of source energy. Otherwise, if he could infinitely duplicate extraordinarily powerful supernatural items—such as the sacred artifacts of this world—the situation would be absurd.

Even so, Lin Xiao still held on to a sliver of hope. Perhaps he could exploit a loophole.

First, he took out the amber containing the gourmet memory and consumed one experience.

Then he attempted to enter that freshly experienced gourmet memory.

As expected, he failed.

He could not enter a secondhand memory like this. The only memories he could enter were complete memories, and each one he extracted could provide two hundred experiences.

The “cheap” memories produced by consuming a single experience seemed to lack sufficient energy, preventing him from entering them.

After failing once, Lin Xiao was not discouraged.

This time, he gritted his teeth and spent three points of source energy to bring the entire feast directly out of Mr. Lu’s banquet memory.

But he did not immediately enjoy it. Instead, he entered the current memory at once.

He arrived in his office within that memory and reached toward the table laden with dishes.

Information immediately appeared in his mind.

Nine points of source energy required.

It had tripled again!

Lin Xiao now understood. For the same object, the cost of each successive duplication would triple.

Moreover, objects within memories seemed to possess universal unique identifiers.

As long as it was the same object, its duplication cost would not decrease merely because it appeared in different memories of his.

This meant it would be extremely difficult for him to repeatedly duplicate the same object for excessive profit.

For example, after duplicating Mr. Lu’s banquet twice, the cost-effectiveness of duplicating it again had already become very low.

Lin Xiao was not troubled by this result.

He did not possess an out-of-system cheat ability like a doting system father. His power was based on the rules of this world. Even if he did not know the exact nature of his Painful Oath, the principle remained the same.

The stronger the power he received from the gods, the more terrible the price he would have to pay. That was not necessarily a good thing.

So Lin Xiao stopped dwelling on it. He silently enjoyed the delicious feast before him once, then extracted another gourmet memory amber.

Looking at the new amber in his hand, Lin Xiao knew it would bring him another one hundred thousand yuan.

It seemed that he would not have to worry about his income for the time being.

However, the shortage of source energy had become glaringly apparent.

After recreating the computer from his previous life and duplicating the two feasts, Lin Xiao now had only ten points of source energy remaining.

And if helping Xu Tao with that matter would also require source energy, he could not help feeling somewhat worried.

He had to earn forty thousand yuan as quickly as possible, then purchase a new painful memory.

Having settled on his goal, Lin Xiao locked the safe and returned to his room.

The moon was bright tonight, making it the perfect time to play Bloodborne.

He had just prepared to turn on the computer when he suddenly noticed a letter that had appeared on the desk at some point.

The faint plum-shaped pawprints on the envelope told him immediately who had sent it.

After opening the letter and reading it briefly, Lin Xiao returned to the office once more. He opened the safe, took out three thousand five hundred yuan and an approval slip left by Chen Xin, then headed for the door.

Just after stepping outside, Lin Xiao seemed to remember something. He went back, retrieved a packet of dried fish, and left again.

It was time to go and meet Miss Yang.