ABSTIWTVMST Chapter 135

Jing Yicheng said seriously, “It won’t cost much anyway. Once the restaurant opens, we’ll operate whenever we have chili peppers, and close when we don’t. After your experiment ends, we can sell the restaurant for cash—it’s very convenient.”

Xu Chenghao actually found this quite reasonable… After all, the chili pepper mission was only halfway through. The number of mutated peppers would definitely increase later on. Opening a restaurant to make money while using them up was practically killing two birds with one stone!

The more Xu Chenghao thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. He slapped the table and said, “Alright, we’ll do it your way.”

Jing Yicheng: “Then leave it to me.”

“Alright.”

Xu Chenghao nodded contentedly, only to realize belatedly that Jing Yicheng had taken over everything, leaving him with nothing to do. Being pampered really was great—constantly being pampered was even better~~

Feeling pleased, Xu Chenghao handed Jing Yicheng a chili pepper and smiled. “This is your reward.”

Jing Yicheng ate the chili with a helpless expression. The next second, he swiftly closed the distance, cupping the back of Xu Chenghao’s head and kissing him. The spiciness exploded instantly within their lips, spreading further as their tongues intertwined and explored, filling their mouths with an overwhelming fiery sensation.

Xu Chenghao frowned, not expecting raw chili peppers to have such a strong aftertaste… How had Jing Yicheng managed to eat them before?

Jing Yicheng seemed to sense his thoughts. He pulled back slightly and said calmly, “I didn’t know why before, but thinking about it now, it must be because when beauty is right in front of me, everything tastes sweet.”

“You always have a way with words.” Xu Chenghao pushed him away slightly and poured himself a glass of water, sipping it slowly. Yeah, it was really spicy.

Jing Yicheng didn’t tease him further. Instead, he went to the kitchen, washed a plate of strawberries, and brought them over to help Xu Chenghao cool down. By the time Xu Chenghao ate his third strawberry, the all-purpose assistant arrived at the door, knocking to announce that the requested items had been delivered.

It was an intelligent robot designed to separate different objects. Standing about half the height of an adult, its eyes emitted a faint red glow as it scanned the chili peppers inside the cloth bag. Suddenly, a panel on its head lifted, revealing a dark hole. The robot tilted the bag toward this opening and poured all the contents inside with a loud whoosh. Its eyes then shifted to blue, indicating it was in operation.

The assistant quickly placed two additional cloth bags under the robot’s palms. In less than five minutes, the robot moved its palms aside, revealing two compartments. Vibrant red chili peppers cascaded down its arms and into the bags, sorted flawlessly.

The separation between the deformed and intact chili peppers was perfect. Xu Chenghao carefully inspected the results and found no issues.

“Task complete. Left: 3,076. Right: 4,330. Report finished.”

The mechanical voice sounded, making Xu Chenghao feel an unexpected sense of fondness. His gaze toward the robot grew even more eager.

Unfortunately, once the task was complete, the robot powered down, its eyes returning to red as it entered an extremely aloof standby mode. The assistant carefully fitted it with a protective cover and, while pushing it out, said, “Boss, this was borrowed—I have to return it. If you want one, you’ll need to get it yourself. I’m in a hurry, so I’m off!”

Jing Yicheng nodded to show he understood. Only after the assistant and robot rushed off as quickly as they had arrived did he turn to see Xu Chenghao crouched by the bags, running his hands over the sorted chili peppers.

“You like it?”

Xu Chenghao nodded enthusiastically. The robot was super cool.

Jing Yicheng mused, “I’ll check it out tomorrow.”

Xu Chenghao suddenly felt like a spoiled child and coughed awkwardly. “If it’s too troublesome, just forget it.”

Jing Yicheng: “It won’t be.”

Xu Chenghao couldn’t help but grin. A robot! Even though its function was limited to sorting objects, owning a robot was still incredibly cool! Way cooler than any electronic gadget!

Who didn’t have childhood dreams like this? Back in his original world, Xu Chenghao had been obsessed with tech products. The fact that he still made time to attend major technology expos despite his busy work schedule was proof enough—this was true passion!

And now, he was actually getting the chance to fulfill that dream~~~

Xu Chenghao cheerfully packed up the chili peppers, his mood so buoyant that not even the fact that this batch hadn’t met the passing threshold could dampen his spirits.

Seeing how much he liked the robot, Jing Yicheng naturally took it to heart. He made a trip to the research institute, bartered a trade, and successfully brought back two robots. Xu Chenghao was overjoyed, placing them in the warehouse at the chili pepper farm. From now on, all the chili peppers would be sorted here—intact ones on the left, deformed ones on the right. Absolutely perfect~

With the sorting system and storage issues settled, Jing Yicheng went the extra mile by selecting a storefront and renovating it entirely in a Little Yellow Duck theme. He meticulously collected every duck-themed decoration he could find, filling the restaurant with them. The place was now a Little Yellow Duck Sichuan Cuisine Restaurant in the truest sense of the name.

Jing Yicheng’s efficiency was ruthless—swift, decisive, and precise. By the time Xu Chenghao harvested his second batch of chili peppers, everything was ready. Jing Yicheng personally invited him to be the first customer of the Little Yellow Duck Sichuan Cuisine Restaurant.

At that moment, Xu Chenghao was waiting for the robot to sort out the intact chili peppers. When he heard this, he thought he had misheard and asked in shock, “What did you just say?”

Jing Yicheng: “I said the Little Yellow Duck Sichuan Cuisine Restaurant is open. I’m inviting you to a meal.”

Xu Chenghao was utterly dumbfounded. “That was insanely fast! How much money did you throw at this?”

Jing Yicheng didn’t elaborate. He simply said, “As long as you’re happy, that’s all that matters.”

Xu Chenghao sighed dramatically, as if troubled. “Cheng-ge, if you keep spoiling me like this, you’re going to ruin me.”

Jing Yicheng: “That would be ideal. Then you’d never be able to leave me.”

“Task complete. Left: 3,911. Right: 4,623. Report finished.”

Before the second half of Jing Yicheng’s sentence could land, it was completely drowned out by the robot’s sudden mechanical announcement.

Xu Chenghao’s attention was instantly snatched away by the robot. When the numbers were repeated again, he suddenly processed what he had just heard—Wait, what? Three thousand nine hundred?!

The passing threshold for the Little Chili Pepper 5.0 mission was 3,334 peppers. Last time, he had only harvested 3,076, which left him worried that the second harvest might also fall short. But to his utter surprise, not only did he exceed the requirement, but he had also almost broken the 4,000 mark!

This meant that the second harvest had not only covered the shortfall from the first, but now, for the third planting round, he only needed 3,013 peppers to pass!

Comparing this to the numbers from the first harvest, 3,013 peppers should be an easy goal… But to be safe, Xu Chenghao opened two additional planting areas, just in case the chili peppers decided to fail him at a crucial moment.

After all, the seeds were free, and planting more was always better than coming up a few peppers short at the very end. That kind of loss would be truly heartbreaking!

Sometimes, fate worked in mysterious ways. Xu Chenghao had no idea what kind of impact this decision would have on his future, but every time he looked back on this moment, he would break out in a cold sweat—immensely grateful for his choice today.

—Grateful that he had the foresight to open two extra planting areas, just in case.