Chapter 689: Cooking - 689
Skymender responded quickly. "I'm not quite sure. Hopefully, I can decide after we talk."
The Fatty's father nodded. "Alright. Well let me help you decide then. First, would you rather sell a product commonly, or to the few with vast wealth? If you choose the first, you can, for example, gain a gold from ten thousand people. If you choose the second, you can, for example, gain 1000 gold from ten people."
Skymender thought. "Preferably a common product that can be bought by anyone, though perhaps a better version for the wealthy."
The Fatty's father nodded. "That is where most people's thoughts go, but 99% of the time, they can only choose one of the two. It seems like between them, you would rather have ten thousand people give one gold."
Skymender affirmed his conjecture.
"Then what are you good at? Food, cleaning, managing? What you are good at will decide what category of product you should sell, even if just at the start."
Skymender thought for a while. His first thoughts naturally went to assassination and poison, but he quickly shut those down.
Instead, his mind moved towards other skills. He was well versed in just about every type of knowledge available in the Empire, which covered most of what was in the world.
However, most of his knowledge was in the area of materials. Naturally, this went with poisons but it could also go with other things.
Plant materials were a big part of poisons, and he had studied those deeper than most. Skymender finally had an answer.
"I think I want to create a restaurant." He said.
The Fatty's father nodded. "I can't say I have any knowledge in that industry, but in terms of business itself, I can no doubt help you. Now, I hate to bring this up, but helping you would take time out of my busy schedule."
Skymender waved his hand, stopping him. "Naturally, you will be compensated. Money is not a problem."
The Fatty's father nodded. They could discuss exact amounts later.
"When you have a product, come back to me and we can start. If you are going to open up a restaurant, three or more products is the minimum to start with."
Skymender nodded. Thanking the Fatty's father, he left.
The conversation had lasted a while, and when he left, he saw the Fatty at the door. He was covered in sweat and struggling to walk, but he seemed an inch skinnier.
Skymender was astonished.
The Fatty nodded his head at him, too tired to speak, and entered the door.
Skymender realized why the door was so big. Otherwise, the Fatty would never get through.
Skymender shook his head and left. There was definitely something wrong with the Fatty's body, but it was none of his business.
Skymender began to research in his house's kitchen, combining different plants and meats to make foods. His knowledge on how plants related to cooking was low, but it quickly increased. Perhaps due to his already vast knowledge of plants, he progressed extremely quickly. It took him three days to create his first dish.
He had to admit that making poison was far, far harder.
Skymender's dish used steak and a few seasonings and sauces to create a unique, slightly spicy taste. Melly was his taste tester, and she clearly enjoyed it.
Skymender kept the recipe with him, though he had naturally memorized it, and continued his study. After another three days, he created another dish, this one using chicken. It was equally good.
Another three days, another three days, another three days. Soon, Skymender had five dishes, essentially unique.
His cooking skill was mediocre, though his fire control was great. He had thrown in some poison concocting techniques while cooking, bumping up the taste of his food.
Most importantly, he was able to make great combinations of plants, spices, seasonings, and sauces to create five incredible dishes. If his cooking skill was better, it would be even greater.
He made his way to the Fatty's house. He knocked on his door, and the Fatty's father greeted him.
"Back already? Have you changed your mind?" He asked.
Skymender shook his head. "I've already created five dishes."
The Fatty's father looked surprised, and deep inside was some suspicion. "Are they unique and good tasting?"
Skymender nodded.
"Alright then, let's make you a restaurant."
He invited Skymender inside, who accepted his invitation.
The Fatty's father pulled out some paper and handed Skymender a writing utensil.
"Go ahead and draw what you think up."
Skymender nodded and brainstormed. Naturally, this would be going in the commoner district. It would be a hundred times cheaper to build there than in the noble district, and a hundred times was a conservative estimate.
Skymender began to draw.
Eventually, he had a three story building in front of him. The first level was large, big enough to accommodate at least 50 tables.
The second floor was big enough to accommodate ten, assuming they were spread out.
The top floor was big enough to hold three tables, and they would be spread far apart, giving privacy to each guest.
It was not utterly huge, but it was around four times the size of an average shop around the commoner district, and that was not including the higher floors.
Considering he was a noble, it was by no means ridiculous, and by far not the biggest building in the commoner district.
The Fatty's father nodded. "I see the vision. Do you have the money to build it?"
"I do." Skymender said.
"Good. Then let's decide a location and contact some construction workers. With a good crew, it should take a month to build, assuming you pay well."
Skymender nodded. As a noble, they would charge less and work harder.
He eventually chose a rather expensive plot of land at a frequently visited area. It was near one of the major commoner marketplaces, though not exactly in that area.
With the help of the Fatty's father, a representative of a construction company came and met Skymender a few hours later.
Chapter 690: Opening - 690
The representative was extremely respectful to Skymender as he spoke. He had never even spoken to a noble before.
They came to a reasonable agreement, in which they would get paid a bit extra for completing the project in a month. Naturally, the representative didn't dare to charge too much, barely making a profit after all of the expenses. But simply working with a noble would bolster their reputation and bring in more clients.
Overall, it was a great business decision.
Skymender had nothing to do but wait.
His studies naturally continued. His return spread to the ears of other nobles, allowing his past actions to be remembered by many.
Time passed as Skymender lived a steady and unassuming life in the Imperial Capital.
Meanwhile, in Sky city, Li Youcai was facing his own changes.
Taking over the role of Skygod was by no means something simple. The vast majority of people would be unable to succeed under any circumstances.
Li Youcai's focus was on not making too much contact, keeping things going steadily. He could continue to make money through assassinations and assassination insurance, but only so long as the Skygod remained intimidating.
Occasionally, he would make a public appearance dressed like Skymender used to, or he would do an assassination, which consisted of him simply throwing a poison or two.
Nothing was too difficult for him. The informant seemed to have picked up on something, but it would remain nothing more than a suspicion as long as Li Youcai continued in this manner.
A month passed, and Skymener finally received news that his restaurant had been built and approved.
He went to visit it the day it was completed. From afar, it was grand. There were few buildings as big as it around. He entered it, and the atmosphere was nice. Despite it being summer, it felt cool inside. Skymender visited all three floors, as well as the kitchen areas and all of the other preparation rooms.
He soon left. Next, he needed to hire people. No matter what, running an entire restaurant by himself, especially one this big, was impossible.
With the guidance of the Fatty's father, Skymender was able to find a company that helped hire skilled workers in all categories. Skymender told them what he needed, and they presented a bunch of options to him.
Skymender took service workers, cooks, and managers.
The cook's would be able to make the food better, and he would provide the seasonings, spices, and sauces as what they were made of was considered top secret.
Skymender paid special attention to the cooks. He looked into high quality chefs, his mind even drifting to Chef Master Garb, but they were either already hired by high end restaurants, rich individuals, or far too expensive to keep permanently.
He had to settle for those considered above common cooks, with the title of chef, but who were below true experts. Regardless, this was just a starting point. If he needed to do so, things could be changed later.
The hired service people did not need to be trained. Even managers would be able to figure things out on their own. The only people Skymender needed to worry about were the chefs. There were five chefs in total.
Three would be on the bottom level, one on the middle level, and the last on top. Naturally, the higher up a chef was positioned, the better they were.
Skymender's plan for the restaurant was simple. The bottom level would be for even the most average of commoners.
It could be active constantly, morning or evening, and make money without end.
The middle levels would be for those wealthy commoners, or even just some above average commoners that saved up a bit of money.
The highest level would be for the richest of the rich. Only nobles or extremely wealthy commoners would be able to eat there.
Of course, though one chef was stationed at the top level, he would only cook when a top level customer actually arrived.
Otherwise, he would help out around the lower and middle levels, depending on who needed it.
The dishes would be the same on every level, the only difference being who cooks it. Naturally, that could not be the case for long. Skymender had already begun to work on more expensive and exclusive dishes.
He was really going out on a limb with the restaurant, and he had no idea if it would even end up working. It wasn't much of a risk regardless.
Skymender spent a few days showing the chefs the recipes, and one day stocking the restaurant, before finally opening. Their opening garnered great attention from all around.
After all, it was widely known that the one opening it was a noble, though not many knew his name. Yet the title of noble was enough, and many came to check it out.
Upon understanding the restaurant's situation, many came in and ate, though the vast majority stayed on the first floor.
They only had a few customers that qualified to sit on the second floor. While the dishes they were served were the same, the food tasted better overall.
This was the opening regardless, and not many formed strong opinions towards it.
The first day was a great success, and the profits were incredible, for a normal person at least. Some of it went to the workers and maintenance, while Skymender received the rest.
It definitely wasn't a lot, but it was a profit. At this rate, he would make back everything he spent on the restaurant within a year.
His goal was never the profits. Not mainly, at least. Instead, he needed to establish himself within the Imperial Capital, and this was how he would do so. Setting everything up was just step one. Next, he would expand and expand, taking over many restaurants and making chains across the Imperial Capital.
Of course, this was just a plan, and he hadn't even fully finished the first step. However, if everything went his way, this is how his next few years would go.
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
121 Power
stone 
Paragraph comment