Chapter 166: Chapter 166: Even Targeted Poverty Alleviation? The Ghost World’s First Milk Tea Shop

At that moment.

When they saw Yun Zhenyue distributing the Yin Rice, even personally entering the slum without a hint of disdain to hand it out to the ghosts in need...

The audience from Dragon Country felt their hearts swell with warmth.

Many had mixed expressions.

[Say what you will, but Yue’er truly cares for her people. What a great City Lord!]

[Damn, targeted poverty alleviation... Ah Yue, you’re actually doing it!]

[Just as you’d expect from someone from Dragon Country. The first thing Yun Zhenyue does after becoming City Lord is tackle poverty.]

[This is weird, so weird. I just got accepted into a rural support program. Is this what my job is going to be like?]

[This is the first time I’ve ever seen a human handing out supplies to ghosts.]

[Is this still the Ghost World? I can hardly believe my eyes.]

...

"Phew..."

Yun Zhenyue took a deep breath, small beads of sweat appearing on her temples.

Seeing this, Si Qin, who stood to the side, quickly offered a handkerchief.

But Yun Zhenyue simply wiped her brow with her sleeve, accepted a glass of cool water from a ghost woman, and drank it down without a second thought.

Down went the bowl of cool water!

Only then did Yun Zhenyue feel her weary body relax.

Her gaze fell upon the ghosts of the slum.

Suddenly, she noticed something odd.

At the far end of the slum stood a grove of lush trees, laden with greenish-red fruit.

"Si, what’s that place?"

Hearing Yun Zhenyue’s curious question...

Si Qin looked over and explained softly, "Behind this slum is an orchard that belongs to the Ghost City."

"A ghost used to manage it, but he disappeared, and the orchard has been abandoned ever since."

"It’s planted with ghost lemons, but they have very little yin energy, so they’re not considered valuable."

"The Ghost City never bothered with it. The residents nearby sometimes pick the fruit to fill their stomachs, but it’s incredibly sour and astringent. Even they rarely eat it."

’Ghost lemons?’

Yun Zhenyue understood.

’No wonder the trees were full of fruit, yet no one was picking them.’

She walked over to a lemon tree.

She plucked a ghost lemon and took a bite.

Instantly!

An incredibly sour and astringent flavor flooded her mouth!

Yun Zhenyue felt it all the way to the roots of her teeth, and her brow furrowed involuntarily.

"HISS—"

She sucked in a sharp breath and quickly wiped her mouth.

But then, just as quickly,

an inexplicable sweetness began to bloom on her tongue.

It was as if to compensate for the initial shock, bringing a cool, mint-like freshness.

’And what do you know!’

’If you could get past that initial sour shock, the quality of this lemon was actually fantastic.’

’All it needed was some sugar to balance out the acidity.’

This suddenly reminded Yun Zhenyue of her past.

Back then, she had worked part-time at a milk tea shop in the real world to save up for tuition.

The shop she worked at was always busy.

Every day, her arms would ache from shaking the drink containers, and her legs would be swollen.

The drinks weren’t expensive—most were just a few coins or a dozen-odd a cup. Members could get all sorts of coupons, and sometimes you could get a drink for just a coin or two.

A wild idea popped into Yun Zhenyue’s head.

’What if...’

’What if she opened a milk tea shop right here in the slum?’

’The ingredients could come from the orchard, and the employees could be hired from the slum.’

’If it took off, it could create a cluster effect down the line.’

’It would not only provide jobs but also stimulate the local economy.’

’It didn’t seem impossible, did it?’

As the City Lord,

supporting this endeavor would only take a single command from her.

However, Yun Zhenyue didn’t want to rely on the Ghost City’s power.

’She would have to leave eventually.’

’When a new City Lord took over,’

’they might just overturn all her orders.’

"Si..."

Yun Zhenyue mulled it over for a long time before finally asking, "That orchard over there... could I borrow it?"

"Of course!"

"The entire Ghost City belongs to you. You have the right to use anything within it!"

Si Qin nodded at once.

She was, however, a little puzzled.

Located on the northern edge of the Ghost City, the lemon orchard spanned over one hundred mu and was incredibly productive. A single year’s harvest of ghost lemons was enough to feed every ghost in the city for a decade.

The only problem was that no one ate the ghost lemons. Their yin energy was pathetically low, and they were so sour and astringent that even a dog would turn its nose up at them.

"Here’s the thing, I want to open a milk tea shop here..."

Yun Zhenyue then explained her wild idea to Si Qin.

"This—"

Hearing this, Si’s pupils trembled. She was utterly stunned.

’She never imagined Yun Zhenyue’s ideas could be so out there!’

’Fruit tea made from these ghost lemons? Would it even be drinkable?’

’And located in the slum, no less! Who would bother coming all the way out here to buy it?’

’It would be better to open it on the commercial street in the city center.’

’At least there, some ghosts might buy a cup out of curiosity.’

’Of course, if the City Lord ordered everyone to buy one, that would work.’

’But at that point, why not just give the ghosts money directly?’

’Why go through all the extra trouble?’

"City Lord, there is indeed plenty of honey in the Ghost City. It’s easy to procure locally and transport, so making the honey lemonade you mentioned is certainly feasible."

"But, if I may be frank, a drink like that would only be a novelty for ghosts. What’s more, you want to open the shop at the entrance to the slum. Not many people will come to buy it."

"If you wish to order the city’s residents to buy it, I can certainly assist."

Si Qin didn’t refuse her outright.

Instead, she chose her words carefully, indirectly trying to warn Yun Zhenyue.

If one were to translate her roundabout phrasing into plain speech,

it would be—"This will definitely lose money!"

"Stop looking for trouble and just throw some money at them instead!"

"You have a point."

Yun Zhenyue’s brow furrowed slightly.

’Then how could she possibly sell tea made from these ghost lemons?’

’The fruit tea made from these lemons would definitely be delicious!’

’As long as she could create a market for it, she wouldn’t have to worry about sales.’

’After all, most of the food in restaurants had very little yin energy, but they still attracted customers.’

’What she needed now was an external motivator.’

’A reason to get them to come from all over the Ghost City just to buy her ghost tea.’

’That reason could be a command from the City Lord, or it could be...’

"That’s it!"

Yun Zhenyue suddenly recalled the marketing campaigns from the milk tea shops back in her world.

Things like "buy a tea, win gold," or giveaways for lottery tickets and brand-name perfumes.

’The gambler’s mindset is practically human nature.’

’In that case, she could run a grand opening promotion too!’

’As long as she could generate some buzz first...’

’...the rest would be easy to handle!’

’She was confident that once it was made into fruit tea, the taste wouldn’t be bad at all. The customers would get used to it!’

"What do you think about a prize draw?" Yun Zhenyue suggested. "Buy a milk tea, and you get a random chance to win a prize."

"I have some things I’m not using that could serve as prizes."

"A prize... draw?"

Si Qin fell into thought at the suggestion.

’That was actually a viable idea.’

’Both humans and ghosts seemed to have a gambler’s mentality.’

’It was a viable way to generate buzz, but whether the ghost tea would actually sell still depended on its quality.’

"The Ghost City could provide some Ghost Artifacts as prizes."

"But... that’s not quite enough of a gimmick, is it?" Si Qin said, forcing herself to be honest.

’A gimmick?’

Just then, Yun Zhenyue suddenly remembered something.

It was the jar of blood Gu Yuan had given her.

He had said she could use it as a reward or give it to a friend.

’If she used that as the grand prize...’

’That should be enough, right?’