Chapter 167: Chapter 167: Grand Opening of Honey Blood Ice City, The Gambling Weirdo is Shocked, A Lottery Draw for Buying Milk Tea?

"What?"

"She opened a milk tea shop at the entrance to the slums?"

At that moment, a ghost in tattered clothes was reporting the news with its head lowered.

Xiaoye was utterly bewildered when she heard this.

She found herself understanding the new City Lord less and less.

Selling milk tea at the slums’ entrance?

And it was a fruit tea made from ghost lemons, no less.

’Does she expect those paupers, who are so broke they don’t have two coins to rub together, to buy it?’

’Or is she hoping the rich young masters and misses, who are used to luxury, will go there to buy it?’

’This is just pure nonsense!’

A look of absurdity flashed in Xiaoye’s dark eyes.

Her crimson hair swayed gently.

"Yes, and she’s hiring staff from the slums. She said she won’t keep a single coin of the profit and will use it all to help us by renovating houses, building roads, and so on..."

As the subordinate spoke, the corner of his mouth twitched, his face filled with a strange expression.

"Is she running a targeted poverty alleviation program here?"

Xiaoye retorted, exasperated.

"My lady, if she succeeds, our organization will be in danger."

"She’s undermining our power from the very roots."

Hearing her subordinate’s slightly nervous words, Xiaoye shook her head. "Impossible."

"I don’t believe it for a second!"

"At most, she’ll use her status as City Lord to force people to buy from her. That’ll only work for a short while."

Beside her, Xiaoying’s eyes seemed to light up with a faint glow.

Her sister didn’t believe the milk tea shop could succeed.

But she had absolute faith in Yun Zhenyue!

After all...

Someone who had just entered the ghost city became the City Lord in a single day!

Could anything be more absurd than that?

If something like that could happen, then maybe there was real hope for a small milk tea shop!

Seeing the worshipful look in her sister’s eyes, Xiaoye felt a pang of annoyance. She couldn’t help but grab her sister’s arm and complain, "Hey! Whose side are you on?"

"If this shop doesn’t lose money, I’ll disband Embers right here and now! You wanna bet?"

"I’ll take that bet..."

Xiaoying whispered.

Her quiet words were especially clear in the small room.

Xiaoye: "???"

’This little sister of mine is really siding with an outsider!’

’I refuse to believe it!’

’What’s the difference between this and selling raincoats in a desert?’

"A bet’s a bet!" Xiaoye said, unconvinced. "If you lose, you’re not allowed to associate with her anymore!"

"Okay..."

Xiaoying nodded slightly.

...

「The next day.」

Under Si Qin’s full supervision, the milk tea shop was quickly constructed.

When Yun Zhenyue stepped out of a very ordinary ghost car, she saw a new building that had sprung up overnight at the entrance to the slums.

The milk tea shop was lavishly decorated, a stark contrast to the dilapidated houses surrounding it.

So far, only one employee had been willing to work there.

She was a slender girl from the slums, dressed in a black uniform, her expression clearly tense.

Yun Zhenyue looked up and saw the name of the milk tea shop.

"Honey Blood... Ice City?"

She blinked.

’Looks like I wasn’t clear enough with Si.’

’She accidentally used the character for "blood" instead of "snow."’

’It doesn’t really matter, though.’

Yun Zhenyue changed into her uniform and said softly to the female employee, "It’s okay, just relax."

"Go and get things ready for now."

"O-okay!" the girl replied hurriedly.

She turned and went to the back to prepare.

The shop was filled with several crates of ghost lemons and honey.

The lemons had been picked by the ghosts in the slums, whom she had commissioned for the job.

Their wages were higher than the average income in the ghost city.

They worked efficiently, picking a huge pile in one night. What was in the shop now was only a small portion.

Due to a lack of other ingredients, the shop only sold one type of ghost tea: honey lemonade.

Price: 1 Ghost Coin per cup!

Si Qin stood in a corner not far away.

She didn’t know why Yun Zhenyue was so confident.

What was she so sure of?

’Could her gimmick really attract the citizens of the ghost city?’

’And she won’t even use the city’s power for promotion.’

’The chance of success is basically zero, isn’t it?’

Si Qin shook her head.

She sighed at how naive the City Lord still was.

...

Seeing this situation, the audience from Dragon Country was also baffled.

Selling milk tea at the slums’ entrance?

Anyone who’s watched a few videos about opening a business would think she’s crazy!

There’s having a small customer base, and then there’s having no customer base at all!

The only advantage, if you could call it that, was probably the lack of rent!

[Holy shit, the chosen ones from other countries are still sweeping streets, and you’ve already opened a milk tea shop?]

[Damn, Honey Blood Ice City! Did you pay the copyright fees?]

[Uh, as the CEO of Mixue, I’ll allow it. Just use it.]

[Yun Zhenyue’s idea is good. If a shop in the slums takes off, it can drive the development of surrounding industries, create more jobs, and increase the income of the poor.]

[Just planting, picking, and transporting lemons can create a lot of jobs. Later, she could open franchises and let them get involved, becoming shop owners themselves...]

[But that’s impossible, right? Who would go to the slums to buy milk tea? This path was wrong from the very start. It doesn’t matter how good it tastes!]

...

At that moment, Yun Zhenyue had been waiting for a long time.

The ghosts in the slums watched the milk tea shop with curiosity.

But the ghosts passing by just gave it a strange glance.

They saw a banner hanging on the shop.

It read, "Grand Opening Special: Buy a milk tea and enter our lottery!"

But as for a milk tea shop in front of the slums, this group of passing ghosts had no interest whatsoever.

’It can’t be anything special,’ they probably thought.

Just as the newly hired female employee was sighing in resignation, a ghost suddenly walked toward the milk tea shop.

It was a ghost wearing a black hat, its left sleeve hanging empty.

He had no interest in milk tea whatsoever.

But the moment he saw the word "lottery," he was rooted to the spot.

"Huh?"

As a gambler ghost, he’d had one of his arms chopped off for not paying his debts.

It didn’t matter what the prize was!

If there was a lottery, he was in!

The gambler ghost glanced curiously into the shop and saw there was only one drink to choose from.

Well, 1 Ghost Coin wasn’t expensive, so he bought a cup right away.

"Boss, your choice of location is a bit poor," the gambler ghost said, kindly reminding her as he glanced at the slums behind the shop.

"I chose this place on purpose..."

Yun Zhenyue explained.

She told him it was to help the residents of the slums.

The gambler ghost nodded upon hearing this. He didn’t really care.

"Here you go!"

Taking the fruit tea from Yun Zhenyue, the gambler ghost shrugged and handed over 1 Ghost Coin. "Looks pretty good." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

He took a small sip!

The taste was actually great!

It started with a slight bitterness, but the sweetness of the honey quickly suppressed it!

Then came a cool, sweet aftertaste!

This complex flavor stimulated his taste buds, and he couldn’t help but gasp!

This stuff was so addictive!!

It was even better than the wine he drank at some of the smaller taverns!

He downed the fruit tea in two gulps!

He smacked his lips and asked, "So, can I do the lottery now?"

"Of course," Yun Zhenyue said, taking out her phone. "You just need to tap the lottery button."

Last night, she had specifically asked Gu Yuan to make a lottery app.

It had no other functions.

The app only featured a single treasure chest.

The gambler ghost didn’t even ask what he could win.

He just enjoyed the process!

"Big win, big win!"

The gambler ghost rubbed his right palm and immediately tapped the treasure chest!

He didn’t actually have high expectations.

It was only 1 Ghost Coin, after all!

Just getting to drink the fruit tea was worth it.

If it weren’t for the shop’s remote location, he would want to come for a cup every day.

Just as the gambler ghost was marveling at the taste,

BZZT!

In an instant!

An animation played on the phone screen.

As the treasure chest opened, a blue light shone out!

The gambler ghost was greatly disappointed.

’Needless to say, blue light usually means junk, right?’

’I can’t even be bothered to take it!’

He immediately prepared to turn and leave.

But just then,

Yun Zhenyue called out to him and took something out of a box behind her.

"Nice luck. You won the second prize. Here’s your reward."

"Huh?"

The gambler ghost whipped his head around.

When he saw what was in Yun Zhenyue’s hands, his eyes widened in disbelief!

Because it was a Ghost Artifact!

And it was a pair of dark red dice!

"Let me see... It’s a set of Lucky Dice. It can bring you good luck when you gamble," Yun Zhenyue explained.

The prizes were divided into five tiers by value.

White, Green, Blue, Purple, and Gold.

This was a system Yun Zhenyue had set up based on video games.

The drop rates for each were different.

95% were White rewards, things like coupons.

Green rewards were small gifts, like pendants or toys.

Blue rewards were the Ghost Artifacts Si Qin had given her.

Purple rewards were prizes meticulously arranged by Yun Zhenyue.

For example, a healing session with her Purifying Hand, or a discount for opening a shop in the Fierce Ghost Mall...

As for the highest tier, Gold!

The drop rate was less than 0.00001%!

A one-in-ten-million chance!

—A single drop of Gu Yuan’s blood.

Yun Zhenyue had gotten Gu Yuan’s permission.

He actually thought the probability could have been even lower.

All it took was 1 Ghost Coin to buy a cup of fruit tea!

But the potential return was infinite!

’This gimmick should be enough, right?’

’I refuse to believe the ghosts won’t be drawn in by this!’

But even with all these prizes, she wasn’t actually losing money overall.

After all, the probability of winning a truly good item was extremely low.

This Blue reward was something she had deliberately arranged.

It was a little trick of hers.

...

At that moment, the gambler ghost took the dice with trembling hands.

He was just a resentful spirit!

What had he ever done to deserve using a Dark Red Level Ghost Artifact!

And it was a pair of dice, an item perfectly suited to him!

If anyone else found out about this, they would definitely try to steal it!

As the gambler ghost carefully accepted the Ghost Artifact dice, he saw Yun Zhenyue’s lips curl into a slight smile as she said, "Oh, by the way~ for this week only, we’ve increased the drop rates. The probability of winning Purple and Gold prizes has been doubled. Feel free to spread the word."

GULP~

The gambler ghost swallowed hard.

This was way more interesting than any casino!

A Dark Red Ghost Artifact was only a Blue-tier prize?

Then what about Purple!

And what in the world could the Gold prize be?

This wasn’t just fruit tea anymore!

This was a ticket to a happy life!