The scorching sun baked the city of Helan.

It was a lazy afternoon, and three customers stood at the entrance of Blaze Hotel.

"Boss, I want a bowl of beef noodles without beef."

"Cyclops, please just say you want vegetarian noodles."

"Boss, I want a green pepper stir-fry with rice without green pepper or meat."

"We don't sell plain white rice separately."

"Boss, I want a chicken leg combo without the chicken leg."

"How about I chop off your remaining leg and add it to your combo?" Chen Ai angrily said.

The three creepy middle-aged uncles let out a presumptuous laugh, walked into the restaurant, and sat down at a shady table.

"Boss, hurry up, we're hungry." Cyclops, who seemed to be the leader of the three, urged.

Chen Ai gave them a cold glance, rolled up their sleeves to reveal their forearm, and asked, "So, it's beef noodles, green pepper stir-fry rice, and chicken leg combo, right?"

After receiving a positive answer, Chen Ai went to the kitchen to prepare the lunch for the three. Along with the sound of chopping vegetables and igniting fire, the aroma of food gradually came from the kitchen.

A few minutes later, Chen Ai came out with a tray and placed the freshly cooked food on the table.

"Boss, you still put so little meat in it." Cyclops stirred his beef noodles and complained.

"Boss, this green pepper stir-fry rice is all green, I can hardly see any meat." the tall, skinny man who ordered the green pepper stir-fry rice groaned.

"This chicken leg looks like it has dwarfism, boss, even shorter than my amputated leg." The man who ordered the chicken leg meal loudly complained, even stomping his prosthetic leg in dissatisfaction.

Chen Ai sat behind the counter and shot back without compromise: "If you're not happy, then don't eat it. I charge you sixty copper coins for a meal in the main hall, not to mention free tea. If you can find a better place in Helan City, you wouldn't be here."

The three muttered a few words but didn't dare to argue.

These three uncles were regular customers at Chen Ai's restaurant, and they always quarreled with Chen Ai whenever they came to eat. Despite this, they still came here for lunch obediently. The reason is simple: the Blaze Hotel is unique in Helan because it provides such cheap food in the main hall.

Yes, the secret to Chen Ai's restaurant business not going bankrupt after a year is - being cheap.

In the first month of its opening, Blaze Hotel was making a complete loss.

For Emerald Path, boasting the best storefront in town with impeccable service quality and the legendary best fairy cuisine on the continent, Chen Ai's Blaze Hotel stood no chance, having almost no income in the first month.

While the Emerald Path was bustling with guests, the Blaze Hotel could only be described as deserted.

During that month, every night, Chen Ai sat alone in the empty hotel lobby, staring at the busy Emerald Path across the street and racked their brains for a solution.

Finally, after days of staring, Chen Ai found a way out for Blaze Hotel.

One day, Chen Ai suddenly realized that the clients entering and leaving Emerald Path were almost all wealthy families or rich merchants from the city. In other words, Emerald Path's target audience was the middle and upper class. If they chose a low-end, people-friendly approach, they could avoid competing with Emerald Path.

After some consideration, Chen Ai decided the goal of their menu was "cheap and delicious". They removed the expensive dishes from the menu and added dishes from the previous foodie nation. When it comes to utilizing cheap ingredients, the foodie nation is unparalleled in the world.

Then, the resourceful Chen Ai copied the promotion style of department stores, made a few signboards with the new dishes and prices - the cheapest dish only costing fifty copper coins. Chen Ai hung the signs outside, targeting to attract lower-class customers to dine in the hotel.

At the beginning of this change, Chen Ai was still unsure of the outcome. However, they soon found their decision to be undoubtedly correct - the Blaze Hotel survived.

The residents of Helan City had a good acceptance of new foods, and the Blaze Hotel gradually began to attract customers. In the evenings, half of the lobby was often full. Even though most customers did not spend much, it was better than having no customers at all.

What Chen Ai didn't know was that in addition to taste and price, there was another crucial factor to the success of the Blaze Hotel.

Typically, the food you could buy for sixty or seventy copper coins was considered "poor people's food". These foods were usually sold on the streets, without any shelter or seating provided. Whether it was the scorching summer or the cold winter months, people could only stand around the stall or sit on the ground to eat.In contrast, hotels are relatively upscale places, and those who dine in hotels are usually wealthier.

The poor stand on the streets to eat, while the rich sit inside. This is a common practice in Heran City and even in the Roland Empire.

For the poor, eating in a hotel or restaurant is in itself a luxury.

No hotel owner would lower their status to provide cheap food for the down-and-out poor.

However, for Chen Ai, who grew up under the red flag, he had no sense of this class distinction. As long as people were willing to pay, who was not welcome to eat?

Therefore, when many poor people found that they could sit and eat in a hotel with the same amount of money, Blaze Hotel was undoubtedly attractive to them.

With the help of the "people", Chen Ai's hotel barely managed to survive its first year.

The limping middle-aged man who ordered chicken leg rice was called Lame by everyone. He was an adventurer in his youth and lost one leg in a fight with a demon wolf. He could only stand up with the help of a prosthetic leg.

At this moment, the lame man took a fierce bite of his chicken leg and said vaguely to the other two, "That's right! Let's go to the north of the city later, there's a big caravan coming into the city today!"

The tall and thin man eating green pepper and shredded pork swallowed a mouthful of rice and said disdainfully, "What's so special about a big caravan? Has our Heran City ever lacked merchants?"

The location of the Kols Principality is very special, as it lies between the Sin Forest and the Roland Empire. The towering Alton Mountains separate the Sin Forest and the southern empire, and Heran City happens to be located at the largest gap in the Alton Mountains, making it the most important city connecting the two.

During wars between the two countries, Heran City was an outpost to defend against the "sinners'" attacks. In peacetime, it becomes the most important commercial lifeline connecting the north and south.

In recent decades, the relationship between the Sin Forest and the Empire has eased, and trade between the two places has become more frequent. Now, nearly half of the population of the Kols Principality lives near Heran City. Although it can't compare to the large cities in the central part of the empire, Heran City has become one of the prosperous cities in the northwest region.

It can be said that there are merchants everywhere and the rich are as common as dogs.

The arrival of a large caravan may be a novelty in other cities, but for the residents of Heran City, it is no different from seeing a pigeon on the street.

Lame said proudly, "You don't know about this, Sweet Potato Stick!"

Sweet Potato Stick is the nickname of the tall and thin man, because he is not only tall and thin, but also has a sickly waxy yellow complexion, just like a sweet potato stick.

"What should I know?" Sweet Potato Stick asked.

Lame's eyes revealed a wretched gleam, "Among this caravan... there is a group of slave traders! They will be selling slaves in the northern market tonight!"

————————————————

Author's note: Hello everyone, this is Roll Knife Cat, dreaming of becoming a professional salted fish writer. This book updates twice a day, with another chapter at 3 pm today. If you like this book, please do me a favor and add it to your favorites!