Before Brian Cooper could finish speaking, he heard from the other end of the phone, “Oh, it’s you, about the contract, right? Hold on a second, I’ve got something urgent here. You can talk to my brother, he’ll be handling the shop from now on.”

Before Brian Cooper could say anything, the call switched to a rough, arrogant male voice, “Tomorrow afternoon at one, we’ll sign the contract at your shop.”

“Sorry, the reason I called today is to let you know I can’t rent my shop to you anymore.” Brian Cooper felt a bit annoyed at being cut off like that, but remembering his purpose, he didn’t beat around the bush and said it directly.

“What do you mean? Are you trying to raise the rent?” The man’s voice on the other end sounded a bit displeased, but he didn’t really believe Brian Cooper was serious about not renting.

After all, he knew about this shop. It had been up for sublease for two years without anyone taking it. One reason was that this street wasn’t a food street, just a miscellaneous goods street selling all sorts of things, nothing high-end, just everyday items.

The location was average too. Although there were several office buildings behind it, bringing in some white-collar customers, there was a food street right under those buildings. Office workers these days are lazy and don’t want to walk far, so business on this street was really not great.

That’s the situation. Anyone looking to rent isn’t stupid. The only reason someone would rent without haggling is because they’ve got some inside information.

Although his offer to buy was rejected at the time, he figured he’d rent it first and then buy it later when the time was right—he’d definitely make a killing. As for Brian Cooper, he’d already looked into him: just an orphan, no connections behind him.

“No, it’s my own issue. Anyway, we haven’t signed a contract, and I haven’t taken any deposit, so let’s just forget about the lease.” Brian Cooper frowned at the mention of raising the rent. Did he look like someone who loved money that much? Still, he explained a little.

“What do you mean? We agreed on the lease, and now you’re backing out? You think your shop is in such high demand? Fine, I’ll add a hundred a month.” The rough male voice on the other end, anxious and annoyed, immediately offered more money.

“It really isn’t about raising the rent. I just want to run the shop myself, so I don’t want to rent it out.”

“Hey, you—”

Before the other side could finish, Brian Cooper hung up. Come on, he was the one who made the call in the first place. If this nonsense kept going, it’d go over a minute. Like he said before, Brian Cooper wasn’t just someone who liked money—he really loved money. But in this case, with no deposit and no contract, calling it off was as simple as saying so.

“Knock knock knock.”

Emily Thompson came back inside after seeing off a guest, her high heels making crisp sounds on the wooden floor. Seeing her brother Eric Thompson baring his teeth at his phone, she couldn’t help but smile.

She said, “What’s up with you? Why are you glaring at your phone?”

“That shop said they’re not renting anymore.” Eric Thompson immediately regained his composure, though his face showed a hint of displeasure.

“Oh? Why?” Emily Thompson raised her elegant eyebrows in surprise.

“That kid said he wants to open the shop himself. Whatever, we’ve already got four or five places anyway.” Eric Thompson’s handsome face looked unconcerned.

“All right, so what’s your plan?” Seeing her brother didn’t care, Emily Thompson didn’t press further and changed the subject.

……

Meanwhile, Brian Cooper sat with a serious face, mind blank, poking aimlessly at his phone.

“Should I clean up myself, or clean up myself, or maybe… clean up myself?”

“Right, there should be a reward for completing a task. Where’s my reward?” Brian Cooper muttered to himself, searching the panel in his mind.

[Reward] God-level fried rice skill

God-level fried rice—isn’t it still just fried rice? It’s like being the king of beggars, you’re still a beggar. What’s the point?

“System, does this reward really match my task?” The moment he saw the reward, Brian Cooper felt a bit let down.

System displays: The most delicious fried rice in the world.

“How delicious, exactly?” Brian Cooper asked seriously.

This time, there was no explanation, just a single lonely line: Please complete the task first, host.

“Fine, an explanation that explains nothing,” Brian Cooper grumbled, then continued to look at the panel. He’d been too excited earlier to check it carefully.

“Why is my cooking talent ‘unknown’?”

Brian Cooper knew his talent probably wasn’t that high, but what’s with ‘unknown’?

“This system does not have the ability to detect talent. Human talent is not fixed or unchanging.” The same kind of text explanation appeared.

“If you can’t detect it, why even list it?” Brian Cooper felt a bit confused.

“It looks more symmetrical this way.” The system paused suspiciously before the explanation appeared, making it feel even weirder.

To avoid having his IQ affected by a system, Brian Cooper decided to ignore the issue and keep reading.

“Five dimensions of cooking?”

System displays: “Specifically: color, aroma, taste, presentation, and intent.”

However, those glaring words “rookie” also made Brian Cooper realize his own cooking level, leaving him a bit frustrated. But thinking about having a system now, he instantly regained his confidence.

So, time to start completing tasks.

Chapter 3 Cleaning Up

After carefully reading the not-so-complicated panel three times, Brian Cooper had a good grasp of things. He glanced at the night outside the glass window, then at the time on his phone: 20:49.