The world had indeed abandoned the term "country," instead dividing territories into continents, though individual city names largely remained for ease of travel. While some cities had undergone name changes, for most people in the Asian continent, who were instilled with traditional culture from a young age, city names rarely shifted. Theo's family, for instance, resided in Bangkok.
Naturally, the entire city had transformed beyond recognition, a testament to a thousand years of technological advancement. The vehicles people drove weren't just the newly invented electric cars of the past; they were cars powered by a new form of clean energy. Modern car designs lacked wheels, relying instead on anti-gravitational force for propulsion. High-speed trains, though similar in shape to their predecessors, boasted a far more futuristic design, primarily composed of glass to allow external observers a clear view of the passengers within. Furthermore, the city teemed with robot sentinels that patrolled in place of human officers stationed at terminals. The use of robots allowed for far more efficient deployment of surveillance forces, complete with pre-programmed alarms and basic emergency assistance, making citizens safer than ever before.
Theo stood before the building that his sister Hani and her boyfriend Shawn had rented, surveying his surroundings. He walked several blocks, meticulously observing the area: the flow of people, the types of shops open, and the age groups of passersby. He concluded that there were three specialty ingredient shops nearby, selling corn, pork, and green onions with garlic, respectively. The remaining shops consisted of capsule food snack vendors, two electronics stores, and a clothing boutique.
People traversed the area constantly, with peak foot traffic occurring specially during morning, noon, and evening—three distinct periods. This was due to its proximity to the high-speed train station, and the diverse age range of passersby ensured a wide variety of potential customers.
"Good location, huh?"
"How's it looking?" Shawn emerged from the rented building, a smile on his face. He was a rather distinguished young man, 29 years old, the same age as Hani. Yet, his demeanor, attire, and speech all made him seem older than Theo's sister.
"It's an excellent spot," Theo replied.
"Right? As soon as I saw this place and the rent, I immediately told Hani we had to get it. Even if it's expensive, I think we can recoup the investment quickly."
"How long is the lease, and are there any special conditions?" Theo didn't have much experience with real estate, but he understood the basics of contracts.
"It's a long-term, three-year lease. We can make renovations, but half of any additions become the property of the building owner, as is standard."
Theo nodded. "Then we shouldn't do too much renovating. Just some paint and lighting, and use movable furniture."
"You seem more experienced than a 20-year-old," Shawn smiled. "So, have you decided what we should do?"
Theo paused, considering. Many dishes could be made from eggs and tomatoes, but he would still need to buy certain crucial supplementary ingredients. To avoid unnecessary expenses, the dish he chose had to require very few additional items.
"We'll sell a single-dish meal called Rice with Stir-fried Tomatoes and Eggs."
Stir-fried tomatoes and eggs was a staple Chinese family dish—simple to make, requiring only two main ingredients: eggs and tomatoes. Garlic would be needed for fragrance, and green onions for garnish, but it was the easiest dish to manage. Crucially, it was a dish he could teach Shawn to make after he enrolled in the academy. Initially, Theo had considered omelets or kai jiao (Thai-style omelets), but then he thought about making his own tomato sauce and worried his skills weren't up to par yet; he'd need more practice.
"I've seen that dish before... it's an Asian dish from the Second Continent, isn't it?" Hani asked.
"The Second Continent... oh, yes, it is. It's a dish from the Second Continent, but historically, it originated in China. Though people on our side have adapted it quite a bit." Theo elaborated. He immediately understood that "Second Continent" referred to China, which was the second largest landmass after Russia, its territory extending into Asia. But now that they were all merged into one continent, they had to be referred to in that manner.
"China?" Shawn looked puzzled.
"Before we merged into seven continents, our world was divided into countries, separate from the continents..." Theo tried to explain briefly. He'd forgotten that the concept of "country" might seem strange to people of this era.
"You really have a lot of knowledge. No wonder you're Hani's brother." Shawn looked at Theo with admiration.
"You said we'll sell it as a rice dish, using eggs as the main ingredient. We only have 20 eggs in stock right now. How many plates can that make?" As someone who worked in marketing and accounting, Hani calculated the sales potential first. It was true that for a rice dish, he might sell about 20 plates on the first day, but subsequent days would only yield about 5 plates since the chickens would only lay 3-5 eggs daily.
"We're not a capsule food store selling capsules for 50-200 Seras. A good egg costs 7,000 Seras, a tomato 3,000 Seras, one head of garlic 2,000 Seras—that can be used for three dishes. A bottle of pepper for 5,000 Seras will last about 30 dishes. Olive oil for 10,000 Seras should last about 30 dishes. If we include electricity, seasoning, and labor costs..." Theo quickly brought up a hologram window to calculate the expenses. "Oh, and container costs too..."
"The cost per plate will be around 15,000-16,000 Seras," Hani calculated rapidly in her head.
"Exactly," Theo continued, tapping on the hologram keyboard. "And typically, restaurants make a profit of 40-70% of the selling price. So, if we aim for the minimum desirable profit of 50%, we'd have to sell this dish for 24,000 Seras per plate. Our target customers would be people with mid-level salaries and above."
Was this price very expensive? Of course, it was incredibly expensive for Theo. But what could he do? This was how the world operated now. However, if one day he could find a way to reduce costs back to their original levels, he would do so without hesitation. It was a shame that delicious food would be inaccessible to many due to exorbitant prices.
Shawn nodded, following Theo's words. Shawn's personal income from real estate had been 1 million Seras per month, significantly more than Theo's family income. Yet, he was classified as merely "mid-to-high class." At 24,000 Seras, it meant he could afford this dish almost daily. Theo's household income, on the other hand, was 5 million Seras per year, or roughly 470,000 Seras per month. They might not be able to eat this dish every day, but they could afford it for special occasions, perhaps once a week.
Therefore, this was a suitable starting price for those with a comfortable mid-level status, not even counting those with higher incomes who would have greater purchasing power. If they sold four plates a day, they would net a profit of 8,000 Seras daily. Over a year, this would amount to 2,880,000 Seras, before any profit sharing. Although significantly less than Shawn's previous income, this was based on selling only four plates a day. If he could gradually expand beyond that, it would be a different story.
"We'll have to accept a loss initially, won't we?" Shawn asked Theo, his expression serious, like a true businessman.
Theo smiled faintly. It seemed his sister had truly chosen well. He thought Shawn was a quick thinker and perfectly suited to be a restaurant manager.
"Correct. One chicken costs one hundred thousand Seras. We need to gradually buy more chickens to raise so we can produce many eggs ourselves daily."
"At least if we get 20 eggs a day, we can make 20 plates. Our monthly profit per person will be over a million Seras." Theo nodded, confirming the answer.
"This location has constant foot traffic of no less than a thousand people daily. It's an area with plenty of rotating customers. But we should limit sales to no more than 20 plates initially. If we have leftover ingredients, we'll be in trouble. Of course, this dish is very profitable, but I'll think of cheaper menu items so that ordinary people can afford them too. As for decorating the shop, I'll leave that to you, Sis."
Shawn nodded and raised his right hand to his chest. Theo, seeing this, smiled and extended his own right hand, clasping Shawn's and bumping chests.
"Let's do this!!!"
Hani looked at her brother and her boyfriend, shaking her head lightly. "They just met today, and they're already this close?"
Theo returned home with five eggs and a dozen tomatoes to begin experimenting with recipes. His shop was currently undergoing decoration, which was expected to take only about three days thanks to the convenient technology of this era.
After finalizing additional minor details, Hani and Shawn decided to invest in more ingredients for the shop for the first week, allowing Theo to immediately make 20 plates of Rice with Stir-fried Tomatoes and Eggs per day. This was a risky investment, as their newly opened shop was still unknown. So, Theo proposed that on the first day of sales, they would offer free small portions to people in the area, allowing everyone to taste the food Theo's shop would be selling.
This was a sound marketing strategy, as it would yield the fastest results. Although it would incur some costs, Theo believed that if they could impress those who tasted it from the start, people would surely return to buy food from his shop in the following days.
As for the synthetic tomatoes, the tomato plants themselves were grown in a closed system that didn't require special care from workers. They were cultivated in a sealed room behind the shop, equipped with lights providing essential nutrients for photosynthesis, high-quality synthetic soil, and fruit-accelerating liquid nutrients injected directly into the roots. This setup would allow all 10 tomato plants to produce tomatoes once a week for three months. This meant he would have approximately 200-250 tomatoes per month. It might be a little low for making the Rice with Stir-fried Tomatoes and Eggs dish, but once their income stabilized, it wouldn't be too late to buy more.
[Steak Tomato]
Ingredient Quality: E
Type: Synthetic
[Chicken Egg]
Ingredient Quality: E
Type: Synthetic
"Just typical quality that you can buy from the Shop, but luckily they're 'Steak Tomatoes' so they're large. Half a tomato per plate should be fine. If so, the profit per plate will likely increase..."
Theo opened the Encyclopedia and searched for a stir-fried tomato and egg recipe. Fortunately, this was a basic dish that even someone with his E-rank cooking skill could manage easily. There were many recipes for this dish, as it was a common family meal among Chinese households, not something typically sold in fancy restaurants or Fine Dining establishments. Each family had their own unique cooking methods, but Theo ultimately chose a recipe he believed he'd tasted before: one that required peeling the tomatoes before stir-frying.
Of course, even for a simple dish, getting the first attempt to taste perfectly balanced wasn't easy. The video did show the steps, but there were no proportions, no captions, and no audio; only visuals for Theo to observe and remember.
For his first attempt, Theo started by taking a whole tomato, scoring a cross at its base, then blanching it in boiling water for about 20 seconds. Afterward, he scooped the tomato out and immersed it in ice water, just as the video showed, then carefully peeled off the skin.
[Cooking skill proficiency slightly increased]
"Not difficult at all, huh?"
Once peeled, Theo halved the tomato and carefully sliced it into wedges, setting them aside in a bowl. Then he grabbed some garlic, peeled and roughly chopped it, and tossed it into a hot pan with oil already sizzling.
Sizzle!
He expertly stirred with the spatula. Then, he added the prepared tomatoes, stir-frying them with the garlic until the tomatoes released their liquid and softened. He then cracked one egg directly into the pan and quickly stirred to combine the yolk and white. He seasoned it with sugar and the pre-made seasoning sauce until well combined, then immediately turned off the heat to prevent the egg from overcooking.
[Synthetic Stir-fried Tomatoes and Eggs]
Ingredient Quality: E
Cooking Level: D-
Components: Synthetic nutrients
Overall Score: D
[Cooking skill proficiency slightly increased]
Theo couldn't quite bring himself to say it looked appetizing. The egg was perfectly cooked, but the tomatoes seemed overcooked and mushy, causing some of the red color to bleed out, making it less appealing.
"Well, the taste should be okay..." Theo consoled himself, spooned a bite of the first synthetic stir-fried tomatoes and eggs he'd ever made into his mouth, chewed a few times, and quickly swallowed, his face contorting in disgust.
"Ugh, so sour!!!!"