Clowns Curing Homesickness

Lin Feng was lying on the couch in the private room he had made for himself listlessly. He had woken up a little while ago but he felt very unmotivated to go downstairs.

Looking at the system menu in front of him, he still had a long way to go. Downstairs, there were probably somewhere around four hundred people, maybe more, but he didn't even have two hundred customers according to the system.

He only had 308 points as well.

Lin Feng closed the menu and sighed. He sat up and looked around his room with frustration.

He felt trapped, both figuratively and literally. Every single day, he was stuck looking at the same walls, doing the same thing.

He felt like it had almost been better when there were no customers at all. At least then, he felt like he had something to look forward to. He had felt like something would change if only he could sell to one person.

Now, he knew he was stuck here for the foreseeable future and it was putting a damper on his mood whenever he thought about it.

Lin Feng put his head in his hands and groaned. Even worse than being trapped though, was being homesick.

He had felt it before, especially when he had first arrived in this world, but it was especially bad now with nothing to look forward to. All he had was time to think.

He felt like there was a weight on his chest as he thought back to his old life.

He missed his school, his friends, even his job—which he never thought he could miss—but most of all, he missed his family. His sister.

His parents had died a few years earlier and he had been responsible for taking care of her. He was worried about what would happen to her without him around.

She was already old enough to take care of herself, she had just started college when he had ended up in this world, but he was still worried. There were so many life experiences that he wanted to be there for. Thinking of her needing help and him not being there to offer it made his stomach turn.

Lin Feng ran his fingers through his hair before letting out an irritated growl and slapping the couch cushion.

Lin Feng let out another sigh as there was a crack and the couch sagged beneath him. Getting up, the broken couch disappeared and Lin Feng opened the menu to put another one down.

He felt trapped in every way as he sat back down on the newly created couch. He knew there was nothing he could do but wait and he hated it.

Lin Feng pulled from his thoughts when Mei walked into the room.

Looking at Lin Feng and seeing his frustration, Mei jumped up into his lap.

"What's for breakfast? I've been waiting for you downstairs and I'm starving!" Mei whined.

Lin Feng let out an exasperated breath. A Core Formation demonic beast was most certainly not starving.

"Whatever you want, it doesn't matter."

Mei was quiet for a bit.

"There are some people downstairs asking to meet with you. They say they're a prince and princess from Zhou."

Lin Feng hummed in acknowledgment.

"Is it worth meeting them?"

Mei thought about it for a second before answering.

"Eh, the brother seems kind of dumb, but his sister might be worth meeting."

Lin Feng laughed.

"And by that, you mean the sister knows how to flatter you and call you pretty?"

"Hey! Flattering me is a valuable skill," Mei sniffed imperiously.

"Everyone complimenting you is human. You know they don't really think that a fox is the most beautiful girl they have ever seen."

"How dare you!" Mei gasped. "You take that back!"

She leaped up from his lap and smacked him on the head over and over again as she berated him.

"I'll have you know I'm beautiful in every way! When those people compliment me, it is out of regret that I am not already in human form so that they can profess their love to me. And when I take human form, there won't be a single human prettier than me!"

Lin Feng tried to shield his face as he laughed at the angry fox.

"Alright! Alright! I admit it. You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, human or fox."

"It is good that you know," Mei said with a huff as she settled down.

Lin Feng shook his head good-naturedly.

"Come on," he said as he stood up, hugging Mei to his chest. "Let's go get you some breakfast and see if that Zhou prince is as dumb as you say."

——

"Senior Lin! It's wonderful to meet you!" Fang An excitedly shouted after seeing Lin Feng appear from upstairs.

Lin Feng raised his eyebrows at the forceful greeting and nodded.

"Mm-hm," he said noncommittally. "What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to talk to you about making a business deal with the Kingdom of Zhou." Fang An smiled widely at Lin Feng before suddenly seeming to remember something. "Oh! This is my sister, Fang Qiyu!" He said as he pushed his sister forward toward Lin Feng. "She is a princess of the Kingdom of Zhou and is famed for her guqin playing."

Lin Feng had to consciously control his expression as he looked down at Mei, who he was still carrying in his arms. She looked up at him and could only shake her head helplessly. Lin Feng was dumbfounded. He had found someone more shameless than Yang Xinhe.

Fang Qiyu looked embarrassed as she greeted Lin Feng.

"It's nice to meet you, Senior Lin."

"Likewise," he said as he nodded, still shocked at how quickly Fang An had pushed his sister forward upon meeting Lin Feng.

"Perhaps we could go somewhere to talk business and my sister could entertain you with her guqin playing?"

"Did you bring a guqin?" Lin Feng didn't see them carrying one, and it was a pretty large instrument to have hidden.

Fang An went silent for a moment.

"…Ah, maybe next time then." Fang An continued embarrassedly.

Fang Qiyu sighed with exasperation, "Senior Lin, one of my retainers has brought my guqin with them. If you would like, I can have them bring it over."

Fang An looked excited.

"Wonderful! Bring it over! Senior Lin must hear you play!"

Lin Feng smiled in disbelief. It was like watching a comedy act. His opinion of Zhou An was actually turning around, nobody could be sad in the presence of a clown.

Looking at Fang Qiyu, Lin Feng nodded.

"Go ahead, might as well."

——

Lin Feng led the Fang siblings to an empty room down one of the hallways to have their discussion.

Lin Feng had to admit that Fang Qiyu played the guqin very well. It was very enjoyable to hear music after so long. He hadn't realized how much he had missed it until he heard the Zhou princess playing.

Just another thing to miss about his old world, easy access to music.

After listening to Fang Qiyu for a short while, Fang An turned toward Lin Feng and broached the subject that he had been hoping to talk about.

"Your food is quite amazing, Senior Lin. Have you thought about selling it in bulk before?"

Lin Feng turned from watching Fang Qiyu's performance to look at Fang An from the corner of his eye.

"I have not. What are you suggesting?"

Lin Feng was telling the truth. He had never considered selling his food in bulk. If the customer didn't buy it directly from the vending machine, Lin Feng would get no benefit from it, and he wasn't able to set bulk discounts on the vending machine itself.

"If Senior Lin is willing to offer a small discount, I would be happy to buy bulk amounts on behalf of the Kingdom of Zhou."

Lin Feng thought about it for a moment as he tried to think about how that would work. He couldn't just give the food to him directly. There would be nothing in it for Lin Feng unless Fang An bought from the system.

If he could make it work, maybe he wouldn't be so short on system points. Lin Feng wasn't sure what exact requirements the system had for giving him points, but it seemed to be something similar to one per purchase.

"I'll tell you what. I'll give you one free meal for every ten you purchase, but only if you purchase more than one hundred."

Fang An looked very happy that Lin Feng agreed before quickly schooling his expression.

"Hmm, I can commit to buying one hundred of them, but one for every ten is a bit difficult." Fang An grimaced.

Lin Feng grinned.

"What would make it less difficult for you then?"

"How about… a thirty percent discount, three for every ten I purchase?"

Lin Feng laughed. This guy was just so easy to see through that it was funny.

"I can do a two-for-ten deal. How does that sound?"

"Deal!" Fang An jumped on the deal as soon as Lin Feng voiced it like he was worried that Lin Feng would change his mind. "You won't regret this, Senior Lin. I'll make sure to give you lots of business!"

Lin Feng nodded placatingly like he was talking to a child.

"Alright, just buy them from the vending machine and let me know how many you've bought after. I'll get you the free meals."

Fang An paused with confusion. Why did he have to still buy them from the vending machine? Buying more than a hundred meals one by one seemed like the most difficult way to do the deal.

He shrugged to himself after a moment, not caring what Lin Feng wanted as long as the deal went through.

"No problem, Senior Lin! I'll do that right away and let you know when I'm done." Turning back to his sister playing the guqin, he waved his hand at her. "If Senior Lin likes Qiyu's playing, he can ask her to play for him anytime. It is our honor to cater to Senior Lin's needs."

Lin Feng chuckled and nodded. Fang An probably wasn't that much younger than him, but he was just so see-through and obvious that Lin Feng couldn't help but see him as a child.