ตอน 7: Chapter 7: 100% Satisfaction
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The following morning held a transition from clear skies to cloudy weather. The light and temperature were quite comfortable.
In the central square of Rosak, several unique fountain sculptures stood. Streams of water evaporated into the air, drifting with the breeze, offering refreshing coolness to the crowded square.
The night before, everyone had worked overtime to set up the circus tent.
This performance space covered more than half of the square's area, its towering peak stood higher than any buildings in the city.
At the top of the tent fluttered a vivid flag, announcing the arrival of Audrey's Circus Troupe to the whole city.
The ticketing booth was located at the front of the circus tent, where Xia Zhou worked.
Strongman Bo Pai had dragged the booth from the parking lot with his bare hands. Children chased after the colossal figure, drawn by the charm exuded by his muscular strength.
Behind the main circus tent, a slightly smaller tent was set up. It served as the performers' resting and dressing area.
In the early hours of the morning, everyone changed into their performance outfits and rehearsed in the circus tent, arranging the order of appearances.
The strongman was the first to enter the stage, his job was to toss the clown upwards.
Again and again, the siblings soared into the sky, piercing the colorful suspended balloons with sharp wooden sticks in their hands. Streams of confetti burst forth, swirling in the arena with the loud pops of the balloons.
The performance of the snake dancer, Sneck, was more like a play.
He portrayed a traveler encountering a ferocious snake in the wild. He brandished a wooden curved knife while blowing a special flute around his neck. Filled with exotic music, he and the snake danced and tangled around on the stage like a dance.
Audrey was the only performer to use metal props.
Accompanied by the joyful tunes performed by Sneck and the clown, Audrey would walk around the outskirts of the stage. She would showcase her impressive figure to the audience while occasionally leaping into the air, in the mid-jump, she would pose then throw her throwing knives at the clown who was tied to a wood stake.
The fire-breather, Farns, was the last to come out, he did not spit fire but instead walked around the stage to confirm the route for his performance.
It seemed that fire breathing could cause physical harm.
After watching the rehearsals from behind, Xia Zhou donned a fluffy green wig and red nose decoration, waiting quietly in the ticket booth for the customers.
"Young man, give me and the kids one ticket each."
The client wearing the gemstone ring lavishly placed a heavy money bag on the counter.
"Welcome~~ May I ask, do you want to see the full performance?"
Xia Zhou greeted the first customer with his most enthusiastic smile.
"Dad, I want to see the full performance." came a childish voice from a little boy.
"Me too, Daddy, I want to see the full performance." a little girl was cajoling her father.
"Alright alright, we'll see the full performance." The customer picked up his two children, giving each a kiss, one on the left and the other on the right.
Adults and children were charged the same since there is a limited number of seats inside the circus tent. Moreover, children were the primary audience for the circus.
Three people watching four performances meant a total of twelve tickets, costing 51 copper coins.
Xia Zhou extended his arms, his hands gracefully danced over the counter, and the tiny wooden pieces which served as tickets were neatly arranged on it.
He then swiftly counted the money in front of the customer and scooped the coins into the cash box under his feet.
He had practiced this entire process hundreds of times the night before.
All of the original pile of tickets were sorted by Xia Zhou and placed at different angles according to 5 tickets as a group, stacked crosswise.
In this way, he could tell how many seats were left for each performance at a glance.
This enabled him to issue tickets and collect money in one smooth flow, without any unnecessary delay.
"These are your tickets and money bag. Please take care of them. Before each performance, please hand over the corresponding tickets to the staff. Thank you for your patronage, and we welcome you to visit again."
Xia Zhou made faces at the children, making them giggle. He was then surprised by the information he received in his mind:
"Successfully sold circus performance tickets, earned 51 copper coins. As customer satisfaction is at 80%, earned 0.04 [Experience]."
!!!
Selling tickets can also give experience! And it is calculated based on income!! Customer satisfaction will affect the rate at which income is converted into experience.
Xia Zhou then treated the next customer with an even more exaggerated expression and tone. The customer seemed to be infected by his enthusiasm and broke into a smile as well.
"Successfully sold circus performance tickets, earned 17 copper coins. As customer satisfaction is at 85%, garnered 0.014 [Experience]."
If satisfaction were at 100%, then selling a full-set ticket would gain 0.017 experience points. Selling about 80 full-set tickets would equate to the experience of testing a drug once.
Xia Zhou scanned the line in front of the ticket window. It wound around the corner, and there were at least twenty to thirty people.
We're in the money, we're in the money. The circus is my house, everyone depends on it for income and experience.
Beaming with joy, Xia Zhou greeted his customers with an increasingly enthusiastic manner. The satisfaction of the customers continued to rise, but barely exceeded 90%. A satisfaction rate of 100% had never occurred.
During lunch break, Xia Zhou noticed the patterns on the performer's faces. Inspired, he asked the clown who was proficient in make-up to paint a pattern on his face as well.
He also brought several colorful bells and a cute hand-held horn and decorated the ticket window a bit.
Every time he stretched his hands out of the window, the bells would tinkle, creating a light and cheerful sound.
When the customers had taken their tickets and money bags, Xia Zhou would squeeze the horn, using its amusing sound to send off the customers and simultaneously signal the next customer to come forward.
"Successfully sold circus performance tickets, earned 34 copper coins. Customer satisfaction at 100%, gained 0.034 [Experience]."
As expected.
As long as he played his role as a ticket seller properly, customer satisfaction would always be 100%.
Although the difference between 90% and 100% satisfaction was only 10%, the difference in accumulated experience was considerable in the long run.
The circus had a thriving business. The performers were full of energy and one performance followed another with only a brief break during noon. It was just around four or five o'clock in the afternoon and all the tickets were sold out.
"I'm sorry, all tickets for today are sold out. Please come early tomorrow. I apologize for the inconvenience."
Xia Zhou pulled out a colorful glass bead and gave it to the customers who didn't get tickets, to pacify their children who were on the verge of tears.
He pulled down the shutter, hung the 'Tickets Sold Out' sign, locked the ticket window and counted the copper coins in the cash box.
The first day had the largest number of customers, totaling around 2000 copper coins, which is equivalent to 2 upgrade experience points.
[Experience] 5/15.
10 points shy of leveling up.
I figure, once the performance in Rosak city is over, I should pretty much be done with the two books I just bought.
Xia Zhou happily music up, locked up the money box, then hid it in the floor cavity, before securing a heavy lock onto the cavity door.
There were two more locks on the door of the carriage. The safeguard measures were foolproof...well, provided there wasn't a strongman like Bo Pai who could split the locks open with an axe.
Xia Zhou went backstage, handed the ledger and keys to the big boss, and sneaked a peek at the performance on the field from behind the curtain.
He arrived just in time, with Farns having just begun his act a short moment ago.
Farns, normally of few words, became a different person on the stage. He donned a practice-perfect performance smile. Every move he made was deliberately exaggerated.
Farns held a torch in his right hand, poured a large mouthful of elixir into his mouth from a bottle in his left hand, raised his finger, scanned the audience, attracting their attention.
"Puff!"
Whoosh!
The flammable liquid spat from the fire-breather's mouth like an arrow, igniting a long trail of explosive flames as it passed over the torch.
The fierce flame erupted and shot three meters outwards, with firelight illuminating the pointed tent brightly.
Xia Zhou could even feel that surge of scorching heat wave from behind the curtain.
"Wow~"
"Applause! Applause!" Thunderous cheers and applause rose from the crowd.
"Puff!"
Whoosh!
"Puff!"
Whoosh!
Farns spewed fireballs towards the audience, eliciting a mixture of fear and excitement. The children were screaming in a blend of terror and exhilaration, clinging onto the arms of the adults.
This was just an appetizer for the fire-breathing performance.
Sneck and a clown each carried a wooden pole and making an appearance from backstage.
First, they lit the one torch attached to the pole, then skewered a plucked, clean chicken onto another pole.
Farns inhaled deeply, the curve of his lungs clearly expanding, as he held a different type of elixir in his mouth.
The whole scene fell silent, as everyone's eyes were on the fire-breather.
"Puff~~~~"
Whoosh~~~~
The fire this time was even more ferocious and long-lasting. The fiery glow turned crimson, and the rolling heat wave swept every corner of the performance venue. People couldn't help but lean backward, fearing that the fierce fire would reach them.
The end of the flame wrapped itself around the raw chicken, turning it into a bright fireball. The smell of roasted meat, clinging to the roaring fire, wafted towards the audience's noses.
Xia Zhou wasn't sure if it was due to Farns' remarkable lung capacity or the elixir he had just ingested, but after silently counting for five or six seconds, there were still no signs of the fire diminishing.
"Roar! Roar! Roar!"
"Applause! Applause!"
The auditorium erupted with excitement, and kids were jumping in their seats, raising their arms and shouting in admiration for the fire-breather onstage.
"Fantastic!"
"The fire-breather is amazing!"
"The chicken is cooked!"
"Mom, can you cook like that?! That's just incredible"
Suddenly, Farns shut his mouth, cut off the liquid flow, and the flames dissipated instantly. What was left was a sizzling, oily roast chicken in the middle of the stage, a testament to Farns' fire-breathing prowess.
He wiped the droplets lingering at the corner of his mouth and extended an arm towards the backstage.
Xia Zhou was then hustled by everyone to join them on stage. They all joined hands, bowed to the audience.
"Thank you all for coming, this is the end of the performance today."
Audrey stepped to the front of the line, waving her arms to slowly disperse the crowd.
"Good job, Audrey's Circus Troupe!"
"Mom, I want to come again tomorrow!"
"Dad, Dad, I want to become a fire-breather!"
The cheering children were pulled excitely by their parents out of the pointed tents, gradually quieting the surroundings.
Once all the audience had gone, Audrey stepped in front of the troupe and complimented everyone, particularly praising Xia Zhou for immaculately maintaining the ledger.
"Everybody, let's clean up the place. We'll distribute each person's earnings after dinner. Xia Zhou, could you please prepare dinner at the inn? We're coming soon."
"Roger! Boss."
Xia Zhou feel revitalized, his whole day's exhaustion swept away by Audrey's affirmation.
He looked at the roast chicken. "Boss, what do we do with that chicken? Do you want me to make it into a dish?"
"That one…"
Audrey made a gesture of stuffing something into the chicken's rear end. "It's stuffed with that elixir; it's not edible anymore."
"Oh, I see. I'll head off first."
Xia Zhou lifted the curtain and sauntered away with a light heart.
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