Substory 9: A Love As Sweet As Lemons
Making your way through the Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth Substories? Here you'll find our guide to Substory 9: A Love As Sweet As Lemons.
This Substory is one of the longer Substories in the game, as Ichiban will go on multiple runs with a tray of lemonade to help a young boy's quest to buy a gift for a friend. Stick with it though, as this is one of the sweetest Substories in the game.
After you're finished with this saccharine side quest, head over to our Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth How-To Guides to get the lowdown on the game's biggest features, including some helpful combat strategies.
Substory 9: A Love As Sweet As Lemons
A Love As Sweet As Lemons can be found during Chapter 3: The Fool. The side mission involves a lemonade stand run by a child named Tony who wishes to purchase a gift for a friend before they leave Hawaii.
The lemonade stand can be found on Waikiki Street, where it is tucked away on the right side of a small square between Ayame Street and Makani Avenue. Ichiban introduces himself to the child and purchases a lemonade, which he drinks in one gulp.
After commenting on how good the lemonade tastes, Ichiban remarks on how impressed he is with Tony running his own stand, and after some conversation, the Substory begins.
Money for Ms. Mao
Tony mentions a tiara he wishes to purchase for "someone special," and while Ichiban mentions the gift might be a bit expensive, the boy does not waver. Tony reveals he was an orphan, and that a "Ms. Mao" looked out for him during his time of need. It's Ms. Mao, for example, who taught him how to make the lemonade Ichiban is enjoying.
Tony produces a photo of himself with Ms. Mao, and Ichiban comments on how happy he looks in the picture. The boy then says Ms. Mao is getting married and moving to New York, which means she'll be leaving him for good. He wishes to purchase a tiara for her as a "final thank you for everything," after she said how beautiful they were while the two walked past a jewelry store.
Eventually, Ichiban will be given the choice to help Tony out or leave him to it. He decides to help the kid sell some lemonade, and Tony excitedly agrees, saying that Ichiban is the first person to offer to help. Tony asks Ichiban to hand out some samples, but there's a catch: The lemonade gets too watery after two minutes, so he will need to hand out all of the samples as fast as possible.
Sweet samples
Ichiban is then given a tray of lemonade cups and asked to walk around offering samples to people on the street. Bumping into people or cars will cause the lemonade to spill, so be careful where you're walking to avoid losing any precious product.
As you walk around the immediate area with the tray of lemonade, pay attention to the speech bubbles that appear over people's heads. Anyone remarking on how hot it is or looking for something to drink are the targets, while others are less accommodating – avoid the person saying "don't even think about it, lemonade man," for example.
If you can hand out four cups of lemonade within two minutes, Ichiban will head back to Tony, who reports that more customers than ever have visited the stand. He also says one customer gave him a gift, which he shares with Ichiban: Hawaiian Pizza, a health item which restores 260 HP.
You can repeat this minigame multiple times during Chapter 3, which each challenge adding more cups to Ichiban's tray:
- The second visit to Tony's stand will see Ichiban need to hand out six cups in two minutes, with a Hand-Mixed Fruit Cup – which heals everyone in the party for 400 HP – as a reward.
- The third time around, Ichiban will be asked to hand out eight cups in two minutes, with a boost to his Friendship stat as a reward.
Viral marketing
After the third time around, Ichiban tries to think of a way to sell more lemonade, when a woman in a bikini top and shorts approaches to buy a glass. She mentions she's been watching Tony and Ichiban working hard on the stand, and asks if she can lend a hand as well.
She poses for a picture with Tony in front of the stand, and then posts it on her social media account with #Lemonade, #KawaiiinHawaii, #StandForWhatYouBelieveIn, and #CitrusBitches.
When she leaves, Ichiban and Tony realize the stand has sold out for the first time, and Tony mentions he'd better get home…and something about his uncle. Ichiban asks what he meant, and Tony brushes him off before saying goodbye.
The next time Ichiban visits Tony, his stand will be surrounded by paying customers, all trying to get a taste of his lemonade. Two women enter the scene asking if this is "the stand Mariana posted about," to Tony and Ichiban's confusion. Ichiban checks his phone and finds the photo he took of the woman from the day before…only it has over 500,000 likes on social media. The two celebrate Tony's success as another customer approaches.
Meeting Ms. Mao
As the two are winding down the stand for the day, another woman approaches the stand and waves hello to Tony. This is Ms. Mao, the woman who looked after Tony from the time he was a baby, and the reason Tony is selling lemonade.
Mao tells Ichiban that Tony's always been a shy kid, and that she was worried he wouldn't be able to work with customers, but Ichiban helped him get over that shyness. Ms. Mao asks for a lemonade of her own, which Tony gleefully pours.
Ms. Mao leaves, and Ichiban asks about the gift Tony wants to buy for her…only for Tony to dodge the question with a worried look. Tony hurriedly leaves, and Ichiban senses his inner conflict. Tony then heads toward Fuji Street, and you can follow suit.
Family feud
Head to the house pictured above on Fuji Street and walk down the alleyway. A cutscene will trigger with Ichiban looking for Tony, only to hear an angry voice asking someone to "hand it over." Another voice, who Ichiban recognizes as Tony, pleads with the angry man for "some," only to be pushed out the door by his uncle.
Tony asks again for some of the money he earned, but his uncle insists on taking everything he's made to "spend it on more drinks," only the uncle isn't talking about lemonade. Ichiban steps in to defend Tony, saying that he's not the "rotten kid" his uncle thinks he is. Tony's uncle attacks, so defeat him in normal combat to progress.
After the fight, Ichiban asks if the uncle has ever gone to Tony's stand, or if he ever asked why Tony wants to earn so much. Tony tells his uncle he was working for a gift for Ms. Mao, whom the uncle didn't even know Tony was still talking to. This convinces the uncle to give Tony's money back.
Aloha, hello and goodbye
Head to Aloha Street to find Tony in front of the jewelry store. Talk to him, and he'll reveal today is the day Ms. Mao is leaving for New York, but he's short on the money he needs for the tiara. Tony starts to cry, and just when Ichiban is about to offer to pick up the rest, Tony's uncle appears.
Tony's uncle reveals that he'd actually saved all the money he took from Tony, under the guise of using it to buy booze. He says he was trying to "plan ahead for a rainy day." When Tony says there's more money here than he'd given, his uncle says he "invested some" and made extra. Tony excitedly runs inside to buy the tiara, while Ichiban and Tony's uncle wait outside.
After the purchase, Ichiban accompanies Tony to the airport, who presents the tiara to her. Ms. Mao puts on the tiara, and the two share a heartfelt goodbye before she heads into the airport. A single tear falls down Tony's cheek, and Ichiban consoles him as the Substory ends.
The next Substory is another love-themed tale, only now it's a crustacean kind of love. Time for Substory 10: Coming Out Of Her Shell.