The woman was around twenty three or twenty four years old, with a beautiful face, delicate and arched eyebrows, and a gentle and charming appearance. Her long, slightly wavy brown hair was draped down her back, casually tied in the middle with a black strip of cloth. Her white dress was only decorated with a few tender green grasses at the waist and sleeves. She smiled and looked up at the man beside her, her pale golden eyes seemingly only seeing him.
The man called Lu Lu was a head taller than the woman, and looked to be around thirty years old. He had a square face that looked very honest, and a muscular build like a bear. He had short, dark brown hair and wore a brown bearskin shirt. On his back was an exquisite bamboo basket woven from tender green bamboo strips, which seemed to contain a lot of things. However, the basket was so tightly woven that it was impossible to tell what was inside.
The man looked down slightly at the woman beside him, his pale golden eyes filled with doting affection. He smiled and reached out his large hand to gently brush aside a strand of long hair that had fallen across the woman's forehead. He shook his head with a somewhat naive smile and said, "Xi Xi, although Chaos City has the best security on the Nolan Continent, but those people are still very likely to follow us here, so we can't let our guard down."
"Oh, I see. Those guys are really annoying." Xi Xi's expression suddenly turned somewhat dejected.
"It's okay, you can focus on eating your delicious food. No matter what, I'll always be there to protect you." Lu Lu gently placed his large, fan-like hand on Xi Xi's head and said softly. His movements were a little clumsy, but the doting look in his eyes was unmistakable.
"Hehe, I knew Lu Lu was the best! Let's go eat something delicious!" Xi Xi's face immediately lit up with a bright, girlish smile. She nuzzled Lu Lu's big hand and happily walked ahead.
Lu Lu looked around, his honest and simple expression turning serious and earnest, then strode after Xi Xi.
...
"Check, please." Karl put down the spoon in his hand, finished both bowls of rice and a large bowl of braised chicken, and let out a satisfied burp.
"Eight gold coins in total." Sally said coolly as she approached.
"Girl, you're mistaken. I added an extra bowl of rice." Karl said with a smile, pulling out a dragon coin and handing it to Sally.
"Sorry." A hint of nervousness appeared on Sally's face. If he hadn't reminded her, she would have made a mistake.
Karl took the change without saying much. He got up and walked to the kitchen door, looking at Mai Ge with curiosity, and asked, "Boss Mai, where did you get so many shiitake mushrooms? Can you tell this old man?"
"Sorry, I really can't say that." He shook his head with a smile. How could he say it? Should he say that the system planted the shiitake mushrooms in the Wind Forest? If so, the elven army would probably be coming tomorrow.
"I was just curious. Anyway, only Boss Mai can make these shiitake mushrooms so delicious. I certainly wouldn't make them myself." Karl said, still unwilling to give up.
"Sorry." Mai Ge smiled and shook his head.
"Alright, but Boss Mai, you're really doing business with a conscience. A serving of braised chicken with four or five shiitake mushrooms only costs 800 copper coins. That's incredibly cheap." Karl couldn't help but exclaim, turning to walk out of the restaurant.
Mai Ge withdrew his gaze and continued cooking, enjoying the occasional praise coming from outside.
Forty eight servings of braised chicken were quickly pre-ordered. Even though it would take an hour, many customers still chose to order one serving and wait patiently. Compared to missing out on delicious food, this short time was nothing.
After the morning business hours ended, Mai Ge rubbed his slightly sore wrists. Although his physical fitness had improved a lot, but he still felt like a superman to have managed to cook two woks of Yang Zhou Fried Rice, braised chicken, hundreds of Rou Jia Mo, and two hundred servings of tofu pudding all in one and a half hours.
After a morning of work, Sally became increasingly adept at the cashier's job, and her aloof service style was well-received by customers.
According to Mai Ge's meticulous observation, those seemingly timid guests were probably secretly delighted, in short, they were the legendary... masochists.
Of course, most of the guests were quite normal. After all, apart from giving off a slightly aloof vibe, Sally was elegant in her speech and actions, and maintaining a proper distance made people feel quite comfortable.
Moreover, with Sally joining the restaurant, things became easier, and Mai Ge saw a lot of room for improvement, which was what he cared about most.
After all, as the restaurant's menu continues to expand, the number of customers is also increasing, and it will only get busier in the future. This is when the waiters' abilities will be put to the test.
Mai Ge doesn't plan to hire too many waiters, as it would be too noisy. If two waiters are enough to handle the current situation, that would be ideal, as each has their own strengths and they are a perfect fit for the restaurant.
"Boss, Mia, I'll head back now. I'll come back early around noon." Sally cleaned the restaurant with water magic, said goodbye, and left.
Mai Ge knew that Sally was working two jobs. He was at a loss for words to say that such a noble young lady had been reduced to working as a waitress in a restaurant and a cleaner in a small hotel. After all, with the girl's strength, the rewards she could get from taking on any missions at the Chaos Guild would far exceed the salaries of these two jobs.
However, Sally's identity needs to be kept secret. Going to the Chaos Guild might expose her true identity, so she chose to work as a waitress at the restaurant so that she could enjoy the restaurant's delicious food for every meal.
"Mia, you should take a break too." Mai Ge took off his apron and hung it aside. Ever since Sally took over the cleaning of the restaurant, Yabemia's workload had decreased significantly, and there was nothing to do after the business hours ended.
"No need, Boss. Let me massage your shoulders. Aisha did a lot of work today, I'm not tired at all." Yabemia said, shaking her head.
"Okay." Mai Ge nodded, casually pulling out a chair and sitting down. After all, Yabemia was the type who couldn't sit still, and his shoulders and arms were indeed a bit sore.
…
In the very center of Aden Square, in front of the magic screen, staff from the Aden Square Catering Association are busy counting the voting slips received that morning and starting to enter various information.
The food ranking list is updated daily. The current ranking is based on the order of the previous month's rankings. Unless a particularly big dark horse restaurant emerges, the rankings generally don't change much, which greatly reduces the workload of the staff.
"Luther, what do you think that restaurant we went to yesterday, with its idiot owner, will rank tomorrow?" Alvin asked softly as he helped Luther move the table.
"There are 341 restaurants competing for the top spot in this month's food rankings, right? I think it'll be around 340." Luther said with a smile.
"Why not 341?" Alvin asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Didn't a restaurant sign up yesterday before it even opened? The owner said it was just to get on the list and get some exposure, like advertising. Surely it can't be worse than a restaurant that hasn't even opened yet." Luther laughed.
"May be they'll end up tied for 340th." Alvin chuckled.