Inside the restaurant, Zhao Yuan had just finished serving a customer according to the image above their head when the man walked up to the counter and placed a note onto it while she served him.
A busy Zhao Yuan did not notice the note at first because she was focused on making him a sandwich. She only saw the white, inconspicuous folded note after she handed him the sandwich. Staring down at the tiny, wrinkled piece of paper, Zhao Yuan frowned before hesitantly picking it up and slowly unfolding it.
"You are in danger because of the food. Please lock up and hide."
Danger?
Zhao Yuan asked herself before looking up at the now-seated man in confusion, wondering what he was trying to say. Of course, Zhao Yuan had noticed the state of wear everyone had been in; she had even made up a few scenarios that could lead them to be in such a state. This note only confirmed one thing: food was a luxury for most and a source of trouble for her.
This discovery scared her.
Minutes later, when Liu Han walked in, he stood by the door scanning the entire old-school-themed restaurant before his eyes fell on her—a young woman who seemed to be in her early twenties, clenching a piece of paper tightly in her hands.
What could the paper possibly be saying? he asked himself.
Thinking back to the panicked man who had fled after seeing him, he could only guess what the note read. After watching the woman crumple up the piece of paper before throwing it out, he finally walked up to the counter.
Zhao Yuan was just done washing her hands when her latest customer made it to the counter. Looking up at the cold-faced, middle-aged man, she quickly noticed how much cleaner he appeared to be before she got started on his order. Since the punishment had begun, she had realized that all the clean customers would always get a glass of juice.
As she tried to figure out why that happened, Liu Han keenly watched her juice oranges before handing the glass to him. His lips parted in an attempt to speak when she handed him the glass, making her frown, clearly wondering why he was not taking his juice. Staring at his frustrated expression, Zhao Yuan wanted to ask him what he wanted when she noticed the blinking timer and shoved the juice into his hands just before the timer hit zero.
Suddenly having juice shoved into his hands, Liu Han believed that the waitress did not appreciate any questions and walked away with a displeased scowl. Watching him react like that, Zhao Yuan was confused and shrugged before walking back into the kitchen.
Back when the punishment had begun, she had realized there was a small button on one of the counter corners which displayed a small screen after being pressed. The screen displayed an interface similar to the one above her station, enabling her to finally type in a question discreetly.
'Am I in danger?' Zhao Yuan typed in, still bothered by the words she had read on the note.
Typically, the system would answer all her questions pretty quickly, but this time it hesitated for a few seconds. With every passing second, Zhao Yuan felt as if an invisible hand were squeezing her heart while she impatiently waited for a response.
Meanwhile, the system was panicking and awaiting its master's response.
Back in Ambirie, Qiao Lu stared at the woman's figure displayed on his screen for a while before he nodded subtly, prompting the system to quickly respond to the question with a resounding No.
Although Zhao Yuan wanted that answer, she still couldn't help but feel a bit skeptical, wondering why the system had taken so long to respond to her. So, she typed in another question:
'Are you sure?'
Seeing this question, the system quickly responded with a Yes, making Zhao Yuan even more worried, so she lingered next to the screen contemplatively. Watching her stand there with a silent frown, Qiao Lu decided to make her get back to work.
'In the next step, two more ingredients will be added to the menu.'
Reading the new instructions, Zhao Yuan nodded before turning back just as the bell above the door rang, welcoming in her new batch of customers. Previously, she had only been serving orange juice and plain lettuce-and-tomato sandwiches, but this time she saw something different above a customer's head: strawberry juice.
He was the first to order it, prompting her to open up the previously locked chute next to the orange chute and pull out strawberries. After a long day of serving, her moves were smoother, ensuring she quickly juiced a bunch of the strawberries and handed him a glass.
The man quickly received his glass and shoved a folded piece of paper into her hand before confidently walking away. Staring down at the piece of paper, Zhao Yuan frowned before pulling it open and reading the neat words written on it:
"Can we talk about the food?"
When writing the note, Liu Han had been thinking of the right words to get his message across without hiding his intent. Even though he knew mentioning food in his note directly could spook her, he still chose to do so after confirming what Wei Ting had written in his note.
So when Zhao Yuan dismissed his words and tossed the paper, she soon realized the next customer was not coming in. This was the first time this had happened, making her realize something was wrong because someone was stopping her customers from coming in. After all, every round would get harder and have more people come in, just like the cooking games she had played previously in her other world.
Looking up at the still-ticking timer, Zhao Yuan felt her heart tighten before she glared at the only customer sitting inside the restaurant. Now finished with his juice, he sat there watching her with a smug smile that made Zhao Yuan sigh before walking out of the kitchen into the common area.