After finishing a bowl of Yang Zhou Fried Rice, Mai Ge sat and savored the experience for a while. This fried rice, made with such precious ingredients, was indeed more than just delicious.
The most immediate effect was relief from fatigue. The slight fatigue from making two servings of Yang Zhou Fried Rice that morning had completely vanished after eating this one. Now, he felt warm all over, more energetic than if he'd drunk Red Bull.
"It's probably mainly because of the rice. If eat that rice for all three meals a day, my physical condition should steadily improve." Mai Ge thought to himself. Of all the ingredients, the most precious was undoubtedly the rice grown with water from the Fountain of Life.
"Little Amy, did you feel anything after eating the rainbow fried rice?" Mai Ge asked, looking at Amy. She had half elf blood; surely eating rice grown with water from the Fountain of Life wouldn't cause any adverse reactions?
"It tastes amazing!" Amy placed her small bowl on the table, licked a grain of rice from the corner of her mouth with her pink tongue, and nodded earnestly at Mai Ge.
Mai Ge paused for a moment, then smiled chuckled. The answer wasn't wrong. He then asked, "Besides the delicious food and beautiful presentation, is there anything wrong with your body?"
"Body?" Amy thought for a moment, shook her head, then nodded after a while.
"Where does it hurt?" Mai Ge abruptly stood up from his chair, leaning forward slightly to look at Amy, his expression immediately tense.
"It's...it feels like there's a fire burning inside me. I've had it before, but never like this. It's a bit uncomfortable. Daddy, what's wrong with me?" Amy looked at Mai Ge, her little face now flushed, a little puzzled, yet seemingly quite calm.
Mai Ge, however, panicked. He had initially thought that Amy, with her half elf blood, should benefit greatly from eating the rice irrigated by the Fountain of Life, but now it seemed that wasn't the case. Instead, it felt like something unpleasant had been triggered within her.
Looking at Amy's flushed face, Mai Ge couldn't think of anything to do. This wasn't a child's fever or cold; he hadn't found a way to deal with this in his previous body's memories. Seeing Amy's face growing redder, he suddenly remembered something, reached out and took Amy's hand, saying, "Little Amy, come with me quickly, we're going to the Gray Temple..."
"Daddy, I think I know what to do." Amy withdrew her hand, shook her head, and raised her small right hand in front of her, palm up, as if supporting something.
"Little Amy, what's this?" Mai Ge looked at Amy, puzzled.
Suddenly, a ball of blue purple flame rose from her palm, shooting upwards half a meter high. The terrifying temperature distorted the air.
Mai Ge almost instinctively took two steps back, knocking over his chair. He stared wide-eyed at the blue purple flame slowly dancing in Amy's palm. The flame gradually subsided, finally turning into a small blue purple fireball.
"Little Amy, are you alright?" Mai Ge asked Amy urgently. The fireball looked even smaller than Amy's small hand, but its temperature was terrifying, making him feel a sense of danger. He was worried about Amy, but he couldn't get close, which made him even more anxious.
"Daddy, I'm fine. Look at this fireball, it's so cute! Is this magic?" Amy shook her head, the redness on her face had faded considerably, and she looked at the fireball in her hand with great excitement, as if she was looking at an interesting toy.
Mai Ge breathed a sigh of relief, watching Amy's complexion slowly return to normal. It seemed the fireball had balanced the high temperature and discomfort within her body. However, looking at the blue purple fireball, his eyes narrowed slightly. He wasn't sure if it was magic; shouldn't a normal fireball spell produce a fiery red flame?
Amy, seeing Mai Ge's slightly narrowed eyes, showed a hint of panic. Her hand trembled, extinguishing the fireball in her grasp. She quickly withdrew her hand, lowering her head as if she had done something wrong, saying, "Daddy, please don't be angry. Little Amy know this was wrong. I won't mention wanting to learn magic again." She then secretly glanced at Mai Ge, her face filled with utter grievance.
"Hmm?" Mai Ge hesitated for a moment, looking at Amy's sudden admission of guilt. He quickly found the answer in his previous body's memories. It turned out that his previous body had kept a low profile after arriving in Chaos City to conceal his identity and protect Amy.
Amy had to wear a hat that covered her ears whenever she went out, just to prevent others from discovering she was a half elf. Despite showing a strong interest in magic from a young age, she was strictly forbidden from touching anything related to magic, let alone learning it.
Mai Ge looked at Amy, who was looking down with a grievance expression, and felt a pang of heartache. He understood his previous body's desire to maintain a low profile and let Amy live like an ordinary person, and his efforts to protect her.
But understanding didn't equate to agreement. He would never suppress Amy's nature. Moreover, in his view, being low key was good, but a low key life of mediocrity was nothing more than a self-deceptive lie.
In his past life, he had read a quote: "Mediocrity isn't terrible; what's terrible is living a mediocre life and then deceiving yourself that ordinariness is the true essence of life."
Mai Ge • Alex's life certainly couldn't be described as mediocre, but his desire for Amy to live an ordinary life was something Mai Ge couldn't accept.
Perhaps she possesses the bloodline of humanity's strongest knight and an elven princess—a genius, perhaps?
After all, Amy's fireball spell was entirely self-taught. Based on his previous body's memories, even in his prime, he wouldn't have wanted to run into such a fireball.
Looking at Amy pointing her index finger with her head down, Mai Ge's heart softened instantly. What an adorable daughter! Of course, she could do whatever she wanted; it was his responsibility to put in the effort.
"Little Amy, look up at me." Mai Ge said with a smile.
"Daddy, Little Amy doesn't want to learn…" Amy hesitated, then looked up at Mai Ge. Although her father was very kind today, she remembered how angry he had been when she had mentioned wanting to learn magic last time. She didn't want to upset him.
"No, Little Amy, from today onwards, I won't object to you learning magic. Once the restaurant opens and we've made some money, I'll send you to the Gray Temple to study magic." Mai Ge interrupted Amy with a smile, looking earnestly into her eyes.
"Really?" Amy was stunned, looking at Mai Ge, a mixture of surprise and disbelief.
"Of course it's true." Mai Ge nodded. "But it might take a little longer, since the restaurant only opened today…"
"Daddy, you're so kind! I love you!" Before Mai Ge could finish speaking, Amy slid off her chair and jumped into his arms, giving him a big kiss on the cheek. Then, looking up at Mai Ge with a serious expression, she said, "Little Amy will definitely become a great mage and protect Daddy. That's Little Amy's wish."
"Okay, I believe Amy can do it." Mai Ge looked into Amy's eyes and nodded sincerely, then smiled and said, "Then, let's open the restaurant! Restaurant Mai Mi, our restaurant!"