From morning until now, Amy has only eaten three servings of Yang Zhou Fried Rice, but the fireball spell she unleashes now is already far more terrifying in temperature than it was this morning. This rate of growth is simply heaven-defying.
Moreover, if eating can increase strength, then becoming stronger is no longer a troublesome matter; from now on, she can just eat obediently everyday.
"Daddy, do you want to play with fire?" Amy looked at the leaping flame in her hand and asked with a smile, like a little girl wanting to share her toy.
"No, this flame is too hot. Amy must remember, except for bad people, you mustn't use it on others, otherwise it could easily hurt them." Mai Ge quickly waved his hand; this fire was no fun.
"Bad people?" Amy thought seriously for a moment. "If someone eats food and doesn't pay, they're a bad person, right?"
"Yes, that's called dining and dashing, and that's bad person." Mai Ge nodded. In his previous life, he disliked people who ate and dashed; now that he was a restaurant owner, his aversion was even stronger.
"Okay, Little Amy got it. From now on, if anyone eats without paying, Little Amy will burn them." Amy nodded seriously.
"Alright, then I'll rely on Little Amy to protect the restaurant from now on." Mai Ge couldn't help but chuckle. However, they might actually encounter customers like that in the future. If Amy's fireball spell could make them wary, it might truly become a guarantee of the restaurant's safety.
After all, aside from being a bit unprincipled when it comes to money, the system was generally reliable. Mai Ge cleared the table and went into the kitchen.
"Should I pretend I don't know about this? Or should I notify my clan's contact in Chaos City as soon as possible?" At the plaza outside the restaurant, under a large tree, Sally hadn't left yet. Looking at the brightly lit restaurant, her face was full of conflict.
"But this Yang Zhou Fried Rice was so delicious! If I had the money, I'd eat it three times a day, but now I can only come here occasionally." After a moment of hesitation, her thoughts drifted back to the Yang Zhou Fried Rice she had just eaten, and she could still taste the sea in her mouth as she recalled it.
"Never mind, I've escaped anyway, I have no obligation to do these things." Sally waved her hand, as if trying to throw away her troubles, and slung her longbow over her shoulder.
This owner probably doesn't care about this at all, otherwise he wouldn't blatantly put the Fountain of Life into Yang Zhou Fried Rice that costs six gold coins, even if it's diluted countless times.
"Restaurant Mai Mi, an interesting father and daughter." Sally glanced at the restaurant again, then turned and walked towards the exit of the plaza.
Mai Ge washed the plates and spoons in the dishwasher, then sat with Amy on high stools behind the counter waiting for customers.
Evening customer traffic was slightly higher than at noon, but the few customers who came in all thought the Yang Zhou Fried Rice, priced at 600 copper coins per serving, was too expensive and shook their heads, turning away.
Mai Ge wanted to pull them aside and explain the origins of each ingredient, showing them how much of a bargain they were getting for 600 copper coins for such a plate of Yang Zhou Fried Rice.
Of course, as aspiring chef god, he restrained himself; such behavior would contradict his initial principles.
Although only two customers came today, eight servings of Yang Zhou Fried Rice were sold, which was actually quite satisfactory for the first day of business.
At eight o'clock, after watching the eighth customer shake head and leave because of the high price, Mai Ge went to the door, flipped the "Closed" sign, and turned off the advertising lights outside. The first day of business was now over.
"Daddy, are we not selling rainbow fried rice today?" Amy put away the fireball and looked at Mai Ge.
"Yes, let's end it here for today." Mai Ge smiled and nodded, taking out the gold coins from the cash register and counting them: twenty gold coins, one dragon coin, and twelve copper coins. Eighteen gold coins had been automatically deducted by the system when he bought ingredients that evening.
This was only the first day of business. Last night, he was a penniless wretch with only two copper coins left in his pocket.
"So many gold coins!" Amy's eyes lit up as she looked at the gold coins on the table, then she looked up at Mai Ge and said, "Daddy, can you buy Little Amy an Ugly Duckling?"
"Okay, then we'll go to the square tomorrow morning and see if anyone sells Ugly Ducklings." Mai Ge smiled and ruffled Amy's hair. The little one's obsession with roast goose was really deep; he'd just have to try his luck tomorrow with her.
After a day of running the business, Mai Ge didn't feel too tired. Firstly, the system had taken care of the food supply and initial processing, even letting the dishwasher handle the dishes. Secondly, he had eaten three servings of Yang Zhou Fried Rice that day, which effectively relieved his fatigue and even made him feel more energetic.
Seeing that Amy was getting sleepy, Mai Ge had her recite the multiplication tables she had learned at noon again. She could recite all the multiplication tables up to 3 x 6, but 3 x 6 was definitely a hurdle. After thinking for a while, she gave up, looking quite disappointed.
"It's alright, Little Amy did a great job. You applied everything you learned today to collect money. Tomorrow we'll start memorizing from 3 x 6, it'll be fine." Mai Ge encouraged her with a smile.
"Okay, Little Amy will try my best." Amy nodded.
While this time was available, Mai Ge also created a business schedule. Although running the restaurant was his main business, he couldn't be open all day long. Setting opening hours meant he wouldn't have to be at the restaurant all day, and customers would know when to come and eat, avoiding constant waiting—it was all convenient.
His schedule is breakfast from 7:30 to 9:00 in the morning, lunch from 11:30 to 1:30 in the afternoon, and dinner/late night snack from 5:00 to 9:00 in the evening. He can arrange the rest of his time as he pleases. He also rests one day every six days. That's pretty much it.
"Perfect." Mai Ge looked at the schedule on the paper in front of him, then thought to himself, "System, could you please put this meal schedule on the sign by the door?"
"Host, this system suggests that you extend the meal times to sell more food." the system replied.
"Being a restaurant owner is a job, not my whole life. I can enjoy my work, but I want to enjoy life even more." Mai Ge replied calmly, then added impatiently, "Are you going to add it or not? If not, I'll write it down and stick it on myself."
The system was silent for a moment, then replied, "Added."
"Let's go, let's go upstairs and sleep." Mai Ge put the gold coins back into the cash register. The system would automatically deduct the gold coins for purchasing ingredients and give change when cooking, so he didn't need to think about it.
After teaching Amy the correct way to brush her teeth and wash her face, and introducing her to the various items in the bathroom, and after washing himself, Mai Ge carried Amy to her crib.
The little one was already sleepy, and as soon as she lay down on the soft bed, her eyelids started to droop.
"Sleep well." Mai Ge smiled and stroked Amy's hair.
"Daddy promised to buy Little Amy an Ugly Duckling!" Amy grabbed Mai Ge's finger and said earnestly.
"Okay, we'll go buy it tomorrow." Mai Ge nodded.
"Daddy is so kind." Amy sat up, hugged Mai Ge's face, kissed him, lay back down, closed her eyes, and fell asleep almost immediately, murmuring, "Ugly Duckling… Ugly Duckling… Roast Goose…"