Mai Ge observed a three minutes moment of silence for the unhatched egg, feeling somewhat helpless by Amy's deep obsession with roast goose. It seemed he needed to work harder on his quest and redeem the roast goose recipe as soon as possible.
Of course, redeeming the Peking Duck recipe would be great too.
Entering the restaurant, Amy placed her small basket in the cabinet under the counter, crouched down, and whispered something to the egg before carefully closing the door, as if afraid of waking the little creature inside.
"Daddy, how long will it take for the Ugly Duckling to hatch?" Amy asked Mai Ge expectantly.
"I'm not quite sure, may be next spring." Mai Ge shook his head, unfamiliar with bird incubation cycles.
"Spring? That'll take a long time." Amy thought, a little disappointed.
Mai Ge thought for a moment, then quickly said, "If it's warmer, may be it will hatch sooner, just like a mother duck incubating its eggs."
Amy's eyes lit up immediately: "Then can Amy lie on that egg too?"
Mai Get couldn't help but smile, then shook his head and said, "That won't work. Little Amy, go get that little blanket from the room and cover it up. That should be fine."
"Okay." Amy replied happily, running quickly upstairs.
"I hope it really is a swan egg, though the chances aren't high." Mai Ge muttered to himself, going into the kitchen to pour two glasses of water.
After wrapping the egg in a small blanket for Amy, Mai Ge glanced at the time; it was already 11:25, time for opening. He looked at Amy, who was squatting on the floor, quietly saying, "Come on, Ugly Duckling, grow up quickly…" and thought he might buy a roast goose for Amy later to satisfy her craving.
After waiting a few minutes, it was exactly 11:30 when Mai Ge went to the door and flipped the sign; lunch service was officially starting.
Although there weren't many people passing by the restaurant, its luxurious and unique style attracted a lot of curiosity. Two dwarves and one orc came in, but after seeing the menu, they shook their heads and left.
Mai Ge was completely calm now, which was normal. Not everyone liked Yang Zhou Fried Rice, and besides, they didn't even know what Yang Zhou Fried Rice was. Spending six gold coins on something unknown was less appealing than eating a large plate of roast meat and a bottle of strong liquor.
"Look it'll just be Mo Bai and his friends at noon." Mai Ge thought to himself, a little helpless. This was already the second day of business, and he had only sold eight servings. To complete the system's task, he needed to sell at least five hundred servings of Yang Zhou Fried Rice over the next nine days. The situation wasn't looking good.
Just then, the clatter of hooves sounded outside. Mai Ge looked out and almost burst out laughing. It wasn't a horse, but a black donkey, carrying a tall, imposing human knight in silver-gray armor. His feet almost touched the ground.
The knight appeared to be around thirty years old, with a square face and black hair casually tied back with a gray cloth. He held the donkey's reins in one hand and a long sword at his waist in the other. He stopped in front of the restaurant, smiling as he looked up at the sign.
"Restaurant Mai Mi? That sounds nice. I'll eat here for lunch." Kang Di • Nicholas chuckled to himself. He dismounted, led the donkey to a tree beside the square, tied it up, and strode towards the restaurant, pushing open the door.
"Hello, welcome." Mai Ge, standing by the counter, glanced at the long sword inlaid with an emerald in the donkey rider's hand and smiled.
"Hello, I'd like to eat. What do you have to eat here?" Kang Di said with a smile, without looking around like most guests would upon entering.
"There's a menu on the table. You can take a look first." Mai Ge said, pointing to the black menu beside him. This knight gave him a feeling of warmth and enthusiasm, as if nothing could bother him.
"Okay." Kang Di sat down, smiling as he opened the menu. He paused for a moment when he saw there was only one dish, but quickly regained his bright smile, looking up at Mai Ge and saying, "Boss, I'll have this one serving of Yang Zhou Fried Rice."
"Okay, please wait a moment." Mai Ge looked at Kang Di, who maintained his smile, somewhat surprised. After all, this was the first customer to order without even thinking, as if he didn't need to think at all.
However, his expression remained calm. This kind of customer was naturally his favorite. As for whether they would regret eating there, he wasn't worried at all. He smiled, nodded, and turned to go into the kitchen.
"The ambiance is quite nice." Kang Di said, placing his long sword on the table before looking around the restaurant, seemingly in a good mood.
"Hello, new customer." Amy, who had been crouching behind the counter, suddenly peeked out from behind it and said to Kang Di.
"Whoosh!" Kang Di jumped up onto the chair in surprise, his long sword already half-drawn, his expression serious and tense.
"Are you a knight?" Amy was also startled by Kang Di's reaction, but seeing his gleaming soft armor and long sword, she emerged from behind the counter with curiosity and asked.
Kang Di, seeing that it was a cute little girl who looked only three or four years old, quickly and somewhat awkwardly sheathed his sword. However, after jumping off the chair, he proudly raised his chin and said, "No, I am a dragon slayer! Although I haven't seen a dragon yet, I believe that one day I will slay those evil dragons with my sword!"
Mai Ge, hearing the commotion, turned around and glanced back. Hearing this, he couldn't help but chuckle. In the original owner's memories, there were many young knights like him who aimed to slay dragons; he had once been one of them. However, the difference between him and the others was that his sword had indeed slain evil dragons, and more than one at that.
"Wow, that's amazing!" Amy clapped her hands, looking at Kang Di with admiration, pointing to the long sword in his hand. "Then you must have defeated many powerful opponents, right?"
"Dueling with people isn't something I enjoy doing. My idol is Mai Ge • Alex. He once slew four wicked dragons and is one of the bravest and most powerful knights in the continent." Kang Di said with a smile, his eyes full of fervor and admiration. He then looked down at Amy, "Little girl, if you like knights, you should like knights like Mai Ge • Alex."
"Mai Ge? My father?" Amy looked at Kang Di with some confusion.