It was 1:35 PM when they saw off the last customer. Some customers wanted another serving, but Mai Ge politely declined; business hours were over, and it was time to rest. Amy and he were both hungry.
"Daddy, we sold twenty four servings of Yang Zhou Fried Rice at noon, earning 10 dragon coins and 44 gold coins! Great, so much money!" Amy clapped her hands excitedly, her eyes sparkling, as she watched Mai Ge return from closing up restaurant.
"Twenty four servings?" Mai Ge was somewhat surprised. Although he had been making fried rice non-stop since opening, selling twenty four servings was still a bit unexpected.
Of course, what made him even happier was that the restaurant's lack of customers had finally been broken. The customers he served at noon were likely to come back tonight, and if they, like Mo Bai, spread the word about the delicious food, perhaps even more customers would arrive that evening.
Mai Ge did a quick mental calculation and realized that he could collect three thousand gold coins in less than ten days to complete the task, and he wouldn't have to worry about being crippled by the system again. He breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Amy, who was happily counting gold coins, and said with a smile, "Little Amy did a great job today. I'll go make rainbow fried rice for Little Amy. You must be hungry."
"Mmm, Little Amy's tummy is practically flat from hunger." Amy pouted, touching her stomach and nodding pitifully.
"It'll be ready in a minute." Mai Ge patted Amy's head tenderly and hurried towards the kitchen, returning shortly with a fragrant plate of Yang Zhou Fried Rice.
Amy washed her hands, dried them, and sat down. She scooped a large spoonful of fried rice, looked up at Mai Ge, and said, "Daddy has been busy and must be even hungrier than Little Amy, so you should eat a bite of rice first."
"Okay." Mai Ge looked at Little Amy's serious little face and felt a warmth in his heart. He smiled, bent down and ate the fried rice, and nodded, saying, "Little Amy, eat well. I'll make another one."
"Mmm." Amy nodded obediently, fed herself with the spoon, and ate happily.
After lunch, Mai Ge thoroughly cleaned the restaurant, wiping each table with a damp towel to ensure no grease remained. Then he coaxed Amy, who was chatting with Big Egg behind the counter, to take a nap, and then he slept for a while himself.
Before opening in the evening, Mai Ge and Amy ate dinner early; otherwise, they might not be able to eat until after nine o'clock, which would be too late.
Mo Bai, who was right next to the restaurant, was the first to line up at the door, while Ha Ga and Ha Beng arrived almost as soon as the restaurant opened. Shortly after, Kang Di, riding his black donkey, also arrived.
The tense atmosphere at midday was now replaced by a nod from Ha Beng towards Kang Di. After a moment of contemplation, Ha Beng lowered his voice and said, "I think you really have a chance to slay a dragon. I've heard that the most powerful human knight, Mai Ge • Alex, never bothered with duels except on the battlefield. Are you paying homage to him?"
"Yes, he's my idol and my goal. One day I will become a dragon-slaying warrior like him." Kang Di nodded with a smile, his eyes filled with fervor.
"Young man, I've heard at least fifty young knights who come to the shop to buy swords say this. If you really want to slay dragons instead of being eaten by them, you'd better hone your swordsmanship first and then get a decent mount. Back in the day, Mai Ge • Alex didn't slay dragons on a black donkey." Mo Bai said with a smile.
"Little Black has been with me for many years; he's an old friend." Kang Di said with a smile, shaking his head. He continued, "I'm planning to head to Twin Towers in a month. I heard that the evil red dragon that has attacked Twin Towers multiple times is active again. I want to try my luck..."
Mai Ge was making fried rice in the kitchen, listening to people outside telling his legends. He felt like he was no longer in the martial world, but his legend still lived on.
Strictly speaking, that should be considered the original owner, but because their souls and memories had merged in some ways, it's not entirely wrong to say those experiences were his.
His mount back then wasn't a black donkey, but a griffin—the only purple-striped griffin in the Los Empire.
Just as Mai Ge had predicted, the evening was even busier than the midday rush. The midday customers brought in new ones, and passersby, drawn by the restaurant's exterior, couldn't resist ordering a dish after seeing others enjoying their meals.
"Boss, I'd like another one!"
"Sorry, our opening hours are up for today. Please come back tomorrow." Mai Ge smiled as he saw the last customer out, flipped the sign, closed the door, and let out a long sigh of relief. The evening opening hours seemed a bit too long.
"Daddy, guess how many rainbow fried rice dishes we sold tonight?" Amy asked Mai Ge.
"Hmm... forty servings?" Mai Ge thought for a moment and guessed.
Amy shook her head, excitedly grabbing a handful of dragon coins: "No, it's forty five servings! We received a total of twenty dragon coins and seventy gold coins."
"Then we sold seventy one servings of Yang Zhou Fried Rice today, very good!" Mai Ge smiled happily. Today's revenue was 426 gold coins, and after deducting costs, he made a net profit of at least 213 gold coins.
"Yes." Amy nodded, looking at Mai Ge with a mixture of doubt and anticipation, and asked, "But Daddy, your rainbow fried rice is so delicious, your other dishes must be delicious too, right? Why do you only make rainbow fried rice?"
Mai Ge paused for a moment, then, seeing Amy's expression, quickly understood what the girl was thinking—she probably wanted something other than Yang Zhou Fried Rice.
To be honest, while Yang Zhou Fried Rice was delicious, Mai Ge felt it would be a bit too monotonous to eat it three times a day, and Amy probably felt the same way.
"It might not be possible in the next two days." Looking at Amy's expectant expression, Mai Ge felt a little helpless. This new Rou Jia Mo (Chinese hamburger) item would only be unlocked after completing a 3000 gold coins ingredient purchase task, which at the current pace would take at least six more days.
"Okay." Amy was slightly disappointed.
"2500 gold coins…where can I get that?" Mai Ge looked at Amy, thinking to himself, this was a huge sum of 250,000 copper coins. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, "That's right, system, can I do a crowdfunding campaign for this new product?"
"Please take this task seriously, host, and strictly follow the normal methods and procedures to complete the task, steadily progressing towards your goal of becoming a chef god!" the system's serious voice sounded.
"Read the task to me again." Mai Ge said calmly.
"This task: The host must purchase 3,000 gold coins worth of ingredients within ten days. Completion of the mission unlocks a new recipe: La Zhi Rou Jia Mo (Chinese Hamburger). Failure of the mission reduces physical fitness - 0.5."
"So, which requirement forbids crowdfunding for new products?" Mai Ge retorted.