"Tofu pudding?" Crassus and Yulian both looked puzzled. Seeing Amy's serious expression, they hesitated for a moment before suppressing their auras. After all, they were in Mai Ge's restaurant; if they accidentally destroyed it, they would have to give up on taking on apprentice.
The two exchanged a glance. Although their old grudges were irreconcilable, but the most important thing now was to make Amy happy and choose them as her master. Fighting could be settled privately at a later time and place. Having lived for over two hundred years combined, they had the patience and composure for that.
"Boss Mai, is this tofu pudding a new dish?" Crassus asked, smiling broadly. He'd never heard of the dish before.
The conditions proposed by both sides are now extremely similar. In this evenly matched situation, the choice is entirely in Mai Ge's hands, so trying to please Mai Ge is the simplest and most direct approach at present.
"Boss Mai's restaurant is doing so well, the food must be delicious. Bring me a serving first." Yulian said, quick to respond.
Mai Ge naturally understood their thoughts. He did have a few servings of tofu pudding left, but he hadn't originally planned to start pre-sales today. However, now that Amy had mentioned it, he was curious whether Crassus and Yulian would like it. So, after a moment's hesitation, he looked at the two and said, "Tofu pudding is a new item at the restaurant, but it's not officially on sale yet. Since you two want to try it, consider it a tasting. There are savory and sweet flavors. Which flavor would you like?"
"Host, this system suggests you don't offer free samples to guests! This system does not provide free ingredients under any circumstances. The cost of ingredients for one bowl of tofu pudding is as follows..." The system's voice echoed in Mai Ge's mind.
"Alright, just state the cost of ingredients for one serving. One of these two might become Amy's mage teacher in the future. What's wrong with offering them a bowl of tofu pudding? Besides, tofu pudding is so delicious, how could one bowl be enough? By the time they eat their second bowl, I'll have earned back the money." Mai Ge scoffed, "System, your narrow-mindedness and limited vision restrict your potential."
The system fell silent, then after a while, a line of text silently appeared: "Ingredients for one serving of sweet or savory tofu pudding: 40 copper coins."
"If the cost is forty copper coins, selling it for two hundred copper coins a bowl should be about right." Mai Ge thought to himself. After all, tofu pudding has certain beauty benefits, destined to drive those women crazy. Setting the price too low would be unprofitable.
"I want it sweet."
"I want it salty."
Crassus and Yulian spoke almost simultaneously, exchanged a glance, and sat down at two adjacent tables.
"They chose different ones." Amy's eyes lit up. Her father's tofu pudding was so delicious; whether sweet or savory, they would definitely love it.
"Sweet is the best. This old mage has much better taste." Yabemia looked at Crassus with admiration, thinking to herself.
"Okay, please wait a moment." Mai Ge nodded, but as he turned, his expression became somewhat strange. He hadn't expected the two to choose different flavors without even thinking.
The two sat quietly, not in a hurry to ingratiate themselves with Amy. Their circumstances were similar, their strength roughly equal, somewhat like the situation back then. Therefore, they couldn't appear too hasty until they were certain of their success.
"What kind of food will this tofu pudding be? Boss Mai's Yang Zhou Fried Rice is really delicious, and many people like his Rou Jia Mo. For Little Amy to recommend it, it must taste good. It would be even better if it was sweet." Crassus looked expectantly towards the kitchen.
He'd been coming to the restaurant everyday lately, partly because he wanted to take Amy as his apprentice, but also because he'd completely fallen in love with Yang Zhou Fried Rice. This was a major reason he'd decided to stay in Chaos City until the end; he wouldn't be able to taste such delicious food back in Luo Du.
Yulian looked around the restaurant. It had been open for a few days, but this was his first time there. The decorations were quite nice. Although they weren't exactly opulent, but they suited his taste perfectly, without any of the flashy or ostentatious things.
His gaze fell on the menu. Yulian remembered Amy mentioning wanting to eat at her family's restaurant. He casually put the birdcage he was carrying on the floor, picked up the menu, and flipped it open. He paused, surprised to find only two dishes on such a large menu. Seeing the prices, his expression turned even stranger.
A serving of Yang Zhou Fried Rice cost 600 copper coins, a serving of La Zhi Rou Jia Mo cost 300 copper coins, and a serving of his medium-level recovery potion only costs 10 gold coins. It wasn't even enough for two servings of this unknown Yang Zhou Fried Rice.
"Could it be... that they're conspiring to scam me?" Yulian glanced at Amy. He always saw long queues outside the restaurant and assumed it had a wide variety of delicious and affordable food, which explained its popularity in such a short time. How could a restaurant with only two dishes and such high prices possibly have so many customers?
"Forget it, if I can get a decent apprentice, a few thousand copper coins a day for food is nothing. At most, I can concoct a few more bottles of high-grade magic potions." Yulian quickly withdrew his gaze and turned to the direction of the kitchen. A faint aroma of beans wafted in the air, mixed with a special meaty aroma, which was different from the meat he had eaten before, making him look forward to it.
"Meow meow~~" The Ugly Duckling, seeing the cage Yulian had placed on the ground, immediately perked up, meowing at the Black Charcoal inside and licking Amy's hand, seemingly eager to get down.
"Ugly Duckling, do you want to play with Black Charcoal?" Amy asked softly.
The Ugly Duckling immediately nodded, scratching its little paws excitedly.
"If you're so capable, then don't get down!" Black Charcoal said nervously, looking at the Ugly Duckling.
"Meow meow!" The Ugly Duckling became even more excited.
"Alright, you two should get along well." Amy squatted down and gently placed the Ugly Duckling on the ground, giving it a serious, stern instruction.
"My lovely Princess Amy, can I stay in your arms for a while?" Black Charcoal looked at the Ugly Duckling, who was walking lightly towards it, baring its sharp little teeth, and immediately cowered, pleading with Amy.
"No, you don't have a single feather on you, I don't want to hold you." Amy shook her head, decisively refusing.
"Sweet tofu pudding, savory tofu pudding, please have a taste." Mai Ge brought out two bowls of tofu pudding and placed them in front of Crassus and Yulian respectively, smiling as he spoke.