A Stay-at-home Dad’s Restaurant In An Alternate World

Amy had only eaten three plates of Yangzhou fried rice since this morning, but the temperature of the fireball she could make now was much more terrifying than in the morning. Her improvement was simply incredible.

Besides, if she could improve her power by eating, then it wouldn’t be troublesome to better her skills—she just needed to eat regularly every day.

“Father, do you want to play with the fire?” Amy said smilingly as she looked at the flames dancing in her hand, like a little girl who wanted to share her toys with others.

Mag waved his hands immediately. “No, it’s too hot. Remember, Amy, do not use this fireball on others except bad guys. It’s very dangerous.” This flame was no toy at all.

“Bad guys?” Amy pondered carefully for a while. “If they don’t pay for the food they eat, then they are the bad guys, right?

Mag nodded. “Yes. That is called ‘dine and dash’. They’re bad guys.” He hadn’t liked the ones who were always dining and dashing in his previous life, and now that he was an owner of a restaurant himself, he hated them even more.

Amy nodded solemnly. “Oh, Amy has remembered. If they don’t pay, I’ll set them on fire.”

“Well then, I’ll leave it to you to protect our restaurant.” Mag chuckled. Such customers may actually appear. If Amy’s fireball magic could make them know fear, she might actually be able to protect this restaurant.

After all, the system is quite reliable except when money is involved. Mag cleared the table and went into the kitchen.

Under a big tree outside the restaurant on the square, Sally was still there. She was staring at the bright restaurant, confused. Should I report this to our contact in Chaos City, or just keep it to myself?

But this Yangzhou fried rice is really very good. If I had money, I would eat it three times a day, but now I can only eat it every once in a while. She struggled with herself for a while, and then her mind was away on the Yangzhou fried rice she had just eaten. She could still taste the ocean in her mouth as she recalled its taste.

Whatever. I am a runaway now. I have no responsibility to worry about this kind of thing. Sally swung her arm as if trying to throw her trouble away, and then she put the bow on her back.

Maybe the owner here doesn’t care about this stuff; otherwise, he wouldn’t so blatantly put the water from the Spring of Life into six gold coins’s worth of Yangzhou fried rice, even if the water had been diluted countless times.

“Mamy Restaurant. Such interesting father and daughter.” Sally took another glance at the restaurant, and then turned around and walked towards the exit of the square.

Mag washed the dishes with the dishwasher and sat on the chair behind the counter with Amy, waiting for customers.

More people came in the evening, but they all found the fried rice expensive when they saw the menu. They shook their heads and left.

Mag wanted to hold onto them by telling them the origins of the ingredients. He wanted them to know that they were getting the better end of the deal by eating this Yangzhou fried rice.

However, as the candidate for the God of Cookery, he held back this urge. He didn’t want to contradict his principles.

He had only had two customers today, but he had sold eight plates of Yangzhou fried rice, which was pretty satisfying for his first day.

At eight o’clock, after he had watched the eighth customer shake his head and leave, Mag went to the door and flipped over the “Open” sign. He turned the outside lights off and finished his first day.

“Father, we don’t sell the rainbow fried rice any more today?” Amy said as she put out the fireball in her hand.

Mag nodded, smiling. “Yes, let’s call it a day.” He took his earnings out and counted them. In total, he had 20 gold coins, one dragon coin, and 12 copper coins. There should be more, but 18 gold coins had been charged by the system automatically in the evening—it was the cost of the ingredients.

This was just his first day. Last night, he only had two copper coins in his pocket.

“So many gold coins!” Amy looked at the coins on the table with shining eyes. She looked up at Mag, and said, “Father, could you buy Amy an ugly duckling?”

“Sure. We’ll walk around the square in the morning and see if there is someone selling them.” Mag stroked Amy’s hair, smiling. She is very obsessed with the roast goose. I have to take her out and try our luck tomorrow.

Mag didn’t feel very exhausted after working a whole day. That was because the system had prepared the ingredients and covered the preliminaries. He didn’t even need to wash the dishes himself. Besides, the three plates of fried rice he had eaten relieved his weariness, making him feel even fresher.

Seeing as Amy was beginning to feel sleepy, Mag had her recite the 9×9 table she had learned at noon. She could remember all the terms before “three six”, but had to give up on remembering that one after thinking long and hard. She was really depressed.

Mag gave her an encouraging smile. “It’s all right. Amy has done a great job. You have already applied what you’ve learned today. We’ll start from “three six” tomorrow. I’m sure you’ll remember the rest.”

Amy nodded. “Amy will try hard tomorrow.”

Although Mag had to focus on the restaurant, he didn’t want to run it day and night. He made use of this leisure time and decided his opening hours. This way, he didn’t have to stay in the restaurant all day long, and his customers would know when to come. It would save a lot of trouble.

Breakfast: 7:30 am—9:00 am; lunch: 11:30 am—1:30 pm; dinner: 5:00 pm—9:00 pm. The rest of the time he was free, and he’d decided to rest a day every seven days.

“Perfect.” Mag looked at his opening hours on the paper, and said in his head, “System, can you help me add the opening hours to the signboard outside?”

“System recommends you extend the opening hours to sell more food,” answered the system.

“Being the owner of the restaurant is my job, not my whole life. I want to enjoy my life as well as my job,” Mag said calmly. He became impatient. “Do you want to help me or not? I’ll attach this paper to the signboard myself even if you don’t help.”

After a while, the system answered, “The opening hours have been added.”

“Let’s go upstairs and sleep.” Mag put the coins back in the drawer. Since the system would charge the cost of ingredients automatically, he didn’t have to worry about things like that.

Mag taught Amy how to brush her teeth and wash her face, and introduced everything in the bathroom to her. After he washed up, he picked her up and laid her on the little bed.

The little thing was already very sleepy. When she touched her soft bed, she could barely keep her eyes open.

“Good night.” Mag smiled as he stroked Amy’s hair.

“Father, don’t forget to buy me an ugly duckling. You have promised,” Amy said solemnly as she reached out to hold Mag’s finger.

Mag nodded. “I won’t. We’ll buy it tomorrow.”

“You’re the best, Father.” Amy sat up, held Mag’s face in her hands, and kissed him. Then she lay down and closed her eyes. She fell asleep in no time, mouth still murmuring, “Ugly duckling… ugly duckling… roast goose…”