NOVEL NEXT Chapter 78: A Birthday Wish
Translator: Xiong Guoqi Editor: DesTheSloth
Mu Jieyun recovered very quickly. Rolling his eyes, he said, “Anyway, if you work there, you naturally will have some special advantages. Then you ask the boss if you can take away the dishes.”
“Brother, the boss already told me this morning that he doesn’t provide meals.” Mu Xiaoyun felt deeply helpless towards her brother.
“Besides, the job is easy and the pay is pretty good. How can I ask for more?”
After saying that, Mu Xiaoyun left her brother’s room and prepared to eat something, then have a rest before going back to work in the restaurant.
……….
Time flew by. Mu Xiaoyun was a girl who had a great sense of time. She got to Yuan Zhou’s restaurant at 10:50, just as Yuan Zhou happened to open the door.
“Come and get prepared.” Yuan Zhou greeted her before starting getting busy in the kitchen.
Although everything necessary was prepared by the system, some specific jobs, nevertheless, had to be completed by Yuan Zhou himself.
“Boss, what can I do?” after Mu Xiaoyun came in, she asked immediately when she found Yuan Zhou working yet showed no indication of letting her help.
“There will be a lot of customers at noon. By then, I will put all the prepared dishes here at this place. You just carry them to the customers.” Yuan Zhou said as he raised his head and pointed at the foldable counter through which he entered and went out of the kitchen.
Before the rule prohibiting eating while standing was put in place, this counter was the first option for customers who had no seats. Of course, it was deserted now.
“Alright boss. Please rest assured. I will work very hard.” Mu Xiaoyun held up her fists tightly and said with a firm tone.
“Great.” Yuan Zhou nodded his head, maintaining his solemn look all along.
“Boss, then what should I do for now?” seeing that Yuan Zhou once again ignored her again, Mu Xiaoyun asked.
“Just stand there and wait.” Yuan Zhou answered.
“Alright.” Mu Xiaoyun’s soft voice contained obedience and grievance. Just as instructed, she really stood there.
Yuan Zhou, nevertheless, continued to busy in the kitchen.
In the quiet restaurant, besides the breathing of the loli, Mu Xiaoyun, and the rotating “di da, di da” sound of the clock, the only other sound came from the kitchen caused by Yuan Zhou.
Noon soon arrived. Customers were starting to come for lunch.
This time, Mu Xiaoyun took the initiative to greet them, asking, “What would you like to eat today?”
With her soft and sweet voice, this little loli attracted much attention from the customers. However, the one she greeted this time was Wu Zhou, who, as a programmer, had his thoughts only filled with program codes or his girlfriend. Nevertheless, he was startled by the unexpected enthusiastic greeting.
Normally, Yuan Zhou would merely wait quietly until Wu Zhou returned to his senses, basically not giving a damn about him.
“Eh… Egg Fried Rice.” Therefore, Wu Zhou was stupefied for a moment before answering.
“Alright. One moment, please. Boss, one serving of Egg Fried Rice.” Mu Xiaoyun reported the name of the dish to Yuan Zhou in a natural and graceful manner. But the blush on her face, nevertheless, betrayed her.
Mu Xiaoyun did this according to the procedures that she saw and encountered usually when she went to other restaurants for meals. When she saw that Yuan Zhou did not say anything, Mu Xiaoyun lightly heaved a sigh of relief and revealed a big smile on her face.
“Ok.” Yuan Zhou nodded his head, indicating that he heard it.
“Welcome. What would you like to eat?” Nevertheless, Mu Xiaoyun wasn’t a professional and would panic slightly upon encountering the customers. Therefore, she would basically greet the customers using different words every time, looking rather devoted.
“Hey, Boss Yuan. When did you hire this little loli? She’s fairly pretty.” Ling Hong sized the girl for a while before returning to his seat and sat down.
“Today.” Yuan Zhou answered simply and clearly after setting down the Egg Fried Rice ordered by Wu Zhou.
“Boss Yuan seems to understand the truth about life now. As usual, I want every dish on the menu except the Egg Fried Rice.” Ling Hong ate much, and he happened to be wealthy. Therefore, Yuan Zhou had a rather high tolerance towards him.
“Do you also want the Herbal Tea Egg?” Yuan Zhou opened his mouth and asked.
“I haven’t asked about it yet but is this Herbal Tea Egg really one egg?” Ling Hong had already tasted every dish on the menu except the Herbal Tea Egg. A high-end wealthy man disdained to eat dishes on special offers.
“Yes, it’s merely one egg.” Yuan Zhou nodded his head.
Mu Xiaoyun and Wu Zhou stayed at the side watching the show.
“But, I have never eaten things on special offers,” Ling Hong said, feeling conflicted.
Ling Hong had a capricious personality but, likewise, had his own principles. Not to eat things on special offers was one of the principles.
“You can pay original price.” Yuan Zhou indicated that he didn’t care at all.
“What’s the original price?” Ling Hong asked curiously.
At the side, Wu Zhou and Mu Xiaoyun also strained their ears, preparing to listen to Yuan Zhou’s words in curiosity. If it cost 888 RMB for one egg even with the special offer, then what would the original price be like?
“The original price is 1888 RMB per egg. You wanna have a try?” Yuan Zhou asked expectantly.
If the wealthy Ling Hong could pay the original price, then he could get the extra 1000 RMB himself, without needing to split it with the system. Besides, he could also get his 20% share out of the special price 888 RMB that was set by the system. That was really what Yuan Zhou wanted to see and hear.
“Not necessary. Let’s talk about it when the dish is back to its original price.” Ling Hong refused decisively. 1000 RMB was not much but he was not stupid at all.
“I don’t actually mind,” Yuan Zhou frowned first but soon revealed an indifferent expression as he said that.
“I’m sorry, I mind.” Ling Hong said while grinding his teeth.
“Ok, alright” Yuan Zhou returned to the kitchen to prepare the dishes without saying anything else.
Along with the customers coming and going, the little loli Mu Xiaoyun gradually became familiar with the work of a waitress. Due to the low number of seats in Yuan Zhou’s restaurant, she basically didn’t make any mistakes. Even if there was an occasional mistake, the customers would be very understanding towards her.
The greatest advantage of having Mu Xiaoyun was that she could report to Yuan Zhou the name of the dishes ordered. In that way, Yuan Zhou didn’t need to come out anymore to ask, only carrying the dishes out after cooking.
As for carrying the dishes, customers that couldn’t wait basically did it by themselves. Furthermore, they might not be accustomed to having an underage loli carrying the dishes to them.
However, the advantage of having a loli was that she had a sweet voice and sounded good when reporting names of the dishes, which was much more convenient for Yuan Zhou.
During the rush hour, Mu Xiaoyun helped a lot, not to mention in the evening after she had became familiar with her work. She was diligent and a fast learner, therefore Yuan Zhou paid her daily salary of 100 RMB quite readily.
“Thank you, boss.” Mu Xiaoyun said happily when she got her salary.
“You’re welcome. You worked really hard.” Yuan Zhou felt that praise at the correct moments would help increase his staff’s motivation.
“Ok. Excuse me, I’ll be leaving first.” Mu Xiaoyun nodded her head, saying goodbye to her boss.
“Sure.” Only when Yuan Zhou saw the little loli going out of the door did he shut it. Heaving a sigh, he sat down on his chair.
“Ding Ling Ling, Ding Ling Ling”, the age-old ringtone of Yuan Zhou’s mobile phone rang amongst the quiet restaurant.
“Hello.” Seeing that it was a call from Sun Ming, Yuan Zhou answered the phone.
“Yuan Zhou, you brat, if I don’t visit your restaurant, you won’t contact me at all?” Sun Ming first complained for almost 30 seconds on the telephone.
Yuan Zhou, nevertheless, asked directly, “What’s going on?”
“We have been brothers for years, did you really forget that tomorrow is my birthday?” Sun Ming said in disbelief.
“Sorry, I don’t remember. You are not my girlfriend,” Yuan Zhou answered naturally.
“You don’t have a girlfriend. So what’s wrong with remembering the birthday of your brother?” Sun Ming insisted on focusing on this issue.
“You are a male, alright? I don’t want to remember a birthday of a male. Besides, a male doesn’t deserve a birthday party.” Yuan Zhou indicated quite clearly that men didn’t need to celebrate their birthdays.
“Anyway, I will treat my friends to a dinner. Are you coming or not?” Sun Ming knew that Yuan Zhou was tired after a full day’s hard working, thus he didn’t intend to spew nonsense anymore, getting straight to the point.
Of course, was it because he couldn’t win the argument, or something else, no one would know.
“Yes, I will go.” Yuan Zhou simply agreed to that.
Holding the telephone in his hand, Sun Ming felt a little more delighted. With a smile appearing on his face, he talked to Yuan Zhou on the other side, “As your brother, could you fulfill my birthday wish?”
“As long as it’s not expensive, everything is alright.” Yuan Zhou treated his brothers quite faithfully, on the condition that it couldn’t be too expensive.
“No, it’s not expensive. You don’t need to spend money. You just…” Of course, Sun Ming knew Yuan Zhou’s temper well. He immediately expressed that money was not his wish.