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

“Ding! Congratulations, Host. Your mission to promise a warm breakfast for the cleaners during winter is completed. You will receive the mission reward: one congee with pork and century egg recipe! On your journey to becoming the God of Cookery, your character has received elevation and was fortified. At the same time, you will receive one ‘Good Person Card’. You will get one Wishing Chance after you collect five ‘Good Person Cards’,” the system said.

Mag was slightly taken aback, and he curiously asked, “Wishing Chance? What’s that?”

“Wishing Chance: the Host can make a wish with the system, and the system will try to fulfil it to the maximum of its capabilities.”

“Then, how to get the ‘Good Person Cards’?” Mag continued to ask. This Wishing Chance sounded rather good.

“As long as the Host continues to do good deeds, there is always a good probability to receive a ‘Good Person Card’.”

“That is really a good person’s card…” Mag pursed his lips. It didn’t sound very dependable. God knew how many good deeds he had to do in order to get five ‘Good Person Cards’.

He looked at the shiny congee with pork and century egg recipe that just appeared in his head, and thought this had to be the simplest mission he had ever done. However, as the mission began, so did the responsibility. Providing a hot breakfast for the cleaners every day was a matter of long-term perseverance.

“All of you are too kind. From tomorrow onward, please gather at the entrance of Mamy Restaurant at 6.30 am. I will provide breakfast for all of you free-of-charge,” Mag said to them smilingly.

Everyone began to praise Mag again.

“Mr. Sidka, may I have a namelist of your people? Let us get to know one another. This is to prevent others sneaking in to deprive the folks of their breakfast. Therefore, I would like to do a simple get-to-know session,” Mag said to Sidka.

“Sure, of course. Mr. Mag has indeed considered every aspect.” Sidka nodded, quickly strode to his desk, and retrieved a namelist from a messy pile of papers. He passed it to Mag and introduced the names to him at the same time.

“Alright. Thank you.” Mag kept the name list. He had already memorized everyone’s names. Hence, he wouldn’t have to worry about others sneaking in for the free breakfast.

“I will take my leave now.” Mag nodded to Old Jack and his wife before bidding his farewell. He had to head back to do some preparation.

“This Boss Mag is really a good man.”

“Yes. I heard even the cheapest food in that restaurant will cost 200 copper coins. I have never eaten such expensive food before.”

The cleaners were still discussing happily with a bright smile after Mag left.

“Alright, let’s go home and have a rest, everyone,” Sidka said, and everyone went home.

…

Mag returned to the restaurant. Yabemiya should have gone to the ice cream shop. Only Anna was squatting in front of the full-length glass windows. She was hugging Ugly Duckling as she gazed outside.

Mag watched her at the side for a while before going over and crouching next to her. He softly said, “What are you thinking about, Anna?”

“I am thinking, will Shirley ever meet Big Sister Aisha on the battlefield…?” Anna turned to look at Mag as she worriedly said, “If they met each other, would one of them be dead?”

“No.” Mag shook his head with a smile and said, “No matter if it is Aisha or Shirley, they won’t hurt each other. Even when they are standing on the opposite sides. After all, they are comrades who had fought together before.”

Anna pondered. Then, a smile appeared on her face and she nodded. “Yup, they are both very kind elves and are true elves too.”

“Okay, let’s not sit here in a daze anymore. How about I’ll teach you how to make Yangzhou fried rice today?” Mag said smilingly as he placed his hand gently on Anna’s head.

“Really?!” Anna’s eyes lit up. She had been practicing her knife skills all this time. She hadn’t done any real cooking yet.

“Of course it’s real.” Mag nodded, and then bought a set of kitchenware suitable for Anna from the system in his mind.

Anna’s knife skills were already quite good, and she could cut the ingredients into the necessary sizes for the fried rice. It was time for her to learn the actual cooking.

The system provided a wok that was only half the size of a normal wok. It looked a little mini wok, but it was still quite a big wok for Anna.

The spatula was also a miniature one; even Anna’s little hand could grasp it easily.

Anna carried a small stool over herself. She was just at the height that she could reach the stove when she stood on it. She looked at Mag with anticipation.

She had to watch Uncle Mag make hundreds of Yangzhou fried rice for everyone, and thus she had already memorized every single step and detail in her heart. She only lacked the chance to put them to practice. Now, she could finally try to make Yangzhou fried rice that belonged to her.

“Yangzhou fried rice is a rather complicated dish. There are stringent requirements for the control of the fire and the control of the timing to add in the different ingredients. We will start from preparing the ingredients…” Mag took out two sets of ingredients from the fridge. He passed one set to Anna, and kept one set for himself. Then, he began to teach her attentively.

Anna stared and focused all her attention. Although she had seen the same steps thousands of times, she still didn’t want to miss any details. She remembered every word that Mag said.

A helping of Yangzhou fried rice that looked, smelled, and tasted good was soon ready.

Mag put that helping of Yangzhou fried rice aside with a smile and said, “Alright, Anna, you can start cooking for the first time.”

“Mm-hmm.” Anna nodded. She glanced at Mag before retrieving her gaze. She stood in front of the cutting table with her eyes closed for a while. Then, she opened her eyes and picked up that Chinese cleaver.

There wasn’t any sense of cumbersomeness even when that small hand was holding that thick Chinese cleaver. The knife landed on the chopping board with a gentle rhythm. All the ingredients were cut into a rice grain’s size with the cleaver, and then put on a plate by Anna, waiting to be used.

She turned on the fire and poured in the oil. She put the ingredients in when the oil’s temperature was just right. She flipped and tossed, and everything flowed smoothly. This was Anna’s first trial in cooking, but her performance impressed Mag. This didn’t look like it could be done by a six, seven years old child.

This child is indeed very talented. Mag couldn’t help but praise her in his heart. Given time, she would become an even better chef than he was.

She turned off the fire and plated the fried rice. Anna carried the first Yangzhou fried rice that she made gingerly over and placed it next to Mag’s. She expectantly said to Mag, “Please try it, Uncle Mag.”

“A helping of Yangzhou fried rice that is charred.”

The difference in appearance became very obvious when the two helpings of Yangzhou fried rice were placed next to each other. In Anna’s fried rice, the winter bamboo shoot and tree mushroom became dark brown, and the rice wasn’t coated with the egg perfectly. Many of the rice grains were broken. It was also too shiny due to the overdosage of oil.

“Sure, I’ll try it.” Mag picked a spoon and fed himself a mouthful of Yangzhou fried rice. The overly salty taste almost made him spit it out. The salt wasn’t spread out evenly during the frying, and the charred taste was very obvious.