The smell was tickling their noses, whetting their appet.i.te.Urien frowned when he saw the meat. He had never tried chicken here before. Hesitantly, he picked up a piece and brought it into his mouth.
The soup was delicious; the meat was cooked just right, tender and juicy. He chewed slowly, savoring the flavor.
After he swallowed, a warm feeling went through his whole body.
Urien"s eyes went wide. This food works even better than roujiamo when it comes to driving away the cold in my body! Also, it tastes really good. He ate another piece. He couldn"t remember the taste of chicken, but if the chicken he had eaten had been this tasty, he would have remembered.
Then he took a bite of rice. This is very good too! Chicken and rice—it"s a perfect combination!
Kra.s.su glanced at Urien. He doesn"t like meat, but he obviously likes this dish, so it must be good. He picked up a piece of s.h.i.+take and ate it.
The soup came out and spread over his tongue.
"This mushroom is just fantastic, and so is the soup!" Kra.s.su exclaimed in delight. Then he took a bite of chicken, narrowing his eyes with a blissful look.
"Master Half-beard, Master Turtle," Amy said softly, "add some soup into the rice. It"s tastier that way. I don"t usually tell people that. It"s my little secret."
The two old men looked unconvinced, but they did it anyway. They mixed the soup and rice together, and tried it again.
For an instant, they froze; they couldn"t believe how divine the rice tasted with the soup.
"Can I have another bowl of rice, Mag?" Kra.s.su and Urien asked, putting down their empty bowls at almost the same time.
"Sure." Mag picked up their bowls and walked to the kitchen.
"You shouldn"t allow them to have another serving of rice," said the system.
"Why not?" Mag asked as he moved some rice into two bowls.
"If they want more rice, ask them to buy more braised chicken. It"s more profitable this way."
"Talk about greedy. Have you no heart?" Mag said with a twist of his mouth.
"No, I have no heart."
"You heartless system! Tell me the cost of a braised chicken and rice."
"Two s.h.i.+takes: 100 copper coins.
"A quarter of a potato: 10 copper coins.
"An eighth of a celtuce: 10 copper coins.
…
"An eighth of a fire chicken drumstick: 100 copper coins.
"A bowl of moonlight rice: 25 copper coins.
"The total cost is 400 copper coins."
Mag knew the prices were reasonable enough, considering their high quality, but still he asked tentatively, "Can you make it cheaper?"
"Believe it or not, I have already given you a 50 percent discount."
Mag"s brow rose in surprise. "Fine." I"ll sell it at 800 copper coins each. They can buy as much rice as they want for 50 copper coins a bowl.
Urien took the rice, thought a moment, and emptied it all into the braised chicken. He mixed them up and started eating with his spoon.
Kra.s.su stole a glance at him, and emptied his rice into his braised chicken as well.
After a while, they put down their spoons and belched, satisfied.
Kra.s.su gave Mag a thumbs-up. "This dish is superb. I"m sure it"ll become popular soon enough." Then he took a look at Amy. "But please do not let Amy skip school again; it will affect her progress."
"It is your boring magic room that has made her skip school," said Urien.
Kra.s.su scowled at him, and Urien scowled back.
Amy trotted to the bike, took the tusk, and stepped between them with the tusk in her arms and the eyeball in one hand. "Can you make a magic wand for me?"