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

After an hour of mental struggle, Rena finally took the alarm out from the box again carefully. Then, she set a 5.30am alarm according to the instruction manual before placing the alarm clock carefully on her bedside table. She extinguished the oil lamp, and lay back on her bed.

Listening to the clock needle"s soft ticking sound, Rena, who was tired after a whole day"s work, quickly fell asleep.

Ding~!

Early next morning, Rena was woken up by a loud and clear noise. She looked around her in a shock when she sat up in bed. She only realized it was the alarm clock ringing at the bedside after a while. She held it up to have a look with the faint light coming in from the window. The needles were pointing at 5.30am.

“Woah. It really rings at 5.30am. This alarm clock is awesome.” Rena"s eyes lit up. It was much better than the rooster that was reared by their neighbor. It would sometimes crow in the middle of the night and make people confused if it was indeed the daybreak.

“Alright, I have used it for a day and it"s time to return it. I can"t simply accept such an expensive gift.” Rena pressed on the b.u.t.ton gently to turn off the ringing alarm clock. She placed it back in the box, and put it back in her pocket carefully before was.h.i.+ng up.

It was about five minutes to 6am when Rena reached Mamy Restaurant. Mag, who had just washed up and came downstairs, opened the door to let Rena in.

“You"re very punctual today,” Mag said smilingly.

“Yes. Thanks for your alarm clock. It allowed me to have a good sleep.” Rena nodded with a smile too before taking the box out, and pa.s.sed it to Mag with both her hands.

“This is?” Mag asked.

“I cannot accept such an expensive gift, but I have accepted your kind thoughts. I really thank you very much,” Rena said with a serious expression.

Mag looked at the clock and pondered. If this alarm clock was changed into the winding mechanism, it could be sold for up to 50,000 copper coins in this world. Given its pretty outward appearance, the ladies would love it.

But he had only bought it from the system for 25,000 copper coins. As he was afraid Rena would be stressed, he had deliberately chosen a simple and cheap design. However, this la.s.s still sent it back within a day.

“I don"t have the habit of taking back the gifts that I have given.” Mag shook his head, and smilingly said to Rena, “Furthermore, I have intended to inform you about this issue today. From tomorrow on, you will be fully in charge of the cleaners" breakfast, supplying the congee with pork and century egg for the restaurant"s breakfast service, and propping up the restaurant"s designated hot pot area all on your own. Hence, this alarm clock is not just a gift, it"s to make sure you can arrive at the restaurant at the correct time to prepare the food for our customers.”

Rena stared at Mag with a shocked expression, and she couldn"t believe what she had just heard.

“Tomorrow, I have to go on a trip, and because I have no idea how long I will be gone, it isn"t nice to the customers to close the restaurant for a long time. Currently, only your hot pot and Firis"s beef kebabs have reached the standards sufficient to serve our customers, so the restaurant will have to depend on the two of you for the next few days,” Mag explained smilingly.

“But… I have only just learned how to make the mild spicy hot pot, and you said that my congee with pork and century egg still has room for improvement…” Rena replied worriedly.

“Therefore, I hope that you can master making the congee with pork and century egg this morning. Otherwise, I will have to remove it from the temporary menu.”

Rena looked at Mag and hesitated for a moment before nodding. “I will do my best.”

“Alright. Let"s start right now.” Mag nodded, feeling very satisfied with Rena"s reply.

The cleaners" breakfast was made by Rena under Mag"s instructions. The cleaners who had been eating the congee made by Mag for the whole month praised Mag as usual. They didn"t discover that it was different from what they usually had.

Mag, too, ate a bowl and then gave Rena a thumbs-up. Smiling, he said, “Not bad. There is a slight discrepancy with the heat, but you should be able to master it after a few more tries.”

“Mm-hm.” Rena nodded with a more confident expression.

Mag announced to everyone that he was going on a trip during their breakfast, and his date of return wasn"t confirmed. Rena and Firis would take over the kitchen, and the restaurant would continue to operate with a temporary menu.

But because the menu selection was too small, the lunch service would be canceled. The restaurant would only be serving congee with pork and century egg for breakfast and hot pot and beef kebabs for dinner.

“Won"t the customers be protesting?” Yabemiya asked worriedly.

“Especially for the tofu pudding. I"m afraid those crazy women will tear down the restaurant,” Babla chimed in.

“I think that they will get used to it slowly,” Mag said with some uncertainty. However, it was already a miracle that Rena learned how to make the hot pot within three days, and the designated hot pot area could continue to operate. He couldn"t ask for more.

“It should get easier after a few days. You all could do the adjustments according to the restaurant"s situation. So, I"ll leave this part to you,” Mag continued.

“In this case, the ice cream shop could extend its daily operation hours.” Yabemiya pondered.

At noon, Irina told Mag that the Night Elves had already arrived at Chaos City, and had obtained the permit to enter the city. They were already in the city lord"s castle.

“You can meet up with the Night Elves first while I make a trip to the city lord"s castle. We will act according to our plan,” Mag said to Irina. After making Rena practice on her own, he pushed the bicycle out and went to the city lord"s castle.

“What are you doing here, Boss Mag?” Mag b.u.mped into Michael, who had just returned on horseback.

“City Lord.” Mag nodded in a greeting before smilingly speaking, “I heard a group of elves has arrived at Chaos City. I have hired a very good elven employee through the city lord"s castle"s recruitment exercise previously, so I have specially come here to have a look. The factory that I invested into in the north of the city is almost complete, and I need staff.”

“Boss Mag is very well-informed indeed. I have come back for this matter too. Should we go and take a look together?” Michael said smilingly, but he was secretly scolding Mag in his heart. Didn"t you come to get the people on your wife"s behalf, chap?

“Then I will have to bother you, City Lord.” Mag smiled as he parked the bicycle next to the city lord"s castle gates and walked toward Michael.

The entire recruitment process went smoothly to the point that Mag felt that the city lord"s castle had done it deliberately to give him all 1125 Night Elves. The city lord"s castle even issued them with temporary residence certificates. The other bosses who came for the recruitment exercise were completely ignored even when they had offered better deals.

“The city lord"s castle is only responsible for setting up the platform, and we still have to respect the elves" wishes. If you all still have any issues, you are free to ask them if they want to accept your job offers yourselves.” A city lord"s castle staff member left right away after saying that.

Those unconvinced bosses went up to offer even better deals to the elves that they had chosen, but they were all rejected without any reason given.

Mag, who was showered with jealous and envious looks, smilingly said to all the elves, “Thank you all very much for trusting in and choosing me. Let me bring you to your dormitory now.”