Chapter 108 – Good Morning, Boss Mike
Chapter 108 – Good Morning, Boss Mike
Abbé Mia sat stunned for a moment. She looked at cheeky Amy who was happily chomping into her [Juicy burger]. There was a strange expression on her face, that conversation just now really hadn’t played out the way she had imagined.
Still, Amy’s way of eating was just too adorable, she really made it looked amazingly delicious. Her soft cheeks stuffed full like a squirrel, both hands clutching the [Juicy Burger] in front of her completed the look. As she chewed, a bit of sauce remained stuck on the corner of her mouth, her little face bursting with happiness and satisfaction, until poor Abbé Mia found herself swallowing, and swallowing several times.
Though she had never eaten this unknown food before, the smell of it, as well as Amy’s enthusiastic way of eating, convinced her that this had to be a wonderfully delicious gourmet food just like the [Yang Zhou Fried Rice].
Mike looked at the Abbé Mia, who was doing her best not to swallow or stare too obviously, and took pity of her. It had to be a special kind of torture to smell and see delicious food, but not eat it. He looked at the [Juicy Burger] in his hand, after some hesitation he smiled, “Since you’re here so early, why don’t you have one [Juicy Burger] now? We can consider it an advance lunch.”
“Oh, no, no, no, no need. I can wait until lunch.” Abbé Mia shook her head resolutely, however her eyes kept straying towards the [Juicy Burger] in his hands. “I believe I can have two of these for lunch, is that alright?”
“Of course.” Mike nodded and did not force the issue. Who would have thought that this young lady would be so disciplined and actually be able to resist the lure of delicious food.
“Miao!!!” sprawled on Amy’s lap, Little Ugly Duckling gave a loud cry, showing the tiny fangs in its mouth, its eyes looked yearningly at the [Yang Zhou Fried Rice] in front of Mike. It looked like goat’s milk could no longer satisfy it any more.
“Daddy dearest, can Little Ugly Duckling eat other things now?” Amy looked up at Mike.
Little Ugly Duckling widened its eyes pleadingly at Mike.
“It hasn’t even been a week, he can have milk for two more days.” Mike shook his head after thinking for a bit. The kitten’s digestive system might still be too weak for solid food. Though Little Ugly Duckling was no ordinary kitten, there were some ingredients in the [Yang Zhou Fried Rice] that might be hard for it to chew, and therefore not exactly suitable for the small thing.
“Miao miao~” Little Ugly Duckling looked at the ceiling with despair, tears welling up in its eyes.
Once they were done with breakfast, there was already a line outside the restaurant.
“I haven’t eaten all day yesterday, my stomach is stuck to my spine now. I’ll have to eat at least four [Juicy Burgers] before I’m satisfied!” Harrison said with a laugh.
“Looks like you didn’t eat last night either.” Jacques grinned at him from the back.
“You’ve seen through me, but tell me, where’s your boy Palmer? Isn’t it a school holiday today? I thought that little chap always likes to stick to you?” Harrison gave a forced laugh and quickly changed the subject.
“From what I’ve heard, some child visitor came to their class yesterday and showed him up in mathematics. He came home really depressed and is now spending his morning memorizing something called the multiplication table. He asked me to bring him something to eat and just refused to leave the house.” Jacques shook his head incredulously.
“Someone is better than our Prince of Math Palmer? Moreover it’s a visiting child? Curious, this is really curious, ah!” Harrison’s eyes widened, but he couldn’t help his laughter, ” looks like that chap have suffered quite a blow. What say we sneak him a [Juicy Burger] for a treat?”
“Better not, if Miranda sees it she’ll probably snatched and eat the thing. When he’s feeling a little better, I’ll bring him for a treat.” Jacques shook his head with a laugh. “It’s not like it’s a bad thing, that little brat always thought he was the best in his class and spent his time playing with Pablo instead of studying. After this little crisis, he finally stirred himself into put some effort.”
“It’s fine for boys to be a little naughty, it’s not good for them to be too girlish. Tell him I’ll be over tomorrow and plan to bring him to the stables for some fun and then treat him to a delicious lunch.” Harrison said while waving his hand.
“Sure, in that case, I won’t be going to the smithy tomorrow. I plan to bring those little fellas over to meet up with the little lady boss to make friends. I do believe they’ll all get along quite well.” Jacques nodded his head agreeably.
Some of the customers stuck their heads close to the window, and noticed that there was a third person seated at the breakfast table and couldn’t help saying, “Yi, why is there a young lady with the boss? Could it be the never seen before lady boss?”
“I see her too, do you think Boss Mike shut up the restaurant yesterday to meet up with the lady boss?”
“That seems unlikely, it’s possible that she’s a new waitress Boss Mike hired. This restaurant is super busy after all, and Boss Mike can’t possibly keep up with the work,” others hazarded a different guess.
For a time, the girl seated at the same table with Mike and Amy became the topic of interest. There were quite a few people standing around chatting idly with each other, after a few days of lining up in front of the restaurant, regulars knew there was no hurrying Boss Mike, so only newcomers would actually bother to bang on the door. Up till now, no one had dared to actually break the door down, fearing that they would forever be banned from coming to the restaurant in the future, which was just too horrible to imagine.
Previously, Sargerass the demon had burnt up a mere chair and had to pay 10 gold for it, who knew how much this door would cost. At the very least it would set them several dozen gold coins back.
“Since the customers are all here, shall I invite them in?” Abbé Mia looked at the line of customers, already standing up to do her job.
“No need, the restaurant will open at 7:30 in the morning, we’ll let them in when it’s time.” Mike shook his head. Then, he flipped the menu over and pushed it towards Abbé Mia. “Here are the rules of the restaurant, if anyone break any of these rules, you can give them a warning. If any of them refuses to listen, just let me know.”
“So, we’re really not going to open the door?” Abbé Mia was stunned. There was already a long line even before the shop opened. In Aden Square, only the Flair Tavern and some of the more popular family restaurants would actually see lines at their door for dinner. She had never seen people actually lining up for breakfast so early in the morning.
Most amazingly, Mike just left his customers standing outside the door, refusing to let them in before the opening time. She stood awkwardly for a few moments, but managed to reign in her questions. Her eyes drifted over the menu and the gold embossed words written on it. There were four rules in total: “No loud noises in the restaurant...”
As she read the rules, Abbé Mia grew more and more astonished.
In her mind, customers with money were king. Restaurants would scramble to fulfil rich customers’ requests and struggled to meet even the most unreasonable of demands.
However, at Mike’s place, she saw a different kind of power balance, an extraordinary demonstration of equality.
Customers may choose to enter this restaurant, however this restaurant may choose not to serve the customers. This was the first time she encountered a two way power balance spelled out on the back of a menu. It was almost unthinkable that she was given power to implement these rules.
“Clear the plates away, I’m going to open the door, your first day of work will start now.” Mike stuffed the last of the [Juicy Burger] into his mouth and smiled at Abbé Mia. He got up and made his way to the door, with a gentle jingle, the door was opened.
Everyone smiled and greeted Mike enthusiastically, a few spat out good natured insults for not getting to eat at the restaurant yesterday, but the overall mood was quite cheerful.
“Good morning, Boss Mike.” Klaus, who hadn’t been seen these past two days, entered with the line. His greeting was cheerful, his half burnt beard had been properly trimmed back, though it was much shorter than before, at least it looked much neater than before.
“Morning,” Mike returned the greeting civilly, his eyes slitted over his smile. This old man was back again, looks like he had no intention of giving up.
“Half Beardy Old Man, you said you’ll treating me something yummy, right? I’ve decided what I wanted to eat!” Amy’s eyes brightened the moment she saw Klaus.