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

“A golden dragon, a 10th-tier demon, and a band of ferocious forest trolls,” said an old man. “The restaurant was gone in an instant. It was a horrifying sight.”

“Good God!”

“That’s horrible!”

The people in line gasped in shock at the news.

“Mag and his daughter, are they all right?”

“What happened later?”

They were totally intrigued.

“And then, believe it or not, Mag stormed out with his daughter in one arm. He fought with them using his kitchen knife. It was an epic fight,” said the old man.

“Did he win?” a girl asked, anxious.

“Of course. Mag is really strong. After he killed the dragon and the demon, those trolls started to flee like hell,” the old man said excitedly as if he had seen everything with his own eyes. “But they had no chance to escape Mag. He took them out one by one. Who would have thought that the owner of a restaurant could slay a dragon? His kitchen knife is also his weapon!”

“I believe it’s just a story you made up, Carl,” a young man said, smiling. “You’re the storyteller at the peace statue. That’s how I knew you.

“I like to listen to your stories, but today’s story is not a true story, I’m afraid.”

Carl was pretty famous around here. He had started telling stories at the peace statue 10 years ago. He didn’t charge money, and he told stories whenever he felt like it.

He never told a story twice, and his stories were always interesting and vivid; thus, he had garnered himself many fans. Many people liked to wander around the peace statue, hoping to run into him telling a story.

“Stories are not necessarily true, but they need to be interesting,” Carl said calmly.

They laughed.

“One more, Carl!”

“No. One story a day. That’s my rule,” said the old man. “Besides, if I tell another story now, I may have no time to eat.”

They looked disappointed. Carl’s stories could have served as a great way to kill time. The sweet tofu pudding people and the savory tofu pudding people decided it was too early to argue; they tended to do it at dinner after a strenuous day.

“I can’t wait to see what the new dish is.”

“I saw him come back with a fire chicken yesterday. It’s probably a chicken dish.”

“I love chicken soup!”

“By the way, the food competition starts today. Did Mag sign up?”

“He did,” said a young demon with horns. “I found his five dishes on the list. The new dish is called braised chicken and rice. But, he registered the sweet tofu pudding and the savory tofu pudding as two different dishes. Aren’t they just two different flavors of the same dish?”

“How can they be the same dish? The sweet tofu pudding is disgusting!”

“No! It’s the savory one that is inedible!”

They glowered at the demon. The air suddenly got tense.

The demon lowered his head in fright. “Sorry…”

“The top four spots should go to Mag. And the savory tofu pudding will never make the list!”

“I don’t mind Mag taking the top four spots, but I’ll definitely give the sweet tofu pudding one star!”

“Yeah, that’s what it deserves!”

“F*ck you! I’ll give the savory tofu pudding one star!”

It sounded like they were on the brink of fighting.

“That’s not good…” Mag sighed before opening the door. Their hatred towards each other may lead to my loss in the competition.

Mag opened the door with a smile and welcomed them in.

Yabemiya and Sally stood on either side of the door, the former smiling, and the latter expressionless.

“Who is this, Mag?” Harrison asked as he looked at Sally, surprised.

“This is Aisha. Our new waitress.”

Harrison gave him a thumbs-up. “Hats off to you for finding such beautiful waitresses!”

“This braised chicken and rice is much too expensive!” a voice said, looking at the menu. “Does this use roosters that can lay eggs?”

Some customers were not rich; they came here only once or twice a month. They could barely afford Yangzhou fried rice, but this new dish was even more expensive.