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

“Sure. You just need to push this button here.” Looking at the two excited little things, Mag pressed the little button on the side of the box.

Suddenly, the edge of the music box was lit up by colorful light. After the light flickered twice, the elf girl started playing the violin. She opened her mouth and melody began pouring out.

“A little girl goes to collect mushrooms, she carries a big bamboo basket, and leaves in the early morning barefoot… sai luo luo li sai luo luo li sai…”

The familiar tune startled Mag. He had thought the system would use the songs from this world and never expected to hear “a little girl with mushrooms”. It had been translated into the common language of this world. I was a lively song, pleasant to the ear.

This music box was truly ingenious. Not only could the little elf sing and play the violin, she could rotate. Her dress danced with her, and the whole thing looked very lovely.

“System, you are not worried that I may become a famous children’s song singer here with these 50 songs?” Mag asked in his mind.

“You’re not able to sing in tune, so it’s out of the question for you,” the system said calmly.

“…” Mag didn’t know what to say. The system really knew a lot about him. Then he looked at his daughter and smiled again. “It doesn’t matter. Maybe I can’t, but my daughter can.”

“There’s a 50 percent chance that your daughter is just like you,” the system retorted.

“You don’t need to worry about that. She has clearly inherited all the good genes. She’ll learn this song in less than three days. You’ll see,” Mag said confidently while looking at Amy.

Elves were very versatile. They were blessed with a long life, so they had a lot of leisure time to do things they liked. Most of them were good at singing, dancing, drawing…

The sudden sound scared the kitten. It jumped back with a cry. Mag deftly caught it; otherwise, it would have fallen down the counter.

Ugly Duckling hadn’t fully recovered from the fright. It stared at the little elf for a while and slowly backed away, wariness written all over its face.

Amy’s eyes were fixed on the music box and became brighter by the minute. After the song was over, she turned to Mag, and said excitedly, “This little elf is a great singer, Father! Is she for real? Can she sing other songs?”

Mag nodded, smiling. “She’ll be Amy’s little friend from now on. She’s not a real person, but she can sing a lot of songs for you. Let’s just stick to this song right now, and after you’ve learned this song, we’ll hear the next one, okay?” He didn’t want Amy to just listen to them; he wanted her to learn them.

He was pretty expectant to hear Amy sing. Mag Alex hadn’t been able to sing in tune, either. Amy had heard Luna sing one or two songs before, and she could hum a little after she had heard it several times. Apparently, she liked to sing; she just didn’t have any chance to learn.

Amy nodded delightedly. “Okay. Amy loves singing. I’ll have Mushroom Fairy teach me.” She touched the music box and felt very satisfied.

Mag raised an eyebrow. Mushroom Fairy… A strange name for such a cute elf girl.

“But, Dad, Mushroom Fairy just mentioned lollipop in the song. What’s a lollipop? She said she would share it with other kids. Is it delicious?” she asked curiously.

Mag nodded. “Yes. It’s pretty delicious. But I can’t conjure one for you right now,” he answered regretfully. There was one incredible fact about foodies: after they heard a song, they might not recall the lyrics or tune, but they would definitely remember the food in it.

The system had told him that it would not sell lollipops unless he unlocked new recipes.

Mag was aware that the system was very inflexible when it came to recipes. It might be because of the rules, so he gave up.

Nonetheless, there were candy-making shops on the Aden Square. If Amy wanted to eat lollipops, he could ask them to make some. Perhaps he could even cooperate with them and sell lollipops in this world. He might change the world dominated by soft sweets here.

“Oh.” Amy was a little disappointed, but her smile returned when she saw the music box on the counter. She stood on a step of the long-legged chair, wrapped her arms around Mag’s neck, and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you, Father, for this singing Mushroom Fairy. I like it so much,” she said merrily.

Smiling, Mag gave Amy’s head a stroke. “I’m glad you like it. I’ll go clear the dishes and do some preparations. If you’re tired, go upstairs with Ugly Duckling and sleep for a while.” He was very satisfied because Amy liked his little gift.

Amy nodded meekly. “Okay. But I want to listen for a while longer.”

Mag changed some settings so that the music box would play “a little girl with mushrooms” over and over again. He turned to clean the restaurant as Amy rested her chin in her hands, staring at the music box.

Customers had really increased these days, and so had his workload. He had to process ingredients, receive customers, take orders, cook, serve, and clear the table… all by himself. It was really hard for him.

To be sure, Yangzhou fried rice could nourish his body, but the repeated work had exhausted his mind. He had to find a diligent worker as soon as possible.

When Mag was done cleaning the restaurant, Amy was already asleep on the counter with the music on. The kitten was slowly moving towards the music box, staring at the elf with an alarmed look on its face. It was both curious and scared, trying to get a closer look.

“Sleep upstairs, or you’ll catch a cold.” Mag took a glance at the jumpy cat, dried off his hands, lifted Amy up softly, picked up the cat, and went up the stairs.

“Meow…” Ugly Duckling scratched Mag’s hand with its little paw in discontentment, but its claws were not long enough, so its scratching was more like stroking. It looked at the music box, unhappy. It had mustered up all its nerve to get so close. Just before it could reach it, it got taken away by Mag…