Chapter 13
By all counts, the design of the exterior décor of their restaurant is totally different from the surrounding shops, and should stand out from the crowd. But standing outside the door and looking around, Michael noticed that there was hardly anyone who took notice of their restaurant. And none of the few people who took notice of the restaurant ever step foot into the restaurant.
Returning to the dining area, Michael cleared the table that he and Amy had dined in. He entered the kitchen and washed plates and spoons. Amy just sat on a tall stool near the counter and was playing with the blue-purple colour fireball in her hands. Sometimes her hyperactive imagination goes wild, and she would pretend to chant funny incantations.
Michael walked out of the kitchen, and noticed that there was not a single customer in sight. He sat on a stool beside Amy, and watched her as she played with the fire.
"Papa, if I toss this fireball away, would I be a mage that cast a fireball spell? Amy suddenly raised her head and asked Michael, and she raised her hand as if she wanted to toss the fireball in her hand.
"Stop Stop Stop! Don't do it!" Michael frantically tried to stop her. If she really tossed the fireball, even if she did not burn the entire restaurant into a crisp, it would definitely destroy several pieces of furniture.
Knowing how misery the [System] is, it will definitely charge him for replacing any damaged furniture. He had only left approximately 2,700 copper coins in credit. This would probably be not enough to cover the cost of repairs or replace.
"Relax, Papa! I will not really toss this fireball." Amy looked at Michael's scared expression and giggled. She waved her hand and the blue fireball immediately disappeared.
Michael heaved a sigh of relief. He recalled Amy's question, and nodded his head in reply, "If you could toss this fireball, and hit the target, then you have mastered the fireball spell."
"Then I still did not know how to do it." Amy shook her head, and seem to lack confidence in herself.
"It is all right. Before we find a teacher to teach you magic, I will accompany you to practice your magic. Nobody is able to succeed in what they do without practising. You are already awesome as you could summon a fireball. I think you can do it!" Michale smiled and encouraged Amy.
"En En, I will work hard!" Amy nodded her head in agreement. She turned around and look at the door of the restaurant, and ask, "But, Papa, why didn't anyone come in and eat here? The rainbow fried rice that you cooked is really tasty."
"That is because they had not tried it before, therefore they did not know how tasty it is. In future, there will be a long queue of customers who frequent our restaurant." Michael smiled as he replied to Amy.
In his heart, he was really worried. 600 copper coins is a massive sum of money for most people. The good news is that in the City of Sin, the one thing that it is not lacking in is people with fat purses. No matter what races they are, there are always richer people among their race. And these rich people love excitement, and frequently come to the City of Sin to seek excitement.
Some of these rich people even settled down in the City of Sin.
After all, in this City, as long as you have money to spend, the dwarves could enjoy the sexual services of human women; the giants could find a large female demon companion. Even the goblins could find a half-elf to drink with them. In this place, money is king, and if you have money, the world is in your hands.
"If you have a lot of customers, then I could help out." Amy eyes shone, as she looked at Michael.
"Then what do you think you can do?" Michael asked in amusement.
"I can help Papa to collect the money. I have learned how to count from teacher Luna. Teacher Luna also praised me for my maths skills." Amy excitedly reply.
"Luna …. Teacher?" Michael tried to recall who this person was. He quickly remembered. Teacher Luna is a teacher that works in the Chaos School, which is managed by the Grey Templars. His impression of her is a young lady that loves to wear a black colour long dress, and looks very cold. But when she is with the children, she would transform into a very warm and approachable lady, and is very popular with the kids.
As Amy did not have any money to attend school, she was not allowed to enter the school. But she often ran to the walls outside of the school, climb it and just sit on the wall and watch them during lessons. Teacher Luna likes her, and often invite her to the classroom to listen. Sometimes she would teach her some Maths in private and gave her some food. Therefore, Michael McGonagall had a good impression of Luna.
"En, and, if they refused to pay, then I will be very fierce to them, and use my fireball to frighten them." Amy nodded her head as she continued.
"Be fierce to them? Can you be fierce?" Michael was sceptical.
"Of course, I can! I have seen the Grandpa dwarf who lives next to us being very fierce before." Amy nodded her head in earnest. Then she suddenly clutched her tidy fists into a ball and took a fighting stance. Her eyes widen as she growled, "Pay up! Or I will beat you to death!"
"Papa, aren't I fierce?" Amy continued to hold her position and looked at Michael in anticipation. Her big, wide eyes were sparkling and seem to say 'Quick! Praise me, praise me!"
'Oh, super adorable!' Michael thought.
He felt that Amy was extremely adorable, and his heart melted at the cute posture. But seeing the look of anticipation on her face, he could only suppress his laughter as he nodded his head, "Definitely! You looked very fierce!"
Amy then relaxed and put down her hands, and with a pleased look on her face, she said, "Then in future, I will be in charge of the task of collecting money. I guarantee I will complete this task well."
"That's great! In future, I would have to trouble our dearest Amy! But when you have time, Papa will teach you how to look even fiercer." Michael smiled as he nodded his head. He did not decline Amy's request.
Right now, she looks too cute. He should teach her how to handle customers. Or else if someone deliberately made trouble, she could not handle the situation and could be attacked by the customer. This is unacceptable to Michael.
Under Amy's insistence, Michael began to tell her a story. He chose to tell the story of the 'Little matchstick girl' [1]. Although this story was based on his memories and he had added some parts and skipped some parts, his daughter seemed to enjoy listening to this story.
Amy listened to story from the beginning to the end, and she was full of anticipation as she asked, "Papa, the roast goose in her vision, do you think it is very tasty?"
"I think it should be delicious." Michael nodded his head. Suddenly he felt that something is not right. The major point of the story is not the roast goose on the window of the store?
After finishing the story, both of them were bored and just sat on the stool. Their chins rested on their hand, and both of them were daydreaming. But looking at them, you could easily tell that they were father and daughter - their expressions and movements when they daydream were identical.
Michael had anticipated that it would be hard to get business. But he did not expect that after waiting for the whole morning, other than two small demon kids who peered through the glass window, there were no other guests.
About noon, Amy sudden shook Michael on his arm, and said, "Papa, I am hungry again."
"I will go and cook." Michael smiled and nodded his head. He got up from the stool, and entered the kitchen.
He could not do a thing about not having any customers. He was not willing to stand outside the door and holler and try to pull customers into the restaurant.
Regarding how best to serve the customers, while he was daydreaming, he had given this issue much thought. Although this is the first time he is the boss of a restaurant, he had frequent hundreds of restaurant in his past life. Therefore, he is quite experienced in his area, and not inferior in knowledge to those who started their own restaurant.
Having a warm attitude may make guests feel welcomed and important, but it also alienates those who do not like to engage in small talk. And having a cold and lofty attitude would make the experience of dining here unpleasant for a large majority of the customers. Therefore, allowing the customers to initiate conversation is the best solution for customer service here.
Furthermore, this restaurant only has two staff - he and Amy. That Amy is willing to be the cashier and collect money is considered quite good. He would be the waiter as well as the chef.
Therefore, regarding the level of customer service, based on Michael's experience, he decided on 3 factors, "Polite", "Keep a distance" and "Equal rights." Being polite is to respect the customers, and allow the customers to have a good mood before they eat. Keeping a distance is to be more efficient, and to make it easier for the guests who do not like to engage in small talk. As for equal rights, it is to serve all races equality, regardless of their races. Michael felt that anyone who enters the restaurant is a customer. It does not matter if they were demon, elves, dwarves, humans or otherwise. He will try his best to serve them.
Michael had just prepared two plates of [Yang Zhou Fried Rice] ingredients, and the rice had been cooked. Suddenly the bell on the door of the restaurant rang out…..Notes:
[1] The little match girl, by Hans Christian Anderson, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Match_Girl
The first customer in the restaurant! After seeing the exorbitant prices, would that customer purchase a plate or would that customer walk out?