Chapter 668 Rip!
A long line had already gathered in front of the Blue Suede clothing store, and all of the people in the line were well-dressed noblewomen. All of them were dressed in a very lavish manner as if they were attending some kind of event, and their attire drew a lot of attention to themselves.
These noblewomen were greeting each other amicably, yet the atmosphere was clearly not as harmonious as they were trying to make it seem.
Everyone had heard that there was only going to be a limited-edition release of the dress that Young Mistress Gloria had worn the night before, and only one dress of each color was going to be made, which meant that there was only going to be around a dozen of these dresses made in total. At present, there were already over 20 people in the line, and it was only continuing to lengthen. As such, the people in the rear half of the line were unsure of whether they would be able to secure the dress of their desires.
Thus, everyone present was competing with everyone else.
A horse-drawn carriage slowly approached from the distance, and Gloria disembarked in an elegant manner. She faltered slightly at the sight of the noblewomen gathered in front of Blue Suede, but she quickly came to her senses again. With an apologetic smile on her face, she said, “My apologies for not preparing a proper welcome; I didn’t think everyone would get here so early.”
“Not at all, Young Mistress; you’re already here very early. It’s just that we were too eager, and came here even earlier than you,” a noblewoman replied with a genuine smile on her face.
“Young Mistress Gloria, there are a lot of us lined up here, so would you be able to make a few extra dresses to at least guarantee that all of us can get one?” a noblewoman at the back of the line asked. She was wearing a rather tense expression on her face. She had thought that she was already coming quite early, but a long line had already formed by the time she got here.
“Thank you for displaying such keen interest in our dresses, but the number of dresses is going to be based solely on the number of colors. If we have stock in a color of your liking, then that’s naturally ideal, but if not, our store has two other styles of dresses that are also quite nice. All of you are free to try out those dresses as well.” Gloria shook her head and refused to make any concessions on this matter.
Mamy Restaurant had its own set of rules, which it firmly upheld, which was why it held a special, almost sacred place in its customers’ hearts.
If she wanted to make Blue Suede a shop that was as successful as Mamy Restaurant, then she had to stand by her own set of rules. Otherwise, these wealthy and picky noblewomen were going to become a massive headache to deal with.
There was one important idea that Gloria had learned from Mag: customers couldn’t be mollycoddled.
“I see.”
The noblewomen were dejected yet also elated upon hearing this.
They were disappointed as there was a chance that they wouldn’t be able to pick a color they liked, but they were also elated as what Gloria was doing was ensuring that their dresses would be absolutely unique, with no replicas of the same color.
Exclusivity was something that they held in the highest regard.
“Please come in, everyone. I’ll get all of you to pick dresses in the sequence that you lined up in,” Gloria said with a smile. She knocked on the door and said something to the employees within the store, following which the tightly shut door was quickly opened, and an employee with slightly visible dark circles around her eyes emerged to welcome the customers.
…
In the kitchen, Mag was frying steaks with a focused expression on his face, and the aroma of beef was wafting out into the rest of the restaurant.
Yabemiya inhaled deeply, and her eyes lit up with anticipation, but she wore a slightly concerned look on her face as she said, “It smells so good, but I don’t drink alcohol. Am I going to get drunk from eating this steak?”
“Ugly Duckling only had a tiny piece last night, and it immediately got drunk,” Amy said as she stroked Ugly Duckling’s head.
“Is it that strong?” Yabemiya’s eyes widened. In a conflicted voice, she said, “My alcohol tolerance is probably about the same as Ugly Duckling’s; if I get drunk on just a bite of steak, then I won’t be able to work later.”
Is my alcohol tolerance supposed to be really good? Babla thought to herself in befuddlement. She had eaten an entire steak the night before, but she hadn’t felt drunk in the slightest. She could even clearly recall herself going upstairs the night before in a completely conscious state.
“It shouldn’t be too much of an issue. After all, Amy had some, and she’s still fine.” Sally took a glance at Ugly Duckling, and as her gaze fell on its back, a peculiar look appeared on her face. She asked, “Has it grown a pair of wings?”
“I think it has! Could it be… that it’s actually going to grow up to become a white swan?” Yabemiya inspected Ugly Duckling with a curious expression upon hearing that.
“This is a magic beast from your world, right? I can’t sense any magical power from it, though.” Babla was surveying Ugly Duckling with an inquisitive look.
“Meow~” Ugly Duckling was getting a little unsettled by the widespread scrutiny it was receiving, and it didn’t dare to move as it squirmed deeper into Amy’s arms.
“This is black pepper steak; have a taste, everyone.” Mag made his way out of the kitchen with a platter in his hands, and set down a plate of steak in front of everyone.
“Wow! It smells and looks really good!” Yabemiya stared at the steak before her with amazement in her eyes. The steak and the secondary dishes on the plate complemented each other to perfection, and the rich aroma wafting through the air was making her salivate involuntarily.
It was the aroma of beef and red wine, as well as some other type of unique fragrance.
This unique fragrance was like a little kitten scratching at one’s heart, making one desperately want to find out just what was giving off such a delicious aroma.
Sally closed her eyes and inhaled deeply through her nose, upon which her eyes also lit up. This wine smells really unique. Its fragrance is even richer than that of the wine my father brewed using the Spring of Life. Even for a non-drinker, this is still a very alluring aroma. In this dish, it smells more like a condiment rather than an alcoholic beverage, lending the beef another layer of flavor complexity.
After eating the steak last night, I slept really well, and I feel really good today. It seems to be even more effective for my condition than roast beef kebabs. I should take this chance to verify if that’s the case, Babla thought to herself as she looked at the steak in front of her.
“Dig in, everyone,” Mag said with a smile. He then dragged Amy’s plate over and prepared to slice up her steak again.
However, Amy picked up her own knife and fork, and looked at Mag with a serious expression as she said, “Father, I can do it myself. Teacher Luna said that we should strive to do everything ourselves, including eating.”
Mag looked at Amy’s earnest expression, and hesitated momentarily before placing the plate in front of Amy again. He smiled, and said, “Alright, but do be careful when using your knife and fork.”
“I will!” Amy nodded with a joyful expression before using her fork to stabilize the steak and carefully cutting into the beef with her knife.
Mag sliced off a piece of beef and dipped it in the black pepper sauce before putting it into his mouth, basking in the joyful experience of feeling his taste buds spring to life.
Yabemiya and Sally also imitated Mag by slicing off pieces of beef for themselves, and they tasted their first mouthful of steak at almost the exact same moment as Babla did.
“This steak is delicious!” Sally’s eyes immediately lit up. After swallowing her mouthful of beef, she could feel a flow of warmth trickling toward her chest, and an incredulous expression appeared on her face as she exclaimed, “This feeling! Could it be that this steak can enhance chest development?!”
“I’m quite small there, but… I really do feel a hot sensation in that area!” Babla’s eyes also lit up.
“Rip!”
Right at this moment, the sound of tearing fabric rang out.