Chapter 103 – Do You Need a Waitress?
The first thing she tasted was the fragrance of egg, when her teeth broke into the rice, the mellow flavour of ham that had seeped through. Other prominent flavours she could detect was shrimp, as well as certain seasoning and vegetables. Somehow, the sensation within her mouth seemed to evolve every time she chew, when she finally swallowed, the fragrance of rice remained between her teeth.
The mouthful that she had swallowed transformed into a warm stream that flowed down her throat into her stomach. She could literally feel the nourishment spreading across her body, every single cell, muscle and hair seemed to rejoice, this further improved her spirits by leaps and bounds.
“How could there be such wonderful thing to eat in this world! No, this is something that only exist in dreams! Oh, how yummy it is!” Abbé Mia’s eyes suddenly flew opened, how much rice could a spoon hold? Unable to stop herself, she scooped up a little mountain at the bowl of her spoon, and closed her mouth over it. The deliciousness spread through her body and it felt she had plunged head first into a lovely hot spring, whatever lingering coldness and hunger melting away from the heat. One after another, spoonful after spoonful, she steadily shoveled fried rice into her mouth.
“What a pitiful elder sister, it looked like she couldn’t sell her matches even after she became a grown up.” Amy looked at Abbé Mia with a bit of sadness in her eyes. She sighed softly, even though they could not give her any roast duck, she should be happy to eat daddy’s rainbow rice, ba.
“Just how long have you gone without food.” Mike watched as Abbé Mia destroyed the [Yang Zhou Fried Rice] like a passing tornado and could hardly suppress his amusement. An actual dragon definitely would not have been reduced to this kind of situation, if she’s not an orc, then there’s a high probability that she was a half dragon.
Halfbloods occupied an awkward position in society, though the girl was naturally pretty, the fact that she could not get a proper job despite her looks was unsurprising. There were a lot of shop owners who avoided halfbloods in order not to attract unnecessary trouble.
[Ting……]
The spoon rang clearly against a an empty plate, shocking Abbé Mia from her stupor. She had just realized that the fried rice was all eaten up. There were only a few grains of rice left on the plate, and she couldn’t helped herself as she picked up the plate, licked it clean, before replacing the now shiny plate on the table with a sigh.
She felt steeped to the eyeballs in warmth and comfort, the fragrance of rice a gentle presence every time she inhaled. Her spirit, which had been ravaged to pieces by starvation, had fully recovered. The starving sensation which had plagued her for so long had also been dispersed. Her complete recovery must have come from the delicious fried rice she had just eaten.
“Who would have thought that the food in the dream world is so amazing? I hope I never wake up from this dream!” Abbé Mia said to herself, she raised her head and smiled at Mike, “Uncle, I want another plate of this delicious food!”
“Oh, what a sweet looking little elf, ah. Let elder sister pinch a little.” She reached out a hand and touched Amy’s cheeks, then stroked Little Ugly Duckling’s fuzzy head, “and such a cute little orange kitty, so much cuter than those ordinary black or white cats outside.”
“Does she thinks she’s still in a dream?” Mike was a little stunned, and could not help his smile. However, it looked like her cheeks had retained its bloom after eating a a full plate of fried rice, and when she smiled, a cute pair of fangs peeked out. The overall impression was actually quite sweet and adorable.
“Sister, it’s day time now, so you’re not dreaming. If you don’t believe me just look out the window, we’re in Aden Square.” Amy looked at the toothily smiling Abbé Mia and shook her head sadly, one finger pointing towards the window.
“Miao!” Little Ugly Duckling was unhappy about being touched by someone other than Amy, and protested with a vehement little mew before struggling to hide itself in Amy’s arms.
“Not a dream?” Abbé Mia’s hand stopped stroking. She looked at Mike, at a serious faced Amy, then finally at the increasingly angry orange kitten. For a moment, the very air seemed to freeze.
After a long awkward moment, Abbé Mia stiffly turned towards the window. Beyond the transparent glass window was Aden Square, illuminated by a bright afternoon sun. Some old man was in the middle of a flowery looking sword exercise, the swishing movements closer to dancing than actual fighting. Two doves flew down, landing on the grass to peck for worms. Everything looked perfectly normal.
“This really isn’t a dream……” Abbé Mia’s neck felt very stiff as she turned back to look at the plate she had licked so clean that she could see her own awkward face. Her face reddened further, and she jumped up from her chair. Head bowing, hands waving stiffly, she embarrasedly said, “Sorry, sorry, I really thought I was dreaming……”
“It’s okay, elder sister. The first time I had daddy’s rainbow rice, I though that I was dreaming, too. It’s just too delicious.” Amy said reassuringly, “I had no idea that even grown up people like you would also be like that.”
Mike looked at Abbé Mia’s embarrassed, dying to dig a hole and seal herself into it face, and smile gently. “It’s all fine, what’s your name? It looks like it’s been a long time since you’ve had a good meal, ba? We found you fainted in front of our shop and brought you in. It’s good to see that you’re alright, I am the shop owner here, you may call me Boss Mike.”
Hearing reassurances from both Amy and Mike, and seeing the gentle smile on Mike’s face, Abbé Mia’s frame of mind settled a little. It looked like both father and daughter were really good people.
However, when she recalled her condition, her expression sank, and she nodded, “My name is Abbé Mia, it’s been three days since my last meal. I used to work at a restaurant before the boss kicked me out without even paying my salary. I’ve been looking for a job in Aden Square for about three days, but because I’m a half dragon, no one would even hire me for a dish washing job. When I wondered in front of your shop, I thought I was dreaming, wondering what on earth such a nice looking restaurant was doing here when I fainted. I’m sorry for troubling you.”
“So, she’s a half dragon.” Mike frowned, he really had no idea how this world worked. To think that different species could actually crossbreed with each other, surely there should be some natural law against that?
Furthermore, surely the size difference between a human and a dragon was too big, ba? He could somewhat understand it if crossbreeding occurred between dragons and forest trolls, but humans and dragons?
However, from Abbé Mia’s explanation, it certainly looked like halfbreeds have it tough in this world. Though she had inherited a powerful dragon’s bloodline, even her delicately beautiful face could not get her a low level skill job like washing dishes. Job finding was so difficult that she almost starved to death, however it looked she had some experience working in a restaurant……
“How sad.” Amy looked at Abbé Mia with pity in her eyes, she looked up at Mike, “Daddy dearest, didn’t you say we need a helper sister for this restaurant? How about we let Sister Mia help us?”
“Do you need a waitress?” Abbe Mia’s eyes brightened, however, one look around the luxuriously decorated restaurant, the light dimmed a little.
Even smaller shops and stalls did not want her, how could a half dragon like her even hope to work in such a high class restaurant?
In the eyes of society, she was one of those abandoned people. Ever since she was a child, she had suffered from discrimination, and considered herself lucky if the people merely avert their eyes in her presence. Even employment agencies refused to register her information, let alone make recommendations.