Abbé Mia looked at the [Juicy Burger] on the table with mixed feeling. That last bite of [Juicy Burger] had been a little traumatic, and even now she could feel a shadow of the effect, kind of like having kittens pricking her heart with their little claws. That flavour, that tastiness was completely different from [Yang Zhou Fried Rice], it would be such a waste to throw it away after just taking one bite.”


  “Sister Mia, your rabbits are out,” Amy said, pointing at Abbé Mia’s chest.

  Abbé Mia just stood there for a moment, shocked, she glanced down her chest and turned red. She quickly clutched her blouse and turned around, s, not daring to meet Mike’s eyes.

  Mike’s face remained calm, what had he not seen before as a rich young master with women throwing themselves at him? Therefore, this kind of thing could not move him. Furthermore, Abbé Mia was still a young girl and an employee of this restaurant.

  “Sister Mia, can’t you just put away your tail away later? This way, you can eat the [Juicy Burger] first, then put it away later. After all, we all really think that your tail is really cute.” Amy suggested in between stuffing her cheeks with fried rice.

  “If you still wish to eat it, I think that’s a pretty good solution.” Mike nodded in approval, after all there were only the three of them in the restaurant now.

  Abbé Mia looked up to see Mike and Amy’s earnest eyes, and after some hesitation, she nodded, picked up the two chairs her tail had tipped to the floor, and once more sat down with the [Juicy Burger] between her hands. After taking a deep breath, she chomped down.

  Deliciousness exploded in her mouth, turning into a powerful surging heat the moment it hit her stomach. The tail which she had just put away popped into existence again. However, this time she managed to stay in control and did not let out a dragon roar. Her chest also expanded, but there were no further wardrobe malfunction this time round.

  The dragon tail also began to sway quite cheerfully. The two [Juicy Burgers] soon disappeared. She looked down at the empty packet in her hand, the tip of her pink tongue stuck out to like her red lips, as though she could still taste remnants of [Juicy Burgers].

  “Isn’t it really yummy, Sister Mia?”Amy asked with some pride.

  “En, Boss Mike’s [Juicy Burgers] are super yummy,” Abbé Mia nodded her head in fervent agreement. Before she stepped onto this restaurant, she had ever encountered such wonderful dishes in her life. “Also, I felt like my strength increased a bit after eating it, so it’s really useful for me too.

  “Then, do eat more in the future.” Mike smiled and took a bite of his own [Juicy Burger].The daily praises from Amy have now doubled, however, it’s not like he’s against being praised for his work.

  After lunch, they all rested a bit, and at the precise time, Mike prepared himself to open the door.

  Abbé Mia’s control over her body was still not quite complete, however, after a minute of concentration, she was able to make the tail disappear, which meant she was able to live a fairly normal life, which really reduced her anxiousness.

  Moreover, after her transformation, her power had increased a few fold, which caused some degree of Mike degree of enviousness. That slender body of hers really seemed to be brimming with endless energy and did not seemed to feel even a little bit tired as she rushed around all day.

  “Good-bye, Boss Mike, Amy.” Once the restaurant had been cleaned up and everything put away in its proper place, Abbé Mia rushed over to where the father daughter pair were about to wash dishes. Her bright smile from the bottom of her heart, she never imagined that working could be something something so joyful.

  “Good-bye, Sister Mia.” Amy waved her little hand, even as she struggled to properly hold Ugly Duckling in her one arm.

  “Be careful on your way back.” Mike nodded at her with a smile.

  “I will.” Abbé Mia answered earnestly with a nod before turning to leave.

  Mike stacked the last of the dishes into the dishwasher. It turned out that having someone to help out really made everything so much easier. After a whole day of cooking, he felt less tired than usual. As expected, running around the dining room was more exhausting than actual cooking.

  “Congratulations, host, you have achieved the target of selling 1,000 [Juicy Burgers] within 10 days, and have unlocked the [Bean Curd] recipe. Please enter the practice kitchen within 24 hours.” The [System] suddenly said.

  “At last, it’s done. That mission was really tough.” Mike stared at the experience bag flickering brightly in his mind’s eye. Looks like he’ll have to stay in the practice kitchen for a few months. Furthermore, since recipe include both savoury and sweet type, it actually counts as two recipes.

  He brought sleepy Amy and Little Ugly Duckling upstairs, after a wash he tucked them to bed. He spent some time looking down at the two little things sleeping soundly in bed, before lying down on his own bed and contemplate the clock next to the bed. The time was now 10 o’clock. He slowly closed his eyes and, once more, entered the Master Chef Practice Kitchen[1].

  Within the experience bag, aside from the recipes for [Sweet Beancurd] and [Savoury Beancurd], there was also an unexpected [Spicy Beancurd] option. However, the [Spicy Beancurd] option was greyed out, and he couldn’t access it. Looks like he couldn’t learn that one.”


  “Savoury, sweet, since I’m now the boss of the a restaurant, the most of important thing is to capture the hearts of all the customers and make lots of money.” Mike’s face finally showed a smile as he finally reconciled the two in his heart.

  As for the sweet vs savoury war, he decided not to think about it any more. He’s nothing like that fat restaurant owner from the ‘Sweet Faction’ who, just because his restaurant was forced to sell [Savoury Bean Curd], sold off his several generation old restaurant and converted it to a bar.

  On the familiar stove was a new kitchen appliance. A milling machine, the shape was a squat cylinder and about the size of a regular rice cooker. Next to it was a wooden bucket and large brown clay jar. There were also two large sacks of soybeans, some gypsum powder and all kinds of seasoning and condiments, as well as garnishes that could be eaten with the beancurd.

  “This looks like an easy dish, I should be able to get out of this place a little earlier.” Mike muttered to himself. However, when he thought back to the harsh evaluations he had subjected those few bean curd shops in his past life, an odd look appeared on his face, looks like things won’t be as simple as he imagined it.

  Well, it looked like the recipe completely omitted the soaking of soybeans. Instead, the beans were placed directly into the milling machine to be ground to a fine bean paste into the wooden bucket, his next job was to filtered the yellow paste through several layers of fine gauze cloth. The filtered paste, now soybean milk, was then poured into a large iron cooking pot and boiled over a roaring fire.

  Gypsum powder was then mixed and placed in bottom of the clay jar, after which the boiled soy milk was poured over it. After some time, a mysterious thing happened, the watery soy milk will slowly transformed into tender white beancurd.

  “Making beancurd is really too easy,” Mike thought as he frowned into the jar of pure white beancurd.

  “The colour of the beancurd is too yellow, the texture too rough, fail!” [System’s] voice sounded in his ear.

  “Hey that’s ……” Mike leaned in closer and studied his beancurd. After sometime he realized that there was a hint of yellow to the whiteness within the jar. He suddenly felt foolish for thinking that this would be a simple thing.

  Time past as Mike’s failed attempts reached the hundreds. Again and again, the [System] declared each attempt a resounding ‘fail!’, after which he would have to redo everything once more from the beginning.

  “Hey, [System], this should be fine, ba?” Mike gently set down two bowls of beancurd down.

  The left bowl contained white beancurd topped with red-gold syrup, which sparkled like a translucent liquid gem. The bowl on the left contained white beancurd drizzled with sparkling red-orange gravy along with some garlic sauce, finely sliced pickled mustard, tree fungus, and green onions, the colours made it looked especially attractive and delicious.

  [Translator’s Note: How many of you heard the glee in System’s voice?] [1] Master Chef Practice Kitchen – Originally God of Cooking Test Kitchen, I’ve decided to go with ‘Master Chef’ against ‘Good of Cooking’ mainly because when I search 厨神 literally ‘Kitchen God’, Gordon Ramsey’s face popped up.

  Fail! Again!

  Mike had spent more than 50 days perfecting one savoury and one lightly flavoured beancurd dish . If he could return to the past, he would have slapped the past him shouting, “Those with too much leisure time should not make groundless comparisons!”


  All those random requirements were all made up in his own head in pursuit of experiencing the perfect beancurd . After going remaking over a thousand practice dishes, he still wasn’t at all sure whether these will past muster with [System] .

  However, these were definitely the most perfect savoury and sweet beancurds he managed to achieve . Whether it was the making of the actual beancurd, sweet syrup, or savoury sauce, all have achieved the very peak of his ability . The smell of warm tofu floated in the air, when mixed with fragrance of savoury sauce even he couldn’t help himself as he swallowed .

  For anyone who loves sweet beancurds, they would definitely be more interested in the bowl on the left . After all even he couldn’t resist the gentle fragrance of warm, tender beancurd combined with a sparklingly attractive sweet syrup . It made him really want to try some .

  While waiting for [System] to judge his beancurds, Mike felt both anxious and expectant .

  When it came to the matter of cooking, the [System] was merciless and there was no room for discussion or bargaining . This was one of the things it would not budge on .

  However, Mike never thought of getting around his cooking tasks and did his best to perfect each dish as he went . This was something that he had decided on much earlier .

  The [System] remained silent for awhile, before saying, “According to the host’s original requirements, the results are as follows:

  Colour: White as jade, zero impurities – Achieved Texture: Tender and melt in mouth texture, gentle soybean fragrance – Achieved Sides: Fresh and delicious, refreshing and tasty, fragrant but not cloying – Achieved Sauce: Sparkling red-orange colour, refreshing taste, not at all cloying – Achieved

  “The requirements for the [Savoury Beancurd] had been achieved . The host did not have any specifications for [Sweet Beancurds] . However, according to the [System’s] impersonal and unbiased judgement, the [Sweet Beancurd] have also achieved the same degree of perfection as the [Savoury Beancurd] . ”


  “All four requirements have been achieve, congratulations to the host for learning both [Sweet and Savoury Beancurds] . ”


  “Fuh……” Mike gave a long sigh, a gratified smile appeared on his face . To be able to fulfil his own ridiculous requirements from his too leisurely past life, he’d consider these several tens of days not wasted . Moreover, he could now give Amy some delicious beancurds for breakfast .

  For the perfect breakfast, there’s nothing better than a [Juicy Burger] followed by a lovely tender [Beancurd] .

  “Quick, let me out . I want to boil some soybeans!” Mike called loudly, he had no intention of bargaining with the [System] . Though he was really tempted to try the [Savoury Beancurd], the desire to go back home was much stronger .

  The scene before him melted away and Mike popped opened his eyes in bed . After laying in the warm bed for a moment, he switched on the bedside lamp . He squinted at the alarm clock, and found that the time was about 2:30 am .

  “Looks like I can make some for breakfast before our opening hours starts . I can give Amy a nice little surprise . ” Mike smiled to himself and gently extracted himself from bed, and began to put on his clothes in preparation to go downstairs .

  “Mommy…… is that you? Are you waiting for me?” at this very moment, Amy suddenly started to mumble .

  Mike’s footstep paused, he walked slowly to Amy’s bedside . Amy laid on her little bed, her mouth moving slightly, her eyelids scrunched shut, long eyelashes trembled, her face looked surprised and happy, but also a little grieved .

  “But…… won’t you look at me? I can’t remember your face, just a little look, just a little bit……” Amy’s voice began to quiver, her little hands held up to grasp at something .

  “Good Little Amy, daddy’s here . Daddy’s right here . ” Mike gently held Amy’s little hands in his own .

  Mike’s heart sank, though he did his best to give her all the love and security he could, it looked like she still misses her mother . After all, she was still a tiny four year old girl . While other children could throw tantrums and act spoiled in their mother’s arms, she never really knew her own mother .

  Little Ugly Duckling also woke up and was gently mewing and licking Amy’s arm, it looked quite concerned .

  “Daddy dearest……” having her little fists clasped within Mike’s large warm hands slowly calmed Amy down, she murmured his name a couple more times before subsiding .

  “Just what happened that year? And where is that woman?” Mike tucked Amy’s hands under the quilt, stroked Little Ugly Duckling’s head and frowned to himself . He stood by the little bed, looking down at Amy’s face . He clenched his fists and said quietly to himself . “Alright, though I decided not to look too deeply into the matters in the past, looks like I’ll have to put in some effort looking for Amy’s mother . Surely having her mother beside her will make Amy happier, ba? This little brat, to think that she already learned how to hide her true feelings even at this age, she’s really too sensible for her own good . ”


  Mike went downstairs, doing his best to recall all memories regarding the elf princess . However, who knows whether Michael Alex himself had withheld these memories or that someone had tempered with them, all attempts to recall the princess was met with a blank space .

  “From the way these people do things, she must have been compelled to obey . Otherwise, if it was her own desire, there was no need to risk a war with the Empire by targeting one of their best knights . ” Mike took out some paper and pencil from the cupboard and wrote down names of people as well as their power .

  Michael Alex was a rather proud man, if she meant to break the relationship off, there was no way he would force the issue . However, if there was a third party who wish to break them apart, then that fateful encounter could have been the result .

  However, the party that had managed to heavily injure him, those crippling injuries were paid for by the lives of two rank 9 knights, three rank 9 demons, and one rank 10 wizard . Such was the battle strength of Nolan Continent’s most powerful rank 9 Gryphon Knight .

  “Michael Alex, elf princess, the royal family, Magic Tower, elf race, demon……” Mike read the list softly . These were the powerful people likely to be pulling strings or be directly involved in the matter . Michael Alex himself had already analysed the incident thoroughly, therefore all he had to do was sift through the man’s memories .

  The possible suspect from the royal family was the second prince . The Lost Empire’s King has four sons, the third prince was lame on the right leg, and the fourth prince was only 7 years old . Therefore, only the 30 year old first prince and 26 year old second prince could be possible candidates as heirs for the throne .

  The first prince had a good relationship with the military and experienced actual fighting a few times . Michael Alex had also fought shoulder to shoulder with the first prince, and was looked on favourably by the prince . In short, this prince has the backing of the military, and by default, Michael Alex .

  The second prince, who was rather talented with magic, grew up within the Magic Tower . It was said that though no single mage within the tower had the honour of being his personal teacher, he who humbled himself before all magical fields called himself the disciple of all, and were actually quite respectful even to the humblest of mage within the tower, thereby winning the hearts of mages .

  Therefore the power and influence of these two brothers could be said to be evenly matched, and no one dared to bet who would end up winning the struggle for the throne .

  However, at this crucial point, a Gryphon Knight was found to have single handedly slaughtered dragons, saving the lives of the people not once, but over and over again . The name Michael Alex suddenly overturned the might of the mages within the hearts of the people and soon, within the whole of Nolan Continent, a brilliant name was on everyone’s lips . Michael Alex .

  Soon a saying started to go around: “Gain Michael Alex, Gain the World!”