“What’s with all the hustle and bustle?” demanded Dene, the director of guidance. The commotion at the primary section had earned the attention of the administrative block.

  It was not uncommon for children to get excited during parent-teacher meetings, but this noise was different; it almost sounded like someone was throwing a party.

  “A parent is grilling beef kebabs in front of Teacher Luna’s class,” answered a teacher.

  Dene raised an eyebrow. “What?! Is he out of his goddamn mind? What if he set the campus on fire?”


  “Well, the campus is not on fire, but the roast beef smells so good that many children, parents, and even teachers have gone over to check it out.”


  Dene’s face darkened. “That’s not an example teachers should set for kids! Teacher Luna…… The principal may think highly of her, but that doesn’t mean she gets to do whatever she wants! Allowing a parent to cook in the open air? What is she thinking?!”


  “The principal…… has also gone there.” But Dene had already walked out of the room……

  Dene arrived at the scene and was about to yell at Mag, but then he spied the principal, who was standing in front of the grill holding a beef kebab. “Kids, we need to thank Mag for offering us this amazing food,” Novan said, smiling. “This beef kebab may look ordinary and nothing fancy, but the skills behind it are, I can assure you, the best in the whole city. Even the king of the Roth Empire didn’t get to try this at his birthday banquet, so we’re very lucky.

  “By the way, Mag won the best cook award at the king’s banquet, and he owns a restaurant in the Aden Square, it’s called Mamy Restaurant. I’m sure some of you have dined there or at least heard of it.”


  The parents gazed at Mag in awe, and they suddenly considered the beef kebabs in their hands as something of great value.

  Bevis looked shocked. He cooked for the king?! He lowered his head in embarrassment and bit off another piece of beef.

  As expected of someone who won the best cook award. This beef is heavenly!

  It seems Father likes it too, Joseph thought, disappointed. Adults are so mercurial and fond of lying. They say they don’t want something when they actually do.

  “I heard about his restaurant,” said Joseph’s mother. “It’s famous but really expensive, even more expensive than Ducas Restaurant. It’s full every day, though. The lines waiting outside his restaurant are insanely long.”


  “I often eat at his place,” one man said.

  “I can’t force anything not made by Mag down my throat after I dined there. So I eat there every day. His food is both a blessing and a curse,” said another man.

  “You’re too kind, Principal Novan,” Mag said. “It’s my honor to cook for the children and the teachers. I didn’t mean to disrupt the meeting, but it seems I have, so I must apologize. I’m so sorry.”


  “Dene,” Novan called out, “Mag said he disrupted the meeting. You’re the director of guidance, so I’ll leave it to you to deal with this, but first, try one of these. It’s amazing.”


  Dene walked up to them with a smile. “It must be good if even you’re saying it’s amazing, Principal Novan. Okay, let me try it.”


  He was smiling, but the children knew there was more to that smile than met the eye. They nicknamed him “the Smiling Tiger” behind his back because he was an outwardly kind but inwardly cruel person. They feared him even more than Principal Novan.

  Luna looked anxious. The teachers called him “the Smiling Tiger” too. Even they spoke to him timidly and cautiously, and Luna didn’t think he had come for the food only.

  “Here, Director Dene,” Mag said, handing the last beef kebab to him with a smile. He was ready for whatever punishment Dene wanted to inflict on him. Everyone in Amy’s class had tried at least one kebab, so he could take away his grill for all he cared.

  Dene had thought it was just a normal beef kebab, but he soon found out he couldn’t have been more wrong. It was nothing like the kebabs he had eaten before, and he finished it in no time.

  He gave Mag a thumbs-up. “Principal Novan was right, this is amazing! Now I know why everyone has been drawn here. The taste is really irresistible.”


  Everyone laughed. They were relieved that the Smiling Tiger could be open-minded too.

  “But, the parent-teacher meeting is an important and serious event, and Mag disrupted it,” Dene continued. His smile had died. “However, it’s not his fault, or Teacher Luna’s. It’s my fault. I forgot to add ‘no cooking on campus during the parent-teacher meeting” to the school rules.”