Chapter 27: 24

Chapter 24

Good Boy

Translated by boilpoil
Edited by boilpoil

 

At a quarter past six that evening, during the restaurant’s rush hour, Bai Yao has to focus on both making the meals and delivering them to the customers. He’s busy as a bee.

Every seat is filled, and there are also people queueing outside.

Tonight, mussel ramen is especially popular, with most tables having ordered one each. Fortunately, Bai Yao cooks the broth and noodles beforehand, so he is basically working assembly. It’s busy but manageable.

While making the meal, he’s once again thinking about hiring a new waiter. This year, he felt like he’s been serving more customers on average than before. He thought he could get by until the end of the summer festival, but it doesn’t look like he could anymore.

Then Bai Yao starts thinking about Mu Mu’er. It feels unsafe to hire a human in this case. Mu Mu’er does not understand the significance of hiding his identity. If he actually transformed in front of a human, then it’s all over.

It’d have been best if he could hire someone like a sentient mountain goat, although one might simply faint at his presence.

When he goes to delivery the meal, he happens to see two children playing about in the restaurant, occasionally screaming, without considering they’re in public at all.

The parents of them seem generally apathetic as well, still busy chatting amongst themselves at their table.

The two brats then end up next to the bathroom, and starts using Mu Mu’er’s stone as a toy, jumping on top in turn, and striking poses, seeing who can stand up there the longest.

The noise is really quite loud, and is already disturbing some other tables.

If Bai Yao wasn’t waiting for the soup to finish cooking that he could shut the valve off at the best moment, he’d have dragged the two children by the ear back to their parents and get them to properly supervise them.

The soup cannot overcook by a very narrow margin, so Bai Yao can only return to the kitchen.

The peak rush hour is from 6pm to about 7:30pm. After that, the restaurant will start to empty out.

Bai Yao’s restaurant doesn’t have a rule against sitting at a table for too long, so unfortunately, he finds the table with the children not leaving for a long time. It’s getting annoying.

He can hear their blabbering from the kitchen with the closed door. They don’t want to eat, they’re bored, they want to go to the bathroom, etc.

What a mess.

And they keep playing with Mu’er’s big rock at the bathroom door, maybe because they’ve never seen something this weird in a restaurant.

Another half an hour later, it’s almost eight. Bai Yao finally see them get up to leave.

Finally. His ears are getting a well-deserved rest. Bai Yao sees the troublesome customers out while considering if he should make a sign that all customers with children cannot stay for over half an hour.

The threshold over which he cannot accept being bombarded with screams.

“Enjoy your meal,” Bai Yao says, putting down a dish, when he notices Mu Mu’er holding his big rock with a nervous expression, wobbling from the bathroom towards the kitchen, looking like he’s about to die.

With the rock in hand, he rushes inside the kitchen before Bai Yao, who follows slowly, watching Mu Mu’er wrapping his hand around his big rock with worry, and blanking out in the middle of the kitchen.

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As the tables outside can’t see the inside of the kitchen clearly, Bai Yao chuckles and decides to tease Mu Mu’er, “were you worried the rock would grow legs and run away?”

Mu Mu’er shakes his head, looking all serious, while hugging his rock more tightly.

“It has no leg. It cannot run,” he thinks about it, then adds, feeling the rock in his hand, “it is too heavy to run.”

And finally, he explains, “too many people.”

He was watching the two brats play on his rock like a toy, hopping on and off. Mu Mu’er was really worried the rock would collapse all of a sudden, and so would his heart.

In the entire restaurant, he thinks Bai Yao’s kitchen is the only safe place from bad children. So after they have finally left, he immediately hugs the rock and carries it into the kitchen, putting it in the middle of it.

This is too important to him. It is the only way for him to ensure a meal. He crouches down next to it to guard it 24/7 afterwards.

It appears he has yet to grasp that humans don’t need to smash their sea urchins open on rocks.

Bai Yao says nothing, but sighs and continues cooking dishes. The sea otter cannot understand, so it might be better not to waste the time.

One big rock and one Mu Mu’er in the middle of the kitchen makes it a bit crowded. Bai Yao, with a plate of bok choi in his hand, is going to turn and empty them inside the oily wok, but forgot about the rock and kicks right into it. He almost drops the entire plate of bok choi on Mu’er’s head.

His toes are splitting apart, but Bai Yao manages to hold his scream in. This must be what they call ‘lifting a stone only to have it drop onto your feet,’ literally. Worse than stepping on Lego.

“… Are you trying to trip me to death? Don’t put it here.”

Mu Mu’er gives Bai Yao a frightened look, before lifting the stone up once more, and holding it tightly like a treasure, and perhaps complaining to Bai Yao a little for kicking it, even.

He looks like he could really do with some lovely petting right now.

The kitchen is too small for the rock to be wherever; it’s going to block the way. After Mu Mu’er turns around with the rock and finds nowhere to put it, he can only squeeze himself into a corner.

With most of the stovetops running at full strength, and it’s quite hot and stuffy everywhere in the kitchen, even with the windows open. Mu Mu’er doesn’t seem like he’s going to leave, though, and he continues staying in the corner despite the heat.

Bai Yao is too busy to care for him right now, because several dishes are going to be done in rapid succession. When he’s finally a bit less busy, he looks around only to see Mu Mu’er’s arm almost shaking, no longer able to hold the stone tightly. He’s leaning on the wall like a withered houseplant with doggy eyes.

Bai Yao’s heart is melting. He sighs and tells him, “just put it down if you can’t hold it in your hands anymore. Does your arm not hurt?” But he’s still holding his kitchen knife, so he doesn’t walk over.

Mu Mu’er, though, still seems wary that Bai Yao tripped over his stone, and wouldn’t let it go lightly. Finally, after some thought, he sits onto the ground, then puts the rock onto his leg. Now Bai Yao won’t trip over it. He seems to think he was very clever, smiling proudly at Bai Yao.

Bai Yao is ‘impressed.’ What a logical and simple boy cute to a fault. He can’t even begin to chastise him.

“Alright, alright, just put it here. I’ll keep an eye on it,” he relents, allowing Mu Mu’er to put it in the middle of the kitchen. He just needs to walk around it, and at worst, he’ll just be short a toe or two in the end.

Mu Mu’er, though, shakes his head firmly, hugging his beloved stone tighter, “there are, bad people.”

After these days together, Bai Yao is already able to decipher Mu Mu’er’s riddles somewhat, and promises him, “when there are people like that, I’ll kick him right out of the restaurant. Promise, ok?”

Mu Mu’er thinks about it, seemingly working out if Bai Yao has enough strength to kick bad people out. Seeing Bai Yao’s tall stature and firm arms, he finally seems to come to a decision, and puts the stone in the middle of the kitchen obediently.

Bai Yao doesn’t know the mental olympics going on inside him, and nods, “good boy.”

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