"So they are still holding on?" a man asked. He was wearing a brown medieval suit, simple but elegant. His body was not too thin and not too fat either, but the most noticeable feature was the bald patch on his head. He was currently inside a room, sitting while drinking a steaming cup of tea.
"Seems to be like that, Manager Fu," a man wearing the Skyline Savory attire said. It was a simple suit of dark blue and white with the name of the restaurant sewn on the right chest. This man was the personal assistant to the manager of this branch. With dark brown hair and black eyes, the man stood in front of Manager Fu with his hands behind his back.
"Are they planning something?" Manager Fu muttered, his eyes glancing at the window that let him see what was happening downstairs. The workers of this branch were already up in the morning, preparing the plates and cleaning the place.
Unlike the Filly restaurant with two floors for their diners, their restaurant only used the first floor for the patrons, while the second floor was where the kitchen and the staff were. However, the first floor had a partition: the common area and the VIP area where the wealthy and affluent ate.
"Do you want me to investigate?" the assistant, Alek, asked.
"No need. It's just a matter of time before they close down. Even if they still have customers, it won't be enough to cover their operational costs," Manager Fu said, a confident smile on his face.
Alek also smiled. Being part of the greatest restaurant in the city, and probably in other cities too, made him feel proud. This gave him confidence to look down on commoners even though he was not a cultivator.
"I have a question," Manager Fu turned back to his assistant.
"Tell me, Manager Fu," Alek said.
"There's a beggar beside that little girl's restaurant, right?" Manager Fu asked.
Hearing the question, Alek thought for a while. "I think I saw him. It's a kid. Around 8 or 9?"
"So he's really a beggar? Not just some kid playing around?" Manager Fu asked once more.
"I think so. Why, Manager Fu?" Alek asked.
"If that kid is a beggar, why haven't they kicked him out yet? That will tarnish their reputation," Manager Fu said. "I think we're missing something."
"Do you want me to take care of him?" Alek asked, his eyes turning cold. Although he was not a cultivator, it didn't mean he couldn't hire one and let them do the job.
"No need," Manager Fu shook his head. "That's actually better. They tarnish their own reputation by not doing anything about that beggar."
"Haha, you really are smart, Manager Fu," Alek praised the man in front of him with a smile.
"Of course. And I also think that's probably one of the reasons why their customers left them and decided to eat here!" Manager Fu said, laughing.
"Hahahah!" Although Alek didn't find it funny, he still laughed because that's what a good employee does. Stroking your boss's ego was one of the reasons why he had made it this far.
As the early morning sun rose, the door to the Filly Restaurant opened, and Gail's head peeked out. Seeing that the Skyline Savory branch was busy preparing for the day, she stepped outside and stood in front of their menu.
She started writing on it before heading back inside the restaurant. Once inside, she immediately went upstairs to where Filly was situated.
"It's done," Gail said with a smile on her face.
"Good," Filly nodded. "Now we wait until they discover it."
"Okay, but… why do we have to do it discreetly?" Gail tilted her head in confusion. "Can't we just go advertise it to people so they will know that our menu has changed and new ingredients have been added?"
Filly shook her head. "We can't. Skyline Savory will definitely make a move. I wouldn't even be surprised if they sent someone to spy on us and maybe steal the recipe to our new menu. Once they feel threatened, they will show their fangs."
"Oh, I get it," Gail finally understood.
After a while, the two of them went out of the room and stood before the railings on the second floor to observe what was happening below. There were already two customers entering. Because it was still early in the morning, they decided to order a simple meal of milk and bread.
However, when they saw the menu, they couldn't help but look closer as they found something new.
"What's this? Scrambled Egg with Bread?" the woman muttered.
"A monster egg, perhaps?" the man answered while glancing up at the waiter.
"No, Sir and Ma'am, it's just a normal egg but cooked differently," the server said. "Would you like to try it?"
The couple looked at each other before they nodded. "Sure, two orders, please."
"Coming right up!" The waiter took their menu before he went to the kitchen and relayed the order to the chefs.
"I wonder if they will like it," Filly muttered while observing everything. Her eyes landed on the kitchen where she saw Temor immediately start cooking.
"Although it's simple, it's delicious," Gail said from the side. "I didn't know that eggs could be cooked like that."
"It's new to me too," Filly said with a chuckle. That 'beggar' classified it as simple in the journal that he wrote, but this simple dish is too simple yet still delicious. There are a number of 'simple' recipes in the journal that they still haven't tried, but they knew that all of them must be delicious.
They already believe that everything written in the journal is true and new, something that they hadn't thought was possible.
"It's impossible without that oil," Gail said.
"Shh!" Filly glared while making a quiet gesture.
"S-sorry," Gail bowed her head.
"Remember, Gail, oil is going to be our secret. Even if people know about the other ingredients, we do not say the word oil. We will never reveal our secret," Filly whispered so only the two of them could hear.
Gail nodded vigorously.
In no time, the couple's meal was brought to them by the server.
Two orders of milk and scrambled egg with bread.