Fu Lian was walking towards the dining room in her server uniform and with the smiling mask already on her face. 

-----

Du Hong and his disciples were walking down the street to the Abyss Bar and Restaurant. Along with the Elysium University students introduced earlier, there were four other students in the group. They all wore expensive accessories and displayed a sense of overbearing self-importance. As they walked past other people on the sidewalk, they frowned and looked disgusted. Sometimes, they looked at Wan Xinyue, Sun Ning, Gao Wu, and Gao Long with an expression of contempt on their face. Du Hong noticed this and sighed, he would try the soft approach first to change their overbearing attitudes and the hard approach if it didn’t work. 

As the first group of customers arrived, Abyss 1 and 2 activated, Fu Lian stood next to Abyss 1 and waited for his directions. At the same time Du Hong’s group reached the entrance, An old woman could be seen approaching the door. She wore a dark purple dress and high heels. Surprisingly, her hair was a bright reddish-orange color. Du Hong looked at the old woman and a shocked look appeared on his face. He opened his mouth, but then the old woman quickly glared at him for a slight moment which made him close his mouth. Du Hong opened the door and gestured for the old woman to enter first. She flashed a smile and then Du Hong’s group entered after her.

“Welcome to the Abyss Bar & Restaurant dear guests. Are you people together?”

The old woman and Du Hong shook their heads. 

“I’m alone.” 

The old woman spoke first and was led into the dining room. As she followed Abyss 1 to her table, Abyss 2 whispered to Fu Lian. “You will serve this old woman first, I will take care of the larger group.” 

One of the features of the smiling mask was that it displayed footage of the waiting area and dining room so Fu Lian could see who was coming into the restaurant. She nodded and approached the old woman’s table with a pitcher of ice water and a glass cup. Words appeared in front of the old woman.

[Would you like some ice water, dear guest?] 

The old woman smiled and nodded. Crystal clear water with cubes of ice filled up the glass cup. 

[The green button will display the menu and you can tell me what you want to order.] 

Menu for the Abyss Bar & Restaurant

Breakfast/Brunch Specific

• Brown Butter Yeasted Waffles: (50 Credits Per Waffle) *(Toppings are 10 Credits)
  • Toppings: Whipped cream cheese, assorted fruit whipped cream, syrup, chocolate spread

Savory

• Seafood Noodle Soup: (100 Credits)
  • Shellfish stock, handmade wheat noodles
• Spicy Beef Curry: (200 Credits)
  • White rice, spicy curry sauce with chuck roast chunks and potato cubes

Sweet

• Chocolate Strawberry Crepe Cake: (85 Credits Per Slice) *(Only 16 slices are served a day)
  • Chocolate crepes, strawberry whipped cream, dark chocolate ganache 

-------------------

Looking at the menu, the old woman spoke to Fu Lian who was standing in front of her table. “I would like to order one bowl of spicy beef curry and a slice of chocolate strawberry crepe cake.”

[Right away.]

------

Du Hong’s group was seated next to the old woman. Two tables had been connected together to form a table large enough to fit his party of 9. The new customers were seated facing Gao Wu, Gao Long, Wan Xinyue, and Sun Ning while Du Hong sat at the head of the table. Abyss 1 approached Du Hong’s table with a pitcher of ice water and 9 glass cups. Smiling at Abyss 1, Du Hong nodded. The 9 cups were filled and distributed to the customers. Du Hong and his group gave their thanks, but some of them sounded disingenuous. The menu was displayed after Du Hong pressed the green button. Du Hong looked at his disciples and said, “Choose anything that interests you on the menu. I’ll be paying for all of you today.” 

Wan Xinyue, Sun Ning, Gao Wu, and Gao Long ordered two waffles each and several different toppings. They also ordered four slices of the crepe cake. Du Hong ordered two bowls of spicy beef curry. Then, Du Hong gave some advice to the four other students that were still deciding on what to order. “Peng Huang, Peng Hua, you two will probably like the spicy beef curry while Liao Xue and Liao Xang will like the seafood noodle soup.” 

The students decided to go with Du Hong’s suggestions. Du Hong also ordered a slice of crepe cake for each of them and himself. 

“Your food will be ready soon, please call me if you need anything else.”

As they waited for their food, Du Hong leaned towards the old woman’s table and whispered, “Why are you here?” 

The old woman smiled, “Would you believe it if I said that I went on a walk, saw this restaurant, and felt hungry?”

“No way. You have so many renowned chefs that could immediately deliver food to you. Are you here for your heir?” 

She nodded, but didn’t say anything else because Fu Lian had arrived with a bowl of spicy beef curry and a slice of crepe cake. 

[Here is your food. I hope you enjoy it.] 

The old woman thanked her, picked up a metal spoon, and dug into the steaming bowl of curry and rice. Surprised with the well balanced flavors and textures, she nodded in approval and continued to eat the curry. Sensing that someone was looking, she turned and saw Du Hong staring enviously at her, specifically at her spoon of rice covered in curry that had a chunk of beef and potato in it. Smiling, she quickly devoured the bowl of curry. 

Abyss 2 appeared wheeling a cart filled with food. Stopping at Du Hong’s table, he started to distribute the plates of food to everyone. Du Hong quickly dug in followed by Wan Xinyue and her three friends. Peng Huang, Peng Hua, Liao Xue, and Liao Xang took small bites of their food. Realising how delicious the food was, they began to take larger bites.

The old woman finished her bowl of spicy beef curry and was looking at the slice of chocolate strawberry crepe cake. The ganache had oozed down the sides and slices of strawberry could be seen within the layers of fluffy whipped cream. She used a fork to easily split a small piece of the cake and put it in her mouth. 

‘Refreshing!’

That was the first thing that she thought of after taking that bite. Taking another bite, she had had more of the gooey ganache this time. She enjoyed the richness and bitterness of the chocolate that was paired with the light and fluffy whipped cream that was sweet and refreshing due to the strawberries. The other table had started eating their crepe cake slices with expressions of bliss. If people could look into the dining room, they would see 10 people eating with expressions of satisfaction. 

“Thank you for your patronage, we hope that you will come again.”

Fu Chen, Fu Lian, and Abyss 1 and 2 bowed towards the 10 people in the waiting area. The customers expressed their thanks and left.

The old woman was walking behind Du Hong’s group, but then.

“Wait.”

She stopped and turned around.