3 Igarashi's uncomfortable sleep

"Xiangling, dear can you get that order?" Shouted Chef Mao, also known as Xiangling's father, in the kitchen

"Y-Yes!" Xiangling shouted as she approach the customer with a book in her hand. And although she listed the customer's order, she did it while reading the book that the person named Chen Yunru next door gave to her.

"Here...!" Xiangling placed the notepad containing the customer's order next to her father as she engrosses herself back in the book

Seeing his daughter's behavior, Mao sweated a bit and asked her: "Little Ling, can you help your father? There are too many people today..."

Hearing this, Xiangling immediately closed the book and replied "Y-Yes! Sorry, Dad."

She gave it to Gouba and let him hold onto it for a while.

Gouba didn't try to do anything with it. Rather, he just flipped each page without reading anything. He eventually got bored of it and placed it down on a table nearby.

The Wanmin restaurant continued its business as usual until 6 p.m. which is its closing time.

The sky outside was now tainted purplish-orange. Xiangling and Gouba were cleaning the tables beside the restaurant with some white fabric.

"Phew... That finishes it then." Xiangling said as she wiped her forehead

"Lo ♪ Lo ♪ Lo ♪" Gouba said.

Xiangling nodded and they both entered Wanmin Restaurant once more. There, she saw her father picking up some food ingredients to be placed away.

When Chef Mao saw her, he stopped what he was doing and took the initiative to ask her: "Little Ling, can I ask you something...?"

Hearing her father, Xiangling replied "What is it, dad?"

"Well... I couldn't help but notice that you were... Distracted earlier." Chef Mao said as he scratched his head before pointing at the manga that Igarashi gave Xiangling. "What were you reading?"

Xiangling made an almost 'O' expression as she totally forgot about the book! 'I forgot about it!'

She went to the table that her father was pointing at and took it and explained. "This was given to me by the person that bought the property next to us."

"Oh? You mean the boy that looked quite young to even be able to buy land? Did he not have any adults accompanying him?" Check Mao asked half-jokingly

Xiangling just shook her head and replied, "No, he was the only one in there. I managed to take a small glimpse inside and saw that there were many papers inside, moreover, he gave this book to me and confirmed my guess that he's a writer that is selling his work."

When Chef Mao heard her reply, he was even more confused than before. The city of Liyue is quite known as an economic zone, as such, many merchants from different nations visit the harbor to trade. Some even stayed here and opened their own shops. But the most popular business in Liyue is culinary.

Liyue is home to two rival culinary traditions, conveniently named the "Li" and "Yue" styles. Foodies in Liyue are staunch supporters of one style or the other and have long been embroiled in a bitter battle to prove the superiority of their style.

In this war waged by culinary snobs, ostentation is everything, flavor gets forgotten, and nothing is a simple matter of taste. Much to the consternation of Liyue's chefs, the Li vs. Yue debate eats up all of the region's rare cooking ingredients in the pursuit of ever-more-pretentious dishes.

So it's no wonder that food is the best business in Liyue. So, when Chef Mao heard that the young man that looked no older than 17 years old actually set up a business involving literature, he was surprised.

'No way... Will he be able to survive the cruelty of the merchants in Liyue?' Chef Mao thought. He had been in liyue for a long time, as such, he knows how the merchants act here. Once they see an opportunity like a new business, they'll try to oppress it and try to not let it grow and overcome them.

Chef Mao could only sigh and wish the boy luck.

He stopped his thinking and paid attention to his daughter once more. She was now sitting down on a chair as she continued reading the book that was given to her.

Seeing his daughter's focus on the book, Chef Mao thought that perhaps the book that the young man was selling may be good. 'I mean, Xiangling seems like she likes it, so it must be not that bad, right?'

"By the way, what was his name again?" Asked Chef Mao

Xiangling didn't get her eyes off the book and just replied: "Chen Yunru!"

After that, she went back to reading.

Chef Mao sighed again and just let his daughter read the book. He grabbed a basket full of vegetables again and carried them off.

* * *

"Ow..." Grumbled Igarashi

Right now, he was laying down on a cold, hard, wooden floor. He didn't even have any blanket and just slept there. The place he was sleeping in is the second floor of the building. But hey, at least he's not sleeping outside, so he's not complaining.

The sun's light was shining through the three windows, casting them on Igarashi's face. This resulted in him waking up.

Igarashi slowly stood up and did some mild stretches. "Urgh... My back feels numb..."

He then looked at the room he was in and sighed. "*Sigh* I swear that if I have enough Mora, I'll buy an extremely comfortable bed..."

Igarashi stopped sulking and went downstairs. There, he saw two books stacked on top of each other and another wide-opened with a pen at the side.

Ever since Xiangling left yesterday, he immediately went to work with the books and tried to make as many as he could. But unfortunately, the fatigue got to him and he was forced to fall asleep because it was already nighttime back then. So far, he only managed to make two books that have the complete 8 chapters of 'Your Name'. And another one that was unfinished because of the fatigue.

*Angry stomach noises*

"Uh oh." Igarashi muttered.

He was hungry. He opened the system inventory again and took out the radial soup he saved up yesterday by keeping it in the system inventory to not spoil it. After taking out the radish soup, he started eating it until it was gone.

*Burp*

"Ah..." Igarashi sighed in relief

He checked his system info again and found that nothing had changed. He focused his attention on his stats and frowned as he finally realized how weak he was. 'Maybe if I finish the current quest I have, the system will upgrade my status?'

The system didn't reply.

*Sigh...*

He then pulled out a chair and sat down again and picked up the [A Scholar's Friend] and started drawing once more.

"I need to finish this fast and sell them for some Mora. I just hope that Xiangling is sharing the word with people she knows to attract some potential customers..." Igarashi muttered as he started drawing once more.