Volume 14 - CH 3

Chapter 3: Dim Sum House Chaos

Location: Atlantis Time: 6:05 AM

While I was still confused, the school festival soon descended upon us as time passed.

On the first day of the school festival, the rest of the people in the Black Dorm all got up early.

Early in the morning, I held the dim sum house uniform as I was about to knock on Senior’s door, when the door was abruptly pulled open.

I was stunned for a moment. The one who opened the door wasn’t Senior, but instead, senior Gasai.

“Chu? So early?” Senior Gasai was clearly stunned too, before he curved into a slight smile, “That’s right, your class also has to prepare early, right?” He moved aside.

“Nn, I have the first morning shift, from nine to eleven o’clock, so I have to get there early to do the morning preparations first.” After eleven o’clock, someone else will take over till one o’clock. From one o’clock to two, there will be reinforcements, so everyone can rest for one hour, and from two to four is the last shift. This is the shift schedule that Miao Miao arranged.

As soon as I stepped into Senior’s room, I was met head-on with a very fragrant smell.

“Yang Yang.” A black thing suddenly pounced over and grabbed my thigh. Lowering my head to look, it was Xiao Ting, “There’s breakfast.”

Raising my head, I saw that the table in Senior’s room was actually uncommonly piled up with things, all of which were food.

“Eh? Where’s Senior?” It was only then that I noticed that the owner of the room didn’t seem to be present.

“He’s in the room changing. You should go wash up first.” Looking at the things in my hand, Gasai probably guessed what I wanted to do, “I’m going downstairs to get some tea. I’ll come up later.” Saying that, he walked out.

Turns out he was going out of the room to get tea just now. I really did come just in time.

I looked at the living obstacle still holding on to my leg, “Xiao Ting, I have to wash my face, brush my teeth and change my clothes.”

Xiao Ting lifted her head to look at me, “Xiao Ting has new clothes.” She raised her right hand.

Once she said that, I noticed that today she wasn’t wearing that simple kimono from before, but rather, a more resplendent high-grade kimono with layers upon layers. The skirt dragged on the ground in a circle, and it was even stained with a sugary residue. Upon closer inspection, the golden-eyed little black snake MeiMei’s hairstyle had also changed; her entire front bangs were neatly cut.

This appearance made me think of something that would appear in Japan.

“Xiao Ting is making a cameo appearance in the haunted house.” She blinked her shiny golden eyes and hehehe-ingly laughed.

“…Could it be that you’re making a cameo appearance as a *zashiki-warashi?” The image the little black snake MeiMei in front currently gave me was this feeling.

[T/N: They are mischievous childlike yokai who supposedly bring fortune to those they haunt]

It just so happens that she’s also short, very suitable for it.

Xiao Ting blinked as she looked at me, “Master only told me to stand there and eat all the people I see coming over.”

…All the people you see will be eaten, huh?

I won’t go in the haunted house even if you beat me to death!

“If you go to the haunted house, you probably wouldn’t even get to take a step before dying at the entrance.” An icy voice drifted over behind me, and my whole scalp became numb. Stiffly turning to look, sure enough, I saw that Senior was already standing in the bedroom doorway at some point.

After being numb, I froze for a second.

Senior was dressed differently from usual…No, it’s completely different, how should I say it…He’s dressed very majestically…

“Senior, you, what kind of ghost are you dressed as?” I looked until I became a bit cross-eyed. Senior wore a whole set of very ancient-Chinese-looking black clothes. It felt like finery, the kind of finery a military commander would wear. It was adorned with golden embroidered figures, and also gave off the feel of a decorative armor. His entire hair was black and tied into a ponytail behind his head; his face was as pale as usual and his eyes were still red. However, because his eyes were still red, when paired with this kind of outfit, he seemed a bit terrifying.

“A mass grave ghost.” He replied to me in an irritated tone.

Does a mass grave ghost need to be dressed like this?

He’s dressed like someone who can directly crush a person to death with pressure without killing!

Simply super pressuring.

“You can try getting crushed by me.” Senior’s face was stormy, very stormy, stormy to the extreme, “I can tell you that this set of clothing and armor basically weighs twenty kilograms. I wonder if that moron responsible for the clothing sent the armor to the Dwarf Clan instead of the Elven Clan or Fairy Clan!”

The Elven Clan and Fairy Clan make lighter ones?

I looked at Senior’s sullen face and took a step back.

…I guess it probably would be lighter, “Senior, you guys didn’t previously try on the costumes?” Like our uniforms, we all tried them on before.

“No, other than what we made ourselves in class, the other half of the clothes sent out to be made were only delivered to us yesterday night.” He tugged the armor’s ornaments hard, which issued a very low noise.

But I actually think that noise sounded pretty nice, apart from its shortcoming of being very heavy.

Just as the surroundings suddenly quieted down, with only the sound of Xiao Ting taking big bites of food, the door was opened again and Gasai walked in carrying tea, “Eh, it looks pretty good.” He looked at Senior and smiled very happily, “The costume team really did make the right choice when they appointed you with this appearance at the time. You look like an evil spirit from the ancient battlefields, very impressive.”

Evil spirit from the ancient battlefields?

I suddenly wanted to see what kind of scene that’ll be.

But for the sake of my life, I think it’s best to not go in

“Gasai!” Senior revealed a very fierce expression.

“Alright, alright, I won’t say any more.” Senior Gasai was in a considerably cheerful mood that I rarely saw. He carried the tea to the table and put it down, “Chu, didn’t you want to wash up?”

Once he said that, I realized that I didn’t change into the uniform and wash up yet.

After rushing into the bathroom, I used the fastest speed to finish dressing.

Our dim sum house’s uniform was simple. It was a modified Tang suit. The top and pants were all cream-colored with green totems at the bottom, and looked very fresh and comfortable. The boys wore long pants and the girls skirt-pants. The sleeves and collar on the tops were a bit different.

After walking out of the washroom, I saw Senior in the middle of tearing off his armor, and senior Gasai had run off to who-knows-where.

“Gasai went to try on the clothes.” Senior glared at me, and I could totally tell that he was in a terrible mood.

“Aih…Senior, weren’t you going to directly wear it to the classroom…” He threw the armor on the sofa nearby.

“Who wants to directly wear it to the classroom!?” Red eyes full of murder looked over at me, causing me to subconsciously take a step back, “It was delivered yesterday night and I didn’t get to try it on; otherwise, you think I would be bored enough to wear a twenty-kilogram clothes here early in the morning and eat breakfast!?”

Cough cough, indeed you wouldn’t…

But I never thought senior Gasai would actually be so keen on preparing for the school festival.

A series of clattering sounds came from the side, and in less than a few minutes, Senior already removed the whole set of clothes, leaving only the ponytail. He kicked away the armor at his feet out of resentment, before changing into the ordinary clothes he usually wore.

Not long after his clothes were completely removed, the door was once again opened.

“Pfft—”

I caught the cup Xiao Ting sent over just in time and took a sip of milk, and seeing the person who appeared at the door, I directly spurt it out on the spot.

“Yang Yang, that’s so dirty!”

Xiao Ting issued a cry.

***

“Yang Yang, why have you been snickering from morning till now?”

At eight o’clock, the kitchen preparations were almost coming to a close already. After the chef Miao Miao pushed the cookies and cakes into the oven, she pulled me down to squat on the floor and chat.

“Nothing.” As soon as I thought about what I saw in the morning, I started to want to laugh again.

It’s simply brilliant. Just who was it that decided to prank senior Gasai like this? But he seems to be very happy wearing it…There’s no way he requested it himself, right?

“What are you two talking about here? We’re about to officially open in a moment.” Chifuyu walked in from outside, pushing his glasses.

Chufuyu also had the first shift.

At this time, the dim sum house was still very empty inside, because the school festival had an opening ceremony at eight. Except for the first shift’s preparation team members, everyone else had to join the opening ceremony, so the entire classroom range was rather empty.

“Yang Yang knows why you’ve been secretly laughing since morning.” Miao Miao pointed to me and spoke in a tone that seemed like I was possessed.

“Yang Yang, don’t be too excited. This whole day will be exciting enough for you.” Leaning on a small table at the side, Chifuyu took a cookie that wasn’t baked properly and threw it into his mouth.

Ryan directly drifted over behind her, not saying a word.

Likewise in the storage group, Ryan had the last shift, but from the looks of this situation, both of them have probably coordinated so that the two of them can finish the two shifts together.

I stood up, my two hands smacking Chifuyu’s shoulders hard, with a heavy tone as I said: “Chifuyu, you must go to the haunted house. I guarantee that it will be worthwhile.” I began to want to laugh again.

“?” Chifuyu looked at me with a face of confusion.

“I think the most memorable part of the haunted house this time will be the murderous ghost’s partner.” Pressing on Chifuyu’s shoulders, I grinned happily as I told him.

Chifuyu’s mind must be currently full of why the murderous ghost’s partner would make me laugh so hard.

But sometimes, there are things that are more interesting when you experience them personally.

So I don’t intend on telling him what I saw. He’ll know when he goes to see it.

“I heard the haunted house this time around is scary, very scary, super scary. How about we go check it out together after everyone’s off from work?” Miao Miao stood up, patting off the dust on her pant-skirt as she said.

Basically, I think anything with Senior around will definitely be very scary.

“Can I skip it?” I personally feel that preserving my life is more important.

The other three turned their heads and looked at me with the same thought in mind: “No!”

Wah! I still don’t want to die yet.

“It seems to be about time. Everyone should get to your positions first.” Chifuyu, who still seemed confused, glanced at the time, and after cutting off the haunted house topic, he walked out dragging Ryan who still wanted to steal rice balls.

I glanced at the clock on the kitchen counter: eight fifty-seven.

Three more minutes till nine o’clock.

“Yang Yang, take this and put it on the counter. I forgot to give it to Chifuyu and the others just now.” Miao Miao took a small bamboo basket and gave it to me. It was filled with packaged little candy bags, “This is a small snack for customers to take away.”

“Okay.” I took the bamboo basket and ran out of the kitchen.

Our class’s dim sum house took up a lot of space in our classroom.

It wasn’t an ordinary classroom; it was that special classroom, which had specifications that were probably twice as large as an ordinary classroom’s. The seats employed the kneeling style of the Japanese-tatami mats, and each one was separated by screens and surrounded by scenic flower pots and small bamboo pots. This whole design was proposed by Chifuyu. Since he said his home also gave off this feeling, he had a role in the purchasing of all the decorations, and the entire thing had a very Japanese oriental feel; it actually complemented the clothes strangely well.

Because the classroom floor was raised with the tatami mats, when we walk, we essentially have to take off our shoes and only wear socks. To me, it felt very refreshing.

“Chifuyu.” Since there were no customers, I directly ran up to the counter, “Miao Miao told me to bring this over…? Where’s Ryan?”

I didn’t see the other person.

Chifuyu took the little basket, “The girlfriend of someone from the foreign affairs group came to find him, so Ryan switched shifts with him. The counter will be handled by him in the afternoon. Ryan went to the foreign affairs group for a research report.”

“That really is such a coincidence.”

“Ha, quite a lot of people’s girlfriends/boyfriends will be coming today, since it’s a huge school event, so you’ll probably see many people secretly changing shifts. It wouldn’t only be our class with this situation, of course.” Chifuyu picked up an abacus in the counter and shook it, issuing a few crisp sounds from impact.

Wait a minute, an abacus?

“You’re using an abacus to charge money!?” Shouldn’t it be the time of calculators and checkout counters now? Why do I still see such an ancient thing?

“Yeah, can’t I use it?” Chifuyu looked at me with a confused expression, “I’m very skilled with the abacus.”

…What else can I say.

Nine o’clock.

Right after the kitchen was fully prepared (it was actually Miao Miao who did practically all the preparations), we heard the voices of the foreign affairs group calling out welcome.

Then, there was a sound of something like exclamation.

One of the classmates from the foreign affairs group rushed over, “Hey hey! There’s a white robe from another school and a black robe from our school!” He used the kind of tone as if he’d seen an extinct animal to shout at the kitchen group.

A white robe from another school and black robe from our school?

“Who are they? The first group of customers is already such a big fish. Remember to put them at a spot closer to outside to attract other customers.” The class rep, who popped out of who-knows-where, said to that member of the foreign affairs group.

“Oh, okay.” The classmate from the foreign affairs group immediately ran off again.

The kitchen quickly became noisy too. It seems like everyone’s very interested in that black robe.

Are black robes that rare?

I keep feeling that it wasn’t anything strange. It’s probably because I usually see so many that I’m already numb to them…

“Yang Yang, I need a cake set over here.” Currently looking at the menu and making tea, Miao Miao spoke to me and immediately pulled my wandering mind back.

“Oh, okay.”

Cake, cake…I looked at the already-prepared cake set and quick-sightedly carried a tray to Miao Miao.

The kitchen began to become lively.

The unknown black robe and white robe outside clearly achieved our goal of attracting customers. The dim sum menus were continuously sent over through the window.

Just as everyone was bustling around, I suddenly felt my right eyelid twitch and kept getting the feeling that something bad would happen. Based on my personal experiences from years before, usually when the preparation for something goes too smoothly, it will definitely become tragic later.

“Sorry to bother, can I borrow your kitchen for a moment?”

Such a familiar voice.

Very familiar, extremely familiar.

I turned my head and saw someone who couldn’t be more familiar.

“Nile?”

“Mr. Chu.” The other person very politely gave a slight nod.

Wait a minute, Nile came, so that means the black robe outside…

“I want to use the kitchen for a moment. Five minutes will be enough.” A bottle of red wine with a high-grade mark absurdly appeared in Nile’s hand.

“Please use.” Miao Miao magnanimously lent it.

Why would Randall run over here to drink wine!?

If he wants to drink, he can just drink in his own house!

“Aih? Turns out the temporary kitchen looks like this. So fun, it’s completely different from the Black Dorm’s.” Another voice that made my scalp even more numb drifted over, and then the entire kitchen group stopped, their gazes looking toward the doorway, “Hallo, cute Yang Yang, Big Sister is here to visit your class.”

I don’t wish for you to come visit my class.

Who would want to see a demon with a tail come to visit their class.

Ignoring the commotion at the doorway, Nile, who was preparing the wine bottle, moved swiftly and soon found a silver plate (our kitchen group doesn’t have this sort of thing), putting the wine bottle, wine cup and snacks on it.

“Yang Yang, there are others who came to visit the class.” Unceremoniously walking into the kitchen like it’s her house without any sense of being courteous, Nuelle directly put her arm on my shoulder, “Come out and keep the customers company.”

“I’m sorry, I’m not going in the water.” Instinctively responding, I subconsciously answered her words.

[T/N: going in the water=getting involved in bad things]

What “keep the customers company”!?

Have you ever heard of a dim sum house keeping the customers company!?

“I like kiddos who won’t go in the water the most, come on.” Nuelle curved into a scary smile and directly pulled my arms with both hands, dragging me away from the front of the oven with super strength.

“You can’t, I have to look after the oven…Miao Miao” Save me!

That kitchen leader actually looked at me with a sorrowful expression.

“Yang Yang, you can rest in peace, we will remember your contributions to the class.” Miao Miao even drew a cross on her chest!

Are you my friend or not!?

“Oh hehe, your classmates have all promised. You should give up and come along.”

Otherwise, (you think) we’re currently acting in some drama!?

My resistance failed, I was directly dragged out of the kitchen by Nuelle. The tragic part was that no one actually came to stop her.

My popularity was actually bad enough to drill into the center of the earth, I should examine it.

The tatamis outside had become very lively. At that outermost table of duck meat sat several people wearing black robes. The entire house’ line of sights were almost all concentrated there.

“I grabbed someone to accompany us.” Nuelle stuffed me into a seat, then sat beside me.

“Isn’t Yang Yang busy? You didn’t have to force him to come out.” The one farthest from Nuelle’s seat was Andy.

I actually saw a demon sitting together with an angel and vampire, I should go get a camera and photograph it as an eternal marvel!

“He wasn’t busy.”

That’s not right, I was busy!

Speaking of which, I found a tiny question, “Why are you all wearing black robes?” I remember that they wear ordinary clothes when they weren’t working?

Andy curved into a smile and leaned over to whisper: “We have to guard the campus security today, but we can move about freely.”

Oh, that’s right, I remember that the events are open to the public.

“We originally planned to go to the haunted house, but the line at the haunted house was too long, so we came over here to drink tea and chat while awaiting orders. When there are less people, we’ll go to the haunted house again.” Randall leisurely said this, and the butler who had already returned to his side helped him pour a cup of red wine that was completely unrelated to the background.

You guys also plan to go to the haunted house?

“I heard that this year’s haunted house cooperated with the medical team. When we just passed by now, we saw many incomplete ●● being carried out.” Nuelle said something that made me very afraid.

What was being carried out?

That thing of Senior and the others simply isn’t a haunted house but a slaughterhouse, right!?

That’s right, speaking of slaughterhouses, I just realized that we seem to be missing something, “I think I heard there was also a white robe just now…” But it looks like the seats are full of black robes now?

“Oh, you’re talking about Leido from Alis Academy, right? He was still here just now, but he said he wanted to go out for a stroll and will come over later.” Andy quickly helped me with an answer.

Leido came?

My eyelid twitched a few times again.

I had a very bad feeling.

Just as I felt that today definitely won’t go that smoothly, a sudden explosive sound came from the temporary kitchen.

“The boiler exploded!”

I just knew it.

“The boiler exploded!”

“Hurry up and take the things away!”

Right after I made up an excuse and quickly fled the table of black robes, I returned to the kitchen, and saw an extremely chaotic scene before me. One of the kitchens had exploded for some reason and was now burning.

As soon as I stepped into the kitchen, a raging fire was on show.

So spectacular!

Did you guys let celebratory fireworks rise in the kitchen?

“Yang Yang! Catch!” Miao Miao ran over with an entire basket of bread and gave me a huge shock, but thankfully I immediately caught it, or else it would’ve been laughable if the bread fell on the floor, “Put out the fire quick!”

Several classmates surrounded the flames, folding their arms to chant an incantation of praises. In a short few seconds, sure enough, the flames gradually subsided leaving only the blackened boiler in place.

I glanced at the bread basket in my hands, full of fresh bread that had been baked not long ago. The fragrance overflowed amid the scorching fire, and its gentle relaxing smell almost caused me to become hungry again.

“What are you guys playing at? We could hear it very clearly outside.” Chifuyu’s face appeared by the delivery counter, looking inside with doubt.

“I don’t know why the boiler suddenly blew up just now. It’s been dealt with already.” Instructing the kitchen group to clean up the aftermath, Miao Miao said without turning her head.

“Please soundproof it first if you want to blow something up next time. You’ll scare the customers away.”

The problem doesn’t lie here!

Who knows when the boiler and whatnot will explode!

“Alright, you go do your own stuff, don’t be noisy here.” Miao Miao turned her head and waved to hurry him on, quickly driving Chifuyu out of the range of her sight.

The people in the kitchen group moved swiftly and cleaned up the site of the boiler explosion accident in an instant, so fast that it was like an expert in handling disasters had arrived. Not even a bit of ash or black was left behind.

I looked at the boiler wreckage that had been cleared away. On it was a large hole. I wonder how it came about.

The time now is nine fifty, and one boiler has been blown up.

“Yang Yang, can you help me arrange the meals together?” Miao Miao beckoned to me, and I hurriedly came over to the clean table by the side. Over there were many rescued meals. From time to time, there were also people from the foreign affairs group coming in to carry the dessert. The work of serving the dim sum house’s customers continued without interruption.

Speaking of which, just how in the world did the boiler explode?

“F**k! So it was this thing!” Classmate A who was inspecting the boiler let out a cry, and we all turned our heads and saw a mysterious charred turtle shell appear in his hand.

Why would the kitchen have a turtle?

Who was bored enough to bring a turtle into the kitchen!?

“A flame beast. They like warm places.” Miao Miao took the turtle shell and looked it over for a while before throwing it back, “When it came in, no one told it that the boiler temperature would cook it?”

Everyone shook their heads.

This is such a sad tragedy.

A turtle that likes flames and warmth came in and became a roasted turtle, even blowing up a boiler.

It really…

Where in the world would a weird event like this happen, tell me!

The hell!

“Then what should we do with this flame beast?” Classmate B took a plate and put the turtle shell on it. Looks like there’s also that. If you add a little lettuce, a gourmet might like it.

“Bring him to the medical team and see if there’s any way to revive him.” Miao Miao pushes the plate aside.

Oh right, I heard that people can’t die at our school, but does this principle apply to turtles?

“Okay.” Classmate B rushed out with the plate like this.

I bet someone will definitely stop him and ask how he can buy this dish later.

“Table No.3 is added to the second refreshment group, two servings. Another new menu has been sent to the delivery counter.”

“Coming!”

Taking the meal set that Miao Miao matched up, I quickly sent it to the ordering counter. Now I suddenly deeply realized that it turns out my biggest task in the kitchen is delivering food.

Ryan’s face appeared outside the ordering counter, “Classmate, it’s almost time to leave. Don’t run away.”

Don’t remind me that I have to go to the haunted house after leaving work!

I now have the intention to secretly run away.

“What!? Who wants to run away?” Miao Miao immediately rushed over.

“No one wants to run away!” I pushed Miao Miao back.

“We’re gathering at the resting area at eleven o’clock.” Ryan didn’t even forgot to leave this sentence.

Don’t remind me anymore!