283: A business rival!

A business rival!

Episode 276-A business rival!0

Aernest raised a brow at Eugene. He saw how she looked at the moment and understood that it was hard for her too but, "Will there be someone who is better than sister at this job? That is of course unless sister wants to hire 5 people."

Eugene understood the underlying meaning behind his words, that it would take five people. Suddenly she didn't want to hire people anymore as hiring 5 extra people would mean them getting less profit. 

"You're still stingy when it comes to money." A deep voice that didn't belong to the four dead chefs spoke in the silent room.  Everyone in alarm turned toward the source of the voice. 

There were two people standing by the door. One female and one male. The female had a reserved expression. Her tied-up brown hair did not match her feminine looks. On the other hand, the male's icy hair suited his ice sophisticated look. 

"... You're here?" Eugene asked speechlessly, not expecting to see the one and only, Louis Veria. Aka, her brother.

"Your stalker wanted to visit you so I brought her here." Louis was blunt as he spoke. His words however did not make any sense as it was not his role in any way to bring Aedelak somewhere.

Aedelak turned to Louis and stared at him with her eyes slightly narrowed. Seeing that the man didn't understand her message she breathed out before turning to Eugene, "That is not true Eldest Miss. I am not a stalker."

"... Not stalking yet heading to the first year every other day." There was sarcasticness in Louis' voice as he responded to Aedelak's claim. His lips smirked in annoyance, a look that came as a half surprise to Eugene.

"Eldest Master!" Aedelak's voice raised as she begged her to stop talking for a minute! Her face flushed completely red in embarrassment and anger as he let her secret out. 

Eugene blinked and switched her gaze between Louis and Aedelak. Aedelak wasn't someone who expressed a lot of emotions nor was she one who would defend herself. As if something in Aedelak switched, it seems as if Aedelak has become more open and more social. Eugene was plenty surprised as she has never seen these changes outside school. 

"... Is that who I think it is?..." Watt muttered as his eyes focused completely on Louis' beautiful and charismatic face as he smirked at Aedelak. 

"Eldest brother." Aernest was unable to read the atmosphere stepped up and greeted Louis, "What are you doing here?" he asked respectfully.

"To see how you're faring," Louis replied before heading in and walking around the room. His gaze glanced around as if observing the room. 

"It's nice." He nodded in acknowledgment and turned to Eugene, "Did you hire people to do this?"

Eugene pursed her lips. She didn't like his tone that seemed to mock her for having 0 talent at art. 

Eugene nodded albeit reluctantly.

"Would you like to eat something, Brother?" Aernest asked as he got up. 

Louis and Aedelak turned to each other before turning back to the children. 

It was Aedelak who spoke, "It is alright Young Master. Everyone must be pretty tired seeing as everyone is unable to stand up. We will come back next time." She smiled softly and stepped back. 

Eugene stood up and responded, "Come tomorrow for dinner." She wanted to show off Camille's, Watt, Ppa, and Aernest cooking skills. Their skills are too good to miss out.

Louis and Aedelak nodded and left quickly to let everyone finish up and rest. 

The moment the two left everyone exhaled in relief. The pressure that had radiated off of Louis when he noticed them glancing at him was scary. It was scary enough to shut the noisy people up. 

After cleaning up and locking the place up, everyone dispersed as quickly as wind, not wanting to spend one more second outside of bed. Luckily Ppa had leftover soup so everyone had that with bread before returning to their dorm. 

And that was the end of their chaotic first day!

On their free day, Eugene managed to hire 4 servers and 2 kitchen helpers who will take care of the dirty dishes. She also checked through their account to know how much profit they made. Not shockingly, they made a lot despite having set their menu at a low cost!

On the 3rd day, Louis and Aedelak came for dinner. The two didn't regret having to come over before the restaurant opened and ate everything deliciously. Another 2 days passed and by the time they realized it, 2 weeks had passed since the grand opening of the restaurant.

The profits they made had exceeded everyone's expectations. Everyone was paid the day previous which of course made everyone motivated to work the next day. This included Eugene whose mood was happier than usual, but just as she prepared to take the reservations she noticed that less than half of their customers came. 

Seeing no one rushing today made Eugene confused and that was because, after their grand opening, they have been serving 150 customers a day. This was a 50% increase from the first day and no one complained because everyone prepared enough ingredients based on this number. 

Though odd, Eugene didn't think much of it and thought that the customers would return the next day. Little did she know, only 50 customers returned for the 2nd day as well. While the 1st day did cause confusion, the 2nd day made everyone suspicious. Everyone knew this cannot continue as they had hired workers and also cannot keep sourcing ingredients for 150 people!

Eugene was fast and left her job to a worker she hired temporarily. She felt that something was going on and will investigate the cause of the missing 100 customers. Her brains worked fast and she had a suspicion in mind. 

Her steps were light and fast as she headed to the canteen, 'Everyone eats. People's stomachs must be filled daily. And if not my restaurant, it would only mean this place...'

It was impossible for 100 people to starve at the same time. Just as she was about to arrive at the canteen, she saw her missing customers lining up in line with high expectations. This, of course, confused Eugene as to why would anyone be excited about canteen food. She wasn't going to wait a long time and pulled someone over and interrogated him. 

"Why's everyone lining up?" She was blunt as she asked her regular customer that had abandoned her restaurant. The customer was obviously frightened as this wasn't the kind Eugene he knew. 

"I ...I … I love Miss' food!!" He stuttered and blurted, not really answering Eugene's question. Eugene raised a brow, 

"Then why are you here?" If you loved our food you wouldn't be here. 

The man's eyes were wide. The tip of his ears was beginning to take on a shade of red, "Because…Because… the canteen has decided to make the 2nd serving free! This way we can eat our fill!" He confessed loudly. 

Eugene furrowed her brows and stepped back in surprise. The man was embarrassed because he raised his voice at her accidentally. 

"Only the 2nd serving is free?" Eugene asked with her lips pursed. 

The man shyly looked into her eyes as he nodded.

"But our food is still better?" 

He nodded again. 

"Alright. Thank you very much for co-operating." Eugene stepped back again before leaving the man whose face flushed completely red. He was shy that he had a one-on-one conversation with a beautiful girl, but also embarrassed that he had 'cheated' on her. 

'If only I had money…' He sighed pitifully. 

"..." 

Eugene's fists were sweaty as walked quickly to her restaurant. Her face didn't look good however she switched quickly when she saw customers waiting to reserve a place to eat at their restaurant. 

'It should've been obvious.' She sighed internally. 

The customers yesterday and today were only male nobles with no commoners in sight. Where the commoners are right now was an obvious answer. 

The answer to the declining customers was not the taste of their food but rather money. Yes, taste matters and that is why the nobles are only eating at her restaurant. But taste was not everything, and that was why all her commoner customers were eating at the canteen. 

Everyone served the 50 customers the best they could and gathered for an emergency meeting after closing the restaurant. Eugene didn't wait and told everyone the results of their investigation.

"... How despicable!" Ppa muttered as his anger was directed at their rivals!

Eugene pursed her lips. She didn't think of the situation as despicable but rather as a business strategy. And if they had to mention someone that was despicable, it was them for running the canteen's business. 

"There's nothing we can do about their pricing strategy." Eugene shrugged. What's done is done. There was also no compromise. 

Aernest pursed his lips and turned to Eugene with a serious face, "Do you have any solutions sister?"

Eugene sighed but did not respond for a long time to formulate her thoughts. 

"...To be honest, whether it is 150 customers, whether it is 50 customers, we are still doing well. The business is still profitable even with 50 customers." Her response was unexpected to those listening. 

They had no debt, and they did not have to pay back anything. The only thing that was costing them money was sourcing for the ingredients which is not an uncontrollable situation. 

"It's not a loss."

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