“No way, if I get caught, I won’t be allowed in next time,” Elisa immediately dismissed the idea of dining and dashing.
“Um, are you here to apply for a job?” Nicole asked softly.
“Eh?” Elisa suddenly turned her head and saw about 5 people looking at her curiously.
Elisa blinked her green eyes in confusion. What’s going on? So many people have walked up next to me, and I didn’t even notice? When did my alertness become so poor? Is life here too comfortable? Or is it because I think there’s no danger in this city?
“What’s wrong?” Nicole asked the dazed girl softly. “Is there a problem?”
“Ah?” Elisa snapped back to reality, quickly shaking her head and responding softly, “I’m here to apply for a job.”
“Then come in.” Nicole took out a key from her pocket, opened the shop door, and let Liu Feng in first, followed by the others.
“Wow, this design is pretty good.”
Liu Feng was surprised by the pizza shop’s decoration. It was a bit out of his expectations. Although it had a feminine touch, it was simple and elegant.
“I can see that,” Liu Feng nodded. After all, the giant lollipop design on the wall clearly came from Anri.
And those large cow horns on the counter, although used for hanging things, were definitely way too large. It was likely there because of Tess.
As for the tables, which had cat eyes painted on them, with expressions that could only be described as confused, must be Mina’s design, given the small fish patterns as well.
Finally, the ceramic mug with bunny ears on it- what kind of anit-human design is this? Liu Feng’s mouth twitched. The bunny girls always had unique tastes.
“Master, look, isn’t the lollipop design beautiful? I drew it myself,” Anri pulled Liu Feng over to the large lollipop design, eager for praise.
“It’s great; everyone will like it,” Liu Feng patted Anri’s head and praised, “Next time, you can paint a picture in your own room.”
“Really?” Anri’s brown eyes lit up.
“Really. The castle will be renovated next year, and you can design your room yourself,” Liu Feng said with a light smile. He planned to introduce some facilities to the castle, such as running water. He didn’t want to have to bring water over to wash his hands.
This year was out of the question with winter coming. Even if they installed running water, it would freeze. Many things had to wait until spring.
“Yay!” Anri jumped up happily, then found a table and took out a notebook to jot down some design ideas, like the lollipop design.
Liu Feng sat opposite of Anri, pulled out a chair for Mina, and waved for her to sit. Mina obediently took her seat, and everything seemed so natural.
Tess sat next to Anri, and the three watched as Anri sketched and wrote, leaving Elisa looking bewildered.
What’s going on? Elisa felt as if she was being ignored. She recognized Liu Feng to be the city lord of West Sun City.
Up close, Elisa found the young nobleman quite unusual. It was surprising how harmoniously he interacted with the beastkin.
Elisa also realized that this shop with the strange name was run by the beastgirls. She had even followed them to the money depository before. Now that she thought about it, she remembered that she still had a money note with over 900 copper coins. Should I withdraw it and spend it?
“Ugh…” Elisa sighed, deciding against it. The money note was too beautiful, and it was better to keep the copper coins for emergencies.
“What’s your name?” Nicole asked, turning her head.
“I’m Nicole, one of the shop owners. Please follow me to the kitchen for a skills test,” Nicole said, leading Elisa to the kitchen.
“Okay!” Elisa followed.
After a while, Elisa emerged from the kitchen wearing an apron and carrying a tray with four cups of water.
“Customers, please have some water,” Elisa said gracefully, setting down the cups and giving a polite nod before returning to the kitchen.
“This girl is quite unordinary!”
Mina’s blue eyes narrowed slightly. She sensed something unusual; ordinary people wouldn’t be able to be so composed in front of a noble.
“There are many unusual people. She might just be looking for a job. Let her be, but pay a bit extra attention to her,” Liu Feng said casually.
The recruitment notice already had traps, with requirements like literacy and manners. Someone with such skills couldn’t be an ordinary person- they were either a noble or someone special.
In fact, Nicole wouldn’t strictly follow the recruitment notice. It was a case of treating a dead horse as if it were alive¹, and if they couldn’t find anyone, they would simply transfer a few people from the castle. Unexpectedly, someone actually showed up.
“Understood,” Mina understood Liu Feng’s intention- don’t hit the grass and alert the snake²- just keep an eye on her in the dark.
“Observe her for a few months. If there are no issues, then let her work in the castle.” Liu Feng said to Anri, “There are still too few literate people in the castle. If you have the opportunity, try to interact with her and see her character.”
“Understood!” Anri knew this was Liu Feng trying to find her an assistant. Recently, she had indeed been quite overwhelmed with work.
Of course, except for yesterday. After learning the card game rules, she spent the whole day playing cards with Tess and the others in Nicole’s room, forgetting to handle her affairs. She had a lot to catch up on today.
Elisa was completely unaware that her identity had been partially exposed. She was now very interested in making pizzas with Nicole, kneading the dough.
“Don’t add too much water… Huh? You’ve added too much flour…” Nicole guided her while kneading the dough.
“Yes!” Elisa wiped her nose, leaving white flour marks, and continued to roll out the dough carefully.
“Very good, this is well done,” Nicole praised. “However, don’t put too much meat next time.”
“I will do my best,” Elisa was fully immersed in the joy of making pizza.
After half an hour of hard work, the pizza was ready. The rich aroma of the dough and meat hit Elisa’s nose and taste buds, nearly making her drool.
This fragrant smell made Elisa decide to work at this shop…
¹ 死马当作活马医. An idiom meaning that while something no longer has any hope left, they still try to best to do one last thing and solve the issue.
² 打草惊蛇. An idiom that means to not make any moves or noises that could expose yourself or alert an enemy.