Xi Qingyue was quite puzzled as to why the city gates had suddenly swung open, but her love for food took precedence. She decided that anything could wait until after she had eaten.
Since they had ordered a large quantity of dishes, the waiter kept going in and out of their private room multiple times. However, oddly enough, every time he entered with a new dish, the previous plates were already empty.
The waiter was baffled—they ate far too quickly and consumed an enormous amount of food. Unable to resist, he glanced at Xi Weilan’s belly. Could such a small child really eat that much without getting stuffed?
"Dear guests, please take your time," he said, forcing a smile as he placed the dishes on the table and collected the empty plates. His tone was exceedingly polite.
Xi Qingyue nodded lightly. "Yes, please bring the remaining dishes faster."
As soon as the waiter closed the door and left, Xi Qingyue spooned a lion’s head meatball into Xi Weilan’s bowl. "Lan’er, try this."
Xi Weilan took a bite, her eyes sparkling as she looked at her sister. "Big Sister, this is delicious! That fish we had earlier was terrible."
Xi Qingyue smiled gently at her. "Alright, later we’ll have them make a few hundred portions for us to keep and eat later."
Picking up her chopsticks, she sampled the other dishes. Those that weren’t tasty, she ate just one bite before transferring them into her portable space, where they would be saved for when she was hungry again. As for the good ones, she devoured them immediately, carefully remembering the names so she could order more from the restaurant.
Back in the main hall of the restaurant, the patrons were still discussing the matter of the city gates. They had just been to the entrance and seen the refugees streaming into the streets. Yet everything seemed orderly and proper, with no signs of anything amiss. This only deepened their confusion.
However, their attention was soon drawn to the waiter, who kept running up and down the stairs, delivering food to the private room upstairs.
A man in fine clothes waved the waiter over. "I’ve seen you make seven or eight trips already. With four dishes each time, that must be at least thirty dishes by now. How can two little girls eat so much? Are you trying to cheat them out of their money because they’re young and inexperienced?"
Hearing this, the waiter hastily waved his hands in denial. "Sir, please don’t misunderstand! Our restaurant would never do something so dishonest. The boss specifically asked the kitchen to slow down and serve only a few dishes at a time, to make sure they wouldn’t order more than they could eat. But—"
He paused, pointing at the empty plates on his tray. "They’ve eaten everything. Every time I go in, I end up taking back empty plates. Just now, she even urged us to bring the food faster."
The man in fine clothes looked utterly shocked. Around him, the other patrons were equally stunned, their mouths hanging open.
Usually, when people gathered for a casual chat, five or six dishes would be plenty. Even for a group with drinks, a dozen or so dishes was sufficient, and only a large crowd would need twenty-something. But these two were clearly little foodies of a whole different league.
The man waved the waiter away. "Alright, go on."
With that, the waiter quickly grabbed his tray and scurried off.
For the rest of the time, everyone kept a close eye on the waiter’s movements, eager to see just how much the two little foodies could eat.
By the time over a hundred dishes had been served, the restaurant owner, sweating profusely, hurried toward the private room with some panic. He had to see for himself how they were doing. He was terrified they might burst from overeating—he couldn’t have a fatal incident happen in his establishment.
When he heard the knock on the door, Xi Qingyue assumed it was the waiter with more food. "Come in," she said calmly.
Looking up, she saw a kindly middle-aged man, with the waiter standing behind him carrying a tray.
The waiter briskly set the dishes on the table, then silently collected the empty plates and stood behind the man.
The middle-aged man studied the two sisters for a moment before asking hesitantly, "Dear guests, are you both feeling alright?"
Taken aback by the strange question, Xi Weilan stared at him curiously. "Uncle, why would you say something like that out of the blue? My sister and I are perfectly fine."
The restaurant owner quickly explained, "No, no, little guest, don’t misunderstand. I’m the owner here. I just thought eating so much at once might not be good for your health, so I asked offhandedly. Please don’t take offense. I happened to pass by and stopped in to ask—are you two done?"
Xi Qingyue was surprised. It was rare to find a restaurant owner with such good intentions, not just focused on squeezing money out of customers.
She smiled at him. "Don’t worry, we’re in excellent health. Does your restaurant have set number of dishes across all categories? Have you served them all?"
The owner shook his head. "Not yet. Our restaurant isn’t large, but we offer good value and a wide variety—nearly two hundred dishes in total. There are about seventy or eighty left."
Hearing this, Xi Qingyue got straight to the point. "Owner, please have the remaining dishes made and brought up all at once. You don’t need to serve them a few at a time. My sister and I are different from others—we could eat three hundred dishes and still not be full. You can rest assured."
The owner was stunned by her words, but then felt a wave of relief. As long as they wouldn’t die from overeating, he was fine.
He grinned warmly. "Very well, please wait a moment. I’ll have the kitchen speed things up."
With that, he turned to leave, the waiter following. But just as he opened the door—thump, thump, thump—a group of people who had been eavesdropping by the door collapsed into the room in a heap.
A young man scrambled to his feet, dusted himself off, and said casually, "Owner, your floor is way too slippery. Next time, make sure it’s cleaned properly."
"Yeah, I was walking just fine until I slipped!" another chimed in, laughing as the group quickly disappeared.
The restaurant owner’s mouth twitched. Shameless lot, falling into a private room and still blaming it on a slippery floor.
He gave Xi Qingyue an apologetic smile before quickly leaving with the waiter.
The room quieted down again. Xi Qingyue knew those people were there out of curiosity about them, but she hadn’t sensed any ill intent. It didn’t bother her—after all, once they left Yao City, no one would know them anyway. Besides, letting others know that she and her sister had enormous appetites wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
When it was time to leave, she would openly pay some silver and have the restaurant prepare several hundred portions of the good dishes. She could come back and pick them up tomorrow, which would be much more convenient.
Even if people saw them buying food everywhere, no one would grow suspicious. After all, they were known for being bottomless pits.
Half an hour later, as Xi Qingyue and her sister were leaving the restaurant, every single patron stared at their bellies as if trying to find some kind of marvel there.
The owner, clutching the silver she had prepaid, was beaming with joy. These kids could eat even more than adults.
In a small county like this—not some capital city full of the rich and powerful—most patrons dropped at most a few hundred coins per meal. Yet these two girls had spent over ten taels of silver in one go—an amount an ordinary family wouldn’t see in an entire year.
And most remarkably, they had left a deposit of three hundred taels of silver, listing twenty dishes and requesting three hundred portions of each. That was no small order.
The cheapest dish they ordered cost thirty coppers, while the priciest was over a hundred. If they made three hundred portions of each, the total would come to several hundred taels of silver. This would require careful preparation.
With that thought in mind, he clasped his hands in an apologetic gesture toward the diners inside the restaurant. "Ladies and gentlemen, we need to close early today due to some business at the restaurant. Please finish your meals and head home soon. I sincerely apologize. As compensation, we will waive the remaining small change when you settle the bill."
The crowd in the restaurant buzzed with surprise, and many quickly got up to leave. Some who had just entered looked deeply disappointed, lamenting their poor timing.
