Mag spent the entire day making mooncakes, and he canceled the dinner service so he could make as many mooncakes as possible.
There were simple decorations put up all around the restaurant, as well as some colorful lights that were wrapped around the trees outside. There were small signs on the lawn asking people not step on the grass, and an area had been cleared out behind the lawn. That was going to be the venue for the upcoming celebration, and the stage had also been set up there.
Mag's thought process was very simple. All he wanted was to celebrate the moon festival in an alternate world and spend it with both familiar and unfamiliar people.
There was no need to promote the restaurant prior to its expansion. After all, just the current customer base was more than enough for the restaurant.
"This owner sure is an amazing guy. His restaurant has only been open for just over a month, and he's already made it onto the Aden Square food competition rankings board, then taken such a large restaurant, and now, he's holding this moon festival celebration."
"Indeed. That Ricky's Rotisserie is situated near the entrance of the Aden Square, and it's got quite a large storefront too. If he moves his restaurant over there, he would be able to multiply his daily income."
"Come to think of it, we should thank the owner of Mamy Restaurant. In the past, very few customers came to our side of the Aden Square. Now, our revenue has almost doubled, and most of those new customers are coming out for an additional meal after dining at Mamy Restaurant."
"Mamy Restaurant targets a different demographic compared to us. Even their cheapest dish costs 200 copper coins per serving, so they're clearly aiming for a more high-end niche. However, even those who aren't rich can't resist the restaurant's dishes, but they can only afford a small dessert or something of that nature, so they'll inevitably have to dine at another restaurant afterward to fill their stomachs."
"I can already feel the position of Ducas Restaurant coming under threat. If those two restaurants ever compete with each other one day, it will be a very interesting spectacle to behold."
In the distance, a few restaurant owners had gathered together again, and were discussing spiritedly among themselves. However, on this occasion, the atmosphere was a lot more peaceful and cheerful.
A horse-drawn carriage traveled past them en route to Mamy Restaurant. Gloria took a glance out at the restaurant with a slightly nervous look on her face.
"Will Mr. Mag agree?" she whispered to herself. However, her expression gradually became more determined, and she clenched her fists as she said, "This is the only opportunity for me to turn the tables. I have to secure Mr. Mag's permission no matter what."
The horse-drawn carriage stopped in front of the restaurant, and Gloria disembarked. Mag just so happened to be turning around to go into the restaurant when Gloria suddenly called out, "Mr. Mag, please wait."
"Ms. Gloria, do you need something from me?" Mag turned around to look at Gloria with a hint of surprise on his face. She hadn't visited his restaurant for quite a few days.
"Yes, I would like to discuss something with you. Are you free at the moment?" Gloria nodded in response. Her hands were nervously balled up into tight fists, but she was still looking intently into Mag's eyes.
"I don't know what you would like to discuss with me, but if it won't take too long, then please come in. The restaurant is holding a moon festival celebration soon, so I don't have much time," Mag replied with a smile.
"This won't take long at all." An elated expression appeared on Gloria's face, and she hurriedly nodded before entering the restaurant.
"Please take a seat. What would you like to discuss with me today, Ms. Gloria?" Mag poured a cup of water for Gloria and gently placed it on the table in front of her.
Gloria looked at Mag's encouraging expression, and her nerves were soothed significantly. She sat down in a chair, and hesitated momentarily before saying, "Mr. Mag, I'm here to secure your permission to use the designs of Amy's dresses."
"The designs of Amy's dresses?" Mag was rather perplexed as he looked into Gloria's genuine eyes.
"Let me introduce myself: my name is Gloria Moreton, and I am the granddaughter of the leader of the Moreton Family. I am also one of two candidates to inherit the position of family leader; the other one is my uncle, Cyril Moreton," Gloria gave a solemn introduction.
"Oh?" Mag raised an eyebrow with a hint of surprise in his eyes upon hearing that.
The Moreton Family had controlled the Chamber of Commerce for several decades, and they were one of the first families that he wanted to revolutionize as part of his plan. Due to the existence of Jeffree Moreton, the Moreton Family and the Chamber of Commerce had become the biggest advocators for discrimination of half-breeds in Chaos City.
However, what came as a shock to Mag was that the beautiful woman who had only discarded her veil after being cured by his tofu pudding was one of the candidates to become the Moreton Family's leader. This information was something that was not included in the files that he had secured from the detective agency, so his first thought was that she had to be lying.
"My father is Lance Moreton; he was once a candidate for the heir of the Moreton Family. However, he relinquished that right after becoming a teacher at Chaos School. After taking off my veil, I made a bet with my grandfather, and became a candidate to the heirloom in my father's place. You told me to pursue my dreams, didn't you?" Gloria asked.
"I see, then I must congratulate you, Ms. Gloria, but what does this have to do with Amy's dress designs?" Mag's brows unfurrowed upon hearing that. Everything made sense now. From the information that he had obtained, he knew that Jeffree Moreton's eldest son really did have an 18-year-old daughter. However, there was very little information about her that was available; even her name was a mystery. Who would have thought that she would be none other than the timid beauty under the veil?
"Even though I became a candidate to the heirloom, my grandfather clearly doesn't really want to hand the Moreton Family over to me. He simply wants to use me to pressure Cyril so he'll be forced to grow and mature. As such, my grandfather gave me the ownership of a textile shop that had been incurring losses for several consecutive years, and he gave me only a month to make it a profitable business. If I'm unable to do so, the textiles shop will be closed down, and my probation will be over." Gloria looked into Mag's eyes with an earnest expression, and said, "Hence, I thought of a way to make money using the stock in the shop, some of which is already several years old. I decided to make it into clothes of different sizes; as for the styles and designs, I thought of the clothes that you had designed for Amy and the employees of your restaurant. The clothes are all very beautiful and unique. If I can incorporate those designs into the production of my clothing, I'm sure the end product will be very popular."
"So you're making use of superfluous stock as a money-making tool. That's a very creative idea." Mag nodded with approval as he looked at Gloria. In a society where it was a far more widespread practice to have clothes custom-made by a seamstress, Gloria's proposed business model was very much ahead of its time. Her potential as a successful businesswoman was highlighted by this innovative idea. However, he still shook his head and refused, "But I don't want Amy, Miya, and Aisha to wear the same clothes as strangers on the streets."
"But..." An urgent look appeared on Gloria's face.
"However, if you're interested, I can design a batch of clothing for you; at a cost, of course." Mag cut off Gloria with a smile as he said internally, "Come on out, system; we've got business!"