Some passersby dispersed when they saw there was no excitement to be had, leaving only a few teachers from Chaos Academy and Dix, whose eyes all fell on Luna. Mai Ge hurriedly left, riding his bicycle and disappearing from everyone's sight in the blink of an eye, while Luna seemed to have known him for a long time.
"Yes, he is a student's parent. Dean Haider, do you have any questions?" Luna asked, though she was puzzled as to why everyone was staring at her. She nodded at Haider anyway.
"Do you know his identity and where he lives?" Haider asked, both delighted and somewhat nervous.
"He has a restaurant in Aden Square, at the far end of the square. If you want to find him, that's where you can find him." Luna said with a smile, adding at the end, "Mr. Mai Ge's cooking is really delicious."
"So he really is going back to cooking..." Everyone fell silent. They had thought Mai Ge was just making up an excuse, but they didn't expect him to actually be running a restaurant. However, no matter how they look at it, joining Haider's team seems to offer more prospects than running a restaurant. The monthly subsidy is no less than 100 gold coins, while a new teacher usually only gets around 30 gold coins. How much money can a restaurant make?
"A restaurant owner?" Dix was also somewhat surprised. He had thought that Mai Ge's identity might be more special, or even that he had a background in Luo Du. He hadn't expected him to be just a restaurant owner. How did he get a pass from Principal Norvan?
"Mai Ge? Okay, thank you." Haider nodded, feeling much more relaxed. Now that he knew the location, he didn't have to worry about missing the young man. There were many things on that bicycle that interested him.
The black, elastic material covering the iron wheels, the iron chain that drives the rear wheel from the pedals, the complex gears, and even the high-strength yet lightweight material of the frame—these things almost overturned his decades of research into machinery.
He is usually known as a titan in the mechanical world, but after seeing Mai Ge's bicycle today, he felt like he had wasted the last few decades of his life. It completely overturned his understanding. If he didn't have class this morning, he would have wanted to go and discuss it with Mai Ge right now.
Luna nodded and walked towards the school. Still somewhat puzzled as to why Dean Haider was suddenly so interested in Mai Ge, she suddenly stopped and muttered, "Could it be that their mechanical engineering department has also discovered that Mr. Mai Ge is a mathematical genius?"
"That's not right either. Although the Mechanical Engineering department uses a lot of arithmetic, but it doesn't do much research, and it doesn't need special talents in this area." Luna quickly dismissed her own opinion, stopped and glanced in the direction of the Magic Academy, then continued walking towards the teaching building, muttering to herself in confusion, "How did Amy get into the school when she's not old enough to attend?"
"Dean Haider, has there been any new progress in your research?" After everyone dispersed, Dix looked at Haider and asked with a smile. He was in charge of the special fund of the City Lord's Mansion and was also responsible for following up on the progress of the project.
"We've basically solved the problem of converting steam into kinetic energy, but how to transfer this energy to other objects, or even replace animal power like horses in our daily lives, has been a problem that has troubled our team for a long time." Haider shook his head, looking in the direction of Aden Square, a smile appearing on his face. "However, I saw a lot of merit in the bicycle that young man invented. If he could join our team, perhaps it won't be long before we see the first steam-powered vehicle on the streets of Chaos City. Steam will change the world."
"Good luck to you. I hope that one day I can ride in a steam vehicle too." Dix said with a smile, also looking towards Aden Square. That man named Mai Ge seemed truly extraordinary.
...
Mai Ge rode his bicycle towards the restaurant at a moderate pace. He needed to cook later, and if he sweated, he'd need to take a shower first.
As he passed Yulian's magic potion shop, he greeted Black Charcoal and Green Bean. Upon hearing Green Bean's voice, the Ugly Duckling, lying in the basket, mustered its strength to meow, its eyes still gazing blankly at the sky.
"Looks like there are more and more people." Mai Ge raised an eyebrow, looking at the long line outside. It was early morning, not even open yet, and dozens of people were already lining up, all staring in amazement at Mai Ge as he arrived on his bicycle.
"Boss Mai, what kind of treasure are you riding?" Harrison asked, full of curiosity, as Mai Ge stopped his bicycle.
"A bicycle, just a means of transportation for picking up and dropping off the kids at school, it's not exactly a treasure." Mai Ge replied with a smile, nodding to the guests who were all greeting him, and then taking out his key to open the door.
"A bicycle?" The guests were even more puzzled. They had just seen Mai Ge ride over at a pretty fast speed. How could he maintain his balance with just two small wheels? Mai Ge's skills must be extraordinary.
"Boss." Yabemia called out to Mai Ge from the doorway, her eyes also filled with curiosity as she looked at the bicycle parked there.
"Mia, help me carry the bicycle inside. The Ugly Duckling is carsick so let it rest in the basket for a while." Mai Ge opened the door, held it shut, and turned to look at Mia as he spoke.
"Oh, okay." Yabemia nodded quickly, stepped forward and carefully lifted the bicycle with both hands. It was much lighter than she had imagined. Although it looked like it was made entirely of metal, but it felt weightless in her hands.
"We'll be open in ten minutes, please wait a moment." Mai Ge said with a smile to the guests, gently closing the door.
"Just put it under the counter." Mai Ge said to Yabemia. Although it wasn't very gentlemanly to order a girl around doing heavy work, but he had to admit that Yabemia's strength was more than ten times that of Mai Ge at the moment. Lifting a bicycle with a carbon fiber frame would be about the same as an ordinary person lifting an apple.
"The Ugly Duckling doesn't seem to be doing well..." Yabemia said with some concern, looking at the Ugly Duckling rolling its eyes in the basket.
"It's alright, just let it have some peace and quiet." Mai Ge walked over and glanced at the Ugly Duckling, who was still dizzy. He went upstairs to change into his chef's uniform and said while tying his apron, "By the way, Mia, if you have a bowl of tofu pudding and a Rou Jia Mo for two meals, you can also have a bowl of tofu pudding in the morning, which will just finish off your meal allowance."
"No, no, no need, Boss. Didn't we agree on two meals?" Yabemia quickly waved her hand.
"No, I meant 1200 copper coins." Mai Ge said with a smile, turning and going into the kitchen. A moment later, he brought out a bowl of sweet tofu pudding and gently placed it on the table. "Eat up, then you'll have to start work."