My Restaurant's Guests are All Abnormal

Chapter 572: Chapter 432 We Still Don’t Know the Name of the Flower We Saw That Day

"Manager, you seem really excited today," Betty curiously looked at Chen Ze. He was shaking his leg while she cleaned, and he was still doing it even after she finished.

"Yeah, I am pretty excited," Chen Ze nodded, feeling an urgent desire for tomorrow to come quicker. He knew it was impossible, but he still hoped for it fervently.

"Eh?" Betty blinked in surprise. The manager actually admitted it?

"Betty, how are the cola sales going?" Chen Ze asked while cutting pork.

"They’re great, hehe, Alisa said the cola you gave me to sell might not last even three days," Betty boasted. She was right; the cola, something that doesn’t exist in the positive or negative planes, caused quite the sensation as soon as it hit the market.

However, there were also some troublesome issues that arose.

"But, Manager, can you help me think of a solution?" Betty thought of the issues Alisa reminded her about; indeed, it was a serious problem if it couldn’t be solved.

"What kind of solution?" Chen Ze threw the pork chop into the curry, starting to marinate it. Now, the curry pork chop was essentially the restaurant’s signature dish, so it was quite important to make it well.

"It’s the cola. Although we get it directly from you, there are many alchemists in our area, so there’s a chance they might reverse engineer it and produce counterfeit products..." Betty looked somewhat dejected. Hamburgers and sandwiches already had knock-offs being sold in areas the merchants couldn’t reach, where counterfeit shops were thriving.

"What’s the cost? How does it compare to our cola?" Chen Ze was a bit curious, but regardless, even if there were knock-offs, they had to be cheaper to make sense. If the counterfeit cost more than the original, that would be a huge loss.

"They’re fifty copper coins more expensive than our cola," Betty remembered well what Alisa had told her.

"Then there’s no issue. You guys could also create an alternate world version of cola. It’s unrealistic to rely solely on supplies from here," Chen Ze rolled his eyes. Even with the Space Ring’s help, frequently buying cola in bulk was a bit troublesome for him.

"But if others make knock-offs, they’ll take away our market share," Betty was somewhat anxious, even mentioning the words "market share."

"Then why don’t you partner up with Hastur or Nyarlathotep? Offer them some profit, and then let Them protect your industry," Chen Ze was somewhat speechless. Didn’t they think of other customers from this place? Even though Lafra could speak as well, her deterrence was nowhere close to these two. If Hastur and Nyarlathotep took a stand.

Nobody would dare to infringe, and the term "pulling out a tiger’s fang" couldn’t even describe the risk of such an action. Probably even the Pope would have to keep silent about it.

"Eh? Can we really do that?" Betty scratched her head.

"Of course," Chen Ze nodded, seemingly unimpressed with the level of business warfare in this other world.

"Can you save Menma, please?" A voice pleaded urgently.

Chen Ze stopped in his tracks, placed the kitchen knife aside, and realized the inevitable day had arrived.

Chen Ze wiped his hands and went out to see Suki Umita carrying the somewhat translucent Menma into the place, desperately holding Betty’s hand and looking imploring.

Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, the anime’s fame naturally needs no further mention. As a seasoned member of the anime community, virtually everyone knows it, and it’s mentioned in most videos that list sad and tear-jerking anime.

And within it, a pivotal moment is Menma’s impending disappearance, or rather, her reaching nirvana.

Before seeing Suki Umita, Chen Ze already knew that this day was bound to come, although he didn’t understand why Suki Umita hadn’t come during this time, Chen Ze knew he would think of him.

"Store Manager Uncle!" Suki Umita looked at Chen Ze, his eyes instantly reddened.

"If you have time to cry, why don’t you help Menma fulfill her wish?" Chen Ze looked at Suki Umita and calmly asked.

"I..." Suki Umita was stunned for a moment. He wanted to say that he had been helping Menma fulfill her wish, but he just couldn’t bring himself to say it.

Perhaps deep down, while not believing, he also longed to always be with Menma like this?

"However, once her wish is fulfilled, Menma also has to become enlightened," Chen Ze said, looking at the white-haired girl behind Suki Umita, feeling somewhat conflicted inside.

He still remembered when he first watched "Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day," Chen Ze had been emotionless until the final episode of the anime, where watching Suki Umita and the others crying and breaking down, thinking back on all the foreshadowing, Chen Ze broke into tears.

So, Chen Ze initially didn’t quite understand why Menma was so eager to have Suki Umita fulfill her wish and become enlightened, claiming it was so they could continue to play together, but if Menma really reincarnated, wouldn’t she lose her memories from her previous life?

Besides, finding one’s childhood friends who have grown into adults is a very troublesome matter.

Thus, Chen Ze had thought, if Menma never became enlightened, couldn’t she stay with her childhood friends forever?

Although later on, with the explanation of a fellow old-time anime fan, he understood the meaning of the series: letting go of the past, growing towards the future, and mending regrets, yet Chen Ze still couldn’t get over it for a long time.

"To become enlightened..." said Suki Umita, lowering his head.

"To be enlightened, huh, then you will never ever see Menma again," Chen Ze said with a smile, looking at Suki Umita, the proud boy, a single sentence, a single decision, easily destroying a girl’s lifetime.

"Menma..." Menma lifted her head, smiling at Suki Umita, who looked lost. freewebnoveℓ.com

"We can’t keep dragging this on," Menma said, looking at Suki Umita, with tears shimmering in her eyes, though she didn’t want to tell Suki Umita this; the energy of a spiritual body was indeed becoming weaker.

Chen Ze watched this scene unfold and thought of something Black and White Impermanence had given him before, the Soul Sphere, said to have the ability to help souls. If given to Menma, it should be enough for her to continue on like this for a very long time as a spiritual body, right?

But Chen Ze didn’t speak. If there wasn’t the stimulus of Menma’s possible disappearance, perhaps Suki Umita wouldn’t know how long it would take to fulfill Menma’s wish.

"Menma..." Suki Umita’s eyes were terrifyingly red, his body trembling.

"Store Manager Uncle, do you have salt ramen with egg drop here?" Suki Umita looked up at Chen Ze, revealing a bitter smile.

"Yes." Chen Ze nodded, then glared at Betty with a warning look.

Seeing Betty with reddened eyes, he knew she must have been reminded of "Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day."