Ma Lu and Yan Wu sent another message to those Valkyrie People after their phone call, saying the Universe Infinite Canteen was in desperate need of staff and asked if they were interested in working for him.
They soon received a reply, with Jigina asking for Ma Lu's address, seeming to want to come over for an interview that evening, but Ma Lu stopped her, and they agreed to meet the next morning instead.
Worried that the Valkyrie People might struggle with the building's security system, Ma Lu even set an alarm, planning to wake up earlier the next day to go downstairs and let them in.
But when the alarm went off, Ma Lu reached for his cellphone on the nightstand and inadvertently poked something soft, followed by a scream in his ear.
The scream brought Ma Lu fully awake, and when he opened his eyes, he saw Liliem, holding her butt, sprawled on top of his cellphone.
"Ah, are you okay?" Ma Lu quickly asked.
Liliem, her face beet red, was silent.
"By the way, why are you in my room?"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
"I, we... are here for the interview."
After a pause, Liliem scrambled off the phone in a flurry.
"No, I mean why are you in my room?"
"Because it was almost time, I came to see if you were awake."
Liliem's butt was still tingling with pain, but she was too embarrassed to rub it now.
"No no no, you still haven't grasped what I'm saying."
Ma Lu scratched his tousled hair, "I mean, I was wondering how you guys got past the building's security and my apartment lock to get into my room. Did Old Wang let you in?"
"No, we came in by ourselves." Liliem shook her head, adding, "Although your species rules this planet and has built many doors and locks here, there are few places that the little mice can't reach."
"Makes sense," Ma Lu said.
After speaking, he looked at Liliem, who was also looking up at him, the blush on her face not completely faded.
He searched for Universe Infinite Canteen and immediately several dozen videos popped up, all uploaded by diners from the opening day, with a wide variety of comments beneath them.
Ma Lu found a succinct message—"Only idiots eat this."
The ID was called whatareyoudoing23.
Ma Lu had some memory of this ID; this person was a consistent troll of his, diligently participating in discussions under various related videos since the time when The Universe's Number One Snack Stall first became popular.
The content included but was not limited to claims like "The stall owner uses gutter oil," "It definitely looks like zombie meat," "This stuff is worth at most 4 bucks, there's a bunch downstairs from my place, and they all taste better..."
Ma Lu also glanced at his IP address; it was a good thousand kilometers away from City B, so he probably had never tasted the snacks from The Universe's Number One Snack Stall, and there didn't seem to be any personal grudges between them.
It was purely an online dismissal.
Ma Lu handed his phone to the Valkyrie who was good at arguing, "Have a go at arguing with this guy for me to see."
The Valkyrie immediately rolled up his sleeves, "Boss Ma, leave it to me."
Then Ma Lu turned back to Jigina, "I've looked over your resumes, and they're good. You're just the talent the company needs."
Jigina's face revealed a touch of excitement upon hearing this.
The young warriors left their hometown full of ambition, aiming to make a splash in the big city. But when it came to job hunting, they hit wall after wall. Now, compared to when they had first left home, they had lowered their expectations a lot, simply hoping for a regular job.
"Did Boss Yan tell you about the job content?"
Jigina nodded, "To interact with other visitors from different dimensions in the city, find out what they want to eat, and also help out in the kitchen."
"Hmm, the basic work is mostly that. I'll assign any additional tasks as needed. Another important point you all must remember is that your mice absolutely cannot enter the restaurant, nor can they stop nearby.
"These mice are the healthiest selected from their species, and they will become our mounts and partners only after a Shaman has performed a purification ritual on them," Jigina explained.
"No, hygiene is one aspect of the problem, but customer perception is also very important. If someone sees a mouse in or near the restaurant, chances are they won't dine here, and they won't come back next time either. If the customers don't come, I can't pay your wages," Ma Lu said.
"Well, if you're going to work in the kitchen, you'd better prepare another set of clothes. Also, before you start working, you must take a bath and cleanse yourselves. What do you think, is this condition acceptable?"