"In that case, you should get some rest first."
Although Sui was a bit confused, he waved it off and headed back to his room. He soon drifted off to sleep, holding Tohru in his arms.
The next day, Sui, along with Megumi, Sōma, and the others, returned to the ramen shop in Tōsuke's area.
"Ms. Erina isn't here today?" Megumi asked.
"No, she has other duties," Sui replied with a nod.
After all, as the "God Tongue" of Totsuki, Erina had a very busy schedule. She had managed to help out the day before just to spend some time with Sui. If she continued, her food tasting responsibilities would have fallen behind.
"How many dishes did we sell yesterday?" Sui asked as soon as he walked in.
"Though everything is carefully recorded in the sales book, I didn't count exactly. But it should be over 1,500 bowls of ramen," Tōsuke replied calmly. "And that was just one night."
"Yesterday, the other side likely sold more than us, but today, we might be able to catch up!" Sōma said with a slight grin.
"By the way, we've used up nearly half of our ingredients. At this rate, we'll run out by tonight. I'll need you to place another order. I can transfer the payment by noon," Tōsuke added.
"No problem," Sui nodded.
"Alright! Let's keep up the good work today!" Sōma said, tying a headband with enthusiasm.
Business that day was even better than the previous one. By the afternoon, after the two peak meal times—morning and noon—they had sold 2,500 bowls of ramen.
Later, when the restaurant became overcrowded, a long row of tables and chairs was set up outside, with additional ramen artisans coming in to help.
Luckily, since they were selling ramen, they had only needed to pre-pull the noodles, cook the broth, and prep the toppings. The dishes could be served quickly. But even so, Sui and the others were exhausted by the end of the day.
By the time the afternoon rush was over, the food supplies were almost completely depleted. Sui placed an order for another batch of dream catfish and black tengu mushrooms.
Then, another busy evening followed.
Like the day before, Sui left the restaurant early.
"How was business today?" Erina asked when they met later.
"It went a little better than yesterday," Sui responded.
"Good," Erina nodded, then blushed slightly before pointing at Sui with determination. "Then let's continue our cooking competition tonight!"
Sui looked at her with a mix of amusement and exasperation. "Are you sure you've rested enough?"
"Of course! But I won't lose to you this time!" Erina declared proudly, her face slightly flushed.
As expected, Erina lost once again.
Smiling softly, Sui picked up the pouting Erina and carried her straight to the bedroom.
"Don't stay up until midnight like last time! I have a lot of work to do tomorrow!" she reminded him, slightly irritated.
"Got it," Sui replied.
However, the two ended up 'fighting' until late into the night once more...
"No, I really do have a lot of work tomorrow!" Erina insisted.
"It's fine, Erina."
"No! You… you stop! I… I can't take it anymore!" she cried out, exasperated.
"It's okay, don't be so shy," Sui teased.
The next morning, Erina emerged from the bedroom, yawning with dark circles under her eyes.
When she recalled what had happened the previous night, her cheeks reddened, and she felt a little annoyed. She had told him not to stay up so late, but he hadn't listened. How irritating!
Unlike Erina, Sui looked completely fine. After all, with his dragon cells, his stamina was off the charts.
Once they arrived at the school, the two went their separate ways.
"Erina-sama, are you alright? Should we postpone today's tasting?" Hisako asked cautiously, noticing Erina's fatigue and dark circles.
Lately, Erina-sama had been showing up like this quite often.
"No need," Erina yawned, brushing it off.
Hisako hesitated for a moment before saying, "Erina-sama, maybe you should be more restrained when... doing things like that with Sui."
"What... what are you talking about?!" Erina's face turned beet red in an instant. "That's not what's happening! Sui and I were just... competing in cooking!"
"Really? A cooking competition?" Hisako asked, her voice filled with awe. She suddenly felt deep respect for Erina and Sui's dedication, believing they were so committed that they cooked against each other every day!
As expected of the "God Tongue" duo!
Erina's face grew even redder. She lowered her head, too embarrassed to meet Hisako's eyes. Although it 'was' a cooking competition, there was no way she could tell Hisako what happened after.
At that moment, Erina decided—there would be no more cooking competitions with Sui tonight!
The following day, the results of the sales competition were to be announced.
Both Sui's team and Ann's team gathered at Ann's restaurant, ready to hear the outcome.
"Alright, we'll now ask the six accountants to review the sales for the past three days," An said.
"No problem," they responded.
The six accountants went on to tally the sales from both restaurants. Each transaction over the past three days had been meticulously recorded, ensuring that no one could tamper with the results.
Sui's team remained calm, confident in their performance. The past two days had exceeded their expectations, and they had barely managed to keep up, even with the help of several ramen artisans.
In contrast, Ann and her team were noticeably anxious.
They had initially assumed that Sui's side would run out of ingredients early on, but the final results were not what they had expected.
Though the numbers hadn't been announced yet, Ann had a sinking feeling.
An hour later.
"Miss Ann's total sales over the three days have been calculated: 11 million yen," one of the accountants reported.
"Alright," Ann and the five chefs behind her breathed a collective sigh of relief upon hearing the figure.
But their relief was short-lived.
"The ramen artisans' total sales amount to 18 million yen," another accountant announced.
"W-what? Eighteen million?!"