Aren't these waffles tasty? And with this vanilla ice cream on top… Mmm! I can't get enough of it!

Yeah…

Rin, I understand how anxiously you must be awaiting their reply, but all we can do is wait for now.

Oh, there it is!

That was pretty fast.

Looks like it's the manager's wife replying. “Thank you for always visiting our restaurant.” They remember me! And they told me why they're closed, too!

Really? So, what's the reason?

Um, she says that their part-timers had to keep taking days off or quit due to illness or personal circumstances, so now they don't have enough people to run the place.

But the owner decided to try and run the place on his own, wound up pushing himself too hard, and got himself sick.

So now the only person who can work is his wife. She's probably really busy nursing him back to health, though. It's no wonder they had to close.

This must be really hard for them both. Is there anything I can do to help? Or am I really just stuck waiting for things to get better for them?

Hey, why don't we go give them a hand?

What do you mean?

Yeah! The only reason they can't open shop is because they're short-handed, right? In that case, we can step in and take over for the people who aren't there!

Oh… Yeah, that would work! That way we could help everyone at the restaurant!

Rin, try contacting them once more. Please ask them if we can assist at their restaurant.

Right!

[Fade in/out.]

She just got back to me!

What did she say?

She said they'd love for us to help out! And that it would really help if we could fill in until everyone got back on their feet!

But she also says it's hard to be open every day because she has to also take care of her husband.

For now, they're at least going to open tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday during lunchtime if we could come help. I think she's gonna let us practice cooking their menu!

Then it's decided! Let's all go save Rin's favorite restaurant!

Yeah!

[Fade in/out.]

Do you remember what ingredients the ramen shop lady told us to get?

Bean sprouts, shrimp, garlic, wood ear mushrooms, dried shiitake mushrooms, hawk claw peppers… Oh, and both bread and wheat flour. That's a lot of stuff!

Hawk claw peppers? Is that something we can get at a standard Japanese supermarket?

Rina, hawk claw peppers are just another name for red chili peppers. They're called hawk claw peppers because of their shape.

I see… You're a real expert, Rin!

*Giggle* The owner of the restaurant we're about to save told me about it before.

Hey guys, we're definitely gonna need these, so I'm just gonna slip these in the cart if ya don't mind.

Why would a Chinese restaurant need all that junk food?! Go put that back!