บท 3: Ch. 3 - The Great Pretender's 1st day of work
"That....doesn't sound bad." Mr. Ping seemed hesitant at first but after a few seconds of contemplating along with Leo's pitiful face, he gave in and finally agreed.
"You don't have to worry about the salary, Mr. Ping. A roof and food is enough for me." Leo smiled and assured him, though from the looks of it, that wasn't what worries Mr. Ping.
"Err....do you think you can share a room with my son, Po? He's a little bit bigger than you." Mr. Ping scratched his cheeks and said.
"I don't mind sleeping on the ground, Mr. Ping." While talking, Leo started to squint his eyes a little. He slowly starts to feel everything around him was familiar.
"Well, I'm glad, since Po is still asleep, as always. You can wear his apron." Mr. Ping then grabbed another apron which is larger than Mr. Ping's, before wrapping them on Leo.
'Isn't this too big?' Leo asked himself while trying to adjust the apron to better fit him, though the apron now not only covers his front but also a quarter of his back.
'Just how large is this Po?' Leo silently complained as his mouth twitched, though he soon placed them on the back of his mind and searched around the kitchen for any help he could give.
"You can perhaps sweep the floor outside. There's a broom over there." Mr. Ping said before pointing at a nearby broom.
Nodding his head, Leo approached the broom and started sweeping the floor.
At the same time, he noticed several pigs and rabbits outside the front gate, waiting in a line while staring at him in curiosity at the same time.
'So this world is somehow ruled by animals? And seeing how they were curious about me and intrigued, I can already tell that I'm the first and only human they've seen.' Leo quickly analyzed inside his mind before noticing that he had already swept the entire floor.
'When is my tool gonna come?' Complaining slightly, Leo turned around as he saw Mr. Ping calling out to him.
"Leo! It's time to open up!" Mr. Ping shouts while waving his feathered arm.
"Okay!" Nodding his head, Leo approached the entrance before moving the two curtains on two sides, letting the customers start walking in.
"Good morning?" Being pushed away by the rabbits and pigs, Leo kindly stepped aside as each customer took their seats as if it is something they've been doing for centuries.
Leo then went back to the kitchen as Mr. Ping placed the newly made noodles in a bowl on the counter.
"Here." Mr. Ping said before turning around and resumed his cooking.
"Uhm, Mr. Ping? How am I supposed to know which one is whom?" Leo asked, aren't there supposed to be some kind of number to know which food should be delivered to a customer?
"Oh right, you're new. Every customer in the morning only orders noodles. It's a good breakfast in the morning." Mr. Ping chuckled and said, waving his hand at Leo, prompting him to resume his work.
Leo was stunned for a second before grabbing the bowls and placing them on each table with a customer.
"Here's your noodles."
Leo doesn't know how many hours have passed but thankfully, Mr. Ping's son finally woke up and will help him.
'Guessing from how big his apron is, this Po is probably a big goose.' Leo said to himself while removing the apron and preparing to give it to Po.
*Thud!*
"Ow!"
*Thud!*
"Nyaww!"
*Thud!*
"Ooh!"
'He sounds familiar?' Raising an eyebrow, Leo looked forward to meeting Po.
*Boom!*
Before Leo could further assess the familiarity of the voice, a huge black and white furball suddenly fell and smashed on the floor in front of him.
"Aww!" Scratching his head, the black and white furball groaned in pain while Leo stared at him in wide eyes.
'Isn't he that panda in Kung Fu Panda film?!' Exclaiming in shock, Leo watched as Po stood up and held his back in pain.
"Ugh, I think I broke my back....again." Po whispered to himself while instinctively walking forward before stopping in his tracks the moment he and Leo's eyes met.
"...."
"....Hey." Breaking off the silence, Leo waved his hand in greeting.
"Uhm....hi? What are you doing in my house?" Awkwardly pointing at Leo, Po was confused about his presence.
"Your father....just recently hired me to help in the shop." Leo explains with a nod of his head.
"Really?" Po seems to be in doubt and just as Leo thought he would have to explain himself, thankfully the goose arrived just in time.
"Brush your teeth first, Po. Oh! Right, I forgot to introduce to you, this is Leo and he will now work with you, isn't that wonderful, Po?" Mr. Ping then nudged Po on the elbow while silently whispering.
"And I think it's time for you to make friends. I'm sure you two will become great friends, haha." After Mr. Ping was done whispering, he proceeded to grab the apron from Leo's hands and helped Po in wearing them.
"Here."
"Now, come with me, Leo. I'll be showing you to Po's room." Mr. Ping said while walkingup the stairs.
"My room?" Po asked confusedly.
"Of course, we don't have any available rooms for Leo here. You won't mind him being in your room, right?" Mr. Ping said to Po while his eyes were blinking several times, making Po feel guilty if he refused.
"...Uhm, doesn't he have uh, you know, his own home?" Po tapped his index fingers against each other while whispering to his goose dad, not wanting to offend Leo by his words.
'I can hear you.' Leo blatantly said to himself while staring at Po monotonously.
"Oh Po. I'll explain everything to you later, okay? By the way, you fixed your bed, right? You don't want him to see your unkept bed, right?" Mr. Ping said and without waiting for Po's response, Mr. Ping grabbed Leo's hand and started ascending on the stairs.
Suddenly, Po seemed to remember something and he quickly started running on the stairs and despite his chubby structure, he managed to fit himself between the small gaps just so he could surpass Mr. Ping and Leo.
'Knowing Po, he'll probably hide or fix his figurines of Tigress and the Kung Fu masters. What are they called again? I should've watched the Kung Fu Panda trilogy with focus. I remember only watching them out of boredom.' Leo said to himself and shook his head in disappointment. He really felt his knowledge was lacking in this world. Though out of all the characters in Kung Fu Panda, perhaps only the turtle Master called Oogway made a mark on Leo's mind.
'I like that old turtle. Who doesn't?'
***
"Oh no! Oh no!" Quickly entering his room, Po closed the door and leaned his back into it, his eyes scanning his room and saw several unwashed bowls where he ate dumplings as his midnight snack along with his posters and figurines of the Furious Five.
Po then immediately grabbed all the dirty bowls and looked around in a panic, trying to find where to hide it.
"Here!" Looking down under the bed, Po quickly pushed all the bowls inside then proceeded to grab each of his figurines. Though this time, he was more careful than when he handled the dirty bowls.
He wouldn't want to accidentally destroy it, right? It's his treasured figurines after all. Not only he cleans it every single day but he also does many other things with it that makes him happy.
After a whole minute that felt like an hour to Po, he finally wiped off the sweat on his forehead, sighing in relief as he looked at his newly cleaned room.
"The smell!" Po rushed towards the window before slamming them open, allowing the stinky smell to flow outside and let the fresh air flow inside.
"Fwoo!" Just in time as he was finished, Mr. Ping opens the door and walks inside followed by Leo.
"And that's why, I named him after my specialty cuisine called Po, it sounds awesome, right?" It turns out, the reason why it took them long to arrive at Po's room due to the reason of Mr. Ping's explanation on why he came up with the name Po.
As for Po, he rolled his eyes silently. He has heard the story several times and it sounds cool at first but his dad kept retelling the story almost every single day especially whenever they have their dinner together, making Po start to bore about the story.
"That indeed sounds awesome, Mr. Ping." Leo smiled and said politely before his eyes darted throughout the entire room, scanning them with curiosity.
'Posters of the five masters, check. Huh, so their name are the Furious Five? There's also the figurines. Yup, this just confirmed that I'm in the world of Kung Fu Panda where a scary leopard that rivals Master Shifu in strength despite being locked away for years lives. I don't even want to mention the future enemies of Po.' Leo sighed in defeat.
"Here, this will be where you're sleeping." Mr. Ping went to Po's bed and grabbed his blanket before placing them on the ground beside the bed.
"And the pillow." Mr. Ping happily grabbed one of Po's pillows before putting them on the blanket bed on the ground.
"Dad!" Po complained, not liking the fact that he has to give his blanket and pillow away.
"Oh shush Po. I'll just buy you a new one tomorrow. Now, go back down and assist me in the shop." Mr. Ping tapped on Po's belly before walking out of the door.
"Thanks, Mr. Ping." Leo smiled and extended his gratitude.
"No problem, Leo. Just take a rest and wait for your shift later at night." The goose replied.
Meanwhile, Po awkwardly pressed his back on the walls while trying to make sure his big belly won't accidentally hit Leo.
"Thank you, Po. I can call you Po, right?" Of course, Leo won't forget the future dragon warrior himself.
"Sure uhm. It's not like I have any other names beside Po." Po said while whispering the last sentence to himself. Though deep inside, he was happy that Leo didn't mind his huge presence in the room. Usually, every animal he encountered would always complain about his fat body and only Leo didn't.
After Po and Mr. Ping left, Leo finally had the entire room to himself.
Without further ado, Leo sat on the blanket bed before excitedly waiting for his tool.
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[It's chapter 3 of the rewrite and I want to know what you guys think about it. Is it good or bad? Write it down in the comments.]
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[Next Chapter: Ch. 4 - The Great Pretender's System]
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