Home / I Fed the Elderly Cheap, They Turned Ferocious / Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

All Chapters of I Fed the Elderly Cheap, They Turned Ferocious: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

"We're all retirees living on fixed incomes. How are we supposed to afford meals this expensive? You need to lower your prices."As the other seniors chimed in, my temper shot through the roof. How could they even say something like that? Our community kitchen in Brookdale had some of the most affordable meals in the entire area. I had started the place for one reason—there were so many seniors in the neighborhood living alone, and I wanted them to have a hot, affordable meal whenever they didn't feel like cooking.I've even given extra discounts to seniors who were struggling financially. And now Margaret Ackles had the nerve to push for even more, stirring up the other neighbors right in front of me. "I'm not lowering the price," I said firmly, taking a deep breath. The seniors behind her fell silent. My gaze swept past all of them as I continued, "Our meals are 15 dollars for two entrees, a vegetable side, and soup, with unlimited sides. Go to any fast-food place arou

Chapter 2

I didn't lose my temper. looked at the calculating faces around the room before finally settling my gaze on Margaret. "We've all been neighbors for decades. You know me. What do you think I opened this kitchen for? If the food isn't to your liking, you can tell us. If the soup is too hot, let it cool down."I paused, glancing at the table Margaret had just deliberately spilled soup all over. "But deliberately wasting perfectly good food? What's the point?" I asked. "You think you're making things difficult for me? You're making things difficult for the kitchen staff who get up early and work all day to prepare your meals. And you're wearing away the last bit of respect people still have for you."Several of the seniors lowered their heads, clearly embarrassed. No one dared say a word. But my heart grew colder. They knew perfectly well how much time, effort, and money went into providing these meals, yet they still chose to follow Margaret's lead just to save a few dollars.I

Chapter 3

The moment I mentioned Liam's job, Margaret's expression changed. All the fight in her vanished. She clearly hadn't expected me to know so much about her son. When she originally applied for the special discount, she had been evasive and only provided her name. But later, when I was delivering meals around the Brookdale neighborhood, I happened to overhear someone mention that Liam had done quite well for himself. He was a manager at a bank, and his wife worked for the local government. "W-What are you going to Liam's workplace for?" Margaret asked hastily, trying to stop me. "This has nothing to do with him!"I held up my phone and the envelope containing the money. "Since you refuse to take the money and leave, I'll just deliver the money and these photos to him myself."And while I'm there, I'll ask his bosses whether all their employees' families are this frugal—so frugal that they'll even take advantage of a nonprofit community kitchen."With that, I ignored Margaret's

Chapter 4

The people gathered around us didn't know the truth. They pulled out their phones, pointing them at me and whispering among themselves. "How could anyone do something like that? Feeding spoiled food to seniors?""He looks respectable enough. How could he possibly do something like that?"I huffed, suddenly regaining my composure as I looked at Margaret and Liam. "Fine. Since you're claiming I served spoiled food, let's call the police and have the health department come here to collect samples and test them."Uncertainty flashed in Liam's eyes the moment I mentioned the police and an official inspection. But with his pride on the line, he forced himself to stay tough and called the security guards. "Get him out of here!" he barked. "Don't let him disrupt our business."The guards escorted me out of the bank, but I wasn't worried in the slightest. I had nothing to hide. We had receipts for every ingredient we'd purchased, and there were security cameras in the kitchen.I th

Chapter 5

I knew perfectly well that they weren't making such a scene over a few dinner rolls. They were betting that I wouldn't dare close the kitchen because of its reputation as a community service. They wanted to force me to back down as I had before—to lower the prices, or even start feeding them for free. After all, there wasn't another place in the entire area where you could get entrees, a vegetable side, and soup for 15 dollars, with air conditioning and free dessert. The moment I finished speaking, Margaret's sobs came to a halt. Her hand holding the moldy dinner roll froze in midair, and the older men who had been clutching their stomachs forgot to groan. They looked at one another in disbelief. "Mateo, what are you talking about?" someone finally asked, panic creeping into his voice. "Mr. Brown, we never wanted to close the kitchen! We just wanted you to give us bigger portions…""Yeah… we just wanted you to apologize to Margaret."They stumbled over their words, but in

Chapter 6

Once the noisy crowd finally cleared out, Margaret slunk away as well. The kitchen was finally quiet again, leaving behind nothing but the mess they'd made.Agatha approached me with red-rimmed eyes as she untied her apron, her voice trembling with emotion."Mr. Brown, are you really closing the kitchen?" she asked. "I've worked for you for two years, and I've never had a boss who treated us this well. Where am I ever going to find another job like this?"William, the head chef, lit a cigarette and crouched. "She's right, Mr. Brown," he said, frowning. "You've always treated us well, and you've never cut corners on ingredients. We'd hate to see all our skills go to waste. It's such a shame to close. We really want to keep working for you."The other kitchen staff and cleaning crew gathered around too, all talking at once about how much they hated to see the place close.The sincere look in their eyes made the heaviness in my chest lift. These were the people who truly unders

Chapter 7

Three months flew by. When I returned to the restaurant, the air-quality inspection had finally given us the all-clear.Agatha and William had come back a week earlier to clean everything. They'd polished the dark walnut tables and chairs until they gleamed, and they'd trimmed all the plants until they looked lush and vibrant.On reopening day, I didn't put up a banner or hold any kind of grand ceremony. I simply placed a minimalist wooden sign by the entrance that read "Mateo's Private Dining—Reservations Only".To my surprise, we received seven or eight reservation calls before noon.Most of the customers were executives from nearby office buildings or people who'd heard from friends that we used high-quality ingredients and had an excellent chef. They'd come specifically to try the place for themselves.By noon, the restaurant was packed.There was none of the noisy chaos or food scraps scattered across the floor that I'd dealt with before. Instead, there was soft jazz playing

Chapter 8

Margaret's outburst had actually made the customers feel even more sympathetic toward me. Several regulars immediately added money to their accounts and signed up for memberships.But before I could catch my breath, a few familiar faces appeared outside the restaurant. It was already a little after two, just as the lunch rush was winding down. They were the same seniors who had caused trouble with Margaret three months ago. Dave and Paula Jenkins were among them, each carrying a few bruised apples and wearing awkward, ingratiating smiles.Dave stepped forward first. He placed the apples on the counter and took my hand. "Mateo, we came here because…" he said in a low voice. "Well, we wanted to ask you for a favor.”In fact, I already had a pretty good idea of what they wanted. I motioned for Agatha to pour them some water and have them sit in the waiting area."Ever since you closed the community kitchen, we've tried several different places, but we just can't get used to the

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