The first day of sales were…a bit slow, to say the least. While there was some occasional interest and curiosity about the kiln and the stuff they were selling, everything was just overwhelmed by the giant unmissable temple to Szechuan cuisine that was both literally and figuratively right in front of them. The fact that said temple was being run by a sitting member of the Council of Ten didn't help things for the Three Amigos, either. It wasn't a total disaster, however. While the kiln didn't give a clear visual display for the Hujiao Bing, the display case showed the tarts very clearly. This drew in more customers, a number of whom came out of Kuga's restaurant looking for some sort of relief from the Szechuan heat, which the tarts were able to provide nicely. As people came to look at the tarts, they also saw the kilns with the Hujiao Bing and were intrigued.

Even Kuga had to admit that their food offerings were intriguing – it didn't directly challenge Kuga's Szechuan cooking, though it was still a type of Chinese cuisine. He was also impressed that Daniel had come up with something that would draw in customers from his own restaurant looking for relief from the heat. That fact hadn't actually occurred to Daniel until he noticed the pattern in the middle of everything, but he wasn't about to tell Kuga that. At the end of the first day, their stand hadn't ended up making a profit, but thanks to Daniel's egg custard tarts, they did end up breaking even. Kuga, meanwhile, blew away not only them, but everyone else in the Central area, taking first place in sales for the day and even making more than twice what the second-place stall made.

Back in the classroom building where everyone had gathered, Erina was none too pleased. Not only had Soma's stall failed to make a profit, but the stall run by the Shiomi seminar had also ended the day in the red. Apparently, Alice and Ryo had sweet-talked Professor Shiomi into allowing them to run the stall with Akira (much to his horror), and Alice had proceeded to insert herself as the boss, causing chaos with the menu to the detriment of their sales numbers. This meant that six of the eight people who participated in the Autumn Elections main tournament were in danger of flunking out. "This is an absolute disgrace!" Erina screamed. "You were all in the main tournament of the Autumn Elections, for heaven's sake! How will it look if all of you end up getting kicked out of Totsuki for such pathetic performances during the Moon Festival?!"

After seeing that Megumi was visibly shaken by her rant, Erina went over to her and said gently, "Of course, I wasn't directing that at you, Megumi." She then turned to Daniel and said, "Also, from what I've heard, you, at least, have been pulling your weight." As Daniel nodded in acknowledgement, Erina looked at him with a bit of concern and asked, "Aren't you the least bit concerned about all of this?" Daniel shook his head and explained, "I know today didn't look good, but Soma has an uncanny ability to make any necessary adjustments on the fly. Plus, this isn't his first festival – I have faith in him." Erina sighed in slight frustration as she replied, "If you say so."

When Daniel looked up, he saw most of the people eating Hujiao Bing, as Soma decided to give some out to their friends for their dinner (or at least a hearty snack). Seeing this, Daniel decided to offer the tarts he had left as well, which most people took him up on (also making sure Hisako got a couple). Although everyone was complimenting Soma and Daniel on the taste of their creations, Erina still refused to eat Soma's cooking. Hisako then whispered into Daniel's ear, asking for an extra tart for her to give to Erina in private later. Daniel nodded and discreetly handed her another tart.

As most people were busy enjoying their food, Soma came up to Daniel to take him aside and discuss a couple of ideas he had for the rest of the festival. The most immediate thing he wanted to do was to add another item to the menu – something that they could easily make with what they already had. Daniel thought this was a good idea, as it would give people more options and more reason to come to their stall. Soma also discussed getting more people involved by the end of the week, and asked Daniel if he knew someone who would be able to help. Daniel thought for a few minutes before answering, "Yeah, I think I know just the person that will fit the bill." He then took out his cell phone and called said person to arrange a meeting. When he hung up, he told Soma that they needed to get to a certain place in the building once it got less busy – about an hour from then.

At the agreed upon time, Soma and Daniel met with the shadowy figure in the darkened hallways of the classroom building. At least, this is what it would have appeared to be to the casual observer. He agreed to help the duo, saying he would need a couple of days to work by himself to get familiar with what they were making. At this, Soma offered the use of his diner's kitchen and handed the figure a spare key, which the figure immediately accepted. As he walked off, Soma grinned at Daniel and said, "I have a really good feeling about this! Just you wait, Kuga – you won't even see this coming!"

Over the next couple of days, things continually improved for the Three Amigos and their stall. The new menu item – something Soma called 'Kinda Sorta Danzi Noodles,' was a hit with the customers. Soma was able to make the noodles using the dough for the Hujiao Bing, and broke up the patties for the protein. He then topped it off with some light broth and scallions for a lighter, more refreshing dish. With the new menu item, the stall was able to make profits on both the second and third days. While it appeared that they were out of danger of ending the week in the red, and therefore expelled, they still hadn't yet shown themselves to be a serious threat to Kuga's supremacy over the Central Area.

Over those two days, they were checked in on by the other members of Polar Star at various times as they took their breaks from working at Isshiki's booth. For the festival, Isshiki had come up with the idea for the rest of the dorm to work together running a hot pot restaurant that was outdoors and by the river (which he had apparently dug himself, with the school's permission). All of their friends thought that their menu items were fantastic, but were also worried that Kuga was just too overwhelming for them to make a dent in his sales. Soma chuckled and said not to worry. "Everything is going according to plan," he stated. While he was known for pulling the proverbial rabbit out of his hat, their friends were still uncertain about it. At one point, Soma asked Daniel and Megumi rhetorically, "Do you really think that everything is running perfectly with Kuga's restaurant?" After they couldn't come up with an answer, Soma added, "Sooner or later, the flaws will begin to show themselves, and that's when we'll strike – hard!"

On the third day, Daniel had a pleasant interlude in the business of running the stall when his family showed up to support him. After a big greeting complete with hugs all around, his family got their lunch from the stall, with his sister ordering a Hujiao Bing, and his parents ordering one savory item each to split with each other. Of course, they all also ordered some of Daniel's tarts for dessert. They were not disappointed, as everything was quite delicious, and they especially liked the tarts, particularly Daniel's mother. She came up to Daniel and asked, "How did you think of doing this?" Daniel grinned and replied, "Remember that dim sum place we would frequent back in Los Angeles? This is a combination of both our favorite desserts from there. I really liked the egg custard tarts, and you really liked those sesame balls with the red bean paste in the middle."

Daniel's mother smiled, almost tearing up (as was Megumi, who listened in to the conversation from the background). She then gave her son a big hug and said to him, "I'm very proud of you. This is even better than what we had there." Daniel chuckled in thanks, though a bit embarrassed at the public display. After chatting a bit more, Daniel's family left to look around the festival some more, though not before buying another half dozen tarts for later. As they left, Megumi said to Daniel, "Your parents are really nice." Daniel smiled and replied, "Yeah, they're the best," before getting back to work.

On the evening after the third day, Soma was rolling around the cart with the kilns looking for late stragglers to entice with the food he had left, while Megumi and Daniel joined him on his venture, with Daniel carrying a few boxes of tarts he had left over from the day. According to Soma, this would help by getting a better feel for what the people were craving – going straight to the source to get feedback and ideas for more items to try. While they were able to get a good number of customers, Daniel and Megumi suspected that it was at least in part due to the fact that they weren't charging anything. Soma thought this was best, as any sales at this time of the day wouldn't count towards their total, anyway.

While they were giving out food, Nao Sadatsuka approached, curious as to what they were doing and what they were making that was drawing such a crowd. Before long, she and Soma began chatting it up like old friends, as Soma has a way with people like that (for the most part). The discussion quickly turned to how the stinky and perverse could be so exquisite at the same time, with each of them comparing ever more horrible sounding ingredients and combinations to each other. At hearing this, Megumi thought, 'This is a meeting that should never have occurred.' Daniel, meanwhile, was thinking to himself, 'Saints and angels in heaven, protect us!'

Still, Daniel decided to be nice and offer Nao one of his tarts. When she turned towards Daniel's voice and saw him, she immediately put on a look that could kill if it were possible and shouted, "You!" At this Daniel, Soma and Megumi were very confused – Daniel especially, as he didn't recall ever interacting with Nao, let alone do something to make her this angry with him. "Uh…did I do something to piss you off that I'm unaware of?" Daniel asked. Nao just shouted back, "You just stay away from big sister Hisako if you know what's good for you!"

Now Soma and Megumi were looking at Daniel in confusion, as they wondered what she meant by that. Daniel, meanwhile, thought to himself, 'How the hell does she know about us?' Still, not wanting to back down and not wanting to reveal everything just yet, he asked, "What does Hisako have to do with this!? And who are you to say I can or can't talk to her!?" Nao was surprised by the response, realizing that Daniel would not back down so easily, though she still wore a very hostile look on her face. Daniel then sighed and said, "Look, how about we discuss this in a more calm and civilized manner once the festival is over." Nao thought this over for a few moments before she narrowed her eyes and said in a low voice, "Very well." As she was walking away, she turned to Daniel once more and exclaimed, "In the meantime, you'd better watch your back!" As Nao walked off into the distance, Megumi and Soma turned to Daniel as Megumi asked, "What was that about?" Daniel hesitated for a few moments before answering, "I'm not entirely sure myself."

Later that night back at the dorm, as Soma was working on creating a new dish to serve the next day, Daniel was alone in his room with the door closed, talking with Hisako on the phone. He told her about what had happened with Nao earlier and asked if she knew what her deal was. Hisako sighed as she explained that, for years, Nao had been obsessed with Erina, even challenging Hisako to a food war during middle school for her position as Erina's assistant (which Hisako had won easily). While the result of the food war forced Nao to stay at least 50 feet away from Erina at all times, she continued to feed her obsession with mountains of letters, most of which were intercepted and destroyed before getting anywhere near Erina.

Then, at the Autumn Election preliminaries, she called out Hisako once again, challenging her with her curry dish. While Nao's dish (a Black Laksa Curry, which entranced the judges while simultaneously being repulsively stinky) had been the first one to get a reasonably high score, Hisako's curry dish (a Mutton Meat Soup Curry that contained the Four Pillars of Chinese Medicine) scored higher and completely overwhelmed Nao's dish. In disbelief over the results, she tasted some of Hisako's curry, which had such a profound effect on her that her obsession suddenly turned towards Hisako.

Although Hisako couldn't see it, Daniel face palmed at hearing the story. He then sighed as he said, "Yeah, at some point after the festival is over, we're going to have to have a talk with her together about this. It won't do any of us any good if this continues for the next two-and-a-half years, or even longer." Hisako agreed, and promised to help him talk with Nao at the appropriate time. Before she hung up, Daniel stated, "By the way, I would like to try that curry you made myself sometime. It must have been some curry to have had an effect like that." Hisako smiled to herself and replied, "Sure. As long as you make that dessert curry dish of yours for me." Daniel chuckled and said, "It's a deal," before wishing her a good night and hanging up.

Daniel then went downstairs to the kitchen to check up on how Soma and Megumi were doing. When he arrived, Soma told him he was just in time to behold his latest creation. It certainly looked good from Daniel's perspective, and Megumi seemed excited about it. Soma then gave Daniel a portion and told him to dig in. When he did, and saw and tasted exactly what Soma had come up with, he sported a giant grin on his face as he exclaimed, "Dude! I think you got it!" He then high-fived Soma in celebration, with Soma sporting a grin of his own as he said, "Alright! Time to bring out the big guns!"