"Little Uncle, how could you bring her here!"
Shen Zhixing looked up, brows furrowed as he asked, "Have you spent too many days drinking foreign swill that you’ve forgotten your roots? Don't you know you’re supposed to knock?"
The crudeness of the remark left Xi Mingzhou embarrassed for a moment, but he finally remembered why he had come. He hurried to speak: "Little Uncle, you brought Yulan to Shishahai. If Qilan finds out, she’ll definitely be devastated. How can you be so inconsiderate of me?"
Shen Zhixing cast a side-eye at him. "What does Zhou Qilan have to do with me?"
"Then what does Yulan have to do with you?" Xi Mingzhou retorted boldly. From his earliest memories, this uncle, seven years his senior, had been the one to raise him. This was the first time he had ever defied him. He felt terrible afterward, but the moment he thought of Qilan being hurt and suffering for it, he felt he needed an explanation.
Seeing Shen Zhixing remain silent, Xi Mingzhou assumed he had hit a nerve.
He closed his eyes in pain. "Can’t you all just move past what happened with Qilan? She’s already been punished. She’s been living alone abroad without any family for nearly five years now—what more do you want from her?"
"When did you develop this habit of being so magnanimous on behalf of others?"
Shen Zhixing’s tone held not a ripple of emotion, and the more indifferent he was, the more afraid Xi Mingzhou became. He quickly sat in a nearby chair and began to defend Zhou Qilan: "I didn’t mean it like that, I just know that Qilan didn't mean to..."
"I don't want to hear this circular nonsense."
Recalling the nauseating incident only led to even more nauseating conclusions. Shen Zhixing raised a hand to cut him off.
As for what Zhou Qilan had done, the fact that he had merely sent her abroad and continued to support her comfortably was proof enough that his conscience wasn't entirely dead.
Watching Xi Mingzhou sitting there so securely now, an inexplicable anger rose within him—a resentment. He asked, "You used to treat her like your own sister, how could you bring yourself to sleep with her?"
Xi Mingzhou looked like a snake whose vital spot had been pinched; his face turned deathly pale. This was the one thing he had always avoided, the one thing he dared not think about, could not think about.
Seeing his reaction, Shen Zhixing suddenly felt a sense of weariness.
"What do you think this place is? Do you think you can crawl in here after sleeping with just anything?"
That was essentially a harsh order for him to leave.
After Xi Mingzhou left in a daze, the room became utterly silent.
Shen Zhixing pinched the bridge of his nose, catching his breath as he pondered where that sudden resentment had come from.
He traced it back to the beginning, all the way to that phone call that night and the way Xi Mingzhou’s voice had been dripping with lust.
As he unraveled the tangled mess, things began to clear up.
He... he seemed to feel that it hadn't been worth it for Yulan.
Shen Zhixing took a sip of tea; it had long since gone cold, leaving a bitter aftertaste.
He tightened his grip on the teacup and gave a mocking shake of his head.
"Absurd."
The next day, when Auntie Zhou asked Shen Zhixing what flowers he wanted for the empty flowerbed in the backyard, he replied out of habit: "Camellias."
But then he changed his mind: "That area is large enough—moving a few Yulan trees there would be fine, too."
*
Time flew by, especially during the holidays; you’d blink and they’d be over.
Once school started, Yulan was so busy she couldn't catch her breath.
This area was a genuine school district, encompassing everything from early childhood education to the university town. When business was good, her daily net profit could break ten thousand. Yulan was exhausted by it, but not satisfied.
She dreamed of opening a hundred, a thousand such shops, perhaps even expanding abroad and covering the whole world. She wanted the recipes she had developed by hand to be recognized by the public and eventually become an industry benchmark.
This time, going out hadn't just broadened her horizons; it had also been a significant blow. She realized that even if she opened shops across the globe, she might still never compare to the Shen family or the Xi family.
But then, she thought, those things were all a matter of fate. She couldn't exactly jump into a river now or pray to the gods to be reborn into a better family. If she couldn't even master what was already in her hands, relying on those ethereal, hollow things would make her a fool.
After a moment of reflection, she plunged back into her repetitive busyness.
"Welcome," the door sensor announced suddenly.
Yulan subconsciously brightened her face into a smile and asked, "What would you like to drink?"
The man standing before her in her tiny shop looked like a pearl covered in dust.
For no other reason than that the man looked like a sprite. Such standard, long, phoenix eyes were something Yulan had only ever seen in photo-editing templates, not to mention the outfit he wore—it had no visible branding, but every detail screamed "I'm wealthy."
Luxury goods were something you didn't have to own, but you had to be able to recognize, otherwise, you might pick something up someday and think it was a nine-dollar bargain from an online discount site.
Yulan took a look; his flamboyant outfit was worth at least two hundred thousand. A few more outfits like that and he could buy her entire shop.
"Me! A rich kid experiencing real life—are you hiring? I’ll pay you ten thousand a month." The flamboyant man’s opening line was even more outrageous.
Yulan smiled at him, not replying, her finger simply pressing down on the calculator.
"..."
"For a rich kid, you’re only willing to pay ten thousand to flirt?" Yulan mocked.
Chu Shi felt that this trip was truly worth it; he could dodge Li Chuchu’s entanglement and find a woman who fit his tastes from head to toe.
"Name your price?"
"I am a modern Tao Yuanming; I do not eat the food of charity. Move aside, you're blocking the customers behind you."
Chu Shi turned his head to see a group of college-aged youths outside the curtain, looking as if they had something to say.
He gave a cold snort. A few years ago, he would have been one of them, too.
He waved a hand. "A cup of ice water."
Yulan’s movements were swift; she drew the water, added ice, and sealed the lid by hand.
"Eight yuan."
Chu Shi pursed his lips and gestured for Yulan to look at the price tag above. It was written in bright, clear letters: "Ice water: Free."
Yulan turned back. "That’s the local price. For rich kids, it’s double. For people who waste my time by picking fights, it’s double that. So, sixteen yuan."
Chu Shi laughed heartily. He pulled out the QR code, ready to scan.
Yulan shot him a cold, sharp look. "Scan a cent more and I’ll report you for money laundering."
Chu Shi was exceptionally happy today. His narrow, long eyes squinted, resembling a satisfied fox. He leaned lazily against the counter, resting his chin on his hands, and asked quite seriously, "Are you hiring apprentices? I’m sure I can get the payment right this time?"
"Apprentices are worked like donkeys. Five hundred a month, no room or board."
"Deal."