Chapter 1 One
Chapter Summary: He wished he could capture her with just his eyes.
Li Fengjian has been a little troubled lately: why hasn't Miss Yao, who used to frequent the milk tea shop, come around lately?
When this matter was mentioned, the other two shop assistants, Aunt Sun and Xiao Dong, also chimed in.
As Aunt Sun was taking payments, she said, "Oh right, little Yao hasn't been here for a while."
Xiao Dong was making tea. "Miss Yao is probably on a diet again."
After saying that, they went back to their own business. As the busiest tea shop on the basement floor of the mall, Kazamado was in its busiest midday hour, and they were spinning like tops.
Ultimately, the only person who truly cared whether Miss Yao came or not was Li Fengjian, the owner of Kazamado. Of course, it wasn't for any ulterior motives; Li Fengjian cared about her simply because Yao Ye was not only a regular customer, but also the first customer Kazamado had ever had since its opening.
Li Fengjian still vividly remembers his first meeting with Yao Ye.
Kazama-do started as a small roadside milk tea shop, gradually accumulating capital and reputation. Li Fengjian then decided to take a gamble and enter a large shopping mall. He rented a shop on the basement floor of the Belle Shopping Mall. On the morning of the opening, he stood in front of the mall's map, staring blankly at the newly hung Kazama-do billboard.
This gamble could either bring his hard work to fruition or cause his years of effort to go to waste, so he had to admit he was a little nervous.
Just as he was taking a deep breath, a young woman carrying breakfast in one hand and talking on the phone in the other hurried past him. After a few steps, she turned back and stood in front of the Kazamado billboard.
"Wow," she said, holding her phone while on a call, "a new tea shop just opened on the basement floor, and the ads look really good!"
Li Fengjian couldn't help but look at her, but she was examining the billboard very carefully, and even silently swallowed her saliva.
She said, "I've been obsessed with dieting lately. Just looking at the billboards makes me imagine that silky smooth taste. I wonder if this place tastes any good... Oh, I know, dieting is all about fighting your own desires... But this is a new store opening, and they're having a sale today..."
After exchanging a few words, she pursed her lips, hung up the phone, and turned to leave when Li Fengjian, who was standing beside her, inexplicably called out to her.
“This place is pretty good,” Li Fengjian blurted out. When he met the girl’s surprised look, he paused before continuing, “And look at the billboard, the first fifty customers today get half price, which is a really good deal. I think you should give it a try.”
"Oh..." The girl paused, somewhat puzzled, but still smiled politely before turning to leave.
Watching her hurried departure, Li Fengjian suddenly had a premonition, as if she were a goddess of fortune. If she really came to visit Fengjian Hall, she would definitely bring good luck to Fengjian Hall.
After that, Li Fengjian quietly returned to the shop. Due to limited funds, the location of the shop he rented was not ideal, not in the busiest area. For the first hour, Li Fengjian and his two employees went from anticipation and anxiety to a sense of disappointment. Aunt Sun, a long-time employee, kindly comforted him,
"It's okay. We only rented the shop for a year. If it doesn't work out, we can just go back to the small shop on the street. It won't be that much of a burden."
Li Fengjian gave a wry smile, but the sound of wind chimes as someone pushed open the door interrupted their conversation.
It really was her, the lucky goddess Yao Ye, who pushed open the door and walked in. After looking around, she went to the order counter.
"Oh my, it's you..." She blinked in surprise, looking at Li Fengjian.
“That’s right, it’s me.” Li Fengjian couldn’t help but smile, the first genuine smile since the business opened.
"So you're an employee of Kazamado," she said.
“To be precise, I’m the boss,” Li Fengjian replied, subconsciously puffing out his chest.
"So you were just praising yourself before?" Yao Ye laughed.
"The food here is indeed quite good, and we do have opening discounts today. I'm just stating the facts. What would you like to drink?"
Yao Ye looked up, "Hmm... I'll go with the one on the billboard, the picture looks so tempting... Oh right! I only want 30% sugar!"
"Okay." Li Fengjian smiled again. "Our products are made with high-quality ingredients and can be consumed appropriately even during a weight loss period."
Yao Ye laughed and asked, "By the way, what number am I today? I mean, should I be one of the top fifty to get the half-price discount?"
“Of course,” Li Fengjian said sincerely. “You are our first customer. This meal is on the house. Welcome to visit us again.”
After Yao Ye left, contentedly sipping her drink through the straw, customers actually started coming in one after another, and the place gradually became bustling with customers, as if she had truly brought good fortune to him. From then on, Yao Ye fell in love with the taste of Kazamado and became a regular customer.
Li Fengjian then learned that Yao Ye was actually a college student whose family ran a children's art class on the fifth floor, and she often came over to help out during her spare time. Li Fengjian also knew that Yao Ye's constant talk about "losing weight" was actually quite flexible; often, just one reason was enough to make her happily order a cup of milk tea.
Li Fengjian often took on the responsibility of providing her with reasons, for example...
"Today, you can use your points at the mall to offset your purchase, which is roughly equivalent to getting a drink for half price."
Yao Ye slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Give me a drink!"
“I saw you taking a group of kids to the nearby park for an activity yesterday. You must have been very tired and burned a lot of calories.”
Yao Ye slammed her hand on the counter, "Give me a drink!"
"It's really hot today. I'll get heatstroke if I don't drink some water."
Yao Ye wiped her sweat as she said, "Give me a drink!"
"Today, Kazamado launched a new product, a fruit tea made with seasonal fruits. It will be off the market soon, and we won't be able to drink it until next year."
Yao Ye smiled and said, "Come on, we definitely have to have a drink!"
Sometimes, Yao Ye would even take advantage of her status as the number one regular customer to offer suggestions to the boss, Li Fengjian. Once, she strolled up to Li Fengjian, stopped, and said with a serious expression,
"Mr. Li, the Haha Milk Tea shop across the street has new products. They're strawberry-themed milk tea and fruit tea. They look delicious just from the billboard."
Li Fengjian looked up from the accounts and stared at her with the same serious expression. "So, what do you mean?"
"What I mean is, Kazamado should catch up and release a new strawberry-themed product! I really want to try it!"
Li Fengjian chuckled and teased her, "If you want some, why don't you go to the Haha Milk Tea shop across the street?"
Then Yao Ye pursed her lips and said, "...Their cup costs more than thirty yuan, which is really too expensive..."
Li Fengjian was speechless.
But three days later, Kazama-do launched a new, affordable strawberry series. Yao Ye happily came to patronize the store, and seeing that the owner, Li Kazama, had personally made it for her, Yao Ye even brazenly leaned on the counter and shouted, "..."
"Boss, boss, add more strawberries."
Li Fengjian silently rolled his eyes at her, but there were so many strawberries in her cup that it was almost like freshly squeezed juice.
Of course! Li Fengjian didn't believe his affection for Yao Ye stemmed from any ulterior motives. After all, she was still a university student, and Li Fengjian was more than eight years older than her. In Li Fengjian's eyes, Yao Ye was just a little sister, a girl who could bring good luck to his shop. After all, the strawberry series, which she suggested, had become a star product in the shop due to its widespread acclaim.
So now, when Yao Ye hadn't visited for a while, Li Fengjian couldn't help but start to overthink. And on this day, when he saw Yao Ye standing in line in front of the newly opened milk tea shop across the street through the glass door, Li Fengjian felt a wave of dizziness, as if he had been struck by lightning.
Aunt Sun had just finished a few takeout orders when she noticed the boss's spotlight-like gaze.
"Oh dear, isn't that little Yao? So you weren't on a diet, you just wanted a change of pace." Aunt Sun chuckled, but glancing at the boss, she suppressed her laughter and patted his shoulder to comfort him, "The place across the street just opened, they're having a buy-one-get-one-free promotion. It's alright, little Yao'll be back after a few days of novelty."
That's right, the shops across the street have changed hands one after another. Haha Milk Tea closed down less than half a month ago, and now Hehe Milk Tea has grandly opened its doors. In fact, only Kazamado remains standing on the basement level, so Yao Ye will return sooner or later.
Aunt Sun understood this principle, and Li Fengjian naturally understood it too. But he still couldn't help but keep glancing across the street.
Aunt Sun then stepped aside, covered her mouth, and chuckled to Xiao Dong, "Oh my, look at our boss, he looks like he wants to arrest little Yao with just his eyes."
At that moment, Yao Ye, who was queuing in front of Hehe Milk Tea, received a phone call from Liu Yue, her art teacher.
Teacher Liu said, "Xiao Yao, let me change my drink. I'll get the one without ice."
"Okay." Yao Ye laughed, "There are so many people here because of the buy-one-get-one-free deal. I'm in line now, and I think it'll be my turn in about five minutes."
"They're having a buy-one-get-one-free deal this week, right? If you like it, we can split the order this week," Liu Yue said with a smile. "But isn't their restaurant right across from Kazamado? If you, a loyal Kazamado customer, suddenly go to another place to patronize something, won't you feel embarrassed if they see you?"
"No way," Yao Ye was taken aback; she hadn't really thought that far ahead. She instinctively reached for Kazamado across the street, but suddenly sneezed.
"Achoo...achoo achoo achoo achoo...who is thinking of me so much!"
………………
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
