How Did The Young Lady Go Bankrupt? - Chapter 6

Duan Zishu had just finished speaking with the boss and was eager to bring up the subject of rewards, but now she had quieted down, looking as if she were in no hurry at all.

“We’ll talk about it when we get home.”

“Fine. Hurry up and put on your uniform.”

Duan Zishu took the uniform out of the packaging and pursed her lips: “The taste is mediocre at best.”

Most of the time, Duan Zishu didn’t like to be overly blunt, preferring to leave some room for nuance. By using such a tone to call it “mediocre,” she meant it was absolutely terrible. However, Lu Zhiyao didn’t say much; the bright red apron and the hat emblazoned with the logo were universally acknowledged to be hideous.

“I’ve sent you the standards for cleaning. I’ll go over them with you in a moment,” Lu Zhiyao said, leading Duan Zishu out. “When things calm down, I’ll teach you how to make some drinks. When you’re free, you should go cut fruit or restock the ice.”

Duan Zishu couldn’t quite shift into the identity of an employee just yet; she stood there in a daze for a long time before replying with an “Oh.”

When they reached the back kitchen and saw row upon row of mangoes, she said, “Lu Zhiyao, I don’t know how to cut fruit.”

“Then go peel grapes and boil the tea. You can do that, right?”

Lu Zhiyao taught her how to use the hot water boiler: “Flip the switch, add water. The temperature is already set, so just press here to start. It requires zero technical skill. While the water is heating, go peel the grapes, then put them in this machine to slice them. Press this button to turn it on, this one to run it, and press it again to finish. Then add sugar—the proportions are all written on this chart. After adding sugar, put them in a box and label them…”

After explaining a long list of instructions, she asked, “Did you get all that?”

Lu Zhiyao felt these tasks weren’t difficult, just hard to pick up initially. Explaining it once was just to build familiarity. She knew that when Duan Zishu actually tried it, there would be many things she wouldn’t remember, but as long as she offered a few reminders, the process should be ingrained in her memory after two or three attempts.

The hardest part of working at a bubble tea shop is figuring out how to get along with colleagues early on. If the relationship with coworkers is bad, a newcomer won’t last long because they’ll just be underfoot since they don’t know how to do anything yet. The employees at this shop shared a certain sense of identity as a minority group, making integration easier than elsewhere—not to mention Duan Zishu had an acquaintance there, so there shouldn’t be any problems.

“Probably,” Duan Zishu answered.

“Then go ahead. I’ll be cutting fruit right next to you,” Lu Zhiyao said, patting Duan Zishu on the shoulder. Duan Zishu acknowledged her and went to peel grapes.

“Lu Zhiyao, how much should I peel before adding sugar?”

“One box.”

The other woman frowned: “How could I possibly peel that many?”

“Why not? It’ll be full in no time, and we have to peel many boxes.”

“Oh.”

Things were quiet for a while. Before opening time, the few people prepping in the back were chatting as usual, complaining about how the mutual funds they’d just bought had plummeted. Lu Zhiyao listened, mocking them for not listening to her advice earlier. As someone who never took a single risk, if there was any possibility of losing money, Lu Zhiyao wouldn’t invest a cent.

“Do you think you’re rich? The idea that ‘money makes money’ is just a game for capitalists.”

“Lu Zhiyao…”

Amidst everyone’s sighs, Duan Zishu called out to her again. Lu Zhiyao put aside her mocking tone and turned her attention back to the former capitalist, which immediately drew bursts of laughter from the others.

“Since when has Little Lu been so patient?”

“You’re being biased! You weren’t this thorough when I was the new hire.”

Lu Zhiyao ignored them: “What is it now?”

“I hurt my hand,” Duan Zishu said, lowering her voice so the others wouldn’t hear.

Peeling grapes didn’t involve knives, so how could she be hurt? “Where?” Lu Zhiyao asked.

Duan Zishu held out her hand. Lu Zhiyao looked left and right but saw no broken skin or blood.

“Here,” Duan Zishu said, pointing. The side of her right index finger was red, but there was still no visible wound. “It stings whenever I touch a grape,” she explained.

Lu Zhiyao mostly understood what was going on. When Duan Zishu peeled the grapes, she used her thumb and index finger to pull the skin away. Even though her nails were very short, the pressure of the thumb nail against the side of the index finger would cause pain after prolonged effort. After all, these were hands that had never done much work.

“It’s not serious; no need for a bandage.”

“But I feel like it hurts a lot.”

Without broken skin or an actual wound, how much could it possibly hurt? Lu Zhiyao remembered when she worked here as a college freshman. The shop was smaller, there wasn’t as much staff, and she was on shift alone. She accidentally cut her hand while slicing fruit—the blood gushed out, creating a total mess. A whole box of fruit had to be thrown out, the table needed wiping, the knife needed washing, and the delivery orders weren’t finished yet. She hadn’t known what to do first.

But it’s incredibly tacky to talk about your own greater hardships when someone else is struggling; it doesn’t solve their problem and only invites annoyance.

“Go print the labels; I’ll handle the rest.”

Taking care of newcomers was the right thing to do, even if it weren’t Duan Zishu, she would have helped.

“Thank you.”

Lu Zhiyao had barely taken over the work when she heard Duan Zishu call her again. This time, it wasn’t as crisp as before. The three syllables sounded low and lethargic.

“Lu Zhiyao, I forgot how to print the labels.”

Lu Zhiyao had noticed that Duan Zishu’s mood was off, so she didn’t speak with her usual bite. But she didn’t offer any comfort, either. She knew Duan Zishu’s personality—if she comforted her in front of the others, she would feel even more humiliated. Furthermore, she didn’t know how to comfort Duan Zishu.

Not comparing this to her own past troubles was one thing, but feeling that Duan Zishu’s frustration was truly important was another. To be honest, Lu Zhiyao felt from the bottom of her heart that this wasn’t an issue at all. Standing for hours shaking tea drinks would make anyone’s back ache; as for a finger that hurt without a wound, how much could it really hurt? Lu Zhiyao didn’t know how to comfort someone regarding difficulties that weren’t difficulties to her.

Once the shop officially opened, Lu Zhiyao was running back and forth with no time to teach her step-by-step. When the first-period class ended at the nearby university, the shop faced its first rush of the day. Everyone was busy; receipts were flying in, drinks were flying out, and there wasn’t even time to chat.

Everyone, except for Duan Zishu.

She didn’t know how to make drinks, and no one told her to do anything else. Now, she stood in the back kitchen, bewildered, only moving when she had to make way for the busy employees.

Duan Zishu shouldn’t have felt like a stranger to this scene.

Even excluding grand banquets, in her daily life, she would have servants and nannies coming and going. If she felt uncomfortable every time, how could she stay at home? Of course, everyone just did their own thing. When the nanny cleaned or prepped food in the kitchen, even if she had nothing to do, she would sit on the sofa and entertain herself quite naturally.

Often, she didn’t even notice someone else was busy right beside her. Food was served on time, her clothes were washed, and the house didn’t require any special attention—it was always clean anyway.

But, wearing the same clothes as them—that ugly, shapeless apron and a hat with a logo that lacked any sense of design—Duan Zishu noticed just how many people were around. Standing among them, she felt like she should be just as busy. It wasn’t some inexplicable moral sense; it was just that being in a group and doing the opposite of the group triggered a primal instinct that made her nervous.

She felt like someone pushed outside their circle.

“Lu Zhiyao…” When she saw the only person she knew, she called out, even though she knew she shouldn’t disturb her. But Lu Zhiyao didn’t hear her voice; she hurried past and left.

Duan Zishu didn’t call out again. She stood in place for a few seconds, turned to someone who didn’t look completely overwhelmed, and asked, “Excuse me, is there anything I can help with?”

“Oh,” the person looked over. “Don’t just stand there watching me. Follow along and learn.”

The back kitchen operated like clockwork; there was no room for a newcomer to step in. But with the excuse of observing and learning, Duan Zishu had a legitimate reason to stay, so she didn’t have to be at a complete loss.

However, her fingers still throbbed, her waist ached from bending over so long, and her legs felt stiff from standing too long—yet it was still a long time before the noon break.

After a rush, things quieted down, with only a few deliveries coming in.

“How is it? Are you adjusting?” Lu Zhiyao finally had a moment to ask.

Duan Zishu didn’t want to speak, so she just nodded.

“Then come and learn how to pack deliveries.”

Now that the people around her were slowing down, Duan Zishu was finally busy. She still felt uncomfortable—very uncomfortable.

Rarely, she began to miss the past.

They had to be busy for a while at noon; some people ordered deliveries in advance, some waited until the rush was over, and some brought their own lunch. Lu Zhiyao asked Duan Zishu what she wanted to eat. She leaned over to look at the delivery page. The prices were much the same as she remembered; she used to order delivery often, but she had never noticed that the prices were anything out of the ordinary.

A meal with a delivery fee was about thirty yuan, while her hourly wage was sixteen yuan.

A pitifully small salary, cheap labor—far worse than even the domestic help at her house.

“Is all the money spent on food?” she said.

Lu Zhiyao was stunned, then let out a laugh, as if mocking herself: “Buying outside is expensive, that’s why you can’t buy it every day. You still have to pay rent, utilities, and internet bills.”

Duan Zishu looked at the phone screen for a long time, then nodded.

“I don’t know what I can eat,” she added.

“Then I’ll order whatever I’m eating. No picky eating allowed.”

“Okay.” Duan Zishu nodded first, then added: “I don’t eat green peppers, I don’t eat radishes, I don’t eat carrots, I don’t eat kelp, I don’t eat…”

“Alright, alright, I’ll remember them all.”

If she really let Duan Zishu list all her picky preferences, it would be longer than the list of toppings in the shop useful only for fluffing up a word count in a thesis.

However, at least Duan Zishu knew that money for food wasn’t earned easily now. A sense of “old motherly” satisfaction welled up in Lu Zhiyao’s heart, soothing her conscience, which had been riddled with holes by the student council. After going through this ordeal, perhaps the young lady would be able to drop her bad habits and live a grounded life… maybe?