Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The only coffee shop in the park area was open from 10 a.m. to around 6 p.m. It was in a prime location. As the only scenic park in the city, surrounded by tall buildings, a shop here was bound to do well. The beautiful scenery also meant that commercial spaces were in high demand.

However, Shen Qingyi’s coffee shop was an exception. It was quiet, even deserted. When she parked her car in the park’s parking lot, it was already 10 a.m. She casually closed the car door and walked into the shop.

“Ding-ling!”

The little bell on the coffee shop door rang crisply as Shen Qingyi pushed it open. The person inside looked up. “Welcome… Oh, Manager, good morning.”

Shen Qingyi nodded and said calmly, “Good morning.”

The shop was still quiet today. It wasn’t because the coffee was bad; in fact, the regular customers came for the taste and would always praise the coffee, but they would always add a ‘but’ afterward.

But it’s just too expensive at 180 yuan a cup.

That’s right. Shen Qingyi’s coffee shop had the best taste and atmosphere, but the coffee was also the most expensive. The cheapest cup was over 180 yuan, and if you wanted latte art or other special requests, the price would double.

For coffee that cost two or three hundred yuan a cup, the rich might drink it, but ordinary people wouldn’t spend a day’s or half-day’s salary on a single small cup. So, the coffee shop was deserted. Selling five cups a day was considered a good day. Sometimes, there wasn’t a single customer all day. Occasionally, someone would order without looking at the price, and the staff would remind them of the price, leading to a shocked look on the customer’s face.

The barista, Nuonuo, greeted Shen Qingyi enthusiastically. After Shen Qingyi changed into her uniform, Nuonuo said, “Manager, we got another bad review this morning. They said our coffee is too expensive and not for ordinary people.”

Shen Qingyi’s expression remained calm. As she tied her hair, she said, “A bad review is a bad review. I wasn’t planning on running this forever anyway.”

Nuonuo gave a bitter smile. She was a recent university graduate who had studied to be a barista. Her coffee-making skills were exceptional. When Shen Qingyi interviewed her, she just smelled the coffee and hired her on the spot.

Nuonuo had originally thought that being the only employee in this coffee shop would be very hard. But she soon found that they didn’t even sell ten cups of coffee a day. Her daily job was to sit in front of the coffee machine and zone out. Her salary even increased every month, so she couldn’t bring herself to quit.

“Manager,” Nuonuo said, making a cup of coffee for Shen Qingyi. “When I opened the shop today, I saw you had a delivery and signed for it.”

“Okay,” Shen Qingyi said, calmly holding her coffee. “I’ll be upstairs. Let me know if we have a customer.”

Nuonuo thought, Where would a customer come from? But she still waved at Shen Qingyi enthusiastically. “Got it, Manager!”

Shen Qingyi took her coffee and walked up the iron stairs to the second-floor terrace. The weather today was beautiful, the temperature was pleasant, and the wind was light. A recent cold front had given the city’s leaves a faint hint of color. They were orange, yellow, and red, as vibrant as a painting.

Shen Qingyi sat at a table on the terrace, placed her coffee to the side, and started to unwrap the package. The income from the coffee shop was just enough to cover the utilities and Nuonuo’s salary. Luckily, the property belonged to Shen Qingyi, so as long as she wasn’t losing money, she was doing fine.

The package she had sent yesterday had arrived overnight. When Shen Qingyi opened it, she saw something sealed in a plastic bag. It was a book. To be precise, it was an old book. The pages were yellow and dark, the hardcover had fallen off, and a few pages had come loose from the spine and were wrinkled and flattened.

Shen Qingyi looked at the ancient book. The title on the cover was barely visible, written in traditional characters as “Old Stories of Longcheng.” According to the client’s description, this book was written during the Republic of China era. It was the client’s grandfather’s autobiography, a book with high commemorative and collection value. That’s why they had found Shen Qingyi, hoping she could restore it.

If running the coffee shop was Shen Qingyi’s main job, then restoring ancient books was her side job. Besides helping people restore damaged books, Shen Qingyi also bought books that were not widely circulated. She would either add them to her collection or sell them for a small profit. In other words, she was a second-hand book dealer.

Shen Qingyi didn’t rush to open the plastic-sealed book. Instead, she took a photo and sent it to the client, asking, “Is this the book? It arrived this morning. It’s earlier than I expected. I thought it would take three days to get to me.”

The client replied quickly: The book is quite important, so I paid for an expedited delivery. Our two cities aren’t far apart, so it got here very quickly. I’m glad you received it. I was worried it might get wet since they said it would rain in the next couple of days. I hope you can restore it for me, Teacher. It’s very important to my family.

The client sent a long message. Shen Qingyi glanced at it and pressed the voice recorder button. “Okay, I’ll start restoring it today. It should be finished in about a week.”

The client: Okay, thank you. We’ll be in touch if there are any issues.

Putting her phone down, Shen Qingyi took a serious look at the book. “Old Stories of Longcheng.” This book was incredibly old. Books from the Republic of China era were essentially antiques. A book like this, in particular, surviving wars and special periods, showed how much the client cherished it. Unfortunately, this time, Shen Qingyi’s only commission was to restore the ancient book. She was actually very interested in this kind of book, but the client wasn’t selling.

After opening the book, it was as Shen Qingyi had expected. Some of the paper was so brittle it would break with a fold. Some pages would fall out, and there were visible mold spots on the bottom and spine. Fortunately, most of it was still readable.

Shen Qingyi moved her workspace indoors. She sat in a private room on the second floor and started reading “Old Stories of Longcheng.” It took her a full day to finish it.

When the day’s work was over, Shen Qingyi came down from upstairs with the book. She said to Nuonuo, who was on her phone, “I’m leaving early today. Remember to close the door and turn off the lights before you go home.”

Nuonuo put her phone down and smiled. “Okay, Manager!”

Shen Qingyi drove home. When she got in the car, she couldn’t help but remember hearing things in the taxi yesterday. Everything was normal today. Could it be that she was just tired?

Shen Qingyi frowned slightly. She was leaving early today because she had to go somewhere: the flower and bird market. Other people would just go to the pet store in their neighborhood, but Shen Qingyi remembered the chubby little bird at home. She was afraid the pet store wouldn’t have a birdcage, so she thought it would be better to go to the flower and bird market.

The city’s flower and bird market was a narrow alley, difficult to park in. Shen Qingyi had to temporarily park her car in a parking spot across the street and walk into the alley. As soon as she entered, she heard the ‘chirping’ of birds. In addition to birds, there were also many fish. Some shops sold both birds and fish. The bluestone path was lined with fish tanks. Shen Qingyi walked along, looking at everything, until she finally found a shop that looked relatively clean and walked in.

“Just look around,” the owner said, fanning himself and sitting casually in a chair. “What do you want to buy, miss?”

Shen Qingyi pointed to the budgerigars hanging at the entrance. “I have a bird at home. Could you help me with some supplies?”

The owner sat up when he heard this. “Sure. Do you want to see the birds too?”

“No, just give me everything else I might need.”

“Alright.”

In less than ten minutes, the owner had prepared a birdcage, bird food, and all sorts of other snacks, all of which he put into the birdcage. This was Shen Qingyi’s first time owning a bird. When she thought about the little furball lying on her bed this morning, she felt a sense of warmth inside. No other small animal had ever been this close to her. This little chubby bird was the first.

She took her things home. Shen Qingyi opened the door with a light step. As soon as she entered, she wanted to call the bird, but then she realized she hadn’t even named it yet. She put the birdcage to the side and first put the book in her study. This was her studio, where she restored ancient books. The study was large, with two desks and a wall of cabinets. The cabinets went all the way up to the ceiling and were filled with all sorts of books, looking very impressive.

Shen Qingyi put the book away. Since the book was almost falling apart, she was afraid the wind would mess it up, so she closed the window and shut the door on her way out.

“Little chubby bird?” Shen Qingyi walked around the room. She first checked the secondary bathroom and found the tissue box and the small bowl of food. The millet in the bowl was completely gone, as if it had been licked clean. The water was also partially gone. It seemed like it had eaten its fill.

Shen Qingyi folded her arms. She had thought the little chubby bird wouldn’t eat or drink, but she was surprised by its big appetite. She had left a lot of millet before she left, and it was all gone.

“Chirp, chirp—”

Just then, Shen Qingyi heard a ‘chirping’ sound and turned around. Shan Ling flapped her little wings and flew over. She was probably in a bit of a hurry and almost hit Shen Qingyi’s face. Luckily, she put on the brakes and landed safely on Shen Qingyi’s hand.

What were you doing today? Why did you leave me at home alone?!

Shan Ling was so angry she was jumping up and down on Shen Qingyi’s hand. “Chirp, chirp!”

Explain yourself!

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