Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Shan Ling initially thought the woman was just being polite. After all, she was running the shop alone, and Shan Ling figured she was just making a courteous offer. However, she didn’t expect the woman to actually come down with several bags at 11:30 a.m.

Later, Shan Ling learned the woman’s name was An Xin, exactly 30 years old.

To have a home and a shop at the age of thirty was something Shan Ling envied.

An Xin brought porridge not only for Shan Ling and Xu Wentao but also for the other colleagues. Since she cooked the porridge herself, it didn’t cost her much.

“It might be a little early for lunch, but I’ll be too busy later to look after you all,” An Xin said, wearing an apron and a hat, smiling at Shan Ling. “There are also some braised side dishes in this box. They were all freshly made today. Enjoy your meal.”

Xu Wentao was already hungry from the smell of the porridge. None of them liked eating breakfast; only Shan Ling occasionally ate a little, and the others usually combined breakfast and lunch.

“It smells so good,” Xu Wentao said happily to An Xin. “Thank you so much, Sister. You’re so busy running your business, yet you still brought this down for us.”

“It’s nothing. Eat while it’s hot. I won’t disturb you all,” An Xin smiled slightly. “I’ll go back upstairs to work.”

Shan Ling waved to her. “Goodbye~”

At this time, parents and children had gone to eat, so the amusement park was not busy. Therefore, the few employees started taking turns eating the porridge An Xin had brought.

An Xin’s shop, ‘A Bowl of Porridge,’ had a decent sales volume on the takeout platform. It was cheap, served in large portions, and most importantly, it was delicious. Both the braised dishes and the porridge were personally prepared by An Xin, and the taste was exceptionally good.

While eating, Xu Wentao said to Shan Ling, “This proprietress is really thoughtful. You just helped her out a bit, and she treated all of us to porridge.”

The colleague next to her also exclaimed, “Yeah, her porridge is really delicious. Why didn’t I notice it before?”

Shan Ling also nodded. She loved grains. The oats in the porridge were distinct and so fragrant that Shan Ling felt her tongue was almost falling off. She finally burped after finishing the entire bowl of porridge.

“Delicious,” Shan Ling commented very seriously.

Xu Wentao sat on the stool next to her, gnawing on a braised chicken claw. The sweet, salty, and savory flavor of the chicken claw made Xu Wentao enjoy it immensely.

“Xiao Ling, you said An Xin’s little porridge shop already has few customers, and now without takeout, will she be able to handle the lunch rush?” Xu Wentao talked with the chicken claw in her mouth, her words muffled. “Today is Saturday.”

Yes, weekends had the most foot traffic in the mall. They could feel it at the amusement park. Weekdays were fine, but weekends were usually frantically busy. Many times, the mall was about to close, and some children still didn’t want to leave.

Shan Ling looked up at the flow of people in the mall and the various shop signs inside.

Maybe I should go and help her?

Thinking this, Shan Ling felt a little restless. She couldn’t stand seeing someone struggle, and although she was the one who helped An Xin first, An Xin had treated her to a meal. Shan Ling’s act of pulling her was purely instinctive, but the woman spent money to treat her and all her colleagues to lunch.

Since someone spent money, it seemed wrong for Shan Ling not to offer some help.

Xu Wentao noticed her deep thought and nudged her. “What’s wrong? You look like you’re thinking about something.”

“Taotao.” Shan Ling looked up, staring at her roommate with those bright black eyes, and motioned for her to lean closer to talk privately.

Xu Wentao leaned in while still gnawing on the chicken claw. Shan Ling naturally raised her hand to shield their conversation and said to her, “I want to skip work for two hours.”

“Huh?” Xu Wentao looked at her in surprise.

It was important to know that although Shan Ling was a new employee, she was meticulous about her work.

When others were slacking off, she was at the cashier.

When others were being lazy, she was picking up balls.

When others made excuses to go to the bathroom, she diligently helped the children.

At first, Xu Wentao thought she was just too new to slack off, but then she realized that the girl was truly serious about everything, an impeccably good employee.

And now, this great employee was secretly telling her she wanted to skip work.

And for two whole hours.

What was the meaning of this odd time?

Xu Wentao frowned at Shan Ling, put down the chicken claw in her hand, and also whispered, “What do you want to do?”

Shan Ling said a little embarrassedly, “Didn’t An Xin need to manage the shop alone? I want to go up and help her, just for two hours during lunch. I’ll come back after the rush.”

Xu Wentao said, “But An Xin didn’t ask you to go help her.”

“She didn’t, but I think she must be quite busy managing the shop alone.”

“But…”

“Besides, An Xin brought us food, didn’t she? We can’t just accept it without doing anything,” Shan Ling said very seriously. “I’ll just help for two hours. It’s 11:30 now, so I’ll be back by 1:30.”

Xu Wentao felt the half-eaten chicken claw in her hand was exceptionally heavy at this moment.

She looked at the chicken claw, then at Shan Ling.

“Alright then,” Xu Wentao said helplessly. “Anyway, the children are all eating during this period. Go ask her if she needs help. If not, come back. If she’s truly overwhelmed, I’ll cover for you here first.”

Shan Ling looked at her gratefully and said happily, “Thank you! I’ll buy you milk tea when I come back!”

Watching Shan Ling run off in her amusement park uniform, Xu Wentao wanted to remind her but dared not shout out loud. She could only watch helplessly as she ran out of sight.

When Shan Ling arrived at the porridge shop, she indeed saw a queue of customers. The small shop with only three tables was surrounded by people.

An Xin was swiftly taking orders and clearing tables. Since she didn’t have time to wash them, the utensils were all disposable. But even so, she was clearly overwhelmed by herself, running to the cashier one moment, to the back kitchen the next, and then having to clean the tables.

The customers in the back shook their heads seeing her like this and turned to other restaurants.

Shan Ling watched as more and more people left, until only two customers remained, who were clearly dissatisfied with the proprietress working alone. They complained loudly, “When will our orders be ready? It’s been so long!”

An Xin apologized to them, “I’m truly sorry, I’m the only one working today. I’ll give you a box of side dishes as an apology. I’m really sorry.”

When the two bowls of porridge were filled, the customers took their porridge, glanced at the uncleared table, and left angrily.

An Xin started clearing the tables with a distressed look. Shan Ling quickly walked in, rolled up her sleeves, and said to her, “Sister An Xin, let me help you.”

“It’s you,” she turned to see Shan Ling rolling up her sleeves and starting to clean the adjacent table. She said in surprise, “Why are you here? I was so busy just now I didn’t even see you.”

“I just arrived too.” Shan Ling gathered the trash. She was used to doing housework at home, so cleaning was not difficult for her.

After Shan Ling and An Xin cleaned all three tables, An Xin asked, “Is there anything I can do for you? Do you want to buy something?”

“No,” Shan Ling said a little shyly. “I thought you might be overwhelmed by yourself, so I took two hours off to come and help you.”

“That’s too kind of you.”

“But I see you’re struggling to manage alone. Just let me help you.”

“This…”

An Xin looked at the shop, then at Shan Ling, and said gratefully, “Then you can help me with the cashier and clearing tables. These are simple tasks. I’ll also give you a red packet for helping me these two hours.”

“No need, no need,” Shan Ling smiled widely. “Sister An Xin, just treat me to a meal.”

An Xin was also relieved, smiling as she agreed.

The porridge shop was indeed busy during lunchtime. Fortunately, the shop was small, and An Xin hadn’t turned on the takeout service, so the customers were mostly dining in or taking away.

An Xin was in the back kitchen making porridge, and Shan Ling was responsible for taking orders and clearing tables. The ordering system was not difficult, and hardly anyone paid with cash, so Shan Ling was relatively at ease.

By 1:30, An Xin saw that there weren’t many customers and didn’t let Shan Ling continue helping.

“Thank you, Xiao Ling,” An Xin was very grateful to her. “You go back to your work now. There aren’t many customers now, so I can handle it alone.”

Shan Ling nodded, took off her apron, and said to her, “Then I’ll come back tonight and help for two hours too.”

“Is that okay?”

“Once or twice is fine, but not for too long.”

An Xin was a little disappointed. She looked at Shan Ling and said, “You really helped me a lot today. If you…”

She didn’t finish the rest of her sentence, just smiled lightly at Shan Ling. “Regardless, thank you so much for today.”

[Merit +300]

In the evening, Shan Ling secretly came back and helped for two hours again. Perhaps because it was the weekend and dinnertime, there were many people drinking porridge, so the shop was still busy even after two hours.

An Xin checked the time and let Shan Ling leave. Regardless, helping her twice in one day after skipping work was already more than enough. Moreover, Shan Ling had helped her in the morning, not the other way around.

When Shan Ling returned to the amusement park, she found that the boss had arrived sometime earlier. Xu Wentao quickly signaled her and covered for her, but the boss looked at Shan Ling with disdain, even sneering twice, the meaning of which was unclear.

During the weekend, the boss was in the mall all day. Shan Ling had no time or opportunity to help An Xin and could only focus on her own work.

She didn’t see Shen Jiaojiao or Shen Qingyi throughout the busy weekend. Shan Ling looked at her watch every day but didn’t see Shen Qingyi call her even once.

Why didn’t she call me?

Shan Ling worriedly wondered.

After a few days, An Xin’s porridge shop hired a new employee, and Shan Ling also received her salary.

Everyone else had their salary deposited into their bank cards, but Shan Ling received cash. Since she didn’t have a phone and all her procedures weren’t properly completed, she could only be given cash for the first month’s salary.

The heavy stack of cash made Shan Ling’s eyes light up. She had never seen so much money before.

Although the amusement park job was indeed busy and the rest time was short, the salary was substantial. Counting it up, after buying a phone and winter clothes, she would still have a considerable amount of money left.

Shan Ling was happily thinking about how she should spend this money. She checked her watch and then seriously tapped on Shen Qingyi’s number in the contacts list.

Dialing the other person’s number for the first time, Shan Ling felt nervous. After waiting a while, the other person answered, and she spoke anxiously, “Hello.”

Shen Qingyi paused slightly. “Shan Ling?”

“Mhm, it’s me, it’s me!” Shan Ling clutched the watch, happy to hear Shen Qingyi’s voice. She said excitedly, “I got paid. Are, are you free tomorrow? Let’s go buy a phone together!”

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