Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 66

Chapter 66

The winter sun was always warm, even though the weather was getting colder.

Shan Ling had been working at the coffee shop for nearly half a month. Over this time, she had become increasingly proficient in her work. Ordering, handling the cash register, and packing takeout were second nature. She could also remember the preferences of some regular customers and recommend the most suitable drinks to indecisive patrons.

Aside from still not being able to make coffee, Shan Ling was very adapted to the job.

Today, with no customers, Nuonuo was teaching Shan Ling to make coffee. It wasn’t that Nuonuo was persistent, but Shan Ling was. She simply refused to believe she couldn’t make good coffee.

When the brown coffee reached her lips, Nuonuo took a sip, choosing her words carefully: “There’s a lot of improvement, but it’s still not good.”

Shan Ling was discouraged. She looked at the coffee in front of her, puzzled.

“It’s so strange,” Shan Ling rubbed her chin, confused: “It’s all bitter coffee. How do you tell the difference between good and bad?”

Nuonuo laughed upon hearing this: “That’s probably why you can’t make it well. Coffee doesn’t just have bitterness; it also has acidity. If you taste carefully, you can also pick up a slight sweet, grain-like texture. There are many flavors you can experience in a single sip of coffee. This is the fundamental reason for distinguishing whether coffee is good or not.”

As for Shan Ling, she could only taste bitterness from the start, so she was naturally less skilled at making coffee.

But it didn’t matter. After all, Shan Ling wasn’t hired to make coffee. She only needed to do a good job with the front-of-house tasks.

“By the way,” Nuonuo put down her coffee and asked curiously: “Xiao Ling, Christmas is coming soon. Do you have any plans?”

“Christmas?” Shan Ling was still examining the coffee in front of her. She took a tiny sip and immediately frowned at the bitterness. She then said, “Is that the Christmas with Santa Claus?”

Nuonuo blinked curiously: “Yes. Haven’t you celebrated it before?”

Shan Ling shook her head.

This kind of foreign festival was rarely celebrated in Sparrow Village. They generally celebrated traditional holidays like the Dragon Boat Festival and the Mid-Autumn Festival. Furthermore, the village was somewhat far from the big city and only had its own small commercial street, which mainly sold daily necessities. They didn’t have the kind of holiday sales promotions common in big cities.

“Our village doesn’t celebrate Christmas. I’ve only seen it celebrated in other places,” Shan Ling told Nuonuo: “Does our shop have any events for Christmas?”

Although Shan Ling had never eaten pork, she had seen the pigs run, so she knew that Christmas meant business.

Nuonuo thought for a moment and said: “I’m not sure. Whether we have an event depends on the boss’s idea. But our boss is bothered by too much business, so I guess, maybe, perhaps we won’t have a Christmas event.”

“Is that so?” Shan Ling was a little disappointed: “I really wanted to experience the holiday atmosphere.”

In Sparrow Village, the feeling of traditional holidays was still very strong. Although fireworks were no longer allowed during the Spring Festival, because the village was small, they still had the essentials.

Just as the two were chatting, Shen Qingyi walked in with a customer’s empty coffee cup. Seeing the coffee in front of Shan Ling and Nuonuo, she asked casually, “How’s the learning going?”

“Still not quite there,” Shan Ling said helplessly: “I don’t think I can make good coffee.”

“Don’t worry about it too much,” Shen Qingyi comforted her: “Not being able to make coffee doesn’t affect your work. Just do what you’re good at.”

Shan Ling nodded, then took the opportunity to ask Nuonuo’s earlier question: “Yiyi, are we having a Christmas event?”

A Christmas event?

Shen Qingyi thought for a moment. Christmas was less than half a month away. If they were going to have an event, they should start preparing now, but Shen Qingyi was hesitant.

Nuonuo saw her expression and knew Shen Qingyi was deliberating, so she spoke up: “Boss, I think we should have some kind of event. We’ve started getting fewer customers recently.”

“I think having fewer customers is fine,” Shen Qingyi finished her thoughts and told Nuonuo: “Do you have any plans for Christmas?”

Nuonuo broke into a big smile and told Shen Qingyi: “If the boss doesn’t schedule overtime for Christmas, I plan to go shopping with my friends.”

Shen Qingyi nodded: “Then no event will be scheduled.”

Nuonuo’s eyes lit up, but she still felt a little awkward and said, “Shouldn’t we try to boost sales?”

“This month’s revenue is already good,” Shen Qingyi took the coffee from Shan Ling’s hand and told the two: “It’s enough to cover your wages and utilities, and it doesn’t matter how much extra we make.”

Nuonuo clapped her hands, commenting on Shen Qingyi’s relaxed attitude. Only Nuonuo knew how indifferent this wealthy second-generation heir was about money.

After all, having money in the family meant having the capital to be willful.

Shan Ling watched Shen Qingyi drink the coffee she made and asked, “How is it?”

“It’s alright,” Shen Qingyi put down the coffee cup and said: “It’s much better than before.”

Nuonuo chuckled, telling Shan Ling: “Xiao Ling, don’t be discouraged. Our shop doesn’t just have coffee; we also have our hidden flower teas. Why don’t you try making flower tea?”

Shan Ling’s ears perked up when she heard this: “Is that the peach blossom tea I drank before?”

“Yes, that’s our shop’s hidden tea drink. I’m good at making coffee, but not so much at tea. Why don’t you try that?”

“Yes, yes!”

Shen Qingyi watched the two begin discussing how to brew flower tea. She didn’t interrupt them and walked out.

It turned out that when God closes a door, he also opens a window.

Shan Ling brewed the peach blossom tea based only on Nuonuo’s verbal instructions. Her first attempt was perfect, and her second attempt nearly surprised Nuonuo—it tasted much better than the one she made herself.

Shen Qingyi also came over and had a cup, but since she didn’t like sweet tea, she couldn’t really tell what made it good even after drinking half of it.

Nuonuo held her hot peach blossom tea and said helplessly: “The two of you… really are a perfect match.”

When Shan Ling finished organizing the kitchen utensils and saw the robot vacuum about to start working in the kitchen, she wiped her hands and walked out to give it a clear working space.

Shen Qingyi had developed a recent habit of watching TV dramas. She was sitting on the sofa watching the show, which was the currently popular modern drama—the same one the three of them watched when Shen Jiaojiao visited.

Today seemed to be the finale. The fact that it required a membership and an early viewing payment made Shan Ling confused. She didn’t understand why modern people had to earn money this way.

Shen Qingyi didn’t seem to mind, paying the money to watch the finale directly.

Shan Ling moved closer to watch, casually picking up an orange from the coffee table, eating and watching at the same time.

In the drama, the female lead, played by Song Qinglan, cried and laughed while hugging the male lead. Then, under a sky full of fireworks, they embraced, forming the final scene.

Shan Ling ate her orange, listening to the theme song’s melodious tune, sung by Song Qinglan herself. It sounded quite pleasant.

Based on what Shan Ling had learned from watching TV dramas recently, Song Qinglan was a current hot A-list actress who acted in both TV series and movies and seemed to have won several minor awards. However, since she wasn’t very interested in the entertainment industry, she wasn’t sure of the actress’s true standing.

She only knew Song Qinglan was very famous.

Shan Ling popped an orange segment into her mouth and carefully looked at Shen Qingyi beside her, asking curiously, “Yiyi, do you know her?”

Shen Qingyi looked back at her when she heard this and said helplessly, “She’s a big star. How would I have any connection with her?”

“But the way you look at her, it seems like you know each other,” Shan Ling turned around and looked at her seriously: “She’s not your friend, is she?”

Shen Qingyi smiled helplessly and told Shan Ling, “I really don’t know her, and I follow TV dramas mainly because the plot is good. I would still watch it even if they changed the actress.”

However, Shan Ling’s insistence made Shen Qingyi curious. She leaned closer to Shan Ling and asked, “Why are you suddenly concerned about who I know?”

Shan Ling said carefully, “No, I was just curious to ask because you don’t seem to have many friends.”

Although Nuonuo and Shen Qingyi had a good relationship, it was still a boss-employee relationship, and Shen Qingyi didn’t contact her privately. Shan Ling felt they weren’t really friends.

In fact, whether Shen Qingyi had friends or not didn’t really matter to Shan Ling, as she was only Shen Qingyi’s employee.

It was just… a bit of curiosity.

Shen Qingyi thought for a moment, then, instead of answering the question directly, she asked Shan Ling, “Do you have any plans for Christmas? Like going shopping with Xu Wentao or something? I can pay you your salary early.”

Shan Ling thought about it. Christmas Day was a Saturday, and she figured the amusement park wouldn’t close. She shook her head and said, “She’s probably busy. I plan to find a time to go out for dinner with her in a couple of days. I haven’t seen her in ages.”

Xu Wentao was one of the few friends Shan Ling had in this city. She naturally wanted to spend time maintaining that relationship, going out for walks, eating, and shopping to keep their bond strong.

“In that case, would you like to go out with me for Christmas?” Shen Qingyi considered her words: “Nuonuo said you don’t have Christmas events where you’re from. Since that day is a weekend, Happy Valley will have a fireworks show in the evening. We can close the shop an hour early, let Nuonuo go shopping with her friends, and we can go see the fireworks.”

“See fireworks?” Shan Ling’s eyes sparkled: “Didn’t you say fireworks are banned in the city?”

“They are banned within the Fifth Ring Road, but Happy Valley is outside the Fifth Ring Road, so they’re allowed,” Shen Qingyi smiled and said: “If you want to go, I can buy the tickets in advance. They’re hard to book now, so we need to decide early.”

“Will it be expensive?” asked the little pauper, Shan Ling.

“No. I’ll pay,” Shen Qingyi said: “You just need to keep me company.”

Shan Ling thought about it and still told Shen Qingyi, “I can go with you, but it would be better if I gave you the money for the ticket, or you can deduct it from my salary. I feel bad always bothering you, and I can’t let you always take a loss.”

Shen Qingyi sighed, looking at Shan Ling and saying, “Why do you always haggle with me about money?”

Shan Ling also said helplessly, “I wouldn’t haggle if I were rich.”

Shen Qingyi smiled and told her, “Let me take this loss this time. I can’t let you pay to keep me company. I’ll go ahead and book the tickets, and we’ll go watch the fireworks show together.”

“Great!” Shan Ling rubbed her hands in anticipation: “I’ve never seen a fireworks show before. It must be amazing!”

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