Pats Little Shrike's Tail - Chapter 76

Chapter 76

Because of the exclusive booking, Shan Ling and the others had been reminding customers that the second floor was unavailable since the afternoon.

At two o’clock, Fang Ran brought a few colleagues over, blocking the staircase entrance to the second floor to prevent anyone else from going up.

Closer to three o’clock, Shan Ling stood behind the counter, watching a group of people carrying camera equipment go upstairs.

Shortly after, a white van pulled up outside. Song Qinglan, wearing a long black down jacket and a hat, walked in, surrounded by her entourage.

At this time, there weren’t many customers in the coffee shop, but because Song Qinglan was so conspicuous, almost everyone focused their attention on her.

Song Qinglan was incredibly bundled up. The long down jacket covered her from head to toe. Her high collar shielded half of her face, and the hat was pulled low over the top half. Except for a slit-like view of her nose bridge, practically nothing else was visible.

The three people behind the counter just watched, and no one spoke first.

Shen Qingyi and Shan Ling didn’t have many thoughts; they weren’t celebrity followers and only watched TV dramas for pure entertainment.

But Nuonuo was extremely excited, so much so that she couldn’t utter a single word.

“Is that, is that, is that Song Qinglan?” Nuonuo grabbed Shan Ling’s arm, leaning forward and staring wide-eyed: “I finally see her in person!”

Shan Ling smiled helplessly: “You can see her even though she’s bundled up so tightly?”

“Even though I can’t clearly see her face, I can imagine it,” Nuonuo rubbed her hands and said: “I really want to go up and take a look.”

Shen Qingyi said to her in an understated tone: “Go prepare the coffee first. Since there are so many of them, they are definitely going to order.”

Shan Ling heard this and asked: “The venue fee doesn’t include free coffee, right?”

Shen Qingyi chuckled: “They wish.”

True, the cheapest coffee in the shop was nearly 200 yuan. With a venue fee of only 1000 yuan, it would be impossible to include free coffee with the rental.

Unless Shen Qingyi had lost her mind.

Just as the three were discussing, Fang Ran came down from upstairs and told them: “I need to order some coffee. Can we get a discount for a large quantity?”

Shen Qingyi’s tone remained calm: “A 20% discount for ten people or more.”

Fang Ran counted the number of people: “Twelve people in total. Here are their orders. Could you please send them up once they’re done?”

Shen Qingyi charged the 1800 yuan and said generously: “We can also give you two pieces of cake. Would you like them?”

Fang Ran nodded: “Please send them up with the coffee. Thank you.”

Nuonuo watched Fang Ran leave, rubbing her chin and lamenting: “Being rich is so nice. If it were me, I definitely wouldn’t spend two hundred yuan on coffee.”

Shen Qingyi glanced at her and handed her the order slip: “Go make the coffee. They’re waiting.”

Shan Ling volunteered: “I’ll go help out.”

The two went into the back kitchen to get busy. Although Shan Ling’s coffee wasn’t good, washing cups was no problem.

Nuonuo was quick and soon finished making all 12 cups of coffee.

Shan Ling took two cakes from the counter, and together with Nuonuo, they delivered the order upstairs.

The interview seemed to have started on the second floor. Song Qinglan had already taken off the outfit she arrived in, wearing a silver-grey professional suit. Her long hair was slightly curled over her back, paired with small black leather shoes that revealed her fair ankles. Sitting in the chair, she looked elegant and intellectual.

Cameras and video equipment were in place. Although there were many people upstairs, no one was making a sound. Only Song Qinglan and the reporter were in a question-and-answer session.

Shan Ling and Nuonuo didn’t dare to speak up. Fang Ran, who was originally standing behind the camera, walked over when she saw them arrive.

As Fang Ran moved, Song Qinglan’s gaze also fell on the two servers delivering the coffee.

Fang Ran said something to them. The three exchanged smiles and even chatted for a few sentences.

“…Ms. Song, what are your thoughts on this?”

The reporter’s question interrupted Song Qinglan’s thoughts. She moved her gaze back to the staff member behind the reporter, only seeing the question written on the whiteboard, along with Song Qinglan’s required answer.

Song Qinglan adjusted her micro-expression and recited the words in an appropriate tone.

By this time, Fang Ran had returned. She began distributing coffee to the staff members present. Song Qinglan was currently being interviewed and recorded, so it wasn’t convenient for her to drink coffee. Fang Ran held her cup in her hands to keep it from cooling down.

When Song Qinglan and Fang Ran’s eyes met, Fang Ran raised the coffee in her hands, indicating that Song Qinglan could drink it during her break.

So thoughtful.

Song Qinglan’s eyes were filled with smiles.

Despite her usual pride and willfulness, Song Qinglan was very serious about her work; otherwise, she wouldn’t have reached her current status step by step.

The afternoon passed quickly. Around 4:30 PM, the crew upstairs started to wrap up.

Shan Ling stood properly behind the counter, watching the group of people leave.

When Song Qinglan came down from upstairs, she didn’t leave immediately. Instead, she walked up to the counter and looked directly at Shan Ling.

“Have we met before?” Although Song Qinglan was asking a question, her expression held no doubt. She leaned one hand on the counter, looked at Shan Ling, and said: “I remember you were the person who wanted to show me a book a while ago?”

Shan Ling smiled wryly: “Ms. Song has a good memory, but I wasn’t the one who contacted you; I was just accompanying her.”

“Oh, where is that other person?” Song Qinglan asked: “Is she here too?”

Shan Ling didn’t know if she should sell out Shen Qingyi at this point and could only say with a forced smile: “We contacted the wrong person at the time. The issue has been resolved now. We’re really sorry.”

Song Qinglan didn’t believe her: “Really?”

“Of course, it’s real.”

“Heh.”

Song Qinglan glanced at Shan Ling, finding the young woman quite cute. However, the pure and innocent celebrity route wasn’t easy, and besides, Song Qinglan wasn’t planning on recruiting new people for her studio.

Just as she was about to ask something else, Fang Ran walked over.

“Qinglan, why are you here?” Fang Ran was responsible for the final cleanup. Seeing Song Qinglan talking to Shan Ling, she immediately felt nervous.

She can’t be here because of that book, can she?

Song Qinglan glanced at her, then straightened up and said: “I just thought the coffee was really good and wanted to ask if there were any branches, preferably one right outside my door.”

Fang Ran secretly sighed in relief and told her: “If you want coffee, just tell me, and I’ll come and buy it for you.”

Song Qinglan was reluctant for Fang Ran to travel so far for her and smiled: “No need to go to all that trouble. I was just asking.”

“Then hurry and get in the car before someone spots you if you stay here too long.”

“Okay, I’ll head back now. When you come back, bring me a black coffee, nothing added.”

Watching Song Qinglan leave, Shan Ling finally let out a silent sigh of relief.

Fang Ran watched Song Qinglan get into the car, then turned to Shan Ling and said: “Thank you so much today. I’m here to settle the venue fee. Also, as I promised before, I got you three autographed photos.”

After collecting the venue fee, Shan Ling happily looked at the three autographed photos Fang Ran handed her.

Nuonuo’s and her friend’s photos didn’t have any special messages, but Xu Wentao’s had “Wishing you a sudden wealth boom.” written on it.

“Thank you,” Shan Ling was very happy with the three autographed photos. Remembering that Song Qinglan asked Fang Ran to bring back a cup of coffee, she used her employee privilege at the shop and said: “Let me give you a free cup of coffee. I won’t charge you for it.”

Fang Ran couldn’t help but smile: “No need. It’s not easy for your shop to earn money, and I can claim these expenses from the studio.”

This was the first time Shan Ling had heard the term ‘claim expenses’ and found it fascinating.

After Fang Ran left, Shan Ling took the autographed photos to the back kitchen to find Nuonuo.

Looking at the photos in her hand, Nuonuo was overjoyed and excitedly called her friend to tell her that she had managed to get the autographs.

Shan Ling also sent a message to Xu Wentao.

Shan Ling: “I got Song Qinglan’s autographed photo. When should we meet? I’ll bring it to you then.”

Xu Wentao replied quickly: “The kids are on winter break, so I’ve been quite busy lately, and I can’t take weekends off. How about this: I’ll take a weekday off, and we can go out in the evening, choosing a mall that’s close for both of us. How does that sound?”

Shan Ling: “Great! Just let me know a day in advance when you take your day off.”

Xu Wentao: “No problem.”

She added: “Can I see my ‘sudden wealth boom’ first?”

Shan Ling sent her the picture. Xu Wentao replied with a cheerful little heart emoji.

After that incident, Shan Ling and Shen Qingyi returned to their usual two-point-a-line life. However, because they had to cook, Shan Ling would occasionally go grocery shopping with Shen Qingyi, sometimes browsing the streets. If they were out for a long time, they wouldn’t go home for dinner but would grab a quick meal at the mall, which was also nice.

Time flew by, and January arrived. Shen Qingyi’s coffee shop only had three employees, so payroll was basically handled internally.

Shan Ling’s mood brightened instantly when she saw the money in her salary card increase significantly.

In addition to her coffee shop salary, Shen Qingyi also paid her for her “babysitting” duties, plus the 500 yuan from Song Qinglan’s venue fee. This totaled nearly 8,000 to 9,000 yuan, a huge sum for the usually penniless Shan Ling!

Shan Ling rubbed her hands, trying to decide how to spend the money, when Xu Wentao called her.

“Hello, Taotao~”

Shan Ling hadn’t seen her in a month and missed her, so her tone was naturally light and cheerful.

Xu Wentao sounded happy on the other end, but her voice seemed a bit hollow. She was probably hiding somewhere to call her.

“Xiao Ling, I saw Sister Anxin two days ago,” Xu Wentao told Shan Ling: “Her shop has been renovated and she wants to invite us over. Do you want to go?”

“It’s already done?” Shan Ling’s eyes lit up: “Why didn’t Sister Anxin tell me?”

“I ran into her at the mall. Sister Anxin originally planned to lease out the shop upstairs, but then she decided to rent it out after all. Someone else is managing it now, and she’s focusing on the new store,” Xu Wentao explained: “Sister Anxin said she originally planned to invite us over a bit later, but she ran into me, so she told me early, and I’m telling you now.”

Shan Ling nodded, smiling: “Then let’s find some time to go check it out, and buy Sister Anxin a gift to celebrate her new store opening!”

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