The reason for the short breaks was obvious, the rich young masters who had no idea how hard ordinary life could be.
After all, Jian Yue’s university had plenty of wealthy students. The richest among them wouldn’t even choose to live in the dorms; instead, they’d “fool around” in their places off campus.
Not everyone went off to “fool around,” of course, but the rich kids living off campus who crossed Jian Yue’s path… certainly left him with that impression.
Whenever wealth came up, Jian Yue would hear his roommates’ names mentioned by these people after all, all three of them came from extraordinary family backgrounds.
Yet those three were determined to be different. Instead of staying in their nice luxury apartments or small villas downtown, they insisted on squeezing into a dorm to make themselves uncomfortable.
But that was the plot’s fault, and Jian Yue had no interest in digging into it.
Anyway.
Ever since he’d started attending the same professor’s class as those few a few days ago, he’d been running into them at the bubble tea shop at night.
They probably didn’t understand how the shop operated. They just assumed every employee standing behind the counter earned commission off the drinks they mixed er, off the milk tea.
But that wasn’t actually the case.
So every time Jian Yue spotted them late at night, especially right before eleven o’clock, his blood pressure would rise without fail.
Around ten at night.
A few scattered orders had been packaged up, waiting for the delivery riders. In the empty shop, Jian Yue was watching the clock with some anxiety.
If it weren’t for the punch clock the shop had installed specifically to track shift hours, Jian Yue would have seized the lull to rush through his cleanup and close up a few minutes early.
But clearly, that dream was about to be shattered.
Speak of the devil.
Those rich young masters, off goodness-knows-where causing trouble, showed up at the shop right on schedule.
As if they’d timed it precisely to his near-closing hour or maybe they simply didn’t want to run into other ordinary customers.
Either way, between ten o’clock and his ten-fifty closing time, this group would always appear like clockwork, like game NPCs on a refresh timer.
By now, Jian Yue had made his unwillingness to serve customers perfectly clear.
After all, he was only here to complete a mission, not to sincerely work himself to the bone.
So he had already taken off his apron and was mopping the floor, especially the floor up front and had laid out a half-used wet rag on one of the empty tables.
Unfortunately, rich people never read the room. Or rather, as far as they were concerned, he wasn’t worthy of their attention at all.
In any case, they strode right across the floor Jian Yue had just mopped, their sense of entitlement so high it was as if the young man had mopped it specially to welcome them.
They chatted loudly too, sounding especially obnoxious in the quiet shop.
Worse, their casual mentions of new cars and their families’ companies and all that nonsense made his blood boil.
And yet, these oblivious brats, upon spotting the rag on the table, actually had the nerve to speak up and remind him: “Jian Yue, how can you be so careless at your job?”
As he spoke, he reminded them with what he considered a very understanding smile, and called the young man over to clear the things away. He even offered advice with great feigned kindness, shamelessly singing his own praises: “It’s lucky we all know each other, otherwise it’d be trouble if other customers saw you like this.”
Jian Yue, who appeared before this group, had a vacant look in his eyes and an unpleasant expression. He didn’t even have the energy to say one extra word he simply reached out, snatched the rag away, and stood in place asking: “What do you want to drink?”
“Whatever, your pick,” one of them said.
Jian Yue only intended to make drinks that would let him use up the toppings anyway.
So even if they ordered something else, he would just say “we don’t have it.”
Besides, this crowd wouldn’t drink them anyway. They wouldn’t even pick them up themselves, they’d only demand he bring them over personally.
Jian Yue, expressionless, ignored their half-hearted attempts at small talk while grinding his teeth at the system in his head: ‘When I’m ready to leave this mission world, the first thing I’m doing is breaking these guys’ legs.’
The system had nothing to say, no words of comfort to offer.
While making the eight-treasure porridge with the leftover ingredients, Jian Yue overheard the group’s conversation.
Because they had switched topics this time.
Finally done chatting about nonsense like license plates and A-list celebrities throwing themselves at them, trying to climb their “high branches” and other such rubbish.
Instead, in rare unison and full of resentment, they brought up Li Cheng.
“What’s gotten into Li Cheng? This morning everything was fine, and then out of nowhere my dad calls me and tells me not to mess with Li Cheng anymore.”
“My mom said the same, told me not to go near Li Cheng. Please, who’d even want to go near that guy?”
“So ridiculous. He’s not one of us anyway.”
The refined way of saying “spoiled rich kids.”
Not one of us. Hah.
Holding the capped topping drinks, and shamelessly pumping in extra syrup knowing these people wouldn’t drink them, Jian Yue tossed the clear plastic topping containers into the sink and cranked the water to full blast to make cleaning easier later, before finally finding a moment to shove the four milk teas at the four men.
One of them was still chatting with the person across from him.
Then the young man came over carrying four stuffed-full milk teas and set them down heavily before them with a muffled thud. This made him pause mid-sentence, and assuming this was the former trying to get their attention, he quite obediently looked up.
The young man’s appearance still gave people a sense of dazed disbelief.
At least before, they had never paid the slightest attention to an ordinary, unremarkable person like Jian Yue.
But that face was truly stunning.
So stunning that even they lost focus for a moment under those cold yet alluring eyes.
After all, even cosmetic surgery with lavish sums of money and top techniques couldn’t compare to this person’s everywhere-refined yet restrained perfection.
His looks, his figure, his aura everything seemed a superior natural amalgamation, always inspiring awe and admiration.
They all stopped chatting.
Some fixed their gaze on the young man’s coldly beautiful face, while others, without the slightest reservation, leaned back in their chairs to study the young man’s slender, upright figure.
Slowly, their eyes fell on that fair skin and the slender knuckles gripping the milk tea cups. And upon seeing the almost absurd amount of syrup inside, they wore knowing, half-smiling expressions, as if they’d seen right through Jian Yue’s intentions.