Shen Qi woke up early.
He slipped on a newly purchased light yellow sweater, his fingertips brushing against the soft fuzz, and a sudden wave of warmth welled up in his heart.
He had found it in Chinatown last week, and the shopkeeper said this color made his skin look even fairer. He had not thought much of it at the time, but looking in the mirror this morning, he really did feel that his complexion looked brighter than before, and even the dark circles under his eyes had faded a bit.
Straightening his collar and making sure everything was in order, he gently pulled the door shut and walked out.
Mrs. Lucy’s dessert shop, Sunny Bite, was located right at the corner of the adjacent street.
The shop was just as warm as Mrs. Lucy herself. The warm yellow sign hanging at the entrance had a cute little bear biting a cookie printed on it.
When Shen Qi arrived, Mrs. Lucy was bending over to wipe the display window. Seeing him come, she immediately straightened up and waved. “Maxie! You are so early today. Come on in, the freshly baked cookies are still hot.”
Shen Qi smiled and exchanged pleasantries, scanning the entire shop.
The interior was neat and orderly. Rows of clean ceramic plates sat on the wooden workstation, and the glass cabinet was neatly stocked with freshly baked desserts.
The warm yellow lighting and the aroma of butter and icing brought a sense of joy.
Shen Qi put down his backpack, washed his hands, took the heat-resistant gloves Mrs. Lucy handed him, and volunteered. “I will bag and display the freshly baked cookies first. Oh right, you mentioned yesterday that you wanted to make more cranberry-flavored ones, so I will help you with that.”
Mrs. Lucy smiled and nodded, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes bunching up into a warm flower. “Great! A customer said last week that cranberry cookies go best with black tea. You can keep an eye on the oven for me, and I will go hang up the Open sign at the door.”
Shen Qi took note of this and nodded with a smile.
Just past nine o’clock, customers began arriving one after another.
Most of them were regular customers from the neighborhood. Seeing Shen Qi, they all greeted him with a smile, welcoming the new employee with an Asian face.
Dealing with customers came naturally to Shen Qi, whose personality was already gentle and kind.
An elderly woman walking a small dog specifically wandered over to the counter to ask if he had any cinnamon-flavored desserts today, and even praised him for being pretty.
A high school student buying breakfast said goodbye to him and then huddled together to whisper, saying that this Asian clerk had an even gentler English pronunciation than their school teacher.
Hearing this, he lowered his head and smiled faintly.
Around ten o’clock, the shop suddenly got busy.
Mrs. Lucy was bustling around in the kitchen. Seeing this, Shen Qi took the initiative to walk behind the cash register, put on disposable gloves, and helped customers pack their orders.
“Maxie, could you do me a favor.” Mrs. Lucy walked out frowning, but seeing the orderly scene in front of the cash register, she swallowed the second half of her sentence. “Goodness, you actually calculated all the accounts? I thought I would have to wait until I came out to reconcile them.”
Shen Qi smiled and handed the newly recorded order sheet over for Mrs. Lucy to see.
“My previous job was related to finance, so this is a piece of cake.”
He blinked and added.
“Oh right, Lucy, when there were a lot of people just now, I noticed many customers wanted to pair their desserts with drinks. Why not introduce a dessert and drink combo? That way customers feel it is a good deal, and we can sell more.”
As he spoke, he opened the notebook in his backpack. On it was a simply drafted combo pairing chart, which even marked the drinks suitable for different desserts:
Chocolate cake paired with hot cocoa, lemon tart paired with iced Americano, and he had even figured out the kids’ combo pairing, using a small portion of macarons paired with hot milk, along with a free cartoon sticker.
Mrs. Lucy leaned in to look, her eyes widening. “Maxie, you are an absolute genius! Why did not I think of that?”
No sooner said than done!
She adjusted according to Shen Qi’s plan, had the kitchen boil more coffee, and placed a hand-written combo poster at the entrance.
Sure enough, before long, customers were pointing at the poster and asking about the combos. Customers who originally intended to buy only a piece of cake would mostly add a drink, and parents with children were willing to buy an extra kids’ combo upon seeing the free stickers.
Busy until two in the afternoon, the customer flow finally dwindled down.
As Shen Qi helped clean the tables, Mrs. Lucy walked over holding the account ledger, the smile on her face impossible to hide. “Look! Today’s revenue is nearly thirty percent higher than usual! Maxie, you are truly my lucky star.”
She patted Shen Qi’s shoulder, her tone exceptionally earnest. “You must come to my house for dinner tonight, we are making pizza.”
With the invitation hard to refuse, Shen Qi had no choice but to agree.
At six in the evening, he changed into a clean shirt, brought some fruit just bought from the supermarket, and pressed the doorbell of Mrs. Lucy’s house.
The moment the door opened, a rich aroma of tomatoes rushed over him. Mrs. Lucy was wearing an apron and poked her head out from the kitchen. “Come on in, dear. The pizza dough is already risen, we are just waiting for you to come and bake it together.”
Just as Shen Qi finished changing his shoes, he suddenly heard a deep male voice coming from the living room.
He was stunned for a moment, and Mrs. Lucy hurriedly explained, “Oh, I forgot to tell you, my nephew Miles just happened to come visit me today. He just came back from New York. Do not stand on ceremony, just make yourself at home.”
Following Mrs. Lucy’s gaze, Shen Qi finally saw the man sitting on the sofa.
The other person was wearing a dark gray knitted sweater with his cuffs rolled up to his forearms, revealing smoothly-lined wrists.
Hearing the movement, the man raised his head.
That was a face with a strong visual impact. The deep eye sockets inherited the three-dimensional contours of Westerners, yet the corners of his eyes carried a bit of Eastern softness. His nose bridge was high and straight, and when his thin lips were slightly pursed, his jawline formed a sharp curve.
He was very tall, and even sitting on the sofa, one could tell his build was upright and tall. When he stood up, Shen Qi realized the other person was at least half a head taller than him.
“This is my nephew Miles,” Mrs. Lucy pulled the man in front of Shen Qi, then turned to Shen Qi. “Miles, this is Maxie, the new neighbor from China I told you about.”
After the introductions, Mrs. Lucy told them to chat while she ducked back into the kitchen.
Miles extended his hand toward Shen Qi with a warm smile. “Hello, Maxie. My Chinese name is Qi Yuan.”
His Chinese pronunciation was very standard, with only a slight exotic accent on the retroflex sounds occasionally. “My mother is Chinese, so I have been able to speak Chinese since I was a child. If you find it more convenient to speak Chinese, you can speak Chinese with me.”
Shen Qi politely shook his hand and began introducing himself directly in Chinese.
“Hello, my name is Shen. Cough, cough, my name is Mu Xi, you can call me Maxie.”
Phew, almost slipped up.
Miles raised an eyebrow, a flash of interest in his eyes. “A very nice name.”
Shen Qi was still secretly nervous about almost saying the wrong name just now, and hurriedly changed the subject. “Mrs. Lucy said you just came back from New York, do you work over there?”
Even so, saying it wrong probably would not matter anyway. There was no way this person knew Cheng Yanzhou.
The world cannot be that small.
He brushed aside unrealistic thoughts and heard Miles reply.
“Mhm, I work in biotechnology. Coming back this time is to visit my aunt and pick up some good food to send back to my partner.”
Mentioning the second half of the sentence, a happy smile gradually bloomed on the man’s face.
Afterward, the two of them did not have much to talk about and both went to the kitchen to help out.
On the kitchen workstation sat the kneaded pizza dough, next to which were sliced tomatoes, cheese, ham, and mushrooms.
Miles clearly knew how to cook well. His movements in rolling the dough were skilled, his fingers flexibly rolling the dough into an even circle, and he even deliberately pinched a laced edge around the perimeter.
Shen Qi volunteered to help as well, sprinkling cheese onto the pizza, and the two chatted casually back and forth.
The pizza was pushed into the oven, and Miles withdrew his hand, casually picking up a strawberry, which were the ones Shen Qi had brought.
“My partner really likes eating strawberries. Every time he sees them, he nags to eat them, but unfortunately he is not by my side recently.”
“Then where did he go?” Shen Qi subconsciously followed up with the question.
Miles nodded. Mentioning his partner, the gentleness in his eyes nearly overflowed as he became talkative. “He is Chinese, went back to China to take care of some business. We have been married for over a year. He is an Omega, with jasmine-scented pheromones, a very gentle scent.”
“Jasmine scent?”
Shen Qi’s movements abruptly halted, and the strawberry in his hand almost fell to the ground.
He raised his head, looked at Miles, and his throat tightened. “May I ask what your partner’s name is?”