Upon opening the shop door, the light bell hanging at the entrance rang a few times. The dessert shop was decorated warmly, with a small teddy bear on each table, and the faint aroma of coffee filled the small space.
Hearing the bell, a handsome middle-aged man emerged from the back room. He was dressed simply, wearing an apron, and smiled slightly at the newcomers.
“Welcome! What would you like to eat?”
Shang Yan found a seat against the wall. The owner placed an elegant menu on the table, filled with hand-drawn illustrations, each dessert description accompanied by a photograph. It looked quite nice.
“I’d like this strawberry parfait, please.”
“Okay.” The owner nodded slightly, then looked at Xia Wen, “And what would this customer like?”
Xia Wen was usually afraid of eye contact, especially now that she was so anxious. She looked away, randomly chose a daifuku, and then looked down at her phone.
The shop owner smiled and indicated he understood, then went back to the inner room. Soon after, two desserts were brought out, exactly as pictured in the photos—the claim that the pictures were for reference only was false.
This delighted Shang Yan visually. She picked up a small spoon, scooped a spoonful, and put it in her mouth. For a moment, she was amazed. The texture was refreshing, the toppings were generous and made with expensive ingredients, and it was sweet and sour with a fruity aroma.
A truly outstanding dessert.
This was the highest-rated meal Shang Yan had eaten since transmigrating into the book, besides the food cooked by Aunt Zhao. She hadn’t expected this small shop hidden in the alley to have such skill.
She also ordered a matcha mille-feuille and a brownie. “To go, please.”
The shop owner was very happy to see Shang Yan’s enjoyment; no pastry chef would refuse a customer’s expression of enjoyment. He was about to go back to the inner room when Shang Yan called him back.
Shang Yan put down her spoon, her expression serious. “Can you get a membership card here?”
“Huh?”
The shop owner had never heard such a question before. After thinking for two seconds, he took out a pretty hand-drawn card from the counter and handed it to Shang Yan.
“Yes, you can. How about a 500 yuan top-up and 100 yuan free? Just bring this card.”
Seeing the obviously informal card and Xia Wen’s hesitant expression, Shang Yan accepted it without hesitation and directly scanned the QR code on the table to pay 1,000 yuan.
A big customer!
The shop owner’s smile widened, and he immediately went into the back room to carefully prepare desserts for Shang Yan. After she finished eating and left, Xia Wen suddenly clutched her stomach, her face turning pale, and stopped.
Shang Yan noticed her discomfort and supported her arm. “Your stomach hurts. Do you need to go to the toilet?”
Xia Wen, pale-faced but forcing a smile, clutched her stomach and said apologetically, “It hurts a little. Yan Yan, wait here for me for a while. I’ll go find a toilet and come back quickly.”
“Okay.”
After turning a corner, Xia Wen immediately sent a message to a phone number. She peeked slightly at Shang Yan, who was standing by the roadside playing on her phone, her eyes gleaming with undisguised pleasure. The way
things turned out, it was all Shang Yan’s fault for insisting on being with Shang Yi. How could they be together? No, they couldn’t be.
Shang Yan was wearing the uniform of Beijing No. 1 High School, her hair flowing down her chest. Standing in the alley, she was a striking splash of white. She was idly scrolling through short videos to pass the time.
The background music from the videos drifted through the alley, flowing between the ancient doorways, the old trees, and the not-so-clean stone pillars, making time seem to slow down.
The glare from the phone screen was blocked, making the image clearer. Shang Yan looked up in confusion. Several street thugs were standing in front of her. They
really were street thugs, the typical kind—dressed haphazardly, barely clothed, looking like they belonged to the Beggars’ Guild.
“Why is it a woman?”
The leader of the group, a cigarette dangling from his lips, frowned deeply, seemingly particularly annoyed that Shang Yan was a woman. Hello? Did he have a problem with her gender?
If he really didn’t like her, there was always a male version who looked similar to her to choose from.
Shang Yan’s phone was snatched from her hand. She cried out and tried to take it back, but was stopped by a stun gun.
Taking it is one thing, but using a stun gun is another; it
‘s an eyesore. She figured out that these guys were probably there to cause her trouble.
The leader clicked his tongue and took two steps back. “I don’t hit women.”
Well, you’ve got principles, huh?
He raised his chin at the others, “Go ahead and fight.”
Shang Yan: …
The others: …
Shang Yan was amused by this. She looked at the old lady in the rocking chair next to her and handed her the cake. The old lady’s eyes were almost closed, but Shang Yan could still see the doubt in her eyes.
“Grandma, please keep this for me for a while, I’ll get it
later.” After hearing her words, the old lady tried to open her eyes again and saw the words on her school uniform. Oh, a student from Beijing No. 1 Middle School, that’s a good student, so she nodded in agreement.
After storing the cake, Shang Yan looked at the people who had been causing trouble. “Although it’s very formulaic, I still want to ask, who hired you?”
The men stared at Shang Yan with fierce eyes and snorted a few times, showing no intention of answering. They were thugs in this area and would definitely not reveal the buyer’s information.
“Oh, that woman, I think her name is Lü Yan.”
The boy who left casually revealed the buyer information that the others were so reluctant to divulge, his cigarette dangling from his mouth.
One of the scarred men quickly turned to look at the boy, somewhat anxiously, “Hey! This can’t be said. They paid to settle it. How are we supposed to live after we leak this information?”
The boy clicked his tongue nonchalantly, leaning against the wall with his cigarette still dangling from his lips, “How does she know it was us? What if she’s smart enough to figure it out herself? She’s so stupid.”
Scarface: …Fine, I won’t argue with you.
Shang Yan searched her mind for the name Lü Yan, but couldn’t find it. Who was she? Why was she, a villain, always getting into trouble? Shouldn’t she be the one causing trouble for others?
She scratched her chin in frustration and tried to negotiate with the thugs, “I’ll give you money, can we not fight?”
“No way, how can that be, girl? It’s the code of the underworld, how can we be turned? How are we supposed to survive in this place after that!”
The speaker was another man, whose appearance was fairly decent, but he spoke with a heavy, heavy-voiced accent, probably smoking more cigarettes than eating meals.
“What’s it to me?” Shang Yan said expressionlessly.
The thugs: …
The boy next to her laughed, amused by his own words.
Fine, it seemed reasoning was useless. She glanced at her back; the alley was too deep, and running directly would likely result in a fatal accident. These thugs clearly frequented this area; the best of the thirty-six stratagems was out of the question.
Shang Yan sighed, put down her bag, and walked to the center of the alley. Looking at the five menacing-looking thugs opposite her, she felt a pang of melancholy.
Who on earth actually thought highly of her, sending six people, including her mother, to ambush her! Hahahaha, damn it! Did they really think she was some kind of superhuman heroine?
Her eyes held a hint of resentment. “Come on, go easy on me.”
The street thugs: …
How can we hit her if you say that?
Taking advantage of their hesitation, Shang Yan’s eyes flashed, and with lightning speed, she approached the boy by the wall, grabbed his collar, and slammed him to the ground.
“Holy crap?”