Zhou Yan picked up the hot Americano.
He glanced at the surface first.
Black coffee had no latte art, so there was no flashy technique to show off.
But anyone who truly understood coffee knew that with Americano, the simpler it was, the harder it was to hide your craft.
Extraction time, water temperature, grind amount—if any one of those was off, the flavor would turn strange.
Behind the counter, Shen Yuan stood straight.
Her fingers rested on the edge of her apron, her expression calm. If you ignored the hand tightly gripping the apron strings.
Beside her, Zhou Ning was frantically cheering her on with her eyes.
Shen Yuan received it.
Thanks.
But at this moment, cheering wasn’t going to help.
This was a make-or-break moment. A trial-shift newbie handing her first cup of coffee to the boss—after he drank it, he might decide whether she kept working tomorrow or packed up and went home to eat dirt.
Zhou Yan lowered his head and took a sip.
He didn’t speak right away.
Shen Yuan’s heart hung in the air.
Linda stood to the side, arms crossed, watching expressionlessly.
A moment later, Zhou Yan set down the cup.
He smiled.
“Not bad.”
Shen Yuan let out a small sigh of relief.
Zhou Ning was even happier than she was, nearly clapping on the spot.
Linda glanced at Zhou Yan. “Boss, that review was way too half-hearted.”
Zhou Yan was good-natured. “Can’t be too harsh on new people.”
Linda sneered. “When you first opened this shop and made a latte that looked like soy milk, I wasn’t gentle with you.”
Zhou Yan looked helpless. “Sister Linda, leave me a little boss face.”
“Face is billed by the hour.”
Zhou Ning was stifling her laughter beside them, shoulders shaking.
Shen Yuan couldn’t help it either, the corner of her mouth curving up.
When she smiled, her usually cool and distant features softened considerably, like a touch of spring light falling on a frozen surface.
Zhou Yan saw it.
His gaze paused for a moment.
He didn’t linger, quickly looking away.
“Shen Yuan, right?” Zhou Yan asked.
“Yes.” Shen Yuan immediately stood up straight.
“The storage room was organized very well, and you handled the customer complaint just now with composure.” Zhou Yan’s tone was gentle. “If you’re willing, after the three-day trial, you can stay.”
Shen Yuan froze.
She hadn’t expected the result to come so quickly.
“Really?”
The words slipped out before she could stop them, and she immediately felt she’d been too impulsive.
But she desperately needed this job.
Zhou Yan smiled. “Really.”
Linda added from the side, “Don’t get too excited. Staying doesn’t mean it’ll be easy. Afternoon shifts, evening shifts, weekend rushes—you’ll have to handle all of it.”
Shen Yuan nodded immediately. “I can handle it.”
Zhou Ning muttered quietly, “This shop isn’t at its busiest—it’s always busier.”
Shen Yuan whispered back, “It’s fine. I’ve been tortured by clients before.”
Zhou Ning was shocked. “Then you’ve seen the world.”
Shen Yuan said with complete seriousness, “No, I’ve seen the underworld.”
Zhou Ning finally burst out laughing.
Linda swept her gaze over them. “Done chatting? Glasses washed yet?”
Zhou Ning shut up immediately.
Shen Yuan also lowered her head and got to work at once.
When she was busy, she entered an extremely focused state.
Wiping cups, memorizing the menu, learning customers’ preferences, mastering the cash register system.
Linda spoke fast, so she learned fast.
If there was something she didn’t know, she never pretended to understand—she just asked directly.
Zhou Yan sat back down by the window and opened his book.
But he didn’t manage to read many pages.
Every time he looked up, he could see that busy figure behind the counter.
Zhou Ning finally laughed out loud.
Linda glanced at them. “Done chatting? Glasses washed?”
Zhou Ning immediately shut up.
Shen Yuan also lowered her head and got back to work.
When she was busy, she entered an extremely focused state.
Wiping glasses, memorizing the menu, learning customers’ preferences, picking up the cash register system.
Linda spoke fast, so she remembered fast.
If there was something she didn’t know, she never pretended to understand—she just asked directly.
Zhou Yan sat back by the window and opened the book.
But he didn’t read many pages.
Every time he looked up, he could see the busy figure behind the bar.
It was only her first day, but she seemed to be throwing her entire self into the job.
Not to show off.
More like grabbing hold of a lifeline.
That kind of earnestness was infectious.
At six in the evening, the sky darkened.
The customers in the shop gradually thinned out.
Shen Yuan finally got to stop and take a sip of water.
Her heels were throbbing badly.
When she was busy, she didn’t feel it. But now that she had a moment of rest, the pain was like a paid membership—relentlessly reminding her of its existence.
Zhou Ning noticed her uneven gait.
“What’s wrong with your feet?”
Shen Yuan glanced down. “Wore the wrong shoes yesterday. Blisters.”
Zhou Ning sucked in a sharp breath. “You stood like that all afternoon?”
“It’s fine.” Shen Yuan’s tone was calm. “Poor people come with built-in battery life.”
Zhou Ning: “…”
Zhou Yan happened to walk over and heard that line. He let out a low chuckle.
Shen Yuan only then realized the boss was there and felt a bit embarrassed.
Zhou Yan looked toward her feet. “There are spare slippers in the back. If you don’t mind, you can change into them.”
Shen Yuan instinctively refused. “No need, I’m fine.”
Zhou Yan didn’t push. He just said, “Standing on an injury for too long slows recovery. Work matters, but you can’t treat your body like that.”
The words were ordinary.
But Shen Yuan felt a slight jolt.
Before she died in her past life, someone had advised her the same way.
Don’t stay up so late. Don’t trade your health for work.
She always said, “I’ll take it easy once this busy stretch is over.”
But that stretch ended up running straight into her life resetting.
Shen Yuan lowered her eyes and said softly, “Thank you.”
Zhou Yan had Zhou Ning go grab the slippers from the back.
“Consider this my humane management as a boss,” he said. “No need to write it into the employee benefits.”
Zhou Ning ran off, riffing as she went: “Boss, how about being a little more humane and giving us a raise?”
Linda spoke flatly from behind the bar. “You’re getting bolder by the day.”
Zhou Ning: “I’ll shut up now.”
The mood lightened.
Shen Yuan changed into the slippers, and her feet finally felt some relief.
She looked down at the oversized black slippers and suddenly thought of the pair of Xu Anran’s old slippers at the front door of the apartment.
Scorned by the original owner.
Picked up and washed clean by her.
Those little things all seemed to carry an unspoken awkwardness.
She shook off the thought and went back to work.
At 8:30 p.m., Shen Yuan finished her trial shift.
Linda transferred today’s hundred-yuan trial wage to her.
“Come at the same time tomorrow,” Linda said.
“Okay.”
Shen Yuan looked at the arrival notification on her phone, her eyes lighting up.
A hundred yuan.
Not much.
But it was the first money she had earned on her own since coming to this world.
Not given by Xu Anran.
Not leftovers squandered by the original owner.
It was earned by standing all afternoon, blistering her feet, washing glasses, and taking scoldings.
Shen Yuan felt a warmth rise in her chest.
She said quietly, “Thank you, Sister Linda.”
Linda gave her a disdainful look. “Don’t get all sentimental. Don’t be late tomorrow.”
Zhou Ning waved from the side. “See you tomorrow!”
Zhou Yan happened to be heading out.
He saw Shen Yuan leaning against the doorframe to change her shoes, moving with some difficulty.
“Where do you live?” Zhou Yan asked.
Shen Yuan looked up warily.
Zhou Yan caught her defensiveness and smiled. “Don’t misunderstand. Just thought if it’s on the way, I could drop you at the bus stop. With your foot like that, walking far isn’t convenient.”
Shen Yuan shook her head. “No need, the bus is convenient for me.”
She refused without hesitation.
Zhou Yan didn’t push it either.
“Let me know when you’re home safe,” he said, then felt the words were a bit overstepping for a trial-shift newcomer, so he added, “Just say something in the shop’s group chat—Linda will see it.”
Linda poked her head out of the shop: “I won’t see it. I’m going to sleep.”
Zhou Yan sighed helplessly: “Then Zhou Ning will check.”
Zhou Ning popped her head out: “I’ll check, I’ll check! I’m nosy… no wait, I care about my coworkers.”
Shen Yuan couldn’t help but laugh.
She pushed the door open and stepped outside.
The evening breeze carried a hint of chill, dispersing the warm aroma of the coffee shop.
Shen Yuan slung her bag over her shoulder and walked slowly toward the bus stop.
She didn’t know that across the street, an electric scooter had been parked for a long time.
Xu Anran wore his delivery uniform, his helmet covering most of his face.
He’d been taking orders and passed by Nantong Road today.
Originally, he was just waiting at a red light.
But then he saw Shen Yuan come out of that coffee shop.
She was wearing an apron, and her feet were in a pair of ill-fitting slippers.
Then, the man in the white shirt also walked out.
The man stood at the door, leaning down to talk to her.
Shen Yuan looked up and smiled.
She rarely smiled at him like that.
At least in the past six months, Xu Anran had never seen Shen Yuan like this.
No ingratiation.
No calculation.
Relaxed, soft—like she’d finally surfaced from a mire to take a breath.
Xu Anran’s fingers on the handlebar tightened bit by bit.
He told himself this had nothing to do with him.
Whether she found a job.
Whether she met some man.
Whether she left in six months.
None of it had anything to do with him.
But the dull weight in his chest pressed down uncontrollably.
He thought of the two transfers this morning.
He thought of her saying she’d slowly pay him back.
And then he saw her standing in front of another man, smiling so cleanly.
A ridiculous and humiliating thought suddenly surfaced.
She was in a hurry to pay him back.
In a hurry to draw a clear line between them.
Was it because she’d found a new way out?
A new man.
A new backer.
The coldness in Xu Anran’s eyes sank deeper.
The light turned green.
A car behind him honked.
Xu Anran snapped back to reality and twisted the throttle.
The electric scooter rode past Shen Yuan.
The wind caught the hem of his delivery uniform.
Shen Yuan instinctively looked up.
She only caught a glimpse of a familiar back, quickly merging into the traffic.
She froze for a moment.
Xu Anran?
She must have been mistaken.
He was so busy.
Why would he be here?
Shen Yuan averted her gaze and continued walking toward the bus stop.
Her foot still hurt.
But her heart felt a little lighter than yesterday.
At least today, she hadn’t endured in vain.
Meanwhile, Xu Anran drove fast through the night wind.
New orders kept popping up on his phone.
But for the first time, he found the constant pinging irritatingly harsh.
Like it was reminding him.
Shen Yuan was slowly drifting out of his life.
And he—was actually starting to miss her presence.