17: Earning for the little one
“Cub, time to eat!”
Ye Susu’s call instantly made Ye Xun whirl around in a panic, hiding his little hands behind his back.
“O-okay.”
Ye Xun looked back, saw that Ye Susu hadn’t entered the room but had just called from outside the door, and let out a sigh of relief.
He took out the hidden phone, extended his little hand in front of the camera once more, carefully brought his five fingers together, and waved.
At the same time, a stream of comments was already flying across the screen.
[I’m dead! Died with my eyes open! Baby, you only did half the morning exercises just now.]
[Can’t take it anymore. Getting hit with this first thing in the morning, my old auntie heart is bleeding from the cuteness. The little guy brushing his teeth earlier really got to me, even though I only saw the toothbrush handle and his little hand, waaah…]
[The baby’s signature wave is back! Bye bye, go eat your fill!]
[Going to kindergarten today, right? Baby, do your best! Bye bye~]
[Tipping 666 gold coins! Feeding the little one, eat lots for breakfast, grow tall! Bye bye~]
[Continue tomorrow morning! I usually can’t get up, but seeing the little one working so hard to rise early, I snapped right awake!]
[Tomorrow I’m doing morning exercises with the little treasure too~]
Ye Xun didn’t dare look carefully this time, afraid Ye Susu would be kept waiting. He quickly exited the live stream and carefully put away his phone.
But even as he ate the warm fish porridge, his mind kept wandering.
The number of aunties and uncles watching today was much lower than last night.
He couldn’t read the words, but the number in the corner of the screen had decreased, and the flying text was much less too.
Was it because the uncles and aunties found his live stream boring?
A little dejected, Ye Xun took a big bite of the egg Ye Susu handed over, ‘Nom!’ eating more than half in one go, his little cheeks bulging as he chewed.
He didn’t know what he could live stream about either.
He had just done the morning exercises his kindergarten teacher taught, based on memory. Was it because he did them a bit awkwardly? Did he put the uncles and aunties off?
‘If your viewer count drops, you need to reflect on yourself! So many people do live streams, why do they come watch just you? What’s special about you? Besides that face of yours, what else do you have that makes viewers pay? Think about it clearly!’
His Aunt Ye Wan’s words involuntarily surfaced again.
Ye Xun furrowed his little brows.
He didn’t even let the uncles and aunties see his face… What should he do?
“Not eating anymore?”
Sitting beside him, Ye Susu noticed he had stopped eating, not as obedient as before. After a moment’s thought, she reached out and touched his little belly.
Lost in thought, Ye Xun was caught off guard, and his soft little tummy was touched right away.
His little cheeks flushed instantly scarlet.
“A bit round… full already?”
Ye Susu experimentally pressed a few times on the little one’s belly.
All the melancholy and conflict in Ye Xun’s little head vanished in an instant.
His hands and feet felt as if they were floating in warm, gentle water, and his mind was left with only one small thought, spinning around and around.
Mommy touched me.
Mommy touched me.
…
Mommy’s hand is so soft. Mommy smells a little nice…
His little brain, overloaded, soon even forgot the small piece of dried fish he was holding.
[Child’s Mood: Excellent.]
A line of text suddenly appeared before Ye Susu’s eyes.
She breathed a sigh of relief, but soon couldn’t help rolling her eyes.
There was no mood task today! What a loss!
After breakfast, the mother and son successfully made it to the kindergarten, following the map navigation.
Waving goodbye to Ye Xun, Ye Susu glanced at the still-unmoving [Task 1: Earn 500 Yuan], then immediately headed for the place she had arranged to meet with General Manager Zhang of Evergrande.
“I must have eaten too many koi fish in my previous life.”
The location of the shop the other party gave her was actually just across the street from Ye Xun’s kindergarten—a mere five-minute walk.
Ye Susu couldn’t help but marvel at her own good luck.
Meow-Meow Private Kitchen.
Ye Susu only walked a couple of steps before she saw the eye-catching shop sign.
Located near a crossroad, it was very prominent.
“Miss Ye, I’m Zhang Chen, the representative from Evergrande’s Catering Department who communicated with you last night.”
A middle-aged man in a suit, slightly plump with a bit of a paunch, smiled, his crow’s feet showing.
Noticing her gaze, he explained.
“This shop sign was made urgently based on the preliminary dream proposal you sent me yesterday.”
Standing at the entrance, Ye Susu couldn’t help but show appreciation.
On the Meow-Meow Private Kitchen sign, there was also a large, pink, plum-blossom-shaped cat paw print.
Excellent.
This was an important symbol distinguishing her from ordinary humans.
She had mentioned it to Manager Zhang on WeChat yesterday; she hadn’t expected it to be done so quickly.
“Very good.”
She gave Manager Zhang an appreciative look.
Humans, in certain aspects, were still competent.
Zhang Chen noticed her expression and smiled even more broadly.
“As for the interior decoration, please take a look. If you want any changes, just let me know at any time. The renovation will take a bit of time, but purchasing items should be relatively quick.”
Yesterday, while preparing to take his child to swimming lessons, he had received an urgent call from Liu Zhen. The big boss had instructed him to find someone to handle a Dream Fund project.
It was extremely urgent, to be completed by Monday.
He had been quite surprised at the time.
This Dream Fund plan was something he had never heard of; it definitely wasn’t in any proposal he’d seen before.
Who this sudden order from the big boss was meant to fulfill a dream for was a question worth pondering.
After adding the other person on WeChat and seeing their profile picture was a beautiful woman’s back, he had formed a certain delicate suspicion.
Today, meeting her in person, he was mostly certain and very glad he had taken charge personally last night, not letting a subordinate handle it haphazardly.
“Since the shop area isn’t large, we’ve arranged for relatively few seats: four tables for two, and two single tables in the aisle.”
Following behind, before even entering the shop, Ye Susu saw sunlight shining unobstructed through a huge glass window onto the tables and chairs inside, looking extremely warm.
Her footsteps paused, and a smile appeared on her face.
“Miss Ye?”
Zhang Chen turned around, saw she hadn’t followed, and his heart skipped a beat.
Was she dissatisfied?
This little shop was indeed small, and the decor was minimalist. Because the boss wanted it urgently and there were location requirements, this was the only one they could find.
“If you think it’s too small, we can try to figure something out…”
Zhang Chen wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“No, this is quite good.”
Ye Susu stepped inside and wandered around the aisles between the tables and chairs.
The gaps were just wide enough for a person to pass through.
The restaurant she and the little one ate at last time seemed to be just as crowded.
Most importantly, she used to enjoy squeezing into narrow cardboard boxes, loving the feeling of being surrounded and snug.
“Ahem, it’s fine. No need to change this area.”
“Alright, please take a look at the kitchen now.”
Zhang Chen led the way.
Following behind, Ye Susu was wide-eyed with amazement at everything in the kitchen.
The stove area was spacious and bright.
The pots, bowls, and plates were all stacked neatly, making a certain cat want to push them all over with one paw…
Her eyes sparkled.
“Good!”
Zhang Chen let out a sigh of relief. “So, will you be ordering supplies yourself in the future, or through us? Evergrande Catering can provide unified delivery of daily selected ingredients. You don’t need to worry too much about quality.”
Ye Susu, accustomed to being fed, nodded without hesitation. “Leave it to you.”
Zhang Chen thought to himself: Just as I guessed, definitely the boss’s ‘special connection.’
If this wasn’t the boss’s pampered, beloved young lady, he wouldn’t believe it!
Not even choosing ingredients personally, yet wanting to run her own little food shop. If it were anyone else, they’d lose so much money their own mother wouldn’t recognize them.
But what could he do about it?
The boss had allocated one million yuan for this girl to play around with.
“Oh, right, does your one-million-yuan Dream Fund have any balance left? Could you help me add a bookshelf here?”
Ye Susu walked over to the empty wall by the glass window and paused.
Zhang Chen was taken aback for a moment. “Sure, it’s been trendy lately to have books, going for that cultured, internet-famous shop vibe…”
“Great! Then also help me buy a batch of cookbooks.”
“Alright, cookbooks… Huh? Cookbooks?”
Zhang Chen turned around with some difficulty.
Ye Susu seemed a little embarrassed, rummaging through her small bag. “I only have one book right now, ‘ 100 Days of Delicious Breakfasts.’ I want to learn a few recipes but can’t find any.”
Zhang Chen was stunned, but after a moment’s thought, he suddenly understood.
This girl was going to be the ‘boss lady,’ not the cook herself. It was normal that her culinary skills weren’t up to par.
“Then, I also have a list of resumes here. Cooks’ monthly salaries range from about five thousand to fifteen thousand, servers from three to five thousand. You can choose a few staff members; they can start soon.”
Ye Susu took the document, glanced at it, and furrowed her delicate brows.
“Fifteen thousand?”
Her current savings were only ten thousand.
“Will their salaries be paid from the Dream Fund?”
Zhang Chen smiled. “Yes.”
The boss was pampering her, so naturally, someone else would foot the bill.
Ye Susu nodded, patting her little heart that had just been startled.
“So, in the end, any unused portion of the Dream Fund will go directly to me, right?”
Zhang Chen thought about it; there was no issue with that.
Anyway, it was a case of ‘keeping a mistress in a golden house.’ The money was for her to spend as she pleased.
“Yes, the remaining balance of the 1-million-yuan Dream Fund. If you give me your account details, I can have the finance department wire it to you.”
Liu Zhen had said to report any expenses directly to him, so it was probably being handled through the boss’s personal account.
Ye Susu’s eyes lit up. “Great. No employees then.”
“Huh?”
“The cook will be me. The server and cashier will also be me.”
Ye Susu nonchalantly handed the employee list back to Zhang Chen.
Zhang Chen slowly processed a question mark in his mind.
A quarter of an hour later, staring at the freshly hand-drawn ‘complete’ menu, he was speechless.
“That’s it?”
This is all?
He had never seen a menu like this before!
The woman the boss had taken a liking to was indeed extraordinary, wasn’t she?
“Mm, let’s start with this.”
Ye Susu looked at the bank notification for the 300,000 yuan she had just received and grinned.
Good thing she was clever!
What was the point of hiring?!
In her 99 lifetimes, she had spent half her time wandering. She had endured enough of having no food and the bitter cold of winter.
Later, she learned her lesson: whenever she had extra food, she had to hoard it.
Who knew what might happen tomorrow? Maybe her perfectly fine human caretaker would suddenly disappear because of a human flu, leaving her alone in the house, starving until she was weak, meowing helplessly…
Three hundred thousand yuan, that was at least three hundred thousand pieces of dried fish!
Hiding it away for winter to raise her cub, how reassuring that was for a cat.
Thinking this, Ye Susu was in excellent spirits. “I heard money in the bank even earns interest. Employees? They don’t give me money; they cost money. No need for any of them.”
Zhang Chen: “!?”
At the top floor of the Evergrande Center, a light gray carpet separated the cool-toned CEO’s office from the serious atmosphere of the circular meeting room area.
Standing at the door, Liu Zhen took a deep breath before pushing it open.
In front of an entire wall of floor-to-ceiling windows, only a simple desk was placed.
The walls on either side were filled with bookshelves stacked with various books in their original languages.
“Boss, Miss Ye has taken over the shop. The first batch of ingredients she requested has been delivered… She’s starting operations today.”
Having just loosened his tie and adjusted his shirt cuffs, Li Yun picked up the silver pen on his desk.
Upon hearing this, he looked up.
“Today?”
His cool expression clearly showed a flicker of surprise.
“Has all the staff reported for duty?”
Having interacted with that woman a few times, he already had a clear understanding of her capabilities.
She had no substance in her head, a character lacking ambition, lazy, but doing everything she could to cling to a money tree.
She’s being diligent today.
Thinking this, the severity in his brows and eyes eased slightly.
However, Liu Zhen’s expression turned odd. He weighed his words before speaking. “Yes, Miss Ye decided against hiring any staff for now, preferring to manage it herself first. This is the menu.”
He handed a phone over.
Li Yun glanced up, his eyes instantly falling on the menu, which was so simplified it couldn’t be cut down any further—only three… barely even dishes… handwritten items…
His dark eyes darkened in an instant.
“What is Zhang Chen doing?”
Zhang Chen, a senior project manager in Evergrande’s catering department, had personally turned around hundreds of small food and beverage shops.
He was experienced; it was absolutely impossible for him to make such a logical misstep.
Liu Zhen couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat for his colleague.
“Manager Zhang said Miss Ye took the remaining three hundred thousand yuan of the startup fund and declined to hire a chef.”
As soon as he finished this sentence, Liu Zhen felt a sharp, cold gaze sweep over him.
He could only brace himself and continue.
“Manager Zhang wanted to advise her further, but Miss Ye said her daily operating hours wouldn’t be long, and she could handle it herself. If the money was wired directly to her, Manager Zhang wouldn’t need to worry about it afterward.”
Three hundred thousand yuan in operating capital. How shortsighted must Miss Ye be to want to take it all at once?
Under the guidance of the catering department, her little shop would enter a profitable model within at most two months, ensuring her a worry-free life for the rest of her days, no problem at all.
Taking this money now… how long could it sustain her life? Three months? Six?
Liu Zhen didn’t know what to say either.
“Fine.”
A faint smile tinged with thinly veiled anger appeared on Li Yun’s expressionless face.
“Let her be.”
“There’s no need to report the profits or losses of this shop to me in the future.”
Some people simply can’t be helped.
A few days later, a certain gentleman felt his face sting quite a bit.
**