Good Luck in the Year of the Pig - Chapter 19

After locking the moped, Lu Ying dashed into the bakery. “Caught up at the last minute! Almost late.”

“What did Brother Xiao Lu have for lunch?”

“Ooh, the whole shop shines when Brother Xiao Lu comes in.”

“Xiao Lu is definitely the prettiest boy in our shop!”

“Boss Yang must be a face-con.”

“Hahaha…”

There was a great atmosphere among the colleagues, and Lu Ying, a newcomer, adapted particularly quickly after he joined. He quickly put on his apron and got into working mode. The female customers who were picking out their desserts couldn’t help but look away regretfully. Really, eating bread and cakes every day, how is it possible to lose weight in front of so many handsome men? Woo, but it smells good.

“Welcome.”

Qin Zhuopu stepped into the bakery and was greeted by a female clerk who smiled outwardly and screamed in her heart: what a handsome guy! Several young female customers in the shop also looked at Qin Zhuopu in unison.

“What would you like to order, sir?”

Qin Zhuopu looked up and looked around, but did not find a familiar figure, so he glanced at the shop’s products that smelled deliciously. He didn’t eat well at noon and was hungry.

“I’ll help myself.”

“Okay.”

Qin Zhuopu took the tray and slowly weaved his way through the wide, bright shop. So many delicious looking snacks; he wondered if there were any of Lu Ying’s creations.

He finally chose three types of bread, ordered a drink and sat down quietly by the glass window. From this angle, he could see part of the workroom and occasionally could have a look at Lu Ying’s busy figure.

In the afternoon, when Brother Yang was not in the shop, Lu Ying had been practising frying meat floss, which he had been taught to make hand in hand by Brother Yang. He would be fully responsible for the daily consumption of meat floss in the entire store for two more days. These products were very popular, and the workload was naturally very large. He could see that Brother Yang couldn’t wait for him to take charge of the whole shop operation on his own. Brother Yang himself probably had taken up another hobby -_-||.

“Senior Brother, I didn’t expect it to be you but I was really right.”

Qin Zhuopu was enjoying the snacks. He was not usually a big fan of snacks but he was pleasantly surprised. Without any nefarious thoughts he could say that this was one of the most satisfying foods he had ever eaten. If it weren’t for Lu Ying working here, the town’s unknown bakery wouldn’t even have caught his eye. Qixia Town was, indeed, a place of outstanding people.

He was silently nodding his approval when a familiar figure suddenly appeared at the table; Yu Yourong.

Qin Zhuopu felt somewhat disappointed and said politely, “Junior Brother, what are you doing here?”

Yu Yourong smiled, “I wanted to ask you the same. You, the big boss, would actually have time to eat bread in Qixia Town. I thought you were very busy.”

“It’s rare to have free time, I happened to pass by.” Qin Zhuopu said indifferently.

Yu Yourong took a seat opposite him and spoke eloquently, “Then you are really lucky. This bakery is very impressive. I have been back in China for more than two months and have visited several cities, but only this bakery has kept me coming back. I can’t say how authentic it is, after all, the tastes of Chinese people are different from those of foreigners and people don’t necessarily love authentic European food. Boss Yang’s technique is very delicate, and he is also very knowledgeable personally. He has a unique insight into baking. He is a great gourmet. Almost every dish is new and refreshing. Hey, blame me for being greedy and uncontrollable, but I can’t help it, I’ve gained a lot of weight since I came back. My mother is even worse, she gained over ten pounds. There is so much delicious food in China. Senior Brother, you should bring some snacks back to Auntie to try.”

“I will.” Qin Zhuopu tilted his head and subconsciously looked at the glass partition to the side. The figures inside were all in the same uniform, but as long as he looked closely, he could occasionally catch a glimpse of the familiar, swiftly moving figure.

Yu Yourong followed his line of sight and smiled gently: “Is Senior Brother here to hunt for beauty? I must say, this shop has both amazing food and amazing beauties. No one would want to leave after coming here.”

“Add a cup of coffee for me.” Qin Zhuopu didn’t answer and called out for the waitress.

The female employee came up to serve the coffee and quickly refilled it, “Guests, enjoy your meal.”

Back in the work area, the female employee couldn’t help but gossip immediately: “That Mr. Yu is here again, tsk tsk, I’ve only learned today that he speaks Chinese very well. I thought he couldn’t speak Chinese before, every time he came, he was all English.”

“He can speak Chinese?” Suddenly a male employee asked curiously. Through the glass, it was difficult for them to hear the sounds outside.

“Speaks standard Mandarin to his friend.” The girl shrugged.

“Damn it, every time he comes in, he’s always blathering on and on, buying things and dragging the boss into a half-day conversation, as if he were a foreign dignitary.”

“Even foreign teachers from the university come over to buy food and speak Chinese, although awkwardly.”

Lu Ying was busy kneading the dough, hearing their conversation but having no time to pay attention to it. Although he was new here, he was very impressed with that customer. Lu Ying had met him on his second day in the bakery and the man had become the first ‘English-speaking customer’ he received. The staff in the shop were young and with low-to-moderate education, so they could cope with some simple English. Usually the foreigners who came here spoke half English and half Chinese, or simply Chinese. There was no need for complicated communication when buying something and if you really encountered something that was not easy to deal with, Boss Yang had to go out. Mr. Yu was always received by Brother Yang every time he came, unless Brother Yang was not there. The day after Lu Ying started working, Brother Yang was out, and Mr. Yu came to buy something and chatted with the front desk clerk. Lu Ying watched his colleague stammer more and more until in the end he was almost at a loss. He hurriedly walked out to support his colleague and then babbled for half a day. Although Mr. Yu was good-looking, Lu Ying didn’t really like him. He stared at Lu Ying’s face and butt for a long time and then said, “What a pity…”

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What a pity what? Shifty-eyed guy! Inexplicable! Of course Lu Ying didn’t like it.

“Brother Xiao Lu~~ Will you go to entertain him later?” The female employee’s name was Fei Qiqi, but everyone called her Feifei, and she was just terrified of dealing with such foreigners, especially the talkative ones. That guest originally seemed to be so good-looking and to have such a good temperament but now she was afraid instead of being enamoured.

Lu Ying raised his hands covered with white flour, “Since you hear that he can speak Mandarin, you should speak Mandarin to him. I’m still busy here. He’s chatting with his friend and probably won’t have time to talk to us. Just relax for now, and if he calls someone, I’ll go.”

“En en en, thank you, Brother Xiao Lu! It’s great that Brother Xiao Lu is here, we school dregs won’t panic when the boss isn’t here, haha.” Fei Qiqi joked optimistically.

Everyone nodded in unison.

“Forget it, I originally recalled some English I learned at school and forced myself to pick it up again after coming to work in the shop, but I still can’t speak it smoothly.” A male colleague shook his head and sighed.

“There is no such thing as too many skills, ah.”

Lu Ying said modestly, “I am just an amateur…” The first time he came into contact with English was when he went to the United States with Qin Zhuopu, who took him along when he went on a business trip. After arriving, Qin Zhuopu was too busy to take Lu Ying to play. At that time, Lu Ying was too bold and playful. He left his bodyguards behind and wandered around alone, and then he couldn’t find his hotel. In the end, he was taken back from the police uncle by Qing Zhuopu. Lu Ying felt ashamed and angry and blamed Qin Zhuopu for bringing him to a place full of foreigners’ nonsense. The next day he had to go to play with his bodyguards. As he had fun, he learnt to communicate in simple English and soon was able to get in and out alone without any panic. He was praised by Qin Zhuopu for his intelligence and his talent for languages. Lu Ying was so proud of himself that he asked a professional teacher to teach him for a while, not for long, just for three months. Later, he picked it up again and took it seriously when Zaizai started kindergarten. Most of the children’s parents had graduated from university, or at least from high school. What about him? As a parent at the same stage, he had nothing on any of them. Zaizai loved to listen to picture book stories and some parents were keen to recommend many children’s picture books to him. Among them English picture books made up a large portion. Lu Ying suddenly realised that learning English was useful. Later, in the parents’ open class, the English he had learnt came in handy and he didn’t embarrass his child!

“Oops, Mr. Yu is calling someone!” The female colleague hurriedly urged.

Lu Ying quickly took off his gloves and walked out, all neat.

When he saw the guest at the same table as Mr. Yu, his steps paused slightly.

“It seems your boss is not in the shop again.” Seeing Lu Ying, Yu Yourong couldn’t resist teasing him, speaking in American English.

“May I ask what the two gentlemen want?”

“Hey, handsome, when will you be able to introduce new products? I came today expecting to try a new product, but I was a bit disappointed. I don’t know when I’ll be free to come next time. Your shop is great, but unfortunately the location is too remote, really far from the city centre and it’s a waste of time to drive here. Has Boss Yang considered opening a branch in the city? I think that’s a good suggestion.” Yu Yourong fired a long passage, full of both praise and derogation.

“Thank you, sir, for your visit and recognition. I am not aware of the boss’s planned arrangements, and there is no news of opening a branch at the moment. As for the new products, they won’t be available until next Monday, so stay tuned.”

The corners of Qin Zhuopu’s mouth lifted slightly as he listened to the familiar voice.

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Yu Yourong was suddenly quiet and purposely tilted his head to look squarely at Lu Ying, “Handsome, you don’t seem to be smiling at me today?”

Lu smiles.jpg.

“…a plastic smile, am I saying it correctly?” Yu Yourong chuckled, staring playfully at Lu Ying, paying particular attention to his waist and buttocks. His smile was somewhat frozen. It was nice to be young!

“There’s no such expression in Chinese, the combination is wrong.” Lu Ying spoke in Mandarin.

Yu Yourong twirled the rose gold spoon in his cup, “The customer is God, is there such an expression in Chinese?”

Lu Ying was taken aback and said hesitantly, “Our boss said that the staff are not allowed to be religious.”

Yu Yourong’s smile turned cold.

Qin Zhuopu had a warm smile on his face; his gaze fell on Lu Ying, who was slightly wilting, and he said in a low voice: “Lu Ying, you have made a lot of progress in English. Let me introduce you. This is my junior schoolmate, Yu Yourong. I just happened to run into him today.”

Yu Yourong suddenly looked at Qin Zhuopu; did he actually know this waiter?

“Junior Brother, this is Lu Ying, my lover.”

Lu Ying rolled his eyes, “It’s an ex-lover.”

***

Mini-theatre:

Zaizai: What should I call you?

Mr. Qin: Dad.

Lu Ying: Uncle!

Mr. Qin: Call me Daddy!

Lu Ying: No, call Uncle!

Mr. Qin: ……

Mini-theatre-2:

Lu Ying: Mr. Qin! I’ll buy you some noodles!

Mr. Qin: Don’t call me Mr. Qin, call me by my name.

Lu Ying: Your name is so awkward, can I call you Uncle?

Mr. Qin (with blue veins): I’m only a few years older than you.

Lu Ying: Brother Qin!

Mr. Qin: …do you want to eat a lollipop?

Lu Ying: Yes.

Mr. Qin: Come on, call me Qin-gege.

Lu Ying: o(*////▽////*) Sounds like Brother Love~

Mr. Qin: The person who is dirty sees dirty!

Lu Ying: …then don’t take off my clothes!