The sun set over the western hills, red clouds filled the sky, and Fatty returned from target practice at the camp.
"We had live ammunition drills, and I even got to fire two rounds—bang, bang, the sound was super loud!" Guo Ziyi, back from military training, ran to the coffee shop on the street corner to find Yang Yi, proudly recounting his training experiences.
After a few days of military training, the chubby guy had gotten another shade darker and lost a bit of weight. Apart from his face still being round, the excess flesh on his body had noticeably decreased.
Yang Yi was wiping cups with a smile, listening quietly.
"Too bad the food was a bit lacking, otherwise I might have just stayed at the camp and not come back!" The chubby guy recalled his training days with a touch of nostalgia.
The coffee shop's speakers were playing a song by Chen Yijie, which reminded the chubby guy of something. He laughed and said, "Oh yeah, during our cultural performance later, a lot of people wanted to sign up to sing 'Long Time No See,' the one you wrote for Chen Yijie."
"Shh!" Yang Yi shot Guo Ziyi a glare, glancing around. Luckily, the customers were sitting a bit far away, and no one was paying attention to their conversation.
Guo Ziyi shrank his head, grinning sheepishly. "Right, right, I forgot. Gotta keep a low profile, low profile."
"So, did you perform anything?" Yang Yi asked curiously.
From what he knew of Guo Ziyi, the guy liked to show off, especially on stage.
"Yeah! But not singing!" Guo Ziyi said smugly. "I organized a skit about camp life with my classmates, wrote the script myself, and it got a huge round of applause on performance day! Even better than what those acting department guys put on!"
There it was—that lingering grudge of his, still popping up now and then to compete with the acting department folks.
"Excuse me, I'd like to buy some coffee." Just as Guo Ziyi was rambling on about his training anecdotes, a tired female voice sounded from behind him.
Guo Ziyi turned around in surprise, a flash of admiration in his eyes.
It was a very delicate-looking girl, not tall, with short hair—more precisely, a neat student bob with bangs, giving her a clean, crisp look with a hint of vintage charm.
Interestingly, she was holding a few books and dressed in black and white, which added to the historical vibe.
"?"
Meeting Guo Ziyi's gaze, the girl frowned slightly, looking at him with a questioning expression.
"Go ahead, go ahead!" Guo Ziyi quickly smiled and stepped aside.
The girl ignored him, walked up to Yang Yi, and said flatly, "I'll have a Robusta, one cup, to go."
"One moment." Yang Yi nodded and started preparing it.
While waiting, the girl idly looked around the coffee shop's decor, and inadvertently turned her head to catch Guo Ziyi's intense stare from where he leaned against the counter.
Awkward. The girl frowned, looking at Guo Ziyi with some distaste, and even Guo Ziyi felt embarrassed. "Um, well..."
"I was looking at the books you're holding!" Guo Ziyi had a flash of inspiration and found an excuse. "Ross's 'Three Laws of Acting'—I've read it."
Among the books the girl was carrying, there was indeed one by the famous theatrical performer Ross titled 'Three Laws of Acting.' The excuse was plausible enough, and the girl withdrew the hostility from her eyes. Still, she had no intention of chatting further with Guo Ziyi, just hummed in acknowledgment, waited for Yang Yi to pack her coffee, and then turned and left.
Yang Yi didn't plan to call out Guo Ziyi's bluff, but the chubby guy was full of talk. After the girl left, he eagerly lowered his voice and said to Yang Yi, "That's Du Yuanlei, a talented girl from the Film Academy's directing department—smart and pretty. And she's starting her master's this year, same batch as me as a freshman."
"Master's?" Yang Yi was a bit surprised, then laughed and patted the chubby guy's shoulder. "Then you'd better forget it. Don't get any ideas about her."
"Why?" Guo Ziyi immediately protested, annoyed. He really liked that type—delicate and charming.
"Because of the age gap!" Yang Yi counted on his fingers. "You're a freshman now, she's a grad student. Normally, she'd be around twenty-two or twenty-three, and you're only sixteen! That's a six- or seven-year gap—pretty big, right? If it were the other way around, it'd be fine if you were in grad school and dating a freshman girl."
"What? I have to wait until grad school to date?" Guo Ziyi said dejectedly. "Is it wrong to start college early? I don't think age is a problem."
Yang Yi thought it over and realized Guo Ziyi had a point. He smiled and patted his shoulder again. "Alright then, I hope you can win over the senior, if you're really that determined."
"I'm not confident at all!" Guo Ziyi wailed. "Brother Yang, give me some advice."
After some banter, Guo Ziyi said with interest, "Brother Yang, I think your coffee shop is getting more and more popular! In just a little while, several batches of customers have come in."
"Yeah, but I still prefer fewer people. Too many customers, and I can't handle them all." Yang Yi gestured toward the door. "Didn't I put up a help-wanted sign? I want to hire one or two staff members, let them handle things, and I can take it easy."
"There's a sign? Let me check!" Guo Ziyi said in surprise. He hadn't noticed earlier and now ran off to look.
A moment later, he came back excitedly. "Brother Yang, do you really need someone who knows how to make hand-brewed coffee? Could someone who doesn't know anything do it?"
Yang Yi sized him up and shook his head. "You? No way. You're lazy and gluttonous."
Hiring him would be like taking in a master!
"How could it be me?" Guo Ziyi chuckled. "I'm destined to be a movie star—no time to work for you! I'm talking about my senior. She's a really nice person, just from a poor family and needs to work to earn money."
"Remember I told you last time that on my first day of reporting, I went to a bar? My senior works there as a cleaner—it's really tough! I thought if you're hiring, maybe you could let her try, so she doesn't have to work in a place like a bar, which is especially dangerous for a girl!" Guo Ziyi had a bit of a chivalrous streak.
"Senior?" Yang Yi frowned, looking at Guo Ziyi suspiciously. "Don't tell me she's another crush of yours? Don't use my business to do favors. I'm hiring a coffee shop employee, not bringing in a pretty girl for you to admire."
Guo Ziyi protested, "How could that be! Senior Ding isn't good-looking—she's dark and skinny. How could I like her? It's just that she helped me a lot when school started, and I want to help her out too!"
"Seriously, my senior has great character. She's hardworking and diligent! She just might not know how to brew coffee—when would she ever have the money to drink it?" Guo Ziyi recommended earnestly.
Yang Yi nodded slightly. "If that's the case, as long as she's willing to learn, I can teach her."
And so it was settled. Guo Ziyi eagerly left Yang Yi behind and ran back to school to find his senior, arranging for her to come to Yang Yi's coffee shop for an "interview" the next day.