Yang Yi was truly idle now.
The hardworking Miao girl, Ding Xiang, had been diligently learning manual coffee brewing from him since her first day on the job. After a week, her progress exceeded Yang Yi’s expectations. Not only had she become skilled at brewing coffee, but she could also rattle off details about various coffee beans with ease—just by looking at the beans and smelling their aroma, she could basically identify their origin and story.
So, without hesitation, Yang Yi promoted Ding Xiang to store manager, giving her full authority to manage and run the coffee shop in his place. As the former store manager, he demoted himself to an honorary position, leisurely handling only the opening and closing of the shop. Whenever Ding Xiang was around to help, he’d settle into his reserved booth, happily sipping coffee and reading novels.
In fact, once he got used to being a hands-off boss, Yang Yi even considered closing the shop on days when Ding Xiang had classes and not serving customers at all...
Of course, Yang Yi wouldn’t shortchange Ding Xiang financially. For her first month’s salary, he gave her a full six thousand yuan, and he paid it in advance on the day she was “promoted.”
This wasn’t Yang Yi deliberately breaking the rules. It was because Guo Ziyi had quietly told him that Ding Xiang was broke and surviving on bread and pickled vegetables. Neither he nor Guo Ziyi wanted Ding Xiang to feel pitied or to hurt the pride of this strong-willed girl, so they found an excuse to pay her early.
Naturally, after getting the money, Ding Xiang didn’t spend lavishly. She saved most of it, couldn’t bear to buy new clothes, and only slightly improved her meals to boost her quality of life.
Yang Yi’s kindness paid off, too. Ding Xiang worked even harder and racked her brain to figure out how to make more money for him. For instance, she’d recently been learning from Yang Yi how to make desserts. The party with Xi Xi and her friends had given Ding Xiang an idea: maybe adding desserts would attract more customers!
Yang Yi had been too lazy to bother with it before, and now he was too lazy to get involved. He let Ding Xiang experiment freely while he sat in his booth, doodling and writing.
He and Mo Fei had discussed their daughter’s sex education earlier. Yang Yi himself found it hard to bring up, so after another discussion, they decided Mo Fei would be the main speaker, and Yang Yi would create rich, engaging materials.
Now that he was using colored pencils, Yang Yi naturally wanted to put together an illustrated textbook.
But when Ding Xiang walked over and saw the cartoon naked figures on his drawing paper, she immediately blushed bright red. “Oh, this... um, sorry, Brother Yang, I didn’t see anything.”
Ding Xiang turned around, ready to flee.
Yang Yi, however, wore a completely innocent expression—he didn’t think he was drawing anything lewd. Seeing Ding Xiang’s reaction, he was a bit baffled. He called her back and asked, “What’s up? Did you need something?”
Ding Xiang didn’t really want to come back, but when she saw Yang Yi put his drawings away, she shuffled over, blushing. She bowed first, then stammered, “Brother Yang... I, I want to...”
“You want what?”
“It’s like this: during the day, I often have classes and can’t work properly. I was thinking of coming in the evenings to help out.”
Yang Yi chuckled. “Didn’t I say the coffee shop doesn’t open at night?”
“Yes, but that’s because you didn’t have time, Brother Yang. Now I can run the coffee shop for you in the evenings. You can pick up Xi Xi and take care of her at home as usual—it’s no problem. I’ll handle the shop, and we can make more money at night!” Ding Xiang explained.
“Money isn’t really an issue. But if you come to work for me at night, can you keep up with your studies? If your part-time job affects your schoolwork, I can’t take that responsibility,” Yang Yi said with a smile.
Ding Xiang quickly waved her hands. “No problem! I always make time to study. And you let me bring books to work, Brother Yang, so I haven’t fallen behind.”
“I’m already so grateful to you, Brother Yang. Before, when I was doing part-time jobs off campus, I often had to take long bus rides, and sometimes I’d miss classes. I’d have to apologize to the teacher and make them up with another class. This job now feels like a dream...” Ding Xiang’s voice choked with emotion as she spoke.
In fact, Ding Xiang was a top student—just like Guo Ziyi! Even though she spent last school year rushing between part-time jobs, she still ranked first in her class and won a full national scholarship!
What an incredible feat!
Seeing Ding Xiang’s firm resolve, Yang Yi had no choice but to nod and let her handle the evening shift alone.
“No matter what, you have to close up and head back by 8:30. It’s too late and unsafe,” Yang Yi said, handing her a key. “If I see you staying too late, or if I find out your grades are slipping, no more evening shifts!”
“Yes! Thank you, Brother Yang!” Ding Xiang beamed.
Just as Ding Xiang turned to head back to the counter, Yang Yi’s gaze landed on her, and he casually called out, “Ding Xiang, wait!”
Facing her puzzled look, Yang Yi pointed at her blouse and skirt. “This outfit—didn’t I see you wearing it yesterday? No, actually, I’ve seen it for a few days now.”
He hadn’t yet realized what a sore spot he was touching...
Ding Xiang bit her lip and lowered her head. “Sorry, Brother Yang. I’ll go buy two more sets of work clothes.”
The girl quickly composed herself, even blaming herself for being too stingy. Now that she was starting night shifts, she couldn’t just wear one uniform during the day, wash it at night, dry it, and wear it again the next day.
She really did need to buy one or two more sets!
Seeing Ding Xiang’s embarrassment, Yang Yi finally understood. He quickly waved his hand and laughed. “That’s not what I meant. I just remembered that since you’re working at the coffee shop, I should issue you some uniforms! This is part of the shop—”
“There are uniforms?” Ding Xiang was surprised.
“Of course there are!” Yang Yi said matter-of-factly. He already had a design in mind—something really nice.
“But I’ve never seen you wear one, Brother Yang...”
“Uh.” Yang Yi was momentarily at a loss for words. He stammered, “That’s because I’m the big boss. I don’t have to wear a uniform. You employees do!”
“Alright... How much do I need to pay to order the uniform?” Ding Xiang gave in, asking weakly. She’d been hoping to buy a cheaper one!
“Money? You don’t need to pay. It’s a shop benefit,” Yang Yi said with a smile, waving his hand. “Just tell me your measurements, and I’ll have it made for you. If we hire new people later, they’ll get the same style!”
Yang Yi had previously ordered custom clothes for Xi Xi and himself for their sword practice, and he’d met a skilled old tailor in the wealthy district who specialized in bespoke clothing. The materials were better than anything on the market, though the price was steep.
But comfort mattered! Money wasn’t an issue for Yang Yi.
Since he was going to design uniforms, Yang Yi decided to draw the styles himself and then have the old tailor make them.