Chapter 75

Chapter 75: How to Court Death

“But I want to be paid on a daily basis. Is that alright?” the youth called Mu Jieyun asked shyly.

“No problem. Remember to get a health certificate.” Yuan Zhou readily agreed to his request and conveniently reminded him that a health certificate was required for all workers working in the food and beverage industry.

“Thank you, boss, I will. I’m going to get it right now.” An obvious look of joy appeared on Mu Jieyun’s delicate face.

“Ok, go ahead.” Yuan Zhou had maintained a manner of aloofness all along. He felt that his idea was not bad, the aloof manner suited him better.

“Dong Dong Dong Dong”, the youth ran away happily.

“Speaking of which, the youth seems to be underage,” Wu Hai reminded him helplessly.

“Never mind. Summer vacation is coming soon. A summer job can be considered training.” Of course, Yuan Zhou could see that this boy, Mu Jieyun, was only a youth, but summer jobs didn’t care about such little details.

“Aren’t you recruiting a long term worker?” Wu Hai was bewildered.

It was more stable for Yuan Zhou’s small restaurant to recruit a long term, full-time worker. Wasn’t it quite troublesome to constantly change workers?

“It doesn’t matter. I like him.” Yuan Zhou looked at Wu Hai. His gaze was saying, “why haven’t you left?”.

“Ok. You go ahead being capricious. I’m leaving,” Wu Hai said helplessly.

“Humm, good bye.” As soon as Wu Hai went out of the restaurant, Yuan Zhou shut the door down.

……….

Early next morning, Mu Xiaoyun had arrived at the entrance of Yuan Zhou’s restaurant by 6:45 a.m. There were not many people on the empty street and the stores were all basically closed. Arriving at the entrance, she found the Maltese with mixed fur colors lying there quietly and watching her with its alert eyes.

“Ah, you startled me.” Mu Xiaoyun patted her bosom and retreated a few steps under the threat of the Maltese.

“Is this dog raised by the boss? Why didn’t my brother tell me?” while murmuring in low voice, she stood near the entrance, waiting for Yuan Zhou to open the door.

That’s right, Mu Xiaoyun was the younger sister of Mu Jieyun and was only 16 years old. Her brother had begged her to come here. As for Mu Jieyun, he was truly courting death.

Yuan Zhou had actually already got up since he had decided to make the Soup Dumplings in the morning. He didn’t expect it was a cute girl, rather than her brother—Mu Jieyun, that came to work. Mu Xiaoyun arrived so early that Yuan Zhou was still kneading dough at that time.

15 minutes later, Yuan Zhou dusted his hands covered with flour and washed them clean in the kitchen sink. Then, he went up to open the door.

With a “Hua La” sound, the door was opened. The Maltese with mixed fur colors then stood up and walked away leisurely. Nevertheless, nervousness was written all over Mu Xiaoyun’s delicate and childish face.

As soon as the door was opened, Yuan Zhou only found a girl who appeared to be 15 or 16 years old on the empty street. She had a shoulder-length hair with the ends slightly curled. Her bangs covered the small and exquisite face, making it appear even more adorable. She was dressed in a bright yellow one-piece dress revealing her white calves in the air. The girl unconsciously lowered her shoulders when she saw the boss Yuan Zhou come out.

“Who are you?” Yuan Zhou maintained his aloof manner and asked with puzzlement.

“Uh, I’m sorry, boss. Something happened to my brother, thus he was unable to come. I’m here to replace him.” The girl tightly held a corner of her dress sheepishly, a faint blush suffusing her white cheeks.

Yuan Zhou still maintained his expressionless face and looked at the big loli in front of him.

“The loli looks cute and her voice is also soft.” However, Yuan Zhou still had a headache as he didn’t expect his newly-recruited waiter would be absent on the first day.

“By the way, I’m Mu Jieyun’s younger sister, Mu Xiaoyun. Boss, can I replace my brother and work here?” Mu Xiaoyun’s face became even more flushed. The sentence that was said uneasily even trembled towards the end.

Mu Xiaoyun uneasily held onto her dress tightly with her hands and thought in her heart anxiously, “The boss looks so scary with his stone-cold expression.”

While she was in fear and trembling, almost as if she would run away at any moment, Yuan Zhou opened his mouth. “Come on in.”

“Ah? Can I? Thank you boss.” Mu Xiaoyun stood there in a daze for a few seconds and then jumped up happily. The soft hair at the back of her head danced with the little loli jumping up and down, just Mu Xiaoyun’s mood.

Walking ahead of the girl, Yuan Zhou asked her without much care, “What happened to your brother?”

“His leg was broken,” Mu Xiaoyun answered with a downcast tone.

“But wasn’t he alright yesterday?” Yuan Zhou asked in puzzlement.

“Yes. He broke his leg last night.” Following Yuan Zhou in silence, the little loli Mu Xiaoyun explained honestly.

“Broken? What was the cause?” Yuan Zhou was quite concerned about his first employee.

“My brother went out to play PC games yesterday afternoon; but, unfortunately, got caught by my dad.” While saying that, Mu Xiaoyun glanced at Yuan Zhou secretly and then continued, “then he was locked in his room by dad.”

“Don’t tell me your brother thought of secretly slipping out?” Yuan Zhou instantly recalled that scene of climbing down from the second floor with the help of bed sheets in the movie Home Alone.

“Yes, it’s true.” Mu Xiaoyun nodded her head heavily and then said, “When my brother jumped down from the third floor, he broke his leg by accident. It was really scary.”

After saying that, her little face frowned, revealing a manner of shock.

“Is one floor in the building where you live only one meter tall?” Yuan Zhou couldn’t help feeling surprised.

“No, no. It is 3 meters high.” Mu Xiaoyun gestured three with her hand and said affirmatively.

Yuan Zhou was quite good at mathematics. He figured out instantly that it was totally 9 meters high. Almost failing to maintain his solemn face, he said while sighing with emotion, “Your brother really has a strong body.”

“Yeap, I think so too.” Mu Xiaoyun nodded her head in a daze.

She thought Yuan Zhou was praising her brother, hoping he would recover earlier, therefore she showed a smiling face.

“Did you brother tell you the matters that you need to know to work here?” Yuan Zhou controlled the twitching corner of his mouth and decided to go back to the main point.

“Yes, he did. This is my health certificate.” Mu Xiaoyun took out a card from her small bag and handed it to Yuan Zhou.

“Ok.” Yuan Zhou didn’t take over the card. He only glanced at the term of validity and signaled her to put it back in her bag when he found it hadn’t expired.

“I have 10 tables here in the restaurant. You only need to carry the dishes to the customers. Collecting the plates back is not your work.” Yuan Zhou said while pointing at the small restaurant.

“Then what about washing plates?” Mu Xiaoyun cared more about this matter. She didn’t like washing dinnerware, or more specifically, hated it very much.

“It’s not your work, either. You only need to carry the dishes, that’s all.” Yuan Zhou answered affirmatively.

“Ok.” when she heard she didn’t need to wash the dinnerware, Mu Xiaoyun obediently started to listen to Yuan Zhou telling her about the job contents again.

“I don’t provide meals here. If you haven’t had your breakfast, you can go eat something now and come back when you finish.” Thinking for a while, he reminded her again, believing himself to be rather considerate.

“But boss, aren’t you selling food here? I can buy the food here and start working much earlier,” Mu Xiaoyun showed a lovable smile and said earnestly.

“Ok, as you please. But I suggest you look at the price on the wall behind you first.” Yuan Zhou pointed to the price list behind the girl.

“By the way, only Soup Dumplings are served this morning,” Yuan Zhou said while passing by the little loli.

“Ok.” although Mu Xiaoyun answered him obediently, she was not convinced at all in her heart. The boss didn’t even try to hide the obvious disdain.

Mu Xiaoyun believed she could afford a Soup Dumpling. A serving of Soup Dumplings was no more than 8 RMB in the market, some were even sold at 6 RMB. With 50 RMB in her pocket, she felt she could eat her fill.

However…

Reality was ruthless. The moment she turned her head and saw the price list, Mu Xiaoyun suddenly thought of fleeing and slamming the door behind.