Vol. 1 - Ch. 27 - Curing Mental Exhaustion

Li Han's childhood friend was Liu Chang. They grew up in the same courtyard, living upstairs and downstairs.Liu Chang's family had a relatively advanced Sega MD32 at that time, so the two of them would stay at home and play from morning till night every holiday, building a deep friendship. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ NʘvᴇlFɪre.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

But ever since Liu Chang went to attend college in another city, their old house got demolished and the address changed, and the two of them had less contact.

It wasn't until half a year ago when Liu Chang came to talk to him about starting a business that he learned about Liu Chang's experiences over the years.

Liu Chang, after graduating, pursued postgraduate studies and later took the civil service exam. He was now married and had children, which ideally should have made his life fulfilling. However, Liu Chang was profoundly dissatisfied with his job as a civil servant, believing it drained his passion. Consequently, he resigned and aimed to venture out and work for himself.

At that time, Li Han hadn't started to use the Big Data App yet, so naturally, he was unwilling to give up his stable job to take the risk of starting a business. After all, the treatment at the Mercedes-Benz 4S store was quite good, so he refused.

So Liu Chang had started his own business with a loan, and Li Han had even attended the opening of the burger shop.

But as for how the burger shop developed later, Li Han wasn't very clear, as he had enough to worry about with his own performance.

"I'll ask tomorrow." Li Han thought to himself while holding his phone, then laid down on the bed.

The next morning, Li Han arrived promptly at 7:30 a.m., carrying three portions of  breakfast, at the Baizhe Cake Shop.

But at this time, Wang Man and Li Jia were already busy in the shop, putting the baked cakes in the cake cabinet.

"When did you guys arrive?" Li Han asked with a frown. Li Jia came forward to take the breakfast from his hand and laughed, "Xiao Man came at six, and I came at seven."

"I have to bake the first batch of bread in the morning." Wang Man said with a smile.

"Isn't that waking up at five in the morning? It's really hard work..." Li Han sighed and set down the breakfast. "So, what does a security guard like me need to do?" 

"Clean up the waste in the shop, and later, help us arrange the cakes in their designated places," explained Wang Man. She then smiled playfully and added, "Since you're an employee now, you'll need to put this on."

After saying that, Wang Man handed over an apron, which was the "employee uniform" for this cake shop. It featured the logo of the shop---a pair of orange and white cats---on a pink background with white heart-shaped prints.

Looking at Li Han who put on the apron, Li Jia and Wang Man laughed heartily.

"Satisfied? This is... childish." Li Han rolled his eyes.

"Hehe, should we add a black cat on it later? To represent Xiao Han," Li Jia said with a mischievous smile. 

"Ah, that's a good idea." Wang Man clapped her hands, "Alright, let's get to work."

Li Han's job was quite easy, just helping clean up, putting the newly baked cakes made by Wang Man in the kitchen into the cake cabinet, and doing everything except baking cakes. In short, he was a handyman.

In the morning, there were basically no takeout orders. The people who came to buy bread were all nearby residents, and Wang Man and Li Jia could basically say their names. So although the shop was not big and the business was not hot, the shop was particularly lively.

"Ah, finally, there's a new face in the shop!" The first customer was a pleasantly plump middle-aged woman, her smile warm and friendly. It reminded Li Han of his own mother. She looked at him curiously and asked, "Young man, you seem lively. Are you Xiao Man's boyfriend?"

"No, Aunt Li, just a friend," Wang Man replied with a wry smile.

Upon hearing this, Auntie Li patted Li Han on the shoulder, "Xiao Man is single, huh? You should seize the opportunity."

"Yes, Auntie!" Li Han saluted seriously.

Wang Man pulled him to the back, then smiled at Auntie Li, "The usual? Tiger skin cake roll, coconut toast, and two pineapple buns?"

"Yes." Auntie Li said with a smile, handing over the cash in her hand.

Li Jia whispered in explanation, "Auntie Li likes sweet treats, but she usually avoids desserts with chocolate, coffee, or matcha."

At this time, another man with a decadent expression and heavy dark circles under his eyes entered the shop. He greeted them listlessly, looking very much like the Li Han who had to get up early the next day after working overtime.

"Morning, Old Zhang," Wang Man greeted him, and then pointed behind him, "What I made today is pork chop buns." 

"This young man doesn't like things too sweet, so every time he comes, he buys sausage buns, chicken chop buns, or pork chop buns." Li Jia continued to introduce the customers who came into the shop, while Wang Man introduced the new arrival, Li Han, to the customers.

Although this was just an ordinary morning in this shop, Li Han felt an indescribable sense of comfort; this cake shop actually cured his years of mental exhaustion...

Indeed, this cake shop doesn't make much money every month, and it's not a well-known brand, but it inexplicably makes people feel relaxed.

The sweet fragrance of the bread and cakes in the shop, coupled with the chatter of Wang Man, Li Jia, and the customers, made Li Han recall the scenes of going on spring outings with his classmates and having picnics on the lawn when he was in school.

"Hey!" At this moment, Wang Man clapped him on the back, jolting him back.

"What's up?" Li Han came back to his senses.

"In the future, do you want to try delivering the takeout orders from the shop?" Wang Man asked with a smile, "If our shop can deliver by ourselves, we can save a lot of delivery fees. Can you ride an electric bike?"

"I can't..." Li Han shook his head awkwardly.

Wang Man frowned and said coquettishly, "Go learn, it's not that hard. Didn't you ride a bike to school in junior high? If you can ride a bicycle, you can learn to ride an electric bike quickly."

Looking at Wang Man's tone, she probably really wanted him to stay here for a long time.

Li Han thought about it and felt that it might not be a bad idea.

After all, he was quite free after his finance and stock side took shape. He only needed to regularly give the selected stocks and financial management to Wang Zhenyu and that old slicker, these two tool men, to sell the projects.

The rest of the time, he would stay in this cake shop to continue healing his mental exhaustion.

"Alright, I'll go buy an electric bike tomorrow." Li Han nodded.

"Then it's settled." Wang Man's face bloomed with a brilliant smile, dazzling enough to make Li Han unable to look at her directly.

After ten in the morning, the business in the shop became much slower.

At this time, Li Han remembered that he still had important things to do, so he contacted his childhood friend Liu Chang and asked about the situation of the burger shop he opened.

"It's okay, barely enough to get by," Liu Chang replied on WeChat, unwilling to say more.

However, Li Han felt that he was putting on a brave front. So, he checked Carmez Handmade Burger Shop on the food delivery app. Their monthly sales were over 800 orders. Li Han then compared it to other nearby restaurants of the same kind: McDonald's had monthly sales of over 1500, while Wendy's had over 2000. At that moment, Li Han understood it all.

From the takeout app, Liu Chang's burger shop's price positioning is between McDonald's and Burger King, and the sales volume should also be reasonably in between, but his actual monthly sales volume is only over 800, obviously there was some problem with the operation.

However, that's alright. Li Han was there to help him solve this problem. So, he got straight to the point and said, "I recently quit my job, and I've managed to save up some money. I'd like to invest in your shop. When are you available? I'll come find you for a discussion."