Chapter 106

[I need this pillow! Give me the shop name, quick!]

[Ahhhhhhh, was it sent by a fan?]

[Must be a CP fan. Although it’s not easy to send a body pillow from so far away, they should be a bit more restrained on the show.]

[+1, I wonder what Film Emperor Lu would think if he saw this.]

Ji Wei remembered the message Lu Shenxing had sent yesterday, and a bold guess couldn’t help but form in his mind.

This body pillow… could it have been sent by his idol?

As he took out the pillow, a card fell to the floor.

He picked up the card. It had only four words written on it.

—Sleep well.

No need to guess anymore.

It really was Lu Shenxing…

Ji Wei was still holding the body pillow, his heart pounding.

“Who sent it?” Zhao Yue glanced at the card. The tone was intimate, not much like a fan, more like someone Ji Wei knew.

He jokingly asked Ji Wei, “It wasn’t sent by Senior Lu, was it?”

He had just said it casually, but Ji Wei didn’t deny it.

The young man lowered his head, hiding the blush that spread from his neck to his face, and carried the life-sized body pillow into his room.

Zhao Yue was dumbfounded. As expected of Senior Lu!

The bullet comments were just as shocked as Zhao Yue.

[This must be the only official Lu Shenxing merchandise, right? Sob sob sob, I’m going to die from the sweetness.]

[Yes! Old Lu has never released official merch. Ahhhhhhh, I’m writhing like a maggot on my bed.]

[Count me in on the writhing! I even looked up this fabric company. It’s very famous in St. Lawrence. It must be super comfortable to hug.]

[I’ve become a sour and sweet jealous person.]

When Ji Wei came out of the room, a faint warmth still lingered on his face.

He took a deep breath and touched his face. Once the heat had subsided a bit, he walked back into the kitchen.

With Ma Laoyezi gone, the variety of breakfast options had plummeted. There was only white bread and porridge with jam. But he didn’t mind and, after a few bites of bread, went to help in the shop.

Ke Zhenyu and Bai Ye went to the supermarket to buy fresh food and vegetables for the hot pot. Zhao Yue and Xiao Chi went out to hand out flyers to attract customers. He was in charge of the cash register and packaging.

It seemed like his task was the heaviest, but it wasn’t even eight o’clock yet, so there were hardly any people. He was actually the most relaxed.

When the shop officially opened at nine, he received the daily mission.

—Serve three thousand customers.

“Three thousand people?” Bai Ye and Ke Zhenyu had returned from grocery shopping. When he saw the mission, he cried out in surprise, “Usually it’s not even a thousand.”

Ji Wei was speechless. It’s really that bad?

Ke Zhenyu snorted as he carried the groceries. “Today, there might not even be seven hundred.”

Before Ji Wei could say anything, his gaze fell on him and hardened. “Why aren’t you wearing the shop uniform?”

“I forgot.” Ji Wei himself didn’t care what he wore, but since Ke Zhenyu insisted, he supposed he should go change.

He turned and went into his room. He didn’t know that Ke Zhenyu was watching his back and said, “Young people these days have no sense of collective honor at all. Xiao Ye, don’t learn from him.”

“Ji Wei just forgot,” Bai Ye couldn’t help but say.

“How come he didn’t forget to eat?” Ke Zhenyu said angrily.

Bai Ye was speechless. Are those two things even comparable?

He felt that life was becoming increasingly difficult. He had no choice but to change the subject. “I’ll put the beef in the refrigerator first.”

[Hands off my Cub Wei. Why is this old man’s mouth so nasty?? Just because he didn’t wear that red tank top?]

[Director, listen to me. If you replace Ke Zhenyu, I’ll watch my computer every day to contribute to your views!]

[Ke Zhenyu is from the Beijing circle. His father and grandfather were both famous actors. Can the production team really tell him to leave?]

[Damn it, I feel sorry for the other guests.]

***

Tang Wan was shopping with a close friend she hadn’t seen in a long time on the commercial street when she received a flyer.

—The Forbidden City’s Little Shop.

Her friend looked at the flyer with great interest. “Since we have nothing to do, let’s go check it out together.”

Zhao Yue quickly said, “It’s on Tinghua Street, very close. If I wasn’t still handing out flyers, I would have gone with you.”

The friend pulled Tang Wan towards Tinghua Street.

Tang Wan frowned slightly. “Let’s not go.”

“Why?” her friend asked, puzzled. “I remember your father is Chinese.”

“I’ve been to that shop before. It’s a mess,” Tang Wan explained patiently. “My friends in China say the products in this shop are much cheaper there. If you want to buy something, I can ask my friends to get it for you.” As if remembering something, she added, “And there are celebrities filming some kind of variety show there. It doesn’t seem like a serious business. Let’s go to the beauty salon instead.”

“Celebrities?” Her friend’s eyes immediately lit up. “Then let’s hurry up and go.”

Tang Wan sighed. After all that talking, her friend hadn’t listened to a single word. She had no choice but to be dragged to Tinghua Street.

When the two arrived in front of the shop, her friend’s gaze was involuntarily drawn to the murals on the shop walls. “This is what you called a mess? I think it’s beautiful.”

Tang Wan was also stunned. She had just been to this shop last week. Had it changed so much?

“It must have been redecorated,” she said, following her friend into the shop.

The previously cluttered stalls were gone, replaced by neat rows of wooden cabinets. The overall layout hadn’t changed much, but there was now a new archway connecting the spaces. There weren’t many decorations, just a water feature that made a ‘ding-dong’ sound as it struck a bell, creating a peaceful and comfortable atmosphere.

“There’s an eagle here!” her friend exclaimed as she stepped through the archway.

“It’s a 3D painting,” Tang Wan said in a low voice.

“I have to take a picture.” Her friend took out her phone. “The decor in this shop is amazing.”

Tang Wan couldn’t help but take a couple of pictures too.

Since they were two young women taking pictures in someone else’s shop without buying anything, they felt a bit embarrassed. In the end, they bought over a hundred dollars’ worth of miscellaneous goods.

Bai Ye had taken over the cashier duties and skillfully took the money and gave change.

Ji Wei packaged their goods. It was still the same kraft paper packaging. He asked, “Excuse me, would you like an inscription?”

“You can do inscriptions?” Tang Wan was a little surprised.

Ji Wei nodded.

Tang Wan thought for a moment and told Ji Wei a poem that contained her name.

“Sorry to trouble you,” she said, realizing only after she finished that it was a lot of characters, and apologized.

Ji Wei shook his head. “It’s no trouble.”

There weren’t many people in the shop right now anyway.

He dipped the writing brush in ink and wrote in Zanhua Small Regular Script, which was elegant and neat.

The moment he wrote the first character, Tang Wan was stunned for a moment, then her gaze filled with admiration. She had learned calligraphy with her father and had also studied Zanhua Small Regular Script. This style could easily become obsequious if one wasn’t careful, but the young man before her wrote with an inner strength, his characters beautiful but not frivolous.

The value of this piece of calligraphy was probably worth more than the things she had bought.

[Zanhua Small Regular Script! Sob sob sob, our Weiwei is so talented!]

[Old Man Ke, come out and see! Isn’t Cub Wei more talented than you?]

[Everyone is praising Ji Wei, but I’m just obsessed with Weiwei’s looks. How can he look so good even in a bright red shop uniform? It makes his skin look fair and rosy.]

[Hahahaha, now that you mention it, I’m reminded of Ke Zhenyu’s wrinkled old face. Conspiracy theory: is he jealous that the other guests are all younger and better-looking than him?]

After Ji Wei finished writing, he let it air dry slightly before handing it to the customer.

“Your small regular script is very good,” Tang Wan praised sincerely.

Her friend just thought it looked nice but couldn’t tell much else. After Ji Wei finished her inscription, she happily pulled Tang Wan away.

“You’re just too picky. This shop isn’t as bad as you said,” she said, holding her newly bought items.

“It’s not bad,” Tang Wan said, glancing back at the shop.

***

Zhao Yue and Xiao Chi handed out flyers until noon. They had originally planned to continue until the afternoon, but the sun was too strong, so they had to turn back.

The customer traffic in the shop was also steadily increasing.

One hundred, seven hundred, one thousand three hundred…

Although it was still far from the goal of three thousand, it was double the previous dismal customer flow.

Zhao Yue wiped the sweat from his forehead, walked up to Ke Zhenyu, and coughed. “Senior Ke, how about it? The effect is pretty good, right?”

Ke Zhenyu was cutting meat on the chopping board and didn’t even look up. “Effect? What effect? Did you complete the mission?”

Zhao Yue was speechless.

“You people just haven’t lived through hard times. Doesn’t renovation cost money? Don’t printing flyers cost money? You guys are great, spending tens of thousands just like that. I think it would be better to buy a few more big speakers and place them at the street corners.” At this point, he suddenly looked up. “You can’t mess around with the second floor. Whoever touches it, I’ll get angry with them…”

Zhao Yue looked at the ever-increasing number on his phone and decided he couldn’t be bothered to argue with Ke Zhenyu. He left happily.

[??? Old Man Ke, tell us, who are you going to get angry with? We approved the renovation, okay?]

[Hahahahaha, well done, Zhao Yue.]

[I miss Film Emperor Lu. If only he were here.]

[That’s true. If Old Man Ke dared to call himself a senior, he’d just throw his trophies in his face.]

When Ji Wei entered the kitchen, Zhao Yue was just leaving.

He greeted Zhao Yue and walked over to Ke Zhenyu’s side.

He had brought a hot pot base, but seeing that there was already one in the kitchen, he didn’t take his out. However, judging from the expressions of the customers after they finished eating, the taste was probably average. So he took the initiative to ask, “Should we try a different base?”

He didn’t know which of his words had offended Ke Zhenyu, but his tone became particularly impatient. “Change, change, change! Just replace me too.”

“Let’s see where you’ll get a hot pot base from.” After speaking, he packed the hot pot base from the kitchen into a plastic bag, stormed out of the kitchen, stomped up the stairs, and then slammed the door shut with a loud bang that everyone heard.

Ji Wei didn’t quite understand where Ke Zhenyu’s anger came from until Bai Ye whispered to him, “The hot pot base we’re using now was made by Senior Ke.”

Ji Wei understood. No wonder he got so angry when he suggested changing the base.

“It’s nothing serious,” Bai Ye said quietly. “Senior Ke gets angry every episode. Just coax him a little and he’ll be fine.”

[I’m shocked. Is this Ke Zhenyu a princess? He needs people to coax him?]

[New term: old man disease.]

[We can’t indulge this behavior.]

“I’ll go,” Bai Ye comforted Ji Wei. “Senior Ke will still listen to me a little.”

Although he himself felt helpless, there was nothing he could do. After all, Ke Zhenyu was a senior.

Even Zhao Yue didn’t dare to confront Ke Zhenyu directly, at most making a few sarcastic remarks. If he poked Ke Zhenyu’s glass heart, he would always be the one to coax him.

Ji Wei looked at the dense crowd in the shop and held Bai Ye back. “No need.”

“Work is the most important thing.”

“We can’t spare the manpower.”

[Hahahahahaha, I’m so satisfied! Just let that old man stew in his own anger.]

[I didn’t expect Weiwei, the youngest, to be the toughest one.]

[Who can refute this reason? We really can’t spare the manpower.]

[The thought of Ke Zhenyu sulking makes me happy.]

“Then what about the hot pot base?” Bai Ye asked with concern.

“I have some,” Ji Wei said calmly.