Chapter Thirty-Four: The First Waiter

Seaside Cottage.

Shen Ye rushed into the bathroom to calm himself down.

He turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on his face.

What should he do?

Could he really just let Wen Xiuting leave like that? He couldn't do it.

It was simply too unsafe.

But to kill Wen Xiuting? He had just used the Eye of Justice to scan her, and the result was this: "Wen Xiuting, usually enjoys doing good deeds, has helped quite a few people, justice value: one."

He would not kill anyone with a crime value below five, let alone someone with a justice value of one.

The faucet water continued to gush out noisily.

Suddenly, he had an idea.

Keep Wen Xiuting here at his seaside cottage as a waitress, so he could watch over her closely. That way, he'd have more peace of mind. It might not be foolproof, but at least he'd be able to keep an eye on her.

With his mind made up, Shen Ye turned off the tap and walked into the main dining room, sitting down across from Wen Xiuting. “Sister-in-law, you’re working as a waitress at Dream Garden Hotel, aren’t you? What’s your salary there?”

Wen Xiuting was a little taken aback. “Eighteen hundred. Why?”

“Come and work for me. I happen to need a waitress here too. I’ll pay you four thousand a month,” Shen Ye said seriously.

Wen Xiuting was stunned as well. After a long pause, she fixed her gaze on Shen Ye. “You’re worried I might report you?”

Shen Ye neither confirmed nor denied it.

“I, Wen Xiuting, am not the kind of person who would betray trust,” she replied, her voice trembling with indignation. Her ample chest heaved with anger, but in the end, she only nodded. “Fine, I’ll work here. But you don’t have to pay me four thousand—just give me the same eighteen hundred as before.”

“My shop is doing well, and I’m not short of money. Besides, Sister-in-law, Xiao Nan is still in preschool, and you could use a little extra,” Shen Ye said quietly.

If it had been about anything else, Wen Xiuting might have insisted. But at the mention of her son, Shen Nan, she felt a wave of weakness. Preschool fees had just gone up to eleven hundred, and she was indeed struggling. At last, she could only nod silently. “Alright. I owe you for this.”

“Then allow me to congratulate my seaside cottage for having its first waitress,” Shen Ye smiled. “Sister-in-law, why don’t you quit your old job today, take a break, and spend some time with Xiao Nan? You can start work here tomorrow.”

Wen Xiuting nodded.

…

Wen Xiuting went to the Dream Garden Hotel to resign. The hotel wasn’t particularly high-end to begin with, and when she handed in her resignation, they used the excuse that she hadn’t worked a full month and withheld her salary for the month.

Wen Xiuting couldn’t be bothered to argue.

A few of her close friends at the hotel teased her, “Xiuting, you’re giving up a whole month’s pay and quitting your job—what’s your plan? Did some rich guy take a fancy to you?”

“Xiuting, with a figure like yours, you could make any millionaire lose his mind.”

Wen Xiuting blushed at their teasing and snapped, “You girls are hopeless. I’m leaving now, stay in touch.”

Then she hopped on her two-thousand-yuan electric scooter and rode straight to the Old Printing Factory Housing Complex.

Back in the day, Shen Baoping had been a worker at the printing factory. In the 1980s, nationalized factories were prestigious, and being a worker put you a cut above the rest. But soon came the era of business, followed by mass layoffs, and the factory went under. Yet the old housing complex still stood.

The complex was aging and rundown, with no property management or parking. Anyone who had any means at all had already moved into new homes elsewhere.

Wen Xiuting parked her little scooter, locked it up, and climbed the stairs to her apartment on the third floor. It was just a two-bedroom, two-living-room unit, about fifty square meters. In the eighties, it would have been a fine home, but now it was obviously too old and too cramped. Besides Wen Xiuting and her husband Shen Die, there were also her father-in-law Shen Baoping and mother-in-law Lin E, five people squeezed into just over fifty square meters, packed in like sardines.

When Wen Xiuting returned, her father-in-law was reading the newspaper, her mother-in-law was watching TV, and her husband was staring at stock quotes.

Shen Die owed money to Lu Youwei’s loan sharks, but Lu Youwei was dead and his organization had collapsed, so Shen Die, free of debt, swaggered back home.

He resembled Shen Ye by about fifty percent, but repeated business failures had dulled his edge, leaving him with a defeated air.

Their son Shen Nan was still at preschool, not due back until four-thirty.

Wen Xiuting went straight to the kitchen to start cooking.

“Honey, I quit my job at Dream Garden Hotel today,” she called out while preparing dinner.

“What? You quit the job at Dream Garden? What about Xiao Nan’s preschool fees?” Shen Die asked. In theory, a man should provide for his family, but he’d long since gotten used to Wen Xiuting shouldering the burden.

“I ran into your cousin Shen Ye today. He said he needs help at his seaside cottage, saw our family’s situation, and offered me a higher wage to work for him,” Wen Xiuting explained softly.

“Is that so? Shen Ye doesn’t have any waitstaff, so he really does need someone. His place is making good money. How much is he paying you?” Shen Die asked.

“Four thousand. That’s quite high,” Wen Xiuting replied.

“Four thousand, huh? Not bad, that Shen Ye’s a decent kid,” Shen Die said.

After lunch, Shen Baoping went out to play chess, and Lin E headed to her small corner shop.

Only Shen Die and Wen Xiuting were left in the apartment.

Suddenly, Shen Die said, “Honey, isn’t it strange? This is Shen Ye’s first time opening a restaurant, and he’s making a killing. I heard from my uncle that he’s already making a net profit of fifty to sixty thousand a month—and that’s just the beginning. He could make even more later on. But me? I opened ten places after graduating, and every single one lost money.”

“They say Shen Ye’s cooking is especially delicious,” Wen Xiuting replied, trying to explain.

“No, that can’t be it. He and I are cousins—I’ve eaten his food before, and his cooking was just average. There must be some secret. If you could secretly learn his technique, we could open our own restaurant and make a fortune. First thing, we’d buy a big house, one with floor-to-ceiling windows and a walk-in closet just for you.”

“And a BMW MINI for you to drive.”

“Then you’d be a rich lady,” Shen Die said, painting a picture of a bright future.

But Wen Xiuting’s face had already turned cold. “I’m going to work at Shen Ye’s place as a waitress, and normally that would pay about two thousand. But Shen Ye knows about our difficulties and the high preschool fees, so he offered four thousand. When I got there, I saw his place wasn’t even busy—he didn’t really need a waitress. I already owe him a favor; if I stole his secret recipe on top of that, what kind of person would I be?”

“Shen Die, I used to think you were alright, even if you kept failing at business. But now you’re plotting to take advantage of your own cousin—when did you become so devoid of integrity?”

Shen Die had planned to butter up Wen Xiuting by washing her feet tonight, hoping she’d agree. But now, before he’d even finished speaking, she’d scolded him roundly.

His pride flared up. “Fine, you start working for Shen Ye and suddenly you’re on his side. Why am I doing all this? For our family, obviously!”

“Yes, you’re doing it for the family. But you’ve been failing at business for five years now; clearly you’re not cut out for it. Why not get a regular job and do honest work, instead of trying to play dirty and scheme against your cousin?” Wen Xiuting said, her beautiful face still stern.

“Bah! Who are you to lecture me? Always sticking up for Shen Ye. For all I know, you and Shen Ye have already gotten up to something behind my back!” Shen Die lashed out, his words cruel and reckless.

“You!” Tears welled up in Wen Xiuting’s lovely eyes, her chest heaving with anger.

Smack! She slapped Shen Die hard across the face.

“Shen Die, get out!”