CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE (61) Fortune Cookies

The SUV made a stop in front of the warehouse, and Anshu rushed out to welcome them. Dressed in a warmer way since she was inside the cold room and it was freezing.

"Boss,"

She was surprised when she heard of Rose's arrival. And so she tried to present herself well. It was weekend but she was working because she wanted to prove her self worthy.

Especially for the fact that it was almost Christmas and would need enough for the holidays as well as the fact they won't be working for some days.

She had limited time and knows how much dedicated her Boss is also for the fact she hates lazy workers.

"How is it going?" Rose took large strides into the cold room while Zedong followed suit.

"The other three flavors are done except kiwi as it is hard to find, so we will use the other flavors to complete it..." Anshu answered while looking downwards and following the two.

Rose didn't speak until she was inside the cold room. Cold enveloped her instantly.

Zedong had brought an extra coat and draped it over her shoulders.

Rose's eyes moved from the blending machine to the fruit washer and finally settled on the peeler machine.

"How many in total?" She inquired.

"A million," Anshu answered with uncertainty.

"That's a bold move," Rose simple statement caused Anshu to fret.

Was it too much? Did she go over? Will Rose be angry? What if she stops them from producing?

So many thoughts ran through Anshu's head meanwhile, Rose bent over, picked a fruit and inspected it closely.

"Are these fertilized?"

Anshu panicked at the question. "No... no ma'am." She stuttered as the question took her by surprise.

Rose was still bent over, sniffing the dragon fruit in her hand.

"I personally went over with my team to our farm in Zhejiang province to pluck the fruits." Anshu explained. "We don't have cocoa so we bought from another farm house. And after this production, we'd use the seeds to start growing our own cocoa farm." Stammering while speaking to Rose was the best way to get on her bad side, so Anshu made a mental note of that when she spoke.

Her eyes moved to meet Zedong's, he gave her a reassuring smile and she almost sighed.

Rose straightened up, took a bite from the washed dragon fruit that was already cut open, waiting to be thrown into the blending machine.

As she took the second bite, it reminded her of Xu Dandan that would eat everything, while preaching they had to taste whatever was being served to the public.

She chuckled inwardly.

They stayed a while more until it was late in the afternoon, when Rose decided to leave.

"Well done," Rose simple sentence caused a ripple of happiness inside Anshu's heart.

She got into the passenger's seat as Zedong held the door open for her.

Boss Rose just said well done to her, that means she was doing great.

She was doing just fine if her boss said well done. As she was known for her criticism, Anshu wanted to jump up and jubilate.

Her earlier worries immediately vanished into thin air.

"Thank you!" Baozhai said out aloud and bowed to the SUV that was driving out of the warehouse gate.

She went back inside, deciding to join the fruit washing machine to do its task.

This is what success feels like, joining hands to make everything perfect.

Seeing something you personally joined to produce, going around the market, people buying it and enjoying it...

*~~~*

Rose took out her iPad and started to search for resorts in their country.

After searching she found a resort that matched her taste.

Sheraton Huzhou Hot Spring Resort, which consists of pool, spa, restaurant, bar and fitness room.

A four star rated hotel in Zhejiang, Huzhou, Wuxing District.

The upscale hotel, overlooking lake Taihu, lies a twelve minute walk from a bus top, a fourteen minute walk from Huzhou Taihu Tourism Holiday resort and twelve kilometers from the Museum Art China Hubi.

After much consideration, Rose decided that's where they would go for holidays right after Christmas.

With her eyes still locked onto her iPad she dialed Grace's number, the call connected at the second ring.

"Hey, what's up?" Grace asked from the other end.

"Great, I found a resort you and I might like."

"Really?" There was excitement in Grace's voice. "Where is it?"

"Wuxing district," Rose informed her. "Twelve hours journey if we take a car, since it's 1,216 kilometers away..."

"Why will we take a car?" Grace interrupted to ask. "Are you strong enough to drive that long? Let's not take a car, I'll buy the ticket tonight. So book the rooms, and we can leave on the night of Christmas..." Grace paused to type on her phone. "We will get to Hangzhou Airport in 2 hours time and take a bus from the airport and stop at the Eastern part to take the train which will stop us directly at the cab station and in twenty minutes, we will arrive at Wuxing district. Maybe then we can rent a car, and drive around the city."

"Fine, not on Christmas night though. Twenty-sixth is perfect."

"26th it is then."

The two friends discussed a while more before they hung up.

"I'll look into the environment," Zedong That had been quiet the whole time, Rose discussed with Grace said.

"Sure you can,"

"Do you want me to have anyone follow you around, just in case?"

"No," Rose rejected. "I'm with Grace and will be careful, so you don't have to worry."

"In that case, I'll submit the castle pictures to the site on Monday and pay close attention to the work in your absence."

"Thank you," Rose sighed and closed her eyes as the SUV made its way into the Chen grand mansion.

*

"Woah!" Rose was hit with the scent of pastry, when she entered through the open doors of their home. "Smells like Christmas already," she made a turn, entering directly into the kitchen where she found her mother in apron.

"Mom,"

Mrs Chen had a big smile on her face when she heard the familiar voice. "Lan'er,"

Rose wrapped her hands around the woman in a tight hug. "I missed you," she whined and heard the woman's giggles.

"I missed you too my child." Mrs Chen said, then picked up a piece of fortune cookie and gave it to her daughter to take a bite.

"Mmhm," Rose moaned at the sweetness of the cookie. "I want more," she pouted.

Mrs Chen laughed. "I know you do," she shared the cookies into two equal amounts and passed the plate to Rose.

Rose took a sit in the kitchen without hesitation, a maid came forward a help a washing hand bowl for her.