Chapter 126

Just as the afternoon business ended, Ying'er came to the shop, bringing seven porcelain cups.

"Mr. Xia, according to your requirements, the kiln has produced some sample cups. I've brought them here - are they satisfactory?"

"Good, thank you for your trouble, Miss Ying'er. Zhu Zi, Shenhe, Yaoyao, please check if the cups need any improvements."

"Yes, Boss!"

The three girls picked up the cups and began examining them carefully.

The cups were slender in shape, just right for Zhu Zi and Shenhe to hold with one hand, while children like Yaoyao could easily grip them with both hands.

The walls were thin, made with deliberately light materials. Though the cups looked large, they weren't heavy at all.

The exterior was smooth, with "Summer Shop" printed on one side and different elemental patterns on the other.

Anemo, Geo, Electro, Dendro, Hydro, Pyro, Cryo.

The text was clear and the patterns beautiful.

"Boss, I think they're great!"

"I think they're fine too."

"Yaoyao thinks they're pretty!"

All three employees gave positive reviews.

Xia Zhi "looked" them over and found the quality acceptable, nodding.

"Miss Ying'er, let's proceed with these samples then."

"I understand! Please rest assured, Mr. Xia. I'll go back right away and urge the kiln to supply your order as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Miss Ying'er, but there's no need to rush. This is your first visit to our shop, why not try our special juice while you're here?"

"That would be nice. I've actually wanted to try the rainbow juice for a long time, but never had the chance. By the time I get off work, you're already closed. I heard you're usually very busy, so I deliberately waited until this time to come, to avoid interfering with your business."

Xia Zhi made a rainbow juice and had Zhu Zi bring out a plate of almond tofu to serve Ying'er.

The double delicacy was truly irresistible.

Ying'er couldn't help but squint her eyes in satisfaction: "This juice is so delicious~ And this almond tofu is so soft and smooth~ Which shop did you buy it from?"

Zhu Zi smiled: "It's not bought from outside, our Boss made it!"

Ying'er was surprised: "I didn't expect Mr. Xia to have such culinary skills. You've been keeping your talents hidden."

Xia Zhi was modest: "Just something simple, I'm glad everyone likes it."

Ying'er bit her spoon: "When I came in, I saw the notice posted at your door saying you only work five days a week?"

Zhu Zi nodded: "Yes, we're off tomorrow!"

Ying'er looked a bit envious: "That's nice... unlike us at Chunxiang Kiln, we work every day."

Yaoyao asked curiously: "Sister Ying'er, since you work every day, your salary must be very high?"

Ying'er smiled and said: "It's okay, we get a base salary of 5,000 mora, plus commission based on performance. My performance is usually good, so I generally make 8,000 to 9,000 mora."

This salary level was well above average for the small shops around Chihu Rock.

Shenhe glanced at her and said coolly: "Our monthly salary is 10,000 mora."

Ying'er froze.

Zhu Zi added: "We don't have performance requirements, plus meals and accommodation are provided."

The smile on Ying'er's face disappeared.

Yaoyao chimed in: "And we can drink juice whenever we want!"

Ying'er silently glanced at the poster on the wall, which read: Rainbow Juice 100 mora per cup.

Meaning three cups of juice a day would almost equal her monthly salary...

Sigh... This should have been doubly happy - her first big order and tasting such delicious juice and dessert. But... why couldn't she feel happy?

At that moment, a voice suddenly came from the door.

"Excuse me! Could I ask if you found a jade pendant yesterday?"

Everyone turned toward the voice to see a uniformed girl standing at the door.

She was slightly out of breath, as if she'd just been running.

Yaoyao immediately called out: "Sister Baishi!"

Zhu Zi also recognized her: "You're one of the three customers from yesterday afternoon... you mentioned a jade pendant?"

Baishi walked in: "Yes, after I got home yesterday I discovered the jade pendant I was wearing was gone. I must have lost it accidentally. After work today, I've been retracing my steps from yesterday but haven't found any trace of it. Did you happen to see it when cleaning up yesterday?"

Her tone was hurried, her expression anxious, suggesting the jade pendant was very important to her.

Zhu Zi thought carefully and shook her head: "I don't think we saw anything..."

Hearing this, disappointment showed in Baishi's eyes: "No..."

Xia Zhi spoke up: "What did your lost jade pendant look like?"

Baishi quickly replied: "It's round, with wave patterns carved on it. The jade quality isn't very good, it's not worth much money, but because it was given to me by someone, it's very important to me."

She deliberately mentioned "jade quality isn't very good" and "not worth much money" to subtly hint that even if someone found it and kept it, it wouldn't be of much use.

She also deliberately said "it's very important to me" to indicate that if someone returned it, she would definitely reward them well.

As expected of a VIP's secretary, her way with words was quite skillful.

Xia Zhi laughed inwardly. Yesterday he might have believed the jade was nothing special, just an ordinary piece worth little money. But today, having learned the [Rex Lapis] skill from Zhongli and mastering Geo expertise, he could understand all rock properties at a glance. He could see this jade actually had hidden potential - with proper crafting, it could be worth quite a bit.

However, even so, he wasn't interested in such small profits.

Xia Zhi nodded and said: "I did find such a jade pendant in the shop yesterday, but I'm not sure if it's the one you lost. Please wait a moment while I get it from inside."

Hope flickered in Baishi's eyes: "Really?"

Xia Zhi went to the back room and returned moments later with a white jade pendant.

Baishi exclaimed joyfully: "That's it!"

"That's good then."

"Thank you so much!"

"No need for that. When customers lose things in our shop, we should naturally return them."

"I still must thank you!"

"If you really want to thank us, please continue to patronize our little shop in the future."

"Of course!"

Baishi carefully put away the jade pendant, her expression relaxing.

Yaoyao looked up and asked: "Sister Baishi, are you heading back now?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll go back with you."

"Alright."

"This way Sister Shenhe won't need to take me!"

The little girl was quite thoughtful.

"Yaoyao wait a moment, help me take some things back."

"Big Brother, what should I take?"

Xia Zhi brought out two food boxes from the kitchen.

"Almond tofu - this one with milk is for your Master, and this one with coconut milk is for your Sister Ganyu. Yaoyao, don't mix them up, okay?"

"Yaoyao won't mix them up!"

"Mm, be careful on your way."

"Goodbye, Big Brother!"

"Goodbye, Yaoyao!"

The little girl left with Secretary Baishi.

Ying'er sat for a while longer, then also got up to leave.

Though she was smiling, Xia Zhi felt she didn't seem very happy, barely saying anything as she left.

Probably because she still had to work tomorrow, Saturday.

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