Chapter 160 - 160: New Shop?
Lin Xiaowan hugged Huo Zheng and showed him the bank notification on her phone. She said, “It’s the dividends from the dessert shop. We earned more than 700,000 yuan last quarter. Wow! It really increased by many times!”
The first time Lin Xiaowan received the dividends it was only a few tens of thousands yuan. In just a few months, it had increased tenfold.
Huo Zheng smiled sincerely and said, “That’s amazing, Qingqing. You’re really good at making money.”
Lin Xiaowan did not take the credit. It was not because she was humble; it was because she was very aware of her abilities. She said, “It’s not like that. This is all thanks to Sister Zhu. She’s really awesome. By the way, she said that she wants to treat me to a meal.”
At this time, Lin Xiaowan finally remembered the bouquet of roses she had placed on the table. She quickly gave it to Huo Zheng as she said, “This is for you! There’s also this painting. You can display it in your office!”
Previously, Huo Zheng had mentioned that he wanted her to paint something for him so he could display it on his desk. He only mentioned it once, and seeing that there was no movement from Lin Xiaowan after that, he assumed she had forgotten about it. He did not expect her to quietly bring it to him.
She painted a cartoon character, and it seemed out of place in Huo Zheng’s office. Moreover, he placed it in such a conspicuous place on his desk. When others approached his desk, they would be able to see it at a glance.
Huo Zheng held the roses in one hand and Lin Xiaowan’s hand in the other as he said, “We’ll follow your arrangements today?”
“Let’s go!” Lin Xiaowan said happily.
The next two days were cloudy and rainy just as the weather forecast had predicted. However, when Lin Xiaowan woke up from her afternoon nap today, she found that the sky had cleared up. When she looked out the window, she saw a few people in the front yard, looking after the flowers and plants that had been transplanted.
Huo Zheng did not care much about the flowers and plants. He only felt that the front yard was empty so he hired a landscaping team to deal with it. Lin Xiaowan also had no experience with taking care of flowers and plants. Seeing how expensive the flowers and plants were, she also got Huo Zheng to hire someone to take care of them.
At this moment, Little Chestnut was on the second floor. When Lin Xiaowan went down, she saw that the cameras were already turned on. It was live streaming, working hard to earn money for its own food.
Before moving in, the cameras had already been installed. There were several of them placed in different positions, and they would move up, down, left, and right, following Little Chestnut’s movements. All she needed to do was to choose which camera to turn on using her computer. It was very convenient.
After asking Aunt Wu which camera was turned on, Lin Xiaowan found a blind spot before she began to play with Little Chestnut, teasing it with a cat teaser wand. It played until it was dizzy.
Lin Xiaowan laughed. “You’re so silly.”
Recently, Little Chestnut had been shedding a lot so fur could be seen all over the place.
[Netizen #1: Ahhhh, you can’t play with Little Chestnut like that! Let me do it!]
Lin Xiaowan played with Little Chestnut for a while before she finally left. After that, she called Zhu Yingyue, asking if the latter was free to have dinner together.
Zhu Yingyue agreed immediately. “Of course, 1 have time. If you didn’t call me,
1 would’ve called you. I’m in the shop now. Should 1 pick you up?”
Lin Xiaowan thought about it for a moment before she asked, “Where are we eating?”
“Since I’m treating you, you can choose the place.”
“Then you don’t have to pick me up. Moreover, Xilin Imperial Garden isn’t that far from the dessert shop.”
“Alright. There’s no need to rush. We still have plenty of time until dinner.”
“Alright.”
It was quite cold outside after the rain. The temperature that had risen a few days ago had dropped again. Although the sun was out, the temperature was only slightly over io degrees.
Lin Xiaowan wore a thick sweater over a woolen dress and paired them with calfskin shoes to keep warm. Before leaving, she sent a message to Huo Zheng.
[Lin Xiaowan: I’m having dinner with Sister Yingyue tonight. You’re on your own for dinner tonight-]
Huo Zheng shook his head and smiled seeing how Lin Xiaowan spoke like a parent who was leaving her child behind. He reminded her to come back early and did not say anything else.
The driver was waiting for Lin Xiaowan on the front porch instead of the basement garage. As soon as she stepped outside, she was greeted by the cold spring breeze. She felt glad that she had dressed warmly.
Since the heater was on in the car, Lin Xiaowan removed her coat after a few minutes. When she arrived at the dessert shop, she almost forgot about her coat. Fortunately, the driver reminded her.
As soon as Lin Xiaowan walked into the dessert shop, she could smell the sweet fragrance of pastries. It was 5 PM now, and a batch of freshly baked desserts had just come out of the kitchen. There were many people queueing up at this moment.
One of the employees noticed Lin Xiaowan and waved at her.
“Boss, you’re here. Do you want anything to eat?”
Lin Xiaowan peered into the kitchen and asked, “What’s there to eat?”
“Sugar fritters,” the head patissier said as he handed a tray of pastries over.
The pastries were deep-fried until they were golden yellow. They were crispy on the outside and soft and sweet inside with a unique fragrance.
Lin Xiaowan carried a plate of pastries over to Zhu Yingyue.
Zhu Yingyue smiled when she saw Lin Xiaowan. “Greedy little cat. You only know how to eat when you’re here.”
“You don’t know how strict Huo Zheng is with my diet…” Lin Xiaowan said with a pout.
Zhu Yingyue smiled in response to her childish words before she said, “Since you’re here, let me tell you about my plans.”
“Okay. What are your plans?”
Zhu Yingyue heard that the shop next door would be empty soon. As such, she wanted to open a shop where people could sign up for baking classes. She planned to organize group activities from time to time as well.
Lin Xiaowan did not doubt Zhu Yingyue’s abilities. After listening to Zhu Yingyue’s plans, she nodded and asked, “Okay. How much do we need?”
Zhu Yingyue did not expect Lin Xiaowan to trust her so much. Warmth suffused her heart immediately, and she was even more determined not to let Lin Xiaowan down. She said, “I have enough money. However, there’s something I need to trouble you with.”
“What is it?” Lin Xiaowan asked as she munched on the pastry.
Zhu Yingyue needed Lin Xiaowan to look for qualified patissiers to help with the baking classes. After all, many of the customers were quite wealthy, and their expectations were a little high.
“I have to trouble you to help me look for a few experienced and capable patissiers for the baking classes. It’s best if they know how to make desserts from different countries..”