Chapter 54 - 54 I Love Him, So I Can't Owe Him
54 I Love Him, So I Can’t Owe Him
The first day of business ended in chaos.
“Four Seasons Spring Tea, 32 cups.”
“Taro Boba Milk Green, 25 cups.”
“Hundred Fragrances Trio, 11 cups.”
Ai Tingya leaned on the table and checked the receipts one by one. The more she read, the deeper her frown became. Luo Feng sat beside her and looked at her with his face propped up.
“I’ve calculated it.” Ai Tingya sighed.
“How many did we earn?” The others surrounded her, thinking that it should be a large sum since there were so many people today!
“1,263 yuan,” Ai Tingya said with a pout.
That figure was far from what she had expected. Adding rent, utilities, raw materials and labor costs together, they would not break even without 2,000 yuan of revenue a day.
“That’s all…” Ai Tingya said discouraged.
They had been busy for more than a month. They ran to a few construction materials markets before deciding on a board. They drank milk tea for a week to develop new products. Dean Du and everyone in the orphanage worked hard, but they only obtained a barely satisfactory result.
Xiao Fei could not bear to see Ai Tingya cry. In her heart, Ai Tingya was the strongest person. When she cried, she would feel like crying too. Xiao Fei’s eyes turned red and tears welled up staring at Ai Tingya’s aggrieved back.
She was about to go forward and comfort Ai Tingya when Dean Du stopped her.
“We won’t be able to comfort her.” said the Dean as if she had seen through it.
“How could that be? In the past, I was the one who comforted Little Ya when she was sad!” Xiao Fei vowed.
Before she could take a step forward, she saw Luo Feng hug Ai Tingya and stroke her hair as if he was coaxing a child.
“It’s alright. This is only the first day. Our reputation hasn’t spread yet, and there’s still a discount today. The losses in the early stages are to earn more later. Don’t cry, okay? My heart will ache.”
His words seemed to have magic. Ai Tingya’s tears made a U-Turn before they fell.
Xiao Fei was speechless as she watched from the side. These two people could really show off their love at any time. Why would they buy white sugar in the shop? It was sweet enough to put them in the shop.
“Director, your judgment is indeed accurate!” Little Fei said with gratitude.
…
At night, at the orphanage.
After washing up, Xiao Fei returned to her room and realized that Ai Tingya was still lying at the table. Her posture had not changed since she had eaten. It was just a day’s worth of accounts. Did she have to settle it for so long?
“Xiao Ya, it’s time to sleep. You still have school tomorrow,” Xiao Fei reminded.
Ever since the tuition, Ai Tingya would wake up at 6:30 a.m. every day. The dark circles under her eyes had clearly worsened. Xiao Fei hoped that she would use all the time she could to rest and sleep.
“Go to sleep first. I’ll calculate for a while more.” Ai Tingya’s voice was hoarse. She held her forehead with one hand and kept writing in her notebook with the other.
Xiao Fei said with heartache, “Xiao Ya, it’s still only so much no matter how you calculate today’s turnover. Why don’t you rest early and we’ll continue working hard tomorrow?”
Ai Tingya shook her head and said, “I’m not calculating the turnover. I’m calculating how long it will take to repay what I owe Luo Feng…”
Xiao Fei walked to Ai Tingya’s side and saw that the notebook was filled with every expense of the milk tea shop, ranging from rent to screws. Ai Tingya listed them out one by one to remind herself.
“Xiao Ya, you don’t have to do this at all. Luo Feng was the one who wanted to invest in the milk tea shop. You don’t owe him anything. Don’t give yourself too much pressure,” Xiao Fei advised.
“No, I don’t think that’s how it is. Luo Feng wouldn’t have gotten involved in the orphanage if it weren’t for me. The more he sacrificed for me, the more I feel that I’m not worthy of him. I hope that I’m equal to him. Only then will I have the courage to stand beside him,” Ai Tingya said.
Towards the end, even someone as stubborn as her was filled with tears.
“Xiao Ya, the most important thing for you now is the college entrance examination. It won’t be too late to settle it slowly after it ends.” Xiao Fei did not understand why Ai Tingya was in a hurry to report to Luo Feng.
“Tomorrow and tomorrow. There are so many tomorrow. The milk tea shop is open for business. We can’t delay these things.”
Ai Tingya wanted to make the milk tea shop profitable as soon as possible so that Luo Feng could recover his capital faster.
Xiao Fei was touched by Ai Tingya’s persistence. She held Ai Tingya’s hands and said, “Xiao Ya, you’re so awesome! In that case, I’ll help you tidy up! Let’s come up with a plan to sell milk tea. We’ll sell a lot of milk tea!”
“Okay!” Ai Tingya wiped her tears and continued working hard.
She felt that she was really lucky to have a good lover like Luo Feng and Xiao Fei accompany her.
…
Ai Tingya decided to start with the school first. New things attracted young people the most. It was also for the sake of the school’s traffic when they chose the location of the shop previously.
Ai Tingya began to have a goal to attract customers due to the fact that they could not advertise in the school openly— That was, to choose students!
As long as one student was mesmerized by the milk tea, he would definitely help promote it for free in class.
Hence, Ai Tingya especially reminded the person who distributed the flyers to seize the time when the students were eating and try his best to send the flyers to the students.
Ai Tingya insisted on bringing Teacher Yu a cup of milk tea every day also. While she said that she was grateful for Teacher Yu’s help, she actually hoped that she could help promote it. The students subconsciously felt that what the teacher had said was good after all.
Just like that, under Ai Tingya’s arrangements, the number of children in school uniforms in the milk tea shop increased.
Students drinking milk tea could be seen everywhere on the campus. The news of Luo Feng and Ai Tingya opening a milk tea shop gradually spread throughout Class One.
Xing Miaomiao lay on the table and whined as if she had been beaten.
Her best friend was very curious when she saw her half-dead appearance. “Miaomiao, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
Xing Miaomiao raised her head and said weakly, “I feel that I might never have any more joy in my life!”
“You were dumped?” Her best friend said in surprise.
“…No.”
“Then it’s Luo Feng again? Did you fail in your revenge?” Her best friend still remembered that Xing Miaomiao had said that she wanted to teach Luo Feng a lesson. She had never seen her move and thought that she had long forgotten about it.
Xing Miaomiao did not want to talk to her about this. She had wanted to frame Luo Feng during the last exam, but he had long finished his paper and did not give her a chance.
Later on, Luo Feng lectured during evening self-study class. After listening to it, her results had indeed improved slightly. If she took revenge again, it would be a little like repaying kindness with ingratitude, so she simply threw it to the back of her mind.
“No, it’s just that I recently discovered a very good milk tea. That taste. I can’t drink other drinks after drinking it once.”
“The one outside the school gate? Did you finish spending your allowance? Let me treat you to a drink. Pull yourself together,” Her best friend comforted.
“I can’t pull myself together! I saw the waiter at Good Me Milk Tea Shop calling Ai Tingya’s lady boss. Then Luo Feng must be the boss! How can I enter again!” Xing Miaomiao said frantically.