Chapter 493 - 492: What-If: Did the Big Shot Vie for Favor Today? 61

Chapter 493: Chapter 492: What-If: Did the Big Shot Vie for Favor Today? 61

As Assistant Chen got into the car, He Hanshi glanced at the bag in his hand and asked, "What did you get?"

Assistant Chen said, "Rose cakes."

"Did she give them to you?"

He Hanshi asked with an unreadable expression. Assistant Chen immediately shook his head. "No, no. I was a little hungry, so I bought a serving to-go."

"Mm, let’s go."

Upon hearing this, He Hanshi didn’t ask any more questions.

After He Hanshi left, the customer traffic in the shop slowly returned to normal, but it was still more than she had expected.

Shi Lan hadn’t anticipated so much traffic on the first day. Unexpectedly, the video she posted was suddenly promoted by the algorithm, and a lot of people noticed her new shop all at once.

Shi Lan was so busy she didn’t even have time to eat dinner. Chen Xinyi specially brought a takeout order for her and the two shop employees.

Shi Lan looked at her gratefully. "Thank goodness for you."

"How’s it going? Business seems pretty good today, huh? And thanks to you, business at my cat cafe was great today too."

Some customers, after finishing their tea, saw the cute cats in the cat cafe and popped in to take a look.

As Chen Xinyi spoke, she helped her unpack the food and set it on an empty table to the side.

Shi Lan brought over some tea for them, then sat down and started to eat.

It was dinnertime, so most people had gone for a proper meal. With fewer customers, she finally had a moment of leisure.

Shi Lan was starving and dug in eagerly. While eating, she replied, "It’s been okay. For the first week, there’s a grand opening half-price discount. Plus, the prices on my menu aren’t high, so the profit on the first day was small, but it was much better and busier than I expected."

Chen Xinyi propped her chin on her hand and watched her. "I saw that the promotional video you posted went viral. It seems like this afternoon, someone posted a picture of a chance encounter with a super handsome guy in your comments, and a lot of people came here because of it."

"A super handsome guy?"

"Yeah. Tsk, Lanlan, when did you meet such a handsome guy? Not going to introduce me?"

Chen Xinyi teased her, then pulled up the picture from the comment section. It was a photo of He Hanshi saying goodbye to her, capturing her face from the front and his profile.

Shi Lan hadn’t expected it was actually He Hanshi who’d been photographed, and that she was in the shot too. She gave a helpless smile. "We don’t really know each other. We’ve only met twice."

"Ooh~"

Chen Xinyi’s lips curled into a meaningful smile as she scrolled through the comments with interest. "There’s a whole bunch of people down here praising you two, saying the man is handsome and the woman is beautiful."

"’They look like a couple.’"

Then, her tone suddenly shifted. "Is this for real? Someone actually said this handsome guy is the current head of the wealthy He Family?"

"Why would the head of a wealthy family come here?"

The residential complex where Shi Lan lived was mid-to-high-end, but it wasn’t in a bustling area. Besides, she had bought it as a retirement home, and considering the need for soundproofing, it was far from any commercial centers.

Of course, it wasn’t exactly remote; at least it had all the necessary amenities nearby.

Still, it was hard to connect this place with the powerful He Family. What’s more, in Chen Xinyi’s mind, her friend was a homebody who rarely went out, mostly just coming to the cat cafe to hang out. Where would she have met someone like that?

Shi Lan hadn’t told her about the whole turning-into-a-cat thing. It was mainly because it was complicated and she didn’t know how to explain it. Plus, in her plans, after turning back into a human, she wasn’t supposed to have any more contact with those people. Who knew He Hanshi’s cousin would end up living right upstairs from her?

But she didn’t hide He Hanshi’s identity from her. She lowered her voice and said, "Yes, that’s him. His cousin lives upstairs from me, so it came up in conversation."

Chen Xinyi’s jaw dropped in a daze, her face full of disbelief. Then, she excitedly covered her face. "Oh my god, girl, go for it! Win him over! Then you can become a rich lady and keep me!!"

The two had often joked about one of them becoming a rich lady and supporting the other. They had even calculated how much money it would take for one to comfortably keep the other.

At the very least, their current savings weren’t nearly enough.

Shi Lan shyly covered her friend’s mouth. "You... don’t get carried away. It’s not that easy to marry into a rich family. Besides, he just came to my shop for a cup of tea. There’s not much between us."

"Mmph, mmph."

Chen Xinyi blinked obediently, signaling her to let go. When Shi Lan moved her hand, she nodded dejectedly. "Fine, you’re right."

But in her heart, Chen Xinyi still felt like Shi Lan had a chance. After all, in that photo, even without seeing his full face, you could still tell that the man’s gaze on Lanlan was very gentle.

The aura they had together had a natural harmony.

But Chen Xinyi knew her friend was slow when it came to romance and wasn’t willing to enter a relationship right now, so she didn’t say anything more to pressure her.

Shi Lan went back to eating, not forgetting to add, "Don’t worry. I’m a boss now. Once I make the shop bigger and stronger, keeping you will be no problem at all."

"Hahaha, I’ll be looking forward to it then~"

Chen Xinyi was really just joking. Her life was pretty good whether she was "kept" or not. But she was very happy. After being friends with Shi Lan for several years, she was finally seeing her open up a lot more.

It was probably because she had finally gotten rid of those awful parents.

"How’s Ping’an?"

After chatting for so long, Shi Lan finally remembered her cat. ’I really got carried away with work.’ But she trusted that with her best friend around, nothing would happen to Ping’an.

"Mm, she’s doing great. I fed her some cat food and a cat treat tonight. She was playing happily with Fufu when I came over."

"That’s good."

Shi Lan felt relieved. After finishing her meal, she went to the cat cafe to check on her for a bit, left her there, and then returned to her shop to get busy again.

Shi Lan and the employees took turns eating. She took over their duties so they could have their meals, ensuring that customer needs wouldn’t be neglected.

She had originally thought hiring two employees would be enough, but the shop was much busier than she’d imagined. At the peak today, only two or three tables were empty. Keep in mind, this wasn’t a restaurant for proper meals, but more of a casual afternoon tea spot, and it wasn’t even downtown. This level of customer traffic was already astounding.

After some thought, Shi Lan decided to hire three more employees. That way, she wouldn’t have to be so busy herself.

The next day, Shi Lan finished hiring the new employees in the morning. She couldn’t help but feel thankful for her timely arrangements, because by the afternoon, it was so busy that people had to line up.

She didn’t know why that video had such a huge impact—or rather, why He Hanshi’s face had such a huge impact. In any case, between two and five in the afternoon, Shi Lan was still so busy she was running off her feet.

He Hanshi had Assistant Chen drive past her shop. He had originally wanted to go in and see her, but when he saw how many customers there were today, he didn’t get out of the car to disturb her.

He just rolled down the window from a distance, watching her through the clear glass as she weaved through the crowd like a busy little bee.

His lips curved slightly as he murmured helplessly, "Honestly. Isn’t she the boss? To think she works this hard too."

Sitting in the driver’s seat, Assistant Chen pretended not to have heard anything. He was just thinking that the rose and red bean cakes from yesterday were indeed quite good. ’No wonder Mr. He didn’t save a single piece for me.’