"That little bastard Lei Hu has already told me about your situation. Although I really dislike doing this kind of babysitting work, I am, after all, a retired member of the organization, and I can't just ignore the things that are assigned to me... So, you'd better pray for yourself from now on! Hmph, I'm an old man with a bad temper, you're going to have a hard time by my side from now on."
Chen Xiao frowned, his gaze somewhat puzzled. Edward sensed that he had something to say, so he waved his hand and said, "What do you want to say? Speak!"
"Lei Hu promised me that I'm just here to do a job, and it has nothing to do with your organization! It's a normal job! If you want me to join your organization, that won't do."
"Aha!" Old man Edward laughed instead, squinting at Chen Xiao: "You're putting on airs now? Don't worry, kid, humph, so many people cry and beg to get into our organization. That little bastard Lei Hu may think highly of you, but I, an old man, won't treat you like a treasure."
"That's good." Chen Xiao breathed a sigh of relief: "May I ask what my job is?"
"This is it." The old man waved his hand with an air of authority. "This is the coffee shop. You'll be in charge of managing it for me. I didn't want you to come so early, but I suddenly have something to do and need to leave for a while. That's why I had to call you here first."
As he spoke, he glanced at Chen Xiao, his eyes showing some unease: "I don't know if a kid your age can handle the work here."
Chen Xiao thought for a moment: "I've worked in restaurants and fast food outlets, and I've also worked in coffee shops. I can make coffee too." Then he looked at the huge, empty shop and couldn't help but smile: "Besides, I don't think the work here is too busy."
"Hmph, don't get too cocky. Do you think it's that simple?" Old Edward shook his head and sneered, then coughed. "That's the pay: three thousand a month, two free meals a day. When I'm not around, you'll be the cashier, waiter, and chef... all by yourself. To put it simply, you're a lone commander."
"Yes, if there aren't many customers, I can handle it by myself." Chen Xiao nodded: "I will try my best."
"Don't speak too soon. I don't usually have many customers here, but those who do come are all regulars—and those regulars are all troublesome. You have to be careful to serve them and don't anger them. Otherwise, most of them have bad tempers, and if you cause trouble, you'll suffer."
As he spoke, the old man stood up: "Lei Hu must have told you that this place is similar to a resettlement place for retired personnel. Many of my regular customers are elderly people from the service center. You could say they're not really normal humans... Hmph, you'll understand eventually."
*Snap.* The old man suddenly flicked his wrist, and a bunch of keys landed in front of Chen Xiao.
"The shop entrance, the warehouse doors at the back, the cash register doors, and there's a small safe in the back—all the keys are here. I'm too lazy to explain them to you one by one; you'll have to find them yourself after I leave."
The old man coughed twice and said slowly, "I shouldn't be gone for too long, but who knows... uh, anyway, there's money in the safe. If I'm not back by payday, you can take your salary from there."
Chen Xiao stared at the old man with a strange expression...
They even threw me the safe key? What kind of boss trusts their employees like that?
"There's one more thing I need to tell you. It doesn't matter whether you open the shop or not during the week. You don't need to open it when you're in class during the day. But I have one requirement: you must open for business every Thursday night! Even if there isn't a single customer, you must stay open until midnight! Not a minute less! Do you understand? As long as you do that, I won't care what you do on the other days of the week."
Chen Xiao couldn't help but be stunned.
Is this how you do business? You only need to work one night a week and you can get a salary of three thousand a month?
"Don't worry, you'll only be doing normal work, serving tea and water, collecting money and making coffee. I won't ask you to do any special tasks—besides, do you even have the ability to do anything else!" After saying that, the old man glanced at the clock on the wall, frowned, and said, "It's getting late, I have to go. Remember what I told you. When you're minding the shop, if you're bored, you can read any of the books I leave under the counter, but be careful not to lose them, they're all collector's editions."
After saying that, the old man stood up easily and walked casually towards the door.
Chen Xiao was stunned. He had never seen such an irresponsible interview since he started working!
"Please wait a moment," Chen Xiao couldn't help but call out.
"Is there anything else?" Old Edward turned around, looking impatient. "Haven't I made myself clear enough? The job is very simple; even an idiot could do it. What else don't you understand?"
"Yes...it's like this." Chen Xiao thought for a moment: "Those two rows of words at the entrance..."
Chen Xiao's expression was somewhat absurd: "Could it be... that if a beautiful woman comes, the meal is really free?"
"Of course!" The old man's eyes lit up, and he immediately puffed out his chest, proudly declaring, "This is my old man's signature dish! And you remember this! If any beautiful women come to drink here, you're not allowed to charge them!"
Chen Xiao nodded helplessly, but thought to himself: Beautiful women? I haven't seen a single female rabbit all the way here! This kind of unfinished commercial district is on the verge of bankruptcy, where would any beautiful women come here to drink coffee?
Unfortunately, Chen Xiao didn't realize at the time that his words were premature and too hasty. In fact, he should have realized much earlier that since getting to know these people and these events, he could no longer judge them by ordinary standards…
Chapter Twenty-Four: [A Disaster for the Country and its People]
The old man seemed to have something urgent to attend to, and then he left in a hurry.
"There really are such irresponsible guys." Chen Xiao turned to look at the huge shop, now all alone. From this very moment on, old man Edward had left this entire shop to him alone.
"These guys in the service shop are definitely not normal people." Chen Xiao muttered a couple of times, clutching the bunch of keys the old man had thrown down, and first ran to the back room of the coffee shop to look around.
There was a kitchen behind the coffee shop, and two rooms on the second floor. Chen Xiao found a safe in one of the offices. He hesitated for a moment, but finally, driven by curiosity, he opened it (it was really just a metal cabinet with a large padlock) – the old man had given him the key anyway, so even if it was entrusted to him for safekeeping, it wouldn't hurt to take a look, Chen Xiao reassured himself.
But after opening the safe... he was stunned!
The three-tiered cubicle was filled with a dazzling, shimmering light!
Even though Chen Xiao's family was relatively wealthy when he was young, he was still stunned when he saw what was in front of him!
On the first layer, gold bricks were neatly stacked! Chen Xiao was afraid he might be mistaken, so he picked one up and examined it carefully. Finally, he confirmed that it was indeed a pure gold brick! Each brick weighed about one kilogram, and there were nearly a hundred of them neatly stacked on the first layer.
That is to say: one hundred kilograms of gold?!
The second layer contained seven or eight old-fashioned, large aluminum lunchboxes. They were very worn, and the aluminum appeared to be oxidized and blackened. Chen Xiao picked one up casually, but it was heavy. He shook it slightly, and it made a clattering sound. He had no idea what was inside.
But when he opened it, his eyes widened even more!
A whole lunchbox full! Inside were all sorts of crystal-clear pieces of all sizes!
Could it be... a diamond?!
Chen Xiao was certain of at least one thing: these things definitely couldn't be glass...
Nonsense! Who would hide a lunchbox full of broken glass in a metal cabinet, especially next to a hundred kilograms of gold?
If those large lunchboxes were all filled with diamonds...
Chen Xiao quickly assessed the value in his mind and immediately jumped up from the ground!
These few seemingly worn-out lunchboxes alone are enough to buy up all the properties on several streets in the vicinity!
Who would have thought that such an astonishingly large sum of money was hidden behind a coffee shop that was on the verge of closing down?!