Chapter 17: Job Training
The joy of getting a promotion and a raise had Lin Muqing so excited that she didn’t think too deeply about anything else. Her head was filled with thoughts of how much more money she would be making.
Now that she was officially the secretary, she honestly had no idea what her job even was or what she was supposed to do.
But she wasn’t too worried. After all, her best buddy would never make things hard for her. She fully believed that. That’s how much she trusted Ye Ziming.
"Oh right, do I need to do anything now?"
Halfway through celebrating in her head, she suddenly remembered that she was now a secretary, which probably came with work.
So, she looked back at Ye Ziming and asked with a curious blink.
"Hmm..."
Ye Ziming was a little caught off guard. Seeing Lin Muqing blink at him like that and ask such an honest question, he realized...
He had no idea what to have her do.
There really weren’t that many things to manage in the cafe, and he could handle everything easily by himself. For a moment, he was completely blank on what job to give her.
"Here, this is the store’s ledger. You can do this."
After thinking for a bit, he handed her a notebook.
It wasn’t a hard task, but it was an important one. All things considered, he figured this was a good choice.
"Okay! Leave it to me!"
She accepted the notebook with a serious, proud expression. This felt like an honorable task.
It also felt a little heavy. Not physically, but because it had money records inside.
This book contained temporary records that hadn’t been uploaded yet. All the official bookkeeping was actually stored on the cafe’s computer.
‘Times have changed, old man.jpg’
From the daily sales records, to monthly employee salary calculations, and various random expenses, everything was recorded on the computer.
The goal was to organize all this data and create reports that clearly showed the cafe’s income and expenses.
...Lin Muqing didn’t know how to do any of that.
So, for the rest of her shift that day, she stayed in the office, seriously listening to Ye Ziming’s tutorial on how to manage the finances.
"Did you get it?"
"Mmhm! I think I got it!"
"Then starting tomorrow, this will be your job."
"Yes! I’ll definitely finish the task!"
They had added an extra chair next to the desk, and Lin Muqing was sitting in it while Ye Ziming gave her a hands-on demo of the whole bookkeeping process.
With his clear step-by-step teaching and explanations, things were going pretty well.
At least her brain thought she could do it.
Whether her hands could keep up… well, that would be tomorrow’s problem.
"Emmm... Looks like it’s almost time to get off work."
After finishing up the task, Lin Muqing glanced at her phone and was surprised at how much time had passed.
Because of school, she didn’t work long shifts. Once it started getting dark, it was about time to head home.
She stood up and stretched, loosening her body after sitting for so long. The bell on her chest jingled softly with a clear, crisp sound.
"......"
Ye Ziming silently watched her stretch.
When the bell rang, his eyes twitched just a little.
Truth be told, the tutorial shouldn’t have taken that long. But for some strange reason, he had gone into extreme detail explaining it.
Maybe… because he really enjoyed this peaceful moment. Just the two of them in the office, no interruptions, no one else around.
So naturally, he spent a little more time with her, totally reasonable.
As Ye Ziming looked again at Lin Muqing’s maid outfit and all the cute little accessories she was wearing, he couldn’t help but think, this really suits her. She should be this cute.
“Boss, when do you get off work?”
Stretching her arms high in a big lazy stretch, Lin Muqing looked at the office lights, then turned and asked her best buddy sitting in the chair.
She didn’t notice that when she stretched, Ye Ziming’s eyes had quietly locked onto the bell hanging from her chest.
His eyes widened slightly, his mouth pressed into a line, and his gaze turned… complicated.
“In a little while.”
He gave a vague answer, his eyes still drifting toward the bell, and once again he began to doubt things.
Also... he was the boss. He could get off work whenever he wanted. It all depended on his mood.
“Emmm...”
The office fell quiet for a while.
Lin Muqing was hungry and wanted to eat, but didn’t quite know how to bring it up.
She looked into Ye Ziming’s eyes.
Ye Ziming looked back into hers.
The two of them just sat there, wide eyes staring at wide eyes, neither saying a word.
Just when Lin Muqing hesitantly opened her mouth to ask, “Are you hungry? Want to eat together?”, a strange sound broke the silence.
“Grrr~”
It was soft. The room was quiet. Ye Ziming had great hearing. Lin Muqing’s face turned red. Her expression was very awkward.
“If you’re hungry, just go eat,” Ye Ziming said with a faint smile, his voice calm.
He looked calm on the outside, but inside he was trying hard not to laugh.
“Oh.”
Blushing all over, Lin Muqing nodded obediently, then turned away and quickly walked to the office door.
She had embarrassed herself pretty badly. She didn’t dare look at her best friend’s face and rushed out of the room as fast as she could.
“So cute...”
Watching her leave, Ye Ziming softly muttered to himself. A smile naturally appeared on his face, and his eyes were a bit dazed.
But the happiness didn’t last long.
Because suddenly, a thought hit him. Lin Muqing is a boy.
That completely ruined his mood.
During the time they spent together earlier… He had either totally forgotten or deliberately ignored that fact.
“Is Muqing... really a boy?”
His emotions started to twist.
His brows furrowed, his eyes dimmed, and his whole face looked troubled and lost.
On one hand, he couldn’t stop thinking about the adorable image of Lin Muqing smiling and acting cute. His heart had definitely been moved.
But on the other hand... he knew that Lin Muqing was biologically male. He had known that since a year ago.
Now he didn’t know what to do. The more he thought about it, the worse he felt. He was even starting to feel a little pain inside.
Meanwhile, in the break room, Lin Muqing had no idea what she had just caused, or that her best friend was having an emotional crisis.
All she knew was that today’s staff meal was amazing. Three dishes and a soup, with plenty of meat. It was everything she could hope for.
She used to wonder if a cafe that treated staff this well could even make money.
But after looking at the financial records earlier, she had stopped worrying. There was only one word for it, massive profits.
“Xiao Muqing.”
“What is it?”
Halfway through eating, she heard Sister Yu’s voice next to her. She lifted her head from her lunchbox and looked at her with a sweet smile.
“How’s the new job treating you?”
With a warm, caring look, Sister Yu pulled out a chair and sat down beside her, smiling as she asked.