Chapter 102: Not Very Smart
After getting off the bus, Lin Muqing jogged a short distance. When she finally saw the cafe, she slowly started to calm down. She took a few breaths, trying to steady herself, then continued walking toward the cafe.
What she didn’t know was that right after she got off the bus, Zhang Xiaoling also followed behind, and her destination was also the maid cafe. Standing still and watching Lin Muqing’s back as she walked away, Zhang Xiaoling felt a bit dazed. That back looked oddly familiar. It reminded her of Lin Muqing, which felt strange.
“Phew~ finally here.”
Standing in front of the cafe, Lin Muqing raised her hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead and let out a sigh of relief.
It was around lunchtime, and there were quite a few customers inside. After thinking for a moment, she decided to go in through the back door instead. That way, she could avoid unnecessary trouble. Pretty smart idea.
But just as she was about to move, a guy suddenly appeared in front of her and blocked her way.
“Hi there.”
“Uh, hello.”
Lin Muqing was a bit caught off guard by the sudden greeting, but she still replied out of politeness. The guy was around 1.7 meters tall. She had to tilt her head slightly to meet his eyes.
“Miss, I want to ask for directions.”
“Oh, what are you looking for?”
When she heard it was a directions question, her doubt went away. She smiled politely and pulled out her phone from her pocket. As long as he said a place, she could open a map app and help him out.
“I heard there’s a really good maid cafe around here. Can you tell me where it is?”
The guy had both hands behind his back and smiled as he spoke to her.
“Maid cafe?”
Hearing that, Lin Muqing paused, then turned her head slightly to the side, right in the direction of the cafe. It was literally just about ten steps away from her.
She figured that as long as someone had working eyes and could read, they’d definitely see it.
And even if not, they should at least notice the waitresses dressed in maid uniforms through the large windows.
“Yeah, that’s the one,” the guy nodded with the same smile, confirming it.
“…Isn’t it right there?”
She looked back at him with a weird expression, feeling like this guy was messing with her.
“Ohhh~ so that’s where it is!”
The guy acted super surprised, as if he’d just discovered the cafe was right next to him…
Watching this scene, Lin Muqing felt her eyelid twitch. She didn’t even know how to complain at this point. She didn’t want to be rude, or be accused of discriminating against the visually impaired. So, she decided to just walk around him and keep her distance.
“Wait a moment, please.”
The guy stepped to the side again, blocking her path once more.
“…Is there something else?”
Being blocked a second time, Lin Muqing was clearly getting annoyed. But for the sake of politeness, she forced a small smile.
The guy’s smile looked a bit silly, and the way he acted made Lin Muqing think. He probably isn’t very smart.
Well, it made sense. Anyone who couldn’t see a huge sign that said Maid Cafe right in front of them clearly wasn’t the brightest.
“This is my first time in the south side of the city, so I don’t really know the area. Can you do me a favor, miss? As thanks, I’d like to invite you to lunch with me, right here.”
The boy spoke in a very polite and gentlemanly way. As he spoke, he took a fresh flower from behind his back and handed it to Lin Muqing while inviting her to lunch. His already handsome face, combined with such a romantic approach, instantly caught the attention of several girls passing by.
To others, it looked like a charming guy flirting, and he was doing it quite well.
But to Lin Muqing, she didn’t feel anything at all. She just stared straight at the flower in his hand.
"Miss, have you thought about it?" the boy asked.
Seeing Lin Muqing pause like that, he assumed she was dazzled by his charm. Just as he was about to take the next step and continue his flirtation, Lin Muqing suddenly reacted.
She pointed at him and turned her head to call out loudly to a nearby maid at the cafe entrance, “Sister! Someone picked our flowers without permission!”
Her unexpected move completely stunned the boy. Clearly, he hadn't expected something like this to happen. But while he was frozen in surprise, the maid near the cafe entrance didn’t hesitate at all.
“How dare you steal our flowers!”
As soon as she heard Lin Muqing’s shout, the maid immediately rushed over and began scolding the boy harshly.
There was a patch of beautiful flowers planted beside the cafe entrance, and a sign clearly said: No picking. Offenders will be fined. The moment Lin Muqing saw the flower in his hand, her attitude toward him turned hostile.
The cafe maids were a tight-knit team. Within moments, two more maids came out and joined in, surrounding the boy and taking turns lecturing him.
Now that the situation was “under control,” Lin Muqing felt there was no need for her to stick around. Plus, she was starting to feel a bit hungry.
So she left the scene to the maids and walked around them toward the cafe’s back entrance.
"I'm really sorry. I’ll pay five times the price!" the boy begged.
"Can your money bring them back to life!?"
"Yeah, exactly!"
"……"
The poor guy was getting scolded by three people, one after another. The more he tried to explain or escape, the more the maids refused to let him go.
Lin Muqing thought to herself: This is what you get for messing around. She didn’t feel sorry for him at all. In fact, she thought he totally deserved it.
[Lin Muqing: Sister Yu, I’m here!]
She was very familiar with the cafe, so she easily found her way to the back door while sending a message to Sister Yu, telling her she had arrived.
Last night, to avoid raising suspicion from her buddy, she hadn’t taken the cookies home. Instead, she had left them in the cafe’s kitchen fridge. So now, in addition to touching up her makeup, she also had to carefully pack the cookies into a gift box before giving them to her good buddy.
As she walked into the cafe through the back, she was planning everything she needed to do today in her mind.
She got a little distracted with her thoughts, so when she pushed open the break room door and saw Sister Yu suddenly appear, she didn’t react right away—
—and her face landed right in something soft.
“Aww~ Lin Muqing, are you trying to get a hug from your big sister?”
It was just a normal accident of bumping into someone, nothing weird.
But Sister Yu, seeing how cute Lin Muqing looked in her pretty outfit, couldn’t resist. She opened her arms and pulled her into a warm hug.
“Huh?!”
Snapping out of it, Lin Muqing instinctively tried to back away. But Sister Yu didn’t give her the chance. Hugging her tightly, Sister Yu gently rubbed her little head and looked totally pleased.