Miss Wang had boldly declared that even with zero experience—being a complete novice who had never even done housework—she could still manage to work as a staff member in the teahouse.
She had full confidence in her ability to learn.
While it was true that she had a brain and could learn, it was equally true that she had lived over twenty years without ever lifting a finger for physical labor.
"That's not how you mop a floor!" Tang Xiaoya began another round of corrections. "You can't just pull the mop head out of the water right after soaking it. It's common sense to wring it out until it's semi-dry before mopping! With all this water flooding the floor, are you mopping or washing it?... And the way you're holding the mop is wrong too. Aren't you tired pushing it forward with so much force? You're so weak you have to brace the handle against your body just to push it forward; doesn't that hurt?... Don't mop haphazardly all over the place. You need to mop in order, from one end to the other!"
This was the second day after officially starting her part-time job. Early in the morning, Wang Jiayi was being scolded like a dog by her senior, Tang Xiaoya.
Lin Lan and Song Xinmin watched the spectacle quietly from the side, hurriedly turning away to pretend to be busy with their own tasks whenever the pouting, fuming young lady sharply looked their way.
"There, the corner! Don't miss it. Clean that too!" Tang Xiaoya was like a vicious supporting character from a TV drama who bullies the female lead, constantly ordering the domestically-challenged young lady to correct her mistakes.
"...Oh." Bound by her own bold declaration from the previous day, Miss Wang could only reply meekly and continue working weakly.
After a flustered period, under guidance, the young lady mastered the basics of mopping. But just as she finished mopping the customer area, she was stopped again.
"You need to rinse the mop before moving to the next area. Can't you see the mop head is already covered in dust?"
At Senior Tang's words, the timid young lady timidly went to rinse the mop again, causing a splash of water at the sink. Wang Jiayi rinsed the mop cloth clean, remembered to wring it to a semi-dry state, and thinking nothing was missed, turned to leave.
Who would have thought that after just a few steps, her feet slipped. She screamed, thinking she was about to fall flat on her back, when someone grabbed her arm and forcefully pulled her back to her original spot.
It was Tang Xiaoya, who had been watching her from behind.
"Th-thank you," Wang Jiayi said, still shaken. She was just feeling touched by the other's timely rescue when the next second, she heard her speak with a stern face.
"Look at what you've done to the floor just from rinsing a mop."
Wang Jiayi instinctively looked down. The floor was splattered with water, with puddles large and small on the tiles. Her slip just now was because she stepped on water.
Just as the young lady was blushing at having turned the place into a battlefield, she heard the person opposite speak again: "Maybe you should just go back to sitting where you were and have a drink? I think I can do this much faster myself."
Being so blatantly looked down upon, Wang Jiayi's face flushed red. "No!" she said, gripping the mop tightly, utterly unconvinced. "Just wait and see, I can definitely do this well!"
It was just mopping and doing a bit of work. The young lady truly refused to believe she couldn't even manage being a waitress.
So Wang Jiayi continued to huff and puff, diligently mopping the floor, while Tang Xiaoya watched from behind like a foreman, not only managing the newbie but also having enough spare energy to wipe tables with a cloth.
As these two busied themselves, the only truly idle creatures in the teahouse—the little cats—were also watching the show, just like Lin Lan and the others. The former were even more open about it than the latter, not needing to hide it at all.
By now, all the cats in the teahouse knew the two of them didn't get along. Every time, they only dared to threaten and yowl at each other but never actually fought—they were two timid two-legged creatures. The cats were just hoping the two would settle the score soon so they could determine who would be the subordinate who gets groomed.
They just didn't know when they'd finally win an argument.
The Chinchilla Silver was very anxious. Wherever Wang Jiayi lowered her head to mop, it followed along the wall-mounted cat tree, occasionally meowing at her. (Servant, come on! Don't lose to that human, defeat her!)
Lin Lan, behind the beverage counter, heard the noise and looked up. She saw that where Silver had stopped and cried out, not far ahead, the Maine Coon was lying there.
The Maine Coon Mercury leisurely swished its tail, its cool and handsome cat face glancing at Silver's future servant, and also let out a meow. (She's no good. Weak and clumsy, not as good as my servant. She'd definitely lose in a fight.)
This remark instantly angered the Chinchilla, who hissed at the Maine Coon. (Don't you look down on my servant!)
The mild-tempered Mercury ignored it, but the pampered Silver grew even angrier at this. It could not tolerate any cat looking down on its servant so much.
So the people in the teahouse saw, on the high cat tree along the wall, a small, snow-white Chinchilla launch an attack at the over-one-meter-long silver tabby Maine Coon. But just as it rushed in front of the other, before its claws could even strike, the long-legged Maine Coon pressed down on its head with a front paw, pinning it to the ground.
Silver, the combat weakling, was instantly defeated.
It happened so fast that before Lin Lan could even intervene upon hearing the commotion, the "battle" was already over.
"...Never mind." Shopkeeper Lin retracted her just-moved foot and went back to her tasks.
On the other side, employee training had moved on to the next item.
"That's not how you use this double-sided glass scraper. After spraying the cleaner, you need to scrub it in an arc-shaped motion, up and down, understand?" Tang Xiaoya was scolding Wang Jiayi again. "If you just wipe it back and forth in straight lines like you just did, you'll never scrape off the foam!... Fine, maybe I should just do it."
"No, I can do it!"
Miss Wang and her pet had suffered a complete defeat against the Tang Xiaoya team.
The young lady had now locked horns with this service position she normally wouldn't have given a second glance to, stumbling along as she slowly got the hang of it. But the heartless boss and colleagues in the teahouse were secretly betting on how many days it would take for her to give up and quit.
That afternoon, Cheng Fengyang, who had been spending the New Year in his hometown, arrived, with his slightly limping gait and his Border Collie, Star.
"I brought Star for a check-up and a bath, and thought I'd drop by to see you," said the young man, whom they hadn't seen for almost ten days. He had visibly gained a little weight after his trip home. He wasn't selfish either, bringing Lin Lan a bag of delicious treats. "These are frozen pears and frozen persimmons from my great-grandfather's place. They taste amazing. Have a try."
"Thank you." Lin Lan accepted them graciously. "Let me treat you to milk tea and a crepe."
It would take a while for the Border Collie to be bathed and blow-dried, so Cheng Fengyang sat in Lin Lan's teahouse. As employees, Tang Xiaoya and the others naturally also got to taste the exceptionally flavorful frozen fruits, thanks to the shopkeeper.
Munching on the delicious frozen pear, Tang Xiaoya watched curiously the young man chatting happily with the shopkeeper at the beverage counter. She knew he was the shopkeeper's friend; during the whole Cao Yuze cat incident last time, he had consistently stood up for the shopkeeper.
She had thought there was something off about these two back then, and now...
His foot injury wasn't even fully healed, yet he was already bringing his dog to the pet clinic for a bath, only to end up lingering at the tea house to see the manager. If anyone said this guy wasn't interested in the manager, she'd never believe it even if beaten to death.
But what did that have to do with her? Tang Xiaoya had no interest in actively prying into other people's private affairs; observing from the sidelines was enough.
Thinking this, she took another bite of the frozen pear in her hand. Just as she started chewing, Wang Jiayi's curious face leaned in from beside her: "Who is that? Could he be Lanlan's pursu... mmmph!"
"Eat your frozen persimmon." Tang Xiaoya stuffed the frozen persimmon from Wang Jiayi's hand right into her mouth, saying with disdain, "The reason Little Ming's grandma lived to ninety-nine is because she never meddled in other people's business, got it?"
Instantly understanding her meaning, Wang Jiayi pouted unhappily: "I was just asking..."
Being completely outmatched in this tea house, the young lady felt quite aggrieved.
As the New Year atmosphere faded, more people returned to West City. The tea house saw an increase in couples and parent-child groups again, and business naturally became busy once more.
In just a few days, the young lady had improved a bit under the guidance of the sharp-tongued Tang Xiaoya, successfully evolving from a "handicapped party" to a "snail party"—meaning she could work but not efficiently. Her current skill level was clearly inadequate for the peak holiday season, leaving her flustered and overwhelmed.
Especially since there were quite a few children coming to the tea house to play on this particular day.
Thump!
In a moment of distraction, a child running around while holding a milk tea cup ran headlong into Wang Jiayi, who had just finished delivering an order. The adult, Wang Jiayi, was fine, but the child fell flat on their bottom. Milk tea splattered all over the floor, and the child got drenched in the process.
Seeing the spilled tea and wet clothes, the child immediately started wailing.
Wang Jiayi, whose pants leg and shoe surface were also wet, had no time to feel annoyed before the child's parent pointed a finger right in her face and complained: "Hey, what's wrong with you, waitress? Can't you see my child here? You just barged right into them!"
"What did you say?" The young lady, suddenly being blamed, widened her eyes in disbelief. "I bumped into your child? You're the one who let your kid run wild! Didn't you see the notices posted in the tea house? Parents are supposed to keep their children from running inside."
Seeing her cite the rules, the parent grew even angrier: "You're a grown adult, why are you picking on a child!" Pulling the child close protectively, they started shouting even louder, "Manager! Where's the manager? Look at your employee! She made such a mess of my child and still talks like that. The service attitude here is terrible!"
Wang Jiayi had never encountered someone so shameless before. Her face flushed red with anger. She used to think the sharp-tongued Tang Xiaoya was utterly detestable, but now she realized her experience was too limited. Furious beyond words, trembling all over, she could only feel her eyes welling up with tears.
Just as she was about to explode, a hand pulled her backward. Looking back, she saw Tang Xiaoya's face silently shaking at her. Meanwhile, Manager Lin Lan had already stepped past her to deal with the unreasonable customer.
"I'm the manager of this tea house. I'm sorry, please forgive any shortcomings in our staff's service. Little one, don't cry, okay? The milk tea is gone, but how about sister gets you a cake instead..."
The manager's voice, humbly placating the customer, grew fainter as Wang Jiayi was led by Tang Xiaoya to the staff break room behind the water bar.
"Wipe up." Tang Xiaoya handed her a pack of wet wipes. "Those shoes aren't cheap, right? If they really get soaked and ruined, they'll be unwearable."
Wang Jiayi took them silently but ignored the designer shoes on her feet. Instead, her eyes grew redder: "...I wasn't wrong. Why did Lanlan have to apologize?"
"What else could she do? Let that family keep causing a scene in the shop? Do we still want to run a business?" Tang Xiaoya glanced at her, tone indifferent. "Do you think everyone has the privilege to throw a tantrum and disregard everything like you do?"
Wang Jiayi looked up at her with wide eyes, meeting Tang Xiaoya's flat, mocking smile.
"Money is hard to earn, shit is hard to swallow—that's the reality of this society. If you want to make money from other people's pockets, you have to be prepared to bow your head and act subservient. Not everyone has your lottery-winning birthright."
After saying this, Tang Xiaoya turned and left the break room, leaving behind a red-eyed and bewildered Wang Jiayi.
Outside, Lin Lan, having successfully calmed the parent and child, returned to the area. Entering the break room, she saw the young lady sitting there motionless, eyes red, lost in thought.
It was obvious she felt wronged.
"Jiayi." Lin Lan called her. The other girl turned her head, a pretty face full of grievance. "Do you... still want to continue?"
When had a young lady like her ever suffered such indignity? If she stamped her foot in anger and walked out right now, Lin Lan wouldn't have been surprised.
But Wang Jiayi just pressed her lips together, wiped her eyes, and said one word: "Yes."
