Push Me Away When I Come, Don't Hold Me Back When I Leave - Chapter 104

Chapter 104: New “Starry Sky” Manager

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“Hm? I can’t even go to the cafeteria anymore, Susu?” Xia Ruoming stared into Chu Suhe’s eyes and asked.

“No… not at all.” Chu Suhe secretly sighed, realizing she would have to spend money again.

After walking to the cafeteria with Chu Suhe, Chu Suhe hesitated for a long time at the counter. Seeing her like that, Xia Ruoming knew she definitely hadn’t been eating properly lately.

After ordering a mountain-like pile of self-service dishes for Chu Suhe, Xia Ruoming also ordered several portions of roasted duck rolls, then led her to find a corner to sit down.

Looking at her portions that were twice as much as Xia Ruoming, Chu Suhe didn’t know what to say for a moment.

“I just randomly picked some dishes for you, Susu, you don’t mind, right?” Xia Ruoming said with a smile after sitting down.

“No… I don’t mind…” Chu Suhe said softly. Although Xia Ruoming said she picked randomly, somehow, Xia Ruoming seemed to know her preferences. Whether in high school or university, for months she had been ordering the types of dishes that she liked.

Although she could eat anything, she still had preferred types…

The next day, all the new students realized that the first day of military training was just the dessert; the good days… no, the main course was yet to come.

Of course, Xia Ruoming didn’t know about this, and didn’t know how much the students in military training were suffering, after all, she had directly run off with Chu Suhe. Yesterday she was still drinking iced juice watching from the side, today she didn’t come at all.

The reason was she had accidentally seen a notice about a two-story cafe shop for rent near Zhejiang University. Xia Ruoming hurriedly took Chu Suhe to check it out.

After haggling for an entire morning, Xia Ruoming chose not to rent the shop but directly bought the cafe at 5% below market price.

The cafe had just been renovated recently, using a pure color scheme: white, yellow, light gray paired with walnut wood color. From white wall paint, light yellow wall paint to original wood color decorations, the cafe also used light-colored stone and cement. The color transitions weren’t too dramatic; the whole combination looked without any sense of abruptness. It only needed slight modifications to become the French style Xia Ruoming needed, and normal operations could continue during this period without any problems.

Perhaps because the previous owner wanted customers to have different experiences, different areas of the store were furnished with different chairs and coffee tables. The bar area was also installed with chairs, convenient for coffee enthusiasts to watch the coffee brewing process up close.

“Ruoming… why did you bring me here…”

Chu Suhe, who witnessed Xia Ruoming’s entire negotiation, was shocked. She knew Xia Ruoming might be richer than her but didn’t expect to this extent, directly buying a two-story cafe in a prime location, even paying the full amount in cash.

She also didn’t understand why Xia Ruoming wanted to buy a cafe and brought her along. She seemed to have done nothing the whole time, just sitting on the side listening to Xia Ruoming eloquently argue with the original shop owner.

“Susu, what do you think of this cafe?” Xia Ruoming didn’t immediately answer Chu Suhe’s question, but walked around checking that the tables, chairs, and bar counter were all fine before turning to ask Chu Suhe.

“Um… I’ve never been to a cafe, but the decoration looks quite nice?” Chu Suhe thought for a while before answering. After all, she had neither time nor money to go to cafes, and high-end cafes wouldn’t hire someone like her with absolutely no experience for part-time work.

“Yes, although it’s not as good as what I had in mind…” Xia Ruoming said without context, then asked, “Susu, are you looking for part-time work?”

“Ah-ah-ah? Yes, I am looking for part-time work…” Chu Suhe was stunned. Xia Ruoming hadn’t been to school for this period, how did she know?

“As you can see, Susu, this cafe is mine now, and it will become a cafe like 【Starry Sky】 in Chengdu in the future.” Xia Ruoming said unhurriedly, “When we were in Chengdu, I told you something at Starry Sky cafe. Now, it’s time I need your help, Susu.”

Chu Suhe felt her breath stop for a moment. She remembered what Xia Ruoming had told her that day in Starry Sky cafe. At that time, Xia Ruoming said she wanted Chu Suhe to help her.

At that time, Chu Suhe didn’t take it seriously. She just thought it was Xia Ruoming’s joke. After all, what use could someone like her be? Even if Xia Ruoming hadn’t asked her to work, she would still do part-time jobs to earn money to repay Xia Ruoming.

Chu Suhe didn’t expect that Xia Ruoming still remembered what she said back then.

“I don’t have the energy to manage this cafe myself, so I want to hire you, Susu… as the acting manager of this cafe!”

She thought this was also one of Xia Ruoming’s jokes, after all, she knew nothing about coffee, and the managers of those chain coffee shops all seemed very busy, needing to handle things all the time. How could she possibly be a cafe manager?

But there was only sincerity in Xia Ruoming’s eyes, without any trace of falsity, completely serious.

“But… but Ruoming, I don’t understand coffee shops, I can be a server, I can be a cleaner, but I can’t be a manager, Ruoming please find someone else…” Chu Suhe stammered. This was Ruoming’s business; she didn’t want Xia Ruoming to ruin this cafe just because she pitied her.

“It’s okay, you can do it.” Xia Ruoming walked forward, playing with Chu Suhe’s hair while telling her, “Besides, this is why I’m making you the acting manager. After Susu gets used to the manager’s work, I’ll make it official.”

“…” Chu Suhe fell silent, seeming somewhat hesitant. She didn’t know why Xia Ruoming trusted her so much, but being able to help Ruoming seemed better than doing part-time work elsewhere, where those bosses didn’t treat part-time workers as humans at all.

“Ruoming, I have absolutely no experience working in cafes… even if you trust me, I don’t think I can do well…”

Xia Ruoming smiled imperceptibly. The reason she trusted Chu Suhe so much was firstly because this “acting manager” position was actually specially prepared for Chu Suhe, with not that many responsibilities. The person really in charge would be Luo Qingxuan, the head barista she had already planned for. When they were in Chengdu, Luo Qingxuan had agreed to help at Xia Ruoming’s cafe in Hangzhou in the future. Chu Suhe had previous experience working part-time at a bubble tea shop, more than enough to handle the “acting manager” duties.

“It’s okay, Susu. Qingxuan used to be a cafe manager, I’ll have her guide you. You just need to learn from her, okay?” Looking at the still unconfident Chu Suhe, Xia Ruoming said softly.