3 - The Third Flavor

Translator: tarararawr

The next day, Chen Zhuo went to the shop at noon.

What you would call the owner monitoring the shop would be no more than going downstairs, looking around, and then going back up.

The year before last, he bought a mixed-use property that was more than 200 square meters. The first floor was used as the shopfront and the second floor was the residential space.

At this very moment, the shop had a full house.

As soon as Chen Zhuo entered the corridor, there were young girls drinking tea that waved at him and coquettishly called him Boss Chen.

Chen Zhuo smiled back at them one after another.

When he smiled, he was quite charming. The lines around his eyes would deepen into distinct eye love bands 1 . He would carefully look into their eyes and it always made a girl feel that she was suddenly the center of the world.

Behind the bar, several baristas in gray uniforms were methodically preparing all kinds of drinks for customers.

Chen Zhuo passed them and entered the back of the house.

He took a box of strawberries out of the shopping bag and he poured them into the sink.

Zhou Qingshu heard the sound of the faucet turned on. He came around and saw the boss focused on washing the strawberries. He raised his eyebrows. “Are you going to make a new product?”

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“Mhm.” Chen Zhuo did not raise his head.

“Strawberries?”

Chen Zhuo did not answer. He put a small handful of washed strawberries into the colander and brought them to the blender.

The sweet, bright red fruit rolled into the blender. Zhou Qingshu followed him and proficiently added some water to it.

“Strawberries are almost next season and right now you feel like making a strawberry flavor drink?”

“Sudden inspiration.” Chen Zhuo turned on the blender.

After a few seconds of the roaring sound, Zhou Qingshu tsked. “Have you figured out a name for the drink?”

“No.” Chen Zhuo went to the side of the refrigerator. He took out the cheese and melted it in water.

Zhou Qingshu’s cell phone started vibrating.

He flipped it out to take a look and he stared, “Aiyo 2 , here comes our little fairy’s order again.”

Chen Zhuo turned around. “Where’s Xiao Rui?”

Zhou Qingshu: “He went to make a delivery. He should be back soon.”

Chen Zhuo nodded. “Go and make a cup of original flavor with 30% sugar. I’ll go out later and deliver it on the way.”

Zhou Qingshu thought he didn’t hear it clearly. “The fairy’s order?”

“Mhm.”

“To tell you the truth, the fairy is like our store’s lost and found ex-girlfriend. She has to stay well.” Zhou Qingshu sighed.

What a strange analogy. Chen Zhuo focused his eyes and poured the slightly thick strawberry juice into the cup. “Go make it.”

Zhou Qingshu followed the orders. He lifted the curtain and went back to the bar.

——

In order to change the rough sketches, Xian Bei stayed up all night again. She woke up after 12 o’clock.

She took out her cell phone and went to the bathroom. Inside the cup was a chubby new toothpaste that could really fill her with a sense of security.

After wiping her face, Xian Bei picked up the only bottle of moisturizer on the sink and put a little moisturizer in the palm of her hands.

When she was about to pat it into her face, someone knocked on the door.

Xian Bei walked to the entrance and looked through the peephole.

In an instant, she was frightened and pulled her head back. She frowned. Ah, can it be that half-up top knot again……

Why is he here again?

Xian Bei suddenly became uncomfortable and bit her nails. She was too afraid to open the door.

Hesitating, she looked through the peephole. She saw that outside the door was a tall, polite man with a beautiful posture. He was holding something in one hand.

After waiting for a while, he took out his cell phone.

Just like yesterday.

Suddenly, the cell phone in the pocket of her pajamas was singing its ringtone.

Xian Bei was startled, like a small thief caught red-handed. She took out her cell phone and very quickly turned it off.

High, intense sounds were the fastest and clearest.

Knowing that he and the girl were only separated by the door, Chen Zhuo smiled from ear to ear. He made his intentions clear. “I’m delivering milk tea.”

Remembering how she panicked at the supermarket last night, he intentionally used a softer tone. And thus, he felt like a big bad wolf enacting the real-life version of “little rabbit obediently open the door” 3 .

So……is half-up top knot the new delivery person……

Xian Bei turned the door lock. She opened the door a crack and she very carefully reached out…….

On Chen Zhuo’s side, he saw how the scene was the same as what Xiao Rui described.

A slender arm hidden under the wide sleeves came out slowly. It was like she was afraid to expose the rest of herself.

The small hand in front of him was abnormally white. It was the kind of blinding white that had not seen the sun for many years.

She was timid, like she would shrink back in fright if she was touched.

Touching a small snail’s tentacles would have the same effect.

Chen Zhuo handed over the simple and chic paper bag to the uncomfortable little hand.

Due to gravity, the little girl’s hand dropped slightly. Immediately, her five fingers tightly grasped the bag and moved a little bit into the crack of the door.

Chen Zhuo watched this series of amusing slow motion actions with interest.

The bag’s size was a bit bigger than normal, so the door had to be open wider.

He finally caught a glimpse of the girl. She had a small nose and pointy chin. She also had short black hair that curved inwards and only reached the sides of her neck.

Her eyes met his eyes for a moment. She looked away as fast as a startled deer in a forest, running back to the vast vegetation.

How could there be this kind of little girl?

No wonder the stop’s delivery employees, who went to thousands of homes, had a profound impression of her.

As for Xian Bei at the door……

She felt that today’s bag was heavier than before……

She examined the bag. She discovered that next to the usual milk tea order was an extra drink…… Pink? Was the wrong one delivered?

“Did you see?” The door was not closed yet. She was confused when she heard the man’s magnetic voice.

Xian Bei blurted, “What?”

It was like a gentle breeze. Chen Zhuo did not hear it at all. He said out loud, “Our store’s new product is Strawberry Milk Cap Tea. It’s not sold yet, but I’ll give it to you to try in advance.”

“……” Xian Bei froze again.

Why did he suddenly send her an extra drink?

What does she do now?

Does she thank him?

How does she properly thank him?

Will it be rude to hide behind the door and say thank you? She guessed that he would not even hear her…… OTZ 4 .

But right now she was not fully armed and she was too afraid to take a step out……

For a long time there was no movement inside. Chen Zhuo was used to it and he felt that he had a strong ability to adapt at the same time. Intentionally, he said goodbye.

“I’ll leave first.”

At this moment, the “small tentacle” arm unexpectedly came out from the door crack.

“W-wait a minute.”

It was still a soft voice, but Chen Zhuo heard it. He stopped moving and patiently waited.

She took her arm back. After waiting a minute, the “small tentacle” came out with a piece of paper. Chen Zhuo took it and lowered his eyes.

Written with marker on the white paper:

“Thank you!”

On the back there was a quick sketch of a short haired girl’s face with an expression like ><.

Chen Zhuo’s face lit up.“You’re welcome.”

After thinking about it, the man took out a fountain pen from his bag and quickly scribbled a line of words on the same piece of paper. Then, he stuffed it back to the door crack.

Xian Bei took it with both hands and carefully looked at the bold cursive.

“Tomorrow I will still come by to deliver milk tea. Can you tell me your thoughts and suggestions after trying the new drink? Just write it on a piece of paper.”

With the sound of the pen tip lightly pressing on paper, the paper was handed over again.

“Okay.”

……

……

——

When he got downstairs, Chen Zhuo let out a long sigh of relief.

That kind of timidity and fear she was expressing caused his mind to follow the situation, and he made himself breathe softly the entire time.

Chen Zhuo turned his car keys and drove to the garage.

Truthfully, he lied to Zhou Qingshu.

It was not on the way when he went over to deliver milk tea today.

There was no other reason.

The girl in the white cap that he encountered at the supermarket last night was his source of inspiration.

Out of courtesy, he wanted to be the first to deliver the drink to her and to give her a taste of it.

From bilibili:

Footnotes

Eye love bands are the plump fat area under eyes that makes a person look younger and more cheerful. More commonly known as aegyo sal. 哎哟 (āiyō) – used to express pain or surprise. Chen Zhuo is referring to a children’s song used to warn children to not let strangers in while their mom is away. In the song, a wolf is trying to deceive the rabbit to open the door and eat it. OTZ is an emoticon to express feeling hopeless as a result of failure.