Chapter 10

This was also the first time that Jiang Haofeng felt like getting to know someone, as he stood by the side with a wine glass in hand, numerous people came to clink their glasses with him, and even though Young Master Jiang would occasionally take a sip of his wine, he seemed quite preoccupied with something else.

When Lin Xiansen came over to find him, Young Master Jiang was busy thinking about a way to silently and discreetly take some of the confectioneries. He was busy trying to hide his inner motive, and had long since forgotten that he was the rightful owner of this property, not to mention that those confectioneries were there for everyone to take as they liked.

Just as Lin Xiansen lifted his own wine glass to lightly clink against Haofeng’s, Young Master Jiang suddenly burst out with a question, “Do you want to have some confectioneries?”

”Huh? I don’t like sweet things ah.”

”Then accompany me while I go get some.”

Lin Xiansen nodded his head and followed him over.

Various types of confectioneries were neatly arranged on the long table in front of the pavilion. They looked delicate, fragrant and appetizing, Shen Shujie had just recently joined shop owner Wang so he could only assist. He lifted his head, and caught sight of Jiang Haofeng, so he hurriedly called out to him, “It’s you ah! I’m really sorry about just now lah.”

Young Master Jiang didn’t show any other expression but nodded his head as he began to select the confectioneries he wanted. Shen Shujie felt that just apologizing verbally after running into someone wasn’t that good, so he took out a tray of freshly baked cookies. Holding them out in front of Jiang Haofeng, “I’ve only just joined, and I don’t know how to do much, but I made these cookies myself. Our shop owner praised me and said they weren’t bad, why don’t you have a taste?”

Young Master Jiang put down the mousse in his hands, and took the entire tray of cookies that Shen Shujie offered him.

Shen Shujie stared at his empty hands in surprise and asked the shop owner, “Elder Brother Wang, he took all the cookies, should I make some more?”

Shop owner Wang turned and stared at Jiang Haofeng’s silhouette, “He can eat can’t he, make some more then, otherwise there’ll be nothing for other people.”

Today was probably the most satisfying day since Shen Shujie had started working, the cookies he baked were really well received. So much so that even shop owner Wang had picked one up to have a taste out of curiosity. He felt that the taste wasn’t that special, and it really was a tad burnt. After the party ended, Shen Shujie and the shop owner both worked together to pack up the rest of the ingredients. Having completed a day’s work, Shujie was really starving by now, and when most of the guests had left, he secretly asked the shop owner, “Elder Brother Wang, can I have a slice of cake?”

Shop owner Wang often cared for him so he replied, “Have one, just don’t let the owner catch you eating it. Although even I don’t know who the owner is but it wouldn’t be good to be seen by him. I’ll go and put these things in the car, after you’ve eaten tidy up the rest and we can both carry them away.”

Shen Shujie nodded his head, then he scanned his surroundings before picking a small piece of matcha mousse. He squatted down behind the tablecloth of the long table and gulped it down in a few bites. His tummy that had been empty for all this while was finally satisfied, and after a glance at the time, he stood up to continue packing things without wiping away the crumbs on his mouth. Alas, the moment he got to his feet, he saw Jiang Haofeng standing right across him, in front of the table. Shujie hadn’t expected anyone to be there, and suddenly catching sight of someone gave him a fright big enough to cause his body to shiver unexpectedly. But it seemed like even Jiang Haofeng too was shocked by this and his expression turned a bit funny.

Shen Shujie scrambled to wipe his mouth, and nervously asked, “Why are you here? Do you still want to have some?”

Jiang Haofeng had thought Shujie had already left which was why he had come here. He had spent the entire day preparing how to strike a conversation with Shen Shujie yet he just hadn’t been able to find a good reason to start, and now this abrupt face-to-face meeting was making him a little jittery.

Shen Shujie saw how he wasn’t saying anything, and took the initiative to pass him a slice of cake, like he was bribing him, “I just had one of these to eat just now, don’t tell the owner alright, I’m worried that it’ll negatively impact my shop’s performance, and that they won’t want to hire us again.”

Jiang Haofeng took the muffin that had a whole strawberry perched on top from Shujie, and after thinking about it, “Are there no more cookies left?”

This was the first sentence that Jiang Haofeng had spoken to Shen Shujie and truthfully, Young Master Jiang had wanted to ask him what his name was.

Upon hearing his question, Shen Shujie’s eyes seemed to instantly fill with hopeful rays of light, “Were the cookies I made really that delicious?”

Jiang Haofeng solemnly nodded his head, “They were very good.”

”Really? But Elder Brother Wang told me that they might have been a little burnt.”

”He was lying to you.”

”Hehe, I tasted it myself and I felt the same though.”

”Nonsense, I thought they were really good.”

”Haha haha, you’re too kind! Oh right, I’m Shen Shujie, what’s your name?”

Young Master Jiang finally knew Shen Shujie’s name and felt a little burst of happiness, “I’m Jiang Haofeng.”

”Your surname is also Jiang ah, isn’t the surname of the owner of this house also Jiang?”

”Mmm, I’m the owner.”

”AHH???”

Shen Shujie was dumbstruck as he stared at him, then he hurriedly began to explain, “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to steal the food, I was just too hungry just now. It was all my own doing, please don’t think our shop isn’t good ah!!”

Jiang Haofeng could see his uneasy and nervous expression, and felt he wanted to tease him even more. Haofeng shook his head and replied, “It’s alright, you’ve been working for so long so you should have had something to eat. I didn’t expect that you would have problems with your dinner, it must have been an oversight on the butler’s side.”

”No it wasn’t, that gentleman did invite us to have dinner, but it’s because no one is at the shop today so Elder Brother Wang and I are a bit busy.”

Shen Shujie saw that he didn’t reply to this, and uneasily asked again, “Next time you guys have a party, will you hire out shop to do the confectioneries?”

”We will.”

Shen Shujie felt like he didn’t look like he was conning him, so he let out his rows of pearly whites and smiles at him, “The next time I come, I will probably already known how to make some other things for you to eat la.”

After he escorted all the guests out, Jiang Haofeng sat beside the dining table with a magazine, daydreaming as he did so. The butler took out some well-made round tin boxes from the storage room, and filled them up with the confectioneries arranged all over the table. As he did so, he meekly asked, “Does Young Master like that child?”

Jiang Haofeng came back to his senses, randomly picked up a cookie and placed it in his mouth. The thick aroma of milk swept through his mouth and was accentuated by a slight trace of burning. “He’s quite cute, I want to get to know him.”