Chapter 83: A Foreign Land of Gentle Affection? Haruleaf!

Her colleague, hearing her words and seeing her in such a state, immediately stopped hurrying to switch shifts. She crouched down beside Xiaozhi, her face full of concern. “Xiaozhi, did some scoundrel break your heart?”

“Huh?” Xiaozhi was taken aback and exclaimed in alarm, “No, of course not! Sister Xu, don’t say such things!”

But Sister Xu, wearing the loving expression of an elder caring for the young, said sympathetically, “Xiaozhi, you don’t have to pretend to be strong in front of me. If you’ve suffered any grievances, you can always talk to me.”

“There are so many flowers in the world—why pine away for a single morning glory? Tomorrow, I’ll introduce you to a wonderful young man!”

In her panic, Xiaozhi began to stammer, “I’m not… I didn’t… That five-star task… he…”

“All right, all right. We’ll find you a chef from a five-star hotel. I have all sorts of connections—no problem at all!” Sister Xu patted her own chest. “It’s time for your shift change anyway. Go home and get some good rest. Just wait for my good news!”

With that, Sister Xu strode into the temple, but after a few steps, turned back and raised her fist in encouragement to Xiaozhi.

Xiaozhi stood lost in the wind, bewildered. “What on earth is going on here!”

She knew that, given Sister Xu’s reputation as the town gossip, by the time she returned to work tomorrow, everyone would be convinced she’d had her heart broken.

Xiaozhi was completely overwhelmed. “Argh! That scoundrel! How are you going to pay me back—”

…

Meanwhile, a certain scoundrel was filling his rumbling stomach with a bowl of beef noodles at a roadside shop before heading toward the red-light district.

Wang Chen walked at a leisurely pace, treating it as an after-dinner stroll, and soon arrived at the place once famed for its exotic pleasures.

Though, he supposed, it ought to be called something else now.

Wang Chen stared in a daze at the new neon sign before him. “Spring Leaf Plaza?”

No, why did this name feel so familiar?

As Wang Chen stood there lost in thought, two beast-eared girls in maid outfits approached from the entrance.

“Master~ Welcome home! Please, come inside. Let us prepare a coffee to wash away your fatigue!”

“Huh? Master? Are you talking to me?” Wang Chen was bewildered. Are all shareholders addressed like this? Isn’t our company culture a bit too flattering?

And what was going on with Qian Xiaomin? He’d insisted on keeping everything low-key, yet now even the two greeters knew he was a shareholder.

“Eh, do you not like us calling you Master?” the beast-eared girl with sky-blue hair asked sweetly. “Then… how about big brother?”

Her eyes brimmed with tender affection, with a touch of playful innocence. That single word almost made Wang Chen break out in goosebumps—had he not been steadfast after two lifetimes, he might have been overwhelmed.

The other beast-eared girl, with pink hair, misunderstood Wang Chen’s reaction as enjoyment. “Big brother~ don’t just stand there! Come inside and have a rest~”

“No, no, I’m not a customer, I’m here to see Qian Xia—” Wang Chen hurriedly tried to refuse.

Just then, a group of men walked up, and the leader called out to the blue-haired maid, “Miss Leiwu! I’m back again! And I brought my brothers!”

The maid named Leiwu greeted him with a radiant smile. “Master, you’re so late tonight. I’ve been waiting ages~”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! To make it up to you, I’ll cover everyone’s bills tonight!” With a grand wave, the man declared, “Brothers! Let’s go! Order whatever you like!”

The group clamored into the shop, and Wang Chen seized the chance to slip away unnoticed.

Once he’d put ample distance between himself and Spring Leaf Plaza, Wang Chen pulled out his phone and called Qian Xiaomin.

They met in a teahouse, and as soon as they settled into a private room, Wang Chen couldn’t wait to ask, “What’s going on at the shop? It doesn’t feel any different! If anything, it’s even more blatant—the girls are soliciting customers right on the street!”

Qian Xiaomin smiled serenely. “Of course things have changed. The girls don’t serve customers like they used to.”

Wang Chen was taken aback. “Then how do they serve customers now?”

“These days, their jobs are strictly as servers in cafés and bistros,” Qian Xiaomin explained with a smile. “They take orders, serve food, use a few affectionate nicknames, and offer a bit of emotional comfort to the guests.”

“Such as?”

“For instance, they’ll draw hearts with ketchup on omelets and write playful, suggestive blessings. Or they might perform cute dances for the customers and cheer them on, giving them the courage to face life’s challenges.”

Her explanation was gentle and thorough.

Wang Chen was surprised. “That actually sounds rather uplifting.”

He thought for a moment and voiced his concern. “But is the shop really making money just from food and drink? Can it cover the staffing costs?”

He doubted it. Coffee and omelets didn’t yield much profit, and supporting such a large staff seemed a tall order.

To his surprise, Qian Xiaomin nodded calmly. “It’s not a problem at all. In fact, if you calculate profits per square meter, we’re making even more than before.”

Wang Chen was stunned. “That can’t be. Breaking even would be impressive; making more than before is impossible.”

Though he didn’t want the girls to return to their old line of work, he had to admit that the previous operations had been highly lucrative. For Qian Xiaomin to claim that a café model was even more profitable seemed unbelievable.

Qian Xiaomin smiled and began to explain the shop’s new business model and profitability.

As it turned out, she had restructured what was once a single hotel-style operation into a kind of mini mall, partitioned into multiple individual shops.

Each shop was essentially a small eatery or bar, but each had its own distinct theme.

One, for example, was staffed entirely by maids, who welcomed guests as their “masters” with the ritual of changing shoes and massaging shoulders.

Another featured fit and athletic beast-eared girls, who treated guests with cool detachment, even scolding them for impatience; spend enough, and a customer might even get a playful spanking.

There were many such uniquely themed establishments, enough to keep a regular patron entertained for months on end without repetition.

But in every case, the most that ever happened was a touch or two—anything beyond that was strictly forbidden now.

On the surface, this might seem like bad business, especially since Spring Leaf Plaza had been transformed from its former identity as the den of exotic pleasures, and customers might find it hard to adjust.

Yet, in reality, this teasing, half-veiled service proved irresistible to guests.

For, after all, Spring Leaf Plaza was still located in the red-light district, where such “in-depth” experiences were commonplace. But a place like Spring Leaf, which emphasized emotional connection, was a rare gem.

And since everyone was used to the inflated prices of the red-light district, when Spring Leaf Plaza offered food and drink just a bit cheaper, it suddenly became a place of great value.

Even though the prices were still far above cost, they were considered a bargain in comparison.