Chapter 41 Scammer Decides to Be a Good Person 16: Let’s Go Exchange It For

As soon as Yang Chong heard a new shop was opening, he immediately said he wanted to go join the excitement and take a look.

“Can I? I should be able to, right?”

The words I want to go were practically written all over his face.

“I can be a server. I’ve never been a server before.” He sounded extremely excited.

Du Heng had finally found a topic to talk about, so he was not too pleased that Yang Chong had been handed an opening.

“What are you butting in for? There are plenty of things you haven’t seen before. Are you going to try every single one of them?”

Yang Chong said, “Of course. That’s what makes it interesting. The world is full of color, and I want to experience it all. I chose to become an actor in the first place so I could experience different lives.”

Shi Lan said, “You can go, but will that really be okay?”

She meant Yang Chong’s level of fame.

“It’s fine. It’s not like that many people know me anyway.” Yang Chong had already started asking for details. “What exactly do I need to do? Do I need to change into a uniform?”

Shi Lan said, “If you’ve decided to go, I’ll make the arrangements. Then the two of you can eat lunch at the shop too.”

Du Heng opened his mouth several times from the side, but he simply couldn’t get a word in.

Shi Lan headed out with her two tails in tow and went straight to the shop.

Li Wei was overseeing the opening arrangements for the new shop. This manager Shi Lan had picked had great potential and improved quickly. More importantly, he was willing to take responsibility and knew how to weigh priorities for himself instead of bringing everything to Shi Lan for instructions. As long as she pointed out a mistake once, he basically would not make it again.

All in all, he was currently Shi Lan’s top lieutenant. She found him very easy to use.

Not long ago, after the original shop had a replacement manager in place, Shi Lan directly pulled Li Wei out of the store. After his promotion, his official title was Shi Lan’s assistant. His main duties were helping her with market research, supplier coordination, new shop expansion, and other miscellaneous tasks.

In some situations, having a male employee along made things much more convenient.

When the three of them arrived, Li Wei hurried out to greet them. “Boss, you’re here. Everything’s going smoothly here, it’s just that there are too many people, so we’ve been pretty busy.”

He also greeted Du Heng. “Hello, Mr. Du.”

Shi Lan said, “A crowd is a good thing. We’re opening for business, aren’t we? What, are we supposed to be afraid of having too many customers?”

Looking at the long line formed because of the opening promotion, she reminded him, “With this many people, pay attention to crowd control.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got people watching things. We specially transferred some staff over from the other branches to help today.”

Yang Chong was frantically signaling to Shi Lan from the side. She couldn’t even pretend not to see him, so she told Li Wei, “This is Xiao Yang. He’s here to help. Get him and Du Heng a set of staff uniforms each.”

Yang Chong shot her a sideways glance. He had never seen anyone his own age call him Xiao Yang so naturally.

He was wearing a mask, so all Li Wei could tell was that this man was tall and good-looking. He didn’t dare actually call the boss’s friend Xiao Yang.

“Mr. Yang, Mr. Du, come with me. There’s a changing room in the back.”

Du Heng deliberately lagged half a step behind, wanting to talk to Shi Lan. Even if she had let him speak, he probably would not have known what to say.

But Shi Lan did not stop. It wasn’t on purpose, she had just seen a child brought by a customer fall down. Her feet moved faster than her brain, and she had already gone over to help.

By the time she finished dealing with it and turned back, Du Heng was nowhere to be seen.

Not long after, Li Wei came rushing over and found her, stumbling over his words. “Boss, th-th-that… Xia-Xiao… Xiao Yang… h-he-he-he looks like that one guy…”

Shi Lan said, “You mean he looks like a celebrity?”

Li Wei nodded frantically.

“That Yang, Yang, Yang…”

“Yang Chong?”

“Yes! He looks exactly like him, and they even have the same surname.”

Shi Lan said, “That’s right, it is him. He came along for fun. The young master has never been a server before, so he wants to get a feel for it.”

Li Wei nearly failed to catch his breath. “Good heavens, a real live celebrity.”

And not just any celebrity, a real one, the kind who only appeared on TV and in newspapers. He had just shaken hands with him, and he had even called him Assistant Li along with the other employees. He had smiled at him too!

Shi Lan had no idea what a bombshell she had just dropped and continued, “Just assign him something simple. If he can’t do anything, let him stand at the entrance and greet customers. We can’t waste that face.”

“Wouldn’t that be inappropriate? Actually giving him work?”

Shi Lan said, “Sure, he doesn’t have any work experience, and in daily life he’s a pampered young master who doesn’t do productive things. But since he’s here, we should trust that he can do the job well. Human potential is limitless. It just depends on whether there’s someone with the eye to bring it out.”

After ladling out a bowl of motivational soup, Shi Lan encouraged Li Wei. “Go on, good luck, Assistant Li.”

Was this even a matter of trust or not?

Li Wei was on the verge of tears. This was absolutely the toughest task he had received since taking the job.

Li Wei walked off, turning back every few steps.

Shi Lan shook her head. It seemed her assistant still wasn’t calm enough. He simply hadn’t seen enough of the world.

Yang Chong was quick-witted, capable, and full of energy. Shi Lan watched him constantly weaving through the customers, taking orders and serving dishes, and even coaxing children.

His looks were striking enough that more than one person kept staring at him. He was completely unaffected.

Shi Lan watched as someone hesitantly asked him, “You really look like a celebrity.”

Yang Chong did not panic in the slightest. With a cheerful grin, he replied, “Really? Everyone says that.” He even asked in return, “If I became an actor and started acting, would you watch?”

“We would. You’re very handsome, young man.”

Yang Chong kept smiling and did not let it delay his work in the slightest.

All she could see in the front hall was Yang Chong. She had no idea what Du Heng was doing.

She pulled over an employee to ask, and was told he was in the kitchen helping wash dishes.

Shi Lan went to the back kitchen to take a look. Du Heng was standing in front of the sink with the regular dishwasher, dividing the work between them. There were so many customers that the sink had not been empty for a moment. In the late autumn weather, he had still managed to work up a head full of sweat. He did not even have time to wipe it off, and could only rub it away now and then with the upper sleeve of his shirt.

She backed out without disturbing him.

That pent-up anger that had started burning in her since last night just went out like that.

That was the kind of man he was, always quietly doing things, never claiming credit, never saying much. Hadn’t she always known that? Why was she getting mad at a blockhead like him?

Even ordinary employees in the shop did not want to do work like washing dishes. It was dirty, exhausting, and invisible in front of the boss. Yet he did not dislike it in the least.

She had not asked him about it yesterday, so she had no idea whether he still had injuries on him.

This fool. If she didn’t ask, he definitely would not bring it up himself. No matter how much pain or exhaustion he was in, he would just endure it.

Once her anger faded, Shi Lan started regretting how she had deliberately ignored him all morning.

By the time she looked at the clock, it was past two. The lunch rush had passed, and there were far fewer customers.

The shop’s cooks started preparing the staff meal, and Shi Lan went into the kitchen too.

Du Heng was still at the sink washing away, his fingertips soaked pale under the running water. The moment she walked in, his eyes never left her.

This time, Shi Lan did not pretend not to notice. She walked over. “Tired, aren’t you? There aren’t many customers right now, so take a break.”

Du Heng looked at her, his eyes bright and clear, the corners of his lips lifted.

“I’m not tired. There wasn’t that much work.”

“You’ve been standing there for hours without moving your feet. Of course you’re tired.” Shi Lan knew exactly what he was like. When he worked, he never slacked off or cut corners. Back when they were at the construction site, she had even wasted effort trying to teach him how to loaf around a little. He was too honest. He had never learned, or rather, he had never been willing to learn.

Two employees came over.

“Brother Du, take a break. We’ve got this.”

Shi Lan forcibly pulled him away, brought him to her office, and made him a cup of tea for him to hold.

“Rest here. Nobody usually comes in.”

Du Heng’s gaze followed her. “Lanlan, you should get some rest too.”

“I’ve been resting this whole time. You stay here. I’ll go to the kitchen and stir-fry a couple of dishes. In a bit, we’ll call Yang Chong over and eat here.”

The staff meals at the shop were simple, basically just whatever was quick and convenient.

Since Yang Chong was willing to come experience working at the shop, she couldn’t really treat him like a beast of burden. Young Master still deserved a little special treatment.

The kitchen was already stocked with all kinds of ingredients, so Shi Lan quickly used an empty stove and made several hot meat and vegetable dishes, along with a vegetable soup.

She had an employee carry them to the office, only to find that Du Heng wasn’t there. When she went out to look, he was in the main hall working alongside Yang Chong.

This man really couldn’t sit still.

She called over to the staff, went to take over for them, and told the two men to come back and eat.

He’d only had a little porridge in the morning, and now it was only after five or six hours of work that they were finally eating. Shi Lan’s cooking instantly conquered the glutton in Yang Chong, and he kept saying the trip had absolutely been worth it.

Shi Lan ladled Du Heng a bowl of soup. He was delighted, cradling it in both hands and drinking it in small sips.

Shi Lan said, “After lunch, we’re heading back. No need to come again this afternoon.”

Yang Chong had been pretty excited by the whole experience, but he was also just about tired enough. Any more and it would be too much. As things stood now, it was just right, so he readily agreed.

As for Du Heng, he would never object to Shi Lan’s decision.

While eating this meal, Young Master Yang was already thinking about the next one. “What are we having for dinner tonight?”

“I already said I’d make you all a good dinner tonight. If there’s anything you want to eat, you can order it, as long as I know how to make it.”

Young Master Yang rattled off three or four dishes in one breath, and Shi Lan listened with a smile. He was about to order more when Du Heng kicked him under the table. “That’s enough. Lanlan’s been busy all day too, she’s tired. If you want more, make it yourself.”

Yang Chong shut his mouth regretfully, but he quickly came up with a new plan. He could eat the other dishes tomorrow and the day after.

Du Heng’s face was already darkening. “Exactly how many days are you planning to stay?”

Yang Chong pulled a shameless face at him. “What, you’re not welcoming me? Then I’ll stay a full month and annoy you to death. I refuse to believe you’d actually carry me out and throw me away.”

Du Heng stood up.

Yang Chong said, “No way, you’re serious? Fine, I’ll call you Brother Du…” He looked aggrieved. “I came all this way. You can at least host me for three to five days, right?”

Watching the two of them bicker, Shi Lan felt very gratified by the “energy” Du Heng was showing. It was a good thing he had a friend like Yang Chong. Probably only someone with Yang Chong’s personality could become his friend. If it were another dull block of wood… she couldn’t even imagine what that would look like.

She asked Du Heng, “What about you? What do you want to eat?”

“Anything is fine. Just make whatever.”

Exactly the answer she had expected.

Shi Lan gave up asking for his opinion and decided to improvise on her own.

Besides the dishes Young Master Yang had ordered, dinner also included several things Du Heng liked. With just three people eating, a table meant for ten was completely covered in food. It was an impressively lavish spread.

Young Master Yang showered Shi Lan with praise, saying she could do anything, and even the house had been decorated with such unique style.

“When I first arrived last night, I thought it looked a little too plain. But now that I’m staying here, the more I look at it, the better it gets. I’m thinking of going back and decorating my place like this too.”

The popular decorating styles of the day leaned more toward luxury and extravagance, with every corner of a house filled to the brim.

Most people really couldn’t appreciate Shi Lan’s kind of simple decor and broad use of empty space.

Since Yang Chong was interested, she chatted with him for a bit about interior design.

When the topic turned to the house, she casually said to Du Heng, “This place was a little expensive, so I used up all the savings we had at the time.”

Even though Du Heng had told her before returning to the film set that she could decide on the house herself, she had still spent his hard-earned money. She couldn’t just say nothing at all about it.

“Good. I left the money with you so it’d be convenient for you to use.”

Shi Lan said, “Since both of us paid for it, the property deed¹ has both our names on it.”

Yang Chong let out a surprised sound. “Huh? You can do that without being married?”

“You just need to get a certificate made.”

“A certificate?”

Both Du Heng and Yang Chong looked at her.

Shi Lan said, “A Marriage Certificate. A fake one works fine. I had it made by someone under the overpass, and the workmanship was excellent. Not a single person handling the paperwork suspected a thing.”

The other two people at the table were both stunned speechless.

Yang Chong said, “That works too?”

Du Heng’s gaze unfocused, and no one could tell what he was thinking.

Shi Lan didn’t waste words. She went and found the two bright red booklets and brought them out to show them.

Yang Chong said, “Damn, that’s amazing!”

Du Heng rubbed the two certificates with his fingers, his expression complicated.

Yang Chong nudged Du Heng. “Brother, give me some kind of reaction here.”

Du Heng dragged his gaze away from the Marriage Certificates and looked at Shi Lan. There was a suspicious flush on his face. After a long while, he said, “A fake one isn’t good. Why don’t we… go make it real… okay?”

His voice was soft, cautious, and full of hope.

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Translator’s Notes

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1. property deed: In the context of Chinese real estate, the ‘Property Ownership Certificate’ (房产证) is a vital legal document. Including a non-spouse’s name on a deed involves specific legal hurdles, which explains why Shi Lan resorted to a forged marriage certificate. ↩