Chapter 2 Desserts On Top

  With a heart full of unprecedented excitement and tension, nervousness and longing, I finally finished distributing the remaining flyers within half a day. After confirming that everything was ready with Auntie, I let out a sigh of relief and couldn't help but exclaim: "Doing business is really not easy... Ah, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts!"

  I was trying on clothes at home when I said this, and it's already the last day, but I still haven't decided which one to wear tomorrow night. My mom and aunt were discussing whether I should wear that festive red dress or that elegant black suit, and unexpectedly, they reached a stalemate. You know, since I understood what style means, I can basically determine that the two sisters' styles are not simply "completely different". And my uncle and dad, those two famous "henpecked" men, could only stand silently behind their wives at this time when they couldn't get a word in edgewise, or else they would have to face punishment tonight.

  Auntie heard my cry of pain and immediately pulled down the zipper, anxiously asking: "Yao Yao, are you okay?"

  I gritted my teeth: "It's just that I wasn't mentally prepared for a moment, it doesn't hurt at all, like an ant bite." It's just a giant mutant species.

  My mother suddenly shouted: "You're all swollen and you say it doesn't hurt! Hurry up and take off this one, okay, so it's decided like that, tomorrow wear the red one I bought!" The obvious happiness in her tone made me feel the urge to do a paternity test again, although people who have seen us both unanimously expressed that when I reach menopause, I will probably look just like my mother now.

  "Auntie sighed softly: 'Yaoyao, your rapid growth is making me feel so sad.'"

  I fell silent for a moment, then said, "Maybe it's because I've been trying too many desserts lately." Actually, I'm still quite satisfied with my current height of 168cm and weight of 46kg. You see, I never deliberately pursue a skeletal beauty, the key is that if I lose any more weight, I'll be teased by my friends who have no tact into being as thin as a bamboo stick that even if you threw me into a bamboo forest, nobody would be able to recognize me.

  After chatting for a while, I won the not-so-glorious old mom who no longer fought back, and returned home with satisfaction, holding her arm. Although my house is actually just upstairs, and I originally planned to sleep with Auntie tonight, looking at their carefree and unregretful backs, I couldn't help but say coolly to Auntie: "I don't know why I suddenly feel like I've been abandoned..."

  "Idiot!" She flicked my forehead and then pushed away her reluctant husband with a sour face, asking me: "Are you very nervous?"

  I was startled by the profound gaze from my aunt's husband before he closed the door, I turned around and looked at my aunt with a serious face, saying: "Of course, I haven't had a good sleep for these few days."

  She suddenly smiled slightly, and her smile was as gentle as a cloud. She said: "Me too."

  I was immediately enchanted by that smile.

  I remembered when I first proposed to open a dessert shop in the university town, my parents didn't agree at all. Only my aunt praised my idea as very good. Under her gentle but unignorable gaze, my uncle had to flatter me despite his conscience. However, even if they both praised me, it couldn't help me get the password of the savings account that was supposed to cover my four years of university expenses from my parents' mouths. So I directly ignored their meaningless praise.

  After that, I continued to pester them for several weeks, but my parents still gritted their teeth and refused to give in. Just when I thought this plan, which could have let me dominate the dessert scene in B City one day, was about to fall through, my dear aunt suddenly called my parents and said she had decided to invest with me in opening this dessert shop.

  With her and my aunt's joint efforts, my parents finally agreed reluctantly. I finally knew that praise was also a thing with such profound meaning and could make people turn the corner.

  After renting a store in the night market, Auntie directly told me that I don't need to worry about those things like getting licenses and permits. My only task is to learn all the desserts I can, and when I successfully return, I will immediately become a pillar of the store. Then she and Uncle took full responsibility for decorating the dessert shop, even asking friends who have opened dessert shops before what utensils to buy.

  Later, after the renovation was completed, I entered the dessert shop and took a look. My mind suddenly became excited and my heart started racing. After my brain calmed down, my eyes got excited, and after my eyes calmed down, my heart continued to get excited, with bubbles bursting out one after another, as if I was about to put some tropical fish in there to raise them, even though the consequence of doing so would only be a pot of inedible fish soup.

  Since deciding to open the store, Auntie, who had been calm and collected in both appearance and behavior, surprisingly said that she was also very nervous. Under extreme shock, I, who was already tense enough, became even more tense and stuttered: "Auntie... are you worried that the dessert shop won't make money?"

  She looked at me in surprise and said, "So worrying can actually make money?"

  I was taken aback.

  She smiled softly and patted my head: "I'm teasing you. Actually, for us, experience is the most important thing, isn't it? You're still young, if you like making desserts and have a dream of opening a dessert shop, then be brave and bold to try it out, so that when you're old, you won't regret it. So now the most important thing is for yourself to be happy and satisfied, earning money is secondary, your parents don't lack this bit of living expenses from you, as for me, isn't there still your uncle behind my back being that successful man who supports me?"

  These soft and gentle words are like a thin needle that directly pierces my heart, instantly calming the turbulent stormy waves inside, almost draining the lake water completely. I think if it weren't for my underdeveloped tear glands, I would definitely be a teary-eyed mess right now.

  But in the midst of this emotional process, I couldn't help but worry a bit. What if I don't make any money? What if I lose so much that I won't even have enough to eat? Will my uncle disown me in a fit of rage? But soon I scolded myself in my heart, feeling that once wasn't enough, and continued, "Shame on you! You're supposed to dominate the B City dessert scene! Lose, lose, lose, may you lose big time!"

  The next morning, I followed my aunt and uncle out of the first floor security door, feeling refreshed. Under the camphor tree 100 meters away, I saw my parents, who had just celebrated their 20th "porcelain wedding" not long ago, kissing each other as if no one was around. Although I've been used to seeing this since childhood, my forehead still couldn't help but throb with anger - how shameless can you be? Your daughter is still a good girl!

  In the brain, however, a scene suddenly jumped in - on a moonless night, the stars in the sky were dense and numerous, countless. A girl had her hands propped up on the branches of a Chinese parasol tree, and within the circle formed by her two slender hands was a boy who looked very refined and handsome. The girl smiled with a mischievous grin, but if you looked closely, you would find that inside, there was actually still tension and nervousness buried deep down. A slightly ambiguous voice carried a domineering tone: "He Mochen, since you've already agreed to me, from now on, except for me, no one else can touch you, do you know?" The boy looked at her quietly for a while before nodding his head and saying, "Okay." Before she spoke again, he added in a low voice, "Actually, I used to think that way too."

  I froze for a moment, completely immersed in the thrill of chasing after He Mochen and my disbelief. After hearing his words, I thought he was feeling the same way as me. All my unease was replaced with wild joy, and my thoughts naturally slowed down by several beats. Looking at his handsome eyebrows and eyes, all I could think about was smiling foolishly. Now that I think back, if only I had been a little more clear-headed at the time, I would have noticed the suppressed silence in his tone and the self-mockery visible in his eyes. If so, my later fall wouldn't have been so brutal.

  I shook my head hard, pinched myself fiercely - no, scratched the palm of my hand, ordering myself not to let that man pollute my ugly but beautiful and pure brain, or else I would witness with my own eyes the spectacle of my brains bursting in my lifetime. With a wicked and venomous vow to myself, I turned around and smiled at Auntie's puzzled expression: "Fortunately, my parents don't have a hot-headed son."

  Standing under the huge sign that reads "Desserts Desserts" again, I couldn't help but feel excited and start scratching the wall, this perfect scenery in front of me really makes me feel like a romantic poet with a carefree spirit.

  I still remember when we were naming the dessert shop, everyone was enthusiastically expressing their opinions. My parents, who do foreign trade, said that in this era of worshipping foreigners, to show off our dessert shop's style, we should imitate "Haagen-Dazs" and name it "Dessert Dazs", so it can be popular both domestically and internationally. But I think they were overthinking, desserts are only popular in the store, once they leave the store they become chemical products. Moreover, my aunt's husband thought that no matter how you pronounce this name, it can only bring out a strong American country flavor, which completely doesn't match our shop's modern urban decoration style, so he vetoed it.

  Then he also took a name, called "Love Set Dessert Shop". I know that he and Auntie were originally filming "Love Set Restaurant" in that restaurant, and they fell in love at first sight, second sight, and third sight, and directly went to the Civil Affairs Bureau. However, in Auntie's shy but not timid, wanting to speak but still hesitant smile, although I felt a bit unbearable, I still firmly vetoed this name, because I really didn't want to see the originally fresh and sweet dessert shop become a professional matchmaking venue that was too common.

  The enthusiastic BFFs racked their brains and finally came up with a name that they thought was both trendy and attractive, but before they could even feel proud of themselves, they were shut down by the furious uncle. At first glance, "Beautiful Boss Dessert Shop" and "Beautiful Private Cuisine" seem to have a similar flavor, but only those who have been to "Beautiful Private Cuisine" know that it's actually an 18+ adult store masquerading as a private cuisine restaurant. So I also suspect that the name "Beautiful Boss Dessert Shop" has a hint of false advertising, and who knows, maybe every now and then we'll have diligent anti-vice squads coming in to investigate and interrogate, which would seriously affect our business.

  After a lot of heated discussion, we finally settled on the name "Sweet Treats" which is easy to understand and pronounce. And I was pleasantly surprised to find that I have a knack for naming things, a skill that requires great care and attention to detail. If I ever want to change careers, I can rely on this talent, along with a few best-selling books of the same genre, to make a fortune roaming the world.