Chapter 2857

Cheng Jin nodded with a smile. "Alright, Uncle Ma. I don’t have any special skills, but since we have time, I’ll make some Longjing meat pies."

She glanced outside. It was just past six, and no customers had arrived yet. Not wanting to idle, she decided to keep busy.

"Go ahead and try," Uncle Ma said with a grin. "But remember, the kitchen is Uncle Bai’s domain. Make sure to greet him."

"Okay." Cheng Jin agreed and headed to the back kitchen.

Uncle Bai had no objection to her making pastries but assigned her a small space. "This counter is for your pastries. You cannot use the others."

"Understood." Cheng Jin nodded.

"If you need ingredients, tell me in advance. That’s all," Uncle Bai said seriously.

"Got it." Cheng Jin didn’t mind. The kitchen was Uncle Bai’s territory, and it was only fair that she had some restrictions as an outsider.

Cheng Jin took some Longjing tea leaves and roasted them in a small pot until crisp. She then crushed them into powder with a pestle, sifted them through a fine mesh, and mixed the resulting tea powder into flour to make dough, letting it rest for half an hour.

While the dough rested, she prepared the filling—minced meat mixed with soaked Longjing tea leaves.

Once the dough was ready, she kneaded the tea powder into it, shaped the dough into small meat pies, and molded each one into the shape of a plum blossom. They looked exquisite.

She baked them in the oven for forty minutes. When she took them out, the pies had turned a lovely green.

To finish, she added a dot of lemon or tomato sauce in the center of each pie, creating the look of red or yellow flower stamens.

Satisfied with the result, she took one out.

"Uncle Bai, please taste this," Cheng Jin said, handing him a pie.

Uncle Bai accepted it without hesitation. He took a bite and nodded slightly. "Xiao Cheng, the texture is excellent. It has a distinct tea aroma. It’s good enough to serve. Go let Uncle Ma taste it."

Cheng Jin didn’t refuse. She took a pie to Uncle Ma. After tasting it, she said immediately, "I’ll take this to the boss." Then she left.

Cheng Jin raised an eyebrow but didn’t follow him.

Uncle Ma placed the pie in front of Qian Huansheng. "Boss, this is the Longjing meat pie made by Xiao Cheng. Please taste it. If it’s good, we can add it as a special item tonight."

Qian Huansheng looked at the green, plum-blossom-shaped pies. They were small, about two bites each.

She picked one up and took a bite.

The crust was crispy, and the meat inside was juicy but not greasy. The faint tea aroma perfectly balanced the richness of the meat.

Qian Huansheng nodded slightly. "Let’s add it as a special today. Tell Xiao Cheng that if she has good ideas in the future, she can use them. As long as they pass my taste test, she can introduce a daily special, and her monthly salary will be increased."

"Okay." Uncle Ma smiled and agreed. Then he added, "Boss, since tonight is Xiao Cheng’s first day, do you think she’ll be scared stiff?"

Qian Huansheng glanced at Uncle Ma and said slowly, "I don’t know. But normal people usually can’t accept such an environment."

"Xiao Cheng looks like a normal person, but would a normal person see our recruitment ad?" Uncle Ma snorted.

"Alright, get out. Keep an eye on things. I don’t want news spreading in the Yanluo Realm that a waiter at my Fated Coffee Shop fainted from fear," Qian Huansheng said.

Uncle Ma chuckled and left.

"Xiao Cheng, the boss said your pastry will be our special item. Of course, any new products must be tasted by the boss before they can be sold," Uncle Ma said with a smile when he returned.

"Okay." Cheng Jin had no problem with this. It was someone else’s coffee shop, after all. Besides, she wasn’t a professional pastry chef; she just made them because she liked to.

Cheng Jin hadn’t made many—only about twenty pies. After everyone tasted them, fewer than twenty remained.

Uncle Ma thought for a moment and said, "We’ll sell these pies individually. Twenty yuan each."

"(⊙o⊙)…" Cheng Jin looked at Uncle Ma. "Uncle Ma, isn’t that price a bit high?"

Uncle Ma raised an eyebrow. "It’s a new product. Besides, this is a coffee shop. Other coffee shops charge for a cup of hot water."

Well, Cheng Jin stayed silent. Although she disagreed slightly—after all, which coffee shop also served late-night snacks like noodles and fried rice?—she didn’t argue.

Cheng Jin expected that even if nine o’clock was the peak hour, some customers would arrive after seven.

However, strangely, although Shendong Road was a busy street with many passersby, not a single customer entered.

The music was soothing, and the layout was nice.

Just as Cheng Jin was wondering, the clock struck nine.

As soon as it passed nine, the coffee shop door opened. An elderly couple entered first and sat down at a random table.

Cheng Jin approached with the order pad. "Sir, Madam, what would you like to order?"

"Two bowls of wontons, with extra chili," the elderly man said.

"Okay." Ordering wontons at a coffee shop was unusual, but Cheng Jin didn’t comment. She simply sent the order to the kitchen.

Next, a group of young men entered, about four or five of them. They took a larger table.

Cheng Jin went over, and they ordered beer and one Longjing meat pie each.

As batch after batch of customers entered, the Fated Coffee Shop seemed to become busy.

Cheng Jin enjoyed these busy days.

She noticed that the later it got, the more customers arrived, especially after midnight.

Moreover, these customers had a distinct feature: their complexions seemed a bit pale, but their spirits looked fine.

Around twelve-thirty, a customer entered. He didn’t sit down but walked straight to Uncle Ma.

Uncle Ma looked at him and said calmly, "Smuggled in?"

The man, seeing through his disguise, flashed a hint of malice in his eyes.

"Bold of you to cause trouble at our Fated Coffee Shop. Get out," Uncle Ma said, waving his hand. Instantly, the man dissipated.

Cheng Jin, who had just finished cleaning nearby, saw this and was slightly stunned.

What was going on? She silently turned to look at Uncle Ma.

"Uncle Ma…" Cheng Jin didn’t know how to start.

Uncle Ma didn’t hide anything. "Every night, some wandering souls come here. They eat their last meal with us, and then, upon leaving the coffee shop, they enter the Yanluo Realm. Whether they reincarnate or become part of the Yanluo Realm’s landscape depends on their karmic merit."

"Ah~" Cheng Jin thought Uncle Ma might be joking because it was midnight.

Uncle Ma saw her expression and knew she didn’t believe her. "You can’t see their tragic deaths because of the work badge I gave you."

Cheng Jin looked at Uncle Ma skeptically. She knew there were things in this world that science couldn’t explain, but Uncle Ma’s words seemed a bit exaggerated.

Seeing her half-believing, half-doubting look, but no sign of fear, Uncle Ma was somewhat satisfied. "If you don’t believe me, take off your work badge from your chest, and you’ll see how they died."

Cheng Jin thought about it and took off the badge she wore on her chest. Sure enough, she saw that the people in front of her all had dead-fish eyes. Some had iron-blue faces, some had blood on their faces, and a few had faces so disfigured they were unrecognizable.

Cheng Jin was bold, but this still startled her. "Didn’t you say ghosts can’t be seen?"

"Our coffee shop is a resting transit station. Look at the flower in the center of the hall," Uncle Ma said, pointing to the middle of the room.

In the center of the hall, on a tea table, sat a flower pot. The plant was no more than a foot tall, but it was a red spider lily, and it was in bloom.

"That flower is a red spider lily. I’ve seen pictures of it," Cheng Jin said.

"This red spider lily isn’t the ornamental kind grown in the human world. It’s from the banks of the Yellow Springs in the Yanluo Realm. It guides the souls of the dead," Uncle Ma said with a smile.

"So, because of this flower, we can see these ghosts. But what if people outside find out?" Cheng Jin’s concern seemed different from what Uncle Ma was saying. "Won’t that scare people?"

Uncle Ma was stunned for a moment, then laughed heartily. "Xiao Cheng, no wonder you came to our Fated Coffee Shop. It makes sense."

Then Uncle Ma said, "Why haven’t people outside noticed? Take off your work card and look out the door. You’ll know the truth."

Curious, Cheng Jin walked to the door.

Although it was midnight, there were still people on the street, but no one paid attention to the shop. It seemed to have become a place ignored by everyone.

Cheng Jin shook her head, went outside, and looked through the window.

She saw the warm lights inside, but there were no customers.

So that was it. It wasn’t that people outside didn’t notice the abnormalities; it was that no one could see what was inside.

Cheng Jin suddenly understood. She went back inside and put her work badge back on.

Uncle Ma looked at her, curious. "Aren’t you afraid?"

"If I discover something like this, will the boss deduct my salary?" Cheng Jin asked.

"How could that be? The fact that you could see our recruitment flyer means you’re different from normal people. That’s why you can work here. How could we deduct your salary for doing your normal job?" Uncle Ma thought Cheng Jin was joking.