Chapter 331 Accident
"Human beings." A fellow clerk suddenly exclaimed.
Lu Lixuan and the store manager were busy with their work and no one responded to her words.
"Humans are hopelessly fickle creatures," sighed a fellow shop assistant.
The store manager, who was preparing ingredients, responded to his colleague's life experience without hesitation: "Now is the time for our new product launch. Is it interesting to make such a meaningless comment? Customers are waiting outside the counter."
My colleague shrank his neck and said, "I'm just curious, how long will our new product be popular?"
"No matter how long the popularity lasts, customers are king," said the store manager. "Don't waste Xiao Lu's hard work."
While the store manager was talking, a long queue formed in front of the cash register. Not long ago, such a large queue belonged to the first snow of the New Glen opposite. After her colleague Lv Lixuan developed another new product, the queue flew back like a swarm of bees smelling nectar.
Ever since the milk tea war broke out on this street, customers have been swinging back and forth like a pendulum, swinging left and right at the frequency of new products released by both sides.
Now it is Xiao Meng Tao Tea House's turn. Lv Lixuan's newly developed new product is having a great success in the first few days. At this moment, there is an internet celebrity anchor outside holding a selfie stick and muttering about this new product. Judging from the smile on the anchor's face, Lv Lixuan's new product has received rave reviews again. Before the internet celebrity anchor left, a colleague heard his last words, "I wonder what new products will be released by New Glen Chuxue across the street? Let's wait and see in the future~!"
Curly, too curly! ! My colleague couldn't help but say this popular term in his mind.
She looked up at the first snow of the New Glen store not far away. With the impact of the new product of Xiao Mengtao, the customers at the store entrance seemed a little sparse. There was no doubt that the talented store manager Zhu would fight back soon.
Fortunately, our little Lu is a genius, so he can fight back and forth like this. To be honest, she is really looking forward to Manager Zhu's counterattack. After the fierce milk tea war in recent days, her colleagues have unknowingly regarded Lu Lixuan as an extremely awesome genius, and she herself has become a milk tea tasting expert. Whether it is her own little cute peach or the rival New Gran First Snow, every time she tastes a new product, she has a lot of insights. Now, she is full of excitement and curiosity about the upcoming future challenges.
Come on, Manager Zhu!
…
…
Lv Lixuan skillfully made milk foam, sprinkled chocolate powder carefully, and then covered the cup with the lid and handed it to the handsome middle school student in front of him - his most loyal customer. The middle school boy took the milk tea with a blank expression as usual and turned away.
Every time he saw this middle school student, Lv Lixuan would feel relieved. This meant that his finished product was recognized, which meant that the possibility of Zeng Liangcai contacting him after his return was greatly increased.
He glanced across. He had no fear of New Gran's first snow's next move. He had already started to think about the next new product in his mind.
Not long ago, Zhu Xiaojing came over, and she commented on his new milk tea like she did the last few times. Listening to her serious and endless talk, Lv Lixuan seemed to hear something else through her voice, that is, the unpredictable and profound way of deliciousness, which was transformed into words through her taste. While comprehending it, it was as if he had boarded a train to the vast universe of beverages.
At that moment, Lu Lixuan felt that his brain was secreting a substance similar to human dopamine, and he began to feel a sense of joy of being understood.
He lowered his head and poured out some crushed ice.
As usual, her new counterattack product will arrive today or tomorrow, so he can't relax.
…
…
A day later, New Glen’s first snowfall did not bring any new products.
Two days later, New Glen’s first snow still hadn’t produced any new products.
On the third day, the first snow in New Glen closed the store.
…
…
"Have you heard?"
"What's wrong?"
A fellow clerk said, "Something happened to the proprietress of New Glen's First Snow!!"
"What did you say? What happened?" the store manager asked in surprise.
"Her daughter is missing!!"
Lu Lixuan put down the measuring cup in his hand and turned to look at his colleague, the shop assistant.
"That Xiaonan is missing!"
Manager Zhu's daughter suddenly disappeared.
The people nearby were talking about it for a while, but no one could tell what was going on.
When the store closed in the evening, Lv Lixuan was using a hose to wash the floor, and a pair of feet appeared beside the puddle. He looked up and saw Zhu Xiaojing. He didn't recognize her for a moment. She stood in the dim night light, her usually neat short hair looking messy, and her face reminded him of several girls who were temporarily detained at the police station, those listless and pale drug addicts.
"I've been looking for her for a long time, but I can't find her anywhere." She seemed to be talking to him, but also to the empty air beside him, "She's gone."
A fellow clerk helped Zhu Xiaojing, whose steps were unsteady, into the store. She sat at a small table in a daze, her eyes wandering around the room, as if the little girl was hiding behind a box in the store.
"Xiao Nan has always been very well behaved—" she said, "She said she had finished her homework. I was busy with the business in the store at the time, so I asked her to sit in the back and watch cartoons on the tablet. I remember she was still there at the time. There was a takeout order for 18 cups, and I was busy making milk tea. When the order was ready, I looked back and she was no longer there. I thought she was playing at the door as usual, it was always like this. I didn't pay attention to it at the time..."
A fellow clerk handed her a napkin, and she took it and wiped her eyes. "The result is that she disappeared. I couldn't find her anywhere. The surveillance showed that she was still at the door of the store at 7 o'clock that day, and disappeared at 7:05." Her voice became extremely sour and her eyes stared at the ground motionlessly.
She had already called the police, walked all over the street, and posted missing person notices everywhere . All she could do next was to wait for the police to investigate.
After finishing her narration, she sat in the store with a pale face, quietly listening to the comfort of the store manager and colleagues. Lv Lixuan didn't know what he should say. He turned around and continued to clean in silence.
Zhu Xiaojing at this moment was completely different from the Zhu Xiaojing he knew in the past. She looked like a fragile leaf, curled up in her seat. He could see the purple capillaries under her eyes.
After a while, Zhu Xiaojing left.
The next day, Officer Zhao Anliang showed up at the store.
"It's you, Lu Lixuan." He called out his name, and this time he was no longer as angry as he was every time they met.
Afterwards, Zhao Anliang explained his purpose. Regarding the disappearance of Zhu Xiaojing's daughter, through investigating the surrounding surveillance, the police found that Xiaonan had briefly stayed near Xiaomeng Tao Tea House before she finally disappeared.
"Please tell me what you know about Xiaonan before she disappeared." Just like in the TV series, Officer Zhao made the request.
"That little girl has been here?" The store manager was surprised.
"She comes here often." said Lu Lixuan.
"What? I'm in the store every day, how come I don't know?"
Lu Lixuan explained: "Because she is very small and short, not even as tall as the counter, it is difficult to see her from the inside out."
Zhao Anliang asked, "What are you doing here, little girl?"
"make faces."
"ah?"
"Make faces at me."
Her hands were small. Lv Lixuan suspected that her hands were only about one-third the size of his own. She often appeared outside the counter on tiptoe, opened her mouth and made a very strange expression. Lv Lixuan didn't understand the meaning of her action. Sometimes he looked at her with interest. The little girl seemed to be encouraged and made more ridiculous expressions.
After Lv Lixuan's analysis, considering the competitive relationship between the two families, she might have felt that her ridiculous actions would interfere with Lv Lixuan's work, thereby reducing the quality of the milk tea, so that her mother could win. Lv Lixuan did not comment on the little girl's disturbing behavior. Sometimes when he was free, he would take out a small paper cup, mix a cup, and hand it to the little girl when no one was paying attention.
"Hmph! It's useless to bribe me!" Xiaonan said, but her little hand tightly grasped the cup and she began to gulp down the drink. Then she would inevitably say, "It tastes bad, not as good as the one my mom makes."
"I will make milk tea that you will find delicious in the future."
"This is impossible!" Xiaonan would drink up all the milk tea in the small paper cup. Sometimes her nose and mouth would be stained with milk tea, and her face looked like a little cat.
Now she is gone.
It was like a gust of wind blowing by, disappearing without a trace.
Lu Lixuan didn't remember whether she appeared under the counter that day. There were too many customers that day, and he was busy making milk tea, and didn't pay any attention to the small shadow next to the counter. He told Zhao Anliang the truth.
Zhao Anliang frowned, he knew that the clues the police had found were probably limited.
As he left, he patted him on the shoulder and said, "I heard you're doing a great job in this store. It's great, keep it up."
"Officer Zhao." Lu Lixuan called out to him.
"Um?"
"Manager Zhu's daughter, Xiaonan," he said, "can she be found?"
"We will try our best." Zhao Anliang lowered his eyes and said it again, as if he was talking to Lu Lixuan or to himself, "We will definitely try our best."
The police left.
The disappearance of the daughter of the manager of New Gran's Hatsuyuki was like throwing a small stone into a pond, which only caused slight ripples and then returned to calm. For the people on this street, it was as if nothing had happened except that it gave them more things to talk about.
The line of customers outside Xiaomeng Tao Tea House was so long that it was impossible to get through.
That day, when Lv Lixuan was pouring the brewed tea, he heard the customers outside the counter talking about "the shop opposite has not been open for several days" and "who would want to open a shop after losing their daughter?"
"Well, that's true." A customer raised his voice, "Look, when we mention the devil, here comes the boss lady."
"It's really her."
" It's only a few days and I've lost so much weight."
“It’s so tragic.”
Lu Lixuan raised his eyes and saw Zhu Xiaojing walking towards her store. She walked to the front of the store and bent down to pull the anti-theft roller shutter door outside. Before she could stand up, her body suddenly tilted to one side, and then she collapsed limply to the ground.
He saw the whole process clearly.
"Someone come! The boss lady fainted!!"
" Hurry up and save them!!!"
People rushed over shouting.
When Lv Lixuan ran to the store entrance, Zhu Xiaojing was already surrounded by enthusiastic people. Someone called an ambulance.
The store manager came to Lu Lixuan's side and said, "Alas, her life is so miserable."
A fellow shop assistant said, “I never thought that this milk tea competition would end like this.” She whispered, “I’m really not happy .”
Lu Lixuan said nothing and turned back into the store.
