It had taken Joy some time before he recovered from the seasonal flu. He had been whimpering for days before recovering his energy.

  Joy was the apple of Duan Yarong’s eyes. When his small, round face became thinner, her heart hurt, and she ordered the servants in the kitchen to prepare a variety of good food for him every day.

  A child who had fallen sick was particularly fragile. Joy had been sticking close to Zhao Youlin these days as if he had been glued to her. As such, Zhao Youlin could not free herself to handle other matters.

  So, Zhao Youlin was relieved when Joy recovered from the flu. She could finally spend some time on the newly opened outlet.

  Luckily, the outlet was still under renovation during the period of time. The workers had not received the money, and they naturally dared not simply cut corners.

  What would happen if Zhao Youlin was discontent with them? They might not be able to receive their pay. Therefore, nothing big happened during Zhao Youlin’s absence in that period.

  After about a month of renovation, Zhao Youlin’s outlet was finally completed. The name of the outlet was decided early on by adopting one word each from Zhao Youlin and Joy’s name, Mu Sichen, where they shared a homonym — You Chen Cake Shop.

  Although it sounded a little tacky, Joy liked it very much.

  After that, Zhao Youlin put up a job opening advertisement for two bakers and that afternoon, two applicants came to her outlet.

  “Are you here for the job?” When she looked at the two girls who were about her age, Zhao Youlin hesitated a little, which was a rare sight.

  No wonder Zhao Youlin was caught by surprise. The two girls before her were truly very young and formed a big contrast from what she had imagined being middle-aged, burly men.

  The two girls locked gazes with each other. Then, the girl who looked slightly older than the other took the lead and asked, “May I ask if you’re looking for someone to make bread?”


  Zhao Youlin nodded. The girl looked delighted and said with a faint smile, “Great. We’re here to apply for the job.”


  Zhao Youlin withdrew her surprised expression when she realized the two girls did not seem like they were joking around. She opened the door and let them in.

  Zhao Youlin poured two glasses of water for them. She put on a gentle smile and said, “First of all, allow me to introduce myself. I am Ms. Zhao, and I’m the manager of this outlet. You can call me Big Sister Zhao. How about you guys? What should I call you?”


  The girl who looked slightly older smiled and said enthusiastically, “Big Sister Zhao, I’m An Qi. She’s my sister, An Yue.”


  Zhao Youlin looked in the direction where An Qi pointed. When she saw the younger baby-faced girl, she smiled faintly and said, “Nice to meet you.”


  The young girl was obviously a little nervous. She turned red and stammered, “B-B-Big Sister Zhao, nice to meet you too. I-I’m… An Yue. You can just call me Yue Yue.”


  Zhao Youlin froze. She stared at Yue Yue’s bright eyes because they were just like Joy’s, and she unwittingly spoke in a lighter tone, “Okay, I’ll call you Yue Yue, then.”


  After they exchanged pleasantries, Zhao Youlin did not beat around the bush and went straight to the point. She said, “Let’s talk about the job application. The situation is as such, I’m going to start a pastry shop. Renovations have just been completed for this outlet, and we’re short of staff. I cannot do everything on my own. In fact, I don’t have any skills in making bread. So, I would like to hire two staff for a start. What are you two good at? Bread or pastries?”


  This time, An Qi was the first to speak, “I’m skilled at making bread. Yue Yue is good at making pastries.

  “Oh, I see.” Zhao Youlin thought about it. Neither did she say yes nor no.

  The siblings inexplicably grew nervous toward her response, especially the younger one, An Yue.

  Zhao Youlin thought about it for some time, then she raised her head and saw An Yue’s uneasy appearance, as if she had something to say. Seeing that An Yue’s eyes were similar to Joy’s, Zhao Youlin took the initiative and asked, “Yue Yue, do you have anything to say?”


  An Yue was caught by surprise after being called all of a sudden. Her hands had been placed on top of her thighs, and now, she instinctively clenched them together. She asked faintly, “D-Do… you need a certificate for your job recruitment?”


  “A certificate?” Zhao Youlin quirked her eyebrows.

  An Yue nodded. She remembered Zhao Youlin did not know how to make pastries and so, she added, “A pastry chef’s certificate.”


  After An Yue finished asking, aside from her, even An Qi also grew nervous. In fact, they had tried several pastry shops before this. However, they did not have any certificate and so, no one was willing to hire them.

  Zhao Youlin paused for a moment before she asked, “You don’t have any certificates?”


  The siblings hesitated and nodded cautiously, fearing that Zhao Youlin’s next words would be to ask them to leave.

  “So, where did you learn to make pastries?”


  An Qi pondered over her words before she answered truthfully, “Yue Yue and I are orphans. We don’t have the money to attend formal training, nor did we have the money to get certified. We learned how to make pastries when we worked in restaurants and picked up some skills from the bakers when we helped out in bakery shops.”


  “So, that’s how it is.” Zhao Youlin thought for a moment, then she swept her gaze across the two who were sitting still. “You guys should know that in the aspect of catering, what matters most is the taste of the food that you make. If you don’t mind, could you please bake something for me to try? The kitchen is at the back and hasn’t been used before. It’s very clean.”


  The siblings heaved a sigh of relief unanimously when Zhao Youlin did not immediately kick them out and instead, she wanted them to show their skills. At least Zhao Youlin was unlike the owners of the other outlets whom they had visited before this where they were rejected outright as soon as the owners found out that they did not have the certificates. They did not even give them a chance to prove themselves.

  Just as Zhao Youlin mentioned, the back of the outlet was connected to a decently sized kitchen.

  Bread could be sold at a high price with a low cost. So, it could earn a high profit. Instead of getting them from another place to sell and earn a meager income, she might as well produce them on her own and sell them.

  “You don’t have to make something too complicated. I just want to taste it.” Zhao Youlin led the two into a small kitchen. She was worried that the two girls were very nervous and so, she added that sentence.

  An Qi and her sister nodded. Their eyes sparkled when they saw the kitchen which was about the same size as other kitchens. It was equipped with a variety of brand-new tools. Without further ado, they put on the kitchen attire and started to get busy.

  The splashing sound of water and clacking sound of pots as well as the muffled sound of dough hitting the board added a touch of life to this kitchen that had been left unused for a long time.

  Zhao Youlin crossed her arms and stood at a corner. Although she was not an expert in this profession and naturally could not identify any skills used, she could see some of the basics.

  For instance, judging from the two girls’ smiling faces, she could see that they truly liked to make bread and did not just treat it as a survival skill.