None of the customers had realized that the mild spicy hot soup pot base that night wasn’t made by Mag.

  Rena, too, smiled when she watched the customers leave with smiles on their faces. She had a sense of blissfulness that she had never felt before as the satisfaction and reward she received had far exceeded the effort that she had put in.

  “You have done extremely well. I believe you can prop up the whole designated hot pot area all on your own very soon.” Mag gave Rena a thumbs-up.

  “Thank you.” Rena bowed deeply at Mag. She had only expected to be a normal service staff member when she registered herself. She didn’t expect Mag would let her into the kitchen and teach her all about the hot pot. She had never experienced such trust and respect before.

  “I hope that my staff would become even more outstanding so they could share more of my workload. In actuality, I am a selfish person,” Mag said smilingly.

  Rena smiled too. Not every boss would want their employees to become better and get along with them like friends.

  “Oh yes, I didn’t give you a gift on your first day. Open this up only after you get home.” Mag took out a small gift box and gave it to Rena.

  “Is this for me?” Rena received the gift box with an overwhelmed expression.

  Irina, who was playing with Amy behind the counter, threw a concerned look over.

  “This is a custom from my hometown. The boss would give the employees a gift on their first day of work,” Mag said calmly. He could already sense an unusual focus on him.

  “Thank you.” Rena accepted the gift with a smile. This was one of the few gifts that she had ever received.

  “Alright. You had a hard day today. Go back and have a good rest. Come back to the restaurant at 6am tomorrow morning. Don’t come too early. It’s so cold, and I also want to stay in bed longer.”


  “Alright then. Please have an early rest too,” Rena said with an embarrassed blush as she hung the apron up at the side. Then, she left with Miya and the gang who had finished cleaning up the restaurant.

  “What did you give to little Rena?” Irina asked Mag, who was locking up the door, with a smile.

  “I gave her an alarm clock so she wouldn’t be late for work and affect the restaurant’s operations,” Mag said calmly.

  Irina was slightly taken aback, “Then, you’re really such a good boss.”


  “Yes. I have no other choice. The blood of a capitalist has always been black.” Mag sighed. He also thought that he had gone a little overboard by giving his own employee a clock[1].

  ***

  Rena walked quickly through a small alley. The road was a little uneven, but it was fortunate that the moon was out that night, and she could see the road’s condition clearly.

  Although Chaos City was a safe place, there were still criminal activities like robberies and rapes happening in the slums at the north of the city. Hence, nobody would walk in the alleys after dark, let alone a girl walking on her own.

  Rena had a short dagger hidden in her big jacket. Last year, she was dragged into an alley by a drunkard because her boss forced her to work overtime. She only escaped after she knocked him out with a rock with all her might. From then on, she would always grasp a dagger whenever she traveled after dark.

  “Meow~”


  A stray cat jumped across the roof. Rena swiftly leaned against the wall and took the dagger out of her jacket. After making sure that it was only a stray cat, she heaved a breath of relief and continued on her journey home.

  After walking through a long alley, a dimly lit window could be seen in a small house at a distance away. It made Rena’s heart feel safe and calm as if it was a lighthouse.

  “Why is Mother not sleeping again?” Rena grumbled unhappily and hastened her steps. She reached that short house in no time and knocked on the door gently.

  “Come on in, child.” The door quickly opened and Clarince, who was wearing a jacket, swiftly stepped to the side.

  “Mother, I told you to go to bed first and not wait for me,” Rena said to her mother aggrievedly after she went in and shut the cold wind out of the house.

  “I can’t sleep at night, as I have been sleeping in the day. So, I decided to wait for you.” Clarince waved her hand and smiled. She looked all over Rena. “Did you meet any weird people tonight?”


  “No, I only met a cat which gave me a fright.” Rena shook her head, and pushed Clarince into the house. She knew her mother couldn’t sleep, because she was worried for her.

  “Sigh. You can’t be working late every single day. It’s too dangerous to come home so late in the night. Can you ask your boss to allow you to only work in the day? You can take on more workload during the day, and you can come home earlier?” Clarince said worriedly. It had terrified her when she saw her child returned home covered in blood in the previous year.

  “Don’t worry, I have a dagger with me at all times, so nobody can hurt me.” Rena shook her head with a smile. “The dinner service is the busiest time for the restaurant. Furthermore, Boss taught me how to make the red soup base today. The mild spicy hot pot that the customers had today is made by me. They all said it was delicious.”


  Clarince looked into Rena’s glowing eyes, and realized that she really loved this job. She couldn’t help but sigh in her heart. If it weren’t for her, this child wouldn’t have to live in the slums and worry about being followed by bad people whenever she came home late at night.

  Rena helped Clarince to sit down at the bed. She held onto her hand, and said, “Don’t worry, Mother. Boss said he would give me an increment after I passed my probation. Then, we could see a better doctor and move to the city’s south after you recover.”


  “Alright.” Clarince nodded, and lay down on the bed.

  Rena returned to her bedroom after telling her mother briefly what happened in the restaurant today. After she placed an oil lamp next to her bed, she took out that gift box that Mag gave her out of her pocket.

  The gift box was about the size of her palm. It had beautiful purplish-blue flowers drawings, and was tied with a dark blue string ribbon.

  “What a beautiful box.” Rena’s eyes lit up, and she admired the box for quite a while before she remembered the gift was still in the box. She untied the ribbon carefully before removing the cover. A reddish-golden glow shone into Rena’s eyes.

  “This is…… a clock?” Rena stared at the red clock lying in the box with her mouth open wide. It had a red metallic casing, a transparent crystal cover, a clock face that was marked with numbers, and three golden metallic needles of different lengths. The longest one was even moving and making a very soft ticking sound.

  “Why did Boss give me such an expensive thing……” Rena lifted the alarm clock in her hands like a priceless object. She was so afraid to drop it.

  Her previous boss had a clock on her desk. Apparently, she had spent 50,000 copper coins for it, and it was much heavier and uglier than the one that she had in her hands. How much would this clock have cost?

  Rena didn’t dare to imagine it as she quickly replaced the cover and re-tied the string back. She had to return it to the boss tomorrow morning, because she couldn’t accept such an expensive gift.

  Rena discovered a note that dropped onto her bed after she placed the alarm clock down on the bedside table solemnly. She picked it up, and it had a message that was written with a beautiful handwriting.

  “Rena, remember to set an alarm and come to the restaurant at 6am sharp—Mag.”


  [1] In Chinese, saying ‘giving a clock’ (送钟 sòng zhōng) sounds exactly like the Chinese words for ‘attending a funeral ritual’ (送终 sòng zhōng) and thus it is bad luck to gift clocks or watches. On top of that, clocks and watches also symbolize running out of time.