OFTLHFRO C54

Chapter 54: Just For Pastries?

Huo Yan had no objection to Luo Mingchen’s plan to hire help; relying on just the two of them really was a stretch.

And Luo had so many ideas. If he couldn’t put them into practice, it would gnaw at him.

Hearing their two fathers talking, Huo Xiang ran over. Seeing the tray piled high with coins, his eyes went wide. “Little Daddy! You’re amazing!”

“Not really—just exhausted.”

Luo stretched; it was mostly mental fatigue from the constant focus. His body was fine.

At once, Huo Xiang came to knead Luo’s shoulders. “Is this better?”

Luo ruffled his hair with a smile. “Mm, much better.”

Little Yueyue toddled over to thump at his lower back.

By comparison, Huo looked rather lonely on his side.

Teasing, Luo said, “Look at your Daddy—so pitiful.”

Brother and sister traded a glance, then each spared one hand for Huo—though their posture looked awkward.

“…”

Luo couldn’t hold back a laugh. These two were truly adorable.

Just as he was about to get up and close shop, Luo spotted the painter-scholar lingering in the corner, looking hesitant. He asked proactively, “Here to buy pastries?”

He was a shop regular—buying one plain bowl cake a day still made him familiar.

But Luo hadn’t expected that the moment he spoke, the scholar would stride over and drop to his knees, startling him.

Luo backed up half a step. “Are you alright?”

The scholar knocked his head to the floor with a loud thud. “My mother is gravely ill. The doctor said she won’t survive these next two days. I truly have no other way… Please, let me take a pastry on credit. I’ll repay you tenfold.”

Luo had thought he was here to borrow money. “…You’re kneeling just for one pastry?”

“To be frank, my mother is from Liucheng. Years ago, floods displaced her here. She longs most for the taste of home. I’m useless, can’t bring her back—and now I can’t even afford a pastry…”

His voice grew choked. “I know you don’t do credit, but I have no other path.”

His copying gig had been snatched; his paintings maliciously ruined. He’d tried the docks for work, but hunger left him too weak to lift sacks. After a full day, he hadn’t earned even two wen.

“A pastry is a small thing. Stand up first.”

He didn’t seem to be lying. If he was swindling, kneeling and kowtowing for a bowl cake… well, it wouldn’t be much of a loss.

Luo decided to trust him. Since it was true, a pastry was nothing. He grabbed the few bowl cakes saved for Huo Xiang and handed them over. “Take these to your mother. When she’s better, come try something else.”

The sight of the pastries reddened the scholar’s eyes. He kowtowed several times. “Thank you.”

Luo couldn’t bear anyone kneeling to him; he reached out and pulled him up. “Go on—bring these back.”

“Alright.”

The scholar accepted them, then asked, “And the bowl?”

“It’s fine. Return it when you can.”

He thanked them again, solemnly, and left with the pastries.

“He’s so pitiful,” Huo Xiang muttered.

Yuhui sympathized too, but there were pitiful people everywhere. Their own lives had only improved after Little Daddy arrived.

Luo patted his head. “If you know pity, then study and practice calligraphy well. When you’ve earned a degree, our business can last. Otherwise, we’ll be pitiful too.”

Huo Xiang scratched his head, confused. “Why?”

“Because without backing, our shop will be targeted. Last night someone pried the lock. If anyone strange approaches at the academy, don’t follow them. Understand?”

He didn’t want to hide these things. When something happened at home, the children had a right to know.

What if those people, crazed as they were, tried to abduct them?

That said, Luo wasn’t pinning hopes on Xiang passing exams. He just wanted him not to give up so easily when practicing characters.

Yuhui stiffened in alarm. “Little Daddy, who would pry our lock? Shouldn’t we report it?”

“Was anything stolen?” Xiang asked anxiously.

“Nothing—just a mess. There’s nothing of value here anyway. And since nothing valuable was taken, reporting won’t help. As for who did it… we haven’t figured it out. Probably someone jealous of our business, wanting to learn how we make milk tea.”

Luo’s face turned serious as he reminded them, “Be careful around strangers. Come straight home after class, alright?”

“Alright,” the two answered obediently.

After closing, Luo gave the new lock a few extra looks. With a mere wooden door, even the best lock was pointless. Tomorrow, he’d buy a sturdier door.

As for climbing over walls…

It dawned on Luo that being a thief in this world had its perks. No wonder the wealthy bought servants and guards for their homes.

Their house was sizeable, but Luo disliked buying and selling people.

If someone really did scale the wall into their home…

Well, he’d deal with it then.

With a house this large, others wouldn’t easily know whether there were attendants inside.

Early the next morning, Luo was relieved to see the lock still intact.

Then he chuckled at himself.

They’d still have to find that thief. Otherwise, he’d worry about a smashed lock every time he came to open up.

But once things got busy again, he promptly forgot.

In the afternoon, at about the same time as before, Wang Chen appeared again—face mottled with bruises. Looked like, after going home yesterday, Chen Ziqi had “taught him a lesson.”

Wang lingered at the door for a long time. Seeing Luo spot him without calling out, he pressed his lips together, mustered his courage, and finally said, “I saw how busy you were earlier. Could I stay and help out? Just food and board, and pay me whatever you think. I’m very capable.”

When Luo simply looked at him, he dropped to his knees immediately. “Please—I really have nowhere to go…”

Luo frowned. “Isn’t your family alive? If that scum threw you out, you can still walk back to Wangjia Village.”

“I’ve broken with my family,” Wang choked. “Father and Mother told me never to return…”

“Oh? And then? You want my sympathy?”

Luo’s expression went cold. “You brought this entirely on yourself. Breaking with the family who loves you—over a man? Was your brain kicked by a donkey?”

If he’d had a family as good as that, he’d have cherished them.

From the Wang family’s reaction, they clearly knew Wang liked men and didn’t despise him. They had even asked a matchmaker to find someone for him.

After Wang broke with them, they still returned the betrothal gifts on his behalf.

With such a family, it was no exaggeration to say he deserved his current situation. Luo simply couldn’t summon sympathy for him.