After finishing the coffee, Yu Nian changed into his work uniform and joined the ranks of the waitstaff until it was time for the evening break, when he distributed several boxes of pastries he had brought from home to everyone.

These were made by their family’s pastry chef, who graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in France. Although young, the pastry chef was very skilled.

But of course, Yu Nian couldn’t introduce him that way. He casually credited them to his brother.

He gave Xiao Gu a hazelnut butterfly pastry, lying, “This was made by my brother. He aspires to open a dessert shop and loves researching cooking and pastries in his spare time.”

Xiao Gu took a bite, showing a surprised expression. “Wow, your brother’s pastry is so good. I feel like it’s even tastier than the ones in the restaurant.”

Song Yunchun next to her stared at the chocolate in her hand, her expression uncertain.

She couldn’t be sure if what Yu Nian said was true or not.

Could it really be Mr. Pei’s cooking? She felt unworthy to eat the cookies given by Mr. Pei to his brother.

This made her eat nervously, always feeling guilty for enjoying the generous reward given by Yu Xinli.

Yu Nian had no idea how his casual comment had caused such a psychological shadow on Song Yunchun.

He then took out another small box and secretly placed it beside Qi Wang.

“Specifically for you,” Yu Nian’s voice was sweet as he looked at Qi Wang eagerly, “I don’t know what flavors you like, so I picked a few that I usually enjoy.”

Qi Wang looked at him.

Yu Nian rubbed his nose. “Isn’t it… because I promised to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival with you but reneged? Although it’s already a day late, I still have to keep my promise to you.”

Qi Wang chuckled softly.

He noticed a crooked little paw print on the mooncake.

He couldn’t help raising an eyebrow and asking Yu Nian, “Was this made by your brother too?”

Yu Nian hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.

His brother was always so busy; how could he have the time for this?

“It was made by our neighbor aunt,” Yu Nian began fabricating again, when in fact it was made by Aunt Chen, who had always taken care of him. “I also helped. The little dog paw print was made by me.”

He felt quite proud.

Their family’s mooncakes had already been made, but he insisted on trying it himself. Aunt Chen, who always took care of him, immediately made a few more in the kitchen and even gave him a few molds to play with.

Even though they were adults, they still acted like children at home.

Yu Xinli watched them speechlessly, wanting to uphold the family’s reputation, but Pei Zhao held her back. She endured it and pretended not to notice.

Qi Wang didn’t know the whole story, but when he heard that only the little dog paw print was made by him, he couldn’t help but mockingly laugh.

Yu Nian immediately felt aggrieved. He bared his teeth and said, “What’s wrong? I made it myself. If you don’t appreciate it, give it back.”

The smile at the corner of Qi Wang’s mouth widened a little more, but he didn’t argue with Yu Nian.

He quickly finished the small mooncake, commenting, “Not bad. The little dog paw print is cute.”

Yu Nian couldn’t help but smile again.

The two of them squeezed into a corner, as if whispering secrets, but the others in the shop didn’t miss their interaction.

Xiao Gu tugged at Yu Nian’s sleeve and asked, “So you went home suddenly yesterday?”

“Yeah,” Yu Nian replied nonchalantly, “went home for dinner.”

Xiao Gu breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, that’s why. I was wondering why you left early all of a sudden.”

She looked at Yu Nian resentfully.

Previously, Yu Nian rarely mentioned anything about his family, so Xiao Gu thought he might have some sad family matters and didn’t dare to bring it up. But now, it turned out he quietly went home for the festival.

But this was still better than actually being estranged from his family.

Xiao Gu packed up her things and casually said, “Having older siblings is nice. I’m the only child in my family. My parents have been away on business recently, so there was no one to accompany me yesterday. It was Chu Hejun who went shopping with me.”

Chu Hejun was looking at his phone and was caught off guard by the cue, raising his head in confusion and saying, “Huh?”

Xiao Gu looked at him amusingly and threw her bag into his hands.

“What ‘huh’? Later, accompany me to pick up the dress we ordered last night.”

Chu Hejun was stunned for a moment, then nodded obediently and agreed, dutifully holding Xiao Gu’s bag.

Yu Nian watched their interaction with a subtle expression on his face.

He couldn’t help but feel… Xiao Gu and Chu Hejun’s relationship seemed a bit off.

He nudged Qi Wang next to him, with a curious and mischievous spirit, gossiping.

“You see those two…”

Qi Wang didn’t understand at first, but following Yu Nian’s gaze, he looked over and saw Xiao Gu glaring at Chu Hejun with a mix of resentment and amusement, then leaning over to look at Chu Hejun’s phone, saying something.

The two of them were very close, with Xiao Gu’s hair almost brushing against Chu Hejun’s chin.

Chu Hejun seemed embarrassed, shifting his body slightly. His expression was shy, but his gaze remained glued to Xiao Gu.

Qi Wang subtly raised an eyebrow, also catching on.

He lowered his head and exchanged a glance with Yu Nian.

Yu Nian subconsciously leaned back a bit, leaning against Qi Wang’s body.

“That’s nice,” Yu Nian sighed, feeling a bit envious. He whispered to Qi Wang, “Do you think they’ve realized it themselves, or have these two already made a move without telling us…”

He was afraid Xiao Gu and the others would overhear, so he spoke close to Qi Wang’s ear, deliberately lowering his voice.

Qi Wang’s ear felt ticklish from the warmth of his breath as he spoke.

“I don’t know,” he answered truthfully. “They’ve always had a good relationship, so it’s hard to tell.”

“Ah, that’s so annoying…”

Song Yunchun was sitting nearby and could vaguely hear the conversation between the two. She took a sip of her flower tea and looked at Qi Wang and Yu Nian, who were leaning against each other, feeling very puzzled.

She thought to herself, they’re talking about others, but look at the two of them. Their posture is much more ambiguous than Xiao Gu and Chu Hejun’s.

She shook her head. Although she complained in her heart, she didn’t take it seriously.

She had no idea that Yu Nian was gay; it wasn’t in the information given by Yu Xinli and Pei Zhao. So she generously assumed the two were just good buddies.

But that didn’t stop her from silently enjoying the spectacle for a while, shamelessly indulging in the gossip about the staff’s relationships, which was quite sweet.

…

The break ended, and several staff members had already left, leaving only a few to attend to the last few scattered customers and start cleaning.

Qi Wang was also tidying up the counter, while Yu Nian had nothing to do and was standing on the side drinking hot milk with froth on top.

Song Yunchun was also preparing to leave, but before leaving, she remembered something and stepped back a few steps.

She called out to Qi Wang.

“Qi Wang, about the hand-drawn posters I mentioned to you today, remember to give them to me in a couple of days. I’ve sent the menu to your email. Remember, it’s Halloween-themed.”

Yu Nian curiously turned his head. “What hand-drawn posters?”

Song Yunchun explained to him, “Isn’t Halloween coming soon? We’re planning some activities in the shop, and we also need to put up two hand-drawn posters outside the door. I asked Qi Wang to do them.”

Yu Nian listened somewhat bewildered.

He then turned his head to look at Qi Wang, his eyes a bit skeptical.

“Qi Wang… can he do it?”

It’s not that he was undermining Qi Wang’s abilities, but he had never seen Qi Wang dealing with anything related to art and design.

He understood Song Yunchun’s consideration as a boss for cost-effectiveness, but she couldn’t just force it on someone who might not have the skill.

He worried, “Shouldn’t we find someone who specializes in art design, or let a professional handle it?”

Song Yunchun chuckled.

She picked up her coat and hung it on her arm. “Who told you Qi Wang couldn’t do it?”

She pointed to the wall on the left side of the restaurant. “Haven’t you noticed? That’s Qi Wang’s work.”

Yu Nian’s eyes widened in disbelief, and he quickly turned his head.

Indeed, there was a landscape painting hanging on the wall of the restaurant.

It depicted a sparkling sea, with a deep and heavy tone dominated by shades of dark blue, interspersed with faint touches of brightness.

Yu Nian had noticed this painting when he first arrived and had even stopped to admire it.

Having been exposed to art for so many years, aside from piano lessons, his family had also hired a painting teacher for him since he was young. Although he wouldn’t say he had exceptional talent in painting, he had developed a basic sense of aesthetic taste.

This painting exuded a silent explosiveness.

The colors were vibrant and rich, intertwining to create a deep and ethereal atmosphere.

The skill in painting far surpassed his, and it exuded vitality.

However, he consoled himself that the important thing in design was the inspiration and creativity for clothing, and a little deficiency in painting didn’t matter.

He had always thought that this painting was specially purchased by Song Yunchun.

But now, Song Yunchun told him that Qi Wang painted it.

He stared at Qi Wang as if seeing a ghost.

Qi Wang raised his eyelids and glanced at him lightly. “Is something wrong?”

Yu Nian was full of shock but didn’t know where to start, so he could only shake his head silently.

Seeing the expression on Yu Nian’s face, Song Yunchun couldn’t help but tease him directly.

She put on her gloves, preparing to leave, and said to Yu Nian, “Qi Wang knows a lot of things. He used to have excellent grades. If you ask him nicely, he might even tutor you.”

She was joking, of course.

But when Qi Wang glanced at her, she immediately realized that she had misspoken, and she awkwardly grinned, silently expressing her apology. She didn’t say anything further, grabbed her bag, and prepared to leave.

“You two, remember to lock the door later. I’m leaving first.”

In the restaurant, only Qi Wang and Yu Nian were left. Without Song Yunchun’s chatter, the lively and somewhat crowded restaurant suddenly became deserted.

Qi Wang put all the cups into the storage cabinet, checked the doors, windows, and utilities, and then picked up his coat and scarf. He said to Yu Nian, “Let’s go.”

Outside the restaurant, Qi Wang didn’t ride his motorcycle that day because it had some problems and needed two days to be repaired.

He saw Yu Nian shivering as soon as they stepped out of the restaurant, so he wrapped his scarf around his neck.

“You go home first. I need to buy some things.”

But Yu Nian didn’t agree. He grabbed the hem of Qi Wang’s clothes. “What do you need to buy?”

“Paints and drawing paper,” Qi Wang explained. “I’m running out at home. I need them to draw the posters later, and what I have isn’t enough.”

Yu Nian suddenly became enthusiastic. “Then I’ll go with you.”

Qi Wang hesitated when he saw Yu Nian’s pale face and thin shirt.

But before he could say anything, Yu Nian took a step forward and directly slipped into his long coat, hugging his waist.

He acted spoiled skillfully.

Qi Wang was speechless. He sighed and said, “Fine, you can come along.”