Lesson 31: A Bitter Cup of Mandheling and an Unexpected Reunion

Just a few days ago, Jian Huaifeng finally got a reply to one of the job applications he had sent out. It was from a cafe one street away from school.

School was about to start. If he wanted to work a full month, he would have to juggle school and a part-time job. This location suited him perfectly.

The boss was a middle-aged man with a full beard and hair tied into a bun, not too long or short. His voice was low and had a mature-man quality.

During the interview, he frowned the whole time and asked in a doubtful voice, “Not eighteen yet? Let me see your ID.”

Jian Huaifeng could not produce an ID, but he did produce ten thousand percent sincerity. “I really need this job. Please!”

After saying that, he bowed at a perfect ninety degrees. The boss jumped back on reflex and nearly got his chin knocked by Jian Huaifeng’s head. “What are you getting so worked up for? Are you acting in a Japanese drama?”

Jian Huaifeng pressed his lips together in embarrassment. “So can I stay?”

The boss pulled out a cigarette and put it between his lips. He looked Jian Huaifeng up and down, then said deliberately, “Coming out to work before you’re eighteen means you need some skill. Do you have any talent you can show me? I’ll consider it.”

Jian Huaifeng had no interview experience in this life or his last. If the boss said so, there had to be a reason. He seriously began thinking about what impressive talent he had.

After thinking for a long while, he had an idea. “I can whistle.”

The boss nearly dropped his cigarette. Before he could stop him, Jian Huaifeng had already pursed his lips and started whistling.

He was not just making random noise. Soon it became clear there was a tune. If you listened closely, it was “The Sun Also Rises,” and he was pretty good.

The boss listened for a while. Then he noticed that the kid was standing properly in front of him, cheeks puffed out, lips pursed, whistling with full concentration. It was somehow endearing. He could not help laughing.

The whistling stopped at once. Jian Huaifeng drooped his brows. “Was it bad?”

The boss tried hard not to laugh. “No. It’s the most interesting talent show I’ve ever seen.”

And just like that, Jian Huaifeng stayed on at the cafe. The boss’s surname was Liang, and he told Jian Huaifeng to just call him Brother Liang.

Brother Liang rarely stayed in the cafe. After assigning him tasks, he would vanish.

The first few days were spent learning how to select coffee beans and use the espresso machine. Jian Huaifeng picked it up fast. He could basically make everything on the menu himself.

Wei Shulan’s birthday party was on Saturday. Jian Huaifeng had not been scheduled to work, but he knew the party was really meant to announce Jian Sulin’s identity to the public. It was a recognition banquet for Jian Sulin.

Jian Huaifeng knew better than to show up and spoil it, so he swapped shifts with another employee.

He thought he would have some peace, but then the doorbell rang. The cafe door was pushed open, and Zhao Jun, Li Qiming, and a few others swaggered in.

They started looking around as soon as they entered, as if searching for someone. When they spotted Jian Huaifeng, they smiled mockingly and walked past him to find seats.

Jian Huaifeng’s head started to ache.

He was about to turn away when Li Qiming’s voice came from behind. “Where’s the waiter? You see customers come in and sit down, but you don’t know to come greet them?”

Jian Huaifeng sighed and turned back to hand him a menu.

Li Qiming took the menu but did not look at it. Instead he put on a very surprised expression. “Oh my, my eyesight is terrible. I didn’t even notice when I came in. Isn’t this the third young master of the Jian family? What are you doing here? Why are you dressed like a waiter?”

Zhao Jun covered his face. His original intention had been to follow along and see what Jian Huaifeng was up to. He had not expected Li Qiming to be so unable to hold back and openly come over to cause trouble. If he had known, he would not have come.

Jian Huaifeng pretended not to understand the mockery behind his words and said with great patience, “I’m here doing a part-time job. What would you like to drink?”

“Oh, a part-time job.” Li Qiming’s punch landed on cotton. He wrinkled his nose and looked at the menu, casually ordering a few desserts and coffees.

Jian Huaifeng had recently been learning latte art, but he was still only practicing. Another employee made the coffee. For now, he was only responsible for greeting customers and taking orders.

When Li Qiming’s order was ready, he carried the tray over and delivered the coffee.

Anyone could tell with their toes that these people had not come just for coffee. He did not want trouble, so he kept his head down and his expression mild. After setting everything down, he said, “Please enjoy,” and planned to find something to do in the back kitchen.

“Wait.” Li Qiming picked up a cup of coffee and looked at it. He had actually ordered at random. This group had no interest in coffee or tea. Alcohol was the only thing they could talk about.

He glanced at the coffee, which looked unappetizing, and said, “These coffees all look about the same, but the prices are different. Why don’t you introduce them to us? What’s so special about this coffee?”

Jian Huaifeng wanted to say there was nothing special about it, except that the cup in his hand was especially bitter.

But he still stopped and began to explain. During training a few days ago, he had learned about every kind of coffee bean. After a moment’s thought, he said, “The cup in your hand is Mandheling from Sumatra, Indonesia. It’s processed with a unique wet-hulling method that reduces acidity and increases mellow aroma…”

Smack.

A crisp sound cut off Jian Huaifeng’s words.

Li Qiming seemed to have failed to hold his cup steady. With a splash, he spilled coffee all over the table. Drops flew everywhere, and a few landed on Jian Huaifeng’s clothes.

A large pool of brown coffee ran across the smooth tabletop and dripped onto the floor. A good portion splashed onto his shiny leather shoes.

Li Qiming immediately made a scene. “What’s going on? Are you trying to scald me to death?”

He spread his legs and grabbed Jian Huaifeng. “Young Master Jian, the recognition banquet, at the Jian family, suddenly being told you’re not their biological child, it must feel awful. But don’t take it out on us. We knew you didn’t attend today, so we came all the way here to see you.”

One of the employees heard the commotion and shot Jian Huaifeng a look. Jian Huaifeng shook his head, said “Sorry,” and picked up a rag.

Seeing that he did not dare make a sound, Li Qiming grew even more smug. He folded his arms and watched Jian Huaifeng wipe the table, mocking him in a strange tone. “Their real young master comes back, and the Jian family throws this huge banquet, inviting all the elites. But your birthday party? They didn’t even seem to hold one, did they? How does that feel? You took his place for so many years, and now he’s back.”

Jian Huaifeng kept his head down and wiped the table, treating him like a talking bird placed beside him. He paid no attention. When Li Qiming finished, he straightened up. “All right. I’ll bring you a new cup.”

“All right?” Li Qiming spread his legs even wider. He pointed under his crotch and then wiggled his shoe. “Isn’t there still a puddle here? If you don’t clean it up, how are we supposed to drink coffee? And these shoes of mine, aren’t you going to deal with them?”

Jian Huaifeng leaned sideways and looked. In this situation, he should really move them to another table first, but Li Qiming was clearly trying to make things difficult for him and absolutely would not move his ass.

At that moment, the coworker who also worked part-time came over. He said politely to Li Qiming, “Sorry, sir. I’ll call the cleaner over to take care of it. Would you like to change seats first?”

Li Qiming sneered. “What business is it of yours? I’ll have you know these shoes are globally limited-edition handmade custom pieces. If you can’t handle this properly, get your boss out here and see how he’s going to compensate me for these shoes.”

The coworker looked at his shoes and frowned. He could tell they were rich kids, and the shoes probably were not cheap. He knew the other side was deliberately picking a fight, but if this was not handled well, it might affect his job.

Jian Huaifeng raised a hand and pushed him back behind himself. He shook his head slightly to signal that he should not confront them, then turned to Li Qiming. “You spilled this coffee yourself because you didn’t hold it steady.”

The coworker choked on his words. He was about the same age as Jian Huaifeng and had no experience dealing with this kind of customer. He had thought Jian Huaifeng was stepping in front of him to apologize and smooth things over. Why had he gone and talked back instead?

Li Qiming perked up at that. He had come today specifically to make Jian Huaifeng miserable. If Jian Huaifeng had just kept enduring it, he would have found it boring.

He was just about to roll up his sleeves and get started when Zhao Jun knocked on the table. Zhao Jun pulled a long face, took out a card, placed it on the table, and pushed it over. “That’s enough, Li Qiming. Let it go. You’re the one who didn’t hold the coffee steady and spilled it. Why make things hard for them? We were all friends before. There’s no need to make this so ugly.”

Li Qiming sneered. “What do you mean? Are you saying I did it on purpose? Who’s friends with him? He’s just a bastard who took someone else’s nest. Does he even deserve it? Zhao Jun, don’t forget your place. He’ll be kicked out of the Jian family sooner or later. When that happens, he’ll be nothing. You don’t need to speak up for him.”

“Tell you what.” Li Qiming pointed again at the dirty puddle under his crotch. “Just use that cloth in your hand to wipe this coffee clean. I won’t make a fuss about the shoes.”

The surroundings went quiet for a moment. Everyone looked at Jian Huaifeng. Jian Huaifeng watched him without expression. Suddenly he bent forward and leaned closer to Li Qiming.

Li Qiming thought he had been angered and was about to hit someone. But that face stopped right in front of him and suddenly smiled at him. He heard Jian Huaifeng say, “Fine. Wait here.”

Watching Jian Huaifeng’s back, Li Qiming thought he was going to get some tool. For a moment he said nothing and raised a hand to wipe his neck. Not long after, Jian Huaifeng came back.

Everyone looked at him and saw that he had not gone to fetch a rag or anything. Instead, he was carrying a freshly brewed cup of coffee.

Li Qiming laughed. “Jian Huaifeng, do you not understand what I’m saying? You think brewing a fresh cup of coffee settles this? You…”

Before he could finish, he suddenly looked as if he had bitten his tongue. He froze in place with a stunned expression.

Jian Huaifeng calmly carried the new cup of coffee over. But he did not hand it to Li Qiming. Instead, he raised it and poured it down from the collar of Li Qiming’s shirt.

As he poured, he continued from where he had left off. “Mandheling is rich and full-bodied, with a caramel and dark chocolate aroma. Do you smell it?”

Jian Huaifeng did not really know how to drink coffee. No matter the variety, to him it all tasted like burnt bitterness. But as long as coffee did not enter his mouth, it had a pleasant mellow aroma. That was how he distinguished different coffee beans.

For a moment the aroma filled the air. When Li Qiming came to his senses, he immediately exploded and tried to grab Jian Huaifeng by the collar. Zhao Jun caught him. “Forget it, forget it. Let’s go back. We left before Madam Wei’s banquet even ended. It’s not a good look…”

The climax of the banquet had already passed. Jian Zhenjiang and his wife had introduced Jian Sulin’s identity to everyone. When someone asked, they said that from then on, Jian Huaifeng would be their adopted son, raised as one of their own.

Everyone understood the difference between blood and adopted, but since the Jian family had said he was an adopted son, it meant Jian Huaifeng would still be part of the Jian family in the future.

If Li Qiming really got physical, there was no telling how the Jian family would react.

“Adopted son is just a way to save face. He’s out here working as a waiter. You call that the Jian family valuing him? Let go of me, Zhao Jun. I’m not done with him today!”

Even though Li Qiming was an illegitimate son, he had never been embarrassed to his face like this. In his eyes, Jian Huaifeng was no longer the little Jian young master everyone used to fawn over. He should be keeping his tail between his legs. How dare he still act so arrogant?

He had trained in boxing and was strong. Zhao Jun, all show and no substance, could not hold him back at all. Li Qiming flung him away and swung his fist at Jian Huaifeng. Before the fist could land, the cafe doorbell rang again.

Wei Nanting pushed the door open and walked in. He saw the tense scene the moment he entered and raised an eyebrow. When he saw that the person at the center of the storm was Jian Huaifeng, the amusement in his eyes faded.

“What the hell are you doing, Li Qiming?!” Zhao Jun had nearly hit his head on the table. Now he was angry too and was about to lunge at Li Qiming. But when he turned his head, he saw a familiar face.

A chill ran through his feet. His anger went out in an instant, and he froze where he stood.

Zhao Jun had seen Wei Nanting before, but Li Qiming did not know him. Li Qiming did not take the newcomer seriously at all. He turned his head and yelled at Zhao Jun, “What do I mean? I should be asking what you mean! Why are you stopping me? Are you and that bastard Jian Huaifeng working together to mess with me… mmph mmph mmph!”

Before he could finish, Zhao Jun suddenly lunged forward and covered his mouth. He hooked an elbow around Li Qiming’s neck and dragged him toward the cafe’s back door, muttering shakily, “I’m saving your ass this once. Don’t come crying to thank me when we get back…”

He was not blind. After that time in the garden, how could he have missed how much Wei Nanting treasured his “nephew”? So what if the real Jian young master had come back? Did anyone really think the head of the Wei Group was interested in the Jian family?

By the time Wei Nanting walked over, Zhao Jun had already dragged Li Qiming and the others out. His gaze rested on the closed back door for a moment. His dark eyes held a cold light. No one could tell what he was thinking.

That slightly cold gaze did not linger long. It withdrew and went searching for a certain young man. But just as it was about to land on him, the young man had already turned and avoided it.

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