4 A Realistic Dream

Fang Xin fell asleep within a few minutes. The couch might be small but it was comfortable enough for her tired body. She had pulled several all-nighters in the past few days to ensure that nothing went wrong in the moving process.

In her sleep, she heard the theme song of her favourite cartoon, Doraemon, playing. There was a fragrant smell that sifted through the air. She sniffed subconsciously, it smelled like... instant noodles soup. Fang Xin's stomach let out a grumble.

Even in her dreams, Fang Xin was inspecting her shophouse. She walked around the place and to her horror, it was extremely messy. There were boxes everywhere and the place was filthy. She ran her finger along one of the cabinets and a thick layer of grey dust formed.

This was a nightmare! Fang Xin's knees buckled with fear. It was as if all her hard work had been undone! Her shophouse cannot be in this state! She quickly picked up a cloth lying on the floor and started wiping the place. She was as busy as a bee as she tried to tidy up the place.

As she made her way to the toilet to gather some water to better wipe the place, she slipped and fell.

"Ouch!" Fang Xin woke up with a start. She was lying on the floor, a distance away from the couch she fell asleep in.

Fang Xin rubbed her sore arms and mumbled to herself, "That was a painful fall. How did I end up landing so far away from the couch? Have I been sleepwalking again... I must have been too stressed with the opening of the cafe. Anna is right, I really need a break..."

As she tried to figure out what happened, Fang XIn suddenly thought of the dream she had and ran to the main section of the hall.

She looked around and sighed in relief, "Thank goodness, that was just a dream. It was so realistic though! Just thinking about that scene makes me shiver. What kind of a nightmare was that, I cannot imagine a day where my cafe would be in such a messy state."

At that moment, Fang Xin's stomach grumbled. She touched her stomach, "Mmhm, I must have been too hungry when I fell asleep, that's why my imagination went into overdrive. I should go make some food for myself before I start hallucinating..."

Fang Xin looked at her watch, it was thirty minutes past midnight. She had slept for two hours unknowingly. No wonder her stomach was grumbling, she only had one meal during lunch.

Fang Xin went into the kitchen and started cooking for herself. Even though she was preparing to run a cafe, most of the food meant for the cafe operations had not arrived. There wasn't much ingredients and Fang Xin decided to make do with a simple meal of noodles, egg, two slices of luncheon meat and some vegetables.

As she plated her noodles, her phone rang. It was Anna.

"Hello woman, what are you up to! How's the progress of everything?"

"Hello Anna, yeap, everything is pretty much settled. I'm just cooking some noodles at the cafe now."

"Cooking, now? Woman, have you not eaten since I left? You told me you'll get dinner after I'm gone! I knew I should have supervised you... How can you be so untrustworthy!"

"Don't make a big fuss, Anna. I fell asleep just now while resting on the couch."

"You? Falling asleep on a couch? What are you, a seventy year old granny? You need a good break! I don't care, I'm bringing you out for high tea and a spa tomorrow. You need to relax or at this rate, you will fall sick even before your cafe is officially open."

Fang Xin looked at the cafe, she could indeed afford a break. Most of the things have been set up and cleaned. Furthermore, it would be good for her to go out and see how other businesses are holding up in a critical time like this. Plus, if she could gain some inspiration on good customer service practices, that would be a bonus.

"Alright, alright, you are such a nag. Don't kid yourself, you are the seventy year old granny. I will see you tomorrow."

"Hmph, that's more like it! Quickly go home and get some beauty sleep. Stop hanging around at the cafe."

Fang Xin smiled as she hung up the call. Her love for this place was immense, she would hang out at this place all the time if she could! She had even planned to add a sofa bed to the staff quarters so she could stay here instead and save on rent.

"Maybe I can get Anna to go shopping for a sofa bed with me tomorrow..."

With that thought, Fang Xin finished up her noodles, washed up and prepared to cycle home.

The place that Fang Xin rented was four kilometres away from her shop house. It takes about half an hour for her to cycle home. It was a reasonable distance and the main reason she liked this arrangement was because she could stay at the cafe till late at night and go home without incurring expensive taxi charges.

However, the rent for her current room was rather expensive as it was considered to be in a prime downtown location. If she could move into the shop house, even for a short period of time as she build up the foundations of the business, it would ease the pressure on her pockets substantially.