Lotus Vermilion

Liu Tang confronted DongFeng after he saw the packet from the trash. "Why did you give them laxatives?"

"Those men would not leave if I didn't do it," DongFeng said. "You're welcome."

"What–" Liu Tang stopped himself from continuing. "You were concerned for me?"

"Look, I just don't want a mess in the cafe, okay?" DongFeng said. "I'm pretty sure they'll follow you home later and when that happens, I'll just wish you the best of luck."

"How did you know that they're going to follow me?" Liu Tang asked. "Are you some kind of police?"

DongFeng groaned and showed Liu Tang an ID. It was from his university and it shows the degree that he was studying for.

"You want to join the police force?" Liu Tang asked. "But how do you balance your classes and work?"

"If I answer this question will you stop talking to me for the rest of the day?" DongFeng groaned. "I assume it's a yes. I go to my classes on Fridays and weekends, so those days, it will only be you working on this cafe."

"Oh," Liu Tang pursed his lips. "I guess, alright. I won't talk to you again."

"Thank heavens," DongFeng said. He exited the counter and entered the break room, leaving Liu Tang alone.

"What's his problem"? Liu Tang asked himself.

The entire day was uneventful, but there was something that Liu Tang observed. The two police officers from earlier should be two of the three customers they get a day, but they weren't.

Three more people came inside the cafe, which surprised DongFeng. He was used to serving only three people, now that he had more, it was foreign to him.

Ding Ding.

"What the hell?" DongFeng whispered as the customer exited the establishment. "We served five people today including the police officers. I thought they would be the first two, but no."

While DongFeng enjoyed his soliloquy, Liu Tang was looking at the state of their cafe. He was worried about how worn out most of the features are in the cafe.

"Do you think we could tidy this place up a bit?" Liu Tang asked DongFeng, but the man was too busy talking to himself. "If you only serve three customers per day, then your business will die soon."

This seemed to have caught the attention of DongFeng. He turned to Liu Tang and crossed his arms. "What do you know about businesses? You're a high school dropout who only worked here because he begged the owner."

"I talked to merchants before," Liu Tang said. "I've been to their restaurants and I always ask them how they maintain good relationships with their clients."

"Merchants?" DongFeng scoffed. "You sound like the old guy that you are. Clean those tables over there. The man who drank coffee there liked to spill his drink."

Liu Tang did not argue with DongFeng as he cleaned the table and mopped the floor. It wasn't until he reached the end of the cafe when he hummed.

This was the place with the sofa where the woman from the day before sat. On the brick wall was a fake green moss and a neon light outline of a vermilion lotus which was never lit up.

The fake moss and the lotus were all dusty and looked neglected, so Liu Tang decided to clean them. He rubbed all the nooks and crannies of the sign with a wet towel and vacuumed the dust from the fake moss.

"That looks so much better," Liu Tang said. He was satisfied with his work, so he ran to the counter where DongFeng was. "Hey, what do you say if we improve the state of this cafe?"

The man only quirked his brow up and let Liu Tang continue. "I just cleaned the wall over there and it looks so mug better already. What if we clean everything here and revive the state of this cafe?"

"I am comfortable with the state we are in now, so no thank you," DongFeng said to dismiss the idea.

This made Liu Tang pout. "But we're not really doing anything here. We need to have more customers so the business can grow even more."

"Listen," DongFeng sighed. "This Vermilion Lotus is just a branch from all six hundred Vermilion Lotus cafes in the planet. The only reason why the boss goes here is to humble her and remind her of her roots."

Liu Tang tilted his head to the side. "What do you mean humble her?"

"This was the original cafe of Vermilion Lotus," DongFeng said. "When the boss opened her first branch nearby, a lot of people switched from this one to there."

"Oh," Liu Tang nodded in understanding. Now he knows why ShuChun did not shut this cafe down even when it was clearly going to get bankrupted. Getting only three customers per day was not good for business, but then ShuChun wanted to keep this, so she didn't tear it down.

"You mean we're only here as decorations?" Liu Tang asked, making DongFeng nod.

"So, don't go around thinking that you can do something about this, because it's hopeless," DongFeng said. "No matter how many customers we get a day, it won't matter to the boss. She only wants us to maintain this cafe for her own sake and doesn't really have plans for it."

For some reason, what DongFeng just told him broke Liu Tang's heart. It felt as though ShuChun abandoned her first love, her first partner just because she found someone better.

"This is sad," Liu Tang sighed. "But can we at least try? What if we show ShuChun that we can still help this business, and that there is still a chance for her to reclaim this."

"The accident must have hurt you so badly," DongFeng grit his teeth. "You were the one who told me all those stuff, and now you want something different?"

"DongFeng…" Liu Tang trailed off. "I don't think you realize, but I did change. What I said before, It didn't mean any of those. I was too young to realize the value of this business."

"Do whatever you want," DongFeng said. "I'm gonna close up the shop now. You clean the dishes on the sink."

DongFeng once again walked away, leaving Liu Tang alone in the cafe. The man sighed at himself and clenched his fist. "I will make sure to make ShuChun love this cafe again."