Food Supplements - Chapter 18

When the landlady learned that her daughter had willingly agreed to work at the shop, she was overjoyed. Her excitement about the opening became even more obvious, and she seemed to be looking forward to the day more eagerly than Qin Cheng herself.

With her enthusiastic help, finding a rental near the shop also went smoothly. They actually had the landlady’s square-dancing friends from the previous gathering to thank. One of them happened to have a relative who rented out properties in that area. When she heard that Qin Cheng was looking for a place nearby, she immediately helped make arrangements.

That was how personal connections worked, spreading through one link after another.

By the middle of the month, Qin Cheng had rented an apartment very close to the shop. Walking between the two took only around ten minutes. Although the rent was higher than at the landlady’s place, the one-bedroom apartment was much more spacious and comfortable, so she was satisfied overall.

After moving into her new home, Qin Cheng had far more time at her disposal and could handle everything at a calmer pace. With that positive cycle in place, all the preparations were finally completed before the end of the month.

Although the official opening was scheduled for the beginning of the following month, the finished shop was already orderly and fully arranged, with people entering and leaving every day.

Those people were naturally the owner and the employee she needed to train.

There was no need to worry too much about using the place so soon after renovation. As a seriously ill patient, Qin Cheng cared even more about health than an ordinary person. She had insisted on environmentally friendly materials throughout the renovation and later bought several spider plants and snake plants for decoration.

There was no strange odor inside the shop. The landlady had even bought a formaldehyde testing kit and confirmed that everything was normal.

Since there was no renovation pollution, there was no need to leave the shop empty for ventilation. Qin Cheng immediately began familiarizing Nuonuo with the environment and procedures while also completing her own final preparations.

For any food-and-drink shop, the most important matters were naturally planning the menu and setting prices, since those decisions directly determined the shop’s market position.

Qin Cheng had originally planned to run the shop alone, so she did not want the menu to become too complicated.

Aside from freshly pressed juice, which would be the main offering, there were only four other products: freshly cut fruit cups, homemade fruit jam, homemade soy milk, and fruit custard sandwiches.

Of the four, only the fruit cups had to be prepared on the spot. Everything else could be made before opening each day, making service convenient and preventing chaos during business hours.

As for the time-consuming preparation, Qin Cheng naturally completed it inside the small realm.

That meant it did not truly consume much real-world time. Better still, once the food was finished, it stayed fresh inside.

Nothing could have been more convenient.

Besides storing the finished products there, she also moved the fruit she purchased from outside into the realm.

At present, the fruit Qin Cheng grew herself included apples, dragon fruit, strawberries, pears, kiwis, and mangoes. Even counting the cherry tomatoes, she had only seven varieties in total.

So she did genuinely order common fruits such as bananas, pineapples, and pomelos in bulk online.

This served three purposes: enriching the selection, mixing ordinary fruit with her own to provide cover, and giving her legitimate purchasing records if anyone asked.

For now, Qin Cheng had no intention of expanding the number of fruit and vegetable varieties by the lake.

Aside from those three reasons, she was simply tired.

Strawberries and cherry tomatoes were manageable. Their growth pattern resembled spring onions and garlic: once established, the plants remained there, and new produce appeared almost as quickly as the old was harvested.

The fruit trees were different.

Once their fruit ripened, everything had to be harvested within two days. Otherwise, the fruit quickly spoiled and disappeared, and the tree would not begin another fruiting cycle until ten days later.

There was no room for laziness or carelessness.

During that month, the first apple tree had already fruited three times, while the other trees had gone through at least two cycles.

The lakeside storage area now looked almost like a fruit shop.

All the fruit Qin Cheng used for practicing her recipes came from there. Once she finished practicing, she either ate the results herself or gave them to Nuonuo, without feeling the slightest regret over the expense.

The only disappointment was the blood orange tree.

It still showed no improvement. Every crop it produced remained sparse and painfully sour, making it impossible to add to the menu.

Qin Cheng, who had once held such hope for it, could not help feeling discouraged.

Still, once the preparations settled into a steady rhythm, she finally had time to observe and think about the tree more carefully.

If the fruit had turned sour and astringent in ordinary soil, there could have been many possible explanations.

The original tree back home had already proven impossible to propagate through transplanting or grafting, so failure would not have been especially strange.

But this small realm was different.

Every other crop flourished vigorously, making the blood orange tree’s condition seem even more suspicious.

After thinking it over repeatedly, Qin Cheng decided that only another experiment could reveal the truth.

While replanting garlic, she buried one clove beside the blood orange tree.

Several days later, she was astonished to find that the garlic, which grew perfectly everywhere else, had failed even to sprout.

Her suspicion immediately shifted from the tree to the soil.

Unfortunately, Qin Cheng was not a specialist in that field.

She examined the dark soil from every angle but could see no difference. She slowly walked around the area three times before a new possibility suddenly occurred to her.

She originally planned to photograph the Bagua position represented by each landscaping section and look them up on her computer.

However, once she returned to reality, she discovered that every photograph on her phone was blurred beyond recognition, almost like a mosaic.

The same thing happened to the entire set.

Qin Cheng gave up and classified it as another mysterious phenomenon. She obediently drew the approximate positions with pen and paper instead.

This time, nothing went wrong.

When she compared the positions online, her heart gave a sudden jolt.

She felt that she might have solved the mystery and found the cause.

As mentioned before, Qin Cheng knew a little about Taiji and Bagua because she had once worked on designs involving those themes.

But only a little.

Remembering the basic shapes of Xun, Li, Kun, and Dui was already difficult enough. Anything deeper was beyond her knowledge, much less something she could analyze.

Only after comparing her sketch with online diagrams did she learn that the Bagua had Earlier Heaven and Later Heaven arrangements.

The Taiji Bagua pattern in the small realm was the so-called Later Heaven Bagua.

The main difference from the Earlier Heaven arrangement lay in how the trigrams opposed one another. Put simply, the positions of Xun, Li, Kun, Dui, and the others were different.

Qin Cheng ignored the more subtle and profound details.

What made her heart jump was what each trigram represented: heaven, earth, wind, thunder, mountain, lake, water, and fire.

When she first planted the spring onions and garlic on impulse, she had simply chosen the nearest rectangular plot for convenience.

Now she discovered that, by pure chance, the plot belonged to the Kun position, which corresponded to earth.

The dragon fruit and mangoes in the neighboring area were planted in the Li position, corresponding to fire.

And the blood orange tree, which she had deliberately planted farther away in a different section, had unfortunately ended up in the Qian position.

That corresponded to heaven.

Even with no real knowledge of mysticism, the grand name “Qian-Heaven” sounded ominous to Qin Cheng.

It felt far too powerful, as though nothing planted there ought to survive.

But then she reconsidered.

“Li-Fire” sounded equally overwhelming, yet plants had grown there perfectly well.

Only after paying attention to the specific crops in the Li section did another thought strike her.

Dragon fruit and mangoes were tropical plants.

Could that be why they flourished while the blood orange failed?

Once again, Qin Cheng decided to let practice reveal the truth.

Without hesitation, she dug up a cilantro plant that tolerated cold but disliked heat and transplanted it into the Li soil.

Sure enough, within two days, the cilantro wilted.

This essentially confirmed her theory and left Qin Cheng sweating with lingering fear.

She could not help silently thanking her good fortune.

What if, the first time she planted spring onions and garlic, she had accidentally chosen the Qian section?

Perhaps none of what followed would ever have happened.

And if she had never discovered the crops’ effects, what would she be doing now?

At most, she would be using the time difference to drag out her remaining days.

Having solved one mystery, Qin Cheng became even more cautious toward the small realm.

She developed a sense that everything within it followed some hidden order and grew even more determined not to add new produce recklessly in the near future.

Nothing in the world was truly inexhaustible.

The greatest danger was greed.

Only by holding reverence in one’s heart could one know when to stop.

With this mindset, Qin Cheng treated the fruit used for practice even more carefully and tried not to waste a single piece.

Her work became increasingly refined.

Nuonuo had eaten a great deal during those days, and her energy continued improving.

With enough practice, both of them became increasingly skilled at every task.

The landlady occasionally brought Mother Qin and her square-dancing friends to inspect the shop, sample food and drinks, offer suggestions, and role-play as different kinds of customers.

This gave Nuonuo valuable practice.

Watching the girl progress from awkward, evasive stammering to relatively normal responses filled the older women with smiles and deep relief.

Everything proceeded according to plan.

Time passed little by little until, at last, the day before opening arrived.

Qin Cheng and Nuonuo came to the shop very early that morning.

Aside from some last-minute practice, the work uniforms they had ordered had finally arrived, and both needed to try them on.

It was only a small shop, but anyone preparing food looked cleaner and more professional in uniform.

Qin Cheng had not been careless about this. She ordered two sets based on café uniforms.

Light-colored shirts paired with dark vests created a dignified, understated appearance. Black aprons decorated with thin stripes and matching narrow-brimmed caps made them look both sanitary and efficient.

Nuonuo appeared shy and fascinated after changing into hers.

The landlady had originally insisted on coming along to take commemorative photographs, but Nuonuo refused.

Now, alone in the uniform, she looked herself over repeatedly.

Finally, as though gathering her courage, she took a selfie and sent it to someone.

After sending it, she looked up and saw Qin Cheng smiling at her.

Her face immediately reddened.

“My mother insisted that I send it… She said otherwise she would come and see for herself…”

“I know.” Qin Cheng nodded with a smile and lifted another cardboard box. “But there’s another outfit in here that you’ll have to wear later. You can decide whether you want another photo.”

In the end, Nuonuo did not take another photograph.

Not because she was embarrassed, but because it was inconvenient.

The second outfit was a full-body cartoon white rabbit costume, complete with an oversized head.

Qin Cheng had not rented it out of some strange personal amusement.

She had one as well, though hers was a little bear.

After struggling into the cumbersome costumes, the bear led the white rabbit outside to distribute flyers.

Handing out flyers before a grand opening was perfectly normal.

They wore the costumes for two reasons.

First, the mascots attracted attention and made people more willing to accept the flyers.

Second, it served as training for Nuonuo.

After all their practice, the girl could now respond fairly naturally inside the shop.

But in a large public crowd, she still became nervous and did not know what to do.

The costume provided a certain sense of protection.

Qin Cheng soon discovered that it offered far more security than she had expected.

Nuonuo no longer hesitated so much and, at certain moments, even displayed a little of the white rabbit’s liveliness.

What an unexpected discovery.

Watching the white rabbit quietly hug a passing child, Qin Cheng almost wanted to take a photograph and send it to the landlady.

After trying, however, she found that the costume made it too inconvenient and could only abandon the idea.

In any case, it was probably better that the landlady was not present.

Had she been there, she would likely have been thrilled by her daughter’s behavior while also correcting Qin Cheng’s chosen location.

There were plenty of pedestrians at this intersection, but the entrance to the commercial street was clearly busier and closer to the shop.

Flyers distributed there would have attracted more customers.

What the landlady did not know was that Qin Cheng had no intention of attracting many customers.

Or rather, no matter how many people passed through the commercial street, they were still outsiders.

The people Qin Cheng wanted to attract were employees of a certain company.

Building a reputation among the public and slowly drawing certain people to the shop would be painfully inefficient.

If she needed to build a reputation, why not begin in a specific place?

Few people paid more attention to that company than Qin Cheng.

She knew that although the rising industry newcomer had become exceptionally prominent over the past few years, its organization was not enormous.

Its core staff numbered fewer than a hundred.

Whenever some new trend arose in what they ate, wore, or used, it could spread quickly within the company.

The approval of one insider was worth more than that of a hundred strangers.

By opening the shop nearby and distributing flyers in the area, Qin Cheng aimed precisely at that kind of internal trend.

Attracting even one or two junior employees would be enough.

As for the large fish in her heart, she believed that even if the woman eventually took the bait, she would never personally come to bite the hook.

Jiang Rong and the others did not know Qin Cheng, so there would be no consequences.

Speak of the devil.

Just as she thought about the person who usually ran errands, Qin Cheng spotted a short-haired woman in the distant crowd, walking closer and closer.

Her heart lifted with excitement.

The chances were not high, but if she could directly attract the assistant’s attention, would that not be heaven itself helping her?

She immediately became more energetic.

Her previously casual flyer distribution took on a hint of performance.

As the target finally approached, the cartoon bear suddenly hopped forward and held out a flyer as though choosing her at random.

Unfortunately, the flower had feelings, but the flowing water did not.

The hurried Jiang Rong did not even spare the bear a glance.

She simply shifted slightly to avoid the flyer and continued past without hesitation.

The attempt had failed.

That could not be helped.

Qin Cheng had never expected her luck to be so perfect.

She merely touched her forehead, shook her head, and performed an exaggerated gesture of helplessness.

The small incident should have ended there.

But perhaps after seeing the bear’s disappointed shake of the head, the white rabbit, who had been surrounded by children, suddenly sprang forward as well and offered another flyer to Jiang Rong.

This time, the flyer came extremely close, almost being shoved directly into her arms.

Not only Jiang Rong, but Qin Cheng herself was startled.

She could not tell whether the girl had misjudged the distance or had suddenly become far bolder.

Unlike Qin Cheng, who was secretly analyzing the situation, the short-haired woman had no such patience.

Feeling offended, she frowned and appeared ready to say something.

At that moment, her phone rang.

She closed her mouth, still refused the flyer, and stepped several paces away to answer the call.

The white rabbit scratched her head, apparently unable to understand why the woman still would not take it when it had been held so close.

The bear walked over and patted her comfortingly, though part of her attention inevitably remained on the woman speaking on the phone.

The call was brief, lasting only a few sentences.

After hanging up, Jiang Rong no longer continued forward in a hurry.

Instead, she walked to the roadside and appeared to wait for something.

The answer soon arrived.

A black business van approached at an unhurried pace and stopped steadily a short distance in front of her.

Once the vehicle stopped, Jiang Rong quickly walked over and bent down.

The rear window slowly lowered, revealing the face of a young woman.

Young, yet mature.

Her features were delicate, her expression cool.

Her half-lowered eyes did not appear especially large, but the outer corners tilted slightly upward, and her gaze carried the sharpness of someone accustomed to authority.

The bear nearby suddenly stumbled.

She quickly turned around and began distributing flyers in a fluster.

After several seconds of chaotic movement, perhaps realizing what she was doing, she turned back again.

This time, she stopped handing out flyers and simply stood there, staring blankly as though taking a break.

At the roadside, the short-haired woman remained bent beside the car and spoke with the passenger inside.

Their voices were low and their expressions calm, making it impossible to know what they were discussing.

Still, it probably would not last long.

The bear stood frozen several meters away.

When she saw Jiang Rong preparing to straighten up, she suddenly seemed to make a decision and strode toward them.

When the flyer appeared before her for the third time, Jiang Rong’s expression turned displeased.

When she realized that the mascot was also trying to hand it to the woman inside the car, she finally prepared to reprimand her.

The driver had already unfastened his seat belt and looked toward the woman in the back, apparently waiting for an order.

In the end, neither acted.

The woman in the rear seat seemed to find the situation harmless.

She raised a hand, signaling both of them to remain calm, then looked at the bear mascot.

Seeing the woman look at her, the bear hooked the flyer over the edge of the open window.

Then she pulled back her paws, pressed them to her cheeks, and performed several swaying, exaggeratedly cute gestures.

Perhaps the movements truly were adorable.

The woman’s previously indifferent expression softened slightly.

A faint smile appeared at the corner of her lips.

Then she took the flyer hanging beside the window.

That was the entirety of their contact.

Jiang Rong soon entered from the other side, the window closed, and the black van drove away, disappearing at the far end of the street.

The bear turned and continued distributing flyers diligently.

No one could see the expression of the person inside the costume.

The next day, June 6, a small shop hidden in the alley and named Fruit officially opened for business.