Get to Work, Young Man

After washing the lunch dishes, Li Wei said goodbye to Boss Tom and took Nami back to the old bookstore to read.

When the old bookstore closed, he walked beneath the evening glow to the Magical Menagerie and continued with his second part-time job.

The magical world's pets were far smarter than ordinary ones. They still recognized Li Wei, greeting him with all sorts of sounds and innocently sharing their thoughts.

Mrs. Ethel had also noticed Li Wei's special talent for communicating with animals.

She deeply felt that hiring Li Wei had been an exceptionally wise decision!

With Li Wei's help, caring for the little animals became much easier for her.

"Mr. Wickens, could you come over here for a moment?"

Mrs. Ethel called Li Wei over and praised him.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Wickens. Without your help, I would have been running myself in circles and wouldn't have been able to properly care for these little darlings!"

"As a reward, how about I teach you a little spell I invented myself?"

Hearing that such a good thing was possible, Li Wei naturally agreed at once and looked at Mrs. Ethel expectantly.

Feeling the eager gaze of the young wizard before her, Mrs. Ethel felt rather proud. After all, inventing spells was something only a handful of people in the entire magical world could do.

Mrs. Ethel proudly instructed Li Wei.

"The spell I'm teaching you is called the Scissors Charm. It conjures a small, sharp pair of magical scissors that can cut tiny things.

"For example, little animals' fur and nails, as well as branches and blades of grass in the garden..."

"If someone ties you up with a rope, you can also use this magic to cut the rope."

"This isn't Dark Magic. You can use Reparo or Healing Charm as a counterspell to mend anything you've accidentally cut!"

"Now, let me teach you." Mrs. Ethel took out her wand, pointed it at a rope used for tying things up, waved her wand, and recited the incantation.

"Snip Seca-Petita!"

A crystalline pair of magical scissors, as though carved from crystal, appeared. Under Mrs. Ethel's control, it snipped through the rope in a few swift cuts.

"Reparo!"

Going the extra mile, Mrs. Ethel demonstrated the Repairing Charm as well, restoring the rope before casting the Scissors Charm again.

"Snip Seca-Petita!"

"Remember, the first part, Snip, must be pronounced forcefully, with emphasis!"

"For the second part, Seca-Petita, there must be a clear pause in the middle. You can't run the words together, and when you wave your wand, you need to..."

Li Wei listened intently to Mrs. Ethel's instruction. His good-level talent for spells revealed itself fully at that moment.

"Cut in two!"

He effortlessly summoned an identical pair of magical scissors and snipped the rope in half.

What earned even more praise from Mrs. Ethel was that after cutting the rope, Li Wei cast the Repairing Charm and, though somewhat haltingly, restored it.

"Little Li Wei, is this your first time casting the Repairing Charm?"

Li Wei nodded. He had not expected that simply imitating Mrs. Ethel's casting would let him succeed on his very first try as well.

"Wonderful! If I were a professor at a school, I'd give you a whole extra hundred points!"

Mrs. Ethel praised him loudly without the slightest attempt at restraint. She even felt that she might be witnessing the budding of a legend.

Perhaps one day, the young wizard before her would become a wizard as great as Headmaster Dumbledore!

Li Wei learned the Scissors Charm and the Repairing Charm from Mrs. Ethel. Before leaving, Nami, the little thief cat, also received a bag of premium cat food from Mrs. Ethel.

Having both learned and received something, Li Wei and Nami returned to the Leaky Cauldron!

Leaving Nami in the private room, Li Wei poured her a bowl of Miltank's milk, added a small serving of cat food and a berry, then began the final job of the day—washing dishes.

And so the cycle continued. His three part-time jobs not only allowed Li Wei to earn the enormous sum of forty-six Galleons a week, but also gave him opportunities to practice magic and even learn extra spells.

Moreover, Li Wei could spend his free afternoons reading extensively at the old bookstore. Every day, his knowledge grew compared with the day before, and his magical ability rose with it!

After working his way around Diagon Alley for a month, Li Wei had also forged deep friendships with his three employers.

By frequently using the Cleaning Charm, he not only made the Leaky Cauldron's kitchen spotless, clean, and orderly, but also cleaned and restored the dining hall where guests were served to its original classical Victorian appearance.

At first, Boss Tom and the customers who came to the Leaky Cauldron were not used to it, but before long, everyone lavished praise on the clean, sanitary, orderly dining environment.

What Li Wei had not expected was that this little matter actually made it into the Daily Prophet. Though it was only casually mentioned in a corner, what he had done still counted as being "on TV"!

After business improved, Li Wei fully put his Eastern experience to use and recommended a whole series of drinking snacks to Boss Tom, including peanuts, edamame, and braised dishes.

This completely set the Leaky Cauldron's business ablaze!

Every guest who came to drink at the Leaky Cauldron could not get enough of these small Eastern snacks meant to accompany alcohol!

Boss Tom was so busy every day that his head was spinning, and he had no choice but to bring in the not-yet-enrolled Hannah Abbott to help.

Li Wei had gotten acquainted with this future classmate of his, the Iron-Hat King, ahead of time!

Of course, Li Wei did not play favorites among his three part-time jobs.

At the Magical Menagerie, he and Nami, the little thief cat, not only helped Mrs. Ethel train every little animal to be obedient and well-behaved.

They also relied on Li Wei's Magical Creature Affinity talent to investigate and record the condition of every little animal, compiling everything into a chart and giving it to Mrs. Ethel.

As a result, each animal's personality, dislikes, preferences, and special needs were all clear at a glance.

Even after Li Wei went off to school, Mrs. Ethel would not be left flustered by the little animals' mischief.

It was only with the generous Mr. Sanchez that Li Wei didn't know how to help.

He discovered that this long-haired wizard with an unkempt appearance was incredibly laid-back about business. Whenever he received customers, he always used the very same line Li Wei had heard when he first entered the shop.

He was practically one step away from writing, "Buy it if you want it; get lost if you don't," across his face!

As time passed, Li Wei also discovered that Mr. Sanchez seemed to be busy with another business, one that appeared extremely profitable. He simply did not care about the old bookstore's earnings.

Rather than being Mr. Sanchez's shop, that old bookstore was more like a place for him to relax and pass the time.

Still, Li Wei upheld the spirit of loving whatever work he did. He helped Mr. Sanchez sort all the books in the old bookstore by category and clearly marked each section, turning the entire store into a library filled with old books.

"Kid, I'm telling you, this is completely useless. Given enough time, these books will just get messed up again!"

That was what Mr. Sanchez said.

But when the holiday ended and Li Wei was about to start school, Sanchez still gave him an entire set of the old textbooks Li Wei often read.

Those were the finest old textbooks Li Wei had picked out from among hundreds and thousands of used teaching materials. They were filled with notes from outstanding Hogwarts graduates and were absolutely the cream of the old bookstore's textbooks.

Li Wei had originally planned to ask Sanchez to sell them to him, but before he could even speak, he received such a wonderful surprise.

Finally, it was worth mentioning that Boss Tom did not charge Li Wei any rent at all in the end. He even returned the original two Galleons along with Li Wei's wages.

"Little Li Wei, you've helped me tremendously!"

"Letting you work here was truly my wisest decision. The Leaky Cauldron has practically been transformed. You're welcome to come by anytime in the future! Don't worry, Butterbeer is free!"

Boss Tom said joyfully. The hunchbacked man chuckled, and he was even somewhat reluctant to see Li Wei go.