Sexy contours!

Lin Zhe had just finished his call with Dan Teng when Lin Xiaomeng lifted the curtain and entered the kitchen.

"Zhe, go sit out front for a while. I'll clean up the kitchen."

As Lin Xiaomeng spoke, she had already put on the apron hanging by the door and started rolling up her sleeves to do the washing.

"Don't bother, Xiaomeng. You've been busy all evening too, and you're more tired than I am. Come take a break."

Lin Xiaomeng's working hours were eight in the morning to eight at night, but it was almost nine now, and she still hadn't clocked out.

"I'm not tired. You rest, Zhe. I'll clean up."

As she spoke, Lin Xiaomeng had already walked over to the sink and briskly started washing the utensils, bowls, and chopsticks used for the day's cooking.

This girl really gives it her all. Anyone who didn't know better would think I paid her eight or ten thousand a month...

Watching Lin Xiaomeng wash everything so efficiently, then thinking about the wages he paid her, Lin Zhe couldn't help calling himself Lin the Skinflint in his head.

What employee worked so tirelessly without a complaint for just 1,500 a month?

"It's getting late, Xiaomeng. Once you finish washing up, hurry home."

"There are a few portions of egg fried rice left over. Take them home for a late-night snack, and let your grandma try some too."

As Lin Zhe spoke, he reached into a plastic insulated box on the counter and took out four containers of egg fried rice.

"Huh? We didn't sell all our egg fried rice?"

Lin Xiaomeng's hands paused briefly in the middle of washing a bowl. How could there be any left?

She clearly remembered a customer trying to buy two portions earlier, only to be told they had sold out.

"We overlooked a few portions earlier," Lin Zhe explained. "They won't taste good after sitting overnight. Take a few home, and leave the last two for Brother Dan to try."

"No, it's all right, Zhe. I'll go out front in a bit and see if any guests want a late-night snack. It's thirty yuan a portion. I couldn't bear to eat it."

Chatting with Lin Zhe without slowing her washing in the slightest, Lin Xiaomeng said with a smile:

"Thirty yuan would buy my grandma a month's worth of steamed buns. She'd be even less willing to eat it."

Lin Xiaomeng's parents had died in a car accident more than ten years ago, and her grandmother had raised her.

Her grandmother was deaf and unable to speak, with no source of income at all. Lin Xiaomeng had earned her university tuition herself by working while studying.

After graduating, she had resolutely returned to her hometown to care for and keep her aging grandmother company, rather than lingering amid the city's bustle.

By a stroke of chance, she had applied for a job at the Fortunate Inn and become an employee there.

"Enough of that," Lin Zhe said with a smile. "I'm treating your grandma. I'm just asking you to drop it off for her on your way home.

"Do you have to tell her how much it costs? Why are you so stubborn? If you have to tell her something, say you earned it working here.

"I don't have the money to pay your wages, so I'm paying you in egg fried rice."

"..."

Of course Lin Xiaomeng knew Zhe was joking, but she still felt warm inside. Once again, he had touched her heart.

She could hear his concern for her and her grandmother in everything he said.

Overlooked a few portions earlier? As if! Who was he trying to fool, a little kid?

He'd clearly saved them on purpose.

The two chatted and laughed, talking about amusing things that had happened at the inn during the day.

Lin Xiaomeng soon finished washing all the utensils used to make egg fried rice that day.

The kitchen's facilities were basic, with a concrete ceiling and floor and not even any floor tiles, but cleanliness was never taken lightly.

Back when his mother, Han Li, ran the Good Fortune Canteen, she often said they should treat guests who had traveled from afar like their own friends and family.

Treat guests the way you would entertain friends and family. Only then would more of them return, and the inn's business would keep growing.

The Fortunate Inn was inside a scenic area and intended to stay in business for the long haul. It wasn't one of those rip-off inns that only cared about a one-time sale and squeezed as much money out of you as possible.

"All right, Xiaomeng. It's getting late. Hurry home so your grandma doesn't worry."

Lin Zhe raised his wrist and glanced at his Garmin sports watch. It was already 9:13 p.m.

"Mm-hmm, okay, Zhe. See you tomorrow."

Lin Xiaomeng gave Lin Zhe a sweet smile and reached behind herself to untie her apron, only to run into a small problem.

She accidentally pulled the wrong end of the cord and tightened it into a knot.

"Huh?"

Well, this was a little awkward...

Lin Xiaomeng fiddled behind her back for quite a while but still couldn't undo the knot.

"Hahaha! So even you have your clumsy moments, Xiaomeng? Stop struggling over there. Come here, and I'll untie it for you."

Seeing Lin Xiaomeng fiddle with the knot for ages without getting it undone, Lin Zhe rather unkindly laughed aloud.

"It's just a little accident. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes..."

Muttering under her breath, Lin Xiaomeng walked over to Lin Zhe with a faint blush on her pretty face, then turned her back to him.

This was the first time Lin Zhe had seen Lin Xiaomeng's back from so close, and it took him a little by surprise.

Lin Xiaomeng looked slim, but she wasn't skin and bones. Even through her clothes, he could see the distinct groove down her back.

Perhaps because she was always doing chores, both at home and at the inn, two softly curved lines of muscle ran along either side of that groove.

Her entire back had an elegant, refined look, as though it had been carefully sculpted specifically for a dramatically backless evening gown.

Lin Xiaomeng's back was the very picture of sexy contours.

Even as he admired Lin Xiaomeng's back, Lin Zhe's hands never paused, four fingers working away as he tried to undo the two cords.

Persistence paid off. After fiddling with it for almost ten minutes, Lin Zhe finally undid the knot.

"All done, Xiaomeng. You can take it off now."

As Lin Zhe spoke, a chubby figure lifted the kitchen curtain and came inside. Before he could even make out who it was, the figure darted back out again.

"Sorry! Sorry! I didn't hear a thing, and I didn't see a thing. Carry on, you two, carry on!"

Hearing Dan Teng's voice outside, Lin Zhe froze for a moment before realizing the guy must have gotten the wrong idea.

Lin Xiaomeng wasn't nearly as thick-skinned as Lin Zhe. Dan Teng's teasing instantly turned her face bright red.

Surely Brother Dan didn't think she and Zhe were doing something naughty in the kitchen!

"You bastard, stop teasing Xiaomeng. Get in here already, and quit howling out there."

Lin Zhe laughed and cursed toward the window. This guy didn't have a trace of the ethereal dignity of a Taoist. He could turn absolutely anything into something dirty.

"Hahaha! Did I come at a bad time?"

The punchable look on Dan Teng's face as he entered would definitely have earned a "What a turnoff" from that little princess if she had seen it.

"Brother Dan, Zhe, I'll leave you two to chat. I'm heading home. See you tomorrow."

Still blushing, Lin Xiaomeng said goodbye to the two of them and turned to leave.

"Take the food with you."

Without giving her a chance to refuse, Lin Zhe put an insulated bag containing the food containers into Lin Xiaomeng's hand.

"Thank you, Zhe. See you tomorrow."

Only after thanking Lin Zhe again did Lin Xiaomeng leave with the insulated bag, her heart full of gratitude.