Chapter 39: Her First Test

Before the world had properly emerged from darkness, I stood on a sofa in our bright, spacious sitting room, shoulders back and spirits high.
My hair was tied up. I wore a yellow tracksuit and simple canvas shoes. My expression was resolute, my long lashes proudly lifted.
Today, I would enter Qinglang Hotel and go into battle.
Failure was not an option.
“You look just like Sailor Moon!”
“Sailor Moon? Doesn’t she wear a skirt?”
“She can wear trousers too. The trouser version.”
Honestly. Was there such a version?
“The Tang family version,” Zhou Guo said. “Only Yijun could make it look so bright and pretty.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
I clasped my hands in a martial artist’s salute.
“No need for formalities, heroine.”
For once, Zhou Guo was being playful.
“Good luck, Miss Yijun!”
“You can do it!”
“Go, go, go!”
Their voices were loud and full of enthusiasm.
Once the cheering subsided, I asked, “What time is it?”
“Half past six,” Mrs. Zhuang replied.
“Only half past six? Getting up early isn’t so difficult. From now on, I’ll get up at half past five every day.”
“Please don’t.”
Zhou Guo looked alarmed.
“Don’t worry,” Mrs. Zhuang said. “She’ll do well to keep it up for a week.”
“How can you have so little faith in me?”
“Sorry. That came out wrong. Don’t take it to heart.”
At seven, the rest of the family emerged from their rooms.
Everyone’s first reaction was surprise.
“Yijun, why are you up so early?”
Naturally, I had to get up early.
This was my first day of battle.
“Have some breakfast.”
“I’ve already eaten.”
While they ate, I did my warm-up exercises.
“Look at her,” Mum said, laughing. “You’d think she was going to war.”
“I am. And it’s going to be a fierce one.”
“Try not to defeat the woman before you’ve won her over.”
“Mum!”
“You can do it, Yijun.”
My sister came over and put an arm around me.
“I know you’ll win.”
“You have my support too,” Big Brother said, affectionately stroking my head. “Come home triumphant.”
I nodded firmly.
The four gleaming characters of Qinglang Hotel’s name shone in the morning sunlight.
I was back.
“Good morning, Miss Tang. This way, please.”
Someone was already waiting at the entrance.
I was taken straight to Yan Rong’s office.
She sat looking down at me from behind her desk. In front of her, I felt as insignificant as dust, hardly daring to breathe.
The floor beneath her desk was raised about half a metre above the rest of the room, making her seem even more imposing.
Her cool gaze bore down on me.
“From now on, you’ll be my special assistant. You’ll stay with me and learn. We have a dress code. Ouyang, take her to change.”
Stay beside her and learn?
“So I won’t be cleaning floors? Or toilets?”
“Were you any good at that?”
I’d walked straight into that one.
Obediently, I followed the woman called Ouyang.
She was practically Yan Rong’s shadow. She treated me politely enough, but when she wasn’t smiling, her expression was just as stern and distant.
I changed into a black skirt suit like hers.
One glance in the mirror, and I looked like I’d joined their ranks.
Back in the office, Yan Rong was bent over her work.
Ouyang closed the door behind her and left.
Not daring to interrupt, I stood to one side.
Ten whole minutes passed.
She was deliberately making things difficult.
For Ji Feiyang’s sake, I would endure it.
“Wait a little. I have something to finish.”
At last, she spoke.
She hadn’t told me to sit, so I didn’t dare.
After a while, she rose to get some water.
“Let me do that for you, Auntie.”
Look at me, being helpful.
Ji Feiyang, this was all for you.
After a moment’s hesitation, she handed me her cup.
There were tea leaves inside. Beside the water dispenser stood a box of Tieguanyin tea.
Fresh leaves would surely taste better than used ones.
Without asking, I tipped the old leaves out.
“What are you doing?”
The sharp question came from behind me.
“Changing the tea.”
“Those leaves have only been brewed once.”
What?
“I… I didn’t know.”
A knock sounded, and Ji Feiyang came in.
Relief swept through me.
My rescuer.
“That’s too much,” he exclaimed. “You don’t need so many leaves.”
I’d filled more than half the cup.
“I’ve seen people use this much.”
“They expand in water. Once you fill it, there probably won’t be room for anything else.”
“They do?”
In more than twenty years of life, I’d never made tea.
“Feiyang, go outside.”
“Mum—”
“Outside.”
Helplessly, I watched him leave.
Yan Rong’s eyes flashed.
“Miss Tang, that tea isn’t cheap.”
A cold sweat broke out.
I wasn’t sure what to do next.
Remembering what Ji Feiyang had said, I tipped out some of the leaves, leaving the cup about a quarter full.
“Your tea, Auntie.”
I handed it over nervously.
Her face was thunderous.
“What water did you use?”
My eyes widened.
Was she particular about that too? Did she use some special kind?
I pointed at the dispenser.
“The water from there.”
“I know where it came from. Take a sip yourself.”
Her voice was icy.
I took back the cup.
The leaves hadn’t opened yet.
One small sip revealed the problem.
Cold.
Come to think of it, tea was usually hot.
I searched my memory for scenes of people making it. There was always steaming water.
So that was it.
And I’d thought she wanted something special.
“Do you drink it hot?”
“Do you drink it cold?”
Her reply dripped with sarcasm.
I poured the whole cup away.
Then I remembered what she’d said about the tea being expensive.
My heart lurched.
Behind me, her voice made me sweat again.
“Why did you throw everything away? You only needed to empty the water.”
“I… I…”
My mind went blank.
There was no explanation.
After making it again, I brought the cup over, still trembling.
“The water’s rather hot, Auntie. You might want to wait before drinking.”
I thought I sounded quite sensible.
“Did you rinse the leaves?”
What?
I wanted to bang my head against the wall.
Why had I tried to be helpful?
If I’d let her get her own tea, none of this would have happened.
“No,” I admitted with an awkward smile.
Her gaze seemed to pierce me like a thousand icy arrows.
I stood rigidly, afraid to smile, afraid to move.
With a cold snort, she rose and emptied the water from the cup.
“Don’t call me Auntie at work.”
“Yes. Of course.”
“These are the hotel’s rules and regulations.”
I accepted the document she handed me.
“Study them carefully.”
For the rest of the morning, I was left sitting to one side.
The rules were unbearably dull. After fewer than two pages, I wanted to fall asleep.
But I didn’t dare.
I barely dared yawn.
At last, lunchtime arrived.
Yan Rong took me home with her.
The meal was already on the table: three dishes and a soup.
Compared with what we ate at home, it looked positively meagre.
Then I reminded myself that it was only her and her son. Two people couldn’t eat that much.
Fair enough.
Our house was certainly livelier.
But when I picked up my chopsticks, I didn’t know where to start.
The three dishes were Chinese cabbage, shredded kelp and braised pork belly.
The soup was seaweed and egg.
I loved meat.
On that whole table, there wasn’t even a single prawn.
Yes, there were only two of them, but who was this display of austerity for?
Were they hoping somebody would feel sorry for them?
Yan Rong glanced at me.
I quickly took a few strands of kelp and began eating as though they were delicious.
We ate in silence for a little while before Ji Feiyang returned.
I’d thought I would have to get through the entire meal alone with his mother.
The sight of him made me happy.
He smiled at me.
“You’ve started.”
“Only just,” I said.
“The manager at the fifth hotel is new,” Yan Rong told him. “He doesn’t know the business well yet. Go and guide him for a few days.”
“All right.”
He didn’t sound pleased.
A few days?
Did that mean I wouldn’t see him?
She was doing it on purpose.
Of course she was.
Once he was out of the way, she could deal with me properly.
The thought of facing her alone over the coming days destroyed what remained of my appetite.
“Have some more.”
Ji Feiyang placed a piece of pork belly in my bowl.
Apart from the lean layer in the middle, it was all glistening fat.
Fat.
The very sight made me feel sick.
“Go on.”
I picked it up.
How horrible.
“Eat.”
He was watching me. It was difficult to refuse when he meant so well.
The white layers of fat seemed to grow larger before my eyes.
Suddenly, I wanted to be sick.
“Yijun, what’s wrong?”
“I… I…”
I pointed at it.
“I can’t eat that.”
Yan Rong’s cold voice cut in.
“Being picky is a bad habit.”
“It’s fatty.”
“It’s one of the hotel’s signature dishes,” Ji Feiyang said with a smile. “It looks rich, but it doesn’t taste greasy. Look.”
He pressed his chopsticks into the fat, and it fell apart.
“It’s been cooked until it’s soft. It won’t feel greasy at all.”
I continued staring at it in horror.
“Just try a little.”
He lifted a small piece towards my mouth.
My lips stayed firmly shut.
Yan Rong slammed her bowl onto the table.
The sudden noise startled us both.
“This isn’t a nursery. Must you be coaxed through a meal?”
“I… I…”
Looking down, I hurriedly took two mouthfuls of plain rice.
“I’m full.”