391 A Heavy Mental Burden (1/2)

Chapter 391: A Heavy Mental Burden

Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

After boiling a pot of hot water to brew tea for Old Time Tea, Zhang Zian put his coat back on. He carried a big broom and a shovel and headed over to the clinic of Sun Xiaomeng, intending to fetch the pets’ breakfast from Uncle Li's shop on his way back.

At this time, most of the shops on the street had not opened their doors yet, so few people were sweeping the snow in front of their shops. He struggled to move forward in the deep snow, breathing in the bitter cold air, and watched the commuters rush to work with pity.

When he arrived at the pet clinic, he looked inside, and did not see Sun Xiaomeng. She was probably in the treatment room. Long Xian behind the duty counter saw him, poured a cup of hot cocoa, and came over to him.

”Manager Zhang.” Long Xian gave him the cocoa, ”I heard Sister Xiaomeng say that you were going to help us remove the snow! Please drink this cup of cocoa to warm up first.”

”Thank you.” Zhang Zian put the broom and shovel aside, and accepted the cup of hot cocoa to drink.

When the sweet, hot, viscous liquid flowed into his stomach from his esophagus, he instantly felt the chilled air being pushed out of his body.

”So sweet! So sweet!” He finished the drink, wiped his mouth, and handed the cup back to her.

”Hey! I have one thing in common with Sister Xiaomeng — we both have a sweet tooth! Manager Zhang, do you prefer salty or sweet food?” Long Xian asked curiously.

Zhang Zian answered earnestly, ”To be honest, as long as it is free, I don’t really mind if it is sweet or salty.”

Long Xian was speechless.

Since she wore very little, she couldn’t bear the chilliness outside anymore.

”I’m going inside now… Thank you, Manager Zhang.” She trotted back into the clinic, but then stuck her head out again. ”Manager Zhang, I also heard that you hired a new employee in your shop?”

”Yes, she is called Lu Yiyun, and her drawing skills are amazing, almost at a professional level. Whenever you are free, you can come and meet her. You two are similar in age, so you guys should have common topics to talk about,” Zhang Zian said. ”In this terrible weather, I see few clients are visiting the clinic, so I guess you’ve had some free time recently.”

”Well, I would like to meet her.” Long Xian smiled and headed back to the counter.

There was only a small area in front of the pet clinic, and Sun Xiaomeng’s car took up a lot of that space, so Zhang Zian swept the snow to the driveway, and finished very quickly. He was leaving with his broom and shovel, and noticed that a straw mat was placed in front of the clinic, presumably to allow customers to rub their dirty shoes off before entering the gate, thus relieving the cleaning pressure on the clinic.

He kept this detail in his mind, planning to go back to his storeroom to see if there was a similar mat.

Uncle Li's small restaurant had no customers at all this morning. The interior of the store was lit with pale lights, and Aunt Li was sitting there playing a piece of wiping cloth, bored, with Zhang Zian’s foam insulated box beside her hand.

”It’s freaking cold outside,” he pushed the door open.

”Master Zhang is here,” said Aunt Li. She smiled and stood up. ”It is cold and snowy, but the coldest time hasn’t arrived yet.”

Zhang Zian came here several times a day, so he picked up the foam insulated box casually and comforted her euphemistically, ”Business is rough everywhere in this terrible weather, I’m sure everything will get better when the weather becomes warmer… just stay warm and go home early today.”

”Okay.” Although Aunt Li promised him with a smile, Zhang Zian guessed that they would remain here till ten o'clock in the evening as usual.

Heading back to his pet shop, stepping on ice and snow along the way, he saw Lu Yiyun was standing outside the door waiting.

She trotted towards Zhang Zian, trying to take the foam insulated box from him, but because of her clumsiness, her feet stepped on a piece of ice and almost slipped. Zhang Zian threw away his broom and shovel to grab her.

”I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I’m so stupid...” she repeatedly apologized.

”It’s all right. Please don’t run with ice and snow on the road. Why are you waiting outside?” he asked.

She said timidly, ”The door is closed...”