WRA CH74

Dou Manning was used to waking up at five in the morning to open up shop. Making thirty-five cups of coffee did not take long, and he strictly adhered to the recipe’s ratio of sugar and milk to craft the lattes.

Once finished, he sent a message to Xiang Zhen, who had not yet replied.

The young couple had not gotten out of bed yet.

With nothing to do, Dou Manning took out a pack of blank stickers.

The coffee cups bought by Zhenzhen’s husband were a generic design: solid brown throughout, without any “Manning Coffee” branding.

Dou Manning drew a logo of a coffee tree himself, meticulously writing out the exact proportions of coffee beans, sugar, milk, and water, along with the words “Welcome, enjoy your drink.”

Different coffee beans brought out distinct flavor profiles when paired with milk; this exact ratio was the one Xiang Zhen had deemed the most delicious during their trial sessions. Xiang Zhen had extensive experience when it came to tasting sweets.

Therefore, claiming this was a new recipe developed by Zhenzhen was not inaccurate either.

Once he finished writing them all out, he peeled them off one by one and affixed them to the cup sleeves.

Then he placed them individually into an insulated delivery box packed with ice blocks, so they would remain chilled right at refrigerated temperature by the time they reached the company.

Seeing that they were on the verge of running late for work and Xiang Zhen still had not emerged, Dou Manning had no choice but to knock on the door of unit 1609.

“I’m sorry, I overslept,” Xiang Zhen said sheepishly.

Dou Manning: “It doesn’t matter.”

He watched Xiang Zhen and Zhou Sicheng get ready for work with busy yet seamless chemistry. One washed up while the other steamed breakfast. Moments later, they swapped—the one done washing turned off the steamer and transferred the steamed buns to a bowl to cool, while the other brushed his teeth, washed his face, and styled his hair in the bathroom.

In the compact rental unit, their movements never clashed. Even when they bumped into each other, they simply exchanged a warm smile.

Dou Manning suddenly understood what Xiang Zhen meant when he said life became better once you had a husband.

Sharing daily life together, for a sprite who had cultivated alone into sentience, was the true essence of becoming human.

Xiang Zhen had invited him over for dinner the previous night, and the meal had indeed been prepared by Zhou Sicheng, with culinary skills fully on par with the head chef at the construction site.

Zhou Sicheng loaded the insulated box into the garage, while Dou Manning waved goodbye to Xiang Zhen at the stairwell landing.

Dou Manning’s rental unit was a former fitness room remodeled by Zhou Sicheng. The exercise equipment had been cleared out, and the water heater, toilet, and air conditioner were all brand-new replacements, far more upscale than where Xiang Zhen lived himself.

Dou Manning knew the market rent was well beyond two hundred yuan, so he resolved to craft coffee that would truly satisfy people. Using the available supplies, he spent his time tinkering and perfecting the flavor profiles of his brews.

A whole day slipped by without him noticing.

Over on Zhou Sicheng’s Moments, Shen Ku noticed a mutual friend who had liked the post. Three years ago, when Zhoufu Group was building its corporate campus, Shen Ku had served as the project manager, and this senior executive surnamed Li was the primary contact coordinating construction matters.

Shen Ku arranged with Executive Li: “Let’s head over to Zhoufu tomorrow to sample the coffee together. My car broke down, so I’ll catch a ride with you.”

Executive Li suspected nothing. After all, Engineer Shen did not smoke or drink; back when drafting blueprints on the job, he had relied entirely on coffee to stay alert. Shen Ku loved coffee, and Executive Li knew it well.

With such a pleasant prospect—tasting coffee and indulging in gossip—even Executive Li, who only worked afternoon shifts, could not resist waking up early, let alone Engineer Shen.

Picking up Engineer Shen halfway, Executive Li started their gossip tour with high spirits, eager to chat: “Engineer Shen, aren’t you incredibly curious about who President Zhou’s wife is?”

Shen Ku: “Yeah.”

Executive Li: “I was completely caught off guard! Out of nowhere! Tsk tsk, how could 9.9 yuan a cup ever break even? It’s mostly an official announcement of his wife. It’d be rude of me not to buy one.”

“…” Shen Ku closed his eyes. Manning had charged forty yuan a cup at the construction site, yet charged Zhou Sicheng’s executives only 9.9 yuan. That price deficit was a loss Manning was willing to take for Zhou Sicheng’s sake.

Executive Li: “Looks to me like President Zhou is dead serious this time. Did you know? This is the very first post on his Moments feed.”

Shen Ku: “Yeah.”

Executive Li: “Manning Coffee… Do you think his wife’s name is Manning? Sounds quite nice, but I’ve never heard of such a person. Have you?”

Shen Ku: “…”

Executive Li concluded: “Engineer Shen, you’re still as quiet as ever.”

Engineer Shen’s heart felt as though it had been pierced through a thousand times. Not a single word was something he wanted to hear; had he known, he would have simply waited downstairs at Zhoufu.

Riding in Executive Li’s car, Shen Ku arrived at Zhoufu’s parking lot. Looking around, he did not spot any vehicle belonging to Zhou Sicheng.

Has he not arrived yet?

Isn’t Zhou Sicheng a workaholic who always sits in his office by nine?

Thinking of the reason behind the delay—perhaps an endless stream of sweet talk with his wife—Shen Ku felt a dull pang in his chest, as if his heart were soaking in vinegar, losing moisture steadily with every labored beat.

Executive Li received a message: “Oh, President Zhou wants us to collect the coffee in the conference room. We’d better hurry.”

Shen Ku snapped out of his jealous haze: “He’s here?”

Executive Li: “He’s already waiting in the conference room!”

Shen Ku pulled himself together. Whatever happened, he could not show weakness. With a stern, cold demeanor, he followed the executive into the elevator and arrived at the conference room.

Inside the round-table conference room, a cup of coffee sat at every seat.

At the head of the table, Zhou Sicheng looked vibrant and self-assured, casting an imposing glance over his gossiping subordinates: “Take a seat, everyone.”

Although his profile still appeared cold and austere as usual, Shen Ku could clearly read the words radiating joy from a momentous occasion all over him.

Zhou Sicheng’s jubilant scene only sharpened Shen Ku’s sorrow.

Shen Ku walked in silently, taking a seat beside Executive Li. Set before him were a cup of coffee, a sheet of paper, and a pen.

Zhou Sicheng: “An eight-hundred-word tasting review. Start writing. Whoever finishes first leaves first.”

Shen Ku picked up the cup, pulled off the sealing tape, and took a sip with a sense of grim resignation.

As the bitter brew slipped past his throat, his heart died completely.

Even though this cup had sugar, milk, and added water, the distinct flavor unique to Dou Manning struck an undeniable resonance on his tongue.

This was coffee made by Dou Manning, without a shadow of a doubt. He could recognize it in a single sip.

If Shen Ku had harbored any lingering illusions or hoped it was all a misunderstanding before drinking…

Now, the evidence was ironclad. Shen Ku ran his fingers across the cup sleeve, spotting the neat, elegant handwriting detailing the milk-to-sugar ratio, the coffee tree logo, and the phrase “Welcome, enjoy your drink” followed by a smiley face.

Between the lines, one could tell how joyful Dou Manning had been while brewing this batch.

Dou Manning had been happy making coffee for Zhou Sicheng’s executives, likely because he knew it was part of a unique public debut of their relationship.

Shen Ku’s malicious assumption that Dou Manning had been abducted was completely groundless.

Dou Manning had not even insisted on serving “pure Americanos” anymore. He had broken his own rules for Zhou Sicheng, adding so much milk and sugar to an intensely bitter coffee.

Yet Shen Ku felt that this sip of milk-laced coffee was exceedingly bitter.

He was long accustomed to pure Americanos.

Fresh milk bought by a romantic rival added to the brew was no different from fatal poison.

How could he possibly stomach a latte?

Shen Ku’s thoughts settled into quiet resignation. Without taking another sip, he picked up the pen and began writing his review.

His expression remained calm. What else was left for him to do? He could not become a third party and wreck Manning’s happiness, turning into the kind of person he despised most.

Zhou Sicheng’s willingness to collect reviews from his executives on Manning’s behalf was childish in itself, and such childishness proved just how deeply in love he was.

Writing this review was the very last thing Shen Ku could do for Dou Manning. He even sketched out curves mapping extraction density against flavor profiles, hoping Dou Manning’s coffee would grow better and better, carrying forward the dream Shen Ku had once held of opening a shop for him.

That dream had now been taken over by someone else.

Suffering was the cradle of literature; Shen Ku wrote like a world-class coffee connoisseur.

With a soft chime, Shen Ku received a WeChat message from Zhou Sicheng telling him, “You don’t need to write.”

Was he to be stripped even of this very last thing he could do for Manning?

Beside him, Executive Li was an entirely different story. As a pure engineer, he wrote one line and crossed out the next. Because today was the day of the college entrance exams, he could not use the Xiao Kui Bao system to generate an eight-hundred-word essay. Scratching his head in agony, he leaned over to peek at what Shen Ku was writing.

“We’re both engineering guys, how are you this talented?”

Executive Li pondered the underlying intent of the prompt, and with a sudden spark of inspiration, his pen began to fly.

The boss did not actually want a coffee tasting review; he clearly wanted an eight-hundred-word wedding blessing.

Shen Ku caught a stray glimpse, finding Executive Li’s page plastered with phrases like “a match made in heaven, coffee as the matchmaker, Zhoufu as the betrothal gift.”

It made his eyes throb with pain.

The conference room held a distinct brand of agony: knowing full well that everyone else was completely straying from the prompt, while you remained the only one honestly answering the question, entirely powerless.

Coffee was the actual prompt, yet veering off-topic earned the highest score.

His own page was filled entirely with notes on coffee.

Shen Ku set his pen down, picked up the paper, and placed it before Zhou Sicheng.

He looked at Zhou Sicheng with a complex gaze, wanting to ask for Manning’s phone number.

In the end, he said nothing at all, choosing a resolute letting go.

Just make a clean break of it, Shen Ku.

Shen Ku brought the lounge chair back home, having barely borrowed it for a few days.

Mother Shen had not even had time to buy a replacement. She caught the lingering, bitter scent of coffee clinging to the chair, alongside the unmistakable aura of heartbreak radiating from her son.

What on earth? He got dumped and actually returned the chair?

With the construction site halted for the exams, Shen Ku did not go to work, holed up at home instead, reviewing blueprints day and night.

Mother Shen grew worried over his state, fearing that returning to the site in such a dazed condition would lead to an accident.

Unfortunately, her younger son had been a man of few words since childhood, and she could not pry anything out of him. She ordered her eldest son to come home and talk sense into him.

Carrying the calming herbal soup handed to him by their mother, Elder Brother Shen pushed open the study door. Who would have thought that a stubborn blockhead like Shen Ku would fall for a barista, and fall this hard?

Seeing him in this state pained the older brother.

Elder Brother Shen: “If you like someone, go pursue them. Don’t you know how to be persistent?”

Shen Ku did not lift his head: “No.”

Elder Brother Shen: “You stubborn fool. With our massive family fortune backing you up, you can’t even pursue someone? Those street punks chase after girls on a cheap moped without a second thought.”

Shen Ku: “He has a partner.”

Elder Brother Shen choked, his curiosity piqued. “When you fell for him, did you know he had a partner?”

Shen Ku: “He didn’t back then.”

Elder Brother Shen was rendered speechless. That meant his brother, blessed with top-tier education, a powerhouse physique, a formidable family background, and an exceptional older brother, had still managed to let someone else cut in line!

He had thoroughly dragged his older brother’s reputation down with him.

Elder Brother Shen: “Who is it that you actually like? If you like him, fight for him. Fair competition isn’t shameful.”

Shen Ku looked at his brother: “Zhou Sicheng’s wife.”

Elder Brother Shen forced a smile: “I was just blowing off steam, don’t take it to heart.”

Of all the people to like, he had to pick Zhou Sicheng’s wife.

Zhou Sicheng was the type who could devour his competitors alive.

Stirred by his brother’s passing remarks, Shen Ku felt a flicker of fighting spirit reignite. Indeed, Dou Manning had only known Zhou Sicheng for a single day; perhaps they were merely “testing the waters.” Testing the waters meant anyone still had a fair shot.

“Brother, you’re right. I still have a chance.”

“No, no, no, you don’t.” Elder Brother Shen managed an enterprise under immense pressure and had no desire to get dragged into a corporate war. “I’m not terrified of Zhou Sicheng, but everyone knows Zhou Sicheng and his wife are head over heels in love.”

“I was in the same meeting with him this morning and caught a look at his WeChat screen. His wife was calling him ‘hubby’ with every breath, sweeter than honey.”

Shen Ku felt a devastating blow.

He could not even picture what Dou Manning would look like calling someone “hubby.”

Ding.

A WeChat message arrived: Zhou Sicheng was inviting him out for tea tomorrow.

Elder Brother Shen’s expression shifted. The terrifying speed with which Zhou Sicheng rooted out romantic rivals was chilling. He said gravely, “Shen Ku, whatever you do, don’t do anything rash.”

Shen Ku: “What could I possibly be rash about?”

One wrong step had led to another; all that awaited him was having to face his rival’s gloating display of victory.