Her fingers moved fast, trembling only slightly. Every task, no matter how small, felt monumental. Each bowl she stacked, each chopstick she laid out was proof she belonged here, if only for now.
She would not fail.
Not when her mother and brother were counting on her.
Not when her own life was dangling by a thread in Gu Xuelan's hands.
The restaurant was warm and alive before she realized what had happened.
One moment, she was stacking bowls neatly; the next, the shutters were fully raised, and customers began to trickle in, their voices a low murmur of greetings and orders.
"Morning, Mianmian! The usual, please!"
"Two bowls of beef noodle, extra chili!"
"Egg buns for me, don't forget!"
Xiao Lian froze for half a breath, the sudden flurry of sound disorienting her. She had eaten in restaurants before—rarely—but she had never stood on this side, the side where demands rained down like arrows.
