Show a Bit More Class

A beautiful female assistant named Taozi walked up smilingly, holding a black bag.

Under everyone's gaze, she pulled out several stacks of red bills and began counting.

Soon, twenty thousand yuan in cash was counted out.

Brother Qiang took the money and laughed, "Come on, Su Yang, here's twenty thousand. I said I'd do it, and I did."

Su Yang took the money, glanced at it, and asked, "You're really giving this to me?"

"Hey, of course I mean it! With all these people watching, I'm not about to go back on my word."

Su Yang gave a thumbs-up: "Awesome! Very real!"

"It's got to be real. Everyone sees this, right? As long as you can lift the dumbbell, I pay up immediately! Even if I don't have cash, I can transfer it to you. So who else wants to try?!"

"I'll go! I'll go!"

"I want to try too."

"Me! Me! Me!"

......

After seeing Su Yang actually receive the prize, a lot more people wanted to challenge this time. After all, it was free — if you could lift it, you got money, and if you couldn't, no charge. There was nothing to lose.

Seeing seven or eight people suddenly rush forward, Brother Qiang quickly waved his hand and yelled, "Hey, hey, everyone line up, don't push. Each person gets a turn. I'm live streaming until 4 p.m., so everyone has a chance during that time. One at a time, alright."

Meanwhile, Su Yang walked over to Han So-yeon holding the money and chuckled, "Now we've got money for coffee later."

"Twenty thousand could buy half a year of coffee, haha. You really are impressive! I figured you could lift 120kg, but I never expected you could easily handle the 160kg one and even do curls with it!"

Su Yang smiled and said, "I just have good talent. Put this money in your bag for now — my luggage is too big."

"Alright, I'll hold onto it for you and give it back later."

The two continued chatting while watching others try the dumbbell. Eight people went up in a row after that, but not a single one could lift the 120kg dumbbell. At most, they could just shift it slightly.

After watching for a few more minutes with no one succeeding, Su Yang politely said goodbye to Brother Qiang and left with Han So-yeon.

The two strolled slowly through the pedestrian street. Su Yang asked, "So-yeon, do you come here often?"

Han So-yeon nodded: "Mm-hmm, I often go shopping here with my friends."

"Then do you know any good coffee shops around here?"

Han So-yeon thought about it for a moment and said, "There are some inside here, but the ones I've tried weren't that impressive. There are quite a few good places over by the Bund."

"Is that so? Then let's head over there."

"Sure, want to take a taxi?"

"No need. The Bund isn't too far from here. We can just walk over slowly."

"That works too." Han So-yeon nodded.

The two walked out of the pedestrian street and headed toward the Bund.

Fifteen minutes later, Han So-yeon led Su Yang to a coffee shop called The Gilded Bean on Zhongshan East First Road by the Bund.

At that moment, a few stylish young men and women were sitting at the outdoor tables.

Su Yang looked through the floor-to-ceiling window into the shop. There weren't many people inside — just two tables. One table had four women seated, and the other had a single woman working on a MacBook.

"This is the place, right?" Su Yang asked.

Han So-yeon nodded: "Yeah, I came here once with a friend. I thought it was okay, but..."

"But what?"

"It's just... the owner of the shop is a bit... you know."

"A bit what?" Su Yang looked confused.

"Actually, it's nothing. Just go in and you'll see. Let's go."

"Alright." With that, the two stepped into the shop.

Once inside, the first thing they noticed was the rich aroma of coffee. A Western country music track was playing in the background.

The pair stood inside for over ten seconds, but no one was behind the counter, and no server came to greet them.

Su Yang was taken aback: "Is there no waitstaff here?"

"Uh... it doesn't seem like it."

Su Yang then turned to look at the four women sitting not far to his left and called out, "Hello, ladies, sorry to bother you. Could you tell me where the owner of this shop is?"

Hearing his call, the four chatting women all looked up at Su Yang together.

They all looked young, with very international-style outfits.

One of them had long straight black hair, wore a black vintage-style hand-woven hollow-knit beret on her head, and a black choker around her neck.

Her face was heavily made-up, looking very pale, and she wore extremely dark black-purple lipstick.

She had on a black women's blazer over a black tube top, paired with black wide-leg trousers — all black, basically.

She glanced at Su Yang and Han So-yeon standing nearby, then lightly raised her hand and greeted them with a slight Taiwanese accent: "Sorry, may I ask — were you just talking to me?"

"What? I'm looking for the owner. Are you the owner?" Su Yang asked, puzzled.

Hearing this, the woman stood up and walked over. She crossed her arms, looked Su Yang up and down, then gave a slight smile and said slowly, "Hello, I'm Kelly, the curator of The Gilded Bean~"

"The what?"

"The curator, handsome. We don't have an owner here — we have a curator, like that."

"Whatever — so you're the owner, right?"

"Sorry, handsome, it's curator~ It looks like you're carrying luggage. You must be a tourist from out of town, right?"

"Yeah, do you not serve tourists or something?"

Kelly pursed her lips and smiled: "No, I was just wondering~ Right this way, you two."

She turned and led them to a window-side table for two near the door.

Then she went to the counter, grabbed two menus, and handed one to Su Yang and one to Han So-yeon.

Su Yang flipped one open and said, "So, uh, hostess, I'll just have an iced Americano."

"Curator, handsome." Kelly nodded with a smile.

"Sorry! Let me get an iced Americano."

"Sorry, handsome, but we don't have iced Americano here."

"You... don't?"

"Right. We're not actually a regular coffee shop. We — how should I put it — we do a kind of culture. Coffee culture, like that."

"Cul—" Hearing that, Su Yang almost laughed.

Just then, a Maine Coon cat darted out from somewhere.

Seeing it, Kelly ignored Su Yang who was about to speak and immediately turned around, dramatically exclaiming, "NO, Koala, NO, you can't be naughty! Come here, mama hug hug~"

Seeing this scene, Su Yang let out a deep breath, feeling like he had walked into the wrong place.

Kelly picked up the cat, stroked it, and looked at Su Yang: "Handsome? How about I recommend one of our signature beans?"

"Fine, go ahead and recommend something." Su Yang was beyond caring at that point.

"Alright, you should try our Panamanian Hacienda La Esmeralda Red Label Geisha. This bean is very popular here. You can order a cup to try. Do you have a habit of drinking coffee regularly?"

"I just drink it for fun, to quench my thirst."

"Is that so?" Kelly secretly rolled her eyes and smiled: "No problem, you can give it a try."

"Pour-over, right?"

"Mm-hm~"

"Alright, that one it is."

Han So-yeon also ordered the exact same drink.

Kelly, the owner, smiled softly while holding her cat. "Give us a moment, you two~"

After she walked away, Su Yang looked at Han So-yeon and said, "Are all coffee shops in Shanghai like this now? They don't call the boss 'boss' but 'owner'?"

Han So-yeon covered her mouth and chuckled. "Not necessarily—it still depends on the boss's personality. But nowadays, a lot of restaurants and cafés like to refer to the boss that way. It sounds more sophisticated."

"Oh, I see. 'Owner'—it's just a small business operator, right?"