CHAPTER 721: CHAPTER 438 THE GOAL OF THE COFFEE SHOP_2

"Give her half."

Half?

No way, no way, absolutely not.

That’s too weird.

Towa Rina couldn’t quite keep up with Tashiro Yuuri’s straightforward thinking and continued to press on:

"If, just if, your sister wanted all the chips?"

Tashiro Yuuri answered without hesitation: "She’d only want half."

"What if!"

"If? If she wants them, I’ll just give them all to her and buy more."

"..."

Towa Rina was speechless, feeling that the other side completely missed her point.

"Okay, let me make it clear. If, if you and your sister liked the same guy, would you give her half of him?"

"That’s impossible."

"What if!"

"Hmm..."

Tashiro Yuuri went into deep thought. Finally, she seemed to figure it out, turned to Towa Rina’s expectant face, and seriously said:

"I still think Yuno wouldn’t like a guy like that."

"Can’t you just hypothetically consider it?"

Tashiro Yuuri thought again: "No."

Towa Rina: "So, it’s just really hard to accept, right?"

"Hmm~ definitely, if Yuno liked someone, I would want to know what’s so special about him."

"Seems like it would be troublesome," Tashiro Yuuri frowned.

Towa Rina saw she’d caught on and whispered to her ear:

"Whisper, whisper, whisper..."

Tashiro Yuuri finished listening and looked at the two people at the register, then back at Towa Rina:

"You’re saying Hanami likes Uesugi? She likes her brother-in-law, and Uesugi seems into her too, and they’re getting more and more ambiguous working together?"

"Shh! Keep your voice down."

Towa Rina made sure the two at the register hadn’t heard them and quickly pulled Tashiro Yuuri into the back kitchen.

The two leaned against the oven baking pastries.

"Pretty much, haven’t you noticed? Whenever Hanami has time, she sits right in front of Uesugi Sakura, smiling and watching his face."

"Isn’t that normal? After all, she and her sister grew up with Uesugi-san, so it’s understandable they’re close," Tashiro Yuuri didn’t find it problematic.

"Indeed, if they’re that close, it’s understandable, but a few days ago, maybe four days ago, I saw Hanami coming home, cornering Uesugi against the wall, and directly kissing him on her tiptoes!!"

"Do you get it? Directly, kissed, him!" Towa Rina described animatedly.

"That is indeed a bit too intimate."

"Do you understand what this means?"

"What?"

"Infidelity! It’s a betrayal of emotions. Though I’ve only met Hanabi once, I know she’s the kind of sweet girl who wouldn’t resist anything. Such a beautiful girl married to Uesugi, completely in love with him, yet unexpectedly betrayed by this scumbag."

"Any girl who loves her husband would be heartbroken! Such a scumbag should absolutely not be tolerated."

Tashiro Yuuri was silent for a moment, then said: "I... roughly understand what you’re saying. You, want Uesugi to mend his ways?"

"Exactly, infidelity is infidelity. Although it’s Hanabi’s choice to forgive him, he needs to first realize his mistake and understand he shouldn’t entangle himself with Hanami like this."

"Got it, but we’re just his newly acquainted colleagues. How do we persuade him?"

"I don’t know," Towa Rina replied earnestly.

Tashiro Yuuri: "..."

"But we can set a goal; we can discuss and plan slowly."

"Then, what’s the first step? What should we do first?"

"Um... we should... recruit more allies..."

Knock knock.

Cat-Eared Maid Tashiro Yuno knocked expressionlessly at the back kitchen door, looking at the two whispering there:

"What are you doing? Get to work, three medium-rare steaks, two fruit salads, two croquettes, Speed up, the customers are already waiting."

After speaking, Tashiro Yuno turned and walked out.

"..."

...

The café was busy as usual today.

Uesugi Sakura felt like he’d been making coffee nonstop, and even with Kobashi Rikai helping a bit, it was still pretty exhausting.

More customers came in.

Uesugi Sakura remembered, it was the office worker lady who last time asked for his contact info and got scolded by Hanabi.

"Hey there, cutie~ I brought all my colleagues from the company here over these days; aren’t you going to send over some sweets or something?"

Uesugi Sakura paused for a moment: "Sure, how about ice cream?"

"No, sweets means contact info."

"I’m married."

"Married? It’s okay, just a chat. Actually, I know a little about coffee too; I wanted to discuss it with you. Your little wife doesn’t watch you that closely, right? Haha."

"..."

While it wasn’t every day, Uesugi Sakura ran into quite a few customers like this.

Seriously, this isn’t a host club; why ask for contact info?

"See you tomorrow, cutie," the two women said as they walked out arm in arm, waving goodbye to Uesugi Sakura.

"Goodbye," he replied.

Around 2:30 p.m., most office workers who came out during lunch break had returned to work.

Finally, Uesugi Sakura got a moment to breathe, to slack off a little.

Ding-a-ling~~

The sound of a door chime.

Manager Yanagi, wearing a vest over her suit, pushed open the door and came in.

Uesugi Sakura, who was idly looking at his phone, heard the crisp sound at the entrance and looked up to greet the manager:

"Manager Yanagi."

"Yes," the manager held a stack of documents, standing in front of the bar, placing the documents next to a cactus, "356 survey questionnaires were distributed over the past few days; I compiled these last night."

"That many?"

"Yes, and kudos to Hanami for baking so many cookies."

"..."

With no customers around now, Hanamaru Hanabi took the chance to nap in the café’s corner.

Manager Yanagi, while opening the documents, said: "I researched a lot for the questionnaire. Everyone suggested we keep the maids, and many customers even suggested trying traditional Western maid outfits instead of our current styles."

Uesugi Sakura understood, the current maid outfits were modified short skirts.

The traditional maid outfits comprise a white ruffled apron, paired with a classic maid’s cap, and a solid-colored long dress with a collar for accent.

The long dress covers the legs, reaching down to the ankles, such that maids would lightly lift the sides when bowing.

These traditional maid costumes, apart from the bow-knot tied apron at the back and the bow-knot at the collar, have no other decorations, very clean.

Nowadays, most maid cafés use modified versions.

Mainly to show legs and appear cute.

Long skirts turn into short skirts, showing thighs, paired with white or black stockings to highlight the youthful legs’ shape, more appealing to male customers.

This, although understandable, still lacks some elegance compared to traditional attire.

Manager Yanagi looked up at Uesugi Sakura: "What do you think?"

Uesugi Sakura didn’t rush to answer.

"Has the manager decided on the café’s main style?"

"Yes, leaning towards Western."

"Then, given a Western style, naturally long-skirt maid outfits would be better." Uesugi Sakura didn’t think there was anything wrong since the café’s décor already leaned towards vintage.

"Apart from that, I also want to add some cat elements, having a few long-tailed cats in the shop, setting up some climbing poles in corners. With cats around, the café’s vintage vibe will be even richer."

Uesugi Sakura nodded in agreement; Hanabi would surely love the idea of cats.

Manager Yanagi spoke more on the ideas for converting the café’s style, and Uesugi Sakura listened to them all. Some came from customer suggestions, some feasible, others merely sounding good.

"Honestly, one main reason I came to you is to make you stay here longer."

"As a barista?"

"Yes," Manager Yanagi nodded, "with you here, the business has significantly improved; having regular customers is one factor, but you’re a major reason. If you’re willing to work here long term, I’m willing to offer you 20% of the daily net profits as extra wages."

That’s a lot, practically making him a stakeholder in the café.

"That’s a bit exaggerated."

"Perhaps you didn’t notice, but everyone has high praise for your coffee. Where did you learn it?"

"England..."

"I know that, I mean, from whom?"

"An uncle who likes cats..."