A Lifetime Promise

Chapter 10

Just like that, Lin Xinglan began to work in the famous teahouse 'The Calmness of Heavens', and she didn't have to worry where to sleep as the old man provided her a room on the third floor of the teahouse.

Normally, that floor was only available for the owner himself, as the floor was named 'Master's floor'. People needed his permission if they wanted to enter and that rarely happened since the owner didn't like people touching his things. Lin Xinglan, who easily got the permission to enter the third floor and even got a room to reside in, indeed stumbled into a jackpot.

Lin Xinglan having worked for a while, she had found out that the old man was actually an old famous painter, Bao Wen Bo. It had been said that he retired his career in his 60s as his hands were no longer suited to paint so he ran a teahouse to settle down.

No wonder Lin Xinglan found his eyes sharp since he used to create paintings with tiny details which had cultivated his eyes into what they were now as a result.
People could find his paintings hanging on the walls inside the teahouse, it was pleasant sight in the eyes but, all her eyes contained when she first received the information was greed.

Her hands began to automatically itch badly, she had a bad urge to take all of them and pawn them for money. Just thinking how much she would get made her mouth become watery. To her own dissatisfaction, she could only give up, for the sake of her future.

Lin Xinglan picked up her only hairpin on the floor that had fallen from her hair, a thought flashed through her mind. Now that she thought about it, this was the time of month she and the young prince would meet in the forest. Her heart turned sour but she had to cut her connection with him, it was only a matter of time.

He was getting older and soon the people from the Imperial palace would recognize his talents which meant, he would no longer have it easy to meet her without anyone finding out. It was better for her to stop meeting him, the sooner the better, otherwise it would be much harder for her to leave.

Having to think like that, Lin Xinglan hardened her heart, she wasn't as cold to just leave without saying goodbye so she went to the owner's study room and took a paper to write on. Reading the words contained on the paper, she was feeling satisfied over her work.

My handwriting has gotten better and this should be enough...

It was still early in the morning, Lin Xinglan had still time before the teahouse opened so she walked straight ahead to the forest to deliver her message. She thought the way she said goodbye to the young prince would leave him less heartbroken and would forget about her as he grew up because they only met each other for approximately 60 times, which each time would be for a few hours.

Only the heavens and the young prince himself knew that it turned out for the worse. Perhaps, her words on the paper was lacking or because it was all sudden... Or for a different reason, but one thing was certain, it didn't leave a good mark.

People from the staff in the teahouse would sometimes make fun of Lin Xinglan being a child and couldn't work properly but they nevertheless treated her well if she had to compare with people similar to her. Some would try to interact with her and were willing to become her friend but they were rejected by her, it left them with a bad taste but they didn't let it get to them.

It wasn't like she disliked them, she just didn't want to let people get too close to her as it would hit her hard when they would leave her in the future. It did hit her hard when she decided to leave the young prince, but it didn't leave her any choice. That was why she decided to leave him before it was too late, before it could hit her harder.

She could only hope for his forgiveness. It was already hard enough for her to lose Jian Da's, her body's, parents and the village, she didn't want to add more to it. She was feeling awful that she couldn't cry out tears for the loss, it was eating her slowly every time she thought about it, and the stuffiness would fill her heart.

It was a pity no one realized her feelings and thoughts.

Lin Xinglan was too young to serve the customers in the teahouse so she could only do small tasks such as washing the dishes, cleaning the furnitures and the floors when the teahouse was closed. It was then that she realized her life was indeed harsh for her and she could no longer be idle and lazing around like she wished.

Doing the same tasks every single day was really a tiring thing to do, her arms and legs would ache in pain the morning after. You couldn't blame her because she had always hated to exercise and do things she would get tired and sweaty.

The only reason she survived when she helped her parents out in the village was because she would secretly take a long break here and there. But now she was working for real so she couldn't take the risk otherwise, if she get caught by the owner, she would immediately get fired. That wasn't something she could afford to lose.

"Xinglan! What are you spacing out for? Hurry go back to work or else I'm going to report you!" A rough voice belonged to the main chef rang out in the kitchen.

The main chef's name was Taitai, he was really a nice man in his late thirties but whenever it was work time, he would get strict and professional. That was why when he caught the little young girl not moving her hands to wash the dishes, he immediately shouted at her.

She was used to the main chef's voice since it was a normal routine where he would always catch her red handed. Really, it was a miracle she had yet gotten fired.
She didn't forget to answer the main chef before she went back to work.

"Yes, sir, I'm sorry!"

If the staff didn't count the times Lin Xinglan had slacked off, she would be seen as a hard-working child when she worked. She did take her work seriously when she worked despite the small breaks she had given to herself. She would always quickly start working every time someone yelled at her, she didn't want the old man to find out that she slacked off.

To her dismay, the owner already knew about everything going on in his teahouse but he took a blind eye towards her actions, pretending to not know. He took the decision to let the staff take care of her, that would be enough.

Since he personally took her in under his wings, he would feel a loss if he fired her, and it wasn't like she would break things and make trouble for the others. Agreeing to his thoughts, he took a small sip from the cup of tea, slowly enjoying the peaceful atmosphere.