Chapter 259 Officially Appointed, Administrator
"Mr. Administrator, what do you think?"

Xia Lin gave a polite smile and looked at Qing Shuijian.

"Ms. Xia Lin, could you please not address me in that way? Besides, I don't think I've ever agreed to such a thing."

Qing Shuijian wanted to avoid the other person's gaze, but Xia Lin still looked at him with a smile.

"But Xi told me before that you would definitely agree, and you've already come to my place, haven't you?"

She will definitely agree... Sakurai Shio might not be too sure, Shimizu Mi sighed secretly in his heart.

"That's because the senior didn't tell me anything before coming here..."

Just as Sakurai Shio said before, if Shimizu Mi had known this earlier, he would not have come in the first place.

Although Akiko Hoshino often drinks at home, Shimizu Miki himself has no interest in alcohol, let alone letting him manage a bar.

Shimizu glanced sideways at Sakurai Haruka who was sitting on the bar stool on the right. Although he had no intention of blaming her, if she had said it earlier, she wouldn't have had to come here specially today.

"My sister said that we just need to bring Jian here..." Sakurai Haruka said softly.

"Hey, it really was that kid's idea again... But, Yao, when did you listen to Xi so much?"

After hearing this, Xia Lin suddenly showed an interested expression. He put down the glass that he had been wiping repeatedly and had become transparent, and sat down opposite the bar.

"I remember that Haruka didn't listen to her sister so much before, right?"

Xia Lin placed one hand leisurely on the bar, gently supporting one cheek, with a smile of playfulness and curiosity on the corner of his mouth.

Come to think of it, Shimizu had noticed this before.

Although the way sisters Sakurai Haruka and Sakurai Shio get along with each other is still the same as before, the relationship between them has indeed eased a lot compared to before.

"It has nothing to do with my sister... I just want to help you..."

Sakurai Haruka retorted quietly while moving closer to Shimizu.

"Yeah……"

Xia Lin didn't seem to agree immediately, but he didn't pursue the matter further.

"However, Xi did tell me a little about your situation."

Xia Lin turned his gaze back to Qing Shuijian.

"Although she didn't tell me in detail, but to put it simply, you need money now."

Although it can be said that way, Shimizu Mitsu was thinking about finding a part-time job more because Hoshino Akiko lost her job and her family lost its source of income in a short period of time.

"In that case, then that's OK. I need someone to help me manage the bar, and you need a fixed income. Isn't this perfect?"

Xia Lin easily described it as a good thing with the best of both worlds in just a few words.

It was indeed as she said, Shimizu needed some income to help Hoshino Akiko share the pressure, and she needed people to help manage the bar, but Xia Lin seemed to have forgotten one very important thing.

That is, Shimizu Mi is still just a high school student. Although he is already 18 years old and an adult, is it really appropriate to let a high school student manage a bar?

Maybe the laws and regulations in foreign countries are different from those here. Qingshuijian tried to remind Xia Lin, but Xia Lin still looked indifferent.

"What does it matter? I just want you to help me manage it. I don't want you to do anything weird. And I just said that this is a legitimate bar. I don't provide the special services you want."

"Special service?"

Sakurai Haruka tilted her head in confusion, with a bewildered look on her face.

"Haruka is so cute that you don't even know this."

Although it was cute, the way Xia Lin covered her mouth and laughed secretly made Sakurai Haruka feel like she was being laughed at.

"Besides, you're not the only high school student in our store."

After Xia Lin finished speaking to Qing Shuijian, he waved in a certain direction.

Then, the waitress who had brought Shimizu Mi and Sakurai Haruka over earlier brought coasters and nuts for two to them.

Shimizu thought she would even hand over the menu and ask them "what would you like to order", but of course that wouldn't happen in a place like this.

Speaking of which, the light was too dim in the elevator just now, and the other party was walking in front leading the way, so I couldn't see clearly.

It was only now that Shimizu noticed that the waitress had been wearing a black mask and her face could not be seen clearly.

Could it be that he is sick?

He has to work even when he is sick. It seems that the conditions at his family are even more difficult than Qingshui's.

But...Xia Lin seemed to say that the other party was a high school student just now.

Although it is common for students in Japan to work part-time during the holidays, it is still quite rare to work in a place like this.

The waitress brought the coasters and nuts and left.

Qing Shuijian stared at the other person's back, and always felt that there was a very indescribable subtle feeling lingering in his heart, which was hard to describe but lingering.

When Shimizu was immersed in his thoughts, a slight sound brought him back to reality. He came to his senses and looked sideways, only to see Sakurai Haruka puffing her cheeks and staring at him intently.

"……What's wrong?"

"See can't work here."

Sakurai Haruka didn't say why, she just said this angrily.

"But didn't you bring him here yourself?" Xia Lin replied pointedly.

"This...I...I just can't do it anyway."

Sakurai Haruka hesitated, and finally groaned, and directly hugged Shimizumi's right arm.

Under the dim light, Sakurai Haruka hugged Shimizu's right arm tightly, with her slender and graceful fingers wrapped around it.

Xia Lin, who was sitting opposite, watched this scene, his eyes fluctuated slightly, and his gentle expression seemed to be remembering something from the past.

"Come to think of it, when my sister had just passed away, Haruka acted like a spoiled child to me like this..."

Xia Lin's eyes became softer as she looked at Sakurai Haruka, and a smile full of maternal radiance appeared on the corners of her mouth, which was somewhat similar to Sakurai Haruka's deceased mother.

“…That’s not the case.”

Sakurai Haruka secretly glanced at Xia Lin's expression, then turned her head and hugged Shimizu Mi even tighter.

"I didn't expect this child to be so attached to you. From what I remember, she was very shy when she was little."

Although Sakurai Haruka would like to be with Shimizu Mi whenever she has the chance, it is very rare for her to do so in public, in front of other people.

"Has Miss Xia Lin ever lived with Haruka before?"

"Well, I lived in Tokyo for a while before, but after my sister left, I left and returned to my country. I originally wanted to bring Haruka and Shio to live abroad, but the kids just wouldn't agree to it, and since then, we rarely see each other."

Xia Lin briefly talked about some past events, and then skillfully poured some red liquid that Qingshui didn't recognize into the champagne glass.

The smell of alcohol is not particularly strong but hard to ignore. It smells like a faint blueberry scent.

Without shaking the glass gracefully or sniffing the aroma lingering in the air, Xia Lin directly drank the blueberry wine in the glass.

"Um... Miss Xia Lin, I would like to ask why you asked me to manage the bar instead of someone else."

Although Shimizu Mi had never heard that Sakurai Haruka had such an aunt before, from the conversation just now, the other party should not be a bad person. From her words and actions, one can see the tenderness in her heart.

"Actually, I originally planned to let Xi help me manage the bar for a while. After all, that girl is good at this kind of thing. But she seems to be busy with something recently, so I had to find someone else to help."

Sakurai Shio is probably busy filming a movie recently, so she can't get away for the time being, but I heard from her that it seems that the filming will be completed by the end of next month.

After drinking the little bit of blueberry wine, Xia Lin gently wiped the glass with a cloth and continued:
"But if we hire an outsider to manage the bar, I'm not sure. As for Haruka..."

Xia Lin gently put down the glass in his hand and showed a very subtle smile on his face. It was obvious that he was not very confident about entrusting the bar to Sakurai Haruka.

"Why are you looking at me? Even if you come to ask me for a favor, I'm not interested in this kind of thing."

Sakurai Haruka ignored Xia Lin's gaze with an indifferent look.

"Then Miss Xia Lin, will you leave the bar to me?"

Although the other party is Sakurai Haruka's aunt, it was the first time that Shimizu met her today, and he had never even heard of her before.

How big of a heart would it take to hand over a bar like this to a stranger?
“That does seem to make sense.”

Xia Lin nodded twice and smiled slightly, still with that subtle expression on his face.

"But... I still believe in the vision of Yao and Xi."

It sounded like Xia Lin's words had a hidden meaning.

Although it was very touching to be trusted unconditionally by others like this, it also made Shimizu feel pressured.

At this time, Xia Lin took out two glasses from under the bar and placed them on the coasters in front of Shimizu Mi and Sakurai Haruka respectively, and then prepared to pour some amber liquid into them.

Before Qing Shuijian could refuse, Xia Lin spoke first.

"Don't worry. I know you can't drink alcohol before you're 20 years old here, but something like this with a single-digit alcohol content can only be considered an ordinary alcoholic drink."

To be honest, Qingshuijian has no interest in wine.

When I traveled to Hokkaido before, I also tried the plum wine given by Sakurai Shio. Although I didn’t hate it, I just didn’t feel anything for it.

Xia Lin poured about a quarter of the liquid into the cups of Shimizu Mi and Sakurai Haruka. The amber liquid emitted a light golden glow under the dim light.

"As I said before, I just want to find someone to help manage the bar. You don't need to do other complicated matters. As for the wine here, if you like, you can drink it as much as you like."

Qing Shuijian thanked her but forgot about the wine.

Honestly speaking, there is almost no reason to refuse the conditions offered by the other party. Besides, it is not easy to find a job nowadays, so working part-time here temporarily is indeed an option.

"But, there is one thing I want to explain to you in advance."

"what?"

"Actually, my bar hasn't had many customers recently, so the income may not be ideal."

After Xia Lin said this, Qing Shuijian remembered that when he came here before, there seemed to be only three or four customers in the bar.

During the time they were talking, the previous guests had already left, and no new guests came in.

Just a few minutes ago, even the waitress had changed out of her uniform and left, leaving only Qingshui to meet the three of them.

"So in terms of salary, I may not be able to give you too much for now. I can only arrange it according to the monthly standard of ordinary employees. Right now, I can only give you this much every month. Is that okay with you?"

Then, Qingshui saw Xia Lin in front of him slowly raise his index and middle fingers.

"Twenty thousand?"

Qingshuijian just looked at the bar's business hours. It is open from 6pm to 11pm every day except Sunday. It is not the kind of bar that is open until late at night or the early morning.

That means we are open six days a week, about five hours a day, and thirty hours a week.

Considering the average income and prices in Tokyo, this salary is not too high, but considering that it is just a temporary part-time job for a student and not a formal position, it is still barely acceptable.

Moreover, there were almost no special restrictions in the conditions proposed by Xia Lin. The only thing to worry about was that Hoshino Akiko must not know about it.

At least based on Shimizu's understanding of her, if Hoshino Akiko knew about it, she would never agree to let him work part-time even if he was offered a higher salary, and she would definitely scold him afterwards.

However, when he thought of the sad face of Hoshino Akiko that he saw before leaving, Shimizu finally decided to try working part-time here for a while.

"Eh, is that really possible? I thought you would refuse because the salary is too low..."

"No, twenty thousand is enough."

"...20,000?"

Hearing this, Xia Lin showed a puzzled look on his face.

"Is there any problem?"

"Oh, sorry, I think you may have misunderstood. I didn't say 20,000 just now..."

"Not twenty thousand?"

Could it be two thousand?

With the current devalued value of the Japanese yen, if it is only two thousand a month, you might as well go to Siberia to dig potatoes.

Then, Sakurai Haruka, who had been holding Shimizu's arm, pouted and spoke softly.

"What do you mean by 20,000? Of course it's 200,000. If it's only 20,000, I won't let you come to this place."

Two hundred thousand...

Shimizu Mitsuki doubted his ears for a moment. Although 200,000 yen a month cannot be considered a high-income earner in Tokyo, as a part-time job for a high school student, it is definitely a high salary.

"Is it really too low?"

Xia Lin sighed with some worry.

"Ms. Xia Lin... do you always have this many employees every month?"

"Well, theoretically, if I ask you to manage the bar, you will definitely have to take care of more things than other employees, so the salary should be around 300,000. However, the bar's income is not very optimistic recently..."

"If you don't mind, I can give it to you later. Is that okay?"

A trace of apology appeared on Xia Lin's face, and he said sorry to Qing Shuijian.

Honestly speaking, the current salary alone is far beyond Shimizu's expectations, and Shimizu is not an ungrateful person. The other party is Sakurai Haruka's aunt, and although their relationship is not close enough to be considered a family member, he would definitely feel embarrassed if he took too much.

I will definitely agree... Even though I felt a little unhappy about what Sakurai Shio said, I had no choice because the other party offered too much.

Qingshui Jian finally agreed and signed several contract agreements with Xia Lin on papers densely covered with words.

(End of this chapter)