第七章 和同事熟了

In the blink of an eye, Lucas had been working at the milk tea shop for almost a month. He and A Jie were already very familiar, sometimes even swapping shifts.

"A Jie, do you have time on Thursday evening? I want to go see a movie, can I swap shifts with you?" Lucas said.

"Sure." A Jie agreed readily, "But Friday night, you have to owe me."

"I definitely will!" Lucas laughed.

After work on Friday, A Jie pulled Lucas aside: "Let's have dinner together? A few colleagues from the shop are getting together to eat hot pot."

"Hot pot?" Lucas's eyes lit up. He had wanted to eat it for a long time, but was too embarrassed to go alone.

"I'm going!" he said immediately.

The hot pot restaurant was steaming hot, red soup boiling in the pot. Sister Wang, A Jie, and a girl named Xiao Li were already waiting.

"Lucas, come, sit here." Sister Wang called him over.

Lucas sat down and stared at the table full of dishes, his eyes wide. The plates were packed full, and some dishes he had never even seen before.

"This is mao du, it only takes ten seconds to blanch." A Jie taught him one by one, "This is fatty beef, this is shrimp paste, this is huang hou..."

"Huang hou?" Lucas stared at the white thing on the plate, "Is this... a throat?"

"Not a throat." A Jie laughed hard, "It's a part of a cow or pig. Don't worry, eat it, it's crunchy."

Lucas was half-doubting, picked up a piece of huang hou, and blanched it in the pot.

"This pot is mildly spicy." A Jie said, "Can you eat spicy food?"

"Yes." Lucas said.

He picked up a slice of fatty beef and put it in his mouth. The next second, his face turned red.

"Water! Water!" Lucas grabbed his cup and gulped it down.

It was both hot and spicy.

Everyone laughed. Xiao Li handed him a cup of herbal tea: "Drink this, it will relieve the spiciness."

As they ate, they chatted about their own lives.

Xiao Li said that she worked part-time while preparing for graduate school entrance exams. "During the day I work, at night I study. It's tiring, but I want to give it another shot."

Sister Wang said that she had been running this shop for three years, busy from morning till night, but seeing regular customers come every day makes it worthwhile.

A Jie said that his home was in this city, and he was working to save up money to buy a camera.

It was Lucas's turn. He said, "I'm working to save up money for a study tour."

"Study tour?" A Jie asked, "Where to?"

"Not decided yet." Lucas said, "Maybe Yunnan, maybe Xi'an."

"Then I wish you save up enough money soon." A Jie raised his glass, "Come, I toast you."

Lucas also raised his glass. He didn't quite know how to respond.

"You also say 'I toast you', then clink glasses." Sister Wang taught him.

"I... toast you." Lucas said, and clinked glasses with everyone.

"Cheers!"

The herbal tea in the glass was a bit bitter, but Lucas felt that at this moment, the tea was sweet.

After the meal, everyone went home. A Jie and Lucas walked the same direction.

"Are you happy today?" A Jie asked.

"Happy." Lucas said.

"That's good." A Jie said, "Making money is one thing, making friends is another."

Lucas nodded.

Since coming to China, he felt for the first time that he had jumped from the textbooks into life.