A foreign city, dear you

Driven by this idea, Ye Lian specially chose to come to Youjia Mall at night.

Ye Lian got off the bus and walked to the mall.

On the way, the phone in the bag rang.

It's Cao Xueqian's phone number. He asked where Ye Lian was and if he wanted to go pick her up.

Ye Lian said that she had just arrived at Youjia Mall and should not pick her up so quickly. She should stay longer and let Cao Xueqian go home for dinner first.

After Ye Lian finished speaking, she hung up the phone.

She knew that Cao Xueqian would definitely come to pick her up immediately after eating.

Ye Lian stepped into Youjia Mall.

Youjia Mall is brightly lit and there are not many people shopping, but it is much more lively than during the day.

Ye Lian looked at her bakery from a distance from the mall entrance.

There were still not many customers, and it seemed a bit cold like during the day.

Ye Lian's heart also became cold.

She walked to the bakery and stood in front of the bakery case.

The golden light was on in the bakery, making the bread on the plate shine golden.

Ye Lian looked around and felt that these breads were no different from before.

The color is good and the size is large and plump, but the price is a bit expensive.

Why are there fewer people buying bread?

"How is business today?" Ye Lian asked Ye Lu, who was working the night shift.

"It's still not that good." Ye Lu looked at the bread on the plate and said calmly: "In the past, when business was good, we would sell several plates of each type of bread a day, but now we have to sell at least one plate less."

"Is anyone here to order a birthday cake today?" Ye Lian asked again.

"Not today." Ye Lu shook his head.

Oh, so sad.

Ye Lian looked at the cake room. The birthday cake stand was left aside.

Ye Lian walked into the bread operation room. There were a lot of breads that were not sold out yesterday.

Although bread is not as easy to sell as it used to be, there are still many types of bread that should be available, which results in a lot of waste.

So what exactly is the problem?

Ye Lian walked out of the operation room again and finally saw a girl coming to buy bread.

Oh, what a distinguished guest.

Ye Lian quickly went to get bread for the girl with a smile.

"Beauty, do you often come to our bakery to buy bread?" Ye Lian asked while holding the tongs and opening the door of the bakery cabinet.

"Yes. Although I don't come every day, I come every one or two days," the girl said.

"Does the bread in our store still suit your taste?" Ye Lian asked while pricing the bread.

"It's okay, just a little bit sweet."

Ye Lian handed the priced bread to the beautiful woman: "Thank you, beautiful woman, for your valuable advice. We will make improvements."

The girl took the bread, said "you're welcome", and walked to the deli next to it.

There were people buying cooked food in front of the deli counter one after another, and the flow of people in the entire mall seemed to be normal.

Why is the flow of people at Dudu Bakery affected?

There is no problem with the taste of the bread, the promoter has not changed, and the service attitude should be the same. What is the reason?

Ye Lian stopped at the bakery and looked around other counters, but couldn't find any clue.

Time passed unconsciously.

Cao Xueqian called again and said that he had set off to pick her up.

Ye Lian sighed, feeling that no matter how long she stayed in the store, it would be useless and she would not be able to find out the reason.

Forget it, let's go home.

Guessing that Cao Xueqian was about to arrive, Ye Lian walked out of Youjia Mall in a depressed tone.

It was almost nine o'clock in the evening.

But there are still pedestrians coming and going on the street.

Ye Lian wanted to go to the sidewalk opposite.

She looked at the road and across the street.

Her eyes fell on something she was no longer familiar with.

Birthday Cake?

Yes, it’s a birthday cake.

A young mother, holding a little girl in one hand and holding a birthday cake in the other, was walking forward talking and laughing.

Where did she order the cake? Is there any other place to order cakes? No wonder no one has been ordering cakes recently.

With a thought in her mind, Ye Lian quickly crossed to the sidewalk on the opposite side and came to the mother and daughter.

She glanced at the birthday cake: it was round, three pounds in size, and the pattern of the cake box and the color of the ribbon were obviously different from those in her store.

"Hello, where did you order this cake?" Ye Lian asked politely.

The young mother turned around and pointed behind her: "Go past this road and turn left at the intersection. There is a cake ordering place."

"Really? Is there a shopping mall there?" Ye Lian asked doubtfully. As far as she knows, there is no other mall here except Youjia Mall.

The young mother denied: "No, it's just a small shop."

Ye Lian said "Oh" and said "Thank you" to the young mother.

A small shop selling birthday cakes? Is that a new bakery?

Needless to say, Ye Lian, who just got a few clues, will definitely want to get to the bottom of it.

The intersection that the young mother pointed to was very close to Youjia Mall.

Ye Lian arrived at the intersection within a few steps, then turned left and looked at the shops on the left side of the street, looking for a bakery.

Ye Lian imagined that the bakery was beautifully decorated, with exquisite and tempting bread, and various birthday cakes on display.

But Ye Lian didn't see any bakery, but an unexpected cake making room.

It was a small mobile phone booth, placed at the entrance of a convenience store. Inside the pavilion there was a tall and thin young man making a birthday cake. And outside the window of the small pavilion, there were people watching and waiting.

Ye Lian walked closer and saw an operating table set up in the small pavilion. In addition to a birthday cake that was about to be formed, there were also some mini cakes on the operating table.

A small note was taped to the window glass of the pavilion, listing the prices of several birthday cakes.

Cream cake, fruit cake, chocolate cake...

Ye Lian silently looked at the prices of those cakes and found that no matter what kind of birthday cake they were, they were much lower than the prices in her own store.

The truth finally came to light.

It turns out that no one in my store came to order birthday cakes during this period because someone was intercepting and stealing them at a very low price at the entrance of the mall!