Baguettes and Macarons

=====================

The young man didn't even blink his eyelids: "If you only sell baguettes, maybe this is enough. But for the expensive and exquisite macarons in your store, it is far from enough."

"Then what do you want from me? Wearing a three-piece suit, spraying perfume and working in front of the oven-" Louie gave him a malicious look, "like a sissy gay? I still want to be a man , please get out of my bakery quickly, perfume will affect the baker's sense of smell."

The young man's face finally turned blue, he put the business card on the cash register, and said seriously: "Even if you are full of misunderstandings about image design now, I will find a way to change your prejudice.

"I'm leaving, thank you for the macarons."

The thunderstorms in southern France came quickly and ended quickly. From the window where a large amount of dust was washed away by the rain, it can be seen that the rain has cleared outside.Youth no longer have to hide from the rain in a bakery.

He pursed his lips and packed his belongings, walked out of the store quickly, and said goodbye as usual before closing the door: "Goodbye, I wish you a happy day."

It can be said to be very polite.

Louis lazily picked up the business card between two fingers, waved at his hurriedly leaving back, and said to himself, "Farewell, sir."

He casually glanced at the business card. There were dark flowers of water lilies on the snow-white cardboard, and the owner's identity, address and contact information were written in French, but the name was written in two square characters that Louis didn't know.Louis put the business card to his nose, and smelled the same perfume as its owner.

"Sissy." Louis curled his lips and threw it far into the trash can.

When the weather cleared up, the children from poor families nearby ran out quickly and swarmed into the bakery with their muddy feet.One of the boys was the thinnest boy, but he was better at drilling than monkeys. He pushed himself to the front of the line and handed out a ten-cent coin with his dirty left hand: "Louis, give me a baguette."

Louis snatched the coins he was clutching and refused to let go, packed a baguette and threw it to him: "Jean-Luc, why don't you buy half of it today?"

Jean-Luc winked and said: "My younger brothers are so hungry that they can't walk. Half a baguette is not enough for them. Actually, one is not enough. Would you like to give me one more?"

Louis let out an "ah", sold the last baguette to the nearest little ghost, and spread his empty hands: "It's gone."

Jean-Luc made a vulgar grimace at him, clutching his baguette for fear that it would be snatched by the older children.Not long after he walked out of the bakery, he remembered that he hadn't said a word, and ran back through the muddy water: "Hey, Louis, your shop hasn't been rented out yet? Why don't you just lend it to us? Sometimes I can’t even stretch my legs.”

Louis picked up the broom and beat him and the other little devils who coveted the dim sum in the store away: "Get out! You have a good idea!"

The unlucky children were beaten and screamed strangely one after another. They were nothing more than complaints about how poor Louis was and how inhuman Louis was, mixed with swear words in foreign languages.Jean-Luc dodged left and right among the children, didn't touch the broom, and Xianxin stuck out his tongue at him: "There is no one in this block who has the money to rent a shop, you certainly can't rent it out."

Louie swept them all out without a word, pulled down the rolling gate from the inside, and went home after closing.

His home is on the second floor of the bakery, just up the stairs from the back kitchen.This house is small, with only one bedroom and toilet, and most of the area is occupied by a double bed that is two meters long.

The bed was also an old buddy left by his parents, and it creaked when he turned over on it.But Louis didn't have any spare money to buy a bed, so he had to make do with it.

He locked the door, hung his jacket at the door, kicked off his shoes and threw himself on the bed, causing it to groan harshly.

After a day of exhaustion, he didn't bother to take care of the flour all over his body, so he pulled up the quilt and was about to sleep.But someone refused to let him get what he wanted, and called him just as he was about to fall asleep.

Louis scolded, without opening his eyes, he picked up the phone from the bedside: "Who?"

On the other side of the phone was a polite man: "Hello, is this Mr. Legrand? I saw that your shop on Shepherd Street in District [-] is being rented out. Is it already rented out?"

Louis felt moved, and hurriedly said: "No, do you want to rent it? The monthly rent is [-] Euros, and you can come to check the facilities tomorrow."

The other party pondered for a moment, then said cheerfully, "Then shall we meet at the shop at eight o'clock tomorrow?"

"No problem." Louis said decisively, and added at the end, "You can't swipe your card, you can only accept checks or cash."

"Excuse me... don't the merchants in the seventh district have POS machines?"

Louis said calmly: "No, see you tomorrow."

"I understand." The other party replied, "My name is Yu Chen. Mr. Legrand, see you tomorrow."

Louis made a few perfunctory remarks, hung up the phone, and laughed out loud.

Let's see if Jean-Luc dares to say that his shop cannot be rented out after tomorrow.

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, and suddenly he lost all sleepiness. He simply walked out of the balcony and smoked a cigarette.

This balcony is connected to the balcony on the second floor next door, and you can go directly to the door of the balcony next door.Next door is the second floor of the shop to be rented out, which has the same structure as the bakery. It used to be a flower shop opened by his mother 40 years ago. After Louis was born, it became the living place of the three of them.It was not until the death of his parents that Louis moved to live above the bakery and listed the shop next door for lease.It's a pity because it is old, old and narrow, and it is still in a poor neighborhood. It has been hanging for five years and no one cares about it, so it can only be used as a warehouse.

Louis stared at the dusty door, stomped out the remaining half of a cigarette, and went back to the bedroom to continue sleeping.

This sleep didn't wake up until four o'clock in the morning, which was when he usually got up and had a face-to-face meeting.He walked into the toilet sleepily, grabbed a handful of tap water and patted his face, as if he had finished washing his face.It took him 5 minutes to wash his hands, and every piece of nail was washed clean.

He reconciled the dough and waited for fermentation as usual, and opened the gate at six o'clock.The street was quiet and deserted, the few grocery stores on the side of the road hadn't opened their doors yet, and even the street lamps were half asleep and half awake, looking very listless.

Louie yawned involuntarily, looking forward to his new neighbor.Renting a shop in this desolate neighborhood must not be a serious business, is it?Maybe he'll make the old street a little louder?

And no matter how unscrupulous a businessman is, he still wants to eat baguettes.If he has money, he can be sold at a higher price. Recently, he has been dealing with bread at a low price in the afternoon, but he is losing more and more money.

Louis thought wildly, after the dough was made, stretched into long strips, and sent into the oven, he could sit down and take a breather.At this time, the wall clock on the wall has reached 45:15, and there are only [-] minutes left before the time agreed with Mr. Yu.

Louis looked at the oven anxiously, took the key and waited outside the store.

It didn't matter when he went out, he actually saw an unexpected person standing by the side of the street.This person is wearing a straight dark blue suit, his hair is neatly combed, he looks like a dog, and his nose is fragrant. Isn't it the man who came to ask for trouble yesterday?

He stood on the side of the road and looked at his watch, looking like he was waiting for someone.Louis' heart skipped a beat, and before he turned his head, he quickly retreated into the shop, took out his cell phone and dialed Mr. Yu's number.

Through the window, he saw the young man also took out the phone from the briefcase.

The microphone rang at the same time, and Louis was so surprised that he cursed.His voice was a bit loud, and the young people on the street also heard the voice, and turned their heads, showing a look of disbelief.

Louis knocked open the door of the shop, and opened his mouth to ask, "Mr. Yu?"

"First...Mr. Legrand?" The young man replied in a daze.

Because of the distorted sound of the old mobile phone, Louis did not realize that Yu Chen who was renting a room was this little boy.His face turned dark immediately, and he said harshly, "I won't rent this house anymore. You can go back."

Yu Chen raised his eyebrows: "I didn't expect you to be the owner of this house."

"I didn't expect you to rent the house." Louis said stiffly, "This is not the place where little princes should live. Are you out of your mind to rent it?"

Yu Chen laughed back angrily: "Did you read too many fairy tales, where is the prince?"

"Anyway, I won't rent it anymore."

As Louis said, he was about to return to the bakery.With sharp eyes and quick hands, Yu Chen took a step forward and grabbed the handle, and said in a low voice, "Seven hundred euros a month, I pay for water and electricity. Do I rent it or not?"

Louis pushed the door open: "Rent, do you want to sign the contract now?"

Yu Chen stepped into the store: "Check the room first, and sign after making sure there is no problem."

The two looked at each other, seeing disdain in each other's eyes.

Boss Louis reluctantly took him upstairs to check the room, and Yu Chen coughed exaggeratedly as soon as he entered the room: "What a big ash, Mr. Legrand, how long has this house not been entered?"

Louis stared at the dust flying in the sun, and said nonchalantly, "Just clean it up."

"According to general practice, it is the landlord's responsibility to clean the house before renting out?"

Louis ignored him, turned on the electric and water meters, and showed him: "It's all good. There is another bedroom upstairs, you can sleep here."

"Here? I think I'll be allergic to dust and develop a rash." Yu Chen said coldly, "There is more dust on the stairs, can you ask Mr. Legrand to clean it up before I go up?"

Louis said angrily, "If you don't want to rent, just leave."

Yu Chen took out a stack of Euros from his briefcase: "750 Euros, pay in cash."

750 Euros is enough to rent a mid-range single apartment in the city center.Louis glanced at the thick pile of euros, and became more and more convinced that this little boy had something wrong with his mind.

But the fool's money is also money, Louis scratched his hair: "You wait, I'll get the broom."

Yu Chen met his sharp gaze, bent his lips and said with a smile: "Please bring the contract back by the way. If the facilities upstairs are intact, I will sign the contract with you after cleaning. We will be neighbors from now on."

--------------------

The surname of Louis is Legrand, French is big, strong→_→