Coffee Shop Owner x 9.9-Yuan Coffee Enthusiast
As a modern-day office worker, Shen Zhiwei is a serious coffee lover.
Since she has to buy her own feed while working like a beast of burden, she's a devoted fan of a certain chain selling coffee for 9.9 yuan. Whether the beans are good doesn't matter, and neither does whether the coffee tastes good. As long as it has enough caffeine, she doesn't need all that fussy tasting business.
Lu Jiming opened a coffee shop on Xinhai's most upscale street. The menu lists beans ranging from washed Panama Geisha to sun-dried Colombian Pink Bourbon, and methods ranging from pour-over, cold brew, and signature drinks to seasonal specials. It fills two whole menus.
He's a barista who knows coffee inside out, a small-shop owner who insists on fair prices and quality, or, keeping up with the trend and the many bistros around him, a coffee shop proprietor.
Affordable convenience and quality standards meet one afternoon.
Shen Zhiwei's colleague Zhou Fei has been coming in six days a week, out of seven, to pursue Lu Jiming. On this particular day, they passed by on their way back from a field assignment. Zhou Fei used the excuse to drag Shen Zhiwei into the coffee scene, insisting they had to buy a cup.
The barista wore a denim apron as he ground and brewed the coffee, looking handsome and charming in his own way. Zhou Fei pulled him into a conversation that went from Yirgacheffe to Sumatran Mandheling, then from anaerobic processing to washed Gesha.
By the time Shen Zhiwei was nodding off, the two of them finally remembered to ask her, "By the way, Zhiwei, do you like today's beans?"
Shen Zhiwei: Huh? Is there any difference between this and X's 9.9-yuan coffee...?
Lu, the proprietor: Hm?
Blurb dated 2025.8.2
When it comes to being mean, no one has more authority than this IP. (I'm making that up.)
A short, sweet story.
Theme: Let go of prejudice and dare to try new things
