After four years of living alone after marrying far away, he went back to his parents' home and

Lan Yujuan sat to the side, waiting for the match to begin while listening to the whispers of the young people next to her.

She didn't take a nap; instead, she closed her eyes and leaned on Chen Mo's shoulder, dozing off and yawning constantly.

"It's still a long way from our turn to go on stage!"

"You've been here quite a while now, aren't you going to take a walk around the company this afternoon?"

Chen Mo turned his head slightly and looked down at her.

Then, deliberately, he rubbed his newly sprouted, rough stubble on his chin against her smooth forehead when no one was looking.

"There's nothing to do at the company in the afternoon, so why should I go there?"

"Even if I go, the work that needs to be done by them will still have to be done by themselves."

"My frequent trips to the company will only increase their pressure and reduce their initiative in managing their work independently."

"I might as well stay here and watch your game."

"To prevent certain people from randomly adding handsome guys' contact information."

Lan Yujuan felt an itch on her forehead. She raised her hand to push his face away while turning her head to bury her face in his arm and chuckle.

"I've been here for half a day, and the only person I've met is Lin Feng."

"Besides, you keep bringing this up, I definitely won't dare to do it again next time."

Chen Mo let her have her way, and then, as if to cause trouble, pushed his face with his hand.

Taking advantage of her moment of laziness when she tried to pull her hand back, he grabbed her hand with his other hand, pressed it against his face, and kissed her palm.

"Hmph, you've got some nerve. Maybe you'll dare to do it again next time I'm not around!"

The young couple whiled away the time, chatting and laughing.

Chen Mo heard several people chattering nearby, mentioning that there was a good location on the first floor of the mall that they were preparing to attract businesses to bring in a coffee shop, and he immediately became interested.

"Honey, how about you open a branch of 'Hidden Retreat' in this big shopping mall?"

"At that time, you can try to divert the store's traffic to the mall through activities, membership top-ups, and other means."

"The shopping mall will definitely bring a lot of traffic to the store, so it's a win-win situation."

Without a second thought, Lan Yujuan shook her head. "I don't want to come."

She closed her eyes and said slowly:

"What I want to create is a unique, independent little coffee shop, and the most important thing is the people."

"This includes not only the professional baristas in the shop, but also the customers who truly love coffee."

"Instead of simply moving a coffee shop into an environment with an extremely strong commercial atmosphere in order to make money, to grow bigger and stronger, or to make the store's revenue data look good."

"In short, opening a store in a shopping mall should be more profitable, but I don't have what I need here."

Chen Mo listened and nodded in agreement, "Yes, you're right!"

As the semi-finals progressed, the situation on site became even more brutal than expected!

Of the 15 participating teams, only 6 will make it to tomorrow's finals.

When the scores were announced for the seventh team to perform, the team with the lowest score became the first team to be eliminated in the semi-finals.

As luck would have it, the team that was eliminated was the same group of people who had been sitting next to them and chatting enthusiastically with Lan Qingqing and Qi Lei.

Before the competition, the baristas next to me had some complaints and arrogance.

After the competition, all I felt was admiration.

Especially the barista who talked to Lan Qingqing the most just now, from the moment he learned that he was eliminated, his tears flowed like a burst dam, and he couldn't stop wiping them away no matter what he did.

"That Rainforest Valley Cafe from out of town is just too amazing, waaaaah."

"We all seem to be around the same age, so how come our practical experience and theoretical foundation differ so much?"

Lan Qingqing sat beside her, only able to keep handing her tissues, not even knowing how to comfort her.

Lan Qingqing's legs were already trembling even before she went on stage.

"At least you got one of the three questions right, so you're definitely better than me..." Lan Qingqing's voice trailed off as she spoke.

The little girl next to me, belatedly realizing what was happening, wiped her nose and mumbled:

"You drew number nine, so you're going to be in the group after that, right?"

Lan Qingqing nodded reluctantly, "Mm."

The little girl gripped her hand tightly and said from the bottom of her heart:

"Good luck!"

Lan Qingqing gave a forced smile, which was almost like crying.

Soon, it was the three of them's turn to prepare and go on stage for the competition.

Before going on stage, Lan Yujuan opened her arms and gently hugged Lan Qingqing.

In my heart, you are the best!

Let's cheer each other on!

After the host finished the introductions, the three-person team officially took the stage.

The process for the semi-finals was noticeably more rigorous than that for the preliminary rounds.

The first part is a practical test.

Three worktables are placed side by side in the center of the stage, no longer divided into front and back rows.

Lan Qingqing stood in the middle, with Lan Yujuan and Qi Lei on either side.

In addition to the audience on site and the live broadcast camera not far away, a new high-definition camera has been added next to each control panel.

This not only allows for the recording of each contestant's entire competition process, but also makes it convenient to switch between close-up and long-range shots during the live broadcast.

Every player's match footage can be included during the live broadcast.

The practical competition was very simple: the organizers provided everyone with the same type of coffee beans, as well as the same coffee grinder, kettle, and other coffee equipment.

Everyone made a cup of hand-drip coffee within a limited time, according to their own brewing method.

Then, the judges tasted the food blindfolded and scored it from multiple dimensions, finally obtaining an average score.

After Lan Qingqing went on stage, she stood in the very center of the stage, clearly flustered.

Not only was my mind blank, but my calves also started to feel weak. How could I possibly remember the process of making hand-drip coffee?

"Cough, cough!"

"Cough, cough."

Suddenly, coughing sounds rang out from both sides almost simultaneously.

Lan Qingqing was startled and instinctively looked around.

On the left, Lan Yujuan, and on the right, Qi Lei slowed down their movements almost simultaneously, first checking each of the utensils one by one, and then starting to boil water.

Lan Qingqing bit her lower lip, held her breath and focused, glancing at the progress around her with the corner of her eye while checking the equipment and boiling water.

At first glance, it seems like there's nothing wrong with it.

Suddenly, Lan Yujuan, who was next to her, turned her head and coughed lightly.

Lan Qingqing sensed something and immediately glanced over out of the corner of her eye.

Lan Yujuan frowned as she carefully adjusted the grinding scale, gently reminding everyone:

"Pay attention to the grinding scale."

Hmm? The grind settings on the coffee grinder weren't pre-set?

Lan Qingqing felt uneasy and quickly checked as instructed.

After seeing the markings on the coffee grinder clearly, my palms started sweating with fear.

The grinding scale on the coffee grinder has clearly been deliberately tampered with.

If she hadn't noticed, grinding according to the current setting would have resulted in particularly coarse coffee powder particles.

Using such coffee powder for hand-drip brewing will directly lead to insufficient extraction, greatly diminishing the aroma and flavor of the coffee, resulting in a subpar product.

Having learned her lesson, Lan Qingqing became even more alert.

She lost all interest in being nervous or worried.

Although Lan Qingqing had basically developed muscle memory for all the brewing processes, she was still worried and followed the rhythm of left and right movements for each step.

It's really strange, even though neither Lan Yujuan nor Qi Lei looked up at each other, their movements were almost perfectly synchronized.

After everything was checked and the water was boiled, the two people on either side began to sort and weigh the coffee beans.

Lan Qingqing was a little confused. Aren't all the coffee beans the same?

Why are they still being picky? What exactly are they picking and choosing?

Lan Qingqing didn't understand, but she began to imitate her.

First, pour out all the coffee beans, then pick them out from inside.

At that moment, the scene of the old lady in the village picking soybean seeds flashed through her mind: only picking the plump and uniform ones.

By the time the coffee beans were all sorted out, the boiling water next to it was almost ready.

Lan Qingqing glanced at the plump beans she had picked out, as well as the remaining shriveled, skinned, bad and inferior beans, and she understood somewhat.

Lan Qingqing followed along very carefully with each of the remaining steps.

Although she was nervous and her hands were prone to shaking, when making coffee, her hand holding the kettle was surprisingly steady, and she could control the flow of water with ease.

This isn't something I've learned recently.

Instead, she helped with chores at home from a young age, boiling water in a large tin kettle and then filling a thermos; when guests came, she helped boil water and make tea.

He honed his skills little by little over more than a decade of consistent practice.

Finally, all three cups of coffee were made almost simultaneously.

The former champions, standing on either side of each other, exuded an aura of composure, calmness, and confidence.

Enveloped by this aura, and coupled with her performance on stage today, Lan Qingqing delivered an outstanding performance.