The hot guy downstairs opened a dessert shop because I said I liked sweets. But business was terrible. I actively helped him promote it. Then I discovered the shop only opened when I went there. When my best friend found out, she said it sounded like one of those "pig-butchering" scams where a guy creates a perfect persona just for you. I was scared and stopped going. Later, I heard the shop was closing down. I overheard the hot guy talking to his employee: Employee: "Give up, man. The girl you have a crush on hasn't come in a week. This shop is dead." The hot guy looked even more aggrieved, correcting him: "Plus three hours, twenty minutes, and sixteen seconds. Oh, seventeen seconds now..." He got sadder as he spoke. "I'll never like her again!" Until the next second, his employee saw me and shouted, "Ms. Lin is here!" The hot guy's eyes lit up instantly. He turned to his employee: "Quick, quick! Are the desserts ready? She loves cream puffs, mochi, and snow skin mooncakes..." 1 A new dessert shop opened in my apartment complex. As a certified dessert addict, I naturally couldn't miss it. "Hi, I'd like a snow skin mooncake to go." I called out to an old man dressed as a waiter. "Certainly." The old man bowed his head to pack the mooncake. His movements were elegant and refined. If he weren't wearing a waiter's uniform, I would have mistaken him for a butler in a period drama. I instinctively looked behind him. A tall man was working in the back kitchen with his back to me. Even from the back, I could tell he was hot. Is he the owner? I heard from neighbors that the owner of this dessert shop is a handsome guy. "Miss, your mooncake is ready." The old man's voice rang in my ear, quite loud. But even though he was talking to me, his eyes were fixed on the hot owner behind him. Like he was saying it for him to hear. I was stunned. Before I could react, the hot owner suddenly appeared in front of me woosh. He smiled at me. "What a coincidence, Ms. Lin. We meet again." Only then did I see his face clearly. It was Lucas, the hot guy who moved in downstairs three months ago. 2 Lucas moved in three months ago. He was gentle, polite, and very nice. Whenever he had good food, he'd share it with me. "I can't finish this, so I thought I'd share with Ms. Lin. To improve neighborly relations." When I couldn't carry my packages, he helped. "Since we're neighbors, it's normal to help each other." When my water pipe burst and I couldn't find a plumber, he found one for me. "I have the number for the complex's maintenance guy. I've already contacted him for you, Ms. Lin. Don't worry." Later, after learning I liked desserts, Lucas said he wanted to open a dessert shop. I thought he was joking. I didn't expect him to actually open one. And right downstairs in our complex. 3 "Ms. Lin, here is your mooncake." Lucas's voice brought me back to reality. I saw him handing me the packaged mooncake. "Oh, okay." I took it and half-joked, "You didn't open this shop because of what I said, did you?" Lucas nodded. He really opened a dessert shop because of one sentence from me. I was shocked. Isn't he too nice? Opening a shop costs a ton of money. For someone like me who just started working, it was unimaginable. "But I just said that casually," I said. "You didn't have to take it to heart." Lucas smiled. "Don't feel burdened, Ms. Lin. I already had the idea of opening a dessert shop." So that's it. After that, I went to Lucas's shop every day to buy desserts. Because the mooncake I took home that day was super delicious. Better than any other shop I've bought from. Soft texture, just the right amount of sweetness. It won my heart completely! One day, I went to buy desserts again. "This one, this one, and this one. I'll take them all." "Okay, Ms. Lin." Lucas responded and helped me pack them. After paying, I turned to leave. But Lucas stopped me. "Ms. Lin, tell me what you want to eat tomorrow, and I'll make it for you." My feet stopped instantly. I can request specific desserts? Is there such a good thing? But I didn't agree immediately. Instead, I turned and asked Lucas, "Will this affect your time making other desserts?" After all, he's running a business. He shouldn't disrupt his plans for my needs alone. "Don't worry, Ms. Lin. Making a few desserts won't delay anything." Lucas smiled. "Besides, as a regular customer, you have some privileges." Since Lucas said so, I didn't hold back. For the next few days, the desserts in Lucas's shop were all my favorites. Mochi, snow skin mooncakes, cream puffs... I couldn't even choose. And Lucas gave me a discount. I felt like I couldn't leave his shop. When I went to buy desserts again, I heard the old man talking to Lucas in the back kitchen. They had their backs to me and didn't notice I came in. The old man said, "This won't work. Business is too bad. I don't know how long the shop can last." Lucas said, "It's fine. I didn't plan on making money anyway." The old man said, "Then it will close down soon, right?" Close down? At that moment, I was struck by lightning. It can't close down. I finally found such a perfect dessert shop. I wanted to keep listening, but Lucas spotted me. He came out from the back, smiling and greeting me, "Ms. Lin is here. What dessert would you like today?" 4 After buying desserts and going home, I immediately went online to ask for advice on how to improve a dessert shop's business. I didn't want Lucas's shop to close. Soon, several netizens replied. I clicked through them one by one. Posting online, posting on WeChat Moments... Basically, as long as more people come to the shop, business will be good. And the shop won't close. These ideas were good. The corners of my mouth couldn't help but rise. Just as I was about to get to work... I realized I had no promotional material. I had never taken photos or videos of the desserts in the shop. It felt like a setback right at the start. I felt a bit disappointed. But then I thought, I can go take photos tomorrow. I immediately contacted my best friend, Sarah, who works as a photographer. She's better at taking photos than me and will definitely take good pictures of the desserts. The next day, the time agreed with Sarah arrived. But I hadn't finished my work and needed to work overtime. So I told Sarah to go first, and I would arrive ten minutes late. After I got off work, Sarah called. "Lily, are you off work? I'm here, but the dessert shop isn't open." "Impossible," I said, surprised. "I usually buy desserts at this time. It's never been closed." Sarah asked me if I had the owner's contact info to check. After hanging up, I opened the chat with Lucas to contact him. Since I bought desserts from him so often, I actively added Lucas's contact info. Later, whenever I went to buy desserts, I would message him in advance. He would prepare the desserts I wanted. Then I would just pick them up at the shop. I messaged Lucas: [Is the dessert shop not open today?] Lucas replied instantly: [It's open. What dessert do you want, Ms. Lin? I'll go prepare it.] I was confused: [But my best friend went to your shop, and the door was closed.] Lucas said: [Delayed by something. I'm going to open the door now.] I see. I ordered a few of my usuals. When I arrived at the shop, Lucas was unlocking the door. Sarah, who had been waiting for a long time, came up to me. She whispered, "As soon as you contact the owner, he opens for business. Honestly, what's your relationship?" Sarah grinned wickedly, gossiping about me and Lucas. I said, "No relationship. But I feel like I can't live without him—" Before I could finish, Lucas, who had his back to me, suddenly stumbled. "Are you okay?" I rushed forward to support him. "N-no, I'm fine." Lucas blushed. Hm? Why is he blushing? I meant I can't live without his desserts. 5 "I suspect the owner likes you." As soon as we entered the shop, Sarah whispered to me. "Impossible, right?" I whispered back. "How are you sure?" "Woman's intuition," Sarah said. "Otherwise, why did he blush when you said something wrong about not living without him?" That is a bit suspicious. But I still felt it didn't prove Lucas liked me. We were just ordinary neighbors. I explained to Sarah, and she thought about it and agreed. She started talking about how to shoot the desserts. "Have you told the owner about this?" "Not yet." I glanced at Lucas busy in the back kitchen and leaned in to Sarah. "I'm afraid the promotion won't work, and he'll be happy for nothing. So let's take photos and post them online first to see." "Okay." After the desserts were served, Sarah and I took photos under the pretense of "taking pictures for social media." After we finished, we packed the desserts to go and left. On the way, Sarah checked the photos in her camera and suddenly said: "Oops, we forgot to take a picture of one dessert." We hurried back to the shop to take a picture of the forgotten dessert. But when we arrived at the door, we found the shop, which was open just minutes ago, was closed. "So strange." Sarah looked at the "Closed" sign on the door. She turned to me and said, "As soon as we left, the owner closed the shop. "And when I came here an hour ago, it wasn't open. You contacted him, and he rushed to open it. Isn't that weird?" Thinking about it, it was indeed weird. Sarah asked how I met the owner. I told her the whole story. Sarah frowned deeper. "You said a handsome guy you haven't known for long is treating you so well for no reason. Opening a dessert shop that seems to only open for you... something's fishy." Hearing Sarah's summary, I realized belatedly that something was fishy. "Your vigilance is too low," Sarah complained. She took out her phone and searched for something. A moment later, my phone beeped several times. I looked down. Sarah sent me several videos, mostly titled "Pig-Butchering Scams." I clicked to watch. The so-called "pig-butchering" scam. It's where a scammer creates a perfect persona, treats you well in every way, gets you hooked, and finally cheats you out of your money and heart. Sarah thought Lucas was running a "pig-butchering scam" on me. It just hadn't reached the point of cheating me yet. Otherwise, why was Lucas so nice to a stranger like me from the beginning? Even excessively nice. Very problematic. "He definitely has bad intentions!" Sarah advised me. "You'd better stop interacting with him to avoid being scammed." I chose to believe Sarah. If Sarah advised against it, I wouldn't interact. And I also felt Lucas was suspicious. So for the next few days, I didn't visit Lucas's dessert shop.
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