15: Chapter 15 Potato Hero's First Apprentice
The new guy was named Carlos, nineteen years old, a Mexican immigrant who had just been laid off by a restaurant.
When he was squatting at the entrance crying, Li Ming was squatting right there next to him.
"Finished crying?"
Carlos looked up and saw a boy even younger than himself, holding a cup of cola, with eyes as calm as an old man who had seen the world.
"Who... who are you?"
Li Ming handed over the cola: "Minister of the Potato Department. Follow me."
Carlos took the cola in a daze and followed him into the kitchen in a daze.
Then he saw a basket of potatoes.
"Your task," Li Ming pointed at the basket of potatoes, "peel them all. I'll teach you."
Carlos stared at the basket of potatoes, then at Li Ming, looking completely bewildered.
"Just... peel them directly?"
Li Ming nodded, picked up a potato, and began to demonstrate.
"Keep the knife steady, the skin thin, and your eyes on the blade, otherwise you'll cut your hand."
He peeled very quickly, the skin so thin it was translucent, all in one go.
Carlos watched in awe.
Li Ming handed him the knife: "Your turn."
---
The first potato Carlos peeled was lumpy and pitted, the skin as thick as bark.
Li Ming didn't say anything; he picked up a second potato and demonstrated again.
The second one was a bit better for Carlos, but still not good enough.
The third, the fourth, the fifth...
An hour later, Carlos finally peeled one that was barely acceptable.
Li Ming nodded: "That'll do."
Carlos let out a long breath and slumped into a chair.
Li Ming squatted down beside him, imitating Lin Feng by holding a straw in his mouth—though he didn't actually have a straw, he just mimicked the action.
"Do you know how long I peeled before I learned?"
Carlos shook his head.
Li Ming held up three fingers.
"Three weeks?"
Li Ming shook his head: "Three days."
Carlos's eyes widened.
Li Ming continued: "But when I first came here, I was even worse than you."
Carlos was stunned for a moment: "Then how are you so amazing now?"
Li Ming thought for a bit and said seriously: "Because the people here won't let you stay bad forever."
He pointed outside:
"When I first came, Sister Maria poured me cola, the Old Man talked with me, Lily drew pictures for me, and the Boss—"
He paused and smiled slightly:
"The Boss said I'm the Minister of the Potato Department."
As Carlos listened, his eyes slowly turned red.
Li Ming looked at him and said earnestly:
"You will be too."
---
After closing that night, Lin Feng squatted at the entrance, with Li Ming squatting beside him.
Together, they watched the streetlights across the road.
Lin Feng, straw in mouth, asked leisurely, "How was today?"
Li Ming thought about it: "It was okay. He learns faster than I did."
Lin Feng raised an eyebrow: "Are you jealous?"
Li Ming was taken aback, then shook his head: "No. I wish he'd learn even faster."
Lin Feng turned to look at him: "Why?"
Li Ming said seriously: "If he learns fast, he can help out sooner. When it's busy here, there aren't enough hands at all."
Lin Feng stared at him for three seconds.
Then he laughed.
"Li Ming, do you know what you're like now?"
Li Ming shook his head.
Lin Feng said: "Like a person."
Li Ming was stunned.
Lin Feng continued: "When I first met you, you were like a shadow. Standing there, not speaking, not moving, invisible to everyone."
He paused:
"Now you're a living person. You can talk, you can smile, and you can teach others how to peel potatoes."
Li Ming was silent for three seconds.
Then he asked: "Boss, when you first saw me, why did you pull me inside?"
Lin Feng thought for a moment and said, "Because you needed it."
Li Ming: "Needed what?"
Lin Feng looked across the street and said slowly:
"Needed someone to tell you that you're still alive."
— —
The next day, Carlos arrived even earlier than Li Ming.
When Lin Feng opened the door, he was already squatting at the entrance.
Lin Feng raised an eyebrow: "What are you doing?"
Carlos stood up, looking a bit awkward: "I've come to... peel potatoes."
Lin Feng checked the time—7:20 AM.
"Why so early?"
Carlos whispered: "I want to learn sooner."
Lin Feng stared at him for three seconds, then nodded and pushed the door open: "Go on in. The potatoes are in the basket on the left."
After Carlos went in, Lin Feng squatted at the door, scrolling through his phone.
As he scrolled, he smiled.
Because he saw a system notification:
[Target: Carlos]
[Current Emotion Value: 4.7 → 5.8]
[Reason for Conversion: Being given expectations]
Lin Feng stuffed his phone back into his pocket, straw in mouth, looking across the street.
He suddenly thought of a word:
Relay.
He wasn't just running a fried chicken shop.
He was running a relay station.
Relaying cola, relaying potatoes, relaying hope, relaying that phrase "you're still alive."
— — - -
A week later, Carlos's potato peeling was as good as Li Ming's.
Two weeks later, he started helping Li Ming train a new "apprentice"—another person squatting at the door crying.
Three weeks later, there were already three people peeling potatoes in the kitchen at the same time, all trained by Li Ming and Carlos.
Lin Feng squatted at the entrance, looking at the row of backs in the kitchen bowed over their potatoes, and suddenly felt a bit dazed.
Three months ago, it was just him.
Now, there was a group of people.
They peeled potatoes, fried chicken, worked the register, served plates, told jokes, cursed at each other, and laughed together.
They were all once shadows.
Now they were all living people.
---
After closing that night, Lin Feng called Li Ming over.
"There's something I want to ask you."
Li Ming squatted beside him.
Lin Feng asked: "Do you still think about your mom now?"
Li Ming was silent for a second, then nodded: "Yes."
"What do you do when you miss her?"
Li Ming pointed to the kitchen: "Peel potatoes."
Lin Feng was stunned.
Li Ming continued: "She said that when you're peeling potatoes, you don't have to think about anything. Now I know she was right."
He looked at the streetlights across the road, his voice very soft:
"And the people here won't let me keep thinking about it."
Lin Feng didn't say anything.
Li Ming turned to look at him and suddenly asked: "Boss, what about your mom?"
Lin Feng was stunned.
He had never thought about that question.
His mother was back home, calling once a year, not saying much, just asking "Have you eaten?" and "Do you have enough money?"
Before he died from overwork in his previous life, his last phone call had been just like that.
He thought for a moment and said, "She's back home. Doing well."
Li Ming nodded and didn't ask further.
The two sat in silence, looking across the street.
Passed a long time, Li Ming suddenly said:
"Boss, thank you."
Lin Feng turned to look at him: "Thank me for what?"
Li Ming said seriously: "Thank you for pulling me in that day."
Lin Feng was silent for three seconds.
Then he laughed, laughing like a fool.
"What's with the thanks? Your potato peeling still isn't good enough; keep at it tomorrow."
Li Ming laughed too.
He stood up, patted his butt, and walked toward the bus stop.
After a few steps, he turned back and waved at Lin Feng.
Lin Feng waved back.
He watched Li Ming's back disappear into the night and suddenly remembered that system achievement:
[Let those who are seen learn to see others]
He glanced down at his phone.
No new messages.
But he knew that this achievement had already been completed.
[End of Chapter 15]