Qiqi was excited, it was Wei's free day and they were supposed to check out her new job. Yunlan was also with them; he had long ago switched turns with another coworker so that he could be free the same day Wei was.

"I never thought you'd find something so fast! I'm so lucky they're looking for someone right when I need it." Qiqi exclaimed in excitement.

Yunlan laughed. "Actually they weren't, but I heard that this new restaurant was a big success so I suggested they might need a helping hand, specially one that doesn't require a full salary."

"I won't get paid?" She asked snorting a little.

"Not much, no, but you'll get to learn a lot for free working as part of the staff in such a well known place. You're new here, it could be a good chance, but it's up to you to decide."

She became silent, thinking about it.

They walked past a building all covered in plastic and she asked, "Why did they build a scaffold here? Are they painting the facade or doing some other work?"
Wei looked at it and Yunlan laughed. "I have no idea, it's been like that since I arrived here, I don't foresee a change anytime soon."

Wei widened his eyes in disbelief but Qiqi just shrugged. She wasn't really interested, she had asked out of curiosity but now her thoughts went back to the most important matter.

Of course when she heard about a 'job' she had hoped it meant that she'd be paid, but after all she would have been fine with a practical course and this chance could be thought of as just that, only she didn't actually have to pay for it...

She decided she'd take a look at the place before making a final decision, but was rather inclined to accept.

"You know English right? Try to make a good impression!" Yunlan told her and she was suddenly confronted with the reality that it was them who had to accept her and not the other way around.

They reached a place called "2000" and Yunlan introduced her to the owner and to the chef.

Wei stayed behind, he didn't know either language yet, he should really start learning, he thought.

He waited patiently until Yunlan and Qiqi came back out. She had been given a week trial, and if she did well they might offer her a fixed-term contract for three months.
Qiqi seemed glad that she would start so soon, but at the same time she wasn't very pleased with the chef; she called him arrogant and rude: he kept speaking Italian the whole time despite the fact that she couldn't understand him, and only spoke a few English words to her directly.

Because of this Wei was extremely surprised when she came back home after her first day at work fully determined to prove herself.

He wondered what had changed that she seemed so invested in it now; she told him that it was what she liked to do and that all her coworkers were nice and she wanted to do good and improve.

The other members of the staff tried more or less successfully to communicate with her in English, but her ignorance of their language was proving to be an obstacle.
There were other non-Italian workers, but they all knew enough Italian to get by.

She decided that she wanted to change that, so she begged Wei to ask for Yunlan's help again.
She really wanted to learn Italian and show everyone that she was quick, smart and hard-working, but by herself it would be much more difficult.

According to Wei, Yunlan was so good at it that she would really appreciate his help. Wei agreed that he would ask him first thing in the morning as soon as he got to work, and she jumped in excitement.

Wei laughed at her childish behaviour, he ruffled her hair and she pouted then they laughed together.
It felt so good to have a friend after so long.

~~~

Wei didn't waste time, as soon as he got to work the next day he looked for Yunlan finding him talking with three people. Usually he would have waited to find him alone, but this time he didn't have to. He walked straight to him, greeted everyone then told Yunlan that Qiqi liked her new job but needed his help.

Someone asked Wei about her and he explained how she had just started working at a restaurant. After a few pleasantries they were left alone to discuss how Yunlan could help her.

"I'm glad she likes it," Yunlan said when the others were gone. "How can I help her now?"

"She'd like to learn Italian and you're so good at it, maybe you could help her? Also I... I'd like to learn as well, so you could teach both of us?"

Yunlan smiled, he liked a lot the idea of teaching him. He was still bothered by the whole 'girlfriend' thing, but he would be spending a lot of time with him, so for now it would do.

Realising that Wei and Qiqi were living together wasn't easy, but he repeated himself that they weren't a real couple, that neither of them had interest in the other that way, and he agreed to spend some time at Wei's place to teach them both.

That same night Yunlan entered for the first time Wei's apartment.
Wei felt strangely comforted by Qiqi's presence, this way he could enjoy Yunlan's company without getting too anxious for what might happen.

Since it had been Qiqi's request, they began focusing on some words related to her work. Yunlan saw that she was eager to understand what was being said at work more than anything else, so instead of starting with pronounces and verbs, he started with pronunciation and cooking-related terms.

Wei found it really difficult, but Qiqi stubbornly repeated the words over and over until Yunlan was satisfied that she had the right pronunciation.
Yunlan would say, "It's not bole, it's  bolle, you must pronounce the double L!" and she would repeat it until she got it right.

She learned how to say 'the water boils' and 'give me' and 'cut' before they called it a night because they had to work the next day and had to go to sleep.

Yunlan went back home because there was nowhere for him to sleep there.
Before leaving, he looked at the place more carefully. Indeed there was no couch and no second bed... so where was Qiqi sleeping?

He was liking this situation even less than before.