For the upcoming summer vacation, Brian Carter does not plan to go home; he chooses to stay here and continue working to earn money. This way, he can save on the cost of round-trip airfare. From London to Chengdu, the round-trip ticket plus tax costs at least over seven thousand RMB. For an average working-class family, this is not a small sum that can just be brushed aside.

Moreover, the summer vacation is not subject to the twenty-hour-per-week work limit, so he can take advantage of these three months to make some good money.

The Duns Bar where he works opens for business at 11:30 a.m., and before that, he has to rush to the bar to get everything ready for opening. At 3 p.m., the bar temporarily closes for a break. After finishing his work, Brian Carter goes to the “McChina” Chinese fast food restaurant to pick up delivery orders, then heads out to deliver them. At 5 p.m., he returns to Duns Bar to prepare for the 5:30 reopening, and then he stays busy until the bar closes at 11 p.m. After that, he spends another twenty minutes cleaning up while waiting for the remaining customers to finish their drinks, seeing the reluctant patrons out the door before finally locking up.

By the time he gets back to his rented apartment, it’s already past midnight. His roommate from his hometown, Olivia Harris, is already asleep. Olivia Harris is a well-behaved student with a regular schedule; apart from helping Chinese international students with their problems, he spends most of his time studying. He doesn’t need to work because his family is much better off than Brian Carter’s. Once the holiday starts and Olivia Harris returns to China, Brian Carter will be the only one left in the apartment.

He washes all the glasses, then wipes them clean with a dry, soft cloth, holding them up to the sunlight to make sure there isn’t a single speck of dirt. Next, he takes down the wooden chairs stacked on the tables one by one and places them by the tables. The barstools in front of the counter are also arranged as they would be during business hours. By the time he finishes all this, the boss, Colin Johnson, finally shuffles his plump body downstairs.

“Good morning, Chu... ha—”

Boss John lets out a yawn.

“Good morning, boss. Didn’t sleep well? You look...” Brian Carter greets him in English.

“Ah...” At the mention of this, Boss John’s brows furrow. He casually sits down on a barstool. “How could I possibly sleep well, thinking about Wimbledon’s fate? Can you understand, Chu?” He glances at Brian Carter, who is busy preparing to open the bar.

“I can understand, boss.” He isn’t just comforting the boss; he really means it. Thinking of Sichuan Quanxing, many Sichuan fans probably get teary-eyed these days. So he can truly relate to how Wimbledon fans feel.

But the boss clearly takes Brian Carter’s words as mere consolation, giving a wry smile before sitting there lost in thought.

Brian Carter ignores his sentimental boss, walks straight to the bar’s front door, and flips the sign hanging on the doorknob from “close” to “open”—right on the dot, as the minute hand on the wall clock points exactly to “6”.

This is a small bar; besides the boss, the only employee is Brian Carter. He is hardworking and capable, so the boss has no intention of hiring anyone else. After all, hiring one more person means paying one more salary—naturally, a capitalist will save costs wherever possible.

A busy day begins at this moment.

※※※

Emily Clark stands at the entrance of McChina, peering inside through the bright glass window. The uniformed staff are busy at work, and there’s already a table of customers eating inside. There are many people with black hair and yellow skin, but she doesn’t spot the face she saw yesterday.

She takes out the order slip in her hand and checks it again—this is indeed the Chinese fast food restaurant. In fact, “McChina” is fairly well-known in Wimbledon. Just last year, this fast food restaurant had a lawsuit with McDonald’s. McDonald’s believed that the first two letters of McChina (Mc) infringed on their trademark and could mislead consumers into thinking this Chinese fast food place was related to the world-famous fast food giant.

The owner of McChina explained that he chose the “Mc” prefix to mean “son of,” just like the prefix in Scottish names.

In the end, the British High Court accepted his explanation, ruling that the “Mc” prefix would not cause confusion and there was no intent to deceive. On the contrary, the High Court believed that McDonald’s was trying to greedily monopolize all words related to the English prefixes “Mac” and “Mc,” which violated the law. Chinese immigrant Mr. Frank Young should be allowed to establish a fast food restaurant named “McChina,” selling fast food other than hamburgers, pizza, and KFC fried chicken.

That lawsuit pushed the already booming business of this fast food restaurant to new heights of fame. Now, the first McChina chain store has opened in central London, and interestingly, right across the street is a McDonald’s...

Emily Clark hesitates at the door for a moment before being spotted by an enthusiastic staff member inside.

“Welcome!” he shouts in heavily accented English. “Can I help you, miss?”