Chapter 433 - 213: So This Is the Feeling of Counting Money Until Your Hand Cramps

Chapter 433: Chapter 213: So This Is the Feeling of Counting Money Until Your Hand Cramps

Zhou Ming rode the bicycle back. With his physique, pedaling furiously on a woman’s bike, he looked as comical as the mighty warrior Lu Bu riding a dog.

Zhou Yan smiled and shook his head. After a quick stretch, he too began to run along the riverbank.

’Teacher Song Wanqing is quite a surprise,’ Zhou Yan thought. ’Her emotional and intellectual intelligence are off the charts. Things have barely even started between them, and she’s already looking out for Zhou Ming.’

’In her presence, Zhou Ming is like a green recruit.’

’Not every bit of money is worth earning. If Zhou Ming’s transfer back to the No. 1 High School fell through because of a few pounds of braised meat, how could he ever face his uncle and aunt?’

’If Teacher Song hadn’t pointed it out, Zhou Yan might not have even considered it.’

’One should never underestimate any workplace, not even a school that seems like an ivory tower.’

’It’s a good thing, really. Zhou Ming has practiced martial arts for years, so his social circles have always been very simple. He’s never had to face the harsh realities of the world, so his way of thinking is rather straightforward.’

’Teacher Song, despite her youth, is incredibly worldly-wise.’

’If those two actually get together, his uncle and aunt’s simple, honest family is about to get a new person calling the shots.’

’And he felt the chances of that were pretty high.’

’Although Ming hadn’t said anything, his admiration and respect for Teacher Song were impossible to hide.’

’As the old saying goes: a woman pursuing a man is separated only by a thin veil.’

’Since Teacher Song was the one to make the first move, how could Ming possibly refuse?’

"Lin!" After running for a stretch, Zhou Yan spotted a familiar figure up ahead. He picked up his pace to catch up and call out a greeting.

"Zhou Yan! I was starting to think you weren’t running today."

...

「Le Ming Restaurant, Office」

"Is that so?" Liu Ye remarked with a sigh after hearing Kong Guodong’s report. "I never thought his little restaurant in town would be doing so well. Earning over a thousand a month! Even if we bent the rules, our hotel could never offer him that kind of salary. A truly skilled chef really can make a living anywhere."

"Exactly," Kong Guodong said with a laugh. "Even though it’s a privately-owned restaurant, so many workers eat there that people have to line up and wait for a table. It’s practically become the textile factory’s second cafeteria." He had gone to Xiao Lei’s place that afternoon. They drank tea and held a Dragon Gate Formation for the whole afternoon, but Xiao Lei also politely refused him.

"Xiao Lei is earning good money now, five or six hundred a month. Plus, his outdoor banquets are all booked up until next year. He can’t just cancel on his clients, so he can’t come."

He had reported only about half of what Zhou Yan actually earned.

Earning over a thousand a month would easily make him a "ten-thousand-yuan household" by year’s end—an astonishing income for the times.

But if word got out that he was earning thirty or fifty thousand a year, he’d attract unwanted attention, or competitors might hear the news and set up shop right at the textile factory gates to maliciously undercut him.

He was the great prodigy of their Kong Sect, after all. It wasn’t a big deal if he didn’t come work at Le Ming Restaurant; they were still counting on him to carry the Kong Sect to greater glory in the future.

"Guodong, you’re a quick thinker. Inviting Zhou Yan to make a couple of dishes for special occasions to elevate our banquets is an excellent idea," Liu Ye said with a smile.

Kong Guodong said, "Zhou Yan is a man of great loyalty. He said that Le Ming Restaurant is where his Master and Grandmaster worked for most of their lives, a place he has long revered. It’s just that his entire family now depends on his restaurant to live. He’s invested so much money and energy into reviving it that he truly can’t leave. He asked me to convey his apologies to you, Manager."

Liu Ye waved his hand dismissively. "It’s no problem. It’s rare to find a young man so responsible, shouldering his family’s burden at such a young age. When the opportunity arises, we could invite him to Le Ming Restaurant to teach a class or two. He could be a great role model for our young chefs."

"That’s a great idea. I’ll ask him about it," Kong Guodong said. "His stir-fried pork liver is so good that even my own master praised it endlessly, saying it had the same flair Kong himself had back in the day."

...

「Feiyan Restaurant, Second-Floor Private Room」

"Third Master Qiu, you’re a busy man. It wasn’t easy getting you to come." Huang He stood and poured wine for a shrewd-looking little old man with a goatee, who was dressed in a long gray gown. "The information I asked you to dig up—have you made any headway?"

Third Master Qiu lifted his cup, took a sip, and nodded with a smile. "The Qiu Family’s Old Mansion is definitely for sale; all of us relatives know that. But I’ve been asking around for you the last couple of days. Turns out the price depends on the buyer. Word is, if someone can convince the old matriarch to move to Xiangjiang for her retirement, the price is a flat ten thousand yuan."

"You’re relatives, and Mrs. Qiu is your elder cousin. So, is there any hope of that happening?" Huang He asked, watching him closely.

"Well..." Third Master Qiu glanced at him, then rubbed his thumb and forefinger together with his right hand, which rested on the table.

A flash of disgust crossed Huang He’s eyes, but he nevertheless pulled out three Great Unity bills and placed them on the table.

Third Master Qiu started to reach for the money, but Huang He pressed it to the table with his hand. He smiled and said, "Third Master Qiu, first I need to hear if your information is worth the price."

Hearing this, Third Master Qiu sat back down. He took another sip of wine and said, "She’s looking for someone from her past. You see, before my cousin married her husband, she was actually engaged to someone else: a man from the Suji Wang Family."

"The Wang Family was one of the most prominent families in Jiazhou back then. Their Jiading Brocade was the most famous of all. The Wang family’s young master, Wang Yu, was engaged to my cousin. They were just about to finalize the wedding plans when Wang Yu ran off to join the army and fight the invaders."

"He left, and was never heard from again. Later, my cousin’s family fell on hard times, and out of desperation, they arranged a marriage with the Duan Family. Of course, my cousin and her husband were deeply in love, a model couple, you understand. You mustn’t go spreading this around."

"However, her husband passed away two or three years ago. Since then, she refuses to return to the Duan Family’s Old Mansion, and she won’t go to Xiangjiang to live a life of leisure, either. Instead, she insists on staying in the Qiu Mansion. I suspect it has something to do with that Wang Yu."