Chapter 434 - 213: This Is What It Feels Like to Count Money Until Your Hands Cramp

Chapter 434: Chapter 213: This Is What It Feels Like to Count Money Until Your Hands Cramp

Huang He’s eyes lit up. He’d asked around about this before and heard a similar story. "The Wang Family’s Wang Yu?" he asked. "Third Master Qiu, do you happen to know where he is now?"

Third Master Qiu didn’t say anything. He picked up a piece of beef with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth, chewing slowly.

Huang He pushed three Great Unity bills over to him, smiling. "Now you can talk, right?"

Third Master Qiu raised his cup, took a sip of wine, then reached out and pressed down on the three Great Unity bills, pulling them toward him. He folded them neatly and tucked them into his shirt, then shook his head with a smile. "Actually, I really don’t know. That’s something you’ll have to go to Suji and find out for yourself, Boss Huang.

When I was young, I heard the Wang Family was attacked by bandits. The entire family, young and old, was slaughtered, and their house was set on fire and burned to the ground.

Wang Yu later became a high-ranking official in the Nationalist Party. He came back and annihilated the bandits from Gao Miao. He accepted no surrender, and the blood flowed like a river. After that, no one ever heard from him again."

After hearing this, Huang He’s lips twitched. He managed to swallow the "son of a bitch" that was on the tip of his tongue.

Still, thirty yuan plus a table of good food in exchange for a piece of moderately useful information wasn’t too bad.

"Boss Huang, I heard you bought that dilapidated, tile-roofed house behind the Qiu Mansion? And that you spent eight hundred yuan on it." Third Master Qiu took a satisfying sip of wine and said with a smile, "What’s the use of that rundown place? It’s not on the street, so you can’t use it as a storefront. The beams are rotten, and the walls look like they’re about to collapse. I wouldn’t take it even if it were free."

"It’s beyond your understanding." Huang He smiled, shook his head, and stood up to leave. "Third Master Qiu, take your time eating and drinking. If you hear anything else, come find me. I’ll make it worth your while."

"If I can’t finish it all, can I pack it up and take it home for tomorrow?" Third Master Qiu asked with a grin.

The corner of Huang He’s eye twitched. He smiled and nodded. "Of course. Just ask the server to pack it up for you in a bit."

Leaving the private room, Huang He shook his head helplessly, gave instructions to the server standing outside, and then went downstairs.

"Eight hundred yuan for a dilapidated house, and now you want to spend another ten thousand on an old mansion? What on earth are you planning?" Zhao Shulan’s voice was tinged with displeasure after hearing Huang He’s story. "Our Feiyan Restaurant is doing perfectly fine right now. If we have the money, we should hire a carpenter to repaint the exterior and make it look nicer. We can still call ourselves a century-old establishment. Why are you so set on opening a new place?"

"Oh, come on, darling. This building housing Feiyan Restaurant is over forty years old. The whole style and layout are outdated. People these days like big, tall, square concrete buildings with tiled exteriors, large glass windows, and neon signs. Now that’s impressive!" Huang He gestured wildly. "You know what I mean! Remember when we went to Rongcheng? That Rongcheng Restaurant was so grand!"

Zhao Shulan shot him a look and pursed her lips. "Do you have any idea how much money they spent on Rongcheng Restaurant? That’s a government-funded building, built on government land, used for hosting officials and holding large-scale banquets. How much is a cubic meter of cement? How expensive are building materials? Huang He! Have you even done the math? I swear, I give up on you! You just spend money without thinking, don’t you?"

Huang He grinned. "I’m not planning to build something that big. The Qiu Family’s Old Mansion is only about three hundred square meters. Add the foundation of that tile-roofed house we bought behind it, and we’ll have over four hundred square meters. We can start by building a small but exquisite branch for Feiyan Restaurant.

We’ll put the main hall on the first floor and turn the entire second floor into private rooms. The rooms facing the river will even have a bit of a view of the Great Buddha. It’s a fantastic location. I’ve done the calculations. First, we secure the property. Then we can keep earning money while we build. We can get it done in two or three years."

"You’ve thought this through?" Zhao Shulan asked, looking at him.

"It’s not like it’ll happen just because I’ve thought it through. We still need Mrs. Qiu to agree," Huang He said with a shrug. "But at least we have a goal. We can give it a shot. You can come with me to Suji tomorrow to ask around.

The location of the Qiu Family’s Old Mansion is just too good. Even if we don’t build anything ourselves, if we can get it for ten thousand yuan, we could sell it for a great price in a few years."

Zhao Shulan thought for a moment, then nodded.

Huang Ying, who had been sitting nearby and was nearly finished with a whole plate of sunflower seeds, spoke up. "Dad, I support you! I think your judgment is solid this time. The foot traffic in that area is really good. Lots of merchants come and go from the docks every day, and even that braised meat shop with its terrible food does great business."

Huang He smiled smugly. "See? I knew you got your good eye from me."

...

After his run, Zhou Yan returned and played three games of chess with Comrade Zhou. Then he took a quick shower, updated the account books, and spent some time planning the menu for Sunday’s banquet.

’Seven people. That means besides the usual regulars, there will be two other guests.’

’It’s a family dinner, so the family’s nanny and driver probably won’t be joining them at the table.’

’Mrs. Qiu comes from a high-society family, and Duan Yu Yan was also born with a silver spoon in her mouth. While they don’t cling to the old-fashioned ways, they still maintain a certain distance from their hired help, like the nanny and driver. I can tell from how they act when they eat at the restaurant.’

’I’ll have to show off my real skills, then. I can’t let Mrs. Qiu lose face.’

’Braised meats are a must. I’ll braise a fresh pot on Sunday morning. A separate plate of sliced braised beef, a platter of braised pig ears and pig snout, and another platter with the vegetarian braised items—tofu skin, dried tofu, and lotus root. That’s three cold dishes right there.’

’I’ll skip the cold-tossed chicken. My version isn’t perfect anyway.’

’I have to make a portion of Snowflake Chicken Porridge. It’s the only dish Duan Yu Yan specifically requested. She definitely has to get to taste it one more time before she goes back to Xiangjiang.’

’For the hot dishes, I’ll make braised beef with dried bamboo shoots and braised pork ribs. The braised pork ribs are more to Duan Yu Yan’s liking—she orders them almost every time she comes. They’re also suitable for the elderly and children.’