Chapter 104: Buying a House 1/2

During the New Year, the newly developed product “Milk Tea” by Jiang Liyun became very popular.

Milk tea had high profits and simple production, making it a lucrative venture. To boost sales, Jiang Liyun and Feng Yi took a few promotional photos together and placed advertisements in the local newspaper.

Hiring celebrities was expensive, but taking their own photos had low costs.

Since the promotional photos were displayed at the shop’s entrance, sales of milk tea have improved even more. Some people came specifically to see Jiang Liyun and Feng Yi and then ordered a cup of Charles Milk Tea.

During the New Year, Jiang Liyun and Feng Yi were each managing one shop, cooperating in their duties. However, today they were in the same shop.

The local staff who had gone home for the New Year had already returned, so there was no shortage of manpower in the shops.

Jiang Liyun didn’t go to the cash register but stood on the side, occasionally assisting the people serving the food.

During this time, she kept observing the customers who came to buy food.

Three yuan for a cup of milk tea was indeed relatively expensive, but many people bought it. Some young girls bought milk tea while secretly glancing at Feng Yi.

Handsome guys are popular everywhere, and the recently popular milk tea made young people want to give it a try.

Her shop was somewhat like a future internet-famous shop.

If people had smartphones now, Jiang Liyun believed some customers would take a photo and post it on social media after buying milk tea.

At this moment, Jiang Liyun noticed a few people who were different from the other customers.

There was a middle-aged handsome man in his sixties or seventies, dressed elegantly like an elite. Two muscular men in black suits, who looked like bodyguards, accompanied him.

This old, handsome man obviously belonged to the wealthy class and seemed out of place in her fast-food shop.

Most importantly, this old man looked a bit like Feng Yi.

Not the current Feng Yi, but the Feng Yi from thirty years later. The facial features of the old Feng Yi were exactly the same as those of this old man.

Jiang Liyun glanced a few times and then withdrew her gaze.

However, this had already made Zhou Chongcheng feel something, and he looked in the direction where Jiang Liyun was.

Realising it was the other person from the promotional photo, Zhou Chongcheng smiled at Jiang Liyun.

Seeing this, Jiang Liyun also smiled.

The line gradually shortened, and soon it was Zhou Chongcheng’s turn.

This time, Zhou Chongcheng brought two bodyguards and a driver. The driver stayed outside.

He ordered four cups of milk tea and some other food, then asked Feng Yi, “Young man, you’re still very young. Why don’t you learn some skills and do something else?”

In Zhou Chongcheng’s eyes, being a waiter was definitely a dead-end job.

The young man in front of him should learn some other knowledge and take a path that would have a bright future, rather than wasting time in a Western fast-food restaurant.

“Sir, your order has been placed, and the food is being prepared over there. You can wait there,” Feng Yi said.

He had been studying diligently. Even though this winter vacation was busy, he had read a lot of materials that the professors provided him and the study materials of senior students from other schools.

But there was no need for him to explain this to a chance customer.

Zhou Chongcheng knew that Feng Yi didn’t take his words seriously and felt a bit unhappy.

He was just giving friendly advice.

But since Feng Yi didn’t take it seriously, there was no need for him to interfere. Zhou Chongcheng went upstairs and found a seat. In no time, his bodyguard brought the milk tea.

He had one of them sent to the driver, and Zhou Chongcheng tasted it.

This milk tea… It was quite delicious.

It had a rich milk flavour, black tea, and even jelly at the bottom. Young people should like it.

Zhou Chongcheng was very restrained in terms of food and drink. He drank a little and stopped, and he did the same with other foods.

After finishing, Zhou Chongcheng said to the bodyguard, “I don’t know why, but I find the waiter somewhat familiar.”

The bodyguards around Zhou Zhongcheng had been with him for many years and had a good relationship with him.

One of them said, “Mr. Zhou, I was just thinking that person looks somewhat like you.”

Zhou Zhongcheng was slightly stunned. When he lifted his eyes, he happened to see a billboard next to him.

The young man on the billboard did indeed resemble him.

“If my Ah Zhi hadn’t died…” Zhou Zhongcheng’s first child was named Zhou Chengzhi, and he looked a lot like him.

He had intended to say that if Zhou Chengzhi hadn’t died, he might have grown up to be like that waiter now.

But before he could finish his sentence, he realised that if Zhou Chengzhi hadn’t died, he would be in his forties or fifties by now.

And his Ah Zhi wouldn’t be as incompetent as that young man, not learning anything at a young age and just being a waiter.

Zhou Zhongcheng stopped himself from continuing, and when he went downstairs, he found that the male waiter who had been at the cashier was no longer there, and he didn’t know where he had gone.

Feng Yi was eating in the kitchen and talking to Jiang Liyun. “Liyun, the professor asked me to return to school early to help him.”

Jiang Liyun said, “Then you should go back and study well with the professor; studying is the most important thing.”

Feng Yi smiled. Indeed, studying was important, but he felt that Jiang Liyun was the most important.

After they finished eating, Jiang Liyun took out the ordered newspaper and started flipping through it.

As she read, Jiang Liyun saw news in the newspaper about a Taiwanese businessman planning to invest and establish factories on the mainland.

The Taiwanese businessman’s surname was Zhou, and he had been quite low-key, but before her death, there had been quite a scene in their family.

This Taiwanese man was named Zhou Zhongcheng, and he had two sons and a daughter.

Since the proposal to develop Pudong in Shanghai, he has come over early and then set up a factory on the mainland to produce and sell instant noodles, making a lot of money.

In the 1990s, many people went out to work, and for these workers, eating was a big issue.

For a long time, instant noodles were their first choice.

For the people at that time, instant noodles were still very delicious.

Jiang Liyun remembered that in her past life, in the 1990s, eating instant noodles was considered a reward for herself!

At that time, she would fry an egg and add some vegetables when cooking instant noodles. This way, she felt very happy eating a big bowl of hot noodles.

In short, Zhou Zhongcheng made a lot of money by selling instant noodles and some other goods, but his later years were somewhat pitiful.

Jiang Liyun didn’t know much about the Zhou family’s situation. It was just after the “successor war” in the Zhou family that she watched some gossip and analysis on video websites.

Basically, Zhou Zhongcheng initially wanted to groom his eldest son as the successor, but his eldest son was unreliable and messed up some things.

So Zhou Zhongcheng started grooming his younger son.

Then his eldest son and his younger son kept fighting endlessly.

And on top of that, Zhou Zhongcheng lived to be very old—he lived to be a hundred years old!

By that time, Zhou Zhongcheng’s grandchildren had also grown up, so when it came to fighting for the family inheritance, there were even more people involved…

Originally, if it were just a family inheritance dispute, it wouldn’t be a big deal because the Zhou family kept a low profile, and the general public wouldn’t have the chance to know about these things.

However, when 100-year-old Zhou Zhongcheng fell ill and was hospitalised, his eldest son barged into the hospital to have him change his will. Amidst the commotion, the critically ill Zhou patriarch passed away on the spot.

His second son immediately accused his elder brother of plotting against their father.

The elder son claimed that the younger son framed him, stating that the day of the incident was intentionally orchestrated by his younger brother to cause trouble.

At that time, Zhou Zhongcheng’s elder and younger sons were both retired old men, and they even started fighting, with videos of their brawl ending up online for netizens to watch.

This family added more material to the “real business warfare.”

At that moment, Jiang Liyun was thinking that her son was a troublemaker, and it seemed like other people’s sons weren’t any better.

As for Zhou Zhongcheng just arriving in Shanghai? It had nothing to do with Jiang Liyun, and she quickly let go of the matter.

The next day, Feng Yi returned to H University.

Coincidentally, on that day, Zhou Zhongcheng met an old classmate from many years ago who happened to be a professor rehired by H University.

Zhou Zhongcheng invited this friend to his place.

As the two old friends were chatting, Zhou Siguo arrived.

Zhou Siguo had no idea about Zhou Zhongcheng going to Charles Hamburg to buy food and encountering Feng Yi.

Due to work relations, Zhou Siguo had some interactions and a good relationship with Zhou Zhongcheng’s secretary. However, he couldn’t gather much information from Zhou Zhongcheng’s bodyguards.

Zhou Zhongcheng’s bodyguards and driver were respectful to him, but they wouldn’t share any information about Zhou Zhongcheng.

Now, with his father’s friend visiting, Zhou Siguo greeted him with a smile and learned that the visitor was a professor from H University.

That was fine, but this person invited his father to visit H University.

Zhou Siguo felt uneasy.

That Feng Yi was studying at H University!

If his father met Feng Yi at H University…

Zhou Siguo subconsciously wanted to intervene but quickly suppressed the urge.

Even if his father encountered Feng Yi, his father wouldn’t know Feng Yi’s identity. On the other hand, if Zhou Siguo intervened, it might make his father suspicious.

Zhou Siguo smiled and said he also wanted to visit H University.

The professor from H.I. readily agreed.