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Chapter 26: Zeng Sibai’s Plan (Part 2)

At the Gu family’s house, during dinner—

“A’di (Little Brother), what’s wrong? Why do you look so upset? Did someone bully you at the school?” Gu Leyou asked.

Hearing their daughter say this, Gu Haixiong and his wife finally noticed that their son seemed off. Mrs. Lin also asked, “Son, if someone bullied you, you must tell us. Our family might be honest folks, but that doesn’t mean we’ll let others walk all over us.”

Gu Leshu shook his head and explained, “No one bullied me. I just don’t want to go to the teacher’s anymore. If we haven’t paid the tuition, and the teacher keeps teaching me for free, I feel bad about it. Instead of that, I might as well stay home and help out around the house.”

“How could it be that we didn’t pay the tuition? Didn’t I give the money to mom?” Gu Leyou asked.

Mrs. Lin said, “I was planning to give it to the teacher tomorrow. It was too late today, and I didn’t want too many people to see it and start gossiping.”

But Gu Leshu insisted, “No matter if you pay or not, I still don’t want to go. If this keeps up, the other students will eventually find out, and then I’ll be too ashamed to even show my face.”

Gu Leyou suddenly stood up, walked over to her brother, and comforted him, “It’s okay. As long as we’ve paid, even if they find out, who cares? And if it really comes to that, once we’ve saved enough money, I’ll send you to the academy in town—away from those mean kids in the village. That way, you can study in peace.”

Gu Leshu nodded.

After dinner, Gu Leyou helped her mother wash the dishes.

Once she was done, she went to her brother’s room and knocked on the door.

“A’shu, can I come in?” she asked.

“Come in, sis,” Gu Leshu replied.

With his permission, Gu Leyou opened the door and walked in, holding a few books.

She sat down by his bed and handed him the books.

“These are for you. I hope you study hard.”

Gu Leshu took the books with joy and surprise. “Sis, thank you! I’ve wanted these books for a long time, but our family couldn’t afford them, so I never mentioned it to Mom and Dad. I can’t believe you actually bought them for me today. I promise I’ll study hard and work toward earning academic honors!”

Gu Leyou gently patted his head, feeling proud.

“Can you do me a favor and write something down for me? I need it,” she said.

“Sure, sis,” Gu Leshu responded immediately. He set the books aside, grabbed some paper and a brush, and asked, “What do you want me to write? Just tell me.”

“Okay, I’ll say it, and you write.”

“Alright.”

“First is funding preparation, for renting a venue, buying ingredients, cooking equipment, and tableware. The location is key—choose a place with lots of foot traffic, like near the market, the dock, or a busy street.”

After a few sentences, Gu Leshu asked with confusion, “Sis, why are you writing this stuff? Are you planning to open a shop?”

“You’re just a kid. Don’t ask too much—it doesn’t concern you. Just keep writing,” she said.

“Oh… okay,” he replied and kept writing.

“You’ll need to hire a cook with good skills, and also staff to serve customers, deliver food, clean up, and so on.”

“Are you sure you’re not opening a restaurant? You’re telling me to write about cooks and staff—if you really are, you should tell Mom and Dad,” he reminded her.

“I’m not. Just hurry up and write! I haven’t even finished yet,” she snapped impatiently.

“Ingredients must be fresh, so it’s important to find reliable sources—like farmers or butchers in the area. And different kinds of restaurants will need special ingredients based on what cuisine they serve.”

“Cooking utensils and tableware are the basics: stove, pots, bowls, plates—none can be missing.”

“And then there’s the restaurant’s name. The sign should be catchy and reflect the restaurant’s character—it helps attract customers.”

In the end, Gu Leshu obediently wrote everything down—two full pages.

After finishing, he handed the paper to his sister. Gu Leyou didn’t understand most of the words, but she still accepted the pages and said, “This is our little secret. Don’t tell Mom, Dad, or anyone else. You’ll understand later.”

Hearing her say that made Gu Leshu even more convinced his sister wanted to open a restaurant but didn’t dare tell their parents. Since she had no money, he figured she might be planning to partner up with her future husband. That seemed like the only logical explanation.

The next morning, after breakfast, she waited for everyone to go work in the fields and her brother to go to school. Then she grabbed the plan her brother had written and headed to Lin Village to find Brother Zhang.

She had thought about it all night and decided to partner up with him.

What Brother Lu said made sense, but there was no guarantee of making money.

Brother Zhang’s idea made more sense—if she partnered with him and he made money, she would too.

So she headed out, walking fast, because it would take at least half an hour to reach his house from hers. And if she got held up by anyone, it might take even longer.

Luckily, she had good luck that day—she only ran into some elderly men and women along the way, and a few gossiping aunties, but none of the people she wanted to avoid.

She safely arrived at Brother Zhang’s house.

Coincidentally, he had just gotten home too—just as she was about to knock, he returned carrying a basket full of fish.

“Brother Zhang, you’re back! Why did you go out so early? The river will freeze soon—you should be careful.”

“You’re here, little sis. Why didn’t you knock and have my wife open the door?” he asked, and then knocked on the door himself.

His wife quickly came to open the door. “Coming, coming.”

“You’re back! I already made lunch—let’s eat. Oh, and you’re here too, little sis. Come in!”

The three of them sat down to eat while Gu Leyou accompanied them.

Brother Zhang asked, “Little sis, did you eat yet? You must’ve skipped breakfast to come here this early. Come eat with us—try my wife’s cooking.”

“No need, Brother Zhang, I already ate. I came because I need to talk to you guys about something after lunch,” Gu Leyou said.

“Alright then. We’ll finish eating first and talk afterward.”

After the meal, Sister-in-law Zhang began to clear the dishes, but Gu Leyou stopped her.

“Wait, sister-in-law, sit down and join us. No need to rush—we can wash the dishes later.”

So she put the dishes down, and the three of them gathered around the table to talk.

Gu Leyou took out the notes her brother wrote and handed them to Brother Zhang.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t read and had no idea what the paper said, so he gave it to his wife to read instead.

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