Chapter 53

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It was now January, and Xiang ChangKong’s postgraduate exams were just around the corner. While the test taker himself didn’t feel much pressure, Xu Lian and Xiang Nuan were very nervous for him. Especially Xiang Nuan, who often called for Xiang ChangKong to study alongside her whenever she came home. Xiang ChangKong didn’t know if he should cry or laugh at Xiang Nuan’s actions.

Weng ShuLi was, surprisingly, the calmest person other than Xiang ChangKong. She knew that her son was smart, and she still remembered Xiang ChangKong’s results when he took the college entrance exams. In fact, Weng ShuLi was much more concerned about Xiang Nuan’s upcoming college entrance exams.

She recently started work and had to put more of her attention to her job. Weng ShuLiu’s job this time was to teach retired old men and women how to dance in a nearby recreation center. It had excellent benefits, and she also has vacation time during the summer and winter holidays.

Xiang Nuan had pulled Xu Lian to secretly visit Weng ShuLi’s workplace once. When Xiang Nuan was young, she would often see her mother dance onstage. Now, years later, she only had some fragmentary and fuzzy memories of this. But while Weng ShuLi was no longer dancing on a grand stage, Xiang Nuan’s old memories still overlapped with the current Weng ShuLi.

In the year her father died, Xiang Nuan really believed that she would never see her mother dance again. So now, as she watched Weng ShuLi spin, skip and bend, Xiang Nuan thought it wonderful.

“Your mother dances very well.” Xu Lian peered through the door and whispered to Xiang Nuan.

Xiang Nuan proudly puffed out her chest, as if she was the one being praised. “Of course! You know, my mother was the best and most beautiful dancer before! My father fell in love at her at first sight, ah.”

“Oh…” Xu Lian privately thought that the man sounded quite superficial.

They watched the class from outside for a while, then quietly left. They didn’t want to disturb Weng ShuLi.

Maybe it was because the New Year really did bring about a new mood, but after getting discharged from the hospital, Cheng Peng began to look for a suitable place to open his shop- and pulled Xiang ChangKong into helping him.

(T/N: if you forgot, Cheng Peng is the co-worker of Xiang ChangKong in the delivery service. He was the one who broke his leg.)

The reason Cheng Peng chose Xiang ChangKong was very simple: it was because Xiang ChangKong was the most educated of all his friends. Roping in the most intelligent person he knew meant that he certainly won’t lose out.

But in fact, Xiang ChangKong had no experience in something like selecting shop space. He felt that Xu Lian would be much more knowledgable in this area.

“Honestly, I think my neighborhood is much more suitable. It has great foot traffic, and the rent isn’t expensive!” After visiting two different places, Cheng Peng began to miss his own lively community.

Xiang ChangKong asked: “Then why not directly rent a space there? It’ll be much closer and more convenient for you.”

Cheng Peng sighed. “My wife thinks there are already too many small snack stores in our area and that it wouldn’t be easy for us to open one there. She also thinks that most of the stores in the neighborhood do their business too casually. She likes our shop to be somewhat flashy…do you know Xiang Piao Shi Li? The owner of that shop is especially handsome, and they even had a ribbon-cutting event during its opening day! My wife is pushing for me to learn from people like that, ah. She says that since we’re opening a store, we should try to at least have a good style. Honestly, I think she just finds that owner to be handsome!”

(T/N: Xiang Piao Shi Li translates to ‘sweet-smelling aroma traveling for five kilometers’. That’s such a long restaurant name lol so I just left it in Chinese.)

Xiang ChangKong: “…”

“The tiny BBQ stores in our neighborhood are like that, ah. Nevermind the food, as long as there’s a pretty face, business will boom!” Cheng Peng quarreled with his wife about this several times, but in the end, he couldn’t win. He could only run away and obediently look for other commercial places to rent.

Xiang ChangKong thought about their previous neighborhood. It had plenty of stores, and because it was near residential buildings, everyone was familiar with each other and paid less attention to the beauty and aesthetics of their shops. Xiang ChangKong said: “Truthfully, even if your store has a good style, the most important thing when it comes to small snack shop is hygiene, followed by taste.”

“That one empty spot in our neighborhood could easily be decorated stylishly, ah.” Cheng Peng mumbled.

Xiang ChangKong told him: “Perhaps she thinks that your community’s geographical location specifically has no style.”

(T/N: your neighborhood specifically has no style, it has nothing to do with the store.)

“…” Cheng Peng was silent for a while, then said: “The boss of Xiang Piao Shi Li is what pulls customers, ah.”

Xiang ChangKong smiled. “Their snack store is decorated in a very distinctive and simple style. Also, their boss isn’t often in the store.”

Cheng Peng’s eyes narrowed. “You eat there?”

“Un, their food tastes pretty delicious.”

Cheng Peng: “…”

Ah, he shouldn’t have invited this traitor for skewers! Who knew that Xiang ChangKong was colluding with the enemy!

The third commercial space they visited was the worst one- it was why Cheng Peng chose to leave it for last. It wasn’t that the location was terrible, or the space was lousy- quite the opposite, actually. It was so good that Cheng Peng was sure that he wouldn’t be able to afford such a store unless he worked for several more years.

The space was located in a business district near QingNan street. QingNan street was practically the landmark of City A’s nightlife. Its bars would always be filled, and most of their customers were wealthy clients and celebrities. QingNan street’s high-end bars were places ordinary people couldn’t afford.

What’s more, because of QingNan street, the area around it increased in value. So the value of this particular commercial space was evident.

“I really shouldn’t have come and looked at this kind of place.” Cheng Peng initially wanted to visit this store just to get a feel of the place. But after looking at all the rental prices for spaces near QingNan street, Cheng Peng was full of awe. He looked at Xiang ChangKong and asked: “Do you come here to drink at night?”

Xiang ChangKong replied: “No, I only come here during the day for deliveries.”

Cheng Peng shook his head. “I used to do deliveries here at night. So many luxury cars would be parked outside the bars that it was more spectacular than most car shows! If your car is even just the littlest bit inferior, it would be so obvious because it would be surrounded by such expensive cars.”

As a native of City A, Xiang ChangKong naturally knew such information. The rows of luxury cars in QingNan street used to be in the newspaper, after all. Cheng Peng sighed and asked him: “By the way, which area is your girlfriend’s store in?”

Xiang ChangKong replied: “Starlight Park.”

Cheng Peng: “…”

Another awe-inspiring street.

“Why are there so many rich people in City A, ah!” Cheng Peng complained.

Xiang ChangKong tilted his head. “Isn’t that normal?”

Cheng Peng: “…”

Yes, fine. He was the one who wasn’t worthy. He was the one who was too poor for City A.

“Sigh, I think the space in our neighborhood is the best. I’ll have to discuss this with my wife later today.” He decided to try and persuade his wife once more by telling her the expensive rent of this place. He must also show just how cute the space in their neighborhood was, ah.

Xiang ChangKong smile. “Yes, I think so too. Although the surrounding stores would be incompatible to the aesthetics your wife wants for your store, I think it would still be worth it.”

“Anyway, having a distinctly different style means we can stand out from our competitors.” Cheng Peng patted Xiang ChangKong’s shoulder, then asked him: “Why don’t you come home with me and try me and my wife’s dishes? I’ve dragged you along all day; let me treat you to a delicious meal.”

Xiang ChangKong thought about all the reading he still needed to finish for his upcoming exams and refused. “I have to take the postgraduate exams soon, so I have to study. I’ll gratefully accept your offer after I finish the exams, though.”

“Ok, no problem.” Cheng Peng knew that Xiang ChangKong was going to be taking an exam soon and didn’t want to disturb him during this critical period. Instead, they made an appointment to meet up another time.

Because the two men lived in different directions, Cheng Peng and Xiang ChangKong decided to part ways here. There was a subway entrance in this business district, but Xiang ChangKong would have to switch train lines if he wanted to get off at Starlight Park. So Xiang ChangKong decided to simply walk to QingNan street and take the subway there so he wouldn’t need to transfer.

QingNan street had a multitude of narrow and winding alleyways that stretched to different directions. It would be challenging for someone unfamiliar with the place to navigate it’s complicated trails successfully. Since Xiang ChangKong didn’t want to take any detours, he planned to use the shortest, most straightforward route to the subway entrance in QingNan street. Xiang ChangKong had only been in QingNan street a few times, but his ability to remember roads was quite powerful, so he wasn’t particularly worried.

It was currently in the middle of the afternoon, so all the bars were quiet. Right now, the usually lively bars weren’t much different from regular shops. Though there was one key aspect that showed obvious disparity- the names on the signs around Xiang ChangKong were a little more…eccentric that what a typical general store would have.

Xiang ChangKong heard from Xu Lian that Wei YiChen had a bar in QingNan street, but he didn’t know the name of it. At the thought of Wei YiChen, Xiang ChangKong couldn’t help but think back to their last meeting in the hospital. At the time, Wei YiChen’s wound didn’t look shallow.

As Xiang ChangKong walked out of the alley, he saw a group of people standing in front, surrounding a man that looked like Wei YiChen.

Xiang ChangKong frowned and carefully looked at this scene. It wasn’t a person that looked like Wei YiChen, but Wei YiChen himself.

Just as he determined the identity of the man, the group suddenly started fighting. Xiang ChangKong felt that the situation was perilous for Wei YiChen because it was apparent to any outsider that all the other people weren’t on Wei YiChen’s side.

Xiang ChangKong didn’t know why they were brawling, but even if Wei YiChen could fight, it would still be impossible for him to fight so many people all by himself.

Wei YiChen was currently cursing up a storm.

He had previously asked Zhao Jie to come forward and warn Qian Liang about his actions. Zhao Jie agreed to his request and reminded Qian Liang about the rules of QingNan street, which actually seemed to have worked. These past few days, Qian Lian confined himself in his small stronghold, so Wei YiChen thought the matter was over. But who knew that Qian Liang would do something risky and try to make a move on him!

Wei YiChen berated Qian Liang in his mind. He doesn’t dare provoke Zhao Jie, so he decided to take out his anger on me?!

Truthfully, Wei YiChen expected the story of him going to Zhao Jie to reach Qian Liang’s ears. After all, there were so many people in the bar that night. It would be more strange for Wei YiChen if Qian Liang didn’t find out about his visit. But Wei YiChen didn’t think that Qian Liang would join forces with Zhu Bing to screw him over. They even used Fang QiuYun’s name to trick him into coming to this deserted place.

What did Fang QiuYun have to do with him? Wei YiChen wondered: Did he have a brain fart when he decided to diligently come over like an idiot?

Wei YiChen didn’t know why, but the night Fang QiuYun brought him to the hospital flashed through his mind. She had stood in front of the car and waited for him in the cold, windy dark. Her lone figure looked fragile.

Forget it. It seems that in this lifetime, women will be his downfall.

Zhu Bing made trouble with him because the woman Zhu Bing liked approached him. Then, Zhu Bing smashed Xu Lian’s store, implicating him once again. Even now, Qian Liang learned to threaten him with not just Xu Lian, but also Fang QiuYun.

He never even touched any of these women, ah! Isn’t this a huge loss for him?!

“I say…Qian Liang, can you use another excuse other than women for once?” Wei YiChen complained.

Qian Liang smiled as he replied: “But it’s an especially useful reason when dealing with someone like you, ah. Brother Chen, don’t you know that you’re famous in QingNan street for being especially affectionate to women?”

Wei YiChen: “….”

What affectionate?! He was still a single dog, ah! Who would believe such nonsense?!

While Wei YiChen was distracted, Qian Liang’s henchmen tried to punch him again. There wasn’t any semblance of mercy in the punch. Wei YiChen dodged the fist that headed to his face but was still hit on the stomach. Wei YiChen staggered back two steps with a frown.

The thugs surrounding him didn’t give Wei YiChen time to relax. Before he could properly stand up, another fist was headed his way.

Just as the punch reached Wei YiChen, the thug’s shoulder was suddenly grabbed. The thug subconsciously turned to look in that direction and instantly got a fist to the face.

Wei YiChen was surprised. He looked at the person who just helped him and exclaimed: “Xiang ChangKong, why are you here?”

Xiang ChangKong took off his coat for more mobility, then looked at the enemies that surrounded him. “I was just unlucky and happened to pass by.”

Wei YiChen: “….”

Xiang ChangKong tilted his head towards Wei YiChen and laughed. “I didn’t expect the third fight I would have in my entire life would be because of you.”