Chapter 17: Zhang Fugui's Ascetic Monk Days (Seeking Bookmarks)

  From then on, Chen Li lived a harmonious and happy life with the family of three, rising with the sun and returning with the sunset. The business of Zhang Fugui's beef noodle stall also became exceptionally good due to Chen Li's exceptional hand-kneading skills. Every morning, as soon as the stall opened, there would be a large crowd of customers waiting in line to taste the noodles kneaded by Chen Li's magical hands, making Zhang Fugui and his wife smile with joy every day, filled with infinite longing for their future happy life!

  If there's one thing that makes Zhang Fu Gui feel a little dissatisfied with everything now, it's the thing he was worried about before. After this month, first, because business has been booming every day, so everyone is busy all day and has no energy at night. Second, Chen Li, a big boy, sleeps on the sofa in the living room, which is only separated from them by a wall. Even if Zhang Fu Gui had such an idea, his wife Wang Cai Xia would never agree, not even letting him touch her, and she would say that if they accidentally made any noise, what if Li Er brothers heard it outside? How could she face people the next day?

  So Fu Gui also lived a life like Chen Li, as an ascetic monk, and had not tasted meat for a whole month!

  Alas! When can I earn more money and rent a separate house for Lizi?

  This ideal became Zhang Fugui's goal for a short period of time, but reality is often cruel. When business was going well this month and he had finally earned some money, just as he was about to discuss with his wife Wang Caixia renting a separate house for Chen Li, Wang Caixia, who actually controlled the family's finances, proposed a new idea that thoroughly dashed his hopes, making it impossible for him to achieve this wish in a short period of time.

  For over a month, under the influence of Chen Li's magical noodle-making skills, their beef noodle stall has seen a significant increase in business, with sales several times higher than usual. However, as more and more customers come, their small stall can no longer expand its scale. So, the astute Wang Caixia came up with the idea of renting a slightly larger storefront, combining their previous savings and this month's profits, and borrowing a bit from relatives and friends, they could almost open a decent beef noodle restaurant on Xiguan Street, the most prosperous street in the county town.

  After the new store opened, not only did they need to renovate it simply, but also prepare many things such as noodles, side dishes, cooking oil and so on. All of these required money to resolve, making Wang Cai Xia wish she could split one cent into two halves to spend. Don't even mention spending money for Chen Li to rent a house outside, if Zhang Fu Gui took one cent from her hand, she wouldn't let it go easily with Zhang Fu Gui. So Zhang Fu Gui simply didn't bring up the matter at all, saving himself from not achieving his goal and also avoiding being scolded by Wang Cai Xia.

  Just as Zhang Fugui's family and Chen Li were busy preparing for the reopening of the beef noodle restaurant, those spies who had been keeping a close eye on Chen Li quickly sent back the news.

  "Yes, being able to yield and adapt is what makes a great man. This humble place has its own true heroes, and it's also the easiest place for one to be tempered. Let him go through some trials there!" After hearing Sixth Uncle's description of Chen Li's situation, Old Master Chen's face revealed a hint of relief, his tightly furrowed eyebrows finally relaxing, as if he was extremely satisfied with Chen Li's performance.

  In short, Chen Li's livelihood problem was solved, and this news was not bad for Old Man Chen either. However, for the other members of the Chen family, this news made them lose face. But Chen Li's two uncles were unusually calm and didn't suppress the news; instead, they deliberately let their children spread it everywhere to tarnish Chen Li's reputation. As a result, the shocking news that "the number one big spendthrift in the capital city is actually selling beef noodles in a small county town in the remote northwest!" began to circulate widely among the upper-class social circles of Huagu...

  "Has the news been spread?"

  In a coffee shop under the name of Dongfang Shi Jia, Dongfang Yu and Chen Yifei, the general manager of Emperor Hotel, were sitting in a very elegant private room tasting the authentic Blue Mountain coffee from Jamaica on the other side of the ocean. After Dongfang Yu swallowed the last sip of slightly bitter coffee, she asked Chen Yifei who was sitting upright opposite her:

  "Miss, I told those two fools in the Chen family your previous analysis from my personal perspective, and now they can't wait to deal with Chen Li. Unfortunately, because they are not capable enough, and their children are also useless, Old Man Chen has all the power in his own hands, making it impossible for them to do anything even if they want to. So they can only try to tarnish Chen Li's reputation to make Old Man Chen completely give up on him!"

  So they went all out to spread the story of Chen Li selling beef noodles in the northwest, making the entire upper class of Huaguo laugh at it as a huge joke. They all ridiculed the Chen family, saying that the Chen family had begun to decline and that their position as the number one family in Huaguo would eventually be replaced by our Dongfang family!

  It turned out that the astonishing move of Chen Li's two uncles was actually made by Chen Yifei, and it is unknown what he said to those two fools that made them so jealous of Chen Li.

  "Uncle Yifei, you've done a great job! Although our Dongfang family is currently not as strong as the Chen family in terms of power, we have already far surpassed them in terms of public opinion and family unity. I believe it won't be long before our Dongfang family will become the number one family in Huaguo with dignity and prestige!" Dongfang Yu said to Chen Yifei with a satisfied gaze;

  "Big sister, if what you said is true and Old Man Chen has the intention to cultivate Chen Li as his successor, then shouldn't we take some measures to... " Chen Yifei made a downward chopping motion with his hand when he spoke of this, implying that they should send someone to get rid of Chen Li.

  "That's just my guess, for now Chen Li is not worth us taking action against him, let alone the people from the Chen and Lin families are watching us with vigilance! If something happens to Chen Li at this moment, they will definitely put the blame on our East World Family!" Dongfang Yu said calmly.

  "Let that big scoundrel live a few more days then!"