Chapter Twenty: Old Bai, Stunned
“Huh, what’s wrong with our Autumn? Her little mouth is pouting so much you could hang an oil bottle from it. Haha… so adorable! Come, let big sister give you a kiss.”
“No, I don’t want it, I’m sad. Sister Ke’er, please kiss Winter instead.”
Winter, who was suddenly ambushed with a kiss, stared blankly at the ground.
Mmm… The sausage in my pancake fell out…
“Ha ha… Sorry, Winter, I didn’t mean to. Later, big sister will treat you both to ice cream, okay?”
“Mmm, okay, sister will eat it.”
“Haha… Sister won’t eat, you eat.”
Wang Ke’er gently stroked Winter’s head, then looked over at Autumn and smiled.
“What’s the matter? Tell big sister.”
Autumn’s little face was forlorn. “Autumn can’t help brother anymore. Autumn won’t get any more money. I can’t count money anymore. I’m not happy, Autumn is so sad.”
Wang Ke’er was taken aback.
You really are a little miser.
“So where did the money go? Did your brother take it?”
“No!” Autumn puffed her cheeks and said in a childish voice, “The phone took it! Hmph! Brother tricked me—phones don’t have hands to take money!”
Wang Ke’er: (ง ˙o˙)ว
“And, and…”
Autumn stood up, pointed at the customers lining up for pancakes, and declared, “Sister, let me tell you, none of them paid any money!”
Wang Ke’er glanced over. “...They paid.”
“No!” Autumn insisted, “None of them took out money, they just waved their phones in front of brother and then left!”
As she spoke, Autumn grew anxious. “Sister, did my brother get tricked by them? Go help my brother!”
Wang Ke’er: （〇_ｏ）／
I’m not stupid, I’m not going!
“Alright, alright, your brother didn’t trick you—they paid. If you don’t believe it, go get your brother’s phone and big sister will show you the money inside.”
“Really?”
“Really!”
Autumn, half convinced, ran off and brought back the phone Yang Qing had bought that morning, handing it to Wang Ke’er.
Swipe—
Wang Ke’er first opened the contacts. Only one number was saved.
Qin Xue! Hmph! Not happy!
Then she opened WeChat…
Oh, no friends! I’ll be the first!
She fiddled with the phone for a while, but Autumn, watching eagerly, urged impatiently.
“Sister! Is it done yet? Show me the money!”
“Alright, alright, you little miser.”
Wang Ke’er opened the WeChat wallet and pointed things out to Autumn, explaining everything carefully.
Ten minutes later, Wang Ke’er left.
As a beautiful and talented singing streamer, lately she’d been neglecting her main job… almost turning into a food blogger!
Waving goodbye, we remained happy little cuties.
The two little ones waved goodbye to Sister Ke’er, then sat on their small stools, happily eating sweet ice cream. Autumn kept glancing at the phone.
It’s back, it’s back, my happiness is back!
Watching the numbers in the WeChat wallet rise, Autumn swayed joyfully.
“Autumn, don’t look at the phone for too long—it’s bad for your eyes,” Yang Qing said during a brief lull in his busy day. He didn’t take the phone back, since Autumn was such a well-behaved child.
Sure enough, after Yang Qing spoke, Autumn reluctantly put the phone down. She looked at Winter, who was getting sleepy on her stool, and sighed like a little adult.
Gently, she half-embraced the drowsy little one in her arms, her small hand moving lightly as she sang softly:
“The monk rides with a clop-clop, the monkey catches demons with a clang-clang, the pig eats with a snort-snort, Sandy carries the load with a ding-ding, little Bai sleeps with a hoo-hoo, we’re all good children, obedient and true…”
“So cute, I want to hug and kiss them!” A young girl, drawn by the adorable voice, listened with stars in her eyes, full of envy.
“Little boss, are those two adorable kids your daughters?”
“No, they’re my sisters,” Yang Qing replied, his eyes full of gentle laughter.
…
At four in the afternoon, Yang Qing began packing up.
“Sorry, everyone, I won’t be setting up tonight—I have some things to do.”
The customers were shocked. “You’re not setting up? No money today? How will you get by?”
Yang Qing laughed helplessly. “Really, I have something to do. I plan to go look at a shop…”
The customers cheered. “A shop! Little boss, are you opening a store?”
Yang Qing cupped his hands. “Yes, so I hope you’ll all keep supporting us.”
The customers laughed. “I’m here every day! Hahaha… With a store, you’ll be open longer, right?”
“Yes, I will.”
“Haha, great! Then hurry up, little boss. Looking at shops is important!”
Yang Qing: …
You’ve said all the nice things…
He hopped onto his cart, took the two little ones, and headed to the elementary school. Watching Spring and Summer, with their butterfly hair clips, waving goodbye to a little boy after school, Yang Qing exchanged a smile with a dignified, beautiful woman.
Friendship between children blooms quickly and true.
With laughter and chatter, they returned to the alley, handed the four children to Mama Bai for care, and Yang Qing and Bai Zhijun set off again on the electric tricycle.
Before long, they returned to May Day Street. Bai Zhijun parked and led Yang Qing to the corner, saying,
“This is the one, Qingzi, what do you think?”
Yang Qing looked around, nodded, and smiled. “Very nice, Brother Bai, you have a good eye.”
“Hehe, that’s right! You should know what your Brother Bai does for a living.”
Bai Zhijun grinned proudly. “I’ll call the landlord now.”
“Go ahead, and have him bring the contract so we can sign today.”
“Will do!”
Bai Zhijun quickly finished the call; the landlord said he’d arrive in ten minutes.
“Qingzi, let me show you something good.”
While waiting, Bai Zhijun mysteriously opened his little backpack for Yang Qing to see.
“Whoa!”
Yang Qing was genuinely surprised—so much money! Stacks of red bills, at least fifty or sixty thousand.
Though he’d recently come into wealth, with tens of thousands in his account, all as numbers, seeing so much cash was a first.
“Brother Bai, why are you carrying so much money?”
“Hehe… Surprised you, right?”
Bai Zhijun laughed. “My wife gave it—rent money!”
Yang Qing was stunned. “But we’re sharing the place, you don’t need to pay so much.”
Bai Zhijun chuckled. “You think your situation is unknown to me and my wife? You’ve just gotten better at making pancakes, more customers, made a bit of money, but surely haven’t saved much.”
He patted Yang Qing’s shoulder, laughing. “Last night I told my wife about your long lines for pancakes. She said once the shop opens, we’d be taking advantage of you. So, after discussing, we decided to pay the whole year’s rent up front. When you have money later, you can pay us back.”
Yang Qing was moved. “No, Brother Bai, I…”
“No arguments, it’s settled. You’re putting everything into this—what about the kids? Listen to me!”
“But Brother Bai, I have money, lots of money.”
“Heh, lots of money, how much?”
“Four hundred ninety thousand.”
“How much?!”
Bai Zhijun stared at Yang Qing, feeling like he was hearing things, and laughed incredulously. “Impossible, how could you have that much? Don’t fool me…”
“Really!”
Yang Qing saw Bai Zhijun’s skeptical face and smiled. “Qin Miss knows about it.”
“Qin Miss,” Bai Zhijun paused, “that beauty from the TV station?”
“Yes,” Yang Qing nodded. “I wrote something and sold it to their station for five hundred thousand.”
Bai Zhijun’s mouth hung open in shock. “You… wrote something?”
“Yes.”
“Sold… Sold it to the TV station! For five hundred thousand!”
“Yes!”
“Heh… Kid, if you want to fool your big brother, at least make up a believable lie. You only graduated elementary school, I didn’t even finish elementary, how different could we be? And you wrote something to sell to TV? Heh…”
Yang Qing: “…I graduated.”
Bai Zhijun: …
Ten minutes later, the landlord arrived on time, a middle-aged man.
After viewing the shop, they started discussing money, but soon Bai Zhijun erupted.
“What! We have to rent both the first and second floors together? Are you messing with me? Last time I came, that woman said renting just the first floor was fine!”
The middle-aged man got heated too. “Who are you calling names? You know that was a woman, what does she know?”
He pointed at the shop. “You saw it, the first and second floors are connected. If you only rent the first floor, what about the second? Can I even rent it out? If you rent the first floor for ten years, am I supposed to let the second floor sit idle for ten years?”
Bai Zhijun paused, then stammered, “You have a point.”
Yang Qing: …
“Ahem!”
He cleared his throat, breaking the tense mood, and after a moment’s thought said, “We can rent the second floor too, but could you lower the rent a bit?”
“Qingzi! Are you crazy!” Before the landlord could speak, Bai Zhijun grabbed him and whispered, “No need. If this place won’t work, we can find another. Time wasted isn’t a big deal, but money is—not to mention, we don’t have that much.”
Yang Qing smiled. “Brother Bai, I meant it—all of it.”
Bai Zhijun was dumbfounded.
Really… what’s really? Could it be… the five hundred thousand… is real?!!
Gasp!
He was completely stunned, lips trembling and mumbling to himself.
Half an hour later, the landlord handed over a signed contract and keys to Yang Qing, humming as he left.
“Qingzi, you… really rented it all!”
“Yeah, all rented, paid in full.”
Bai Zhijun’s face was filled with complicated emotions. “You paid… you really have five hundred thousand! I…”
“Let’s go home.”
Yang Qing, seeing Bai Zhijun still reeling, smiled. “Brother Bai, once our shop opens, Sister-in-law will quickly earn you fifty thousand more.”
Hearing this, Bai Zhijun was instantly happy. “Haha, that’s true—especially with you! But, what are you planning for the second floor?”
“Turn it into bedrooms,” Yang Qing smiled. “Once the shop opens, we’ll be busy, so I want to convert the second floor for the kids to stay—it’ll be much more convenient.”
Bai Zhijun’s eyes lit up. “Right, you really do think things through.”
“Haha… Brother Bai, the place is rented, tomorrow afternoon let’s find someone to start renovations.”
“Find someone? Are you forgetting what your Brother Bai used to do?”
“What did you do? Weren’t we both working construction?”
“Nonsense! Construction was my side job! My specialty is renovations!”
Yang Qing: …
“Hey, you don’t believe me!”
“I believe you! I believe! Haha…”
“Idiot.”