Chapter 36

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Lei Huanxi won the competition, but Mo Pangzi looked even happier than if he had won the title of Crab King himself.

"Mo Pangzi is a very honest person," Annie explained to him in the car.

Mo Pangzi's family is well-off, or he wouldn't be hanging out with these people, but they're not extremely rich. In this circle, he is often ordered around, and people joke with him from time to time. However, Mo Pangzi always smiles and doesn't seem to mind. So everyone likes to include him in their activities.

More importantly, his reactions are always a bit slow. Sometimes, when someone tells a joke, everyone else has already laughed, but after three or five minutes, he will suddenly laugh foolishly, "That was so funny, the joke you told earlier was so funny."

After a few times like this, everyone thought there must be something wrong with his brain. They often take advantage of him, not paying for things he buys, and even trying to get free car maintenance at his family's 4S shop.

But Mo Pangzi never cared.

"We've met his father too. He's also fat and a bit simple, but he's a very good person," Annie said with a smile while driving. "And he's especially afraid of his wife. He often tells us that being afraid of your wife is a sign of good fortune and wealth. He always tells his son to find a wife who is a bit fierce and not too pretty, but strong."

"Why?" Lei Huanxi was curious.

"He says his son is honest, and if he finds a fierce wife, others won't easily bully him..." At this point, Annie's face turned red. "Strong..."

"To have children, of course," Lei Huanxi said casually. "In our rural area, we used to look for such women, who are good at working in the fields. Women with slender arms and legs are not favored."

"Is that true?" Annie was skeptical.

"Why would I lie to you?" Lei Huanxi replied. "In our village, there was a woman whose first child was a son, and her second was a daughter. After eating four eggs, she went back to work in the fields the next day."

Annie's eyes widened in disbelief.

Goodness, giving birth and then going back to work the next day, that's hard to imagine.

Lei Huanxi took out 50,000 yuan. "Let's split the money."

This was probably the easiest money Lei Huanxi had ever earned, but in a sense, it was also the money that Zhao Zilong had risked his life for.

"Forget it," Annie rolled her eyes. "You look like it hurts you to part with it. You might as well keep it. That amount isn't even enough for me to buy two pieces of clothing."

Lei Huanxi smiled and still counted out 5,000 yuan. "One is one, two is two. I know you have money and don't care, but I have to give you back the 5,000 yuan you paid for the registration. Here it is."

Annie didn't hesitate this time. "Hey, Brother Huanxi, staying in Xiantao Village isn't a good idea. Everyone wants to go to the big city. My father asked me to pass a message to you. If you're willing, you can work for him."

"No," Lei Huanxi refused without hesitation.

"Lei Huanxi," Annie called out. "Don't take kindness for granted. How many people want to join Juncheng Group? Do you know what kind of benefits they offer?"

"What can I do there?" Lei Huanxi asked.

Annie was taken aback for a moment before saying, "You can do anything, whatever you like."

"I want to be the CEO, but your father wouldn't let me, since I'm not his son-in-law," Lei Huanxi joked, quickly adding before Annie could scold him, "I'm not unwilling to go, I just don't know what I can do. I know how to grow peaches and raise fish, but Juncheng Group doesn't have such businesses. Annie, please tell your father that I appreciate his kindness. When I feel I'm qualified, I'll definitely come to him."

Annie sighed. "Brother Huanxi, are you ambitious or just foolish? Who doesn't want a powerful backer to achieve more with less effort? You let such a good opportunity slip by."

"I'm just foolish," Lei Huanxi said with a smile.

Actually, he wasn't unmoved by the opportunity. Working for a large company had been his dream since college.

And just now, the opportunity was right in front of him.

But he didn't want to return to Yundong in this way.

He wanted to return with dignity, on his own terms.

Mo Pangzi's Volvo, which had been leading the way, entered a residential area.

It was a very ordinary neighborhood, plain and unremarkable, just like Mo Pangzi himself.

"Fatso, where are we?" Annie asked as soon as they got out of the car.

"My place."

"Why did you bring us here to eat?" Annie asked.

"To eat at home," Mo Pangzi smiled. "You guys are in for a treat today. I'll cook for you. I'm not exaggerating; you're the first friends to eat at my place."

"Sure, you can cook, I'll believe it when I see it," Annie muttered.

Mo Pangzi led them up the stairs, panting. "The elevator has been broken for two days. It's the 8th floor, good for exercise... I'm not exaggerating, there's a saying... oh, let me catch my breath... nine out of ten fat people are chefs. Why? Because we love to eat."

Lei Huanxi liked this fat guy more and more. At least they shared a common interest in cooking. Of course, the truth would be verified soon.

"What about the food?" Annie still didn't believe him, as she had never seen Mo Pangzi cook.

Mo Pangzi was mysterious. "You'll see."

They finally reached the 8th floor, out of breath. Mo Pangzi, drenched in sweat, fumbled with his keys to open the door.

As soon as they entered Mo Pangzi's home, Lei Huanxi and Annie were completely stunned.

The decoration was ordinary, with few pieces of furniture and no luxury items, a stark contrast to the villa in Xiantao Village.

But there were three large refrigerators.

Two double-door and one triple-door, each with a capacity of over 500L.

Annie was amazed. "You live alone?"

"Alone," Mo Pangzi confirmed.

Annie was speechless. Who had ever seen someone living alone with three refrigerators?

But Mo Pangzi's next actions really opened their eyes.

"Whatever you want to eat, it's all here." Mo Pangzi opened the doors of the three refrigerators one by one.

They were filled with all kinds of food, probably everything you could imagine.

Even a private restaurant wouldn't have such a complete selection of ingredients.

It didn't stop there. When Mo Pangzi led them to a room, Lei Huanxi and Annie could only look at each other, speechless.

The room was hung with cured meats, salted chickens, and pickled ducks... and there were three large water tanks, containing carp, bream, and even a lobster...

The oxygenators were working continuously. Annie said quietly, "Fatso, you should just put up a sign in the neighborhood, 'Fatso's Restaurant.'"

"No, no," Mo Pangzi quickly said. "These are all for my own consumption. I can't share them with others. Sit down, I'll cook."

"I'll help," Lei Huanxi offered.

"Can you?" Mo Pangzi's eyes showed doubt for the first time.

"I can, I can," Annie interjected. "We just had a meal at Lei Huanxi's place, and his cooking is excellent."

"Oh, I didn't know you," Mo Pangzi slapped his head in regret. "If I had known, I would have joined you."

He wasn't sad about losing the crab fight, but he was upset about missing a meal.

Lei Huanxi and Mo Pangzi started cooking in the kitchen. Annie, who couldn't cook, could only help by washing vegetables, which was a first for her.

"Huanxi, tell me what you ate that day," Mo Pangzi couldn't stop thinking about that meal.

"We killed a chicken..."

Lei Huanxi had barely said a few words when Mo Pangzi asked, "A free-range chicken?"

Seeing Lei Huanxi nod, Mo Pangzi was envious. "Free-range chickens are the best. The ones sold in the market are all fake... A real free-range chicken, cooked for a few hours, doesn't need any seasoning..."

He was almost drooling.

"Fatso, you're disgusting," Annie handed him the washed vegetables. "Here, and this green vegetable."

"Home-grown?"

"Home-grown," Lei Huanxi smiled. "In the countryside, we have plenty of vegetables."

"Home-grown vegetables are the best," Mo Pangzi said wistfully. "Hot pan, cold oil, you must use rapeseed oil, never salad oil. The vegetables cooked with salad oil..."

"Wrong, wrong," Lei Huanxi immediately corrected him. "Using rapeseed oil to cook vegetables gives them a raw taste. You should use lard, which you render yourself. The vegetables cooked with lard are shiny and delicious."

"Wrong, wrong," Mo Pangzi insisted. "Vegetables cooked with lard just look better in color..."

The two men started arguing about how to cook vegetables in the kitchen.

This was too specialized for Annie to join in, so she left the kitchen to admire the "collections" in Mo Pangzi's water tanks.

Soon, she called out, "Fatso, come here!"

Lei Huanxi and Mo Pangzi, not knowing what had happened, rushed over.

In the room, Annie pointed to a small, unobtrusive water tank in the corner. "Fatso, what's this? Come clean, I already lifted the cover to look."

The tank was covered with a blue cloth. Lei Huanxi didn't know what it was for at first, but after the crab fight, he understood.

It was for raising fighting crabs.

"For raising fighting crabs," Mo Pangzi said, stroking his chin. (My novel "My Farm Has a Dragon" will have more fresh content on the official WeChat platform, along with 100% chance to win a prize! Now, open WeChat, click the "+" in the top right corner, search for the public account "qdread" and follow it. Hurry up and do it now!)