Chapter 39

Chapter 25: Beautiful Girl

But Wen Liang was confident that even if the other side had one more person, he still had the ability to break through and win with one goal! However, the reason he bet the thousand yuan was not to bet on his own certain victory, but to bet that since Liu Zhihe had a reputation, after being humiliated by Mu Shanshan with five thousand yuan, he definitely wouldn't sit idly by.

Sure enough, they won the match!

There was no need to explain this to Xu Yao. Any gambling has risks, and the result is the most important, right?

Xu Yao happily counted the money over and over again, then stuffed it into Wen Liang's pocket, saying, "Alright, I've seen and played with the money, so I'll leave it to you to keep! Hmm, what's this, it's hard..."

Wen Liang quickly pulled the little lady's hand out. Just now, she had felt around his body, and at close range, he could smell the unique fresh scent of a young girl. With the experience of a man who had seen 500g of adult films, he couldn't control his little brother. The clothes in September were still quite thin, and he was caught red-handed. Fortunately, Xu Yao was innocent and didn't know what was happening, or even with Wen Liang's thick skin, he would have felt ashamed.

"Alright, I'll go home first, bye." Xu Yao waved and left with a fragrant breeze. After turning a corner, the little girl's tense body suddenly relaxed. She leaned against the wall and peeked around. Wen Liang had already turned and left. The boy's back looked quite charming.

"Pah, so shameless." Xu Yao's face was hot, and she lightly scratched her cheeks with her fingers. A flush spread from her cheeks to her ears. Thinking about the thing she had touched just now, the girl's legs felt weak, and she barely managed to stay upright by leaning against the wall.

The confused feeling was just like this confused life!

On Saturday morning, Wen Liang and Li Shengli met at the entrance of People's Park, then took the 103 bus to Dongcheng Bayi Road. Since the day Wen Liang had set the scope, Li Shengli had been wandering around this area, getting very familiar with the streets and alleys. He took a shortcut and turned a few corners to arrive at a shop. It was a two-story storefront, not very large, but clean and tidy. It was near many residential areas, slightly remote, but conveniently located at a street corner. Buses 53, 77, and 88 all had stops nearby. Even in the morning, many people could be seen gathering from all directions.

"Nice," Wen Liang praised. Not far away was the Dehua commercial district, which would soon become bustling after large-scale development next year. However, at this time, not many merchants recognized the business opportunities.

"The owner of this storefront is surnamed Zhang. He is eager to rent out the place because he is going to do business in the south with a friend. The price should not be too high," Li Shengli said, considering Wen Liang's limited capital. Wen Liang didn't tell him the source of the money, and Li Shengli, after two years of hardship, had grown a lot. He only did what he should do and didn't ask what he shouldn't.

Wen Liang nodded. Although this place wasn't ideal, it was a good start. A breakfast shop required little investment, and as long as a few points were noted: 1) choose a location in a large residential area or a busy traffic route, 2) select convenient and quick varieties, 3) offer good quality at a low price, with a clean environment and good service, it generally wouldn't lose money.

Qingzhou in 1995 was in a period of transition between old and new lifestyles. People were increasingly paying attention to their living standards and quality. Breakfast, which had not been valued by Qingzhou residents, was beginning to gain popularity due to social propaganda. Many people could recite the theory of "eat well in the morning, eat enough at noon, and eat less in the evening." However, apart from messy and extremely unsanitary street vendors, Qingzhou had few specialized breakfast shops, let alone influential brands or chains. Wen Liang got the idea from his mother Ding Mei's frequent complaints about the inconvenience of buying breakfast during the summer vacation. Thinking about the astonishing market value of the breakfast industry in the future, it was undoubtedly the best choice for Wen Liang, who had no money and no people.

Inside the shop, they met Mr. Zhang. Both parties were very pleased and quickly reached an agreement. Mr. Zhang had been waiting for two months without any interest, so he was eager. Hearing Li Shengli say they would rent the first floor for a year and then rent the whole place after two or three months when the funds were available, he agreed after a moment's thought. They signed a one-year contract for 1500 yuan. Mr. Zhang was extremely enthusiastic, promising to expedite the procedures with his connections at the business administration. Li Shengli was very grateful.

After everything was settled, Wen Liang smiled as they left, "Uncle Li, we have the shop. Whether we make money depends on your skills. Remember what I said: keep the breakfast simple, start with four items: soy milk, fried dough sticks, scallion pancakes, and egg pancakes. You must win with the taste, making people remember it."

Li Shengli said modestly, "Don't worry, my skills haven't declined. Just doing these few items will be fine."

Wen Liang naturally trusted his skills. In his previous life, he loved going to Li Shengli's house for meals, especially the scallion pancakes and egg pancakes. As an adult, Wen Liang often thought that if Li Shengli's catering business had continued, it might not have surpassed Yonghe, but it would have shone brightly.

In this life, with himself as a guide, everything was moving towards the possible.

In the following week, Wen Liang threw himself into the construction of the breakfast shop with great enthusiasm. He adopted a simple and clean decoration style like the "Food is Heaven" Chinese fast-food restaurants, making people feel pleasant and happy when they entered. He couldn't find the fixed steel-wood structure tables and chairs used in fast-food restaurants, as they weren't popular in Qingzhou at the time. So, he drew a few sketches and had a small furniture workshop make ten sets of four-person tables and chairs, with a yellow and red color scheme, which looked cleaner and more hygienic than the wooden tables used in regular restaurants and were easier to clean. Wen Liang also had Li Shengli make a large, colorful poster to hang on the wall, with the title "Qinghe Soy Milk" and the subtitle "Healthy, Fresh, Delicious, and Clean." Below was a promotional text about the long history and culture of Qinghe Soy Milk:

The Qinghe River, long and winding, flows from the Long River into the East Sea, nourishing the five grains and benefiting the people of three counties, and supporting the fish and shrimp of the four seas. In the seventh year of the Tang Dynasty's Zhen Guan era, the then Minister of the Menxia Province, Wei Zheng, happened to pass by the Qinghe River. He heard that in the east of the ancient city of Qingzhou, thirty steps west of the boat bridge, there was a century-old shop that made soy milk from beans, which was fragrant and smooth, and the taste lingered for three days. Thus, it was named Qinghe Soy Milk...

This text was created by Wen Liang's idea, processed by Xu Yao, and polished by Ning Xiaoning. The three of them, who were not very scholarly, racked their brains to produce this strange hybrid. However, since Qinghe Soy Milk was targeted at the middle and lower classes, it needed to be straightforward for people to understand. As for why Wei Zheng was chosen as a cameo, it was due to Ning Xiaoning's personal admiration, which couldn't be explained in detail. During the days waiting for the procedures to be approved, Wen Liang told his mother Ding Mei and spent almost every night after school at Li Shengli's house, using his knowledge of various cuisines from his previous life to suggest improvements to the taste of the soy milk and fried dough sticks. Surprisingly, Li Siqing's cooking skills were no less than her father's. Wen Liang was very pleased and convinced Li Siqing that having a backup chef was a configuration only five-star hotels had. With her, the breakfast shop could become a chain in half a year, a company in a year, and a group in three years, with an unlimited future.

The innocent girl's worldview was shamelessly twisted, and she secretly resolved to become a better chef than her father!

During this period, Wen Liang sent Li Siqing to Minghua Junior High School. With the help of Zuo Yuxi, the principal personally arranged for Li Siqing to join the best class, with warm and attentive service.

One day after school, Xu Yao intercepted him at the usual spot, this time with Ning Xiaoning. Having been busy with various tasks, he hadn't been in touch with the two girls for a while. Seeing their faces, he knew the situation was not good. Wen Liang decided to take the initiative and coldly said, "Oh, aren't you the famous 'Cold Ning, Hot Yao' from No. 1 High School? It's been a long time. What brings you to think of me?"

Seeing his rascally appearance and extremely shameless words, the two girls were simultaneously furious and took him to a small alley. In the struggle, Wen Liang's arm accidentally brushed against the chests of the two beauties. The budding buds swayed slightly, up and down, with a fatal allure.

Xu Yao wanted to beat Wen Liang to a pulp, completely unaware that she had been taken advantage of. Ning Xiaoning, in a fit of anger, grabbed Wen Liang's arm, but soon regretted it. When her chest was touched, she trembled, a never-before-felt sensation spreading through her body, as if an electric current had overflowed from her heart, making her dizzy and her legs weak.

"Hey, what are you doing in broad daylight? Xu Yao, Ning Xiaoning, I warn you, no matter how beautiful you are, molesting a handsome guy is still illegal!"

"Pah!" Ning Xiaoning couldn't maintain her calm, her face slightly red, and she let go of his arm.

Xu Yao returned to her mischievous self, with a classic look of disdain on her face, saying, "With your looks, even in 'Journey to the West,' you'd make Zhu Bajie proud. Why would I molest you?" Then, in an extremely coquettish tone, she shook Wen Liang's arm, "Brother Wen Liang, what have you been up to lately? Why didn't you take me along?"

Wen Liang was startled and sighed, "It's not that the Nationalist Army is incompetent, but the Communist Army used a beauty trap. I had to play along..."

Finding his words amusing, Xu Yao burst out laughing, but was reminded by Ning Xiaoning's glare that they were there to settle accounts and needed to be serious.

"Hmph, don't be so smug!" Xu Yao shook off Wen Liang's hand and said fiercely, "Confess, what have you been doing these days, coming late and leaving early? Wen Liang, don't be like Mu Shanshan..." The last sentence was softer, filled with concern that even a deaf person could hear.

Wen Liang was moved and quickly said, "Who told you? I haven't been late many times. Recently, I've been helping my uncle with his breakfast shop. The economy is tough, and he can't afford to hire employees..."

Xu Yao patted his head and sighed, "Oh, child labor, how pitiful." Then her eyes darted to Ning Xiaoning, and she said in a tone that sounded like she was coaxing a little boy to take off his pants, "There are two beautiful child laborers. Does Master Wen want them?"

Wen Liang shuddered and raised his hands in surrender.

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