amaotonovel Chapter 24 Understated Luxury
Chapter 24 Understated Luxury
After receiving a reply from Lin Yue, Lao Xiao immediately told the other three in the WeChat group, "Our goods will arrive at a new hot pot restaurant in two months. It's run by me and that friend who practices cultivation. You can come to the hot pot restaurant if you want to eat there. It will be more convenient to process the payments that way."
This time, Lin Yue was going to tell Gong Yong, Lao Xiao, and Xiao Wei that they planned to open a hot pot restaurant together. After putting the children to bed that evening, Lin Yue called Gong Yong to the dining table in the living room. After they were seated, Lin Yue said to Gong Yong, "If things continue like this, we'll definitely have a hard time making ends meet. I'm thinking of taking some of my commissions from the third and fourth installments and opening a hot pot restaurant with Xiao Wei and Lao Xiao. I won't be involved in management. I'll handle the cash register. What do you think? After sending Xiao Bao to his early education class and then dropping him off at school, I'll go to the hot pot restaurant to handle the cash register. I'll pick him up in the afternoon. It'll be a bit of a hassle for you, since you might have to cook and help with homework in the evening. If it really doesn't work out, we can just eat at the hot pot restaurant. What do you think?"
Gong Yong thought for a moment and said, "Could I just ask how much the commission is for the third and fourth payments?" Lin Yue said it was about 100,000 yuan, "The third and fourth payments are 50,000 yuan each."
Gong Yong said, "Could we just say, what percentage of that hot pot restaurant do we own? You need to ask Lao Xiao and Xiao Hui about that."
Lin Yue said, "How about we arrange for Lao Xiao and Xiao Hui to meet up this weekend and discuss the details further? What do you think?"
On Saturday, Lin Yue called Xiao Hui and suggested they get together for hot pot. Gong Yong, Lin Yue, and their three children, along with Lao Xiao and Xiao Hui's child, arrived at Lao Xiao's hot pot restaurant. They ordered a private room, and after the children finished eating, they put them in the restaurant's play area. They found a waiter to watch the four children while the four adults sat down to discuss things related to the hot pot restaurant.
Old Xiao said, "I'm planning to rent the place downstairs from you. It used to be a hot pot restaurant, but it closed down. What do you think?"
Gong Yong asked, "So, how do you plan to handle the initial rental costs, renovations, and hiring waiters for this hot pot restaurant?"
Old Xiao said, "I'll make a plan, and you two can see it later."
Lin Yue said directly, "I don't want to be involved in management. I just want to find a job, like working as a cashier at your place. My hours might be irregular, so you might need to hire a full-time cashier. I'll just go and collect cash when it's busy. What do you think?"
Old Xiao said, "Sure, but the salary might be a little less than their regular staff. Do you think that's acceptable?"
Lin Yue said, "Sure, I just want to find something to do to keep myself busy."
Gong Yong said, "She definitely prioritizes the child. She puts Xiaobao in an early education class and helps out at the cashier when she has free time."
Old Xiao said, "Okay, as long as you don't interfere with the management and the operation is transparent, then it's fine."
During this pleasant conversation, the four of them reached a consensus on their ideas for running a hot pot restaurant. Then, how much would they invest? Lao Xiao said he would invest 10 yuan upfront, and another 10 yuan for initial rent and renovations. Lin Yue said that if it were his own money, he would contribute 5 yuan initially, and then add more gradually, as he didn't have enough funds on hand. That's what Gong Yong said at the time. But as for the actual operation later, Lin Yue winked at Lao Xiao, and Lao Xiao knew exactly what to expect.
After their conversation, they each took their children home. On Monday, Gong Yong went to work, the child went to school, and Lin Yue took Xiao Bao to the hot pot restaurant again. At noon, Lao Xiao finished his work and came out to his hot pot restaurant to discuss things with Lin Yue. Lin Yue said, "Lao Xiao, could you check if his hot pot restaurant is for sale? If it is, could you ask him for me? If it is, I want to buy it. We can put it in Xiao Hui's name."
When Lao Xiao got home, he told Xiao Hui about Lin Yue's desire to buy a hot pot restaurant and put it in her name. Privately, they discussed this property issue, planning to have a lawyer draft a letter stating that the hot pot restaurant belonged to Lin Yue.
Xiao Hui was surprised to hear the news and said to Lao Xiao, "Is Lin Yue trying to avoid property issues with Gong Yong?" Lao Xiao said, "I don't know, maybe."
Xiao Hui said, "Isn't it a bit wrong for us to help Lin Yue keep Gong Yong from finding out?"
Old Xiao made a fair point: "During yesterday's conversation, it was clear that Gong Yong was self-centered and didn't seem to care about Lin Yue, let alone cherish her."
Xiao Hui said, "I can see that. Gong Yong only talks about children. I think he doesn't even give Lin Yue the most basic respect."
Old Xiao asked, "What do you mean by that?"
Xiaohui said, "Lin Yue told me before that Gong Yong secretly withdrew his company's year-end bonus and then used it to pay off debts without telling Lin Yue. When Lin Yue suddenly asked him to withdraw the money, which was due, he said he had already withdrawn it in July. You know, he never told his wife about withdrawing, paying off, or using the money, and he never proactively sent her any money. He only gave her a little bit when Lin Yue asked, like squeezing toothpaste. You tell me, Lin Yue has been taking care of the child on and off for ten years in such a stifling way. Doesn't she feel bad?"
Old Xiao said, "Lin Yue must be heartbroken, her heart has turned cold."
Xiao Hui said, "I guess the child is too young, which is probably the main reason why Lin Yue didn't divorce him. After all, the child is still too young, and she doesn't want the child to suffer."
Old Xiao added, "I think the reason Lin Yue doesn't want a divorce is probably because Gong Yong hasn't made any major mistakes, but he's not financially well-off."
Xiao Hui said, "You're wrong. Lin Yue had no money when she married him. Everyone knew he was a penniless man and never thought about living a wealthy life. It's just that his feelings for Lin Yue weren't pure anymore."
Old Xiao said, "Maybe. But I don't feel that Gong Yong loves Lin Yue. I feel like he treats her like a mother or a nanny. What do you think, Xiao Hui?"
Xiao Hui chuckled. "Yes, Lin Yue's mother is much more reliable than those nannies outside. She doesn't even earn as much as a nanny. I give her 1,500 yuan a month, and after paying off her credit card, Lin Yue only has 100 or 200 yuan left, enough for a month's living expenses. I don't know how Lin Yue managed to do that; I doubt I could have endured it for ten years. In those ten years, even when Gong Yong had money, he didn't give her much, not much at all. Wasn't it even harder when he didn't have money? And you still expect him to be so good to Lin Yue. Now that Lin Yue has money of her own, she must still have a thorn in her side. I think it's normal that she doesn't show it."
Old Xiao immediately stated, "Honey, I've told you how much money I have. Lin Yue said she wants to register it under your name, do you think that's a problem?"
Xiao Hui said, "There's no problem, just register it under my name. We can write a lawyer's letter privately stating that this thing belongs to Lin Yue, and that'll be fine."
Old Xiao added, "There's no point in Lin Yue doing this."
Xiao Hui said, "So what do you want? She wants to protect her child and also wants a happy family. Lin Yue is reluctantly handing over the money. What do you think she should do? You know, Lao Xiao, most of the clothes Lin Yue's second sister wears are hand-me-downs from our children. That means Lin Yue doesn't even have money to buy clothes. The down jacket her eldest daughter is wearing is from before Lin Yue got married; I've seen her wear it. And the clothes her little one is wearing, I heard Lin Yue say, are her brother's children's clothes. So how do you think Lin Yue is going to live?"
Old Xiao remained silent for a long time. He said to Xiao Hui, "I never knew Lin Yue was so strapped for cash."
Xiao Hui said, "You've seen Lin Yue a few times in the past few years. When we eat together, have you noticed that she's wearing any nice clothes?"
Old Xiao thought and thought and said, "It seems like there wasn't any." Xiao Hui said, "I almost gave her some of my old down jackets and clothes. If Lin Yue hadn't been so fat after giving birth to her third child and hadn't lost weight, and couldn't wear my clothes, I guess Lin Yue would have even picked up my clothes."
Old Xiao said, "That's impossible."
Xiao Hui said, "Nothing is impossible."
Old Xiao suddenly said again, "Then why did she have so many children? She shouldn't have had the second and third ones. She shouldn't have had the third one at all. Why did she have to make herself like this?"
Xiao Hui said, "You don't know, after she suddenly got pregnant, she wanted to have an abortion, but the other party refused to sign the consent form and wouldn't even give her the money. What do you expect Lin Yue to do?"
Old Xiao said, "Are you sure this was something Gong Yong did?"
Xiao Hui said, "I know that when Lin Yue found out she was pregnant, she hid in the hospital bathroom and called Gong Yong, asking him to come and sign the abortion papers. Gong Yong disagreed, and her mother called, wanting her to come and sign the papers, but she still refused. In the end, Lin Yue had no choice but to give birth to her third child."
After much running around, Lao Xiao finally bought the shop, which was about 260 square meters. He paid for it in cash from Lin Yue in one lump sum. The property certificate only stated 260 square meters, but it was actually over 400 square meters. There were also two balconies, which were added later. The hot pot restaurant was about 400 square meters. Lin Yue didn't have that much money; she only had a little over 100 million yuan. The shop was so big, it would have cost over 200 million yuan. After two weeks of negotiation, the shop owner finally sold it, lowering the price by several hundred thousand yuan. The main reason was the overall economic downturn; the shop was just sitting empty. The shop owner's company was also in trouble, and his mortgage was about to default, requiring a large sum of money upfront. Lin Yue wanted to buy his shop, but she didn't have that much money, so Lao Xiao mediated for a long time.
Lin Yue still couldn't come up with that much money. Finally, Lao Xiao sent a message to Ouyang and the others in the four-person group chat, saying, "My friend who's cultivating is short of money lately. The spiritual item you wanted is on its way. Could you pay some of the money first?" Then Ouyang withdrew 100 million yuan in cash and gave it to Lao Xiao. Lao Xiao said, "I'll keep this 100 million yuan for now. After the goods are ready in a couple of days, once the hot pot restaurant is open, you can come and pick it up." Ouyang asked, "Will it take two months?" Lao Xiao replied, "One month will be enough."
Actually, Lao Xiao said a month would be enough. Why? Mainly because after his store was renovated, the small warehouse in the back needed to be set up first. Otherwise, how would Lin Yue's things arrive? How would they be stored? How would the goods be brought in? These would definitely be problems.
A month later, the hot pot restaurant was renovated, with both the soft and hard furnishings completed, and they were now hiring. They hired a cashier from the neighborhood, someone Lin Yue knew—a neighbor. Lin Yue was also busy there, enrolling her child in an early childhood education class. The warehouse was the first to be finished; half was a cold storage, and the other half was for storing everyday items. There were security cameras outside.
In the middle of the night, Lin Yue asked Lao Xiao to buy some cages, specifically large pet cages, to better house live animals in their kitchen. She also bought some special containers for chicken and duck eggs. Lao Xiao drove through the night to get everything back to the small warehouse before 9 o'clock.
After everything was arranged in the warehouse, Lin Yue pulled down the warehouse door and she and Lao Xiao busied themselves inside. They opened the cages and released 100 rabbits, then released the eggs, which they and Lao Xiao carefully collected and stacked on a tray. They also collected some duck eggs, and then found two small cages, releasing 10 chickens and 10 ducks into each. Once everything was ready, Lao Xiao asked, "Won't the chickens, ducks, and rabbits die overnight?" Mingyue said, "They shouldn't, after all, they came from that place." Lao Xiao said, "Okay, then I'll send them a message tonight; they should come to pick them up tomorrow morning."
Old Xiao then asked, "Last time they gave us 100 million, which was an advance payment. How do we calculate the cost for these 100 rabbits, and the duck eggs? Let's just give them the whole package this time, just the 100 million. What do you think?"
Lin Yue said, "Okay, I didn't calculate it in detail. It's just 100 rabbits, 10 chickens, 10 ducks, plus 100 chicken eggs and 100 duck eggs. He gave me 100 million. It's fine. Anyway, I won't calculate it, and neither will he. From now on, we'll follow this standard. What do you think?"
Old Xiao said, "Okay, let's use this standard every time after two months, that's fine."
Lin Yue rushed home before 11 o'clock. Xiao Bao was already asleep, and her eldest and youngest daughters were drying their hair after showering. Mingyue asked, "Why are you so late today?" The eldest daughter replied, "My little brother kept crying. Daddy tried to comfort him at first, but then he got angry and beat him until he fell asleep." "Why was he crying?" "He was looking for you. You're the one who usually puts him to sleep," the second daughter whispered. Lin Yue suddenly felt a pang of sadness. She quickly went back to the bedroom to check on Xiao Bao, then rushed into the bathroom to shower. After showering, she held Xiao Bao in her arms, tears silently streaming down her face, soaking the pillow. Lin Yue felt guilty. Coming home so late wasn't her choice; she just wanted to provide better living conditions for her three children. If she continued down the same path, her children would definitely suffer from material hardship and various grievances.
Lin Yue felt she had suffered too much hardship since childhood, and continued to suffer even after marriage. Before marriage, her life was happy and peaceful, but materially her parents couldn't provide much; she was just an ordinary farm girl. Now, after marriage, she couldn't even enjoy the life she had before marriage; it was even more difficult than before. She only wanted to provide a better life for her child, and therefore couldn't return to be with her child in a timely manner.