Chapter 526 - 360: The Belated Savior

Chapter 526: Chapter 360: The Belated Savior

CLICK.

The hallway bathroom door opened with a soft click. Jin Meiyan, her hair pinned up, stepped out of the steamy room and glanced instinctively toward the living room.

Her gaze met Lin Chen’s in mid-air, and a moment later, his familiar voice echoed through the living room.

Her pretty eyes blinked a few times, and she immediately spotted Erica sitting cross-legged on the sofa, engrossed in the laptop she was hugging.

Shooting Lin Chen a look that said ’you’re on your own,’ she turned and disappeared into her room. The buzz of a hairdryer started up a moment later.

After sitting in the living room for a while, he started to get restless. He went into the kitchen and began rummaging through the cupboards, thinking he could make an extra dish or main course for the workers.

Eating dumplings for three days straight, even with different fillings, would get a little tiresome. Plus, it might give off the impression that he was being lazy.

Especially for someone like him, who was hiring people to work on his own property, he was worried the workers might slack off. In the end, he’d be the one to suffer for it.

He had to pay them their wages, but he also had to build a good rapport. If he did both, he’d have the confidence to point out flaws during his inspections and demand corrections, should any issues arise.

He checked his inventory. It hadn’t changed since before he left—just some rice and flour remained.

Since he was heading to the market to cook the dumplings anyway, he decided he might as well make a simple tomato and egg stir-fry over rice. He could buy the ingredients at the market.

By the time he arrived at the construction site, laden with food, the place had already transformed.

The muddy pit from a few days ago had been transformed. Nearly a hundred meters of road had been paved, and a steamroller was moving back and forth, steadily compacting the surface.

The latter section extended deep into the forest; even the trees blocking the path had been cleared away, creating a direct route to the restaurant’s chosen location.

Work had started on the restaurant as well. The two cooking hearths were already built, and they were now in the process of constructing the water channel.

"Well, if it isn’t Boss Lin. Looks like you finished your business?"

Wang Jun was still supervising the site. When he saw Lin Chen’s car pull up, he immediately called a few workers over to help carry the food.

"That’s right, I just got back this morning. I figured I’d make a tomato and egg stir-fry over rice for the crew, just to switch things up. I was short on time and couldn’t get many other ingredients, but there are dumplings, too."

"Ah, Boss Lin, you’re too kind. The guys aren’t picky; they’ll eat whatever they’re given. Besides, we can’t get handmade dumplings like yours around here, so there was no need to make an extra dish."

Despite what he said, Lin Chen clearly saw the workers helping carry the food break into expectant smiles.

Though it was just a simple tomato and egg stir-fry, for them, working so far from their country, it was the taste of home.

It was just a simple dish of rice, but the smiles on the workers’ faces today were even brighter than in the past few days.

Lin Chen didn’t know what things had been like over the past few days, but he was content just seeing the men eat happily.

After the meal, Wang Jun grabbed a folder and took him for a stroll around the construction site.

"Don’t you worry, Boss Lin. The crew appreciates your kindness. They’ve been showing up on their own before dawn every day. You’ve seen the construction progress—it’s about thirty percent ahead of schedule. All the men are working overtime voluntarily. I haven’t said a single word about it."

"Of course, they get time-and-a-half for overtime here. It’s not like back home, where you’re expected to work for free. The men came abroad to earn more money in the first place. They don’t speak English, so if they’re not working, they have nothing to do. They’d rather just earn more."

Lin Chen nodded and asked curiously, "By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask, where do you guys live? What do you do for breakfast and dinner?"

"We’re in the temporary dorms, the kind of prefab housing you find on every construction site. They’re over by the restaurant. We use the hearths we just built to cook our own meals. Our food gets delivered along with the other supplies. We keep it simple—the main goal is just filling our stomachs. It’s definitely not as delicious as your food, Boss Lin."

"For breakfast, it’s mostly steamed buns with pickled mustard greens or fermented bean curd. For dinner, we’ll boil some noodles, make instant ramen, or have something like rice with toppings, fried rice, or vegetable soup over rice. A couple of the guys used to work in small restaurants, so they have some basic cooking skills."

As Wang Jun explained, he led Lin Chen on a tour of the site, reviewing the progress of the last few days and laying out the plans for the next few.

After dealing with matters at the construction site, he had no other plans for the day, other than cooking for the two girls back home.

When he got home, Erica was still in the living room editing footage. Jin Meiyan’s door was still shut tight; she was probably editing footage as well.

He went to his room, grabbed his laptop, and sat down at the dining table. After clearing the notifications on his social media accounts, he started searching for information on whale watching.

Whale pods were active year-round near Vancouver Island, with activity peaking in the summer. Spring was mainly when groups of gray whales began their migration.

Since whale populations aren’t as vast as those of other marine creatures, and each pod is relatively small, stumbling upon them in the immense ocean was truly a matter of luck.

If you were lucky, you might see them on your first trip. If you were unlucky, you could go out every day and never see so much as a shadow of a whale.

After finishing his search, he frowned. ’This isn’t good news.’

If he couldn’t get information on where the whale pods were appearing, he couldn’t just spend money every day to take a boat out and wait, could he?

In other words, if he wanted to film the whale pods, he would need to build good relationships with the experienced old captains at the harbor.

Whether it was to get useful intel from them, or to have them notify him when they spotted a pod at sea, it would likely cost him.

The thought of going out to sea suddenly brought Zhao Pengfei’s face to mind.

’That’s right!’

Didn’t that guy say he often goes sea fishing on the weekends? He must know a captain. All I have to do is ask him for a recommendation.

Besides, with his restaurant now under construction, and after having bothered him so many times already, they were bound to have business dealings in the future. He didn’t mind asking for one more small favor.

’Maybe he’d even prefer it this way,’ Lin Chen thought. ’The more favors he does for me, the more I’ll owe him. When the time comes, it’ll be impossible for me not to work with him without losing face, and my reputation in the local Chinese community would be ruined.’

"Hello? If it isn’t our busy Boss Lin. How have things been?"

As soon as the call connected, Zhao Pengfei’s hearty laughter came through from the other end. It sounded like he was driving.

Lin Chen didn’t beat around the bush and got straight to the point.

"You want to film the whale migration? That’s a great idea, and this is definitely the season for it. Look, I’ll give you the number of a friend from Great Xia. He has his own boat. A lot of the Da Xia People here rent his boat in groups to go sea fishing. Just ask him directly for whatever information you need."

"Thanks. When are you going to come over for that meal? We keep talking about it, but I have yet to see you."

"Hahaha, don’t worry, I won’t stand on ceremony with you. I still haven’t tasted the cooking of a celebrity chef! Some other day, I’ll definitely come by. I’ve just got a lot of orders recently. It’s springtime, you know. As everything comes back to life, so do the shipping orders."

He had just hung up and was waiting for the contact information when another call popped up on his screen.

His eyes lit up when he saw the caller’s name, and he quickly hit ’accept’.

"Hey! You old rascal, you finally surfaced! Where are you?"

"Just got to Vancouver," Andre’s deep voice rumbled, laced with a hint of excitement.

"And guess what?"

"Hmm?"

Lin Chen froze, a wild thought suddenly flashing through his mind.

"Damn it, don’t tell me you brought your wife and kids with you?"

"Haha, you’re as sharp as ever. I was supposed to get here a couple of days ago, but we were delayed waiting for their visas. I figured since I’ll probably be working in Canada for the long haul, I might as well bring them along."

What he didn’t mention was that after Lin Chen’s questions about the social system in the United States last time—a conversation Erica had also joined—he’d realized just how difficult it was to live a stable life there.

Huge property taxes, medical bills with astronomical figures pulled out of thin air, and the constant worry of bankruptcy despite working diligently every single day.

His life had previously been centered on the wilderness, but since his wife’s illness and his child starting school, he had slowly begun to reintegrate into society, only to be confronted with these terrifying, grim realities.

Rather than continue living in the United States, he figured he might as well bring them with him and throw in his lot with Lin Chen.

The closest major cities happened to be Vancouver and Victoria, both world-renowned. They were convenient for schooling and daily life, and also close to his new workplace.

When his child had school holidays, they could come and experience his workplace. If they were interested, he could even teach them wilderness survival and practical skills, giving them a huge leg up on their peers.

"So where are you planning on settling them? Do you need any help?"

"It’s fine, don’t worry. We’ve already rented a house. As soon as I find a preschool for my oldest daughter, I can come over. Mia is recovering very well now. She doesn’t need to be hospitalized anymore; she can just rest and take her medication at home."

After a brief chat, Lin Chen hung up and let out a sigh of relief for some reason.

Now that Andre had arrived, he had another option for a wilderness survival guide. He wouldn’t have to personally lead every trip himself.

If he had to be honest, Andre’s professional expertise in wilderness survival was far superior to his own. He was more of a theorist, whereas Andre was a true man of action.

"So, that guy’s finally coming?"

Erica, having overheard bits and pieces of the conversation, looked over from the sofa. The footage on her screen had already been fast-forwarded to the first night.

Lin Chen nodded. He shot a quick glance at her screen, and the heart that had just settled lurched back into his throat.

’At this rate,’ he thought, ’she’s about to get to the diving part. That means the scene where Jin Meiyan appears in just her underwear is coming up.’

’Knowing Erica’s personality, she probably won’t be as sensitive about it as I am. She used to do the same thing all the time, saying to just think of it as a swimsuit.’

’Now let’s see if she can treat someone else’s underwear like a swimsuit.’