Chapter 123: Cashing In on the Hype

Chapter 123: Chapter 123: Cashing In on the Hype

Having finished up his work, Xu An stood, ready to head to Store No. 1 to check the remaining inventory and see what needed restocking. Suddenly, someone called out to him.

"Xu An."

Xu An turned at the sound of his name and saw that the person who had stopped him was none other than Li Xindong.

’How come this guy is still at the shop so late today? On a normal day, he’s always the first one to clock out and leave. It’s usually impossible to even get a word in with him.’

"Xindong, what’s up? Do you need something?" Xu An asked casually as he walked over to Li Xindong.

As he got closer, Xu An noticed Li Xindong was holding the handle of a suitcase, which had a backpack resting on top of it. He looked like he was about to head off on a trip.

"Are you planning to squeeze in one last trip before the summer vacation ends and you head off to college?" Xu An grinned and gave Li Xindong a friendly punch on the shoulder. "Alright, I get it. Go have fun. When you’re back, if you still want to work a few more days, just come find me."

"No." Li Xindong shook his head, saying with some difficulty, "Xu An, your restaurant closes to the public after 2:30 PM, right?"

"That’s right. Why?" Xu An was completely baffled by Li Xindong’s question, unable to figure out what he was getting at.

Li Xindong bit his lower lip hard. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he finally summoned the courage to ask, "Xu An, can I... stay in your restaurant tonight?"

Xu An’s brain blanked for a moment. "What’s wrong? What happened?"

A long silence stretched between them before Li Xindong, his head bowed, said matter-of-factly, "I ran away from home. I don’t want to go to any relatives, and I don’t want my family to know where I am."

The air grew silent again. Xu An’s mind was racing, frantically sifting through the memories of his past life.

’In my memory, this didn’t happen in my last life, did it?’

’Or was it that I wasn’t close enough with Li Xindong in my last life, so I just never knew about it?’

"It’s okay if it’s too much to ask. I’ll figure something else out," Li Xindong said quickly, seeing that Xu An hadn’t answered for a while. He assumed Xu An was trying to think of a way to refuse him and wanted to give them both an out.

After last night’s argument, Li Xindong had sat on the floor, staring at the shredded banknotes scattered all around him, and thought for a very, very long time...

In the end, he decided he had to leave that house! He would get a job and earn money! He would repeat his year! He would go to college!

Once he was sure his parents were asleep, he had quietly packed his important belongings—various ID cards, high school textbooks, and the like—into his suitcase.

Just as the first glimmer of light appeared on the horizon, he had shouldered his suitcase, put on his backpack, and left home on his bicycle.

But after leaving home, he suddenly realized he had nowhere to go.

If he went to a relative’s house, his parents would surely find him and drag him back before long. At best, he’d get a vicious tongue-lashing. At worst, they’d get physical and beat him into submission.

One by one, he discarded ideas and ruled out people he could turn to. In the end, the only name that came to mind was his old classmate and current boss: Xu An.

Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant closed to the public after 2:30 PM. In theory, as long as he got Xu An’s permission, he could hide out there.

His parents only knew that he went to catch Jumping Fish in the afternoons; they had no idea he also worked part-time as a delivery rider for Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant. The risk of being found was extremely low.

But asking for such a thing, whether as a classmate or as an employee, felt far too audacious.

But now, he had no other choice.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Xu An didn’t agree immediately, but he didn’t refuse either. He needed to know the details before he could make the right decision.

Li Xindong looked at Xu An and hesitated for a long moment. Seemingly deciding Xu An was someone he could trust, he finally opened up and told him everything that had happened recently.

After listening to Li Xindong’s story, the torrent of thoughts in Xu An’s mind gave way to a simple gesture. He reached out and patted Li Xindong on the shoulder.

"The previous owner of the fast food restaurant used to live on the second floor of Store No. 3. There’s a simple bathroom up there for you to use. I also have some bedding I prepared for Kangkang and Lele at Store No. 1. You can make do with that for now."

Before he’d even asked, Li Xindong had played out countless scenarios in his head of Xu An either agreeing or refusing. He’d rehearsed all the things he would say to convince him, but now, none of that was necessary...

Li Xindong nodded. He followed Xu An to Store No. 1 to get the bedding, then went to Store No. 3 to get his things settled.

Looking at the incredibly simple setup, Li Xindong couldn’t help but crack a smile. He turned to Xu An. "I’ll be up early tomorrow to help. Just treat me like a full-time employee."

"Alright." Xu An didn’t refuse his request. At a time like this, accepting was the only way to put him at ease.

Sometimes, a steaming bowl of noodle soup from a stranger can be enough to mend the countless wounds of a runaway.

At this moment, Li Xindong’s invisible wounds were slowly beginning to heal.

After getting Li Xindong settled, Xu An returned to the second floor of Store No. 2 and started to take inventory. Once he had listed all the items that needed restocking and contacted his suppliers, his mind finally began to settle from the events with Li Xindong.

’This life, he came to me for a safe harbor. So in my last life, after something like this happened, how did he get through it all alone? And how did it eventually lead to him giving up on repeating a year for college, and just living his life completely according to his family’s arrangements...’

Xu An was thankful that in this life, he was able to help.

After finishing up all his work, Xu An closed up the windows and doors of Store No. 2 and returned to Store No. 1, intending to lock up and leave.

Just then, a noise came from Store No. 3 next door. A moment later, Li Xindong emerged in a different set of clothes, running right into Xu An.

Li Xindong was wearing a slightly yellowed white T-shirt covered in stains, a pair of high school uniform pants, and had his pant legs tucked into long black socks. On his feet were a pair of green Jiefang shoes, with a cloth strip wrapped tightly around them several times from sole to upper. He looked every bit the part of a fisherman.

As he moved, you could see a woven bamboo fish basket tied to his back. Tucked away at the bottom of the basket were a few leaves, and wrapped within them was a flat, green fruit—a mangrove apple, known as *lan qian*.

"Are you... planning to go out to sea?"

"Yeah. After I finish my deliveries, I usually go to the coast to catch Jumping Fish. The fishmongers pay a pretty good price for them." Li Xindong grew a little embarrassed as he spoke, then, as if remembering something, he quickly added in a louder voice, "I’ll wash my clothes before I come back in, so I don’t get the restaurant dirty."

Jumping Fish?

The two words clawed a vague fragment from the depths of Xu An’s memory.

He remembered something. Three years from now, during his junior year of college, he’d come home for the Spring Festival and heard Uncle Dongliang mention that the village had started farming Jumping Fish, and the profits were pretty good...

Jumping Fish farming... tidal flats... the tidal flats on the southeast corner of Qianhai Town!

"Are you heading to the tidal flats on the southeast corner of Qianhai Town?" Xu An asked tentatively.

"Yeah." Li Xindong nodded. "I used to go to the ones on the north side, but there are too many people from the village there. With my current situation, I’d rather not have them see me..."

"I’ll go with you and take a look," Xu An said excitedly.

With that, Xu An locked the main gate of Store No. 1, loaded Li Xindong and his bicycle onto his electric tricycle, and headed toward the tidal flats on the southeast corner of Qianhai Town.

「Haiquan Beverage Company, mid-month marketing department meeting.」

At the beginning of the month, during the August 1st meeting, the marketing department manager had set a lofty goal for August’s sales volume: 100,000 cans.

Now, in mid-August, halfway through the month, they were only 83,627 cans short of that magnificent goal.

This meeting was, without a doubt, a criticism session. Why hadn’t they met sales expectations? What went wrong? Why had they only sold a little over sixteen thousand cans in half a month?

"You all need to take my words to heart and treat this matter seriously! The company has poured hundreds of thousands into advertising. One hundred thousand cans is just the baseline target. And you can’t even reach the baseline..."

The manager droned on and on. Liu Tong couldn’t help but yawn.

’So boring. If only I could record this on my phone. It would be the perfect cure for insomnia.’

"Liu Tong! Even though your performance is number one in the marketing department this month, the top performer needs to act like one. You need to be brave enough to step up and take on greater responsibility!"

Liu Tong, caught mid-yawn, was suddenly called out. He quickly snapped his mouth shut and put on an expression of rapt attention.

"I saw one of the fast-food restaurants you’re in charge of on TV yesterday. You need to get in touch with them. For the second half of the month, try to ride their wave of popularity and sell thirty thousand cans of Haiquan Apple Vinegar. You can do that, right?"

...

’It’s true that Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant was on TV, but there wasn’t a single shot of Haiquan Apple Vinegar! What popularity is there to ride? How could he be so shameless?’

That was what Liu Tong thought, but what he said was, "Of course. I’ll get in touch with Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant as soon as possible and aim to sell thirty thousand cans by the end of the month!"

The conference room immediately erupted in enthusiastic applause.

When the meeting was over, Liu Tong sat back down at his desk and saw his QQ messenger was vibrating like crazy. The profile picture at the top of the chat list was, coincidentally, from Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant.

’Liu Tong, from now on, send an extra two hundred cans every day.’

Liu Tong read the message three or four times, making sure he wasn’t mistaken. It was, indeed, a message from Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant.

An extra two hundred cans a day... for fifteen days... that’s three thousand cans.

It was a drop in the bucket compared to thirty thousand cans, but hey, every little bit helps.

’Come to think of it, I haven’t been to Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant in a long time. Maybe I should drop by tomorrow, catch up, and strengthen our relationship a bit?’

’You got it, Boss Xu! I’ll put the order in with the factory right away. It’ll be delivered on time tomorrow.’