From Wage Slave to Tycoon

The cruise lasted a full fifty minutes. It departed from Jinwan Square, sailed to the Tianjin Eye to make a loop, then returned to the square, marking the end of the journey.

By the time they got off the cruise, it was already after ten at night. Su Chen noticed that the crowd at Jinwan Square was at least two-thirds smaller than before, and many of the food stalls had already packed up.

"Seriously? It’s just after ten and everyone’s already gone home to rest?"

"So this is how Tianjin’s nightlife ends? Isn’t it supposed to be just getting started?"

Although Su Chen knew that the nightlife in northern China was lackluster, he didn’t expect even the tourist spots to be like this.

Then again, he figured it was normal. ’The Tianjin locals are all well-off; they couldn’t care less about this little bit of money.’

He had been looking forward to experiencing Tianjin’s nightlife, but this put a damper on his enthusiasm. He bought some duck snacks and took Chen Fei back to the hotel.

On the way back, Su Chen noticed that the surrounding shops and stores were all closed, and there were barely any pedestrians on the streets.

If not for the streetlights lining the road, walking through here would have felt a little creepy.

Back at the hotel, Su Chen and Chen Fei chatted for a while as they ate the duck snacks. It was after one in the morning before they retired to their respective rooms.

......

"Came to Tianjin, and learned absolutely nothing."

"Learned how to drive a car, ran over two hundred-plus people."

"The police came looking for me, scared me into a shiver."

Walking along the banks of the Hai River, quite a few elderly men were strolling along the path, leisurely humming tunes and taking long strides as part of their workout.

There were also several old men, their hair streaked with gray, who grabbed onto the pull-up bars and went at their exercises with abandon. You couldn’t tell at all from their spirit that they were in their seventies or eighties; they seemed more energetic than the youngsters.

Their eight-packs and brawny arms were just like Chen Fei’s. ’If I were to get into a one-on-one fight with these old guys,’ Su Chen thought, ’I’d definitely be the one landing in the hospital.’

Su Chen and Chen Fei had only gotten out of bed after eight. They were planning to find an authentic Tianjin restaurant and had just stepped out of their hotel when they witnessed this scene.

"These old-timers are really incredible."

The words were barely out of Su Chen’s mouth when Chen Fei chimed in.

"You can say that again. All these old guys are on pensions. I’ve heard they’re the type to get several thousand, even ten thousand, a month. Otherwise, who’d have the spare time to be out here exercising?"

Hearing this, Su Chen couldn’t help but chuckle in amusement.

’You don’t have to be afraid of an old man, but you should be afraid of an old man with a pension.’ Chen Fei wasn’t wrong. ’Without that steady income, they’d be worrying about how to earn money for groceries, trying not to be a burden on their kids.’

’Exercising like this, if one of them had a little slip or fall, how much would the medical bills be?’

"Let’s go~ I just hope this restaurant you recommended is authentic," Su Chen said. He hadn’t forgotten their objective for leaving the hotel, which was to sample some genuine Tianjin cuisine.

With its profound history, Tianjin was once a hub for culinary delights. Unfortunately, as times changed, many of the authentic, time-honored establishments either relocated or closed for good, causing the local dining scene to lose much of its former glory.

The place Su Chen and Chen Fei were headed to today was one such time-honored brand, Tongfa Restaurant, which was supposedly about to celebrate its centennial.

"Taxi!" he called out, flagging down an empty cab.

The restaurant was a bit of a distance from their current location—eight and a half kilometers away. The ride alone would take twenty to thirty minutes.

The moment they got in, the taxi driver started chatting with them like they were old friends.

"Hey guys, you here on vacation? Where are you planning to go?" The driver’s words were laced with a thick, authentic Tianjin accent.

"Sir, Tongfa Restaurant on Fuxing Road," Su Chen replied from the passenger seat.

The taxi driver’s eyes flickered at the mention of the name. Seeing that both Su Chen and his friend were settled in, he didn’t waste any time. He floored the gas pedal... and the taxi slowly pulled into traffic.

Um... yes, that’s right. It moved slowly, merging into the stream of cars with all the confidence of a driver’s ed student on their first lesson.

It was a little after nine in the morning, and the roads weren’t very crowded, but the taxi driver kept his speed down, going no faster than thirty miles per hour or so.

"You two must be first-timers in Tianjin," the taxi driver said with a friendly smile that made him seem quite approachable.

"Oh? How could you tell, sir?" Su Chen played along. He knew taxi drivers like him were seasoned pros, able to spot a tourist from a mile away.

’The driver seems friendly enough,’ Su Chen thought, deciding to engage. ’If I don’t say anything, it’ll get awkward. Besides, I can ask him about fun places to visit in Tianjin.’

"Haha! I knew it from the destination you gave me," the driver said, a hint of pride in his voice. "Who travels this far just for a meal? If you were really here just for authentic Tianjin cuisine, you would’ve booked a hotel near the restaurant."

Su Chen gave a noncommittal nod and continued to chat with the driver about all sorts of things. From him, he learned about several interesting spots, like Happy Valley, the Porcelain House, and the Five Great Avenues.

The Porcelain House and the Five Great Avenues weren’t far from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel where Su Chen was staying—only a couple of blocks away, in fact, which was even closer than Jinwan Square.

Su Chen and the driver had a pleasant chat for most of the ride.

"Ahem." Chen Fei let out a sudden, soft cough from the back seat. Su Chen, in the middle of his conversation with the driver, froze for a second before his expression went back to normal.