From Wage Slave to Tycoon

Upon hearing this, Su Zhixin quickly ushered them to sit down.

"Alright, you all have a seat. I’ll get everything arranged for you right away!" With that, he hurried toward the back kitchen, his gaze pausing on Yin Zheng for a moment as he left.

They had just sat down when a waiter brought each of them a bowl of white fungus soup. Su Chen made a point to ask about it and learned that it was his third uncle, Su Zhixin’s, idea. The soup was specially prepared by the kitchen and, most importantly, it was free—they could have as much as they wanted.

The three of them were all Wudu locals, so they immediately went for the red broth at a medium spice level, at the very least. Anything less would have tasted bland.

The kitchen was incredibly fast. Before they had even finished their white fungus soup, the table was laden with food—mostly meat, with just a few vegetable dishes.

Already famished, the group was hit with the fragrant aroma of the hot pot. Unable to resist, they immediately began dumping the plates of ingredients into the bubbling broth.

"Mmm... Su Chen, your family’s hot pot is seriously good," Yin Zheng said between bites. "The ingredients seem really fresh, too!"

"Of course it is! Otherwise, we wouldn’t have opened locations all over Wudu!" Su Chen said, filled with pride. After all, this was his family’s very own, legitimate business.

This wasn’t just Su Chen bragging. Shufen Hot Pot had already begun expanding into the other districts of the main city. Many people from the surrounding counties even wanted to open franchises, but unfortunately, Chen Shufen had turned them all down.

Her reason for doing so was simple: she didn’t want to tarnish the good name of Shufen.

The people from those counties who wanted to franchise Shufen Hot Pot had simply seen how popular it was becoming in Wudu’s main city and wanted to ride its coattails to get rich quick. ’They could dream on.’

A pity... the dream was beautiful, but reality was cruel.

By the end of the meal, all three were sweating profusely, but their faces were masks of pure satisfaction.

Su Qingya leaned back in her chair, rubbing her full stomach. "I haven’t had hot pot this good in forever."

Then, her tone shifted. She tilted her head to look at Su Chen and said, "Big Bro, if I get fat from this, you’ll have to take responsibility!"

Su Chen shot her an exasperated look. ’As if he didn’t know who had just been eating like a starved wolf, making the kitchen bring out several extra orders of tender meat slices.’

’At least two-fifths of the meat had ended up in Su Qingya’s stomach, and now she was turning around and blaming him for getting fat. Women truly are impossible to please.’

Su Chen turned to Yin Zheng, who was sitting next to him, and asked, "Are you heading back to Wudu today?"

Yin Zheng fell silent for a moment before replying, "Yeah, I’m heading back in a little while."

Yin Zheng had been saying he wanted to mooch a few meals off Su Chen, but he just didn’t have the time. The end of the year was fast approaching, and there was still a lot of work to handle at his company.

He wanted to just slack off, but his old man wouldn’t allow it. The only reason he could be out enjoying himself today was because he’d used Su Chen as an excuse. Otherwise, he’d still be at the office, auditing the company’s accounts.

Fun and games were one thing, but you didn’t joke around when it came to the family business.

Su Chen nodded. He went to chat with his third uncle, Su Zhixin, for a bit about how the Fuzhou branch of Shufen Hot Pot was doing, then left with Yin Zheng. As for Su Qingya, she was kept behind by their uncle, under the pleasant-sounding excuse of "lending a hand."

As they left, Su Qingya shot him a look that pleaded for help, making Su Chen burst out laughing.

..............

「Haiyi River View.」

Su Chen was just about to open the door when, with a CLICK, it swung open from the inside.

Su Chen froze for a second when he saw who had opened it. "Mom? Why are you home?"

It was Chen Shufen. Seeing Su Chen followed by several men in sharp suits, she quickly opened the door wider for them.

"I’ve been back for a few days. We’ll talk in a bit. What’s... all this?" Chen Shufen asked, jutting her chin toward the burly, suited men carrying things into the apartment.

"They’re my friend’s men. They’re just helping me carry some things."

Su Chen had planned to invite Yin Zheng up for a bit, but as luck would have it, Yin Zheng’s father had called with what sounded like something important, so he’d stayed behind in the garage.

Soon, everything was moved inside. The bodyguards didn’t linger and left immediately via the elevator.

"Xiaochen, what did you buy all these dried goods for? And is this saffron and cordyceps?" Chen Shufen asked, rummaging through the gift boxes.

"The New Year is almost here, so I bought some things for the occasion," Su Chen said, collapsing onto the sofa. "The saffron and cordyceps are for Grandpa, Grandma, and Maternal Grandma."

The smile on Chen Shufen’s face widened when she heard that. "Hmph. I guess you do have a heart, you brat!"

With that, she went back to examining the dried goods and tonics.

"By the way, Mom, aren’t you busy with the restaurants in the city? How come you’re home? And you’ve been back for a few days?"

"Why else would I be back? To make your favorite cured pork trotters and ribs. Your dad said we could just buy them, but I figured homemade would be better. Who knows if the pork they use for the store-bought ones is even healthy!"

At the mention of cured pork trotters and ribs, Su Chen couldn’t help but lick his lips. He couldn’t help it; those two dishes were his absolute favorites. Back in the day, his family would slaughter a whole pig every year to make cured meats, sausages, and other preserved foods.

But a pig only has four trotters and so many ribs, so every year he would wait with great anticipation, hoping his mom would make a meal of cured pork trotters or ribs.

Even after working hard on his own for so many years, he had never forgotten that flavor. Perhaps this was what people meant by the taste of home—a flavor that stays with you forever.

"Mom, in that case, can we have some cured ribs for dinner tonight?" Su Chen asked, his eyes full of anticipation.

In response, he received a look from Chen Shufen as if he were an idiot. "They’re all at the old family home. They still need to be smoked for a few more days to taste their best."