Speaking of good-looking people, Meng Xia’s eyes fell on Shu Ran. The young man had a leisurely posture, casually sitting on the sofa and drinking tea. Although his appearance wasn’t fully visible, it was surprisingly attractive.
According to the boss lady, his name was Shu Ran. The name and the person fit together very well. Comfortable and natural.
He was not the same type of good-looking man as Xu Shen. Xu Shen was the kind that made people feel stunned with a single glance, possessing a face with a strong impact on people. On the other hand, Shu Ran was a man that made others feel comfortable, very pleasing to the eyes. He was good-looking, but not offensively so. He had the type of looks that grew on you, the more you looked at him.
It wasn’t until a customer came to the door that Meng Xia peeled her eyes off Shu Ran’s fair face. Everyone loved beauty. Who said big sisters couldn’t appreciate the beauty of young boys?!
Anyway, it was all just random chatting, so Shu Ran dared to ask: “Since so many girls like Xu Shen, did he date any before?” Shu Ran wanted to make things clear, he’s just casually asking for the love of gossip, that’s all…
Xue Feng answered him: “None that I know of, I never heard about him dating someone, but who knows if he also fools around outside.”
Shu Ran was amused. It seemed Xue Feng knew very well what was going on with Xu Shen and the other boys. However, according to the historical information that he had, Xu Shen was not a promiscuous man. Xue Feng’s two sons on the other hand… They both seemed to be involved with various women.
“Xiao Ran, don’t follow their bad example! I know you are different, your hands are for holding the pen…” Xue Feng suddenly said with sincerity.
“I understand, Auntie.” Shu Ran answered and smiled appreciatively.
Also, if one was sincere, who would like their children to wander outside all day long and do nothing but fool around?
Shu Ran could guess without asking that the Chen family’s previous businesses were more than these two little shops… It should be that after Father Chen had a mishap, the whole family fell into decline. Later, after the massive liquidation movement, the Chen family could only maintain these two small shops.
The Chen brothers were forced to mingle in society starting at a young age. Their fate was indeed better than Xu Shen’s, but they still had their ups and downs…
Every single one of them lived their lives day by day, depending on a group of brothers and trying to look for money everywhere. There were no big, exhilarating goals, only the primal need to survive.
It was not an easy life regardless.
…………
The batch of goods that came yesterday belonged to Yuan Ming, a famous merchant in the Nanshi area. In the past, he used to be a good brother to Chen Kai’s father, the type of brotherhood that could share the same pair of pants.
Their meeting process was similar to that of Xu Shen and the Chen brothers. They had known each other since youth, always working hard and depending on each other. In short, the relationship between the two families had always been good before the downfall of the Chen family.
Later, Chen Kai’s father was sentenced to twenty years in prison, which was equivalent to being crippled. Yuan Ming ended up swallowing most of the Chen family’s business, making the two Chen brothers very jealous of him… Even if their bad luck had nothing to do with Yuan Ming, the reality was so cruel that they couldn’t have zero resentment.
But business still needed to be done, and Xu Shen was willing to do it. Their transportation fleet was now working under the Yuan family, helping them transport their goods.
Yuan Company, Finance Office.
Xu Shen and the financial department were checking the bills when a beautiful girl with a high ponytail pushed open the door. She was wearing an exquisite dress, with her eyebrows and lips painted, looking like a rich miss. She walked over to Xu Shen and sat down next to him.
“Xu Shen! I heard that you were coming!”
Xu Shen had a headache as soon as he heard that voice. The fingers holding the papers paused, but he didn’t look back.
The girl who came to him was Yuan Xiaobing, Yuan Ming’s fifth daughter.
The Yuan family was a “traditional” family, the type that had one main wife and three concubines. Yuan Xiaobing, the little girl who gave Xu Shen a headache, was born to Yuan Ming’s fourth woman, and she was quite favored…
Such a bad fate!
Xu Shen helped the Chen brothers by doing business with the Yuan family in their stead. As a result, he was accidentally seen by this young Miss Yuan. She was so smitten with him that she asked on the same day if he wanted to come and marry into their family, saving him twenty years of hard work.
Of course, Xu Shen refused, but he still couldn’t escape Yuan Xiaobing’s warm greeting every time they met.
Xu Shen didn’t usually like to be the one who started a fight, but today he couldn’t hold back and “accidentally” said: “Oh, didn’t you hear that I got married?”
Yuan Xiaobing didn’t expect that Xu Shen would actually want to have a conversation with her. She was stunned, and her lips curved. “Oh, I’ve heard about that.”
Everyone knew that Miss Yuan had an interest in Xu Shen, so his subordinates were quick to spread the news of his marriage. Yuan Xiaobing really liked him, but not to the point of leaving her family for a man. It was best if Xu Shen was willing to marry himself in1Instead of marrying Xu Shen and leaving her rich family to live with him in poverty, she wants Xu Shen to marry into her family. Traditionally, it’s the woman who marries into the husband’s family, becoming part of his family. Asking the man to assimilate into the woman’s family it’s quite disrespectful to him. Even if he agrees and the family is good to him, outsiders would still perceive him as less of a man. These are things that are deeply rooted in traditional cultures and regarded as right, the same way in the West a woman is expected to take her husband’s last name upon marriage, and not the other way around…
“That’s good.” Xu Shen turned around and continued to discuss with the financial department.
“Don’t be like this… I know you’re married now. I stopped thinking about you a long time ago.” Yuan Xiaobing fancied herself as a prideful woman of the new era! She even studied abroad. How could she have designs on other people’s husbands?!
Xu Shen paused and said again. “That’s good.”
“But I’m very curious.” Yuan Xiaobing eagerly discussed with him. “What is your wife like? Can I meet her?”
She really wanted to know what kind of immortal beauty could charm Xu Shen into getting married on the spot!
“No.” Xu Shen thought that he would only let Shu Ran and Yuan Xiaobing meet if he went crazy. His wife… Probably liked girls?!2Nooo, where did you get that idea from?! :))
From a straight man’s perspective, this Yuan Missy was probably pretty good.
“What?!” Yuan Xiaobing complained. “Are you afraid to let your wife see me? Scared she’ll feel inferior?”
“You think my wife has low self-esteem?” Xu Shen raised his eyebrows. “Do you know you are talking in your sleep?!”
Shu Ran didn’t look like a person with low self-esteem. Even when wearing his old pair of ripped shoes, he could still make others think he’s a very important person.
“Let’s meet if you’re so confident!” Yuan Xiaobing became even more curious after hearing his reply. Now her curiosity about Xu Shen’s wife has almost caught up with her obsession with him!
…No! It has already exceeded it!
There was no point in lingering over a married man, but married men’s wives were very interesting!
“Not necessary.” Xu Shen regretted what he had said because he couldn’t help showing off his wife. “I still have work, Miss Yuan, can you give us some quiet space?’
“You don’t want to!” Yuan Xiaobing stood up, crossed her arms, raised her head, and arrogantly said: “I’ll go look for Chen Kai!”
Xu Shen didn’t answer her. There was no way Chen Kai dared.
After settling the accounts and getting the money, Xu Shen left the Yuan Company and went to a car repair shop in the suburbs.
All the trucks that had problems in their fleet were sent here for maintenance. Xu Shen often came over to check on them, replacing what needed to be replaced and spending the money that needed to be spent.
Currently, they had eighteen trucks, all purchased in the past two years, with an expensive price tag. The transaction price of one truck was about 30.000 yuan. The Chen brothers spent almost everything they had on these trucks, appearing a little bit desperate.
But fortunately, the transportation business was doing well. The profit was considerable by collecting transportation fees and reselling goods for profit. At first, Xu Shen also drove a truck to do business. Those days were quite hard, as he ate, drank, and slept in the cabin. Later, he only retired after he had saved enough money. So it wasn’t unreasonable to have good driving skills… After all, he learned by driving big cars!
“Master Zhao!” Xu Shen greeted, throwing a cigarette at the car repairman.
“Boss Xiao Xu! You are here!” Old Master Zhao took the cigarette and lit it up with a match, enjoying the puffs. “Sure enough, it’s still your cigarettes that are the best!”
He usually smoked simple hand-rolled cigarettes, but young people nowadays no longer like those. They only smoked expensive, branded cigarettes.
Out of habit, Xu Shen also lit one. As soon as he took the first puff, he thought of Shu Ran…
“Master Zhao,” Xu Shen raised his chin towards the trucks. “There’s nothing wrong with them, right?”
“No problem!” Master Zhao held a wench in his other hand, hunched over his back, blowing clouds of smoke. “Just routine maintenance and a change of oil!”
“Okay.” Xu Shen stood nearby and took another puff from his cigarette. The weather was hot and he was sweating, with sweat running freely on both sides of his nose.
The trip this time was to a coastal town. The journey from Nanshi wasn’t very far, so generally there shouldn’t be any problems.
“Master Zhao.” Xu Shen continued. “Let’s settle the money.”
“Hey.” Old Master Zhao still wanted to say some more words, but Xu Shen was still worried. He simply paid the maintenance fee and left the garage.
The cigarette in his hand was half-smoked. If it was before, he would have thought it’s a waste to simply throw it away. There were people out there who couldn’t afford to smoke, no matter how much they wanted one… But now he stubbed out the cigarette butt and threw it away without hesitation.
…………
Xu Shen first went to the Chen family’s house and found no one except a sleeping Chen Kai.
“Get up!” Xu Shen kicked him rudely and asked: “Where is my wife?”
Chen Kai was picked up by Xu Shen, so he yawned and randomly wiped his face. “Not at home? then he went out with my mother to look at the shops.”
“I’ll go find him.” Xu Shen took out the money he had just tied up with a rope, put it in a cowhide bag, and threw it to Chen Kai. “Take it for now. I’ll come back to settle the accounts in the evening.”
“It’s quite a lot!” Chen Kai flipped the bag of money and opened it only to see it was full of brand-new currency.
Xu Shen hummed. “This batch of goods is relatively profitable.”
“My brother Shen is awesome!” Chen Kai praised him.
A month ago, Xu Shen went to the coast alone and personally sourced the Yuan family’s goods. In order to lower the price and make a small profit, he almost wore his mouth off.
“Get up quickly! I’m leaving!” Xu Shen turned around and walked away. Suddenly, he remembered something and turned around to tell Chen Kai: “If Yuan Xiaobing comes to you to inquire about my wife, please ignore her!”
“Yuan Xiaobing?! She’s still thinking about you?!” Chen Kai was surprised. He and Yuan Xiaobing could be considered childhood sweethearts. When they were young, they had a good relationship, going to school together and celebrating holidays.
But when Chen Kai was fourteen, his father went to prison and nothing good happened since then.
Yuan Xiaobing continued to be the daughter of a wealthy family, while Chen Kai went out to be a gangster after graduating from junior high. The fate between them reached a fork in the road… As a matter of fact, it could be said that it took a complete U-turn.
The terrible thing was that Yuan Xiaobing still came to disturb him from time to time as if nothing happened and nothing was wrong. It made Chen Kai feel embarrassed. She herself was innocent, but Chen Kai hated her father so much that he couldn’t continue to associate with that young Miss…
Later, for some obscure reason, Yuan Xiaobing became infatuated with Xu Shen after only seeing him a couple of times, coming over all the time to ask about him..
“I don’t know.” Xu Shen said. “Just saw her at the company today. She wanted to see my wife.”
That won’t work! Chen Kai’s reaction was the same. He eagerly jumped from his bed, quickly saying: “Don’t worry! I’ll send her away!”
He would not reveal a single information about Shu Ran to that girl!
When two men were together, they couldn’t withstand the judging eyes of outsiders. If someone interfered between them, the wife that his brother painstakingly married might run away just like that…
He must not let Xu Shen go crazy!
“Yeah!” Xu Shen really left this time.
He never thought carefully about his previous love debts, nor did he think it would have an impact on his marriage. But now he was starting to worry a little. What would Shu Ran think if he knew about it? Would he feel aggrieved?
Would he think that he’s unreliable, provoking so many little girls outside? Xu Shen thought for a while and finally came to the conclusion that with Shu Ran’s mild temper… He probably didn’t feel anything at all…
Arriving at the Chen family’s tea shop, Xu Shen didn’t see Shu Ran from outside. He put his bicycle on the side of the road and entered the store.
“Sister Xia.” Xu Shen greeted her. “Aunt Feng isn’t here?”
“Xu Shen!” Meng Xia was pleasantly surprised when she saw him. “What a coincidence! I was still talking about you this morning! Haven’t seen you in a while!”
“Well, it’s been a long time since I last came here.”
“Are you looking for your friend?” Meng Xia wanted to say a few more words, but when she saw that his brows were furrowed and he seemed to be in a hurry, she stopped talking and pointed to the inner room: “Drinking tea with the guests inside. You go and see.”
Xu Shen nodded. “Sister Xia, you’re busy. I’ll go take a look,” he said while walking inside.
The people drinking tea in the inner room laughed when they saw Xu Shen walking in. Xue Feng greeted him: “Xu Shen is here? Sit down quickly! You haven’t been to the store in a while.”
“Aunt Feng.” Xu Shen nodded and looked at the customers in the shop. They were all half-familiar faces. They knew each other, but there was no need to say hello, so he looked directly at Shu Ran…
Why was he sitting on a wooden stool and not the soft couch?!
He was also fanning himself with a cattail leaf fan, looking like he’d already been through Hell and back…
“Why are you sitting in the corner like this?” Xu Shen walked up to Shu Ran, snatched the fan from his hands, and started fanning him in his stead.
What are you doing?!
Shu Ran raised his eyelids and glared at this man. Why was he so blatant and not afraid of being found out?
Xu Shen comforted him with his eyes, saying that it was fine and he was sensible, with no intention to make trouble…
After looking at them, Xue Feng held the teapot and said: “There are too many people and not enough seats. Xu Shen, how about you go next door and grab one?”
“No, Aunt Feng, I’m too lazy to go get it. Shu Ran and I will squeeze in, have a cup of tea and leave.”
Xue Feng was about to comment that the wooden stool was too crowded when she saw Xu Shen asking Shu Ran to get up, sitting down himself, and holding the boy on his lap.
Just now, Shu Ran believed him when he said he was sensible, so this development made him speechless. He felt the need to bite his tongue and curse, but he mustn’t fight back. He could only pretend to act natural and nice as if this was normal.
“Hey, you young people are so lazy!” Xue Feng laughed angrily. “How can this be?”
Shu Ran thought to himself: “That’s right! How could this be?!”
But he was now more comfortable sitting on Xu Shen’s lap than sitting on the wooden stool, and it was also nice to have someone else fan him.
“There are not enough seats.” He answered in Xu Shen’s place, using a quiet voice. “Let the elders sit on the couch…”
Xu Shen also whispered: “Why didn’t you stay at the Chen house? Do you like to join in the fun?”
Shu Ran lowered his eyes: “Hey… I also went to the printing factory with Aunt Feng. We ate out for lunch and there was no time to go back.”
“You worked so hard, so capable…” Xu Shen smiled, and the wind from the fan blew away the soft hairs that were plastered on his wife’s forehead, revealing his handsome eyebrows. It seemed that he couldn’t get enough of it, his eyes unable to move away.
“Just fan yourself, your whole body is covered in sweat!” Shu Ran glanced at him.
“Well, I ran a lot today.” Xu Shen fanned Shu Ran for a while before turning the fan on himself, causing his shirt to bulge.
Knowing he had to go and pay money, Shu Ran thought about various scenes in which big bosses were bullying sincere employees, so he asked with concern: “How did it go? Everything went well?”
“You mean dividing the money?” Xu Shen nodded. “No problem, we’ll go back and split the profits tonight.”
This couple of “friends” was murmuring into each other’s ears… Xue Feng took the teapot and put it on the coffee table next to Xu Shen. Her shrewd eyes kept looking at them. “You two have such a good relationship. Xu Shen, what is this? Have you known Xiao Ran since you were young? How come we haven’t seen him before?”
Xue Feng was now very curious about Shu Ran. She felt he was a very talented young man and was interested in learning about his life experience. Shu Ran had a very strict mouth, answering questions flawlessly, without revealing any actual information. Xue Feng had to go to Xu Shen in order to find out.
“We haven’t known each other for a long time…” Xu Shen was startled. Hearing Xue Feng’s question, he realized that she was unable to dig out information from Shu Ran. This made him happy, so he continued: “Shu Ran is not from the city. He came here recently and now follows me.”
Xue Feng was a shrewd person, so she quickly heard the vague refusal in his words. Regardless, it didn’t make her angry. Things in this world were not easy. Maybe Shu Ran’s conditions weren’t good, or else he wouldn’t have ended up on Xu Shen’s side.
“Follow you?” Xue Feng sighed.
“Yeah.” Xu Shen admitted.
“That shouldn’t be the case. Xian Ran is very talented…” Xue Feng had known Xu Shen for several years, becoming a sort of elder to him. Some words must be said bluntly: “Your line of work isn’t suitable for Xiao Ran. How could you let him follow you?”
A good child should do anything else instead of running around with Xu Shen and the others. It was said to be a profitable business, but it was also dangerous. After all, there was no workplace security.
“I know, so I won’t let him do anything for now.” Xu Shen answered. “Just let him take a look first, no hurry.”
Shu Ran leaned in Xu Shen’s arms and listened to the man’s nonsense. He was not maliciously speculating on others… Shu Ran was now convinced that Xu Shen had no intention of letting him work.
It was best to stay at home obediently every day, as long as he could afford it.
However, Shu Ran didn’t interfere. At present, he didn’t think about what he wanted to do, so it was better to do nothing and figure out the situation first.
“Shu Ran is educated, why don’t you find him a job in a company first?” Xue Feng said enthusiastically. “I can find someone to give you a letter of introduction. You should be able to get in.”
Shu Ran was in a daze. Get a job in the city? Isn’t that what Zhou Qiang wanted the most?!
But Shu Ran didn’t want to go into the work unit. He had to commute to and from work every day, a bleak and unfriendly life for someone like him who had never worked a single day in his life.
Before Xu Shen could speak, Shu Ran smiled and said: “Aunt Feng, don’t get busy. I’m used to being free. I’m afraid it’s not suitable for me to join a company.” Really, his personal opinions were too strong and he was afraid of becoming some sort of unruly rebel…
Xue Feng asked with a straight face: “Do you really want to follow Xu Shen and the others?”
“No.” How could that be possible? Shu Ran had never thought about following Xu Shen, so he said casually, with a hint of desperation: “Currently I want to write some articles at home. Publishing works has always been my ideal… I will try that first, and if it doesn’t work, I’ll go and get a proper job. That’s what I want to do.” Writing novels was indeed a good excuse to stay at home.
These words energized Xue Feng: “That’s right! You are engaged in cultural things, and you are good with words, I’m sure you’ll be able to do it!”
The tea patrons in the shop were also somewhat frightened: “Publishing a book! Such an extraordinary idea! It requires real talent and a love for learning!”
Shu Ran was secretly embarrassed, but Xu Shen whispered: “Writing at home is good, I support you!”
The light breath blew against his ears, and the man’s voice seemed to be mixed with a little bit of confusion. If Shu Ran was willing to stay at home, that would of course be for the best.
Xu Shen handed the fan back to him, placed a hand around his waist, and picked up the teacup from the table with his other hand. He drank a few sips in succession to quench his thirst, and then said goodbye to Xue Feng: “Aunt Feng, I’ll take Shu Ran back first.”
“Hey…” Xue Feng looked at them and suddenly felt that something was strange, even though she couldn’t say precisely what…
If anything, it was the fact that Shu Ran looked a bit squeamish and somewhat like a little wife, leaning obediently in Xu Shen’s arms, with a fair and handsome face…
