Chapter 2 Ou Yang

Qin Luo’s temper came and went quickly.

As Zhao Rong put it, Qin Luo had been Qin Huai’s little shadow since childhood. When the shadow got upset while following the main body, she would shake it off a couple of times, comfort herself, admit “fine, it’s my fault,” and take a step back—then forgive him. Whenever the siblings had minor disagreements, Qin Luo could quickly regulate her mood and happily stick close again, asking what Qin Huai would eat that day.

“Brother, what are we eating today? I want hotpot—extra spicy!” the little shadow said cheerfully, putting down her cola bottle.

“Too spicy. How many pimples have you gotten on your face these past few days? Let’s wait a couple of days,” he replied.

“Then let’s have barbecue!”

“It’ll easily get our clothes dirty. Today’s main purpose is to treat Sister Hong to dinner to thank her for letting us stay at her place these past few days. I saw on Sister Hong’s Moments that Huihui took sick leave today. Huihui might come along at noon too. Eating something too greasy isn’t good when you’re sick.”

Qin Luo thought seriously for a minute. “Japanese food!”

Qin Huai put down his phone and looked at her helplessly, asking the soul-piercing question:

“You’re going to eat raw food?”

Qin Luo: “……”

“Then what should we eat? We can’t have you cook, right? The dough isn’t even kneaded yet. How long would it take for you to cook?”

Just as Qin Huai was about to say he had found a nearby stir-fry restaurant with an average per-person cost of over 200 yuan that looked decent, one of the people they were supposed to treat—Ou Yang, who theoretically should have been at work at the neighborhood committee—suddenly appeared in the convenience store. He immediately seized the key point and said loudly:

“What?! Master Huai is going to cook personally? Quick, Luo Luo! Go back home and pack away all the pots and pans! Only leave the steamer and rolling pin! The food your brother cooks is not for humans!”

“Go away,” Qin Huai said with an expression of disgust, though his hands were already pulling out a chair, signaling Ou Yang to sit. “You say it’s not edible, but you didn’t eat any less during club activities back then. Aren’t you supposed to be at work now?”

Ou Yang was Qin Huai’s senior in university and also the club president.

Back in his freshman year, in order to earn extracurricular credits, Qin Huai was tricked by Ou Yang into joining a cycling club that was advertised as green, healthy, and environmentally friendly. Only after joining did he realize that out of the nine members, Ou Yang was the only one who actually owned a bicycle—and that was only because he was a local and lived right across from the school, commuting by bike to class.

Although the cycling club was falsely advertised and didn’t provide many credits, its regular activities were quite enjoyable—picnics in parks or barbecues by the riverbanks. Members didn’t even have to pay, as Ou Yang always managed to secure funding through various means. After two years together, the members had built a good relationship with him.

After Qin Huai graduated and returned home, he lost contact with his university friends and only occasionally interacted through social media likes. This time, upon inheriting the estate, Qin Huai thought Ou Yang’s family seemed wealthy and legally knowledgeable, so he contacted him for advice.

Unexpectedly, his family was not just wealthy—they had already purchased a two-bedroom apartment in Yunzhong Community, fully in cash, recognizing its appreciation potential and school district value right after Ou Yang graduated. The unit was registered under Ou Yang’s name and happened to be in the same building as the one Qin Huai inherited. The two had directly become neighbors.

Even more coincidentally, Ou Yang worked at the neighborhood committee, and the Yunzhong Cafeteria that Qin Huai was about to take over was the biggest headache facing that very committee.

“Sister Hong remembered you were moving today and asked me to come help. I was planning to grab a drink at the convenience store first—and then I saw you guys,” Ou Yang said as he handed his phone, still on the payment QR screen, to Qin Luo. “Luo Luo, help your Brother Ou Yang grab a bottle of iced black tea. Take whatever snacks you want.”

Qin Luo took the phone and went to pick snacks.

Once she left, Ou Yang’s expression turned serious.

“I heard from Sister Hong this morning that you’ve completed the formalities? Qin Huai, I’m telling you—you absolutely shouldn’t act impulsively. These days, what falls from the sky isn’t necessarily a pie—it could be a brick. Don’t stick your head out only to get hit in the face.”

“I know you might feel that Sister Hong is warm-hearted and has taken good care of you during this time, even helping solve accommodation issues for your parents and Qin Luo, so you feel awkward refusing her. Don’t feel that way. Sister Hong isn’t petty—even if you don’t take over the cafeteria, she won’t blame you.”

The “Sister Hong” Ou Yang referred to was Chen Huirong, the protagonist of the side quest Qin Huai had triggered.

Chen Huirong: female, 41 years old, wealthy, a resident of Yunzhong Community, head of the neighborhood committee under the subdistrict office, and one of the owners of the property management company (the other owner being her younger brother). She was the famously warm-hearted “neighborhood aunt.”

As for Chen Huirong, Qin Huai didn’t know much about her. He only knew that she had divorced a few years ago and had a daughter named Chen Huihui, who was in third grade at the Experimental Primary School. She was quite wealthy, holding shares in property management companies, large shopping malls, and logistics companies, earning enough dividends each year to achieve financial freedom.

Warm-hearted and fond of helping others, she couldn’t stay idle even without a job, so she used her own money to establish the neighborhood committee. She often organized group purchases to benefit residents and was effectively Ou Yang’s real boss—and a well-known figure in the area.

During the period when the Yunzhong Cafeteria had no one to take over, Chen Huirong had been handling its miscellaneous matters. After Qin Huai confirmed he would take over, she used her connections to help him post recruitment notices. Worried that the lucky plant in the cafeteria would wither before opening—an inauspicious sign—she even moved it to the neighborhood committee and personally watered and maintained it every day. Knowing Qin Huai planned to buy appliances and move in with his family, she proactively offered an unused vacant apartment in the community for them to stay temporarily, saving them hotel expenses. She was truly a kind-hearted person.

Ou Yang’s concern that Qin Huai might feel pressured by Chen Huirong’s kindness into taking over the cafeteria was not unfounded.

“It’s really not because of Sister Hong,” Qin Huai explained. “I genuinely think the community cafeteria has potential, so I took it over. Since it’s already set up and doesn’t cost anything, why not give it a try?”

Ou Yang looked at Qin Huai as if to say: Old Qin, are you okay? Did a donkey kick your brain in the past few years?

“Do you know how much it costs to run a cafeteria of this size around here?” Ou Yang began counting on his fingers, clearly intent on making Qin Huai face reality.

“Two floors with a total usable area of over 700 square meters—you’ll need at least two chefs, right?”

“If one chef costs 15,000 yuan a month, that’s 30,000.”

“Servers—five isn’t too many, right? Someone has to serve dishes, handle checkout, and clear plates. Let’s say 7,000 per person per month. That’s another 35,000.”

“Kitchen assistants to help with chores and dishwashing—two people at 6,000 each, that’s 12,000.”

“And cleaning staff—you’d need a cheap auntie at least 4,000 to 5,000. For such a large area, even offering 5,000 might not attract anyone. Let’s assume you can hire someone at 5,000.”

“Just salaries alone would already exceed 80,000 per month. I won’t even count utilities and other expenses.”

“If things go well, you could lose over 200,000 in just three months.”

“Of course, I know you also inherited a house. But you wouldn’t sell a school district property just to keep one store running, right?”

Listening to Ou Yang’s detailed breakdown—so detailed he could even estimate losses over three months—Qin Huai frowned and suddenly felt things weren’t so simple.

“You… don’t tell me… you’ve lost money before?”

Ou Yang: “……”

“Back when I graduated from college, I was young and reckless,” Ou Yang said, his eyes welling with tears. “The predecessor of Yunzhong Cafeteria… was actually my fish hotpot restaurant.”

“Lost over 200,000 in three months?” Qin Huai asked.

“Including renovation costs, I lost 6.6 million in a year,” Ou Yang choked up. “My dad thought I had gambled the money away and refused to admit it—he almost beat me to death.”

Ou Yang tilted his head back, trying to keep the tears from flowing.

“Qin Huai… doing food and beverage business around here is really difficult!”