Chapter 167: Little Zhuge (1)

On the other side, Lei Dongchuan picked up the person and had Fang Qi drive them to the commercial street for a spin first.

Mother Lei had paid close attention to this commercial street when it first broke ground, and had been here to look many times. As soon as she arrived this time, she first went to see the location in the middle section of the West Street, feeling somewhat emotional.

She had indeed thought about allocating a large sum of money to snatch the best section of location before, but the price was truly a bit expensive. Although she could fork it out, doing so would tie up a lot of working capital, and the other shops would inevitably be affected.

Bai Zimu was looking as well, but what he was looking at was an adjacent building.

The best advantage of the West Street was that there was a three-way intersection, extending in all directions, making coming and going extremely convenient.

And apart from the storefronts facing the street, the best commercial building right in the center, the adjacent locations were also not bad. Although they didn’t face the street directly, there was a parking lot not far away, which was very convenient.

Bai Zimu pointed over there and said: “Mother Lei, this spot isn’t bad.”

Mother Lei looked over, smiled and said: “It’s not bad, it’s a pity He Jiale Hypermarket is next door.”

Bai Zimu turned his head and asked her: “Why is it that if there’s one, a second one can’t be opened?”

Mother Lei was stumped by the question, hesitated for a moment and said:

“Seems like I haven’t seen it like this before, two supermarkets opening side-by-side in one place, the competition would be too intense, and the business of both sides would be affected.”

Bai Zimu gave a small smile, took her arm and said:

“Mother Lei, how about we open next to the He family? Look, let me analyze it for you. The target customer base of He Jiale Hypermarket and ours is actually the same. The things they sell there are expensive, but the quality is actually very average. We originally planned to open a high-end supermarket in the city. If the two shops are adjacent, everyone can see which one is better at a glance, and will definitely choose us.”

Mother Lei was extremely confident in the goods sold in their shops. Setting other things aside, for the agricultural products alone, she had personally watched Lei Dongchuan and the others select them item by item. What could enter the supermarket and be placed on the shelves were absolutely all good things. If they were sent to the supermarket shelves in the city and the prices went up, it was bound to be selecting the best of the best.

Mother Lei was still hesitating, when Lei Dongchuan sitting in the passenger seat in front nodded and agreed first:

“Mom, Small Bowl is right, just compete with them. I get angry the moment I see that surnamed He today. I haven’t even settled the score with him for having people smash our warehouse’s main door last time.”

Mother Lei said: “Don’t act recklessly.”

Lei Dongchuan said: “Then you open a shop next door, and let me have a commercial competition with him.”

Mother Lei laughed out of anger: “What if I don’t agree, what else do you want to do?”

Lei Dongchuan: “I didn’t think of doing anything, just take it one step at a time. I’m young, right? Hot-tempered, it’s inevitable to take some detours.”

“…”

Mother Lei’s heart flared up with little fires from his words. Bai Zimu on the side hurriedly said:

“I said something wrong, Mother Lei don’t be angry. I just really felt that spot isn’t bad, so I brought it up. I was just thinking, what if one day that Boss He can’t compete with us here and wants to sell the shop and leave? Such a good location, it would be too much of a pity to give it to someone else. With our shop close by, we could completely take it over and combine them into one shop.”

He raised his hand, lightly scratched his cheek with his finger, and said somewhat embarrassedly, “When that time comes, we will definitely be the largest shop in all of Dongchang. For the next ten years, no one will be able to be more amazing than our family.”

Mother Lei’s heartbeat quickened a bit. When she looked up again at that commercial building in the center, she suddenly had another kind of expectation.

If they could really be connected, let alone Dongchang, it would probably be one of the top supermarkets in the entire Shandong Province, right?

Mother Lei pondered for a moment, and said:

“I’ll go back and think about it carefully, this matter can’t be rushed.”

Bai Zimu nodded and agreed, having Fang Qi turn the car around and sending her back home.

The few young people didn’t rush back. They drove around the city again, directed entirely by Bai Zimu. Fang Qi had been to the city many times; wherever he pointed, he actually knew the way.

Lei Dongchuan watched him look at road sections and storefronts again and again, and asked him:

“Didn’t we agree to open one right next to He Jiale Hypermarket?”

Bai Zimu said: “That’s a backup option. I’ll pick a few more and let Mother Lei choose slowly.”

Lei Dongchuan said: “No need for so much trouble. Are you afraid my mom won’t agree? If it really doesn’t work, we’ll just hold a shareholders’ meeting. There are only those few shareholders anyway, just vote by a show of hands. The two of us combined have way more shares than what my mom has in her hands, we could even vote her out…”

Bai Zimu glanced at him and said: “Don’t make Mother Lei angry.”

Lei Dongchuan looked at him for a while, suddenly leaned a bit closer in the back row, and asked softly by his ear:

“Then are you still angry?”

Bai Zimu’s ears were the most ticklish. He wanted to dodge, but was blocked by Lei Dongchuan in the back row, and could only say:

“Not angry anymore, Brother, let go.”

Lei Dongchuan smiled cheekily, still teasing him there:

“Then give a smile, I haven’t seen you smile these past few days.”

“…”

Bai Zimu held his breath and looked up at him. As he grew up, the color of his pupils had deepened a bit, looking dark and bright. When he looked straight over, it could fall right into a person’s heart.

Lei Dongchuan was a bit dazed, and unconsciously loosened his grip.

Bai Zimu pulled his wrist out and shook it, “Don’t mess around with me like this, your strength is too great.”

Lei Dongchuan’s gaze fell on his wrist. Bai Zimu was wearing formal clothes today. After getting in the car, probably feeling hot, he had already taken off his coat and placed it to one side. The cuffs of his white shirt were rolled up, revealing a section of wrist. It was very slender, looking as delicate and beautiful as the person himself, revealing a cold white color.

Bai Zimu shifted the topic back to the supermarket and was talking to him.

Lei Dongchuan was a bit distracted. After quite a while, he still couldn’t help but hold Bai Zimu’s hand in his palm. First wrapping around it, then opening it and laying it flat on his own palm, comparing it with his fingers one by one. Accidentally, he whispered the words in his heart:

“So small.”

Bai Zimu: “…”

Bai Zimu angrily tried to pull his hand back. Lei Dongchuan hurriedly grabbed it and coaxed him:

“I was wrong, won’t say it next time. Besides, in another two years you’ll grow up, right? By then it will definitely be bigger than my hand.”

Bai Zimu couldn’t yank him, looked up and asked: “Did you hear what I just said?”

Lei Dongchuan said: “Heard it.”

Bai Zimu asked: “What did you hear?”

Lei Dongchuan: “Just, whatever you say, I’ll do it.”

Bai Zimu laughed out of anger, but what his brother said wasn’t wrong either. He could only scratch the palm of his hand to vent his anger. He didn’t expect this action to make Lei Dongchuan react exceptionally strongly, immediately bouncing up. His head hit the roof of the car with a thump, startling even Fang Qi driving in front. He hurriedly pulled over and asked:

“What’s wrong?”

Bai Zimu was also startled, “Brother, what’s wrong with you?”

Lei Dongchuan held his head and hissed, waving his hand to say:

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing. Stopping is just right, let’s find a place to eat and discuss the supermarket matters along the way.”

Bai Zimu had planned three proposals. In the gap while eating, he explained them to Lei Dongchuan, “The remaining two chosen locations we saw today are definitely not as good as the one in the middle section of West Street, but they are also not bad. If we really compete, it wouldn’t be considered poor, nothing more than dragging on for two years, we can still win.”

Bai Zimu roughly wrote it down and handed it to Fang Qi, “Old Fang, take these back today and organize them. Come ask me if there’s anything you don’t understand.”

Fang Qi carefully took those few napkins, simply unable to believe it. A multi-million business deal was written on a few napkins asked for from the lady boss of the small restaurant.

Lei Dongchuan said: “I’ll talk to my mom again when I go back, the first proposal is quite good.”

Bai Zimu said while eating noodles: “Let Mother Lei choose herself, any one she chooses is fine.”

“Small Bowl, I’m helping you, how come your elbow is bending outward (favoring an outsider)?”

“I definitely help Mother Lei. Brother, let her pick a place she likes, that way she’ll be happy going to work every day in the future.”

……

Fang Qi ate this meal very cautiously. He kept his back straight all the time, for no other reason than the few napkins tucked in his pocket, deeply afraid of crumpling them too much and being unable to read the words on them when he went back.

After eating, when Fang Qi got in the car, he habitually waited for Bai Zimu’s instructions.

Bai Zimu thought for a moment and said:

“Go to school.”

As Fang Qi started the car, he asked carefully:

“The commercial street near the school seems relatively small, can a large supermarket be opened there?”

Bai Zimu gave a laugh and said:

“No, the leave I took has expired, I need to go back to study.”

Fang Qi was speechless, only then remembering that the two sitting in the back were high school sophomores. The mood on the way driving to the school was extremely complex.

He drove all the way to the school gate. Fang Qi parked by the road, got out to see them off for a few steps, and asked again:

“Boss, I’m making a trip back to the countryside this afternoon. The purchase of medicinal herbs still needs to be handed over, do you have any words for me to take back?”

Lei Dongchuan turned to look at Bai Zimu.

Bai Zimu opened his schoolbag, took out paper and pen from inside and made a list. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] He wrote very quickly. Lei Dongchuan stood by and looked down clearly, smiling:

“You’re really like singing the Empty City Stratagem, little Zhuge Kongming, even giving your leading general a brocade pouch?”

Bai Zimu said without lifting his head:

“That’s ‘Xuande uses his wits to provoke Lady Sun, Kongming angers Zhou Gongjin twice’, giving brocade pouches to seize Jingzhou…”

His speaking didn’t delay his writing. After finishing, he handed the list to Fang Qi, “Old Fang, give this to Sun Xiaojiu, tell him to collect goods according to this amount, not a bit more or less. Also, after you finish handing over, hurry back, there are still things waiting for you to do here.”

Fang Qi nodded and said: “Alright.”

Lei Dongchuan didn’t understand these things, but his judgment of people was very accurate. He said to Fang Qi:

“Go back and tell Sun Xiaojiu, tell him not to be afraid. That surnamed He won’t cause trouble again within these one or two months. Before, that was throwing stones to ask the way, to see if we had the ability to take this move. Shifang Town is fine, the other places will be fine. Do whatever needs to be done during this period of time. Also, tell those with good grades, let them study at ease and prepare for exams. When they are needed in the future, don’t let them mix in these matters.”

Fang Qi agreed and quickly drove away.

Bai Zimu had taken sick leave for over a week. When he returned, the weather had turned warm.

Some boys in the class had worn the summer short-sleeved school uniforms in advance. Some people were afraid of the cold, and like Bai Zimu, wore a thin vest over their shirts. When the two of them went to the classroom, it was exactly lunchtime. It was only the second year of high school, but studies had already tightened. Many classmates stayed in the classroom at noon to read, studying very hard.

Lei Dongchuan went to fetch water. He still had the medicine Bai Zimu needed to take today in his pocket, but when he returned, he didn’t see the person in the classroom.

After searching around, he found him in the corridor outside the next-door classroom.

Bai Zimu had called Li Chengmo out and was talking to him. When Lei Dongchuan went over, he only heard the last sentence, which mentioned Li Chengmo’s older brother, Li Zhiwen.

He stood behind Bai Zimu and asked: “What are you chatting about?”

Seeing him, Li Chengmo called out “Boss”, and said in a low voice:

“Just chatted casually for a few sentences, talking about my brother.”

The two brothers from the forestry farm had differences over the years. The older brother Li Zhiwen’s intelligence gradually revealed itself in high school. Compared to the younger brother Li Chengmo’s steadiness and caution, he had a bit more pure pursuit of academics. He had participated in several Math Olympiads and also achieved good rankings once or twice.

The Lei family, besides taking care of their family’s honey business a lot, had also, under Lei Dongchuan’s suggestion, sent the outstanding Li Zhiwen to the provincial capital to study at the Experimental Middle School.

The high school there was famous throughout the province. With Li Zhiwen going there, it would be more helpful for him to get into a university. Moreover, Lei Dongchuan’s maternal grandfather’s family was there. The Fang family had always produced academic top-scorers. Sending anyone casually to tutor for a while was enough to let Li Zhiwen catch up with the study progress of the Provincial Experimental School.

Li Zhiwen’s matters were all handled with Lei Dongchuan’s help.

Lei Dongchuan stood there and listened for a while. Seeing Bai Zimu ask for the phone number of Li Zhiwen’s dormitory, he asked while walking back with him:

“Why suddenly looking for Li Zhiwen?”

Bai Zimu put the number in his pocket, “Haven’t seen him for quite a long time, just casually looking for him to chat for a few sentences.”

Lei Dongchuan looked for a while, and said:

“Small Bowl, we’ve agreed on this, you can toss about however you want, just don’t suddenly transfer schools. If you transfer schools, I’ll follow you.”

Bai Zimu gave a laugh, turned his head and asked him:

“Haven’t you practiced enough?”

Originally, Li Zhiwen had absolutely no thought of transferring schools. But Lei Dongchuan, not knowing where he misheard a sentence, thought Dong Yuxiu was going to take Bai Zimu to transfer to another place.

Without a second word, Lei Dongchuan grabbed the person closest to him to practice on, helping Li Zhiwen run through all the procedures, from residency registration to make-up classes, not missing a single thing.

Lei Dongchuan had thought it through: if he really transferred to another place, he still had to ensure his own grades didn’t drop.

Hearing what he said, Lei Dongchuan said self-righteously:

“Is that my fault? Didn’t that Grandpa Bai of yours bring it up this winter? Saying your grades are so good, it’s a waste of time in Dongchang… Where is our Dongchang lacking?”

Bai Zimu said: “Grandpa Bai didn’t say that, what he said was—”

He opened his mouth, and smiled again:

“Forget it, anyway Grandpa Bai never said Dongchang wasn’t good. Brother, let’s go, class is about to start.”

Lei Dongchuan muttered from behind, listing the benefits of staying in Dongchang small city.

“There’s a monkey mountain here. [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] Even if other places have them, their monkeys definitely aren’t as good-looking as ours, right?”

“Also, those flowers and bamboos in Grandpa He’s courtyard, we planted them with our own hands. Put them in other places, and it would take at least ten years to grow that vigorously.”

“The small pancakes at the school gate, they definitely don’t have those over there, right? [Read on RanaTranslations🌸] So delicious! We’ve eaten them for so many years and never got tired of them. When Second Brother came back last time, he even specially ran over here to eat a few pancakes!”

……

Sitting on the side flipping through a book, Bai Zimu listened and couldn’t help but raise the corners of his lips, trying hard to suppress his smile.

He had been in contact with the Bai family these past few years, and would also go to Grandpa Bai’s house as a guest during winter and summer vacations, staying for a few days.

What Grandpa Bai actually said back then was: since his grades were so stable, he could try taking the college entrance exam early and not waste time.

Bai Zimu heard it, but he didn’t want to do that.

He cupped his chin and tilted his head to look at Lei Dongchuan, who had brought a stool over and was whispering there trying to persuade him to “stay in Dongchang”. From his deep eyes and brows, down to his tall, straight nose, and then to his lips that opened and closed.

His brother seemed really quite silly.

With him around, how could he leave early?