Su Yan nodded and said, "I originally asked a friend to introduce me to a renovation contractor, but I didn't expect it to be you. What a coincidence."

Zhou Yuanqing didn't react much. "Then take me to see your house and tell me your requirements."

"OK."

Zhou Yuanqing's stall wasn't too far from the house she bought; it only took about five minutes to walk there.

Su Yan opened the door. "This is it, Mr. Zhou, please come in."

She waited for a while, but there was no movement from the person behind her. She couldn't help but turn around and saw Zhou Yuanqing standing there thoughtfully.

"Mr. Zhou, is there a problem?" she asked again.

Zhou Yuanqing snapped out of his reverie and said calmly, "It's nothing."

The two went inside.

Li Juan didn't come along; she insisted on buying the ingredients to sell tomorrow first, and Su Yan couldn't persuade her otherwise, so she let her go.

She explained her requirements, and Zhou Yuanqing listened to her silently the whole time.

Only after explaining all the location requirements for the renovation did Su Yan ask, "Does Mr. Zhou have any objections?"

Zhou Yuanqing brought sketchbooks and pens, and while taking notes, he said, "No."

He discovered that Su Yan's words and imaginations were out of step with the times. The key point was that she had the courage to do things according to her own ideas. Perhaps this was the term he had heard before, "advanced thinking"?

"How long is it expected to take to complete? Approximately how much will it cost?"

"About half a month, if we use the best materials, the estimated cost is around a thousand yuan." Zhou Yuanqing finished writing down the information, put down his pen, and looked at her, saying, "Including myself and three other people, we'll calculate the labor cost at five yuan per day."

It took half a month to complete, with a total of four people, and the labor cost alone was 300 yuan.

Su Yan replied, "Okay, I won't come over while you're working. I'll come over to check on the day of the final payment. How much is the deposit?"

"three hundred."

She pulled three hundred from her pocket and handed it over, then smiled and said, "Thank you for your help, Mr. Zhou."

The material costs were half of what she had expected, so Zhou Yuanqing definitely didn't make money off her on the materials. With such integrity, she could rest assured even without supervising the construction.

When they passed by a state-run restaurant, she offered, "Boss Zhou, let me treat you to a meal."

Zhou Yuanqing just dropped what he was doing to come with her, so she should treat him to a meal out of courtesy and courtesy.

Besides, after a while, once she takes over the stall, she'll need to hire him for renovations.

Zhou Yuanqing instinctively wanted to refuse, but the words on the tip of his tongue changed: "Okay."

After saying that, he couldn't help but touch his mouth, "..."

Shouldn't his mouth do what he wants?

The menu at the state-run restaurant changed every day. Su Yan ordered three meat dishes and a soup. After paying, she and Zhou Yuanqing found a quiet spot to sit down.

Zhou Yuanqing is a man of few words and rarely speaks on his own initiative.

Once all the dishes were served, he began his whirlwind eating.

Su Yan had only taken two bites of rice when he was already on his second bowl.

"...Aren't you choking?" she asked, her eyes wide.

Zhou Yuanqing paused for a moment, then slowed down his movements. "I used to eat like this every day when I was in the army, it's become a habit."

Su Yan suddenly realized, but still reminded her, "Eating too fast is bad for your stomach. If you're not in a hurry, eat slowly in the future."

The girl's voice was soft, but you could tell she was serious and kind.

Zhou Yuanqing stared at her for a moment before uttering a single word: "Okay."

After that, he ate much slower.

There were no leftovers in the last four dishes, mainly because he had a big appetite and didn't want to waste food. So after Su Yan finished eating, he finished the rest of the dishes.

"Young lady, your boyfriend is so thoughtful. He waited for you to finish eating before he started eating," an elderly woman at the next table said with a smile, watching the two of them.

Su Yan glanced at Zhou Yuanqing, and seeing that he had no intention of explaining, she said, "Grandma, you've misunderstood. He's not my boyfriend. We're... friends."

Zhou Yuanqing remained silent, his gaze fixed on her slightly serious profile.

When the old lady saw where his eyes were following, she laughed even harder. "Oh, a friend? So you're not boyfriend and girlfriend, hahaha."

The young girl opposite the old lady looked embarrassed and apologized to Su Yan, "I'm sorry, young lady, my grandma has a bit of dementia and talks nonsense. Please don't take what I just said to heart."

"It's alright, the old lady is quite cute." Su Yan didn't seem to care much.

Zhou Yuanqing stood up and said to her, "Let's go."

"good."

After leaving the state-run restaurant, Su Yan said goodbye to Zhou Yuanqing and went to the agreed-upon location to find Li Juan.

Li Juan waited under the big tree behind their stall. Su Yan ran over anxiously, "Mom, how long have you been waiting? I just finished talking about the renovation and then took Boss Zhou to a restaurant for a meal."

“I just moved the things here not long ago,” Li Juan said. “Mom just bought some food at the market, so don’t worry.”

"That's good."

Su Yan was afraid that her mother wouldn't even be willing to spend those few cents.

She went to another stall and bought twenty meat buns to go before waiting for the bus to go home.

"Ayan, I went to the market to buy duck products just now, and they raised the price by three cents." Li Juan was a little annoyed.

She just spent a long time explaining that everyone said duck products are in short supply recently and prices are going up.

It used to cost seven cents per half jin, but now it's ten cents per half jin.

Su Yan thought for a moment and guessed that many people had bought the food to try making braised dishes, which was why the shop owners were raising prices.

"Mother, you go back first. I'll go to the market and see if I can find a stall to work with long-term."

Li Juan's eyes widened. "Are you really going or just pretending?"

Su Yan was instantly dumbfounded. "Of course it's true! If I don't find a long-term partner, what if I end up selling to whoever offers the highest price when I go to buy duck products?"

She'd rather not buy from those dishonest, unreliable people who are only interested in money. She had originally planned to find a stable partner for long-term cooperation, but she'd been too busy lately and had forgotten about it.

Upon hearing this, Li Juan nodded quickly and said, "Then hurry back. Mother will deal with these things after she wakes up from her nap."

Su Yan stepped forward and hugged her mother. "Mom, thank you for everything."

If Li Juan hadn't consistently supported her in doing what she wanted, she might not have been so happy doing it.

Moreover, her mother was hardworking and never complained about waking up so early to work.

Li Juan lightly patted her, annoyed. "Why are you getting all sentimental? It's so strange. Alright, the car's here. Mom's going home. Be careful on your own."

"Okay."

Su Yan helped carry the things onto the bus before heading towards the market.

He had only taken a couple of steps when a very imposing woman blocked his way.

The woman was dressed in a black uniform, flesh-colored stockings, and black high heels. She looked her up and down before asking, "Are you Su Yan?"