Duanmu Ci gripped the steering wheel, his eyes fixed on the red light in the distance. He turned to the woman in the passenger seat and said, "Tell me, what are you doing in Haishan? Weren't you on vacation in Paris? Even such a beautiful view of the Seine couldn't keep you here?"
Bu Tongxun took off her peaked hat and held it in her hand, her eyes narrowing. "The Seine? What's so fun about that place? Am I supposed to bump into a romantic French heartthrob at the Louvre? Forget it, the Huangpu River is much better."
Duanmu Ci stepped on the clutch, "I'm talking to you about serious business!"
"I'm here to do serious business!"
Duanmu Ci glanced in the rearview mirror, made a sharp turn, and said, "Let's get down to business? Tell me—"
Bu Tongxun stretched lazily. "As a well-mannered gentleman, shouldn't he offer a glass of red wine when asking a lady to do something?"
Duanmu Ci frowned. He had just eaten not long ago, and eating again would be difficult for him. However—"How about noodles?"
"Hmm, noodles?" Bu Tongxun was a little surprised. "I thought you would invite me to eat Western food."
"Western food?" Duanmu Ci asked. "Why would you think that? You know I don't really like Western food."
"Because Western food is more romantic," Bu Tongxun said in a naive and innocent tone.
Duanmu Ci's knuckles on the steering wheel were slightly white, but he still said calmly, "You just came back from Paris, what's the point of eating Western food? Since you're in Haishan, of course you should try the local specialties." As he spoke, Duanmu Ci inserted the steering wheel into the A** interface, and melodious light music immediately filled the car. This was clearly a hint to Bu Tongxun—quickly listen to the music and keep quiet!
Bu Tongxun understood the implied meaning from the music, smiled slightly at the rearview mirror, and remained silent.
...
...
Although Haishan is a rapidly developing and extremely prosperous city, many places still retain the features of the feudal era, such as the alleyway in front of us.
Bu Tongxun was surprised. "Why did you bring me here? And how do you know about this place, sir? You just returned to the country."
Duanmu Ci ignored her question and simply said, "Go in."
The noodle shop is located in a secluded place, surrounded by mottled stone bricks with irregular cracks, looking quite old. Against the backdrop of the intertwined withered branches of sycamore trees, the quiet atmosphere seems to maintain the dilapidated state it was in before World War II.
Duanmu Ci walked in and looked up to see an old man. For a moment, it was as if time had reversed, and he saw again the little boy from decades ago who always clung to him. He unconsciously greeted him, "Afu—"
"Oh," the old man responded, but then realized that the person who called him was a young man he had never seen before, and he couldn't help but feel a little puzzled. "The guest is—" he asked.
But Duanmu Ci couldn't answer. He couldn't very well say, "I've not only seen you before, but I've also held you." Just as he hesitated, the old man adjusted his reading glasses and said hesitantly, "This guest looks very familiar..."
Duanmu Ci was startled and quickly pulled Bu Tongxun to sit down, seemingly getting back to the point, "Old lady, we're here to eat noodles."
"Hmm, hmm." Hearing that a customer had arrived, the old man stopped paying attention to the rest and just called into the house, "Grandson, grandson—come out, there's a customer."
At the old man's call, a young man with a white towel draped over his shoulders and a chef's skirt around his waist came out from the inner room. "Gentlemen, what would you like to eat?"
Bu Tongxun twirled the yellowed menu between two fingers. "Give me a bowl of hot cabbage noodle soup."
Duanmu Ci shook his head, took the menu and put it aside. "Don't look at this. These are all for fooling new customers. Real regulars go for Yangchun noodles, the authentic Yangzhou flavor."
The young man standing nearby exclaimed in surprise, “Sir, you have such good taste! Plain noodles are indeed our shop’s specialty, but they are very labor-intensive. So we usually only serve them when regular customers come. But since this beautiful lady specifically asked for them, we certainly have them.”
Bu Tongxun gave Duanmu Ci a strange look but said nothing. Duanmu Ci continued to calmly drink the tea the shopkeeper had brought him, thinking to himself, "I was careless."
Cooking the noodles would take some time, so Bu Tongxun opened her briefcase, revealing a stack of A4 papers, and began her work report, "Overall, the businesses I manage for you increased in value by 11% last year. This was mainly due to the increase in real estate and property holdings. As for bonds and stocks, the proportion decreased slightly. Given the recent rise in gold prices, I plan to acquire several gold mines in East Africa..."
In this sun-drenched, run-down noodle shop, every word Bu Tongxun spoke carried the weight of Buckingham Palace, yet Duanmu Ci merely nodded absentmindedly, "Mmm, mmm."
“Actually, you weren’t really listening, were you?” Bu Tongxun suddenly said. “You don’t really care about your wealth at all.”
Duanmu Ci's indifference to money had always puzzled Bu Tongxun. Judging from the businesses she managed, the young man's wealth was staggering. Yet, despite his immense wealth, he always seemed completely unconcerned, as if it had nothing to do with him.
Oh, by the way, this gentleman seems to be particularly fond of buying land, while he has absolutely no interest in investing in real businesses.
If Duanmu Ci knew what she was thinking, he would definitely smile to himself.
Duanmu Ci, courtesy name Zigong, was already incredibly wealthy two thousand years ago, rivaling even the feudal lords in power. He is revered as a patriarch by later generations of merchants. Over the years, he has become indifferent to wealth and business, accumulating it unconsciously without much thought. As for his fondness for buying land, it's simply a long-standing Chinese custom; Chinese people, especially the ancient Chinese, have always enjoyed buying land.
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
