Eighty-two, Farewell

Just at that moment, the telephone in the living room started ringing. Jiang Mochen stood up once more and walked toward the living room.

It was Father Chi calling. Jiang Mochen hesitated for a few seconds before answering.

“How’s everything going? Is it all going smoothly?”

Jiang Mochen’s hand tightened around the receiver. When there was no reply, Father Chi sighed, “Son, sometimes you just have to cut ties.”

“She lived with you once—make proper arrangements.”

—

After binding myself to the Bootlicker System, I snatched away the handsomest, roughest man—Chapter 82: Farewell

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After listening to the account, Shi Lei frowned. It wasn’t that his men were incompetent, but the opponent was simply too formidable.

The other party had revealed himself, even sparring with his bodyguards—a clear warning.

Fortunately, the matter hadn’t escalated, and he had apologized in time. There was little to worry about now, as long as they didn’t provoke Shu Fu again.

…

In the shop.

After Shi Lei left, Shu Fu said to Dan Ruo, “Print some signs—no photography allowed in the shop.”

“Okay,” Dan Ruo nodded.

This was easy enough. She opened WORD, typed a few words, rotated and enlarged them—the printer made everything convenient.

While printing, she watched Shu Fu take some wooden strips used for framing and glue them together. “What’s that for?” she asked.

“Making a wooden barrier to keep outsiders from entering the workspace.”

When business was slow, there was no such worry, but earlier a few girls had lingered nearby, chattering away—quite bothersome.

Dan Ruo fully agreed. Looking was one thing, but they’d asked all sorts of questions, noisy and disruptive to Shu Fu’s work.

In less than ten minutes, the strips were arranged, glued, and dried. A small gate was finished. With a few metallic clangs, hinges were fastened, connecting it to the counter. Done. Notices were posted in prominent places inside the shop.

…

“Boss, can you carve one for my little Lolo?”

“Two hundred.”

“No problem.”

“…”

“Sorry, we don’t carve pets here.”

“…”

“Young boss, your skills are amazing! If it were cheaper, I’d definitely get one.”

“…”

Business in the afternoon was quite good. A new mother came in wanting a large carving for her baby—three thousand a piece, which felt a bit expensive to her.

She tried to bargain.

Shu Fu just smiled.

“Portraits are always filled with emotion. Can your feelings for your child be measured with mere money?”

At that moment, Shu Fu spoke like a true merchant, neatly blocking her attempt to haggle.

So, the mother agreed readily.

“Three thousand it is—young man, you really know how to talk.”

She wasn’t short of money; bargaining was just a habit. But after Shu Fu’s words, she felt he was right—no need to skimp on this.

Conveniently, she’d just taken a set of photos and picked one for Shu Fu.

“It’ll be ready the day after tomorrow.”

“All right.”

—

Before leaving, she paid a deposit of fifteen hundred—she had no doubts about Shu Fu’s craftsmanship.

The pieces displayed in the window had already proven his abilities.

…

“Wow! A three thousand job!”

“Five in the morning, totaling a thousand. Three this afternoon, six hundred.”

“…”

Today’s sales had broken four thousand. Jiu Xinqin glanced at Shu Fu.

He looked calm, tossing the money into the drawer as if it meant nothing.

She’d often noticed that Shu Fu never took the money from the drawer—by now, it must have piled up to over ten thousand.

Such a carefree heart!

She had to admit—he was pretty cool!

…

At three thirty, a man walked in.

“Shu Fu? This your shop?” Wang Shou looked astonished. He’d wanted to apologize for something before but could never find Shu Fu on Shuntang Street.

He’d gone several times later and still hadn’t run into him.

Who could have guessed? He ran into him here today.

Shu Yi.

Shu Fu.

His first reaction was that this was a Shu family shop. He wasn’t out shopping for fun—he’d heard from a customer that there was an impressive woodworking shop here.

So, as a fellow craftsman, he came to see if there was anything to learn—and bumped into Shu Fu.

“Mr. Wang,” Shu Fu greeted him with a smile, feeling no resentment toward Wang Shou. Why hate someone insignificant? It would only add needless negativity.

“About last time—”

“Stop right there. Businessmen chase profit. You did nothing wrong—no need to apologize,” Shu Fu waved his hand.

“This…” Wang Shou was at a loss.

“Is there something you need?”

“Not really. I just heard there was a great woodcarver here and thought I’d check it out. I have plenty of orders myself, but my carver is busy. I wondered if you—”

“Stop again—I have my own principles. As for you, I won’t work with you anymore.”

“…”

At those words, Wang Shou smiled bitterly.

As expected, there was no chance of collaborating again. Their interactions had been brief, but he could sense the stubbornness at Shu Fu’s core.

Usually, he was polite and gentle—but once crossed, it was hard to make amends.

Taking a deep breath, he said, “I’m sorry.”

With that, Wang Shou turned and left, regretting his past choices.

Every time he thought of his wife’s relative, he fumed. Not only had that person ruined a big deal, but after Wang Shou gave him several smaller jobs, he complained they were too minor and grumbled constantly.

Damn it.

He wanted nothing more than to slap that guy. Useless at his craft, but plenty skilled at making trouble—Wang Shou was now certain: that fellow was a true reject.

No doubt about it.

…

Wang Shou returned to his own shop.

“How did it go?”

“Did you find out the prices for that woodcarver’s work?” his wife asked.

Two hundred for a small piece—she wanted to get in on that too. Three thousand for a big one—she figured even a thousand would be profitable. She felt she’d discovered a business opportunity and looked expectant.

He took a deep breath and looked at his wife.

“It’s Shu Fu’s shop.”

—

“Who?”

“Shu Fu.”

“…”

At once, the image of that thin, small figure flashed through the wife’s mind, and she blurted out in surprise.

“Impossible, where’d he get that kind of money?”

“Hmph,” Wang Shou snorted coldly.

“His business now makes at least a thousand a day—can’t afford the rent? That wedding portrait for Mr. Lin, I found out, was done by a young man.”

“…”

His wife was speechless.

It wasn’t hard to deduce that the young man was likely Shu Fu.

Just thinking about the hundred-thousand profit pocketed by Shu Fu made her ache with regret.

…

At 5:15, the two girls had something to do and headed home early. Shu Fu closed up shop and traveled to the other world.

Watch shop.

Second floor.

“Boom!”

“Whoosh!” “Crash!”

A torrential rain had started outside, accompanied by fierce winds and thunder.

The downpour was so heavy that water pooled in the streets and few pedestrians remained.

Because the area lay on a plain near the mountains, Shu Fu had heard that every year there was a chance to “see the sea” here. Unlike the overwhelming floods caused by a breached dam, the water here rose slowly, flooding the area bit by bit.

Most years the water wasn’t deep—at most, up to the knees. Because of the local crops, even soaking for ten days to half a month didn’t do much harm—sometimes, it even boosted yields.

This year, though, the rainy season had passed. No “sea” to see now.

…

He watched the rain for a while, then went downstairs.

Six girls remained on duty.

“Young Master.”

“Young Master.”

…

The second floor was off-limits to them. Although they were curious why he stayed upstairs all day, they dared not ask.

“With rain like this, let’s close early today,” Shu Fu said with a smile.

Though the weather was gloomy, business had been fine—yesterday’s pre-orders plus today’s sales added up to nearly one hundred and fifty.

Shu Fu was content.

With gold worth ten million yuan in hand, there was no need to be greedy.

In a few days, once the regional agents started subscribing, the shipment volume would become staggering—he doubted his inventory would even suffice. So, as long as the main shop did decently, he was satisfied.

“Thank you, Young Master!”

The girls thanked him cheerfully, tidied up, and left one after another.

…

Shu Fu went to the register, opened the cash drawer, and retrieved all the gold inside. He exchanged a portion, instantly fulfilling the requirements for an upgrade.

“Requirements met—upgrading.”

“Ten.”

“Nine.”

…

“One.”

As the countdown reached one, “Money House upgrade complete!”