Who's Mr. Chen?

"Son, how's your foot? Is it okay?"

"Dad, I told you it's fine. It's just a minor sprain, and it doesn't hurt much anymore."

"Get in the car."

Although Li Tiancai had been frustrated with his son before, he had since calmed down and realized that his expectations were perhaps too high. After all, who was Mr. Chen? Even if it was his own son, could he compare to Mr. Chen? Despite being pampered since childhood, his son was doing well academically. During the school years, good grades were all that mattered. Thinking this way, Li Tiancai thought that his son was pretty good in various aspects, at least much better than he was in his own youth.

"Dad, why are we going so slowly?"

"You've just finished evening self-study at First High, so there are lots of bicycles on the road, causing some congestion."

"Ugh, so boring."

Li Wenjie complained, but he opened the car window and watched the pedestrians on the sidewalk.

Occasionally, when someone recognized Li Wenjie, they would express admiration, talking about how wealthy the Li family was for owning a small car.

This greatly satisfied Li Wenjie's vanity.

Especially when he saw Chen Yu behind him, Li Wenjie even waved at him. Chen Yu gave Li Wenjie a disdainful glance, and his inner satisfaction was evident as he began to whistle. Adding to this, he had a female classmate with him, as if to say to Li Wenjie, "Even when I'm riding a motorcycle, I can still pick up a girl. You have a small car, but where are your girls?"

Li Wenjie felt embarrassed all of a sudden, and the excitement he had felt earlier vanished.

"Son, why did you close the window? Leave it open; it's too hot. We can cool down with the air conditioning."

"Dad, there's air conditioning, so we don't need to open the window."

"Right, right, I'll turn on the air conditioning."

Li Tiancai glanced at the crowd and prepared to turn on the air conditioning. However, among the people outside, one figure looked familiar to him.

"Mr. Chen?"

"Dad, who's Mr. Chen?"

"Let me pull over up ahead."

Li Tiancai tapped the brake pedal and brought the car to a stop ahead.

Seeing a motorcycle approaching from behind at a leisurely pace, Li Tiancai called out, "Mr. Chen."

"Hmm..."

Chen Yu was somewhat surprised, not understanding why Li Wenjie's father seemed to know him.

"You are?"

"Mr. Chen, don't you remember me? Thanks to you, I've sold quite a lot of navel oranges."

With this remark, Chen Yu started to recall the man.

This man seemed to have attended the previous fruit growers' meeting, and he had even raised a toast to Chen Yu back then.

"Oh, it's Uncle Li."

"Where are you heading, Mr. Chen? Why don't you hop in my car?"

"Well, it's not necessary; it would be too much trouble. Besides, I have no place to park my motorcycle."

"Alright then, let's have tea together sometime."

"Sure."

After exchanging some pleasantries, Li Tiancai just wanted to familiarize himself with Chen Yu and didn't say more, returning to his car.

"Dad, who is he?" Li Wenjie was completely bewildered by his father's warmth towards Chen Yu.

"He's Mr. Chen."

"Mr. Chen? Who's that?"

"Haven't I told you? It's the same Mr. Chen, the one who made millions selling navel oranges."

"Seriously..."

Li Wenjie was dumbfounded, rubbing his eyes in disbelief.

"Mr. Chen? Chen Yu, why does Li Wenjie's dad call you Mr. Chen?"

"Well..." Chen Yu had a headache. He never expected that he would run into Li Tiancai in the middle of the road while riding his motorcycle.

He decided to stick with his previous approach, exaggerating a bit, and said, "I've told you before; I'm a multimillionaire. Li Wenjie's dad even worked for me a while ago."

"Li Wenjie's dad worked for you?"

"Indeed, I treated him well. This year alone, I helped him earn hundreds of thousands."

"You're just bragging."

Of course, Lu Xue didn't believe him.

So Chen Yu had to come clean and explained, "Okay, fine, in truth, my dad knows Li Wenjie's dad. Sometimes Li Wenjie's dad comes to our snail shop, and he calls my dad 'Mr. Chen' in a playful way. When he sees me, he jokingly calls me 'Mr. Chen' as well."

"I see."

This explanation made sense. However, Lu Xue couldn't help but feel that something was off. Why was Li Wenjie's dad being so polite to Chen Yu? He went out of his way to greet Chen Yu on the street, and it seemed like he was trying to please him. Logically, this shouldn't be the case.

Though she couldn't quite figure it out, Lu Xue decided not to dwell on it. The two of them quickly arrived at the industrial park.

"Boss, one grilled fish, two orders of skewered meat, two servings of crispy bone, two servings of chicken feet, two eggplants, four servings of chives, four servings of hollow vegetables, and two stir-fried noodles..."

In the industrial park, there were more factories, and more people worked here. Compared to the city, the industrial park was a bit far from the town, resulting in lower costs. Therefore, many people enjoyed coming to the industrial park. Eating barbecue in the industrial park had become a favorite pastime for the citizens of Xinfeng.

Over time, this place had turned into a street for barbecue. Since there was no strict management, people could set up stalls and tents freely and conduct business.

Chen Yu was a regular customer here. As soon as he arrived at the Sichuan-style barbecue in the industrial park, he ordered more than ten items. Lu Xue quickly cautioned him, "Don't order so much; it's too much to eat. Besides, you can't eat so much in the evening; otherwise, you won't be able to sleep."

But Chen Yu didn't care. When he saw something delicious, he ordered it without hesitation. The boss recognized Chen Yu and, upon seeing him with a girl, gave him a knowing look before starting to grill the food.

Chen Yu smiled but didn't explain. In no time, several well-grilled vegetables were brought to the table. Chen Yu didn't hesitate and began eating heartily.

"How's it taste? Good, right?"

"It's good, just a bit too spicy."

"Spiciness is what makes it great. We girls from Jiangxi all love spicy food."

"I'm afraid eating spicy food will give me acne."

"What's wrong with a little acne? Look at me; I already have one."

Chen Yu flipped his hair to reveal a pimple and said nonchalantly.

"My goodness, you really do have one, and it's quite big."

"Who cares?"

"Oh no, I'm definitely going to get acne after eating all this tonight."

"Haha, so are you going to eat or not?"

Although girls loved to look pretty, Lu Xue couldn't resist the temptation of delicious food. She decided to eat first.

"Let me drop you off here; I'm heading back."

After having a late-night snack until 10:30 pm, Chen Yu brought Lu Xue back along the same route.

"Thank you for treating me to barbecue today."

"Thank me for what? You shared your notes with me today; we're helping each other out. But today's meal wasn't satisfying enough; I'll treat you again another time."

"Not satisfying? We ate so much."

"This is just average; when I'm out with friends, we usually eat until midnight."

"Eating until midnight? You can really eat."

"It's not just about eating; it's also about chatting while eating. That's what leisure is."

"I think you're just bragging while eating."

"Alright, I won't argue with you. My mom is waiting for me."

Lu Xue waved to Chen Yu and hurriedly climbed the stairs with light footsteps.