Chapter 38: Pulling in a Helping Hand
After lunch, Chu Feng took Lin Zhihao out for a walk. They watched a movie and spent some time at an arcade, but Zhihao seemed a bit down.
“Cousin, any leads on a new job yet?” Chu Feng asked.
Zhihao shook his head, clearly discouraged.
“A few days ago, I ran into a boss while I was out.”
Zhihao looked skeptical. “A boss?”
Chu Feng nodded. “Yeah. There was an old man who fell in the street, and no one dared to help. I drove him to the hospital and basically saved his life. He was really grateful.”
Zhihao blinked in surprise. “You… you helped him?”
Chu Feng nodded. “I did.”
He thought to himself: Lately, I’ve gotten way too good at lying. I just hope I’m not sending the wrong message here. In this day and age, doing a good deed can really come with risks.
“That boss is opening a store soon and needs someone to manage it. He asked me to help. Would you be willing to come lend a hand?” Chu Feng asked.
Zhihao hesitated. “Me? I… I’m not sure I’m up to it.”
Chu Feng looked at him and said, “Don’t worry, it’s fine. The boss handed the renovation project over to me. When it’s all done, there’s a 100,000 yuan reward. I’ll split it with you.”
Zhihao quickly waved his hands. “No, no, I don’t need that.”
Chu Feng said, “Alright then, how about 10,000? I’ve been really busy lately, and I can’t do everything myself.”
Zhihao hesitated again. “I… I can help, but I’m worried I won’t do a good job.”
Chu Feng smiled. “No problem. That boss even tried to give me a million as a thank-you gift before. I turned it down. Honestly, he just wanted to find a way to give me money.”
Zhihao blinked. “A million? That guy’s really generous!”
Chu Feng nodded and said, “Well, he’s a boss—one million may be an astronomical figure to us, but for people like him, it’s just a drizzle.” At this point, he could also be considered a nouveau riche—an entire hundred million wasn’t even that big a deal to him anymore.
Lin Zhihao nodded, a bit emotional. “So… doing good really does get rewarded.”
Chu Feng smiled, thinking silently: These days, doing good doesn’t always bring good results. There are people who died jumping into rivers to save others, and even more who got blackmailed just for helping someone up. I’d better steer my cousin back on track before he gets misled.
“Actually, I saw that he was wearing all name brands and didn’t look like someone who would scam me, so I stepped in.”
Lin Zhihao frowned and looked at him blankly. “Cousin, you… you judge by appearances?”
Chu Feng said as a matter of fact, “In today’s society, you have to be street smart.”
Lin Zhihao puffed out his cheeks. “So… you didn’t help him purely out of kindness?”
Chu Feng smiled. “These days, people who help others out of pure goodwill often don’t meet good ends.”
Lin Zhihao: “…”
Chu Feng sighed. “Don’t be too honest, cousin. Your ex-girlfriend…”
Lin Zhihao lowered his head and said, “I don’t have a house or a car… I really wasn’t a match for her.”
Chu Feng shook his head. “Don’t worry, things will work out. You’ll find a wife someday.” Though, considering he was single himself, he wasn’t in much of a position to say that.
“Cousin, when… should I start helping?” Lin Zhihao asked.
Chu Feng looked at him, a bit surprised. “Don’t want to stay at home?”
Lin Zhihao nodded. “If I stay at home, Mom just… sighs all day.”
Chu Feng lowered his head, thinking: There’s no burden heavier than the love of parents. My cousin just went through a breakup and lost his job—Second Uncle and Aunt must be really stressed.
Chu Feng nodded. “Alright, come with me then.”
Lin Zhihao lit up. “Really?”
Chu Feng nodded again. “Yeah.” He had a lot on his plate—maybe his cousin could help ease some of the load.
But Lin Zhihao looked down again, discouraged. “But…”
Chu Feng brought Lin Zhihao to the newly purchased shop and handed over the renovation supervision to him.
Although his cousin wasn’t the boldest person and lacked experience dealing with people—clearly not the best candidate to manage a store—Chu Feng wasn’t opening this place purely for profit. It was mostly a personal project and also a way to help his cousin out. So he decided to let him handle it.
