Chapter 61: Treating the Stutter
Three days later, Chu Feng appeared in the villa.
He returned around 10 a.m. and, still thinking about the shop, drove straight to the woodcarving store.
“Cousin.”
Chu Feng noticed there was a new person in the shop and raised his eyebrows.
“New hire?”
Zhihao nodded. “Yep.”
Chu Feng studied the man. “That’s Brother Zhou, right?”
He’d met Zhou Jin a couple of times before, though they weren’t close.
Zhihao nodded. “Yeah.”
“How’s business these past few days?”
Zhihao smiled and said, “Sold… one bracelet.”
Chu Feng was surprised. “That fast? You made your first sale already?”
That was unexpected—he didn’t think they’d make any sales for a few months.
Zhihao nodded. “Yeah. I was surprised too. A young girl came in—looked like she’d seen the livestream—and bought a bracelet as a birthday gift for her grandpa.”
Chu Feng looked puzzled. “A young girl?”
Zhihao thought for a moment. “Looked like she was around 14 or 15.”
Chu Feng repeated, “Fourteen or fifteen, huh…”
That young?
She must’ve come from a wealthy family. He remembered a video he once saw while delivering packages—an interviewer asked a five- or six-year-old how much New Year money he got, and the kid said seventy or eighty thousand yuan… but his mom took it all.
At the time, Chu Feng thought: Damn these rich people! That little kid got more in red envelopes than he earned in a whole year. Now times had changed—he himself had become one of those rich people.
Zhihao lowered his voice and said, “Cousin, you were right! Our shop… maybe won’t sell anything for months, but when it does… it’ll cover three years of expenses.”
He used to think those bracelets should be priced at 8 yuan each. But now he realized—if they were only 8 yuan, how many would they have to sell to make 8,000?
Chu Feng saw how excited he looked and nodded. “Good, very good. Things are going better than I expected! If we got off to a good start, it’ll only get better from here. Oh right, you mentioned a livestream?”
Lin Zhihao nodded and said, “Yeah.”
Chu Feng checked online and found some posts about the Crescent Moon Woodcarving Shop—it had actually gained a bit of fame, though mostly notoriety. A lot of netizens were commenting that the shop owner must be crazy about money, accusing him of charging outrageous prices, and predicting that the store would go out of business sooner or later.
However, some comments supported preserving traditional woodcarving craftsmanship, saying that such folk art shouldn’t be allowed to disappear.
Chu Feng read through the comments and felt that their store still had great potential for future development.
“When you get off work, come with me somewhere,” he said.
Lin Zhihao asked curiously, “Where to?”
Chu Feng smiled. “To see the house I just bought.”
Lin Zhihao said excitedly, “Really? Sure!”
He had long suspected that Chu Feng might’ve bought a house, and now it was finally confirmed.
Chu Feng smiled. But this wasn’t just a house tour—he had also brought with him a remedy, prepared by the shaman, to treat stuttering. He wanted his cousin to try it and see if it worked.
After all, being a shop assistant with a stutter was definitely a tough job.
The Crescent Moon Woodcarving Shop had gotten some attention online, and while most of the criticism targeted the “shady store,” Zhihao had likely felt a lot of pressure too.
Lin Zhihao followed Chu Feng into the villa and exclaimed, “It’s really… a villa!”
Chu Feng nodded. “Yep! I did win 30 million yuan, after all. I’ve got the money.”
Zhihao looked doubtful. “Cousin, did you really win 30 million?”
Chu Feng nodded. “Of course.”
Zhihao frowned. “Brother Feng, you’ve bought a villa, a storefront… must’ve spent quite a bit already, huh?”
Chu Feng laughed. “Not that much.”
Money comes and goes. Honestly, if he wasn’t worried about attracting attention, he could sell the jade he had and maybe make it onto a rich list.
“The villa’s spacious, yeah, but this location…” Zhihao began.
Chu Feng smiled. “I like quiet places.”
Zhihao nodded. “I see.”
“I met an old Chinese medicine doctor recently,” Chu Feng said. “I asked him for a remedy to treat stuttering.”
Zhihao looked at him in surprise and frowned.
Because of his stutter, he’d been rejected many times in life. He had actually tried lots of folk remedies over the years. There was even a time when his mom was obsessed with finding cures—one of which landed him in the hospital, which scared her badly. Since then, they had given up.
“Chinese medicine?” he asked.
Chu Feng nodded. “Yeah, he’s very reputable. Just try a little bit—don’t drink too much.”
Zhihao hesitated, then nodded. “Alright.”
He didn’t really believe one bowl of medicine could do anything, but it was a kind gesture from Chu Feng, and he couldn’t turn him down.
Chu Feng took the medicine from the fridge and heated it up.
Zhihao took the bowl and drank it.
Chu Feng asked, “So? Feel anything?”
Zhihao glanced at him and gave a wry smile. “Cousin, it’s not gonna work that fast.”
But Chu Feng knew this wasn’t an ordinary remedy—Qiu Luo the shaman had imbued it with power. If it worked, the effect should show up quickly.
“So bitter,” Zhihao complained, grimacing.
Chu Feng stood up and brought out a plate of fruit from the fridge.
“Cousin, your place is really big,” Zhihao said. But as soon as the words left his mouth, he realized his stutter had actually improved quite a bit.
Chu Feng looked at him with delight. “You—you sound better! It really worked, didn’t it?!”
Zhihao was a little shocked himself. He tried saying a few more things and realized his speech really was much smoother.
“Cousin, when did you meet such an amazing doctor?”
Chu Feng smiled. “Just recently.”
Zhihao gave him a skeptical look.
Chu Feng waved his hand. “You know what they say—money makes things easier. Once you’ve got money, you meet all kinds of people.”
Zhihao thought about it and agreed. “That makes sense.”
“Don’t tell your mom about the medicine,” Chu Feng added.
Zhihao scratched his head. “Then how should I explain it?”
Chu Feng looked at him and said, “Just say that working in the shop and dealing with more customers made you nervous at first, but eventually it forced your speech to improve.”
Zhihao nodded. “Alright then.”
He tilted his head and stared at Chu Feng.
Chu Feng frowned. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Zhihao shook his head. “Nothing. Just thinking—you’re really good at making up stories, Cousin.”
Chu Feng: “…”
What’s that supposed to mean? It’s not like I wanted to lie, okay? I had no choice!
Lately he’d told so many lies that he couldn’t even keep track of them anymore. Life… really could be exhausting.
“Can I look around the house?” Zhihao asked.
Chu Feng nodded. “Sure, go ahead.”
Zhihao walked around upstairs and downstairs, impressed. It’s really great to have money.
He remembered visiting his uncle’s place once—his uncle had bought a cramped 60–70 sqm apartment just so his kid could go to a good school. It was old and run-down, yet still super expensive.
Chu Feng nodded. “Yep, that’s how it is.”
Zhihao looked puzzled. “Cousin, I saw a printer. What’d you buy that for?”
Chu Feng smiled. “Oh, that? Just for convenience.”
Zhihao stared at him, still confused. But Chu Feng didn’t bother to explain.
Lin Zhihao stayed at Chu Feng’s villa for a while, but left early to avoid worrying his parents.
At the Lin household:
Mother Lin walked excitedly around the house. “This is great! Who would’ve thought that working at the store would cure his stutter? Looks like talking more really does help!”
Father Lin was also in good spirits. “Yeah!”
Though he found the situation a bit odd, he was still happy their son was better.
Mother Lin continued, “Xiao Feng came back driving a van, said it was issued by his company. That’s quite generous of them!”
Father Lin frowned. “Isn’t Xiao Feng working at that woodcarving shop? I heard the owner’s rich.”
Mother Lin nodded. “Being rich is one thing, but being kind is another. These days, finding a wealthy and kind boss is rare.”
Father Lin thought for a moment. “It’s a good thing if the boss is kind. I heard they recently sold an 8,800-yuan prayer bead bracelet.”
Mother Lin looked skeptical. “Someone actually bought that?”
After Zhihao started working there, she’d visited and found the prices shockingly high.
Father Lin waved it off. “Zhihao’s on a fixed wage. Whether the shop sells anything doesn’t affect him much.”
Mother Lin nodded. “Still, if the shop keeps losing money, it might close. That’d be troublesome.”
Father Lin chuckled. “If it does, he’ll just find another job. But from what I see, the owner’s rich and probably opened the shop for fun, not profit.”
Mother Lin rolled her eyes. “No one opens a business without wanting to make money.”
Father Lin smiled. “Well, some rich people open stores for passion. I think it might belong to some wealthy young master.”
Mother Lin nodded. “That makes sense. Maybe it’s just for reputation.”
These days, many wealthy families disliked having their children be idle, even spending large sums just to secure them stable but low-paying jobs.
