Chapter 80: The Mao Tai Incident
“Xiao Feng, do you have a girlfriend yet?” Lin Shumin asked.
Chu Feng sighed. There’s no escaping this classic question, is there?
“Not yet. I’ve been thinking more about starting a business lately.”
Lin Shumin gave him a meaningful look. “Starting a business is important, but so is settling down. You can think about both.”
Chu Feng grinned. “Grandpa, don’t worry. You see those rich tycoons—they’re in their fifties or sixties and still marrying girls in their twenties.”
Lin Shumin rolled his eyes. “You? Comparing yourself to those billionaires? You have that kind of money?”
Chu Feng: …
Actually, I’m worth over a hundred million now, with priceless gems and night-illuminating pearls at home. I’m the real tycoon here…
“Fine, you’re still young, no rush,” Lin Shumin said.
Chu Feng nodded. “Exactly. I’ve got a house and a car. Finding a wife won’t be hard. If I really wanted, I wouldn’t just find one—I’d have a whole crowd.”
That wasn’t even bragging. In the other world, people were literally lining up to sleep with him.
Here, his popularity wasn’t great—only because he kept a low profile. If he rolled into a matchmaking event in a Maserati, the line would be even longer than in the other world.
Lin Shumin waved his hand. “Get outta here with that nonsense. You win three million and your head’s in the clouds. ‘A whole crowd’? I’ll die laughing if you can even get one.”
Chu Feng: …
No faith in me at all, huh, Grandpa?
Changing the subject, Lin Shumin said, “Your cousin got married. I heard their relationship is a bit rocky.”
Chu Feng shrugged. “I don’t know much about it.”
Once upon a time, people said the honeymoon phase was all sweet and romantic. These days, it’s more like: dating for seven years, then divorcing three months after the wedding.
Lin Shumin leaned in conspiratorially. “Word is, their marriage isn’t going so well.”
Chu Feng smirked. Grandpa really is something—so old, yet so gossipy. But if even he’s heard about it, it must be pretty bad.
“Their relationship is their own business. They’ll work it out.”
After a moment of hesitation, Lin Shumin added, “By the way… I think they found out about your lottery winnings.”
“Well, if they know, then they know.”
Lin Shumin pursed his lips and said, “Your grandfather came to see me.”
Chu Feng’s expression darkened. “Really?”
Lin Shumin nodded. “He couldn’t find you, so he came looking for me.”
Chu Feng frowned and pulled out his phone.
Every time he came back to this area, he would see a flood of missed calls. He was so used to it that he’d stopped checking altogether.
He didn’t expect that his grandfather would go so far as to show up at his maternal grandfather’s place just to find him. But then again, it made sense. His uncle’s family had gone into debt to buy a house and a car for Chu Jinhui’s wedding, and even borrowed money for the bride price, hoping to recover it from the bride’s family later. But things didn’t work out, and now they were probably panicking.
Chu Feng rolled his eyes. “Grandpa came? Just brush him off, Grandpa.”
Lin Shumin sighed. “Still, he is your grandfather.”
Chu Feng sneered coldly. So what if he was? After Chu Feng’s parents died, the old man never said a single just word. Chu Feng had to start working at a young age, and his grandfather never gave him a dime. But for Chu Jinhui, it was different—house, car, college, wedding—the old man emptied his savings again and again. Now that he couldn’t afford to help anymore, he had turned his sights on Chu Feng.
“He asked where you live. I said I didn’t know, but he didn’t seem convinced. Are you living in that new place you bought?”
Chu Feng nodded. “Sort of.”
The villa counted as his new place too, but that probably wasn’t what Lin Shumin had in mind.
Lin Shumin smiled. “What’s your new house like? Take me to see it sometime.”
Chu Feng nodded. “Sure.”
*
As Chu Feng left Lin Shumin’s place, he ran into a few elderly villagers.
“Xiao Feng, visiting your grandfather?”
“Yes.”
“We heard you won three million—is that true?”
Chu Feng smiled. “It’s true.”
“Wow, such luck! How does someone get that lucky?”
Chu Feng nodded. “I know, right? I don’t even know how it happened. When luck comes, there’s no stopping it.”
“We heard you already bought a house and a car!”
Chu Feng chuckled. “It’s just a small house, and the car’s nothing special.”
“Still, that’s amazing! Kids your age in this village are all still relying on their parents. You already bought a house and car!”
Chu Feng laughed. “Just lucky, I guess.”
As Chu Feng drove off, the elderly folks watched his car and whispered among themselves.
“What unbelievable luck! Even college grads only make maybe 80 to 100K a year. He won three million in one go—more than what some people earn in a lifetime.”
“No kidding. Who would’ve thought Chu Feng’s luck would turn around like this?”
“Old Li, isn’t your granddaughter still dating? Maybe she should consider Chu Feng.”
The named elder chuckled, clearly tempted.
*
After hanging out a while at Lin Shumin’s, Chu Feng headed to the Crescent Woodcarving Shop.
“Cousin.”
Chu Feng casually glanced around. “How’s business been lately?”
Lin Zhihao nodded. “Not bad.”
Though no more wealthy collectors had come in like before, online orders were still doing well.
Wood carvings were pricey. At first, dealing with such large transactions made Lin Zhihao nervous, but he was getting used to it.
“Lots of empty shelves,” Chu Feng murmured.
“I was going to restock, but then Cousin Yuanyuan said you got bewitched by some vixen. I figured I shouldn’t disturb you, so I didn’t call.”
Chu Feng: …
This cousin of mine is too thoughtful—really looking out for my love life.
“Cousin, is what Yuanyuan said true?”
Chu Feng glanced at him. “What do you think?”
Lin Zhihao looked at Chu Feng and said, “If someone managed to enchant you, she must be stunning.”
Chu Feng nodded. “Yeah, she’s absolutely beautiful.”
Lin Zhihao looked surprised. “So… it’s real?”
Chu Feng: …Yeah, it’s real.
Lin Zhihao stared in shock. “You’re actually serious?”
Chu Feng nodded again. “Don’t tell Grandpa.”
After a brief pause, Lin Zhihao asked cautiously, “Have you seen her without makeup?”
Chu Feng: … “She doesn’t wear any makeup.”
“What are you even imagining?”
Lin Zhihao chuckled awkwardly. “It’s just that… my friend married a cosmetics saleswoman. Gorgeous with makeup, but when he saw her barefaced, she looked ten years older with acne scars.”
Chu Feng: …
Yeah, makeup can really change a face. “And then?”
“They got divorced.”
Chu Feng: …
Divorce reasons these days really come in all flavors. He waved a hand. “Enough about that. Let’s go get the stock.”
“Okay.” Lin Zhihao hesitated for a moment and asked, “Cousin, did your family find out about your lottery winnings?”
Chu Feng nodded. “They probably did.”
His aunt couldn’t keep secrets. She held it in for two days and then couldn’t resist.
Chu Feng had already blocked both his aunt and uncle’s wife. His aunt kept calling, but couldn’t get through. She must’ve realized something and used someone else’s phone. He accidentally picked up—and got scolded like crazy.
Chu Feng’s aunt (his uncle’s wife) was furious that he had kept his lottery win a secret. She scolded him endlessly, calling him selfish—claiming he only spent money on outsiders and ignored his own family’s struggles. She complained that he stood by while they were clearly short on money. Annoyed, Chu Feng simply hung up the call.
Lin Zhihao asked, “No reaction from the Chu family?”
Chu Feng shook his head. “Nothing major, just a ton of calls. I think I’ll have to get a new SIM card.”
