Chapter 107: Big Moves for Mom and Dad’s Small Business

“Zhang Yang?” Song Wenqin came to her senses and looked at the figure before her.

After all, as a mother, she recognized him in an instant. This tall, handsome young man-wasn’t he her son?

“Not busy recently, just came back to visit. Oh, Mom, I haven’t eaten dinner yet.” Zhang Yang looked around the crowded shop-full of people, bustling.

“I’ll just go eat out then.”

“What are you talking about? My son comes back and hasn’t eaten a single bite?” Song Wenqin grabbed Zhang Yang and pulled him into the kitchen.

The girl who had been sitting at a table glanced at the departing figure, her mind echoing the boss lady’s words.

“This is a very ordinary boy?” she muttered to herself.

Such a tall, handsome young man, with thin lips and a straight nose-ordinary? Then what counts as truly handsome? Previously, she thought the boss seemed exaggerated, and the boss lady seemed honest. Today, she realized, the boss was being frank, while the boss lady was modest to the point of being almost subtle-bragging.

In the kitchen, Zhang Zhaohai was swinging his arms, cooking while wiping sweat with a towel.

“Old Zhang, take a look who’s back.”

“Who?!” Zhang Zhaohai turned while cooking, almost popping his eyes out when he saw Zhang Yang.

“My son!?”

“Old Zhang, make something quick for Zhang Yang-my son hasn’t eaten yet,” Song Wenqin said with a smile.

“Dad, you go ahead, I’ll just grab something myself,” Zhang Yang shook his head, not wanting to cause a fuss in the busy shop. “If not, I’ll just cook some noodles myself.”

“You just find a seat, son. I’ll get a couple more dishes ready-won’t take long,” Zhang Zhaohai said, already urging him to sit down.

Zhang Yang had no choice but to step out of the kitchen.

“Handsome, are you sitting here? Here, here!” Not far off, a girl waved desperately.

The seat across from her was empty, and Zhang Yang, without overthinking, went and sat down.

“Handsome, so you’re the son the boss praised to the skies. I see your parents have different opinions,” the girl said, smiling as she examined him.

“Ah?” Zhang Yang didn’t immediately react.

“The boss keeps praising you to the heavens, but the boss lady says you’re ordinary,” she said, lightly dabbing her mouth with a tissue. “I think the boss is more reliable.”

“Is that so?” Zhang Yang gave a casual, half-hearted response to this overly familiar girl.

“So, handsome, got a girlfriend? I can introduce my sister to you,” she asked, resting her chin on her hands, even trying to pull out her phone to show him a photo. “Our families are neighbors, after all.”

At that moment, Zhang Yang’s phone on the table lit up.

The girl glanced at it, saw a pretty girl’s avatar sending a message, and pursed her lips, setting the phone back down.

Of course, a guy that handsome wouldn’t be single.

She sat there awkwardly for a moment, then found an excuse to leave.

Zhang Yang didn’t notice; he took a moment to reply to Bei Wei. When he looked up, the seat across was empty, but Zhang Zhaohai appeared, placing a large bowl of noodles with toppings in front of him.

The aroma was irresistible.

“Hand-pulled noodles with pre-stewed tomato beef brisket. Eat up, son-I’ll get back to work,” Zhang Zhaohai said, leaving to continue in the kitchen.

The shop was busy; Zhang Yang didn’t expect his dad to sit down and chat. He started eating.

The tomato beef brisket noodles were perfect-firm noodles, tender beef-instant comfort in one bowl.

“Ah, that’s satisfying,” Zhang Yang breathed out.

While eating, he glanced at the menu.

All familiar home-style dishes, reasonably priced-no wonder business was booming.

After finishing, as the future heir of Haiqin Snack, Zhang Yang rolled up his sleeves to help.

“Boss lady, your son is really handsome,” one of the aunties helping in the shop exclaimed.

Song Wenqin felt proud, smiling widely.

The busy hours lasted until eight or nine o’clock before things finally quieted down.

“Have some tea,” Zhang Zhaohai said, sitting across from Zhang Yang with cups in hand.

Father and son enjoyed a moment of calm after the rush.

“What brings you back this time?” Zhang Zhaohai sipped tea, observing his son. Tall and handsome now-he looked entirely different from the last visit. Had he been taking some miracle medicine?

“Earned a bit, came back to help expand the shop,” Zhang Yang said briefly.

“‘A bit,’ you say-surely that’s a lot?” Zhang Zhaohai’s curiosity peeked.

“Not too bad,” Zhang Yang said, casually placing the Huawei gift from a development project on the table. “Here, Dad-try this first. I’ll get Mom one later.”

“Oh, perfect timing, I needed a new phone,” Zhang Zhaohai’s attention immediately shifted.

By ten, the shop was fully cleaned and the aunties had left.

The three of them walked toward a three-story small restaurant nearby.

“This one-the boss is the landlord. Newly renovated, never even opened, up for transfer. I checked-the owner had family issues, so he’s letting it go,” Zhang Zhaohai explained.

The restaurant wasn’t big, just a step up from a street-side snack shop, but for Haiqin Snack, it was a major leap.

“With a few aunties and cooks, our shop could really scale up!” Zhang Zhaohai’s eyes gleamed with ambition.

Zhang Yang just smiled, saying nothing.

The size of the restaurant didn’t matter-what mattered was giving his parents a sense of accomplishment, fulfilling their business dream. Profit was secondary, though if success came, it would be a pleasant bonus.

“Tomorrow, we’ll handle it all at once,” Zhang Yang said.

A moment later, the three walked to the Cayenne and headed home.

Late at night, the family returned home.

“Gold nest, silver nest-not as good as home,” Zhang Yang joked, earning a half-hour scolding from Song Wenqin.

“When the house is so tidy, you call it a dog’s nest?” she laughed. “Buy a villa first, then say that.”

Zhang Yang grumbled silently. Villas? Already prepared. Seven hundred square meters (~7,535 sq ft)—enough to live comfortably. Cleaning? Surely they’d hire help.

Late at night, Zhang Yang lay on freshly made sheets, fully relaxed.

The smell of sun-warmed air reached his nose.

It reminded him of his student days: early mornings, late nights finishing homework.

He’d disappointed his parents academically, but now, if he couldn’t make them proud through studies, he’d do it materially.

He chuckled, drifting off to sleep.

Early next morning, he saw his mother, Song Wenqin, busy in the kitchen.

Porridge, pancakes, pickles-all spread across the table.

Outside, his father in a tank top watered the plants leisurely.

After washing up, Zhang Yang was about to eat breakfast.

“Did Bei Wei not come back with you this time?” Song Wenqin asked casually.

“Mom, wait,” Zhang Yang said, knowing she would interrogate him. He quickly sent a video call.

Soon, Bei Wei appeared on the phone, fresh-faced and without makeup.

“Up yet?” Zhang Yang smiled at her.

“Just got up. Oh, are you having breakfast? What’s on the table?” Bei Wei asked.

“Look for yourself,” Zhang Yang showed the table, then placed the phone in front of Song Wenqin.

Mother and daughter saw each other across the distance, both slightly stunned.

“Zhang Yang! Your hair’s all messy this morning!” Song Wenqin laughed, touching her own hair and looking at the phone.

After a long time, the girl still looked obedient.

Bei Wei paused briefly, then responded sweetly.

“Auntie? Good morning,” she greeted.

“Good morning, Bei Wei. Have you eaten?” Song Wenqin smiled, unable to hide her amusement.

Zhang Yang quietly stepped back, eating breakfast while watching their awkward chat.

Despite the awkwardness, neither wanted to hang up first.

Eventually, as their conversation delved deeper, possibly exchanging WeChat contacts, Zhang Yang intervened.

“Okay, okay, she still has things to do.” He picked up the phone.

“Son, you’re really…” Song Wenqin pouted, half annoyed. “Bei Wei, go ahead with your things, we’ll talk later.”

“Alright, Auntie, talk next time,” Bei Wei waved cheerfully, clearly in a great mood.

Zhang Yang took the phone, said a few words to Bei Wei, and hung up.

Looking up, he noticed that his mother, Song Wenqin, had somehow gone out to the balcony.

He saw her talking and laughing with Zhang Zhaohai, whispering something at his ear, completely ignoring him as if he didn’t exist.

A little after eight in the morning, the three of them got into the car to handle the new restaurant.

Inside the three-story restaurant, Zhang Yang walked through every corner while outside, Zhang Zhaohai was negotiating the transfer with the owner.

The place was huge—three floors, eight hundred square meters (~8,611 sq ft), with private rooms and a large hall.

“All the equipment stays, you can take over and start operating immediately. Forty thousand for the transfer isn’t much, and the rent is fifteen thousand a month,” said the owner, lighting a cigarette, chatting casually with Zhang Zhaohai.

“Make it a little less. The renovations here are simple, I checked the equipment-it won’t cost much,” Zhang Zhaohai shook his head.

Song Wenqin chimed in from the side.

After a short while, they settled on a transfer fee plus one year’s rent, fifty thousand in total.

For Zhang Yang, the exact amount didn’t matter. After buying the villa, he still had over thirty-five million in cash. Even if he spent fifteen million on renovations, he’d have twenty million left.

Not to mention the daily hundred-thousand-yuan cashback.

But his parents were meticulous with money, so Zhang Yang let them handle the details.

This time, he contributed one million.

That sum would be enough for his parents to manage and improve the restaurant for a while.

Later-maybe in a few months, maybe by the end of the year-he would step in again to help push things forward.

With money and a good reputation, building a large hotel in Yinghai was, in Zhang Yang’s mind, purely a matter of time.

At noon, Haiqin Snack still had to operate.

Zhang Zhaohai and Song Wenqin had to go ahead and prepare, while Zhang Yang naturally had his own tasks.

The villa was purchased, so this visit meant handling the renovation properly.

He didn’t even consider the small company from yesterday’s business card. With a fifteen-million-yuan budget, he’d be crazy to hire a small firm-not even if it belonged to a classmate’s older brother.

Small companies couldn’t even get the first design step right.

In Yinghai, only a handful of the largest, most reputable renovation companies could meet his standards.

As for inflated prices or skimming profit-turning fifteen million into just a few million for themselves-that would need checking. It wasn’t that he didn’t want the company to earn, but they couldn’t go overboard.

“Let’s go to this one first,” Zhang Yang decided, glancing at the business card Su Xiao had given him yesterday.

He wasn’t visiting the company office.

Jade Estate Design already had a reputation in Yinghai for high-end work, specializing in luxury flats, villas, and other upscale residential projects.

Their quality was trustworthy.

Since Su Xiao mentioned Jade Estate Design had a project at Violet Gardens No. 1, he might as well see it on-site.

He quickly dialed the number on the card.

After a moment, the call connected, and Zhang Yang explained his purpose.

“Mr. Zhang, I happen to be at Violet Gardens No. 1 this morning. Are you available? I can meet you here,” came the voice of a soft-spoken woman, warm yet intelligent in tone.