Chapter 197: A Mother’s Love Knows No Bounds

The 23rd day of the 12th lunar month was the temple fair at Mount Wu’an.

Vendors and fairgoers occupied half the mountain in a boisterous crowd while the open area at the foot of the mountain was filled with all sorts of private cars.

As the Lunar New Year approached, the festive atmosphere intensified with red seen everywhere.

Combined with the pure white snow from a few days ago, the red and white contrasted beautifully on the mountain creating a stunning sight.

Yang Jianguo specially requested a booth at this temple fair, displaying the Yang’s signboard in order to align with Jiang Qin’s philosophy of rapidly increasing brand influence in Jizhou.

It was a well-known fact that temple fairs attracted immense foot traffic, equivalent to exhibitions or food festivals, drawing crowds not only from Jizhou but also nearby cities coming to join in the lively event.

To attract new customers and gain more public visibility, having a presence at high-traffic locations was a crucial step.

However, Yang Jianguo was now a small business owner currently preparing to open a fifth branch so he had no time to manage the temple fair matters. Naturally, this responsibility fell on the shoulders of the young master of mutton soup, Yang Shu’an.

“Dad, I don’t want to go. I’m sure to run into many old classmates at the temple fair.”

Yang Shu’an expressed his reluctance.

“What’s the problem? Are you embarrassed to sell mutton soup? I supported your education by selling this soup bowl by bowl. Don’t be ungrateful!”

Yang Jianguo turned around and glared at him.

“It’s not that I think it’s embarrassing. I just don’t want to greet people but it would be awkward to pretend not to see acquaintances.”

Yang Jianguo smacked him on the head, “You little brat, this is our family business. If you don’t take care of it, who will? I’m telling you, when you get there, behave yourself and listen to your uncle. Do whatever he tells you to do.”

Yang Shu’an’s eyes widened instantly, “Ah? My uncle is going too?”

“Of course, the idea to participate in the temple fair was his suggestion. Just follow your uncle and learn well from him.”

For some reason, upon hearing this, Yang Shu’an immediately stood up straighter feeling that with Jiang Qin’s involvement, the whole affair suddenly became much more high-class.

It was as if selling mutton soup by himself was just part-time work but selling mutton soup with Jiang Qin became real business.

Not to mention that summer after the college entrance exam when Jiang Qin took Guo Zihang to sell lunch boxes. They were mocked by their classmates for half a month but looking at it now, it had become a celebrated story, frequently mentioned with people exclaiming how awesome Jiang Qin was.

That’s right, I, Yang Shu’an, am going to do business with my uncle!

Having figured this out, Yang Shu’an no longer hesitated. He packed his things and got into his dad’s car.

At the same time, Jiang Qin also got up very early. After washing up and getting dressed, he planned to head out.

He had gotten used to the rhythm of doing business and couldn’t sit still even during a holiday.

Last night, he had just finished listening to Wei Lanlan’s work report, researched Dong Wenhao’s topic selection for after the new year, and discussed optimization directions with Su Nai. Today, he was off to the temple fair. Life was unbelievably fulfilling.

“Mom, I’m not going to the library today. Going to the temple fair at Mount Wu’an instead.”

“Go, go and have fun! Come back home after you’ve had your fill of fun!” Yuan Youqin urged.

Feeling his mother’s love, Jiang Qin nodded as he left. He drove to pick up the little rich girl, then met up with Guo Zihang at the next intersection.

Old Guo had been bored out of his mind at home the past few days. Plus, he came home late because of a conveyor belt issue and wasn’t treated well. As soon as he received Jiang Qin’s summons, he huffed and puffed his way over immediately.

“Godfather, Miss Feng, good morning.”

“Old Guo, buckle your seatbelt. We’re going to Mount Wu’an today to help out at Yang Shu’an’s family mutton soup stall.”

Jiang Qin instructed as he stepped on the accelerator, taking the two on a bumpy ride until they finally arrived at the foot of Mount Wu’an.

It was still early morning. Large soup vats were billowing with white mist. Several people were already sitting in front of Yang Shu’an’s stall, drinking hot mutton soup to ward off the winter chill.

To the side, a large PVC board stood erect with the locations of Yang’s Mutton Soup Restaurant’s various branches written on it, looking quite eye-catching.

Jiang Qin parked the car at the foot of the mountain, took the little rich girl’s hand, beckoned to Guo Zihang, and the three of them stepped onto the mountain, finally arriving in front of Yang Shu’an’s stall.

“Uncle, you’re here?”

“Oh, my auntie is here too? Welcome, welcome!”

Yang Shu’an immediately brought over a folding stool and handed it over, his enthusiasm resembling that of a bootlicker.

Jiang Qin frowned, thinking to himself, what’s with this guy, addicted to red envelopes or something? Damn, always forcefully playing matchmaker, calling people uncle and auntie. Don’t you know you already missed out on uncle’s big red envelope?

“You guys stand here for a bit first. I’m going to check out the neighboring stalls.”

Jiang Qin glanced to the side and turned to walk over to the adjacent stall. Cigarette in hand, he started chatting with the stall owner.

The Mount Wu’an temple fair had started the day before yesterday and would last for five days. They were considered to have come relatively late. The vendors who had already set up stalls would have a lot of experience. A cigarette didn’t cost much and it was good to gather some intel first.

Meanwhile, Guo Zihang pulled Yang Shu’an to the side and lowered his voice, “Old Yang, didn’t you feel any psychological burden just now?”

“What psychological burden?” Yang Shu’an looked confused.

“It’s one thing for me to call Jiang Qin godfather but I really can’t bring myself to call Miss Feng godmother. How are you so natural about it?”

Yang Shu’an patted Guo Zihang’s shoulder and spoke with heartfelt sincerity, “Old Guo, don’t have so much idol baggage. Try calling her that once. There’s a red envelope involved, super worth it.”

“…”

Guo Zihang took a deep breath. After much hesitation, he made a major decision.

By this time, Jiang Qin had finished chatting with the guy selling beef noodles next door, having asked about the peak customer flow times. When he came back, Feng Nanshu had already taken out her wallet and handed Guo Zihang a crisp hundred yuan bill.

“?”

Jiang Qin looked at them in bewilderment, thinking to himself, what the hell are they up to?

After a while, the sun slowly rose from behind the mountain, morning light spilling everywhere as the temperature gradually began to rise. The number of people coming to the temple fair also started increasing wave after wave.

Just as Yang Shu’an said, there were indeed quite a few old classmates who came to the fair. Those he was close with, those whose names he could remember, those whose faces he recognized but couldn’t name – they all successively appeared among the crowd.

After all, it was winter break. The college students had been away from home for half a year, seen the world outside, and were going wild after returning home. An occasion like this where it was easy to run into old classmates was not to be missed.

Style their hair like adults, put on fashionable outfits, happily catch up with old classmates for a bit when encountering them – isn’t that great?

In fact, many people came with the mentality of showing off, wanting to put on airs in a smooth and comfortable way.

But whenever someone walked over to the Yang’s Mutton Soup stall and saw the quietly elegant Feng Nanshu standing there obediently, her eyes always following Jiang Qin, they couldn’t help exclaiming “Holy shit!”, their heads tilting back, instantly feeling they had been slapped in the face.

“Am I seeing things? Feng Nanshu?”

“You’re not seeing things. It’s the world that’s wrong.”

“Why would Feng Nanshu be standing behind Yang Shu’an’s family’s stall? Are they relatives?”

“Didn’t you see Jiang Qin? Last summer, Yang Shu’an mentioned in the group chat that Jiang Qin invested in his family’s mutton soup restaurant.”

“You mean to say Feng Nanshu came with Jiang Qin?”

“Mm.”

“Damn, so it turns out the world isn’t wrong, the world has gone mad…”

“Could it be the rumor that spread during the National Day holiday is true?”

Back then, there was a guy in Senior Class 1 called Lu Chao who was very good at playing CrossFire. He liked Yu Shasha from Class 2. During the National Day holiday, he went around like a madman telling people that Feng Nanshu and Jiang Qin were dating but many people didn’t believe it.

You’ve got to be kidding. That’s Feng Nanshu we’re talking about.

So cold and unapproachable that she doesn’t even like talking to others. Many people who wanted to pursue her didn’t even have the courage to strike up a conversation. Some even wrote love letters but didn’t dare to give them to her.

Who could win her over?

Who could make the cool and frosty her curious about love?

Who could make her willingly turn into a cute girl?

No one. And if there was no one, how could she possibly be in a relationship?

But now, everyone saw her standing next to Jiang Qin, looking obedient. The sense of incongruity woven from this reality and fantasy was unbelievably intense.

Feng Nanshu not being in a relationship was reality for most people. Feng Nanshu obediently following a boy around was fucking fantasy.

However, everything was reversed now. The fantastical scene forcibly merged into reality, causing quite a few people to grit their teeth.

But people who had been drenched in rain didn’t want to hold an umbrella for others. After recovering for a bit, they pretended as if nothing had happened. When encountering the next old classmate, they enthusiastically invited them to go check out the mutton soup stall, even falsely claiming there was something good there.

How do I put this?

It was as if there was an auto-aiming water gun at Yang Shu’an’s stall that could quickly identify old classmates from the bustling crowd with pinpoint accuracy.

Spray one when one comes, spray another when another comes. It was enough to shatter one’s state of mind.

You have to know, Feng Nanshu was the campus belle of South City High for three years. Of course she had countless secret admirers.

“Did you guys see Feng Nanshu just now?”

“I saw. At Yang Shu’an’s family mutton soup stall, together with Jiang Qin. She seems even prettier than in high school.”

“Damn, this scene is a bit too unreal. Why does Feng Nanshu like Jiang Qin?”

“Who knows.”

“You’re studying in another city so you may not know, but Jiang Qin is now an entrepreneurial star in Linchuan. The type that’s been featured in the Youth Daily. Apparently his net worth is already in the millions.”

“????”

“It’s true. The campus forum we use now was made by him. He also developed a group-buy website that supposedly has a daily transaction volume of thirty to forty thousand yuan.”

Behind the small square table at the mutton soup stall, Yang Shu’an’s heart was blossoming with joy, his chest muscles nearly bursting open the zipper of his down jacket as he thrust out his chest mightily.

Doing business with uncle, now that’s fucking face.

Jiang Qin also pursed his lips, continuously making tsk tsk sounds.

For some reason, just sitting here without saying anything or even making any expressions, the comment section in his mind was filled with satisfaction. Magical as fuck.