Chapter 61 I Am Not a Child

"Oh, Jianghai, why are you here? Is the director's air conditioner fixed?"

Seeing Chen Jianghai at the security lodge, Lin Wanqiu asked with a hint of surprise.

"Hehe, it was done ages ago. I don't have much going on today, so I thought I'd take you out for lunch."

Chen Jianghai said with a smile.

"There's no need for that, I can just eat at the cafeteria!"

Lin Wanqiu waved her hands repeatedly.

"Come on, since I'm already here."

Giving her no room to argue, Chen Jianghai grabbed his wife and gently pushed her toward his bicycle.

He figured he would take this opportunity to treat Lin Wanqiu to a better meal, and steal a bit of leisure for himself.

Sitting on the bicycle, holding onto Chen Jianghai's waist, and resting her face against his back, Lin Wanqiu felt a sweet warmth blooming in her heart.

"Chen Jianghai, where are we actually going?"

Along the way, Lin Wanqiu couldn't help asking.

"Oh, we're going to pick up Changgui on the way. He's still at the warehouse!"

Chen Jianghai replied casually.

"Mm!"

Lin Wanqiu nodded. He had already told her yesterday about Zhao Changgui following him to help out.

Pedaling the bike with Lin Wanqiu behind him, Chen Jianghai arrived leisurely at the warehouse and spotted Zhao Changgui sitting by the entrance from afar.

Only then did it occur to him that Zhao Changgui probably didn't know he had gone to fix appliances and must have been waiting here since morning.

It looked like he really needed to get a spare key made for him.

Otherwise, with that stubborn and loyal mindset of his, he would have just sat there waiting until evening.

"Changgui, have you eaten yet?" Chen Jianghai waved and asked.

Zhao Changgui shook his head. "Not yet."

"Let's go, time to eat. Bring your sister along too," Chen Jianghai said.

Zhao Changgui glanced at Lin Wanqiu on the back of the bicycle and quickly declined, "No, no need. She cooks for herself at home. I can just go back and eat later."

"Come on, don't I know what you eat every day? Your sister is still growing, she can't be going hungry. I'll wait for you at that small diner over there, hurry up and ride over to fetch her."

With that, Chen Jianghai motioned for Lin Wanqiu to get off and handed the bicycle over to Zhao Changgui.

Zhao Changgui looked at Chen Jianghai, said nothing more, mounted the bike, and rode off.

Arriving at the small diner at the mouth of the alley, Chen Jianghai found a table by the window, handed Lin Wanqiu a bottle of iced soda, and then picked up the menu to skillfully order several substantial dishes.

Watching the dishes he ordered, Lin Wanqiu felt it was a bit extravagant, but ultimately decided not to say anything.

When Zhao Changgui arrived with Zhao Yuxi in tow, Chen Jianghai raised his hand and called out, "Boss, bring out the food!"

"Coming right up!" the chef shouted back and busily got to work.

Seeing Chen Jianghai there, Zhao Yuxi was clearly overjoyed. "Brother Jianghai, my brother said you told me to stay at the warehouse to read and study?"

"Mm! You're home alone, and your brother worries." Chen Jianghai smiled and nodded.

"Thank you, Brother Jianghai." Zhao Yuxi beamed brightly.

Chen Jianghai waved his hand, greeting the siblings, "Let's eat!"

Only at this moment did Zhao Yuxi seem to notice Lin Wanqiu sitting beside Chen Jianghai.

The instant she saw her, the smile on Zhao Yuxi's face stiffened slightly.

However, she quickly recovered and sweetly greeted, "Hello, Sister-in-law."

Lin Wanqiu clearly knew about Zhao Yuxi as well and smiled, nodding back, "Hello."

After the four of them were seated, the atmosphere suddenly turned somewhat awkward.

Fortunately, the restaurant owner cooked with great efficiency. Seeing that all the guests had arrived, the dishes were served one after another.

One had to admit, there was a good reason why Zhao Changgui possessed such a sturdy build.

Chen Jianghai and Lin Wanqiu stared in absolute astonishment at Zhao Changgui.

To be fair, this was already his third bowl of rice.

Embarrassed, Zhao Yuxi couldn't help reaching out to tug at Zhao Changgui's sleeve. "Brother, eat a little less. Aren't you just making Brother Jianghai and Sister-in-law Wanqiu laugh at you?"

Hearing Zhao Yuxi say this, Chen Jianghai was about to say it was fine, but Zhao Changgui spoke up first.

"Your Brother Chen isn't an outsider, what's there to laugh at? You've got to be full to have the strength to work."

With that, Zhao Changgui helped himself to another full bowl, pressing the rice down firmly with the ladle.

Beside them, Lin Wanqiu almost burst out laughing.

Of course, as far as Chen Jianghai was concerned, it didn't matter how much he ate.

To secure a good helper like Zhao Changgui, what was the cost of a mere meal?

Chen Jianghai picked up a piece of white-cut chicken for Lin Wanqiu, then turned to look at the ravenous Zhao Changgui and asked, "Changgui, did you buy the things I asked you to get yesterday?"

"I've already bought them. I'll move them over later," Zhao Changgui said vaguely without lifting his head.

Zhao Yuxi frowned. "Brother, there's no need to buy those things, it's a waste of money."

"What do you kids know? If you try to save money now, you'll be crying when you have to wear glasses later," Chen Jianghai laughed.

Lin Wanqiu remained silent, quickly nodding in agreement.

Pouting, Zhao Yuxi muttered softly, "I'm not a kid, I'm already in high school, I'll be an adult soon."

"In my eyes, you're still just a little girl," Chen Jianghai chuckled, shaking his head as he couldn't resist teasing her.

Zhao Yuxi was instantly infuriated. "Brother, Sister-in-law, Brother Jianghai is bullying me."

"You can't win an argument against him. Even your brother here is no match for him," Zhao Changgui dropped that remark and went back to burying his face in his food.

Lin Wanqiu responded with an amused smile.

A huffy Zhao Yuxi glared at Chen Jianghai and declared, "Hmph, I'm ignoring you."

Chen Jianghai watched this scene with a warm smile.

Teasing kids, especially pretty young girls, was still quite entertaining.

After the meal, Lin Wanqiu went back to work, while Chen Jianghai headed to the warehouse to busy himself with assembling televisions.

As for Zhao Changgui, he took Zhao Yuxi home for a trip and moved everything they had bought that morning over to the warehouse.

Afterward, Chen Jianghai produced a key and told Zhao Changgui to go get a duplicate made so he wouldn't have to wait outside for him in the future.

"Don't worry, Brother Chen. With me here, not a single screw from this warehouse will ever go missing!"

Seeing how much Chen Jianghai trusted him, Zhao Changgui said in his booming, earnest voice.

...

August 22nd. A week passed in the blink of an eye, and Chen Jianghai had been so busy these past few days that he barely had time to rest.

Fang Aiguo and Zhao Changgui had already begun hauling goods in batches from Brother Qiang's place.

The small warehouse Chen Jianghai rented was already packed to the brim.

Aside from the study area used by Zhao Yuxi, there wasn't even enough space left to set a foot down anywhere else.

The idea of renting a proper storefront on Pozi Street grew stronger and stronger in Chen Jianghai's mind.

Alas, he simply didn't have the time to handle it right now and could only ask Fang Aiguo to keep a sharper lookout.

Fang Aiguo had recommended a few locations to Chen Jianghai over the past few days, but unfortunately, none of them satisfied him.

As the saying goes, men fear fame just as pigs fear fattening.

Right now, Chen Jianghai's appliance repair business was booming so successfully that it made people green with envy. The moment they heard he wanted to rent a shop, some greedy landlords opened their mouths sky-high, treating Chen Jianghai like a rich sucker. Others had spaces that were far too small to be useful, or were simply located way out in the sticks...