Volume 5: The Age of Storms Chapter 0624 Ruan Mei's saliva bag
Nan Yi picked up Ruan Mei on the high street. After getting in the car, Ruan Mei touched and touched everything inside the car. After touching everything, she timidly asked, "Young man, your car is very expensive, right?"
"What did you say?" Nan Yi asked, pretending not to hear.
Ruan Mei repeated: "I said, is your car very expensive?"
Nan Yi looked into Ruan Mei's eyes seriously and said formally, "Sister, please don't ask me this question again. This question is not a good one. If you ask me this, it will make me doubt whether I am going bankrupt."
Ruan Mei tilted her head and shook it, "I don't understand."
"No matter how expensive a car is, if I need to care about the price of this car, then my situation must be very bad."
“I still don’t understand.”
Ruan Mei shook her head again, her eyes becoming blurry.
"Forget it, it's okay if I don't understand." Nan Yi changed the subject and said, "Just now you said on the phone that you had something to tell me. What is it? Can you tell me now?"
"Oh." Ruan Mei nodded cutely, a hint of excitement on her face, "Yesterday I met a talent scout on the street, he wanted to sign a contract with me so that I can become an actor and release a record."
As she spoke, the excitement on Ruan Mei's face disappeared, and was replaced by frustration. "But my mom objects. She wants me to continue studying."
"Studying is good. When you graduate from university, go find a job in a company in Central, enjoy the air-conditioning in an office, get a good salary, and look respectable."
"I don't want to be a white-collar worker. I want to be a singer, or..." Ruan Mei thought for a moment and added, "I can also be a disc jockey."
"Be a singer, school beauty, look for the CD of Kashiwahara Yoshie's "The Most Beloved" in the car."
"Young man, do you also like to listen to "The Favorite"?"
"Well, I prefer to listen to Nakajima Akie's version."
The school beauty hasn't found the CD yet, but Ruan Mei started humming in Japanese. Her pronunciation didn't sound very standard, and the unclear enunciation was almost exactly the same as in Kashiwahara Yoshie's record. It can be heard that Ruan Mei should have learned it word by word from the record, and she doesn't understand Japanese.
After she finished singing, Ruan Mei asked, "Did I sing well?"
"The voice is good, but the Japanese is terrible." Nan Yi replied, and then said to the school beauty: "Forget it if you can't find it, go to Donglaiwu."
"I don't know Japanese. I learned it from records." Ruan Mei said, and her cheeks turned red for a moment.
Nan Yi asked again: "Do you really like singing?"
"Yes, I really love singing." Ruan Mei nodded.
Nan Yi thought about it and said, "Since you like it, I'll think of a way for you."
"Really?" Ruan Mei asked expectantly.
"Fake."
"No, it must be true." Ruan Mei hugged Nan Yi's hand and said, "I'm hungry. I came out in a hurry just now. I haven't had lunch yet."
"What do you want to eat?"
"Hmm..." Ruan Mei thought for a moment and said, "Come and sit down if you have time. I want to eat pineapple buns with three pieces of butter in them, Portuguese egg tarts, and fish balls. The curry sauce there is especially delicious, and the fish balls are also made by themselves, unlike the vendors outside who all buy them wholesale, and the taste is almost the same. And Nam Kee milk tea is also delicious, and the price is not expensive."
After Liang Huiwen got hold of Dexianlaizuo, he opened many branches based on the original one. However, he stopped expanding after 12 stores and focused his energy on deepening his internal strength.
The raw materials come from Shennong Nanliang, rice and flour are provided by Houji Agriculture, meat is provided by Nuwa Animal Husbandry, fruit is provided by Wangmu Fruit Industry, tea is provided by Lu Yu Tea Industry, fish and seafood are provided by Jiang Shang Fishery, and Baoguo Rice Hub also provides a variety of fine rice.
The raw materials used at Dexianlaizuo are not only cheaper than those used in other tea restaurants, but also of much higher quality .
In addition, we recruited a large number of skilled chefs with unique skills from outside. They would receive profit dividends as soon as they started working. With the increase of contribution and years of working, the dividends would have the opportunity to increase twice a year, once in the middle of the year and once at the end of the year.
With good raw materials, dishes that are deeply explored and carefully prepared, and affordable prices, it is natural that De Xian Lai Zuo's business cannot be bad. Each store has a daily turnover of more than 7,000 Hong Kong dollars, and stores in good locations can exceed 14,000 a day, with a total annual turnover of more than 50 million.
However, the net profit is not high. At the end of each year, Dexianlaizu's net profit is less than 20%. This is the result of Shennong Nan's concession to Dexianlaizu. Nearly 10% of the profit actually belongs to Shennong Nan.
An annual income of 5 million is certainly not enough for Nan Yi. In fact, Dexianlaizu has already been registered with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and will be listed in October.
"Okay, let's go to the one in Central."
"It's in Central. It's the flagship store. The prices there are more expensive than other stores, but I heard that the food there tastes better than other stores."
"The chefs' skills are about the same, but the Central restaurant has more and better ingredients and a richer menu."
"Do you go there often?" Ruan Mei asked.
“Never once.”
"Then how do you know so clearly?"
"It's my shop, of course I know it." Nan Yi said with a chuckle.
"Really? It's your store." Ruan Mei exclaimed, and said, "Then give me a membership card. Members who have time to come here can drink a cup of special milk tea for free every week. I've wanted to drink that milk tea for a long time, but it's not sold in the store at all."
"Okay, I'll get two tickets for you later. Not only can you drink free milk tea, but you can also eat anything for free. Take one and give it to your aunt."
"Give it to my mommy, that's not good." Ruan Mei said, biting her lip.
"Silly girl, do you think you can hide our relationship from your aunt?" Nan Yi stroked Ruan Mei's face and said with a smile.
Although Ruan's mother had not seen much of the world, she still understood the ways of the world. Whether it was the gifts she gave to the Ruan family, or Ruan Mei's medical expenses and the expenses for Ruan Mei's trip to the capital, all of these were paid by Nan Yi. To Ruan's mother, Nan Yi's ill intentions towards her daughter were obvious to her.
Since she didn't say anything to Ruan Mei, nor did she talk to Nan Yi, this means that Ruan's mother tacitly acknowledged their relationship. In other words, Ruan's mother is almost equivalent to Nan Yi's mother-in-law, and Nan Yi has to know how to behave.
"I know my mom knows about us, but I..."
Ruan Mei hesitated for a moment and didn't say anything else, but Nan Yi understood her ostrich mentality. As a human being, there will always be those stupid moments when they cover their heads with the quilt and pretend it is dark.
"Little fool, you don't have to do this. I'll do it."
Nan Yi pinched Ruan Mei's salivary glands; they were plump and felt very good.
Ruan Mei slapped Nan Yi's hand away and said resentfully, "Oh, don't pinch it. The more you pinch it, the bigger it gets. It doesn't look good anymore."
"You think you're good-looking?"
"Isn't it pretty? If I'm not pretty, why do you like me?" Ruan Mei rubbed her cheeks with both hands and stuck out her tongue.
"I've seen too many beautiful ones, so I'll take a look at your ugly one to change things up." Nan Yi said pretending to be serious.
"Am I really not good-looking?"
Nan Yi spoke so seriously that Ruan Mei couldn't help but doubt herself.
It was only in the past two years that Ruan Mei gained the awareness and confidence that she was beautiful. In the previous two years, she didn't dare to think that she was beautiful at all. When Ruan Mei was Nan Ruoyin's piano teacher, the baby fat on her face was even more obvious. It was not an exaggeration to say that she was a little fat girl.
Earlier, Ruan Mei was even very self-conscious about her appearance. When she was in kindergarten, she needed to change into stage costumes for a performance, but other classmates could wear them, but she couldn't because she was too fat.
"Haha, okay, stop imagining. You are very beautiful now, and you will be even more beautiful in the future." Nan Yi grabbed Ruan Mei's saliva bag again and said, "In a few years, your saliva bag will disappear."
"Really?"
"Yes, don't worry, little fool."
"That's good. Will my face be prettier if it gets thinner?"
"Does it matter?" Nan Yi poked Ruan Mei's forehead. "You already have the word 'Nan' carved on you. I think you look very beautiful like this. So, it doesn't matter whether you lose weight or not."
"No, I want everyone to think I'm beautiful."
Nan Yi shook his head and said, "Haha, women's vanity, ah, no, it should be called girls' vanity."
"What woman doesn't like to be beautiful?"
"Yes." Nan Yi responded and said, "I'll go to the hospital with you this afternoon and let the doctor check you again. You've been resting for a year, so you should be almost well. It's time for you to go back to school."
"Well, can't I just not go to school?" Ruan Mei frowned.
"No, no matter what you want to do in the future, be it a singer, a star, or a disc jockey, as long as you want to be my woman, you have to continue studying, go back to school to study in Form 7 or Form 6, prepare for the university entrance exam, try to do it on your own, if you really can't pass, I will send you to study abroad."
"Doesn't that mean I still have to study for another four years?"
"Four years is not enough, at least six years, at least a postgraduate degree, preferably a doctorate. Think about it, when you have a doctorate and release an album, your fans will look up to you."
"Six years..." Ruan Mei hesitated for a while and asked, "What should I study then?"
"Piano, dance, painting, whatever you like, you can study it. Even if you want to study chemistry or mechanics, that's fine."
"Can I study music?"
"Sure, as long as you like."
Ruan Mei laughed and said, "Then I will study music."
"Study music... Sure. I'll discuss it with my aunt some other day. If she agrees, I'll discuss with you where you should go to college."
As soon as Ruan Mei mentioned studying music, Nan Yi had an idea of Ruan Mei's study path in his mind - first debut with one or two movies to establish her fame, and then go to a music college in the mainland to study for two years.
With these three labels, namely, returnee, fellow Hong Konger, and famous actor, it is easy for him to go to the mainland to study.
Study in the mainland for two years and then go abroad to study.
While studying abroad, she can also shoot a movie starring a female lead in Hollywood, and try to win a Grammy Award. After graduation, she will return to Hong Kong to develop and actively participate in the filming of film and television dramas in mainland China. With this routine, Ruan Mei's life is basically stable.
Throughout the entire process, except for Grammy, which is uncontrollable, Nan Yi can do everything else easily.
Nan Yi thought about it and thought that Ruan Mei could just catch up with "Investiture of the Gods". If she couldn't play Daji, she could play Shang Qingjun [Ji Fa's queen]. A big-name star was willing to play a supporting role for the sake of a work, and then say something like "the mainland is the mother, and Xiangxun is the wanderer who longs to return home". Wow, the mainland newspapers would praise her to bits.
Unfortunately, it didn't make it in time for Taiwan to ban it.
"Will Mommy agree to let me study music?"
"Why don't you agree?" Nan Yi asked back, and then patted Ruan Mei's hand and said, "Don't worry, I can think of what your aunt is thinking and what she is worried about, and I will definitely help you to convince her."
"Well, I'll listen to you then."
"We're here. Let's fill our stomachs first. I'll take you to meet someone later." Nan Yi looked out the window and could already see the sign that said Come and sit down if you have time.
