Chapter Fifty-Three

  Originally, Ai Zi Qing set up a plan to get close to Guo Min Ting in order to resolve the troubles of the Xie family and make it easier for her to implement her own ideas. However, unexpectedly, she gained an unexpected joy - being recognized as Guo Min Ting's goddaughter, becoming Deng Xiao Bao's teacher, and through the young master of the Deng family, she can often maintain a relationship with the Deng family.

  After dinner at Deng's house, Guo Minting got up and put the bowls and chopsticks in the kitchen, while Ai Ziqing helped on the side.

  Deng Weilun sat on the sofa smoking, halfway through, he extinguished the cigarette butt, stood up with a smile and said to Ai Ziqing: "This old man used to be from the volunteer team, although now he is the director of the police department, but training has never been put down, how about it? Accompany Uncle Deng to practice?"

  The full formal name of the Flying Tigers is the American Volunteer Group.

  Ai Zi Qing heard this and lifted her head up.

  It's indeed a test for myself, if I don't put in the effort this time, then today's afternoon incident would be hard to explain. However, on second thought, if Deng Weilun doubted her because he judged that someone as young as her couldn't possibly have such skills...

  So this time, he was destined to be disappointed.

  Although it is unlikely to beat the former, the skill of being able to repel the Great Han is beyond doubt.

  "What's wrong with you today, Weilun?" Only a wife knows her husband best. Deng Weilun's repeated probing and strange behavior that was unlike his usual self had already filled Guo Minting with doubts.

  "Just itching for a fight, want to practice with the little guy, don't worry, won't hurt your precious goddaughter." Deng Weilun said with a smile, then headed towards the gym, Ai Ziqing looked at her 'godmother' and showed a relieved smile, following behind Deng Weilun into the gym.

  Deng Xiaobao blinked his big eyes, looked at the three strange people, saw that his mother was frowning with worry, and immediately put on a disdainful expression like a little adult, following Ai Ziying into the room.

  The gym is fully equipped, with everything you need, whether it's push-ups, treadmills, arm exercises, or sit-ups, all kinds of machines are available, and it can be seen that Director Deng also knows how to enjoy himself in his spare time.

  Until Ai Zi Qing and Deng Wei Lun took their positions and were ready, she was slightly distracted.

  I wonder what my past life self would be like at this age, probably worrying about monthly exams and heavy daily homework like all other students of the same age, instead of being in a high-end villa in West Kowloon, Hong Kong, competing with one of the six major heads of Hong Kong, the highest head of West Kowloon...

  Everything is so unbelievable and yet it's really happening.

  So it seems that fate is not really unchangeable after all...

  "Are you ready?" Deng Weilun's low voice brought Ai Ziqing back to her thoughts, and the former naturally found her spacing out earlier, so he started with a somewhat amused tone.

  Ai Zi Qing narrowed her eyes and nodded slightly with a serious expression.

  Both sides start at the same time and move forward simultaneously.

  "Wow." Deng Xiaobao stood beside the glass window, still holding his after-dinner snack, but when he saw the two people on the field exchanging attack and defense moves, his mouth suddenly opened wide.

  I'm increasingly admiring this sister who can actually fight with her own dad, thinking that in the future I must get along well with her, and it would be great to brag about it at school too.

  Deng Weilun couldn't help but admire Ai Ziqing's nimble movements as they exchanged blows.

  What is Deng Weilun's background? And after decades of training day in and day out, how can Ai Ziqing be his match?

  Deng Weilun caught Ai Ziqing's punch and swiftly countered, pinning the latter's arm behind their back in a standard grappling hold!

  Feeling a sharp pain in her arm, Ai Zi Qing knew that she couldn't break free with her own strength, so she quickly gave up trying to struggle and instead focused all her energy on kicking backwards, using offense as defense, forcing Deng Wei Lun to let go of her.

  As expected, Deng Weilun dodged it with his agility and could naturally see the strength of Ai Ziqing's kick. If he wasn't careful and got hit, he would have to take a few days off work to recover at home.

  Although Ai Zi Qing fought with great fanfare, she still lost after more than ten minutes, but this was not shameful.

  "Haha! Alright, the young will surpass the old! These kids are something else nowadays! I'm really getting old." Deng Weilun picked up a towel from beside him and wiped the sweat off his face. Although it was only a 10-odd minute workout, this girl's movements were clean and efficient, her speed was also shockingly fast, and she had truly made him expend a lot of energy.

  Ai Zi Qing also made a big effort this time, her purpose was to cater to Deng Wei Lun's taste and attract his attention.

  Although Deng Weilun is not in use at present, it's always good to have such a relationship.

  "How could that be? I think Uncle Deng is still sharp as ever." Ai Zi Qing smiled and took the mineral water handed over by Deng Xiao Bao, saying so while taking a sip.

  "You're already a godmother to Guo, how come I'm still Uncle Deng? Isn't this differential treatment? Haha!" Deng Weilun said with a hearty laugh, feeling extremely pleased for the first time in a long while.

  Ai Zi Qing heard this and her eyebrows curved into a smile, this ultimate big BOSS was taken down just like that.

  A smile spread across his face: "Uncle."

  "Oh! I have a sister too, hehe." Deng Xiaobao stepped forward and grabbed Ai Ziqing's hand, laughing and looking very happy.

  ……

  After returning from Deng's house, the sky was already late, Ai Zi Qing directly rushed to Xiang Ji roast goose shop. After a whole afternoon of running around, she began to lament that there was no means of transportation, and it was really inconvenient to do things.

  "Has Ziying returned? Has she eaten yet? Aiyao has packed everything, and later Yixiong will send you two back." Xiangyao's mother said with a smile as she saw Ai Ziying return.

  Because today is Sunday, Ai Zi Qing suddenly said she had to go out and take care of something, so there was no need to wait for her to have dinner. So when she came back a bit late, it wasn't strange. And because school starts tomorrow, Ai Zi Qing and Xiang Yao had to rush back to school today.

  "I've eaten, Auntie. Is Uncle Xiang at home? I'd like to talk to you both about something later." Ai Zi Qing replied.

  "In that case, I was watching TV at home and called him." Xiang Yao's mom saw Ai Zi Qing say this and also had some doubts, but still called out Xiang Yong Kang.

  After Yao's mom finished cleaning up the kitchen, she also came over and sat down. The two of them looked at Aizhen Qing with confusion: "Zhenqing, if you have something to say, just tell your Uncle Xiang directly. If we can help you, your Auntie and Uncle will definitely help."

  Ai Zi Qing thought for a moment before slowly opening her mouth to ask: "Xiang Ji's roast goose is very distinctive and has a great reputation, although the store is not big, but every day's sales have long been disproportionate to the store's size. But even so, why hasn't Xiang Shu's family's standard of living improved at all, and instead, they're barely scraping by? Has Xiang Shu ever thought about where the problem lies?"

  Xiang Yongkang and his wife were both stunned, not expecting Ai Ziqing to ask such a question. After thinking for a moment, he replied: "It's just those hoodlums bullying us, and on top of that, we have to pay them every month. To be honest, this money has long exceeded our family's daily expenses. If we save it..."

  Here is the translation:

  Mentioning this, Xiang Yongkang slightly shook his head and sighed. How could it be possible to save money? Nothing is easy to do, especially for these small-time traders who are at the bottom of society. These are all unwritten social rules that they have long been accustomed to, aren't they?

  "Has Mr. Xiang ever thought of expanding Xiang Ji? If it gets big, it will naturally break away from those thugs and become a unique and popular thing like Xiang Ji's roast goose. It would be a pity to hide in a corner." This is indeed Ai Zi Qing's inner words, and also the ultimate goal of her plan for the Deng family series of events.

  "Expansion?" Xiang Yongkang shook his head and smiled. It's not like you can just expand whenever you want to. Although he had been thinking about it for a long time, he didn't have any liquid assets on hand, so even if he wanted to rent another storefront, he wouldn't be able to come up with the money. So he had already given up on that idea. Besides, who knows what will happen to this roast goose shop in the future...

  So Yung-Kang continued: "Zi-Qing just said that, the current state of our restaurant is barely scraping by to cover daily expenses. Uncle doesn't have any money to expand the business. If we were to borrow from relatives..." At this point, Yung-Kang shook his head in frustration. He insisted that as long as his roast goose got a chance, it would shine through eventually. It's not like he hadn't brought up this matter with his relatives before, but whenever he mentioned borrowing money, they all avoided him.

  "Uncle Xiang, my main purpose in telling you these things today is actually that I want to cooperate with you."

  Ai Zi Qing revealed her true intentions.

  Xiang Yongkang and his wife were both stunned, "Cooperation?"

  "Yes, I intentionally want to develop Hei Yuet Lau into a chain store model. First, we'll open branches in Hong Kong. If the results are good, I plan to expand it to mainland China and change it to a franchise model with independent operations." said Ai Ziqing with a smile.

  "What?" The Xie couple had already begun to be at a loss, and they couldn't quite understand what Aizi Qing was saying.

  "To put it bluntly, I'll provide the funds and Uncle Xiang will provide the technology. We'll expand the storefront and split the profits 50/50 later on. But Uncle Xiang can rest assured that he doesn't need to share his secret recipe, just provide the technical expertise." Ai Zi Qing said as much.

  This time, Mr. and Mrs. Xiang finally understood, and after being surprised, they muttered: "This is not a small sum of money..."

  Ai Zi Qing took out a check that had already been prepared and placed it on the table.

  Yongkang hesitated and picked up the check, seeing a string of zeros on it, his mind was a bit dizzy...

  "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6!" Six zeros!

  "One... one million?" Xiang Yongkang took a deep breath, his hands holding the check already trembling slightly. He still couldn't quite believe it.

  "This million can be used as an initial investment to expand the store and purchase machinery and equipment for processing seasonings. If we receive a good response, we can gradually expand our scale later." Ai Zi Qing nodded slightly.

  "What's this about machinery and equipment for processing seasonings?" Yuxiang's mom grasped onto this sentence, asking in confusion.

  "After all, it's a chain store, so how to distribute the secret formula seasonings to various places has become a problem. I think we can make packaged seasonings or semi-finished products, like instant noodles, although they may be slightly less effective, but this is also an unavoidable measure, better than nothing, and we'll try our best."

  What she said is right, in the future if there are many branches, Xiang Yongkang will naturally not be able to personally go to each store to cook the sauce for roast goose, so this method is the only way. Moreover, Xiang's roast goose is not only a secret recipe, but also its cooking method is very unique, which requires Xiang Yongkang to pass on his cooking skills, however, this is not a big deal, after all, if you want to do it big, this is the only way.

  Xiang Yongkang was very moved by Ai Ziqing's proposal, but thinking of Old Wu... He could only slightly shake his head and sincerely apologize:

  "Zi Qing, I don't know what your background is or where you got so much money from, but your proposal is indeed very good. Uncle Xiang also hopes to get such a development opportunity. However...to be honest with you, some days ago, a Mr. Wu came to find me and wanted to buy our secret recipe for Item Restaurant with money. He's a wealthy and powerful person, if we offend him, well...we won't be able to stay in Xi Jiu Long anymore."

  Ai Zi Qing heard this and didn't show the disappointed expression that Xiang Yong Kang had expected, but instead smiled confidently and said: "I won't hide it from Uncle Xiang either, last night when I got up to go to the bathroom, I overheard Uncle Xiang and Auntie's conversation. So today I've already taken care of things, I guarantee that Old Wu will absolutely not mention buying out Xiang's secret recipe again, and there's even a possibility he'll come knocking on our door to apologize."

  Ai Zi Qing knew that Wu Lao San, relying on his identity as Deng Wei Lun's maternal uncle, was making a fortune in Hong Kong. He wasn't swindling people, but he wasn't doing much better either. If this time he had been warned by Deng Wei Lun, how could he not be anxious?

  So he has to swallow his pride and come over to apologize, even if it's just for Deng Weilun.

  As for whether she would bother to find an itemized bill later on, Ai Zi Qing had already made arrangements.

  "Is Old Wu coming to apologize?" The couple, Xiang Yongkang and his wife, were shocked, then shook their heads in disbelief. How could this be possible? What kind of connections and relationships did Zi Qing have that would make Old Wu come to apologize?

  "Uncle Xiang, I won't say more about that. As for Wu Lao San's side, the truth will come out in these two days. You can make a decision then." Ai Zi Qing shook her head and smiled as she said this.

  Xiang Yongkang hesitated slightly upon hearing this, today's words have already shown that Ai Ziqing is not simple, and cooperating with her undoubtedly gives Xiangji a chance to develop, if it's really as she said, Wu Lao San won't bother himself again... So Ai Ziqing undoubtedly pulled them back from the brink of disaster!

  Only to see Xiang Yongkang ponder for a moment, as if he had made some major decision, and then said: "If Wu Lao San really doesn't buy out the Xiang's secret recipe this time, Zi Qing, your uncle Xiang is not someone who doesn't understand reason. Your proposal I agree to, and the roast goose secret recipe I am also willing to take out and share with you. After all, it's much better than being bought out by Wu Lao San, Uncle Xiang trusts you."

  Ai Zi Qing heard this, her eyes curved slightly. This was within her expectations, but if Xiang Yong Kang didn't decide to share the secret recipe when he arrived, she wouldn't force him either. After all, besides smelling a lucrative opportunity, it also wasn't without the intention of helping the Xiang family.

  So Aizi Qing accepted with pleasure.