Chapter 1614: Aiming to Be the Duck King

Qi Tu Zhiqiang lay in bed, unavoidably reeking of shit and urine.

He grinned broadly: "Wang Yan, am I done for?"

"Dad, what nonsense are you spouting? You've got plenty of life left in you," Qi Weimin said, feigning displeasure. "We just need to live well; we're still waiting to hold our grandchildren."

"I'm tired, and I've had enough. I suffer, and you all suffer too," Qi Tu Zhiqiang said. "I've caused you no end of trouble these past few years."

"Ah, Uncle, we're all one family; don't speak as if we were two. What trouble is there? I'll prescribe another dose of medicine for you; it should make you feel lighter these few days."

When Wang Yan spoke these words, everyone else fell silent...

Patting Qi Tu Zhiqiang's hand that gripped his own, Wang Yan stood up, went outside, and wrote the final prescription. Yet when faced with Qi Weimin's inquiries, he remained extremely conservative in his assessment.

"Brother Weimin, I stand by what I said: this is uncertain. It could be in a few days, or within this month; if your father has great fortune and a strong fate, perhaps another year might pass. I am merely a half-baked practitioner; how could I predict so precisely? I only tell you the worst outcome so you can all prepare."

Qi Weimin indicated his understanding; he knew Wang Yan was a humble and low-key person whose words were always conservative. Speaking like this now, his father probably wouldn't survive another half-month.

"Alright, I get it." Qi Weimin punched Wang Yan lightly on the chest. "These past few years..."

"Get lost." Wang Yan waved his hand, cutting off the emotional display. "Hurry up and fetch the herbs to decoct them. I'm heading back; I'll tell Brother Yicheng in a moment so they can all come over to visit in the next couple of days."

"Go on back," Qi Weimin said with a forced smile.

After returning home, Wang Yan informed the old Da Qiao family group about the news; of course, he didn't say the man was dying, only that the situation wasn't ideal and they should visit while he was still alive. Even if he had said the man was about to die, others wouldn't have believed him, after all, he had never demonstrated such formidable abilities.

Over the next few days, once Da Qiao Yicheng returned, the old Da Qiao family went as a group to offer condolences to Qi Tu Zhiqiang.

Qi Tu Zhiqiang encouraged Yicheng, urged Erqiang, instructed Wang Yan to get along well with Sanli, and told Simei to stay steady and calm. Two days after that visit, when Second Aunt woke up the next morning, she discovered that Qi Tu Zhiqiang had passed away.

Second Aunt said that night she and Qi Tu Zhiqiang had talked extensively, from their youth right up to the present, discussing the children's futures as well, finally falling asleep only toward the latter half of the night...

In the blink of an eye, winter arrived again in the southern kingdom.

That evening, after finishing dinner at the Da Qiao residence, Erqiang surprisingly did not stay to watch television; instead, he said the weather was cold and he needed to go home to light the stove to warm the room for sleeping.

Wang Yan ignored the meaningful glances Erqiang shot him; instead, he stayed behind to tutor Sanli in her studies, then watched television with Old Da Qiao and Simei, returning to his own home only after nine o'clock.

At that moment, Erqiang was by the stove in the room, preparing pot-pot tea and eating dried sweet potatoes. After Wang Yan had grown accustomed to drinking it, he drank pot-pot tea every winter; Erqiang had eagerly learned the method, and the taste was quite excellent.

Watching Erqiang diligently pour tea and light a cigarette, Wang Yan asked: "Something's up again?"

"My master divorced."

"Good news; isn't that exactly what you wished for?"

"My master resigned and quit her job." Erqiang shook his head, took a deep drag, and then let out a long, mournful sigh.

"Still no prospects, no sign of hope?"

"None."

"You still haven't given up?"

"I resigned and quit too!"

Nothing could be more firm than Erqiang's answer; he said, "There were too many rumors and gossip at the factory; my master thought that if time passed, they would quiet down, but instead the talk grew worse and worse."

"Mainly, that gambling demon came to the factory causing a scene several more times; each time he would bring up the matter between me and my master, disrupting production. Since efficiency was already poor, the factory leadership was quite dissatisfied... that's why my master resigned. I cursed out all those loose-mouthed gossips, and then left together with my master..."

"This didn't happen today, did it?"

Erqiang said embarrassedly: "It was the day before yesterday; I was thinking of finding another job with my master, but she won't pay me any attention."

"Then just pester her relentlessly."

"Before pestering relentlessly, one must eat, right? My master came from the Northeast; her natal family can't help, and she's raising a child alone. She only found a rental house these past two days and is just getting resettled. My master wants to sell vegetables at the market; I was thinking, since you previously mentioned a grand scheme to get rich, I wanted my master to join in..."

Erqiang kept his head down, appearing busily engaged in pouring the tea from the pot into Wang Yan's cup, then adding fresh well water to the pot, shoveling coal into the stove, and tending to the sweet potatoes Wang Yan had just placed on top, never stopping for a moment, only stealing glances to gauge Wang Yan's reaction.

Among the Da Qiao family members, those who interacted most with Wang Yan were many, but Da Qiao Erqiang was the most frequent of the frequent, even more than Sanli, after all, the two of them lived together. Naturally, he knew Wang Yan had money, and even more so, he knew Wang Yan dared to think and dared to act.

He wasn't asking Wang Yan for money, but rather for an idea, for a plan that, at this current stage, would allow him and his good master to be together, enabling him to continue his relentless pursuit...

Sipping tea and smoking, Wang Yan exhaled slowly: "I was thinking you could prepare duck offal, and perhaps make some salted duck as well; you love cooking, so this would be a perfect match for your skills."

"Duck offal?" Erqiang didn't understand.

So Wang Yan both wrote and spoke, explaining the method to Erqiang, listing the items for him to purchase.

"Do you still have money?"

"None left..." Erqiang smiled awkwardly. "My master had little money after the divorce; between renting a house and raising a child, she was eating into her savings until they were gone; I gave her all my money."

Wang Yan stood up and went to the study, returning shortly with a roll of cash: "Here's five hundred; go buy some duck offal—the duck necks, duck wings, duck intestines, and so on that I just mentioned—and get all the spices too. Later, we'll make a small batch first to test it out; we can figure out the salted duck afterward."

"Then what about my master..."

"Of course she'll work with you; you handle the braised goods, and she sells them in the shop—a husband-and-wife store; isn't that great? The problem is, your master is a proud person; will she be willing?"

"Definitely not, but she has a soft heart; I'll just pester her relentlessly..." The silly boy began fantasizing about the future again. "Hehe..."

However, after thinking for a while, he still considered his own family: "Perfect; we can have Sanli help out then; whether she likes it or not, we can pay her a wage, giving her something to do."

"Aren't you afraid Simei will tell on you?"

"She definitely won't." Erqiang expressed full trust in his good little sister. "Besides, tomorrow when I buy the ingredients and bring them back, won't we have to prepare them at home? She comes over every day to loiter around; how could we keep it hidden from her? We'll definitely have to tell her. We just mustn't let my eldest brother or my dad know; the later, the better."

Wang Yan turned the sweet potatoes over, letting out a long sigh: "Later on, Uncle Da Qiao and Brother Yicheng will surely blame me; Brother Sha Qiang, let me tell you, if Sanli and I don't end up together, the entire fault lies with you."

"Impossible! I'll take responsibility for my own actions; it has nothing to do with you."

"Stop kidding yourself; if I help you cover this up, I become an accomplice to the crime."

"Then you'll be fine; my dad is eyeing your money, my eldest brother will surely understand you, and Sanli certainly won't say anything." Whenever Ma Suqin was involved, Erqiang always displayed extraordinary decisiveness and firmness...

The next day, Wang Yan walked Sanli to school; when he returned to the school at lunchtime, the elderly gatekeeper relayed a message from Erqiang.

"What does my second brother want with you? Isn't he supposed to be at work?" Sanli was quite perplexed.

"You'll find out later; tonight, go home by yourself; I'm leaving first. Study hard."

"So mysterious; you're definitely up to no good."

When Wang Yan returned home, he saw Erqiang there fiddling with a scale, weighing out portions of spices, while Ma Suqin stood beside him washing the purchased duck offal in a large basin; although two thermos flasks stood nearby, little steam rose, suggesting the water was freezing to the touch. Beside them, Simei sat on a small stool, holding a cat and watching a dog.

"Wang Yan."

"Brother Yan."

"Hello." Ma Suqin hurriedly stood up.

Wang Yan smiled cheerfully: "Busy, busy, so you're Master Ma, right? I'll just call you Sister Ma. Brother Sha Qiang always talks about you. From now on, we'll eat from the same pot; let's unite, grow bigger and stronger, and make millions."

"Haha, that's wonderful," Ma Suqin replied. "Come to think of it, I should thank you; all my good days this past year were fought for by you."

"Er Sha Qiang is my brother; I couldn't just watch him suffer, could I? That husband of yours was truly worthless; divorcing him was the right move. Alright, alright, let's skip the formalities. Let me tidy up, and we'll get started immediately. Brother Sha Qiang, no need to measure so meticulously; close enough is fine, the difference won't be much."

Wang Yan went inside to take off his coat, with Si Mei bouncing in after him like a thief, whispering: "Brother Yan, what fighting were you talking about? Was it when Second Brother got beaten up last year? Did you really fight back? Hey, Brother Yan, do you think something is going on between those two? It feels weird to me."

"You're chattering so much; which question am I supposed to answer?"

"Answer them all! Brother Yan, hurry up and tell me; I'm dying of curiosity. You don't know how uncomfortable it was watching from the side..." Si Mei hopped around, shuffling her feet, unable to bear not getting the scoop or the firsthand news...

"Can't answer; ask Brother Sha Qiang yourself," Wang Yan said with a grin, then turned and walked away.

Outside, he handled the gas canister, set up a large wok, and started boiling water to prepare the duck delicacies.

This stuff is truly amazing; the taste is excellent, the flavor rich, it appeals to people from all directions, it's a perfect match for alcohol, and great for watching dramas too.

Developing this could create a massive industrial chain, from upstream duck farming all the way downstream to selling various products; with diverse offerings and no worry about sales channels, it's simply incredibly good.

Wang Yan planned to first open chain stores selling Juewei Duck Necks, then expand upstream into farming, and later extend downstream from farming; for instance, duck eggs could be supplied fresh or processed for supermarkets, while duck down could be used for clothing by opening a garment factory to make down jackets, and whole ducks could be made into salted duck, pressed duck, roasted duck, and all sorts of other things.

The goal was to build up the duck-raising business step by step and become the Duck King!

Later, leveraging economic growth, they could expand outward into real estate, finance, the internet, entertainment, and more, effectively becoming a Duck Empire.

"Brother Yan, I feel like this will really work."

Sweating profusely, Si Mei ate the freshly made duck necks with audible hisses of "ss-ha, ss-ha," drank some soda, her eyes shining: "The taste is really good, just a bit too spicy."

"It needs to be spicy to mask any gamey taste and bring out the fragrance; this level of spiciness is just right, acceptable even for those who can't handle heat," Wang Yan said, opening a bottle of beer and enjoying the duck necks with great comfort.

Er Sha Qiang gulped down a large mouthful of wine, hissed "ss-ha," and asked: "Master, what do you think?"

Ma Suqin was also eating and drinking; her face flushed slightly, and upon meeting Er Sha Qiang's infatuated gaze, she quickly looked away toward Wang Yan.

"This is really good; I also think it will succeed, so we can give it a try. In a moment, Er Sha Qiang and I will push the cart out and try selling some."

"No need," Wang Yan said, shaking his head.

"Then where are we selling, Brother Yan? Could it be opening a shop? Isn't that too soon?" Si Mei always packed multiple question marks into one sentence; she was just impatient.

"There's a small shop; just turn onto the next street."

"Ah?" Everyone blinked in surprise...

It was precisely on this road intersecting perpendicularly with Shama Lane, the same road where Second Aunt's family lived; along this street stood one- and two-story storefronts, and among them was a small shop of over thirty square meters.

Watching Wang Yan pull a key from his pocket and unlock the door, Er Sha Qiang was stunned: "No way, Wang Yan, you even prepared the cabinet? We only discussed this yesterday, didn't we?"

"We discussed it yesterday, but I've been planning to do this for a long time. Since Si Mei has no work, I thought she could help sell goods and collect money. I originally planned to start after the New Year, but since you two... well, since neither of you has quit your jobs yet, let's just start early."

Ma Suqin ignored Er Sha Qiang's slip of the tongue that revealed his surging emotions and asked: "Wang Yan, surely we don't need three people? Then what about me..."

Wang Yan waved his hand: "Master Ma, let alone three people; if we do well, even three thousand won't be enough in the future. Right now it's one shop; later, if sales are good and we're not losing money, we'll open a second one, and thus the demand for staff will rise. When we have many shops, we'll need dedicated management for each region, just like a district government, requiring a full team of officials. The prospects are extremely bright."

"Therefore, in your spare time, you must read and study; otherwise, when the time comes to manage people, you won't be able to tell if subordinates are fooling you or playing dirty, and that will lead to losses and trouble. In business, losses and trouble mean losing money. Especially you, Si Mei, no need to roll your eyes so hard."

"Aiya, I knew Brother Yan treats me the best; I'll definitely work hard and make big money for Brother Yan," Si Mei said, crowding closer again.

Er Sha Qiang laughed: "We haven't even made a start yet, and you're already talking about making big money? Wang Yan, you're thinking too far ahead."

"Not far at all; it will happen quickly. There's still over a month until Chinese New Year; if sales are good, we'll open two more shops right after the holiday. With three shops earning money simultaneously, expanding and branching out will be effortless; within a few years, we'll have shops all across the country."

"Oh my god, Wang Yan, what you're saying sounds too fantastical; how could it be that fast?" Ma Suqin was teased into laughter by Wang Yan; she had thought him quite steady, only to discover he was a braggart, speaking as if it were all true.

Indeed, someone who resorts to brute force when encountering problems could hardly be considered steady.

Ma Suqin sighed softly and glanced at the foolish young man who was wholeheartedly devoted to her...

Er Sha Qiang met his beloved master's gaze and smiled brilliantly...

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