Chapter 992: Sorrow Is Not Shared

"Oh my, let me tell you, I wasn't scared in the slightest at the time. A thought flashed through my mind: A-Bao had just been discharged from the hospital, and Miss Wang is a delicate young lady, so I definitely couldn't let them go. Right then, I decided to take them to Wang Laoban's private room and let Wang Laoban teach them a lesson."

"You all know Wang Laoban; his claim to fame was right here on Huanghe Road. It was incredible—he took on over a dozen people by himself. Dealing with those few little thugs was a piece of cake, wasn't it?"

"When we got into the room and told Wang Laoban what happened, he said right then and there that he'd have that ringleader, that 'Little Xiao Yangpu Xiao Liuzi from Yangpu,' stick his butt out, and if I gave him a kick back, the matter would be settled..."

Tao Tao was in Night Tokyo, clutching a glass of wine, swaying and gesturing as he recounted how wise he had been at Zhi Zhen Yuan last night, not forgetting, of course, to sing Wang Laoban's praises.

"Little Northeast knocked out all his teeth with one slap?"

"Oh my, Wang Laoban has trained, you know. He's got immense strength. I'm not exaggerating—the guy was spun around by Wang Laoban's slap. It looked painful just watching."

Just then, the bell at the shop door rang. Lingzi looked up and said, "Wang Laoban is here. I was just about to call you, and here you are. Tao Tao is just telling everyone about your heroic deeds from yesterday."

"Beating up two little thugs—what kind of heroic deed is that?" Watching Tao Tao give an awkward, sheepish laugh, Wang Yan gave his butt a moderate kick. "You're even bragging about it now. Let me tell you, the guy couldn't even get up after one kick from me. That guy had kicked his butt earlier, kicking him from outside the room into it. I told him to retaliate, and he just walked up and gave the guy a light tap on the face, and that was it."

"Oh my, Wang Laoban, you can't put it like that."

Tao Tao waved his hands repeatedly, defending himself. "You all don't know, although that Little Xiao Yangpu Xiao Liuzi kicked me, he didn't use any force. He just put his foot on my butt and gave a little push. Wang Laoban kicked him in the stomach, and Little Xiao Yangpu Xiao Liuzi rolled his eyes back right then and there; it took him a good while to recover."

"And the guy just tapped my face and gave me a kick. Wang Laoban returned a kick, and I tapped Little Xiao Yangpu Xiao Liuzi's face—we're even, right?"

Ling Hong looked at him with utter disdain. "I remember when Boss Bao was hit by that car, you were saying that once you found the person, you'd beat them to a pulp. Now that this 'Little Xiao Yangpu Xiao Liuzi' has been kicked down by Wang Laoban, you don't even dare to move when asked to go up and hit him."

"I told Wang Laoban, it wouldn't be a fair fight, so it's not good to lay a hand on him."

Teacher Ge chimed in, "Then why didn't you fight them earlier? You had to drag people to Little Northeast. If he hadn't trained, wouldn't you have gotten him killed?"

"Look at you, saying you're heartless every day, but aren't you worried now?" Lingzi raised an eyebrow at Wang Yan before saying to Teacher Ge, "Wang Laoban just can't fight; even if he just sits there, no one dares to make a move. Wang Laoban just has to handle it, make a phone call, and in less than ten minutes, dozens or hundreds of people could storm Zhi Zhen Yuan."

"You're exaggerating even more. Am I a mob boss?"

"Oh my, what do you think? More than half of the people in your logistics company are former soldiers. I hear people from your company fighting outside every single day here at Night Tokyo. With one phone call from you, wouldn't dozens or hundreds of people show up easily?"

"I'm settling veterans; it's a good thing, yet you make it sound like the mafia."

Wang Yan shook his head, amused. "Don't listen to their nonsense. We did have quite a few fights in the past, and there were some casualties. Recently, as our reputation has grown, as long as it's not too remote a place, we're generally safe all the way. It's not that our company wants to fight; it's those road bandits who want to get rich by hijacking my cargo."

"How much do I earn on a single shipping fee? If they rob one truck of my goods, how much do I lose? It's a helpless situation. But after all, this is a society ruled by law; once law enforcement capabilities improve and legal education is properly implemented, things will be fine. Alright, enough of this, let's eat, let's eat."

Lingzi laughed. "Tao Tao says the food at Zhi Zhen Yuan is better than at Night Tokyo, and the proprietress of Zhi Zhen Yuan is prettier than me, Lingzi. Yet Wang Laoban still comes to Night Tokyo to eat—I'm truly flattered."

"Hey, stay here for a few days, go there for a few days, that's all. You're not bad either; I'd just say each has its own merits, and I have to spread my favors evenly."

"Oh my... men..." Lingzi shook her head with a click of her tongue, walked over, and patted Wang Yan on the shoulder. "Just so fickle and disloyal, not reliable at all."

"What do you mean by reliable?"

"Money, of course."

"So that's why Night Tokyo loses money every day?" Ling Hong said the truth.

"Oh my, don't you all eat and drink for free here at Night Tokyo all day long?" Lingzi rolled her eyes, directly changing the subject, and took out a deck of cards. "You all go ahead and play cards. Boss Bao and Fan Zong are talking business tonight, and they're coming back to Night Tokyo to eat once they're done. Let's all have a lively time together."

"How long will that take? I can't handle eating too late," Teacher Ge asked sluggishly.

"Seven-thirty at the latest. If they don't come back, we won't wait." Having said that, Lingzi waved her hand and went to attend to other customers...

"I've finally figured it out; she just doesn't want to talk about Night Tokyo losing money. Every time it's brought up, she has to say we're eating and drinking too much." Ling Hong pouted, looking extremely disdainful.

Teacher Ge nodded repeatedly. "Exactly. I'm an old man; how much could I possibly eat?"

Tao Tao said, "Oh my, the two of them are like one willing to hit and the other willing to take the beating; why are we worrying about it? You two are just bored. As long as there's food and drink, that's enough. Why bother with so much? I don't know what's up with A-Bao; he's thirty-five, Lingzi is thirty-eight—oh my, old man and old woman, it'll be tough to have kids later on."

"Yo, wanting kids now? Then go home early to find Fang Mei; don't be making eyes at Little Xiao Xiao Asao all day long." Ling Hong spoke just like that, hitting the soft spot directly.

Teacher Ge added a tacit knife: "You don't want to have kids with Little Xiao Xiao Asao, do you?"

"How can you say that about me?" Tao Tao jumped up. "What do you mean 'making eyes'? We're just playing mahjong together and chatting, that's all..."

The three of them started buzzing and arguing again. Wang Yan shook his head, lit a cigarette, took a newspaper, and went to the side to read by himself...

A-Bao and Miss Wang arrived at Night Tokyo before seven, their faces full of joy; clearly, the business talk had gone well.

Tao Tao went up to meet them and asked, "Did it go well?"

A-Bao smiled. "What do you think?"

"Oh my, I thought that 'Boss Wei' was so impressive; in the end, didn't he fail to take down Fan Zong?"

Miss Wang laughed from the side. "Boss Bao and Fan Zong settled on two batches of 800,000 pieces. That Boss Wei couldn't handle it—oh my, you all didn't see how spectacular his expression was at the time. He was so confident earlier, thinking their deal was done, and ended up ordering eighty-eight 'Farewell My Concubine' dishes, one for every table of guests at Zhi Zhen Yuan. After all that, they hadn't even talked about how many clothes there were, and when he finally found out, he was stunned."

She laughed loudly, her gaze sweeping around until it met the eyes of Wang Yan, who was sitting there smiling. Seeing her look over, he even nodded at her. She glared at him fiercely and ignored him.

Just happening to see Miss Wang's gaze, A-Bao laughed. "Wang Laoban is the one who sees things clearly. Didn't you tell me? Wang Laoban told you yesterday. So, you need to be steady and use your brain more."

"Miss Wang is sharp; she just doesn't want to waste the effort to think more," Wang Yan said with a smile.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Miss Wang rolled her eyes.

"Oh my, of course it's a compliment." Lingzi walked over, putting her arm around Miss Wang. "You're about to become a section chief; if your brain wasn't sharp, could you get the position?"

"Boss Bao said so?" Miss Wang looked happy but tried to suppress it so no one would see. She waved her hands and said, "It's early, still early. But when I really become section chief, I'll treat everyone to a meal."

A group of people sat down and started eating, lively and noisy. Despite all the glaring and huffing, Miss Wang still sat down next to Wang Yan.

"Why didn't Wang Laoban go to Zhi Zhen Yuan today?"

"Lingzi asked me earlier too. I said I have to spread my favors evenly; these are all old friends here, so it wouldn't be good to neglect anyone. Otherwise, this old guy would say I'm heartless again and dig up all the work I did for him in the past to nag me from start to finish."

Teacher Ge was extremely displeased. "Isn't what I said the truth? It's just that you got rich too fast; otherwise, you'd still be living in that little shed of mine, grilling lamb skewers every day."

"It's been three years; even if I didn't have the ancestral recipe, wouldn't I have had enough money to open a restaurant by now?"

A-Bao nodded. "That's true. I've always thought that Wang Laoban not opening a restaurant to be a head chef is a loss to the catering industry."

A group of people chatted and laughed while eating and drinking. Halfway through, Lingzi pulled Ling Hong to Ling Hong's shop, took the 'Japanese boutique' pearl earrings—which she hadn't liked before but Ling Hong claimed were worth 2,600 yuan and actually cost over 200—and then found A-Bao outside, quoted a price of 26,000 yuan, and gave the earrings to A-Bao so he could give them to Miss Wang.

Wang Yan saw them coming and going, but he just pretended not to know. To be honest, Miss Wang couldn't be an official because her personality wasn't steady; she was too rash and couldn't grasp the nuances. Even if she sat in the position of clothing section chief, she would likely be assigned to a sinecure within a few months.

Even if Wang Yan put in a good word, it would be the same, because the nature of the unit at '27' was different, and the weight of a section chief with real power was different. In a normal unit, a small, insignificant section chief wouldn't matter. But now, after all, they were talking about opening up and developing the economy; connections were understandable, but connections without ability definitely wouldn't work. If things were delayed, everyone up and down the line would be implicated.

Furthermore, if Miss Wang didn't have any setbacks, how could he, Old Wang, offer warmth?

Although Miss Wang clearly had no feelings for A-Bao right now, she might not treat the things A-Bao gave her as treasures. But on the other hand, Miss Wang's flaws weren't limited to just this point; if one wanted to find them, one could always find some. Even if he didn't want Miss Wang to have a good time, Mei Ping would still report her. So overall, perhaps the details might be different, but the general result shouldn't be affected...

The liveliness had its limits. After the meal, Miss Wang took her small bag and said goodbye.

"No need to see me off; I'll just take a taxi back myself."

A-Bao still stood up. "I'm going back too; I'll see you off."

Wang Yan waved at Miss Wang with a smile. The latter snorted and turned away haughtily...

In the back seat of the taxi, A-Bao turned his head and asked with a smile, "Did you have a conflict with Wang Laoban?"

"No."

"Then weren't you two pretty close before? Everyone on Huanghe Road says you dumped me and got together with Wang Laoban."

"Didn't you also say that words on Huanghe Road can't be trusted?" Miss Wang said unhappily, then turned to ask, "You're thirty-five, right? You've earned quite a bit of money, so why aren't you in a hurry to get a wife?"

"What's the hurry for me? Being alone is so good, so free. Look at Tao Tao; doesn't he not want to go back to see Fang Mei every day?" A-Bao said very lightly. "It's you, really; you should think about it carefully."

Miss Wang didn't take the bait and continued to press, "What about Sister Lingzi? She's already thirty-eight."

A-Bao was silent for a small moment, then laughed. "She definitely has her own plans. We're just partners running a restaurant; don't overthink it."

Looking at A-Bao's appearance, Miss Wang crossed her arms and didn't look at him, turning instead to look out the window.

A-Bao also looked out the window; he was sad...

After a long silence, A-Bao took a box out of his pocket. "Here, for you, to make you happy."

"What? I don't want it. You know, if I receive things, I have to hand them over. Before, when you gave me things, if I liked them, I had to spend money to buy them; I was almost poor to death."

"How expensive can things in Ling Hong's shop be? This time, with Fan Zong's business, you helped out here and there; this is just a little token of my appreciation. Lingzi picked it out for you; I don't know anything about these things. Lingzi said girls should be pretty. Just take it and wear it for a few days; if you like it, keep it, if not, just hand it over. It's fine."

Miss Wang opened the box, looked at the pair of pearl earrings inside, pondered for a moment, and nodded. "Alright then, I'll accept it. But Boss Bao, don't give me things in the future. We're all friends; if you're good, I'm good—it's not necessary."

"In the future, I'll learn from Wang Laoban and send banners to your clothing section."

"Forget it. Speaking of him, it's all his fault; now the banners in my master's office can't even be put down. The other sections are following suit; every time a deal is done, the boss has to send a banner. Oh my~" Miss Wang looked disgusted.

A-Bao laughed. "Do you know what Uncle Ye said?"

"What did he say?"

"Uncle Ye said Wang Laoban is truly worldly-wise; if he entered the government, he'd definitely be a high official."

Miss Wang curled her lips. "Giving gifts so clearly, he must be able to receive them clearly too. If he really became an official, he'd end up inside sooner or later."

Having said that, she laughed to herself, as if thinking of the scene of Wang Laoban being thrown into prison.

A-Bao also laughed, but his smile was somewhat accommodating, because he and Miss Wang were already drifting apart, and he thought of Xuezhi from his memories, inevitably feeling sad again...

Of course, he didn't know that the Xuezhi he missed day and night had become Betty in Hong Kong, and even less did he know that Betty was currently lying in Wang Yan's arms, drenched in sweat, weak all over, and with flushed cheeks.

"Hey?"

Wang Yan was smoking, and hearing Betty's greeting, he asked, "What's wrong?"

Betty was silent for a while. She said, "I want a child. You're thirty-three, and I'm thirty-four; I'm afraid it'll be too late later. You have a big heart and can't take care of me. If I have a child, I'll have something to rely on."

"What, is doing business boring now?"

"It's alright." She let out a long breath. "I used to dream of becoming someone superior, but now that I'm used to it, I feel it's boring. In 1990, I had to do many things myself; now I just have to give orders, manage people well, think about who's capable and who isn't every day, and calculate income and expenses every day—it's a bit tiring.

You said it yourself, one should enjoy life. Now that I have more free time, I've picked up some old hobbies, but I feel it's boring again. After thinking it over, I find that I don't lack anything now, except for a child."

Wang Yan nodded and casually extinguished his cigarette. "Then let's do it again."

This was in a Western-style house on Julu Road. Betty returned to Shanghai after a long absence after the New Year. There were two purposes for this return: one was to see her family, and the other, of course, was because of business development.

Over the past period, herbal tea drinks had begun to move north, with good results. On the other hand, other tea-flavored drinks, as well as sodas, etc., had been developed, and goods were being stocked through the channels that had already been laid out. On the other hand, they had also simultaneously entered the Japanese, Korean, and Southeast Asian markets.

Now that Betty had come to Shanghai, naturally, the business had developed here, but she didn't intend to preside over the work here. She was just seeing her family; perhaps a whim to run over and find Wang Yan to make a baby was the main reason.

Next, Betty was going to Beijing and Mount Zhangbai. On one hand, it was to develop business in Beijing, and on the other, it was to go to Mount Zhangbai to buy a water source.

The mineral water business had been decided long ago. Betty had sent some people to find water sources in the country, and this time she was going to Mount Zhangbai to talk about it. If possible, she would buy that place first and start building a factory to sell mineral water. By the way, she would also promote herbal tea in the Northeast region. Blossoming in multiple places, quickly occupying the national market.

As for Daozai, having received Wang Yan's instruction, the logistics company in Hong Kong was doing very well, and Cao Cao Logistics had already invested in it. The shipping business currently involved was in the Southeast Asia area. There wasn't much business, and it was still developing slowly. If there were goods, they would ship them, and then buy some grain, raw materials, etc., needed in the country over there, not returning with empty ships—it counted as doing international trade, which was, after all, a side business.

Daozai was still very dedicated and also very glorious. He had a stake in the herbal tea, but he didn't dare to ask for the other drinks and mineral water later. With a logistics company of over a thousand people, earning money, and supporting his underlings, and it was legal—a true washing ashore. With money and people, he was, of course, very glorious. He used to make a living by relying on heads of other large societies; now, in the Hong Kong mob circle, he was a proper 'Brother Dao,' very powerful.

Overall, things were developing very well on Betty's side. It would be hard for them not to be; otherwise, wouldn't Wang Yan have wasted so many years?

Betty stayed in Shanghai for five days, staying with her parents for one day and staying here with him for four days. During the day, Wang Yan went out with her to walk around and take a look, and at night, of course, he filled her up fiercely.

After these five days, Betty left Shanghai and headed to Beijing.

Betty left with a heart full of uncertainty, intending to pass through Shanghai on her way back, because she didn't know that Old Wang had a switch...

"Brother Wang is here? Want to drink a bottle of Qingxin Herbal Tea? It came from Shenzhen; I hear it's quite famous." Jingxiu was still poking his head out of the window, a cigarette in his mouth, and placed a can of herbal tea on the small counter at the window.

Wang Yan, in a Hongyun champion-style outfit, leaned against the small pavilion, standing comfortably with one leg bent, a cigarette Jingxiu gave him in his mouth. Looking at that can of herbal tea, he raised an eyebrow. "Did this herbal tea enter Huanghe Road?"

"They came to promote it two days ago. Retail is 1.5 yuan a can, wholesale price is 1.3 yuan. Since I'm on Huanghe Road, I sell it for 2 yuan." Jingxiu nodded. "The ones sold in those restaurants are expensive; they sell them for 3 yuan. If you want to talk about being black-hearted, they're the black-hearted ones."

Popping the ring pull, Wang Yan didn't take the straw Jingxiu offered, took a sip, and nodded. "Not bad."

"This herbal tea is amazing. The person promoting it specifically gave a bunch of instructions and even left me a piece of paper—what situation to drink what tea, saying if you drink the wrong one, you'll be running to the toilet for two days. The one you're drinking is for daily appetite, which most people can drink. It's best to drink this in summer; when it's hot, you can eat a few more mouthfuls of rice."

Jingxiu explained, then turned to ask, "Is Brother Wang going to Zhi Zhen Yuan?"

"Why do you say Zhi Zhen Yuan?"

"The proprietress Li Li is pretty, and it's newly opened, so it's very popular. Boss Bao came by two days ago, entering through the back door. Boss Bao is truly impressive; there's a way to enter a restaurant. He ordered a plate of stir-fried beef with rice noodles and ate it right out of the wok in the back kitchen. He also told the proprietress Li Li that Zhi Zhen Yuan wouldn't last three months. Before entering the restaurant, Boss Bao also asked me, if Zhi Zhen Yuan closed, who would be the happiest, and I said everyone would be."

"Of course, if Brother Wang took action, Zhi Zhen Yuan definitely wouldn't close. On this street, the one most capable of causing trouble is Jin Meilin's Lu Meilin; Brother Wang is the best at dealing with her."

"You make it sound like I specifically bully people."

Jingxiu laughed loudly. "But Boss Bao saying this hasn't been without effect. These past few days, business at Zhi Zhen Yuan has been booming; many people come and order a plate of stir-fried beef with rice noodles. Boss Bao is the best at creating gimmicks; I didn't expect that going to Zhi Zhen Yuan to eat stir-fried beef with rice noodles could be eaten differently. Truly impressive. But I think Boss Bao is still far behind Brother Wang; Brother Wang makes a fortune in silence."

"Boss Bao used to do stocks; creating gimmicks is a required course. Now he's focused on foreign trade, wanting business to come to him instead of him looking for business—it's inevitable. If you want to talk about creating gimmicks, you, the 'all-knowing' of Huanghe Road, are the expert."

"I just sell cigarettes normally; I'm not as impressive as Boss Bao. Brother Wang thinks too highly of me."

Wang Yan smiled, extinguished his cigarette, drank the can of herbal tea, placed it on the small counter, and waved at Jingxiu. "I'm off."

"See you again, Brother Wang."

Jingxiu waved back just as enthusiastically as always... ===== CHAPTER 993 =====