Chapter 2451

The waitress wasn't very old, maybe sixteen or seventeen. She blinked her eyes, looking at Zhao Guifen. With her thin lips, small eyes, and a face full of flab, she just didn't look like a good person.

"Ma'am, our boss isn't named Zhou Anlei; his name is Xu Yinxia."

"Xu Yinxia?" Zhao Guifen frowned, her expression gloomy as she said, "Is she a fat woman, and does she have a drag-along bottle with her?"

The young girl blinked her large eyes again: "The boss is a bit fat, but what is a 'drag-along bottle'?"

Zhao Guifen snorted and gestured with her hand: "A money-losing... girl that tall."

"Oh!" The young girl said, "I don't know."

"If you don't know, why are you wasting your breath?" Zhao Guifen reached out and shoved the young girl aside: "Move it, don't block the way."

The young girl was shoved until she stumbled. Furious, she clenched her fists, then snorted, flicked her arm, and ran toward the back kitchen, her small leather shoes clicking with every step.

"Brother Lei, Brother Lei, something big has happened."

Zhou Anlei was standing in front of the stove, holding a ladle and adding seasoning to a large soup bucket. Hearing the young waitress's shout, he stopped what he was doing and turned the stove fire down.

"What's wrong?"

The young girl ran over, caught her breath, and said, "An old lady just came in and asked if the boss's name is Zhou Anlei. Could she be your mother?"

Zhou Anlei had no expression on his face and asked in a very indifferent tone: "What did you say?"

"I just followed your instructions and said the boss's name is Xu Yinxia." The young girl described it vividly: "She even asked me if the boss's wife was very fat and if she had a drag-along bottle with her..."

Zhou Anlei sneered. At the old shop, it didn't matter what his parents did; after all, the shop was small, and the impact wasn't significant. But he couldn't let them come here to cause trouble. Besides, there were shops inside the shopping plaza; if he let them come here to make a scene, the impact would be too great.

The waitstaff here had all received training at Dicos. When they went to the old shop for their internship after training, he had gathered the waitstaff and exposed his family's dirty laundry by talking about his parents. Then he told them that if any old man or woman asked who the boss was, they should just tell them the name was Xu Yinxia.

"I understand." Zhou Anlei sneered, turned back, turned the fire up, continued adding seasoning to the soup bucket, tasted it, finally turned off the fire, took off his apron, and stepped out of the kitchen, where he saw Zhao Guifen grabbing a waitress and saying something.

Zhou Anlei strode over. Before he even reached them, he heard Zhao Guifen shouting at the waitress at the top of her lungs: "Is your boss named Zhou Anlei, huh? I am his own mother. You hurry up and call him out for me, or I'll have him fire you!"

The waitress was being tightly gripped by the arm by Zhao Guifen, wincing in pain. When she looked up and suddenly saw Zhou Anlei, she looked as if she had seen a savior and hurriedly shouted loudly: "Brother Lei!"

Then the waitress used all her strength, jerked her arm back violently, and finally broke free from Zhao Guifen's restraint. She looked down and saw that her wrist had been pinched bright red by this hateful old woman.

"Oh my, my dear son!" Zhao Guifen heard the waitress's shout, immediately turned around, and saw Zhou Anlei at a glance. Her face was instantly filled with surprise: "You actually opened such a big restaurant; my dear son is truly too capable!"

"Exactly, exactly!" Zhou Xiao echoed from the side. He stood with his hands behind his back, carefully examining the restaurant, his face blooming with smiles, his wrinkles bunched together: "Son, you opened such a big restaurant, why didn't you tell your mother and me?"

"Look, such a big restaurant, and so many workers, can you manage it all by yourself? It just so happens that there's nothing going on at home right now, so your mother and I will come over to help you manage it; you can also be a bit more relaxed."

"Yes, yes, yes!" Zhao Guifen grabbed Zhou Anlei's hand with a face full of smiles, her eyes revealing an eager expression: "With your father and me managing this restaurant, no one will be able to take advantage of our family."

Zhou Xiao stood to the side with a very confident smile on his face. He gently patted Zhou Anlei on the shoulder, then put his hands behind his back again, tilted his head slightly, and put on the airs of an old leader.

"When your brother gets out, your mother and I will retire, and then we will hand over full authority of this shop to your brother to manage."

Zhao Guifen put on the appearance of a loving mother: "Right, your brother has managed a winery; letting him manage this small restaurant is simply a piece of cake, something he can handle with ease!"

Zhou Xiao heard his wife's words, and a kind of indescribable gratification appeared in his eyes. He nodded and said: "Your mother is right, your brother has experience, and there will definitely be no problem handing this restaurant to your brother to manage. At that time, you just need to give your mother and me three or five hundred in pension money every month; as for the rest of the money, no matter how much you earn, it will be split equally between you two brothers."

Speaking of this, Zhou Xiao paused slightly, cast his gaze toward the endless stream of customers in the shop, and the smile on his face became even more smug.

"Also, when your brother gets out, he still needs to be married. As for the bride price, it has to be at least five thousand. In a while, you just take this money and give it to me, and let your mother save it in the bank. When your brother gets out and we find him a wife, you won't need to pay any extra money then."

Zhou Andong took a deep breath. These were his biological parents. He, their son, had finally lived a few good days, and they had run over to stir things up. They hated that he was living too well; it made them feel uncomfortable inside.

Zhao Guifen gritted her teeth and said: "That little bastard Zhou Andong, what's so great about being a factory director? My son has opened a restaurant now too, enough to piss that little bastard to death."

Mentioning Zhou Andong, Zhou Xiao was also full of anger: "Now that our son is successful too, why mention that little bastard!"

"Right, don't mention him!" Zhao Guifen sat down on a chair nearby and shouted at the waitress who had been watching the excitement: "Hurry up and get me two steamers of buns, and stir-fry a few dishes for me, I want meat."

"And wine!" Zhou Xiao added: "I want to drink Yugong wine, the special supply type, get me two bottles first."

The waitress looked at Zhou Andong, her eyes full of inquiry.

Zhou Anlei shook his head slightly and then said: "Dad, Mom, if you want to eat and drink, you can, but you have to pay."

"What!" Zhou Xiao's face changed instantly: "You little bastard, I am your father, and you're asking me for money to eat a few lousy buns and drink two bottles of wine here?"

Zhou Anlei sighed: "Come out, I have something to tell you."

There were more and more customers now; he couldn't let them make a scene in the shop.

Seeing Zhou Anlei leave, Zhou Xiao and Zhao Guifen looked at each other and had no choice but to get up and follow, but they didn't forget to tell the waitress: "Hurry up and bring the buns over to me, I still have to eat when I come back."

Zhou Anlei walked out of the shop door, came to the river embankment, took a cigarette out of his pocket, lit it, and the expression on his face became very lonely.

"What exactly do you want to tell us?" Zhou Xiao was very dissatisfied: "It's so hot outside, what can't be said in the restaurant?"

Zhou Anlei took a puff of his cigarette, looked at the few cruise ships drifting in the Jiangzhou River, and said: "I'll tell you the truth, this shop has nothing to do with me."

"You little bastard!" Zhao Guifen didn't believe it at all: "Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying to you." Zhou Anlei said with a mournful face: "Originally, as long as I married Fatty Sister, I could get half the shares of the restaurant."

As he spoke, Zhou Anlei asked again: "Do you know what shares are?"

Zhou Xiao shook his head blankly: "What is that?"

"Sigh!" Zhou Anlei sighed again and said with great heartache: "Dad, shares mean that no matter how much money the restaurant makes, I can get half of it. But you guys kept making scenes, calling her a slut, calling her daughter a drag-along bottle, and wouldn't agree to us being together. So, Fatty Sister was very angry, broke up with me, and kicked me out."

"What?" The flab on Zhao Guifen's face trembled, and she cursed in a shrill voice: "You opened the shop, that slut, what right does she have to kick you out?"

"Mom!" Zhou Anlei shouted: "That shop, the building was bought, plus some things used to open the shop, it cost more than twenty thousand in total. Where would I, your son, get that much money?"

Zhao Guifen jumped and shouted: "You don't have that much money, where did that slut get it? Besides, she even has a drag-along bottle with her?"

Zhou Anlei also shouted at the top of his lungs: "That was the money from Fatty Sister selling her house, and it was an apartment in the city. Also, I can't even cook; it's because Fatty Sister has good skills and her buns are delicious that the restaurant's business is so good.

Back then, I was cheated in Yangcheng and had to beg for food everywhere. It was Fatty Sister who didn't mind that I was a beggar and a cripple, and was willing to come to Jiangzhou with me to live together. But you and Dad kept making scenes and causing trouble, and even cursed her, so she got angry and kicked me out."

Zhou Anlei wanted to squeeze out two tears, but after trying for a long time, he didn't succeed, so he had to give up: "For more than half a month, I slept in a bridge tunnel at night and looked for work during the day, but because of this crippled leg of mine, no one was willing to hire me.

There was no other way, so I had to go back and beg Fatty Sister to give me a bite to eat. Seeing that I was almost starving to death, she took pity on me and took me in again. She provided me with food and housing and paid me a salary of one hundred and fifty a month."

Zhao Guifen still didn't believe it, but she was shaken inside.

Zhou Anlei struck while the iron was hot and continued: "If I leave the bun shop now, I can't even find a job. Moreover, this crippled leg of mine is very inconvenient, and I have injuries and illnesses, so I can't do any heavy work, let alone farm the land.

Therefore, I can only let you support me. When Big Brother gets out, with a crippled younger brother like me, you still want to find him a wife? Keep dreaming. Which girl from a good family would marry him?"

Zhou Anlei caught his breath, his voice softened: "Mom, if I stay in the shop, there's still a chance for Fatty Sister to change her mind and marry me. If you keep making scenes, Fatty Sister will kick me out again. By then, both my brother and I will be bachelors for life. If you want to hold a grandson, you'll have to wait for the next life."