Chapter 696 - Far-Reaching Impact

Moving on from the new menu, it had been several days since the money box was placed in front of the restaurant. On this day, Wu Hai was staring blankly at the box while waiting in line.

“Mustache guy, what are you looking at?” Ling Hong asked when he saw that Wu Hai had been staring at the box for a long time.

Wu Hai rubbed his mustache and said, “I feel that this money box is placed at the wrong place.”

“Um?” Ling Hong got curious.

“I always pay attention to this street. The people that would pass by here would either be white collar workers who are on their way to work or those who are customers of Compass. Just think about it. These people are either those living nearby or those that wouldn’t be without money since they were here to eat. What’s the point of placing a box that is supposed to help someone in an emergency here?” Wu Hai asked.

Ling Hong nodded. That sounded logical. However, he knew Wu Hai too well. This fellow was not a person who would care about this. Therefore, Ling Hong did not say anything. He merely waited for Wu Hai to continue speaking.

Sure enough, Wu Hai continued, “Car Brand is indeed not as smart as me, hahaha.”

“Brother Ling, what’s going on with Brother Wu?” asked Mu Xiaoyun. It was rare to see her here when classes were in session. The moment she came, she saw Wu Hai smirking there. She couldn’t help but say, “Why is he laughing himself like a lunatic?”

“Cough, cough, cough.” Wu Hai choked on his laughter.

Ling Hong was happy to see this. He replied, “I reckon he must have gone crazy.”

“What nonsense are you speaking? By the way, I finished your painting. When do you want it?” Wu Hai switched the topic.

“Tomorrow.” Ling Hong did not want to drag this on in case something unexpected happened.

Wu Hai nodded. A normal painting was rather easy to finish. As for Yu Chu’s portrait, it was quite a difficult task. Wu Hai already finished multiple drafts yet he was not satisfied with any of them. He was working very hard for the few Tangyuans he had stolen.

Mu Xiaoyun did not understand what Ling Hong and Wu Hai were talking about. Therefore, she started looking around. Since the money box was in front of the restaurant, she immediately saw it. She then asked about it.

Ling Hong and Wu Hai told her about the bet between Ma Zhida and Jiang Changxi. They also told her what Wu Hai thought about the box.

Mu Xiaoyun directly said, “That’s simple to solve. A classmate of mine is Marshal Canopy.”

What in the world was Marshal Canopy? Zhu Bajie 1 ?

When Mu Xiaoyun saw the doubt in the eyes of Ling Hong and Wu Hai, she explained, “Marshal Canopy is in charge of an 800,000 strong navy. I feel like having this box here at Boss Yuan’s place is quite suitable. Since Boss Yuan’s restaurant is popular enough, the tourists or people in trouble can easily find it if they are really in need of 10 RMB.”

“I will get my classmate to help spread this around and all will be fine,” Mu Xiaoyun concluded 2 .

This idea might very well work.

“Xiaoyun, why are you not in class today?” Ling Hong suddenly remembered this.

Mu Xiaoyun gestured at the case she was holding and said, “We learned to make Western pastries during our extracurricular class today. I learned to make a cake so I’m here to let Boss Yuan try my cake.”

Ling Hong suddenly had a different thought, “Is it nice? Do you want me to try it first?”

When Mu Xiaoyun heard him, she stepped back, hugged her case, and cautiously said, “This is for Boss Yuan. Brother Ling, if you want to eat, I will make it for you next time.”

Seemingly still worried that Ling Hong would snatch her cake, she quickly entered the restaurant. Since it was still business hours for the restaurant, Mu Xiaoyun quickly explained why she was here and directly left after putting the cake down.

After Mu Xiaoyun left, Yuan Zhou quietly placed the case on top of the cabinet. This way, nobody could easily get to it.

“I wonder what the occasion is today,” Wu Hai was getting impatient waiting in line. Generally, if he arrived on time, he wouldn’t need to wait in line. But today, even after arriving in time, he still needed to line up in the long queue.

He took his phone out and confirmed that he had arrived at the usual time. He could not understand what’s going on today.

He could easily find out, yet he failed to utilize the resources he had.

Ling Hong had a mysterious smile on his face, as if he was hiding some huge secret.

It was as Wu Hai had mentioned previously, the money box did not attract much attention. Apart from a certain naughty kid that had taken some money out of it, nobody had bothered to use the box. Of course, the number of people looking at it curiously was quite high. Mu Xiaoyun took it onto herself to deal with this. Therefore, the moment she returned to college, she entrusted this matter to the Marshal Canopy.

This Marshal Canopy was indeed quite capable. In about four to five hours, this matter was already trending on Weibo. It was also being hotly discussed on the various forums.

These were roughly the topics being spread online:

[A conduct that warms the heart. When you are at a new place all by yourself, who else can you look for help?]

[Shocking! A hidden small restaurant has a long queue outside everyday. So it turns out the boss had done something like this]

[What can one do with 10 RMB? Have a bowl of noodles or a bag of potato chips? A Chengdu denizen is here to tell you that with 10 RMB, we can see the true nature of people]

[When you are in trouble, won’t you wish that a place like this exists? One of the 10 unique spots in Sichuan]

The spam army of Marshal Canopy was truly very powerful. He was spreading this at numerous locations, each using different buzzwords. Shocking headlines were written, shared everywhere in Wechat, naming Yuan Zhou’s restaurant as one of the 10 unique spots for no apparent reason, and even spreading this at the forums of other cities. This went viral with the momentum of a tornado.

Even a highly influential celebrity wouldn’t be able to do a much better job than this. Therefore, it went without saying that once again, Yuan Zhou’s restaurant was trending on the Internet. Everyone was talking about this with differing opinions on the internet.

“Free money? Is this real?” asked the skeptics.

“What can one even do with 10 RMB? With living expenses nowadays, a bowl of Beef Noodle Soup will cost more than that. And if it’s a tourist that had lost his wallet, can 10 RMB even buy him a ticket back home? What can 10 RMB do? I can’t even…” said the armchair quarterback group.

“Is the guy above brainless? In this era, who doesn’t have a friend? With 10 RMB, one can call a friend for help. That is what matters. Moreover, if the only thing that person needs is a ticket back home, this 10 RMB emergency fund is not what he needs. Rather, he needs a job,” said the crowd who had long seen through the true face of this world.

“Is this the rumored expensive-as-hell Yuan Zhou’s restaurant? I know this restaurant. A friend told me about this restaurant before. I think this is true. Well, it will be interesting to see how this goes,” said those who were obviously here joining in just for the sake of joining into the conversation.

Of course, there were also supporters, “Yuan Zhou’s restaurant has always been a restaurant that warms the heart. I remember that once when I was passing by, an aunty fell down. Then, a mustached guy stepped forward to help her up without saying anything. This is how a society should be. It is normal for that place to have a money box to help the needy.”

“Frankly, once, I was once an idiot and went outside without bringing my wallet. I thought that with my phone on me, everything was fine. Then, the battery of my phone went flat. I didn’t even have the money to use the public transportation system. If a place like that existed back then, I would be able to return to my hotel.”

Everyone discussed without stop. And when something grew in size, it would attract more attention. A troublemaker was thus attracted…