CH 54

Zhou Jianguo never dreamed that the thing he had been concealing all along would be discovered so easily by Luo Bei.

His mind was racing, on one hand regretting that Luo Bei didn’t discover his true anomaly, and on the other hand thinking about how he should answer Luo Bei’s questions.

Based on his understanding of Luo Bei, if he avoided the subject or indicated that he had some difficulties in talking about it, Luo Bei wouldn’t pursue it further. But was he sure he wanted to do that? Zhou Jianguo didn’t know. He only knew that this girl in front of him unconditionally believed in him no matter what happened. This trust was rare and he didn’t want to disappoint her. He also wanted to reciprocate the same trust.

There was no need to hesitate. He should tell her. She deserved to see his most fatal weakness.

“Luo Bei, what I am about to tell you next may seem unbelievable to you, and you may even be wary of me from now on. I wouldn’t be surprised. But what I want to tell you is that the reason I’m willing to tell you is not because I’m a good person, but because you are a good person.” Zhou Jianguo looked at her seriously and attentively. “I don’t know who I am. My ID is also fake. Someone took me to a small clinic and when I woke up, I didn’t remember anything. My body was covered in bruises, like scratches from tree branches. Normally, I should have gone to the police station, but I didn’t want to do that. I borrowed a hundred yuan from the old doctor at the clinic.

“The old doctor was kind and only charged me for medical expenses. I took the hundred yuan and got a fake ID. Don’t look at me like that. Although I’m speaking calmly now, I did go through a period of confusion at that time. After all, it’s not a good feeling to have no memories. But I knew I had to survive. In the end, I found a job that suited me very well, which was to work on a construction site. The foreman paid me in cash and provided me with food and lodging. I continued to do that for a while.

“Later, I saved up some money and didn’t want to share a dormitory with my coworkers. With the recommendation of a coworker, I came to the urban village and rented your house. That’s how I met you. I didn’t want to spend my whole life just working on a construction site. After getting to know you, I thought about using your name to start a business.”

Zhou Jianguo sighed at the end. “I don’t know who I was before, whether I have a criminal record or not. Luo Bei, that’s all I remember. If you feel uneasy and want to take me to the police station, that’s fine too.”

Luo Bei couldn’t believe that things turned out this way, no matter how she thought about it.

However, Zhou Jianguo didn’t deceive her, she could discern that much. She asked, “Have you ever tried to find your family? Nowadays, many people register the information for missing persons.”

Zhou Jianguo’s expression suddenly became strange. He laughed at himself and said, “No, I haven’t been able to find them. After all, I don’t have complete memories. Maybe I’m just a terrible person, and nobody bothered to look for me when I disappeared.”

Luo Bei didn’t know why, but she felt inexplicably uncomfortable after hearing this. She patted Zhou Jianguo’s shoulder and comforted him, “It’s not necessarily the case. Maybe they just haven’t registered you yet.”

“Eh.” Zhou Jianguo shrugged. “I’ve told you everything, and I feel much better now. But let me be clear, just because you have something to hold over me doesn’t mean you can keep all the profits for yourself.”

Luo Bei chuckled. “Don’t worry, I have good character. I won’t shortchange you for what’s rightfully yours.”

After a brief moment of surprise, Luo Bei quickly accepted the situation and joked, “Who knows, maybe you’re some big shot. When you recover your memory, don’t forget about me.”

Does this count as holding the thigh in advance?

Zhou Jianguo glanced at her and said, “What if I never remember?”

Luo Bei thought for a moment, “That’s okay, whatever happens now will still be the same in the future.”

“Well, then help me think about how to get rid of my illegal status if I can’t remember,” replied Zhou Jianguo.

“That’s true. Otherwise, if you have a fake ID, you won’t be able to buy a house, go to the hospital if you’re sick, and most importantly, you won’t be able to get married.”

If it were in the past, Zhou Jianguo would have dismissed it, the first two were fine, but what’s this about not being able to get married?

But now…

Ah, it’s better not to say.

However, Luo Bei reminded him that illegal residents shouldn’t even think about love.

Since confessing this matter, the relationship between Zhou Jianguo and Luo Bei has become closer.

Now that the weather is gradually cooling down, there aren’t many people selling fruit stalls anymore, and there are more snack stalls. Every time Zhou Jianguo passes by a pancake or barbecue stall, he regrets not being able to make a profit from it. In the food industry, especially small businesses, it’s basically about having a secret recipe or good cooking skills. Unfortunately, neither he nor Luo Bei have those, otherwise they could really open a snack shop together. As long as the taste is good, the business will definitely not be bad, and the profit will be much higher than that of an unmanned shop.

Luckily, they’re now planning to open an unmanned shop outside of the urban village. The store has been found, the area is not large, and the rent is reasonable. They no longer need to invest any more money into the unmanned store since the monthly profits are already sufficient. If they want to expand to open branches or put vending machines in hotels, it’s also affordable. Once it reaches a certain scale, the sales of these stores and those in hotels would earn tens of thousands of yuan each month without any problem.

Originally, Luo Bei only paid a down payment for the car, and she still had tens of thousands of yuan in hand. Meanwhile, Zhou Jianguo secretly traded stocks using his remaining savings, and he also made some money during this period.

However, this is still far from the cost of opening a car beauty shop that Zhou Jianguo envisioned, which requires much more investment than the unmanned store.

Currently, Zhou Jianguo is pinning his hopes on the disposable supplies for hotels.

Zhou Jianguo does not know if Luo Bei is indeed blessed with wealth and prosperity, as they seem to be able to profit even in saturated markets. They even got the disposable supply they thought would take some time to get by the end of November.

“I’ve figured it out. If everything goes smoothly, maybe our car beauty shop can be opened before the Chinese New Year,” Zhou Jianguo said. He has been in this auto beauty shop for almost two months now. He is very capable, and he has been getting along well with the staff in the store. Now, he has already grasped the routine inside the store.

The two have just negotiated a wholesale price for disposable supplies with someone else and have calculated the price difference they can earn. They both have a happy smile on their faces.

Is there anything better in this world than making money? No, there isn’t.

They were able to secure the right to supply for several hotels. If they continue to work together for the long term and then expand into other businesses, it will be an exciting source of income.

Luo Bei carefully calculated that if this development trend continues, it may not take more than a year or two before they earn a monthly income of 100,000 yuan. Moreover, during this time, they will also expand into other businesses. Becoming a small rich woman is not just a dream!

“When our car beauty shop opens, I plan to resign,” Luo Bei made this decision after careful consideration. “After all, even though the businesses we have now are all small-scale, look at it. Unmanned stores are expanding and there are also hotel disposable supplies. We really can’t squeeze out more time. I don’t want you to be too tired looking after the car shop, and if I keep doing this for too long, my mind will not be focused on my job, and if I make a mistake at work, it won’t be good.”

Zhou Jianguo also nodded in support. “This is good. I’ll take care of the car beauty shop in the future, and you’ll manage the unmanned stores and hotel businesses. Luo Bei, my ambitions don’t stop here. We may venture into even riskier businesses in the future. Are you willing to do it with me?”

“If I don’t do it with you, who else will?” Luo Bei teased him. “Use your fake identity?”

Zhou Jianguo thought that maybe only those who were too idle would fuss over things between men and women in their daily lives. He no longer had the time to worry about his feelings for Luo Bei. Love is whatever it is. Anyway, he cannot do without Luo Bei now. He cannot find a better partner. No matter how he thinks about it, it is more cost-effective to continue doing business with Luo Bei. As for the emotional entanglements, they are all trivial matters.

When they drove back to the urban village, Luo Bei had just parked the car when she saw a red convertible sports car parked next to them. It was very cool and eye-catching.

Although there are also wealthy people in the urban village, she has never seen this car before…

After getting out of the car, Luo Bei curiously glanced at it and asked, “What kind of car is this?”

“Porsche.”

Luo Bei was amazed just by hearing the name “Porsche.” She regretted parking next to it, fearing that if she accidentally scratched or hit it, she wouldn’t be able to afford the damages.

As they walked back to their rental building, they saw a tall, stylishly dressed woman looking at her phone at the entrance.

Could she also be here to rent an apartment?

Luo Bei immediately dismissed the idea. She had learned a thing or two from the female boss and could tell that this woman’s Hermès bag meant she had money. There was no way she would be renting an apartment here, but what was she doing here?

Before Luo Bei could ask, the wealthy woman looked up and spotted her.

“Are you Luo Bei?” she asked.

“Yes, may I ask…” Luo Bei started to reply, but the wealthy woman interrupted her and said, “I want to talk to you about something very important.”