An offhand remark

Excited, and still hungry for more.

After staying up all night, Tang Hao reached the end of his paid computer time at six thirty in the morning. Despite his exhausted face and bloodshot eyes, he still felt full of energy and hated to tear himself away from the screen.

Unfortunately, he had to leave. He really did not have a penny left, and after two consecutive all-nighters, his body would not hold out if he stayed any longer.

I'll probably sleep until late tonight again. Too bad Mom and Dad should be home by then...

Feeling that he was getting a bit of a raw deal, Tang Hao threaded his way through the unlicensed internet café's narrow aisle, carefully avoiding the "comrades-in-arms" who had fallen fast asleep halfway through the night.

Outside the café, only a faint glimmer of dawn lit the sky. The chilly morning breeze and cold mist made his whole body shudder.

Yet instead of waking him up, the chill seemed to drain all the vitality from him. His earlier energy vanished, leaving him utterly listless.

The consequences of staying awake for a day and two nights finally hit him all at once. Overwhelming exhaustion and drowsiness made him quicken his pace and take a shortcut home through the alleys.

The surrounding area was full of urban villages where life moved at a slower pace. A little past six in the morning, the streets were deserted, let alone the smaller alleys.

Dark, deep, silent, and cold.

Normally, a place like this might have made Tang Hao uneasy, but right now he had no room for such thoughts. He only wanted to get home and collapse into bed, and he hurried through the alley.

Suddenly!

Whoosh!

A dark shape pounced, then disappeared into the shadows of the alley.

And Tang Hao disappeared with it!

"This is what I should be eating. Heh, hehehe..."

Sniffing and panting, rapture and madness, chilling malice and cruelty-a strange, hoarse murmur echoed through the darkness, where eyes shone like tiny green lights.

Then came screams that pierced the sky, accompanied by the sounds of gnawing and swallowing.

"Here. Some steamed buns."

At seven thirty that morning, Xia Xu arrived on time to open the consulting firm, just as he had the day before.

Tang Youxin arrived a little later than yesterday, but she still brought him breakfast.

"What's on your face? Did you miss a spot blending your makeup? There's still some powder."

Xia Xu readily accepted the milky-white plastic bag Tang Youxin handed him, smiling as he pointed at her right cheek.

There was a streak of white powder on it.

"N-no. I just forgot to wash my face."

Embarrassed, Tang Youxin hurriedly rubbed it off. Even without wiping it away, though, the blush gradually creeping over her cheeks would have all but hidden it.

"These... are so ugly."

Xia Xu suddenly spoke.

Of course, he was not talking about Tang Youxin.

Little White Flower possessed a pure, natural beauty that needed no embellishment. No amount of neglecting her appearance would make her ugly.

His remark was directed at the "steamed buns" in his hand.

Even if the buns sold in shops did not have pretty pleated patterns, they were at least uniform in size. At the very least, they looked like steamed buns.

The ones in his hand, however, were truly in a league of their own. No two were the same size. Some looked like dumplings or plain steamed bread, while others resembled shumai or cornmeal cones. Somehow, not a single one looked like a stuffed bun.

Then Xia Xu quickly realized what was going on and hastily corrected himself. "No, wait. These are... refreshingly unconventional. Yes, that's it, refreshingly unconventional. Very artistic. Making one kind of food into another-this cutting-edge culinary concept is practically more advanced than molecular gastronomy."

After racking his brains for a few words of praise, Xia Xu gave Little White Flower a tentative look. "Did you make these?"

"I just happened to be learning."

Little White Flower avoided his gaze and fled into the shop.

"Well, that's quite a coincidence."

Xia Xu chuckled but did not follow her inside.

To spare her the embarrassment, he lingered by the entrance for a while. Before long, Yang Bowen drove up in a blue truck.

"Boss, sorry for the trouble, but could you give me a hand?"

"Coming."

Xia Xu hurried over to help unload.

The truck carried the sofas, tables, chairs, reception desk, and other furnishings he had ordered. Since Yang Bowen had previously worked as a truck driver, Xia Xu had simply asked him to transport them.

Although the consulting firm was not really intended to do business, it still needed to look the part. After all, it provided a legitimate front and a respectable image. Even if Yang Bowen often went out to find and tail people, he still needed somewhere to come back to and clock in, somewhere that gave him a sense of belonging.

It would also give Tang Youxin something to do: cleaning now and then, watching the shop on weekends, or working reception. Without some actual work, she probably would not be willing to take a salary here, even after his previous spiel.

Even putting kindness, friendship, and practical benefits aside, bringing a five-star genius into his fold early could only be a good thing. The tiny salary he paid her was hardly worth mentioning.

"But this money really doesn't last once I start spending it..."

After calculating the balance in his bank account, Xia Xu began to worry again.

Having money in your pocket kept anxiety at bay. In modern society, a person's confidence often depended on the thickness of their wallet.

With money, anything was possible, and everything took half the effort. Without it, everything ground to a halt. Before doing anything, you had to weigh your finances and fret over every possibility, already at a serious disadvantage before you even began.

His original savings of nearly sixty thousand yuan would have been more than enough to get him through high school, but as his operations expanded and his expenses grew, things were getting tight.

The shop's rent, deposit, and furnishings had cost almost ten thousand. Yang Bowen's base salary alone was eight thousand a month, and if he did a good job, Xia Xu would have to give him bonuses too.

Add in his own expenses and Tang Youxin's modest salary, and sixty thousand really did not amount to much.

He had expected to make some money off the old man at the construction site, but he had yet to catch even a glimpse of him. If this dragged on much longer, he might not even have enough capital left to snap up that bargain.

"Bowen, pick up the pace with Zhang Jianmin. Also, check around these construction sites every day and see if you can find an old man selling antiques..."

With no progress on the old man and classes starting again tomorrow, Xia Xu could only pile a little more work onto Yang Bowen.

"An old man selling antiques?"

Yang Bowen first nodded to show he understood, but after a brief hesitation, he could not help speaking up. "Boss, you're not planning to buy antiques, are you? I don't know much about them, but I heard a few things while hauling building materials to construction sites. Those people selling antiques around the sites are all scammers. They pretend to be construction workers to con people."

"Don't worry. I'm not stupid. I can see right through people-do you really think some scammer could fool me with fake antiques?"

Xia Xu gave an amused smile.

"True. I shouldn't have stuck my nose in."

Yang Bowen scratched the back of his head and chuckled sheepishly.

It made sense. His young boss had an incredibly sharp eye. Even if he could not judge antiques, Yang Bowen had already experienced his ability to judge people firsthand. Surely he could spot a mere scammer at a glance. Yang Bowen had been worrying over nothing.

"Here's a key to the shop. Keep it for now. If you have time to come by in the morning, let yourself in. If you're busy, you don't have to come. The important thing is to pin down Zhang Jianmin's movements as soon as possible, and do your best to find that old man at the construction sites."

Xia Xu continued giving instructions as he tossed over a spare key.

Yang Bowen caught it neatly and asked in confusion, "Let myself in? Boss, are you going away for a few days?"

"No. I just have classes."

Xia Xu shook his head.

Yang Bowen looked surprised. "You're still in college, boss? No wonder you look so young. Young and accomplished!"

"High school. Youxin and I are classmates."

Hearing the obvious flattery, Xia Xu rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"H-high school?"

Yang Bowen had indeed been exaggerating his surprise to flatter him earlier. Xia Xu had a youthful face, after all, and even in a suit, he still had something of a student's air. One glance was enough to tell that he was no older than a college student.

But hearing "high school" genuinely shocked him.

College students starting businesses might not be common, but there were still plenty of them. Yet a student who was still in high school going out and starting his own company?

That was practically unheard of! If he had not already experienced his boss's extraordinary abilities, he would have wondered whether he had been duped into joining some shady operation.

China was not like other countries. There were not nearly so many inspirational stories about high school dropouts starting businesses in garages.

Leaving aside how difficult it was to own a "garage" in China, prevailing attitudes alone made it hard for a high school student to neglect his studies for this sort of thing. His family would neither approve nor feel comfortable letting him do it.

Besides, even if they agreed, how many parents could casually hand over that much money for their child to throw away? And how many high school students could rent a storefront and pay an employee seven or eight thousand yuan a month?

"Boss, you're not some rich heir out here getting real-world experience, are you?"

"No, but don't worry. I can still afford your salary. Just work hard, and I guarantee you'll have a bright future."

"And you still say you're not a rich heir?"

"I'm the one building the fortune. Get it?"