Chapter 97        Enthusiastic

All of a sudden, an ordinary brick picker had become famous; it was too amazing and unbelievable.

Zhou Qingfeng did not even deny the fact. All he did was talk normally to the owner of the shop. The students around him thought that the one in front of them was too old-fas.h.i.+oned to be a superstar and thus, they left.

Zhou Qingfeng came out of the restaurant and it was already dark. As he sweat a lot in the restaurant, he felt extremely comfortable when the night wind blew at him. He walked along the pitted road back to his apartment. When he arrived at the apartment, he saw Aunty Zhang standing there.

“Aunty Zhang, why are you…..?” Zhou Qingfeng saw a bag of fruits in Aunty Zhang’s hand. It looked like she had been waiting for him.

Aunty laughed happily when she saw Zhou Qingfeng, “Little Zhou, it has been so long since I last came to see you. I’m free today and came here to greet you.”

“Thanks, thanks. Let’s go upstairs. But, my house is really messy,” Zhou Qingfeng wondered why Aunty Zhang came. Anyhow, he could not leave her out there as she was already there.

However, Aunty Zhang quickly waved her hand and said, “No, no. I have to rush for the bus to go home. It’s fine, we can just talk here.”

Looking at the bag of fruits given by Aunty Zhang, Zhou Qingfeng felt very awkward. “It’s almost eight o’ clock, the bus on this street has already stopped running. I’ll call a taxi for you. I’ll pay for it.”

“Oops…. Little Zhou, I guess I was right, you’ve earned a lot,” Aunty Zhang said with a smile. However, Zhou Qingfeng was dumbfounded by her following questions, “Do you have a girlfriend? Do you have anyone in your mind? Do you want me to introduce you one?”

Zhou Qingfeng smiled but he felt bitter and thought, These are the old ladies’ favorite things to talk about. That’s why people from China don’t need psychologists. The old ladies in the neighborhood will solve any psychological problem for you.

“Aunty, it’s pretty late now and I’m afraid that you wouldn’t be able to make it home to cook dinner. How about…..” Zhou Qingfeng started to chase her away.

Aunty Zhang got excited and did not even bother about what he said, “Why do you want to call a taxi? Don’t waste money even though you have a lot. Don’t worry, I’ve got my bike with me.”

Aunty, you just said that you were going to take the bus, why has it became a bike now? Zhou Qingfeng really could not deal with the old lady and thus, he begged, “Aunty, please tell me, how can I help you?”

“Can't I just concerned about you?” Aunty Zhang was unhappy with the way Zhou Qingfeng spoke. “I’ve heard things about you - you’re capable of earning a lot of money. You earned them the right way. It’s positive energy, why are you so shy about it?”

Zhou Qingfeng was astonished and looked confused - since when did I become the source of positive energy? Why didn’t I know that?

“It’s such a pity. The parents who adopted you broke up and left you alone. If that happened to other people, they would’ve already turned out bad. But, you worked properly on your own; it means that you have a natural kindness in you. There aren’t many kids like you out there these days.”

Zhou Qingfeng’s face blushed as Aunty Zhang praised him. He scratched his head and thought, I’d really happy to have a job that could earn a lot of money easily. But, there’s none out there!

“I’ve heard that you’re doing the antique business with Mr. Ma. He has been honest his whole life. If even he would do business with you, it means that the money you earned was legit.”

Aunty Zhang has a big mouth and she would dare to say anything. Zhou Qingfeng was surprised when she spoke, “Aunty, even you know about it? It’s only been a day!”

“Tianyang city is a little place. The ladies’ private group chat got the news even quicker than the mayor,” Aunty Zhang was very proud of it. “I got the news from the daughter-in-law of the w.a.n.g family. I heard that one of you does the purchasing and the other does the identification. That’s good teamwork between the two of you!”

Oh, Aunty, no rumor, no baller, and no spreading are the basic policies of our current news propaganda! What are you guys talking about? Since when did I and Mr. Ma get involved in antiques?

“I heard that the business wasn’t too bad?” Aunty Zhang looked like she wanted to know more.

Zhou Qingfeng had no idea how to explain. He touched the back of his head, mumbled whilst he looked at the sky, “Yeah, I guess.”

Aunty Zhang immediately laughed, “Silly boy, you don’t have to hide from me. I know the rules. You don’t reveal the money; you don’t talk about it. You must have earned a lot.”

“I’m saying that you’re a good boy. Don’t be that humble. Some people earn a lot of money, yet they hide it, and they don’t even pay their debt! You’re a good boy, you know the first thing to do when you get money. You know the ten thousand yen that you paid helped me a lot!”

As Aunty Zhang was talking, her eyes turned red and she started crying. She kept on talking about the problems in her house. There were all sorts of problems including retirement, their children, and debt. She had a lot of problems.

Even though China was economically developed, there were still a few provinces that were experiencing an economic recession, and Tianyang city was one of them. It was so bad that it would not be able to recover. Many middle-aged men lost their jobs and it was like the end of the world of them.

As Zhou Qingfeng listened with a heavy heart, Aunty Zhang suddenly changed the topic and continued the previous one, “Little Zhou, you’re already at the age of marriage. I think you should get a wife when you earn money. You need to know that a young, handsome, and rich guy like you is high in demand.”

“Do you know Wu Erbao from Dongsi street? He’s already thirty and his small business earns only ten to twenty thousand a month. But, he is a high-profile man. I heard that he has seven or eight girlfriends. He could sleep with a different one every day of the week!”

“Who’s Wu Erbao? He looked like a coolie in the mine. He’s dark, short, and his character isn’t any better than you; he has a dissipated life. The key thing is he doesn’t even earn more than you. If even he could find seven or eight girlfriends, you could’ve found seventeen or eighteen!”

Seventeen or eighteen? Zhou Qingfeng thought that the speed at which Aunty Zhang was switching topics was too quick. She was still complaining about her life before that and just a moment later, she started to introduce ladies to Zhou Qingfeng excitedly.

“Aunty, I don’t even have one now. The numbers you say are way too high,” Zhou Qingfeng was trying to be humble, but at the same time, he whined about not having a girl.

Aunty Zhang waved her hand and said unconcernedly, “Little Zhou, don’t be so silly. If it were twenty years ago, I’d spit on a guy who has two women at the same time. But for society these days, I’m fine with it!”

“Women were pitiful; their whole lives depended on whether or not they could find someone who loves them and wanted to take care of them. Otherwise, they would have miserable lives! You’re a good kid, it’d be good if you had more wives. That’d prevent those good girls from falling into the traps of bad guys.”

“Tell me, what sort of girl do you like? Young and lively? Slim and pretty? Soft and gentle? Intellectual? Or a cute one? I’ll introduce whichever you like! If you get the girl, just give me a red packet.”

Zhou Qingfeng was astonished by the enthusiastic Aunty Zhang!