Chapter 156: Greed Is in Our Nature (Bonus Chapter for 720 Monthly Tickets)

“Why are you helping me? Tell me the truth!” Han Xue suddenly turned around and stared hard into Hong Tao’s eyes.

“I still need you to help me make money. Don’t worry, if I were ten or eight years older, I might have some ill intentions toward you. But since there’s such a big age gap between us, even if I had the desire, I don’t have the ability. Isn’t that so?” Hong Tao looked at the woman’s face so close to his, still quite charming, but he really was powerless this time. What he said was the truth.

“You’re the most difficult person I’ve ever met. It’s like you can read my mind, know what I want, and always use me!” Whether it was a sigh, a protest, or just grumbling, it was hard to tell.

“Good that you know I’m difficult. Just listen to me more in the future; it won’t hurt. Come on, swim on your own, I’ll protect you from the side.” Hong Tao knew this conversation had worked; the psychological barrier Han Xue had built was penetrated. That was enough. He shouldn’t try to break through this shell completely—once broken, it would be very hard to get rid of this woman. That was a job for her future boyfriend, not him.

“It’s too far. I’ll pull this net back…” Han Xue stretched her neck, still couldn’t see anyone on the shore. Looking at the endless sea all around, she felt nervous before she even started swimming.

“Hey! You just said I’m difficult, and now you’re not listening! So you were lying just now? Let go, or I’ll grab you!” Hong Tao wouldn’t let her back down now. This was exactly the time to strengthen her swimming skills. He forced her into the water, his hand reaching up and covering her swimsuit-covered upper body with his whole hand.

“Ah! Let go! I’m swimming… I’m swimming…” A woman’s temper is very much like a cricket. Once bitten and defeated, next time she sees the same cricket, she shivers and doesn’t even dare bare her teeth. Now Han Xue was that defeated cricket, and Hong Tao was the victor.

“Slap! Kick your legs, separate first, then squeeze, don’t lift your head!” Hong Tao was thoroughly enjoying himself today. He had beaten Han Xue mentally and taken advantage of her physically. As Han Xue loosened her grip on the shark net and plunged into the water, he even gave her a slap on the butt.

Now Hong Tao finally understood why previous fathers-in-law all seemed a bit psychologically twisted. The feeling of knowing everything in your mind but your body not keeping up was truly tormenting, especially over time. No wonder they were a little abnormal.

The next day was group activity time. Everyone took a coach bus to tour Shanhaiguan, Jiangnü Temple, and Yan Sai Lake. Returning in the evening, they all rushed to the seaside again. Teacher Liu’s coaching was a failure. Except for Han Xue, the other three girls were still at the stage of holding their breath with their heads underwater; without support, they would sink immediately. Han Xue had wanted to teach her younger sister to swim using Hong Tao’s method, but he stopped her. With her shaky swimming skills, taking a landlubber into deep water was too risky—none of them would make it back.

Jin Yue and Da Jiang were very upset that day. All the marine animals they had raised had died from the cold sea water. The bucket stank, so they dug a small pit on the beach to bury the bodies, then ran to the rocks to dig up little crabs from the crevices with small buckets.

Holidays are always short. On the fifth morning after arriving in Beidaihe, everyone boarded the coach to return to the capital. Unlike the trip there, the bus was now filled with the fishy smell of seafood. Everyone or every family had bought a large bag of crabs. Although cooked, the strong aroma lingered, making Hong Tao reluctant to touch seafood for several days after returning home.

Besides bringing home a pile of seafood, every visitor to Beidaihe also received a gift from the heavens… sun-darkened skin! This made the girls, including Jin Yue, grit their teeth in frustration. Their earlier praise of Hong Tao disappeared, and now whenever they met, they complained about being dragged to suffer.

Hong Tao responded sternly to this kind of ungratefulness by extending business hours! “I’ll keep you busy so you have no time to chatter! Use that energy to work! We have to catch up on the backlog from the few days the salon was closed.”

Through this short closure, Hong Tao found that his plan to transform the salon had achieved initial success. Regular customers were willing to wait a few extra days rather than go to another barbershop. They had become accustomed to the salon’s environment, atmosphere, and service quality. Returning to those old state-run barbershops, with their outdated hairstyles and lackluster service, wouldn’t make them feel special or superior.

“Second Master, you really should have gone with us, taking Aunt Liu too. With the endless expanse of the sea, if I had added some embellishments, maybe you two would have been honeymooning at the beach by now. What a pity!” Hong Tao teased Second Master while sitting in the shop on the second floor, flipping through the accounts.

“What’s so fun about that? Look at them coming back all burnt black, smelling like salted fish!” Second Master had never been to the seaside and had no desire to go.

“But you did eat those big crabs I brought back! By the way, don’t keep sneaking those dried sea cucumbers and scallops—they’re for the restaurant. You can’t make them taste right yourself. If you want to eat, wait for Da Jiang’s grandfather. Has the old man come over lately? Has he figured things out with you yet?” Hong Tao brought up Da Jiang’s grandfather when food was mentioned.

“He’s been twice. You’re just causing trouble. His daughter-in-law refuses to let their son learn to cook and keeps arguing with him. The old man can’t interfere; after all, it’s their son!” Second Master threw another accusation at Hong Tao.

“Ah… long hair, short wisdom! Why learn someone else’s skills when you have your own? With Da Jiang’s brains, can he even get into high school? Let them argue. If Da Jiang’s father and grandfather can’t handle a woman, I’m helpless. I can’t help them forever; it’s their child.” Hong Tao felt powerless in this situation. He could try other means to tempt them, but he didn’t want to. He hadn’t reached the point where helping others meant getting cursed.

“Are you sure you’re helping them? Or just causing trouble?” Second Master didn’t like Hong Tao’s way of handling things.

“Hey, don’t argue with me. In three to five years, you’ll see if I’m right or not. You won’t need me to explain; you’ll understand on your own. Just hang in there! But when that time comes, it won’t be at today’s price. Those who regret it will know.” Hong Tao scoffed at such questions, showing no interest in debating.

“...Look at your confidence! Fine, I’ll say this—if we wait twenty years, I might not be alive. But in three to five years, I’ll see it. If it’s as you say, I’ll call you ‘Grandpa.’ We’ll be peers!” Second Master was unwilling to admit defeat and even bet with Hong Tao.

“Then you better start thinking now whether you want to call me ‘Master Hong’ or ‘Master Tao’... Ah! These kids are really pushing my temper! They’re showing off right in front of me! Like a swordsman flaunting his blade in front of Guan Yu!” Hong Tao suddenly slammed the ledger down in frustration.

“Who? Who are you talking about?” Second Master didn’t catch whom Hong Tao meant.

“Who else but those educated youths downstairs? Look at this ledger—the sales this month have dropped by half compared to last month, but business doesn’t seem bad. More and more customers are coming. Isn’t that strange?” Hong Tao showed Second Master the accounts. Although the old man had pushed a cart most of his life, he had attended a private school in his youth and even a missionary school.

“This is tricky. You say you share profits with them, but they’re cooking the books. You’re shooting yourself in the foot. You can’t have a bookkeeper for every counter. Honestly, you might as well just charge rent, like your uncle-in-law suggested. It may be less, but it’s stable. You could even clean up those two rooms upstairs, hire more people, and still collect rent.” Second Master flipped through the pages and roughly understood the situation, though he had no better ideas, only advising Hong Tao to cut his losses.

“Grandma! Those guys are still too inexperienced to fool me! You think I’d stop farming just because the crickets chirp? Watch how I deal with these freeloaders—I’ll make them spit out everything they took from me!” Hong Tao would never waste the meat he caught. He had long expected trouble with those youths renting counters downstairs. As long as things didn’t get out of hand, he wouldn’t pursue it. Greed is human nature; skimming some business funds for themselves was understandable. But now they were going too far, bullying him as a kid and his uncle as a rough man. He had to deal with them.

“What are you planning? They’re not easy either; don’t be rash! Even if you kick them all out, new ones will come and do the same. Why make trouble for yourself?” Second Master thought Hong Tao was about to throw in the towel and quickly tried to stop him. Though he didn’t fully support Hong Tao’s usurious loan model, he saw it as a kindhearted act helping those needy educated youths.

(To be continued...)

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