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Tongshi Town belonged to Jianzhou City and was not far from the neighboring province. It was mainly comprised of hills and mountains, especially to the north of Tongshi Town, where vast stretches of mountains were sparsely populated. This was one of the main reasons Xiang Kun chose this place.

Returning to Citong City from here required a total travel time of just over four hours, which was within acceptable range. If anything urgent occurred at home, he could return promptly.

As his parents had work, they wouldn’t often visit him due to the nearly ten-hour round-trip commute, limiting their visits to holidays. This reduced the chance of unexpected visits.

Xiang Kun followed the address he had previously received on WeChat, allowing his phone map to lead him directly to a newly built commercial street in the town.

It was almost noon, and there was a limited number of people on the commercial street. Apart from two fast food restaurants starting with the letters M and K, the other restaurants were scarcely filled with patrons.

Apparently, the area hadn’t yet gained approval from the residents of the town and hadn’t become lively.

He had asked for help in finding a farm from an old friend he had known since elementary school, named You Meng. They were desk-mates in elementary school and spent their time figuring out how to clear arcade games with one coin, pulling off winning combos in King of Fighters ’97, making their own fishing hooks, where to watch the latest big story in Doraemon, and the secret to winning the lottery at the school’s snack shop. Their shared interests made them great buddies.

Xiang Kun walked into a restaurant called “Youlong Restaurant”. Like most of the restaurants on this street, it was rather quiet despite lunchtime, with only one patron dining inside.

Anxiety showed on a waitress’s face as she walked up to Xiang Kun and asked,

“Sir, how many are dining?”

“Is your boss here?” Xiang Kun asked.

Before long, You Meng was summoned from the kitchen by the waitress. He appeared surprised upon seeing Xiang Kun and he greeted, “Hello?”

Even his mother couldn’t recognize him anymore, so Xiang Kun was not fazed by the reaction of his old friend. Laughing, he said, “Fatty, it’s me, Xiang Kun.”

You Meng had been nicknamed “Fatty” in elementary school. But he was not fat anymore. Although he had an aggressive character (‘Meng’ in his name), he was a tall, thin, and gentle restaurant owner and chef, looking more like a teacher than a cook.

Hearing his old nickname and a familiar voice, along with the WeChat messages Xiang Kun had sent on his way, You Meng quickly recognized the bespectacled and bald muscular man before him.

“My goodness, did you switch from coding to construction because you couldn’t keep up? From the IT industry to the construction industry… or even religion? You’ve bulked up and even shaved your head completely… what a huge transformation. You’ve mercilessly abandoned your image as a plump tech geek,” You Meng instinctively began to tease Xiang Kun as soon as he recognized him.

“Doesn’t this mean I’m preparing to come back and be a farmer?” Xiang Kun said with a smile. He then acknowledged a short-haired woman who came over from the nearby cash register. He had been back for You Meng’s wedding a few years ago and knew this was You Meng’s wife, whose name contained the word “Long”. Hence, their restaurant was named ‘Youlong”. He had previously joked on WeChat, saying that since You Meng had used his wife’s name for the restaurant, he should have used his name instead of his surname. It would have been more impressive to call it “Menglong Restaurant”.

“Haven’t eaten yet, right? Go sit down, I’ll whip up something and we can eat together,” said You Meng.

Pulling You Meng, who was about to head back to the kitchen, Xiang Kun laughed, “I was hungry on the way here, so I’ve already eaten. Just cook something for yourself.”

“Alright, I’ll just prepare some small dishes,” You Meng said, unceremoniously.

Because there was only one customer in the restaurant and all the dishes had been served, there was not much to do in the kitchen. You Meng directly joined Xiang Kun at a table in a corner for a chat.

“Your restaurant seems a little quiet,” Xiang Kun candidly commented.

You Meng let out a sigh, shook his head and said, “It’s more than quiet, I can’t keep it going. Business is poor, the rent is too high, and I’m planning to close shop next month.”

Xiang Kun knew that after finishing high school, You Meng didn’t go to university but instead helped out in the small restaurant owned by his family. Then, when this commercial street was established, with the support of his wife, he set up his own restaurant.

Regarding cooking skills, You Meng was undoubtedly more than capable. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have plucked up the courage to invest so much into opening his own restaurant, where he also served as the main chef.

From the moment he entered the restaurant, Xiang Kun casually collected various pieces of information — the smell of the two dishes the one customer was eating, the customer’s reactions while eating, variety and pricing of dishes on the restaurant menu, and the sanitary conditions — he already had a rough judgement.

“Are you really planning to open a farm?” You Meng asked again. “Why don’t you find a place near Citong or go back to your hometown? The transportation and economic conditions there are better, and the market will be larger.”

“I’m just tired of the city; I came here to escape the noise,” Xiang Kun said.

You Meng nodded, “But the location I had inquired about for you, I heard from my wife today that it’s not as I described. It’s not that simple that it was closed because they didn’t make a profit. It seems that the environmental assessment procedures couldn’t be fulfilled, so the place was forced to close. If so, and you still plan to continue with the farm there, it will be quite troublesome. The supporting facilities for pollution control are endless money pits.”

Since Xiang Kun mentioned “cheap” as one of his selection criteria for the location, You Meng naturally assumed that he didn’t have much money to invest.

Xiang Kun was taken aback: “Is that so?”

You Meng sighed: “You might have made this trip for nothing. Consider it as getting together with old friends in Tongshi.”

“No problem, let’s just go and see. Maybe there’s a solution.” Xiang Kun seemed unconcerned, he wasn’t in hurry. If Tongshi Town wasn’t suitable, he could always search for a new location. His demands weren’t high anyway. You Meng nodded, got up, and went to the cashier to get the car keys from his wife, ready to leave.

“Wait a moment. It’s lunchtime. What if more customers come?” asked Xiang

Kun.

“That’s okay. My nephew is in the kitchen. He can cook most dishes on the menu, and he can tell the customers that we’re out of the dishes he can’t cook. Anyway, I’m considering closing this restaurant soon.” You Meng seemed indifferent.

Xiang Kun suggested: “Don’t rush. Let’s go and check out your kitchen first.”

You Meng assumed that Xiang Kun wanted to tour his restaurant, so he obliged and led him to the kitchen, chatting all the while, “There are three private rooms on the second floor. Damn, I was too optimistic back then. I thought that since everyone’s income was rising, and the new business district made everything look upscale, we had to go high-end too. The profit margin would have been higher. The renovations cost a lot though. What a poor fate my wife had. She lost all her dowry.”

Once they reached the kitchen, Xiang Kun saw You Meng’s nephew, a shy punnp young ecu Lvvenues. upon HILLUUUCLIUII, ne bleeueu, menu, Brother Xiang.”

“Let’s go. There’s nothing interesting to see in the kitchen. Let’s go tour the private rooms upstairs. I put a lot of effort into the decor. I spent all my creativity on it.” You Meng suggested as he was about to leave the kitchen.

But Xiang Kun stopped him: “Do you have rabbit meat here?”

You Meng replied, “Rabbit meat? No, we don’t. Are you craving rabbit meat? That’s not really popular here. Oh, I do have some bamboo rat meat. Would you like to try that? Damn, these past two years there has been this farmer duo who started raising bamboo rats, they were really popular, and since then, many people have started raising bamboo rats. The price even increased, 75 a pound, damn!”

His nephew quietly mumbled from behind, “It’s the Huanong Brothers…”

Xiang Kun responded, “Bamboo rat meat might do too. Let me marinate it, and tonight when I come back, I’ll show you some of my cooking skills.”

You Meng was surprised: “You can cook too?” He knew his friend’s character, he wouldn’t have suggested this if he didn’t have confidence in his skills, especially in front of a restaurant owner like him.

“I have a few tricks. Are you using this bamboo rat meat for anything?”

“No, no, do as you wish.”

After Xiang Kun finished marinating the bamboo rat meat and asked You’s nephew to keep it in the refrigerator, the two of them left the restaurant and drove in You Meng’s van to Chongyun Village, twenty kilometers away from the town center.

Jianzhou City deserved the saying ‘Eight parts mountain, one part water, one part field’. Everywhere they looked, there were mountains. The roads were naturally winding and rugged.

The last seven or eight kilometers were all unpaved, very difficult to navigate.

Fortunately, You Meng was an experienced driver and was familiar with this route. He knew where to avoid potholes. Even so, the bottom of his van frequently scraped against the ground, causing Xiang Kun to wince at the grating sounds. You Meng didn’t mind, stating that his van was war-worn and well-tested, born for bumpy roads, a reliable old companion.

“When you first told me you wanted to open a farm, I thought you were just kidding. I didn’t expect you to be serious. Why would you want to do this? I mean, with your skills, you should be able to make it in the big city, right?” You Meng asked curiously while driving.

“Living in the city is too exhausting. I wanted to live in the mountains for a more relaxed life. Look at my bald head. My brain consumes too much. I’m all bald now,” Xiang Kun responded, poking fun at himself.

“If you’re looking for relaxation, opening a farm isn’t the way to go,” You Meng shook his head.

“Enough about me. Let’s talk about your restaurant. I feel it might not be a lost cause.” Xiang Kun changed the subject.

“How could there be hope? You saw it when you came, right? The entire commercial street is lifeless. It’s all because the initial planning by the property developer was inadequate. We, a small restaurant and few people, can’t change anything about that.”

The reality is your cooking is definitely good, so it’s all about promotion. With the current state of transportation, even if your restaurant becomes popular, whether there is a large flow of customers on this street or not it wouldn’t matter too much.”

“How can there be no promotion? When the restaurant first opened, I rented a billboard outside the highway exit for ten days. I also had my friends like a post for a 20% discount in their circle. I even posted on local forums… but they were no help. Right now, most orders come from food delivery apps, but the profit is too low. The rent for this place is too high. We can’t sustain it. So I decided to focus solely on takeaway after closing this restaurant,” You Meng explained, seeming to have a bellyful of hardships.

Xiang Kun shook his head: “That’s not how you promote a business these days..”