Chapter 274 The Steel Straight Man (Second Update)

Words : 1759 Updated : Oct 11th, 2025

Chapter 274: 274 The Steel Straight Man (Second Update)Liao Sinuo’s cooking skills were good; she quickly prepared four dishes and a soup, authentic Haicheng cuisine. "Xiaofeng, how’s your specialty product selling? Where can I find it for sale? I’ve almost finished the ones at home. If it’s available in Haicheng, I can go buy some." Sister Liao wasn’t originally from Haicheng. She just married and settled there after teaching in the city. Since she had put down roots in Haicheng, she could count on one hand the number of times she had returned to her hometown. "Sister, do we have a store inside our school? If so, I’d like to have a talk with them to see if we can stock some items there. I think these products would be very popular among the students." Students in that era were simple; they’d often go for the cheapest meals, and some would save money by just eating steamed buns. "Right, that’s a good idea," Sister Liao said as she sat down. "That’s business thinking for you, always different from us. Fangzhou, don’t you know Old Zhou from the school store quite well? Take Xiaofeng there later for a look around." Gao Fangzhou, a man of few words, had been quietly sitting and eating his meal. Upon hearing Sister Liao’s suggestion, he nodded, "Alright, I’ll take her to visit Uncle Zhou later." "Uncle Zhou is good-tempered. Many students like dealing with him." Sister Liao was well acquainted with everything at Haicheng University, "Just tell him I sent you. Who knows, he might stock more items to save face for me." "If the school store has them, it’d be more convenient for me to buy some too," Sister Liao admitted, holding some personal interest as well. Upon hearing this, Su Xiaofeng realized she was about to land another business deal. She stood up, toasting with water instead of wine, "Sister, though we met by chance, I’m really grateful for your help. Here’s to you." "It’s good to see a young person willing to work hard," Sister Liao looked at Gao Fangzhou. "My son is fine in every way; he just doesn’t talk much. He’s the type who would rather stay home all day than go out." Listening to Sister Liao, Xiaofeng wanted to laugh. This must be the prototype of the original IT guy, conquering the world with a single word: homebody. Fangzhou, hearing his mother describe him this way, didn’t get angry. He just glanced at her and continued to focus on his meal. "Yifan, you look much thinner than before. What happened?" Sister Liao turned to Wu Yifan, who was quite the figure in school, but after graduation, he didn’t stay in Haicheng and went straight back to his hometown instead. "I was sick for a while, rested at home for nearly two years." Wu Yifan was brief, "I’m better now, and since Xiaofeng was coming here for business, I thought I’d come along for a look." "Was it serious?" Teacher Liao, observing his condition, thought it must have been a severe illness. "Nearly didn’t make it," Wu Yifan thought back, as though recollecting a dream, "Dr. Ye’s family saved me." Speaking of Dr. Ye, Wu Yifan inevitably had to explain Su Xiaofeng’s identity: "Dr. Ye is Xiaofeng’s husband." Sister Liao suddenly comprehended; it all made sense now. So that meant Xiaofeng’s family had favor with Yifan: "Such good people. Come, let’s eat." She had initially thought Xiaofeng might be Yifan’s girlfriend or something. Now it turned out they weren’t involved that way at all. Fortunately, she hadn’t asked aloud earlier, or it would have been embarrassingly awkward. After dinner, the Wu brothers stayed at Teacher Liao’s place, while Xiaofeng and Gao Fangzhou went to walk around the school store. "Fangzhou, you don’t look much older than me," Gao Fangzhou wasn’t very tall, around 165cm, and slender. Gao Fangzhou glanced at Xiaofeng’s stomach, "Don’t tell me you’re pregnant underage?" Typical blunt straight man talk: "Of course not, I have a legal marriage certificate." A certificate was all it took to travel the world for her, so she had nothing to fear. "What does that prove?" Gao Fangzhou didn’t think much of the marriage certificate Su Xiaofeng talked about; he wasn’t planning to marry that early anyway. To him, women were trouble incarnate; it’s best not to get involved with them unless you want endless hassle. Xiaofeng: "..." A marriage certificate could prove a lot, but there was no point discussing it with a guy without a girlfriend; their perspectives were definitely different. "It’s just a certificate for two people to live together legally. I heard from Sister Liao that you’re a computer science major. What stage are you at now? Do you develop systems and the like?" Talking about life details with a direct man would be maddening, so she steered the conversation toward something he might be interested in. "What kind of system do you want to develop?" Gao Fangzhou finally responded seriously. "A cash register system," Xiaofeng said calmly, trying to convey her idea clearly, "It would have prices directly marked on the products, then without using a calculator, the computer would help calculate the total price and change. It’s quite simple, like having a calculator software on the computer where I just input the prices and the total comes out. It would also archive the data so I can use it for accounting." Actually, a calculator could also be used, but settling accounts with a calculator was too slow and inconvenient for keeping records, so she didn’t want to use a calculator. "This sounds pretty simple," Gao Fangzhou really became interested when it came to his major, "Explain your idea to me again, so I can think about it when I get back and see if I can help you come up with something." Xiaofeng nodded, this Gao Fangzhou was like a completely different person once it came to professional knowledge. Nowadays, products still didn’t have barcodes on their external packaging, so the most primitive pricing method had to be used to price the goods, and then one would directly enter the price of the product when settling accounts. Therefore, the cash register system would be much simpler, of course, it would be better if it had more functions. During the conversation, Gao Fangzhou already took Xiaofeng to a small store next to the school’s canteen, although not large, the store was fully equipped, just like a small sparrow that has all the vital organs. It had everything popular among students. "Uncle Zhou." An old man in his fifties was sitting at a table in the store, reading a book with presbyopia glasses on; seeing Gao Fangzhou, he took off his glasses, put down the book, "Fangzhou, is this your girlfriend?" His gaze naturally fell on Xiaofeng’s belly, inquisitive. "Uncle Zhou, where is your mind wandering off to," Gao Fangzhou laughed and cried, "This is a friend of mine. She owns a food factory, I brought her over to meet you." "You kid, and here I thought she was your girlfriend. I was puzzled, never heard you were dating, and suddenly the girl is pregnant." Gao Fangzhou’s face flashed discomfort, "Uncle Zhou, I am still in school, how could I possibly do such a thing. Su Xiaofeng, chat with Uncle Zhou for a bit, I’ll wait over there." Su Xiaofeng hadn’t brought any samples today and just took the two bottles from Teacher Liao’s house; she placed the items in front of Uncle Zhou, "Hello Uncle Zhou, my last name is Su, Su Xiaofeng. I’m from Xijiang County, these two bottles are our local specialty and the most famous delicacy from there. Liao Dajie found them quite tasty, she thought it could be promoted among the students, so she introduced me." Liao Dajie had been teaching at the school for many years, using her name was more effective than promoting the product a hundred times over herself. Uncle Zhou picked up a bottle to look at it, "I specialize in business with students here, quality is most important, you don’t have any quality issues, do you?" "Here is the quality inspection report issued by our county’s relevant department, there is absolutely no problem with the product’s quality." She had been in the food industry for years and certainly understood the importance of quality. "Since Teacher Liao recommended it, I’ll take some and give it a try," Uncle Zhou didn’t beat around the bush, "Tell me the wholesale price and the retail price." Xiaofeng discussed it with Uncle Zhou, and he immediately decided to start with ten cases to see how they’d sell. Uncle Zhou was willing to give it a try, and for Xiaofeng, that was a good test. Many products needed that initial attempt for any future collaboration, it was the outright rejection without even trying that one feared. Xiaofeng agreed to deliver the goods to Uncle Zhou in the afternoon. "By the way, my classmate has a store at the school gate, do you want to check it out too? He happens to be in my class, and I can talk to him about your idea." "I’d appreciate that," Straight males do have their benefits, straightforward without dodging around. Watching Su Xiaofeng come out of the school, the three people in the car immediately became alert, "The target has appeared, everyone pay attention to her movements, let’s see what she’s up to?" The store at the entrance was right across the school’s main gate, separated by a wide road. S~eaʀᴄh the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. When Xiaofeng was crossing, a few students just came out of the store after making purchases, and a young man inside was minding the store, complaining to Gao Fangzhou upon his arrival, "I have no idea where my mom went again, every Saturday she dumps the store on me and goes out to enjoy herself, it’s really exasperating." Seeing Su Xiaofeng at the store’s entrance, he put on a smile, "Miss, what do you want to buy?" Complaints aside, business must be done. "She’s not here to buy anything, she’s here to sell something to you. My mom met her on the train, a seller of specialty goods, she just mentioned something to me and I found it quite interesting, do you want to join in on this?" Xiaofeng: "——." He really was a man of steel, straight to the point without any detours.

Chapter 274 The Steel Straight Man (Second Update)

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