School Beauty's Invincible Martial Expert

Chapter 428: Chapter 428: Are You Xiao Han?

“It’s better to ignore such people,” Xiao Han shook his head.

“Later, I told everyone that I had shares in Hanmen Technology,” Li Dapang chuckled and said, “Xiao Han, you won’t blame me, will you?”

“No, you already had shares,” Xiao Han nodded.

“That’s good,” Li Dapang continued cycling.

“Your family must have been shocked, right?” Xiao Han asked curiously.

“Definitely!” Li Dapang said proudly, “My whole family was almost dumbfounded. They were all scared, and you wouldn’t believe it, their eyes were nearly popping out.”

“Haha…” Upon hearing this, Xiao Han burst into laughter.

Unknowingly, the bicycle reached the city center.

Li Dapang led Xiao Han to the Hanmen Restaurant in the city center.

It was mealtime already, and there was a long line at the door, with twenty or thirty people crowded at the entrance waiting for their numbers to be called. There were fruits and sunflower seeds set out for those in line, and even a small game had been introduced at the entrance. The game had a hundred levels in total. If you passed the first twenty, you’d get a free hot drink, and if you passed fifty, you’d get a free cold dish. If someone passed all hundred levels, they got their meal for free.

Therefore, many people at the entrance were engrossed in the game, occasionally someone who passed twenty levels would shout excitedly. Those who made it past fifty were regarded as heroes. Since the opening, only one person had passed all hundred levels; that guy was so excited he nearly fainted, even though he only saved a bit over two hundred yuan, but it did set a huge milestone for Hanmen Catering.

Li Dapang and Xiao Han hurried inside.

Liu Xiaolei was busy inside; once Yang Lu left, Liu Xiaolei became the general manager of Hanmen Catering in Linjiang City. Her monthly salary was now over eight thousand, and with performance bonuses, she could make nearly ten thousand a month. This income had already reached the level of a white-collar worker in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. Such a salary was quite comfortable in a third-tier small city like Linjiang. It absolutely allowed for a petty bourgeois lifestyle.

“Xiao Han, what brings you here?” Liu Xiaolei was directing the staff in the lobby.

All the waiters in Hanmen Catering wore communicators; coordination work was uniformly directed via headsets. This made work much more relaxed and efficiency increased significantly. Compared to the noisy shouting of traditional methods, this approach not only kept all the noise away from the customers but also made the whole experience more pleasant.

“Just checking in,” Xiao Han smiled, “It’s very busy today!”

“It’s busy every day,” Liu Xiaolei giggled, then asked, “Are you on vacation?”

“Yes!” Xiao Han nodded.

Li Dapang said to Liu Xiaolei, “I brought Xiao Han over to have a look. This kid is on winter vacation, figured he might want to come here to work part-time and earn some living expenses.”

“Oh, great!” Liu Xiaolei’s eyes lit up upon hearing this.

If they could get Xiao Han to stay and work part-time, wouldn’t she be able to see Xiao Han every day? Liu Xiaolei’s heart was very excited and fluttering. She looked eagerly at Xiao Han and asked, “Do you want to join?”

“Hmm.” Xiao Han nodded and said, “Xiao Lei, I came here today to pull some strings.”

“Do you still need to pull strings?” Liu Xiaolei giggled and said, “Sister’s got you covered. If you work part-time for a month, I’ll give you five thousand. Work hard.”

“That much?” Xiao Han was taken aback.

“Xiao Lei, you better not treat the company’s money like it’s nothing,” Li Dapang chuckled.

“Mind your own business!” Liu Xiaolei snorted and said, “I’ll pay Xiao Han as much salary as I want.”

“Alright, alright, you’re the general manager after all,” Li Dapang said helplessly.

Xiao Han initially had no intention of working part-time, but after Li Dapang mentioned it, Xiao Han felt it necessary to help out. He was, after all, a founder of Hanmen Catering. It would be quite improper not to contribute.

After walking around the store once, Xiao Han and Li Dapang left. He would officially start work the next day.

“Xiao Han, I’ll come to find you after work,” Liu Xiaolei waved at Xiao Han and then said, “I’m too busy right now; I can’t entertain you.”

“Sure!” Xiao Han watched Liu Xiaolei busily, feeling somewhat touched on the inside.

Li Dapang stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets, tightened his clothes, and the outside temperature was very low. Xiao Han had just returned, and looking around the familiar place with a touch of sentiment, he felt familiar yet unfamiliar. Having left for over half a year, it seemed everything at home felt fresh.

“By the way, Chen Zihan is back,” Li Dapang suddenly said.

“What!” Xiao Han trembled, that familiar name suddenly felt so unfamiliar. He stared in astonishment at Li Dapang and asked, “What did you just say?”

“I said I ran into Chen Zihan yesterday on the street,” Li Dapang began, “She was shopping with her mother. She seemed quite haggard. Do you… want to find some time to meet her?”

“Her number has changed, and I can’t reach her anymore,” Xiao Han said.

“Here!” Li Dapang suddenly pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and said, “This is her number. I got it from Yang Xiaoyan.”

“Didn’t you break up with Yang Xiaoyan?” Xiao Han asked.

“Yeah!” Li Dapang nodded and said, “We did break up, but for the sake of your happiness, I could only humbly ask her for Chen Zihan’s number.”

“Does Yang Xiaoyan know that you’re a shareholder of Hanmen Company?” Xiao Han curiously asked.

“I didn’t tell her,” Li Dapang laughed.

Xiao Han took the crumpled paper from Li Da’s hand and then said, “Thank you.”

“Reach out to her soon,” Li Dapang patted Xiao Han’s shoulder and then said, “I believe there’s a deep connection between you two, right? If it weren’t for her mother forcing her to study abroad, you might still be together.”

“It’s all in the past now,” Xiao Han smiled calmly.

The feelings of a first love had been hidden deep inside his heart for a very long time. First love and lovers are incomparable. Regardless of whether a first love becomes a permanent mark in the depths of one’s heart, and regardless of how many tears and pain one has endured, what should remain after the years are beautiful memories, those slightly green memories of youth. The purity and beauty of those days are incomparable to all later emotional experiences.

Although Xiao Han already had a girlfriend, whenever he recalled the beautiful times he and Chen Zihan had in high school, he would always be filled with various emotions. Was it the play of fate? Or the tricks of destiny? Perhaps it was because of his poverty that Chen Zihan’s mother disapproved of him; maybe it was because of his immaturity that Chen Zihan had to leave him.

If only he had millions in wealth, how could he have been despised?

This was also why Xiao Han had always been driven to make money, just so that in the future he would not be looked down upon, just so that he would never be scorned.

Holding the crumpled paper, Xiao Han hesitated for a long time.

Beep beep beep…

Suddenly, Li Dapang’s phone rang. After answering the call, Li Dapang hurriedly said, “Xiao Han, Hanmen Technology has a shipment coming in, I have to go now. You take a walk, or give Chen Zihan a call and catch up.”

“Take care,” Xiao Han smiled.

Li Dapang turned and left, quickly riding his motorcycle away from the city center. Xiao Han was left standing alone at the intersection in the city center, looking up at the tall buildings around him, watching the bustling streets.

Xiao Han looked down at the crumpled piece of paper in his hand. Although it was wrinkled, the handwriting on it was clear. He wanted to look, but he didn’t dare to. He feared that once he looked, that string of numbers would be etched deeply and clearly into his heart and mind. After hesitating for a long time, Xiao Han did not look at the sequence of numbers but carefully tucked the crumpled paper into his pocket, treating it as something incredibly precious.

“Sigh…” Xiao Han sighed deeply.

For some reason, hearing that Chen Zihan was back, Xiao Han felt a kind of pain, and this pain seemed to come from nowhere. It was a pain of the heart! Especially hearing from Li Dapang that Chen Zihan looked much haggard, this made Xiao Han inexplicably hurt.

Xiao Han sat down in the coffee shop across from Hanmen Restaurant and ordered a cup of coffee. He sat for more than half an hour without moving.

His mind was in chaos. As a grown man, why wasn’t he more magnanimous? As a man, why couldn’t he be more tolerant? Why did he allow all the pain to be inflicted on a girl?

After hesitating for a long while, Xiao Han took out the crumpled piece of paper again, then unfolded it and glanced at the phone number.

Xiao Han gathered his courage, but due to a feeling of guilt or maybe apprehension, he did not dial right away. It wasn’t until a few minutes later that he firmly pressed the numbers. But when it came to the last digit, Xiao Han couldn’t help but shut the phone screen off.

“Puff…” Xiao Han sighed deeply, then took a big sip of coffee, which had turned cold.

Perhaps under the influence of caffeine, Xiao Han gritted his teeth and bravely dialed the number.

After dialing, Xiao Han’s breathing grew rapid and his heart raced, a very uncomfortable sensation. It felt as though his veins were about to burst, as if his life was approaching its final moments.

“Hello…” Suddenly, the call connected, and a gentle voice came through.

This was the voice Xiao Han was familiar with in the depths of his heart, a voice he could clearly identify even after decades. The moment he heard the voice, Xiao Han’s defenses were shattered. Though he intended to be a cold, heartless man, upon hearing her voice, the ice in his heart still melted.

“Zi Han…” Xiao Han struggled to control his voice.

“You…” the voice trembled, then hurriedly added, “Are you Xiao Han?”

COMMENT
0 comment

Vote
3 left

SEND GIFT