Chapter 0525: Thriving Day by Day

Although she really wanted to grab Fan Beibei and ask whether the girl's surname was Zhao or Fan, woman's intuition told Fan Baobao that she might hear an answer she wouldn't like, so she decisively abandoned the idea.

After breakfast, Zhao Fusheng told Fan Baobao to take the little girl to the amusement park for the day, since the sisters hadn't seen each other for a long time and needed to bond.

As for himself, he went out, hailed a taxi, and headed straight for Wanda Mall.

Having been away for over a month, he needed to inspect the work.

Calling it an inspection was just his way of saying he didn't really want to go to the amusement park with the Fan sisters. After all, deep down he was a middle-aged man in his forties, and spending time at an amusement park really made him feel a bit uncomfortable.

Earlier, he had accompanied Fan Beibei because he was afraid the child would feel neglected and develop childhood trauma. Now that Fan Baobao was here, Zhao Fusheng naturally didn't have to do that anymore.

Perhaps the biggest difference between a big city and a small city is the pace of life.

Although he hadn't lived in Beijing long, Zhao Fusheng could clearly feel that the pace of life there was very fast. People seemed accustomed to living busily—busy at work, busy eating, even walking in a hurry, as if they were racing against time.

In Ninghai, everything seemed very slow. People were used to a leisurely life, and a few hundred yuan a month was enough to get by in Ninghai.

Even taxi fares in Ninghai were much lower than in Beijing.

Arriving at Wanda Mall, Zhao Fusheng got out of the car and glanced at the stream of people entering and exiting. He nodded to himself, thinking that no wonder his mother had been in a good mood lately. Just from the customer traffic, he could tell the mall's business must be doing well.

If the mall had a lot of foot traffic, then KFC and the arcade should also be doing well.

Thinking this, Zhao Fusheng walked into the mall.

Instead of going to see his parents, he went straight to the entrance of KFC.

"No way?"

Staring at the long line in front of him, Zhao Fusheng was dumbfounded.

He took out his phone and checked—it was Monday. Blinking, Zhao Fusheng suddenly felt that he no longer needed to worry about Tan Kaixuan. Just looking at the long queue, he could tell that guy must be counting money until his hands cramped and laughing until he had no strength left.

With that thought, Zhao Fusheng dialed Tan Kaixuan's number.

"Where are you?"

"Dormitory," Tan Kaixuan said, bewildered.

"Dormitory?" Zhao Fusheng was quite surprised. "Why are you at the dormitory?"

"Of course I'm in the dormitory," Tan Kaixuan said, puzzled. "The store doesn't need me to take care of it. Where else would I be?"

Then he understood what Zhao Fusheng meant and laughed. "You're not at the store right now, are you?"

Zhao Fusheng grunted in affirmation. "There are so many people. Is it always like this?"

Tan Kaixuan nodded. "Yeah, it's been booming all summer. Aunt Li and I never expected so many people in Ninghai would love this stuff."

He meant it. At first, he thought it was just a fluke due to the summer vacation, but as time went on, he discovered that the popularity never faded. In other words, because there was only one KFC in Ninghai, many people would come here whenever they visited Wanda Plaza.

After all, besides shopping, many people either brought their kids or came as couples—such groups had no reason not to come.

"By the way, is there something you need there?" Tan Kaixuan asked Zhao Fusheng curiously.

Zhao Fusheng blinked and shook his head. "Nothing, just wondering if you were around. I'll talk to you when I get back to the dorm this afternoon."

With that, he hung up.

Putting down the phone, Zhao Fusheng shook his head with a wry smile.

He really hadn't expected KFC to be such a hit in Ninghai. But thinking about it, it made sense. People's living standards were improving, and more and more people had money in their pockets. Fast food might seem a bit pricey, but compared to restaurants, it was actually much cheaper.

Spending a few dozen yuan to bring kids here for something new was actually a good choice.

Food is the first necessity of the people. Winning over a child's stomach meant winning half the battle.

The only thing to consider now was Tan Kaixuan's next move, but that would have to wait until the end of the year, since the previous agreement was still valid.

Thinking about this, Zhao Fusheng walked upstairs to check out the arcade.

But today was destined to be a day of surprises for him.

Looking at the arcade, where almost every machine had someone playing, the smile on Zhao Fusheng's face was oddly strange.

"Has business been this good all along?" Zhao Fusheng asked Qian Dongliu beside him.

Qian Dongliu nodded. "Because our machines are the latest models, and there's no trouble, a lot of people are willing to come and play."

Hesitating, he lowered his voice. "Someone approached me before, wanting to put a few gambling machines in our arcade. I refused. I think since we're going for the large-scale arcade route, we don't need that stuff."

Zhao Fusheng looked at him and smiled, nodding. "You're right. Remember this: our place is an arcade, a part of the mall's leisure and entertainment. Customers can come to rest when they're tired from shopping, but it absolutely cannot become a place for gambling."

Qian Dongliu quickly nodded. He had been worried that Zhao Fusheng might be unhappy about this, but it turned out Zhao Fusheng was even more resolute than he was.

Little did he know, Zhao Fusheng was well aware that gambling machines might seem lucrative, but they were actually deeply harmful. Although Zhao Fusheng wanted to make money, he disdained earning such ill-gotten gains.

"How's the welfare home?" Zhao Fusheng asked as he walked, turning to Qian Dongliu.

Qian Dongliu hesitated, then said quietly, "The old director's health is getting worse. The doctor says he probably won't make it past the end of the year."

He naturally knew that Zhao Fusheng had paid for the old director's medical treatment earlier, so he didn't hide it from him.

Zhao Fusheng frowned, thinking of the old man lying in the hospital bed. He sighed silently, knowing that some things couldn't be reversed. Fate could be changed, but birth, aging, sickness, and death were immutable.

Just like himself—one day he might face the same thing, whether it was the departure of his parents or his own.

But no matter what, what he could do was try his best to fulfill their wishes, so they could smile and say goodbye to this world.

With that thought, Zhao Fusheng said to Qian Dongliu, "Call Zhang Qian over. I have something to say to him."

Qian Dongliu was startled, then nodded. Soon, Zhang Qian came before Zhao Fusheng...