A few days passed in the blink of an eye. Su Mingzhe was extremely busy these days, looking for a suitable venue to open a coffee shop every day.
Finally, through the introduction of an intermediary friend who helped me buy a house, I found a location in a commercial street not far from the Noi Valley community where my home is located.
This location used to be a coffee shop. The original owner is a Korean who plans to return to China for development in the near future, and then plans to sell the coffee shop and the small building together.
This house is a building from the 1970s and 1980s. The area is not too big. It has two floors and is probably more than 300 square meters.
When Su Mingzhe brought Wu Fei to see it, Wu Fei fell in love with it at first sight, and Su Mingzhe also signed a contract with the seller.
After some bargaining, the property and coffee shop were bought together by Su Mingzhe for a total of US$1.85 million in transfer fees.
Today is the first day of renovation of the coffee shop. Wu Fei is a little worried and insists on bringing her husband to take a look.
The design drawings for this redecoration were made by Wu Fei herself. She studied interior design in college!
Su Mingzhe himself didn't plan to make much money from this cafe, he just wanted his wife Wu Fei to have a career that interests her.
When Su Mingzhe and his wife arrived and parked their car at the door, they found that the place had changed a lot.
All the tables, chairs and benches have been cleared away, so it looks very empty.
After the walls are repainted, new tables and chairs will be purchased.
Wu Fei gave a lot of advice to the decoration workers in Chinese. Because the decoration team Su Mingzhe hired was Chinese, it was okay to use Chinese.
It's not that Su Mingzhe can't trust foreigners, it's mainly that Su Mingzhe doesn't like the way they work because there are too many things to do.
After you give him suggestions, he will always give you inferences. It’s better to be a Chinese fellow. I will do whatever you say.
After a busy day, the couple ate hamburgers at a nearby fast food restaurant for lunch. When they got home and walked in, they found that the nanny Aunt Zheng had already prepared dinner.
Smelling the aroma of the food, Su Mingzhe and his wife looked at each other and felt that it still smelled like Chinese food.
The more Su Mingzhe heard about it, the hungrier he became. He quickly took his wife to the bathroom to wash her hands, then sat down at the dining table and ate the food:
"Aunt Zheng, the braised pork you cook is so authentic!"
"This sweet and sour pork ribs is not bad!" Wu Fei also praised it.
Seeing the two of them devouring their food, Mother Wu felt a little distressed and quickly served them a bowl of beef brisket and radish soup:
"You two, eat slowly and drink some soup, no one will compete with you!"
"How is the decoration of the cafe? When will it be opened?"
Su Mingzhe burped and took a sip of soup:
"The overall decoration remains unchanged. I just need to repaint the walls and replace some tables and chairs. Because we use environmentally friendly paint, it will be ready in six or seven days!"
Wu's mother didn't know much about these things either. The reason why she asked was because she saw the couple leaving early and coming back late every day, looking very busy, so she was concerned.
After Su Mingzhe finished eating, he felt a little full, so he took his wife, who also ate a lot, out for a walk.
The two walked near their home for a while, and suddenly Su Mingzhe heard someone calling his name.
Su Mingzhe felt that he was hearing hallucinations and shook his head. I just moved here, how could anyone recognize me?
So he took his wife and continued walking forward, but the sound of his name getting louder and louder as he walked forward.
"Mingzhe! Mingzhe! Mingzhe!"
This time not only Su Mingzhe heard it, but his wife Wu Fei also heard it.
Su Mingzhe and the others turned around and saw only a figure running towards them, but they couldn't tell who it was.
Wu Fei also felt baffled:
"Husband, how come we just moved here and someone knows us?"
Su Mingzhe was also a little confused:
"That shouldn't be the case. I've been busy with the cafe these days and haven't had any chance to get to know my neighbors!"
As the figure ran closer and closer, Su Mingzhe finally saw who it was.
It turned out to be Lin Peter, a colleague and friend from the previous company.
Su Mingzhe and his wife Wu Fei also walked forward, and the three finally met.
Lin Peter held Su Mingzhe's shoulders with his hands and gasped:
"Why are you walking so fast? The more I yell from behind, the faster you walk. I'm almost exhausted!"
"Hello siblings, we meet again!" Lin Peter stretched out his hand to say hello to Wu Fei.
"Hello, Peter!" Wu Fei also gently touched his outstretched hand.
Su Mingzhe said angrily:
"Who knew you were here too? This isn't right. I've been to your house before and you weren't here either?"
"My parents' home is here!" Lin Peter explained.
"Mingzhe, did you buy a house here?" Lin Peter asked.
Seeing Su Mingzhe nodding, Lin Peter glanced at him inexplicably:
"Mingzhe, it seems you are not telling the truth. This house can't be bought with millions of demolitions!"
"Hey, wealth doesn't leak out!" Su Mingzhe said modestly.
Although Lin Peter is of mixed race and cannot speak Chinese well, his grandfather is a traditional old man, so he understands what this sentence means and gave Su Mingzhe a thumbs up.
"Peter, how did you recognize Mingzhe?" Wu Fei stood aside and asked curiously.
Lin Peter chuckled:
"It's mainly because I looked at the back and couldn't be sure, so I kept calling you!"
"Then what if you admit your mistake!" Su Mingzhe frowned.
Lin Peter said innocently:
"Just admit your mistake and apologize. What else can you do?"
"You're a fucking talent too!" Su Mingzhe said this in Chinese.
After hearing what her husband said, Wu Fei stretched out her hand and pinched Su Mingzhe's waist, and also said in Chinese:
"No swearing!"
Lin Peter said anxiously:
"Hey, Mingzhe, can we speak English? You know my Chinese is not very good!"
"Of course, I definitely know that what you just said was not a good thing, and I can understand it to a certain extent!" Lin Peter hammered Su Mingzhe's chest and said.
"Mingzhe, you and Wu Fei, go to my house and let me introduce you to my parents. You will be neighbors from now on!"
Lin Peter invited the two of them.
Su Mingzhe glanced at his wife, and Wu Fei nodded in agreement.
"Then it's not a good idea to go empty-handed, right?" Su Mingzhe looked at his wife and said something in Chinese.
Wu Fei thought for a moment and replied in Chinese:
"There are a few bottles of high-end red wine in the car that I bought at the mall before. I should be able to get them as gifts!"
Su Mingzhe nodded and turned to look at Lin Peter:
"Okay, but I have to go home first. You tell us your address. Wu Fei and I will visit you soon!"
Lin Peter told Su Mingzhe the house number and then returned to his parents' house.
Su Mingzhe and Wu Fei were also heading home, planning to go home and pick up some handy gifts.
After a while, Su Mingzhe and his wife returned home, changed into decent clothes, and stood in front of Lin's father's house and rang the doorbell.
He also held two bottles of high-end red wine in his hand, and the Gaoqiao waffles, a local specialty from Shanghai, that Wu’s mother had brought earlier.
This is what Su Mingzhe heard from Lin Peter before. His grandfather was also from Shanghai, so Su Mingzhe asked his mother to find some and bring them over specially for the old man to try.
After a while, the door opened. It was Lin Peter who opened the door.
Because Su Mingzhe and Wu Fei were juniors, the others were waiting in the living room.
PS: All conversations in the United States are in English. Only conversations at home will be in Chinese. Other times, Chinese will be marked.
(End of chapter)
