Chapter Eighty-Nine: Silent Tears

“Yun Xiaoyan, it is not what you think,” Lu Hao said, trying to explain himself.

But Yun Xiaoyan did not give him the slightest chance.

She only hugged a pillow and crouched in the corner, silently shedding tears. The fear Lu Hao and Zhou Chao had brought her tonight was a nightmare so deadly it would never be forgotten.

“All right.” Seeing how agitated she was, Lu Hao knew at once that she had misunderstood him; whatever he said now, she would never believe it.

With a light flick of his hand, the silver needles in Yun Xiaoyan’s limbs and neck flew back on their own into Lu Hao’s palm.

Then Lu Hao strode out.

“Yun Xiaoyan, I have only one thing to say. I am not on his side. Also, take care of yourself.”

“Get out!” Yun Xiaoyan suddenly hurled the pillow in her hands at Lu Hao.

It was as though this single blow could vent all the pain and grievance she had endured tonight.

After saying those words, Lu Hao let the pillow strike him and, with a faint sigh, stepped out the door.

Good intentions repaid with ingratitude. By now, he had become the villain instead.

How fickle the world could be.

After handling all this, Lu Hao hurried all the way home.

At that moment, he no longer cared how Yun Xiaoyan saw him.

So long as his conscience was clear, that was enough.

As for the rest, given enough time, she would come to understand for herself.

Very quickly, Lu Hao returned home and passed the night safely.

For now, the most important thing was still to make money and increase his income.

He first tallied his earnings.

At present, the virility medicine he sold could produce only about fifteen bottles a month. Moreover, he had given Ms. Chu a five-thousand-yuan discount on the price.

That meant his monthly income came to roughly seventy thousand yuan.

If he wanted to expand production, he would have to join a pharmaceutical company and go through a highly formal, proper approval process, which would take at least half a year, maybe even a full year.

The startup capital alone would likely have to be in the millions before anything could be settled.

If he skipped that step and forced an expansion by setting up an illegal backroom operation, he would be inviting disaster in the future. That was outright illegal.

But seventy thousand yuan was certainly not enough to pay wages for nearly twenty-five people in the restaurant.

That included the manager and the head chef; together, the two of them alone took nearly fifty thousand yuan in salary.

What was more, the restaurant would also need a steady stream of maintenance costs every month, along with ingredients for the dishes and a long list of other expenses.

The monthly outlay would be at least one hundred thousand yuan, perhaps even more.

Under these circumstances, Lu Hao had to find a way to open up new sources of income.

And now that the restaurant had changed hands, and even the staff had been replaced, the old customers might not necessarily be willing to come back.

On top of that, Sun Wenguo and Zhou Run at the east end of the village had been carrying out their blockade against him all along.

The restaurant’s income for the first few months, and even the first year or two, was unlikely to look very promising.

“At the moment, this restaurant’s income definitely cannot keep up with the investment,” Lu Hao had already prepared himself for that.

“And the clinic’s income is, at most, a little over a thousand yuan a day. After all, there are no major surgeries and no miracle drugs.”

“On average it only fluctuates between three hundred and five hundred yuan, which comes to just twenty thousand yuan a month. Add the seventy thousand yuan or so from medicine sales, and it still won’t be enough to cover the restaurant’s expenses.”

“The savings I had on hand were about two million yuan. After spending a little over three hundred thousand on the restaurant, I have around one point seven million left.”

“At this rate, this money can only keep the restaurant going for seventeen months at most.”

Lu Hao gave a bitter smile. He had never imagined that buying a restaurant would turn into such a hot potato.

“But I can’t very well sell it off the moment I get my hands on it.”

He took a deep breath, suddenly feeling a little cornered.

After all, many people in the village already knew he had bought the restaurant.

In fact, even some of his childhood friends had already begun calling him Boss Lu.

This matter concerned his reputation. If he were to turn around and sell the restaurant so easily, then from now on the gossip in the village would be endless, and his parents, who had placed such high hopes on him, would inevitably bear the pressure of public opinion as well.

“Forget it. I still have to get the restaurant running. If I can really solve the blockade set by Zhou Run and Sun Wenguo, and truly build up the Neijiang Restaurant’s turnover…”

“Then I should be able to earn at least fifty thousand to as much as a hundred thousand yuan a month. That kind of income is rich enough to be worth trying for.”

“For now, the safest way to earn money is still through medicine and treatment. After all, my Azure Dragon legacy gives me an advantage in healing that other people simply do not have.”

After thinking it over, Lu Hao decided to proceed that way.

With that plan in mind, early the next morning Lu Hao decided not to go to work for the time being. Instead, he sat down in front of the computer, wanting to see whether there was any reliable way to find large clients.

“Lu Hao, why didn’t you go to the clinic today?” His mother, Liu Xiulan, had just finished picking the lychees when she came in and asked.

Lu Hao smiled. “Mom, I’ve got more important things to do now.”

“I still have to go to work, of course, but not every single day.”

Liu Xiulan said with a smile, “Oh, then that works out nicely. Since you’re home today, your second maternal uncle is coming over.”

“Your second maternal uncle is the most capable man among us. He opened a pig farm, and he’s really made quite a name for himself in the surrounding villages.”

Hearing this, Lu Hao nodded. “All right. Since he’s coming, I’ll cook him a few good dishes.”

He smiled as he spoke.

Although ever since this second uncle had become prosperous, he seemed to fear most of all that relatives would try to cling to him for favors, it did not affect the praise and approval his parents and the older generation still gave him for his diligence and hard work.

As the saying went, a poor man goes unnoticed in a crowded market, while a rich man has distant relatives even in the mountains.

Given his second uncle’s situation, there was no need to think twice about how he was viewed among the relatives.

Especially in Peach Blossom Village, where people valued connections, wealth, and power above all else, one could practically walk sideways with status.

Of course, compared to Sun Wenguo’s family, he still fell far short.

“My goodness, Xiulan, it’s been so many years since we last met. How have you all been living these days?”

At that moment, a man walked in wearing brown denim pants, a cowboy hat, and a leather jacket with a wild western flair.

He was a man in his forties, with bright, lively eyes. His build was not tall, a rather short, compact frame, with a sharply trimmed crew cut and a somewhat square-faced bearing.

All of this made him feel somewhat out of place among the farmers of Peach Blossom Village.

He came through the door and set his hat on the table.

Then he began to look around at everything, left and right.