My hometown is far away in Moscow.

Chapter 96 Joint Housing Resisting Sixth

Today, they only sold a pitiful ten boxed meals, but since Hu Yi and Li Baoqing had already decided on their next move, they were no longer as anxious as they had been a few days ago.

After everything was tidied up, the two returned to the house and sat down facing each other. Hu Yi took out his phone and called Wang Shen: "Are you free?"

Come to my room and chat for a while.

"Alright, I'll be there in a bit. Hey hey hey, pong! West wind." The sound of mahjong tiles clashing came from Wang Shen's side: "Wait a minute, I'll finish this round."

After hanging up the phone, Li Baoqing hesitated before asking, "Why are you looking for him? Are you really planning to ask him to join you?"

"Let's talk it over. I don't plan to let him get involved in the lunchbox business, but maybe he can do something else. Anyway, he was the one who came to us first, so it's not beneath us to ask him for help now."

"Fine, I'll listen to you." Li Baoqing muttered softly, his eyelids lowered. "Anyway, I don't think he's reliable."

"Wang Shen is indeed a bit unreliable, but he's not exactly a villain. Bringing him to our side shouldn't be a problem." Hu Yi smiled magnanimously. "Baoqing, we're the weaker party compared to Sixth Brother. The weak should know their place. Have you read Romance of the Three Kingdoms?"

"I've seen it on TV, but not the whole thing." Li Baoqing tilted his head and thought for a moment. "I also read comic books and listened to storytelling when I was a child."

"So you know about the Battle of Red Cliffs, right?"

"Of course I know! Zhuge Liang went down to Jiangdong and debated with the Confucian scholars, and borrowed the east wind to burn Cao Cao's large ships. There was also the Gathering of Heroes, Huarong Road, and so on."

"That's right," Hu Yi nodded. "Our current situation is like facing Sixth Brother in a Battle of Red Cliffs!"

"What do you mean?" Li Baoqing's expression gradually turned terrified: "You—you want to set fire to Sixth Brother's restaurant?!"

"This—this won't do!"

"What are you thinking about?" Hu Yi glanced at him sullenly. "Why is your brain getting more and more erratic?"

"Oh, that's alright then." Li Baoqing breathed a sigh of relief: "As soon as you mentioned the Battle of Red Cliffs, I started thinking about setting fire to it."

"Nonsense, I meant we should unite the weak! Baoqing, look," Hu Yi perked up as he talked about the Three Kingdoms, "among us Chinese deliverymen at Youda, Sixth Brother is rich, powerful, and owns a restaurant. He's deeply rooted and fearless, just like Cao Cao, who occupied Jiangbei, proclaimed himself prime minister, and had a strong army."

"Hmm? It looks quite similar."

"Look at the two of us. Ever since we were robbed, we've done all sorts of jobs over the past year. I've cut vegetables at restaurants, helped people assemble computers, I've led tours as a tour guide, and you've sold goods at the market. We even helped Wuga impersonate a thug. But none of these jobs lasted long."

I wanted to make fried noodles, but Wang Shen beat me to it. I finally managed to get the boxed lunches looking decent, but then Sixth Brother got his eye on them. Don't you think we're like Liu Bei, who, after Lü Bu took Xuzhou, fled everywhere, wandering from place to place?

"Hey? Cao Cao and Liu Bei? You're really good at bragging, kid. It sounds pretty far-fetched, but there's actually a bit of truth to it!" Li Baoqing chuckled a few times, then frowned and said, "According to you, is Wang Shen Sun Quan? He doesn't seem like the type at all!"

"Pah, he doesn't deserve it." Hu Yi sneered, "Sun Quan, of course he's Brother Fang! Old Fang makes money by relying on his unique skills, and ordinary people can't easily take his business away. Isn't that just like Sun Quan who occupies the natural barrier of Jiangdong?"

"Oh!" Li Baoqing suddenly realized, "You mean, unite—unite—unite the housing forces to resist the Sixth?"

Hu Yi chuckled: "That's right, it's rare for you to be so smart."

"We already have Cao Cao, Sun Quan, and Liu Bei, so to which faction does Wang Shen belong?"

"Wang Shenyao, should we just consider him—Ma Chao? No, that's giving him too much credit." Hu Yi stood up and paced back and forth a few steps, then waved his hand with an air of elation, proclaiming in a theatrical voice, "Let's just consider him Meng Huo! If he stays in the rear of the border and behaves himself, that's fine. But if he ever harbors rebellious intentions, I'll capture and release him seven times!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than hurried footsteps approached and stopped outside the door. Wang Shen knocked and called out, "Old Hu! I'm here!"

Hu Yichong and Li Baoqing made a face, then their smiles faded as they opened the door: "Playing mahjong again? Still complaining you haven't lost enough? Got money now, huh?"

"Hehe, I've been on a lucky streak these past few days, won a few hundred rubles." Wang Shen grinned and slipped into the room beside Hu Yi. "What do you want?"

"Do you still want to cooperate with us?" Hu Yi asked bluntly.

"Of course!" Wang Shen perked up. "Tell me, what do you want me to do? Buy groceries? Deliver food? Post on GG? Anything that makes money is fine."

"Don't do those chores, pick up your fried noodles again."

"Fried noodles?" Wang Shen immediately deflated. "Forget it, they won't sell at all, nobody wants to eat them."

"That's because your cooking skills are terrible!" Hu Yi raised his hand and gently stroked his chin. "The instant noodles were overcooked, so they came out soft and mushy with a mushy texture. The eggs were overcooked, the oil temperature was off, and the ingredients were shoddy. It would be strange if anyone liked to eat them."

"Really?" Wang Shen stared at him suspiciously. "How did you know? Have you eaten it?"

"You stole my idea, and I'm not even allowed to try it?" Hu Yi chuckled irritably. "I had Xia Yan and his friends buy it a few times, but each time they only ate two bites, it was practically inedible."

Wang Shen awkwardly tugged at his sleeve: "Oh, then—can I still continue cooking?"

"Keep cooking. But your reputation is ruined. I'm planning to rename those four flavors and brand them alongside our boxed lunches, making it our business. We'll assign you the fried noodle orders; you'll cook and deliver them yourself, and all the profits are yours."

"Hey!" Wang Shen exclaimed excitedly, "That's great! With your reputation as a guarantee, there will definitely be people willing to buy! I—"

I definitely have to do a good job. But—but—"

"But we have to teach you first." Hu Yi picked up where he left off, then turned to Li Baoqing and said, "I'm leaving the task of teaching apprentices to you. In the beginning, keep a close eye on things and don't tarnish our reputation."

Li Baoqing nodded emphatically. Wang Shen rubbed his hands together and moved closer to the two of them, laughing, "This—this collaboration, hehe, it seems like I'm benefiting from your success, I feel a bit embarrassed."

"It's alright, the important thing is to work together, not who benefits from whom," Hu Yi said calmly. "I'm going to talk to Brother Fang later and try to get him involved as well. At least on the surface, we need to make it seem like we're all on Old Fang's side, so we can stand up to Sixth Brother in terms of momentum."

"Momentum?" Wang Shen muttered, clicking his tongue. "Can momentum really work when selling fast food?"

"You don't know anything," Hu Yi tossed his head lightly. "Baoqing, you should understand what I mean, right?"

"Yes, I understand." Li Baoqing's expression was solemn as he spoke each word clearly: "This is called uniting the weak, joining forces against the six powers, like the Battle of Red Cliffs!"

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