I couldn't take it anymore; when I went home for Chinese New Year, the family genealogy book ha

"Just passing by?"

Wang Xiuying was taken aback by her son's seemingly nonsensical remark.

What time is it?!

His family is being gossiped about behind their backs, and instead of thinking about how to clarify or explain, he still has the mind to care about soy sauce?

"Mom, you don't need to go, I can go by myself."

Jiang Chen noticed his mother's unease, so he grabbed Wang Xiuying, who was about to get up, and winked at her.

"Just you wait and see."

"Brew a pot of hot tea, crack some melon seeds, and wait to see how your son will sort this out for you beautifully."

The confident air and nonchalant smile on his face had a strange, infectious quality.

Looking at her son, Wang Xiuying's anxious heart inexplicably calmed down.

She sat back down in her chair, still somewhat doubtful.

Jiang Chen didn't say anything more. He put his phone and wallet in his pockets, put his hands in his pockets, and strolled leisurely towards the village store at the entrance.

On a winter afternoon, the sun was shining lazily, with little warmth.

But inside the village store, the atmosphere was even hotter than the midday sun.

Before he even reached the door, Jiang Chen heard a series of loud, familiar, and sarcastic voices coming from inside.

"...So! I'm certain he's involved in pyramid schemes! Think about it, who can earn millions a year with a normal job? Unless he's a bank manager!"

It was none other than my aunt, Liu Cuifen.

She was sitting in the center of a long bench, spitting as she spoke and gesturing wildly, explaining her core theories as a "pyramid scheme leader" to the "gossip group" members sitting around her.

The convenience store was filled with smoke, and sunflower seed shells were scattered all over the floor.

The most idle and core members of the "gossip group" from four or five villages were listening intently, each with a handful of melon seeds in hand.

They would nod in agreement from time to time, or offer some supplementary arguments, creating a very lively atmosphere.

"Ahem!"

Jiang Chen stood at the door and deliberately cleared his throat.

His tall frame, over 1.8 meters, blocked most of the light as soon as he stood at the doorway.

Inside the room, the lively atmosphere seemed to have been paused, and everyone's movements stopped.

A dozen pairs of eyes, filled with scrutiny, curiosity, inquiry, and schadenfreude, suddenly focused on Jiang Chen.

Liu Cuifen's mouth was still in an "O" shape, and the expression on her face was just like a rooster singing a high note when someone suddenly grabbed its neck—it was incredibly dramatic.

When she saw Jiang Chen, she was initially flustered, but then she snorted coldly, crossed her arms, leaned back, and adopted a "let's see how long you can keep up this act" look.

Jiang Chen seemed oblivious to these deadly gazes.

His face wore a perfectly timed, harmless smile.

He stepped into the convenience store, completely unaware of the eerie atmosphere inside.

"Uncle Zhang, business is booming!"

He greeted Mr. Zhang, the shop owner, who was looking embarrassed behind the counter.

"We're out of soy sauce at home, can you get me a bottle?"

His appearance and his utterly mundane opening remarks left the members of the "Gossip Squad" somewhat bewildered.

The script is wrong!

Shouldn't he have stormed in, furious, to confront us, and started arguing with us?

Why are you acting like nothing happened?

Grandpa Zhang felt like he'd been granted a pardon and hurriedly nodded and bowed, replying, "Yes, sir! Chen'er's here! I'll call you right away!"

As he spoke, he quickly turned around, picked up an empty soy sauce bottle, and went to the large soy sauce vat behind him to get some soy sauce.

An eerie silence fell over the convenience store.

The only sound was the faint "crack" of a sunflower seed being cracked open.

Everyone pricked up their ears, waiting for Jiang Chen's next reaction.

However, Jiang Chen's reaction exceeded everyone's expectations.

Just as Grandpa Zhang turned around to buy soy sauce...

As if suddenly remembering something, he slowly pulled the latest iPhone out of his pocket.

Then, under everyone's gaze, he unlocked the screen, as if looking at some important information.

next second.

His phone did not ring.

He reacted as if he had received a momentous phone call, abruptly putting the phone to his ear.

The Oscar-winning actor mode is activated!

Jiang Chen's voice wasn't loud, but it had a unique penetrating quality, enough for everyone in the small shop, which was only a dozen square meters in size, to hear clearly.

His tone carried a hint of impatience at being disturbed, and a casualness that came with being in a superior position.

"Feed?"

"Mr. Ma!"

"Oh, yes, yes, it's me, Jiang Chen."

The moment the words "General Manager Ma" were uttered, the sound of people cracking sunflower seeds in the room instantly disappeared.

Everyone stopped what they were doing, craning their necks and straining their ears like radar antennas.

Liu Cuifen's eyes widened, and she even subconsciously held her breath.

Jiang Chen ignored these reactions.

Holding his phone, he frowned and paced back and forth in the cramped space of the convenience store, continuing to speak in a complaining tone.

"Yes, I went back to my hometown for the Chinese New Year. I'll put company matters aside for now."

His voice suddenly rose a few decibels, filled with displeasure.

"What?!"

"That 200 million project, has your matching funds not yet arrived?"

"Oh dear, Mr. Ma! Rushing me won't help! The process is stuck there, what can I do?"

Two hundred million?!

project?!

These two words, like two bombshells, exploded in the convenience store!

The members of the "Gossip Team" gaped, forgetting to crack the sunflower seeds in their hands, their eyes wide like saucers, their brains completely shut down!

The most money they've ever seen in their lives is probably the tens of thousands of dollars in their savings accounts.

The unit "hundred million" only exists in television news!

Now, it's being said so casually by the very "pretty boy" and "pyramid scheme leader" they were just discussing?

Jiang Chen's performance continues.

He scratched his hair with his other hand in frustration and spoke into the phone in a helpless, even slightly scolding tone.

"I've already spoken to my superiors; let's put this project on hold for now! There's no rush!"

"I'm back in my hometown now! Even the biggest things have to wait until I've finished curing the pork for my mom!"

"If my mom's cured pork isn't cured properly and it delays the New Year, the loss will be much greater than that 200 million yuan project, do you understand?"

"Alright, alright, stop rushing me, it's settled then! We'll talk about it after the New Year!"

After saying that, Jiang Chen slammed the phone down impatiently.

"Clatter!"

Almost at the same time.

Another crisp sound rang out, particularly jarring in the deathly silent shop.

Sitting in the center, Liu Cuifen's triangular eyes, wide with shock, were filled with utter bewilderment and disbelief.

The handful of sunflower seeds she had just picked up slipped from between her stiff fingers without her noticing.

Golden sunflower seeds, mixed with black shells, fell with a clatter onto her muddy cloth shoes, scattering all over the ground.

Her mouth was open, like a duck with a fishbone stuck in its throat, trying to say something but unable to utter a single word.

Jiang Chen put away his phone, and the impatient expression on his face instantly disappeared, replaced by his harmless smile.

He turned around and looked at the shop owner, Mr. Zhang, who was completely petrified, still holding the bottle full of soy sauce in his hand, motionless.

"Uncle Zhang."

Jiang Chen's voice broke the suffocating silence.

"How much is the soy sauce?"