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

Grandpa Zhang held the bottle filled with soy sauce, motionless, his cloudy eyes filled with bewilderment.

"Uncle Zhang."

Jiang Chen's voice broke the suffocating silence.

"How much is the soy sauce?"

"Huh? Oh...oh!"

Grandpa Zhang, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, jolted awake and came to his senses.

He hurriedly placed the soy sauce bottle on the counter and stammered, "Ten...thirteen yuan."

Jiang Chen took out his phone and skillfully scanned the faded QR code on the counter to pay.

Then, he picked up the bottle of soy sauce, turned around, and prepared to leave.

His gaze inadvertently swept over Liu Cuifen, who was completely petrified, and the mess of sunflower seeds at her feet.

Jiang Chen's lips curled up slightly, forming a perfectly measured, concerned smile.

"Oh dear, Auntie."

His voice wasn't loud, but it was like a needle, precisely piercing the ears of everyone present.

"Are you... having a Parkinson's attack? Why are your hands shaking like that?"

"This is a serious illness. You need to go to the hospital immediately and not delay."

"puff--"

Someone couldn't hold back and spat it out on the spot.

Liu Cuifen's face, which had turned deathly pale from shock, suddenly turned a deep liver color!

Jiang Chen seemed oblivious to her murderous expression.

He carried the soy sauce, walking with a leisurely, pigeon-toed gait, like an old man who had just won a game of chess, and walked out of the convenience store with a satisfied expression.

His tall figure had just disappeared through the doorway.

The convenience store instantly erupted in chaos!

"My God... my God..."

An older woman stammered and nudged the person next to her with her elbow.

"He...he just said...two hundred million? I didn't hear wrong, did I?"

"You heard me right! I heard it too! A two-hundred-million-dollar project!"

"And...and about that Mr. Ma..."

Aunt Zhao, the founder of the "soft rice hard eater" faction, couldn't care less about her own theories at this moment.

She lowered her voice, her face showing a kind of reverent pilgrimage.

"Mr. Ma... how many big bosses with the surname Ma are there in our area? Could it be... that... the one they talk about on TV every day... the richest man?"

The moment this speculation was made, the entire convenience store fell silent once again.

Everyone was stunned by this audacious, almost absurd idea!

Discussing a 200 million yuan project with the richest man?

Did he hang up the phone because he was helping his mother cure bacon?

What does this mean?

This is beyond all their life experience!

This is a million times more outrageous and a million times more sophisticated than anything about being a "pyramid scheme leader" or "being kept by a rich woman"!

Liu Cuifen finally regained a sliver of reason from her extreme shame and indignation.

As she listened to the increasingly outrageous speculations of those around her, she came to her senses, her face turning pale and then red, still trying to make a final stand.

"It's an act! It's definitely an act!"

She yelled, trying to regain control of public opinion.

"Don't be fooled by him! He's just putting on an act for us! Who is he trying to scare!"

However, this time, her voice clearly lacked confidence.

Her shrill voice carried a weakness and lack of confidence that even she herself could not hide.

Sure enough, as soon as she finished speaking, an older woman who was usually on good terms with her looked at her as if she were an idiot.

"Cuifen, that's enough."

"Acting? Who can act so realistically? The tone, the expression, and even the impatience... it wasn't faked at all!"

"Exactly! They were on the phone with 'Boss Ma'! A 200 million yuan project was abandoned just like that—was that an act? That's their confidence!"

"I finally understand! We've been thinking wrong all along! All that talk about pyramid schemes and gigolos—we were just too naive!"

"Jiang Chen is a truly remarkable person, someone who accomplishes great things outside! He's on a level we can't even imagine!"

"Oh, now that you mention it, I remember something. My son works in the county town, and he says that these days, big bosses like to come to the countryside to do some kind of ecological agriculture project, investing tens or even hundreds of millions of yuan in a single project. Maybe that 200 million yuan project Jiang Chen mentioned is going to be invested in our town?"

This guess was like a key, instantly unlocking everyone's thinking!

Yup!

This logic makes sense!

Everything makes sense now!

As Liu Cuifen listened to the chatter around her, she began to actively craft a more virtuous and logical "big boss" persona for Jiang Chen.

She was completely dumbfounded.

She felt like a clown, her carefully constructed stage of rumors torn to shreds by the protagonist with just a "phone call".

She herself became a laughing stock in the eyes of the entire village.

……

Jiang Chen had not gone far.

He held a cigarette in his hand, leaning leisurely against the corner of the wall outside the convenience store, and heard the discussions inside clearly.

The smile on his face grew wider and wider; he was absolutely overjoyed.

Become!

Starting today, those three incredibly low-quality versions of rumors are completely outdated.

A brand new, high-end, and sophisticated legend will soon circulate in Jiangjia Village: "Jiang Chen and Boss Ma's 200 Million Yuan Cured Meat Project".

This effect is better than him spending a million to play games in the village!

Just as he was feeling satisfied and preparing to take the soy sauce home to receive his mother's admiring gaze,

Through the dusty glass window of the convenience store, he saw the shopkeeper, Grandpa Zhang, hunched over, struggling with the old cash register.

The cash register screen was completely black. Grandpa Zhang patted and pounded on it, but no matter how he pressed the buttons, it wouldn't respond. He was sweating profusely and kept muttering to himself.

Jiang Chen knew this old man.

He was an elderly woman living alone, without children, who had never left the village in her entire life, and relied on this small shop to earn a meager income to make a living.

If this goes wrong, he won't even be able to keep track of the accounts during the busiest days of the Lunar New Year.

Jiang Chen's heart stirred slightly.

He stubbed out his cigarette and threw it into the trash can next to him.

Then, he turned around, picked up the bottle of soy sauce, and walked back to the convenience store.

Inside the house, the group of middle-aged women fell silent instantly upon seeing Jiang Chen return.

Jiang Chen ignored them and walked straight to the counter.

He gave a kind smile to Grandpa Zhang, who was still struggling with the cash register.

"Grandpa, don't rush."

"Shall I take a look for you?"