Martial artists can never be ultimately insulted.

Chunli herself wasn't sure if Yuan Chen was sparring with her now, and whether she needed to use her full strength.

I need to work harder; I can't let myself fall too far behind...

Chunli thought to herself.

"That would be perfect!"

Upon hearing Chun-Li offer to be his sparring partner, Yuan Chen chuckled and suggested, "Let's start with ground fighting techniques and group techniques!"

"Stop being so cheeky." Chunli tapped Yuan Chen's forehead in disdain.

After a brief chat, and confirming that Yuan Chen had indeed only suffered some minor injuries, Chun Li, after marveling at the amazing effects of the life-saving therapy, let Yuan Chen go.

It happened to be a holiday, and although she didn't know what had happened, seeing that her family was celebrating, Hibiki Sakura enthusiastically came over to celebrate as well. However, it seemed that she was just looking for an excuse to eat and drink to her heart's content.

In a good mood, Yuan Chen opened a bottle of beer and enjoyed his meal. Then, as if remembering something, he said to Sakura Ibuki, "By the way, are there any reliable real estate agencies around here?"

"A real estate agent?" Upon hearing Yuan Chen's words, Sakura Ibuki was slightly taken aback and asked curiously, "Are you planning to rent a place?"

Although they are called homestay families, such homestay status is often just a reason to make it easier to find them. A considerable number of wealthy second-generation people will find an excuse, such as snoring, religious beliefs, or lifestyle habits, to go out and rent a house on their own.

Upon hearing Sakura Ibuki's question, Yuan Chen shook his head and said while eating, "No, it's mainly a matter of lifestyle habits."

Yuan Chen explained, "When I was in Hong Kong, I was the head chef of Yuan Hanting. I worked there for more than three years. Apart from martial arts training, sometimes when I felt like doing something familiar, I would like to relieve my boredom."

"I see." Upon hearing Yuan Chen's words, Sakura Ibuki nodded thoughtfully.

“I do know a few real estate agencies… but if it’s for opening a shop, I happen to have an old shop that’s been closed for a while, but the situation on the street is a bit complicated.”

Volume 1: Chapter 85 - I Blanched the Evil Croissant

"An old shop?"

Upon hearing Sakura Ibuki's words, Yuan Chen raised an eyebrow.

In response, Sakura Ibuki nodded and said:

"Although I'm not entirely sure why, Japan has changed quite a bit in the past few years. While the economy has indeed improved, some of the old city districts have unknowingly seen an increase in thugs, biker gangs, and wandering fighters."

Hearing Sakura Ibuki's words, Yuan Chen and Chun Li nodded in understanding. Yuan Chen was no longer a novice who knew nothing about the Battle World.

In the days leading up to his arrival in the Battle Realm, Yuan Chen also spent time with Chun Li brushing up on his knowledge of the Battle Realm.

While the martial arts world is irrelevant to superpowers with clearly defined sovereignty, it's a windfall for many smaller nations.

Although they may face factors such as a surge in violence due to the large influx of martial artists in the area, and increased social risks.

However, with the rampant growth of the Battle Realm and the economic investment of various countries in the Battle Realm regions, the regions selected as Battle Realms often experience an astonishing rate of wealth growth.

After all, even in modern times, there are still many countries that are merely wearing a layer of civilization on their skin, while the Doujie is genuinely able to acquire a large amount of wealth through various forms of international aid and rampant development.

In contrast, countries like the Tang Dynasty, with their vast territory and rich history, possess a rich cultural heritage that includes its own ecosystem, even without external interference.

The United States, needless to say, has a massive influx of immigrants, which is the best ecological foundation and resource for the world.

For a superpower like this, a military alliance is optional, and managing one domestically is much easier. For smaller nations, economic growth is naturally a good thing… but some growing pains are inevitable.

Now, it's clear that the abandonment of Sakura Ibuki's old shop is one of the 'growing pains'.

Just as Yuan Chen and Chun Li had guessed, Sakura Ibuki, standing to the side, then said with a hint of helplessness:

"Although I don't know why, it feels like that old town area has been completely abandoned. Apart from basic water and electricity being maintained, neither the Metropolitan Police Department nor any other government department cares about what happens there."

"There are many old houses in Tokyo, so it's not easy to move around easily. After all, you have to consider things like the city's appearance..."

But when we moved out, we encountered almost no resistance; we even received a large resettlement allowance. The number of biker gangs and thugs was increasing, and some of our old customers were leaving. Naturally, we gave up on that old shop.

"Back then, since the two stores were already up and running, we didn't sell the old store to keep it as a memento... and it ended up being completely stuck in our hands and we couldn't sell it. But now it seems that it still has some use."

Looking at Yuan Chen, Sakura Ibuki smiled and said, "I wouldn't feel at ease if it were anyone else, after all, the situation there is so complicated. But after seeing your battle today, I think you are more suitable to open a shop there."

"sounds good."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Chen nodded in agreement.

Seeing that Yuan Chen had already decided to get started, Sakura Ibuki thought for a moment and said:

"That place has been abandoned for a while, and I haven't been back for some time either. It might take some time to clean and renovate it..."

"Hey, a friend of mine does research in this area. I'll give you his contact information after we finish eating, so you can ask him about it when you get to the restaurant. Call me again after we're done, and if everything's okay, I'll have someone bring you a batch of spare restaurant supplies."

"Oh, thank you for your help." Yuan Chen nodded.

“Compared to your help, these things are insignificant,” Sakura Ibuki shook her head, not taking it to heart.

After finishing their meal, at 3 p.m., Yuan Chen followed Chun Li to the address given by Sakura Ibuki.

Because Japanese cars are right-hand drive and drive on the left, Chun-Li, who had received special training, was driving. Upon arrival, Yuan Chen took out his phone and dialed the account provided by Sakura Ibuki, initiating a video call.

"Hello, hello, hello, can you hear me? Can you hear me?"

"Yes, I can hear you, I can hear you."

On the live streaming platform, in the "Brother Nuo's Food Talk" live stream room, while responding to Brother Nuo, he nodded and asked, "What problem did you encounter?"

“Here’s the thing, I’m planning to open a shop in the old town…” Yuan Chen explained the shop information that Sakura Ibuki had given him.

"I see." Upon hearing this and realizing it was the old town, Brother Nuo frowned and said, "Come on, hold the phone up higher and spin it around."

A little tune that goes around in circles~

After assessing the surroundings, the coward scratched his head, "My god, it looks like all the shops around here are local old shops?"

“Yes, basically all of them.” Yuan Chen glanced around at the surrounding streets.

Although it was described by Sakura Ibuki as an "abandoned district," it actually maintained a normal appearance as I walked along. I could see some ordinary pedestrians on the street, as well as some shops that looked like they were run by local elderly people, making it seem less desolate than Sakura Ibuki described.

However, considering that the Sakura family has never returned since they moved, it is possible that something happened during those ten years or so.

Seeing Yuan Chen's nonchalant expression, Brother Nuo, maintaining his professional demeanor, inquired, "So what are you planning to do? Do you have a franchise? If so, how much is the franchise fee? How much is the rent? What about the utilities? How are they paid? Is there a transfer fee?"

"We mainly offer dine-in service and everyday meals. There are no franchises, no rent, utilities are all free, and there are no transfer fees," Yuan Chen said succinctly.

"Damn, not even rent?" Upon hearing this, Brother Nuo was also shocked, but after carefully considering the business environment of the old town of Doujie, he frowned and said:

"How much is the salary? How many people are there? Is the boss in the store? Has he worked there before? What did he do in his previous store?"

"I'm the only employee currently working here, but that might increase in the future. The owner is in the restaurant; his previous job was as a head chef at a restaurant in Hong Kong for three years."

"Oh, you do have skills. That's alright then."

Nodding, Brother Nuo said straightforwardly, "If it were any other situation, I might suggest you set up a stall first, after all, those who know about these abandoned old towns understand. But if there are no issues with rent or utilities, you can tidy it up a bit and give it a try... Hey, why is someone talking about the old town again? The old town is no longer a town."

Halfway through his speech, seemingly noticing the negative comments in the live stream chat, Brother Nuo sighed helplessly.

Then, seemingly noticing Yuan Chen's confused expression, Brother Nuo said, "Since you look like you're from out of town, I'll take this opportunity to explain the situation in the old town."

"This place was in chaos for quite some time because a large number of illegal immigrants and martial arts criminals had inexplicably flooded in. In addition, some historical issues were inconvenient to deal with, so the government arranged for local residents to relocate."

"However, a few years ago, in order to comply with relevant regulations, new management measures were introduced, and the old town has now returned to a fairly peaceful state. It is completely different from the time more than ten years ago when it was occupied by gangs, thugs, biker gangs, and illegal immigrants."

In fact, due to the low rent, a considerable number of migrant workers and students from other places have settled down in the old city area.

"So if the guy really has a clean record and is skilled, then he can rest assured to open a shop here—after all, there's no pressure of rent or utilities, right?"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Chen nodded thoughtfully.

Seeing this, Brother Nuo added:

"However, it's best to lower expectations regarding average order value and revenue. After all, even if these old urban areas recover, the majority of consumers will still be residents of the old urban areas, migrant workers, students, and some other people who have mixed in."

“There’s no need to worry about that.” Yuan Chen replied, “I’m not short of money, I just want to find something to do.”

Yuan Chen is indeed not short of money. After all, even if the rental rights for the Kengan match are split 30/70, Yuan Chen's income would be at least 30 million.

The reason I wanted to open a shop was simply to have a place to chat with my friends... Baki and Wu Lei'an, their identities destined them to walk with death, so they were not really suitable to gather at the Sakura family's house for a long time.

"You don't lack money, then there's even less of a problem!"

Upon hearing that Yuan Chen seemed to have achieved financial freedom and was looking for something to do, the last bit of worry in Brother Nuo's heart disappeared: "Then the main remaining issue is to be careful not to invest too much when cleaning up the shop. After all, this kind of place still has some historical factors, and there are still some thugs occasionally roaming around. If any losses or risks occur, it will be easier to control them."

"OK."

After briefly learning about the relevant matters, Yuan Chen hung up the phone with Brother Nuo about the catering business.

After hanging up the phone, Yuan Chen did not put down his phone immediately. Instead, he searched for information about the "Violent Countermeasure Law" and the "Violent Martial Law"—according to Brother Nuo, the reason why the old city was no longer a district was largely due to the promulgation of these two laws and regulations.

After reading for a while, Yuan Chen nodded thoughtfully, roughly understanding why the changes in the old town were so different from what Sakura Ibuki remembered.

The so-called "Anti-Violence Law" is officially called the "Law Related to the Prevention of Misconduct by Members of Violent Groups," and can also be simply referred to as the "Violent Group Countermeasures Law."

Its core content is to impose strict restrictions on members of yakuza groups, namely the Japanese underworld and yakuza. For example, once identified as a member of a yakuza group, one cannot rent a house, open a bank account, or accept any form of financial assistance, and so on.

These measures dealt a severe blow to the Japanese underworld, cutting off almost all of their legitimate income.

However, this "violent confrontation law" has very limited effect on the old city... because of the large number of martial arts criminals, foreign martial artists, and illegal immigrants, the "violent confrontation law," which targets ordinary thugs, can have very little effect.

Thus, the Violent Martial Arts Method was born.

Simply put, since laws and regulations have no effect on violence, they simply break with the law and send armed forces to the area to fight violence with violence, and allow organizations such as Interpol to provide assistance.

This has somewhat weakened the government's control over the old city—after all, it involved an international organization like Interpol.

However, considering that the old city is inherently difficult to manage, the introduction of an internationally neutral violent organization can at least maintain peace, so the outcome is still positive.

At least, through this method of using violence to combat violence, the situation in the old city has indeed improved somewhat.

If an ordinary person were to suddenly see that a law called "violent law" is being implemented here, which uses violence to control violence, they would be more or less bothered.

But Yuan Chen clearly didn't think so.

Seeing the expectant smile on Yuan Chen's lips, Chun Li's face also showed a hint of helplessness.

"In every sense, this is a shop location that's quite to your liking..."

"Haha." Yuan Chen chuckled.

Seeing Yuan Chen's undisguised manner, Chunli sighed helplessly, but then a slightly helpless and doting smile appeared on her face.

After all, this was indeed Yuan Chen's personality... Moreover, after glancing at the relevant laws and regulations regarding violent weapons, and then at her Interpol ID, Chun Li had to admit that, apart from perfectly meeting Yuan Chen's needs, the rules would also make things much easier for her as an Interpol officer.

After confirming that there were no problems, Yuan Chen, who never liked to dawdle, immediately started cleaning up the old house of the Sakura family with Chun Li.

The house isn't large, with three floors. The first floor is an open-plan restaurant/bar, with clearly defined sections for fried food, barbecue, baked rice, stir-fries, stews, braised dishes, and braised dishes. The second and third floors are living areas, and perhaps to prevent guests on the first floor from disturbing their rest, the house is very well soundproofed.

Although it's an old house, we were lucky. Apart from some pipes being a bit fragile due to lack of maintenance, the house wasn't damaged much. It was just covered in a thick layer of dust because it had been uninhabited for a long time.

He went to a shopping mall in the nearby city and bought a high-powered vacuum cleaner. After cleaning up, Yuan Chen called Sakura Ibuki to confirm the store opening.

Before long, two carts carrying a batch of brand-new materials and equipment arrived at the restaurant, and several workers got off to help with the renovation and replacement.

There seemed to be a new store opening soon, and many residents and students coming and going inquired about it.

Simply tell them it's a family restaurant, and the trial operation will start tomorrow. Yuan Chen and Chun Li then plunged into a new round of busy work.

It was foreseeable that Sakura Ibuki must have given them a considerable amount of extra money, so the workers worked extremely hard. They arrived at four o'clock and by eight o'clock in the evening, the entire old house was already cleaned up.

That night, a light rain began to fall. With nothing else to do, Yuan Chen ordered a batch of ingredients via express delivery to familiarize himself with his new work environment.

Just then, a young woman dressed in old-fashioned sportswear walked in through the main door.

"...Are you open for business? Do you have food?"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Chen looked up, intending to refuse, but then—

I'm blanching an evil croissant?

Volume 1: Chapter 86 - The Tragic Situation of Han Zhuli

The person in front of Yuan Chen was slightly younger than he remembered, and his clothes were a bit off, but Yuan Chen recognized him almost immediately by his unique croissant hairstyle.

Evil Croissant, Street Fighter Bad Woman, Han Zhuli.

Noticing Yuan Chen's change in expression, Han Zhuli narrowed her eyes dangerously and then asked in a cold voice, "Hey, I'm asking you a question, do you have any food?"

"……Have."

Upon hearing Han Zhuli's question, Yuan Chen nodded after a brief silence and said, "Wait a moment. We're doing a food tasting today, and we'll be having a soft opening tomorrow. Since you're here, you can give us your feedback."