The Landlady and The Amnesiac

11

Chapter 11 – Uncle Cheng

Uncle Cheng was another legendary character.

He studied up until middle school and refused to study anymore but Grandma Luo and his homeroom teacher at the time persuaded him. He reluctantly enrolled in high school. After perfunctorily attending high school for three years, he was originally going to stop there. Who would have thought that Grandma Luo would once again persuade him to continue to junior college.

Uncle Cheng was already not motivated to study since his school years. He told Grandma Luo that he was going to enter society later on anyway, why should he pursue tertiary education?

Grandma Luo told him that someone with no education, no diploma and no knowledge would only be able to enter society as an errand boy. Those who could enter the workforce successfully were those who had a brain.

Uncle Cheng was convinced upon hearing this, forcing himself and finally coming out with a junior college diploma.

Grandma Luo told Luo Bei later on that her original intentions were to let Uncle Cheng study hard so that he could find a stable, secure job. But she knew Uncle Cheng was in a rebellious phase so she said those words to him to motivate him.

However, never would she have thought that Uncle Cheng would still unwaveringly pursue his dreams.

More than a decade ago, junior college graduates weren’t as common as they were now. Uncle Cheng had a reputation outside, too. A big boss found out that Uncle Cheng was a junior college graduate and, by some fortunate coincidence, even let Uncle Cheng tag along by his side. In these ten or so years, Uncle Cheng went from being an underdog to a top dog and was becoming a big boss of his own.

Uncle Cheng smiled and said to Luo Bei, “Beibei, you’ve started working, right? Uncle knows you’ve been looking for a job recently. If only Uncle’s business hadn’t just started and is still in the beginning stages, I would’ve given you a job at my company. But Beibei, Uncle is also reluctant to let you work in my line of work…”

Beibei suddenly wanted to correct her statement.

She did have rich people around her. As a matter of fact, many of the uncles and grandpas were nouveau riche, each of them worth tens of millions, including this Uncle Cheng in front of her.

If it really came down to it, those childhood sweethearts of hers could somewhat be considered to be little fuerdai‘s, Zhan Qi included.

But, maybe it was because she had known these people since she was a child, she had always felt they were very down-to-earth and they didn’t exude the aura of the wealthy.

They were rich but they were still eager to go to the supermarket to buy items on sale. They would also complain at a fifty cent increase in price. They would even lament and grieve for days if the clothes hanging dry on the balcony flew away.

“Don’t pull Beibei into your circle.” Granny Luo said very seriously, Luo Bei was now her only reason for living, “Speaking of your business, remember to be more careful. It’s fine to profit less, what’s more important is that your employees are safe.”

Uncle Cheng patiently listened to her words. His mother passed away of illness when he was thirty years old, presumably because she endured a long losing streak in her gambling and from that came her illness.

For Uncle Cheng, Grandma Luo was no different from his mother, no, she treated him much better than his own mother.

It was safe to say that if it hadn’t been for Grandma Luo, Uncle Cheng would absolutely not have been able to have the experience and achievements he had today.

Even if someone wanted to insult him, they couldn’t say that he was all brawn and no brains. After all, he had graduated junior college and in his era, this was considered a record of higher education.

“Beibei, I heard that Zhan Qi wanted to pursue you?” Uncle Cheng asked.

Luo Bei shook her head, “We’re just friends, there’s nothing between us.”

Uncle Cheng let out a sigh of relief, “That Zhan Qi isn’t capable. He got cocky just because he started a small business and is profiting some tens of thousands, he’s not an earnest person. His mother is also rude and unreasonable, everyone knows this. You’ll definitely suffer if you marry into that household.”

Luo Bei laughingly said, “With Uncle Cheng here, there’s no way I’d suffer.”