Chapter 25: The Familiar Mini Cooper

In the afternoon, Chen Rui stopped hauling goods and dedicated his time to taking Chen Feng to look at potential storefronts. Eventually, they set their sights on a dilapidated, low-rise house near the national highway that had been abandoned.

With a little inquiry, they found out who the owner was. Since they were distant relatives, negotiations were easy. After some haggling, they bought the house along with nearly an acre of land for 120,000 yuan.

The price was primarily for the land; the house was decades old and held little value.

Of course, in rural areas, such transactions are private and not officially recognized.

The reason they chose to buy rather than rent was that the location was excellent, but they intended to demolish the old structure and rebuild, as well as renovate. If they did all that work, what if the owner raised the rent or refused to lease to them next year? It was better to just own it.

Over the next few days, the brothers worked together with a construction team. First, they demolished the old house and built a row of simple single-story buildings consisting of five rooms: two for the storefront and three for the service area, used for parking, washing, and detailing.

Additionally, they paved the area in front of the shop with cement to facilitate vehicle access and parking.

At the same time, they handled business registration, paperwork, and chose a franchise brand.

After working hard for over half a month, the brothers finally got the auto detailing shop up and running. All in all, the total cost came to approximately 470,000 yuan.

Chen Feng contributed 400,000 yuan, and Chen Rui contributed 70,000 yuan. Chen Feng held a 70% stake in the shop, while Chen Rui held 30%.

Originally, Chen Feng wanted a 60% stake, but Chen Rui refused to budge, so he had to let it go. However, Chen Feng still gave his older brother an extra monthly salary of 8,000 yuan as the shop manager; they had originally discussed 10,000, but they couldn't reach an agreement, so it settled at 8,000.

The brothers even went through the proper motions of finding a mediator to draft a contract, which they signed and thumbprinted.

On opening day, business was booming, largely due to the attraction of several large outdoor billboards along the national highway.

Most of the customers came for car washes. Because it was a franchised brand, they had trained staff sent from the headquarters, wearing uniforms and providing enthusiastic service. It felt high-end, yet the prices were not expensive.

It was much better than the other two private, open-air car wash stalls nearby.

Business remained excellent for several consecutive days, leaving the whole family beaming with joy.

That afternoon, seeing that the auto detailing shop was on track, Chen Feng decided he didn't need to stay and man the shop.

He had just ridden his father's electric scooter out of the shop when he saw a Mini driving toward him. It suddenly honked a few times and stopped, and then a head popped out of the window.

It was a beautiful woman with flowing long hair, waving at Chen Feng with a bright smile.

At first glance, Chen Feng was momentarily dazed, but he quickly brought his scooter to a halt.

"Brother Chen, what a coincidence! I really didn't expect to run into you here."

Wu Mengting opened the car door and stepped out, greeting Chen Feng with a smile.

Only then did Chen Feng snap out of his trance. He quickly parked his scooter and stepped down, saying with a smile, "Yes, quite a coincidence. What brings you here?"

Chen Feng was somewhat desensitized to such chance encounters, but he hadn't expected to run into the beautiful editor, Wu Mengting, this time.

Wu Mengting said with a smile, "A very good high school classmate of mine married into your Linnan. Her wedding is tomorrow, so I rushed over today to be her bridesmaid. I saw the billboard while passing by and thought I'd stop to get my car washed."

Chen Feng realized the situation and nodded. "I see. Let me take you in for a wash. This shop is run by my family; it's only been open a few days, so today's wash is on the house."

As he spoke, Chen Feng climbed back onto his electric scooter.

"Oh, I couldn't possibly," Wu Mengting said, looking a bit embarrassed.

"It's only twenty or thirty yuan, nothing to be embarrassed about. It's a rare coincidence to meet you here again; it must be fate."

Wu Mengting's face flushed slightly, but she eventually nodded. "Then, thank you."

Chen Feng waved his hand and turned the scooter around to ride back to the shop.

"Xiao Feng, why are you back? Did you forget something?"

Chen Rui happened to be standing at the shop entrance and asked curiously when he saw Chen Feng returning.

"No, I ran into a friend. She happened to be here for a car wash, so I brought her over. I'm giving her a freebie."

"Oh, a friend. Alright."

Just as Chen Rui agreed, he caught sight of Wu Mengting in the Mini through the window. He was momentarily stunned and leaned in to whisper, "She's quite pretty. Is she really your friend?"

Chen Feng explained briefly, "I met her in Xiuzhou. She's from Linnan City. She's here in Linnan for a classmate's wedding."

Chen Rui nodded, looking skeptical.

After parking her car, Wu Mengting walked toward Chen Feng.

"Brother Chen, I'll have to trouble you again," Wu Mengting said, remaining very polite.

"Hello, beautiful. I'm Chen Feng's older brother, Chen Rui. He runs this shop. How should we address you?"

"Hello, my name is Wu Mengting," she replied gracefully, before looking at Chen Feng in surprise. "Why did you come back to your hometown to open a car wash? Don't you plan on going back to Xiuzhou?"

Chen Feng glanced at his smiling older brother and explained, "My brother and I are partners in this shop. My brother handles the management, and I just provide the capital. I might go back to Xiuzhou after a while."

Wu Mengting nodded and said nothing more.

Chen Rui said with a smile, "Why don't you two go inside and chat? The office is empty."

Wu Mengting shook her head quickly. "No need, my classmate is waiting for me. I need to head over right after the wash."

"Alright then, you two chat," Chen Rui said, giving Chen Feng an encouraging look before making a quick exit.

Chen Feng didn't know whether to laugh or cry. *Don't you see the age gap between me and Wu Mengting?*

"You two brothers don't look alike at all," Wu Mengting teased.

Chen Feng nodded with a smile. "Yes, everyone says that. He has a round face and looks like my mother, while I have a square face and look like my father."

"That explains it."

"Where is your classmate from originally? Is she also from the city?"

"No, she's from Feiyun City, which is very close to Linnan County. They fell in love naturally; they met during a trip. It's actually quite romantic."

The two stood and chatted for about ten minutes until the car was finally washed.

"I'll be going now. Thank you so much for this, and for last time as well. When you return to Xiuzhou, I'll treat you to dinner."

Standing by her Mini, Wu Mengting said her goodbyes to Chen Feng.

Chen Feng gave a somewhat perfunctory nod. "Sure, I'll contact you when I'm back in Xiuzhou."

He said it, but Chen Feng certainly wasn't going to contact her. And after their last parting, she hadn't seemed to contact him either.

Wu Mengting got into the car, rolled down the window, waved to Chen Feng, and drove away.

"Xiao Feng, that girl is quite nice. She probably doesn't have a boyfriend yet, right? You should make your move quickly."

Chen Rui appeared out of nowhere, urging Chen Feng like an impatient matchmaker.

"Can't you see we're several years apart?" Chen Feng retorted irritably.

"I'd guess it's only five or six years. Even if it's six or seven, it's fine. I have a friend named Ah Feng—Feng as in mountain peak—who found a wife eight years younger than him after his divorce. She just had twins last year."

"Enough. Stop worrying about things that aren't your business. I'm leaving."

Chen Feng hopped on his scooter and quickly rode off.

However, just as he reached the cement road beside the national highway, he saw the Mini parked right on the highway.

(End of Chapter)