Xiaoxiao was taken aback; she hadn’t expected Li Fugui to refuse. This was a plan she had tailor-made for him, believing that teaching was all that Li Fugui was capable of now.
Could he possibly possess some other talent? She decided to ask him.
"Li Fugui, do you have any special skills besides reading?"
Special skills? He probably really couldn’t do anything else besides reading. Shaking his head, he replied, "No."
"..." If that was the case, then what was his reason for refusing?
"Then why did you reject my proposal? If you don’t do this, how will you make money? By copying books?"
Copying books was truly a tiring and unprofitable task, one that anyone with even a slight alternative would avoid.
Li Fugui was somewhat embarrassed and didn’t reply; he felt that if he became a teacher, he would truly be bound to this place, and then, how would he search for Xiaotian and take back the Li Family?
Seeing that Li Fugui wasn’t replying, Yang Ming spoke up, "Brother Li, is it because you have your own plans that you refused my wife’s proposal?"
Li Fugui sighed, he couldn’t hide anything from them.
Seeing Li Fugui’s demeanor, Xiaoxiao guessed that Yang Ming might be right. It seemed Li Fugui really did have his own plans, and suddenly, she was very curious to hear them, "Li Fugui, what are your thoughts? Two heads are better than one."
The couple looked puzzled, as they didn’t know who Zhuge Liang was.
Xiaoxiao quickly explained, "It’s always better to have multiple people trying to solve a problem than just one."
Looking at Yang Ming and his wife’s expectant gazes, Li Fugui felt compelled to share his thoughts, "I want to become a chef."
The room fell silent all of a sudden. Xiaoxiao felt as though she had heard something unbelievable. It never crossed her mind that Li Fugui would aspire to be a chef.
She was utterly baffled, "Why?"
"I want to find Xiaotian."
"..." How could becoming a chef help find Xiaotian? She couldn’t comprehend his logic.
"Li Fugui, tell us your detailed thoughts."
"Alright, then please help me analyze it." This was just a preliminary idea of his, and having them help analyze it seemed good.
"I’m thinking of staying here for a while, then going to various restaurant kitchens to learn the craft as an assistant chef, all the while looking for Xiaotian."
He, a young master who hadn’t worked a day in his life, had such an idea. Being a chef wasn’t easy work, let alone an assistant chef. Whether he could even learn the skills was another question.
"Um... Li Fugui, isn’t this plan a bit too ambitious? Becoming a chef takes years, a decade, maybe more -- can you even master it in that time?"
Li Fugui clenched his fists and declared decisively, "No matter how many years it takes, I must learn because I intend to take back the Li Family. Without excellent culinary skills, I can’t beat Dongfeng Restaurant."
So that was it. He had not forgotten about reclaiming the Li Family. It made sense; after all, who could easily forget such a thing? However, there were many ways to bring down Dongfeng Restaurant; turning oneself into a chef was not the only one.
Yet seeing Li Fugui with such firm determination was already quite admirable.
Xiaoxiao’s mind raced; perhaps she had a way to bring down Dongfeng Restaurant. She smiled knowingly, a smile that Yang Ming and Li Fugui found somewhat eerie.
"Li Fugui, your idea needs further discussion. It’s too unsophisticated. At this rate, it’s uncertain when you’ll achieve your goal."
"..." He knew that too, but it was the best plan he had come up with so far.
"So, stay here and follow my lead," she advised.