Hearing Li Fugui’s words, Chu Lian was extremely embarrassed; it must be that Li Fugui had only heard about the change of ownership at Dongfeng Restaurant and assumed he had successfully taken it over.
"Li Fugui, I need to tell you something, and I don’t want you to get excited," Chu Lian said.
"What is it?" Li Fugui asked, puzzled.
"I wasn’t able to help you take back Dongfeng Restaurant," Chu Lian confessed, as this was something Li Fugui was bound to find out sooner or later.
Li Fugui’s eyes widened in shock at these words, "What? What exactly happened? It’s all over town that Dongfeng Restaurant has changed hands."
Chu Lian had no choice but to tell the truth, "Indeed, the ownership has changed, but it wasn’t me who bought it. By the time our people got there to purchase Dongfeng Restaurant, it had already been bought by someone else. It’s my fault for not acting sooner without bargaining."
It was indeed a lapse in judgement by Chu Lian; he had not anticipated that despite everything being perfectly planned, an unexpected turn of events would lead to someone else beating them to the punch.
Hearing that Dongfeng Restaurant had not been retaken, Li Fugui indeed felt some disappointment; however, he couldn’t blame Chu Lian for it, it was only because he was too weak now, not powerful enough, "This, I don’t blame you for," he said.
Li Fugui paused and then asked, "Do you know who the other party is?"
"Someone has already been sent to investigate the buyer, but brace yourself—the buyer might have been targeting the Li Family specifically. They bought not only the Li Family’s house but also the sealed restaurant across from it. It’s going to be difficult to take it back from them now," Chu Lian explained.
Chu Lian still disclosed the reality to Li Fugui, unlike what he had said to Xiangxiang, as he did not want her to worry.
Hearing this, Li Fugui’s mind filled with questions. He couldn’t think of anyone else who would want to take everything from the Li Family. Could it be that he truly had no fate with everything belonging to the Li Family?
"Hmm, I understand, I’ve already come to terms with it. Wealth is just an external possession. I only wanted to reclaim the Li Family’s property to take revenge on Li Fuyou. Now that Li Fuyou has fallen, I don’t need to be so fixated on the Li Family any more," he reasoned.
Even though Li Fugui spoke in such a manner, deep down he still hoped to take back his family’s estate, the place where he grew up and which represented his father’s hard work.
At that moment, a commotion across the street caught Chu Lian and Li Fugui’s attention.
As they stepped outside, they saw government officers unraveling the seal at Dongfeng Restaurant. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ NoveI-Fire.ɴet
Chu Lian’s eyes narrowed as he speculated in his mind. The person behind this must be very powerful to have settled things with the government office in one day. If not backed by a strong background, then an abundance of silver must have been involved to sway the corrupt official.
Although Li Fugui claimed indifference, he was still curious about who had bought Dongfeng Restaurant. He approached one of the officers and asked, "Excuse me, officer, may I know who the new owner of Dongfeng Restaurant is?"
The government officer replied, "It’s not that I don’t want to tell you, but I don’t really know myself. I’m just carrying out tasks for the Magistrate. However, from what I know, this person is not from our county."
"Thank you, Officer," Li Fugui said in gratitude.
Walking back to the entrance of Yuelai Restaurant, Li Fugui told Chu Lian, "They said the person isn’t from this county."
"..." How could someone from another county have received the news so quickly, when it had been less than three days since the restaurant went up for sale?
"I will help you look into this matter, and you shouldn’t worry too much about it," Chu Lian reassured him.