After My Rebirth Chapter 24: The plan would work perfectly

Chapter 24: The plan would work perfectly

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

After Li Sinian got home, he seriously considered Jiang Rongxuan’s proposal. The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. He sent Jiang Rongxuan a WeChat message, saying they could meet tomorrow to discuss the company registration in detail.

Unlike his small restaurant, a chain restaurant required more than just the necessary permits; it also needed company registration, bank account setup, and other time-consuming tasks. Though troublesome, he figured it would be less of a hassle than expanding on his own.

Jiang Rongxuan quickly responded with a voice message, saying brother Li didn’t need to worry about the logistics and should just focus on preparing the recipes. Of course, if brother Li felt uneasy, he could supervise. While Jiang’s actual message was more verbose, punctuated by him calling Li Sinian “brother” after nearly every sentence, it was clear he genuinely enjoyed addressing him that way.

Although Li Sinian disliked trouble, he decided to be involved in the registration process. Skipping any step could lead to legal consequences later. He scheduled a meeting with Jiang Rongxuan for the next morning.

After sorting out the restaurant plans, Li Sinian called a beekeeper he knew to order honey. The beekeeper, surnamed Chen, was in his forties and known as “Old Chen” by everyone, including Li Sinian.

Li Sinian had met Old Chen shortly after moving to Mulin Village. While tidying up his home, Old Chen happened to be free and helped him move some things, and they became acquainted. Later, Old Chen brought him some honey from his bees. After tasting it, Li Sinian found it exceptional and had been buying from him ever since.

Now it seemed Li Sinian wasn’t the only one who thought Old Chen’s honey was extraordinary.

When Li Sinian called, Old Chen was drinking, and his slurred speech suggested he’d had quite a bit. After Li Sinian mentioned buying honey, Old Chen repeated the word several times before saying there wasn’t any left—his family had stopped keeping bees.

Li Sinian was shocked.

To be honest, he had grown up in comfort and rarely encountered anything that truly impressed him. Old Chen’s honey was an exception. He felt it was a shame to stop selling such quality honey.

Li Sinian asked why, and Old Chen explained that his daughter was going to college, and selling honey didn’t earn enough. He planned to work elsewhere to cover her tuition.

Li Sinian had known Old Chen’s business wasn’t thriving but didn’t realize it was struggling to the point of financial hardship.

For generations, Old Chen’s family had been beekeepers. During the Qing Dynasty, their honey was even supplied to the imperial court. Because of this, they invested heavily in their beekeeping, which resulted in exceptional honey. However, with the Qing Dynasty gone, their customers were now ordinary people, and the high costs meant higher prices, which few were willing to pay.

In truth, the price wasn’t exorbitant—just slightly higher than average. But nowadays, young people seemed more willing to spend $5 on Starbucks than to buy a jar of honey that benefited their health.

Old Chen had been drinking because he finally decided to stop beekeeping. Although it pained him to abandon the craft passed down through generations, he had to make a living.

He knew how to operate heavy Ma Chinery and had recently found work elsewhere. He was now clearing out “useless” items at home to prepare for his departure.

Even without being told, Li Sinian knew the “useless” items referred to the beekeeping equipment.

Hearing the chaos on Old Chen’s end, Li Sinian asked him to find a quieter place to talk. Old Chen agreed, and the noise gradually faded until it was silent. Then, Li Sinian said, “Don’t throw away those items, and don’t go work elsewhere. I want to place a large order for your honey.”

Old Chen didn’t know much about Li Sinian’s background and only thought of him as a small restaurant owner with modest business. He didn’t take Li Sinian’s large order seriously.

“Don’t, Li. Your business isn’t even doing as well as mine,” Old Chen chuckled. “I appreciate your kindness, but really, thank you.”

“Prepare 100 kilograms of honey for me. I’ll pick it up in about three days,” Li Sinian said directly, skipping any further argument.

While 100 kilograms wasn’t a huge order, it should be enough to help Old Chen temporarily. Once the chain restaurant officially opened, the demand for honey would only increase. Old Chen might even need to hire extra help to keep up.

The mention of 100 kilograms sobered Old Chen a bit.

“Why are you suddenly buying so much honey?” he asked, suspecting Li Sinian was trying to help him. He repeatedly refused, saying, “No, Li. Your business isn’t great either. If you’re forcing yourself to support me, how will you manage?”

“No, no, I really can’t sell it to you.”

Li Sinian chuckled. He knew Old Chen was an honest man but hadn’t expected him to be this straightforward. With no other option, he explained to Old Chen that he truly needed the honey.

He said, “I’m planning to partner with someone to open a chain of restaurants, and we’ll sell drinks made with your honey—honey passion fruit drinks, to be exact.”
“Since the chain is still in the preparation stage and my small restaurant is the only one making a profit right now, I’ll start with an order of 100 kilograms. Once the chain officially launches, I’ll order much more.”

The reason sounded convincing, but Old Chen still wasn’t at ease. “Do you really need that much honey for drinks? Don’t lose money on this.”

Li Sinian laughed. “Do I look that dumb to you? Don’t worry, no matter how kind I am, I’d never do a business deal at a loss.”
“Honey passion fruit drinks are in high demand at my restaurant. I’m 100% confident I can sell all the honey I buy from you. You just need to focus on preparing what I need.”
“I’ll transfer the money first to the same account I’ve been using to pay for your honey. I’ll come to pick it up in three days—if I don’t see the honey, you’ll hear from me!”

Old Chen stood there for a moment, still dazed by the unexpected good fortune. He had thought that the beekeeping business he’d been dedicated to for over 20 years was about to end, but suddenly someone told him he didn’t need to give up his passion. Not only that, but he could also make a fortune from it.

It felt better than winning the lottery.

Old Chen stayed quiet for a while, and Li Sinian didn’t hang up the phone. After a long pause, Old Chen finally spoke, thanking Li Sinian with heartfelt sincerity.

His voice was raspy, and if you listened carefully, there was a hint of emotion in it. Li Sinian, not knowing how to comfort him, simply reassured him again that he would be placing large orders in the future.

Old Chen laughed after hearing that.

After hanging up, Old Chen said goodbye to his drinking buddies and headed home.

He wasn’t someone who drank much, but that day he had been in a bad mood and needed a couple of drinks. Now that his worries were gone, there was no reason to drink anymore. Taking care of his wife and kids at home became the priority.

Oh, and preparing honey for his big client.

When Old Chen got home, his daughter was still studying, and his wife, who had been working all day, was about to wash up. He quickly went to boil water and prepared a basin for her to soak her feet.

Seeing his helpfulness, Old Chen’s wife didn’t scold him for coming home late smelling of alcohol.

After washing up, she sat on the bed, and Old Chen immediately squatted down to wash her feet for her.

His wife asked when he planned to leave for the construction site. At the mention of this, Old Chen straightened his back proudly as he washed her feet.
“I’m not going to the site anymore. I’m sticking to beekeeping!”

His wife raised her foot to kick him, but Old Chen quickly explained, “Hey, hey, hey, beekeeping is a real opportunity now! I’ve got a big order!”

“You? A big order?” His wife was skeptical. “I’ve been with you for over 20 years, and when have you ever made real money? I’m the one who earns enough for meat on the table!”

“It’s true!” Old Chen explained everything Li Sinian had told him about opening a chain of restaurants and selling drinks. When she still didn’t believe him, he waved his hand and said, “Just wait. Tomorrow, I’ll show you the money!”

The next morning, Old Chen received a text message. Li Sinian had transferred the payment for the honey.

Overjoyed, Old Chen didn’t even bother brushing his teeth before running to show his wife the message. The long string of numbers in the deposit made her ignore his disheveled state and smile along with him.

Old Chen got to work preparing the honey. His wife reminded him to ensure the quality was excellent since Li Sinian was giving their family business a future, and they couldn’t let him down.

Old Chen impatiently assured her he knew what he was doing. If anyone understood honey, it was him, and he would only prepare the best.

Meanwhile, after transferring the money, Li Sinian headed to the agreed meeting place to see Jiang Rongxuan.

He had expected both Ma Chi and Jiang Rongxuan to meet him since Ma Chi had been the one constantly talking about partnering to open a restaurant. But when he arrived, only Jiang Rongxuan was there.

Li Sinian asked, “Where’s Mr. Ma?”

Jiang Rongxuan replied, “He’s still sleeping.”

Li Sinian: “?”

Jiang Rongxuan laughed at his surprised expression. “Why that face, brother? He’s not familiar with these kinds of matters. He’d just get in the way, so I didn’t bother calling him.”

Li Sinian raised an eyebrow. “You snuck out to meet me. Won’t he be upset when he finds out?”

Jiang Rongxuan smiled. “He’ll thank me.”

For some reason, although Jiang Rongxuan’s words were, ‘He’ll thank me,’ they sounded to Li Sinian more like, ‘If he dares complain, I’ll strangle him.’

Li Sinian could only nod with a polite smile.

The two didn’t waste time and headed straight to their business.

Setting up a chain restaurant required far more paperwork than a small one. They spent the entire day running around, barely stopping for lunch, and only managed to complete a third of the tasks.

And that was just submitting the paperwork; approvals would still take time.

Since this was the first location of their chain in the city, they needed to choose a prime spot with heavy foot traffic. However, site selection wasn’t something Li Sinian felt responsible for, so he didn’t plan to get involved. Jiang Rongxuan also told him there was no need for him to worry about location or renovations, as he and Ma Chi would handle that.

That night, Li Sinian and Jiang Rongxuan had dinner together, and Li Sinian discussed his plans for running his restaurant while preparing for the chain launch.

Since space and staff were limited, he planned to introduce a quota system, serving a set number of customers each day and closing once that limit was reached.

Judging by the long lines of eager customers outside his restaurant these past two days—thanks to the hype from food reviews—he was confident the plan would work perfectly.

 

 

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