Rebirth of a Farmer's Dad

Despite some setbacks, Luo Feng successfully took over the school cafeteria. Because he always put the students first, he was well-liked by many students, and it seemed that as long as he didn't do anything reckless, no one could replace him.

And so, the school cafeteria business stabilized, and Luo Feng was able to earn several thousand yuan more each month. Although the profit wasn't as high as he had imagined, falling short of his estimate of 1 yuan a month, it wasn't far off either. A monthly income of around 8000 yuan was enough to make Luo Feng happy.

Thinking about his current income, which has reached 14,000 to 15,000 yuan a month, Luo Feng plans to keep an eye on wedding venues, hoping to increase his income there. He's already quite satisfied with his current earnings. Keep in mind this is the 1990s; what a monthly income of over 10,000 yuan means back then is self-evident. Luo Feng feels like a nouveau riche from a later era—the kind of tycoon who suddenly becomes a millionaire through small businesses or speculation.

Life is a constant struggle between two extremes, moments of joy and moments of sorrow, these two emotions constantly intertwining to create a complex life. Luo Feng's joy stemmed from his increased monthly income, while his sorrow arose from his daughter. He didn't know why, but Xinghua was becoming increasingly mischievous; perhaps it was because he had been too busy with business lately to manage her.

Luo Feng felt this couldn't go on. He started ignoring his daughter, hoping she would become bolder and avoid being bullied. But now the situation was getting worse. Luo Feng wasn't just worried about his daughter being bullied; he was worried about having to pay for the people his daughter had bullied. In the past few days, three groups of people had come to Luo Feng seeking revenge, bringing with them the children of the Xinghua Merchant.

Although Luo Feng knew he needed to discipline his daughter, he felt quite helpless. He couldn't bring himself to give her a good beating, so he could only lecture her. If he spoke too gently, she wouldn't take it seriously; if he spoke too harshly, she would throw a tantrum. A heartfelt talk with her would only work for two days, after which the child would relapse into her bad habits.

How could a grown man like me take care of a child? I'm being forced into this situation. Xinghua has been without a mother since she was little. If I, as her father, don't take care of her, she'll really become a wild child. But I seem to have absolutely no experience in this area. You know, I was an orphan in my previous life.

At this moment, Luo Feng desperately wished he had a caring woman by his side. He regretted it terribly. Why did he reject that girl named Wu Muxiu back then? Otherwise, he wouldn't be in so much trouble now.

Just as Luo Feng was regretting his actions and didn't know what to do, he suddenly heard someone calling his name at the shop entrance. Looking up, he saw it was his uncle.

"Uncle, what brings you here? Come in, come in, please come upstairs." Although she harbored resentment towards her uncle, there were some things she couldn't reveal. After all, his son was still helping her with chores, and he was unlikely to make any mistakes even after a few months.

"I just came to visit Shunzi and brought him some things," the uncle said.

"Shunzi is helping out in the back. You should go upstairs and rest first. I'll call someone for you right away," Luo Feng said, leading his uncle upstairs.

"Fengzi, where is your Xinghua? Where did my grandniece go?" The uncle looked around upstairs but couldn't find Xinghua, so he asked.

"Hey, school's started already, right? Xinghua's still in kindergarten," Luo Feng said.

"I must say, your family is really well-off. You can even get a girl into school. That's quite remarkable," the uncle said with a smile.

However, to Luo Feng, these words carried a barb. What did it mean? The implication was that he disliked Xinghua for being a girl. But then again, this had absolutely nothing to do with the old man. Whether Xinghua was a boy or a girl, he was his own daughter and should cherish her himself; it was none of this old geezer's business to interfere, without a care in the world.

Since they didn't see eye to eye, Luo Feng didn't bother to say anything more. He turned around and went downstairs, telling his uncle that he would go and call Shunzi up.

Upon arriving at the kitchen, Luo Feng told Luo Shun, who was helping out in the back, that his uncle had arrived and was resting upstairs. Luo Shun then happily ran upstairs, while Luo Feng stayed behind and took over Luo Shun's work.

It was almost lunchtime, and Luo Feng was too busy at the shop to care about what the father and son were talking about. He'd find out the purpose of his visit by talking to his uncle later.

Meanwhile, Luo Feng was busy in the kitchen, while Luo Shun and his son chatted upstairs.

"Shunzi, how have you been these days? Has that kid Luo Feng been bullying you?" Uncle asked.

"No, look who I am. Do you think I'd let anyone bully me?" Luo Shun patted his chest arrogantly. Kids are like that; they always want to perform better in front of their parents, as if that gives them a sense of accomplishment and makes their parents feel more proud.

"Are you getting used to living here?" the uncle asked.

"Don't worry, your son is doing just fine here. Not long ago, Brother Feng even gave us a raise."

"What? You got a raise? How much do you get each month now?" Uncle perked up as soon as money was mentioned, as if he had become a different person.

"I get 300 yuan a month, and I eat and sleep at the shop, so I basically don't spend any money," Luo Shun honestly confessed, having nothing to hide from his parents.

"How come you only made so little? I think Luo Feng is making much more money than you are." The uncle was somewhat dissatisfied, thinking that Luo Feng hadn't taken good care of Shunzi.

"Brother Feng said he would let me learn a trade from him first, and I am now an apprentice here. Originally, an apprentice only received two hundred yuan a month, but he said that I needed to save money to get married, so he gave me a little more each month," Luo Shun said. He added that Luo Feng had told him these words in secret and told him not to tell anyone else.

"What apprentice? Did I bring you here to be an apprentice? I think that's just an excuse that kid uses to avoid paying you." I don't know what's wrong with my uncle. He's like a different person when money is mentioned, full of twisted logic.

"Dad, you can't say that. I've been here for so long, and Luo Feng has been quite good to me." Spending so much time together these past few days has changed Shun's opinion of Luo Feng. At least he now has the courage to contradict his father.

“You silly boy, you do backbreaking work in the kitchen all day long and you don’t earn much money. Before you came, I found out that Luo Feng earns tens of thousands of yuan a month without doing anything.” The uncle said, his eyes reddening.

“No matter how much money he has, it was all earned penny by penny through business. I don’t know anything, so how am I supposed to make money if I don’t learn some skills first?” Luo Shun said to his father with a helpless expression, scratching his head.

"So how's your skill learning going? If you've learned it well enough, Dad will go back and scrape together some money for you so our family can open our own restaurant," Uncle asked.

"I'm learning from Brother Hu now, and this is just the beginning. My knife skills aren't good yet," Luo Shun said.

"What Tiger? Who is Tiger?" the uncle asked, looking puzzled.

"He is also one of Luo Feng's disciples. Among them, he has been with Luo Feng the longest."

"What? It wasn't Luo Feng personally teaching you? He had his apprentice guide you. Isn't that like a novice teaching a novice? What kind of skills can he possibly impart?" The uncle was furious upon hearing this. In his view, since he entrusted his son to Luo Feng, Luo Feng should personally teach Luo Shun his skills. What was the point of having his apprentice guide him? Was he just trying to fool him?

"No, call him up here in a bit. I need to have a good talk with this kid," the uncle instructed Luo Shun.

"Dad, I think this matter... alright, alright, I'll call him for you in a bit." Luo Shun originally wanted to persuade his father not to be so impulsive, but in the end he couldn't resist the old man's sharp eyes. Under his murderous gaze, he forced himself to change his mind.