Richest Rag-picker

Chapter 505: Chapter 477: What a Bumpkin

Soon after he hung up, Fang Chenyi received a message from Brother Xiaoma on his phone.

He tapped it open and had a look. Well, what do you know? The address was right near Zhongshan Park.

Moreover, the map indicated it was in an area of traditional courtyard homes.

’Could there really be a good restaurant in there?’

It had to be said that Fang Chenyi’s rise to wealth had come rather recently.

As a result, in his mind, the best restaurants in Jingcheng were either the Jingcheng Restaurant or the Shangri-La.

It wasn’t that Fang Chenyi was a complete hick; it was just that these things had been beyond his reach before. The only places he had ever seen such high-end establishments were in web novels.

He gave the address to Qi Xiaotian, who was driving up front, and Qi Xiaotian immediately activated the car’s navigation system.

It had to be said, Jingcheng’s traffic was really something.

The drive from the airport all the way to Zhongshan Park actually took nearly three hours.

This left Fang Chenyi speechless. Compared to his own Qinhuang Island, this place was certainly far more prosperous. But the traffic, the sheer volume of people... it was really not suited for living.

At that moment, a saying came to Fang Chenyi’s mind: the pace of life in major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou is exceptionally fast.

Everyone rushes around, even when just walking. Sometimes they even have to eat or put on makeup on the subway.

But Fang Chenyi had a different perspective. ’A fast pace of life? Is it really? I don’t think so.’

As Fang Chenyi saw it, the actual daily workload of the people here wasn’t much different from that in his own third-tier city.

To put it another way, the working hours here were also nine-to-five, amounting to only seven or eight hours of work each day.

’So, why does their pace of life seem so exceptionally fast?’

’Because all their other time is wasted on the road.’

Their rushing was understandable. A person might work inside the Second Ring Road but live in the suburbs—how could they not be in a hurry?

To put it another way, besides actually working, their daily routine was either being on the way to work or on the way home.

They have to be at work at nine in the morning, but they have to get up at five, then rush all the way by subway just to arrive at the office around 8:50.

Then, after getting off work at five in the evening, they have to rush for a two- or three-hour subway ride home. By the time they get back, it’s already eight or nine at night.

So, this was their "fast-paced" life...

Compared to this kind of fast-paced life, Fang Chenyi much preferred his own little island.

Never mind that he didn’t need to work now. Even back when he did, work started at nine in the morning. At 8:10, he could still be lounging in bed.

He would get off work at five in the evening and be home by five-thirty, with leisure time to read novels and play games.

Yet, when you compared the two, the daily work efficiency was actually the same...

Of course, this was all just Fang Chenyi’s personal take on it.

The car crawled through the stop-and-go traffic, finally pulling up in front of a traditional courtyard home.

"Brother Fang, we’re here."

Qi Xiaotian’s voice rang out just as Fang Chenyi was looking out the window, marveling at the dense flow of people.

Fang Chenyi snapped back to reality, collected his thoughts, pushed open the car door, and stepped out.

At that very moment, with a CREAK, the main gate of a courtyard home was pushed open.

Immediately, Brother Xiaoma was seen striding out with a smile to greet him.

He stretched out his hands from a distance, speaking with a cheerful laugh:

"Aiyo, Younger Brother Fang, you’re here! Why didn’t you let me know sooner? I could have come out to give you a proper welcome."

Fang Chenyi smiled and shook his hand.

"Hey, Brother Ma, you’re being far too formal. We’re brothers, what’s there to welcome?"

Hearing this, Brother Xiaoma quickly nodded and said:

"Right, right, we’re brothers. I was being too distant. Haha, come, come, please, head inside. It’s gotten so late, you must be starving."

With that, he took Fang Chenyi by the arm and led him into the courtyard.

But as Fang Chenyi’s eyes scanned their surroundings, he asked with some confusion:

"Say, Brother Ma, this courtyard home... it’s not your house, is it?"

Hearing this, Brother Xiaoma immediately waved his hands dismissively.

"How could it be? Of course not! It seems my younger brother really isn’t familiar with Jingcheng. This is a great place; you’ll understand once we’re inside."

As they spoke, the two of them had already entered the courtyard, with Qi Xiaotian following closely behind.

Once inside, Fang Chenyi’s gaze once again roamed his surroundings with curiosity.

This time, he was truly astonished. Don’t be fooled by the old outer walls and the small gate.

But inside, the courtyard was exceptionally spacious. After passing through the narrow gate and a long corridor of gray brick and flagstone, the scene opened up into a hidden paradise. Gentle streams meandered about, tree shadows swayed, and the roofs were angled to collect water in a central courtyard. It could easily rival the kind of Prince’s Mansion often seen on television.

Moreover, the courtyard was filled with beautiful women dressed in historical costumes. For a moment, it was as if he had been transported back to ancient times.

When these beautiful women saw Fang Chenyi and the others enter, they all bowed slightly in greeting. This made Fang Chenyi feel even more like he had become a high-ranking official of old.

Seeing Fang Chenyi’s expression, Brother Xiaoma, who was standing to the side, knew this must be his first time visiting such a place and began to give him an enthusiastic introduction.

Fang Chenyi, for his part, didn’t feel the least bit embarrassed about his inexperience. Instead, he listened intently to Brother Xiaoma’s explanation, nodding from time to time.

The three of them walked deeper inside, soon arriving outside a main hall.

Just then, Fang Chenyi pointed with some confusion at a very antique-looking table outside the door.

"This courtyard is great, very classic, but why is there a modern plate on display here? It makes the whole setup seem a bit disharmonious. It looks a little awkward."

Everyone followed his finger and saw a red porcelain plate sitting on the antique wooden table.

If it were just a red plate, that would be one thing, but it had a string of English letters written on it: "Michelin" and so on.

It would have been fine if this thing were displayed elsewhere, but in this classical, antique-style courtyard, it just seemed out of tune.

At that moment, before Brother Xiaoma could speak, one of the beautiful women in historical costume explained with a beaming smile:

"Hee hee, to answer Young Master’s question, that’s the Michelin Plate award our mansion has received."

Upon hearing this, Brother Xiaoma waved his hand, cutting off the costumed beauty before she could say more, and explained to Fang Chenyi himself:

"Hah, don’t even get me started, Younger Brother. I think it looks awkward too. We have this perfectly good Chinese style, but they insisted on putting some foreign thing here. A Michelin Plate award... I feel like it’s the biggest flaw of this whole place."

Fang Chenyi didn’t dwell on the topic, simply smiling and nodding. Then, he strode into the main hall.

At the same time, he felt no shame whatsoever for not recognizing the so-called Michelin Plate award.

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