Chapter 53

Chapter 53

The live stream audience was stunned, completely blown away.

[I never expected stories to be written like this, nor scripts to be created this way!].

[If Shu Ping hadn’t explained it, I’d genuinely think Lu Chen had lost his mind!].

[Amazing! I owe you an apology, Lu Chen. I shouldn’t have doubted you were just sleeping!].

[Lu Chen’s genius move may be late, but it never fails to arrive!!].

[I bet Lu Chen will shine in this competition!].

[He already is. Among all 31 contestants, who else can match him? He’s playing at an entirely different level!].

…

Inside the room.

[Gao Qiqiang: “…”

Lu Chen: “What’s the matter? Such a big secret?”

Gao Qiqiang chuckled.

“It’s been a long time since anyone called me ‘Brother Qiang.’ You say my achievements are brilliant? But in life, gains always come with losses. Whatever you gain, you must lose something in return, right?”

Lu Chen: “Right. So what did you lose?”

Gao Qiqiang: “A lot—family, love, friends… and the chance to be a good person.”

Lu Chen: “Just as I guessed.”

Gao Qiqiang: “You guessed it?”

Lu Chen: “Fame and fortune often come at the cost of family and kindness. Throughout history, few have escaped this fate.”

Gao Qiqiang laughed heartily.

“Interesting, it seems you understand me quite well. Alright, since we’ve gotten this far, and I’m feeling bored anyway, let’s talk. I’ll tell you my story.”

Lu Chen: “I’m all ears.”

Gao Qiqiang: “Actually, my parents passed away in a car accident when I was 14. I raised my younger brother and sister by myself. To send them to school, I dropped out early and worked various jobs to earn money.

Later, I rented a stall in the Old Factory Street market to sell fish. Among all the fish vendors in the market, my business was the best. Do you know why?”

Lu Chen: “Why?”

Gao Qiqiang: “Because I never shortchanged my customers. The weight was always exact—never more, never less. Honesty and integrity!

In business, just this one principle is enough for a lifetime of learning.”

Lu Chen: “Agreed!”

Gao Qiqiang: “Actually, most people don’t know this—I sold fish, but I hated the smell of fish the most.

When I was young, my mother was the one who always cooked fish at home. Later, it became my job. After I became successful, I went a long time without wanting to touch fish.

Whenever I ate fish, it almost always meant something big was about to happen.”

Lu Chen: “Like what?”

Gao Qiqiang: “No rush, we’ll talk about it when the time comes.”

Lu Chen: “Alright.”

Gao Qiqiang: “People think I don’t eat fish because I killed too many of them in the past.

That’s not entirely true. Seeing fish always reminds me of my days selling them at the Old Factory Street market.

When I first became successful, who would want to reminisce about hardship?

Even sweet memories weren’t enough to enjoy. It’s different now—I’m old, and I often think about my younger days.

And strangely, I miss the times when I had nothing the most, those days of hardship and struggle. I don’t even know why.”

Lu Chen: “Because back then, you hadn’t lost your original self.”

Gao Qiqiang was stunned for a moment, then laughed after a long pause.

“Maybe.

But this so-called ‘original self’ isn’t always right.

Sometimes, it’s just an unnecessary insistence.”

“Back to the point. Even if I hated the smell of fish, I had to endure it—I had to. My entire family depended on that fish stall to survive. My siblings’ futures were riding on that stall. Failure was not an option!

But the things you care about the most are always the ones others want to take from you. You mentioned Tang Xiaolong and Tang Xiaohu earlier…

Did you know that, at first, they were my enemies?”

Lu Chen: “I know a little about it.”

Gao Qiqiang nodded. “Back then, those two brothers were market ‘managers.’ But ‘manager’ was just a fancy name—they were just gangsters. They had a few guys with them, divided up territories, and collected ‘protection fees’ from vendors. They called it a ‘sanitation fee.’

Looking back, it’s ridiculous—the vendors cleaned up their own stalls, and yet they dared to charge for ‘sanitation.’ Even if they had called it a ‘passage fee,’ it would’ve made more sense. But at the time, they were my bosses.

They bullied and exploited me constantly. I had no choice. I had to put on a smile. I needed to do business there, after all!

A man under someone else’s roof has to bow his head. I endured this life for six or seven years. During that time, I paid them plenty. They kicked me around plenty too.

I thought that by paying all the fees, joking around with them every day, and occasionally giving them a couple of fish, there would at least be some camaraderie, right?

Turns out, I was naive. Just before the 2000 New Year, Tang Xiaolong suddenly announced they were reorganizing the stalls.

I didn’t want that!

I had spent so much effort on my stall—my setup, my equipment, everything. The location was good, even the feng shui was good.

I had worked so hard just to make next year better, to earn more. Because my brother, Gao Qisheng, was about to graduate. And my sister, Gao Qilan, was going to college. I needed money. A lot of money.

So I went to beg the Tang brothers multiple times, pleading with them to let me keep my stall. But they ignored me. They insisted on reorganizing.

To put it bluntly, they saw me as weak and easy to bully. You think I wasn’t angry?

Of course, I was. That was one of the few times in my life I told myself—‘One day, I will surpass them. I will make them come begging to me. I will make them watch my face!’

And later, I did.”

Gao Qiqiang chuckled.

“To be honest, that New Year was one of the most unforgettable of my life. I never expected that the stall reorganization would change my life so much. And I never expected that because of it, I would soon meet someone who would have a huge impact on my life.”

Lu Chen: “Your lover?”

Gao Qiqiang gave him an exasperated look. “Come on, stop pretending—you already know.”

Lu Chen grinned.

“Go ahead. I just want to be a listener.”

Gao Qiqiang sighed.

“It was An Xin. A police officer from the Public Security Bureau. Just like his name suggests—he made people feel safe, secure. But when he was being stubborn, he was an absolute headache. Sometimes, he could frustrate you to death.”].

…

At this point.

In the judges’ room, Yan Geling’s eyes lit up, and suddenly, he let out a chuckle.

“This way of talking… why does it sound so weird?”

Shu Ping: “…”

Chen Sicheng: “…”

Teacher Yan, seriously?

Is this where your mind went?

Could it be that you…

No way!

At your age, are you really shipping a CP here?