From Wage Slave to Tycoon

Chapter 162: Chapter 128: Inside Story: Family Strife

"A lot of people who come to the Northeast for barbecue start with the snowflake beef and rib fingers. But us Northeasterners, we usually start with the homestyle marinated meat first. You get the grill nice and fragrant, then you put on the big cuts like snowflake beef, pour on a little seafood sauce... that flavor is just insanely delicious."

Boss Yu swallowed hard a few times just talking about it.

The homestyle marinated meat was made with tender beef. After just a simple sear on the grill, its fragrance filled the air.

After about two or three minutes, Boss Yu’s voice finally rang out.

"Su Chen, it’s ready!"

Su Chen, who had been waiting impatiently, snatched up his chopsticks and dug in.

The moment the beef entered his mouth, Su Chen’s eyes widened.

"Delicious!"

It was just a simple savory flavor, paired with some onion and cilantro, but the simple seasoning was surprisingly tasty.

At that moment, Su Chen felt like he was experiencing real barbecue for the first time. ’What have I been eating all my life...?’

Seeing Su Chen’s chopsticks moving nonstop, Chen Fei, who was sitting to the side, also reached into the grill with his own.

After a small bite, Chen Fei joined in, though he wasn’t as quick as Su Chen and could only manage to grab a piece occasionally.

Of the half-kilo of homestyle marinated meat, at least half ended up in Su Chen’s stomach.

The snowflake beef and rib fingers were larger cuts, so they took a bit longer to cook, which gave Su Chen a chance to rest.

"They always say the barbecue in the Northeast is delicious, but you don’t really get it until you come here and try it for yourself."

"This trip to Qiqihar was worth it for this meal alone!"

Speak of the devil. The words had barely left Su Chen’s mouth when the phone on the table began to ring.

Seeing the caller ID—Xiao Chen—Su Chen’s brow furrowed slightly.

’It’s only been a week,’ he thought. ’There’s still another week until the half-month mark we agreed on. Why is he calling me all of a sudden?’

Though confused, he still answered the call.

"Hello, Brother Cheen!"

"I’m not disturbing you, am I?" Xiao Chen’s voice was exceptionally gentle.

That gentleness gave Su Chen a bad feeling.

"I just flew into Qiqihar today and sat down for some barbecue. Is there something you needed, Brother Cheen?" Su Chen guessed that something had changed with Shuraya’s situation, but he could only pretend he didn’t know. ’If I can get another two days of fun, I’ll take them.’

"Ahem~ I just wanted to let you know that Shuraya of the Louis Vuitton Group’s trip has been moved up. According to our latest intelligence, she’s bringing no fewer than a thousand cultural relics from Europe this time, including two national treasures..."

"What? No fewer than a thousand relics, and two of them are national treasures?"

"What is Arno trying to do? Cozy up to you guys?"

"That can’t be right. Why would a capitalist family like the Arnos try to get close to us?"

Su Chen grew agitated and, forgetting where he was, fired off a barrage of questions.

When Boss Yu, who was tending the grill, heard "a thousand relics" and "two national treasures," his right hand trembled, and the barbecue tongs dropped right onto the grill. Luckily, he reacted quickly and retrieved them.

Su Chen didn’t notice. His mind was completely focused on the phone call.

"Er~ I might know a tiny bit of inside information..." There was a hint of cunning in Xiao Chen’s tone, which made Su Chen feel like a lamb walking into a tiger’s den.

Hearing this, Su Chen felt like giving Xiao Chen the finger. ’A tiny bit? I’ll bet you’ve investigated every last detail about that family.’

But he could only play along. "Brother Cheen, do tell. What’s the inside info?"

"From what I understand~ the Arno family isn’t very united internally. As the youngest daughter, Shuraya has been doted on by the family since she was a child. That’s why she holds shares in the Louis Vuitton Group at only twenty years old. However..."

Hearing that one word, Su Chen knew the turning point was coming....

"Shuraya is not the most outstanding heir in their family. In fact, she’s not suited for it at all. She has no accomplishments in business whatsoever."

"According to our analysis, she just wants to be a rich woman who coasts through life. It’s only her father, Arno, who wants to groom her to be the family’s successor!"

Su Chen nodded in sudden understanding. He now understood why Arno was making such a big fanfare and having Shuraya fly to Huaxia with over a thousand cultural relics.

’So he wants Shuraya to get out there and build up her credentials, to find her some powerful outside support.’

Based on his previous interactions with her, Shuraya seemed like a child who had never grown up. Many of her actions were carried out under her father’s guidance. ’But thinking about it, that’s normal. How could a little princess who grew up showered with love possibly focus her mind on her career?’

’It’s a miracle she even goes to work at the company. Isn’t it better to just coast? She’s a rich woman with a net worth in the tens of billions!’

"By the way, Brother Cheen, who is the most outstanding heir in the Arno family?"

"The second child, Alexander. He’s only a year older than you but is already the Executive Vice President of a Louis Vuitton Group subsidiary. The projects he’s led have all yielded very impressive returns. He even boosted the revenue of LV’s watch and jewelry division by half two years ago, and sustained it for three full quarters!"

Su Chen was a bit taken aback by this information, but on second thought, it made sense. ’How could the heir of a wealthy family just be a first assistant like Shuraya? They’re all powerful figures who command their own domains.’

’But Shuraya has Arno’s favor. Until the very last moment, it’s anyone’s game.’

Thinking about all this made Su Chen’s head spin. After all, he still owed Arno a favor.

"So what are your thoughts? You want to get involved in this family power struggle too?"

"How could we? We don’t get involved in such things. The most important thing right now is welcoming Shuraya and the donation ceremony. As for how the Arno family develops later on, that’s not our business!"

Su Chen understood immediately. ’They’ll definitely take the tasty morsel being offered and use the family’s name to stir up public opinion in Europe.’

’As for the Arno family’s succession struggle... sorry, we’re outsiders, we can’t interfere.’

"So the purpose of this call is to get me to come back?"

"Yup~ Shuraya should be arriving in the Imperial Capital tomorrow. We’ll need you to be there to receive her, since you two are relatively familiar with each other!"

"Fine, I get it. I’ll head back after I finish this barbecue!" With that, Su Chen hung up the phone.

When he put his phone down, he saw Boss Yu staring at him, dumbfounded, which left Su Chen feeling a bit baffled.

Chen Fei, sitting next to Boss Yu, mimed holding a phone, and Su Chen understood instantly.

’So I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings during the call and said some pretty shocking things.’

Su Chen immediately gave Chen Fei a look, and Chen Fei promptly nudged Boss Yu’s arm.

"Boss Yu, if you don’t flip the snowflake beef, it’s going to burn!"

"Oh, oh~" Snapping out of it, Boss Yu quickly used the tongs to poke at the beef on the grill.

For Boss Yu, the events of the day had been one shock after another. In all his decades of life, he had never seen or heard anything as mind-blowing as what he’d witnessed today.

A private jet worth hundreds of millions, over a thousand important cultural relics, two national treasures, and the succession struggle within the Arno family behind the Louis Vuitton Group... any single one of those things would be enough for him to process for a while, let alone all of them in the short span of two hours today.

With both Su Chen and Boss Yu lost in thought, neither of them ate much of the remaining barbecue. Most of it ended up going to Chen Fei, who ate his fill.

"Boss Yu, I’m planning to head back to the Imperial Capital this afternoon," Su Chen said apologetically.

"No problem, no problem. Your business is more important. I was just about to go visit a friend for a couple of days anyway. I can get back to Ice City on my own after that!" Boss Yu said, waving his hand with a nonchalant expression.

Hearing this, Su Chen nodded and didn’t press the matter further.

The meal came to a total of six hundred yuan, and Boss Yu insisted on paying. He said that since they were parting ways and didn’t know when they’d meet again, it was only right that this meal was on him.

Seeing Boss Yu’s firm attitude, Su Chen could only agree.

After leaving the restaurant, the two chatted for a few more moments. Su Chen made a point of telling Boss Yu to come find him in the Imperial Capital when he had time.

After saying his goodbyes, he raised his hand to hail a taxi.

Watching Su Chen and Chen Fei get into the taxi, Boss Yu smiled and waved.

"Take care, Su Chen!"

Gazing at the taxi as it disappeared down the road, Boss Yu muttered to himself, "Just what kind of friend did I make?"