The Genius System Without Equal

Although the park was deserted, it was the perfect place for Xiao Luo and Sun Yu to eat roasted sweet potatoes.

The potatoes were crusty on the outside and tender on the inside. They tasted quite delicious. In front of Xiao Luo, Sun Yu was usually more mindful of her appearance—for instance, her posture and smile. However, she didn’t dare exaggerate her behavior too much. So when she couldn’t resist the temptation of the roasted sweet potato any longer, she ripped off the skin and gobbled up the entire thing. Meanwhile, the one in Xiao Luo’s hand wasn’t even half-eaten.

She smiled at Xiao Luo embarrassedly and asked, “Do I look really awful?”

Xiao Luo shook his head. In fact, Sun Yu’s directness was what was he found most attractive about her. He said, “Well, in the first place, you don’t have to worry so much about your looks when you’re eating roasted sweet potatoes. Just like when I was a kid, and I used to wolf them down.”

Sun Yu’s eyes lit up. “You ate roasted sweet potatoes when you were a kid too?”

“Everybody who comes from a village should,” Xiao Luo replied with a light smile.

Sun Yu nodded and asked curiously, “Xiao Luo, how did you roast the sweet potatoes when you were young? Did you build a stove with stones and bake them like we just did now?”

“Nope. I usually just placed the sweet potatoes underneath the stove when I was helping the adults in the kitchen. Without them knowing, of course.”

“Why couldn’t you let them know?”

“My family thinks that sweet potatoes are no good after they’ve been roasted. They think that they become more ‘heaty,’ so to speak, and harmful to our bodies. So, the adults banned us from eating them. There were many times when my sweet potatoes just straight-up burned inside the fire. I couldn’t get them out in time with the adults watching, so all the trouble I’d gone through would be for nothing,” Xiao Luo recalled when he was little and found it really amusing.

Sun Yu smiled crisply and said, “It looks like you wasted quite a few sweet potatoes when you were young.”

Xiao Luo shook his head and said, “I didn’t waste them, actually. I was young and dumb, but I washed those burned sweet potatoes and gobbled them up with their smoky taste.”

“Huh? Didn’t your mouth turn black after that?”

“I didn’t care much at the time.”

“Well, that’s true. Everybody thinks that roasting sweet potatoes is tasty and fun when they are young. Nobody ever cares about whether it will make them ‘heaty.’”

…

The two exchanged amusing stories from their childhood while they savored the hot, scrumptious sweet potatoes. Unknown to them, a lot of time went by.

When he dropped Sun Yu back at the hospital entrance, it was already 4 o’clock in the morning. Just as they were about to part, a touch of lingering attachment was noticeable in Sun Yu’s eyes. It was only when Xiao Luo’s car disappeared from her field of view that she turned around and went back into the hospital.

Xiao Luo’s second encounter with Sun Yu deepened his fondness for her a great deal.

Sure enough, he didn’t know whether Sun Yu was the one for him, but he certainly hoped so. Such a straightforward girl was scarce nowadays. She’d definitely be easy to get along with, and she seemed a rather suitable candidate to spend the rest of his days with.

******

Fresh air came in through the window, accompanied by a ray of golden light. Dawn had arrived.

Feng Wuhen and the rest were awake, but their bodies were still awfully frail. When they saw Xiao Luo coming out from the room, the five men wanted to stand up and bow in gratitude.

“Lie down. Don’t move. Or else, your wounds might reopen,” Xiao Luo said while buttoning his sleeves.

“Brother Xiao, thank you. From now on, you’ll be my boss.”

Feng Wuhen’s heart was full of admiration for Xiao Luo. He shouted to Xiaowu and the rest, “Call him ‘boss.’”

“Boss!” the four men shouted together.

Xiao Luo was speechless. Boss? Did they think of him as a gangster or something?

Just then, Zhang Dashan, who had just unloaded a biological bomb in the toilet, pushed open the bathroom door. He said while zipping his pants, “What boss, you f*ckheads? Xiao Luo is the boss of a company, not a gang. Don’t you feel awkward calling him ‘boss?’ Besides, it’s also really old-fashioned.”

Feng Wuhen awkwardly knitted his eyebrows and responded, “Fine. Then, I think we’ll stick with ‘Brother Xiao.’ It sounds more intimate that way.”

“Brother Xiao or Mr. Xiao will do,” Zhang Dashan replied, patting Feng Wuhen’s shoulders.

“Dashan, since you’re on break these next few days, I’ll leave them with you. I’m going to the office,” Xiao Luo ordered then turned to leave. At the door, his footsteps halted, and he turned back around. “Oh yeah,” he added, “they’ve lost a lot of blood. Go and buy them some healthy food. Maybe get some for yourself, too. I mean, what would be so bad about having a chubby face but a body that’s thin as f*ck? People looking at you from afar will think that your head is Photoshopped onto your body.”

Hearing Xiao Luo, Zhang Dashan felt like a thousand alpacas were galloping through his brain. Xia Luo could’ve stopped at ‘go buy them some healthy food.’ Why did he have to joke about his face? What a motherf*ker!

Nevertheless, Xiao Luo was already gone. Even if he wanted to, he didn’t have anyone he could blow up at.

“Brother Zhang, we haven’t eaten any good food in days. Please, buy us some meat,” said Feng Wuhan, drooling.

What the f*ck?

Is this how you talk to someone you barely know?!

Zhang Dashan didn’t even want to mention how badly was he feeling. Being a nanny for five grown a*s men was going to literally send him over the edge.

He asked chillingly, “Want some pig whips and bull whacks?”

“Sure, sure! My dad says that the groin is the most nutritious part of the animal.”

“Yeah, people’s noses even bleed after eating them. How nutritious must they be?”

“If you could get us some elephant shlongs, that would be the best. We’ll definitely become tigers after eating them!”

Xiaowu and the others were very excited. They’d heard that animal penises were rich in nutrition but hadn’t tasted any before because of their notoriously strong flavor. They were literally inedible. But, given their current exceptional circumstances, they would eat whatever was nutritious without giving a rat’s a*s about how it tasted.

Feng Wuhen was even more delighted when he heard this. He said to Zhang Dashan with a smile, “Then, we’ll be counting on you, Brother Zhang.”

What in Heavens’ name?!!

Zhang Dashan felt the urge to go berserk. He thought: Can’t you guys tell that I’m being sarcastic? Elephant shlongs? Why don’t I buy an actual human p*ssy for you dummies to make some soup? Holy sh*tcakes!

“Seriously, you guys are even more shameless than me!”

He dropped that harsh sentence, put on his clothes, and went out to buy ingredients. Since Xiao Luo wanted him to take good care of these men, naturally, he would not treat them apathetically.

*******

“Mr. Xiao, I heard that you’ve asked Mr. Li to sue Chen Jianbai, the reporter who published the news about Luo’s Workshop. Is that true?” Xu Guansong dove straight into the topic as soon as he entered Xiao Luo’s office. He looked slightly flustered.

“Yes!” Xiao Luo put down the task in his hands and looked up at him, asking, “Do you have a problem with that?”

“Of course not. If we win the lawsuit, then Luo’s Workshop’s reputation will be restored, and our previous customers will come back,” Xu Guansong said earnestly. “But if we lose, our reputation will plummet. I heard that Chen Jianbai has mobilized all the reporters, and they are prepared to make a fuss if we lose the case.”

Xiao Luo smiled and said, “He is very confident.”

“Of course, he is. He’s got Taste Buds to back him up. Mr. Xiao, I think we should just let this go. Luo’s Workshop can’t bear another blow. Although we are still losing money, new customers are pouring in every single day. Many of our old customers have also ordered our mooncakes for their employees. As long as we persist, the bad days will definitely be behind us.”

“Persist? How?”

Xiao Luo couldn’t agree with Xu Guansong’s point of view. He said coldly, “There are more than 500 workers at Luo’s Workshop whose livelihoods depend on us. The finance department has reported a debt of four million. If this goes on, we will have to close down in two months. There are now only two paths before us. Live or die!”