The Rich Man's Life Begins with a Comeback

Chapter 190: Online Little Chicken, Real-Life Little Dumbass (4k)

At 9 p.m., the Cloud Bar was already fully booked.

Soothing jazz music lingered in the air, occasionally mingled with the laughter of customers.

Gu Heng stood in front of the central bar counter. The dark walnut bar counter gleamed with a warm luster under the soft light, and the bartenders on both sides of him were working hard.

One person was carving a transparent ice ball with an ice chisel, while another was rhythmically shaking a cocktail shaker in both hands. Meanwhile, Gu Heng had rolled up the sleeves of his expensive shirt and was learning to mix cocktails with great interest.

Gu Heng, already handsome with fair skin, stood in the center of the bar counter, bathed in soft, atmospheric lighting, making him rather eye-catching.

Take the casual seating in front of the bar as an example. Compared to usual, the occupancy rate is significantly higher, and most of them are young women. They seem to be drinking and chatting, but in fact, they are frequently glancing at Gu Heng out of the corner of their eyes.

"Um……"

“It tastes pretty good.”

Gu Heng had just mixed his first cocktail, "Vanity," under the professional guidance of the bartender. It was made with sandalwood whiskey as the base, combined with a variety of ingredients such as rum, plum coffee vodka, sherry, and dark chocolate.

Mixing your own drinks and drinking them yourself is quite a pleasant experience.

Just as Gu Heng was savoring the [Vanity] cake, a familiar figure appeared before him. Liu Nanyi, wearing a floral sundress, was holding a cake in both hands and walked straight to the high chair in front of Gu Heng and sat down.

Perhaps it was because of the alcohol, but Liu Nanyi's pure and lovely face looked rosy and inexplicably delicate and cute.

"Gu Heng, please have some cake~"

"This is the first piece of the cake I cut for you myself!"

Liu Nanyi presented the cake to Gu Heng with both hands, her clear voice carrying a hint of coquettishness and shyness.

"Thank you."

Gu Heng took the cake from Liu Nanyi and chuckled softly as he looked at her slightly shy expression.

"What...what are you laughing at?"

Liu Nanyi, who was already a little embarrassed, became even more restless when she saw Gu Heng suddenly laughing at her.

"Isn't someone quite bold online?"

Gu Heng smiled, leaning his arms on the bar, and looked at Liu Nanyi with interest: "Why are you suddenly shy after we met?"

"I……"

"I was mainly unprepared!"

Who would have thought we'd run into each other today!

Liu Nanyi responded, feigning composure.

"Oh~"

"So that's it~"

Gu Heng feigned surprise, then suddenly changed the subject: "Is Captain Liu's flight still taking off tonight? Do I still need to send you photos?"

Faced with Gu Heng's last two sentences, Liu Nanyi, who had just pretended to be calm, instantly collapsed. Her pretty face turned bright red at a visible speed, and she was so embarrassed that she almost crawled under the table.

"you……"

"Send me the photos, and I..."

"I'll reluctantly fly once, but this time I want a picture of your hands."

Liu Nanyi hesitated for a long time before stammering in response.

"Yo?"

"You still picked it?"

Gu Heng raised an eyebrow: "And what do you mean by 'reluctantly'? Did you find another route?"

"Humph……"

"It's your fault for becoming more and more perfunctory towards me."

Liu Nanyi snorted twice: "Since that's the case, I can only rely on myself and find some shows to watch."

"Sorry……"

Suddenly, Gu Heng said this.

Liu Nanyi was stunned; she hadn't expected Gu Heng to apologize.

However, before she could even feel touched, she heard Gu Heng say, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so obvious, and you noticed."

Looking into Gu Heng's smiling eyes, Liu Nanyi almost made her mother so angry she almost fainted.

Moving?

It doesn't move me at all!
"Just kidding."

Gu Heng smiled and explained, "I often didn't reply to your messages recently because I was on a business trip in Zhonghai. I had business engagements almost every night and was often busy until very late, so I simply didn't have time to check my phone."

"So that's it."

Liu Nanyi felt inexplicably happy to see that Gu Heng was actually willing to explain to her.

Do you know why I was laughing just now?

Gu Heng picked up the [Brahma World] and took a sip, then slowly asked.

"why?"

Liu Nanyi asked curiously.

"Because after I saw you, a sentence inexplicably came to mind, and I felt that the sentence was quite fitting for you."

Gu Heng replied with a smile.

"What?"

Liu Nanyi looked slightly suspicious: "It doesn't sound like something nice."

"Internet-famous roasted chicken~"

"A real-life idiot~"

Gu Heng's smile deepened as he slowly uttered those words.

"who……"

"Who is the internet's Little Roasted Chicken!"

"I'll just treat you like this, okay!"

Liu Nanyi's pretty face flushed red, her expression one of shame and indignation: "Besides, I'm such a lively and cheerful girl in real life. It's just that I suddenly met you and didn't react for a moment, which is why I seemed a little dazed. How am I a little dork!"

"Does being flirtatious with me mean I'm not flirtatious?"

"Is being 'clumsy' not being 'clumsy' when it comes to me?"

Gu Heng shrugged: "My description is fine!"

"Well……"

"I'm not one of them!"

Liu Nanyi puffed out her cheeks and muttered softly.

After saying that, she glanced at the cocktail in front of Gu Heng: "What are you drinking? It looks delicious."

Gu Heng casually replied, "Our shop's signature cocktail, 'Vanity,' is one I mixed myself. The taste may be a little worse than that of our shop's professional bartenders, but I think it tastes pretty good to me."

"Chairman of Zhencui Group."

Liu Nanyi whispered, "You mix your own drinks?" When Gu Heng heard Liu Nanyi reveal his identity, his eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly. He quickly realized that an employee must have accidentally revealed his identity. But if Liu Nanyi and the others knew, so be it. There was no point in hiding it.

"Do you think being a chairman is so easy?"

"Only by personally handling all these seemingly insignificant trivial matters can one truly gain full control of the company."

Gu Heng raised the glass of "Vanity" in his hand. Under the light, the dark brown liquor and the crystal glass reflected a magnificent light.

“Take this cocktail for example. As Yunzun’s signature cocktail, it sells nearly 10,000 cups every year. With a price of 98 yuan per cup, its total sales amount to nearly one million yuan.”

"In this situation, as the boss, I need to know the cost of this drink. For example, the base spirit of this cocktail, sandalwood whisky, I need to know how many glasses of [Vancouver] can be made from one bottle of sandalwood whisky, how much loss may occur during the mixing process, and which of these losses can be avoided and which are unavoidable."

"Only by having a clear understanding of the situation can I see through the data and find the problems among the numerous figures when the subordinates hand me financial statements and revenue data, thereby preventing serious corruption such as deceiving superiors and concealing information from subordinates."

As Gu Heng finished speaking, he took another sip of [Brahma World].

"A thousand-mile dike can be destroyed by an ant hole."

"Suppose a bottle of sandalwood whisky can make 20 'Vanity' cocktails. If someone wants to profit from this, they only need to reduce that number from 20 to 15. Over time, the amount of profit they can make will be astonishing."

Gu Heng gently set down his glass, a smile playing on his lips: "And this is just a pittance from a single signature cocktail. Yunzun has over a dozen other signature cocktails like this..."

Since he had nothing else to do and happened to be interested, Gu Heng started by talking about a cocktail, and then, using a small example to illustrate a larger point, he briefly explained to Liu Nanyi why he, as the chairman of Zhencui Group, was there.

In fact, Gu Heng gradually came to understand these principles through continuous in-depth research, practice, and learning.

As Liu Nanyi listened to Gu Heng's story, a hint of admiration appeared in her eyes.

Both are 18 years old, but while she is still in school worrying about the upcoming final exams every day, Gu Heng can already manage a catering group with a market value of over 100 million yuan and thousands of employees in an orderly manner.

How could Liu Nanyi not be amazed!
How could Liu Nanyi not feel admiration!
Young girls in love are drawn to both the youthful exuberance of boys their own age and the mature sophistication and humor of older men.

Normally, they can only choose one of the two.

However, Gu Heng seemed to be an exception. He not only possessed the youthful sunshine of a boy his age, but also the composure and humor of a mature man, which made Liu Nanyi a little lost.

"Your special cocktail is called 'Vanity,' right?"

Liu Nanyi wasn't drunk, but her gaze towards Gu Heng was already somewhat dazed: "Could you make me a drink? I'd like to try some too."

"Yo?"

"You're quite arrogant."

"I am the chairman of Zhencui Group. Are you ordering me around?"

Gu Heng raised an eyebrow and teased Liu Nanyi.

"That……"

"Then you can give me your cup."

Liu Nanyi extended a slender white index finger and gently poked the wine glass in front of Gu Heng, her shy eyes revealing a hint of boldness.

How many glasses of champagne did you have just now?

Gu Heng was surprised that Liu Nanyi had become so bold, and he asked her in return.

"Um……"

"Five?"

"Six cups, still?"

"I can't quite remember."

Liu Nanyi blinked, then shook her head.

"Can you still drink it?"

"Don't assume that because champagne is sweet and sour, it's like a soft drink."

"That stuff is like rice wine, it tastes sweet, and it makes you feel dizzy after drinking it."

Gu Heng looked at Liu Nanyi with a slightly suspicious gaze.

"of course!"

Liu Nanyi subconsciously straightened her back: "Although I rarely drink, and have never drunk much, from a genetic point of view, my parents both have a high alcohol tolerance, so I should also have a high alcohol tolerance."

"Um……"

"Alcohol tolerance is indeed partly determined by genetics."

Gu Heng looked at Liu Nanyi with relatively clear eyes and said, "You shouldn't drink this cup of [Vanity]. It has a strong woody flavor and is a bit bitter. You probably won't like it."

"I'll make you a cup of 'Floating Frost'."

"This drink is also one of our signature drinks. It is made with plum gin as the base, combined with cherry liqueur, cranberry juice, lemon juice and other ingredients. The taste is sweet and sour, and it is usually ordered by girls more often."

Gu Heng was experiencing his first time as a bartender, and he was still feeling quite excited. Even if Liu Nanyi hadn't come to him, he had originally planned to mix a few more cocktails to play around with.

At that moment, he suddenly understood that saying on the internet—

"If you have money, raising children should be a lot of fun!"

Indeed, that is the case.

If there were no economic pressure, the world would be like a huge open-world exploration game, where you could explore it to your heart's content and do whatever you like throughout the long years.

That kind of life sounds amazing!

Eh?
Wait a moment?
Isn't this the kind of life I'm living right now?
oh……

That's okay~
Gu Heng suddenly realized what was happening, albeit belatedly.

"But let me tell you beforehand, I'm a newbie, so I can't guarantee whether the final 'Floating Frost' will taste good."

Gu Heng put on some armor for himself in advance.

"It'll definitely taste good!"

"I believe you~"

When Liu Nanyi heard that Gu Heng was going to personally mix her another cocktail, her bright eyes instantly curved into two crescent moons, and her voice even became cheerful.

"Row."

Gu Heng got right to work. After finding all the base liquor needed to make "Floating Frost," he began to prepare it according to the steps.

Signature cocktails like "Floating Frost" and "Vanity" are all independently developed by the Zhencui Group's Food and Beverage Research Department. The preparation steps for each signature cocktail are described in great detail to ensure that these signature cocktails will not be unavailable due to the departure of a bartender.

The extremely detailed preparation steps are so precise that even an ordinary person could make a similar-tasting signature cocktail by following them step by step. The difference between them and professional bartenders might just be efficiency and taste.

Gu Heng followed the production steps with a slightly focused expression.

Liu Nanyi did not disturb Gu Heng, but her gaze unconsciously shifted from Gu Heng's face to his hands.

As she watched Gu Heng's hands move across the various wine vessels, a strange heat rose within her.

At the same time, her mind began to churn with images of the anime she had watched before. Gu Heng's face and hands automatically replaced the male protagonists in those anime, while she automatically identified with the female protagonists.

The thought of Gu Heng using his strong, bony hands to gently grip her neck, pinning her against the wall, and then using his other large hand to slowly roam over her body...

As the images unfolded, Liu Nanyi, sitting on a high stool, couldn't help but squeeze her legs together, while she gently bit her lip, her face gradually flushing slightly.

Liu Nanyi stared at Gu Heng's hands with a slightly infatuated look in her eyes.

For some inexplicable reason...

She felt like flying again.

(End of this chapter)