Rebirth: CEO's Sweetheart Reaches the Life Pinnacle!-Chapter 57 - 55 Significant Discovery

Uncle Bo’s Home Cooking, 12:30 PM. This was lunchtime, and Zhou Rou was busy at the cashier counter, settling payments for numerous customers. She had just finished helping one guest with their bill.

Her colleague Wang Li came down from upstairs and leaned in close to her, speaking in a hushed tone, "Zhou Rou, I just learned something! Do you want to hear it?"

Zhou Rou felt a vague distaste for her. Wang Li always enjoyed gossiping and spreading rumors about others. But she knew that offending petty people was unwise, so she always pretended to enjoy chatting with her.

Suppressing the impatience she felt, Zhou Rou responded in a warm tone, "Of course! Tell me!"

"Hey, it turns out Manager Cui isn’t the owner of this restaurant!"

"That’s impossible, isn’t it?" Zhou Rou hesitated. Manager Cui had always called the shots and didn’t seem like someone working for others.

"You don’t believe me? I saw it with my own eyes! The name listed as the legal entity on the restaurant’s business license is someone called Li Si!" She had just made this discovery in Manager Cui’s office.

Zhou Rou’s eyes widened in shock, "Whose name was written on it?" How could it possibly be Li Si? Was it someone with the same name? Even that seemed unlikely!

"You’re surprised too, aren’t you? I was stunned for quite a while when I saw it! It’s Li Si—’Si’ as in ’longing.’ We’ve never seen this big boss before, don’t even know whether they’re male or female. To operate such a large-scale restaurant, they must have serious money."

Wang Li hadn’t noticed Zhou Rou’s abnormal reaction and assumed she was merely surprised by the gossip that Manager Cui wasn’t the owner.

At that moment, Zhou Rou’s mind was in turmoil, overwhelmed with shock, resentment, and jealousy toward Li Si. How was her life so good? Even without parents, she had money!

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Li Si had never treated her as a friend! She had so much money, knew about Zhou Rou’s 180,000 yuan debt, but never even mentioned helping her—just offered her a job. What good was that?

Her fists clenched tightly, her long nails digging into her flesh, yet she didn’t feel the pain. It was hate—pure hate. She hated her father for dragging the family into debt; hated her mother for valuing her brother over her and tearing up her college acceptance letter; hated her brother for being irresponsible and leaving her, a girl, to shoulder all the debt. And now, she hated Li Si. Li Si could have easily cleared that debt yet didn’t even bring it up.

Wasn’t that true? To someone as wealthy as Li Si, 180,000 yuan was nothing!

During her afternoon break, Zhou Rou requested the evening off and headed home. Though she’d been living in the women’s dormitories provided by work, she now just wanted to return to her own home and lie down for a while.

Mrs. Zhou didn’t have steady work but possessed the skill of making clothes. She often took pre-cut fabric from small tailoring shops and brought it home to work on. Years ago, when people still had clothes custom-made, there was plenty of work, and their household finances were relatively comfortable.

But as living standards rose, people favored buying ready-made clothes, and the amount of work Mrs. Zhou could take on dwindled. Once Mr. Zhou fell ill, the family lost its primary income source and became increasingly impoverished. Eventually, Mr. Zhou’s illness grew severe, forcing them to live off borrowed money.

"Xiao Rou, why are you home today? Is it a holiday?" Mrs. Zhou asked as she sewed clothes at the machine, looking up when she heard the sound of a key turning in the door.

The Zhou Family’s home was a dated apartment in an old residential building, consisting of two bedrooms and a small, dim living room.

"I took some time off. I’m tired!" Zhou Rou didn’t elaborate, heading straight to her small room and collapsing onto her bed, drained of energy. Looking around at her family’s run-down home—the severely peeling, yellowing walls and the sparse, shabby furnishings—she felt increasingly resentful.

"You’re something else. Not even sick, and you’re taking time off? Do you know they’ll dock your pay for that? Get up! Go back to work—poor kids can’t afford to act spoiled!"

Mrs. Zhou scolded unhappily. Everywhere demanded money now. Even though Zhou Rou earned wages and could contribute to paying off the debt monthly, it barely amounted to anything. Mrs. Zhou kept urging her daughter to work harder and earn more.

"Mom, I said I’m tired and I want to lie down for a while. What’s wrong with that?" Zhou Rou sat up angrily. "When my brother was home during the New Year holiday, lying around every day, did you say one word to him?"

"He’s not the same as you, is he? He’s a man, doing hard work. All you do is stand and collect money. How hard can that be?" Mrs. Zhou stopped her sewing, storming into Zhou Rou’s room and pointing a finger at her nose.

"Fine, Mom! I won’t argue with you. But what about the fact that my salary this month was higher than my brother’s earnings?"

Mrs. Zhou pouted, grudgingly acknowledging the fact but kept talking, "Your brother just hasn’t had the opportunity. If he did, he’d earn way more than you! Our Gangzi is a university graduate, after all. And besides, this month might be good for you, but next month, your pay will definitely be lower!"

Zhou Rou’s heart ached again. There it was—the same talk about university degrees. "I could’ve been a university student too! You tore up my acceptance letter and ruined my chance to go to college!"

"So what if I tore it? Even if I hadn’t, how were you going to go? You know our financial situation!"

Zhou Rou covered her face and sobbed bitterly. She couldn’t accept this. Why did others have such good fortune while she struggled just to survive? No. There was still hope for her. If Li Si would help pay off the debts; if Li Si could introduce her to someone rich, she could rise above this miserable, impoverished life!

"Stop crying, Xiao Rou. I’m telling you—it’s not like you didn’t make good money back when you were working at the club. Why did you insist on leaving to be a cashier at some restaurant? If this doesn’t work out, just go back to the club!" frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

"Are you even my real mother?" Zhou Rou was already numb. She wiped away her tears and sniffled, adjusting her emotions before saying, "Mom, do you know who owns the restaurant I work at?"

"How would I know?" Mrs. Zhou responded, confused.

"It’s Li Si’s restaurant. I just found out today!"

"What? Li Si? Your classmate?"

"It’s her!"

"How could she have that much money? I ran into her aunt a while ago. Her aunt said her dad passed away and left her some money, but not nearly enough to open something so big."

"I don’t know where she got the money either. She does have an older brother, though, who seems quite wealthy. Maybe he gave it to her?" Zhou Rou was puzzled too. Though Li Si’s family had been well-off in high school, they were far from exorbitantly rich.

"What older brother? Maybe she got the money by sleeping with people," Mrs. Zhou remarked nastily.

"If sleeping with someone could bring in that much money, those call girls at the club wouldn’t even need jobs!" Zhou Rou couldn’t wrap her head around her mother’s thinking. If opportunities like that existed, countless women would be scrambling for them.

"You’re right. Still, it’s strange. That restaurant of yours—I peeked inside from the entrance once. It’s so big and luxurious. Where did the money come from?" The mother and daughter fell momentarily silent, immersed in their thoughts.

"Mom, don’t mention this to her aunt for now. I have my plans." Zhou Rou thought it best to pretend she knew nothing for now.

"Fine, fine. I don’t see her aunt often anyway. But, Xiao Rou, since you were close in high school, you need to keep Li Si sweet. If you’re like sisters, what’s this little debt of ours to her?"

"Mom, leave it to me! I’ll handle this!" Zhou Rou was already strategizing how to strengthen her relationship with Li Si.