Chapter 194: Chapter 194: Too Competitive
It’s a bad thing.
Miao Mu said with a serious face, leaving the guests in the hall dumbfounded.
Gu Chi sorted through the situation, "Director, do you mean we need to build a safety passage?"
Miao Mu helplessly replied, "That’s indeed the case."
The villa was converted into a restaurant, and he and the welfare institution had almost completed the related procedures and could get a business license.
But since it was going to be a restaurant, there were two major standards it had to meet: fire safety and sanitation.
The sanitation inspection was still some way off, and they were sure they could manage that. But for fire safety, when they showed the design to professionals, the response was clear: it wouldn’t pass the inspection.
"This villa’s layout is great, windows and all meet the standards, except there’s only one staircase. To pass the inspection, we must add another safety passage."
Worried that the guests might balk at the task, the director quickly explained that such a safety passage was easy to build, and he had hired professionals to design it. It wouldn’t damage the villa’s aesthetics or affect the previous renovation designs.
"Just..."
Gu Chi said helplessly, "It’s just about money, right?"
Miao Mu looked awkward.
They had managed to get sponsorship for the tables and chairs, only to find out they needed to build a three-story staircase.
"Well, we’ve calculated that the staircase cost is roughly the amount we saved before."
The guests were helpless.
After all the twists and turns, the renovation costs were back to square one.
Tuanzi looked incredulous.
Didn’t they say fortunes and misfortunes are intertwined? Where’s the fortune?
[Ancient Martial System: Cough, cough, Miaomiao, don’t open your mouth so wide]
Tuanzi couldn’t help but imitate a wolf and howl "Aaaooo."
She was anguished!
Pressure returned in an instant, and the guests felt downcast, too lazy to sleep, and sat in the hall’s sofas in small groups, discussing how to make more money.
Ai Jie: "Mrs. Gu’s sugar painting definitely needs to be retained; it sells quickly and the income is stable. It’s just tiring for Mrs. Gu."
"No problem, it’s necessary," Gu Ran looked at the gloomy Tuanzi, "Miaomiao’s performing arts might have to continue too."
The other children quickly said, "We will all help Miaomiao."
Gu Jiujiu earnestly said, "Miaomiao can use me as a prop."
The other three children: "We can be props too!"
Gu Ran was suddenly crying and laughing.
Ai Jie was a bit worried.
If she couldn’t sell cotton candy, what else could she do? Dance on the street?
She wasn’t embarrassed, just didn’t think passersby would buy it.
Thinking about it, Ai Jie sought the director’s help.
"You surely already collected some money-making methods, right?"
"There are indeed."
Miao Mu explained, "Living by the sea, people can go out to sea or gather seafood to earn from selling them."
He said he had contacted a boat and some fishermen who would rest for a few days.
"We’ve agreed with some fishermen that if you go out to sea tomorrow, they’ll teach you what to do."
Of course, it was equivalent to the program group paying for a day of the fishermen’s time.
"By then, the day’s catch will all be yours."
Yi Heng keenly asked, "A day’s catch? Out to sea for a day?"
"This time, leave in the morning and return at dusk. The times vary each trip, but this time some fishermen checked the weather and think going in the morning and returning at dusk is better."
Yi Heng felt a bit torn.
Just then, his father Yi Fei called and scolded him, saying he performed too poorly. It wasn’t a great show, yet he managed to ruin his reputation, so he had to remedy it promptly.
Years of fear made him unable to resist his father.
"Then I’ll go to sea."
Yi Heng tried to appear natural, "Going out to sea for a day should yield quite a catch."
Moreover, hiring people and renting the boat were covered by the program team, so they would profit outright from a boatload of fish.
Miao Mu was a bit surprised, "Spending a day drifting on the sea."
Yi Heng: "It’s okay, but should more people join us?"
Ai Jie said, "I’ll go too; I can’t think of a way to make money."
She looked at her children, "But the kids shouldn’t go."
Gu Ran then said, "Then it’ll be up to them, Yi Kai, and us to set up stalls."
The twins felt reluctant, but after Ai Jie coaxed them, they tearfully agreed.
As for Yi Kai, he looked at Yi Heng with a hint of hesitance.
"Bro, are you sure you’re up for it?"
Yi Heng’s forehead throbbed visibly.
After discussing the sea trip, the director suggested, "If business is not good, you can also gather seafood, though generally, you don’t find much."
Generally, seaside residents go gathering at the lowest tide.
And the low tide times vary daily, generally estimated by the lunar calendar.
"Tomorrow’s gathering time is from 11:30 to 15:30, with the lowest tide at 13:30. You can gather items when you return to have lunch and rest."
Tuanzi perked up slightly and raised her hand to ask, "What can you gather from the sea?"
Miao Mu listed a long series and then said, "But mostly shells, right? Shells can be made into crafts?"
The children gathered in a circle to discuss, "What crafts can we make?"
Ai Fengyi tugged at her twin brother’s hair, "Wind chimes? But I don’t know how to make them."
Ai Tanbo helplessly swatted his sister’s hand, "I don’t know either."
But Gu Chi seemed thoughtful.
Shells, crafts.
Although he’s satisfied with the money earned from daytime sketching, it’s like a drop in the bucket.
If he painted on shells and then sold them, perhaps he’d earn more.
During the official rest time, he sent a message to someone.
The next day, before dawn, Yi Heng and Ai Jie set out.
At daybreak, Tuanzi groggily got up to practice martial arts, discovering that Gu Chi was also awake.
"Gu Chi, where are you going?"
"To wake up Yi Kai."
Yi Heng is very ambitious, but Yi Kai hasn’t done anything wrong.
Last night they agreed that if Ai Jie and Yi Heng went out, he would take care of Yi Kai and Ai Tanbo, while Gu Ran would look after Ai Fengyi.
Upon hearing this, Tuanzi yawned, "Yi Kai wakes up early. He practices foreign languages every day at six."
Gu Chi: "..." Are kids nowadays so competitive?
The young artist couldn’t quite believe it, but when he reached the room outside where Yi Kai was staying, he did hear him practicing foreign languages.
Some viewers yawned as they got up to watch the live broadcast, and were shocked to hear Yi Kai’s voice.
[This is such competitiveness!]
[He’s only five, right?]
[This world is too crazy; children are working harder than me!]
After knocking, Yi Kai personally opened the door.
The little boy was already dressed neatly and was learning with a study machine.
Gu Chi felt a bit troubled, considering they were participating in a show but were still working so hard.
"After this practice, what will you do?"
"Practice calligraphy."
Yi Kai obediently replied, "There’s no piano here, so I can’t practice piano."
After some inquiries, Gu Chi learned that Yi Kai’s schedule was always packed.
He practices foreign languages and calligraphy early in the morning, follows a driver to kindergarten, and practices piano and painting when he returns at dusk. If he doesn’t go to kindergarten any day, the schedule is even fuller.
Gu Chi instinctively asked, "Do you like these?"
Yi Kai seemed puzzled, "Is liking important?"
It’s his father’s requirement, and he must comply.