Also, compared to the surrounding rental houses, the rent for this small courtyard is not high. The landlord, Charles Sutton, has always been fond of comfort since childhood and naturally refuses to settle for less when it comes to his own living space. The courtyard is equipped with a dedicated cleaner for sanitation, as well as for planting flowers and grass; there is also a public dining hall arranged according to Yvonne Quinn's wishes, with extremely complete and advanced facilities.

All these kitchen appliances are imported, and many of them are unheard of by the chefs. The original purpose of setting up this public dining hall was to make it convenient for employees to dine during the day. But soon, the bar’s chefs started treating this kitchen as a laboratory. They brought their own ingredients, experimented with new dishes, exchanged techniques, and then sought out tasters everywhere for feedback.

Next, the bar’s bartenders joined in as well, …

As a result, the employees dining here were in for a treat. For breakfast and lunch, future star chefs and bartenders took turns showcasing and innovating their skills, constantly coming up with new creations. Even those with superb skills didn’t forget to hone their proficiency here.

After bar employees resigned and became tenants of the courtyard, being familiar with the inner workings, they unanimously requested to continue participating in tastings at cost or with minimal profit. Thus, the chefs and bartenders recouped their experimental costs, even making a slight profit, while the courtyard tenants got to sample new dishes, pastries, and drinks that hadn’t yet hit the market at a low price.

When newcomers discovered that those famous, jaw-droppingly expensive signature dishes, drinks, and desserts on the market were being sold here at shockingly low prices—almost given away—they were hardly willing to stay out of it. So, the young male and female tenants not only dined here themselves, but also brought their partners to taste the food, making coming and going from this place a mark of refined taste to show off.

Gradually, the small courtyard gained a reputation and was privately nicknamed the “Shu’s (Shi) Apartment.”

Wendy Lane, who had always watched all this coldly from the sidelines, never missed a chance to stir up trouble. Living in an ivory tower, she was oblivious to the hardships of the real world and was endlessly overflowing with sympathy. As a result, Shu’s Apartment became her shelter for others; countless people moved in under the banner of being her “junior” or “alumni,” introduced by her to live in the Shu family courtyard.

As for her troublemaking, Yvonne Quinn, out of friendship, was dissatisfied but couldn’t say anything. Charles Sutton, not being the one who managed the household, had no idea about the cost of living and agreed to every request. In the end, the courtyard’s tenants became extremely young, and at mealtimes, the dining hall was packed. Fortunately, the nature of the bar’s work meant the dining hall couldn’t operate at night, or else it would have become another noisy hotspot.

Now it was daytime. The courtyard was bustling with people, while the street outside was filled with a lazy atmosphere.

The street wasn’t long, only about half a mile; the densely packed, uneven houses on both sides were mostly old residences. Rows of trees lined the street, their green shade forming a canopy, especially those few ancient trees that were a thousand years old, with huge crowns and dense shade blocking out the sun. In the blazing summer, they could easily shelter a dozen or twenty people from the heat.

Old houses, ancient trees, and green shade together created a simple and leisurely street scene.

This street was also called Calligraphy and Painting Street.

In the past, there were occasionally three or five people setting up stalls here to sell calligraphy and paintings, most of them old shop owners from the commercial street, passing the time in boredom while waiting for their shops to be handed over.

The shopkeepers were half-hearted, never hawking their wares, so business was naturally poor. Most of the time, they just sat under the shade of the trees, drinking tea and chatting to pass the time.

Later, the cheap local rent attracted a large number of wandering artists. By the time those old shop owners got their own shops and moved in, the “calligraphy and painting business” on the street had already taken shape. More than twenty young wandering artists had gathered here, setting up stalls right under the thick shade by the street.

A piece of white cloth was spread on the clean cement ground, displaying some profound and mysterious, intricate color blocks, or distorted and deformed portraits. Groups of young couples who had just renovated their homes came to visit, stopping to admire the works. Over time, the street’s reputation grew, and every vendor did good business.

These artists all seemed to have a bit of a romantic air, and each was a smooth talker. At this moment, Charles Sutton was standing at the window, smiling as he watched the artists sweet-talk their customers.

“So clumsy. I was saying this back in my childhood. After all these years, there’s not a bit of innovation,” Charles Sutton sneered with a laugh.

Just then, he suddenly saw something, the muscles on his face twitching and spasming, as if he had fallen back into a nightmare.

Chapter 3: Even a Lion’s Greed Has Come to This

By the roadside, among the groups of young couples shopping for paintings, two tall figures stood out in particular.

One of them seemed to be a local, or at least, he looked Chinese. His outfit was quite unconventional among the crowd—a typical yuppie style. As a man, his hair was neither long nor short, slicked back into a shiny little ponytail. He wore a denim outfit, with several neat holes in his jeans.

Yes, neat holes. The edges of the holes were tidy, the threads arranged in order—clearly “ripped” on purpose.

Especially his shoes.

Normally, jeans are paired with sneakers, but this man wore a pair of exquisitely crafted leather shoes, polished to a shine, forming a sharp contrast with his seemingly ragged denim outfit.

The most outrageous was his companion.