Chapter 46: Money Tree (First Update, Seeking Recommendations and Bookmarks)

  In the kitchen, a shallow layer of oil sizzled at the bottom of the pot, gradually emitting a wisp of smoke. On the cutting board beside it, the knife flashed and chopped, with dense thuds, as the whole carrot was cut into small pieces, then scooped up and poured into the oil pan with a whoosh.

  In an instant, the sound of sizzling and crackling filled the air, An Junhe stirred the wok a few times, grabbed the handle, and with a flick of his wrist, the fire head and radish cubes flew into the air. At this moment, his silhouette, illuminated by the flames, was undoubtedly very handsome. At least, the little nanny who was helping to chop the ham on the side couldn't help but be dazzled, but how much of it was due to his exquisite culinary skills, no one knew.

  Actually, Ahn Jun-hee's cooking skills are not high, and he is only good at making some simple home-cooked dishes, which are Chinese-style cuisine. Korea is not a country with a well-developed food culture, on the one hand, it is located in the peninsula near the ocean, on the other hand, it is also located in the north, so its culinary characteristics are deeply influenced by northern China and coastal areas, spicy and sweet, strong seasoning, but due to lack of resources, can't make fancy dishes, even locals get tired of eating them after a long time.

  In his dream, after learning some cooking skills, he rarely ate Korean food. Nowadays, he doesn't have much time to cook Chinese meals, but today he had the opportunity. At first, he was a bit rusty, but later he found his rhythm and showed off all the fancy techniques he mastered in his dreams, making the little babysitter gaze at him with admiration, satisfying his small vanity, so he felt extremely good.

  There were two stoves beside him, one stewing soup and the other braising five-flower pork in oil. The aroma mixed together wafted out, and before long, there was a sound of someone slurping their saliva at the kitchen door behind him.

  While stir-frying, she turned her head to look back, and Xiuying was squatting at the door, poking out half of her little head, staring straight at this side where the smoke was swirling and the fragrance was nose-twitching, her eyes seemed to have turned green.

  "Hey, you're a girl, don't be like this, okay?"

  "What is a maiden? Can it be eaten?" Xiu Ying asked back without any shame.

  "Alright, alright. Since you're here, lend a hand. See that basin over there? Scoop some soup out and take it away... surely you can manage this much?"

  Xiu Ying heard this and immediately perked up, smoothing out her sleeves. "Watch closely, look at me!" She quickly ladled the soup and carried it out wearing thick gloves. Just as she was about to leave, An Jun He suddenly remembered that Xiu Ying loved to sneak bites of meat dishes. He hastily called out to her, "Don't steal a bite! The stew is rich and looks like it's not hot, but it's actually very scalding!"

  But it was too late, as soon as the words fell, a muffled scream came from outside, accompanied by Yuli's gloating laughter.

  He waited until he had stir-fried a few small dishes, then wiped his hands and walked into the living room. At the large dining table, Xiuying glared at him with a resentful expression, her two hands still covering her mouth.

  An Junhe burst out laughing: "See if you dare to speak ill of me again!"

  "Hmmph!"

  Ignoring the sulky girl, An Junhe went to his own room after teasing her, called out Xiu Yan who was holding a computer and surfing the internet, and then headed towards the study.

  A 30-square-meter house, with two bedrooms and a living room, kitchen and bathroom occupying most of the space. The study is very small, and it's not really a study, but rather a place where he displays his musical instruments that he has purchased over time.

  Actually, he doesn't use it much, most of the time it's Zhixiu who uses it. Occasionally when she doesn't want to watch TV or go online, his sister will come into this small study and play the piano for a while, or hold the guitar and strum randomly, or hit the wooden drum wildly. For this reason, he has covered the entire room with sound-absorbing cotton to avoid disturbing the neighbors.

  As I entered the study, I gently pushed open the door and a beautiful melody floated out. The room's floor-to-ceiling window was slightly ajar, with the curtains fluttering in the breeze. In front of the piano facing it, a little girl sat on a stool, playing intently. Beside her, Ji-hoo sat in his wheelchair, his back to me.

  The song is "Wedding in a Dream", a piece with no particular difficulties, and an ordinary level of 3 or 4 can play it. For Xiaoxian who has been learning piano since childhood, it's naturally effortless. However, playing this piece well isn't easy either, requiring a precise grasp of the changes in dynamics, in short, one needs to put emotion into it.

  Xiao Xian, who is still young, obviously can't grasp that kind of emotion. Although he plays in standard, but there's no infectious power.

  An Junhe was about to interrupt her, calling them out to eat, when suddenly Zhishu, who had been silent all along, raised his hand and pressed the piano keys. The abrupt insertion of sound instantly disrupted the rhythm, and Xiaoxian stopped in confusion.

  Zhī Xiù's eyebrows furrowed slightly as she looked at Xiao Xiān, her tone serious: "This won't do, both songs have the same problem - they're stiff, following rules and conventions without any emotional investment. If you keep going like this, even if you study for a lifetime..."

  As she spoke, looking at Xiaoxian's innocent gaze, she paused slightly, and the sharp criticism that followed could no longer be spoken. After a moment, she sighed: "Forget it, I'll demonstrate again for you to see."

  Xiao Xian nodded, got down from the stool, carefully moved it to one side, then pushed Zhi Xiu in front of the wheelchair, raised the wheelchair, and went to change the sheet music. She was busy running back and forth, while Zhi Xiu calmly enjoyed being served.

  Outside the door, Ahn Jun-hee stared blankly at them. Although he had arranged for Soo-young and his sister to meet, he hadn't expected that in just a short time, Soo-young seemed to have successfully entered his sister's closed-off heart - so far, no one other than him had been able to make Ji-soo consider saving face or show mercy with her words, nor had anyone made her sigh helplessly. These were small things, but they represented that she was starting to accept outsiders.

  He suppressed the joy in his heart, squeezed his hand hard, and then knocked on the door. He smiled at the girls inside who were startled by the sudden sound: "Let's demonstrate later, the dishes are ready, come out to eat."

  "Oh!" Zhīxiù responded, and then said to Xiǎo Xián: "Then let's wait a bit, we'll come back after dinner."

  "Hmm!"

  Xiao Xian pushed Zhi Xiu out, and as she passed by An Junhe's side, he winked at her and gave a thumbs up in approval. The little girl smiled silently and stuck out her tongue slightly, looking a bit embarrassed.

  After dinner, when helping to wash the dishes, Xiuyan told him that someone with the surname Zuckerberg had left a message for him on MSN. "I didn't see the content of the message, but later he came online and greeted this side, I could only respond, he asked me to tell you that when it's evening here, he wants to talk to you about something."

  "Oh, I see." An Junhe, who was washing his face, replied casually without stopping.

  "Your friend? Or online friend? Looks like an American from the language used!"

  "It's a friend... I suppose!" An Junhe smiled slightly, "Rather than saying it's a friend, it's better to say it's an ATM!"

  Su-yeon is unclear about it.

  She certainly didn't know that the very ordinary Jewish name would be worshipped by countless people in a few years, his slightly casual style would appear on the cover of various magazines, and even every move he made would waste a lot of media film, with the pursuit and vigilance of internet practitioners.

  Mark Zuckerberg!

  At this time still unknown, a computer and psychology student who had just dropped out of Harvard, started an equally unknown website, weak enough for anyone to mock his arrogance.

  But An Junhe was different. Although he didn't know much about computers and the internet, in his dream world, Zuckerberg's fame had already transcended industry boundaries. Even someone like him, far away in Asia with no connection to the internet, knew all about that guy's development history as if it were second nature, because it was simply a miracle, just like Bill Gates back in the day.

  The first contact with Mark was at the end of March, when Mark had just started his career and Facebook had just been established. An Junhe managed to get in touch with him after several attempts, and obtained his contact information. The initial exchange was not very smooth, as Mark was still a shy young man obsessed with computers and the internet, while An Junhe was an outsider who didn't understand much about these things. However, this was only temporary, and interpersonal communication doesn't require complete understanding - just grasping the sensitive points and guiding each other is enough.

  He was a man with great strategic vision, but at present, his strategic vision has not been appreciated by anyone, even his initial partners only think about short-term benefits and sneer at many of his ideas. An Junhe seized this opportunity to reveal his views on the future development of the Internet and the popularity of social networks, which greatly increased Mark's favor towards him. Although they have not met in person yet, they have become good friends and occasionally chat online or make phone calls to greet each other.

  An Junhe's purpose was not just to make friends with Mark, he is essentially a businessman, and the ultimate goal is still profit, while Mark and his Facebook are money-making trees in An Junhe's eyes.

  It wasn't necessary to be so hasty before, on the one hand he was still accumulating capital, and on the other hand, although Mark was inexperienced at that time, he wasn't a kindergarten kid either, he understood that there's no such thing as a free lunch. It didn't make sense for someone he had never met to suddenly express investment intentions.

  So he has been waiting for an opportunity, an initiative proposed by Mark. He had mentioned to Mark that he was engaged in the venture capital industry and had sufficient funds. This foreshadowing had been buried for a long time, only occasionally brought up to deepen the impression on the other party. Although they never discussed substantial issues, he believed it was enough for Mark to think of him when facing difficulties.

  Silently calculating the time, it's already late August now. The first wave of ups and downs in Mark's life is about to arrive, maybe it's time!

  Lost in thought, I saw off Xiuyan and the other girls in the afternoon, and waited until evening to log onto MSN. Mark, who seemed to have been waiting for a while, hastily sent over an inquiry: "Ahn, I recall you saying that you had ample funds on hand, right?"

  It's done!

  As the sun sets in the west, the light outside the window grows dim and gradually darkens, with only the computer screen providing a faint glow in the bedroom, An Junhe's face breaks into a smile.

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