How can I justify myself as a Magnate if I don't indulge myself?

Compared to the Yundian Association or the Ritz-Carlton Hotel with their exceptionally attentive services,

Gu Heng preferred this kind of street-level commoner culture.

He had no choice, before he obtained the system, he was a naked member of the lower class. The things that are etched into one's bones can't be simply erased, and Gu Heng didn't want to sever ties with his past self anyway.

It's not like it's something shameful.

The rich have their way of living.

Who says that once someone becomes rich, they can't eat cheap snacks from a roadside stall? Experience tales with My Virtual Library Empire

Wang Sicong would even take his girlfriend to eat barbecue in the Northeast for no particular reason.

From start to finish, Kim Jisoo had not initiated a conversation with Gu Heng. Although she held onto him in a way that seemed intimate, and to outsiders, they might seem like a close couple, only she knew the true nature of their relationship...

All of a sudden...

Gu Heng smelled a very familiar yet oddly elusive sweet aroma...

It wasn't until he saw the queue ahead that Gu Heng, taking Kim Jisoo with him, approached a stall without a sign...

Watching the old man on the stall weighing lumps of malt sugar, Gu Heng's eyes lit up and he blurted out, "It's the aroma of malt!"

Malt sugar—that sort of thing...

Perhaps it is the memory of many countryside children...

And of course, Gu Heng was among them...

When he was young and his family was poor, with his daily allowance of a grand 50 cents, he could only afford to buy a packet of spicy strips...

But how much was in a pack of those?

Even sucking on his fingers and licking the packet wasn't satisfying enough...

But malt sugar was different...

Gu Heng had a vivid memory—4 yuan per jin (pound), a large chunk that, when broken off, could last half a day...

However, as living standards rose, treats like malt sugar seemed to vanish, and Gu Heng hadn't tasted it for more than a decade...

With that thought, Gu Heng quietly lined up at the end of the queue...

Kim Jisoo's beautiful eyes filled with a hint of confusion.

In her view, for a wealthy person like Gu Heng, even if he wanted to eat at such a roadside stall, shouldn't it be a matter of sending a subordinate to buy and bring it to him? Why would he stand in line himself?

Gu Heng was unaware of what she was thinking, and simply waited quietly for the people ahead in the queue to finish their purchases and leave...

Two minutes passed, and finally, it was Gu Heng's turn.

"Young man, how much do you want to buy?"

The stall owner was an old man who appeared to be in his seventies or eighties. The so-called stall was actually a small tricycle cart, on which there was nothing but a large chunk of malt sugar.

"How much is it sold for?"

"12 yuan per jin."

The old man responded to Gu Heng's question with a slow, hearty laugh, his wrinkles spread out like a chrysanthemum.

"That cheap?"

Gu Heng couldn't help but express his surprise.

Back in his childhood, it was 4 yuan per jin, but that was when? In the early 2000s, right? Now it's 2024, and with the cost of living not having just doubled but increased by several times already, right?

Especially for something like malt sugar, which is time-consuming and laborious to make.

Even if the old man had asked for 50 yuan per jin, Gu Heng would not have found it outrageous.

Now Gu Heng finally understood why, along such a long commercial street, only this malt sugar stall had a queue...

As he heard Gu Heng, the old man continued with a cherubic smile, "Just earning a bit of handiwork money."

If another vendor had said this, Gu Heng wouldn't have believed it for a second, but coming from the old man, Gu Heng believed it...

After all, even wheat and glutinous rice were several yuan per jin these days...

Thinking this, Gu Heng said directly, "Then give me ten jins to start with."

"Ten jins is not a small amount, you know, malt sugar lasts longer when eaten in moderation. You should buy less; the weather is getting hotter, and malt sugar doesn't keep well—it'll melt after a while, and then it won't taste good. I'm here every day, so if you want more, you can come and buy it another time."

"No problem, I have many people at home."

"That's good, that's good."

Saying this, the old man started chiseling off a piece from the large chunk of malt sugar...

Gu Heng reached out to take a piece of rubble to his mouth, and in an instant, a refreshing sweetness spread across his taste buds...

That was it, the flavor from his childhood...

Even sweeter than what he remembered.

"Gulp."

Suddenly, a sound of someone swallowing saliva echoed in Gu Heng's ear. He turned to look at Kim Jisoo, her cheeks flushed...

Feeling stared at by Gu Heng made Kim Jisoo even more embarrassed...

Girls absolutely have no resistance against sweet things...

Especially when the malt sugar was still warm, and this sweet fragrance was irresistible, even Kim Jisoo, who had just had her fill at the Yundian Club Restaurant, couldn't help but salivate like crazy at the aroma...

Seeing her awkward expression, Gu Heng couldn't help but chuckle...

He then picked up a small broken piece from the tricycle, and like coaxing a child, he said to Kim Jisoo, "Come on, open your mouth."

Listening to Gu Heng's voice as if he were teasing a puppy, Kim Jisoo really wanted to refuse, but the piece of malt sugar seemed to have some kind of magic. After hesitating for a few seconds, Kim Jisoo still slightly opened her mouth, her pink tongue revealed before Gu Heng...

Seeing her tongue made Gu Heng's heart flutter...

That tongue...

If...

Gu Heng didn't dare to think how long he could last under it...

After having her mouth open for quite a while without tasting the expected flavor, Kim Jisoo opened her eyes to see Gu Heng staring at her tongue in a daze while bringing that little piece of malt sugar to his own mouth...

Realizing she had been played, Kim Jisoo wrinkled her nose...

If they were an ordinary couple, those with a hot temper would probably start getting angry, and the gentler ones would have thrown their arms around Gu Heng and acted coquettishly...

But Kim Jisoo could only obediently close her mouth, giving Gu Heng a resentful glance before remaining silent...