Chapter 21#

Not expecting Chen Yuanming to answer this way, Ma Lei was slightly taken aback, then the corners of his mouth lifted. Was he trying to play the sympathy card, or was he about to complain and beg for mercy? After toying with him for so long, the kid finally knew fear. In the end, he was still a wet-behind-the-ears brat… With a hint of mockery, he sized up the youth’s nervous face for a long moment before leaning back on the sofa, his arm around the waist of the beauty beside him.

Although he didn’t say anything, the other party’s body language gave Chen Yuanming enough of a hint. He thought for a moment and then began from the start.

“A few months ago, when I was still in my hometown, I partnered with an elder on a small business, selling knitted goods, a type of glove you can wear while writing in the winter.” Chen Yuanming gestured with his hand. “From here up, the fingers are exposed, just enough to hold a pen. Let’s call them half-finger gloves.”

Sitting to the side, Scarface was visibly stunned. He was about to say something, but after a glance at his boss across from him, he swallowed his words. Seemingly oblivious to the change in his audience’s expression, Chen Yuanming continued at a steady pace.

“These gloves were a novelty; no one had made them before. So we made over 200 pairs, and they all sold out. The profit on one pair was several dozen times the cost. The initial investment was just over a hundred yuan, and we made a net profit of over a thousand… Of course, that doesn’t include labor costs.”

As he said this, Ma Lei’s eyebrows twitched slightly, his expression changing a little.

“A great business, isn’t it?” Chen Yuanming showed a slight smile. “But the interesting part comes later. After school started, in less than a month, my classmates, my schoolmates, and even people I didn’t know, all seemed to have learned how to knit these gloves overnight. At least half the people had a pair. We only sold 200 pairs, but my school alone has at least 1,000 students.”

Scarface couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst out laughing. “Nonsense, who can’t knit a stupid glove? How much profit can you really make!”

Chen Yuanming shook his head. “No, if we had continued, it would have just been a matter of expanding production, hiring knitters, and improving the glove designs. Maybe not dozens of times the profit, but several times wouldn’t have been a problem. And that’s several times the profit…”

Scarface was instantly silenced. Even if he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, he could do that math. How much profit did they make on a color TV? 30%? Cigarettes? 50%… He might not have heard the saying that a 100% profit would make a man trample on all human laws, but they were indeed risking everything for a 50% profit.

Anyone who had done business could calculate this.

Chen Yuanming didn’t pause. “Or maybe next year competitors would appear, and sellers with lower profit margins would emerge. But would this business go out of style? I don’t think so…” He smiled slightly. “Because the people are still there. How many people are in that city? What about the surrounding cities? The provinces further away? The whole of China? This business can’t be cornered by one family. If you calculate it that way, how much more profit could be made by continuing?”

The room fell silent. Even the girls who were there to drink with them looked up in surprise at the young man sitting on the sofa. After a long while, Ma Lei slowly spoke.

“It’s a good business, but for you, it’s a pipe dream. With just that 1,000 yuan in capital, you couldn’t get it off the ground.”

“That’s right, I realized that too. With that foundation, I couldn’t compete with anyone. No one is a real fool.” Chen Yuanming lowered his head, looking at his own fingers. From gripping the steering wheel, a thick callus had formed on his palm, and his veins had begun to bulge slightly. They no longer looked like a child’s hands. “That’s why I wanted to head south, to Zhuhai, to use a simpler method to earn that initial capital.”

Ma Lei suddenly sneered. “Oh, so you were driving cars for this? What about going to Shanghai to play the stock market? Isn’t 300,000 yuan enough for you to make your capital?”

“Not quite enough. I want more.”

“Ambitious enough…” Scarface muttered under his breath, but no one paid him any attention.

Indeed, this was too ambitious. Even Ma Lei was a bit hesitant now. He had once judged this young man based on his own assumptions and had thought highly of him, but now it seemed he hadn’t thought highly enough. After carefully considering the meaning behind his words, Ma Lei laughed self-deprecatingly.

“So, you never really cared about our kind of business? Even though this business could make you rich overnight, make those officials bow their heads, and give you a net worth of millions, or tens of millions?”

Chen Yuanming smiled. “Tens of millions? Brother Ma, you’re being too modest. You’re already on a path to hundreds of millions… But, that’s right, it’s not what I want. The path I really want to take is one with high, or not-so-high, profits, but one that can be walked in the sunlight, where I can openly and honestly earn the money of tens of millions of people, without ever fearing a knock on the door in the middle of the night.”

This sentence made Scarface’s expression change, and he almost stood up.

“Scarface!” Ma Lei shouted, forcing him back down. Now, the expression on his face had truly changed. The cat-and-mouse game of intimidation and amusement was gone. Instead, he was looking at a true equal, an opponent worthy of respect. He himself was still in the early stages; this small building had been completed less than four months ago. He desperately needed a smart and capable deputy, which was why he had eagerly sought out Chen Yuanming and laid his cards on the table. But now?

“A business of tens of millions of people…” Ma Lei repeated the phrase to himself, his fingertips unconsciously tapping the sofa cushion beside him. The words seemed to strike a chord within him, but the realization was stuck in his throat, just a thin layer of paper away from being broken through.

Looking at the furious, red-faced Scarface, and then at the contemplative Ma Lei, Chen Yuanming let out a quiet sigh of relief. In any case, he had taken the first step. Now it was a gamble: would the other party crush him like a bug, or would he be moved by this grand talk and keep a potential, and very likely promising, friend?

This time, he didn’t have to wait long.

“No wonder even Qianqian couldn’t move you.” Ma Lei smiled, his expression slowly returning to normal.

Chen Yuanming glanced at the beautiful woman beside him, who was cooperatively putting on a pouty expression, and also smiled. “It’s not that Sister Qianqian isn’t beautiful, it’s just that I’m not interested in women.”

“Wha…” Caught off guard, Scarface choked violently on his saliva and coughed several times.

That was a truly double-edged statement. Ma Lei was only stunned for a moment before realizing the other’s expression was not fake. This kid! “Haha, what a ’not on the same path’ indeed.”

He raised his hand, and the beauty beside him, who was covering her mouth and snickering, immediately understood and filled three glasses with wine. Ma Lei casually raised the glass in his hand. “Since my little brother plans to head north, let this big brother give you a farewell toast first.”

“Brother…” Scarface, having just finished coughing, looked at his boss in disbelief. This wasn’t what they had agreed on!

“Thank you, Brother Ma.” Chen Yuanming didn’t miss the opportunity to show his stance and also raised his glass decisively. “If you hadn’t let me carry your private goods, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

“Let’s not talk about that.” Ma Lei waved his hand dismissively. “A golden fish is not meant for a small pond. If not here, it would be somewhere else. Just don’t forget your big brother here when you make it big in the future.”

With a reserved smile, Chen Yuanming didn’t say anything more, simply raising his glass and downing it in one gulp. With that drink, the atmosphere immediately changed. Scarface looked at his boss with some resentment, ground his teeth, and leaned back on the sofa. No matter how well-behaved this kid pretended to be, it couldn’t erase the fact that he had been thoroughly played. It was just a pity that his boss had spoken, and the matter was settled.

“No wonder Young Master Chen looks down on our business; it turns out he has grander ambitions.” Scarface squeezed out a sentence through his teeth, the acidity almost palpable in the air. “If you ever lose your pants playing the stock market and want to earn back your capital, don’t forget to come back and find your big brother. We can always use more drivers.”

Hearing this, Ma Lei was suddenly taken aback, realizing he had missed something. That’s right, if it was just about the initial capital, what difference did it make to go to Shanghai sooner or later? Shouldn’t he have first grabbed the business in Wuhan, or followed him for a while to earn enough before heading north? But in Wuhan, small-time dealings were fine, but the moment there was talk of opening a shop and going big, he pulled out. Driving color TVs for him was also fine, but when it came to the cigarette business, he immediately wanted to draw a clear line. This was no longer a simple matter of not being on the same path.

This was a matter of bottom line. He didn’t want to get deeply involved in any smuggling business at all.

Timid? What a joke. What timid kid would come out to work in his teens, and in this kind of business!

No vision? A glove, a smuggled watch—precise, fast, highly profitable, and he even considered the follow-up. Was this someone with no vision?

If it was neither of these, then there was only one possibility: he simply looked down on the smuggling business, preferring to choose a more difficult path rather than get entangled in this kind of trade, not even a little bit.

After a moment’s thought, Ma Lei frowned. This was a completely different answer. A genius-level investor who was extremely pessimistic about the business he had on hand, even if he was just a kid, couldn’t help but make him wonder. Was this path really wrong? Rubbing the leather sofa beside him, he thought for only a moment before suddenly interrupting Scarface’s taunts.

“But Little Chen, putting everything else aside, we’ve been partners for so long. What do you think of this business of mine?”

Chen Yuanming was stunned for a moment. Scarface’s cold taunts were nothing; if the man could really keep his cool, he would have more to worry about. But Ma Lei’s question had a deeper meaning. How should he answer?

He raised his head slightly, his eyes meeting the pair across the sofa—those extremely shrewd eyes, brimming with a vigorous vitality. In those eyes was the common restlessness and desire of all the ambitious men of this era, the drive and fearlessness to fight for a place at the top. Compared to his own almost cheat-like abilities, the other man was the true trendsetter of this era. A man of such courage and strategy, who had also genuinely helped him, what should he do…

Chen Yuanming smiled, gently putting down his wine glass and resuming his initial upright posture. “Actually, I’ve always been curious, Brother Ma, why did you choose to sell TVs? These days, even I make more selling electronic watches, let alone other things.”

Ma Lei raised an eyebrow. He really didn’t mention cigarettes at all. He gave a self-deprecating smile. “It’s because my family was poor when I was a kid. A TV was such a rare thing, I dreamed of owning one… Plus, in the last two years, a special tax was imposed on domestically produced TVs, so I took the opportunity to move some goods.”

“Wanting one… yes, these days, which family doesn’t want to buy a TV.” Chen Yuanming smilingly continued the conversation. “It’s just that brands are too regional. Changhong in Sichuan, Konka in Guangdong, plus Panda, Coral, and so on, not to mention Japanese and Korean goods. There are so many brands waiting to be sold, if one could pick and choose, one would be dazzled.”

“Dazzled by choice…” Scarface sneered dismissively. “You’d be lucky to afford one at all.”

But Chen Yuanming shook his head. “What were the ’three big items’ of the 70s, and what about the 80s? The bicycles and sewing machines of the past, don’t most families have them now? This kind of thing, there’s no worry about selling it.”

Ma Lei’s body trembled involuntarily, and he sat up straight. What had he just heard? Yes, the smuggled TV business had become increasingly difficult in the past two years. Why? Wasn’t it because sales prices were dropping and there were too many product types, which made him want to ditch this low-profit item and make some real big money? But didn’t these trends precisely indicate that TVs were beginning to enter every household, becoming common daily necessities?

How many brands of soy sauce and vinegar are there in the store? Would the sauce and vinegar factories stop their business just because there are many brands? Quite the opposite, they would do everything they could to control production costs, lower prices, or improve quality to expand their market share. This was a business of tens of millions of households; even if they only made a penny per item, they would have tens of millions.

And himself? He couldn’t produce TVs, but sales… ha~ he came from a smuggling background, who understood the buyer’s psychology better than him? The things that are produced ultimately have to be sold. These manufacturers can’t cover all aspects, only the “store” can. If he became that indispensable “store,” with enough power and status, wouldn’t there be manufacturers eager to supply him, entrusting him with sales? How much could he profit from this business of tens of millions of households?

His thoughts raced, and Ma Lei could feel his heart pounding. That thin layer of paper had been easily pierced. He could have chosen another path, a legitimate way to do this business of tens of millions of people. They all came from good families; if it wasn’t necessary, who would be willing to take on such great risks, to engage in these illegal activities that could cost them their lives or land them in prison at any moment?

A legitimate path where he would no longer have to fear a knock on the door in the middle of the night.

Ma Lei smiled, then shook his head helplessly. What virtue or ability did he possess to have encountered such a lucky star? But could he invite the other party again at this point? The answer was obviously no. Just as he said, this creature was not meant for a small pond; it wouldn’t splash around in shallow waters…

With a long sigh, Ma Lei patted the sofa beside him with emotion. “It’s a pity my little brother is heading north…”

He understood. Chen Yuanming also smiled. “China is only so big. We’ll meet again sooner or later.”

That’s right, as long as there’s a chance to become a man of status, why fear not recognizing each other upon meeting again? Ma Lei turned his head and yelled at Scarface, “What are you standing there for! Go see the guest out!”

Scarface’s mouth twitched. What the hell was going on? After just a few nonsensical sentences, why was his big brother suddenly turning against him as if he’d eaten gunpowder? Did this kid cast a spell on him?!

But Chen Yuanming stood up and shook his head with a smile. “Brother Ma, there’s really no need to trouble you. I’m not used to riding in small cars, I can just walk back myself.”

Faced with such a blunt refusal, Ma Lei couldn’t be thick-skinned enough to have his brother see him off. Without another word, he stood up and personally walked the young man to the door. This action shocked everyone in the room. This was the real big boss, seeing off a mere brat?

Ma Lei himself didn’t care. After seeing the person off, he stood at the door in a daze for a long time, even feeling a bit of reluctance to part. Scarface just felt a sour taste in his mouth. What the hell was going on? Had his big brother gone crazy and fallen for this little rabbit?

“Scarface, when Little Chen leaves, give him a red envelope with 100,000 yuan. Say it’s his year-end bonus, he’s worked hard for the past six months.”

“Huh?” Scarface’s mouth fell open. They had red envelopes, but the most anyone got was 5,000 yuan. What was the concept of 100,000? Had they ever spent 100,000 to bribe that pack of wild dogs at customs? Didn’t this brat just belittle their business and arrogantly refuse the invitation without giving any face? This…

“Brother…” Scarface couldn’t help but stammer, “You… you haven’t been angered into confusion, have you?”

Ma Lei slapped his cousin on the head. “You pig brain! If you were half… one-tenth as smart as him, what would I have to worry about!”

“Wait… Brother… don’t hit me! Don’t hit me!”

The cold December wind blew through the streets of Zhuhai. 1991 was about to end, and a new year was just around the corner.

*

Author’s Note:

Note: The “three big items” for marriage: in the 70s, they were a watch, a bicycle, and a sewing machine; in the 80s, a refrigerator, a color TV, and a washing machine; in the 90s, an air conditioner, a computer, and a VCR.

Damn it, I was secretly writing a few hundred words while slacking off at work, but then my boss suddenly called me out. When I came back, my computer had automatically shut down QAQ

Fuck, it didn’t save!!!!! So I had to furiously write the last paragraph again, and even exceeded the word count a bit. Sob, it’s really not my fault I’m late QAQ I couldn’t even take a nap today, so sad QAQ

Alright, this story arc is basically over. Next chapter, we’ll be changing maps again. Let’s look forward to it together XD

Also, did you figure out who the other hidden template in this chapter is? 10 points for the correct answer XDDD