Tsk... after paying in full for the Audi, there's still several hundred thousand in savings.
That truly surprised Mrs. Song, knowing that Chen Pingsheng was not even thirty yet.
Since the wedding, his family hasn't contributed a single cent.
It was he who paid for the construction of a large house for his family with his own money, followed by the wedding and having children, each of which was a major expense.
To be honest, if he had a Capital City registration, he would really be perfect.
He's not very old yet exceptionally family-oriented, with a stable income to boot.
His wife and child following him, they wouldn't live a luxurious life but they would at least avoid any major suffering.
But there are no ifs in life.
From what she knows about those Capital City old sisters, none of their kids at his age were as steady and capable of making money as he was.
But what of it?
Having a Capital City registration, those girls from outside areas still fought to climb onto their ships.
Mrs. Song Liu Fen put down her chopsticks and said sternly,
"It's the New Year, why are you crying? I'm also concerned about you. The housing prices in Capital City keep rising. If you don't buy one earlier, who knows how much it will go up to later, and then even if you wanted to buy, you wouldn't be able to afford it."
Chen Pingsheng fell silent, nursing a small glass of wine, he said,
"Before next July, I will definitely buy an apartment within the Third Ring Road."
"Anyone can talk the talk, but you need to have real tangible skills to do it."
Liu Fen was most skeptical of these verbal promises. Mr. Song used to be so outstanding, a permanent staff in a state-owned enterprise, and yet he was still laid off when they said so.
Now, his salary is just over ten thousand.
Compared to those native Capital City demolition beneficiaries, it's like they're worlds apart.
"Enough, both of you, cut it out."
Mr. Song felt rather helpless. It was the New Year, after all, why pick such a time for all these unnecessary words?
His son-in-law never showed up without bringing gifts worth thousands.
After clinking glasses with Chen Pingsheng, Mr. Song's meal felt particularly tasteless.
He barely had to urge, and Song Yanxi wanted to leave with Little An'an.
Mr. Song tried to keep them from going to no avail, and after they left, he sighed,
"It's a good New Year, why do you have to keep saying such unpleasant things?"
"If he thinks it's unpleasant, I think it's unpleasant too."
Liu Fen raised her eyebrows, clearly displeased, "My daughter is so beautiful. If she ends up with him and can't even live in a Capital City apartment, then it's better to break it off earlier."
"Exactly, I don't want to have a brother-in-law who lacks both education and a career, a street peddler. It's embarrassing to even mention him."
Song Wu likewise sneered in agreement.
Mr. Song sighed in resignation, knowing he couldn't change his wife and daughter, and took the initiative to wash the dishes.
...
The underground garage.
After getting to his own car, Chen Pingsheng took out his phone to check it.
It was full of New Year's messages from his family.
Mom: "Son, Happy New Year. Take care of yourself out there."
Ding ding ding.
His mom sent another 888 red packet, with 'Happy New Year' written on it too.
Mom: "Everything is fine at home, we even had a reunion dinner at your grandpa's this morning, everyone is healthy, don't worry. Is it cold in Capital City? Remember to wear more clothes."
"Be kind to yourself, money can't be earned in one's lifetime."
Little sister: "Bro, why didn't you come back this year? Did you buy a new car? Grandpa and grandma are very happy to know that you bought an Audi, they are asking when you will come back to visit."
Dad: "Take care out there."
A mother's worry travels a thousand miles with her child. To say who could stand by you as you grow up, it would be none other than your own mother.
Home is still the warmest place; as long as you're doing okay, they'll never complain about this or that.
Wish I could return right now for a true family reunion.
From the Third Ring Road to Beixin'an it's about forty kilometers. During the New Year's period, there are fewer cars, many people have gone back to their rural homes for the holiday.
The city isn't so congested, and Song Yanxi drives smoothly all the way home.
In their compound, quite a few people haven't gone back either.
For instance, their neighbor Zhao Liying, who works incredibly hard, plays bit parts in drama scripts with hardly a few lines, but does her best anyway.
Then there's Young Marshal Zhang Tao who hasn't found a girlfriend yet.
He actually has some savings, not to mention twenty thousand that he can pull out without a problem.
With that kind of financials, finding a match in a rural village wouldn't be too hard now.
What a pity, after seeing several matches and spending quite a bit of money, none of them worked out.
The first one thought he was too honest and not good at talking, the second one felt he wasn't presentable enough.
His job wasn't stable either.
Zhang Tao didn't even want to consider matchmaking in the countryside anymore. In his words, those matchmaking women were all like watching a play while riding a donkey.
They'd meet you in the morning and then see several others in the afternoon.
It was the same with dating, if they could meet you today, they could meet someone else tomorrow.
In any case, they'd just drag it out until right before getting married.
When it came to spending other people's money, they wouldn't shy away from spending every penny.
"Old Chen, why did you come back so early?"
"You don't know my mother-in-law's family?"
"Haha!" Zhang Tao laughed loudly, then patted him on the shoulder and grumbled, "She's just an old witch who looks down on people from outside the city, what right does she have to look down on us, isn't she just born in a good place?"
"Let's not talk about her, we can have a happy New Year's at home with our own feast."
Chen Pingsheng invited him to his place, where he wanted to set up a table at home and bring over Zhao Liying, the neighbor next door.
Just the few of them celebrating.
The whole family was busy together, and Zhao Liying also put down her script to help, quickly preparing a large tableful of dishes.
Four meat dishes, four vegetarian dishes, plus two bottles of Sprite.
The few people were not many, but the harmony made up for it.
Chen Pingsheng, holding his cup of drink, was the first to stand up and say:
"2012 is almost over, and 2013 is about to arrive. I wish our courtyard's comrade Little Ying great success next year, landing the leading role and prospering in her career."
Zhao Liying almost laughed to tears, she too stood up and downed her drink, embarrassingly belching softly.
"Let's also wish our comrade Zhang Tao a smooth year ahead, to find a wife soon and live a happy and fulfilled life."
"Tsk... you had to mention it."
Zhang Tao stood up and pulled him, "Brother, I also wish you financial prosperity in the coming year, to buy a big house soon."
"Right, I also wish Chen a year of abundant wealth, to buy a big villa."
Zhao Liying drank another big cup, but Chen Pingsheng laughed and said, "You're exaggerating too much. I dare not even think about a big villa in Capital City. If I can buy a two-hundred-square-meter one, then I'd feel my life hadn't been in vain."
Zhang Tao: "Old Chen, you're being unambitious. Mr. Ma was right, people need to have dreams, otherwise, what's the difference between them and salted fish?"
In 2012, Mr. Ma's quotes were flying all over the net.
Despite being street vendors, they regarded Mr. Ma as an entrepreneurial idol.
Chen Pingsheng had watched his videos and speeches several times.
"That's right, we should buy a big villa."
The statement was somewhat stubborn, as if he were speaking to himself, but Chen Pingsheng knew it was Zhao Liying talking to herself.
She was determined to become the protagonist.
Life goes on, with days passing by slowly.
No one knows what tomorrow will bring, but at least today everyone had a joyous New Year together.
In the afternoon, Song Yanxi even drove everyone to Sanlitun, though many places were closed, the malls were not.
On the last day of 2012, he still wanted to buy some New Year's gifts for his wife and daughter.
Song Yanxi came out empty-handed, so Chen Pingsheng bought her a Longines Elegance quartz watch with a white strap and blue dial.
The price was twelve thousand eight hundred.
Song Yanxi, in turn, bought him a Longines sports watch with a white steel band.
The price was seventeen thousand.
This time neither of them mentioned saving money, as such watches can be worn for a lifetime.
It was also a joint testament to their commitment to each other.
Zhao Liying looked at them for a long time, wanting to buy one but reluctant to spend the money, unaware at the time.
Nobody would have thought that this somewhat rustic bit-part actress would eventually become their global ambassador of elegance.
Life is indeed full of surprises.
Late in the day, Chen Pingsheng bought the long-coveted iPad for Little An'an.
He bought himself a laptop for over four thousand yuan.
He needed it to look up information at home.
As for clothes, Song Yanxi insisted they wouldn't buy expensive ones.
After this shopping trip, they had spent over forty thousand in total.
After a year of hard work, wasn't the purpose just to spend freely for a few days over New Year's?
```
Chen Pingsheng got home at six in the evening.
Song Yanxi was busy preparing the New Year's Eve dinner in the kitchen, as the whole family would still eat together that night.
Little An'an, holding her tablet, walked with an air of ignoring everyone and everything.
With the tablet in hand, she had her games, and no one's calls could pry her away.
Chen Pingsheng, meanwhile, took his newly purchased laptop into his room, plugged in the ethernet cable, and booted it up.
All along the way, he had been pondering one issue.
Given his current income and disregarding the random multipliers from Golden Finger, his annual earnings basically ranged from two hundred fifty to three hundred thousand yuan.
Street vending durians and doing various odd jobs, that was about the limit.
If one factored in the random multiplier, taking an average, he could probably net between one million two hundred thousand and one million five hundred thousand yuan a year.
Even in a talent-packed place like Capital City, this income was definitely not low.
A solidly high-income earner.
But Chen Pingsheng felt it wasn't enough, especially if he wanted to buy a two hundred square meter house within six months.
Around the third ring road, a full payment would cost about six million, requiring a thirty percent down payment of one million eight hundred thousand yuan.
His current savings were just over three hundred thousand, which meant he needed to save up an additional one million five hundred thousand in the next six months.
This was undoubtedly a daunting challenge, especially since durians weren't as easy to sell after the New Year.
It was impossible to make eighty or ninety thousand in ten days like during the holiday season.
It seemed he needed to look for more opportunities to make money.
If he really did buy a big house, he wanted to move his younger sister and parents to Capital City to live with them.
Browsing online, he saw that almost every tycoon was talking about the dawn of the mobile internet era.
The best business was to get into people's smartphones.
The principle wasn't hard to grasp, but the key issue was that he simply didn't have the capability.
The three internet giants, BAT, were locked in fierce competition for mobile platforms, almost fighting tooth and nail.
Investments were easily in the tens or hundreds of billions.
Food delivery, bike-sharing, and any opportunity associated with the newest trends were capitalist feasts.
They subsidized wildly to seize market share.
All of these were beyond his current reach, and he would have to look for opportunities as he went along.
After checking and finding the new laptop quite useful, Chen Pingsheng came out to wrap dumplings.
No matter what, first thing was to get through the New Year.
After dinner, they all watched the Spring Festival Gala together.
In 2012, Yang Mi rose to top-tier fame through her role in the imperial palace drama.
Liu Shishi also succeeded in establishing a classic drama of her own with "Scarlet Heart."
Following closely were Tang Yan and others, with three of the "Eighty-Five Flower" actresses already making their mark.
The one with the strongest acting skills was still living with them in their modest home, enjoying the simplest and warmest New Year's Eve dinner.
On the first day of the new year, Chen Pingsheng didn't go anywhere; he stayed at home and watched TV with his wife and kids.
According to their customs, they were not supposed to go out on the first day, nor sweep out the trash from the house, as it could affect their financial luck for the year.
On the second day, under the warm winter sun, he and Zhang Tao took the tricycle out to sell durians.
The income had indeed plummeted after coming back from selling all day, as business really slowed down after the holidays.
Still, the net income was nearly a thousand yuan.
During the daytime, Song Yanxi took Little An'an to visit the Great Imperial Palace since they had recently bought a car and the little one hadn't visited the place before. They took advantage of the holiday, when the crowds were smaller, to have some fun.
The kid was thrilled and started to chatter nonstop as soon as they got home.
"Honey, how come I heard people in the courtyard saying that the big fruit supermarket that just opened is up for transfer?" she asked.
Not far from them was an old residential area housing some two or three thousand households. Because of the high number of residents, the shop fronts in the area were in high demand.
The newly opened fruit store was a typical case of someone with money to spare—they took over four of the best shop fronts and knocked them through to create a space exclusively for selling fruit.
When it first opened, Chen Pingsheng could still hear the small fruit stall vendors saying that the investment couldn't start without a million yuan.
He hadn't expected that, in less than three months, rumors of its closure would spread.
This was not surprising to Chen Pingsheng. During his years selling durians, he had seen many outsiders who thought fruit selling was a gold mine.
Many dove headfirst into the business without understanding anything about it.
And then they ran off, as bare as they came.
He had actually checked out the store when it first opened; the decor was definitely the best in the area.
The investor was most likely some second-generation rich kid whose family had some money but not an excessive amount.
"You know already, that means they really can't keep it going over there."
Song Yanxi brewed a cup of hot tea for him. He had gone out to earn money on the second day of the New Year, so naturally, she wanted to fulfill her wifely duties at home.
But she had other ideas on her mind.
"Honey, what do you think about that location? Do you think we could take it over and make it successful?"
After being married for so many years, he knew precisely what she was thinking just from the way she tilted her behind.
Now that she brought it up, Chen Pingsheng understood—she had plans.
Pondering a little, he said, "The location is certainly no issue. Remember how busy it was when they first opened? The reason it couldn't survive three months, I think, is mainly because the owner didn't understand the business. Additionally, he didn't put his heart into it. In his store, they didn't even sort out the rotten fruits, which really affected the customer experience. After a while, of course, no one wanted to go there anymore."
Song Yanxi clenched her teeth, "Then, honey, how about we take it over?"
"How come you suddenly became so bold?"
Chen Pingsheng was surprised, "That store requires an investment of over a million; just the transfer fee cost over three hundred thousand. Add in the decoration and cold storage, and if we want to take it over, we'll need at least five or six hundred thousand."
"I just feel that you have the ability to make it work."
Song Yanxi took his hand, "Who else knows you better than I do? All these years, had it not been for our marriage weighing you down, you would have definitely started your own business by now. With such a good opportunity, we should at least give it a try."
"Besides, haven't you been working in the fruit industry for three or four years? If we're going to start a business, what could be more suitable than opening a fruit supermarket?"
She did have a point.
Chen Pingsheng was indeed tempted by his wife's suggestion.
For people like him who sold fruit, most ended up opening a fruit store towards the end.
Or they went into wholesaling.
Wholesaling was out of the question without a few million to get started.
A fruit supermarket thus seemed like the best choice.
Though he couldn't single-handedly come up with five or six hundred thousand, asking for help was easy—Zhang Tao and the others could each lend ten thousand without a hassle.
If his wife supported him, he could really consider it.
Chen Pingsheng said, "Wife, if I fail, we can forget about buying a house within six months. Worse, we might even have to sell the Audi."
"Then we'll sell it."
Song Yanxi stated firmly, "Husband, you're turning thirty this year. In the past ten years, you've helped the family build a house, and then you've been the one sheltering our daughter and me. Now it's time for you to fight for yourself. If we fail, I'll sell the car and join you to push a tricycle and sell durians on the street."
With his wife speaking like this, if he still hesitated, he wouldn't be much of a man.
Besides, he was truly interested.
```
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