On the morning of the next day,
Chen Pingsheng drove his Panamera with his family to watch the flag-raising ceremony at Tiananmen.
Like his father's generation, he had a special affection for the flag-raising ceremony.
Watching the motherland become increasingly prosperous and strong moved him to tears.
This was actually quite normal for someone born in the early eighties like him, who, apart from being hungry for two meals every three days, didn't really suffer much hardship.
After all, by that time the country had already started reforms and opening up.
It was different for his grandfather's generation.
When the enemy soldiers entered the village, his grandfather hid in the haystacks and was even stabbed a few times with a bayonet.
According to his grandfather, it was just by a hair's breadth.
He almost died in that massacre by the enemy soldiers.
Surviving was purely a stroke of luck.
Reality isn't like a TV drama; no matter how the strong men in their village resisted, the enemy killed them one by one with their guns.
It was too horrific to behold.
Even now, there stands a massacre memorial in their village.
As a child, Chen Pingsheng watched anti-Japanese dramas the most; simply because his parents enjoyed watching the enemy soldiers being beaten.
It didn't matter how exaggerated it was, as long as the enemy soldiers were beaten into howling was all that mattered.
Now the country was peaceful and in a state of flourishing prosperity.
All of this had been achieved by the predecessors who had fought against the enemy's advanced planes and cannons with their bare bodies and rifles.
Now, when watching the flag-raising ceremony again, Chen Jianjun couldn't help but raise his hand.
He gave a standard military salute.
This was both a special tribute to that era and a way to honor his ancestors.
Like his grandfather's generation, most had died fighting the enemy soldiers.
This included his Second and Third Master among many older family members.
Without truly experiencing that period, it was hard to imagine the brutality of that special era.
So much so that later, being a little hungry didn't matter—having a full meal was happiness.
After watching the flag-raising ceremony, Chen Pingsheng then took them to see the Forbidden City, Great Wall, and other places.
Famous cultural buildings of Capital City.
The older generation liked seeing these.
At noon, they even went to eat the famous Peking Duck at Quanjude in Capital City.
A day of touring was more tiring than a day of work.
Not until four o'clock in the afternoon did the family drive back home.
He had already sent out a notice in the morning, today, everyone was to come to his house for dinner, as a formal housewarming celebration.
Liu Fen and Song Huamin arrived quite early; Peng Ying and Chen Jianjun were very polite in receiving them.
After all, during the previous marriage, Song Yanxi indeed didn't ask for a dowry but instead added a dowry of one hundred thousand.
It was also unfortunate for her body, which had many lingering issues from her younger years, leading to frequent hospital visits that drained their finances.
These years had been somewhat better, and now seeing her son so successful, her mood greatly improved and she recovered faster from illness.
Liu Fen was even more polite, mainly,
The son-in-law from another city had now become a sought-after commodity.
With his credentials, if he were to divorce, he could easily find someone at eighteen.
Before thirty, a son depends on his father; after thirty, a father depends on his son.
A successful son meant that everyone treated Chen Jianjun with great respect and politeness.
This is the meaning of making money.
When Zhang Tao arrived, he was carrying a Huanghuali chair.
Old Chen was moving to a new house, and he didn't have anything good to give, so he gave a boss chair.
Liu Jing gave a luxury tea table that also cost over ten thousand.
As for Chen Hao and others, they also gave various kinds of upscale furniture.
Now that he had received gifts, when they moved to new houses, he would also need to return the favor.
Song Yanxi and her mother-in-law Peng Ying cooked four hotpots and six home-style dishes together.
In the hot summer, spicy crayfish were naturally indispensable.
There were also Southern Province's favorite chopped chili fish heads and sautéed pork.
The dishes were indeed rich.
The family enjoyed a lively meal.
Late into the evening, Chen Jianjun even suggested going to a big hotel tomorrow to arrange another gathering, mainly to invite Song Yanxi's relatives.
His son had been alone in Capital City for so many years; since he was here, he wanted to thank Song Family's relatives.
Liu Fen was, of course, very happy to hear this.
Song Huamin, however, felt somewhat awkward; he clearly understood the implication.
Yet, although Chen Pingsheng had been in Capital for six years, he had never benefited from them.
Instead, he had received a lot of cold stares.
Now that the in-laws had suggested inviting the Song family, he was clearly feeling a bit guilty.
Chen Pingsheng himself didn't mind much, mainly because his relationship with Song Yanxi was good.
Even with all the cold looks he had received.
His wife had never blamed him once. Instead, she scolded all the relatives on her side of the family.
Having the chance to ease the relationships now wasn't a bad thing.
When evening came, after Chen Qi had helped to clean up the dishes, she pulled her brother aside.
"Brother, give it to me straight—are you a billionaire now, and am I the sister of a billionaire?"
"What are you thinking? Not to mention a billion, your brother doesn't even have a million now. I still owe two million on the house."
"Brother, that's no good, you need to strive and fight to become a billionaire soon!"
Chen Pingsheng: "..."
What's the meaning, I strive and fight and you just lay back comfortably?
"I'm saying, Chen Qi, what in the world are you thinking about all day long?"
"Isn't it just hoping you can become a rich tycoon soon?"
Chen Qi, pulling him to sit under the old tree in the backyard, said, "Bro, you have a house now, and you've got the car and cash. Do you have less motivation moving forward?"
"Of course not. I'm nowhere yet. With your brother's conditions here in Capital City, I'm less than an ant. But what about you? What are you planning to do here in Capital City in the future?"
"I'm just going to sell fruit with you, what else can I do with my low education level?"
"Now you realize your education isn't high enough?"
Chen Pingsheng advised, "Back when you were studying, I always told you to work hard, but you just ignored it."
"Huh…" Chen Qi had her comeback ready. "When you were studying, your older sister also told you that every day. Did you listen?"
Ah well, the oldest doesn't talk about the third, and the third doesn't talk about the fourth.
The whole family lacks educational genes.
Just look at Chen An'an, swinging her hips watching Teletubbies after dinner.
She probably inherited his good genes, and reading might be out of the question for her as well.
It might only be worth planning to leave her a few houses in the future. Spending her days collecting rent might not be too bad either.
Chen Qi verbally doubted her older brother's reliability, but inwardly, she still admired him a lot.
She had already thought it through, and was going to talk to her sister-in-law tomorrow.
Working in the fruit shop wouldn't require any special arrangements; she'd start as a merchandiser.
That was about all she was capable of right now.
Of course, if her brother directly arranged an easy job close to home with high pay for her,
she would happily agree.
Finally having a brother to rely on, it would be foolish not to take advantage of it.
The next day at noon, Chen Pingsheng booked a private room at a big restaurant.
The main purpose was to invite his wife's maternal family for a meal.
It was a rare visit from his parents and gathering them all wasn't something to overlook.
Naturally, there was a lot of toasting at the table.
All the nice words unspoken before now flowed like a relentless river.
Like mother-in-law Liu Fen, who stood up patting her chest, boldly proclaiming:
"From the moment I first saw Pingsheng, I knew he was bound for greatness."
This was definitely about me, Chen Pingsheng wondered confusedly.
Liu Fen continued, "After he came to Capital City, I applauded his efforts. Why?
"Isn't it just like a dragon crossing the river? A man like him, it's as if a great responsibility has been given to him. First, there's something else right?"
"It toughens his resolve," Song Huamin interjected awkwardly, this old lady could really switch faces fast.
You can change, but don't lose your face while doing it.
"Right, it toughens his resolve, and what's the next line?"
"It hardens his body," someone else chimed in.
"Exactly, it's to harden his body," Liu Fen transformed into a wise old granny as she vigorously concluded, "That's why when he came to Capital City, I didn't give any help but supported him completely spiritually.
"It's all for the kids."
Song Yanxi was flabbergasted; her mother really had the nerve to say it.
Back then, she remembered her mother saying as long as Chen Pingsheng bought a house, she'd kneel down and apologize.
Now, she took the stage first with a bit of stand-up comedy, forcefully explaining her years of indifferent sideline watching.
Song Wu felt the most awkward at the table.
As the youngest aunt, let alone being the cherished junior, not getting poked with needles was already something good.
Her mother, delivering a line of talk assertively and swimming her way ashore to cleanse herself, don't just throw her daughter out to sea.
Liu Fen even kicked her lightly.
It was time to apologize and if necessary, lose face quickly.
One has to admit, the son-in-law from out of town isn't what he used to be.
The dinner party ended.
Chen Jianjun and Peng Ying stayed in Capital City for five more days before going back home.
This trip was not only about visiting their son but also about touring around Capital City thoroughly.
Back in the village, they had plenty of stories to boast about to the elderly folks.
As for his younger sister, Chen Qi, Chen Pingsheng did not let her work as a store attendant in the fruit shop but sent her to study finance instead.
Going forward, she would at least have a skill to earn a living.
Frankly speaking, the fruit business isn't quite suitable for girls.
It's mainly just too hard.
After his parents left, Chen Pingsheng resumed his usual work.
At that time, he still owed Tengsheng Fruits two million in funds.
Stores three, four, and five simultaneously ran a recharge promotion for just one week.
They took in one million six hundred thousand, of which he personally earned eight hundred and twenty thousand.
"Ding, congratulations to the host, accumulated income of eight hundred and twenty thousand, would you like to activate the random multiplier?"
"Activate."
Chen Pingsheng watched the two golden dice with anticipation, unexpectedly needing only a triple to completely pay off the two million he owed on his house.
The first die stopped at two.
The second die surprisingly turned up the smallest number, one.
Unexpectedly, it was indeed unexpected.
[Congratulations to the host, obtained a random triple increase.]
[Ding, your Alipay account received two million four hundred sixty thousand, balance two million eight hundred ten thousand.]
The time his parents were here, not only did Song Yanxi spend quite a bit of money, but he did as well.
The previous five hundred thousand had dwindled down to three hundred fifty thousand.
"Yanxi, come here for a moment."
The vast company headquarters, just sparsely filled with seven or eight people.
Song Yanxi's office was right next to hers, a message sent, and she arrived in less than five seconds.
Suspected she was slacking off at work.
"Honey, what's up?"
"It's good news, of course. Remember how I transferred two million from the company account to buy the house? Now I can put it right back."
"That fast?"
Song Yanxi didn't know where he had suddenly gotten another two million; her private stash was so big she had become numb to it.
But however you put it, it was good news. With this two million going back, the house would be completely debt-free.
"Honey, there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about."
Song Yanxi opened her computer, half sitting on the desk with one hip cocked, pointing at some data:
"Look, we started the store in February, got onto the delivery platforms in March, sales were very low the first month but increased more than 300% each following month. Now, just through the delivery platform alone we're making tens of thousands daily, ranking number one in sales among fruit stores in Shijing District."
The growth rate was truly beyond imagination.
Song Yanxi continued, "Honey, I feel like delivery will sooner or later become as popular as online shopping across the country; it could potentially be a major trend."
Chen Pingsheng stroked his chin; initially, his main goal in getting onto the delivery platform was to reduce fruit waste.
Some fruits that weren't too fresh were directly packed for delivery.
Not only did it reduce waste, but there was also this unexpected joy.
"Currently, there are quite a few delivery platforms, everyone is doing subsidies, and they're frequently raising hundreds of millions in funding."
Chen Pingsheng looked at her and asked, "Yanxi, surely you don't think I can play this kind of capital game, do you?"
"Of course not."
Song Yanxi explained, "I just think delivery might become really popular in the future; otherwise, the current BAT big three wouldn't be fighting tooth and nail over it."
"That is true."
Speaking of delivery platforms, the three most famous ones are well-known.
Now everyone knows Meituan, Ele.me, and the latecomer Baidu Nuomi.
Meituan was actually supported by Alibaba.
They held the majority of shares, but during later rounds of financing, Alibaba introduced the infamous pick-one policy.
That is, if you take their money, you can't accept money from Penguin.
In the era of mobile internet, these two companies essentially represented two extremes.
One in e-commerce, the other in social media.
Penguin, dominant in the social media sector, had tried countless times to leverage its massive user base to penetrate Alibaba's stronghold, the e-commerce sector.
And Alibaba, not to be outdone, had launched several attacks on the social media sector as well.
Eventually, Penguin was utterly defeated by Alibaba in the e-commerce sector.
Alibaba was also ruthlessly dominated by Penguin in the social media sector.
After repeated failures, Penguin then shifted its business and investment strategy.
That is, using its massive social media traffic to support its invested companies.
This led to the birth of a series of well-known Penguin Group companies.
Such as JD.com, Meituan, followed by Pinduoduo, and others.
Alibaba's core business is e-commerce, where traffic is bought with money.
Its primary goal in investing was to further consolidate its core e-commerce sphere.
Thus, it aimed to control its subsidiaries to absorb more traffic.
This was also the main reason why Meituan defected from the Alibaba group and moved to Penguin.
Of course, a dominant internet company like Alibaba was not idle either.
It quickly supported another food delivery platform, Ele.me.
This marked the storm within the internet food delivery industry, as for Baidu's investment of twenty billion in Nuomi.
It started with momentum, but ended up as a joke.
Chen Pingsheng was very interested in these internet battles, always feeling that there were lessons to be learned everywhere.
Just like the fierce battles between Alibaba and Penguin.
At certain points, they would even cooperate with each other.
To say they both love and hate each other would not be an exaggeration.
"Honey, last month the second store brought in over four million, and if we only keep three hundred thousand as a contingency fund, then last month's profit for the second store would be nearly two million. Isn't this way of splitting too risky?"
Song Yanxi was somewhat worried, as those two million couldn't be considered profit but rather, money that clients had advanced to them.
If it were all distributed, there could easily be a loss when it came time to redeem those funds.
"It should be okay; earning future money is like this, we owe the clients' money, and isn't it the same that we can owe the wholesaler? This way, they offset each other, and keeping three hundred thousand as a contingency reserve, plus another two weeks as a buffer, shouldn't pose too much risk."
Now, their stock purchases were settled monthly, and the cash flow involved was substantial.
It's no exaggeration to say that if Capital City did not implement purchase restrictions, using the company's name to speculate in real estate with this working capital would yield higher profits than the total from all the fruit stores combined in just a few years.
It's only that he was not inclined to engage in such activities.
With a few days left before the distribution of profits, earning over two million in profits in a month from the second store on East Street was indeed staggering.
It was equivalent to recouping the investment in just one month.
On the 15th, when it was time to distribute the profits, Song Yanxi's personal account received a one-time payment of one point three million.
She was so thrilled she almost shouted, "This round is on me!"
Now it wasn't just Chen Pingsheng making money; she too had amassed over two million from all the fruit store profits up to now.
Selling fruit with such results was beyond everyone's expectations.
But everyone soon cooled down.
Looking at the current fruit market in Beixin'an, they were unable to find any competitors even if they searched with a lantern.
The next step would only be to invade other territories.
Otherwise, after the recharge promotion for the third, fourth, and fifth stores, all five stores would simultaneously enter a prolonged bottleneck period of living off their card revenue.
Having already enjoyed the massive profits from card recharges, how could they be content with just earning tens of thousands per month?
If the five stores didn't recharge cards, together they wouldn't make more than four hundred thousand a month in profits.
Compared to the current profits of one to two million per store, the difference was too great.
Even the usually calm Song Yanxi was now signaling to step out of Beixin'an and advance further towards Shijingshan.
They were no longer the same as a few months ago; now they had both money and personnel.
In such circumstances, they must intensify efforts to expand new stores.
If Beixin'an were considered as a village, then the Shijing District would be its town.
Now, as the village chieftains, they wanted to invade the town and seize others' markets.
This was nothing short of a life-or-death battle to breach enemy lines.
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