Reborn 92's Business Tycoon

Chapter 19: Spending money

The two of them parted ways in front of the village, and they didn't make any plans to hang out in the afternoon or tomorrow. School was out, and there was a lot to do when they got home, especially during this harvest season, when they were considered semi-labourers. Wang Changning's family's chestnuts were a late-maturing variety, and they were being harvested these days. Being at home for the past two days would only be more work than at school.

Grandpa is at home with Rui Rui, and has already cooked dinner. Uncle and Auntie are also in the mountains with Rong Rong, collecting chestnuts. As for the chestnuts on Grandpa's property, Uncle and Auntie helped him collect them two days ago, and they are now piled up in the backyard.

Without having time to eat, Grandpa goes under the pillow and gives it the two remittance slips, as well as the package containing the sample magazines, which Grandpa still hasn't opened.

Feng Yiping was of course very happy. Although he had looked very confident when he posted the articles, in fact he had been full of self-doubt and had been cheering himself up.

It was just that the family needed money badly and he needed money badly too. This was currently the only way he could make money, and submitting two articles was a real gamble. If it didn't work, he wouldn't be able to ask his grandfather for money again and would have to submit his articles to other magazines. He never expected to get accepted on the first try!

Story Club was easy. He probably flipped through it a bit and chose one of his little jokes, which was also something he had experienced.

When their son was still in kindergarten, the three of them went to the farmers' market to buy food. On the way back, they saw some fishing nets drying in the sun. The son didn't know what they were, so he asked Zhang Yan, who replied, "Those are for fishing." The son thought about it for a moment and asked, "Is it because fish are also naughty?" At that moment, the two old women sitting there mending fishing nets burst out laughing.

Just a few dozen words, but there was five yuan in it, which was actually quite a lot. He pointed this story to his grandfather and opened the other package himself.

He tore open the thick kraft envelope with his hands, and inside were three brand new copies of the October issue of Shouhuo, as well as a letter from the editor. He flipped to the page with his article and quickly read it. There weren't many changes, so he read the editor's letter next.

The editor's letter was short but handwritten. It said that his work was close to life, that the protagonist was vividly portrayed, and that the main theme was very in line with the mainstream of today's society – in modern terms, it was politically correct, and the Project Hope was now in full swing. However, there was still much room for improvement in his writing and sentence structure, and he hoped that in the future, as he worked and lived, he would continue to improve, feel with his heart, observe more carefully, and create more and better works that reflected the lives of ordinary people. Finally, when he submitted his work in the future, he could submit it directly to the editor.

Grandpa looked at his work in print with his reading glasses on, while Rui Rui babbled and waved his chubby little hands to tear the colourful cover off Grandpa's hands. Feng Yiping walked over and took Rui Rui from him, and Grandpa said, 'Leave it for now, we'll read it properly later. Eat first.'

'Okay, Grandpa, I'll leave this book with you.'

Grandpa couldn't help but praise him, 'Yiping, making money is one thing, but what makes me happy is that you have this talent! The postman told me that over the years, there have only been a few people in the whole town who have received royalties, and they were all for publishing in the county newspaper, and the most they got was only seven yuan, which is nothing compared to you.'

Feng Yiping laughed happily.

Grandpa then taught him, 'Yiping, no matter how good you are, you must remember, never be arrogant, and don't let writing these things delay your studies. If you don't study well, you won't get into the county's No. 1 middle school, and you won't be able to go to university in the future, then the losses will outweigh the gains. Do you remember?'

'I know, Grandpa.' There's nothing you can do about it. You're still a young teenager, so you'll have to listen to things like this for at least a few more years.

There are only three dishes for lunch, and I guess Grandpa, who usually eats alone, hasn't cooked this much for a long time. There's meat, tofu, and cucumbers. The tofu is boiled because it's for Rui Rui, who doesn't need to eat either. He just uses his little plastic bowl for the soup and tofu.

The cucumbers were sliced and stir-fried with chilli, and garlic was added when the dish was removed from the wok. It smelled delicious.

The meat was very special. Feng Yiping had only eaten it at his grandfather's place. It was field mouse meat, caught in the fields behind the house. The fur was removed, the insides cleaned, and the meat washed several times. Then it was rubbed with salt, left in the sun to dry, and finally hung over the fire to smoke. It tasted no different from preserved meat.

Grandpa kept passing him the meat, and Feng Yiping felt a little sad as he ate.

Grandpa was now old, didn't earn much money, and didn't even smoke anymore. He had raised four sons with great difficulty, but now he couldn't rely on any of them. He didn't even have the money to buy some meat, so he had to find a way to catch field mice himself. Although the field mouse meat actually tasted really good, it really wasn't something to be happy about.

'Grandpa, tomorrow, I want to go to the town and withdraw the money. Today, the teacher asked for the tuition fee, 45 yuan. Then I want to buy two sets of sportswear to replace them, and a pair of rubber boots, about 70 yuan. You should buy a pair of shoes too. It's getting cooler, and you should buy a thicker set of clothes. You can ask the tailor to make them. What do you think?'

'You should pay your tuition fees if you have the money. It's changing season now, so you should buy two sets of clothes. I have the clothes I need to replace them, and I'm so old now. I don't usually have any relatives around, so why would I need to buy any clothes?'

Feng Yiping said, 'Grandpa, you haven't had any new clothes for years, and it doesn't cost much to have the tailor make the clothes. Plus a pair of leather shoes, at most 100 yuan. I'll eat at your place on the weekends for the next few months, and consider it my living expenses, okay? Besides, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't even have the money to send letters, and I wouldn't have this manuscript fee either.'

'Yiping, although you earned this money yourself, you know your mother's temper. You're being so extravagant. When they come back for the New Year, how will you explain this to them?'

'I'll explain it however I want,' Feng Yiping said, taking a bite of rice and not caring at all.

This money is not something like New Year's money given by his elders, it is money he has earned himself, and he has some control over it. Judging from the current situation, this year will be a big turning point for the family. By the end of the year, almost all of the external debts will be paid off, and he is the one who pointed his parents in the direction of earning money, so it is not good to be too harsh on himself.

'I'm not spending money recklessly either. You know, Grandpa, for the past three years, neither of my parents has bought me any new clothes. It's getting cooler, and I don't even have a decent jacket. So I bought two loose-fitting tracksuits, similar to the school uniforms at the town's middle school. They can be worn as jackets in spring and autumn. If I wear them carefully, they can last for two years. As for shoes, I have worn cloth shoes made by my mother since I was little. They are fine for normal times, but when it rains and you walk carefully, they will inevitably get wet. So I bought a pair of 20-odd-yuan Double Star shoes. How can you say I'm wasting money?'

Hearing him say this, Mei Jianzhong felt a little sad. Of his five children, his eldest daughter is currently having the most difficulties. Every Spring Festival, among the children who come to the village to pay New Year's visits, it is this grandson who is the most shabbily dressed. However, he is sensible and has never quarrelled with his family over this.

Before his wife passed away, she fell ill and spent all his savings. He tried to help but was unable to do so. Besides, there are now nearly ten grandchildren in total, so if he only helped his grandson, there would inevitably be trouble in the family. Now that the children are earning their own money and have grown up, they are also aware of what is fashionable, and they want to buy new clothes.

In the past few decades, Mei Jianzhong's life was actually quite good, at least he was in the middle class in the village. Regarding clothing, his attitude was that he didn't need to be better than others, but he also didn't want to be too different. So he agreed, but he was afraid that his daughter and son-in-law would lecture the grandchildren again.

He then added a chop of meat to Feng Yiping's plate, 'That's right, you've made money this year, your parents have made money too, and the family is doing well. Buy whatever you want. When they come back, just say that I let you buy it, and if they have any complaints, let them come to me.'

With his grandfather in front of him, Feng Yiping is indeed in a better position than if he were to face his parents directly. He of course had no objection.

'What about the rest of the money, there's nearly 2,000 yuan left, what are you going to do with it?' his grandfather asked him.

'For the rest of the money, I think the main thing is to buy more chestnuts now. Mum and Dad buy ten catties a day, which is three or four hundred catties a month. There are still more than three months until the end of the year, so it should be at least a thousand catties. That leaves a shortfall of three or four hundred catties. Mum and Dad are used to it, and this business can be done year-round. It's not a lot to buy another five hundred catties. We can't get more than three yuan a catty now, and if you buy in the provincial capital, you're lucky to get four yuan a catty, so buying now is a good deal.'

'Well, the chestnuts on your tree are ripe early, and they're almost all sold now. The ones on the tree below are just being harvested. It's easy for us to buy them with cash, so let's buy 500 catties?'

Feng Yiping did some calculations and said, 'Why not buy 600 catties? That'll be about 1,800 yuan. After paying my tuition and buying clothes, I'll probably have 200 yuan left. You take it. Weigh some meat every weekend, and invite the kids from my brother-in-law's and brother's families over. We'll eat together and liven up the place.'

Mei Jianzhong didn't object either. An elderly person living alone, of course, likes his grandchildren, but you can't keep these little ones without something to offer. Besides, the eldest grandson is just growing up, and eating pickled vegetables five or six days a week won't provide the right nutrition. It's reasonable to let him eat something nice on Sundays.

The next day, the grandfather and grandson went to town together again and withdrew all the money. Feng Yiping bought two sets of tracksuits and a pair of Adidas sneakers, which cost 80 yuan in total, while Mei Jianzhong bought some fabric to make a set of Zhongshan suits. Feng Yiping also insisted on buying him a pair of 50 yuan leather shoes, which cost 95 yuan in total.

The two men deliberately went home after lunch, when everyone was busy on the mountain. The family of Mei's eldest uncle was indeed not there. Mei Jianzhong fried a bowl of soybeans and mixed them with the pickled vegetables. Feng Yiping laughed and said, 'Grandpa, the food I brought this time has been upgraded.'

Not only had the food been upgraded, but for the first time, he had also been given 5 yuan pocket money, which was unprecedented. Mei Jianzhong also believed that he would not spend it recklessly.

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