At 5:40 PM, all the televisions at the stall were sold out.
Liu Fengqing, who had been busy all afternoon, witnessed the booming television sales from start to finish, and her wrinkled face blossomed into a smile.
Her family was practically robbing a bank!
As for Fang Tingting, she was completely her mother's subordinate, doing whatever her mother told her. Seeing the televisions sell so well, she was also very happy, and she truly admired her brother's brain for coming up with such a profitable business. Wouldn't she be able to buy ice cream whenever she wanted in the summer?
As soon as she thought of that refreshing ice cream and the snacks she hadn't tried yet, she couldn't help but cover her mouth and giggle.
With the televisions sold out, Fang Shi instructed everyone to pack up and return to the shop.
Around six o'clock,
Fang Bai was still reading on the second floor when he heard his Fang Bai's parents' laughter from the hallway. He turned his head and saw his Fang Bai's parents walk into the room with playful smiles.
His father took a piece of cardboard from the corner and spread it on the floor, then poured all the money from his backpack onto the cardboard.
The various colors of the banknotes—red, blue, green, purple, and more—interwove to form a dazzling pattern.
Their denominations varied, from one yuan to one hundred yuan, with ten-yuan notes being the most numerous. The fifty-yuan and hundred-yuan notes were the most eye-catching, shimmering with the alluring glow of wealth.
Liu Fengqing looked at the pile of money, her smile widening even further:
"Oh my, how much money is this? Is it tens of thousands? Son, come and count the money."
Fang Bai sat on the chair holding his book, watching his Fang Bai's parents with smiling eyes. He was very happy in his heart.
Hearing his mother tell him to count the money, he was too lazy to move and replied, "Mom, you and Dad count it. I'll read a bit longer."
"Alright, you child, really. I don't know what to say about you. You like making money, but you don't like counting it.
It seems this hard work can only be left to your mom to tire herself out."
Liu Fengqing said gleefully, then sat directly beside the cardboard and began counting the money, first picking out the hundred-yuan notes.
The father and son couldn't help but burst into laughter when they heard her words.
Sometimes, Liu Fengqing was a bit boastful and had no social anxiety. When she wanted to borrow money, she didn't beat around the bush; she just directly asked to borrow it.
"Second Aunt, your man is so capable, he's driving a truck now! Truck drivers earn very high wages, you're about to strike it rich and enjoy life!"
"Oh, it's all hard-earned money."
"It's like this, my family is having some financial difficulties recently, and I'd like to borrow a hundred yuan."
Liu Fengqing, seeing that others had money and her own family didn't, dared to ask anyone she knew for money.
Most of the local people were relatively wealthy and, out of concern for their reputation, would lend Liu Fengqing some money, more or less. Only some thick-skinned people, no matter how much Liu Fengqing pleaded, would not lend her any, just like Fang Bai's Second Aunt.
Therefore, most of the money Fang Bai's family borrowed was borrowed by his mother.
Fortunately, Fang Bai's father's personality was rather dull, making it difficult for conflicts to escalate in such a family.
Fang Bai and his sister were extroverted, inheriting more or less their mother's temperament.
Of course, Fang Bai had been a salesman for many years and had dealt with all sorts of people, so he had a thick skin.
After more than ten minutes, Fang Bai's parents reconciled the money accounts.
Today, a total of 65 televisions were sold, including 22 21-inch color TVs at an average price of 1100 yuan;
6 14-inch color TVs at a unit price of 368 yuan, with one at a 10% discount and one at a 20% discount;
2 29-inch color TVs at a unit price of 2500 yuan;
26 17-inch black and white TVs at a unit price of 150 yuan; and
8 14-inch black and white TVs at a unit price of 78 yuan.
The total revenue was 35,821.6 yuan.
At first glance, the stack of banknotes seemed to be more than that, but in reality, they were somewhat messy and took up space when placed. Once neatly stacked and bound with rubber bands, they felt much less.
The two elders looked at the more than thirty thousand yuan, their eyes full of joy. When they smiled, the wrinkles on their faces could practically trap mosquitoes.
Especially Liu Fengqing, she touched that small stack of hundred-yuan notes, counted them again and again, and said with a smile, "I never touched hundred-yuan notes before. It took two months of my salary to get one, and now there are 22 here, and quite a few fifty-yuan notes too."
Seeing her son still reading and not caring about the money at all, she asked, "Son, what are your plans for this money?"
Fang Bai said calmly, "Continue doing business, there are many places where money will be needed."
"Wife, don't even think about your son's money. He has plans for it himself for his business. He already gave me two thousand yuan the day before yesterday. There's still a lot left after buying the tricycles."
"I just asked one more question, telling him to keep it safe. I'm too lazy to manage it myself. If I had to guard this money, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night.
Look at him, he doesn't care at all how much money there is. Only someone so carefree can sleep soundly, he wouldn't even know if a thief entered the house."
Fang Bai smiled and said nothing.
He understood his Fang Bai's parents' personalities very well, so he was very relieved to let his Fang Bai's parents know how much money he had earned.
If his Fang Bai's parents wanted to take over financial control, he wouldn't have let them help sell televisions.
At that time, if he needed money for investments and his Fang Bai's parents messed around with it, it would definitely affect his investments.
Fang Bai stood up, pushed aside the pile of small-denomination banknotes, which amounted to about two or three hundred yuan, and told his mother, "Mom, take these loose change for groceries. If it's not enough, let me know. The rest of the funds have a purpose."
Liu Fengqing unceremoniously accepted the pile of money, her mouth unable to close, and said with a laugh, "That's more than enough! Even if we eat meat every meal, it'll last a long time."
As for the rest of the money, Fang Bai didn't think it was much, just that it needed to be kept safe.
As his mother said, he really had to watch out for thieves entering the house to steal money.
Fang Bai told his Fang Bai's parents his plans for the next few days. He had his monthly exam next Monday. Without his guidance, the employees couldn't repair televisions. Tomorrow, he would have everyone dismantle more of the problematic televisions so he could mark them, which would be enough for two days of repairs.
Fortunately, the two rented spaces were large enough; otherwise, there would be no place to put the dismantled televisions.
Once the televisions at home were almost cleared out, Fang Bai planned to go to T City again. His method of selecting televisions was a bit peculiar, so he could go alone.
Fang Bai's parents listened to their son regarding business matters; they didn't understand business affairs.
The family of three chatted for a while, then Fang Shi went downstairs to settle today's wages with the employees.
Liu Fengqing went to make dinner. Fang Bai, seeing his Fang Bai's parents leave, put the money away and opened the system screen.
His personal wealth had already reached 65,000 yuan, not far from an upgrade.
He had only been selling at the stall for two half-days, and the industrial and commercial staff hadn't noticed his stall yet. Fang Bai still had his father go and pay the taxes, just reporting a lower turnover.
His business was considered "selling used goods," with a comprehensive tax rate of 3%. The tax wasn't much, but it would eliminate the risk of his stall being confiscated in the future.
Fang Bai's monthly sales exceeded the small-scale taxpayer threshold and might even reach the general taxpayer standard. When he had time, he would still need to register a company and pay taxes according to tax law, where the comprehensive tax rate would be considerably higher.
Of course, if he could reasonably avoid taxes, Fang Bai would do so.
After the family had dinner, they went out for a walk to digest.
After their walk, Fang Bai showered and read, while his Fang Bai's parents and sister watched TV downstairs.
At ten o'clock at night,
Fang Bai's parents were already lying in bed, chatting about the day's events.
Liu Fengqing was so excited she couldn't sleep; she felt like her life was a dream.
"Husband, the eight hundred yuan A-Bai gave me last time, after giving our daughter twenty yuan for living expenses, paid off most of our debts, including fifty yuan to Second Aunt next door and one hundred thirty-five yuan to my relatives. Our son is making big money now, we can pay off all our debts now, it feels like a dream."
"The day before yesterday, A-Bai gave me two thousand yuan. We bought two tricycles, and there's still over eight hundred left. Take it from me to pay them back first.
It's easy for you to borrow money, but you owe favors. Should we pay them interest?"
"What interest? That's too formal. Just send more gifts during the New Year, won't that do?
Let me tell you, those who had money but wouldn't lend it to us, I won't bother with them in the future!
In the future, if they want to borrow money from us, no way!"
Liu Fengqing got angry whenever she thought of some relatives, especially her own Second Aunt, who was too stingy.
When she said that, Fang Shi didn't dare to make a sound.
Then he heard her rattling on and on: "Yesterday when I went to resign, do you know what our leader told me?
He said, 'Oh, Sister Liu, this job is hard to come by, it's easy and free, you should cherish it.'
At that moment, I wanted to tell him off. He made it sound so good.
That job only paid fifty yuan, and I wasn't a formal employee of the school. Locals all despised it, no one wanted to do it. Outsiders thought the pay was too low, preferring to work in factories, where they could at least earn a hundred yuan or so.
Only those of us with no skills, who are a bit older, would do it.
I've been doing this for over three years. If only I had known earlier, I would have gone to work in a factory. Who would have thought factories are so short-staffed now?"
"The situation three years ago was different. There were far fewer factories than now, and jobs were harder to find. We also didn't understand the city's situation. Being able to work for three years also solved many difficulties, and the school was still good."
"Good for what? I didn't want to say it before, but now that our son is making money, I'll count off some things.
My Second Aunt would see me at school and wouldn't even greet me, as if she was afraid of having a poor sister-in-law like me. I always had to greet her first. When there were few people, she'd respond, but when there were many, she'd just pretend not to see me.
I didn't want to talk about these things in front of the kids, afraid of teaching them bad habits.
Now I have a grudge, and it won't feel right if I don't say it out loud.
And then there's your mother's side. The vegetables we grow in front of our house, she picks them to cook for herself, I don't say anything, but she insists on picking them and giving them to Second Aunt, and she says a lot of bad things about me behind my back, telling everyone in the village that the second daughter-in-law is capable because she's a teacher, and that the younger daughter-in-law working in logistics embarrasses her.
People in the village told me, don't think I don't know. Hey, what kind of mother-in-law is that?
If I wasn't thinking about your mother's age, I, as a daughter-in-law, really shouldn't say anything."
Liu Fengqing became more and more agitated, tears streaming down her face. She simply stopped trying to sleep, sat up, and continued to ramble.
Fang Shi didn't want to say anything. Every family has its own difficult scripture to read. His wife had indeed suffered a lot these past years, holding it all in, for a very simple reason.
They weren't capable, they were poor, and others looked down on them.
Now that their son was capable and making big money, his wife wanted to vent and express her true feelings.
"Hmph, it's good now. I'm not working in logistics at the school anymore. People won't see me, so it's quiet now, right? I can just imagine Second Aunt's smug expression."
Fang Shi had heard it so many times that he felt his ears had calluses: "Why say so much? When you've said enough, go to sleep."
"If I don't say these things, you won't know how much I've been wronged all these years, always keeping it bottled up.
If it weren't for our son's success, I don't know when these hard days would end."
Liu Fengqing continued to babble.
"If you can't sleep, get up and make some milk for our son. I bought milk powder, and he's definitely not asleep; he's probably reading right now."
Liu Fengqing stopped nagging when she heard this. She quickly got out of bed, put on her slippers, and went out. She went to her son's bedroom and saw the door slightly ajar. Pushing it open, she saw that her son was indeed still reading.
He didn't even notice her pushing the door open. She had no choice but to close it slightly, sighed, and went downstairs to make him milk.
More than ten minutes later, she finished boiling the water and mixing the milk powder. She brought a large bowl and placed it on her son's desk, telling him to rest early.
Returning to the bedroom, Liu Fengqing saw that her husband had fallen asleep. No one was listening to her nag anymore, and she felt she had nagged enough. Her heart felt much more at ease, and she lay down to rest.
Thanks to: Tianhai Xiangyun, Jianhun Platform, and other generous readers for their donations.