Chapter 19: The First Pot of Gold: 180,000! (On My Knees Begging for Follows)

"Chen Yansen, what did my dad say to you?"

On the way back, the moment Meng Jie got in the car, she immediately grabbed Chen Yansen and started pressing him for answers.

"He—he asked me whether the two of us were dating."

Chen Yansen watched her anxious look, couldn't help but smile knowingly, and casually brushed her off.

"Huh?! How could he ask something like that!"

Meng Jie froze for a moment, her emotions instantly crumbling—especially when she saw Wang Zihao in the front seat barely holding back his laughter, she felt her embarrassment had reached a whole new level.

"So how did you reply?"

After venting for a while, Meng Jie grabbed Chen Yansen's arm again and asked carefully, afraid he would give her an answer she couldn't accept.

"What answer were you hoping I'd give?"

The experienced Chen Yansen kicked the question right back to her.

"Tell the truth, of course."

Meng Jie said it as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Mm, we were thinking the same thing—I told the truth right then and there."

Chen Yansen nodded and praised Meng Jie.

"So, what exactly did you tell my dad?"

Meng Jie pressed on.

"Told the truth."

Chen Yansen stretched both arms out, yawned lazily, the corner of his mouth curling into a mischievous grin, and spoke as if he were a parrot repeating a recording.

Once she caught on, Meng Jie was so angry she bared her teeth, huffing and cursing, the blush on her cheeks lingering for a long time.

In reality, Meng Zhenguo would never ask that kind of question. With his experience and composure, just a few simple exchanges of small talk would let him see through a person's character traits, future academic and career plans, and then judge whether that person could have a positive intersection with Meng Jie's life.

What he hadn't expected, though, was that Chen Yansen's level was far above his own.

In their back-and-forth, subtly loaded conversation, every piece of information he obtained had been deliberately fed to him by Chen Yansen; not a single thing he actually wanted to know had been pried out.

As a result, Meng Zhenguo felt both love and hate toward Chen Yansen.

What he loved was that Chen Yansen's mind far surpassed that of his peers—thanks to this outstanding quality, he would surely make a splash in society in the future and would be more than enough as a son-in-law;

What he hated was that his own daughter's emotional intelligence and ability were right there in plain view, and she simply couldn't handle Chen Yansen—if this kid turned out to be fickle and philandering, then Meng Jie would be the only one to suffer.

In the end, after much deliberation, he decided to just let it be for now, planning to go home first and touch base with his wife.

The one-hour drive passed in a flash.

Meng Jie, curious, followed Chen Yansen and the others into the old house in Xicheng.

"Thud!"

Wang Zihao tossed the cash box onto the ground, then plopped down on his backside and started counting the money with great enthusiasm.

"You two spent the whole summer doing this?"

Meng Jie pointed at the mountain of cargo boxes piled up in the room, her face full of surprise.

"Not exactly—today's only the second day. On the eighth we're going to Zhenyang Pass—are you coming?"

Chen Yansen rolled his trouser legs up to his calves and sat on the bluestone slab with no regard for his image.

"Hmph! Trying to freeload my labor again!"

Meng Jie sat down next to him, her tone full of complaint—she wasn't stupid, and naturally saw through his little scheme.

"Relax, I'm not paying you, so it doesn't count as freeloading."

Chen Yansen stated it dead seriously; that handsome face of his clashed completely with the sly expression on it.

"Guess how much we made?"

Wang Zihao suddenly lifted his head, beaming, and asked Chen Yansen.

"400 MP3s and 200 MP4s—even your toes could figure that out. Adding in the profit from the day before yesterday, it should be just under forty-eight thousand."

Chen Yansen tilted his brow slightly and said it casually, as if forty-eight thousand on his lips were just forty-eight.

"How much did you say!?"

Meng Jie got a huge shock, her face full of disbelief.

Her dad, as a bank president, counting performance bonuses, could earn 8,000 yuan a month—looking at it from the perspective of 2010's Chunshen, this income would absolutely beat 99.9% of ordinary people.

But now Chen Yansen was telling her that in just two days, he had earned what her dad made in half a year!

"Sales far exceeded my expectations. There's not much MP4 stock left—I'm planning to bring in another batch."

Chen Yansen paid no attention to Meng Jie's stunned face, thought for a moment, then explained the situation to Wang Zihao.

"How much should we bring in?"

Wang Zihao quickly followed up—clearly he had no objections to Chen Yansen's decision.

"I'll sync up with you tomorrow. I need to re-evaluate the population size, spending power, and market saturation of the remaining townships before I can decide on the quantity for the second batch."

Chen Yansen said without hesitation.

Being greedy and reckless, or being timid and overcautious—either was a big taboo in business. Only thorough market research and rational analysis could lead him to make the right decision.

Meng Jie took all of this in. She felt that Chen Yansen's words and actions didn't resemble an eighteen-year-old boy at all, but rather a big boss who had been rolling around in the business world for years.

"Got it."

Wang Zihao grunted an "mm." To be honest, he understood at most half of what Chen Yansen said, but he knew in his heart—screw it, just follow along and do it.

"Let's go, I'll walk you home."

Chen Yansen let out a long breath, patted Meng Jie on the head, and said, then took the lead walking outside.

"Actually, selling goods together with you guys is kind of fun."

Meng Jie lowered her head and said softly.

"Seven a. m. on the eighth, at the old house."

Chen Yansen heard her say that and suddenly stopped in his tracks, turned around, looked at her for a moment, then extended an index finger and pushed her black-framed glasses up the bridge of her nose.

"Take off your glasses next time. I want to see a different you."

Chen Yansen's words were warm and gentle, like a warm current washing over Meng Jie's heart.

"Forget it, I'll walk home myself. You don't need to see me off."

Meng Jie's heart was set pounding by his teasing. She tossed out a hurried line, then ran home without looking back.

Her posture was very manly, and Chen Yansen watched her and laughed out loud!

Hearing the laughter behind her, Meng Jie ran faster and faster, cursing "pervert" nonstop under her breath.

……

……

For the next stretch of time, the sales group was officially formed.

Every double-numbered day on the lunar calendar, the three of them would head out from around Chunshen, working their way from near to far, peddling at market fairs.

Wang Zihao's gift of gab grew smoother by the day, and Meng Jie's money-counting speed grew equally practiced.

It wasn't until late August quietly drew near that they finally sold off the entire second batch of goods.

"August 8, Baoyi Town, 147 MP3s sold, 85 MP4s sold, sales 24,118, profit 11,024."

"August 10, Zhenyang Pass, 235 MP3s sold, 98 MP4s sold, sales 31,017, profit 14,479."

"August 12, Fengzhuang Town."

"August 14, Shanjue Town."

"……"

"In total we sold 2,987 MP3s and 1,390 MP4s. After deducting the chartered van, gas, meals, and the rest, profit is just over a hundred and ninety thousand."

In the courtyard of the Xicheng old house, Wang Zihao held a notebook with curled pages and reported the recent sales situation one by one.

The 23 defective units were not counted in; they were packed up and returned to the manufacturer.

Having been around Chen Yansen long enough to be influenced by both word and deed, Wang Zihao now spoke of nothing but "sales" and "Mao Li," a far cry from his former self—his growth rate was astonishing.

"Like I said before, your three thousand counts as five points. I rounded it up for you—exactly ten thousand."

Chen Yansen flicked a thick wad of cash out of the bag, and it landed squarely in Wang Zihao's arms.

"Heh heh, thanks, Bro Sen."

Wang Zihao took the money, held it up to his nose for a sniff, then rubbed it against his cheek, muttering, "Smells damn good."

"Humanity's Torch +1!"

A string of semi-transparent text hovered before Chen Yansen's eyes. The system, silent for many days, had finally found a use.

"System! Give me points!"

Chen Yansen shouted in his heart.

A wisp of white gas, thin as a hair, materialized out of thin air, then 'whooshed' into his brow. Chen Yansen immediately felt a bone-chilling coolness rush along his blood vessels straight into his heart.

The sensation came fast and left even faster!

Before Chen Yansen could react, the chill had already dissipated, and the constitution value on the panel changed from '1.16' to '1.17.'

Yet he felt that his body didn't seem to have changed at all.

Except his right foot, which had just gone numb from squatting, now apparently wasn't numb anymore.

"Damned system! Get out here and talk!"

Chen Yansen was thoroughly furious.

After cursing for a long while, he finally remembered that this lousy system was nothing but a dead object. He could only sigh helplessly: "Still gotta keep hustling for money!"

"She's just my little sister, my sister says purple has its own charm."

Music suddenly rang out, and the phone in his pocket vibrated wildly. Chen Yansen only then came back to his senses and casually pressed the answer key.

"You've got ten minutes—get your ass home!"

On the other end of the line, Chen Guobin, gripping a wooden stick as thick as a rice bowl in his hand, roared furiously into the receiver.

Whether this week can get a recommendation depends on all of you—many thanks~ Please don't let the book sit on the shelf, help me read to the latest chapter, on my knees in gratitude~

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(End of chapter)