Chapter 429: Two Years 2.0

"Take it since I'm giving it to you; it'll be convenient for us to keep in touch later on."

When Zhang Weijun passed through Jingzhou, he bought Qi Tongwei plenty of good food and finally shoved a mobile phone into his hands.

"Second Brother, I really don't have a use for this thing, and it's too eye-catching."

"It's fine. You might not need it, but it's convenient for us to find you. Alright, I have to get going. If you're free during winter break, go to Sijiucheng and visit your godfather."

"Oh, okay, Second Brother, let me see you off."

"No need, my car is parked right downstairs."

Only then did Qi Tongwei lean out to look down. Sure enough, a luxury sedan was parked in front of the dormitory; it would be hard for him to keep a low profile from now on.

"Ahem, Number Six, was that your second brother just now?"

Qin Wenzhang swallowed hard. He had only ever seen three such luxury cars at the Jingzhou City government offices, and his own father's rank was a level lower than that.

"Yeah, Boss, don't tell anyone else about this."

"Got it, I understand. But Number Six, who is this second brother of yours?"

"He's a foreign businessman, his family home is in Sijiucheng."

"Oh, I see, no wonder I saw the license plate was black."

Only then did Qin Wenzhang heave a sigh of relief; he had thought Qi Tongwei's second brother was from an embassy.

"Can this really make calls?"

"I suppose so?"

Qi Tongwei was also quite curious. Zhang Weijun had just taught him how to use it, so he held the phone and tried dialing home.

"Hello! This is Qi Qinghai's house."

"Little Brother, this is my number. Remember it. If you need anything in the future, just dial this number."

"Oh, okay, Big Brother."

"Number Six, let me try it."

"Here."

"Hello?"

"Dad, it's me, Wenzhang. This is my classmate's phone. If you can't reach me in the future, just call this number."

"A phone? Is it that phone from Oriental Supermarket that's in such short supply?"

"Ah, yes, that's the one."

"Alright, I know. Your classmate's family is quite well-off; these are being scalped for nearly thirty thousand on the Black Market."

"Hiss—that expensive?"

"What did you expect? Hurry up and give it back to him, don't break it. Both incoming and outgoing calls on that phone cost money."

"Oh, okay."

"Number Six, I just checked, it was over two minutes so it counts as three. Here's three yuan."

"Deal."

Qi Tongwei didn't stand on ceremony. Although he hadn't spent a cent of his own money, the phone was paid for by Zhang Weijun, and he couldn't use someone else's money to perform charity.

"Number Six, with this phone in your hand, it'll be hard to keep it a secret. Plenty of people saw your brother come to find you earlier; you're probably going to become famous."

"Forget it, whatever."

Qi Tongwei was already a prominent figure in the Political and Law Department, ranking first every year. Now with a wealthy second brother, keeping a low profile was impossible.

"Number Six, where's our brother?" The four of them had heard the news outside and rushed back in a hurry.

"..."

"You all know already?"

"Yeah, everyone in our department probably knows by now. After all, your brother was asking for you all the way here."

"Number Six, tell us the truth, what kind of family do you actually have?"

Wu Haifeng looked at the phone on the table. He knew this thing wasn't cheap and was practically priceless.

"I'm just from a small village under Yantai City. The second brother who came today is my godfather's son."

"Godfather?"

"Yeah, I became his godson when I was over a year old."

"Number Six, you're too lucky. Why didn't I get a godfather that good?"

The others all looked at Qi Tongwei with envy. No wonder that despite his rural background, his knowledge and manner of speech weren't like a villager's, but rather more like a city dweller's.

"It's very complicated, I can't explain it in a few words. Let's not talk about that, do you guys want to eat something?"

"Eat, I'm going to eat you into bankruptcy."

Everyone's attention was quickly drawn to the large bags of delicacies on the table: pork jerky, beef jerky, fish skin, peanuts, and so on, along with several types of fruit.

The next morning in class, as soon as Qi Tongwei arrived, others looked over one after another. Qi Tongwei acted as if he didn't see them, not taking any of it to heart.

It wasn't until class ended that classmates gathered around, all curious about Qi Tongwei's family.

"Squad Leader, was that person yesterday really your second brother?"

Qi Tongwei sighed lightly and gave a simple explanation.

"Yeah, that's right. Not biological, he just happened to drop off some food for me."

"Right, we can all vouch for that."

At the Xiangjiang Oriental Group headquarters, Zhang Ping'an was seeing off a group of people.

"Xiaohu, you're leading the team to Japan this time. Remember to keep everything low-key."

"Understood, Master."

Zhang Ping'an would certainly not miss out on this rare benefit from the Foot-Basin Chicken; with the economic bubble on the verge of bursting, he had to make a haul no matter what.

"On this trip, you must buy the stocks I mentioned, such as Mitsubishi, Mitsui, and so on, and then clear your positions by the end of 1989."

"I don't need to say much about the specific operations; this 1.5 billion US dollars should be enough for you to buy slowly over the course of a year."

"Rest assured, General Manager Zhang, we will strictly follow your requirements," said the team leader, Yang Rongguang.

There were forty people on this trip in total, thirty of whom were traders divided into three groups, while Qian Xiaohu and a few others were responsible for daily procurement; in any case, they would basically be staying in Foot-Basin Chicken for the next two years.

"Mm, keep everything low-key, even if you have to act slowly."

Zhang Ping'an emphasized this repeatedly; he did not want to ruin this hard-won opportunity by being high-profile and impatient.

"Understood, General Manager Zhang."

"Mm."

Once he used the money gained from this profit to buy up various industries in Foot-Basin Chicken after their bubble economy burst, it would be equivalent to getting them for free—delicious.

The pillar industries of the Oriental Group were still too few; currently, only the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry, the clothing industry, the breeding industry, supermarkets, the logistics industry, and the mobile phone industry were worth showing off.

The automotive industry was still a partnership between himself, Jia Youwei, and Lou Bancheng, and was not counted as part of the Oriental Group.

Once he took over the various manufacturing industries of Foot-Basin Chicken and brought things like anime under his wing, he would be able to make up for the shortcomings of the Oriental Group.

"Brother-in-law, will Foot-Basin Chicken really experience an economic regression like you said?"

"Mm, more or less. If you read the newspapers more, you'll know; many of Foot-Basin Chicken's industries have already become deformed, with real estate being the most prominent."

"Look at their growth rate over these years; it's simply too exaggerated. A crash is sooner or later, and even if it doesn't happen, we've only lost a bit of money."

Lou Xiaoe nodded in deep agreement; this team of traders had been trained by Zhang Ping'an for over two years, and by following what Zhang Ping'an said, they basically always made a profit without loss.

"Pack up; it's almost the end of the year, let's head back to Sijiucheng in a few days."

"Mm, okay."

In the Handong University Library, Qi Tongwei was still immersed in the ocean of knowledge, unaffected by the recent gossip.

At ten o'clock the next morning, Qi Tongwei brought bananas and some small snacks to visit Gao Yuliang's home.

"Teacher Gao, Teacher Wu, hello. Fangfang."

"Brother Tongwei."

This was not the first time Qi Tongwei had come over; he basically came two or three times every semester, so he was no stranger to Gao Fangfang.

"Tongwei is here. Why did you buy things again, child? You're wasting money; take them back to return them later."

"Teacher Wu, my second brother brought these for me, so I didn't spend any money. Keep them as snacks for Fangfang."

"Oh? Is that the person who drove a luxury car into the campus?"

"Teacher Gao, you've heard about it too?" Qi Tongwei scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Hahaha, not just me. Ask Teacher Wu; I'm afraid their History Department knows about it too, right?"

"Indeed, it's just that they don't know who exactly he is looking for."

"Teacher Gao, actually, that is my godfather's son. I..." Qi Tongwei briefly explained the process of how he met Zhang Ping'an.

"Oh? Your village is quite lucky, and you are even luckier. However, you should still try to rely on yourself in all things."

"Mm, I know, Teacher Gao."