Chapter 30: The Bill

"Manager Xu, you've had a hard journey."

"It wasn't hard, it was my duty."

Di Ye handed the 1,000 yuan service fee to Xu Chaobo, and only after watching him walk to the bus stop did he sit back into the Jinbei Van and ask Fan Dazhi, "Uncle Fan, are you going to the Chenghuang Temple or straight home?"

"Go to the Chenghuang Temple first to put the discs and decompression cards in the warehouse."

"Then I'll go with you."

On the morning of January 18, a group of 5 people went to Guangdong Province, and when they returned on the afternoon of January 26, excluding Xu Chaobo, there were still 5 people, only their fortunes were each different.

After Fan Dazhi and Bi Wanxi went to Hong Kong for an inspection, they discovered that the VCD film sources were all controlled by gangs, and that dozens of pirated LD production factories in the surrounding areas had begun to switch to VCDs; competition was extremely fierce, disc prices were falling sharply, changing every day, and opening a factory themselves was not cost-effective, so they turned to buying 2,000 discs to bring back, intending to go into the disc rental business.

After Yang Zhanglin went to Shunde, he discovered that his wife had become a mistress for a local boss and refused to acknowledge him as her husband at all; no matter how bitterly he tried to persuade her, it was useless, so he could only return alone, full of sorrow.

Meng Kun was scammed by a "honey trap" while picking up girls in Yangcheng, losing more than half of the funds for buying smuggled small appliances, so he had to get some cheap electronic watches to make up the numbers, losing so much he felt like vomiting blood; all the way back he sighed and groaned, lacking the high spirits he had when he left.

In Pengcheng, Di Ye had both made connections and earned money, but because he didn't talk about it himself and Xu Chaobo was also tight-lipped, no one knew; he belonged to the type who makes a fortune in silence.

When Fan Dazhi drove the Jinbei Van to the wholesale warehouse near the Chenghuang Temple, it was already past 4:00 PM; the few of them were tired and hungry, and after hurriedly unloading the goods, they went their separate ways.

Di Ye found a noodle shop on the street, ate a bowl of steaming hot preserved vegetable and shredded pork noodles, and after recovering some of his strength, he dragged the suitcase he bought in Pengcheng and strolled slowly toward his own shop, only to find that Di Yongchang was nowhere to be seen, and only Huang Ya was inside.

"Di Ye, you're finally back!"

"I'm back."

Di Ye looked at Huang Ya's noticeably ruddier complexion and teased, "Looking at how delicate and tender you look, you've been living quite well lately."

Huang Ya also looked at Di Ye and said, "Looking at your designer-brand outfit, you've been living quite well in Pengcheng too."

Both of them laughed after saying this, and after laughing, Di Ye asked, "Why are you the only one here? Where's my dad?"

"Uncle Di is afraid of leaking technical secrets, so he's been at home modifying CD players these past few days and asked me to help watch the shop."

As Huang Ya spoke, she took the account book out from the counter, held it up, waved it, and asked with a grin, "Guess how many orders we've received in the few days you've been gone?"

This trip to Pengcheng took Di Ye about 9 days round-trip; seeing Huang Ya looking like she had won a grand prize, he felt there should be about 10 per day, so he guessed, "100?"

"Wrong, it's 142."

Di Ye was somewhat surprised; he took the account book and looked through it, seeing that behind every order, the name of the salesperson was noted, with the most being Lu Hanming, who sold 21, followed by Huang Ya, who sold 17, and then various names he didn't recognize; after a moment of thought, he asked, "Are these people video hall owners?"

Huang Ya stood on tiptoe to look, nodded, and said, "That's right. I told them that as long as they sell 1 VCD player, they get 10% off when they come to us to rent discs later; sell 5, and they get 20% off; 10, and they get 30% off, and so on, up to a maximum of 50% off."

Di Ye looked at her with new respect and said, "The wool comes from the sheep's back; you really are cunning."

Huang Ya was somewhat proud, but modestly said, "It's mainly Uncle Fan's credit. When those video hall owners heard he was going to buy 2,000 movie discs from Hong Kong, their eyes turned green, and they were especially proactive."

"It's true there are 2,000 discs, but there aren't 2,000 movies. VCD capacity is limited, one movie takes 2 discs, and quite a few are duplicates; besides, there are also some TV series discs."

"TV series are even better; the playback time is long, and it keeps people watching; video hall owners like that the most."

Di Ye counted the records in the account book and saw that over 30 units had already been delivered, so he asked, "Buying so many decompression cards at once, didn't they notice over at the Computer City?"

"Your brother-in-law made a special trip to Jinling a few days ago and bought them back from there."

"My brother-in-law finally did something proper; no wonder I felt my sister was in a good mood lately when we talked on the phone."

Di Ye returned the account book to Huang Ya and chatted with her for a while; seeing the sky getting darker and darker, and overcast as if it were about to rain, he said, "It's freezing cold now, and there's no business at night, so don't waste your time here; come back with me."

"You're the boss, you have the final say."

Di Ye hailed a taxi and brought Huang Ya home; after entering, he found that Di Yongchang had turned the living room into a workshop, with all kinds of parts piled everywhere, to the point there wasn't even a place to eat; he had a headache and said, "Dad, you and Uncle Zhou should rent a room at the Chenghuang Temple to work; it's close and convenient, why bother tossing things about at home?"

Di Yongchang was used to saving money and said, "This order can only be done for a month or two, no need to rent a place."

"Then what about eating later? I told my sister I'd come over for a meal tonight."

"We're family, what's there to be fussy about? Just hold a bowl and find a place to eat."

Di Ye was helpless and could only make do; fortunately, his bedroom hadn't changed and was still the same as before he left; he put his suitcase on the floor, opened it, took out a rectangular box, handed it to Huang Ya who had followed him in, and said, "A gift for you."

Huang Ya opened it and found it was an exquisite fountain pen, which must have been quite valuable, but she really liked it, so while playing with it fondly, she said with a look of mock despair, "It's over, I have to work for you for free for another 3 months."

Di Ye was amused by her lively expression and emphasized, "This is a gift for you, not a loan."

"Sending a goose feather from a thousand miles away, the gift is light but the sentiment is heavy; you specially bought a pen for me from a thousand miles away, I have nothing to repay you with, I can only work for you for free."

"Wait a moment, I'll go find a small notebook and keep a clear record of the time you work for free, so I don't accidentally pay you extra later."

By around 6:00 PM, Di Yan and Lu Hanming came over; Di Ye saw that the two were intimate and chatting happily, having ended their cold war, and was very pleased, so he took out the gifts he had prepared: a designer handbag and an imported camera.

"Little brother, is this authentic or a knockoff?"

"Authentic, I bought it at the duty-free shop in the Guomao Building."

Di Yan, like Huang Ya, fell into a state of conflict, holding the handbag and looking at it, but complaining, "Why did you buy such an expensive gift again!"

Lu Hanming was not conflicted at all; he excitedly took the camera and snapped photos everywhere, asking, "Xiao Ye, did you make money in Pengcheng?"

"Yeah, I made over 200,000."

"How much?!"

Although shorting StockIndexFutures was high-risk, it wasn't illegal, and Di Ye didn't think there was any need to hide it; he also took out the watch he bought for Di Yongchang and the jade he bought for Zhang Xiuzhi, then recounted the reasons and process for shorting the Nikkei Index; to avoid over-stimulating his parents, he omitted the insignificant detail of financing.

Success makes the hero, and in the face of a solid 240,000 yuan profit, the risk turned into decisiveness, and the risk turned into luck; Lu Hanming listened with a surging heart and said eagerly, "Xiao Ye, if you find an opportunity like this next time, take me along to try it."

Di Yan remained clear-headed, rolled her eyes at him, and rejected it, "Don't even think about it! Little brother just had a blind cat run into a dead mouse this time; how could there be a next time."

Di Yongchang and Zhang Xiuzhi didn't understand futures trading and attributed everything to Di Ye being capable, having good judgment, and seeing things clearly; they were especially gratified and decided on the spot that he should keep the money himself and didn't need to hand it over.

Huang Ya had used disc rental discounts as bait and easily gotten over a hundred orders; she had been quite proud, but now she felt a bit discouraged and whispered to Di Ye during dinner, "I have a premonition that you will always be a little bit better than me in this life."

"It's not worth bragging that I'm a little better than you; it's only worth bragging if you're a little worse than me. Youngster, keep working hard!"