Chapter 33: Trust

Huang Zonghai had just started his first year of high school and was only 16 years old, right at the age where "middle school syndrome" is severe; he thought he was wild, cool, and dazzling, but in reality, he was a mess. After being disciplined by Di Ye, he quickly recognized reality and said with a sniffling nose that his mother had told him to come and notify Huang Ya to come home for the New Year's Eve dinner tonight.

"There are many people coming to rent discs today. You all eat first tonight; I'll go back after I get off work at 7 o'clock."

Huang Ya took a copy of *Heart of Dragon* from under the counter, handed it to Huang Zonghai, and said, "This movie also stars Cheng Long. Take it to your classmate's house to watch, and remember to return it tomorrow, otherwise, don't even think about going to any video parlor to watch movies in the future."

"I've already watched this movie at the video parlor; it's not good. Change it for another one for me!"

Seeing that his attitude was still poor, Di Ye raised his hand and slapped him again, reprimanding, "If you've watched it, watch it again. Learn properly from Cheng Long how to take care of your family."

Huang Zonghai had just been severely disciplined and dared not resist or argue anymore. Seeing that Huang Ya was holding her lunch box and eating intently, with no intention of changing the disc, he had no choice but to take *Heart of Dragon* and leave with an unwilling expression.

"As an older sister, you don't have any authority in front of your younger brother. If I dared to speak to my sister in such a fierce way, she would definitely beat me half to death."

"If my sister hits me, my dad and mom will both help her. If I hit my younger brother, no one will help me. Besides..."

Huang Ya drew out her voice, picked up a small sweet and sour pork rib with her chopsticks, and said pitifully, "My small frame is about the same as this piece of rib; even if I wanted to hit him, I wouldn't have the strength."

Di Ye was amused by her and sat down on the plastic stool by the counter, asking, "Are there many people coming to rent discs today?"

"Not many, mainly because there are too few discs and the shortage is severe. Out of a total of 300 movies, over 260 have been rented out. The remaining ones are all bad films, art films, and horror films, which aren't suitable for watching during the New Year."

Di Ye picked up the disc rental registration book, flipped through it, and asked, "Are there many people coming to apply for a Membership Card these past two days?"

"Quite a few. There are already over 400 members now."

"We have only delivered over 180 video disc players; how can there be over 400 members?"

"A member can only rent one movie at a time, and they have to return the previous one before they can rent the next. Many people are too lazy to run back and forth, so they simply invite friends or relatives to come and open a Membership Card together. Besides, tomorrow is the first day of the Lunar New Year, and applying for a card in advance allows them to enjoy discounts for the entire first lunar month."

Di Ye had been busy setting up a Cfido site at home these past few days and had only provided the "Watch Whatever You Want in the First Lunar Month" activity plan, without participating in the specific operations. Hearing Huang Ya say this, he felt it was an unexpected surprise and said, "It was you who stipulated that they can only rent one movie at a time, right?"

"There's no other way; there are too few discs. If members could rent multiple movies at once, we wouldn't be able to handle it at all."

"That's true."

Huang Ya was very talented in marketing and also enjoyed this kind of work, feeling like a fish in water. While eating slowly, she discussed, "Bi Wanxi plans to go to Guangdong Province again tomorrow to buy 500 movies and 30 TV series. After this batch of goods arrives, I plan to launch a home-delivery service for discs, charging 2 yuan per delivery. What do you think?"

"That works. Besides delivering discs, you can also cooperate with a few small supermarkets to help deliver snacks like melon seeds and cola; the profit margins on these items are also quite high."

"Hey, why do you always think of more than I do!"

"Perhaps I am your natural enemy reincarnated."

The two were chatting idly when a middle-aged woman walked in from outside the shop and asked eagerly, "Manager Huang, do you have any movies starring Zhou Xingchi now?"

"No, they have all been rented out by those Golden Members. The earliest ones won't be returned until the fifth day of the lunar month."

"What about those of Jackie Chan and Jet Li?"

"They are all gone too. Now there are only two trashy films Cheng Long made early in his career that no one likes to watch."

The middle-aged woman was greatly annoyed and regretted, "If I had known, I would have applied for a Golden Membership that day!"

Seeing this, Di Ye knew this was a video parlor owner, so he deliberately inquired, "Big sister, what is a Golden Member?"

"A Golden Member is a card that only video parlor owners can apply for. With this card, you can get discs of popular movies and TV series before others."

"How much does it cost to apply for this card?"

"It's auctioned monthly; it costs 1800 for the first lunar month."

"So expensive?"

"I also thought it was expensive at first, so I didn't apply, and it turned out to be a huge loss! You don't know, but the video parlors that have a Golden Membership Card have been making a fortune these past two days. They play movies non-stop from morning till night, and every screening is packed with people. The ticket prices are also more expensive than others, so they can earn back the 1800 yuan in minutes."

The middle-aged woman stayed in the shop for over ten minutes, complaining with envy, jealousy, and hatred, and then, under Di Ye's recommendation, rented *Ghost Punting* and *People Scare People* starring Hong Jinbao—this series of movies is actually very good, but unfortunately, the names are quite scary, so few people rent them.

After sending the middle-aged woman away, Di Ye exclaimed with a click of his tongue, "Huang Ya, I clearly said that Golden Members should be charged at a standard of 2400 per year. You actually changed it to a monthly auction?"

Huang Ya was a bit proud, and while tidying up her lunch box, she explained, "That day, when I showed the movie catalog to the video parlor owners, they were arguing endlessly over a few popular movies, so I had a flash of inspiration and simply changed the Golden Membership to an auction, letting them bid themselves. As a result, it was bid up from 200 to 1800, and I made a small profit."

"Next month, there will be discs everywhere, so you won't be able to auction them for this much."

"It won't be too late to change it back to an annual fee system next month. Since we have the first lunar month as a demonstration, there should be quite a few owners who will buy a Golden Membership."

Di Ye couldn't help but laugh and teased, "Turning your hands to create clouds and rain; you really are flexible."

Huang Ya rolled her eyes at him and said, "Not as flexible as you. Uncle Fan called this morning and asked me to prepare for the activity of giving away video disc players to Super VIP Members. This idea was yours again, right?"

"That's right."

Huang Ya's risk awareness was far stronger than Fan Dazhi's, and she warned sternly, "Doing this is very dangerous. The gimmick of topping up money to get a free video disc player is too tempting. There might be thousands of people coming to apply for a VIP Membership, which could accumulate millions in funds. If someone has crooked thoughts and misappropriates or runs away with this money, both you and I will be finished."

Di Ye expressed deep agreement and asked, "Are the income and expenditure accounts for the disc rentals all handled by you alone?"

Huang Ya gave a hum and said, "That's why I said it's dangerous! I can't find a suitable accountant during the Spring Festival. You are at home playing with your computer, Uncle Fan has other businesses to attend to, and Bi Wanxi doesn't know how to keep accounts. It can only be managed by me temporarily. When the next semester starts, you all should find a professional accountant to audit all the accounts and hand them over clearly, so as to avoid disputes later."

"The accounts definitely need to be audited, but not when the next semester starts, but after the first lunar month is over."

"Why?"

Di Ye dragged the plastic stool, leaned closer to Huang Ya, and whispered, "Because I want to misappropriate the raised funds on the 24th day of the first lunar month."

Huang Ya was stunned for a moment and asked subconsciously, "What are you going to do?"

This question was a bit vague, but Di Ye could tell from her tone that Huang Ya was not asking why he wanted to misappropriate the funds, but what he was going to use the funds for. He felt moved, because only by trusting someone extremely would one have such a reaction.

"On the 24th day of the first lunar month, a government bond futures contract with the code '327' is due to expire. I plan to speculate on this futures contract."

"Just like what you did in Pengcheng a few days ago?"

"Pretty much."

Huang Ya stared at Di Ye for a while and asked, "Are you sure?"

Di Ye looked directly into her eyes, nodded, and said, "It's a sure thing."

"If it's not sure, you know the consequences, right?"

"I know, find a rich woman and work for her for free for a few years."

Huang Ya couldn't help but chuckle and said, "You really know how to daydream. Alright, I'll find a way to transfer the money to you when the time comes."

Seeing that she agreed so directly without even asking what the '327' government bond futures were, Di Ye was a bit surprised and asked, "Aren't you afraid that I will implicate you?"

Huang Ya smiled slightly and said, "At worst, I'll accompany you to work for free for a rich woman for a few years."

Di Ye looked at her calm expression, felt touched in his heart, and after a moment of silence, said, "I'll go home with you tonight to visit."

"No need, I'm just going back for a quick turn, to chat with my mom for a bit and then leave; I won't be staying there for the night."

Di Ye stood up and insisted, "There are no taxis on the road today, I'll go find Uncle Fan to borrow his Jinbei, and come pick you up after 5 o'clock this afternoon."