The salty life in Life of Pi

Chapter 78 Short-term Gains and Long-term Planning

Today's students rarely have the habit of watching the news, so in the eyes of those who have not heard Jiang Tianhao say in person that his family is bankrupt, Jiang Tianhao is still a rich second-generation, including Lin Miaomiao.

"what?"

When Lin Miaomiao heard Wu Xianyu say that Jiang Tianhao's family went bankrupt, she reacted strongly. She opened her eyes wide and forgot to put the snacks in her hand into her mouth. Wu Xianyu intercepted them and put them into his own mouth.
"You heard it right. When you go home at night, search for local news in Jiangzhou on your phone and you can easily find it."

"No, why? I haven't heard that anything happened to Jiang's chef?"

Wu Xianyu sorted out his thoughts and explained to Lin Miaomiao

"Let's put it this way. If there is a project called Buddhist Sutra Rice, where Buddhist sutras are played around the rice while it grows, the rice will taste very different when it's cooked. Would you believe it?"

Lin Miaomiao didn't answer directly, but leaned back and looked at Wu Xianyu's face, which was hard to describe. Wu Xianyu spread his hands.

"But Haozi's family invested in this project, and also has a smart water cup and a cat treadmill."

"After hearing the names of these projects, I am not so surprised about Haozi's bankruptcy."

Lin Miaomiao was eating snacks to digest the shock brought by Haozi's bankruptcy, but suddenly she thought of something and looked at Wu Xianyu.

"Isn't our neighborhood going to be designated as a school district? How did Jiang Tianhao's parents manage to rent a house? Everyone who has a house should have grabbed it now. If we rent it out now, won't we lose a lot of money?"

Wu Xianyu didn't pay attention to this detail. He touched his chin, but couldn't think of any possibility and shook his head.

"I don't know either. Maybe I just met a fool."

"No, my dad knows how many houses are available for rent in the community. There are real estate agents sitting in the community every day waiting to receive houses. I think there is another possibility."

Lin Miaomiao finished the snacks in her hand and looked at Wu Xianyu seriously.

"That is, all of this is a play put on by Haozi's parents just to make him study hard."

Wu Xianyu admired Lin Miaomiao's imagination and looked at her helplessly.

"You mean they acted so well that they had to sell their company and their house? This was all in the news."

"Uh"

Lin Miaomiao also felt that her imagination seemed to be a little too big. When she saw Wu Xianyu's smile, she always felt that he was making fun of her. She gritted her teeth and grabbed his arm, as if she would bite him if Wu Xianyu's next words were not to her liking.

"Are you laughing at me?"

"No, how could I laugh at you?"

"You are just making fun of me. Oh, you are not allowed to laugh at me. Hold back your smile."

"Okay, okay, I won't laugh anymore."

"No, there's still a little curve at the corner of your mouth."

"."

Mai Ju, who was standing at the back of the classroom, rested his hands under his chin as he watched Lin Miaomiao and Wu Xianyu flirting with each other. He couldn't help but smile. It turned out that what those girls said was right. It was much more fun to watch others fall in love than to fall in love himself.

When Jiang Tianhao returned to the dormitory at night, he was calculating something with a calculator and paper. When he saw Wu Xianyu coming back, he greeted him.

"That's great, Xianyu, are you free this weekend?"

"Tell me what you want first and then I'll decide if I'm free."

He looked at Wu Xianyu speechlessly, but Jiang Tianhao was used to it. This kind of person who is open and honest is better than the person who said he was free but then broke his promise when the time came.

"I plan to go to our warehouse this weekend to take inventory and see how much we can sell."

"You don't go to school anymore?"

Wu Xianyu interrupted Jiang Tianhao directly, waited for him to raise his head, and continued

"You mean you plan to use this time in high school to sell your goods?"

"What else? I don't have the energy to study at all right now."

Seeing Jiang Tianhao's irritable look, Wu Xianyu asked him

"So what are you calculating now?"

"I calculated how much money I could make from selling one product. I decided to open an online store. I've done some research and I think online stores are a good idea. There's no need for rent, electricity, or workers' wages. All you need is a cell phone and a warehouse. I calculated that I could make about 500 yuan in profit in a week, and that's while I'm still in school."

Seeing Jiang Tianhao's excited expression, Wu Xianyu couldn't help but sigh. It was hard for people to refuse short-term gains, but Jiang Tianhao was still his friend after all, so Wu Xianyu still wanted to help him, so he pursed his lips and wanted to help him change his mindset.
"Come on, Haozi, let me do the math for you. You're still in school, and you can earn 52 a week. There are 2.6 weeks in a year, which is equivalent to 4 a year. OK, if you include summer and winter vacations, you can earn more, so that's 4. Do you mean to say that you are going to use to buy your senior year of high school?"

“It’s not like I don’t go to school, I just use my spare time to communicate with clients on my phone.”

"Your words can only fool those who don't study, Haozi."

Wu Xianyu felt that he was really worried. He even hated this nagging and preaching person.

"Learning is a process, you have to maintain the state. Can you really learn well if you worry about the online store for a while and study for a while? If you focus on the online store, your grades will inevitably be affected. You must know that the college entrance examination is a matter of thousands of people crossing a single-plank bridge, and one point can kill thousands of people. You might as well study harder, sprint for the last year, improve your grades by a few more points, get into a better university, and apply for marketing and finance courses. Isn't it faster to make money than the 4 yuan a year you are working hard now? By then, 4 yuan a month will not be a dream."

Seeing Jiang Tianhao was silent, Wu Xianyu took a few breaths and finally said

"Think about it yourself. It's best to discuss it with your family. Anyway, I've already said this. The decision is up to you."

After saying that, he picked up his toiletries and went to wash up. Jiang Tianhao, who stayed in the dormitory, looked up at the ceiling in confusion, not knowing what to do.

At this time, Sun Chuan, who had been lying on the bed, spoke up.
"If you ask me, Haozi, just listen to Xianyu. Have you ever seen him suffer any loss? If I were you, I would just believe Xianyu without thinking. I think his brain is more flexible than all of ours."

“I know he has always had good grades.”

"Oh, no, grades are grades, and being smart is being smart. You see Qian Sanyi has good grades, but do you think Xianyu is not as smart as him? Tsk, forget it, I don't know how to describe it. Anyway, Xianyu's intelligence is not just one-sided, but all-round. Do you understand what I mean?"

After hearing what Sun Chuan said, Jiang Tianhao fell silent again. He quickly cleaned up the things on the table, picked up his things and went to wash up.

Wu Xianyu felt that his persuasion should be effective. After all, when Jiang Tianhao returned to the dormitory the next day, he was no longer calculating how much money he could earn, but was doing his homework with an English book. When he saw Wu Xianyu, he even took the initiative to ask how to use English grammar.

On the weekend, Jiang Tianhao returned home and sat in Jiang Qilong's office. He took out his cell phone and pushed it to his father.

"Dad, this is the online store I applied for. I'll teach you and my mom how to use it later. Now I want to talk to you about our future plans."

Seeing his originally ignorant son so serious, Jiang Qilong, who had been dozing with his eyes squinted, opened his eyes and sat up. Duan Xiaohong, who was reading documents on the sofa nearby, also raised her head and sat down next to Jiang Tianhao.

Taking a deep breath, Jiang Tianhao spoke solemnly

"I've been to the warehouse before, and there's still quite a bit of inventory. If I sell them online, I can make some profit, but I can't do it. I have to leave it to you. I have to focus on studying now. Originally, my family was well-off, so it didn't matter whether I studied or not. At most, I could go home and inherit the family business. But now it's not possible. I'm also a member of the family and have my own responsibilities. It's just that as a student, the only thing I can do and do well is studying. I plan to take the entrance exam for a local university related to finance or marketing. You guys stick with it for a year, and when I go to university, I'll have time to help you."

Seeing her son's calm and clear words, Duan Xiaohong, who was originally worried about whether her child could accept the current situation, could not hold back her tears. She hugged Jiang Tianhao with tears welling up in her eyes.

Even Jiang Qilong couldn't help but blink hard until his eyes turned red, but he didn't shed a single tear, only his voice became hoarse.

"You've grown up and have your own ideas, which is a good thing. Seeing you like this, I suddenly feel that the company's bankruptcy is not so unacceptable. You just need to focus on your studies, and leave the housework to your parents."

"Oh, it seems I came at the wrong time"

Before Jiang Qilong finished speaking, an unexpected voice came. Then, the bald boss Meng came in with three or four people in black suits. Seeing the harmonious atmosphere in the office, he couldn't help but curl his lips.
"Boss Jiang, how are you thinking about your trademark?"

Jiang Qilong took a deep breath and calmed down. But he didn't know what he was thinking about. A smile appeared on his face. He put his hands on the table and looked at Boss Meng.
"I can sell it to you, but I want five million"

"Ok?"

Boss Meng, who originally wanted to see a joke, was a little unprepared for the current situation. Price was not an issue, but why could Jiang Qilong still laugh?

Jiang Qilong walked over to Jiang Tianhao, patted his son on the back, and smiled proudly.
"I'm defeated now, but I have a son. I believe my son will be more powerful than me in the future. Sooner or later, the Jiang family kitchen brand will be regained. But what about you? How long can you be so arrogant? I heard that your son seems to have caused trouble again and his parents were called in, right?"

Boss Meng's expression suddenly turned ugly, but he just looked at the three members of the Jiang family and said with a fake smile:

"Okay, I think the price can be negotiated, but it seems that you are not that convenient now. When the time is right, I will come to your house and discuss it in detail with you."

Emphasizing the words "home" and "carefully", Boss Meng patted Jiang Tianhao on the shoulder hypocritically and said an encouraging word.

"Good boy, judging from your dad's reaction, you have a good business sense. I wonder how much money you made from basketball games? Keep it up."

Jiang Tianhao was taller than Boss Meng, and he looked down at him. He was originally a little angry, but when he heard him measure himself with money, he suddenly stopped being angry and smiled and patted him on the shoulder.
"Thank you Uncle Meng for your compliment. I just improved a few places in this exam, which brought me a few points closer to the university I wanted to go to. I didn't make any money, so I'm really unworthy of your compliment."

After hearing Jiang Tianhao's words and thinking of his son who only knew how to get into trouble, Boss Meng felt his blood pressure rising. He endured it for a long time, without showing a good face, and walked out of Jiang Qilong's office with a few people.

After the few people left, Jiang Qilong seemed to have lost all his strength. He sat hunched on the sofa with his eyes closed. He waved to Jiang Tianhao with his eyes half open, motioning him to sit down. After Jiang Tianhao sat down opposite him, he spoke.

"You don't have to worry too much about the Jiang family's reputation. You will have your own reputation in the future. I want the money to pay off the debts owed to the underground banks. They are not banks. You really can't mess with them. After you pay them back, don't worry about the bank's money. Your mother and I will pay it back slowly. You just need to study hard and leave the rest to us."

As he was talking, Jiang Qilong fell asleep on the sofa. Duan Xiaohong sighed, sat next to Jiang Tianhao, and said softly

"Your dad hasn't had a good night's sleep in this period of time. Fortunately, you have grown up, and your dad can also have a good rest."

Jiang Tianhao bit his back teeth and engraved his father's appearance in his heart. Half of his hair was white, his dark face was covered with deep wrinkles, and he had an indelible look of fatigue. Even when he was asleep, his brows were still furrowed. He blinked, took a deep breath, and handed his mobile phone to Duan Xiaohong.

"Mom, let me teach you how to use the online store"

Back at school, seeing Jiang Tianhao studying hard, Wu Xianyu nodded and told him to keep up the momentum. Hearing the noise, Jiang Tianhao looked up and saw that it was Wu Xianyu. He let go of the pen in his hand, stretched his body, and his face was full of fatigue.
"Xianyu, our trademark is about to be sold"

"Huh? Are the funds so short? They even have to sell the trademark."

"The main reason is that we still owe money to underground banks. Boss Meng probably told the people who wanted to buy our hotel and house. Now those people are not in a hurry to buy. They are probably waiting for our trademark to be sold before they are ready to buy. Now that I think about it, it's all a routine."

"Why is there still an underground money house? Is it loan sharking?"

Wu Xianyu raised his eyebrows. Is this thing legal? If it is not legal, then isn't it a boy who brings wealth?
"It's not usury, but it's not clean at all. I see my dad is quite nervous. Even if I have to sell the trademark, I have to pay them back first."

"Not clean?"

Hearing these three words, Wu Xianyu became excited. He also had the police's contact information.
Without much hesitation, Wu Xianyu sat opposite Jiang Tianhao and called the policeman who had left him contact information.

On the other side, Jiangzhou Public Security Bureau.

Li Zhou raised his eyebrows when he saw the incoming call on his phone. After all, it was because of this student that the policemen had a good year. Naturally, he felt a little fond of him. He picked up the phone.

"Hey, Wu, what's going on?"

"Yes, Captain Li, but it's not my own business. It's like this. You know the Jiang family, the one that went bankrupt recently. I heard from their son, who is also my classmate, that an underground banker once threatened them. I was a little worried, so I called you to ask what to do in this situation."

"Hmm? You mean the threats at the door?"

Li Zhou suddenly perked up and sat up straight. Several policemen around him also turned their attention to him.

(End of this chapter)