Rebirth of Bloody Romance

The early morning sun shines on the courtyards of old Beijing, giving the blue bricks and gray tiles a golden hue.

Ermaozi and Zhong Yuemin were chatting with each other.

"Yuemin, where are Shihua and Haichen? Why can't I see them?" Ermaozi looked around with curiosity and expectation in his eyes.

Zhong Yuemin smiled gently, and that smile hid his doting on his daughter and son. "I don't know. They must have gone out to play. These two kids can't stay idle for a moment."

Before he finished speaking, a burst of hurried footsteps broke the tranquility of the yard, followed by Xiao Shihua's clear and pleasant call. "Dad, Dad, where are you?"

There was a hint of anxiety and urgency in his voice. Zhong Yuemin looked up and saw Xiao Shihua and Xiao Haichen rushing into the yard like two little whirlwinds, with innocent smiles on their faces, but also a bit of nervousness.

"Here! What are you two doing? Running so fast?"

Xiao Shihua was breathing heavily, her eyes sparkling as if they contained countless stars. "Dad, my brother and I saw mom go out. Can you help my brother and me save some New Year's money?" After saying that, she stared at Zhong Yuemin with her expectant eyes, fearing a negative answer.

Zhong Yuemin laughed dumbly and reached out to scratch Xiao Shihua's nose. "You two still have money, didn't you give it all to your mother?"

At this time, Ermaozi took out a neatly stacked big unity from his pocket and handed it to Xiao Shihua and Xiao Haichen. "Shihua, Haichen, this is the New Year's money your uncle gave you."

Xiao Haichen's hand had just been half extended when Xiao Shihua gently pulled it back. She looked up at Zhong Yuemin, her clear eyes full of questions and hesitation, and she was obviously shocked by the "huge sum of money".

Zhong Yuemin secretly praised his daughter in his heart, saying that she was extremely smart and knew that she had to ask her parents for advice on important matters.

Seeing this, Ermaozi got anxious. "Shihua, this is what your uncle gave you. Why are you looking at your dad? Take it. Don't be polite!"

Seeing this, Zhong Yuemin smiled. "You two can take it, but remember, what should you do after taking uncle's money?"

After hearing this, Xiao Shihua's eyes lit up. She took her brother's hand and quickly took the stack of big unity notes from Ermaozi.

Although little Haichen is still young, he understands the significance of this, and his little face is full of seriousness and excitement.

"Thank you, Uncle Yu!"

"Happy New Year, Uncle Yu!" the two children said in unison, their voices full of innocence and joy.

Just as Xiao Shihua and Xiao Haichen were filled with joy and were about to put their New Year's money into their pockets, Zhou Xiaobai's voice came unexpectedly like a cool breeze in summer. "How did you two get so much money?"

Xiao Shihua's face wrinkled into a small bun in an instant. She looked up at Zhou Xiaobai with a look of grievance and confusion in her eyes. "Mom, this is what Uncle Yu just gave to me and my brother."

After listening to this, Zhou Xiaobai smiled softly. "Oh, so it was given by Uncle Yu. Give it to mom first. It will be bad if you two lose it later."

Xiao Shihua and Xiao Haichen looked at each other, and reluctance was written all over their faces. They pouted their lips, as if they could hold a small oil bottle, which was both adorable and heartbreaking.

In the end, under Zhou Xiaobai's gentle yet firm gaze, the two children reluctantly handed over the New Year's money in their hands.

Zhong Yuemin was watching this scene from the side and wanted to laugh.

With the arrival of the "vanguard" of the Ermaozi, an extremely lively scene began.

Soon after, Zheng Tong, Yuan Jun, Zhang Haiyang, Yu Guodong, Li Wenbo, Hou Erbutt, Takehara Masaki, Li Kuiyong, Zhang Li, Li Hongmei and others came on stage one after another, and laughter instantly filled the entire yard.

Xiao Shihua and Xiao Haichen were both excited and a little "painful" in this ocean of joy.

The excitement was that they seemed to be in a treasure trove of lucky money. Every uncle and aunt who visited them generously donated so much that their little hands could hardly hold it all. The smiles on their little faces were like the brightest flowers in spring, blooming with endless joy.

However, this joy is mixed with a subtle "pain". Whenever they want to quietly hide one or two New Year's money as their own little secret, Zhou Xiaobai is like an invisible guardian, always appearing beside them in time, gently but firmly asking them to hand over the New Year's money.

Occasionally, a hint of cunning flashed in the eyes of Xiao Shihua and Xiao Haichen, but more often than not, there was helpless obedience to their mother.

Zhou Xiaobai seemed to see through the children's little thoughts. While taking the New Year's money handed over by the children, she comforted them with words of encouragement. "Don't worry, my daughters and sons, mom will keep it well for you. When you grow up, this money will become your precious wealth in life."

"Mom, I want to keep the money myself." Xiao Shihua plucked up the courage and tried to persuade Zhou Xiaobai.

Zhou Xiaobai squatted down, looked at the eager eyes of little Shihua, and said gently, "Shihua, Mom knows you want to keep the money yourself, but you are still young and it is easy to lose it. Mom will keep it for you first, and then give it to you when you need it, okay?"

After hearing this, Xiao Shihua nodded, although she was still a little reluctant.

Seeing this, Xiao Haichen obediently handed the New Year's money he received to his mother.

At this time, Zhang Haiyang came over and saw the looks of Xiao Shihua and Xiao Haichen. He couldn't help laughing. "How much New Year's money did you two receive? Look how happy you are."

When little Haichen heard this, he suddenly raised his head, his chest held high, his tender little face full of pride and honor, and answered in a loud voice, "A lot! The uncles and aunts especially like my sister and me, so they gave us a lot of New Year's money!" As he spoke, he waved his little hands excitedly.

At this moment, Yuan Jun and Zheng Tong also came over with laughter and joined in this conversation full of laughter.

Yuan Jun grinned, showing his big white teeth, and said to Xiao Haichen half-jokingly, "Hey, Haichen! How about this, don't give your New Year's money to your mom, let your uncle keep it for you, how about that?"

Little Haichen blinked his big eyes, a puzzled look appeared on his face, and he asked curiously, "Uncle Yuan, why should I give it to you for safekeeping?"

Seeing this, Zheng Tong, who was standing by, immediately put on a very serious look and tried to tempt Xiao Haichen with benefits. He cleared his throat and said to Xiao Haichen seriously, "Haichen, be good, as long as you give uncle 100 yuan now, uncle will give you 105 yuan next year, isn't it a good deal?"

However, just as Zheng Tong finished speaking, Xiao Shihua's black eyes rolled around and she quickly reacted. She smiled and interrupted him, saying crisply, "Uncle Zheng, you are so stingy! How about this, if you give me 100 yuan, I will give you 110 yuan tomorrow, okay? I will give you as much as you give me."

Xiao Shihua's witty and playful response was like a stone thrown into a calm lake, instantly stirring up a thousand waves. The adults present were stunned at first, and then burst into laughter.

Yuan Jun, in particular, was laughing so hard that tears were about to come out. He covered his stomach with both hands, bent over and teased Zheng Tong, "Ha...ha...ha...Zheng Tong, you are almost making me laugh to death. Look at how smart Xiao Shihua is. Your little tricks are nothing in front of her. They are totally not good enough!"

"Go, go, go, you are so much better than me......"

In the lively and joyful atmosphere, Zhong Yuemin was suddenly pulled aside by Yu Guodong, with a somewhat anxious look on his face. "Old Yu, what's the matter?" Zhong Yuemin asked curiously, with a questioning gleam in his eyes.

Yu Guodong took a deep breath, as if to calm his inner turmoil, and then he slowly spoke. "Mr. Zhong, thanks to you! Do you still remember that I was in the newspaper before?" There was a hint of emotion in his tone, as if that experience was of great significance to him.

After hearing this, Zhong Yuemin thought about it and remembered it. How could he forget? Yu Guodong, Li Wenbo, Li Hongmei, these people became famous because of him, appeared in newspapers, and became the focus of everyone's attention. "Of course I remember."

Yu Guodong nodded gratefully and continued, "Mr. Zhong, it's Chinese New Year, and I wanted to talk to you in two days. But there is something urgent in Hong Kong Island, so I plan to go back this afternoon, so I have to talk to you now."

"It's okay, just tell me what you want to say."

"Mr. Zhong, do you still remember? At that time, a reporter came to interview me. I was so excited that I briefly told him about the 'Made in China' plan you proposed that year. Who would have thought that after so long, like a bowl of cold leftover rice being reheated and stir-fried, it would actually attract such widespread attention! Look, someone even came to me specifically to ask for my advice."

Zhong Yuemin nodded slightly, indicating that he remembered this matter.

Seeing Zhong Yuemin nod, Yu Guodong continued. "Mr. Zhong, you know very well that I don't have such deep knowledge to give brilliant insights! In the end, I really have no choice! I had no choice but to carefully sort out and integrate all the letters you wrote to me over the years, as well as the various opinions you mentioned when we talked on the phone, and then compiled them into a document and gave it to the reporter as a reply. There is one particularly important point here, which is also the point you have repeatedly emphasized, that is, we must establish the China Light Industry Federation and the Garment and Textile Industry Federation. Only in this way can we truly let our "Made in China" step out of the country and go to the world!"

When he said this, Yu Guodong suddenly stopped talking, narrowed his eyes slightly, and a proud light flashed in his eyes, as if the whole world was illuminated by this light.

Yu Guodong straightened his chest and said in a loud voice, "This Garment and Textile Industry Federation is exactly the goal and direction for which we are going all out and working hard! So far, through unremitting efforts and hard work, we have successfully integrated a total of 33 OEM factories, thus initially forming a considerable scale of economic benefits. Mr. Zhong, you might as well make a bold guess, just in the past month, how many US dollars did we export?"

Zhong Yuemin's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a barely perceptible smile, but this smile was mixed with a hint of disdain. He responded nonchalantly, "In my opinion, if we estimate the growth rate by 100%, you can only make more than 20 million Hong Kong dollars a month at most."

Hearing this, Yu Guodong did not show any surprise or disappointment on his face. Instead, he nodded with a smile, as if everything was expected. Then he raised his voice and said, "Mr. Zhong, you guessed wrong this time. The fact is that in just one month last year, we successfully exported up to 40 million US dollars! Please be sure to listen carefully, the unit I said is US dollars! That is real US dollars! Even if we only calculate 10% of the net profit, it is as much as 4 million US dollars! What's more, our net profit rate is now as high as 30%!"

When Yu Guodong said the number "40 million", Zhong Yuemin, who had been calm and composed, suddenly widened his eyes with an expression of disbelief. Although he was the one who first proposed this plan, he had never expected such an amazing result.

"Mr. Zhong, some people are starting to get jealous. They want to learn from us and form this Light Industry Federation."

Yu Guodong smiled bitterly. "But the name of the Light Industry Federation is too big, and no one dares to play around with it. Someone asked me to take the lead, but I listened to you and didn't do it. Now, the Ministry of Light Industry got the news, and they will take the lead, and even invited me to a meeting for consultation."

Zhong Yuemin smiled when he heard this, and patted Yu Guodong on the shoulder. "Well done, Old Yu, you should look at me with new eyes after three days of absence. It seems that you have a great influence now."

Yu Guodong smiled modestly. "No, no, it's all thanks to Mr. Zhong. I didn't tell you before the New Year because I didn't know what the result would be. I came here to give you a surprise during the New Year."

Zhong Yuemin laughed. "There are indeed surprises, but what I want to know more is how the meeting at the Ministry of Light Industry went?"

Yu Guodong's expression turned serious. "Other aspects are fine, the main problem is foreign exchange. The local government of the enterprise wants to keep a portion of foreign exchange for local economic development, and the Ministry of Light Industry also wants to keep a portion to support the development of the entire light industry. It's just this ratio that they can't agree on. We will have to continue the meeting in a while."

After listening to this, Zhong Yuemin frowned slightly and thought for a moment. "This problem is indeed tricky. For export companies, the exchange rate is also a dual-track system. The part that is handed in is a loss when converted according to the official exchange rate, and the remaining part is profitable according to the market exchange rate. In this way, companies are naturally unwilling to pay more foreign exchange."

"Yes, Mr. Zhong, I think so too. So I also raised this issue at the meeting, but each party has its own position and considerations, and it is difficult to reach a consensus."

Zhong Yuemin pondered for a while. "This issue requires long-term consideration. We can propose a reasonable foreign exchange allocation plan based on the long-term development of the Light Industry Federation. At the same time, we must explain to all parties that only when the Light Industry Federation grows stronger can everyone share more dividends."

"Mr. Zhong, you are really my benefactor. Every time I encounter a problem, you can give me guidance."

Zhong Yuemin smiled. "Don't say that. Old Yu, you are capable. I just gave you an idea."