Chapter 152 - 149: Splitting the Money
Since Zhou Lian had a class in the afternoon, Li Xiu couldn’t bear to tire her out. After holding her while they napped for a bit, he woke her up, and they got ready so he could take her to school. Zhou Lian was smiling the entire way. The brilliant happiness in that smile gave Li Xiu an immense sense of satisfaction; it was the smile he had been longing for since his last life.
When he got home, he saw that Sister Fang and Nuonuo hadn’t returned yet. Li Xiu gave a wry smile. ’This Sister Fang is a little too considerate, isn’t she? I’m not that much of a beast. My wife has a class this afternoon; how could I bear to tire out my darling? Besides, we have all the time in the world!’
After tidying up the house, Li Xiu walked with a light step over to Wang Dongfang’s small courtyard. Seeing three grown men gathered around his daughter, lying on the kang and teasing her, he couldn’t help but laugh out loud. ’Are the three of them the same age as my daughter? Good grief. How can they be having so much fun together?’
"Daddy, Daddy!" Nuonuo, who had been happily playing on the kang, spotted Li Xiu and called out repeatedly, her little hands reaching out for a hug. Li Xiu’s fatherly heart swelled. He swept his daughter into his arms, feeling her soft little body, and smiled with pure joy.
"Bro, you’re here. Where’s your wife?" Liu Qiang asked, looking at Li Xiu with curiosity. He couldn’t believe Li Xiu had come alone, willing to leave his wife at home by herself.
"She went to class. What’s up, you need her for something?" Li Xiu gave the three men, who were staring at him eagerly, a strange look. ’Why are they looking for my wife?’ His eyes narrowed as he asked, his tone turning a little grim.
"It’s nothing! We just didn’t see her come with you, so we were curious!" Wei Guo said with a grin. The sour stench of jealousy was thick enough to carry for miles. Was it really necessary? Did he really need to be on guard against the three of them? It was a classic case of seeing enemies behind every bush.
"It’s not Sunday. She has class, so she doesn’t have the time!" Li Xiu, oblivious to their teasing, said earnestly.
Seeing the men bantering, Sister Fang shook her head and said, "You all chat. I’ll take Nuonuo home."
"Alright. I’ll be back to cook dinner later. Sister Fang, you and Nuonuo should get some rest!" Li Xiu still had business to discuss with Wang Dongfang and the others, so he let Sister Fang take Nuonuo home to rest first.
"Bro, when do we start?" Wang Dongfang asked Li Xiu, who was sitting to the side, once Sister Fang had left.
"Let’s start tomorrow. We’ll sell at store prices, and still no coupons required. There’s a lot of stock this time, so you’ll all have to work hard. After we finish this haul, we’ll figure out how to buy a proper storefront. Then, I’ll take you guys south one more time. After that, you’ll go on your own. Also, take inventory of the goods tonight. I’ll watch the place tomorrow morning while you guys are out making sales. The sooner we clear the stock, the sooner we can go south again and earn more cash!" In truth, there wasn’t much new to say. They had already discussed all of this on the train back to the Capital City. Li Xiu was just repeating the same old tune.
The men worked with fiery enthusiasm. In about ten days, they had completely sold off all the goods. This batch was more than ten times larger than the one Li Xiu had sold on his own, which made one admire his eye for talent. Li Xiu only stayed to watch the fort for the first two days. By the third day, the other three seemed to have found their groove. Liu Qiang guarded the courtyard while Wang Dongfang and Wei Guo handled sales outside. Many customers started bringing friends and relatives directly to the courtyard to pick up goods.
Wang Dongfang and Wei Guo were sweet-talkers with extensive connections, while Liu Qiang had an honest and simple appearance. The three of them were a perfectly coordinated team. Over those ten-odd days, not only did they clear out all the stock, but they also collected a significant amount of deposits, making an absolute killing.
Under the orange glow of the lamp, the three men sat in a circle on the kang, staring blankly at the huge pile of cash in the middle. They knew they would make money, and they knew it would be a lot, but they had never imagined it would be this much. They had calculated the potential profit, but that was just a number. Nothing could compare to the overwhelming sight of a mountain of real, hard cash!
When Li Xiu arrived at the Wang Family’s small courtyard after dinner, he found the three of them frozen like statues. Glancing at the pile of money on the kang, he smiled knowingly. ’It’s to be expected. Never mind the three of them—even I get a little excited seeing this much money! After all, that’s a pile, a whole pile of cash.’
He smiled and patted each of them. "Snap out of it," he said in a calm voice. "This is just the beginning. There will be many more times like this in the future. You’d better get used to it. You can’t just stare blankly at the money every time!"
"Wow, this is real. I feel like I’m dreaming. I’ve never seen this much money in my entire life!" Wei Guo said with a wide grin, snapping back to his senses after Li Xiu patted him.
"Me too. It feels like a dream. I never thought I’d be able to do something like this in my life!" Liu Qiang said excitedly. ’Holy cow, this is a huge pile of money!’
"Bro, let’s start settling the accounts!" Wang Dongfang said, wiping his face hard. You couldn’t blame him for losing his composure; anyone would be dazed by such a pile of money.
Watching their reactions, Li Xiu smiled and said, "Then let’s get started. The sooner we finish counting, the sooner we can split the money."
They quickly sorted out the accounts. After deducting the initial capital, their travel expenses for the trip south, and other miscellaneous costs, they had a net profit of 27,000 yuan. As agreed beforehand, Li Xiu provided all the capital and would take a seventy percent share, while Wang Dongfang and the other two would each get ten percent. This meant Wang Dongfang, Liu Qiang, and Wei Guo each received 2,700 yuan, while the remaining 18,900 yuan went to Li Xiu.
Holding his 2,700 yuan, Wei Guo smiled with immense satisfaction. "Bro, this is the first time in my life I’ve ever held this much money. Thank you, Bro."
"Bro, we know you basically let us make all this money with no skin in the game. I won’t say any more words of thanks. The three of us are yours for life. From now on, we’ll follow your lead, no questions asked!" Liu Qiang said firmly, clutching the money in his hand.
Wang Dongfang also held his money and said, "Bro, we appreciate the gesture. We’ll follow you and work hard, for the rest of our lives!"
Looking at the three of them, Li Xiu couldn’t help but laugh. "Say this once, and then never again," he said gently. "The money you received is what you deserve. You rushed back and forth with me on the trip south, and the moment you returned, you started working nonstop. Did you think I don’t know how tough it was? You earned this money with your own skills. It has nothing to do with me ’helping’ you. As brothers, let’s not bother with such formalities. If you’re willing to see me as your big brother, then we’ll keep working together just like this."
Seeing that they wanted to say something more, Li Xiu waved his hand. "No more arguments. This is how it’s going to be. Listen to me. Da Guo, Qiangzi, you two should find a way to separate your finances from your families. We’ll do one more run like this, and then you two can buy small courtyards like Dongfang’s. You’re not getting any younger, and it’s time you started your own families. After all, isn’t the whole reason we’re earning money to provide for our wives and children, to have a warm home?"