From Wage Slave to Tycoon

First, they cleared all the weeds and undergrowth around the ancestral graves. This was to avoid starting a wildfire when they set off firecrackers later—that would be a real problem!

There were seven or eight graves in the entire ancestral plot. Su Chen followed behind Su Zhuyun and walked up to a dirt mound.

Su Zhuyun and his two brothers swung their sickles, quickly clearing the area.

"Dad, what’s this?"

In previous years, Su Chen had never come up the mountain to burn incense for the New Year. He always stayed below and played with the younger generation, so he was naturally clueless about these things.

"This is your great-grandfather’s grave. The family was poor back then, so he was just buried in a simple dirt mound," Su Zhuyun said, a hint of melancholy in his voice.

Su Chen looked at the small dirt mound in front of him, then at the nearby graves built from stone slabs. He was silent for a long while before saying, "Dad, after the New Year, let’s hire someone to fix it up."

’I finally understand why Dad always used to say we were poor, pinching pennies on everything. Now I really get it.’

’Even Great-Grandfather’s grave is just a dirt mound. Of course they were poor!’

"Mm, I’ll discuss this with your grandfather later." Su Zhuyun agreed with Su Chen’s idea. After all... they had money now.

They hung paper offerings, tore and scattered paper money, and planted incense and candles. By the time Su Chen and the others finished these tasks, Su Zhuyun and his group had already laid out the firecrackers.

Seeing this, Su Chen quickly led Su Yan and Su Qingya off to the side.

"CRACKLE CRACKLE CRACKLE~"

"CRACKLE CRACKLE CRACKLE~"

As the first string of firecrackers went off, others in different spots quickly followed suit, enveloping the area in smoke.

After all the firecrackers had finished, they checked to make sure the paper money in front of each grave had completely burned away. Only after confirming this did they start heading home.

The climb up the mountain was hard, and the descent was no easier.

The path down was full of steep little slopes; one wrong step and you could take a tumble.

Once they were back on the main road, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and started chatting in small groups.

Su Zhuyun and his two brothers were naturally the center of attention, laughing and talking the whole way.

They had just reached the courtyard, and Su Chen’s butt hadn’t even touched a stool when his phone started ringing in his pocket.

’Who’s calling on New Year’s Day!’ he muttered, pulling out his phone. A trace of surprise appeared on Su Chen’s face when he saw the caller ID: Pei Rang.

He glanced at the chatting crowd around him, then found a quiet spot to answer the call.

As soon as the call connected, Pei Rang’s slightly excited voice came through...

"Boss, Happy New Year!"

"Happy New Year. You didn’t call just to say that, did you?"

"Uh..." On the other end of the line, Pei Rang was dumbfounded. ’Did I use the wrong approach for my New Year’s greeting?’ he wondered.

"Hehe, it’s the first day of the New Year! Calling my boss to wish him a happy new year is perfectly natural, right?"

Su Chen chuckled helplessly. "Alright, alright, I appreciate the thought. If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up."

After hanging up, Su Chen was just about to put his phone back in his pocket when it rang again. Seeing it was Zong Xinyao, Su Chen knew there would definitely be more New Year’s greeting calls to come.

So he shot Su Yan a look, signaling for him to bring over a stool.

Sure enough, after Zong Xinyao hung up, calls came in one after another from that famous heir, Qin Fen, and others, all wishing him a happy new year. Even Jiang Hui and Chen Fei were no exception. Su Chen also learned from Jiang Hui that he hadn’t gone home for the holiday; instead, he had brought his whole family to the Imperial Capital.

Jiang Hui also sent Su Chen a few photos of his pet orange cat, Yuanbao. He had no idea where Jiang Hui had bought the little red cat outfit, but it made Yuanbao look especially adorable.

By the time Su Chen’s phone finally fell silent, half an hour had passed.

However, all these greeting calls served as a reminder for Su Chen: perhaps he should also be making a few New Year’s calls to certain people.

He checked the time. It was just a little past eleven. ’They probably aren’t too busy now,’ he thought, and dialed Xiao Chen’s number.

The phone rang many times, but no one answered.

’Looks like Xiao Chen is busy right now. Makes sense, it’s New Year’s Day. How could he not be busy!’ Just as Su Chen was about to hang up, he saw the call connect.

’Busy or not, I should get the greeting out of the way.’

"Brother Cheen, Happy New Year!"

"Hahaha! Same to you, same to you! I was busy just now, my bad!" Xiao Chen’s voice sounded exceptionally happy.

Changing the subject, Xiao Chen asked directly, "When are you coming back to the Imperial Capital? The old man was asking about you earlier!"

"Uh..." Su Chen calculated in his head for a moment before replying, "The earliest would be the seventh."

"Alright, the seventh it is. I’ll let the old man know in a bit."

As soon as he said that, Su Chen heard a faint voice on the other end, seemingly calling for Xiao Chen.

And sure enough, Xiao Chen said, "I have to go, it’s pretty busy over here. We’ll talk when you’re back in the Imperial Capital."

Without giving Su Chen a chance to reply, he hung up.

Staring at the disconnected call, Su Chen lightly slapped his own mouth and grumbled, "Why did I have to say the seventh? I really know how to trip myself up!"

’What’s done is done, and there’s no point dwelling on it now. I might as well focus on the rest of the New Year holiday.’