From Wage Slave to Tycoon

"Wow, I can’t believe how nice the old school is now!"

Staring at the rows of academic buildings, Su Chen remarked with a sigh, "Back in our day, the classrooms were only a step up from being condemned."

Hearing this, an idea sparked in Su Qingya’s mind. A mischievous grin spread across her face. "Heh heh... Big Brother, they started building all this right after your class graduated. The academic buildings, the dorms, the cafeteria—all of it was built after you left!"

Su Chen’s mood instantly soured. ’It seems my high school was pretty much the same,’ he thought. ’Only instead of building new academic buildings, they restructured it into a completely new school right after we graduated. All the facilities were brand new.’

They were probably the last graduating class of that old school.

After indulging in a brief moment of nostalgia, Su Chen remembered the task at hand.

It was New Year’s Eve, and the streets were bustling with people. Quite a few vendors were selling fireworks.

After driving around for a while, he finally found a fireworks shop that looked like a major wholesaler. Only then did Su Chen pull over.

"This is a one-time deal, so grab whatever you like! Let’s make sure we have our fill of fun today!"

The words had barely left Su Chen’s mouth when two figures shot out of the car, muttering, "I want to buy the big fireworks!"

The fireworks stand was housed under a large tent, but the selection wasn’t actually that big. Aside from the usual small items like regular sparklers and ’cold-flame’ fountain sparklers, they only had three types of boxed fireworks.

Sixty-shot, eighty-shot, and one-hundred-shot varieties. The prices weren’t too steep; the hundred-shot box was just over two hundred, and the other two were over a hundred each.

Su Chen asked the owner and found out that all three types combined only amounted to fifty boxes in total.

When Su Chen said he’d take them all, it wasn’t just the owner—even the other customers browsing the stand stared at him, their jaws agape.

Faced with such a major customer, the owner thoughtfully arranged for a truck to make a home delivery.

Meanwhile, Su Yan and Su Qingya hadn’t been idle either. They bought four huge bags filled with smaller items like sparklers.

When they settled the bill, it came out to exactly fifteen thousand—not a penny more, not a penny less.

Just as they were about to leave, Su Chen thought of the large, single-shot mortar shells and turned to ask the owner if he had any.

He was just asking on a whim. After all, who in a small town like this would be willing to spend several thousand on a single firework shell?

But to his surprise, the owner actually had one. It wasn’t one of the multi-thousand-yuan ones, but one that cost a little over two thousand. It was called something like "Yongfeng 12-Waterfall with Speckled Florets," and the owner said he’d been planning to take it home to set off himself.

Su Chen immediately paid three thousand and told the owner to load it onto the truck with the other fifty boxes to be delivered to his house.

How could the owner refuse such a decisive customer? He immediately arranged for his staff to load up the truck.

By the time they got back to the courtyard, the whole family was buzzing. Fifty boxes of fireworks were stacked in the open space—it was a spectacular sight.

"You’re always so reckless with money!" Chen Shufen said, walking over to Su Chen while wearing her apron. But the smile crinkling the corners of her eyes gave her away completely.

"It only happens once a year. We have to celebrate in style!" Su Chen said with a casual shrug.

........

The sky gradually darkened, and the sounds of firecrackers and fireworks began to fill the air.

"Su Chen! Get Su Yan and Qingya and come to the main hall to kowtow!"

"Coming!"

Su Chen was no stranger to this ritual; it was a standard procedure before the big New Year’s Eve dinner.

A small portion of each dish was plated, with chopsticks laid out to signify that the ancestors would eat first. As for the kowtowing, it was simply a prayer for peace of mind.

In the past, Su Chen’s wish was always for his ancestors to bless him with riches. Perhaps his heart wasn’t sincere enough, because his wish was only half-fulfilled—he got to wear the ’imperial yellow’ all right!

Once the kowtows were done, the three of them wasted no time and darted straight for the kitchen.

In rural homes, the kitchen and dining area are often the same room. The moment they entered, they saw a long table laden with exquisite dishes.

After all, the master chef Chen Shufen had prepared it herself. The aroma made the already starving crowd’s mouths water.

Seeing that Su Chen and the others had completed the ritual, Master Su gave a grand wave of his hand. "Let’s eat!"

This year’s reunion dinner was especially lavish, and the atmosphere around the table was filled with a sense of happiness and joy that had been missing in years past.

In previous years, they would just make small talk, play a bit of mahjong after dinner, and watch the fireworks others set off. It was nothing like the constant, joyous laughter of tonight.

Several rounds of drinks and many courses later, the meal had stretched on for a full two hours.

"Big Brother~ Let’s go light the fireworks!" Su Qingya said excitedly.

Su Chen glanced at the now-clean kitchen and called over his father, as well as his second and third uncles. They had fifty whole boxes to get through, after all. If he left it to just the three youngsters, there was no telling how long it would take.

They didn’t set off the fireworks in the courtyard itself, but on the public road beside it as a precaution against any accidents.

It took ten minutes to arrange all the boxes neatly. Su Yan, having found a bundle of incense sticks somewhere, lit them and passed one to everyone to make lighting the firework fuses easier.

"WHOOSH~ WHOOSH~ WHOOSH~ WHOOSH~"

They lit four boxes at once, watching the fireworks rocket straight into the sky.

"BOOM~ BOOM~ BOOM~ BOOM~"

A succession of fireworks exploded, brightly illuminating the surroundings. A wide smile spread across Su Chen’s face; in a way, it felt like putting a perfect finishing touch on his childhood.

They continued until eleven o’clock, by which time the fifty boxes of fireworks and all the little trinkets Su Qingya and the others had bought were gone. All that remained was the last ’Grand Dahlia’.

"Big Bro~ let’s light the last one, too!"

Su Chen thought for a moment and nodded. He had originally planned to save it for midnight sharp, but everyone was already looking weary. His two aunts and his mother, Chen Shufen, had already gone to bed.

Looking at the firework shell, which was as big as a cake, Su Chen was about to light it himself but was stopped by Su Zhuyun. To be on the safe side, they decided to let Su Yan do it. The reasoning was that he was sturdily built and a fast runner; if anything went wrong, he could get away in time.

The crucial part was that this suggestion had come from Second Uncle—Su Yan’s own father, Su Zhiqi.

As Su Yan walked up to light the mortar shell, he shot a deeply resentful glare at his ’dear father,’ Su Zhiqi.

"HISS..." As soon as the fuse caught, Su Yan shot off like a rabbit, appearing by Su Chen’s side in a flash.

His agility left everyone stunned for a moment.

Before anyone could even start teasing him, they heard a loud "WHOOSH!" as the massive firework launched into the air.

"BOOM!"

The firework exploded in the sky, illuminating a five-hundred-meter radius as bright as day, if only for a fleeting instant.

Watching the glittering fireworks, everyone tilted their heads back, admiring the ephemeral beauty...

On every weary face, you could see a smile of pure bliss.