From Wage Slave to Tycoon

The call connected after three rings.

"Hellooo," Xiao Chen’s voice was tinged with laziness, as if he’d just been woken up.

’Su Chen checked the time. It wasn’t even nine o’clock yet. I didn’t get the time wrong, did I? How is he asleep so early?’

"Brother Cheen, are you sleeping?" Su Chen asked tentatively.

"Mhm," Xiao Chen mumbled. A rustling sound followed, as if he were sitting up in bed.

"I’ve had to pull a few all-nighters recently. Are you calling because you’ve decided on a location?"

Su Chen paused, taken aback. He quickly realized Xiao Chen was referring to choosing a site for the factory.

"Uh, Brother Cheen, I haven’t thought about that yet. I’m calling about something else."

Su Chen briefly explained that François Pinault had contacted him.

"The Pino family? You mean the business dynasty behind the Kaiyun Group?" Xiao Chen’s voice rose considerably, all traces of his earlier sleepiness gone.

"Yeah. The head of the Pino family called me. You know about the intense rivalry between their family and the Arno family. I guess they saw the Arno family return all those artifacts and didn’t want to be outdone."

’Of course, that was just my guess. There were surely deeper motives at play, but that wasn’t my problem. All I had to do was pass the message along; the rest was up to the relevant departments.’

’Whether the subsequent ceremony was grand or not had nothing to do with me. I couldn’t control it, after all. So even if François Pinault came looking for me later, there’d be nothing I could do or say about it.’

"Hahaha! That’s fantastic news. I’ve got it!" With that, Xiao Chen was about to hang up. But then, as if remembering something, his tone shifted completely. "Su Chen, I hope you’ll give what I told you before some serious thought. Remember, I mean *very* serious!!"

Staring at the disconnected call, Su Chen’s brow furrowed. He wasn’t a fool; he could read between the lines. ’There’s definitely a hidden meaning here.’

He tossed his phone onto the table, lay back on his bed, and began to think.

’Logically, the obvious choice would be a developed city like Peng City. It’s the top pick in terms of talent, infrastructure, and other resources. But everything Xiao Chen just said was screaming at me not to choose Peng City.’

’If he wanted me to choose Peng City, he would have just said so from the start. Why even bring up the lagging Northeast as an option?’

’Thinking back to how he told me to be *very* serious... isn’t it obvious he wants me to choose the Northeast?’

At this thought, Su Chen felt conflicted. ’Choosing the Northeast wouldn’t really affect me much personally. In fact, I could probably make a fortune quietly. But talent and personnel would be a huge problem.’

’I can’t just ask people to leave their homes and families, to give up their bright futures in the big city, just to go to the Northeast and work on a project with no guarantee of success...’

’Of course, that was just about the researchers. I know that with the data I have, it wouldn’t even take half a year—maybe just a few months, provided the facility is ready—to turn that research into a physical product. We could even mass-produce it.’

"Why am I overthinking this? It’s something for after the New Year anyway. I’ll just discuss it with Pei Rang and the others then." Su Chen’s head was starting to hurt from all the thinking, so he decided to drop the subject.

He threw back the covers, turned off the light, and was instantly fast asleep!

............

"Chen Fei, you’re on vacation starting today. Go home early and spend some extra time with your family. I’ll call you when it’s time to come back to work."

While they were having breakfast, Su Chen remembered that the Little New Year was just around the corner. Since he would also be heading back to Wudu for the holidays, he decided to give Chen Fei a long break to spend with his family.

Chen Fei was stunned. It was only the eighteenth of the twelfth lunar month; the New Year was still more than ten days away.

"Ah, Sir, there’s still a while before the New Year. Why don’t I stay a few more days? I can help you prepare some things for the holiday!"

The mention of holiday shopping... made Su Chen realize he hadn’t thought about it at all. He had been planning to go back to Wudu empty-handed.

After a moment’s thought, he said, "Alright. I’ll arrange a plane to take you home from Wudu then."

Chen Fei smacked his lips, wanting to say that arranging a plane was unnecessary. But seeing Su Chen with his head lowered, focused on his breakfast, he swallowed the words.

After breakfast, Su Chen took Chen Fei out to do some holiday shopping.

It was his first time doing this kind of shopping, and he had no idea what to get. He even had to search online for ideas. In his memory, New Year’s preparations involved buying things like peanuts, sunflower seeds, milk candies, and various fruits.

Most of the videos online recommended snacks and fruits. Of course, there were also suggestions for more extravagant holiday goods, like premium dried seafood—dried abalone, dried sea cucumber, fish maw, and the like.

Su Chen’s eyes lit up. ’This is exactly the kind of thing I need! I can buy some to take home and give as gifts to my relatives.’

Chen Fei, from the driver’s seat, turned his head and asked, "Sir, where are we off to now?"

"Jiangyang North Road Dried Goods Market!"

He’d found it online. It was located in the Baoshan District, just a few streets away from Shanghai University, and was supposedly the largest dried goods market in all of Shanghai. If there was a premium dried good you could think of, you could find it there.