Huayu 1999: Starting with nothing but getting something for nothing

Half an hour later, Yang Che sat in front of the bank counter, looking at the account transaction records and the balance below handed to him by the staff. He felt a little envious and itchy, but also very satisfied.

However, his face was expressionless, and his eyes were somewhat indifferent, which made him look pretentious.

He put on a very convincing act. The bank teller, who was about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, kept glancing at him with obvious interest. When Yang Che looked at her, her face turned red.

Although the saleswoman wasn't particularly attractive, Yang Che still felt quite satisfied.

Haha, I'm such a lowbrow person! But lowbrow tastes are really fun!

After filling out the form and withdrawing 4 yuan, Yang Che left.

Before leaving the bank, I observed carefully. Although I had never heard of a bank robbery in Longcheng in my past or present life, the world was still quite "simple" after all, and I was willing to be more cautious.

Hanging his bag on the handlebars of his old bicycle, Yang Che leisurely rode home.

Alright, now that my own business is done, it's time to think about my mom's situation. Although she later went to work at a tailor shop, she felt very frustrated there. In her words, serving the country and serving a private boss are not the same thing.

So I didn't stay in that job for long and ended up staying at home.

People, regardless of gender or age, cannot be idle; if they are idle, trouble is likely to occur.

Take my mom, for example. She's always either finding fault with my dad or trying to set Yang Che up with dates...

Then I saw long queues at the shops on the first floor of the May 1st Shopping Mall across the street.

Then I looked again, oh, there's a newly opened shop.

The store was called McDonald's. Yang Che remembered that it was the first McDonald's in central and western China. Several newspapers in Shanxi Province reported it that way, and he felt very proud.

It was a little past 11 a.m., and we hadn't even arrived at the restaurant yet, but seeing the beautifully dressed little boys and girls in the line, I understood.

Yang Che withdrew his gaze, a slight smile playing on his lips. This feeling was truly peculiar.

It seems like you can make money doing any kind of business these days, as long as it's not too outrageous. Hmm... I'll take another look around this afternoon.

When I got home, my mom was already cooking.

My mother peeked out from the kitchen, looking puzzled. "Why are you alone?"

"She went back to her workplace."

"Oh, I didn't have time to ask in detail this morning. What happened?"

Yang Che, who was turning on the TV, couldn't help but twitch his lips: "She's a colleague, her name is Ulan Tana, she's from Inner Mongolia, she's 30 years old, she's a director, and she's twice my width. You, stop thinking about things that aren't your business."

Wang Weiqing squinted at her son, as if to confirm whether it was true or not, then pursed her lips and went back to the kitchen to busy herself.

Yang Che sat on the sofa and started watching the TV news. This was a habit he had developed since his rebirth, especially the evening news broadcast, which he watched every day except yesterday.

At first, he wasn't really looking for any business opportunities, but rather he wanted to integrate into modern society as quickly as possible, since for him, the things happening now were things from twenty-six or twenty-seven years ago.

"The State Education Commission announced today that foreign language teaching and examinations for primary, middle, and high school students will focus on students' overall speaking and listening skills..."

Listening to the news broadcast, Yang Che squinted his eyes, just like his mother had done earlier.

It's a language repeater!

When he was a teacher, in Yangqu, more than half of the students in each class had this.

After the repeater market saturates, it'll be MP3, MP4, and learning machines like the Wenquxing... As Yang Che thought about it, a grin spread from his lips to his ears.

Hmm... Could "My Sassy Girl" get sponsorship from BBK Electronics? The female lead should learn English in response to the national call.

So, it's not unreasonable to ask my mom to be a regional distributor and get her some goods, right?

A question circulated on Zhihu (a Chinese Q&A website) later: "Why are some people able to sniff out business opportunities from the CCTV Evening News?"

One highly-rated answer hit the nail on the head: "While most people only see the news itself, those who are observant see the massive waves of policy trends, the undercurrents of market demand, and the blueprint for the future world."

In this life, information is like a sea, and opportunities are like the wind.

Especially for someone like him who possesses memories of the future, a single piece of information can connect many things.

Just like the smell of food emanating from the kitchen right now, it's like a thread that, once you smell it, unconsciously stretches your memory, making you think of things related to this smell, both past and "future".

Not long after, Dad Yang Yuanchao came home from get off work.

My mom talked about her "job interview" at the tailor shop in the mall this morning at the dinner table, and she seemed quite happy about it.

"It's run by Liu Mei in the second workshop of our factory. She asked me to go there and she gives me 600 yuan a month."

Yang Yuanchao smiled and picked up his water glass: "Comrade Weiqing, I hope you will bring your past experience to your new position and achieve even greater success!"

Mom pursed her lips, looking at Dad like a little girl, then the two smiled at each other and clinked glasses.

Yang Che, standing to the side, didn't feel superfluous at all; instead, he wore a warm, aunt-like smile.

My parents are both 46 years old and have been married for 24 years. It's heartwarming to see them still so loving.

So, quite tactlessly, he spoke up.

"Well, Dad, Mom, we must unswervingly consolidate and develop the public sector of the economy, and unswervingly encourage, support, and guide the development of the non-public sector of the economy, so that both can play their respective advantages, promote each other, and develop together in the process of socialist modernization. This is the way of society..."

Wang Weiqing's expression changed, and she slammed her hand on the table, looking at her son with annoyance: "Speak properly."

Yang Yuanchao understood the implication in his son's words: "You mean you want your mother to work independently?"

"That's what I mean. I just saw the news... It's like when I was studying, you would buy me whatever I wanted. So, these tape recorders are going to be a huge hit when the new school term starts this year."

Yang Che composed himself and recounted the whole story from beginning to end, presenting it logically and with evidence.

The couple looked at each other in surprise. Compared to what their son had said, the recent changes in their son were what surprised them the most.

He always speaks with inexplicable and nonsensical words, and he is closer to his parents than when they were in school. Sometimes he is very childish, and sometimes he is very mature for his age. In short, their son is more outstanding and capable than they imagined.

"Hmm... what you said makes a lot of sense, Weiqing. What do you think?"

"I...I don't think it's reliable. I don't know anything about it, and besides, how much money would that cost? What if we lose money?"

Yang Che remained silent, got up and went back to his bedroom under his parents' puzzled gazes, and when he came out again, he was holding two stacks of red bills in his hand.

"Mom, I'll sponsor you 20,000 yuan, enough for you to rent a counter in the mall and do the renovations. I'm going to Beijing next week, and if all goes well, I can get you the first batch of goods."

"........."

What happened next was quite simple. After staring blankly at the 20,000 yuan for a long time, the parents decided to give it a try.

Of course, they wouldn't take their son's money; they have savings.

The reason they were so distracted was simply that they had finally confirmed that their son had written a script and actually earned 30,000 yuan, money in one week that his father could only earn in three years and two months.