Back to 2008: I Helped My Dad Become the Richest Man

Buying the entire apartment building made the Luo family somewhat well-known in the county.

Many people are asking about the background of this "Luo's Farm" that has been so extravagantly funded.

Luo Xinde also enjoyed the thrill of being a big boss.

He used to have to beg the bank to grant him a loan, but now the bank manager personally comes out to greet him, offering him cigarettes and tea.

When he goes to government departments to handle matters, it used to be difficult to get in and he would be met with unfriendly faces. Now, everyone greets him with a smile and gives him the green light all the way.

He felt that he had never lived such a comfortable life.

The construction of the food factory and the organic fertilizer plant also proceeded very smoothly. With funding in place, a capable construction team, and the full supervision of two technical experts, Mr. Liu and Mr. Sun, two modern factories rose from the ground in Luojia Village at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The Luo family's business has entered a phase of rapid development.

But Luo Xiyuan knew that this was far from enough.

Real estate investment is a long-term investment, and it takes time to see results. While food processing plants and organic fertilizer plants can generate stable cash flow, they are essentially still physical industries, which are too susceptible to market fluctuations and various uncontrollable factors.

She had to find a safer and more promising source of wealth for the family.

That is, her second step in precise investment—entering the capital market.

That evening, she called Luo Xinde into her study alone again.

Luo Xinde now has a bit of a psychological aversion to entering his study. He knows that every time his daughter calls him in, it means that his views on many things are about to be completely changed.

"Xiyuan, what instructions do you have this time?" he asked half-jokingly.

"Dad, do you remember the stocks I talked about with you last time?" Luo Xiyuan got straight to the point.

"I remember," Luo Xinde nodded. "Isn't it just like gambling? You bet on it and it goes up, you bet on it and it goes down."

"Dad, that understanding is too one-sided." Luo Xiyuan shook her head. She knew that it would be difficult to change her father's deeply ingrained beliefs.

She decided to try a different approach.

"Dad, let me ask you, what's the most valuable thing in our family right now?"

"Of course it's our farm, our factory, and that building in the county town."

"Yes. Have you ever considered whether, besides ourselves, others could also get a share of the profits from our farm and factory?"

"That won't do!" Luo Xinde glared. "This is our family's property. Why should we give it to others?"

"Dad, don't get agitated. Think about it, Uncle Zhao invested 100,000 yuan and became our shareholder. Now that we're making money, shouldn't we give him a share of the profits? Isn't this just someone taking a slice of our pie?"

"That's different! Zhao Hu invested money!"

"Yes! That's exactly right!" Luo Xiyuan clapped her hands. "Uncle Zhao invested money and became our mini-boss. So, can't we also invest our money in other people's companies and become their mini-bosses?"

"We're going to become someone else's boss?" Luo Xinde was stunned.

"Yes." Luo Xiyuan turned on her computer and opened the stock software again. "Look, this 'Kweichow Moutai,' it's a liquor company. Its liquor is the best-selling and most expensive in China. This company can earn several billion yuan a year. Now, when we spend money to buy its stock, it's like we're lending money to this company to grow. When it earns more money, we, as one of its 'partners,' will naturally be able to share in the profits. This is called 'value investing.'"

She tried her best to explain the essence of stocks using logic that Luo Xinde could understand, such as being a boss and sharing profits.

Luo Xinde listened, seemingly understanding but not quite. He stared at the red and green curves on the screen, still feeling uneasy.

"Is this thing... reliable? It seems so dubious to me." He scratched his head. "Once you hand over this money, it's just a bunch of numbers, visible but intangible. How can it compare to our pigs or our houses? Those are real, tangible things."

This is a simple yet deeply ingrained belief among those working in the real economy. They believe in things they can see and touch, and tend to have some distrust of virtual financial assets.

"Dad, I know you don't believe me," Luo Xiyuan said calmly. "Then let's make a bet, shall we?"

"A bet? What kind of bet?"

"We'll just take ten thousand yuan, not much, just ten thousand yuan," Luo Xiyuan said. "We'll use this ten thousand yuan to buy a stock. We'll just leave it there and not touch it. After a year, we'll see how much this ten thousand yuan has become. If it loses money, I'll consider it a loss, and I'll make it up to you from my own New Year's money. If it goes up, then you have to promise me that all future investments in the family will be under my control. Are you willing to take the gamble?"

Ten thousand yuan wasn't a large sum for the Luo family now. Luo Xinde thought the suggestion was acceptable. If they lost, it was just ten thousand yuan—they could consider it tuition for their daughter. If they won… he hadn't even considered winning. In his opinion, it would be good enough if they didn't lose everything.

"Okay! I'll bet you!" Luo Xinde readily agreed. "But you have to tell me clearly, how exactly do you get this thing? Where do you buy it?"

"It's very simple. You need to go to the securities company in the county town first, use your ID card to open a stock account. Then deposit the money into it, and you can buy and sell stocks on the computer."

"Do I need my ID card again?"

"That's right. I'm still a minor, so I can't open an account." Luo Xiyuan had already thought it through.

"That won't do!" Luo Xinde immediately became wary upon hearing this. "Using my ID card would be the same as me making the purchase, wouldn't it? What if we lose money? Wouldn't they blame it all on me?"

Luo Xiyuan was amused by her father's idea: "Dad, what are you thinking? It's just an account, much like opening a savings account at the bank. The money is still our family's money."

"That won't do either. I just don't think this is reliable. What if it's some kind of scam?" Luo Xinde was still worried.

Seeing that she couldn't persuade her father, Luo Xiyuan sighed. She knew that this matter couldn't be rushed.

It seems we have no choice but to activate Plan B.

The next day, she found her younger brother, Rowan, playing Spider Solitaire on the computer in the yard.

"Hey bro, wanna earn some pocket money?" Luo Xiyuan whispered mysteriously in his ear.

"I want to!" Luo Wen's eyes lit up. "Sis, what good business opportunity is there now?"

"This business deal is a little special," Luo Xiyuan said in a low voice. "I want to play a numbers game with you. If you do well, you'll never have to ask Mom for money to buy KFC again."

"Really?" Rowan's interest was piqued.

Luo Xiyuan nodded, and then she repeated what she had told her father yesterday to her younger brother in a simpler, more playful way.

"...So, what we're going to do now is secretly use Dad's ID to open a game account. Then, we'll use both of our New Year's money to recharge it and buy that game item called 'Moutai.' Once that item is upgraded, we can sell it and get more game currency. Got it?"

After listening, Luo Wen blinked, then looked at his sister calmly and asked a question that almost made Luo Xiyuan vomit blood.

"Sis, you're talking about stock trading, right?"

"How...how did you know?" Luo Xiyuan's mouth dropped open.

"I've read a lot of books," Luo Wen said matter-of-factly. "It's all written in financial magazines. It's just stock trading. You make money by buying low and selling high. Sis, don't treat me like a three-year-old, I understand."

Looking at her younger brother, who seemed to have seen through everything, Luo Xiyuan was speechless for a moment.

She forgot that her younger brother was also surprisingly intelligent.