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

The heavy snow fell intermittently throughout the night.

The next morning, when Luo Xiyuan woke up, it was still dark, but she could already hear her father, Luo Xinde, adding coal in the yard. She put on her clothes and went to the window, where she saw her father's tall figure busy in the dim morning light. The firelight from the coal stove illuminated his profile, making him look focused and energetic.

The hot water business continues.

On the second day of the power outage, the villagers' needs were even greater. Long queues began forming at the Luo family's courtyard early in the morning.

With the experience gained on the first day, the three members of the Luo family worked together even more seamlessly. Luo Xinde was in charge of the physical labor, Luo Wen was in charge of collecting money and keeping accounts, and Luo Xiyuan, in addition to coordinating everything, developed a new business—selling boiled eggs and roasted sweet potatoes. These were all things readily available at home, with extremely low costs, but in this special period of food and drink shortages, they became sought-after delicacies.

A boiled egg sells for 50 cents, and a roasted sweet potato sells for one dollar, which has increased their income considerably.

By afternoon, the snow had finally stopped. The sky was overcast, but at least no more snowflakes were falling. On the village paths, the snow was already ankle-deep.

Just then, a familiar figure appeared at the village entrance. She was wearing a thick cotton coat and carrying a large canvas bag, walking with great difficulty through the snow.

It was her mother, Li Minxia, ​​who had returned.

"It's Mom! Mom's back!" Sharp-eyed Luo Wen was the first to see her. He excitedly jumped up from behind the table and waved towards the village entrance.

Luo Xiyuan and Luo Xinde also stopped what they were doing and looked towards the village entrance.

Li Minxia clearly saw the lively scene at the entrance of her house's courtyard. She paused for a moment, then quickened her pace.

When she reached her front door and saw everything in the yard, she was completely stunned.

In the middle of the courtyard, a large coal stove was burning brightly, with a small mountain of coal briquettes piled up beside it. The husband, Luo Xinde, was sweating profusely as he cooked noodles for someone else.

The son, Luo Wen, sat behind a small table with a money bag and an account book in front of him, earnestly making change for someone. Meanwhile, a dozen or so neighbors, carrying pots and pans, lined up in the yard…

This scene looks strange no matter how you look at it.

"Xinde? Xiyuan? Xiaowen? What... what are you doing?" Li Shuzhen asked blankly, even wondering if she had gone to the wrong house.

"Minxia! You're back!" Luo Xinde's face lit up with a big smile when he saw his wife. He put down what he was doing and quickly ran over to take the big bag off his wife's back.

"Mom!" Luo Wen ran over happily and hugged his mother's leg.

"Hey, what's going on here..." Li Minxia still didn't understand the situation.

"Mom, come inside, it's cold outside." Luo Xiyuan came over, took her mother's hand, and led her into the house.

Once inside, Luo Xiyuan poured her mother a cup of piping hot water. Li Minxia took a sip and felt her frozen body warm up a little.

Looking at the bustling scene in the courtyard outside the window, and then at the house which was noticeably cleaner and tidier than before she left, she was filled with questions.

"Xinde, what's going on? Why are you selling things at the door? Is there a power outage in the village?"

Luo Xinde chuckled and recounted the events of the previous night to his wife, from when Luo Xiyuan stopped him from leaving the house, to when he earned his first money by selling candles, and then to when he sold hot water and cooked noodles.

Of course, he omitted the part where Luo Xiyuan predicted that something bad would happen to him, only saying that his daughter was thoughtful and worried that the weather was bad and he might be in danger if he went out. He also said that the idea of ​​buying candles was the result of a discussion between father and daughter.

Even so, Li Minxia was so shocked after hearing this that she couldn't speak for a long time.

She looked at her husband, then at her daughter, her eyes filled with disbelief.

"You mean... just last night and today, you earned... earned more than five hundred dollars?" Her voice was trembling.

She worked in a textile factory, standing from morning till night every day, without a break for a month, and only earned seven or eight hundred yuan a month. Meanwhile, her husband and two children stayed at home and earned almost a month's salary in less than two days?

This sounds like something out of a fairy tale.

Luo Wen brought over his account books and money bag, spreading them out in front of his mother like treasures.

"Mom, look, this is all money we earned! We've kept a record of every single penny!"

Li Minxia looked at the childish but clear handwriting on the ledger, and then reached out to touch the thick wad of loose banknotes in her purse. The real touch told her that this was not a dream.

She was a very pragmatic woman. After the initial shock, she immediately thought of other issues.

"You're selling things at the door like this... don't the neighbors have any objections? Don't the village officials care?" she asked, somewhat worried.

"What do we care? They're thanking us right now!" Luo Xinde was very confident. "The whole village is without power, but our family is the only one who can provide everyone with a hot meal. Besides, we're not giving it away for free; it's a clearly priced transaction. Even someone like Zhao Ergou, who tried to take advantage, was shut down by Xiyuan's few words!"

He then vividly recounted how Zhao Ergou had been humiliated.

Li Minxia's gaze finally fell on her daughter, Luo Xiyuan.

She noticed that her daughter seemed like a different person after just a few days apart. The Xiyuan of the past, though sensible, was still just a child, somewhat introverted and timid in the face of challenges. But now, her daughter exuded a composure and confidence she had never seen before.

It seems that some wonderful chemical reactions have occurred in this home without her knowledge.

Li Minxia, ​​nicknamed "Xi Yuan," took her daughter's hand and asked softly, "These...were all your ideas?"

Luo Xiyuan nodded: "Mom, I just feel this is an opportunity. Our family is poor, and we have to find a way to make money."

A simple sentence brought tears to Li Minxia's eyes.

Yes, it's all because of poverty. If the family were wealthy, their daughter wouldn't have to worry about supporting the family at such a young age.

She patted her daughter's head, her eyes reddening: "My good child, you've worked so hard."

After dark, the business outside gradually quieted down. Luo Xinde tidied up the yard, and the family of four was finally able to sit down and have a peaceful reunion dinner.

The meal was more lavish than ever before. There was meat, eggs, and roasted sweet potatoes that Luo Xiyuan had specially saved. All of it was bought with their own money.

As she ate the hot meal, Li Minxia was filled with emotion. When she left home, she was worried about money for the New Year. She never expected that upon returning, not only would her family be safe and sound, but they would also have a considerable amount of savings.

After the meal, Luo Xinde voluntarily washed the dishes. This would have been something that would never have happened before.

The family sat around the table, a candle lit on it. Luo Xiyuan felt it was time to hold a formal family meeting.

"Dad, Mom," she cleared her throat, drawing everyone's attention, "the hot water and noodle business will have to close once the electricity comes back on. We need to figure out what to do next."

"I've done the math," Luo Xiyuan said, taking out the ledger written by Luo Wen. "In the past two days, we've earned a total of 672 yuan. Adding that to the 288 yuan we already had at home, we now have a total of 960 yuan."

Nine hundred and sixty yuan!

This figure left Luo Xinde and Li Minxia breathless. For their family, this was a huge sum of money.

"Xiyuan, what do you want to do?" Li Minxia asked.

"My idea is that we can't just leave the money sitting idle." Luo Xiyuan's eyes were bright. "This snow disaster isn't just about power outages. Once the snow melts, new problems will immediately arise."

"What's the problem?" Luo Xinde asked curiously.

"Transportation," Luo Xiyuan pointed out the key issue. "With the roads blocked by heavy snow for so many days, vegetables from the towns outside can't be transported in, and our village's produce can't be transported out either. Once the roads are open, what will everyone lack most?"

"Food! Especially fresh vegetables and meat!" Li Minxia immediately realized. She buys groceries all year round and is most sensitive to this.

"That's right!" Luo Xiyuan snapped her fingers. "The price of vegetables will definitely go up. If we can get there before everyone else and bring back a batch of vegetables and meat from outside, and sell them at the village market, we can definitely make a fortune!"

This plan sounds much grander and more complex than simply selling hot water.

Luo Xinde hesitated, "This...is it feasible? Where will we get the goods? How will we transport them back? That will require a lot of capital, won't it?"

"We'll use the nine hundred yuan we've earned so far as our initial investment," Luo Xiyuan said. "As for the source of goods, I have an idea. Mom, do you remember you mentioned before that there's a large vegetable wholesale market on the east side of town? Aren't the vegetables there much cheaper than at our village market?"

"Yes, it is much cheaper. But the market is far away, and it's inconvenient to go back and forth. Besides, we don't usually buy that much, so no one would go that far just to save a little money," Li Minxia said.

"But the situation is different now." Luo Xiyuan's thinking was very clear. "The snow disaster mainly affected our mountainous area; the town wasn't affected much. I guess the wholesale market should have a sufficient supply. As soon as the road is open, we'll go there to get our goods. As for transportation... we can ask Uncle Chen; I remember he has a hand tractor!"

Each step was meticulously planned and executed; Luo Xiyuan had considered every single detail.

"Isn't this... too risky?" Li Minxia was still a little worried. "If we invest all our money, what if... what if the vegetables don't sell, or something happens on the way? We'll lose everything."

This is the most normal worry for parents.

Luo Xiyuan knew that she had to give them even greater confidence.

Looking out the window, she calmly said, "Dad, Mom, have you seen the weather forecast? The news said that starting tomorrow, the temperature will rise and the ice and snow on the roads will begin to melt. In a day at most, the main road from our village to the town will definitely be open to traffic."

She paused, then dropped a bombshell: "Moreover, I heard from Grandpa Wang, who came to fetch water today, that his son works for a transportation company in the county. He said that many drivers are waiting for the roads to open so they can head to the countryside, because they know that the countryside is short of supplies and the freight rates can double. If we don't take action now, it will be too late once others realize what's happening."

The last sentence was something she made up, half true and half false. But the earlier predictions about warmer weather and reopening of roads were 100% accurate information from the future.

Luo Xinde and Li Minxia were completely convinced.

The daughter not only had ideas and plans, but she had even gathered market information. What reason did they have to doubt her?

Holding the thick wad of banknotes that represented the hopes of the whole family, and looking into her daughter's determined eyes, Li Minxia finally made up her mind.

She pushed the money to the center of the table and nodded heavily.

"Okay! Xiyuan, we'll do it your way!" She looked at her husband. "Xinde, tomorrow at daybreak, go find Uncle Chen and discuss renting the tractor with him!"

"Okay!" Luo Xinde slammed his hand on the table and agreed.