Era: Rise from the Wilderness

He put his money together with Fu Chao's money.

He looked at the treasury bonds in his hand again, and then thought that Lü Ruoxi's military training should be over. He could go to Bincheng to exchange the treasury bonds and visit Lü Ruoxi along the way.

After arranging his plans for tomorrow, his entire brain seemed to be occupied by the new program "scratch-off lottery plan," running at full capacity.

He was thinking about the specific design of the raffle ticket.

How should the thickness, size, color scheme, patterns, and text on the paper be designed to be both attractive and "professional"?

The order in which the prizes are displayed and their visual impact!

Every detail was magnified in his mind at this moment. He repeatedly examined these details, as they could subtly affect the final success or failure.

Just as I was lost in thought, my mind wandering, I heard familiar footsteps approaching from outside the courtyard gate, along with the hushed conversation of my parents and the clinking of keys.

"Is it already evening?"

Li Yunjing jolted awake and abruptly rolled over and got out of bed.

"Cloudscape?"

"Why are you home so early today?"

"Didn't you wait for us?"

The mother, He Ling, was carrying a net bag filled with vegetables in one hand and an empty lunchbox in the other. When she saw her son standing inside the door, a look of surprise appeared on her face.

Father Li Hongfeng followed behind, carrying a bulging cloth bag in his hand.

Li Yunjing took the net bag from his mother's hand and mumbled, "Yeah, something came up. I wanted to come back and be alone for a while to think it over."

He stepped aside to let his parents in.

"Hey, you've got something on your mind, huh?"

"Is it going to rain, or is Mother going to remarry?"

As Li Hongfeng placed the cloth bag on the round table, he took off his coat and casually joked, his tone teasing.

Without asking any further questions, he turned around and went into the small hut that doubled as a kitchen next door, where he began skillfully washing rice and preparing dinner for the family.

He Ling put the vegetable basket into the kitchen, and then carefully took out a small bag wrapped in a handkerchief from her handbag.

She went to the bedroom, opened the old-fashioned three-door wardrobe, squatted down, and groped her way out from among a neatly stacked pile of old clothes at the bottom of the wardrobe. She unlocked the box, carefully counted the day's earnings, and then locked the box back.

Then they carefully stuffed the metal box back into the pile of old clothes, concealing it. This was an unspoken family habit that had been passed down for many years: keeping money out of sight ensured they were safe from thieves.

"Mom, how did business go today? How much did you make?"

Li Yunjing approached the bedroom door, lowered his voice, and asked casually, as if inquiring about something.

He Ling couldn't hide the tired but satisfied smile on her face as she patted the dust off her hands: "About the same as usual, a little over three hundred."

"The main reason is that cold drinks, ice cream, and snacks are selling well. It's getting cold, but I don't know how long the ice cream and cold drinks can last."

"We need to restock tomorrow. This time we need to replenish a lot of stock, and it will probably cost a lot, around 1,500."

"Oh... will Wang Gang personally deliver the goods tomorrow?"

Li Yunjing asked the question seemingly casually, but in his heart he was already making plans.

"Probably."

He Ling straightened up and rubbed her lower back. "This time the order is quite a large quantity, so he needs to come and oversee the handover and settle the bill while he's at it."

As she spoke, she suddenly remembered something, turned her head and glared at her son, scolding, "Also, you have to call him Uncle Wang! You're so disrespectful! Who are you to call Wang Gang?"

"I know, I know, I was just at home, I was just saying it casually."

Li Yunjing responded with a grin, quickly softening his tone, "I respect him a lot when we're out; I always greet him as Uncle Wang!"

But in his heart, he was thinking: Tomorrow is an opportunity; I need to find a way to sound out Wang Gang.

He runs a small food wholesale business in the county and has a wide network of connections. Let's see if we can get some unused, large appliance packaging boxes from him to use for displaying the "prizes".

Dinner was a simple stew of cabbage and vermicelli, with a few slices of fatty pork added for flavor, along with a plate of pickled vegetable shreds. The staple foods were steamed buns and rice.

The family sat around the square table, eating quietly under the dim light.

Li Hongfeng would occasionally ask about his son's school situation, and Li Yunjing would give a vague answer.

After the meal, Li Yunjing efficiently washed the dishes and chopsticks, and then wiped the greasy table clean with a rag.

"Dad, Mom, don't turn on the TV yet, wait a minute."

After finishing, he dried his hands, turned to his parents who were about to watch the evening news, and said in a calm but unusually formal tone, "I have something important to say."

Li Hongfeng and He Ling exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of surprise in each other's eyes, before they couldn't help but find it somewhat amusing.

"Wow, so formal?"

"What's up?"

"What brilliant insights are you going to offer this time?"

"Has he discovered yet another way to make a fortune?"

Li Hongfeng withdrew his hand, teasingly sat back in his chair, and habitually took out his cigarette case, but was glared at by He Ling, so he awkwardly put it back.

"Are you going to open another shop?"

"Your dad and I are both too busy; even if there were profitable businesses, we couldn't help with them!"

He Ling also joked with a smile.

She is already very content. With this small shop, her quality of life has improved. What more could she ask for?

The two chatted back and forth, creating a relaxed atmosphere in the small main room filled with laughter.

However, the laughter abruptly stopped the next second, as if an invisible hand had suddenly choked it.

Their son, Li Yunjing, returned to the house and slowly came out carrying a schoolbag.

Unzip the zipper and pull out a crumpled old newspaper wrapped around something from the very back.

He walked back to the table, and under the watchful eyes of his parents, who were filled with confusion, curiosity, and gradually astonishment, he slowly unfolded the crumpled newspaper on the table...

The newspaper was unfolded layer by layer, revealing a neatly stacked pile of banknotes with sharp edges.

The laughter stopped abruptly.

Time seemed to freeze at that moment.

Li Hongfeng and He Ling's eyes widened instantly, their pupils contracted, and they stared intently at the stack of cash on the table—a "huge" sum for the family. Their breathing became rapid, and their chests heaved violently.

Li Hongfeng's fingers, holding the cigarette, froze in mid-air, unaware that ash had fallen onto his pants.

He Ling instinctively covered her mouth to prevent herself from screaming.

"Where...where did this money come from?"

Li Hongfeng's voice was dry and hoarse, trembling with disbelief. He suddenly looked up, his gaze piercing as he stared at his son, his eyes filled with shock, suspicion, and a barely perceptible hint of panic. "Where did you get so much money? Huh?!"

He Ling also came to her senses, her voice tense: "Yun Jing! Tell me quickly! What happened to this money? Did you...?"

She didn't dare say the rest aloud, but the meaning was clear...

Did you do something illegal, disorderly, or risky?