NOVPUBRemembering the mature scent of the woman, Xu Qingfan couldn’t help but let a sleazy smile creep onto his lips.
Luckily, Xia Xiaoxiao had already turned her head back and hadn’t caught Xu Qingfan in his lecherous moment.
"Let’s go~ Stay at home, and I’ll bring you bubble tea!" Xu Qingfan turned off the TV, patted his bottom, and planned to leave.
"What time will you be back?"
"Before six, I guess. Why?" Xu Qingfan looked at the clock on the wall, uncertain.
"Oh." Xia Xiaoxiao turned her head back again.
"Huh?" Xu Qingfan looked at her back, puzzled, but the little girl didn’t seem to want to continue talking.
"Weirdo." Xu Qingfan muttered under his breath as he made his way back to his own home.
[He won’t be back until six...] Once Xu Qingfan had left, Xia Xiaoxiao propped her chin with her hands and stared blankly at the clock on the wall.
...
When Xu Qingfan arrived at Zhang Chunxue’s home, three people were already at the door to welcome him.
"Auntie, hello! Wanning, Yiyi." He greeted everyone in turn.
"You’ve grown taller." Zhang Chunxue smiled as she gestured the height from the top of Xu Qingfan’s head to her own body.
"Good afternoon, Brother Qingfan!"
"Good afternoon, brother!"
"First, wipe off your sweat, did you come by bike again?" Zhang Chunxue pushed the group inside, then handed Xu Qingfan a damp cloth after sitting down. 𝓃𝓸𝓿𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝓬ℴ𝓶
"Yeah, Auntie, how’s our comic doing?" Xu Qingfan asked eagerly.
"They’re all sold out, Brother Qingfan, all sold out!!" Lin Wanning couldn’t contain her excitement and was the first to speak up.
"Sold out?" Xu Qingfan opened his mouth in surprise, and only when he saw Zhang Chunxue nodding in confirmation did he slowly close his mouth.
"Yeah, most regions have sold out, and we’ve already contacted the publisher for a second batch. It might actually sell three million copies." Zhang Chunxue lifted her daughter onto her lap, proudly sharing with the group.
"I should’ve just printed three million copies from the start." Xu Qingfan said, regretting after the fact.
"There you go, playing Zhuge Liang after the event; funny how you’re usually such a clever person," Zhang Chunxue playfully flicked his forehead, "If we had printed three million copies right off the bat and ended up with over a million unsold, we’d essentially be working for the publisher for free. By printing only two million copies, even if we sell just over a million like the first volume, we’d still make money. Too much is as bad as too little. It’s the same principle in life. The worst is wanting too much." Zhang Chunxue imparted her wisdom.
"I was wrong, Auntie!" Xu Qingfan immediately admitted his mistake, knowing well about many future trends, but when it came to business, he was indeed an outsider.
"Auntie is right!!" Lin Wanning, seeing Xu Qingfan acknowledging his fault, clapped hands and added.
"Mom, that’s right!"
"It’s good to recognize and correct mistakes, our Xiao Fan is a good kid." Zhang Chunxue pinched Xu Qingfan’s cheek, "By the way, I looked into that Apple Company you mentioned last time, and they do have investment value. Ever since they changed CEOs, the company’s profit reports have been rising each year, but this hasn’t really reflected in the stock price."
"Auntie, did you buy it? And can we use this money to buy the stock too?" Xu Qingfan’s eyes lit up.
"Buy what, I want to buy it too!" Lin Wanning joined the excitement.
"Tsk! Right after the lesson, here we go again. Let me tell you another thing, Auntie. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Just like the 9/11 attacks two years ago, you never know which will come first, tomorrow or accidents." Zhang Chunxue tapped Xu Qingfan’s head with her hand.
Xu Qingfan:...
He really wanted to say: Auntie, I know, I know everything!
"Alright, then buying half should be okay, right? I’ll keep the rest of the money in the bank in case of emergencies," Xu Qingfan complained.
"That’s more like it!" Zhang Chunxue felt her education was extremely successful, experiencing the satisfaction of having taught a naive son.
"Auntie, and buy ducks for Ningning and Yiyi too!" Lin Wanning didn’t know what the two were talking about, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to join in the fun.
Ever since the Nasdaq crashed in 2000, many concept stocks and junk stocks had been swept out, and this was almost the best time to buy at rock-bottom prices.
The local stock market was a small temple with a big demonic wind and shallow waters filled with many bullfrogs; recently, Zhang Chunxue had been considering selling all her domestic stocks to venture into the Nasdaq.
"Alright~ Auntie will buy for all of you," Zhang Chunxue said with a smile.
"Yay!!!"
Even though they didn’t know what they were going to buy, as long as it was something all three of them were involved in, both Zhang Yiyi and Lin Wanning would be very happy.
Speaking of the Nasdaq, Xu Qingfan suddenly thought of how Zhang Chunxue took Zhang Yiyi to the Beautiful Country for medical treatment every winter break. Thinking of Wu Lingyu’s father’s illness, he asked, "Auntie, one of our classmates’ dads has uremia and needs a kidney transplant surgery. Do you know how much such surgery costs in the Beautiful Country?"
"Uremia? That disease can’t be delayed. Without the transplant surgery, it seems very few live past ten years. I’ll ask for you tonight; it’s already their rest time over there," Zhang Chunxue replied with initial shock, then seriously explained to Xu Qingfan.
"Thank you, Auntie!"
"Is it your classmate? Medical treatment over there is not cheap. Subtracting the agency fees, I estimate it’s also going to cost over five hundred thousand US dollars."
"It’s Yu’s dad!" Lin Wanning chimed in.
"Is it that little girl who came to play at our house last time? Poor thing," Zhang Chunxue recalled the pair of washed-white canvas shoes the girl wore last time she visited and sighed.
"Brother Qingfan, let’s use the money we earned from drawing to help pay for Yu’s dad’s treatment!" Lin Wanning innocently suggested.
He and Zhang Chunxue exchanged glances, both reading helplessness in each other’s eyes.
The adult world was too complicated, and it was difficult to explain the ins and outs to Lin Wanning, who was still a child, especially since school had always taught us that life is priceless.
But how many workers who died accidentally on the job site couldn’t even get a compensation of a hundred thousand yuan.
"Did Ningning say something wrong?" Seeing that Xu Qingfan didn’t respond, Lin Wanning asked nervously.
"Ningning’s desire to do good is good but you can’t just do good things as you assume..." Zhang Chunxue started her teaching mode again, citing classics and telling Lin Wanning various stories, speaking of the principle that great kindness could turn into a great debt.
"Don’t understand, Ningning will listen to Brother Qingfan. Whatever Brother Qingfan tells Ningning to do, Ningning will do!" Overwhelmed by Zhang Chunxue’s profound principles, Lin Wanning shook her small head like a rattle drum and looked at Xu Qingfan.
"Hahaha~ What if your Brother Qingfan sells you off!" Zhang Chunxue was successfully amused by Lin Wanning’s cute behavior and joked.
"Brother Qingfan would never sell Ningning, Brother Qingfan is the best!" Lin Wanning looked at Xu Qingfan expectantly, seemingly waiting for his affirmative response.
"Won’t sell, won’t sell. Ningning is so adorable, wouldn’t sell our Ningning," Xu Qingfan said with a forced smile, holding his forehead.
"And you can’t sell Yiyi either!"
"Nobody is selling anyone, let’s all stay together and be happy."
"Everyone, together, forever!" Zhang Yiyi also spoke up, word by word.
Watching their interactions, Zhang Chunxue smiled, but as she did, she suddenly thought of her own past. Promises of eternal loyalty eventually led to parting ways...
