NOVPUBThe richer you are, the less money seems to be enough.
Having made a clean forty million, Suming originally thought that for the next year or two, he wouldn’t need to worry about money. But when he lay down and took the time to think quietly, he found that there were indeed quite a few places where money was needed!
The situation with the zoo wasn’t too bad; there was no need for him to put in more money for the time being. The profits from a few projects were enough to cover the zoo’s expenses and expansion. Moreover, Suming was the manager of the zoo, not the owner, so there was no reason for him to personally dig into his pockets.
What needed money were the other few private projects of his, each like a hungry child waiting to be fed.
At the reservoir, there was ample water area, but when he took over the reservoir last year, due to financial constraints, the density of the aquaculture wasn’t nearly at saturation. If one were willing to spend the money to buy fingerlings, hire workers, purchase small fishing boats, and fishing crates and such, it would be no problem to expand the breeding scale several times over.
Currently, the fish from the reservoir and Shuijun Lake were hot sellers in the market, and several bosses from other places would take as much as they could. As long as one was willing to invest money, by next year, they could be rolling in profits.
The same logic applied to the distillery. In a short period, Da Sheng Liquor had already become a well-known brand in Yangchuan City. Describing it as ’high demand but short supply’ might be an exaggeration, but it was accurate to say that supply couldn’t meet demand, and many distilleries from other areas had begun contacting the distillery, hoping to place orders.
However, given the current scale of the distillery, whether in terms of manpower or factory machinery, it could at most sustain a capacity of a hundred tons a year. To increase production further, it would require substantial additional investment for expansion. That was another hefty sum of money.
Wang Hao’s entertainment company, although comprised of small projects, also had room for expansion.
Take the pleasure boats, for example. The reservoir area was so vast; below the water are fish, but above the water and the surroundings were still unused. Purchasing a few boats, they could be used for fishing patrols during the rainy season and lake cruising for tourists at other times, which had great development potential. Based on Suming’s years of experience living in Yangchuan City, citizens preferred going to places like the reservoir for outdoor outings on weekends and holidays. It was a pity that there had never been any interesting projects at the reservoir. When Zhou Jin was around, even fishing had to be done sneakily. If managed well, a new path could certainly be forged.
Oh right, he should also buy a small plane.
Making money was an irreversible path. When Suming had been a poor student, he thought that people could truly be satisfied and happy with what they had. But once he started down this path, he realized that either you spend someone else’s money to buy your happiness, or when you’re broke, you delude yourself with comforting thoughts.
The process of making money was a pleasure in itself; put grandly, it was an ideal, a career; speaking realistically, without all that money backing him, he wouldn’t be here grandly gambling with Nangong, but would be in some shabby company, acting subservient to the boss during the day and sucking up to a future mother-in-law in the evening; without money, the zoo wouldn’t last, and his spiritual power wouldn’t have improved so quickly; without money, his mother would still be at home eating out on a retirement salary of less than a thousand Yuan a month, and the people of Sun Town would still be wailing over the wild boars ruining their few acres of grain...
For a grown man to just eat his fill and sleep, waking only to eat again, and not do things that benefit the people and society—can he still call himself a party member?
"I knew you’d play dumb once you got your hands on it. You said a lot, but it seems like you’ve forgotten something very important," Nangong said as she lay on Suming’s chest, slapping him hard. A crisp ’smack’ echoed through the room.
"How could I forget!" Suming winced and grimaced in pain, a bloody handprint emerging on his chest, and said earnestly, "Proposing and getting married is a once-in-a-lifetime event. How could I treat it so carelessly?"
Hearing Suming hit the nail on the head, and understanding that he knew exactly what he was doing, Nangong’s expression instantly softened. She nestled against his chest and whispered, "As long as you’re sincere, the formality isn’t important."
"That’s from your perspective, but from mine, if I have the capability to give you a grand ceremony and yet I skimp on it, all the sweet talk would just be lip service, no heart in it. Besides, I’m actually quite traditional at heart and I love extravagance. I had no choice when I was poor, but now that I finally have a chance to make money, I must use the opportunity to show off and indulge, maybe even get a little revenge on society while I’m at it."
Just as Nangong understood Suming, Suming also truly understood Nangong. She had been raised in a well-off family, pampered from a young age, and though she never demanded anything openly, deep down she dreamed of a proposal and wedding like those in fairy tales, creating memories to treasure for a lifetime.
If Suming really took the "sincerity over formality" sentiment to heart and just bought a cheap diamond ring to propose, then celebrated by having a couple bowls of noodles at the next-door restaurant, Wang Lao San’s, the consequences would be catastrophic.
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That’s how little princesses turn into wicked queens and old witches, and he didn’t want to tremble at the sight of apples for the rest of his life.
"I can’t win against you, but don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to, hmm hmm... Anyway, what’s done is done, what else can I do, have it your way." Nangong had known Suming for so long and understood his true nature very well. She shifted her body, huffed twice, and found a more comfortable position to lie in.
Nangong could guess what Suming was thinking, and Suming knew she could guess, and that she wouldn’t misunderstand him. Ancient literati would call this ’a meeting of the minds,’ but modern creative types would simply term it ’finding someone who gets me.’
This feeling was great. The couple had their share of playful bickering, arguments, and mood swings, but most of the time, they found peace in each other’s company. It might not seem overly romantic, but it felt secure. Or perhaps there was a type of romance that only the two of them understood in their hearts.
"It’s all because of what you said this afternoon, it got me itching to create a Disney... a living breathing Disney..." Suming muttered to himself.
Nangong was already drowsy, resting her head and responding sleepily, "Then do it..."
Suming stared at the ceiling, "I definitely don’t have the power to do it now. But tell me, is it possible to achieve it before I turn thirty? Then I might very well be the youngest wealthy man in the country, not counting those who inherited their wealth."
"Mmm... take me home to meet your dad... oh... when I wake up..."
Nangong’s voice faded away, trailing off incoherently. Suming looked down slightly to see the girl already asleep on his body, her little nose twitching with each breath.
Suming smiled softly, reached out to turn off the bedroom light, pulled up the blanket a bit, and gently draped it over Nangong’s exposed shoulder. Then he wrapped his arms around her, as sleepiness overwhelmed him.
That night, Nangong had a dream. She dreamt that she was wearing a princess gown, in a magnificent castle. The castle faced the sea and backed onto the green hills, bell tones rang out, and brilliant sunshine spilled across the entire forest. Various animals, dressed in splendid attire, surrounded a young man on horseback with a sword on his side, who came before her. The youth dismounted and knelt on one knee before her...
Even in the dream, she could clearly recognize the face of the person before her—it was Suming.
Suming had a series of dreams that night.
Winning a big prize in the lottery, hitting a four-game win streak at the horse races, the party finally deciding to kick Trump out and choose him to run in this year’s election... The most enjoyable dream was where all the animals came to life, running, jumping, talking, and singing just like humans. All the males called him "Great King", and all the females did the same, though naturally, their pronunciations were different...
There he was, sitting on the throne of the Great King, chin in hand, pondering a very serious question.
Should he have the wildly seductive leopard princess attend his bed tonight, or the charming kitty? The little tiger was also a good option, or perhaps the rabbit? But no matter whom he chose, someone would feel neglected.
That’s it, why not have them all together? But his body couldn’t take it... Ah, it’s so tough, being a man is too tough!
Just then, the door to the cave was suddenly kicked open with a bang, and Nangong charged in dressed like a fully-leveled warrior, her legendary gear sparkling brightly, wielding a pair of eerily large scissors...
He had never seen a warrior use scissors as a weapon; the scene was especially dissonant. Suming was just about to ask why the scissors were so large when he felt a chill between his legs, and then he was abruptly awakened.
"Holy crap! It was a dream! It was all a dream!" Suming looked out at the sky, washed in azure, and broke out in a cold sweat.
But something was off. Even though he was awake, why did there still seem to be a coolness between his legs?
He looked down to see Nangong up already, the blanket from the bed wrapped around her. The girl was sitting with her legs curled up on the other side of the bed, smiling at him.
The balcony door was open, and he was clad only in a pair of large, hollowed-out boxers. With the sea breeze blowing in, the "draft" whistled through the big leg holes of the boxers—now that was a cool breeze.
"You’re up; I’ve been watching you for a long time," Nangong cooed, hugging the blanket like a little cat and snuggling closer, her voice sticky and her gaze seductive. Between couples who had been intimate, it was easy to understand what that look meant.
"Hold on!" Suming instinctively backed away and squeezed his legs together, asking nervously, "You don’t have those scissors, do you?"
"Huh? What scissors? Where are the scissors? What do you need scissors for?" Nangong was taken aback.
...
The ellipsis above signifies that after Nangong’s moment of surprise, an intense, not-for-children battle ensued. They were young and fiery, and after being together for a while, who knows when a spark could ignite a fierce clash.
By noon, they were too lazy to go out. They stayed sprawled on the big bed and ordered lunch from the front desk. Suming also called Mrs. Tong, and everything with the zoo staff’s schedule for the past two days had gone smoothly—they were all at Po Lin Monastery on Mount Dayu, making prayers. Mrs. Tong, with evident smugness in her voice, said that Po Lin Monastery was nothing compared to their zoo’s "Fox Immortal" in effectiveness.
She reassured Suming that their group was having a great time and not to worry. However, for him and Nangong, being a couple rarely out together, they should really enjoy themselves.
"Is Su Meng doing okay?" Among the group, Su Meng was whom Suming was most concerned about. Without him by Su Meng’s side, Suming was worried he might go off, turn into Tarzan, and cause trouble—not a laughing matter, since Hong Kong’s police were armed, and being shot in the street was not an option.
Haidong Qing was currently playing near Mount Dayu with no foreseeable danger, so he decided to have it accompany Su Meng.
"Hey boss, let me tell you, your cousin and Nurse Hu might be a thing!" Mrs. Tong, instantly energized at the mention of romantic affairs, found a quieter spot and whispered excitedly for a good while. The gist was: Su Meng ignored everyone except Nurse Hu, who just needed to give him a glare, and Su Meng would behave!
"This can’t be happening; another henpecked husband!" Suming erupted.
"Why do you say ’another’?" Nangong asked, her smile blooming like flowers.
"Wang Hao’s dad is a henpecked husband!" Suming replied quickly, all earnest, then deliberately snorted twice, pretending to say, "I have no respect for such men..."
"Oh? Is that right?" Nangong approached, eyes narrowing.
"You again?!" Suming rolled over to pin her!
Suming had been having such a great time these past days that he almost forgot about the charity banquet. Nangong, however, had kept it in mind. After their tussle, they left the hotel to pick out clothes for the evening’s charity banquet.
