NOVPUB
Chapter 559: Chapter 549 Let’s all take a turn
The guests in the Zheng family’s room were anxiously waiting, and as soon as they saw Qiu Shuping and her son come in with a cardboard box marked "Donations," they hurriedly greeted them.
"Hongqi, you’re okay, right?" Zheng Guilin was timid. Ever since she knew her man was going to con people with his mother, her heart had been all over the place. Now that she saw them return, she finally felt a sense of relief.
However, her concern sounded a bit irksome to Li Hongqi. What was there to worry about? He was fine. "It’s nothing, you just worry too much."
"Xiaolan, Hongqi and the others have been tired all day. Hurry up and get some hot water for them to wash up." The mother Zheng was a shrewd person; she could tell her daughter had displeased her son-in-law, so she quickly stepped in to smooth things over. She had no choice; despite all her teaching, her daughter still lacked tact. What to do?
"Okay," Zheng Guilin didn’t notice, but she truly cared for her husband. Upon her mother’s instructions, she quickly took the thermos to fetch hot water outside.
"Hongqi, how did it go? Was the fundraising a success today?" Mother Zheng changed the topic.
Li Hongqi smiled modestly. Before he could speak, Qiu Shuping next to him could no longer hold back, "Successful, how could it not be? With me in charge and my Hongqi present, there’s nothing too difficult." She was beaming with pride.
"Oh, that’s wonderful. I knew it had to be you taking charge, Shuping. If it were me, I probably wouldn’t have managed." Mother Zheng was more cunning than Qiu Shuping and wasn’t about to argue with her at this time. Instead, she flattered her and made her tremendously happy. "Hongqi is smart, he can think of all kinds of tricks."
"Oh no, no, it was all of us thinking together." Li Hongqi was still playing the humility card.
Mother Zheng nodded in satisfaction. Good, the young man was not bad. Even with some success, he knew to stay humble and composed. With her daughter married to a man like this, she was sure to go wrong.
"Don’t be modest now, we’re all family here. Who doesn’t know what’s going on? Quick, tell us, how much did we collect today? More than the other day?" Mother Zheng was still most concerned about money.
"Hehe, we really don’t know that; we haven’t opened the box to count yet." Li Hongqi patted the cardboard box in his arms.
"That’s right, we haven’t counted yet." Qiu Shuping gave her in-law a secret glare, but when she turned back to her son, her face was all smiles again, "Son, now that we’re inside, can we count it?" She had been looking forward to this all morning.
When the donations started coming in, Qiu Shuping even forgot to pretend to be pitiful. She stared as people stuffed money into the box, silently adding up the total. But with her limited intelligence, she lost track after just five donors, and eventually gave up counting to focus on weeping. On the way back, she had wanted to check how much money was in the box several times, but her son stopped her, and her heart ached with anticipation.
Li Hongqi brought the box to the bed, gently placed it down, and then said, "All right, let’s count."
As soon as Qiu Shuping heard her son consent, her face beamed with joy as if a flower had bloomed, and she hurriedly reached for the cardboard box, ready to tear it open.
"Wait, open it carefully. Don’t damage the box, or we won’t be able to use it next time." Li Hongqi saw his mother’s roughness and quickly intervened, opening the box himself.
The two elder ladies now only had eyes for the money and couldn’t hear what he was saying.
"So much." Mother Zheng was stunned to see the pile of paper bills Li Hongqi poured onto the bed. There was so much; it had to be at least a hundred yuan. 𝚗ovp𝚞b.𝚌om
"Well, of course. You don’t know, those students are just daft. I just had to cry, and they all believed me and started throwing money into the box." In Qiu Shuping’s eyes, those students who donated were fools.
Zheng’s mother hurried over and grabbed a handful of money, beginning to straighten it out just like Qiu Shuping, "I’ve always said it, you’re a person with real skill. I don’t admire anyone else, only you, my dear in-law." Seeing the money, Zheng’s mother lavished praise on Shuping’s face as if it didn’t cost her a thing.
Qiu Shuping, meanwhile, was counting money and chuckling with satisfaction. She greatly appreciated her in-law’s flattery. Ever since her son had married a girl from the city, she had never been able to hold her head up high in front of her in-laws. This time, she felt she had truly raised her eyebrows in triumph.
After a few more sweet words from Zheng’s mother, the room quieted down as the three of them were busy grabbing, straightening, and counting money, enjoying themselves thoroughly.
When Zheng Guilin entered the room and saw this scene, she forgot all about the thermos and ran over to join in.
After a while, the four of them finished counting. There was a total of one hundred and thirteen yuan and twenty cents.
"Son, pinch me; did we really earn this much money?" Although Qiu Shuping’s words were incredulous, seeing such an amount of money made it hard for her to believe.
It wasn’t that Qiu Shuping had never seen so much money before—her second son used to send her a hundred yuan every year, and at one point, she had saved up to four or five hundred yuan. However, this money was different because she had earned it herself; it was the first time she had earned so much money in one go.
Li Hongqi didn’t stand on ceremony and pinched his mother’s arm as she had asked.
"Ouch..." Qiu Shuping’s face turned green. If it hadn’t been her youngest son, she would have been furious—it really hurt.
"Hehe, dear in-law, you believe it’s real now, don’t you?" Zheng’s mother quickly adjusted her mood, her eyes losing their green tinge as she regained her composed, elegant demeanor.
"I believe it, I believe it," Qiu Shuping nodded hurriedly, "Son, it’s so easy to make money, just one day and it’s more than two months’ of your salary. Why don’t we just stay in the Capital instead of going back home?" Qiu Shuping felt she had found a way to make money. If they could earn like today in the future, her family would strike it rich. Assuming a modest hundred yuan a day, that would be three thousand a month.
At the thought of all that money, Shuping’s heart grew hot with excitement.
"What are you dreaming about? There aren’t that many universities in the Capital; you can’t keep making money like this forever. This is a one-off deal. If we go to the same schools to fundraise for a second time, wouldn’t we be just waiting to get caught?" Li Hongqi understood the situation quite well.
The big fire of excitement in Qiu Shuping’s heart was suddenly snuffed out.
"However, we could pick a few larger schools to pull this off a few more times," Li Hongqi pondered, stroking his chin.
"Hongqi is right; we can’t do this for long, but it’s possible to try a few times with those schools," Zheng’s mother said, eyeing the pile of money. No one would turn down a chance to earn more.
"But we don’t know any students at other schools, do we?" Zheng Guilin felt their plan was a bit too optimistic and might not be so easy to execute.
"That’s also true," acknowledged Zheng’s mother, considering the point.
"We don’t need to know students from other schools. Today, I saw that we don’t actually need any acquaintances. If we pick the right spots and get past the gatekeeper, everything will be fine," Li Hongqi said confidently. He had paid close attention to the procedures today and felt they were not difficult to manage. He believed they were completely up to the task.
"That’s great, then. With this plan, we don’t need to ask your sister-in-law to lend us money. Just a few more days of donations, and we’ll have more than enough," Zheng Guilin was very happy.
