Volume One, Chapter 10: Let’s Talk About It After I Become the Richest Person in the Village!

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In no time at all, Uncle repaired all three fish traps.

Then, unable to wait any longer, he grabbed the traps and fishing nets and hurried down to the river. Tang Xionghua followed to see how things were going.

Meanwhile, Tang Yichen noticed several neighbors repairing fish traps and nets in their own courtyards as well.

Grandpa had already spread the news.

When the villagers in their group heard about such a good opportunity, they were all eager to give it a try. Seeing that everyone was as enthusiastic as he had expected, Grandpa had informed only the villagers in their own group for the time being, keeping the other groups in the dark.

After all, Tang Xionghua was buying only five hundred pounds this time. Twenty or thirty households would be more than enough to gather that much.

By noon, people could be seen everywhere along the village’s main river, lowering fish traps and spreading nets. Those who owned ponds were setting nets in them as well.

Grandpa even said that some households with many traps had placed them upstream, in other villages, so they could catch more. That way, they could avoid concentrating all the traps in one place and depleting the catch of fish and shrimp.

Tang Yichen could not help sighing inwardly. In those days, making a little money was truly difficult for everyone.

Just ten or twenty yuan could inspire such enthusiasm…

“Yichen, why don’t you stay tonight and sleep with Grandma?”

After lunch, Grandma could not bear to part with him and wanted him to stay the night.

That would be the death of Tang Yichen!

When he was little, he really had slept in the same room as his grandmother until he was seven or eight. But now…

“No! I want to sleep with Dad!” Tang Yichen stubbornly threw a childish tantrum.

Aside from the unbearable prospect of sleeping with Grandma, he also had to pretend to be a five-year-old in front of everyone else. It was exhausting.

On top of that, he had to play with Tang Yifan, a genuine little brat. The emotional strain was immense.

Only when he was with his father, Tang Xionghua, could he reveal his true nature and let himself go.

“Mom, the boy’s gotten used to sleeping in his own bed. I’d better take him back to town,” Tang Xionghua said, suppressing a laugh as he noticed the helplessness in his son’s eyes and came to his rescue.

But Grandma refused to give in. “What do you mean, he’s gotten used to his own bed? Nonsense!”

With no other choice, Tang Yichen brought out his secret weapon and put on an adorable expression. “Grandma, I’ll come back in a couple of days. Don’t miss me too much, okay?”

As he spoke, he leaned over and kissed her.

The maneuver instantly made Grandma beam. “All right, all right. My Tang Yichen is the sweetest boy in the world.”

Only then did she release him with satisfaction.

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Tang Yichen waved goodbye as he nimbly climbed onto the rear seat of his father’s sturdy bicycle.

If they did not leave now, he might never get away.

Tang Xionghua smiled knowingly. “Dad, Mom, Big Brother, Sister-in-law, I’ll be heading back now!”

“Go on. The school meeting is important,” Grandpa Tang Jiaxiang reminded him.

He still had no idea that Tang Xionghua was planning to resign, and Tang Xionghua naturally did not bring it up at such a moment.

Until he had earned enough money, his family would certainly never agree to his resignation.

Besides, who in their right mind would give up a secure government job?

As they rode along the bumpy country road, Tang Xionghua turned to tease Tang Yichen on the back seat. “Yichen, why didn’t you stay in the village and play with Yifan a little longer? Relive your childhood memories?”

“Forget it. I’m getting old. I can’t play anymore…” Tang Yichen replied irritably.

“Hahaha! Hahaha!” Tang Xionghua laughed delightedly.

His son was so prematurely old-fashioned. It was rather amusing.

After they returned to their home in town, Tang Yichen enjoyed a sound afternoon nap.

After all, he had only a five-year-old body, and children needed more sleep than adults.

Before two o’clock, Tang Xionghua left for school to complete the final handover.

Before leaving, as usual, he checked that all the doors and windows were securely shut. It was not that he feared Tang Yichen would run off; he was worried about burglars getting in.

His son was no longer the little rascal he had once been, and Tang Xionghua was no longer quite so anxious about him.

“Ah—that was such a comfortable nap!”

A little after three in the afternoon, Tang Yichen woke and stretched lazily.

Material comforts were somewhat scarce in that era, and there was little in the way of entertainment.

But the surroundings were genuinely peaceful. The air was fresh, and from outside the window came not only the fragrance of flowers but also the chirping of birds.

Even with nothing more than an old-fashioned electric fan, one could sleep wonderfully well.

With nothing else to do after waking, Tang Yichen moved a stool onto the balcony. There, enjoying the summer breeze, he took out a small notebook and began writing down, from memory, some important milestones and key events from the future.

For example, Penguin in 1998 and WeChat in 2012.

Aside from major developments in the internet industry, there were also opportunities in the capital markets, industrial manufacturing, and other rising sectors…

These were all crucial openings that could help his father ascend to the position of the richest man in the country.

He had to do everything in his power to devise a feasible path according to the timeline.

Before he knew it, it was already past five.

The moment Tang Xionghua returned home, he sighed heavily and told Tang Yichen, “Your dad is officially unemployed now. From this day forward, the school has nothing whatsoever to do with me. I thought the teachers who worked alongside me would feel at least a little sorry to see me go. Who would have guessed they didn’t care in the slightest whether I was dismissed? Ah, the world is so cold and heartless!”

“That’s nothing unusual. Everyone looks after the snow in front of his own door; who cares about the frost on someone else’s roof? That’s only human nature. Besides, they’re afraid of the principal’s authority, aren’t they? Dad, you need to look on the bright side. What’s that saying? If this place won’t keep you, there’s somewhere else that will! Once you become the richest man in the country, it’ll be a different story!”

Tang Yichen curled his lip and laughed dismissively.

“You’re always aiming for the moon. Can’t we be a little more realistic? Let’s talk about becoming the richest man in the village first,” Tang Xionghua replied with a laugh.

He made it sound easy, but in truth, he still felt rather disheartened.

After all, at that point he had not even considered entering the business world. He had always believed that he was destined to spend his entire life behind a lectern.

Even though he now knew that the small-fish-and-shrimp business could work, and his son’s confidence had greatly strengthened his own, saying farewell for good to the career he had once dreamed of was bound to leave him melancholy.

Fortunately, Tang Xionghua soon collected himself. He knew that all they could do was look ahead.

“Yichen, I brought home the last meal from the school cafeteria. You can eat here, or you can come with me to the countryside. I need to go see what we brought in today.”

“I’m not going to the countryside with you. Otherwise, Grandma will grab hold of me again and refuse to let me leave.”

Tang Yichen figured that by the time they returned to town, it would certainly be dark, and Grandpa and Grandma would be even less willing to let him go.

Walking the roads at night was dangerous. Their precious grandson could not possibly be allowed to travel through the darkness with Tang Xionghua.

“All right, then! I’ll come back as early as I can. Be careful here by yourself.”

Tang Xionghua said no more. After reminding him to be careful, he promptly left.

At that moment, the small fish and shrimp in the countryside were what occupied his thoughts most. Unless he went back to inspect the situation himself, he probably would not be able to sleep that night.

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Around six o’clock, Tang Xionghua’s sturdy bicycle appeared at the entrance to the village.

“Back already, Xionghua?”

“Oh, it’s Teacher Tang!”

“Xionghua, I heard you’ve found a way to make money in the county town. You should think of our group too. We’re all from the same village, after all—just different groups.”

…

From the moment he entered the village, people kept greeting Tang Xionghua.

For one thing, he was a teacher at the town’s middle school, a position that earned him considerable respect among the villagers.

For another, after half a day of rumors spreading, some of the better-informed villagers already knew that Tang Xionghua planned to buy dried fish and shrimp from the village.

They joked with him, sounding him out.

The moment Tang Xionghua gave them the go-ahead, they would rush straight to the river with their fish traps.