I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 101. Zhang Chunxue's Child Rearing

"Brother Qingfan, why has your handwriting changed?" At Zhang Yi's home, the two little ones were busy copying Xu Qingfan's "Happy Summer Vacation".

"Oh, the characters... the pen is a bit hard to write with. Wan Ning, hurry up and copy them, or you'll call me crying again at 10 pm." Xu Qingfan awkwardly touched his nose and changed the subject.

"Brother, homework!" Zhang Yiyi remembered what Xu Qingfan had said last semester and wrote on the draft paper: "Brother Qingfan, didn't you say that it's more meaningful to leave homework until the last day?"

"Pfft~ I was talking about doing it yourself. If you have homework to copy, it's better to do it as soon as possible. I was just worried that you two wouldn't be able to finish!" Xu Qingfan said after patting the two little ones on the head.

"Hehe, thank you, Brother Qingfan! Brother Qingfan is the best!"

"Thank you, brother!"

Lin Wanning and Zhang Yiyi comfortably rested their heads on Xu Qingfan's palms.

"Take your time copying. If you get to page 60 today, I'll take you out to play." He patted the two on the shoulder, turned around, and walked out of the room.

"Great!!!"

"Let's copy it quickly!"

"Ok!"

In the living room, Zhang Chunxue was engrossed in processing emails on her computer when she saw Xu Qingfan come out. Her face twitched involuntarily: "Don't call me Mom!"

"Pfft~ Auntie's busy!" Xu Qingfan sat down next to her with a grin.

"Speak up, what mischief are you up to now? Auntie doesn't have time right now." Zhang Chunxue typed without looking up from the screen.

"Holy crap~ Auntie, you invested in this company?" Xu Qingfan exclaimed in surprise as he looked at the content displayed on the computer screen.

“Yeah, why? Didn’t you advise me to pay more attention to e-commerce before? This company expanded very quickly during the SARS outbreak in Beijing. I felt it had potential, so I invested some money.” Zhang Chunxue chuckled and ruffled Xu Qingfan’s hair.

"No, it's nothing, I think it's pretty good too," he said with a grin.

Xu Qingfan thought to himself, "How could this be bad? This is a second-hand product!"
In the original timeline, Qiangzi had to wait until early 04 to officially start his entrepreneurial experiment in the field of e-commerce. Although his family and girlfriend were not optimistic, they still lent him money to start the business.

Now, even though the startup plan is still in its infancy, venture capital has already come knocking on the door. Qiang Ge is naturally overjoyed, after all, the internet is very expensive. Zhang Chunxue thus easily acquired 30% of Secondhand East's shares for $100 million plus some advertising resources.

Compared to the first round of financing of over ten million US dollars three years later, the price at this time can be described as a bargain.

"It's really good. If we hadn't talked about it before, Auntie would have missed out on such a great unicorn. When we make money in the future, Auntie will give you some shares!" Zhang Chunxue smiled as she rested her chin on her hand.

"Then I'll have to record it as an MP3, just in case you deny it later!"

"You don't even trust Auntie? Recording it won't do you any good; verbal promises have no legal effect." Zhang Chunxue playfully tapped his head. "So, what do you need Auntie's help with this time?"

Xu Qingfan smiled shyly: "Auntie, I want to buy stocks!"

Zhang Chunxue wasn't puzzled as to why Xu Qingfan had this idea. Back in 03, the domestic stock market was booming. From an eighty-year-old grandmother selling vegetables to an eighteen-year-old college student who had just graduated from high school, almost everyone was involved in stock trading.

She assumed that Xu Qingfan had come up with this idea simply because he had heard it from many sources.

"Stocks can go up or down, you know. Be careful not to lose all the money you've worked so hard to make from drawing comics. Besides, you have to be over 18 to open a stock account. You don't mean to ask your aunt to open an account for you, do you?"

"Mmm-hmm!" Xu Qingfan nodded vigorously.

Zhang Chunxue rested her chin on her fingers, looking at Xu Qingfan with a half-smile: "Stock trading is a very profound subject. Have you decided which stock you want to buy before you start learning how to trade stocks?"

Zhang Chunxue agreed in principle, after all, her stock account was already quite profitable, and red-chip stocks were so hot right now that she could make money even if she bought them blindly. Even if she lost money, she could just make up the difference for Xu Qingfan. "Auntie, I've made my choice, I want to buy Apple stock!"

"Apple Inc.? Which Apple Inc.?" Zhang Chunxue tried to recall which stock in the A-share market was named Apple.

"Auntie, it's Apple, the American company. I saw it in the movie Forrest Gump. Forrest Gump bought this stock and became a billionaire!"

"Pfft~ You mean that company that sells computers and MP3 players? Auntie vaguely remembers it. Movies are all lies, Auntie is about to die laughing." Zhang Chunxue started clutching her stomach and laughing heartily again.

"But I think their iPods are great! Auntie, please stop laughing!" Xu Qingfan looked at Zhang Chunxue helplessly.

"Ahem~ Okay, Auntie will stop laughing. You said you want to buy shares in Apple, so you have to tell Auntie your reasons, after all, it's a lot of money!"

"Tsk~ My reason is that I think their stock value is undervalued. Auntie, your company has so many professionals, you can have them do some research!" Xu Qingfan had no idea what the reason was, he just remembered that Apple's stock had a big surge from 03 to 08.

"Alright, Auntie will check the situation for you first. If it's really as you say, I'll buy it for you." Zhang Chunxue was already used to Xu Qingfan's insights that were beyond her age, and many times the facts had proven that his insights were correct.

"Hehe, thank you, Auntie!" Xu Qingfan happily kissed Zhang Chunxue on the cheek.

After the remittance for the second batch of books arrived, Xu Qingfan now has more than 1.3 million yuan lying quietly in his bank account. Rather than letting it sit in the bank gathering dust, he might as well do something more meaningful.

Seizing the opportunities of the times makes money easily. But if we were to live twenty years from now, when mobile phone penetration is almost 100%, who would have the time to spend money on casual comics? Xu Qingfan thought to himself.

"Don't thank me yet. If you lose money later, don't come crying to me."

"If you lose money, just draw another comic book. What's the big deal?"

Zhang Chunxue lightly tapped Xu Qingfan's hand and said seriously, "Xiaofan, the success of comics is just a coincidence. No one can be lucky again and again. You need to adjust your mindset!"

"Auntie, I was wrong!" Xu Qingfan readily admitted defeat, raising his hands in surrender.

“You,” Zhang Chunxue shook her head helplessly, “with your aunt watching over you, you’re unlikely to make any serious mistakes.” Unconsciously, Zhang Chunxue had already put herself in the role of Xu Qingfan’s guardian.

"There's only one mother in the world who's good~"

"Pfft~ Shut up!!"

As the two were joking around, Lin Wanning and Zhang Yiyi came out of the room hand in hand, skipping and hopping.

"Brother Qingfan, we've finished writing!!"

"Finished writing!!!"

"Alright, alright, go out and play with Yi Yi and Wan Ning for a while, don't disturb Auntie's work!" Zhang Chunxue stopped smiling and tapped Xu Qingfan on the head.

"Okay, put on your shoes, I'll take you to the park to catch goldfish!"

"Yay! Goodbye, Auntie!"

Goodbye, Mom!

The two little ones kissed Zhang Chunxue on both cheeks and ran excitedly to the door to put on their shoes.

"Remember to be careful!" Zhang Chunxue shouted a reminder.

“I know!!”

(End of this chapter)