Mixed in 1980

Chapter 444 Rich Young Master Xiao Wu
"The information online has been edited. Our family is from the mainland, how could we suddenly become the largest real estate developer in Hong Kong?"

Chen Yanyin rolled her eyes at her boyfriend and retorted, "My dad made his first fortune through writing, then started in finance, and only later went into real estate."

"Our family operates Hong Kong's ports, telecommunications, and power. In addition, we are involved in finance, retail, shipping, real estate, and banking."

The more Lu You listened, the more uneasy he felt.

He didn't understand ports, but he certainly understood electricity. Hong Kong is a globally recognized first-tier, or even super-first-tier, city. How many kilowatt-hours of electricity does it consume every year?
No wonder they can support such large charitable expenditures.

Just as she was feeling dazed, Chen Yanyin's phone rang. She said a few words and hung up, then looked at Lu You helplessly and said, "Big sister is treating us to dinner."

"Go ahead!" Lu You said frankly.

I used to be nervous, but now I'm numb. Being nervous is useless; the gap can't be bridged. Fortunately, the other family is passionate about charity and won't make things difficult for me.

I met Chen Lao Er yesterday; he's quite easy to get along with.

Lu You met Chen Yanxi for the first time at a private restaurant in Nanluoguxiang. He was amazed and exclaimed that the Chen family had really good genes.

After they were both seated, Lu You assumed that since his sister was there, she would interrogate him thoroughly, digging into his family history for three generations – that was the normal procedure.

As a result, Chen Yanxi didn't even ask.

Little did they know, the Chen family had already investigated, including his family and relatives. Chen Yanxi was more concerned about Lu You's future plans.

Should we stay in Beijing or go to another city?

"I will probably choose to stay at the university. The working environment at the university is simple, and Beihang University has strong scientific research capabilities. I can do a lot of things here."

Chen Yanxi was very satisfied with this.

The fourth son is so lazy that the family is worried if he doesn't stay with them. Lu You stayed at the school to work, so he could live in Ya'er Hutong.

Courtyard No. 17 was reserved for the fourth son.

Lu You breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this, and then they chatted casually. He also learned that Chen Yanxi was a lecturer in the Department of Archaeology at Peking University and was waiting for the required years of service to be promoted to associate professor.

What an amazing choice.

The heiress of a large conglomerate goes on to study archaeology, specializing in artifact restoration—something most people would find hard to understand.

After Chen Yanxi left, Lu You asked curiously, and Chen Laosi pondered for a moment: "This is a long story."

You know there was a shortage of foreign exchange in the 1980s, right?

Seeing Lu You nod, Chen Yanyin continued, "In 1981 and 1982, my father had just started his business and had a sum of foreign exchange that the government wanted."

"At the time, my dad suggested that we could exchange jade, emeralds, antiques, and calligraphy and paintings, so we stockpiled a large number of antiques and calligraphy and paintings at home."

“When my eldest sister was young, she was interested in these things, so my husband hired famous teachers for her and bought antiques from all over the world to help her develop her eye for antiques. Gradually, she developed a love for collecting.”

“My family doesn’t actually require us to do anything in the future. We can just choose to do what we like. I’m just too lazy, so my family is in a hurry to find me something to do.”

At this point, Chen Yanyin couldn't help but purse her lips: "When I was little, I liked animals, so my family ran a zoo. I liked jade, so my family hoarded jade, just so I would have something to do."

After hearing her words, Lu You couldn't help but secretly complain that this kind of upbringing would be like a pipe dream if it were placed in an ordinary family.

When he was a child, he had no choice at all. His family only had one requirement for him: to study hard and change his fate. All his hobbies and interests had to take a back seat.

There was no other choice!
There's a joke circulating online that goes like this: When we were kids, we were brainwashed by toxic motivational quotes like "effort can change your destiny," "gold will shine because it is gold," and "the ugly duckling can become a swan because it was a swan to begin with, it has nothing to do with effort."

Upon seeing such comments, Lu You couldn't help but retort, "Is it wrong to try your best at any time?"

Some people can change their destiny through hard work!

Some people are unlucky and their efforts don't change their fate, but should they be ridiculed? What's truly laughable are those who don't try but still want to change their fate.

Effort is useless. That's the neighbor's third brother. He was born into a certain caste, and he will die into the same caste. The upward mobility is blocked, and the class system is severely solidified.

The belief on this land has always been: Are kings and nobles born with a special destiny?
……

Time flies, and school starts again in the blink of an eye.

Chen Laosi still lives in Furongli Community. Without Ye Ling's company, he feels a bit bored, so he invites Chen Yanche and Zhou Jingshu to stay with him.

The reason is simple: we need to keep an eye on Xiao Wu!

Chen Yanche was extremely disgusted. If he had a choice, he would rather live with the lousy Chen Lao Er than with Chen Lao Si.

Chen Lao Er is a troublemaker, but not lazy.

Chen Laosi is different. Like a paraplegic patient, he needs others to take care of his food, clothing, shelter and transportation. He is here to do hard labor.

"Xiao Wu, make me a cup of tea."

"Xiao Wu, can you help me throw out the trash?"

"Xiao Wu, there's some old hen soup at home. Go back and bring it over."

……

After a few days, Chen Yanche finally couldn't hold back anymore: "Fourth Brother Chen, this is going too far. Why don't you just go home and live there? There are plenty of people to take care of you."

"It's too far from home!"

"Knowing it's far, you still make me run back and forth? Fine, I can't afford to mess with you, I can avoid you. I'll just go home, okay?" Chen Yanche said angrily.

Chen Yanyin, feeling a bit annoyed, immediately grabbed her younger brother: "Little Wu, don't forget, when we were little, I was the one who stopped you from beating me up, and I was the one who comforted you when you cried..."

Chen Yanche was on the verge of tears; he was the one who had caused this trouble.

Zhou Jingshu, suppressing a laugh, said, "Alright, let's hire a nanny. It'll be much better to have someone cook for us than to eat out." "Let's do that!" Chen Yanche immediately agreed.

With the storm finally over, Chen Yanche began to immerse himself in his studies. After getting to know his mentor and several senior students, he started recruiting people to study economic models.

Chen Yanche's way of doing things is typical of a rich second-generation.

"Teacher, I've learned about a project. Would you like to consider it? They can provide 500 million yuan in research funding every year."

"What project?"

"You know Chinatown Supermarket, right? They want to optimize their existing management system and upgrade their economic model, which is a huge undertaking."

"You have access to a supermarket in Chinatown?" The tutor looked at the freshman with suspicion.

Chen Yanche nodded hurriedly: "I have some connections at home, and I just happened to find out about it. I'll ask around for you. If you're interested, then you can take it."

The tutor was surprised; this student was no ordinary person!

Chinatown Supermarket is a multinational corporation, one of the top three giants in the retail industry. They need to develop economic models, and top universities around the world will be vying to accept their applications.

This is also an opportunity for me.

After a moment's thought, he said, "Upgrading the economic model of a retail giant like this cannot be accomplished by just a few people; a large team needs to be assembled."

"It's not impossible to go next."

"But the money is too little. Go back and ask around. If the funding can be increased to 2000 million per year, we will definitely see results within two years."

"Isn't it too high?" Chen Yanche thought to himself, thinking how ruthless his mentor was.

The mentor slightly pursed his lips: "Don't complain about the price. For a project like this, I have to get several professors involved and do fieldwork everywhere. It's totally worth the price."

In an instant, Chen Yanche no longer felt it was expensive.

Hiring a professor and having a string of PhDs and graduate students already incurs significant personnel costs, let alone when several teams work together.

To put it bluntly, if Chinatown Supermarket weren't a retail giant, the professors at Peking University wouldn't even bother with the research topic, which has high research value.

Whether the economic model developed can ultimately be implemented is not important to Chen Yanche, nor is it his purpose.

By participating in the study of economic models, one can gain a full understanding of how supermarkets in Chinatown operate.

I might take over in the future.

I will definitely take over one of the family businesses. Although I haven't decided which one, retail is currently the one I'm most interested in.

As for the final result, we'll talk about it in three years.

Now is the time to prepare in advance and complete the tasks assigned by Chen Lao Er to avoid being punished.

The next day, Chen Yanche went to his mentor again: "Professor, Chinatown Supermarket has agreed to provide 20 million yuan in research funding every year, to be paid quarterly."

"If there are no problems on your end, they will send a senior executive to coordinate."

The two sides hit it off immediately!
Chen Yanche also successfully joined the research group and became a researcher, beginning to understand Chinatown supermarkets from a third-party perspective.

"You know how to spend money!" Old Chen praised.

They spend 20 million every year without batting an eye, so extravagant that they only follow one principle: anything that can be solved with money is not a problem.

Chen Yanche took out a cigarette and lit it: "Once the research team finishes the study, I will be able to understand the Chinatown supermarket thoroughly, inside and out. This money will have been well spent."

"The research group doesn't just take the money and do nothing; they always manage to identify problems and propose improvement plans that may come in handy in the future."

“That makes sense!” Chen Yanyin nodded slightly.

Looking at her younger brother, she frowned again: "When did you learn to smoke? Let me tell you, if you get addicted, your older sister will tear you apart."

Chen Yanche pursed his lips: "I hang out with a bunch of heavy smokers all the time, so it's inevitable that I'll smoke a few cigarettes. Don't worry, I only smoke one occasionally."

"Take good care of yourself!"

Chen Yanyin waved her hand to disperse the smoke, then took out her phone to check the time: "I'll eat out tonight, you and Jing Shu can arrange it yourselves."

Chen Yanche raised an eyebrow: "Going on a date?"

Chen Yanyin glared: "Mind your own business!"

"What do you mean by 'meddling'? As the younger brother, I can't just ignore it, can I? How far have things progressed between you two? When are you planning to meet our parents?" Chen Yanche teased.

Chen Yanyin turned and left, only saying one sentence: "Mind your own business, you single dog!"

"Hey, this is unreasonable. When I was dating, they all wanted to mess with me. Now that I'm single and doing just fine, you guys have a problem with that."

After venting, he took another drag of his cigarette: "Finding a girlfriend is easy. If I wanted to, I could find an 18-year-old freshman girl in no time."

"I'm afraid Chen Lao Er will cause trouble again!"

It was already mid-September. Chen Lao Er packed his luggage and looked at his wife: "Wife, are you really not coming to Hong Kong with me?"

Ye Wan, holding her son, said, "I'm not going!"

Chen Lao Er leaned over and kissed her on the lips: "You'll be gone for a month. I'm worried you'll be alone in your room and won't be able to sleep well at night."

"I have a son!"

Ye Wan raised an eyebrow slightly and teased, "Just thinking about not being tormented every night makes me feel like I'm on summer vacation when I was a kid, tsk tsk...so comfortable!"

(End of this chapter)