Chapter 98

In the family, everyone walked except for Uncle, who came on a motorcycle. Haizhou is not a big city, and it only takes about ten to twenty minutes to walk to any of the relatives' houses. So, a dozen or so family members walked together, and Uncle had to push his motorcycle behind them. Father, Mother, Grandpa, and Grandma walked in front, while Li Mu stayed back to tease Xiao Hao, whispering, "Kid, how’s the girl you were pursuing doing?"

"Pretty good," Xiao Hao looked around cautiously, making sure his parents were far away, then lowered his voice, "After eating KFC, I took her to the park to row a boat. On the way back, we held hands."

Li Mu nodded and gave him a thumbs up, "Impressive."

Xiao Hao chuckled and scratched his head, "Bro, when are you going to Beijing?"

"End of the month or early next month."

"Can you treat me to a big meal before you leave?"

"Sure, what do you want to eat?"

Xiao Hao thought for a moment and shrugged, "I don’t know, how about we go to Haizhou Hotel again?"

"Sure." Li Mu agreed readily and asked, "When do you want to eat?"

Xiao Hao scratched his head, a bit embarrassed, "I need to ask Nana first. I boasted to her that my brother is very handsome and rich, and that you often take me out for big meals. Then I asked if she wanted to come next time, and she nodded."

"Alright..." Li Mu patted Xiao Hao’s head and laughed, "You’re much more restrained than I was when I was young. I used to boast that I had a cousin who worked on an aircraft carrier."

Xiao Hao looked up at Li Mu and asked seriously, "Bro, were you a bit slow when you were young?"

"Forget it, no big meal then."

Xiao Hao immediately put on a flattering expression and hugged Li Mu’s arm, "Bro, don’t take it to heart, I’ve already told her."

Li Mu laughed, "I’ll be taking the driving test in a few days. Once I get my license, if you really want to show off in front of the girl, I can borrow a car and take you to Jinling Happy Valley."

"Really?" Xiao Hao was almost overwhelmed with happiness. Jinling had so many fun places, especially a huge amusement park that only a couple of people in his class had been to. They even brought photos taken at the entrance to show in class. He remembered clearly that the amusement park was called Happy Valley, and he had been dreaming about it for a long time. He never thought his cousin would promise to take him there in a few days, and even with the girl he liked. Oh my God, happiness came too suddenly...

Seeing Xiao Hao’s incredulous face, Li Mu nodded, "Of course, but the little girl can’t be out for too long, so we’ll go and come back the same day."

"Bro, can you really borrow a car? What kind of car? A minivan?"

"A sedan."

Xiao Hao was stunned for a moment, then said with a face full of gratitude, "Bro, please accept my respect..."

Xiao Hao was about to bend his knee and bow like in a martial arts movie, but Li Mu lifted him up with one hand, "You can come, but you must keep it a secret from your parents, got it?"

"Don’t worry, I won’t tell them even if they beat me to death!"

A few minutes later, they arrived at the Metersbonwe specialty store owned by the Li family. Aunt was surprised and asked, "Brother-in-law, why did you stop walking?"

Father pointed to the Metersbonwe store by the roadside, "This is it."

At that moment, the Metersbonwe store was still brightly lit, with the sign and lights on. The large glass windows were covered by a security roller shutter, but it didn’t obstruct the view much. The lights were on at night at Li Mu’s suggestion, making it eye-catching. The advertising effect was significant, and the electricity cost was minimal.

Aunt looked at the large Metersbonwe store and blurted out, "Brother-in-law, are you kidding me? This store has the Wanying company’s building advertisement, and people say it’s run by a relative of Wanying’s boss. How can it be yours?"

Father, who didn’t know about the building advertisement, took out the key and opened the roller shutter. As soon as the door opened, the advertisement poster on the glass door was revealed: "Metersbonwe officially lands in Haizhou on August 18th. Buy 299, get a shoulder bag, while supplies last!"

This action left everyone speechless. August 18th, Aunt checked the time on her phone, and it was indeed the next day.

Even though Father had opened the roller shutter with his own hands, she still couldn’t believe it was his store.

Uncle didn’t believe it either.

Neither did Aunt.

People who liked to look down on others found it hard to change their perspective, especially when it came to someone they had always looked down on.

They preferred to believe that Father was just the security guard of the store, which was why he could open the roller shutter with a key.

However, Father pushed the glass door open with a relaxed and calm demeanor, stepped in halfway, and turned around, "Everyone, come in and take a look. I checked the almanac, and the store will officially open at 9:58 AM tomorrow. It’s Saturday, so if you have nothing to do, come and support us in the morning."

With such a statement, there was no point in disbelieving anymore.

Moreover, the business and tax registration documents hanging in the store clearly stated that the taxpayer and owner of the store was Li Daoping, which was an undeniable fact.

Uncle’s face turned ugly. He couldn’t understand how Li Daoping could suddenly have such a grand gesture, quietly setting up such a store. How much money would such a store make in a month if it opened?

Although he hadn’t done clothing business, he had heard some things and worked in the tax department. It was said that the smaller specialty stores in Haizhou, much smaller than Li Daoping’s, had monthly turnovers of around 200,000 to 300,000 yuan. Such a large store would probably make 400,000 to 500,000 yuan a month.

Aunt, on the other hand, was only thinking about one thing: how much did all this cost?

As for Aunt...

Thinking about her boastful words at the dinner table, her face burned and her eyes dried up.

Thinking about how Father-in-law had asked for her advice, she felt even more ashamed.

Looking at the luxurious decoration of this specialty store, which was far better than her own home, and the fact that she kept the lights on at night, she realized how ridiculous it was to think she could give advice on such a store. Her small clothing store was only as big as a cash register. What advice could she give? It was a joke.

Aunt realized for the first time that she had been too self-centered and arrogant, always thinking others were inferior to her. But when the veil was lifted, the vast and beautiful landscape hidden beneath far exceeded her imagination.

The other relatives were also very surprised, but they didn’t ask many questions. They just looked around and occasionally praised.

After calculating for a while, Aunt’s face turned awkward, and she asked, "Daoping, didn’t it cost more than 400,000 yuan to open this store?"

Aunt deliberately emphasized "400,000."

Aunt thought to herself: Metersbonwe is a famous brand. Although she dealt with generic children’s clothing, she had some knowledge of the industry. Opening such a store would cost more than 200,000 yuan just for the franchise fee and inventory, let alone the rent and decoration, which would probably cost 200,000 yuan alone.

After calculating, she thought it would cost at least 500,000 to 600,000 yuan.

Father didn’t give a specific number but said modestly, "About that much."

Aunt’s face turned complex, and she gave Uncle a look. Uncle quickly asked, "Daoping, do you have other ways to make money that you haven’t told us about?"

Father chuckled, "Didn’t Xiao Mu say before that he traded some electric coal?"

Uncle didn’t believe it and asked suspiciously, "The mine manager, Guo Lin, is notorious for being corrupt. It’s said that every ton of coal needs his approval. How did you get the electric coal from him?"

Father explained, "It’s not Xiling Coal Mine, but another one. A high school classmate of mine works there, and we connected. Besides, my classmate and Xiao Mu’s classmate’s father made the big money. I just facilitated the deal and got a small share."

Uncle felt a bitter taste in his heart. A small share could cost so much to open a store? His wife might not be good at calculating, but he wasn’t stupid. Just looking at the store, the hardware alone would cost at least 300,000 yuan, and with rent and other expenses, it would be more than 400,000 yuan.

A small share could make 400,000 yuan, so a bigger share would be in the millions.

It was painful, really painful.

He had always considered himself the head of the family and the most successful one. Together with his wife, they could save about 30,000 yuan a year. He thought his family was already very successful. With a few more years of saving, he might be able to buy a car, like the Santana he had always envied, which now cost about 120,000 yuan. Maybe in a couple of years, he could buy one.

Everything was fine before tonight. The world was peaceful, life was beautiful, and the future was bright. But at this moment, his years of superiority crumbled completely. He felt not just a sense of loss but also a twisted pain.

Li Mu, on the other hand, was in a great mood. What was the point of living a second life if not for these moments? He wanted to make his parents proud and let them stand tall, and he wanted others to look at them with respect. This was a dream he couldn’t achieve in his previous life, but he was starting to realize it step by step in this life.

Although, when he thought about it calmly, he hadn’t made much money since he was reborn, and most of it went into opening this store, he wasn’t worried at all. There would be plenty of opportunities to make money in the future. In a year or two, he might be picking up money by the handful.

The sense of achievement wasn’t just about the numbers in the bank account but about the process of turning dreams into reality. When the dazzling light of dreams dispelled the darkness of reality, the feeling was indescribably wonderful.