Finally, it was time for school to end. Teacher Huahua waited inside the classroom for the children's parents to pick them up. Every child who had been to kindergarten knew that you had to wait for an adult to pick you up before you could leave the school.
Every child looked forward to being picked up and taken home by their parents, but when it came to Su Yizhou, the scene took a completely different turn. He sat obediently beside Ji Qianxi, his eyes filled with guilt toward her.
"I actually made such a well-behaved little kid cry?" As he was thinking this, Ji Qianxi saw her Granny (which means grandmother in the Sichuan dialect) and leaped up instantly, her eyes curving into smiling crescents.
"Granny, I'm right here!" she called out, running into her arms and burying her face against Granny's legs, acting coquettishly.
Seeing such an obedient granddaughter, Granny pulled her into her arms, took a White Rabbit creamy candy out from her wrinkled clothes, placed it into Ji Qianxi's little tender hand, and said:"Youngest, did you have a fun day playing? Granny will take you home now."
Upon hearing this, Su Yizhou lowered his head, not daring to meet Ji Qianxi's eyes. Seemingly noticing his embarrassment at that moment, she said nothing to his grandmother, acting spoiled as she said she wanted to go home, and then she let Granny hold her hand as she left the school.
Teacher Huahua also chose not to tell tales. She, too, considered this merely children's play, though she felt she needed to speak with Su Yizhou's mother to prevent him from causing any more trouble for her in the future.
After entering the classroom, just as Liu Shiran was about to take Su Yizhou home—at which Su Yizhou let out a sigh of relief—she never expected that the moment she turned around, she would be called back by Teacher Huahua.
"Yizhou's mom, could you stay for a moment? There are some things I'd like to discuss with you."
Su Yizhou thought to himself that things looked bad. "Time to make a run for it."In the end, Teacher Huahua softened the matter as much as she could in her mind, not wanting Su Yizhou to be disciplined too harshly, and then roughly recounted the whole story to Liu Shiran.
Hearing the teacher explain how her son had teased a female classmate with a clay caterpillar, Liu Shiran felt a surge of irritation, but she still couldn't fly into a rage in front of the teacher, so she could only offer repeated apologies.
Teacher Huahua expressed her understanding, adding that little boys of this age are naturally playful and shouldn't be blamed too harshly.
(Su Yizhou would like to point out: Actually, I'm mentally older than you, believe it or not.)
On the way home, even though Her Majesty the Queen Mother hadn't spoken a word yet, Su Yizhou knew this was merely the calm before the storm.
Right now, he just wanted to exclaim, "Just a little wind and frost!"
Despite thinking that, Su Yizhou's legs still felt like they were filled with lead, and every step toward home felt unbearably heavy (don't ask, to ask is to say he was tired and didn't want to move).
Once they got home and set her son's school bag down, Liu Shiran said with a stern expression,
"Su Yizhou, come here!"
Su Yizhou knew his judgment day had arrived, so making the most of his natural advantages, he put on an exceptionally cute, completely innocent expression and sat down right next to Liu Shiran.
What, you want to ask how Su Yizhou could shamelessly resort to acting cute? Whatever little Su Yizhou did, what did that have to do with the adult Su Yizhou inside?
Liu Shiran didn't normally play the role of the strict mother at home; usually, Su Jin was the one who played the bad cop. But since Su Jin was henpecked, it formed a closed loop: Su Yizhou feared Su Jin, and Su Jin feared Liu Shiran.
Looking at Su Yizhou looking this adorable, Liu Shiran's stern facade instantly melted away into nothingness, and her usual expression returned.
Still, lessons had to be taught. Looking at Su Yizhou, who was now putting on an innocent act, Liu Shiran rubbed her forehead and said,"Zhouzhou, can you please save me some trouble? You weren't this mischievous last semester. How come you've started playing tricks on girls this term? You are not allowed to bully her anymore, understand? Tomorrow, you're coming with me to apologize to that little girl. Got it?"
Su Yizhou could only put on a solemn look and agree. If his mom ever found out that he had been bullying Ji Qianxi while he was busy bullying Chen Yu, she and his dad would definitely tag-team to interrogate him.
Fortunately, his mom didn't mention the incident to his dad.
By dinnertime, Su Jin came home reeking of alcohol. Su Yizhou guessed that he had been wining and dining clients at noon.
The company Su Jin ran focused primarily on hardware import and export trade. Although it wasn't large and required constant efforts to court clients and secure orders to keep the business afloat, it was precisely this venture that had provided young Su Yizhou with a very affluent upbringing.
However, in his past life during Su Yizhou's college years, turbulence in the import and export markets had caused the company's revenue to plummet.
Remembering how his dad had lost his hair and gone bald in a frenzy back then, Su Yizhou secretly swore to change that outcome in this lifetime. At the very least, he wanted to help his dad's company expand into a second livelihood so they wouldn't have to rely solely on imports and exports. (Su Yizhou still wanted to be a proper rich second-generation heir, after all—Dad, you need to work a bit harder so you can buy me a sports car soon!)
Yet, looking at his own tiny body, Su Yizhou felt deeply powerless. Was he supposed to claim the God of Wealth appeared in his dream to tell him which stock to buy today?
Therefore, he planned to take it slow and drop hints in his dad's ear often. Maybe he could spark some kind of business opportunity for him?
Watching his mom lovingly help his dad into the bedroom, Su Yizhou could only sigh that he had just witnessed a heavy dose of romance.
As he ate, Su Yizhou began to ponder how exactly to help with his dad's business. As an Ivy League finance master's graduate in his past life, he certainly had quite a bit of say in this field.
Since his dad's company primarily handled import and export trade, they should make the most of those existing resources. Hardware imports and exports had always been lukewarm, and as mere agents, their profit margins were already squeezed razor-thin.
The year 2006. Right, they always said women's money was the easiest to make. Around this time, a certain imported cosmetics brand's facial treatment essence seemed to be expanding its market into the domestic sphere. With profit margins in high-end cosmetics being so huge, why not pivot to expanding into cosmetics import and export agency trade?
Although the jump from hardware to cosmetics was quite large, the operational essence was essentially the same: seeking cooperation and agencies abroad while competing on price and channels at home. This way, Su Jin's company wouldn't have to undergo massive changes to its operational model.
They couldn't just switch to completely unrelated industries overnight; wouldn't that mean abandoning all the advantages Su Jin had accumulated in his original business model?
This plan was feasible!
With a plan in place, Su Yizhou started plotting how to drop hints to his dad. Oh right, didn't his mom use cosmetics too? Someday, he would pretend to casually let his dad find out about the massive profits in the cosmetics industry. As for whether to adopt the idea, that would be up to Su Jin.
Su Yizhou was already daydreaming about his future life as a rich second-generation heir—luxury cars, expensive watches, *hehehe*... Cough, cough. No, wait, how could a youth of his generation indulge in such things? He quickly shook off the absurd fantasy, finished his meal in a flash, and got ready to watch today's cartoon.
What? You doubt this wouldn't make money?
Are you kidding me? This was an era where gold was everywhere!