CHAPTER 369: 369. CHILDREN’S BIG PLANS

Start a factory?

Hold an art exhibition to sell paintings, then raise money to build a private interest school?

Shuzhen seriously doubted if she had been too occupied these days with concocting a wide variety of serums for Chenchen and Xinzhi, taking care of the ever-energetic little Yanzi, and balancing her work.

She’s been so busy that her heels are practically kicking her head, severely cutting into her sleep time, leaving her mentally drained.

Look, it’s not even afternoon yet, and she’s already feeling drowsy.

But seeing her husband as equally dumbfounded as she is and hearing the kids cheerfully calling out for Principal Brother and Factory Boss Brother...

Apparently, she wasn’t hallucinating?

But, since when did this brat, ever since he started twelfth grade, has been so focused on studying, playing the role of someone who ignores everything just to concentrate on preparing for exams.

Not a word out about this, and now, he’s suddenly starting a factory?

"Hehe, actually, everything has been in motion for a while; the main reason I didn’t tell the family was to give dad and mom a surprise. Two years ago, I had my mentor help me buy a plot of land about five acres in Lin County. After I turned eighteen this year, it was transferred to my name. I got a top designer from Uncle Su’s company to draft the plans, laid the foundation last spring, and handed it over to his construction company this spring.

In just a few days, it will be completed and inspected. Once I make a trip to Shanghai to sort out the machinery and equipment, I can pick an auspicious date to open." Chenchen, rubbing his hands together, explained a bit nervously.

No wonder he could keep everything under wraps; turns out Old Yang was his ’accomplice’ in all this!

Ever since Chenchen started earning money, his approach has been the exact opposite of his big brother Lian En.

Unlike Lian En, who would hand over every penny to me, allowing me to manage and distribute it as I saw fit, this was absolutely not the case with Chenchen.

The young man would only occasionally take out some business profits to honor his parents and mentor, and to show love for his brothers and sisters.

The bulk of it, he kept firmly in his own hands.

With years of saving, the price of land in these years had fallen to a ridiculously low level, and the government was eager to encourage and support independent entrepreneurship.

With ample funds and Old Yang’s all-round assistance...

It wasn’t really difficult to keep us in the dark and make sure we were delightfully surprised.

Shuzhen, suddenly aware, looked resentfully at Old Yang.

Old Yang chuckled and took full responsibility: "This isn’t my fault for being unscrupulous. Mainly, with a niece and apprentice like this, I should be able to distinguish between what’s near and far, right? Always thinking from one’s own people’s perspective is key. Besides, it’s a good thing the kid’s making something of himself. Thinking of sparing you the hard work and just giving you a surprise, that’s a sign of filial piety, isn’t it?"

Jealous of the good rapport and partnership between Feng Ju and Lian En, Old Yang also badgered Chenchen into addressing him differently.

But with a considerable age gap between him and Lianshan and Shuzhen, it was awkward to change from an uncle-nephew relationship to peers.

So, decisively, Old Yang waved it off, letting everyone call him what they were used to.

Bluntly stating that being close with Chenchen as mentor and apprentice didn’t interfere with being Uncle Yang to Lianshan and Shuzhen, and Grandpa Yang to the kids.

This...

Although it seemed a bit off, it clearly followed their family’s usual way of calling, allowing Lianshan and Shuzhen to conveniently ignore that slight weirdness.

In retrospect, indeed, old ginger is hotter than young ginger!

If it were Feng Ju, given this deception, Lianshan would have unleashed a tongue-lashing that left him drenched in his own tears.

But with Old Yang calling himself Uncle, it truly wasn’t fitting for them as nephew and niece-in-law to go too overboard.

After all, the situation’s a fait accompli, and any more resentment won’t accomplish anything but harm relations!

Feeling somewhat aggrieved, Shuzhen opened her mouth but ultimately couldn’t bring herself to utter any reproach to Old Yang’s merry, self-satisfied experienced demeanor.

She had no choice but to redirect her attention and ask the earnest Boss Lian what kind of factory he planned to open, what products he’d produce, and how he’d manage the enterprise once he entered college.

When it came to discussing his future career, Chenchen could best describe it with the words "confident": "Don’t worry, mom, once my factory opens, business will flourish, and orders will flow incessantly. Because I plan to start a paper box factory. We all know Lin County is a large rice-producing county; every year’s rice production ranks high in the province. Transportation, water supply, labor force, everything is very convenient.

I’m planning to build a paper box factory there, utilizing straw, rice husks, and waste paper from their recycling stations as raw material, which otherwise just burns, piles up as compost, and can be found everywhere.

I’ll manufacture boxes of specifications for our Number One Scholar Village’s various factories for external sales and take on the packaging boxes for all of Second Uncle’s Good Taste products.

After all, someone’s got to do this stuff, so why let the profit go to outsiders?

Both my uncles have already agreed with me.

My uncle also gave me a great piece of advice to also get a set of printing equipment.

This saves on outsourcing the printing work for the boxes, reducing costs, and allows us to take on small plastic packaging. During the holidays, we could also make some spring couplets, Gods of Fortune, and door gods to earn some extra income.

I think this idea is pretty decent and thus adopted it. Anyway, both uncles and my uncle say my idea is brilliant, encouraging me to go ahead boldly, assuring me that if I run short of people or money, they’ve got my back."

So, the whole world knew except for the parents being kept in the dark?

Even Lianshan was starting to look a bit grim.

He really felt that the brat needed some discipline, clearly requiring a father-son talk.

Feeling quite smug, Chenchen attempted to make amends: "Of course, concerning this, I reject the idea. After all, having been in business since childhood, I am almost worthy of the saying ’sharpened a sword in ten years.’ For something trivial like funding, I am well-prepared, and regarding personnel, I’ve long mused over it.

Don’t mention shortage; even if there were, there wouldn’t be knocking on their door!

Because, after all, I’ve still got world-class parents and an exceptional mentor, right?"

However, no matter how cunningly he sweet-talked, Shuzhen and Lianshan unanimously shifted their focus, preparing not to pay him any attention.

With a precedent set, Lian En, now the focal point, hurriedly opted for leniency in exchange for openness: "Actually, the idea of opening an interest school to nurture more Chinese painting talents has been on my mind for a long time. But before, I thought of teaching a few more years to accumulate experience and capital.

But now, with everything in secondary schools yielding to high school entrance exams and the state of ancillary subjects being nominally existent, I feel that continuing as an art teacher would just be wasting time.

Might as well quit early and see if I can make the dream blossom into reality!

Because mom and dad have always respected our ideas, I just thought of giving you a surprise, forgetting to consult this part.

My bad, I owe mom and dad an apology.

If you’re not agreeable, then I’ll obediently go back to teaching after the art exhibition. Anyway, for me, dreams were never more important than mom and dad."