Investment Life

Chapter 8

　　After that, she also went to Chen Yuanming's side, reached out and touched the back of her son's hand, "Doudou, you don't understand these things, don't go and associate with her. In these years, you might've known a person for a long time, but you'll never know their true nature. Sun Jun also isn't a good person, at the factory..." Seeming to find something wrong with what she'd just said, Wang Juan stopped abruptly and didn't continue speaking, but the condemnation in her eyes was like a needle pricking Chen Yuanming's heart.

　　What relaxation, what satisfaction, what hope? At this time, they all turned into nothingness. Chen Yuanming's face was stiff like a block of iron, and no expression could be seen, "Then what about the money? Don't you want to make money?"

　　He reached into his pocket and grabbed a handful of banknotes [2], "I went to help work for someone and received compensation. It's only natural, what's so wrong about it? Isn't our family short of money? In the past, how much debt did you have to owe in order for grandmother to treat her illness? How long has it been since we've last had meat or fish? For this entire New Year, how many New Year's purchases did you make, how many relatives did you go visit? Why? Was it not because of a lack of money?"

　　The colourful bills were gripped in his hand, in a tangled mess, like it had been burnt. Chen Jianhua pulled back his arm with a sudden force, raised his hand, and slapped his son.

　　"You actually have money... This much money..." The shaky words were like a mumble, "Do you even know what you're doing? This is speculation and profiteering [3]! You could be caught and sent to jail!"

　　Wang Juan's complexion also changed. She snatched the money from her son, "You only helped her a little and she gave you so much money! Are you stupid! Why didn't you think about why she even gave you the money? How could she do this? I'll go see her tomorrow! "

　　"Why would you go see her? Don't you think it would be shameful!" Chen Jianhua shouted loudly, "Just throw the money directly to her! If you still go to Liu Yun's house in the future to earn black-hearted money with her [4], just see if I won't break your leg! "

　　"Exactly! In the future you can't have dealings with her family anymore. What kind of people even are they? Such a good child was raised up bad, in these years is being a "profiteer" a good thing? Our family is poor, but your father and I are upright workers, we earn honest wages, and spend effort to support ourselves. You can't follow a crooked path like those upstarts [5]! "

　　"Dogs don't even mind it when the family is poor, in any case, you should still have some integrity! Don't let other people poke at our family's backbone behind our backs, why would a perfectly good student do things that are similar to a dog stealing chickens [6]? You might not feel ashamed, but you should also think of your father and mother!"

　　One was on the left and one on the right, one was high and one low, two voices buzzed beside his ears. The slap had landed very heavily, and the production-line worker's hand was ruthless and fierce, showing no mercy. Chen Yuanming felt like the ear on one side of his face was ringing, and a cold, hard thing was bubbling down his throat, freezing his heart.

　　He had thought a lot, and pondered over how to use everything from those memories to change the lives of him and his family. However, he had never seriously considered what those things would stand for in this stuffy, factory workers' living quarters in 1991, and had never thought about what his parents would think of them. Considering what it was like when he had quit his job and headed North, how could he, with his wishful thinking, have ever thought that his family would support him?

　　They wouldn't... It wasn't about making money or not, it's just a gap in their beliefs. Keeping up with appearances, group psychology, self-awareness, all these things made them unshakable, and stubborn like a stone in a pit. Even though they'll be laid off a few years later, and face an even more poverty-stricken life, their self-respect still wouldn't be able to tolerate hawking along the streets, and smiling and welcoming people just to earn a few dollars. How ridiculous...