Returning to '97, creating a new life

They don't want to be seen in the arcade much, but they can't avoid coming.

Xu Kai took 100 yuan and felt embarrassed to ask his second aunt Xu Meilan to do anything, but he did ask Wang Jianshe's sister-in-law Yang Yu to do anything, so he felt no pressure at all.

Add some stewed pork ribs for dinner.

Second Aunt Xu Meilan is a sensible and insightful person. She realized early on in the arcade that she was not a shareholder representative, and her cousin was not the person in charge.

The real person in charge of this arcade was the husband's nephew.

Soon, Xu Meilan found her place and in the arcade, she never called him "Xiao Kai" but instead addressed him by his full name, Xu Kai.

Xu Kai knew that this subtle difference was something his mother could never learn in her entire life. If his mother and his second aunt were to do business at the same time, no matter what they did, his second aunt would always win in the end.

Yang Yu bought pork ribs, and Xu Meilan helped out. The two of them, who were in charge of finance, did nothing more than keep simple accounts and deposit money at the bank at the market entrance once a day. The rest of their time didn't feel like they were at work at all.

There are people playing mahjong or cards; you can watch them.

The arcade had a TV and VCD player. You could knit while watching TV, chat with others and not feel lonely. If you needed to leave for an hour or two, it was no problem. In their entire lives, neither of them had ever had such a comfortable job.

Most women of that era didn't find the smell of smoke unbearable; many even considered it normal. They were used to their husbands smoking in bed, completely unlike the situation ten or twenty years later when some men smoked under the range hood or in the hallway.

With high income and few responsibilities, the couple felt comfortable inside and out, which made them both very "sensible" in taking on more responsibilities in other areas. Xu Kai even hired a cook, and the two of them would help out with cooking unless they were really busy. As a result, the working atmosphere of the entire arcade staff became exceptionally good.

Privately, the four partners would take a little "scraps" from their monthly profit sharing, pooling together a thousand or eight hundred yuan, and distribute it as a bonus. Each person would receive two or three hundred yuan, which was enough to make them happy for a few days.

Dong Bin and Fei Wenxin didn't go home until after 9 p.m., while Xu Kai didn't leave until late at night. Even when there were fewer people, the machine was almost never idle. Occasionally, when there was a lull, Xu Kai would take his tools and move the machine out, giving the impression that he was "checking the scores." In reality, he was making small-scale adjustments to the machine.

With good business and more regular customers, he adjusted the machine's payout ratio accordingly to increase payouts, in order to retain customers and increase the proportion of customers who "win money," thereby enhancing the machine's reputation.

Last month's dividends included an extra 5,000 yuan that the four of them pooled together.

As the arcade's reputation grew and business improved, more people became envious, leading to several "trouble-making" incidents throughout the month. Da Liangzi and his men were very helpful. Even though Xu Kai knew it was due to a special relationship between his older brother Zhang Xu and his partner, he was never stingy with money. He would hand over an envelope with money, showing no resentment, only brotherhood and goodwill.

The gray market business, which operates on the fringes, has a direct correlation between profit and risk. Xu Kai has always been very cautious. Whenever he has the opportunity, he will not hesitate to leave, or at least extricate himself from it, so as not to become an obvious target.

Having received dividends for more than two months, he couldn't sit still any longer. He called Fang Ming, the owner of the arcade machine factory in the south, and got eight claw machines. He placed four of them at the entrance of the roller skating rink in the commercial building, and four of them next to the stairs on the first floor of the commercial building.

Yun Sheng and Yun Shang's uncle from the same clan works as managers here. This little matter is just a matter of making a phone call, and they pay a symbolic fee each month. It's not a big deal, and it's even helpful in attracting customers. The only difference is how many envious glances this will attract once it's making money.

After some adjustments, one person's labor was saved. All the coin-operated settings of the claw machines were set to the size of a one-yuan coin. Starting with a one-yuan coin, the claw machine would make the plush toy seem worth ten or eight yuan.

They hired a relative, a cousin of their mother's from the same generation, who had just been laid off; and another was Sun Xiuyun's colleague and neighbor, who had also been laid off in the same batch. The monthly salary of four hundred yuan wasn't high, but it certainly wasn't low either. Where could you find a job these days where you could stay sheltered from the wind and rain?

The roller skating rink has a separate staircase and its opening hours are much later than those of the shopping mall. Xu Kai arranged for two people to take turns working overtime on the floor where the roller skating rink is located until it closes at night. Overtime pay is calculated based on the number of days worked. If neither of them has anything to do and wants to earn money, then it's fair for each of them to work one day. If either of them has something to do, they can discuss it themselves. With overtime pay included, their income exceeds 600 yuan, which is already higher than that of ordinary workers.

He also installed a landline phone for his mother's mahjong parlor and bought her a pager. Every afternoon, before the mall closed, she needed to go to the commercial building to settle accounts and restock. Xu Kai didn't allow her to go alone, or one of her uncles would accompany her to the mahjong parlor. Since they were both at work, he would have his mother call Ma Xin from the arcade and ask him to go with her.

It wasn't that there was a lot of cash every day; it was that Xu Kai felt sorry for his mother and didn't want her to do any work.

He takes out game coins from the machine, turns it on, and refills the machine with dolls. Every now and then, Ma Xin is also responsible for picking up the goods and delivering batches of dolls to a small storage room under the stairs of the commercial building so that they can be restocked anytime, anywhere.

Even an ordinary person, as long as you are willing to think, have a quick mind, have money, are bold and daring, and have some connections and relationships that you can utilize, can easily make money in this era, even if you don't see gold everywhere you look. It's really not difficult to find opportunities to make money that others haven't even realized yet.

Xu Kai had a lot of grand goals in his mind, which he had written down in his notebook after his rebirth. After actually putting them into practice, he found that some of them were unattainable even if you had enough time now.

You're suggesting he go find Lei Jun or Ma Huateng right now? Is that realistic? Even if he knows them, why would he invest? Why would they want him? And even if they do, how much money do he have to support that investment?

As an outsider, you have no power to limit their influence. Even if you enter the market now and get the initial shares, these are business tycoons who play the capital game. You can't keep up with them in terms of intelligence, experience, and ability. Before long, your investment shares will be diluted, and they will gradually ask you to leave gracefully. In the end, they will retain some of your profits to appease their goodwill and avoid being too cold-hearted and losing face. What you need to do is hold on tight, as they will be worth a lot of money in the future.

Can't you earn this money yourself? Or, once you have enough capital, won't you be able to catch the next big opportunity?

Xu Kai has now admitted to something.

For him, Songcheng is still a vast place. The idea of ​​roaming freely across the world, as he so confidently proclaimed, seems incredibly difficult at the moment. The cost-benefit ratio of actually taking the plunge is very low. It's far more comfortable to stay in his small plot of land, achieve some success, expand his network, and earn a living as a small business owner among the lucky ones of this era.

Over the years, Xu Kai has always believed in one principle—cooperation should be based on tangible mutual benefit, not on so-called discerning judgment or the survival of the fittest. The former can last a long time or at least lead to a peaceful separation, while the latter requires you to always be in a high enough position, otherwise you will definitely end up with nothing. Your initial discerning judgment will make you seem out of place and an eyesore as the other party ascends to the throne.

………………

Despite the low temperature at midnight in mid-October, Xu Kai still insisted on going home to take a shower in the bathroom converted from a storage room.

The door was locked, and his mother hadn't returned from the card room. Xu Kai shook his head and smiled bitterly. He thought, "Let my mother enjoy herself for a couple of years while she's still young. In a few years, I can't let her wear herself out like this."

Pushing open the storage room door, I turned on the light first. The hot air from the bathroom heater blew into the cold bathroom. When we first installed this thing, my mother thought it was very novel and praised its useful functions. Xu Kai didn't tell her about the power consumption. Recently, Xu Kai has been paying for the electricity bill. Otherwise, given my mother's spending habits, she would never have been willing to use the bathroom heater when taking a shower.

I went inside and changed out of all my outer clothes, then took my underwear to change into and went into the bathroom.

He bought two sets of school uniforms from the school, and several sets of basketball clothes. He had to change and wash them every day. Living more than 20 years in the future, he simply couldn't stand wearing the clothes for several days after strenuous exercise.

Back when I was in school, it was the norm for 99% of students to wash their school uniforms once a week. When my family built a new bathroom, we bought a double-bar washing machine. After the bathroom was built, we connected the water supply to the washing machine and the drain to the bathroom's drainage pipe, which drained directly into the small drainage ditch in the alley outside the wall.

It's a common practice that the small alleyway next to the front house's wall is used to drain water from the ditch that was originally for rainwater. After all, the alleyway is the only way in and out of everyone's house every day. Urine, grease, and leftover food waste are absolutely not allowed to be discharged there. Each household needs to have a wastewater bucket and carry it to the sewage well outside the alleyway to empty it every day.

For the sake of neighborly relations, Xu Kai's family consulted with several neighbors in the alley before building this bathroom. The neighbors all came to see it and thought it was pretty good. The neighbor at the very back also followed suit, but not as "luxurious" as Xu Kai's, and also built a bathroom in their storage room.

I rekindled the stove fire inside the house; my mother had been away all day, and the little bit of coal I had extinguished that morning had long since gone out.

The clothes that need washing can be put directly into the washing machine.

The temperature in the bathroom also rose. Xu Kai bought a brand-name water heater with corresponding leakage protection, so unlike many families who use homemade water heaters, he didn't have to unplug the power every time he took a shower.

The small bathroom was divided into two areas by a tarpaulin curtain. With the curtain drawn, water wouldn't splash onto the washing machine or the changing chair outside while you showered inside. After a long day of school, an intense basketball practice in the afternoon, and then spending most of the night in the arcade, a shower at home felt wonderful. Thinking back to how I used to sit in a large metal tub in the kitchen to shower, I couldn't help but smile. Life is about experiencing more, which often leads to more memories.