After Li Xiangdong got back, the first thing he did was take off his stinky, dirty clothes and take a nice, relaxing shower.

Then, after instructing Zhou Hongmei to make soup for Xu Yunsong, she also made some for Xiao Sun and Xiao Fulai.

After saying all that, he went back to his room and fell asleep immediately.

He slept for a full day and night without eating or going to the toilet.

When he slowly woke up, he had just opened one eye when he vaguely saw a dark figure at the head of the bed, staring at him without moving.

Li Xiangdong snapped back to reality in fright and yelled at the dark figure, "Who are you?"

"It's me, Xiang Dong!"

The voice sounded familiar.

Li Xiangdong rubbed his eyes. "Brother Sun! What brings you here? Why aren't you at the hospital taking care of Fulai?"

Xiao Sun didn't say anything, but simply handed over a piece of paper covered in writing, saying, "Keep this!"

"What...?"

Li Xiangdong took it and examined it closely.

"What the heck, an IOU?"

"Um!"

Xiao Sun bit her already pale lips and said in a trembling voice:

"Xiangdong, I don't have that much money on hand. I still need to pay for Xiaofu's treatment. I can only owe you the medical bills you paid for me... But don't worry, I will definitely pay you back!"

Xiao Sun looked at Li Xiangdong earnestly, "I can make money!"

Li Xiangdong chuckled, then put the IOU back in his hand. "I believe you can earn money. I also believe in your character. No need for an IOU."

Xiao Sun said urgently, "How can that be? Aren't you afraid I'll run away and not pay back the money?!"

Li Xiangdong shook his head. "Don't worry, there's another reason why I don't want an IOU."

"Huh? What's the reason?"

...

On the train to Changchun in Northeast China.

Passengers got on and off, and gradually most of the passengers around me started speaking with a Northeastern accent.

Looking out the car window at the towering mountains that flashed by, Zhou Hongsong's eyes widened as he asked Li Xiangdong, "Not only did you not ask for an IOU, but you also gave him another three thousand yuan?"

"That's right! Consider it my investment. Fifth Brother, why don't you invest some money in Xiao Sun too?"

"No, you mean you want Xiao Sun to register a sole proprietorship and then act as a go-between for people buying and selling houses?"

"Yes, we provide high-quality services to people buying and selling houses, saving them time and earning a service fee."

Zhou Hongsong scratched the back of his head. "Will this work?"

Li Xiangdong leaned back leisurely in his chair.

"Why not? There were real estate brokers and land brokers in ancient times. Now that the country allows houses to be bought and sold as commodities, it will inevitably give rise to the real estate brokerage industry again."

“Xiao Sun has a talent for this. As long as he can seize the opportunity, he will definitely have a bright future.”

"So investing in him now is like preparing a golden goose for yourself. Fifth Brother, whether you want to invest or not, it's up to you!"

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Hongsong asked, "Why tell this complete stranger such a good idea? Can't we do it ourselves?"

Li Xiangdong smiled and said, "There are plenty of profitable businesses in this world. Can we keep them all? It's not easy to get a share of the pie."

As he spoke, he tossed a round, red apple to Zhou Hongsong, then took one for himself and took a "crunch" bite.

"Eating too much makes my stomach hurt!"

The train clattered and rattled, passing through countless stations before finally stopping at Changchun Station.

After exiting the train station, Zhou Hongsong and Li Xiangdong waited for the bus on the roadside.

The asphalt road in front of us is wide and flat, with neat and stylish buildings and tall trees on both sides.

Liberation brand trucks kept passing by on the road, as well as imported Polonez cars with four round headlights, a hatchback design, and a little ducktail spoiler. These were luxury cars that ordinary people in this era could hardly afford.

Zhou Hongsong exclaimed, "Looking east, Changchun is in no way inferior to Beijing or Dalian!"

"That's right! Changchun is one of the top five cities in our country! Look at these big trucks running on the road, they are probably all products of Changchun First Automobile Works."

Another yellow Polonaise roared past, and Zhou Hongsong watched it until it disappeared at the intersection before praising it:

"Wow! That half-breast is rare even in Beijing!"

Li Xiangdong was speechless and corrected him, "Polonez, not half...that thing!"

"Waaaaah—hiss!"

A bus stopped in front of the two of them.

After a long, bumpy ride on the bus, the two finally arrived at the Changchun Hotel on Shengli Street.

After settling their luggage, the two ate something, washed up, and went to bed.

With snow-white sheets and a soft mattress, the two slept soundly until dawn.

After asking the pretty young waitress at the front desk for directions to the Clivia Market, the two of them went there with a bag full of money.

Clivia is the city flower of Changchun, and Changchun is the birthplace of Clivia in China. There is an inexplicable and mysterious relationship between the two.

In the 1960s, clivia was rarely seen in the general public. People considered this flower to be a poisonous weed, and growing it was seen as a sign of bourgeois ideology.

As for buying and selling clivia, that's out of the question; that's taking the capitalist road.

Despite this, in the 1960s, people were still willing to pay for rare varieties of clivia. Some were even willing to sell their Swiss watches and bicycles to spend 180 yuan on a single clivia.

Around 1978, a market for buying and selling Clivia miniata had already begun to emerge in Changchun.

Li Xiangdong clearly remembers that in the early 1980s, the price of Clivia rose steadily, and the market supply could not meet the demand. A good variety of Clivia would usually sell for several times, or even more than ten times, the monthly income of a Changchun resident.

In 1982, the Changchun Municipal Government issued a "price limit order" for Clivia, stipulating that the price of a pot of Clivia should not exceed 200 yuan.

At that time, buying and selling Clivia could make money, but not that much. What really drove up the price of Clivia were two events that happened in 1984.

First, on October 11, 1984, the Clivia was named the city flower of Changchun.

Secondly, Changchun City proposed to develop the "window sill economy" and called on every household to grow 3 to 5 pots of clivia.

As a result of these two events, every household in Changchun City takes pride in growing clivia, and the market price of rare clivia exceeds 10,000 yuan, with the most expensive clivia even selling for hundreds of thousands of yuan.

Of course, this flower-themed hype, much like the "tulip mania," met with a "black summer" in June 1985.

After the Changchun Municipal Government took administrative measures to curb the excessively high flower prices, the price of Clivia flowers depreciated by about 99%, an event known as the Clivia Incident.

When Li Xiangdong recalled this incident, he couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions, wondering who made a fortune in this bubble!

The two left the hotel and headed straight for the Changchun Fengguan Joint Flower Market, which the pretty young waitress had mentioned.