Li Longfei smiled bitterly and took a big gulp of tea.

"Uncle Long, don't worry, business will improve."

Wang Peng took out his wallet and pulled out 2,700 yuan that he had prepared in advance.

I borrowed so much money from him to buy the three-wheeled motorcycle.

"Huh? You've earned enough for the car in less than half a year?" Li Longfei was very surprised.

Wang Peng nodded. "I have more and more clients, and I plan to go to the countryside to do business during the summer vacation."

"Impressive!" Li Longfei said with a wry smile, "Xiao Peng, do you think video arcades have a future?"

Wang Peng was taken aback and didn't know how to answer.

Video arcades definitely have no future.

The VCD player was invented last year, and it will be widely available in two or three years at most.

When ordinary people can afford it, they can watch movies at home, so who would still want to go out to watch video recordings?

Wang Peng said, "Uncle Long, while the video arcade business is still doing well, let's transfer it as soon as possible and try to take over the cinema in our county."

"The movie theater?" Li Longfei immediately looked up to the west.

Next to the People's Shopping Mall on the west side is the Ping'an County Cinema, which has recently been announced to be leased to an individual.

Wang Peng explained, "In the past year, we have never shown any pornographic videos, but very few girls still come to watch them."

"Why? Because the fact that video arcades show pornography has become a stereotype, and girls are afraid to come."

"Movie theaters are different; they mainly cater to couples."

"Think about it carefully. If a store filters out women by default, it definitely won't be able to do business."

Speaking of this, Wang Peng thought of all-female bookstores and all-female gyms in the future.

Humans only have two genders, male and female. If a business defaults to abandoning one gender, it will definitely fail.

Li Longfei frowned, gripping his teacup and falling into deep thought.

After a long while, he shook his head.

"Investing in movie theaters requires too much money; I can't afford it unless I sell my car."

"Xiaopeng, I'll hold on for another two months. If business still doesn't improve, then I'll talk to you again."

The two locked eyes.

A moment later, Li Longfei's eyes began to dart away.

"Uncle Long, are you trying to play pornographic videos here?" Wang Peng asked.

"That's not true." Li Longfei hurriedly waved his hand and said, "Don't talk nonsense, I would never do such a thing."

His tone was forceful, but his voice lacked strength.

Wang Peng secretly rejoiced.

Fortunately, I withdrew my shares early. If it were now, I wouldn't be able to withdraw them and would definitely lose money.

“Uncle Long, that kind of thing might be a criminal offense. You should think it over carefully,” Wang Peng said seriously.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." A hint of disdain flashed in Li Longfei's eyes.

"Okay, I'll be going now," Wang Peng said.

Turning away from the video arcade, I looked back at the door, feeling a pang of sadness.

Nine times out of ten, Li Longfei is going to do something foolish.

Wang Peng drove home, where his cousin and brother-in-law had already packed their luggage.

He was in a bad mood, so he told his cousin and cousin's husband about his conversation with Li Longfei and the news that Li Longfei might be showing illegal videos to attract customers.

Both of them fell silent.

After a long while.

Chen Qingshu said, "You no longer have shares in the video arcade, and your aunt no longer works there. This has nothing to do with us."

“Yes,” Li Fang said, “Let’s not worry about it. Li Longfei is so old, he must have his own ideas.”

“That’s true, but…” Wang Peng shook his head and couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.

Since they met, Li Longfei has helped him a lot.

Li Mengjiao had helped him a lot with his studies in the past.

He didn't want anything to happen to Li Longfei.

“Pengdi, I know you feel bad, but there’s nothing you can do,” Li Fang said.

Chen Qingshu patted him on the shoulder and said, "This is just our speculation right now, so don't think too much about it."

Wang Peng smiled wryly, nodded, and said, "Alright, I can only take it one step at a time."

Just then, someone else called to ask for stationery.

Wang Peng wrote down the list, hung up the phone, and the siblings prepared and loaded the goods onto the truck according to the list.

Soon, an afternoon had passed.

At 6 p.m., Wang Peng received another call from Li Xiwang.

"Little brother, send me another hundred diaries, two hundred ballpoint pens, and two hundred pen refills."

"Brother, I just delivered the goods to you yesterday. Is your business doing that well?" Wang Peng was a little confused.

"A big customer from the countryside is coming to buy goods, haha." Li Xiwang laughed on the phone.

Most of the owners of small shops in the countryside come to the county town to wholesale goods.

"Pengdi, we only have 150 ballpoint pens left, but we have enough notebooks and pen refills," Li Fang said softly.

Wang Peng nodded. "Brother Xi, we're short fifty ballpoint pens. I'll go to the provincial capital tomorrow and deliver them to you this afternoon, okay?"

“Okay, you can send the rest of the goods over first,” Li Xiwang said.

The two chatted for a few more minutes before Wang Peng hung up the phone.

The goods were ready, and he drove his motorcycle to Hope Bookstore.

A tricycle was parked outside the bookstore, loaded with cigarettes, alcohol, snacks, brooms, heaters, and other daily necessities.

The owners were a middle-aged couple; the man had a full beard, and the woman was wearing a dress.

They were Li Xiwang's rural customers.

Under Li Xiwang's direction, Wang Peng loaded the goods onto the farm tricycle.

After the customers from the countryside left, Li hoped to settle the bill with Wang Peng.

"Brother Hope, do you know anyone in the movie theater?" Wang Peng asked.

“My cousin works at a movie theater; he’s a junior manager,” Li Xiwang said with a smile. “What’s up? You want to take over the movie theater?”

"No, I want to ask how much it costs to lease a movie theater?" Wang Peng said.

Li hoped to extend his hand, saying, "At least 60,000. But it's a one-time contract, which is essentially a buyout."

Wang Peng was taken aback and couldn't help but shake his head.

If Li Longfei wants to take over the movie theater, he can only sell his Santana.

“Brother, money alone isn’t enough; you also need connections and relationships. Do you understand what I mean?” Li Xiwang said with a half-smile.

"Understood." Wang Peng smiled slightly. "Brother Xiwang, I'll be going now."

It was already dark when the streetlights came on.

When Wang Peng drove to the intersection of Xiaowang Village, he suddenly felt uneasy.

He hesitated for a few seconds, then drove straight to the train station and parked outside the video arcade.

The person in charge of buying the tickets was a distant relative of Li Longfei, who knew Wang Peng.

Wang Peng lifted the curtain, looked at the television in front of him, then turned and left the video arcade.

"Pengzi, why don't you come in and have a seat?" the ticket seller said with a smile.

"I'm not sitting here anymore, goodbye sir." Wang Peng drove away directly.

Sure enough, in order to make more money, Li Longfei still screened illegal films.

"Luckily, I withdrew my shares early," Wang Peng scoffed.

If I hadn't withdrawn my investment, I might have been arrested by the police one day for disseminating obscene videos.

"Damn it, you're just waiting to be in trouble." Wang Peng slammed on the gas and drove all the way back to Xiaowangzhuang.

He parked his car in the yard, went to the kitchen in the east room to take a shower, and went straight to bed.

The next morning, I drove my cousin and her husband to the provincial capital.