Xu Mengyao carefully put a hundred consecutive stock subscription certificates into her backpack and asked Chen Chen after she walked out of the Overseas Chinese Store.

"Do you have enough Overseas Chinese coupons at home? Can we buy more than 4,000 coupons tomorrow?"

"It should be about the same. I haven't used much of what my family gave me before. I'll count it when I get home. If it's not enough, I can ask my grandfather for more. Don't worry."

After hearing Chen Chen's assurance, she happily carried the items she had bought and squeezed onto the bus and returned to Qi's house.

As soon as they entered the door, Maomao couldn't wait to come over and curiously tugged at the bag in Xu Mengyao's hand.

"Oh, you bought so many delicious foods again. The fish I bought today is very fresh. We'll have dinner when your Grandpa Qi comes back." Grandma Qi said as she took the bag from Xu Mengyao's hand.

While waiting for dinner, Xu Mengyao pulled Xiaomei into the room and prepared the money she would give to Chen Chen tomorrow. She had brought 430,000 yuan with her on this trip. She had expected to encounter many difficulties in making the purchase, but she had surprisingly made a good start at the Overseas Chinese Store today. Thinking that there were still over 4,000 subscription certificates waiting for her tomorrow, she was incredibly happy.

Just when the two were busy, there was a sound of the door opening outside.

"Lao Qi, you came back a little late today. The children are waiting for you to eat."

Grandpa Qi's voice sounded a little tired.

"The director held a meeting today. Is Wenjuan home?"

"Grandpa Qi, I'm here. What's the matter?" Xu Mengyao responded.

"Wenjuan, do you want to buy stock warrants? How many do you want to buy? Our director said the government issued a directive today. Since too few people have bought the warrants in the past few days, the inventory can't be cleared out. So, we need to distribute them to each unit for equal distribution."

"Ah? I want to buy a lot! Do you mean to buy it for me directly at the company?" Xu Mengyao asked in surprise.

Grandpa Qi nodded.

"The Lunar New Year is coming soon, and every family is buying new clothes. The purchase certificate costs 30 yuan each, and the company requires everyone to buy at least two. This will take out more than half of this month's salary. Everyone is very dissatisfied and is protesting. I figured that since you came all this way, you will definitely buy a lot. Don't go out and line up. I can buy it for you directly from the company."

"That's great! I can buy another 10,000. How many does your unit have?" she asked excitedly.

When Grandpa Qi heard that she wanted to buy 10,000 tickets, he gasped.

"You want to buy 10,000 tickets? That's 300,000! Wenjuan, you have to be careful!" Grandpa Qi said worriedly.

"Our unit is small, so I don't think we'll have to share much. Once you've confirmed it, I'll tell the director tomorrow."

"Okay, Grandpa Qi, I only want 100 consecutive numbers. Buy in multiples of 100. I'll give you 30,000 yuan first, and you can take them directly to work tomorrow."

The next day, Chen Chen helped her buy all 4,300 subscription certificates from the Overseas Chinese Store. Seeing the large suitcase Shaozi was carrying, Xu Mengyao quickly bought two more suitcases from the Overseas Chinese Store and put the subscription certificates in them to help Shaozi share the weight.

Before they left, the salesperson who sold them the subscription certificates personally saw them out and said enthusiastically, "If you want to buy subscription certificates again, come back to me. I wish you good luck."

Chen Chen called a taxi for them, and after putting their things away, he said to Xu Mengyao:

"Grandpa is ill, and my grandparents are taking care of him. I'll be going over to visit him soon, so I won't be able to come to see you tomorrow. I don't have any remittance vouchers for the time being, so I'll ask my grandfather for them when he comes home. Don't worry."

"No hurry, no hurry. Go and do your thing. Grandpa Qi has already bought it for me today. Come find us when you have time." Xu Mengyao quickly said goodbye to him.

They returned home early today. After putting their subscription certificates away, they followed Grandma Qi and Maomao to eat pork ribs and rice cakes. On the way back, the corridor was bustling with activity.

"What's going on? What's going on?" Grandma Qi asked the neighbor who was peeking out of the opposite door.

"The mother-in-law of Xiao Li, who lives at the back, is here. She's crying. She must have had a fight with her husband." The neighbor answered while eating melon seeds.

When Grandma Qi heard this, she put the rice cakes and keys she had packed for Grandpa Qi into Xu Mengyao's hands.

"Juan, you guys go home and watch TV first. Grandma will go and take a look." After saying that, she went to watch the fun with the old sister next door.

When Grandpa Qi came back, he was holding a cardboard box in his arms.

"Wenjuan, our unit has issued 1,200 subscription certificates. Some colleagues and leaders bought more than 100 of them. I took the remaining 1,000 directly from the leader's office. I put the remaining money in it for you. Please check whether the numbers and other things are correct." Grandpa Qi said as he handed her the box in his arms.

Xu Mengyao took the box and found some oranges, a few bottles of juice and bags of melon seeds inside.

"Grandpa, why are there so many foods?"

"Haha, this is from your colleagues at work, thanking you. Their salaries are saved, so they can have a good New Year."

Looking at the things in the box, her heart was beating fast. Those people could still thank her now, but after four or five months, they might want to eat her. She was afraid that it would affect Grandpa Qi later, so she explained:

"Grandpa Qi, you need to explain clearly to your colleagues that we bought it because they didn't want us to. Otherwise, if we get rich from this batch of subscription certificates, it will be bad if they come to you to make trouble again!"

"Don't worry, the director asked them before I bought anything. I bought the ones they wanted first, and then I picked the ones with the whole numbers. I didn't take any of the dozens of loose tickets either."

"That's good. You are so thoughtful. Please eat first. We packed this rice cake specially for you." Xu Mengyao handed over the heated lunch box.

"Okay, where's your Grandma Qi? Has she gone to watch the fun again?"

As she was speaking, Grandma Qi came back with an excited expression on her face.

"Hey, Old Qi, do you know why Xiao Li's mother-in-law and his father-in-law are fighting?" Grandma Qi said impatiently.

"Why?" Grandpa Qi asked curiously.

"Just for the stock subscription certificates, since there are many people in the cotton mill, the number of shares to be shared is larger. Xiao Li's father-in-law didn't even discuss it with his family and directly bought 20 of them!

The Lunar New Year is just around the corner, and the money was meant to be used for New Year shopping and for giving out lucky money to his children and grandchildren. Today, when his mother-in-law tried to use the money to buy groceries, she discovered it was gone. She thought the house had been robbed, but later realized it was a domestic thief. She's making a scene. She's saying she can't live like this anymore and is so dizzy she wants a divorce.

Grandma Qi talked non-stop in one breath.

"I remember his father-in-law was the director of the Seventh Cotton Mill. After all, leaders have to take the lead, but it's really not easy. I heard that their factory has been making losses and they can hardly pay the workers' wages. It's no wonder that his wife is angry." Grandpa Qi sighed.