As night falls, thousands of lights illuminate homes, firecrackers crackle, and the eve of the Lunar New Year—a night of family reunion, a uniquely Chinese romantic occasion.
The front yard of the courtyard house, with the east and west wing rooms of the Sun family, became the liveliest place in the courtyard.
Inside the main room of Sun Dajiang's house, everyone was toasting and exchanging drinks, expressing their aspirations for a better future.
As they chatted, the topic of reform and opening up came up.
After all, there are more people doing small businesses now. Seeing how easy it is to make money, who wouldn't be envious?
The Sun family members are not saints; they too are human beings, and no one can resist the temptation of money.
Remembering his wife's words, Sun Zhengdong took this opportunity to ask her for clarification.
"Brother, you're a high-ranking leader now, and you understand policies better than we do. I wonder if the current situation has stabilized?"
"What do you all think?" Sun Zhengguo looked at everyone and asked with a smile.
“How would we know these things? If we did, would we still be asking?” Sun Zhengdong said truthfully.
Since we're all brothers, there's no need to hide anything.
Actually, not only did he not know, but even Sun Dajiang didn't know what the future held, so he couldn't offer any advice.
"Don't worry, there's absolutely no problem with the policy. What, you're giving up perfectly good jobs to start some small business?"
Upon hearing his elder brother's question, Sun Zhengdong, fearing that his brother would think he was neglecting his duties, quickly explained.
"No, brother, I was just asking casually. Besides, I'm just an electrician; I don't know anything about doing business!"
The other brothers nodded in agreement, though they didn't mean it.
Looking at their expressions, Sun Zhengguo knew exactly what they were thinking. Since Suo Xin was there today, he explained it to them clearly.
"Don't be so quick to deny it. Actually, this era is great. As long as you seize the opportunity, you can soar to great heights. If you can't stand the loneliness, you can do some small business."
However, there's a prerequisite: everything must strictly adhere to policy, no attempt to cross ethical boundaries, and no cheating or deception. As long as you operate with integrity, making money is easy.
Hearing Sun Zhengguo's words, everyone at the table was tempted, but some, like Sun Zhengnan, became anxious.
"Brother, everyone wants to get rich, but I finally became a cadre. I'm not willing to go back to small business!"
"Hahaha!" Sun Zhengguo laughed loudly. "Didn't I just say that if you can't stand the loneliness, you can go into business? If you can stand the loneliness, of course there are other ways."
"Really? Brother, come, come, let me toast you."
Having worked as a driver for so many years, Sun Zhengnan has become incredibly shrewd and worldly-wise. He's really going all out to find some useful information.
After he finished offering his toast, the other brothers all raised their glasses in a toast as well.
Their purpose is self-evident: they want to hear about another way.
The elders at the table smiled without saying a word, watching the brothers play around.
After downing several glasses of wine, Sun Zhengguo took a bite of food, whetting everyone's appetite before calmly beginning to speak.
"You've all saved up a lot of money over the years, right? The policy will change after the New Year, and houses will be allowed to be bought and sold. If you trust me, you can buy some houses to hold onto, especially storefronts and courtyard houses."
The reason Sun Zhengguo dared to say this is that some policies are no secret at the highest levels, and even ordinary people can access them.
But it's one thing for everyone to know, and another for people to buy houses.
The current understanding is that housing has been allocated, and since people have already been allocated housing, who would waste money buying another house?
Therefore, buying a house at the beginning is very convenient and the price is not high.
Later, with the progress of reform and opening up, the number of migrant workers increased, and housing became increasingly scarce. Only then did people realize that they could no longer afford to buy a house.
Upon hearing this suggestion, the others at the table began to ask various questions, which Sun Zhengguo patiently answered for his brothers one by one.
At this point, Sun Dajiang finally understood the gist of it, but he still had one question, so he asked his son.
“Zhengguo, you just said this is an investment, but you should know that houses are big-ticket items. Even if your brothers have savings, it seems they can't afford many.”
"Dad, that's a good question. We should definitely buy a house, but we should do it within our means. I suggest that if you have spare money, you can also invest in some antiques, since the investment is small and the return is large."
Afterwards, Sun Zhengguo talked to everyone about antiques. Although the finest pieces are unaffordable, everyone can buy some small trinkets, and there are almost no fakes when buying from trust stores.
Take silver dollars, for example. Almost no one collects them now. Some silver dollars with relatively few surviving examples are worth almost as much as cabbage. It's a small investment with a big return, so why not?
For example, some calligraphy and paintings by famous people are now practically free because the market isn't booming, including works by many masters and renowned artists.
There were countless such things, and Sun Zhengguo rattled off a long list. Finally, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he came up with another good idea.
"By the way, the Gengshen Year Monkey stamps that will be released soon are said to have a very limited print run. If you're interested, you can buy some to keep, preferably in whole sheets."
"Stamps?" The group looked at each other in bewilderment.
These things only cost a few cents each, and their usual purpose is just to send a letter. Can they really be considered an investment?
"What, you don't believe me?"
Seeing the doubtful looks on everyone's faces, Sun Zhengguo asked with a smile.
"No, brother, it's just a stamp worth a few cents. Even if it's kept for a few more years, how much could it be worth?" Sun Zheng'an asked timidly.
His words also represented the views of everyone at the table, because no one believed him.
Sun Zhengguo knew that this was hard to believe, but he couldn't explain it either. He couldn't very well tell everyone that his soul came from the future.
So he casually replied, "Believe it or not, but if this stamp sells for ten thousand yuan in the future, don't blame me for not warning you."
"Wow, ten thousand yuan a piece."
Everyone at the table gasped in astonishment. A few cents could be exchanged for ten thousand dollars—it was simply unimaginable!
Especially among a few peers, at this point they don't care whether it's true or not, they'll just buy a little bit, just in case, right?
However, they never imagined that by the time the stamp was worth 10,000 yuan, they would no longer be able to enjoy it.
Because by then they had all become old men, and even if they had money, they couldn't enjoy it anymore. Of course, that's another story.
After explaining all this, Sun Zhengguo gave some special instructions.
"What I said tonight can be told to my cousin Ji Guo and the others, but you'd better not tell outsiders. The more people know about this, the less effective it becomes."
"Yes, yes, kids, you all have to listen to your big brother. Even after we old folks are gone, you still have to listen to your big brother."
No one at the table disagreed with Grandpa's words, and everyone raised their glasses again.
With the highest honors of the martial arts world, I pay my respects to my elder brother.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com