Three hundred Luo Er returned
The next morning, Da Luo and Aunt Gao took the children to school. Li Wei wanted to take advantage of the free time to sleep in and catch up on some sleep, but Luo Er arrived.
Waking up to Wei Jie's call, Li Wei, still half-asleep, struggled to get out of bed. She thought to herself, "You damn waiter, you'd better have something important to say."
After a quick wash and tidying up, I changed out of my pajamas and was about to go downstairs when I found Luo Er sitting in the small living room on the second floor, drinking water. He looked very haggard.
Li Wei sat down opposite him and asked, "What's wrong? You look so down. What happened? Did your business fail or were you scammed? Let me tell you, waiter, money is just an external thing."
Luo Er and several classmates have made a lot of money doing business in the past two years, but there has been serious infighting. In the first year, due to the unequal distribution of the spoils, only four of the seven people remained. Three of them went out to start their own businesses, taking some of the funds and customers with them.
Six months later, due to disagreements over investment, two more left, taking with them some funds and clients, leaving only Luo Er and a female classmate as partners.
This female classmate is no ordinary person. Despite being a girl, she is shrewd, capable, and shrewd, and she is also quite good-looking. More importantly, she has always been a staunch follower of Luo Er.
Li Wei had seen her once or twice. According to Li Wei's estimation, this girl probably had some feelings for Luo Er. Although it wasn't obvious on the surface, why would a young girl travel all the way to the provincial capital to fawn over you?
Although Luo Er is good-looking and seems to come from a wealthy family, the girl's family is not poor either. Day after day, she follows Luo Er's lead without question, which is not something an ordinary girl can do.
Especially Luo Er's business, it's not that Li Wei has high standards and looks down on him, it's just that he's really just a middleman.
They did whatever made money, constantly moving from place to place like guerrillas, always traveling north and south, east and west, without any fixed plans. Li Wei was exhausted just watching them, but they did manage to travel all over the country.
But Luo Er was exceptionally ambitious. Aside from taking some start-up capital from Li Wei when he first started his business, every time Li Wei asked if he needed money, he would resolutely shake his head. He was truly in dire straits. Even if he borrowed money, he would repay it as soon as he made a profit. He never took anything for free. He was very determined.
Regardless, Luo Er has still made money these past two years.
But today, he really encountered a problem: "Sister Xiaoming."
"Stop, stop calling me sister-in-law. Your brother will be unhappy if he hears you. He'll think you have some improper thoughts about me, haha." Li Wei quickly stopped him. Whenever Luo Er was short of money or had some difficulties, he would call her Sister Xiaoming. Otherwise, he would call her sister-in-law.
So 'Sister Xiaoming' is a signal.
Helpless, Luo Er changed his tune: "Sister-in-law, I've been scammed."
Li Wei: "Huh?" Luo Er, that rascal, would be fooled? It's good enough if he doesn't fool others.
Luo Er smiled wryly, "It's true, I've actually been doing business with them for over a year, and their credit has always been good; they've never been dishonest. This time, because I ordered a large quantity, they said they were having cash flow problems and asked me to make a partial prepayment. I had already paid a large deposit. But I didn't think they would cause any trouble; we've always had a good working relationship. But unexpectedly, when the deadline was approaching, they found an excuse to ask me for payment and then ran away. I went to look for them, but after more than half a month, I couldn't find them. Their factory is rented, so I had no choice but to come back."
That's not surprising. Li Wei has heard plenty of stories like this. Shen Tao even told her about one just a few days ago, but she hadn't paid much attention. Thinking of this, she comforted Luo Er, "Like I said, money is just an external thing. Don't get so upset. How many business people haven't encountered this kind of thing? You can't walk by the river without getting wet. Learn from your mistakes. By the way, what are your plans? Will you continue with your trading business, or do you have other plans? Let's look forward. Your company has already lost money, but our family can afford to lose money too. It won't affect the overall situation."
Suddenly, she realized something was off: "Did you just come back from visiting that person out of town? Have you eaten? I haven't had breakfast either, let's grab something to eat together."
Luo Er did look rather listless. He hadn't eaten all night and had been on the train all night. Because of a burning desire inside him, he hadn't felt hungry or thirsty. But when he arrived at his brother's place, he felt at ease.
Now, after hearing Li Wei's words of comfort, he felt much better. In particular, Li Wei had often told him that if he wanted to work, he could work outside, and if he didn't want to work anymore, he could come back to the company.
This is also why Li Wei sees Luo Er as becoming more and more mature, looking much more composed and grounded than when he first graduated.
Hearing the loud rumbling from Luo Er's stomach, Li Wei laughed: "Let's go downstairs to eat, and then we can discuss this further. By the way, why didn't your classmate Wei Yan come with us?"
As Luo Er followed Li Wei downstairs, he said, "She had some family matters to attend to and hasn't come back yet."
After the two had breakfast, Li Wei noticed that Luo Er was still covered in dust from his journey, so she arranged for him to take a bath, gave him some of Da Luo's clothes to change into, and handed the clothes he had taken off to Aunt Gao to dispose of.
Li Wei checked the time and decided to skip class today. She'd better figure out Xiao Er first. This is a crucial moment for him; his next choice is extremely important. She had promised her father-in-law to take good care of him. Besides, even without Lao Luo's instructions, Luo Er was still family. She had bullied him since he was a child, so it was only right that she take care of him.
Despite Luo Er's cunning exterior, he's actually a kind-hearted person, especially with Li Wei, Li Lin, and Li Lianhui, with whom he never distinguishes.
Luo Er looked refreshed and sat with Li Wei in the small living room on the second floor, drinking tea. Li Wei asked, "What are your plans? If you didn't have something in mind, you wouldn't have come here so early in the morning. Tell me?"
Luo Er put down his teacup, thought for a moment, and said, "This is what I'm planning. I've been doing business for the past two years and have experienced a lot, especially in terms of internal management. As you know, our group of partners has become more and more scattered. Two of them can't even be friends anymore, which makes me very sad. We only came together because of our close relationship. Sigh, I won't say anymore."
Li Wei hesitated for a moment, then comforted him, saying, "These kinds of things happen a lot. Many business partnerships end up falling apart. It's mainly because the system isn't sound enough. Especially since you two only came together out of enthusiasm, it was based entirely on feelings. When faced with interests, feelings often have to undergo a cruel test, and basically no one can withstand that test. Don't think too much about it. This is one of the lessons you're paying. Many people have gone through it, it's not your fault. Try to think more positively."
Luo Er smiled helplessly: "You have to come to terms with it, whether you like it or not. What else can you do? Some things, once they're gone, can't be undone."
Li Wei took a sip of tea: "What else? Please continue."
Luo Er: "In the past two years, I've traveled to many places and met a lot of people and things. Actually, I realized a long time ago that my way of doing business has no future. Compared to you, or even compared to others, it's child's play. I was too naive before. I saw you doing business and thought making money was easy. In fact, making small money is easy, and making big money is not difficult either. What's difficult is making money while doing a good job in business. So I want to do something down-to-earth."
This is exactly what Li Wei and Lao Luo were hoping for: "Have you thought about what you want to do? As long as you want to do something worthwhile, the family will support you."
Luo Er was silent for a while before saying, "I want to go to the south to do real estate. I know a few people in Shanghai who are in the building materials business. I've discussed it with them, and they say that the real estate market there is still very promising. Moreover, Shanghai is a big city, so it would be better. Right now, I only have this preliminary idea. It just so happens that my family is also involved in this business. I want to discuss it with you, Dad, and my older brother. What do you think?"
Li Wei nodded. Their family really needed someone ambitious and eager to start a business: "I think it's a good idea. I have some connections, so you won't be completely clueless when you go. There's no shortage of talent here; everyone's experienced. And the timing is pretty good. Our family has accumulated some wealth over the years without making any major investments, so this is a good opportunity. Why don't you take a break for a couple of days and organize your company? And Wei Yan, she's been with you for so long. If you like her, give her a proper status. If not, just say so. Don't keep her hanging on. A girl's youth is limited; don't ruin her chances of finding a good match."
Li Wei was incredibly talkative, probably even more so than Luo Er's mother. Zhao Chunyan, being uneducated, at most cared about Luo Er's marriage prospects, while Li Wei, this educated mother, was concerned with every single detail, big and small.
But Luo Er isn't a child anymore, and instead of finding it nagging, he feels a warmth in his heart. As one grows up and enters society, the number of people who truly care about them decreases, and Li Wei is one of the few who has been there for them since childhood.
Finally, the two agreed that Luo Er would first close the company and handle the aftermath, while Li Wei would call her father-in-law to see when he would have time to come over for a visit and also to find out where Luo Er was going, since if he really went abroad, it wouldn't just be his problem anymore.
This is a major event that concerns the future economic development of the Luo family.
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