yournovel Chapter 3 It's Hard to Guard Against a Thief Within Your Own Family
Chapter 3 It's Hard to Guard Against a Thief Within Your Own Family
Dinner ended in a subtle atmosphere, with no explicit agreement but also no suffocating opposition. Grandpa's final response was silence, and Uncle's "Give it a try" seemed more like a tacit consent. My parents didn't have much objection, mainly because their voices carried less weight than my older sister's, who lived far away in Beijing.
Lingyun's parents moved to the stone quarry, so she chose to walk back to the teachers' family compound, her mother's school-provided housing, where she had grown up. The stone quarry also had a self-built house with a large yard where the quarry's equipment was stored. To prevent theft at night, Lingyun's parents stayed there.
Ling Yun chose to walk home because he needed this time alone to cool down the afterglow of the confrontation at the dinner table, and he also needed an absolutely quiet space to clarify the bargaining chips he held and plan for the next few years.
In the early spring of 1996, the chill of the night lingered in the county town. The streetlights were dim, spaced far apart, casting dim yellow halos on the potholed cement road. Occasionally, a bicycle would jingle past, the rider wrapped in a thick cotton-padded coat, their figure quickly swallowed by the darkness.
There was no smell of exhaust fumes in the air, only the faint aroma of coal stoves and the scent of earth. This slow, almost stagnant pace contrasted sharply with the bizarre, information-overloaded world he remembered from 2025.
Ling Yun walked to the small park in the center of the county town and sat down on a cold stone bench. In the distance, the neon signs of the two nightclubs stubbornly flickered in the night, like the hazy eyes of desire in this era. He closed his eyes and began to sort out his thoughts and plan for the future.
No matter what industry you work in in the future, making money is a must; only with money can you live a good life.
As a seasoned veteran of the Myanmar A-share market in his previous life, Lingyun knows the A-share market all too well. Right now, we are near the starting point of the 512 rally, and this wave of rally will continue until May 12, 1997.
Why could Lingyun remember it so clearly? It's because the numbers were the same. The Shanghai Composite Index started rising from 512 points and continued to rise until it reached over 1500 points on May 12, 1997, almost tripling in value.
The biggest speculative stocks of 96 were Sichuan Changhong, Shenzhen Technology, and Shenzhen Development Bank. In my previous life, I carefully studied the research reports on these ten-bagger stocks and meticulously reviewed their candlestick charts.
If you want to invest in stocks, the more capital you have, the better. Thinking back to my own savings, I have a little over three hundred in cash and about two thousand in my savings account, which is all the New Year's money I've saved up over the years.
The start-up capital is too small. How about we borrow some from our parents? A couple of days ago, my parents mentioned that they would buy two bulldozers in a while. We have saved more than 20 yuan. If we keep urging them to pay back the money, and borrow a few tens of thousands more from my grandfather, that should be enough.
Well, it's better to borrow it secretly. My parents definitely won't approve if they find out I'm going to invest in stocks.
Borrowing secretly is risky; if Mom gives the order, Dad's belt could make me unable to get out of bed. I have a history of this; years ago, I climbed over the wall and ruined a neighbor's persimmon tree, and Dad whipped me with his belt, leaving me too afraid to sit for three days, my buttocks burning with pain.
I would secretly borrow the money and then go back to school. If my parents found out, I could put it off for a while. Once I earned money, the matter of borrowing money would no longer be a problem.
With this in mind, Ling Yun got up and went home to carry out his loan application.
Lingyun quickly returned home, grabbed a stool, took down the old leather bag from the top of the wardrobe, and took out the bankbook and household registration book inside. He opened the bankbook and saw that it contained more than 27 yuan. It seemed that his father's stone factory had made a lot of money over the years.
At nine o'clock the next day, Lingyun left home, got on his old bicycle that rattled everywhere except for the bell, and pedaled furiously all the way to the Construction Bank.
The bank wasn't crowded; the somewhat empty lobby carried the solemnity typical of a government office. Ling Yun walked to an empty teller counter, where a kind-looking woman in her forties sat.
"Comrade, open a bank account and transfer the money in your passbook to the new card." He handed the passbook through the window.
The older woman took the passbook, opened it, adjusted her glasses, looked up at Ling Yun, and asked with a hint of surprise, "It's all been transferred to the card?"
This gaze made Ling Yun feel uneasy, and he felt the muscles in his face stiffen slightly: "Ah...right, turn them all around."
"Wow, that's no small amount. Where are your parents?" the older woman asked casually while skillfully operating the machine; it was purely professional small talk.
"They...they're busy and don't know how to do it, so they asked me to handle it." Ling Yun felt that his lie was a bit clumsy.
The older sister smiled, didn't ask any further questions, and began checking the paperwork. Every second of waiting felt like an eternity. Ling Yun's gaze involuntarily drifted towards the door, his mind uncontrollably imagining his father suddenly bursting in…
Bank cards are still a relatively new thing these days, but large transactions are becoming increasingly common.
"Okay, fill out a form." The older woman handed over an application form.
Ling Yun picked up the pen and forced himself to calm down, filling in the information stroke by stroke.
After finally filling out the form and getting the card, I watched as the lady handed me a brand-new, plastic-smelling China Construction Bank savings card and a deposit receipt through the window.
"It's all done, young man, take this carefully, don't lose it," the older woman instructed.
"Thank you... thank you, Auntie!" Ling Yun took the card and receipt as if holding a priceless treasure, or as if holding a hot potato, and quickly stuffed them into her inner pocket, holding them tightly.
Stepping out of the bank, the afternoon sun shone on him. Ling Yun took out the savings card and looked at it in the sunlight. The thin piece of plastic felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.
"Dad, I'm sorry. We'll buy the forklift a few months later!"
They got the funds and are running away today, because school starts today.