When Cheng Ran came back that day, Xu Lan had already prepared dinner at home.
When he entered the room, Xu Lan came over and was about to take the book from him, "You're back..."
Then she looked down, probably seeing his trouser legs. Cheng Ran's ripped trouser legs were tied in a knot in the middle, with his socks and flesh exposed. It was a bit cold today, but Cheng Ran smiled, "Mom, is Dad back? I'm starving."
Now No. 1 Middle School implements an odd-even weekend rotation system. There will be no classes this Saturday and no evening self-study this Friday.
Xu Lan took Cheng Ran's book and didn't look at his pants. Her voice was not as excited as before when she saw her son coming back. Instead, it was a little low, "Your dad... hasn't come back yet..."
When Cheng Ran came back, he went to his room to change his pants, then came out and sat at the dining table. He looked at the freshly fried shredded pork and the hot pig's trotter soup sprinkled with chopped green onions, his mouth watering.
Every weekend when he comes back at this time, there will always be extra dishes like this. It is probably because Xu Lan is worried that he doesn't eat well in the school cafeteria every day, so he wants to make up for it when he comes home. Cheng Ran picked up the chopsticks and leaned on the table. "That's true. He has been busy. You must have been waiting for a long time. Let's eat."
"Oh... OK..."
After dinner, Cheng Ran washed the dishes and pots by himself, then came back and asked Xu Lan, who didn't want her help, "Mom, where's the sewing box? Let me use it."
Xu Lan quickly went to find the sewing box and hesitated for a moment, "How about I help you sew..."
"No, I can do it myself."
Cheng Ran smiled at her and took the sewing box. It was an iron box that used to store White Rabbit milk candies, and it was used to store these things after they were finished eating.
He took it back to his room and began to sew the sweatpants stitch by stitch.
Xu Lan sat on the sofa in the living room, clenching her hands together and gently tying them into a knot.
She remembered what Yuan Chun from the office said, "Today I bought a pair of Nike shoes and pants for my son Yuan Liang, which cost me more than a thousand yuan! Hey! Raising a child is really troublesome. Speaking of which, this kid of mine has cost me at least hundreds of thousands of yuan since he was a child! He is a money-loser!"
Xu Lan was surprised at the time and responded, "More than a thousand yuan? Just a pair of shoes and a pair of pants are so expensive? One of our Cheng Ran's sweatpants was given to him by his brother five or six years ago. I gave it to him to wear. Anyway, boys grow up fast, and new ones can't be worn soon after they are bought!"
"Hey, I'm not saying anything bad about you, but your Cheng Ran didn't care before, but now that boys have grown up, they all want to save face... He has such good grades, it's worry-free enough, you can't treat him unfairly in this regard!"
"That's nothing... Diligence and thrift are virtues."
The conversation with Yuan Chun is still vivid in my mind.
Now, looking at Cheng Ran's door, she walked back to her bedroom, opened the closet door, and took out a stack of money from her coat pocket. That was the family's living expenses for this month. She counted it, and then... made up her mind.
The next day, Cheng Ran was dragged out by Xu Lan.
Then he was taken to the famous sports mall in Shanhai. Cheng Ran was slightly surprised. This famous sports mall is a very famous place in this small city these days. Some international high-end sports brands such as Nike, Adidas, and AJ are here. It is a famously expensive mall in Shanhai City. In the eyes of ordinary people, being able to buy things here means being rich or noble. Xu Lan once said to Cheng Ran in a joking manner that if you do well in the final exam, Mom will reward you to buy a set of clothes there.
Of course, Cheng Ran had heard such words all his life, but they had never been fulfilled. Basically, Xu Lan would only take him to the crowded clothing wholesale markets in Shanhai to choose clothes.
"Mom, are you...rewarding me for doing well on the midterm exam?"
"That's right... Just choose a set of clothes, pants and shoes."
Cheng Ran looked over and said, "My dad hasn't made any money yet. He hasn't received his salary this month. Our family is so tight on living expenses. How can he buy something so expensive?"
Xu Lan was stunned for a moment, then continued, "The last time I bought you clothes was during the Spring Festival in February. It's been a long time since I bought you clothes... And you've grown up, so it's time to buy you some expensive clothes, so that your classmates don't have them."
Cheng Ran burst out laughing. No wonder, with his mother's personality, she didn't say a word when she saw that his pants were torn yesterday.
It turns out that he was waiting for me here.
Cheng Ran looked at the bag Xu Lan was carrying and the coat she was wearing. She had worn her best clothes. He smiled, walked over and picked out a pair of PUMA sweatpants priced at 249, then went straight to the waiter to issue the bill and pay the bill. "Let's take this one."
At that time, the premium of domestic first-tier sports brands such as Adidas and Nike was still very high. In an era when the average salary of an employee did not exceed 1,000 yuan, the starting price was already 500 or 600 yuan. It should be the top luxury goods that ordinary students could access. Therefore, wearing Adidas and Nike was extremely cool back then. Whoever had one or two pairs was a representative of a wealthy family.
PUMA is cheaper, and Cheng Ran knows his mother's attitude. She will not leave unless he buys something.
"Only this one?" Xu Lan hesitated for a moment, "How about you choose another one..."
"That's enough. I happen to have a pair of pants that are torn." After Xu Lan paid the bill, Cheng Ran carried the bag and left the mall with his mother.
The money spent on this pair of pants was equivalent to the value of a complete set of clothes that Cheng Ran would wear during festivals and holidays, but Xu Lan still looked guilty.
Cheng Ran smiled, turned around, and pointed to the 13-story shopping mall behind him, "Mom, do you believe it? One day my dad will be rich enough to just point and buy not only the goods in this mall, but also this entire building and this piece of land."
Xu Lan sneered, "You only know how to say these things to amuse yourself. Your father is such a bad person... Don't I know that I can become rich and powerful in this life? Forget it, I don't want to think too much about it. As long as I can get by!"
"I'll be satisfied if we can give you some money to get married and find a wife!"
…
…
Cheng Ran and his brothers contacted each other. The eldest brother Cheng Qi was promoting the board game in full swing. Cheng Qi was recruiting new members for the university club, so he joined the entrepreneurship club of the Normal School. It seems that in any university, the entrepreneurship club will definitely be at the top of the club popularity list. It is also easy to find motivated and like-minded students here.
Cheng Ran found a few people who could share his energy, and they worked together to promote the product. It was said that they had put up enough advertisements in the university town, and most of the small shops were used as their distribution points. From the initial hand-drawn advertisements to the PPT advertising boards, the sales volume was surprisingly good. And because of the limited production capacity, Cheng Qi suggested raising the price of a pair, and Cheng Ran agreed to raise the price to 69 yuan a pair.
There are many college students who have free time and money at this time, while those who have no money and no free time are generally not interested in their board games. Student life itself is relatively boring, and to their surprise, Three Kingdoms Killing did not become popular in the school water bar, but first became a popular game in the student dormitory.
At that time, not many students could install computers in their dormitories. The Three Kingdoms theme had a strong appeal, plus the beautiful and exciting character drawings that even subverted the traditional image of the Three Kingdoms, plus the Bang! killing game mechanism. The dormitory became hot in an instant.
The chess set, which costs 69 yuan per set, is in great demand. Whoever has one will become the darling of several nearby dormitories. Students no longer play poker, but gather together to play board games. Although the game of Three Kingdoms can be played by ten people, the gaming experience is limited to eight people.
The extra people can only stand by and scratch their heads while waiting for the long rotation.
But there is a solution, which is to buy another set and invite other people who are waiting to play.
Initially, students from the Computer Science Department started playing this game. It spread from a few dormitories to one floor, and from one floor to the Computer Science Department's Xingyuan No. 1 dormitory building. Then, like an infectious disease, it also started in No. 2 dormitory building.
Soon after, several nearby dormitories and departments also began to look for board games.
After the initial month of silence, in the next one or two months, more than 200 board games that had been put on the market in advance were sold out, and many vendors in the convenience stores around the school began to take pre-orders in batches of at least ten sets after they were sold out.
Finally, Cheng Qi summarized the revenue: 14,774 yuan in two months and nine days after school started.
This trend is still expanding at an unknown speed and scale.
Like a fire, it has already started burning.
All around the fire were dry grasses, covering the entire plain.
(First update! Please vote!)