146: Chapter 146 Su Yi, Su Ping

Su Yi felt like he had a dream, a very realistic and very long dream. In the dream, he was called Su Ping, the eldest son in the family, with three older sisters above him and one younger brother below. The family wasn't wealthy, but they didn't go hungry either. His father was a truck driver, and his mother was a textile worker.

The family was relatively harmonious. Growing up, because he was handsome, kept himself clean, and had decent grades, he was well-liked by many girls. However, he had a wild heart and was a high school graduate. Relying on his good looks and silver tongue, he spent his time wandering around after reaching adulthood. Although he didn't have much money, he never lacked women or small amounts of cash.

Until he was twenty-five, when his younger brother got married and had a child, giving him a nephew. Looking at that tiny little bundle, Su Ping felt his heart melting. Especially when the little nephew would smile at him and reach out his tiny hand to grab his index finger, Su Ping truly adored his little nephew. For the first time, he had the thought of getting married.

But Su Ping didn't want to just marry into an ordinary family. He had a high school diploma, was handsome, and had some ability. He wanted to marry into a wealthy family; only a young lady from a wealthy family was worthy of him. But before that, he needed some money as a foundation.

Su Ping rummaged through his room and only managed to scrape together three thousand yuan. It was worth noting that this amount was quite significant at the time. After all, it was just a small city, and workers' salaries back then were only four or five hundred a month; it was almost half a year's income for a worker.

But Su Ping was not satisfied, because he knew some inside information. He had pried this out of some people from Beijing while hanging out at a dance hall. It was said that there was a place in Beijing called Zhongguancun, and they sold something called memory. When they had just come from Beijing, the price had already dropped to over four hundred per piece, while in Sichuan Province, the price was still around eight hundred. This back-and-forth meant a 100% profit.

Su Ping knew well that this business wouldn't last long, and the prices would likely equalize within a month at most. Su Ping estimated that the time for his round trips plus his stay in Beijing would only allow for about five round trips. If he had a capital of ten thousand, even if things got messy later, Su Ping was confident he could earn a net profit of over one hundred thousand.

In the year 2000, one hundred thousand yuan was enough for a worker in a small city to work for twenty years. By then, Su Ping also planned to partner with others to enter the real estate market. He was very optimistic about the property market in Chengdu. Now that the world was peaceful and the economy was booming, he believed that housing prices would definitely skyrocket in the future.

"Money, where can I get money!"

This was the problem that gave Su Ping the biggest headache right now. After all, seven thousand yuan—hardly anyone he knew could come up with that amount.

Late at night, Su Ping kept pulling at his hair in his room, racking his brains to find a way to get money, but he had absolutely no clue. He was confident he could get a few hundred yuan in a few days, but seven thousand yuan—even if given two months, he couldn't get it. And the opportunity only lasted for one month. Su Ping felt that with every passing minute and second, he was watching the money slip away.

It wasn't that he hadn't thought about telling his family, but over the years, first his three older sisters had gotten married, which cost a lot in dowries, and then his younger brother's wedding had cost a large sum of money. The family was now poorer than he was. Looking at his aged parents, Su Ping couldn't bring himself to say it.

The next day, Su Ping was listless all day long. At breakfast, he almost shoved his head into his bowl and was scolded severely. He had no idea that all of this was being watched by his younger brother, Su Hong.

It was past one o'clock in the morning again. Su Ping lay on the bed with his eyes wide open, even though his eyes were bloodshot, he had no sleepiness at all. He had run around all day today, borrowing from everyone he knew, but only managed to borrow two thousand yuan. He was still short by a full five thousand. Now he truly had no other options. Su Ping decided that if he couldn't find the remaining five thousand yuan tomorrow, he would just go to Beijing and earn what he could, though his subsequent plans would be disrupted.

Just then, a knock on the door sounded.

Su Ping got up to open the door and found his younger brother, Su Hong, standing at the doorway. With an indifferent expression, he handed over a small leather bag and then said:

"Here. There are five thousand yuan in here. It's what Wenwen and I have saved over the past two years, plus Wenwen's dowry and the bride price. I don't know what you're going to do, but your brain is sharper than mine. It's not easy to encounter an opportunity in life, and we are own brothers. I can't bear to see you suffering, so I want to help you out."

After saying this, Su Hong didn't wait for his older brother to refuse and turned to go into his own room.

Su Ping gripped the handbag in his hand. For the first time, he felt the money in his hand was so scorching hot. He walked quickly to his brother's room door, wanting to knock but not knowing what to say. After a long while, he turned and returned to his room.

He poured the money out of the handbag; there was no small change, only hundred-yuan bills. He figured his brother must have gone to the bank to exchange it during the day, specifically to make it easier for Su Ping to carry.

Su Ping firmly kept his brother's kindness in his heart and decided to buy a ticket to Chengdu the next day, then take a train to Beijing. Before dawn, Su Ping left a letter and headed towards the station.

The next three or four days went smoothly for Su Ping. The money wasn't stolen, and he arrived in Beijing successfully. With the guidance of a kind person, he went to the legendary Zhongguancun and bought 25 memory sticks at a price of four hundred yuan each.

Touching the bag inside his coat containing the 25 memory sticks, he knew that in Sichuan Province, these would sell for over eight hundred each. Those 25 sticks meant twenty thousand yuan.

Su Ping made up his mind that his younger brother, Su Hong, would have a share of this money; he would consider himself as running errands for his brother. He would also buy a longevity lock for his little nephew; he truly loved his little nephew from the bottom of his heart.

Looking vigilantly at the dark alleyway all around, Su Ping walked quickly towards the hotel. He had to take the train back to Sichuan Province tomorrow morning, so he couldn't afford any accidents.

Just when he was about a hundred meters from the hotel, a dark shadow suddenly darted out from the side, grabbing Su Ping's arm and trying to drag him into the alley.

Su Ping was tall and burly, and in his own territory, he was considered a bit of a bully. How could he be ambushed so easily? Although he was startled at first, he reacted instantly, kicking the dark shadow to the ground with a big kick, and then prepared to run towards the hotel. If he weren't carrying the memory sticks worth twenty thousand in his arms, Su Ye wouldn't have run away so easily; he definitely would have given the dark shadow a sound beating.

Just as Su Ping was about to turn around, he didn't expect to hear a rush of wind behind his head. Su Ping only had one thought in his mind: It's over.

Then, everything went black before his eyes, and he lost consciousness.

The dark shadow on the ground stood up, kicked Su Ping in the head twice, and cursed in a low voice:

"Damn it, he reacted quite fast. Almost messed it up."

After saying that, he reached out to another dark shadow and said:

"Come on, give me the stick. I'm going to break this brat's leg today for kicking me."

Just then, a crisp female voice came from afar:

"Hey! What are you two doing! Come quickly, someone is robbing!"

The two dark shadows were startled, quickly snatched the package from Su Ping's arms, and then disappeared into the night.