HPDBC Chapter 20: Another 2000
Chapter 20: Another 2000
"Hey, Mom, Dad, you're still up?"
After finishing her work on finding accommodation for the He family of three, Mao Xiaoyu realized that there was a bed available at the rented apartment where she could have slept. However, she remembered that she had told her parents that she would be back late that night, and she was worried that they would worry if she didn't return. So, Mao Xiaoyu ended up riding her electric scooter back home.
However, since it was only the first day, many things were still unclear, and a lot of time was wasted in the busyness. Therefore, by the time Mao Xiaoyu got home, it was already past ten o'clock. She thought her parents had already gone back to their rooms, but when she got home, her parents were still awake and waiting for her in the living room.
"It's the first day, you must be a little overwhelmed, right?"
Seeing his son return, Mao Jun breathed a sigh of relief. After all, this was his son's first business venture. As parents, although they felt there were no problems, they were still a little worried. After all, Mao Xiaoyu was only 18 years old and too young. Now that he saw his son return safely, he was relieved.
"It was alright. I went to a few flea markets today and bought a bunch of stuff. Then I met with a few tenants in the evening. But since it was my first time doing this, I ran into some problems and wasn't used to it, so I only got back now."
Because she hadn't had water for a long time and was a little thirsty, Mao Xiaoyu poured herself a glass of water while answering her father's questions.
"Xiaoyu, are you hungry? Do you want me to get you something to eat?" Mao Xiaoyu's mother asked with concern when she saw Mao Xiaoyu drinking water.
"I'm alright, not too hungry, and I don't need to eat anymore. Eating too much at night makes it hard to sleep. Now that you're sitting here, is there anything else you need? If not, go to sleep. I'm fine here; I'll just wash up and go to bed."
Knowing that her parents cared about her and were waiting for her to come back, and now that she was back and her parents had been at work for so long, Mao Xiaoyu told them to go back to their bedroom to sleep.
"It's okay, we're just a little worried about you. If you have time, it would be best to buy a cell phone so we can contact you anytime. If you want to come back in the future, you can call us earlier and we'll cook some food for you tonight to help you recover. After all, you're not eating at home now and you're eating out, so we're worried you're not getting enough nutrition."
Of course, if it gets too late and you have somewhere to sleep and don't want to come back, then don't come back. Just call us and let us know, so we won't worry about you walking alone so late at night.
Although Mao Xiaoyu asked Mao Jun and his wife to go back to their room to sleep, the couple did not go back. They kept worrying about Mao Xiaoyu, saying it would be inconvenient for her to come back at night, and asked her to buy a cell phone so they could contact her.
The couple didn't usually notice it, since Mao Xiaoyu was always around. Now that their child has gone out to start a business, Mao Jun's parents sometimes want to check on their son, but they can't find him.
In addition, as parents, they were worried about their son coming home so late every day, so Mao Jun suggested that Mao Xiaoyu buy a cell phone.
"Okay, I understand. It's just that I don't have the money. If I had the money, I would have bought a cell phone. It's inconvenient not having a phone to communicate. Sometimes I want to leave my phone number for the tenants, but I can't do that without a phone," Mao Xiaoyu replied earnestly.
"What? You're out of money? Didn't I give you 1 yuan yesterday? You've spent it all today?" Mao Xiaoyu's mother asked in surprise. After all, in Mao Xiaoyu's mother's opinion, 1 yuan should last at least a few days, no matter how it was spent.
"Look, I have the account book here. I bought so many things today, spending more than 8000 yuan. Adding the second-hand electric scooter I bought yesterday, it's already cost more than 9000 yuan. And we still don't have enough beds. We only bought 6 beds today, and we need to buy another thousand or so beds tomorrow. So this 1 yuan is really not enough."
As she said this, Mao Xiaoyu took a notebook out of her pocket and casually placed it on the table for her parents to see.
The notebook that Mao Xiaoyu pulled out was a booklet she specially made for her parents to see. After all, she would eventually want her parents to see how she made money and how much she made, and this notebook was specifically for them.
As for Mao Xiaoyu, she had another notebook, which she kept at the rental house. That notebook contained information about the tenants and expenses. You could say that notebook was Mao Xiaoyu's real account book.
As for the account book I brought back today, if you compare it with Mao Xiaoyu's real account book, you can see that the items recorded in the account book have increased by thirty to fifty yuan for each item. This has caused the total amount of purchases recorded in the account book today to jump from nearly 7000 yuan to more than 8000 yuan. Adding the cost of the electric scooter yesterday, the total expenses shown in the account book have reached more than 9000 yuan.
Seeing their son throw out the account book, Mao Jun and his wife picked it up and took a look. They saw that it had been recording expenses since yesterday, such as how many things were bought today and how much they cost, how much Mao Xiaoyu ate for lunch and dinner and how much water she drank. It even had bills for how many tenants rented the house and how much they charged.
"You rented a place and then bought a TV?" Mao Jun couldn't help but ask when he saw his son's bill for four old TVs priced at 2200 yuan, but actually costing 1950 yuan.
"Well, isn't that normal? A TV is an accessory. People spend 60 yuan, they can't just buy a bed to sleep in, right? At least they should be able to enjoy watching TV."
After all, if you don't have this, but others do, their houses are easier to rent, while yours are harder. And this is already considered good; the weather isn't even hot yet. When it gets hot, rooms with air conditioning are fine, but rooms without air conditioning will need an air conditioner installed. Otherwise, who would live in those kinds of houses? They'd be dying of heat.
Hearing her father's question, Mao Xiaoyu was not flustered at all, but instead acted as if it were a matter of course.
After all, this kind of thing is really normal. You know, many people come here for serious medical treatment. Some tenants rent for 10 days, half a month, or even a month. They can't stay in the hospital with patients every day. Some people come back and want to rest, watch TV, and relax, but there isn't even a TV in the room. They can only lie on the bed bored when they come back. No tenant would be comfortable in that situation. So, in order to make more money, a TV is definitely essential.
Hearing Mao Xiaoyu's words, Mao Jun couldn't say anything more. After all, if you put yourself in her shoes, you also want to watch TV when you rent a place. If you only rent a bed, you'll get bored when you're not in the room.
"If I'd known you were going to buy an old TV, I would have taken the one from our room. We never watch the one in our room anyway," Mao Xiaoyu's mother muttered.
"Mom, that's not how it works. The TV we have cost over 2000 yuan. If I use it and it breaks, won't you be upset? But if I buy a used TV, it works just as well and only costs a little over 500 yuan. Besides, I won't be upset if it breaks. After all, they have after-sales service. If it breaks, I can just take it there to get it repaired."
Although her mother spoke very softly, Mao Xiaoyu still heard her and couldn't help but retort.
"You silly child, I just wanted you to save some money, didn't I? Look, you've almost spent all 1 yuan, and we still haven't bought a bed," Mao Xiaoyu's mother retorted.
"I've done the math, and I should have enough money for tomorrow. I can buy a few beds tomorrow, and that's it for the big items over there. I'll probably only need to buy some odds and ends, things I can't remember. So there's not much money left. If I want to buy a phone, I'll probably have to wait a while, since my pockets are empty and I don't have the money to buy one," Mao Xiaoyu said helplessly.
Hearing Mao Xiaoyu's words, Mao Xiaoyu's parents exchanged a secret glance, and then Mao Jun said, "Wife, how about we give our son another 2000 yuan to buy him a cell phone? It's really inconvenient without a cell phone. Sometimes when we want to find him, we don't even know where he is."
"Okay, fine. Give him 2000 yuan. Xiaoyu, I'll give you the money in a bit. Buy a cell phone tomorrow morning. Once you have the phone, call your dad and give him his number so we can find you later."
Mao Xiaoyu's mother didn't object to buying her son a cell phone. After all, her son was out every day, and as parents, they were really worried. They originally thought that her son had money and could buy it himself, but now that he didn't have money, it didn't matter if they spent a little more. After all, they could see that their son had already worked very hard, at least he had done a few business deals in the evening.
"Thank you, Mom and Dad. When I have money in the future, I'll buy each of you a cell phone." Mao Xiaoyu said sweetly as she watched her mother go to get the money.
Mao Xiaoyu wasn't embarrassed about spending her parents' money. After all, she didn't have any money right now, so she was just spending a little of her parents' money. She would naturally repay them when she had money in the future. Besides, she had spent a lot of her parents' money in her past life, so she didn't care about this little bit in this life.
"We don't have much to say to you... Just do your job well, don't make enemies with outsiders... Don't fight... Always strive for harmony and make money..." Watching his wife go to get the money, Mao Jun nagged his son for a bit.
"I know, Dad. I don't know how to fight. Besides, people in Shanghai are all talk, not fighting. So don't worry." Hearing her father's nagging, Mao Xiaoyu knew that her father cared about her, so she defended herself.
Mao Jun wanted to say a few more words, but at that moment Mao Xiaoyu's mother came out of the room with money, which made Mao Jun swallow his words.
"Xiaoyu, here's the money. Buy a phone tomorrow. You'll need the money, but try to be frugal. After all, money is saved little by little." Mao Xiaoyu's mother said as she handed over the money.
"Okay, Mom, I really didn't use it recklessly. Look at what I ate for lunch, I ate the cheapest food." Mao Xiaoyu lied without batting an eye.
After all, Mao Xiaoyu was still at the flea market at noon, where the boxed lunches were the cheapest, and there were no expensive options. So, in order to save time, Mao Xiaoyu just grabbed a quick and easy lunch, but now she's showing it off.
"You should eat well, after all, you can't go hungry. I'm just telling you not to squander your money, and to be careful with it."
Mao Xiaoyu had already taken the money and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Okay, Mom."
"Go wash up and go to bed early. You have things to do tomorrow. Your dad and I are going back to our room in a bit!" Mao Xiaoyu's mother instructed.
"Okay, I understand." Mao Xiaoyu obediently replied, then picked up the account book on the table and put it in her pocket.
Then he went back to his room, intending to take off his coat first and then go to the bathroom to wash up.
Mao Xiaoyu's mother gave her husband a wink, and then the couple went back to their bedroom.
"Judging from his accounting book, there's nothing wrong. He was really busy all day. It's just that the price might be a bit high. After all, it's understandable that young people don't know how to bargain. But in the evening, your son made four deals and earned 240 yuan, which is much more than what we make in a day at work. It seems that business is not bad."
After the couple returned to their bedroom, Mao Jun couldn't help but sigh.
"I don't care how much he earns. Four or five hundred yuan a day is fine. A month's salary is more than ten thousand yuan, which is enough for him." Mao Xiaoyu's mother said as she got into bed.
"Making four or five hundred yuan a day should be no problem. He only has six beds today, and he only goes there at night to take care of business. If he takes care of business all day, I believe making four or five hundred yuan a day is a piece of cake." Mao Jun is quite optimistic about his son's business.
"Let's wait and see. We'll know how the prospects are after half a month. If it turns out to be quite profitable, then it's a pretty good business," Mao Xiaoyu's mother said.
"Don't worry, trust your son. He can definitely do it. You can tell from today's bill that he's been working very hard," Mao Jun said to his wife, reassuringly.
"That's how kids are when they grow up. If we let them go out and explore, we worry about them. If we don't let them go out and explore, we think they're too naive and might not be able to make a living in the future. Now that they've gone out to explore, my husband and I are so anxious. We're really afraid that they won't make any progress today," Mao Xiaoyu's mother said worriedly.
"Yes, but seeing him like this now makes me feel much more at ease. After he buys a phone tomorrow, we can contact him, which will give us more peace of mind," Mao Jun agreed.
"Alright, alright, go to sleep early. It's so late, you have to get up tomorrow!" Mao Xiaoyu's mother urged, turning off the bedside lamp as she did so.