Chapter Seventeen: Old Liu Asks for Shares

  In the night market, some people are happy and some are worried. The small vendors at the bottom, although they cannot lead the trend of the times, mostly do not have good innovation. However, they have a common characteristic shared by all Chinese people, that is, they are good at imitating and following the trend! There is a joke in the market: the American war axe, pulled into the rural areas of China, can be copied exactly in one year. Mass production of counterfeit goods in three years!

  Li Xiaoteng's hot pot stall has recently become popular! It's explosive popularity, although it's only been two days. However, the small vendors with foresight quickly set up new hot pot stalls next to Li Xiaoteng's. Unfortunately, it seems that from the moment they set up their stalls, they were destined to fail.

  Only Li Xiaoteng's spicy hot pot stall is seen, and there are always people queuing to buy spicy hot pot. And at the stalls that follow the trend, there are two or three kittens and a yellow dog. As for people? They all seem to be on Li Xiaoteng's side!

  When Li Xiaoteng invested in Zhao Baozi's hot pot stall, his parents had a huge reaction! Li Xiaoteng's father strongly opposed him from participating. His mother kept nagging and repeatedly told him, "After graduating from university, you should at least find a decent job! If you can't pass the civil service exam, consider working in a bank..." She repeated this like a broken record, even Tang Seng couldn't compare to Li Xiaoteng's mom!

  But Li Xiaoteng's parents were dragged to the night market today, and after tasting Li Xiaoteng's personally cooked spicy hot pot, they were completely speechless. They looked at the long queue in front of the stall waiting to buy spicy hot pot. Li Xiaoteng's father didn't say a word. And Li Xiaoteng's mother's attitude began to change.

  At this time, Zhao Baozi, who was smiling, held up the account book for the past two days and said: "Uncle, Auntie! Look at our turnover for the past two days. Our pure profit for three days is almost 8,000!" He then looked around and lowered his voice, saying: "Uncle, Auntie, our pure profit for the past two days is just under 6,000. However, we haven't deducted our stall fees and business taxes! If we deduct those, our profit would be just over 3,000! Teng Ge and I are splitting it 50/50, which means..." Before he could finish speaking, Li Mama exclaimed in surprise: "What? You made 1,500 in three days?"

  The surrounding customers looked over with surprised eyes. Li Mama quickly lowered her voice and said, "Can you make so much money doing this?" Zhao Baozi nodded and said, "Yes! And the stall fee is deducted for a month! Even I didn't think it would be so profitable at first! Look at the stalls around us, they're probably all losing money! You see how we are!" Li Mama nodded in relief and said, "As long as you can make money, that's good! You don't know, Dongzi, my husband and I are both employees of state-owned enterprises, and our monthly salary is only a little over 2,000 yuan each." Before she finished speaking, Li Xiaoteng pulled out Manager Dong from the inner room!

  Li Xiaoteng said, "Dad, Mom, let me introduce you! This is the manager of Dongxing Restaurant, Manager Dong!" Then he turned to Manager Dong and said, "Manager Dong, this is my dad and mom!" Manager Dong had been in the business world for a long time and was very capable. If it weren't for the problems with his previous company's boss, he wouldn't have ended up at the job fair and been hired by Mrs. Jiang.

  Manager Dong smiled and extended his hand to Li's father, shaking hands with him. He said: "Hello, Brother Li! Your son is really great! His craftsmanship is impressive!" He pointed to the surrounding night market stalls and said: "Look at the surrounding stalls, they've all been brought to life by Li Xiaoteng! And look at that spicy hot pot stall over there... haha..."

  Mr. Li humbly said: "Hehe, also thanks to Manager Dong's care for our little Teng!" Manager Dong hurriedly said: "Don't mention it! We still need Little Teng's spicy hot pot stall to bring us more customers!"

  At this time, Li Xiaoteng hurriedly said: "Manager Dong, don't be polite, sit down and have a drink!" Manager Dong hastily shook his head and said: "Xiaoteng, you first accompany your parents to eat and drink well, I won't disturb you, we have plenty of time to sit together! Plenty of it! You first take care of them." He was about to go back to the house when Li Xiaoteng repeatedly invited him to stay. Seeing that Manager Dong was very determined, he didn't continue to invite him again, knowing that this was Manager Dong's way of letting him spend more time with his parents. As a person who had been reborn twice, Li Xiaoteng naturally knew that Manager Dong hoped he would be more filial to his parents at this moment, and as an outsider, he wouldn't interfere. If it were the Li Xiaoteng from his previous life, he would definitely think that Manager Dong was not giving him face!

  Mr. Li and Mrs. Li finally somewhat recognized their son's ability, watching Zhao Huaizi running back and forth. Feeling that he was always sitting here affecting his son's business, he immediately wanted to leave.

  Finished eating and wanted to leave? Li Xiaoteng naturally pulled his parents to do something. After all, the main purpose has not been achieved yet! Li Xiaoteng poured a cup of wine for his father and drank a cup with him. He also poured drinks for his mother. The waiter at Guandong Xing Restaurant ordered a plate of Flower Mushroom Double Combination. Ordered a plate of Cold Mixed Pig Ears. Let the parents eat first, seeing Zhao Baozi was busy, he excused himself to go help.

  Zhao Pàngzi was eating hot pot while asking strangely, "You asked your uncle and aunt to come over, what do you want to do?" Li Xiaotèr chuckled and said, "I'm at my wit's end! I just want to get some funding from my dad and mom. Haven't you seen me wanting to try the lamb skewers? And taking down the cold dishes at Dongxing Restaurant Night Market?" Zhao Pàngzi nodded thoughtfully, sneaking a glance at Li Xiaotèr's parents who were eating and drinking. He was speechless for a moment before saying, "Téng Gē (Li Xiaotèr), if you really bring in money, how will my shares be calculated then?" Li Xiaotèr thought Zhao Pàngzi was his good brother, so he replied without hesitation, "Of course it'll be according to the total share capital, diluting your equity!"

  Zhao Pàngzi was a bit perplexed by the professional terms of total share capital and diluted equity, but overall he still understood that it meant lowering his own proportion. Actually, Zhao Pàngzi is a person who is quite content with the status quo. Seeing how quickly they made money in these few days, he was very happy. However, when Li Xiaoteng said he wanted to lower his own share, his face suddenly turned a bit gloomy.

  Li Xiaoteng saw that Zhao Baozi had changed his face! He immediately understood the little nine in Zhao Baozi's heart. He quickly explained: "You shouldn't be unhappy either. Let's calculate an account! We'll take down the entire night market of Dongxing Restaurant. If we add lamb skewers, I'll be responsible for grilling them! The profit from lamb skewers is also very high, and the cost is only two or three cents. We sell it for one yuan! One string is 70 cents, and a thousand strings are 700 yuan! Which table doesn't eat 20-30 strings? Don't count too much. Fifty tables can earn over 1,000 yuan! Plus a small tomato for one or two yuan, a small cucumber for one or two yuan, we sell it for ten yuan. If other cold dishes have higher profits! You calculate it yourself! At that time, your shares may be less, but your income will increase sharply in an invisible way!

  After listening to Li Xiaoteng, Zhao Baozi's face was like a weather forecast, immediately turning from cloudy to sunny. The degree of sunshine seemed to be quite high, and the temperature was approaching 39 degrees!

  But Li Xiaoteng suddenly changed his tone and said: "If we want to make more money, the two of us will have to work harder! We're doing cold dishes and barbecue. In a situation where the market reaction is not clear, we can't hire anyone else! It's just the two of us brothers who can do it!"

  Zhao Pangzi laughed and said, "Teng Ge, I'll give you all my two hundred pounds. Nothing else, just a bit of strength! Haha!" Li Xiaoteng turned around to look at his parents' table, feeling that the timing was about right. He turned back to his parents' table and asked, "Dad, Mom, how's the food?"

  Mrs. Li shook her head and said, "The spicy hot pot is really delicious, just smelling the aroma makes me want to eat more! But this cold dish..." Mr. Li took over and said, "This dish, if it were somewhere else, I definitely wouldn't eat it. If it weren't for our partnership with you and this place, I'd think about returning it!"

  Li Xiaoteng said, "Hey, Dad, I also know that the dishes here are not good! Haven't you noticed? They come here to eat, all for my spicy hot pot! The cold dishes they ordered are all from across the street!" Li's mom said unhappily, "Then why did you still let us eat this?" Li's dad, after all, was an old cadre, and he looked at Li Xiaoteng with a thoughtful expression, but didn't say anything. Li Xiaoteng said, "I want to bring over the night market cold dishes from Dongxing Restaurant! They've had some trouble, I'll talk to you about it when we get home."

  Li Xiaoteng's dad took a look at Li Xiaoteng and asked, "How much does their cold dish cost?" Li Xiaoteng scratched his head awkwardly: "Hehe, Dad, you figured it out already?" Li's dad said helplessly: "As soon as you fart, I know what kind of crap you're talking about!" Li's mom said unhappily: "Let's eat, what nonsense are you spouting? Are you going to let me eat or not?"

  Mr. Li hurriedly smiled and said, "Haha, I'm just making an analogy, just making an analogy!" Li Xiaoteng looked at his henpecked father in dismay, speechless! Then Mr. Li turned around, with a speed faster than the changing of faces in Sichuan opera, and seriously said: "Do you think you can take over someone else's cold dish stall? Will they let you?"

  Li Xiaoteng hurriedly said seriously: "Dad, I've already asked Manager Dong about it. He's just in charge of this stall and doesn't have any direct interest. Plus, their store really has had some issues. Manager Dong said that if I want to take over the cold dish stall, I'll need to give them some benefits. As long as he can report back to his superiors, he'll hand it over to me." After thinking for a moment, he added: "However, from what I understand of Manager Dong's meaning, I reckon we'll still have to give him some extra benefits. Of course, Manager Dong didn't say that!"

  Mr. Li nodded and asked, "How much do you think it will cost?" Li Xiaoteng whispered, "I estimate that with packaging, the cost is included. More than 30,000 yuan would be enough!" Mrs. Li heard this and suddenly felt a bit choked: "So much money? Your father and I don't have much money, we've been saving it for you to get married!"

  Li's father took a glance at his wife and said, "I'll go back and discuss this with your mom. You and Dongzi focus on your work." After eating and drinking for a while longer, he left.

  There are many people in the night market. Recently, Li Xiaoteng's spicy hot pot stall is very popular, and many people have come to try it out. The crowd is diverse, with all sorts of people gathered together. Not far from Li Xiaoteng's parents, near the entrance of Dongxing Restaurant, two people are sitting at a table, chatting with each other.

  In the past two days, the market has been boosted by the draft of the 19th National Congress. Last Friday, it surged sharply and then fluctuated and fell back. Teacher Liu's leveraged stock account opened with Du Yu's team had just bought in and almost got stuck inside. Eager to make a comeback, Teacher Liu is now a bit stupid! Normally, a one-point drop would be okay, but now it's a ten-point drop! Fortunately, the entry point was relatively low before, but such stimulation is unbearable for Teacher Liu.

  These two days, through a friend's introduction, I finally invited Wu Xuan, a stock commentator who often appears on Huaxia TV. Teacher Wu Xuan is an analyst at the headquarters of a securities company. He also got a chance to appear on stage by giving gifts and using connections! After commenting on several stocks and vigorously short-selling them, he unexpectedly became popular in the declining market of Huaxia Stock Exchange! Now Wu Xuan doesn't need to give gifts anymore! Many TV stations immediately invited Wu Xuan to appear on their programs!

  Mr. Liu toasted a cup of wine to Wu Xuan and handed him a very thick red envelope. Then he asked, "Teacher Wu Xuan, are there any good stocks recently? Recommend some to old Liu!"

  Considering I've been typing so diligently, those with tickets please vote for me, and those without tickets please give me a personal recommendation. Thank you all in advance!