The Stepmother's Counterattack: Raising a Child in a Bygone Era-Chapter 468 - 467 Pei Yang Starts a Business

Leaving the casino, Pei Ke couldn’t help but wear a smile on his face.

He had good luck, winning more than two thousand Australian Dollars on top of the ten thousand in chips he had exchanged for gold, totaling twelve thousand, which converted to RMB was sixty thousand.

Pei Ke took a taxi straight to the domestic bank’s branch in Ao City and transferred all sixty thousand to Shen Mingzhu’s account.

After the money transfer, Pei Ke arranged to meet with some friends in Ao City and went to a restaurant for a meal.

After the meal, Pei Ke prepared to take the last ferry back to Hong City.

He had to work tomorrow.

But a friend stopped him, "There is a deal right now, do you want to take it?"

Pei Ke hesitated for a moment, then declined.

He was already planning to return to the country and didn’t want any complications.

Yet his friend persuaded him, "This is an easy job, and the other party is willing to pay this much."

Saying this, he held up two fingers in front of him.

Twenty thousand Hong Kong dollars.

Pei Ke’s breath caught.

In his previous work as a smuggler, he would earn a few hundred at the least and a couple of thousand at most. He had never taken on a job with such high compensation.

He inquired and learned it was a batch of finished diamonds.

This type of item had to be carried inside the body. Pei Ke had never done that before, but the thought of a twenty thousand dollar payoff was very tempting.

With that money, he could buy a detached small western-style house upon returning to the country.

Then, he could live next door to his nephew’s family, the two households as neighbors.

Although his nephew and his wife had offered for him to live with them, how could he impose? He still needed a place of his own.

"Alright, then let’s do it one last time."

...

"Mingzhu."

Shen Mingzhu looked up from her work and saw Pei Yang watching her with a face full of smiles.

"Did you find some money?"

"I have something nice to show you."

With an air of mystery, Pei Yang placed a small paper box in front of her.

Curious, Shen Mingzhu opened it and upon seeing the contents, she was first startled, then pleasantly surprised.

"A pager?"

Pei Yang was confused, "You know what this is?"

Mingzhu thought to herself, of course she knew. When she was little, her father wore a pager on his belt, which later was replaced by a mobile phone, and then a smartphone.

"Are pagers sold in Fengcheng now?"

Actually, pagers had entered China a couple of years earlier but were only available in first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai City, and Guangdong. Second-tier cities like Fengcheng didn’t have them.

However, since last year in Fengcheng, some business owners had started to import them for personal use.

The price last year was still relatively high; a pager, with its markup, cost three to four thousand RMB. She had been thinking about waiting for the prices to drop this year before getting someone to buy one for her.

"A couple of days ago, a pager specialty store opened on Tally Road, and it was so crowded that I waited two days to get this one."

The pager in her hand was noticeably larger and heavier than the ones she remembered.

She recalled the ones her parents used were quite small, very attractive in appearance, and came in a rich variety of colors.

But that was already in the year 2000.

"How much did it cost?"

"Two thousand eight hundred."

Shen Mingzhu nodded, which was about the price she anticipated.

She looked at the man, "I’m keeping this one, you go and buy another."

Leaning in, Pei Yang pinched her chin, "It was meant for you anyway. Next month is your birthday, so this is your birthday present."

This is more like it.

Shen Mingzhu looked somewhat happy as she fiddled with the pager, while asking him, "What have you been up to recently?"

Pei Yang gestured with his lips toward the pager in her hands, "I’ve been busy with this."

Seeing Shen Mingzhu puzzled, Pei Yang grinned and bent down to speak to her face to face, "Wife, what do you think about me doing this?"

Shen Mingzhu looked at him, "Are you not doing household appliances anymore?"

"I originally planned to partner with Shuhuan, he knows technology, and I have the funds. It would be perfect to take over the closed down old fan factory. But Shuhuan went to the south, and I planned to talk to the technical leaders from the fan factory, but then I heard that a pager shop opened on Tally Road."

"You don’t know what it was like, the shop was absolutely packed with people almost breaking down the threshold. Selling home appliances is profitable, but just this year, twelve new home appliance stores opened in the city. However, this pager store, right now, there’s only this one."

"Instead of following the trend and sipping the leftover soup, isn’t it better to be the first one to eat the crab?"

Shen Mingzhu shook the pager she was holding, "I think it’s feasible."

Pei Yang himself was actually not certain.

After all, he had planned to be in the household appliances business for a long time and had considered every aspect thoroughly. To suddenly switch to pagers, even not knowing anything about pagers, he himself felt it was a bit of a wild fantasy.

Unexpectedly, his wife actually agreed with him.

His deep black eyes suddenly lit up, "Wife, do you really think it’s feasible?"

Shen Mingzhu nodded, "Yes, whether it’s now or in the future, the communications industry has a lot of potentials. If you’ve made up your mind, then go for it."

Pei Yang took her face in his hands and gave her a big kiss.

"Wife, thank you, I love you!"

Seeing the man so excited, as if he were a child getting a toy, Shen Mingzhu also felt infected and her mood started to lift.

"Do you have a plan for the next step?"

"Yes, I’m going to Shanghai City to talk about provincial agency rights with Motorola’s domestic branch."

"Going there alone will probably be very difficult. This industry is currently in high demand, and their standards for distributors are definitely high. Moreover, Fengcheng already has a distributor, and they may not be willing to open additional quotas in the short term."

Pei Yang had also thought about this issue, yet he knew he had to try, even if he might fail.

"How about this, you talk directly to them about the provincial agency rights. Don’t worry about the funds, I’ll help you with that."

Excitement appeared on Pei Yang’s face, "Okay, then I’ll go?"

Shen Mingzhu stood up, hooked her arms around his neck, and kissed him on the lips.

"Husband, go for it."

Pei Yang stared at her deeply for a few seconds, as though he wanted to etch her face into his brain, then turned and left with big strides.

That very night, Pei Yang arrived in Shanghai City.

Chen Yi picked him up.

Before setting off, Pei Yang had called Chen Yi.

On the way back to the city from the airport, Chen Yi was curious about what brought Pei Yang to Shanghai City.

"I came to discuss a piece of business."

Chen Yi was a bit surprised, "Not bad, your food factory’s business has expanded all the way to Shanghai City."

"It’s not about the food factory; it’s my own business. I’m planning to get into the pager business, and I’m here this time to try and secure the provincial agency for Motorola."

Chen Yi chuckled, with a hint of mockery in his laughter, probably thinking Pei Yang was indulging in a fantasy.

"You have to help me."

Chen Yi gave him a cold look, "I’ve already divorced your sister."

The implication was clear, why should he help Pei Yang.

"But do you want to remarry my sister?"

Chen Yi raised an eyebrow, "Are you proposing to use your sister as a bargaining chip with me?"

Pei Yang retorted, "In your dreams. At most, if my sister wants to remarry you in the future, I won’t object."

Chen Yi burst into an amused laugh, "Should I thank you then?"

"You’re welcome~"