On March 15, 2008, a sunny day.
“Second Uncle, it has been confirmed that Yunchuan, that child from our Zhang family village, has transferred and spent the 120 million yuan from our village’s account. There is not a single penny left now.”
“What? All of it spent? What has happened to Yunchuan… What has he gotten himself into?”
“What do we do now? This is the collective asset of our Zhang family village. Our few factories are not profitable anymore…”
“Once the money is gone, it’s gone. My concern is that the village chief, with his hot temper, might kill that young lad, Yunchuan. The village chief is in his thirties and Yunchuan is his only child.”
“Well, it’s fate. Our Zhang family village wasn’t meant to become wealthy. The village chief has taken us from being a nationally impoverished village, a small village where even having a meal was a struggle, to where we are now. I am already content.”
“Even if the 120 million yuan is divided among all households, each family would receive only around 200,000 yuan. This loss won’t ruin us, but we cannot let the village chief kill Yunchuan. Let’s quickly think of a solution.”
“Yes, without Zhang Ge, we wouldn’t have the life we have now. Zhang Ge has a fiery temper, and if he finds out, he will definitely kill Yunchuan.”
In the meeting room of the Zhang family village committee, several dozen elders and supervisors sat around a square table, their faces filled with worry.
Smoke filled the room.
Zhang family village, one of the few collective villages that maintained their structure after the reform and opening up.
Thanks to having a good village chief and patriarch, the entire Zhang family village operated as a clan, a large family.
With over 500 households in Zhang family village, they owned Zhang Brewery and Zhang Motorcycle Factory.
Although the factories were not as profitable as before, the villagers’ living standards, while not as high as those in Huaxi Village, Zhoujiazhuang, or Dazhai Village, were still far better than those in ordinary rural areas, comparable to the income of urban residents.
However, at this moment, some of the village elders and supervisors were discussing their predicament.
They were upset that the village chief’s son had misappropriated and spent all of the village’s collective assets, but they were even more concerned that the village chief would kill the young Yunchuan.
They knew well about the village chief’s temperament.
Outside the meeting room window, sparrows chirped loudly, creating a bit of commotion.
The bleak winter was gradually coming to an end, and some branches showed signs of new growth.
Zhang Yunchuan stood at the entrance of the meeting room, listening to the discussions among the village elders, wearing a smile on his face.
In his previous life, he had experienced a similar situation.
The difference was that he had misappropriated the village’s collective assets and gambled it all away, not saving a single penny.
The villagers didn’t blame him; instead, they protected him, standing between him and his furious father.
He didn’t get beaten, but his father fell seriously ill out of guilt towards the villagers.
Even though the villagers pooled money to pay for his father’s medical treatment, he still passed away five years later.
Thinking of his father’s face, he shook his head, pushing aside those unpleasant memories.
Returning to 2008, back to his eighteen-year-old self, the first thing he had to do was…
He misappropriated 120 million yuan from the village collective.
In 2008, 120 million yuan was not a small amount, but it was the entire cash reserve of over 500 households in the village collective.
The difference was that he didn’t gamble!
Looking at the passbook in his hand, he pushed the door open directly.
“Crash!”
The door to the village meeting room opened, and a ray of sunlight shone inside as Zhang Yunchuan walked in.
“Hmm?”
Sitting in the front, an elderly man holding a dry cigarette saw his figure and anxiously stood up, saying, “Yunchuan, quickly hide before your father finds out about the money you misappropriated from the village. Hide quickly!”
“Second Grandfather, please don’t worry!”
Zhang Yunchuan looked at the familiar Second Grandfather, a smile on his face, and then glanced at the other elders.
Holding a passbook, he walked to the front and said, “Uncles and Elders, you don’t need to worry about me. The 120 million yuan from the village collective was misappropriated by me. I invested it in stocks and haven’t incurred any losses.”
“Hmm? Yunchuan, you didn’t gamble? That’s good, Yunchuan. Tell the truth, your father wouldn’t dare do anything to you.”
“What’s stocks?”
Everyone was puzzled.
“Young Uncle, you went to college. Explain it to them.”
Zhang Yunchuan smiled and handed the passbook to him.
Zhang Gaoshan, who was only in his thirties, took the passbook with confusion, opened it, and began to explain, “The stock market is…”
As he spoke, his pupils widened upon seeing the numbers on the passbook.
“Young Gaoshan, speak faster. What exactly is it?” an impatient old man interjected.
“Stocks are… they can turn 120 million yuan into…”
In his thirties, glasses-wearing Zhang Gaoshan stared at the passbook with excitement, “Turn it into 840 million yuan, 840 million yuan? Yunchuan, is it really 840 million yuan???”
“Five days ago, I noticed that the stock of the ST Huyan company would skyrocket. But if I had mentioned it to my father and the elders, they would never believe me. So I took the initiative to misappropriate the 120 million yuan from the village collective.”
Zhang Yunchuan smiled and looked at everyone. “In just three days, the ST Huyan stock skyrocketed sevenfold, resulting in a profit of 820 million yuan. I made over 700 million yuan in profit.”
“Oh my goodness, made over seven billion! I can’t imagine!!”
“Sigh, our Zhang family village accumulated assets of only 120 million yuan after decades of development, and Yunchuan, this child, multiplied it sevenfold in just a few days?”
“Over eight billion yuan, I can’t even imagine it. Well done, Yunchuan, well done! Haha.”
Inside the village meeting room, the elders of the village were ecstatic, shouting with joy, making the room even more chaotic with spit flying around.
However, amidst the chaos, there was a sense of liveliness and happiness.
“Zhang Yunchuan, how dare you touch the village’s assets? Are you trying to die, you little brat?”
Suddenly, a voice filled with anger and sternness came from outside.
A slightly thin middle-aged man with a somewhat aged face walked in, his expression embarrassed as he stared at his “disappointing” son.
Zhang Yunchuan looked at his father walking in, at his dark complexion and frail body, and smiled slightly. “Dad, you’ve worked hard all these years. From now on, enjoy your retirement and live a good life!”
Zhang Gaoming, slightly taken aback, furrowed his brow and was about to speak.
“Yes, Gaoming, you’ve worked hard for our Zhang family village for half a lifetime. It’s time for you to step down and enjoy your life!”
“Yes, in the future, we should consider letting Yunchuan become the village head of Zhang family village. We can also think about him becoming the clan leader of the Zhang family.”
A few elders on the side nodded and spoke up.
Zhang Yunchuan: ????
I just wanted my father to enjoy his retirement. I have no interest in being the village head!
Zhang Gaoming, upon hearing this, also froze.
?????
