Chapter Sixty-Two: The Gentle Touch That Moves Mountains

At six o’clock the next morning, Li’s father and mother were already up and washing. After brushing his teeth and rinsing his mouth, Li’s father said to Li’s mother, “Honey, I’ll go to the station and buy the tickets first.”

Li’s mother, still brushing her teeth, nodded. Li’s father turned to leave the bathroom, but suddenly she remembered something and hurried after him, speaking indistinctly, “It takes more than ten hours to get to Wen City. Why don’t we just take the hard seat? We could tough it out and save quite a bit of money.”

Li’s father smiled, “I’d like to buy hard seats, but your younger brother’s wife is coming too. Isn’t that a bit inappropriate?”

Only then did Li’s mother recall it and said hurriedly, “Then let’s get hard sleepers!”

“Alright,” Li’s father replied, preparing to leave. Li’s mother returned to the mirror to finish brushing her teeth. Not even a dozen seconds later, Li’s father came back. Li’s mother asked in surprise, “Why are you back?”

Li’s father raised his hand and held up three train tickets. “Here, I got the tickets.”

“Are you magic or something!” Li’s mother stared in astonishment. “How did you get them so fast?”

“Your son bought them.” Li’s father shrugged, his face full of satisfaction. “I left them on the coffee table. He must have gone out last night to get them.”

“This child…” Li’s mother gave a wry smile. “Does he think his father’s already old, afraid that even buying tickets would be too much trouble?”

Li’s father sighed, “No, he isn’t afraid I’ll be troubled, he’s afraid we’ll suffer to save money.”

He handed the tickets to Li’s mother. “Look, soft sleeper: one upper berth, two lower berths, all in the same compartment.”

Li’s mother glanced at the price printed on the ticket. For a moment, she felt a twinge of pain, but thinking of her son’s thoughtfulness, she was deeply moved. She said to Li’s father, “With such a good son, I think the two of us will enjoy endless happiness in our later years.”

When Li Mu got up, it was already past ten. As soon as he opened his eyes, he heard voices in the living room. After dressing, he came out and saw that his aunt had arrived.

The moment Li Mu appeared, Aunt Sun Qinqin greeted him with a smile, “Li Mu, you’re awake.”

Li Mu nodded and smiled, “When did you get here, Aunt?”

“I’ve been here for quite a while.” Today, when Aunt Sun looked at Li Mu, her gaze was completely different from before. Though the boy before her was her junior, she had heard of his abilities from her sister and brother-in-law—so formidable it was almost frightening.

A young man barely eighteen, who had earned enough money to invest hundreds of thousands for his parents to open a store—such a thing was beyond her imagination. Had Li’s father and mother not told her themselves, she would never have believed it.

She had already learned everything from Li’s parents when Li Mu went to Wen City to sign the contract. Faced with such a good opportunity, she was so excited she hadn’t slept all night.

Sun Qinqin was not only excited about the promised 1,500 yuan base salary but also because she yearned for something new. She wasn’t old yet; married Li Mu’s uncle at eighteen, now barely in her early thirties. She adapted well, and over the years had done many kinds of work—she knew more than the average state enterprise worker.

Recently, Sun Qinqin had started working at a supermarket and found the rules and systems behind it fascinating—from product placement, to sales pitches, to snippets she’d heard about supply chains. Her thirst for knowledge was strong.

With training approaching, Sun Qinqin had come over hoping to learn more and prepare herself.

Li’s parents only half understood the plan for the specialty store. As they chatted, they realized they couldn’t answer all of Sun Qinqin’s questions. Just then, Li Mu woke.

Li Mu sat on the sofa and listened to his aunt’s questions—mostly about the store manager’s specific duties, some about the future of the industry.

“Aunt, many of your questions are actually the key points of the training. The headquarters has systematic materials and case studies. They’ll teach you how to be a good store manager, how to manage your team, and how to motivate them for the best sales performance. As for the prospects of this industry, I personally am very optimistic.”

Li Mu had never worked in apparel, so he couldn’t answer specifics.

His aunt nodded, nervous yet expectant. “I’m really interested in all this, just don’t know if I have what it takes.”

Li Mu smiled gently, “If you put your heart into it, you’ll definitely do well!”

Aunt didn’t stay long; she had to go home to cook for the family. After chatting for a while, she took her leave. Li Mu saw her off, hurried to wash up, and just as he finished, his phone rang—a call from an unfamiliar number.

As soon as he answered, the caller introduced themselves: Jinling Chengyu Construction Engineering Co., Ltd.

Li Mu raised an eyebrow. It was the renovation company designated by the provincial agent—so quick to contact him?

On the phone, they told Li Mu they would send a surveyor to take photos and measure the storefront, then have a designer draw up plans according to the headquarters’ renovation manual. Once the construction drawings, design renderings, and quotes were ready, they’d discuss them with Li Mu, and if there were no issues, they could immediately send a team to start work.

Li Mu asked about the construction time for a space of about one hundred eighty square meters. The reply was twenty to twenty-five days. Many materials were specified by headquarters, shelving sent directly by the company, so renovations would be fast.

Li Mu was satisfied with the timeline and scheduled the survey for the following afternoon.

He realized tomorrow would be busy: in the morning, he had to go to driving school, get assigned to a class and start practice; in the afternoon, accompany the renovation company to collect data; and in the evening, his parents and aunt’s train at seven meant he’d have to see them off.

As for the simple plan for tomorrow night’s semifinals, he definitely wouldn’t have time. He couldn’t babysit every match—otherwise, when they went to Yanjing for the finals, how could he keep up?

...

Zhao Kang hadn’t seen Li Mu for several days. He wanted to invite him to dinner, but Li Mu refused, for a simple reason: he’d promised Su Yingxue to have dinner with her tonight.

Zhao Kang understood and didn’t blame Li Mu for prioritizing romance over friendship. Over the phone, he wanted to update Li Mu on recent events.

Li Mu said, “Let’s do this—after lunch, let’s meet at Green Island Ice House and talk.”

“Alright!”

At that time, Haizhou had not a single café, only a few tea houses and ice parlors. Tea houses were full of middle-aged people playing cards, while ice parlors were popular among the young. They had booths and private rooms; you could order a few yuan’s worth of ice cream and sit in air-conditioned comfort all day.

After lunch, Li Mu and Zhao Kang took a taxi to Green Island Ice House and found a quiet booth upstairs.

Once seated, Li Mu ordered some cold drinks and snacks, then asked Zhao Kang, “How did your trip to Yanjing feel?”

Zhao Kang smacked his lips, full of longing. “A big city is a big city. The buses have hundreds of routes, there’s a subway, and Zhongguancun is amazing—tons of internet companies clustered there.”

Li Mu nodded. “Zhongguancun will one day be half the internet industry of China.”

“I also visited Renmin University and the vocational college I applied to,” Zhao Kang said, smiling. “We’ll be close to each other—just two stops by bus, and both near Zhongguancun, only a few more stops away.”

Li Mu laughed, “Then it’ll be our home ground in the future. Good to get familiar in advance.”

Zhao Kang asked, “By the way, what have you been busy with lately? I heard from my parents that Uncle Li and Aunt Xiao applied for voluntary redundancy?”

“Yeah, you heard already?”

“More than heard! Everyone at Xiling Coal Mine is saying Uncle Li and Aunt Xiao are going into business, that they look down on coal mine work.”

Li Mu gave a helpless smile. Everyone thought those who left state enterprises were ‘going into business.’ It was a broad term, but basically correct.

Talking about this, Li Mu thought of Guo Yuhang, and a flash of anger crossed his face.

Zhao Kang noticed the change. “What’s wrong? Something bothering you?”

“Yeah.” Li Mu nodded and shared his suspicions.

“Damn, it must be Guo Yuhang behind this!” Zhao Kang exclaimed, barely needing to think.

Then he asked Li Mu, “Should we find a way to teach him a lesson? Get two or three guys, a sack, wait for the right moment, throw it over his head and give him a beating—then run. The police won’t know who did it!”

“No point.” Li Mu waved his hand. “Violence is the dullest solution. Besides, his father is wealthy and powerful. If he pulls strings with the police and pursues it, it’ll most likely trace back to us. That would be direct conflict. Guo Lin’s been mine boss for years, probably embezzled tens of millions—he could crush us with money.”

“What then?” Zhao Kang blurted. “He messed with your parents over such a small thing—can you swallow that?”

“Of course not.” A hint of ruthlessness appeared in Li Mu’s eyes. “If we want to deal with Guo Yuhang, we need to find the flaws in him and his family. Maybe we can turn the tables with minimal effort.”

As he spoke, Li Mu glanced at Zhao Kang. “You must keep control of the core team on Douban Forum. When you have time, teach them how to use proxy IPs. It might be invaluable in the future.”