Volume One, Chapter 2: The Grand Scheme for Wealth—Becoming the Richest Is No Dream!

Tang Yichen wiped the tears from the corner of his eyes and, with the maturity of a little adult, patted his father’s shoulder. He smiled broadly, his gaze resolute. “Dad, since heaven has given us a chance to start over, we will never be poor again in this life! Not only will we escape poverty, but as long as we seize every opportunity to get rich and hold steady, I’m confident I can make you the richest man!”

Hearing this, Tang Xionghua’s eyes brightened.

Indeed, although his son’s body was that of a five-year-old, his mind was that of a thirty-eight-year-old—he knew the trajectory of the next thirty-three years like the back of his hand.

What greater advantage could there be?

In his previous life, Tang Xionghua had been forced to work in the deep city and struggle in the metropolis, but he had made a name for himself. Not only was he business-savvy, but he was also capable in every way.

Yet, limited by his vision and scope—especially his ability to discern opportunities—his achievements remained average.

Later, he met the wrong people and was betrayed by Tang Yichen’s stepmother!

But now, with Tang Yichen acting like a game glitch, none of these were problems!

Losing the iron rice bowl of teaching—so what?

When one door closes, another opens. Perhaps this was the opportunity to build a career.

“Yichen, your old man is a man of his craft now, our family has been farming for generations, and we’re poor as can be. Can we really get rich?”

“Then tell me, what opportunities to get rich are there right now?”

After a moment of excitement, Tang Xionghua still asked with some doubt.

“Well...” Tang Yichen pondered, searching for memories around 1991.

The term “92 Wealth Certificate” first came to mind.

At this time, the wild chance for ordinary people to get rich was undoubtedly the “Stock Subscription Certificates” about to be issued in the metropolis in ‘92.

In a short time, they multiplied a thousandfold, creating countless ten-thousand-yuan households.

This opportunity was definitely one to seize.

But it was half a year away, and right now Dad had little capital.

The first pot of gold was crucial!

After some thought, Tang Yichen vaguely remembered that around ’91, the town seemed to have a craze for selling dried small fish and shrimp.

They simply dried the small fish and shrimp found everywhere in the countryside and sold them in the city, earning a hefty profit.

Apparently, the first to discover this business opportunity had made quite a fortune.

Because their whole Chu province not only bordered the Yangtze River but was known as the province of a thousand lakes, small fish and shrimp were abundant.

The villagers may not have cared much, but city folk back then had little meat to eat, and even the tiniest shrimp was a delicacy!

But Tang Yichen had no clear memory of the exact price difference or the profit after deducting travel costs.

Thinking of this, Tang Yichen asked Tang Xionghua, “Dad, do we have any dried small fish or shrimp at home?”

“Yeah,” Tang Xionghua replied, puzzled, but got up and fetched a cloth bag from the kitchen.

He opened it and spread it before Tang Yichen. “Is this it? Your grandfather went to the river when he had nothing to do and caught these. It took him over ten days to dry this little bit. The meat is scant, not tasty at all.”

Tang Yichen glanced—it was indeed dried small fish and shrimp.

He continued, “Are these sold at the town market? How much per jin?”

Tang Xionghua thought for a moment. “I think they are sold, but not much. About one yuan per jin. An old teacher at our school likes them a lot. He has no relatives in the countryside, so he often buys some.”

“One yuan per jin? That’s even cheaper than pork...” Tang Yichen muttered, then got to the point.

“Dad, the price of these dried small fish and shrimp in the city could be much higher. I’m not sure exactly, but the bigger the city, the higher the price—maybe two or three yuan, perhaps even four or five.”

“More importantly, these are a rarity in the city, with huge market potential. I remember the first person to sell small fish and shrimp from the countryside in the city made a good profit. But as more people joined in, the profit margin narrowed.”

“Dad, I suggest we take a trip to the provincial capital soon. It’s not far from Jianghan City. Let’s see the market for dried small fish and shrimp there—mainly to check if there’s room for profit. If so, this could be a good little opportunity to get rich...”

“Is that so... alright, I’m already out of work anyway. Let’s go check it out tomorrow.”

Tang Xionghua grasped the opportunity instantly, sensing business potential.

He began to pull himself out of his slump and anxiety.

He wasn’t sure if these would really fetch two or three yuan per jin in the city, but his son was from the future—he was unlikely to be wrong!

According to Tang Yichen’s guess, since someone had made a small fortune from this in the past life, it was very likely to succeed.

Without at least doubling the price difference, there’d be no small fortune.

So, it depended on how much capital Dad had and how big he could grow the business quickly, whether he could earn enough initial capital to take off when the “92 Wealth Certificate” came...

With this in mind, Tang Yichen asked, “Dad, how much savings do you have now?”

“Hmm... nearly three thousand yuan,” Tang Xionghua answered after a moment’s thought.

This amount was close to what Tang Yichen had anticipated.

As a teacher, Dad earned 180 yuan a month, about 2,160 yuan a year.

With some part-time work during breaks, annual income would not exceed 2,500 yuan.

Mother had passed away two years ago, spending all the family savings then. This 3,000 yuan was all Dad had saved in the past two years.

Though not much, it was enough as start-up capital.

Tang Yichen considered, “Three thousand yuan is enough. My goal is to earn 100,000 yuan within six months. With that capital, next year will be secure.”

“What!? 100,000 yuan? There isn’t even a single ten-thousand-yuan household in our village. The whole town’s famous ten-thousand-yuan earners can be counted on one hand...” Tang Xionghua was shocked by his son’s ambitious target.

Reignited with hope, Tang Xionghua had dreamed he might soon become a ten-thousand-yuan earner himself.

But he never imagined his son’s goal was 100,000 yuan, and in just half a year.

Is money really that easy to make?

Tang Yichen was unfazed. “What’s 100,000? If all goes well, we might make that amount soon enough!”

Seeing Tang Yichen hold up one finger, Tang Xionghua guessed boldly, “One... million?”

Tang Yichen shook his head.

“Could it be ten million? Haha, son, you’re dreaming too big.” Tang Xionghua exhaled and joked lightly.

Tang Yichen shook his head again, “No, one hundred million.”

“One... one hundred million!? How much money is that! Ha—” Tang Xionghua was dumbfounded.

His mouth dropped, eyes wide in disbelief.

A hundred million was just a number to him; earning that kind of money? Crazy!

Tang Yichen smiled without a word.

Don’t believe me? Just wait and see!

That night, Tang Yichen and his father discussed their grand plan to get rich for a long time.

They also planned their trip for the next day and noted some things to watch for.

Though not a business genius, Tang Yichen had spent more than ten years in marketing in his previous life.

Plus, guided by advanced business ideas from the future, every new concept he shared left Tang Xionghua stunned.

After all, Tang Xionghua was still just a twenty-seven-year-old unemployed rural teacher with little worldly experience.

How could he imagine the tremendous changes ahead?

“Dad, I’m sleepy...” Tang Yichen glanced at the clock—it was past midnight.

Though in his past life working overtime until midnight was normal, even a five-year-old couldn’t fight off sleep forever.

“All right, go to sleep, son!”

Father and son exchanged a smile, their eyes shining with unprecedented hope.