Chapter 37: Teaching Parents a Lesson

Lu Fan rode his motorcycle back, having long anticipated that Lu Dawei would ask about it.

He had never intended to hide his business dealings from him from the very start, so he spoke up directly: "I bought it!"

"Huh? You bought it?"

Lu Dawei’s brows knit together. "A Honda CG125, imported, would cost at least 10,000 yuan. How could you possibly have the money to buy it?"

"Oh, I bought it secondhand from someone else. It was cheap."

"You little brat, you’re not telling me the truth, are you?" Lu Dawei immediately reached for his belt.

Lu Fan released the brake, and the bike surged forward a short distance. "Do you think I’d lie to you? If you don't believe me, you can ask Bai Lu. She’s at our place too; she knows exactly how I earned the money."

Lu Dawei asked skeptically, "Really? What did you do to earn that much money?"

"I have nothing to say! Since you don't trust me, there's no point in me saying anything more."

"You little brat, you're looking for a beating again." Lu Dawei grumbled as he buckled his belt back up. "Since you bought the motorcycle, you must have the receipt, right?"

Lu Fan hadn't expected him to be so insistent on getting to the bottom of it. However, considering Lu Dawei’s profession, he let it go. The receipt did exist, but it wasn't in his hands. Thinking that the group of people might still be wandering around the Baoshan Night Market, he figured he could run into them again, so he nodded. "I have it, but I left it at Bai Lu's place. I didn't bring it with me."

"Then bring it back next time and show me."

"Dad, I told you to ask Bai Lu; do you still not believe me?"

"I do not!" Lu Dawei replied flatly.

Lu Fan sighed. "Then don't ask me to give you a ride. You can ride your bicycle back."

Lu Dawei stepped forward and grabbed the pillion seat. "Get to the back. Let me ride it and see. I’ve been craving a motorcycle like this for years. Your mother never could bear to buy one for me, and now you’ve gone and squandered all the savings on your own."

"What do you mean squandered? Didn't I find a daughter-in-law for you?" Lu Fan said, sliding off the seat and sitting in the back.

Once Lu Dawei mounted the bike, he couldn't help but grumble: "Damn, the engines the Japs build are good. I've ridden the Xingfu 125 and the Jialing; they both make more noise than this, and the suspension isn't as good either."

Lu Fan suggested, "How about I trade you this motorcycle for your beat-up jeep?"

"What kind of nonsense are you spouting? That jeep might be near the end of its life, but it belongs to the station. I pay for my own gas when I use it for personal errands. Did you really think it was our family's?"

"You could buy it... oh, never mind, you don't have the money right now." Lu Dawei wanted to smack him, but it was inconvenient while riding the bike.

"Dad, let me tell you, from now on, you won't need to provide for my tuition or living expenses. I can earn it myself. If you need it, I can even give you some pocket money every month."

Lu Dawei scoffed, "Don't go spouting such tall tales yet. When I get back, I’m going to ask Bai Lu what exactly you've been up to. If I find out you’ve been doing anything illegal, I’ll have to uphold justice even if it means turning in my own son."

Lu Fan laughed. "Don't worry, every single cent I earned—even if you look at it under a magnifying glass—can only be described in two words: completely clean."

Back at the staff housing complex, Lu Dawei pulled the key out and patted the motorcycle, his eyes full of fondness. "Where’s the lock? Didn't you get a chain lock?"

"Dad, this is the Public Security Bureau dormitory. What thief would be blind enough to come here and steal a bike?"

"And what will you do when you’re out?"

"I'll just make sure it never leaves my sight."

"Since you bought it, you’d better keep a close eye on it. There are a lot of motorcycle thieves nowadays."

"Don't you worry!"

When the two returned home, the meal was already prepared, covered by plates on the dining table. After Bai Lu greeted them, she hurriedly took a gift box from her bag and handed it to Lu Dawei.

"Uncle, this is a gift Lu Fan and I bought for you."

Lu Dawei looked left and right, then fished around in his pockets, which were emptier than his face. "This... I didn't prepare a gift for you, I'm so embarrassed."

"It's fine, Uncle. This was all bought with money Lu Fan earned."

"Huh? He really earned money?"

Xia Hongying tapped the table and said, "Sit down first, let me explain. Bai Lu already told me everything."

"This little rascal got a batch of 200 shirts from a clothing factory around their village and took them to the Baoshan Night Market. He sold them all in one night for 50 yuan each, totaling 10,000 yuan."

"It was 9,844.2 yuan," Bai Lu added.

"Almost 10,000 in one night? How was this money earned?"

"Hehe, don't say you don't believe it; if Bai Lu hadn't told me herself, I wouldn't have believed it either. Lu Fan, you tell us yourself, how did you earn this money? What’s the trick?"

After sitting down, Lu Fan said, "My throat is a bit dry."

Lu Dawei was just about to lose his temper when he saw Bai Lu hurriedly run to the living room and bring back a glass of water. Lu Dawei extinguished his urge to lecture Lu Fan, and he and Xia Hongying shook their heads at the sight. Seeing Bai Lu actually go to get him water, Lu Fan felt a bit helpless—it seemed their synchronization wasn't quite there yet.

"Actually, it's quite simple. I just ran a promotion: the first item at full price, the second at half price, and the third one is free. People felt it was a great deal, so they started buying."

Lu Dawei nodded. "Now that you put it that way, it does sound like a good deal."

"I set the original price high at 98 yuan per shirt, but once combined with this promotion, people's focus was drawn to the deal, and they subconsciously ignored the original price."

Xia Hongying asked again, "You sold over 10,000 yuan just by using a promotion? I still feel like it's a fairy tale."

"It's not that simple. The charm of live sales lies in the atmosphere. As long as you create an urgent shopping environment for the consumers, they will line up to pay voluntarily."

Bai Lu suddenly realized, "I see. No wonder you didn't sell the clothes before, you only took deposits and specified that the promotion would start at 7 o'clock."

"Exactly. First, make them wait in line. Once you have a queue, you can continuously attract new consumers to join it."

"No matter who they are, people love to join a crowd and take advantage of a bargain. Whenever people see a crowd gathering, they subconsciously assume there’s a bargain to be had, and then..."

Xia Hongying stared blankly at Lu Fan. "Are you still my son? I feel like a thousand-year-old demon has possessed you."

"Your father and I have been honest our whole lives, working diligently from the moment we started until we got old. How did we end up with a child so full of schemes?"

Lu Fan didn't answer his mother; he knew she was in a complex state of mind and hadn't yet recovered from the shock, but she would adapt quickly.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, Xia Hongying reached out her hand and said, "You're still a child, why are you holding onto so much money? Let Mom keep it for you."

Lu Dawei frowned, feeling something wasn't quite right, but he couldn't pinpoint it yet. Hearing Xia Hongying's words, he scoffed, "He’s probably already spent it all. He bought a motorcycle and left it downstairs."

Lu Fan added, "Right, I also bought a mobile phone." He pulled the phone out, placed it on the table, and gave Bai Lu a subtle shake of his head.

Xia Hongying frowned. "How can you be so reckless? I feel like you've been a completely different person since finishing the college entrance exams. Are you trying to take over the world?"

Lu Fan quickly bowed his head to eat. Whatever, even if I've changed, I'm still me—in both lifetimes, I'm your son.

Lu Dawei suddenly slapped the table and shouted, "I know what's wrong!"

Everyone looked at him. He didn't play coy and said directly, "First off, to get 200 shirts from a clothing factory, you need capital. You didn't have any money to begin with, so why would they give you the clothes?"

Lu Fan replied with disdain, "I don't even need to answer that myself. Bai Lu, you tell him."

"Oh, my mom usually picks up odd jobs from that clothing factory. The owner and the workers know my mom and know that our family is from the village, so we didn't have to pay for those 200 items upfront."

Lu Dawei frowned. "So you used your in-laws as collateral? Lu Fan, have you ever thought about what would have happened if you hadn't sold them and couldn't pay the factory back? Wouldn't that have left your in-laws in a terrible spot?"

Lu Fan replied, "If you had to consider everything perfectly before starting, you’d never make any money."