Chapter Seventy-Five: What to Do with Money

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The first volume is nearing its end, and the climax of the entire arc is about to arrive.

Fang Sixiang saw Li Changtian's impassive expression and assumed he was regretting his earlier support for Jiangxiwen. Li Changtian had already suffered a setback; there was no need for Fang Sixiang to pour oil on the fire. He understood it was best to let things rest.

Li Changtian exhaled deeply, casting a look of pity at Fang Sixiang. "Director Fang, it's not that I don't want to warn you, but some things you need to see and think through yourself. As for myself, I only wish to spend my life in the ivory tower of academia. You, Fang Sixiang, still have plenty of drive—how can you be so muddled? I won't say much more. You can use your connections above to inquire about the relationship between Jiang Hong and Zhang Yong’s families, then decide whether to drive Jiangxiwen away or let him stay.

And another thing—I really don't understand why you and Xiao Zhu insist on opposing a child. Even if Jiangxiwen had no background at all, the two of you, grown adults, stirring up trouble every day—what's the point? Broaden your minds a little. I've said all I can; from now on, I won't remind you again."

The more Fang Sixiang listened, the more bewildered he became. By the end, cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Was his information so out of date? Damn it, didn’t Liu Dashan say Jiangxiwen’s father worked at the municipal committee? How was Zhang Yong involved?

After Li Changtian finished speaking, Fang Sixiang hurriedly thanked him and rushed back to his office, grabbing the phone to make a call. The first person he thought of was Deputy Director Chen, who had recently sought him out regarding his son's grades. "Director Chen, this is Fang Sixiang from Second High..."

"...Alright. Your son’s academic performance is fine. I guarantee he’ll get into our school for high school. I wanted to ask you something."

When the call ended, Fang Sixiang sat dumbfounded. Two days ago, he had witnessed Jiang Hong and Qin Shu together—he replayed that scene in his mind.

Smack! He slapped his thigh. No wonder Zhang Ya always wanted to sit with Jiangxiwen; there were so many good classmates to choose from, yet she refused all others.

These people were truly adept at pretending—Qin Shu’s performance was so convincing. Sigh, perhaps Fang Sixiang had not yet grasped the essence of things.

He could not know that it wasn’t Qin Shu and the others who were good at acting, but rather that he and Li Changtian were too complicated in their thinking. It was precisely this complexity that allowed misunderstandings to persist, never to be resolved. It also perpetuated the "relationship" between Jiang Hong and the Zhang family, spreading ever wider and perhaps, as Jiangxiwen hoped, helping his father ascend to the position of county magistrate.

No, he had to call Liu Dashan; that guy must be hiding something from him! He had handed Liu Dashan the project for Second High's new teaching building—not for nothing, damn it. Fang Sixiang grabbed the phone again and dialed Liu Dashan's office number.

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Though cursing inwardly, as soon as the call connected, Fang Sixiang adopted the utmost politeness. To him, Liu Dashan was a deity—easy to invite, hard to send away. He knew Liu Dashan's abilities well, and even better, his eccentric temper. If he offended Liu Dashan, it would not merely mean losing support on the political path; he might one day be beaten senseless by some unknown thug in an alley. That would be disastrous.

"Fang, what is it?" Liu Dashan's steady voice came through the receiver.

"Chief Liu, I still want to ask about Jiangxiwen. Today, our principal mentioned that Jiangxiwen’s father, Jiang Hong, is on very good terms with Zhang Yong’s family. You didn’t tell me this last time. I nearly made Jiangxiwen the scapegoat—offending Zhang Yong would spell trouble."

"Fang, are you blaming me?" Liu Dashan’s tone remained steady, but the aura he exuded made Fang Sixiang jump. He quickly replied, "No, no, Chief Liu, you misunderstood. I’m just giving you a heads-up..."

He hadn't finished before Liu Dashan interrupted, "I warned you: don’t mess with Zhang Ya, Jiangxiwen, or Gong Xiang, those three students. Yet you insisted on causing trouble. So, tell me, what happened this time?"

Liu Dashan’s voice softened considerably. Normally, he would have hung up long ago, but this matter again involved Zhang Yong and Jiangxiwen. He needed to listen for more clues, hoping to glean some new information. These days, the names Jiangxiwen and Zhang Yong had left him dizzy and exhausted.

Fang Sixiang sensed the shift in Liu Dashan’s tone and hurried to explain, "I couldn’t help it; my wife has such an awful temper. I promise this won’t happen again. This time, I was planning to force Jiangxiwen to transfer, but..."

Fang Sixiang recounted in detail the Saturday meeting with Jiang Hong and Qin Shu, carefully emphasizing that his motivation was purely for his wife’s sake, omitting any mention of Gao Jie, whom he planned to use as a backup connection—his ticket to advancement even without Liu Dashan.

"Alright, I understand..." After Fang Sixiang finished his account, Liu Dashan replied succinctly and hung up.

Damn it, everyone thinks they have the right to lecture me. Fang Sixiang slammed down the phone in frustration. That bastard Liu Dashan must know about the connection between the Jiang and Zhang families. Picking up his cup, he took a sip, only to spit it out immediately.

Hell, when luck turns sour, even drinking cold water gets stuck in your teeth. While he stewed in agitation and anger, he had no idea that Liu Dashan was faring no better. At that moment, Liu Dashan felt Zhang Yong’s skill was formidable—the Jiang and Zhang families were clearly close, but if it was just for appearances, why deliberately stage quarrels? There was only one possibility: Zhang Yong had realized Fang Sixiang was Liu Dashan’s man, and after Fang Sixiang met Jiang Hong and Qin Shu, they arranged a performance, hoping to extract information about Liu Dashan from him.

No, he had to uncover the traitor. Liu Dashan rolled the small porcelain ball in his palm. Among his subordinates, the only one involved in both legitimate and illicit affairs was his driver, Lao Ning. Lao Ning was a veteran, discharged for disciplinary breaches, making it hard to find work back home. Liu Dashan recognized his capabilities and took him in as a trusted aide, though outwardly he appeared only as a driver. Liu Dashan treated Lao Ning with great respect, even referring to himself as "Old Nine" in front of him—a privilege his lesser associates could only dream of.

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He had sent his men to investigate Lao Ning for several days, but found no trace of anything amiss. Liu Dashan glanced at the stack of applications for founding a private school on his desk, his brows furrowing as a scheme began to form.

A faint smile curved his lips; only by doing this could he force the backstabbing culprit to show himself.

Liu Dashan’s plan delighted Fan Qiang, who had just received Liu Dashan’s call. Liu Dashan had agreed to his request—to keep Tian Weidong occupied the day he arrived. With that, the crucial missing piece in Fan Qiang’s comeback plan was now in place.

All those skilled in scheming were deep in their calculations, Jiangxiwen included. The difference was that Jiangxiwen was strategizing not about people, but about questions. He sat in the afternoon exam room, working through the final physics problem—he solved it in about three minutes.

After finishing the problem, he glanced around; everyone else was still engrossed in their papers. The clock showed less than half an hour had passed, so he could not submit yet. He picked up a large sheet of draft paper and began sketching comics—Son Goku from Dragon Ball. In his previous life, he loved drawing this after finishing exams, though back then it was because he couldn’t solve the questions. Now, he finished them swiftly.

His first funds since being reborn were about to arrive; as soon as Tian Weidong showed up, he could complete the transaction. Jiangxiwen had great confidence in the software he’d developed—once Tian Weidong saw it, the contract would surely be signed.

Next, he awaited Wang Xunfei’s arrival. With Wang’s keen sense for business, Jiangxiwen was determined to invest the first funds in launching a real-time network communication software. The internet was not yet widespread in China, and even internationally, it would not be accessible until after 1995. So Jiangxiwen planned to send Wang Xunfei to the United States, spend a year developing and refining QQ, get familiar with the environment, and prepare for company registration. As soon as the global internet became more open, he would launch YOCQ, determined to beat those Israelis behind ICQ to the punch and bring QQ to the international market.

These ideas had not been mere passing thoughts in Jiangxiwen’s mind; he had long been planning for the follow-up financing after QQ launched, which was the real key. By then, he’d be holding over a million and still shouting about needing money. The feeling of being a boss was entirely different from that of an employee—Jiangxiwen finished drawing the last strand of Super Saiyan hair and felt a surge of emotion.

Three days of exams flew by. Zhang Ya seemed unhappy during those days; every time she saw Jiangxiwen, she hesitated as if wanting to say something, but Jiangxiwen could not be bothered to ask.

On the first evening of winter vacation, Jiangxiwen received two phone calls—one from Fan Qiang, one from Zhang Yong—both about the same matter: Tian Weidong wanted to meet him on the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, the eve of the Little New Year. The difference was, Zhang Yong gave the address as Zhenxing Teahouse at eight in the evening, while Fan Qiang said Yangjiang River Seafood Restaurant, private room, at seven.

At last, it was happening—his first bucket of gold, after more than two months of effort! Hanging up, Jiangxiwen smiled slightly. It seemed Secretary Fan was once again playing his tricks, setting up a decoy. Jiangxiwen decided, real or fake, he would go to both places. He wanted to see what Fan Qiang could pull this time.