Can You Handle It?

"Little Aunt, what's the situation with Li Shihan's second aunt's husband?"

After dinner, Li Shihan's family went home, and the other relatives left as well. Only Zhou Feiyu's family remained, planning to discuss Zhou Feiyu's blind date with Li Lanmei's family.

Thinking about how Li Shihan's second aunt's husband had poured cold water on things at the dinner table, Zhou Feiyu could not help asking.

Zhou Feiyu's mother said, "Exactly. What does it have to do with her? He's only the second aunt's husband. No matter what, it shouldn't have been his place to speak, should it? Li Shihan's Parents didn't even say anything."

Zhou Feiyu's father added while smoking, "We didn't offend him either."

Li Lanmei coughed a few times before explaining, "Sister, brother-in-law, I didn't tell you this. Actually, before I introduced Feiyu to Li Shihan, her second aunt's husband had already introduced someone to her. Tell me, how could he possibly look happy about it?"

Zhou Feiyu was instantly speechless. The happiness he had felt over his rapid progress with Li Shihan immediately dimmed somewhat. All right, so I'm the latecomer.

But that feeling only lasted a moment. On second thought, any pretty girl would have plenty of pursuers. There was nothing strange about that.

The one who married an outstanding girl was the winner.

Once Zhou Feiyu's parents heard this, they immediately understood Li Shihan's second aunt's husband's attitude earlier.

Zhou Feiyu's mother still said somewhat unhappily, "This isn't lining up to buy something, where first come, first served matters. When a man and woman go on a blind date, what matters is fate. When fate arrives, things naturally work out. If fate hasn't arrived, no amount of effort will help."

Li Lanmei chuckled. "Sister, you're right. That's what I think too. Li Shihan is a good girl. She's pretty, honest, and respectable. She hasn't even had a boyfriend yet. Most importantly, she's filial and can make money. She teaches dance outside, and she can easily earn twenty or thirty thousand a month. Tell me, if Feiyu married her in the future, how good would their life be? As parents, you'd have it much easier too."

"That's not how you put it."

Zhou Feiyu's father wore an eager smile, but said something else instead. "Whether the young people have an easy life is their business. As parents, don't we just hope our children will be happy? As long as they're happy, it doesn't matter whether they have more money or less."

Zhou Feiyu's mother agreed. "That's right."

They kept talking about Zhou Feiyu's blind date and did not mention a single word about him quitting his job and preparing to do something on his own, because that was not important.

Ever since Zhou Feiyu was young, there had been nothing to say about his ability to get things done, and even less to say about his grades. He had always been among the best, an outstanding student in every class from childhood onward. During the high school entrance exam, he had become the only student in his entire middle school to get into the County Key High School. He had not fallen behind in the college entrance exam either, successfully entering a key undergraduate program.

Whether it was his parents or his relatives, they had always been completely at ease about him.

It was not until Zhou Feiyu's family returned home from Li Lanmei's house that his mother finally asked him with some concern, "Your father and I didn't say anything about you resigning, but what are you planning to do next? Is there anything we can help with?"

Zhou Feiyu's father said nothing, but he had always shared the same opinion as his wife.

"There really is!"

Zhou Feiyu said with a grin, "Let me give you the full picture. I'm planning to start a business this time. I've already applied to the bank for a startup loan, probably a few million. This trip to Shenzhen is to find clients. Once the loan comes through, I'll get started immediately. So I need to make preparations now. My idea is for you two to come with me to the county town. You can work in an office then and help me keep an eye on the factory while you're at it."

Zhou Feiyu's parents were both stunned speechless.

They had thought Zhou Feiyu was merely looking for something else to do, perhaps a side business or something. They had never expected him to drop such a massive bombshell on them as soon as he came home.

Starting a business!

A loan!

A loan of several million!

Going to Shenzhen to find clients!

Planning for them to help look after a factory!

Every single one of those things was enough to make them worry themselves sick. Now they had heard them all at once, and the one doing all of it was their beloved son, the son they had always trusted completely.

When they first heard Zhou Feiyu out, they did not even react. Their ears had heard it, and their minds understood it, but they simply could not connect those things with Zhou Feiyu or themselves. Those matters were too far removed from their lives. They could basically only see such things on television.

Their lives had never extended beyond Nanjiang County. They had never even been to Nanjiang City.

The ups and downs of their lives had always been farming, teaching children to study, supporting the elderly, and living contentedly with modest wealth.

The amounts they dealt with had always been counted in hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands. At most, around a hundred thousand yuan was already an enormous sum.

But now, borrowing millions to start a business was an astronomical amount that made their hearts tremble just hearing about it.

What if he lost it all?

At the thought of that outcome, both of them nearly found it hard to breathe.

Zhou Feiyu's father was the first to recover. Even the hand holding his cigarette trembled slightly. "Son, this... let me process it. A loan of several million—if... if it came to that, can you handle it?"

He had wanted to say, "What if you lose money?" But he immediately thought that would be too unlucky, so he held it back.

Zhou Feiyu's mother was also incredibly unsure, but she did not know what to say either.

The confident smile remained on Zhou Feiyu's face as he calmly reassured them, "Dad, Mom, trust me. When have I ever disappointed you? It's only a few million. I can handle it. Besides, I've already found clients, and the product I'm making is something I carefully developed myself. It definitely won't fail."

Afterward, Zhou Feiyu showed them some materials, finally getting them to accept the fact.

It was not that they could understand the materials he gave them. Like most other people, they simply had an inexplicable confidence in high-tech knowledge they did not understand.

There was no other reason. Knowledge was wealth!

Zhou Feiyu's father smiled and said, "We don't understand high technology, but since you have technology that others don't, there shouldn't be a problem with starting a business. Don't worry, your mother and I can certainly help you watch over the factory. When are we leaving? We should prepare early and take care of the fields and livestock at home beforehand."

Seeing how his father was still worrying about his land and livestock, Zhou Feiyu found it both amusing and exasperating. He quickly said, "In a few days. My loan should come through in a few days, and I'll call you then."

From what Director Dong had hinted, the county's support for university graduates starting high-tech businesses was extraordinary. They would basically make special arrangements for special cases.

Zhou Feiyu naturally believed it. Over the past few years, every place had spared no effort in developing its economy. It was only because of economic conditions that the level of support for entrepreneurs varied from place to place.

For example, in other economically strong regions, it did not matter if a startup lost money. You would not need to pay it back.

It was only normal for the county to make special arrangements for loans.

That night, leaning against his bed, Zhou Feiyu pulled out his university mathematics textbook, which he had not read in a long time, and began forcing himself to study it.

Whether during the past few days when he had started trying to learn new knowledge and technology, or earlier when he had developed the Basic Optical Film, he had clearly felt the importance of mathematics.

Because every technology depended on mathematical calculations.

Take the Basic Optical Film, for example. Researching light utilization required studying and calculating the refraction, scattering, angles, reflection of various material media, refractive indices, and other parameters of light. Calculating one or two parameters was manageable, and even three or four overlapping parameters could barely be worked out clearly. But when five or six, more than ten, or even more parameters were layered together, it became a major problem that could make one's scalp go numb without offering any solution.