Ordinarily, the fact that the gorgeous Yu Xian had greeted Chen Zhu and Huang Bohan during the exercise break would have kept the school gossiping for quite a while.
But once the Returning-South Weather ended and April arrived, everyone instantly lost interest in gossip.
Because the line of red chalk on the classroom blackboard now read-68 days until the Gaokao!
Besides, the province-wide Second Mock Exam was scheduled for mid-April.
Everyone knew how important the Second Mock Exam was. The teachers didn't need to wind them up; these seniors were already putting pressure on themselves.
For Chen Zhu, though, April brought one more event: the Appointment with Prestigious Universities visit to SYSU early in the month. By now, he had fully adjusted to the pace of high school life.
He went to school and came home on time every day, and paid some attention during math, physics, chemistry, and Chinese classes.
He listened in English class too. When he couldn't understand, he stared blankly at the illustrations on his test papers or in his textbooks.
It seemed to be a habit he had developed back in elementary school. Whenever he had nothing to do, he loved looking at textbook illustrations and imagining himself living inside them. He hadn't expected those cute little pictures to draw him in even after his rebirth.
Huang Bohan had been extremely anxious lately, venting to Chen Zhu almost every day to relieve the pressure. On the bus home that day, he spoke to Chen Zhu with worry written all over his face again.
"We did an actual Gaokao physics paper from two years ago during evening study. I got every one of the big questions wrong. What if I don't get into university at all?"
This was a textbook case of pre-exam anxiety. The closer the exam came, the less familiar the material felt. The harder students drilled practice questions, the less solid their grasp seemed.
Eventually, it was like staring at a Chinese character until it stopped looking like a real word. All the concepts that had once been so familiar vanished from their minds.
But Huang Bohan could only resolve this psychological issue himself. At most, Chen Zhu could offer a few bland words of comfort.
"Ugh!"
Huang Bohan rubbed his foggy temples and said wearily, "Senior year is exhausting. Say, if my dad were president of the United States, could I skip the Gaokao and go straight to university, then get a really good job after graduation?"
"Buddy."
Chen Zhu smiled. "Since when did you start dreaming so cautiously? If your dad were president, you'd need to shake off the idea that you had to work to get paid."
Huang Bohan couldn't help grinning foolishly too. Life was exhausting and miserable right now, but at least he had a friend beside him.
Friendship and dreams of the future were the guiding lights for seniors like Huang Bohan through these last dull, dark days.
Sure enough, the friends people made when they were young were the keepers of one another's youth.
"Chen Zhu."
Huang Bohan suddenly asked, "What are you planning to do once you get into university? I heard there isn't nearly as much homework, and there are all kinds of weird clubs. Are you going to join any?"
"Me..."
Chen Zhu thought for a moment. There really were quite a few things he wanted and needed to do. But his first step shouldn't begin at university. It should begin during the summer after the Gaokao.
"We can talk about university once we're there."
With a touch of modesty, Chen Zhu said, "I just want to earn a little spending money during the summer after the Gaokao."
"By running a business?"
Huang Bohan automatically interpreted "earn a little spending money" as "run a business." His family owned a small restaurant, so he instinctively asked, "You need capital to start a business. Even a little restaurant needs vegetables, meat, and noodles bought in advance. Where would you get the money?"
Chen Zhu had already considered that. He shrugged and said, "There is some capital available. Not much, but it's perfectly legal and aboveboard. No stealing, robbing, or scamming."
"Where?"
Huang Bohan asked blankly, "You're a high school student. Where would you get capital? You're not hoping to find money lying on the street, are you?"
"Damn!"
Chen Zhu almost wanted to flick Huang Bohan on the forehead. "Won't you have a celebration banquet when you get into university? I'm planning to ask for all the red-envelope money and use it as startup capital."
In 2007, the Eight-Point Regulation had yet to be introduced. Most families held a celebration banquet when their children got into university. Never mind someone with grades like Chen Zhu's-even getting into an ordinary undergraduate institution called for a banquet to recoup the red-envelope money the family had given others over the years.
"Your parents would give it to you?"
Huang Bohan was skeptical. After all, every red envelope he had received since childhood had been confiscated before he could even warm it in his hands. His parents always dressed it up as "saving it for your wedding when you grow up."
"They won't have a choice!"
Chen Zhu said confidently, "I'll negotiate with them before the exam. They have to give me the banquet money. They can even count it as a loan. If they refuse, I'll deliberately get into a junior college and embarrass them at work."
"Damn! You're ruthless!"
Huang Bohan couldn't help giving him a thumbs-up. He occasionally visited Chen Zhu's home and knew that Auntie Mao Xiaoqin had always been proud of Chen Zhu's grades. If Chen Zhu used that as leverage, she would almost certainly agree.
"You might as well threaten your parents the same way."
Chen Zhu genuinely felt that his own red-envelope money wouldn't be enough, so he suggested to Huang Bohan, "Get your banquet money too, and we can team up to do something."
"What do you want to do? Can we make money?"
Huang Bohan was tempted too. It wasn't that he had to make a fortune; he was simply eager to experience a world different from high school.
"You don't trust me?"
Chen Zhu said indignantly, "Our banquet money should add up to at least fifty thousand, right? Believe it or not, I could turn that into a hundred thousand in a single night."
"Seriously?"
Although Chen Zhu had never been one to boast, Huang Bohan still didn't believe a seventeen-year-old could double his money overnight.
Fifty thousand into a hundred thousand! His family's restaurant would need months to earn that much.
"Let me tell you..."
Chen Zhu generously offered to share his secret to doubling their money. Bohan hurriedly leaned closer, even glancing around for fear that someone else on the bus might overhear.
"A new internet café opened downstairs from my place. I saw a notice saying that if you topped up at least ten thousand yuan, they'd match whatever you put in. If we put all fifty thousand in, wouldn't it turn into a hundred thousand on the spot... Bohan? Bohan, why aren't you talking to me..."
"Chen Zhu, are you a fucking idiot? I knew there wasn't any business that could double your money overnight!"
Annoyed at being teased, Huang Bohan snapped at him.
"Is that so?"
Chen Zhu answered lightly. Suddenly, he looked out of the bus. The relaxed humor faded from his expression, while his gaze gradually grew deep and sharp.
Not far away, a building bearing the name "Yuefa Securities" was still brightly lit.
Civil servants weren't allowed to run businesses, but they did have several legal ways to earn income besides their salaries. Trading stocks was one of them.
Naturally, Chen Zhu knew how to trade stocks too. He certainly couldn't claim to be particularly skilled. If he had been reborn after 2015, he probably wouldn't have touched them.
But in 2007, stocks weren't just worth touching. They were worth diving into headfirst.
The 2008 Summer Olympics, hosted at home, not only demonstrated China's cultural and economic strength to the world but also marked an important step in the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Bolstered by all the infrastructure projects, China's A-share market climbed steadily.
From the second half of 2007 through January 2008, the Shanghai Composite Index rose from a little over 2,000 points to more than 6,000.
What did more than 6,000 points mean?
Back in 2024, before Chen Zhu had traveled back in time, the Shanghai Composite Index was still hovering around 3,000. That showed just how wild the Olympic effect had been.
What was the saying back then? Even an old granny selling vegetables at the market couldn't lose money trading stocks.
If even an old granny couldn't lose, Chen Zhu certainly wouldn't either. All he had to do was buy heavily into tourism, infrastructure, real estate, and transportation. These were all classic Olympic-themed stocks.
As for new energy, defense, and technology, he would mostly steer clear. Of course, buying those wouldn't lose him money either; they would simply earn him a little less.
But just as everyone became obsessed with the stock market, even chanting slogans about "breaking 10,000 points," the Subprime Mortgage Crisis suddenly erupted in the United States, and a second economic crisis swept across the globe.
Under its impact, the Shanghai Composite Index had fallen back to just over 1,000 points by the end of 2008.
The more spectacular the gains in 2007, the more devastating the losses in 2008. This was the stock market's swing from fire to ice between 2007 and 2008, something practically every stock trader knew about.
For Chen Zhu, however, the market held only fire, no ice, because he knew when to sell. Even if someone tried to stop him then, the Subprime Mortgage Crisis would prove them wrong for him.
So:
Chen Zhu's capital after his rebirth-red-envelope money from his university celebration banquet.
Use that red-envelope money to trade stocks-earn his first pot of gold.
Then use that first pot of gold-lay the groundwork for his plans in future industries.
Much like the "three-step approach" to resolving grassroots disputes, this was Chen Zhu's own three-step plan after his rebirth.
It was just that the banquet money would provide too little capital. Even bringing Huang Bohan in wouldn't be enough. Chen Zhu decided to recruit Zhao Yuanyuan into his stock-trading team too.
The chubby girl's family was about as well-off as his. Surely her banquet money would amount to thirty or forty thousand yuan.
He thought it all over on the way home. Besides having bread and warm milk ready as usual, Mao Xiaoqin also handed him a freshly washed school uniform.
"Mom, you don't need to wash my uniform so often."
Chen Zhu said it casually. He normally wore his jacket for several days before changing it.
"Aren't you visiting SYSU tomorrow?"
Mao Xiaoqin said, "You should look neat. After all, you're representing Zhixin Middle School."
Only then did Chen Zhu realize that the Appointment with Prestigious Universities visit was tomorrow.
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(End of chapter)
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