Three days had passed since the Little New Year.
Chen Pingsheng turned on the stereo at home, and he and Little An'an started dancing the twist together.
Little An'an twisted in such an ugly way; she looked nothing like him, who was full of talent for square dancing.
In these days, he had made a hefty profit from the more than three hundred boxes of durian he had hoarded.
If it weren't for the Golden Finger, he would never have dared to take such a gamble before.
But now things were different, the random doubling was too emboldening.
"Ding! Host has accumulated an income of ninety-two thousand in seven days, would you like to open a random doubling?"
He had only recently found out that the Golden Finger could also stack income, that is, calculated cumulatively.
Small money no longer satisfied him; he planned to accumulate a week's earnings before drawing once.
"Activate."
The two Golden Dice appeared again, and even if the smallest double was rolled, he would have enough for a down payment on a house.
However, Chen Pingsheng still fantasized about hitting the maximum tenfold; then, he could pay it off in one go.
The first die was a bit small, rolling a disappointing two.
The second die wobbled next to a five, but ultimately landed on the smallest number, one.
"Congratulations to the host on obtaining a threefold random increase."
"Ding! Twenty-seven thousand six hundred has been credited to your Alipay account, with a balance of twenty-seven thousand six hundred and fifty."
Tsk... not great luck but still a windfall.
Originally he could have made more money from those durians, considering that a few people in the moving group had supported him unconditionally when he first got the stock.
He still offered them a discount, one hundred less per box than the market price.
In summary, everyone had made a good amount of money with him during this time.
The least anyone made was over twenty thousand, enough to have a decent New Year.
Chen Pingsheng took Little An'an to pick up her mother from work, as it was her last day on the job today.
She would start her New Year's holiday tomorrow, about ten days off, with the annual meeting scheduled after the Lantern Festival.
Song Yanxi and Du Juan came out together, finally on holiday, both faces radiating happy smiles.
"Yanxi, your husband is so punctual every day."
Song Yanxi chuckled lightly, "I told him not to come pick me up but he never listens."
"Just show off."
Du Juan always enjoyed hanging out with Song Yanxi; first, because she was easy-going, and second, she was a genuinely nice person, always considerate of others.
"Speaking of which, you two have been married for so many years and both earn decent incomes, why not buy a car? Don't let An'an catch a cold from riding the motorbike in this weather."
The little guy was bundled up tight, but was still sniffling with a runny nose.
They had thought about buying a car before, but Song Yanxi had always wanted to buy a house first.
No need today, his wallet was fat, buying an economic car was no pressure at all.
"I..." Song Yanxi didn't finish her sentence when Chen Pingsheng cut in, "We must buy, definitely buy. Do you have any recommendations? I just want to buy Yanxi a new car."
When Song Yanxi married him, it wasn't about cars or houses; they didn't even want a dowry.
Her family had even provided a dowry of ninety-eight thousand; now that he was in a position to do so, he had to treat his wife even better.
Du Juan joked, "That depends on your budget. If you think about spoiling your wife, around two hundred thousand would definitely get you a BMW 1 Series or a Mercedes-Benz A-Class."
"If you want to treat your wife even better, a BMW 220i convertible for three hundred thousand would definitely impress when you drive it out. And if you're thinking of four hundred thousand, an Audi A4L is definitely the first choice."
She was clearly joking, knowing quite well the financial condition of their family.
At best, they could opt for a family economy car priced around one hundred thousand or more.
Chen Pingsheng thought, since he was buying a car for his wife, why not get a good one in one go?
After all, Yanxi had been with him for so many years and had hardly ever enjoyed any luxuries.
"Alright, let's take a look at Audi."
"You're really thinking about spending four hundred thousand on an A4L? I was just joking, don't take it seriously."
"It's okay, just going to take a look and not necessarily going to buy it."
Though Chen Pingsheng said this, he had made up his mind to seal the deal.
He could push back buying a house a bit since he now had the capability to earn money, which meant he couldn't settle for too small a house.
At the very least, he would have to buy a big house of no less than two hundred square meters.
The saying held true: money emboldens people. Things he dared not even think about before, he could now consider.
Neither of them rode the motorcycle anymore, instead they took Du Juan's car to the Audi 4S dealership.
Song Yanxi really thought he was just looking, but once they arrived, Du Juan herself was quite taken with the A4L.
Unfortunately, she wasn't in a position to buy it.
The salesperson offered them several cups of tea and explained in great detail about the promotions available for the New Year.
After various discounts, the lowest-end 1.8T automatic comfort model could be had for about 320,000.
Chen Pingsheng asked his wife to try sitting in the car, and Song Yanxi felt a bit shy.
But the salesperson had already opened the car door, so Song Yanxi gingerly sat down.
Worried she might damage something.
Only after she was seated inside did Chen Pingsheng ask, "Do you have any cars available for immediate sale?"
"Of course, we do have one white car ready for sale right now."
"White, huh? That works."
Chen Pingsheng bargained hard, trying to get as many discounts as possible. In the end, in addition to the lowest price, he also got three free maintenance sessions, two cans of oil, and a series of basic subsidies like car tints.
By the time Song Yanxi realized he was really going to buy it, Chen Pingsheng had already paid two hundred and seventy thousand.
The remaining fifty thousand was up to her.
Song Yanxi hadn't come to terms with how he managed to have savings of over two hundred thousand. Now wasn't the time to discuss this; the car was still short of fifty thousand, and it was up to her to make the payment.
After purchasing the Audi A4L, they had about 360,000 left in savings.
Song Yanxi felt like she was dreaming, as the changes at home had come too fast all at once.
Even Du Juan was stunned, never would she have believed that Chen Pingsheng, who always rode a little scooter to take his wife to and from work, could be so wealthy.
A man under thirty buying an Audi A4L outright.
What they didn't know was that a young couple like Chen Pingsheng and Song Yanxi always had savings set aside.
They just had to rely on themselves for everything and obviously couldn't splurge without their parents' help.
Over time, this created a strong impression of them being poor.
Who would have thought that once they finally made a move, they themselves would be the fools?
Of course, Du Juan was not like Yang Dan; she had nothing to be envious of, just momentarily filled with a multitude of reflections.
"I'm telling you Chen, turns out you're not broke, you just don't like spending money."
"My husband has always been a good earner, it's just that you all have always looked down on his profession."
"Come on, not me, that would be Yang Dan."
Du Juan said with a smile, "Now that you've got an Audi, I'd like to see what she has to say when you drive it up to her. I've always thought Chen was great, especially how true he's been to you."
Song Yanxi smiled from the heart, feeling that this was really wonderful.
Gradually, no one would look down on her husband anymore, or mock him for simply being a street durian vendor.
"Hey, now that you two have bought the car, why don't you take a few photos and post them on your social circle?"
Du Juan pulled her in front of the car, giving a thumbs up, and Little An'an also stood in the middle. As a family of three with their first car, they definitely needed a family photo.
December 28th, Lunar Year 2012.
Chen Pingsheng and his family joyfully collected their Audi A4L.