Chapter 50: Preparing for the Journey South

He spent the whole morning talking with his mother. Wang Qiang had more or less persuaded her to let him take a trip far from home. When he first mentioned his intention to head south, her reaction was intense, but when Wang Qiang brought up his goal of earning ten thousand yuan, she fell silent.

His mother’s original intention was to dissuade him; perhaps she was worried that if she refused, Wang Qiang might leave without a word and vanish. So, she reluctantly agreed. In other words, if Wang Qiang truly wanted to go, it would only take a moment of inattention for him to disappear, so she might as well agree and at least keep track of her son’s whereabouts.

As for the rest of their conversation, it was as if they were speaking different languages. His mother’s tone was laced with gentle persuasion, but Wang Qiang insisted she shouldn’t go fishing in the river while he was away. He was afraid something might happen to her without him there. She gave a perfunctory reply, then asked, “If you’re going so far, I’ll worry. Why don’t I go with you?”

Wang Qiang squeezed the three hundred yuan his mother had asked him to return to Lu Dahai, along with the hundred or so small bills he’d hidden away. “I’m planning to go to the Guangzhou and Shenzhen area. Just the fare for one person is about a hundred and twenty yuan each way—over two hundred for a round trip.”

His mother, who had hardly ever traveled far, was startled. “That expensive?”

Given the times, this price was certainly steep, though later it would seem cheap. It was 1994, after all, and a worker’s monthly wage was only three hundred yuan. The price of a hard seat on the green trains didn’t rise much for years—for example, in 1998, a hard seat from Shanghai to Guangzhou was 157 yuan, and in 2017, it was 206 yuan.

“I’ll only be gone a few days,” Wang Qiang assured her. “While I’m away, don’t go down to the river—it’s not safe.”

“Yes, yes,” his mother replied with her usual attitude, persistent as ever. “Why do you have to go so far? I—” She didn’t finish, but her eyes were full of worry.

As the saying goes, a mother’s worry for her son never ends. Wang Qiang understood her fears. But he didn’t know anything about stocks; he couldn’t just go to the market and make a fortune. Even if he did remember something, at seventeen years old in his previous life, he hadn’t been involved with the stock market at all, so how could he know which stocks would make money? People always said you could buy any stock and double your money, but it was impossible to make several times your investment in just half a month.

What Wang Qiang was considering was transporting southern goods to the north—using information gaps to reach his goal of earning ten thousand yuan in half a month. He tried to reassure her. “Don’t worry, Mom. I’m seventeen. I can take care of myself.”

She sighed, blaming herself. “It’s because your parents aren’t capable enough.”

He comforted her a few more times, but in his heart, he worried about her safety while he was away. He had to find someone to look after her. Based on what he knew of her character, there was a high chance that while he was in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, she would go fishing in the river to earn money. It was hard to resist—over a hundred yuan a day was more than most people in those days could dream of.

He thought for a while and came up with a solution. While his mother was making lunch, he wheeled his bicycle out and left the house.

…

On the west side of the river, after crossing a narrow wooden bridge, he arrived behind the only brick building in the area.

Before him stood a house with mud walls and a thatched roof, its yard swept spotlessly clean. Wang Qiang got off his bicycle, set down the kickstand, and called out, “Lu Wei, are you home?”

A girl’s silvery, clear voice answered from inside, “Brother, someone’s here for you.”

Then a deeper voice followed, “Who is it?”

Wang Qiang pushed open the half-closed wooden door and replied, “It’s me, Wang Qiang.” As soon as he stepped inside, he saw Lu Junjun sitting behind the earthen stove, cooking something that smelled like fish—there was a fishy odor, likely from not using cooking wine or ginger. Though the house was plain, it was tidy, and the floor was spotless.

Lu Junjun, recognizing him, stood up nervously from behind the stove and stammered, “Wh-why are you here?” She sounded anxious. “You promised last time not to tell my uncle.”

Lu Wei, bare-chested, ran out from the back room. Seeing Wang Qiang, he looked as if he were about to cry. “Brother Qiang, just tell my uncle I stole your fish trap. Please don’t mention my sister.”

They both thought Wang Qiang was here for revenge and had chased them down. Seeing them so flustered, Wang Qiang couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re overthinking it. Why would I tell your uncle? I said I wouldn’t, and I won’t.”

Hearing this, the siblings relaxed. Lu Junjun patted her chest and sat back down to tend the fire, telling her brother to offer Wang Qiang a seat.

Wang Qiang looked around their impoverished home and felt a wave of emotion. There were only two rooms in total, barely furnished with two small wooden beds and a square table. There was nothing else—just seven or eight bowls and chopsticks resting by the stove. These siblings were truly destitute.

Lu Wei pulled over a long bench for Wang Qiang, grinning. “Brother Qiang, what’s up?”

Wang Qiang didn’t sit. He got straight to the point. “I might be away for a while. I want you two to help my mom with the fish traps every morning and evening.”

Lu Wei’s gaze shifted. “I don’t have time—I need to help my sister earn her school fees.”

Wang Qiang noticed Lu Junjun glance at him and smiled. “I won’t have you do it for free—ten yuan a day, how about that? Just help out at five in the morning and five in the evening.”

Lu Wei was instantly tempted. The siblings exchanged a look, and he swallowed hard. “T-ten yuan a day? Just to help Auntie Cheng with the fish traps? That easy?”

“Yes,” Wang Qiang nodded. “But you have to promise me—if my mom asks, just say I asked you to help. Don’t mention I’m paying you.”

Lu Wei agreed without hesitation. “No problem.” Ten yuan a day was too great a temptation for him and his sister to refuse.

Wang Qiang took out a wad of small bills and counted out seventy-five yuan. “It’ll be about fifteen days. I’ll pay half upfront, and the rest when I return. Deal?”

“You can pay it all later if you want,” Lu Wei joked, but his hands moved quickly, tucking the money away.

Wang Qiang couldn’t help but laugh. He wasn’t worried Lu Wei would take the money and not do the work—he was trustworthy. Wang Qiang remembered hearing that Lu Wei, while visiting his college-bound sister, once found a small leather bag containing fifty thousand yuan at the school gate. He didn’t keep it for himself, but waited for the owner to come looking. That owner later became the boss who “looked after” Lu Junjun.

That incident wasn’t just known to Wang Qiang—most people in Minqiang Town heard about it eventually. As for its credibility, he believed it completely. Lu Wei had confided in tears after his sister’s suicide, and a brother who doted on his sister so much would never make up such a story, especially in drunken honesty. Wang Qiang trusted Lu Wei’s character more than most.

With that worry settled, Wang Qiang headed home, still pondering how to get his start-up capital—should he sell his watch, or ask Qin Xiaohui for a loan?

As for the two thousand-odd yuan his mother had, he didn’t consider it; since she didn’t want him to go, she’d never hand it over.

…

Back home, Wang Qiang absentmindedly ate lunch with his mother, preparing to try selling his watch in the county. As for borrowing money from Qin Xiaohui, he couldn’t bring himself to ask. If the watch didn’t sell, he’d owe Lu Dahai a favor—he’d pay it back someday.

Suddenly, his mother, without even washing her bowl, went into her room. Wang Qiang was surprised, thinking she was upset and didn’t want to do the dishes, so he got up to clear the table.

Halfway through, his mother came out. “Qiangzi.”

“Yeah?” Wang Qiang turned to look.

She held a small cloth bundle, carefully unfolding it to reveal crisp blue hundred-yuan notes. “This is the money you earned before. I kept fifty yuan and the rest—all twenty-eight hundred—is yours.”

Wang Qiang was stunned. “All of it? What about the debts?”

His mother smiled. “Didn’t you say you’d earn ten thousand yuan in half a month? Once you do, you can pay the debts.” Even she didn’t believe these words. The real reason she gave him the money was that she didn’t want her son to get into big trouble for lack of funds. If she wanted him to give up, he had to try and fail on his own. Here was all the money—if he couldn’t make ten thousand in half a month, he’d have nothing more to say and would have to go back to school.

“Mm!” Wang Qiang nodded vigorously, taking the twenty-eight hundred yuan. The money was light, but it felt heavy in his hands—he knew it was all his family had.

He had only one chance: to earn ten thousand yuan in half a month.

The pressure was immense, but now, with start-up capital and his worries at home settled, Wang Qiang began to make preparations for his journey south the next day.