Chapter Twenty-Nine: Old Zhang and the Live Pig

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“Mommy, Daddy, look! It ate everything today.”

Chen Taotao had no idea where she had learned this technique.

With one hand, she gripped the cat by the scruff of its neck; with the other, she lifted its food bowl for Chen Zhou and Lin Yifan to inspect.

The bowl was spotless.

The feline diner was remarkably well-behaved too. It simply held its front paws stiffly and remained motionless in Chen Taotao’s hands.

“It’s so heavy.”

A cat that finished all its food was a good cat.

Chen Zhou glanced at his wife.

Mrs. Lin glanced at her phone.

It was only a little after seven in the evening, so there was still plenty of time. She told Chen Zhou that she planned to take Chen Taotao and the cat to a veterinary hospital.

When it came to getting things done, Chen Zhou trusted his wife completely.

By the time they returned that night, the car contained not only the cat, but also its bed and a litter box.

Mother and daughter called Chen Zhou to help carry everything upstairs.

It looked as though they had even given the cat a bath. It was considerably cleaner now.

Once released from its cage, Foodie wandered here and there before finally curling up in the corner of the sofa, apparently quite satisfied with its new home.

“Mommy, I want to sleep while holding it~”

“No!”

Mrs. Lin’s indulgence toward her child had its limits.

...

The following morning.

After washing up, Chen Zhou came over and sat upright on the sofa.

The cat was lying beside him.

Man and cat sat together in a quiet, peaceful atmosphere.

Looking at the kitty before him, Chen Zhou thought, “If today’s targeted intelligence gives me a chance to make a little money, I’ll give you a new name.”

At seven-thirty, the intelligence refreshed.

[Ingredient Flash — Targeted Rare]: Upstream pork producers are expected to reduce their July hog slaughter volume. Enter hog futures during the final three trading days of this week and exit quickly with a small amount of capital. A profit of approximately ten percent may be made next week.

This was perfect. Pork was an ingredient, after all.

And making ten percent in such a short time could be considered a very quick return on investment.

Chen Zhou had traded stocks for a while before. Back then, he had joined in with several colleagues from his company. Unfortunately, right after he bought in, he happened to run into the trade war and the mask shortage.

He had not made a single cent.

By now, he had been forced to become a long-term shareholder.

The stocks paid a little over a hundred in dividends each year. He estimated that he might break even by the time Taotao went to college.

The magic moment of value investing.

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Chen Zhou reviewed the key information once again.

He could only say that five hundred points had bought him a truly worthwhile piece of targeted intelligence. It had even provided specific trading advice.

Given Chen Zhou’s current financial situation, however, the system’s reminder to use only a small amount of capital was entirely superfluous.

He was extremely pleased after seeing this piece of intelligence.

He even came up with a name for the fourth member of the family.

“Chen Get-Rich?”

Chen Get-Rich raised its head and glanced at him, perhaps not yet accustomed to the name.

The second piece of intelligence:

[Diner Update]: A well-known food blogger will visit your steamed-bun stall tomorrow. Please reserve a spot in advance.

He had not expected his little stall to welcome its first food blogger so soon.

Unfortunately, this was only ordinary intelligence, and the details were sparse. It did not provide any specific information about the blogger.

Thinking that this might be an opportunity to raise his profile, a green Yu 7 suddenly flashed through Chen Zhou’s mind.

Old Uncle Yu had once said he would recommend someone to him, but there had been no sign of anything happening since then.

Could it be that he had found this blogger for him?

Finally, there was the third piece of intelligence:

[Market News]: Great Benevolence Hall Pharmacy is offering a buy-one-get-one-free promotion on its sour plum drink ingredient packets. Be sure to brew them in nonmetallic cookware.

Sour plum drink was perfect for summer.

Chen Zhou liked to put it in the freezer and take it out while it still contained a few ice crystals—the drink was wonderfully cold, both tart and sweet.

His wife had previously bought ready-made cups for five yuan each.

With the ingredient packets on a buy-one-get-one-free sale, making it himself would be a great deal.

He could also try selling it at his own stall. The small refrigerator happened to have separate compartments, so he could chill several bottles inside.

After reading through the day’s intelligence, Chen Zhou noticed that rare information had appeared only in the Ingredient Flash section for which he had spent points. The last time, two rare entries had appeared.

Still, when he thought about it, that did make some sense. If rare intelligence appeared more frequently than ordinary intelligence, the system might as well change its name.

As for reaching Level 3...

Chen Zhou had received a full eighty-two favorable reviews the previous day.

He had taken another step toward his goal!

With the intelligence revealed, Chen Zhou now had his plans for the next few days.

When he went to the market, he could first ask Old Zhang about it. The man had mentioned hog futures to him last time.

Then he would hurry to open an account and lie in wait, catching the major players off guard.

He also needed to visit Great Benevolence Hall Pharmacy and buy some supplies. By the afternoon, he could be drinking his own homemade sour plum drink.

...

After arriving at Yongjia Fresh Foods, Chen Zhou went straight to Zhang Jinsheng and asked him about it.

Old Zhang had been in the trade for many years and seemed to know quite a bit about hog futures.

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He gave Chen Zhou a brief introduction.

When Chen Zhou learned that buying a single contract for hog futures required more than ten thousand yuan, he could not help sucking in a breath.

The system was still being far too conservative.

With his current amount of capital, he could buy one contract at most. Still, he could trade in and out quickly enough.

Before he had finished marveling, Old Zhang continued:

“That’s just the price of opening one hog-futures contract. If you want to buy one, you’ll also have to pay a margin. That’s nearly another ten thousand.”

...That was about as much money as Chen Zhou had in stocks.

When he heard Chen Zhou discussing hog futures, Old Zhang quickly made his position clear.

“The waters are too deep in this business. You can’t handle it.”

“I don’t recommend that you buy any. As for me? I’m never buying again.”

Old Zhang seemed to have been badly burned by hog futures, which was perhaps why he now sold pork with such enthusiasm.

Chen Zhou nevertheless continued asking him about opening an account.

In the age of the internet, opening an account was much simpler. It could all be done on a phone. Hog futures also happened to be the sort of product that required no special qualifications.

Overall, it was not particularly complicated.

Seeing how interested Chen Zhou was, Old Zhang gave a soft sigh.

“You can’t avoid investing forever. The sooner you lose money and learn your lesson, the sooner you’ll see reality clearly. Buy one or two contracts and lose a little. It can be good for you. After that, you’ll settle down and live an honest life.”

His words sounded as though he was advising Chen Zhou, but they also sounded like he was making peace with his former self.

Chen Zhou understood that feeling all too well.

After all, he had already made peace with his own experience in that regard.

A moment later, Old Zhang sent him a link through WeChat.

“Open an account with this brokerage. Their commissions are low. The promotions you see online usually come with much higher trading fees.”

Old Zhang’s knowledge of hog futures far exceeded that of an ordinary butcher.

Chen Zhou could not help asking curiously, “Brother Zhang, what did you do before this? You know an awful lot.”

Zhang Jinsheng sighed wistfully.

“I used to drive a Mercedes. Now I drive a Wuling.”

Chen Zhou had seen Old Zhang’s vehicle once before, so all he could do was comfort him.

“Wuling is pretty good too. It can haul a lot of goods...”

Most people, judging by Old Zhang’s face, would have found it hard to imagine him submitting to anyone.

But at that moment, his entire expression seemed to say:

“I’ve learned my lesson. Please let me go.”

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