Chapter 4 : The Advantages of a Time Traveler
Chapter 4: The Advantages of a Time Traveler
After parting ways with Guo Shuai at the intersection, Chen Fan rode his bike back home alone.
Chen Fan's home was in a nearby town.
It was quite far from the school, a small flat-roofed house built by the villagers themselves.
Pushing open the dilapidated black courtyard gate, the first thing that caught his eye was the familiar little courtyard.
The courtyard wasn't large, but it was kept very clean.
Chen Fan's parents were diligent people, and they had specifically set aside a small vegetable garden in the courtyard, planted with eggplants, tomatoes, string beans, and other vegetables.
After parking his bicycle, Chen Fan stepped inside the house.
"Dad, Mom, I'm back."
"Xiao Fan is back, hurry and wash your hands, dinner's ready."
From the kitchen on one side, Chen Fan's mother, Li Jinqiu, poked her head out and called out.
Gazing at this familiar face, Chen Fan's eyes reddened, and he almost burst into tears on the spot.
Chen Fan's parents were both ordinary workers. His father, Chen Jianye, worked at a ceramics factory, while his mother, Li Jinqiu, was an employee at a power plant.
Perhaps due to their work, in his previous life, Chen Fan's father had fallen seriously ill and passed away in his fifties.
His mother, grieving over the loss, had also left this world three years after his father.
The two elders had hardly enjoyed any happiness from their son.
Chen Fan found it hard to control his emotions and rushed to hug his mother from behind.
"Mom, I missed you."
"What's wrong with this child?"
Li Jinqiu smiled and patted Chen Fan's hand.
"Let go, let go. I'm cooking, be careful of the hot oil splashing on you."
"Hurry up and wash your hands, the dish will be ready soon."
"Okay!"
Chen Fan turned and furtively wiped away a tear, then went outside and washed his face vigorously with cold water, taking the opportunity to wash away the tears.
"Mom, where's Dad?"
"He's working overtime at the factory tonight, should be back soon."
His mother's voice came from the kitchen, while Chen Fan gazed wistfully around the house.
Actually, this old house wasn't very big, with an actual area of only around seventy square meters.
Two bedrooms and one living room, with one room for his parents and one for Chen Fan himself.
In the middle of the living room stood an old red lacquered wooden cabinet for dishes.
On top of the cabinet was a bulky old 21-inch color TV set.
It was almost the only valuable item in this household.
There was no sofa, just a few wooden chairs with peeling paint.
In the center of the living room was a square, low wooden table.
On top of the wooden table was a cracked large ceramic tile, brought back from the factory by Chen Fan's father, this served as their dining table.
Chen Fan walked into his own bedroom and looked around the room, which was less than ten square meters. Everything was so familiar, so nostalgic.
The bedroom had a single bed, a wardrobe, and a desk by the window on the right side.
On the desk was a transparent glass panel, filled with photographs. Apart from a few family portraits, the rest were all pictures of Chen Fan from childhood to adulthood.
In the corner stood the family's only standing electric fan.
Nothing else.
It was such a simple little house, yet Chen Fan had slept here for over ten years.
That evening, when Chen Fan's father returned from work, the family gathered around the table for dinner.
Listening to his parents chat about whose child had made a success of themselves, Chen Fan couldn't help but speak up.
"Dad, Mom, I plan to get into a top university this year, to make you two proud."
Chen Jianye glanced at his son and said slowly, "You want to get into a top university? If you can get into a second-tier one, I'll burn some high-quality incense."
Li Jinqiu smiled and reassured him, "Xiao Fan, don't put too much pressure on yourself. Your dad and I don't have such high expectations. Just do your best for the college entrance exam."
"We won't blame you, no matter if you get in or not."
Chen Fan looked deflated.
It seemed like his parents had zero confidence in him.
"Dad, how much money does our family have?"
"Why are you asking that?"
"Just wondering."
Chen Jianye took a sip of alcohol, "Ask your mom about that. I'm not sure."
Li Jinqiu thought for a moment and said, "It seems we have a little over twenty thousand, around twenty-seven thousand, I think."
"These past two years, things haven't been going well at your dad's factory and mine. His factory still owes him two months' worth of wages."
Chen Fan decisively suggested, "Dad, let's sell this old house, and then add that twenty-seven thousand to buy an apartment in the city."
Chen Fan remembered that in the year 2000, housing prices in Luocheng were only a little over 900 yuan per square meter.
Buying a 100 square meter apartment would cost less than 100,000 yuan.
With a down payment of over 20,000 yuan, and living in it for a few years before reselling, they could easily make a profit of over ten times the amount.
Could there be a more profitable investment?
Chen Fan was gleefully making plans.
But his parents looked at each other with concern.
"This child... has he studied himself silly?"
"Buying an apartment? Do you know how much apartments cost these days?"
"It's ridiculously expensive!"
"The deputy director at our factory bought an apartment, and it cost over a hundred thousand yuan. But they lived in it for less than two years before selling it."
Chen Fan's interest was piqued.
"Why did they sell it?"
"Why?" Chen Jianye put down his glass and glanced at his son.
"Of course, it's because housing prices are too high."
"They took advantage of the high prices to sell the apartment, and now they're renting. When prices drop in the future, they'll buy it back at a lower price, saving tens of thousands."
"That's a truly smart person. Otherwise, how could he become a deputy director?"
Chen Fan: "..."
"The money we have is for you to use after you graduate and find a job to get married."
"Why buy an apartment? Only someone who has been kicked in the head by a donkey would buy a house at this time."
...
That night, lying in bed, Chen Fan tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
It seemed the idea of getting his parents to buy a house was out of the question for now.
Since he had been reborn, he had to start a business and make money.
In his previous life, Chen Fan had always felt that he had let Su Ruochu down.
So in this life, he had to make it up to her properly.
He had to rebuild a new business empire and let Su Ruochu witness and enjoy all of it with him.
Since he couldn't rely on his parents, he could only depend on himself.
Chen Fan lay in bed, pondering how he could start a business and make his first pot of gold.
To be honest, as a reborn individual, his only advantage was the foresight into the future.
But that was enough.
As someone who knew the development trends for the next twenty years, Chen Fan was clearly aware of every policy, the country's development plans, leadership changes, entrepreneurial waves...
In fact, for a reborn individual looking to get rich quickly, there were only a few options.
Real estate, mines, stocks...
Chen Fan remembered that in 2000, whether in Puxi or Shenzhen, houses only cost over 4,000 yuan per square meter.
And buying stocks in companies like Tao, Qq, Baidu, and Taobao at this time would be the perfect opportunity.
Any of these options, as long as Chen Fan positioned himself early, would be enough for him to make a huge profit in the future.
Of course, there was an even better choice in the future.
That was to purchase Bitcoin.
Chen Fan remembered that it was born in 2009.
When it first came out, it was less than one US cent each, or about six or seven yuan for over a thousand Bitcoins.
But by 2021, the value of Bitcoin had peaked at nearly $70,000 per coin.
If he positioned himself early and hoarded a few million Bitcoins.
Timing it right to sell at the peak in 2021.
At that time, his wealth would truly be an endless string of digits.
However, all of these things, whether buying real estate, mines, or stocks, required a large amount of initial capital.
And right now, Chen Fan only had a dozen yuan in pocket money.
"Alas, I can see it but can't touch it. How painful."
"Looks like I still need to find a way to get that first pot of startup capital."
Chen Fan shook his head and sighed, temporarily putting that thought aside.
The matter of the first pot of gold could wait. Right now, there was something more important to him.
That was the upcoming college entrance exam, and he had to get into the same university as Su Ruochu.
From his memories, the exam questions that year were particularly difficult.
Especially in math, physics, and chemistry. They were hellishly challenging, causing many students to wail after leaving the exam halls.
And the score requirements were not high that year.
The first-tier university line was only 535 points, and the admission line for Yunhai University seemed to be 553 points.
In his previous life, Su Ruochu had been admitted to Yunhai University.
In the darkness, Chen Fan lay on the bed, his eyes burning with determination.
"553... I must get it!"