On the third day, Wei Qian's family had completely returned to normal.

Although Wei Qian just came back to recuperate and did nothing, his role was like a mix of a stabilizing force and a mascot. As long as he was poked there, everyone could do what they were supposed to do freely.

Early in the morning, Wei Zhiyuan said hello, packed his bag and prepared to report to the summer camp. As soon as he opened the door, an enamel cup fell down from the upstairs with a bang. Wei Zhiyuan shrank his feet and looked up.

I saw a pretty woman standing at the door of Sanpang's house upstairs, using her voice to launch a million-decibel shock wave towards Sanpang's house: "Xiong Yingjun, get out here!"

The old bear locked the security door, opened the inner door a crack, hid inside and meowed weakly, "Husband, Madam, calm down."

Madam couldn't breathe, her eyes were red with anger, and she looked like a rabbit with big eyes and double eyelids: "Well, you have grown up. You left for several months without saying a word. I thought you were dead! Why don't you just die outside? As soon as you come back, you retreat to the vixen's house. Xiong Yingjun, you are not a child anymore. Do you have the dignity to die?!"

Wei Qian nearly spit out his soy milk, and hurriedly walked out, sending Wei Zhiyuan away: "Hurry up and go to school, and stop playing."

Then he closed the door, leaned against the corridor, clasped his hands over his chest, and listened to the "heavenly sounds" upstairs with an expression of enjoyment as if he was listening to a concert.

Seeing that a spectacle of a wife catching her mistress was about to take place outside the house, Sanpang hurriedly pushed Laoxiong aside with a sad face, opened his own security door, and said in a low voice: "Sister Tieshan, I beg you, please look carefully, is there any 'little vixen' who looks like me, Laozhu?"

Mrs. Xiong was stunned by Sanpang's huge face that occupied her entire retina, and she didn't say a word for half a minute.

The cowardly Old Bear took the opportunity to tiptoe back into the house, but his intention was soon discovered by Mrs. Bear.

Mrs. Xiong yelled, stretched out her sharp nails, and easily pushed Sanpang away. She rushed into the house in two steps, caught Old Bear, rolled up her sleeves, and carried out some unilateral domestic violence on him, and then took him back.

Sanpang stood in awe, and with his bare hands and shirtless, he simulated the action of taking off his hat. He bent over and stretched out his hands to watch them go down the stairs. Wei Qian could not help but take off his hat and salute like Sanpang.

The two of them watched the old bear being dragged away alive with great pleasure, and in a tacit understanding that was difficult for others to understand, they said in unison: "God will punish those who are servile!"

...The old bear's expression was filled with inexplicable grief and anger.

But after two days, the old bear came back again.

He knocked on Wei Qian's door, and the first thing Wei Qian said when he saw him was, "How come you haven't been beaten to death yet?"

"..." The old bear was silent for a moment, "I'm still alive. I'm sorry to disappoint you."

Lao Xiong provided Wei Qian with two options for him to choose from. One was that Wei Qian would give a slight discount on the basis of a fair price and sell the portion of the price he collected to Lao Xiong, and he would take the money and leave. The other was that Wei Qian would use his money as investment, Lao Xiong would sell all the shares, and they would share the profits.

If Wei Qian was smart, he would choose the second option. So Lao Xiong clasped his hands together and told him the real purpose of his trip: "Great, since school hasn't started yet, come sell medicine with me during the summer vacation."

Wei Qian stretched out his injured leg in front of the old bear and asked him, "Boss Bear, check your conscience and tell me that it is still there and has not been taken away by the dog."

Lao Xiong asked expressionlessly: "Don't you want to see with your own eyes how your long journey turns into RMB and walks into your account in a line?"

Wei Qian: “…”

The old bear rolled his eyes and then made a new suggestion: "I think Mr. San and I are very compatible. We can bring him on board with us in the future."

Wei Qian asked sincerely, "How did you figure that out?"

Lao Xiong said, "I think Mr. San is a very Zen person. Look at his name. It is said that when he was a child, a monk passed by his home and insisted that he had a connection with Buddha and wanted to take him to be ordained. However, his ordinary parents were reluctant to let him go, so he compromised and took the word "fish" from "wooden fish" and named him Tanyu."

Wei Qian squinted his eyes and listened for a while. He found that Sanpang was even more shameless. He could even make up a name like "spittoon" which was a lifelong shame to such an extent. So he asked: "Didn't he tell you that his real surname was 'Lin' and that he fell from the sky? It was when he landed that Leifeng Pagoda was knocked down?"

The old bear sighed and said, "Our values ​​are different. We are ordinary people..."

Wei Qian: "Go talk to your grandmother who sewed everything before she left."

As they were talking, Xiao Bao just came back from outside. Lao Xiong looked at her carefully and said, "This is your sister. How old is she?"

Wei Qian pressed Xiao Bao's head and said, "You'll be fourteen soon, little Tu Xingsun, but you're not even as tall as a ten-year-old."

"It's okay, she grew up late," the old bear looked at Xiaobao kindly, seeing through the phenomenon and the essence, and said, "Look at her big feet, she won't be short in the future."

Xiaobao vomited violently, and couldn't tell whether it was a good word or a bad word.

Before leaving, Wei Qian sent Lao Xiong out. Lao Xiong asked casually, "Where's your brother?"

Wei Qian said, "I went to the summer camp."

Lao Xiong was silent for a moment: "Summer camp? Are you doing well in your studies?"

Wei Qian smiled hypocritically: "No, he's not good, he's just average, but a little better than me."

"She's smart and good at studying," Old Bear shook his head as if sighing, and said to Wei Qian, "You have to educate her well."

Wei Qian was stunned: "Huh?"

Old Bear slowly stretched out his hand and gestured: "This sword is so thin that it will seem as if only the blade is left on the whole body. Most of the evil weapons and demon soldiers in ancient times were like this. This kind of thing has an unconventional edge, and once it is unsheathed, it will take off a layer of flesh and blood. But people are not made of steel. If you live too thinly, it will be too dangerous and you will easily suffer from bad luck and a short life..."

"Well, wait a minute, I'm a bit uneducated," Wei Qian picked his ears, "could you please express yourself in a more human language?"

"..." The old bear looked at him, and a wronged expression slowly appeared on his immortal face. "How the hell did I offend that little bastard of yours? He actually tipped off my wife. If he does this again, I won't let him off!"

After saying that, the old bear walked away with small steps full of murderous intent.

What does Wei Qian think of Wei Zhiyuan's act of snitching? It was a bit immoral, but it was immoral in a way that made people happy.

But then again, since the other party had complained to him, Wei Qian decided to show some respect. So when Wei Zhiyuan went home on weekends, his elder brother waved at him with a stern look on his face: "Get over here!"

Wei Zhiyuan's heart skipped a beat and he rolled over.

Wei Qian placed his injured leg on a low table, lit a cigarette, and asked Wei Zhiyuan in a tone of "leniency for those who confess and severity for those who resist": "Tell me, what did you do?"

Wei Zhiyuan's mind went blank at the time and he instinctively thought that the incident at the meat processing plant had been discovered.

However, his first reaction was not what would happen to him, whether the police would come to arrest him, or whether he would be charged with a crime - but what he should do if his eldest brother found out.

Would the eldest brother think that he was scheming? Would he think that he was scary? Would he think that he had raised a hideous little devil by his side?

Wei Zhiyuan suddenly panicked and his face turned pale.

Wei Qian didn't expect such a big reaction. He was stunned for a moment, reflected on himself, and found that he really didn't say anything harsh.

He coughed dryly and rolled his eyelids to make himself sound less ferocious: "Tell me, how old are you, huh? And you still do this kind of thing? It's fine if you do it, but you even let someone know and report it to me... Well, of course, it doesn't mean that it's right not to let anyone find out!"

Wei Zhiyuan's lingering rationality finally returned bit by bit - by the way, how could it be a big deal when his elder brother asked him to come over in that tone just now?

Besides, although the man in the warehouse was dead, the door was locked by the person on shift change, and the man walked in by himself. All he did was buy some wine with that guy's money. Not to mention that he had already dealt with it cleanly and no one would investigate. Even if someone had found out the whole cause and effect, who could convict him based on this alone?

Wei Zhiyuan's heart was shaken back to its original state of being hard as stone.

After taking a look at Wei Qian, Wei Zhiyuan cursed himself for his confusion just now.

The boy's heart is like the sea. On the surface, it is calm and seems always rational and peaceful. But inside, it contains huge rebellion and constant restlessness, and has been balanced on a dangerous critical point that can explode at any time for a long time.

In this state of mind, Wei Zhiyuan thought: What if my brother knew? Anyway, I have sworn to take good care of my elder brother for the rest of his life. I will give him everything I have. Even if my elder brother wants his life, he will just consider it as repaying the kindness of picking him up and raising him.

So what does it matter what Big Brother thinks of him?

Wei Zhiyuan deceived himself and thought: "I am just like this anyway, it doesn't matter what others think of me."

But on the surface, Wei Zhiyuan still maintained his usual obedience towards Wei Qian, and readily admitted his mistake: "I was wrong, I will definitely make an anonymous call next time."

"Bah!" Wei Qian stood on the parent's side and maintained his disapproval on the surface. At the same time, he secretly expressed his inner preference and decided to give Wei Zhiyuan a reward.

He jumped up on one leg, put his arm around Wei Zhiyuan's shoulder, and said in a slow tone, "Tell grandma not to cook later, and let's go out to eat."

Wei Zhiyuan looked natural, as if nothing was wrong, but the palms of his hands that were holding Wei Qian's waist were covered in sweat.

During the last month of summer vacation, Wei Qian and Sanpang followed Lao Xiong around to discuss business many times.

Only then did Wei Qian realize that Lao Xiong was definitely not as bad as he appeared. He had a wide range of connections and was involved in all kinds of business. This made sense when he thought about their trip to the northwest. Although everyone's goal was to deal in medicine, they were not affected by the ultimate goal at all along the way. As long as they could make money and could see business opportunities, they would deal in anything that could make money.

The old bear was hammering here and there, and it didn't seem that he was moving around like a headless fly, but rather that he was accumulating and exploring something.

When he has nothing to do, Wei Qian still likes to hang out in Lao Xiong's pharmacy, occasionally dealing with a few customers, chatting most of the time, and occasionally bullying Lao Xiong with Sanpang.

The old bear prime minister is tolerant and doesn't bother with these young people.

Talking about the old bear's insistence on buying the pot, Sanpang couldn't help but ask: "Boss Xiong, it's okay for a poor guy like our Qian'er who is greedy for money, but you have a big family and a big business, why do you work so hard?"

Lao Xiong said leisurely, "Of course it's for profit. A so-called businessman is someone who makes a profit by taking certain risks. Don't you admit that? Taking risks and making careful decisions are the basic skills of a businessman."

Wei Qian immediately interrupted: "Forgive my poor eyesight, but I can see your ability to take risks and to drag others on board to take risks together. The rest is too obscure and I can't see it."

The old bear briefly commented on his opinion: "Long hair but short knowledge."

Sanpang suddenly waved a palm-leaf fan and smiled so hard that his gums were exposed.

Wei Qian decided to cut his semi-long hair before school started, aiming to look like a beast-type artist.

"You were the one who shamelessly wanted to board my pirate ship, Mr. Weizi, don't confuse right and wrong. Besides, you should thank me, because the pirate ship I pulled you on is the real Noah's Ark," Lao Xiong knocked on the table shamelessly and began to give a personal speech, "Let me tell you what the next ten years will be like. First of all, labor-intensive industries have no future, such as those...restaurant owners, manufacturers, and OEMs, which will not work. They can only be squeezed out of their living space in the day-to-day competition from their peers and the rising labor prices."

"For example, you," Lao Xiong pointed at San Pang, "Student San, you'd better give up that idea of ​​opening a hot pot restaurant to sell pork belly. Your idea is just enough to make a living, but it's too difficult to do well. With your IQ, don't even think about having a bright future."

Kim Jong-un suffered a blow to his ideals in life and stared at Boss Bear in a daze.

"Technology-intensive enterprises...oh, including those in the arts, high-tech, and everything else. They are much more vital than the former, so going to college is good. Knowledge and technology can indeed change your destiny," Old Bear glanced at Wei Qian and emphasized, "However, the spring of technology-intensive enterprises is still halfway through. Our entire society has not had time to reach that level. Maybe in ten years, we will cultivate a hotbed for the technology industry, but not now. It is still in its infancy. In the next ten years, this industry will grow up stumblingly under the shadow of monopoly. It is easy for you to become middle class in it, and you may also have a promising future, but the latter will take time."

Wei Qian shut up and listened carefully to what Lao Xiong said.

Lao Xiong picked up the teacup, took a sip, and smacked his lips vigorously. "Only capital-intensive industries are truly high-end industries that will not decline in the next ten years. You can leverage projects worth hundreds of millions or even billions of yuan with one or two people. What kind of realm is that? With a steady stream of cash flow flowing through your hands, you will not have the concept of "making money" in your mind. However, there is one thing, this industry has a naturally high threshold, that is, you must first have capital. The original accumulation of capital is a hard process, which is more difficult than everything you do later. If you take my ark, it is equivalent to taking a shortcut to original accumulation. Do you understand? Tsk, you are an ungrateful kid."

Sanpang nudged Wei Qian with his elbow: "Qian'er, what he meant is that you followed him through life and death, and it was like winning the lottery."

Wei Qian said, "Yes, why didn't I use this rare luck to buy lottery tickets?"

Old Bear glanced at Wei Qian, his expression slightly gloomy. "But I admit my mistakes. I misjudged the situation and misjudged the risks. I am especially sorry for Xiao Liu. Unfortunately, there are not many people in their family, otherwise I could make up for it."

When Xiaoliu was mentioned, the three of them were silent for a while. The only one who did not participate, Sanpang, sighed and said, "Brother, you are not destined to have this fate."

Lao Xiong lit a cigarette and stuck it upside down in the ashtray, letting the smoke rise up by itself, just like a stick of incense.

Sanpang and Wei Qian looked at each other and suddenly felt a little familiar - they did the same thing when they were commemorating Ma Zi under the big locust tree, holding a cigarette upside down.

Lao Xiong said to Wei Qian: "Actually, I didn't want to take you with me at first. You are..."

Wei Qian: "I don't agree with you on these three points."

Lao Xiong rolled his eyes. Wei Qian and he had been through life and death together, and it was no exaggeration to say that they were friends of life and death. He no longer had any scruples about many things, so he said bluntly: "The first time you came to my shop, you were very organized and had no hesitations. I thought you were a talent, and the facts proved that you are indeed a talent. You are bold, smart and can seize opportunities - but I gave you 5,000 yuan that time, and you really took it?"

Wei Qian: "Oh, so you don't really want to give it to me?"

"No..." The old bear choked, "That's not what I meant. If it's beyond your expectations, you should at least refuse it, right?"

Wei Qian: "If I push it, you won't give it to me?"

Old Bear: “I will give it to you.”

Wei Qian rolled his eyes: "Are you sick, Comrade Xiong Yingjun?"

Old Bear sighed, "You have to know that at your age, opportunities, vision, and experience are the most important. Why are you always staring at two dollars? Money is temporary, how can it last long? I tell you that money is like water. The more you hold on to it, the less it will be. Do you believe me?"

Poverty was originally Wei Qian's Achilles' heel. However, at that time, he already had assets of 60,000 to 70,000 yuan in his account, which was a considerable fortune at the time. Miraculously... his attitude towards this Achilles' heel unconsciously relaxed a little, and he could even bring it up on the table and discuss it with others in a self-deprecating manner.

Wei Qian smiled and said, "Don't be so arrogant. Everyone can talk about the truth. Don't I know that money is a bastard? You are a rich second-generation who wears gold and silver, don't try to trick us ordinary people. If you also have parents and children to take care of, and you have lived a life of having no food to eat and being short of money at all times, you will have to be like me and use the card penny by penny."

Lao Xiong grabbed Wei Qian's face with both hands and forcibly pulled down his eyelids: "Turn your eyes back - who of us is talking without backache? I am your brother and I am from the pre-reform and opening-up period. Go home and ask your grandmother, what did we have when we were little? Our family was so poor that we could barely afford to eat. When I was in my teens and followed my dad to go into business at the risk of being beheaded, you little bastards didn't even know where you were standing."

What he said was true, and Wei Qian and Sanpang kept silent.

"You have long hair but short knowledge. You have long hair but short knowledge." Old Bear said angrily, "It's not poverty and material scarcity that hurt people, it's the comparison. Do you understand comparison? You always look at others, feeling anxious and insecure."

Sanpang thought of the bad things Wei Qian had done and immediately clapped his hands in praise: "Qian'er, Brother Xiong is right!"

Wei Qian waved his hand and said, "What you said is all nonsense. Those old monks in the mountains and forests are more open-minded than you. If you have the ability, go and compete with them in meditation. What's wrong with me being ignorant? What's wrong with me being anxious? I'm just a young man who rolled out of the mud. What do I have to be confident of? Selling myself? I really hate old men like you who are strict with others but lenient with yourself."

Sanpang thought about it and seemed to think it made sense, so he immediately changed sides: "Brother Xiong, Qian'er is right!"

Wei Qian and Lao Xiong looked at him at the same time and ignored this fence-sitter.

In September, Wei Qian finally left Lao Xiong's shop for a short time and reported to school. After a military training, the skin that had finally whitened after more than a month turned black again at the speed of light. When he was carrying his luggage home, he bumped into Sanpang, who pointed at him and smiled with his teeth showing: "Come on, brother, sing a song of the beheading of the beauty for me. With this look, you don't need to put on makeup, just put on a crescent moon and you can 'judge the Yin at night and the Yang during the day'!"

When Wei Zhiyuan entered junior high school, he began to show his more inhuman side. He was in the first grade in his first year, and in the second year he jumped into the key class of the third grade.

As if to verify Lao Xiong's words, he really became thinner and thinner as he grew older. Wei Qian, who realized it belatedly, finally paid attention to him. Wei Qian discovered that when this child didn't talk or laugh, it was as if there were two sharp knives hidden in his calm eyes. Only at home, he was still as sensible and considerate as before.

But Wei Zhiyuan knew how to act dumb and cute when he was a child, and it was still possible to see the signs at that time. But now, Wei Qian is a little unsure.

Only occasionally at the dinner table, when the whole family was chatting about the news on TV, could Wei Qian hear some unintentional and extreme clues from Wei Zhiyuan's words.

Another thing is that Wei Zhiyuan doesn't like to stick to him anymore - of course, this is a necessary process for boys when they grow up to a certain age. Wei Qian used to think that the boy's clinginess was annoying, but now he suddenly feels lost.

But Wei Zhiyuan was actually more than just "non-sticky" to him.

One day, Xiaobao saw that the calculation paper Wei Zhiyuan was using was the school's notice about the winter long-distance running competition, so he asked casually.

Wei Zhiyuan shook his head: "I don't want to participate, I won't sign up."

He said it politely, but in his heart he was thinking that running around in circles was something only a donkey would do. It was so stupid, so he would not do it.

Fortunately, his words sounded very polite, so Song Xiaobao continued his conversation: "I remember that I participated in it when I was in junior high school, and I think I won a second prize... Oh, was it second or third? I can't remember."

Wei Zhiyuan paused for a moment.

Half a month later, Xiaobao saw the certificate and trophy book for "First Prize in Winter Long-distance Running Competition" on his desk.

Song Xiaobao has grown to this age, and her late-maturing mind has finally caught up with the average level. She was not stupid enough to ask Wei Zhiyuan if he had said before that he didn't want to participate. She just wondered in her heart: Is the second brother competing with the eldest brother?

Wei Qian spent his part-time work and study life in college peacefully. He selectively ignored Lao Xiong's warning to "not be money-minded" and accepted the part that "everything can be traded" - from small things like phone cards in school to big things like reselling medical equipment with Lao Xiong, and he was busy all day long.

Other people’s spare time is spent “playing football, having fun and dating”, but Wei Qian’s spare time is spent “selling things, selling things, selling a lot of things”.

Wei Zhiyuan seemed to have become a dormant volcano, always tugging at Wei Qian's mind, but he also studied hard and made progress every day. No one provoked him, and he didn't do anything out of the ordinary.

Of course, Wei Qian just didn't know whether it was out of line or not.

Wei Qian spends eight out of ten days with Lao Xiong outside or living in school. When he is so busy, he would rather go home once a week to see him.

And every time he returned home, sleep would become a torture for Wei Zhiyuan.

As Wei Zhiyuan grew up little by little, his height caught up with and even surpassed that of his older brother, and a certain indescribable restlessness became increasingly difficult to ignore.

The small shadow that he had locked away in the deepest part of his heart during his youth became thicker and more pervasive.

Wei Zhiyuan resisted instinctively, but gradually he could not resist the unspeakable thirst and anxiety.

Fortunately, at this time, which was Wei Qian's senior year, everything seemed to be turning for the better. The shantytowns that had been like a cancer in their city were finally renovated, and they were going to move out.