At the KFC next to the hospital.
Wu Jun and Ma Siyu sat facing each other, a pile of food and drinks spread across the table.
After spending some time in the hospital room, they had left together. Since neither had eaten yet, they decided to grab a bite.
Given Wu Jun’s track record of borrowing money, Ma Siyu went ahead and paid for the meal after they ordered.
Once all their food arrived, the two devoured it like a whirlwind, quickly clearing the table of snacks.
Ma Siyu sipped her lemonade through a straw, side-eyeing Wu Jun. "You’ve gotten fat," she said.
Wu Jun, picking his teeth with a toothpick, replied, "You’ve gotten skinny."
It wasn’t that Wu Jun was just trying to contradict her; he hadn’t seen her in a few days, and she really did look like she had lost a fair bit of weight.
"I’ve got a gym membership card here. I signed up and only went once. You can have it. Go work out when you have time. Don’t get fat before you’re even married." As she spoke, Ma Siyu put down her drink, fished a gym card out of her purse, placed it on the table, and flicked it across to Wu Jun with her index finger.
"A gym card?" Wu Jun picked it up and glanced at it. It was a membership card for Hongdao Fitness Club.
"Is this gym that amazing? Just one visit gets results this obvious?" Wu Jun said with a look of surprise. "Back in the hospital room, I was guessing you’d lost at least seven or eight pounds."
"Lose seven or eight pounds in one visit? I’m telling you, nephew, are you an idiot?" Ma Siyu rolled her eyes while sipping her lemonade. "If it were really that amazing, it would have taken over all of Shimen and monopolized the entire fitness industry by now."
"You’re the one who said you only went once."
Having finished picking his teeth, Wu Jun wanted to rinse his mouth. He looked around but couldn’t find any water, so he reached out and snatched Ma Siyu’s lemonade, earning him another sharp eye-roll.
"Me losing weight has nothing to do with that stupid gym," Ma Siyu said, then suddenly corrected herself. "Well, you can’t say it has *nothing* to do with it. I guess it has about 2,000 yuan to do with it!"
Wu Jun was completely lost. His aunt’s logic was too bizarre for an ordinary person to follow.
"I, your dear auntie," Ma Siyu said, pointing to herself when she saw Wu Jun’s confused expression, "spent that 2,000 yuan on the membership card, and then I had no money left for food. I literally starved myself skinny."
Wu Jun almost sprayed a mouthful of lemonade in Ma Siyu’s face. He choked and coughed. He’d never heard of such a weight-loss method before. He gave her a thumbs-up. "I’m beyond impressed!"
"You’d better be. And yet you were just fighting me for food. So disrespectful to your elders." Ma Siyu huffed and tossed Wu Jun a napkin. "Wipe your drool."
"What drool? You’re the one drooling." Wu Jun took the napkin and wiped his mouth.
Ma Siyu’s hint had been painfully obvious, so Wu Jun cut to the chase. After paying back Luo’s 870,000, he still had 430,000 left. He pulled out his phone and transferred 400,000 directly to Ma Siyu, leaving himself 30,000 for spending money.
Getting loaned money back this quickly was a first for her—truly unprecedented. Ma Siyu was just as stunned as Luo had been. Only after confirming with Wu Jun several times did she finally accept the transfer.
Wu Jun smiled. "Now you have money again. Go on, spend it however you want. Go crazy, don’t hold back."
Ma Siyu shot Wu Jun a look. "Easy for you to say. It’s not your money you’re talking about, so of course you don’t care."
Wu Jun replied, "You make a good point. I’m speechless."
"We’re done eating, let’s go. Or are you planning to spend the night here?" Ma Siyu slung her small bag over her shoulder, stood up, and headed for the door. Wu Jun got up and followed.
Outside, Wu Jun got into his pickup truck to drive Ma Siyu home. He’d barely driven through one intersection before she couldn’t take it anymore. She made him pull over and switch seats with her.
As she drove, Ma Siyu started roasting him. "Nephew, your driving skills are terrible. It’s like riding in an old ox-cart. By the time you got me home, it would be morning."
"Cut the crap. You could have just taken a taxi home." Wu Jun looked mortified. ’Am I really getting dissed by a female driver...?’
After driving for over half an hour, the pickup stopped in front of Ma Siyu’s apartment building. She asked Wu Jun if he wanted to come up for a drink of water before he left.
Wu Jun said he was afraid she’d slip a knockout drug in his water. He took the keys, turned to get back in the truck, and was promptly attacked by her shoulder bag.
By the time he drove the pickup back to the supermarket, it was already after ten at night, and the store was dark.
He took out his keys, unlocked the door, and felt his way to the bedroom in the dark. He flicked the switch, and the room lit up.
After a shower in the bathroom, Wu Jun collapsed onto his large bed. The nerves that had been frayed for days could finally unwind.
Suddenly remembering something, Wu Jun sat up again. He sent a message to his cousin, Chen Xingyang, asking him to make another 5,000 packaging bags, and transferred him the remaining 30,000 yuan he had on hand.
The last time he had Chen Xingyang make 5,000 bags, his cousin had delivered over 5,500. After today’s sales, only a few hundred were left, which probably wouldn’t last more than a few days.
Chen Xingyang was thrilled to receive another large order from Wu Jun right after his packaging factory had started production. The factory had only been running for a few days, but the profit he’d made already surpassed several months’ salary from his old job.
The two cousins chatted for a bit before ending the conversation. Wu Jun then withdrew 100 bags of rice from the game for the supermarket’s sales the next day.
After getting the rice, he went to bed.
The next morning, it was business as usual.
Wu Jun had just finished washing up when his phone rang. It was an order for 20 bags of rice.
Some of the dozen or so restaurants he had visited the day before yesterday, the ones that had placed small initial orders, were starting to reorder.
Just as Wu Jun had expected, a restaurant’s consumption rate was much faster than that of a regular household.
A normal family might buy a 25-kilogram bag of rice and take a month to finish it, if they were quick. Slower households might take half a year.
But a restaurant, especially a popular one, could go through several bags in a single day. This was a high-turnover market with limitless potential.
Wu Jun let Xu Fei know what was happening and drove the pickup to the warehouse over in Xiao’anshe.
His inventory in the game was substantial. Although the 10 PM settlement had only accounted for half a day’s production, it still yielded 19 tons.
He had plenty of stock, but only 423 packaging bags left. Once inside the warehouse, Wu Jun took them all out in one go.
Just as he finished, another order for 10 bags of rice came in, delighting Wu Jun. He immediately contacted Wang Qidong to come make the delivery.
With the positive market feedback from the past two days, the dozen or so restaurants were ordering with even more enthusiasm. In a single day, Wu Jun, directing operations from the warehouse, shipped out 365 bags and made over 90,000 yuan.
Around seven in the evening, Chen Xingyang called to say the packaging bags were ready. Wu Jun had him deliver them directly to the warehouse, where Xiao Hong and Number 2 unloaded the 5,000 bags with brisk efficiency.
After having dinner with his cousin and Wang Qidong at the industrial park, Wu Jun finally drove the pickup back to the supermarket.
"Boss Wu, here’s today’s inventory count for the supermarket. If that’s all, I’ll be heading up." At 9:30 PM, Xu Fei handed the inventory sheet to Wu Jun, ready to clock out.
"Go on home and get some rest." Wu Jun took the sheet and saw her out of the supermarket.
He glanced over the inventory sheet. The supermarket had sold 48 bags of rice for 12,000 yuan, plus 3,586 yuan in general merchandise, for a total of 15,586 yuan.
Adding the 90,000-plus yuan from the warehouse sales—and not even counting the large order from the Industrial and Commercial Bank—today’s income had set another new record, with revenue breaking the 100,000 yuan mark!