Chapter 1090: Chapter 1092: Can’t Be Soft-Hearted

Zhao Xuran heard the footsteps getting lighter and lighter, and knew all those onlookers had left.

"Alright, stop crying. If they want to use a gun on me, I’m just supposed to walk away?"

"Relax, if they dare to use force, you think I won’t fight back?"

"What did we have back when we first came from the Northeast to Beijing?"

Zhao Xuran didn’t believe that when his parents first brought the elderly and the kids into the city, they could somehow make such a big name for themselves in Beijing, yet he and his wife couldn’t do at least as well as his parents had?

Uh, Gong Ruini was crying her heart out, and then she kept hiccuping nonstop.

Hearing what Zhao Xuran said, Gong Ruini was a bit confused.

The parents were in their growth phase, but these "child soldiers" like them had been developing pretty well too.

"I’ve thought about it. If we really get forced by someone with too much power, we’ll just go to the United States and build from there."

Even if changing into US Dollars meant they wouldn’t have that much money, it was still way better than those old Chinese laborers who went to America pennyless to try their luck.

Right now Zhao Guangran was studying in the United States, trying his hand at stock trading. This thing was risky, but as long as you operated it well, the money would come in faster.

Before, when Zhao Xuran saw Zhao Guangran insistent on playing the stock market, he didn’t think too much of it. He just felt his younger brother liked it, and since he was majoring in economics, wanting to try it out was normal.

But now Zhao Xuran had more ideas—at the very least, this couldn’t be messed up.

Maybe this was their way out. As for their businesses back home, while Zhao Xuran would feel regretful, it wasn’t like there was no way to minimize the losses.

For example, if they couldn’t move all their capital out, then they’d buy property with it.

Right now prices for good houses were all rising. It wasn’t like they’d never come back once they left; when they did return, maybe that would be the capital for their comeback.

Go to the United States to develop? She had just been clinging to Zhao Xuran, crying and voicing her worries—how had the topic suddenly jumped to them going to the US to build a future?

And if they went to the US, what about her big brother?

Gong Ruini wasn’t worried her big brother would fail in America. Worst comes to worst, he could do business; he’d grown up enduring hardship.

But what about Chu Ling? She was a third-generation red through and through.

Even if Chu Ling could abandon all that and follow Gong Ruwen to the United States, what about the Chu Family remaining in the country?

Even though opening up and "going out" was being encouraged, the upper levels were still pretty conservative.

What if someone used Chu Ling to attack the Chu Family?

Gong Ruini didn’t want any regrets between Chu Ling and her big brother.

"Relax, we’re not at that stage yet. But I think when the time comes, we can turn the company into a foreign-funded one." Zhao Xuran’s mind was turning fast.

Even though he felt he’d already thought through all their escape routes and how they’d develop after leaving the country for the United States,

he’d forgotten about Gong Ruwen. "I still think our strength just isn’t strong enough yet."

"Mm." Gong Ruini kept wiping her tears; she must have looked all kinds of ugly just now.

"But we’ve already taken too big of a step." This was something you could only say in private; if it spread outside, who knew how many people would want to beat them to death.

And besides, at their current stage, Gong Ruini also didn’t know what they could actually do.

She understood the IT industry fairly well, knew exactly which companies’ stocks would definitely make money, but how were they supposed to make money off that now?

Were they supposed to go to the border and become "daoye" smugglers? That line was indeed profitable—there was that one legend about some big shot who used a few train cars’ worth of food and clothes to trade for a plane.

Even if it was a fairly outdated model, how much could food and clothes be worth? No matter how outdated the plane was, that kind of money was no small sum.

The more Gong Ruini thought about it, the more she felt that only their current line of business really fit the family, but how was she supposed to bring it up?

She couldn’t just blame it on a book, nor could she say she’d heard it somewhere or seen it in a newspaper or on TV—that would obviously sound fake at first listen.

What to do? Little face scrunched up, Gong Ruini’s brain was running on all cylinders, trying to figure out how to pass on this kind of major information.

In fact, there’d been a vague idea in Zhao Xuran’s mind. Before, he hadn’t taken it seriously, just felt they were too busy to manage.

And once the plan started, he’d have to be separated from his wife. How was he supposed to accept that? It wasn’t like they weren’t making money now; there was no need to make life that hard.

But now things were different. They had all kinds of urgent needs for money. As long as it made money, and made big money legally, they couldn’t afford to let it go.

"Ni Zi, what do you think about us working with the people up north?" Zhao Xuran just felt that if he discussed this with his wife, he’d definitely get the best, most suitable answer.

Work with the North? Gong Ruini’s heart suddenly started pounding fast; how could Zhao Xuran say something like that?

If she hadn’t tested him countless times before, she really would have thought Zhao Xuran was just like her.

"I mean the ones who used to be our big brother. I vaguely heard before that they’re a bit short on clothes and food up there." Seeing Gong Ruini staring blankly, Zhao Xuran went into detail about the information he’d heard back then.

"Later I went through a lot of books and found that their industry is highly developed, but they kind of look down on agriculture and light industry."

"But they have long winters; developing agriculture over there isn’t easy."

"So I was thinking, if possible, could we use food and clothes to trade for some heavy industry gear? That stuff really makes money in our country."

With a factory in the family, he knew a bit about machinery. Zhao Xuran didn’t really want to just use cash, even though cash was the more stable route.

But with a trade like this, the money they’d make in the middle would be a lot more. "Over in big brother’s place, for the sake of food and clothes, they might not set a high price on heavy-industry equipment. As long as we have the channels to sell those things in the domestic market, we can pocket quite a bit extra."

God, this was the difference. Who said transmigrators were always stronger than natives? Just look at how fast Zhao Xuran’s brain was turning.

If it were her, she would’ve just shipped over food, drink, and daily goods, and then taken the cash, end of story.

"I think it could work, but who do we sell the equipment to?"

"And with large equipment, the movement would be pretty big."

"Even if no one on our side objects, would the other side be willing?"

Even if you gave enough benefits and someone was willing to risk digging out a piece of a factory for the money, how would you ship it out?

Occasional small-scale smuggling, the border defense might turn a blind eye. But something this big was likely to be dangerous.

"That is a problem, but in the face of huge profits, none of this will be a problem." Zhao Xuran was confident this would work out.

It had to work out. This wasn’t just about making money; it was also for something else.

They weren’t exactly poor, so why did people still see them as easy to bully? Wasn’t it because they didn’t have any real achievements to show?

If the higher-ups learned that they could be much more useful, they would definitely look at them differently.

The credit wouldn’t be counted directly on them, but their people would definitely benefit—for example, Gong Ruwen.

The more Zhao Xuran thought about it, the more perfect the plan seemed. "Ni Zi, you are just too amazing."

He lifted Gong Ruini up and spun her around and around, his mood soaring.

If she could help it, Gong Ruini would rather he didn’t call her amazing. She’d be happier if he just forgot what she said earlier.

But seeing how excited he was, she felt it was highly likely he really would forget about that whole thing.

Just as she was breathing a sigh of relief, he said, "I still remember what you said to Cao Na earlier."

Ah? No way. Gong Ruini was dumbfounded. So she’d cried for half a day and even helped inspire such a great money-making idea, and it still wasn’t enough to atone for her mistake?

Looking at her pitiful expression, Zhao Xuran didn’t soften in the slightest. If he didn’t let this girl see how serious things could get, who knew how far up to the heavens she’d float.