Making a Fortune

Inside the small room.

Song Yanxi, eyes brimming with tears, pulled Chen Pingsheng to the side. "Hubby, did you really jump into the lake for a scene in this freezing weather?"

"Yeah, Little Zhao must've told you, right?"

After leading her to the bed, Chen Pingsheng chuckled. "Yanxi, let's not talk about that for now. Let me show you how much money I made today."

Ding! Your Alipay account has received 14,000 yuan.

Song Yanxi was stunned, her eyes widening in disbelief.

"How is this possible? Hubby, where did you earn so much money in just one day?"

Fourteen grand in a single day? She could hardly wrap her head around it.

At this rate, wouldn't they be able to buy a house right after the New Year?

Chen Pingsheng playfully patted her firm backside and said mysteriously, "Wifey, I know you're excited, but you better start getting used to the fact that your husband is now making big bucks."

And she had to get used to it. Just moments ago, she was feeling sorry for him, yet now all she could think about was how to spend this money.

After years of frugality, she'd developed the habit of saving every penny.

But now, with their income skyrocketing, it felt a little overwhelming.

"Hubby, my mom called. She wants us to spend New Year's at her place this year."

"Sure, why not? No big deal."

"But..."

Song Yanxi hesitated. Every time they visited, her husband became the target of ridicule. Instinctively, she wanted to refuse.

Chen Pingsheng held her hand reassuringly. "We still have more than ten days before then. Let's work a little harder. By the time we go, we'll already have bought our own house. Let's see who dares to mock us then."

For an ordinary couple, life was simple—always thinking about how to make money and live better.

Song Yanxi bit her lip, recalling last night's wild thirty minutes. Now, with all this excitement, she suddenly really wanted that again.

After all, she was still a young woman of twenty-five.

Happiness just made her want things.

Chen Pingsheng swiftly pulled at her tight jeans.

Soon, she was like a little lamb in his arms.

Meanwhile, little An An was in the other room, glued to Teletubbies, munching loudly on a bag of chips.

The next morning, the rain had finally stopped.

At last, his three-wheeled cart could be put to good use.

Since they lived near a major Fortune 500 company, the area was bustling with people.

With a lot of potential customers, Chen Pingsheng called his childhood friend, Shaoshuai. The two of them hopped on their tricycles and headed to restock.

For street vendors like them, durians were the most expensive fruit, meaning the highest profits.

Of course, there were tricks to the trade.

Fruit prices fluctuated wildly. Just a week ago, a box of durians—about thirty jin—cost 600 yuan.

Now, the price had surged to 700 yuan per box.

With the New Year approaching, demand was soaring.

When they arrived at the wholesale fruit market, the place was packed.

Durians were hot-selling festival fruits. If you only wanted to buy one or two boxes, the wholesalers wouldn't even bother looking at you.

Chen Pingsheng pulled out his phone. He had been in the business for a few years now and knew plenty of people.

"Old Guo, got any stock left?"

"Yeah, how much do you need?"

"What's the price?"

Normally, small street vendors like them wouldn't get to pick and choose.

Fruits had a shelf life, and durians were no exception.

If a durian cracked open and didn't sell in time, wholesalers had no choice but to dump them at a loss.

Snatching up these clearance durians was how vendors made the most money.

But during the holiday season, durians practically sold themselves.

This time, Chen Pingsheng had to play by the same rules as the shop owners—buying at market price.

Old Guo was a scruffy-looking guy, always buried in his truck, but he was a real big shot in the business.

Many major buyers paid him on a quarterly basis, and the debts owed to him easily totaled tens of millions.

Despite running just a small storefront, most of his sales happened directly from his massive 9.6-meter-long truck.

Now, he had only a few hundred boxes left.

"Boss Guo, business is booming for you, huh?"

"Thanks to you guys for the support."

Old Guo was in his early forties. He had roamed all over the country in his younger days before settling in Beijing to run a wholesale business a decade ago.

Now, he was worth at least a few million. His durians were also of solid quality.

Chen Pingsheng handed him a cigarette. "What's today's price?"

"This last batch—680 yuan per box for you."

That was just 20 yuan cheaper than market price.

Not quite satisfied, Chen Pingsheng grinned. "How about 610 yuan per box? I'll take all the remaining stock."

"There are still two or three hundred boxes left. Can you even sell them all?"

During the New Year season, durians were bound to keep rising in price.

But Chen Pingsheng wanted to take a gamble.

If he pulled it off, he'd have enough to buy a house in full.

"A few hundred boxes? If I work hard, I can definitely sell them all."

"Alright then, deal. Let's load 'em up."

To get the lowest price in the fruit market, buying up leftover stock was the way to go.

With four people helping, they cleared out the remaining 321 boxes, totaling around 190,000 yuan at 600 yuan per box.

Chen Pingsheng called Song Yanxi and had her handle the transfer.

He had done this kind of bulk buying before, just never at this scale.

This was his biggest move yet.

Song Yanxi transferred the money swiftly. Old Guo then had the goods stored in an external warehouse, which offered short-term rental spaces for bulk storage.

Chen Pingsheng didn't plan to sell right away. He intended to sit on the stock for three to four days, waiting for durian prices to spike.

Still, he made sure to drop a message in their vendor group chat.

Shaoshuai: "Old Chen is making big moves—he just bought 200,000 yuan worth of durians! Brothers, get ready to clear out the stock!"

General: "666! No problem, we'll help sell every last one in a few days."

Village Belle Is Mine: "I'm claiming 30 boxes first! Nobody snatch them from me!"

Fighting For a Better Life: "I think I can move 50 boxes."

Having a reliable group of brothers was a blessing.

Selling this much stock alone would be impossible, but with everyone pitching in, there was no pressure.

Two days later, Shaoshuai sent an update—the market price for durians had risen to 750 yuan per box.

Two more days passed, and right before the Lunar New Year, a blizzard hit.

Durian prices skyrocketed to 850 yuan per box.

Chen Pingsheng nearly jumped for joy.

He had done nothing but sit on his stock for a few days, and now he was set to pocket 30,000 to 40,000 yuan in pure profit.

And this was assuming they could even get their hands on more stock—supply was drying up fast.

Durian price fluctuations were no secret in the market.

But even Chen Pingsheng hadn't expected such a steep increase in just a few days.

On the eve of the New Year, he immediately began offloading his stock.

All six of his vendor buddies arrived, each with a tricycle, ready to clear out the goods.