Having savings had made him very happy these past days.
The kind of happiness where one doesn’t have to worry about debt, about buying a house, eating meat, or buying a bicycle for his daughter—daily worries about how to make money were supposed to be gone forever.
But now, the savings were nearly gone, and if there were any cash flow issues in the shop, what would he do?
Could over ten thousand yuan hold up?
After washing up, Mr. Hua rushed out the door, wearing his coat to check on the new car parked at the entrance of the small alley—
With 220,000 yuan sitting out there, he was worried about it being stolen or someone scratching the paint, it really weighed on his mind.
But as soon as he pushed open the yard gate, he saw a crowd of people from the neighborhood, young and old, gathered around the car.
“Ah, this is an American car, right? What brand is this logo?”
“Ford, I saw an ad on TV a couple of days ago. Isn’t this the most expensive car now?”
“There are more expensive ones, like Mercedes and such, right? But this one must also be worth several hundred thousand?”
“Isn’t it worth 500,000 yuan? Whose car is it? Why is it parked at the entrance to old Hua’s alley?”
“Hey, don’t touch it, if you damage it, you can’t afford to pay.”
The men circled around, looking it over from top to bottom, some eager to touch it but also afraid that touching it might cause it to lose color.
They admired and envied it so much that they almost drooled.
After all, what man doesn’t love cars?
A U.S.-made pickup truck like this, capable of hauling both people and goods, was nothing short of a luxury item in this era.
Just looking at it was thrilling.
“Old Hua, come here, look! This truck at the head of your house, it’s absolutely dominating,” Mr. Bian from next door waved to Mr. Hua, his excitement evident.
“I wonder which family member it belongs to? Why hasn’t anyone answered? I’ve asked so many people, but no one knows whose it is. Old Hua, do you have visitors?” another uncle from a different alley asked.
“…Ah… It’s my car.” Mr. Hua approached, a bit embarrassed.
The anxiety from a moment ago suddenly turned into bashful silence.
“Ah, a relative’s car? That’s expensive—what? Whose car?” Mr. Bian’s voice suddenly rose in disbelief as he looked at Mr. Hua.
“That… I just bought it yesterday, didn’t get home with it until almost midnight,” Mr. Hua said with an embarrassed smile, pulling out a set of car keys with a little frog keychain on it, a small gift from Hua Jie.
“???”
“!!!!”
“Hiss…”
“I’m speechless…”
“What the heck…”
All the men around expressed their shock in their own habitual ways.
Dozens of eyes stared at Mr. Hua as if he were an alien.
Everyone in this area belonged to the working class or ran small businesses, and they were all quite poor.
Normally, they’d hesitate even to buy a bicycle, let alone a car with four wheels, for fear of theft.
If it weren’t for the scarcity of buses up the hill, everyone would certainly take the bus to work or school every day.
Suddenly, a ‘traitor’ among these poor brothers not only bought a four-wheeled vehicle but a Ford pickup truck at that.
This shape, these stunning aerodynamic lines, this dazzling paint job, this capacious truck bed, these crystal-clear headlights and the transparent windshield, and… these round wheels!
Which one of these features doesn’t provoke envy and drive people wild?
“Old Hua, you bought this? Oh my goodness, you’ve really gone all out!” What’s going on, not making ends meet?
“You’ve become a nouveau riche! How much money are you making, bro?”
“Damn! Hey, take me for a spin, I don’t mind sitting in the back of the truck.”
“Oh my—I guess you won the lottery, huh?”
“To buy something this expensive, oh my, damn! My goodness… I…” He was at a loss for words.
“…No, it’s not like that. I opened a furniture shop, see, and needed a vehicle for deliveries, otherwise I couldn’t keep it going,” Mr. Hua said, scratching his head, a bit embarrassed.
Then suddenly with a ‘beep’, he unlocked the car, pulled open the door with a smile, and asked:
“Who’s free? Who wants to go for a ride first?”
The eager and proud feeling of showing off a new toy could no longer be hidden.
“Come on, take me to the small shop up front to buy a couple of packs of cigarettes.”
“I’m off to play mahjong, drop me off at my aunt’s place.”
“Hey, Old Hua, I’m going to the crossroads to buy some big fruit and tofu pudding.”
“Is there still room?”
…
After a morning drive, Mr. Hua returned home just as his wife and daughter were getting up. He brought back tofu pudding, fried dough sticks, and large steamed buns, so there was no need to make breakfast.
“Why did you get up so early?” Hua’s mother asked while eating a bun.
“…” Mr. Hua looked up at her and suddenly couldn’t help but laugh: “Well, I just bought a car, you know, a fool here, got up early to make sure it wasn’t stolen, then bumped into the neighbors, and just took them for a spin.
“Heh, sitting in the car, touching this and looking at that, everyone was drooling, haha.”
“A dog can’t hold two buns in its belly.” Hua’s mother couldn’t help but tease her husband, her eyes sparkling with tenderness and happiness.
“Hehe,” Hua Jie also giggled foolishly.
Mother and daughter looked at Mr. Hua’s expression, much like a mother who had bought a toy for her child and was proud and satisfied to see the child happy with it.
After breakfast, Hua’s mother rushed off to work. The railway bathhouse would be closed over the New Year holidays, and she needed to balance the books before then.
She also had to do the accounting and inventory for their two shops and prepare an annual summary.
Moreover, she needed to find time to prepare for the New Year goods. A good daughter-in-law is expected to be the first to get all the New Year purchases done, and though Hua’s mother was very busy this year, she wasn’t planning on cutting corners for the New Year preparations.
After Hua’s mother left, Hua Jie said goodbye to her father and went back to her room.
She picked up her sketchpad, recalling the events of the previous evening and her nightmare from last night.
Darkness, twisted dark reds, blood, and violent clashes.
Every time she closed her eyes, a myriad of jumbled images twisted and entwined.
Thus, she applied excessive force with her brush on the paper, splashing watermarks and blending intense colors to create an ugly and terrifying scene.
The conflict and grimy colors fused, making the imagery twist and grow on the paper like a living Cthulhu, gradually revealing a form that was horrifying, nauseating, and grotesque.
Hua Jie vented her emotions while painting, assembling her dreams and shattered impressions. Using her instinctual grasp of composition, brushstrokes, and colors, she completed a painting starkly different from her usual style, darker and more terrifying than any of Qian Chong’s works.
By the time she finished painting, the young girl was sweating profusely.
The sticky, nauseating fear that had not been fully erased from her chest finally dissipated substantially.
She tiredly put down the brush, looking at the painting in front of her, breathing lightly.
Every life experience becomes material for the painter, even memories that the artist finds distasteful.
She gave a bitter smile, set the painting aside to dry.
She planned to properly mount the painting, seal it, and then one appropriate day, sell it to also completely discard this unpleasant memory.
Turning back to her bed, she pulled out “Autumn Mountain Stroll,” a painting where her family and Shen Mo were all present, depicted in a happy and light-hearted atmosphere.
She also pulled out “Sunrise,” created after a night when she couldn’t sleep following a conversation with Teacher Shen. She had secretly cried on the first floor of the manor, and after Shen Mo discovered her and talked her through her feelings, she painted it during the following morning’s sunrise.
In the painting, there was a blurred reflection of Shen Mo on the window glass, depicting the young man’s lazy, carefree posture, and the warm color tones.
She stared at the two paintings for a while and finally felt much more at ease.
Taking a deep breath, she felt like she was once again the happy little Hua Jie.
Getting up to drink some water, Huan Huan suddenly started barking.
She ran to open the door and discovered that the super gift package she had mailed home had arrived.
…
…
In the morning, after his wife went to work and his daughter went to paint, Mr. Hua felt a bit restless. He wandered over to old Bian’s house next door for tea, planning to take his daughter down to the shop for lunch later and then continue working on the furniture.
Old Bian originally planned to invite him to play mahjong, but Mr. Hua declined.
Having just spent over two hundred thousand on a car and with many furniture orders yet to be completed, he really wasn’t in the mood for mahjong. He preferred to sit quietly, drink tea, and chat.
Old Bian glanced at the fever blisters at the corner of Mr. Hua’s mouth, thinking that Mr. Hua must have borrowed money to buy the car.
People in business often borrow money to buy a car to qualify for bank loans to start a business.
To give factories and clients confidence in their operations, they need to put on a good front with a nice car.
Although it looks impressive, the internal pressure and anxiety are unparalleled.
Putting himself in the other’s shoes, if he were in Mr. Hua’s position, owing money to others, he wouldn’t feel at ease driving the car, and probably wouldn’t sleep well, with mouth sores being the least of his worries.
“I know it’s not easy for you, Old Hua, starting a business in middle age.”
“Especially for us who have earned honest money our whole lives, suddenly investing a large sum of money and not seeing a return immediately is bound to cause some stress.”
“Don’t take it too hard or put too much pressure on yourself.”
“A relative of mine who runs a restaurant took two years to break even, and later they made quite a bit of money.”
“You’ve only been running your furniture shop for a few months, don’t be too anxious, maybe by next year you could break even.”
Old Bian sighed deeply, his words full of empathy and encouragement.
“…” Mr. Hua paused, “No, I’ve already broken even.”
“?????” Old Bian was stunned, “What?”
“I just spent all the money in my pocket on the car, and it burned a hole so big it gave me fever blisters. I’ve been living for forty years and never spent this much money at once, it’s unsettling,” Mr. Hua took a big gulp of bitter tea and sighed.
Really used to being poor, suddenly having wealth is burning his heart.
“What??? You broke even just a few months after opening?” Old Bian couldn’t believe it.
“Yeah, I broke even the very first day we opened,” Mr. Hua raised his eyebrows, his tone matter-of-fact.
“???!!! You must have invested seventy to eighty thousand, right? Broke even in one day?” Old Bian was so shocked he slapped his thigh. “Then why the hell are you so stressed! People work for years to break even, they suffer for one or two years without getting ulcers like you!”
“No, it’s true we broke even, but now I’ve gone and spent the money from my daughter’s paintings, plus the original capital and profits, on that car,” Mr. Hua sighed.
He also bought two shops in a backstreet, not sure if his daughter and Shen Mo’s claim that these shops would definitely appreciate in value and guarantee a profit was reliable.
His daughter had really matured this half year, designing furniture and selling paintings; maybe he was placing too much trust in her.
Ah, the money was spent so quickly, so fiercely.
“What? Little Hua Jie is selling paintings again?” Just as he entered, planning to join Old Bian for mahjong, the neighbor Zhou Wei’s dad asked in surprise.
“Ah… yes, she went to Beijing for that competition, got second place. Then she joined a group from Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts to sketch at the Forbidden City, painted it, and sold the painting for over a hundred thousand,” Mr. Hua chuckled, then sipped his bitter tea with a slurp…
“A hundred thousand? For one painting?” Zhou Wei’s dad almost dropped his jaw, gulping down his bitter tea.
So bitter, quite sobering, this can’t be a dream.
“Ah, right—” Mr. Hua got startled by the other’s shock, his voice dropped.
“Then… you didn’t go into debt buying that car?” Old Bian suddenly thought of a possibility.
“No debts, just spent all my savings in one go,” Mr. Hua hurriedly poured more bitter tea for Old Bian and Old Zhou.
“Didn’t borrow money… you paid in full for this car? Over two hundred thousand, right, for an American car?” Old Bian looked like he could eat someone.
“Ah… yes…” Mr. Hua confirmed.
“Oh, Old Hua! Oh, my! Oh, my!!” Zhou Wei’s dad started slapping his own thigh vigorously, it hurt so much after two hits that he switched to slapping Mr. Hua’s thigh, exclaiming all the while. His emotions were wildly fluctuating.
Just yesterday, they were poor brothers gnawing on bones together, and now this man had suddenly become rich overnight.
Is it a decline in morals, or a twist in human nature?
Is having a daughter really that powerful?
“You have to treat us, Old Hua!” Zhou Wei’s dad clicked his tongue, so envious that he lost interest in playing mahjong.
“Treating you is no problem, just stop slapping me,” Mr. Hua said, holding out his arm to block.
If the other guy hit his thigh again, he was going to lose his temper.