Ma Siyu treasured her BMW X1.
Even though she always said it didn't have a drop of true BMW blood, you could tell how much she cherished the car from the little details.
Regular maintenance was due every 5,000 kilometers, but she would take it in after just 3,000.
She washed it as often as she did her laundry, and its body was always so spotless and polished you could see your reflection in it.
She even had a famous saying: "If the car lives, I live; if the car dies, I die."
She and that silver-gray BMW X1 were inseparable; she drove it everywhere she went.
So, when he saw Ma Siyu go out that night, it was uncharacteristic that she hadn't taken her car.
Wu Jun's mind immediately went to the 170,000 yuan she had given his mother.
Although her salary wasn't low, her expenses were extraordinarily high. With her mortgage and car loan, she already had more than enough on her plate.
'Where did she scrape together that 170,000 yuan?'
Wu Jun arrived at one possible conclusion: Ma Siyu had sold her car. If he wasn't mistaken, that had to be it.
Ma Siyu didn't want to talk about it, and Wu Jun didn't press her about it over text.
Halfway through the taxi ride, a light rain began to fall outside the window.
Watching the city nightscape shrouded in a curtain of rain, Wu Jun made up his mind. 'Ma Simai, once I pay off the family's debts and have some money to spare, I'll buy you a BMW with the purest pedigree.'
Twenty minutes later, the taxi entered Tianyuan Community and stopped in front of the small convenience store.
"We're here, young man." After stopping the car, the driver gave Wu Jun 65 yuan in change and said with an envious look, "You've really got something going for you. I've been driving a cab for a long time, and I've never seen a girlfriend pay the fare for her boyfriend."
A shadow fell over Wu Jun's face. "She's not my girlfriend, that's my aunt..."
"Oh, my apologies, my apologies. I really need to watch what I say!" the taxi driver said, looking embarrassed.
"It's fine. You're the eighth one..." The rain kept falling, and the atmosphere inside the taxi grew a little awkward. Wu Jun took the change, pushed open the door, and dashed into the downpour.
Back at the convenience store.
After washing up and lying down on his new, large bed, Wu Jun's desire to make money grew even stronger.
None of his relatives were wealthy; they were all just ordinary, common folk.
When disaster struck his family, no one had stood by idly. They had all done their absolute best to help.
His aunt had even sold her beloved car, and Wu Jun was deeply moved.
At the same time, he resolved that if he ever had the chance in the future, he would do everything he could to help these dear relatives.
「The next morning.」
It was just five o'clock, but Wu Jun woke up naturally, without needing an alarm.
All the early mornings spent selling rice had set his biological clock.
After washing up, he opened the store for business.
In the three hours from five-thirty to eight-thirty, he was constantly busy and took in nearly 10,000 yuan.
After eight-thirty, the number of customers buying rice dwindled. Most people were just buying daily necessities, which didn't amount to much.
After a quick bite to eat, Wu Jun hung out a small sign that read "Temporarily Closed for an Errand," grabbed the document bag with the trademark inside, and headed out again.
He had the trademark now, but there was still one more important step: the packaging. It was time to get a batch of bags made.
Wu Jun's cousin, Chen Xingyang, worked at a packaging factory not far from Tianyuan Community. It was only six stops away by bus.
Before leaving, Wu Jun sent Chen Xingyang a message on WeChat but didn't get a reply. 'He probably hasn't gotten off work yet and doesn't have time to check his phone,' he thought.
Since he had nothing better to do, Wu Jun decided to go talk to him in person. Besides, it had been a while since the two cousins had seen each other.
Outside Tianyuan Community, he swiped his card to get on the Route 45 bus, rode for six stops, and got off at Xiao'anshe Station.
The Xiao'anshe area was already outside the city proper, and it was dotted with printing plants, packaging factories, cardboard box factories, and all sorts of small, private workshops.
The packaging factory where Chen Xingyang worked was called the Feitian Packaging Products Factory. Wu Jun had been there a few times before and knew his way around.
After getting off the bus, a walk of about five minutes brought Wu Jun to the factory gate.
He was just about to pull out his phone to call Chen Xingyang when he looked up and saw a haggard-looking man in gray work clothes riding an electric scooter toward the gate.
A petite woman, also dressed in gray work clothes, was sitting on the back of the scooter.
What a coincidence—it was none other than his cousin, Chen Xingyang, and his cousin-in-law, Duan Xiangyan.
"Cousin!" Wu Jun called out, waving to Chen Xingyang.
Chen Xingyang had been dozing off on his scooter, but his eyes snapped open when he saw Wu Jun at the gate, and he instantly perked up.
"Jun, what are you doing here?" Chen Xingyang twisted the handlebars, sped over to Wu Jun's side, and screeched to a halt.
Duan Xiangyan lifted her head from Chen Xingyang's back and greeted him, "Jun, long time no see."
Seeing their exhausted faces, Wu Jun figured they had just gotten off the night shift.
"Cousin, Cousin-in-law, did you just get off work? Come on, let's get some breakfast first." Without rushing to get to business, Wu Jun took the initiative and led them to a breakfast shop near the factory.
He ordered a few steamers of buns, some tea eggs, and three bowls of hot wontons. At this hour, they were the only ones in the shop for breakfast, so the food arrived quickly.
"Cousin, Cousin-in-law, hurry and eat while it's hot," Wu Jun urged them. He then picked up a wonton with his chopsticks and started eating.
He figured if he didn't start, they would be too polite to touch their chopsticks.
Duan Xiangyan and her husband, Chen Xingyang, exchanged a look, and she secretly kicked his foot under the table.
"Jun, there's no need to stand on ceremony with us," Chen Xingyang said. "Is it about the surgery fee for Third Uncle? Are you still short?"
As he spoke, Chen Xingyang pulled his wallet from his pocket, took out a bank card, and handed it to Wu Jun. "Your cousin-in-law and I just got paid this morning. There's a little over 7,000 yuan on here. Take it for now. If it's not enough, I'll go talk to my boss and see if I can get an advance. He's a reasonable guy, so it shouldn't be a problem."
Wu Jun had just swallowed a wonton, and hearing his cousin's words, a warmth spread through his heart that matched the warmth in his stomach.
Wu Jun knew that Chen Xingyang and Duan Xiangyan didn't earn high salaries.
Chen Xingyang had bought a house two years prior and had a monthly mortgage payment of over 6,000 yuan. On top of that, they had a daughter, Chen Meng, in elementary school.
His cousin's family lived on a tight budget and had to rely on monthly help from his Eldest Aunt and Uncle just to make ends meet.
A little over a month ago, when Wu Jun had called to borrow money from them, he had felt extremely embarrassed and found it hard to even bring it up.
In the end, they had somehow managed to scrape together 10,000 yuan to give him.
"There's no need, Cousin. Take it back," Wu Jun said, pushing the card back. "Don't worry, the surgery fee is covered. We even have some left over. I came looking for you today about something else."
"You have enough for the surgery? That's great! When is the operation? Your cousin-in-law and I will visit Third Uncle when the time comes." Chen Xingyang was genuinely happy for him.
The three of them chatted as they ate, and after finishing their discussion about the surgery, they finally got to the real reason for his visit.
Wu Jun asked, "Cousin, I recently started distributing a type of rice, and I need to get some custom bags made, the 25-kilogram kind. How much does one cost?"
"That depends on the material used for the bag."
When the topic shifted to his line of work, Chen Xingyang put down his chopsticks and began to explain the details to Wu Jun:
"The cheapest option is ordinary plastic, with a factory price of 3 yuan per bag. A slightly better one is a kraft paper bag at a factory price of 4 yuan. We've also recently started using a high-end, eco-friendly material. For a large 25-kilogram bag, that one would be 6 yuan."
Duan Xiangyan added, "Don't underestimate this kind of business. The profit margin is basically fifty percent, so it's very lucrative."
"Really? The margin is that high?" Wu Jun said, surprised by what his cousin-in-law had told him.
Chen Xingyang said, "Your cousin-in-law and I are just factory workers, so we can't help with the pricing. However, I can definitely keep an eye on the quality for you. So, Jun, which price point are you thinking of?"
Wu Jun thought for a moment. He was currently selling the rice loose and was already moving nearly three tons a day, sometimes even more.
At 25 kilograms per bag, 3 tons of rice would require 120 bags.
And that was just his volume in the initial phase. Once the market opened up, his sales would surely be much higher.
He decided to go with the best option—the 6-yuan, eco-friendly bags.
120 bags would cost 720 yuan, generating 360 yuan of profit for the factory. And that was just for a single day's worth of bags.
Just the profit from making his bags would be more than what his cousin and cousin-in-law earned working day and night.
Furthermore, that amount of work could probably be completed with ease—far less stressful than their regular jobs.
"Cousin, I just had a new idea," Wu Jun said, putting down his chopsticks instead of making an immediate decision.