Chapter 57: Shares
Guan Yuan stood in the shade of a tree waiting for Zhao Shenggu. Since all the students were at the opening ceremony, there was no one around except on the sports field.
Guan Yuan was waiting boredly when a few students came over laughing and chatting, apparently heading out the school gate. Guan Yuan squinted and noticed two of them looked familiar. After thinking for a moment, he realized—weren't those the two kids who had fought over the TV at Li Wenqing's house that night?
It was the opening ceremony right now—could they have also asked for leave? Guan Yuan thought about it for a moment, then stopped looking at them. It wasn't any of his business anyway.
Before long, Zhao Shenggu came back. "Let's go, let's head home first."
"Brother, I just saw Aunt Li's kids at the school gate!" Guan Yuan said, pointing at the few students by the gate.
Zhao Shenggu hadn't paid attention to those two kids that day. He took a look and didn't recognize them, so the two of them put the matter out of their minds.
Since they had to go home every day, Zhao Shenggu bought a bicycle. Zhang Zixing kept saying they should buy a car, but Guan Yuan and Zhao Shenggu both ignored him—if they drove a car to school every day, people would stare at them like they were a sideshow.
Guan Yuan sat on the back seat, a breeze blowing past now and then, carrying Zhao Shenggu's scent into his nostrils. Guan Yuan simply stood up and spread his arms wide. "Brother, go faster! Hahaha!"
Zhao Shenggu was infected by his laughter. "Hold on tight!" He suddenly sped up.
"Hahahaha!"
"Haha..."
The two of them laughed like lunatics on the bicycle, and they laughed almost all the way home.
Zhao Shenggu touched Guan Yuan's reddened cheeks and said regretfully, "We should have brought a hat!"
Guan Yuan wiped his face with water and said carelessly, "I'm not that delicate!"
Guan Yuan had always known he was a nostalgic person. After all these days in the capital, he still occasionally missed his home in Guanjia Village.
But today, after laughing so freely, looking at the courtyard house again, he suddenly felt a sense of warmth. This would also be his and Zhao Shenggu's home.
The next day, the two of them began their formal high school life.
Both were well-liked in their classes. Zhao Shenggu was tall and made people feel he was reliable—the boys all looked up to him, and although most of the girls wouldn't show it too openly, they would steal glances at him during class.
Guan Yuan, being younger and looking like a little golden boy, was well-loved by everyone in his class. All in all, their high school life got off to a good start.
But after only two weeks of classes, Guan Yuan and Zhao Shenggu started getting busy.
Since they had already decided that Yuangu's headquarters would be in the capital, Guan Yuan and Zhao Shenggu decided to lay a solid foundation to provide ample space for future expansion.
Guan Yuan and Zhao Shenggu knew how the capital would develop in the future, so they chose the company location early. With the Li family's help, they smoothly acquired the land.
Land this large being obtained by private individuals would be unimaginable in the future—in later years, these places would be worth their weight in gold.
Once they had the land, the next step was building the company and the factory.
Although Yuangu Braised Meat and Yuangu Garment both had mature development models, moving the headquarters to the capital meant Zhao Shenggu still had to oversee things. During this period, he and Zhang Zixing were both exhausted.
Zhang Zixing especially—while Zhao Shenggu and Guan Yuan were in class, he was holding everything together alone. Fortunately, he was a quick learner. As long as Zhao Shenggu and Guan Yuan explained things clearly, he could always get things done properly.
After being busy like this for a semester, they had roughly built up Yuangu's framework.
Next came hiring people, establishing company regulations and operational mechanisms. Fortunately, Guan Yuan and Zhao Shenggu were already familiar with all of this. By the time the break ended, Yuangu's headquarters had basically gotten on track.
Now, all regions were vigorously developing their economies, and Zhao Shenggu and Guan Yuan's assets were already enough for the capital's government to treat them as honored guests.
After half a year of contact, the entire Li family finally understood just how much wealth these two children held.
One day, the Li family's study was especially quiet.
Li Wenting placed the documents in his hand in front of Old Master Li, and the three brothers stood without speaking.
After Old Master Li read the contents, his face showed no surprise.
It was clearly a share transfer agreement, with the transferee being Old Master Li, for 10% of Yuangu's original shares.
Old Master Li thought for a moment. "Accept it. This is the two children's filial piety to me."
The Li brothers all showed expressions of delight. They clearly knew how much wealth 10% of Yuangu's shares represented—and Yuangu was still growing.
The so-called collusion between officials and businessmen may sound unpleasant, but it holds true nonetheless. Their roots weren't deep — everything they had now was built through the hard work of Old Master Li and themselves.
But now they could clearly feel the changes in officialdom. To go further in the future, money was essential—and in turn, they could also protect Yuangu.
The shares from Guan Yuan and Zhao Shenggu were nominally given to Old Master Li, but in reality, they were given to the Li family.
Ten percent of Yuangu's shares—the two children gave them away just like that. The Li brothers also admired their generosity in their hearts.
---
At the courtyard house.
"Brother, I wonder if giving away our shares will achieve the expected effect."
In the courtyard house, Guan Yuan was lying down while Zhao Shenggu washed his hair.
Zhao Shenggu tested the water temperature—not too hot, not too cold—then gently poured water over Guan Yuan's head. "Uncle Ting and the others seem to have a promising future. You could call this an investment. Besides, our main focus in the future won't be garments and braised meat anyway."
"True. If we want to grow our business, we can't avoid finding a backer. The Li family is good—Grandpa Li treats us like his own grandsons. Li Wenting and the others should go far beyond their current positions."
Guan Yuan and Zhao Shenggu had already planned it out. Their goal from the start was never just these small things. With Guan Yuan's knowledge of the future, what they really wanted to develop was technology.
When Guan Yuan died, he was a country bumpkin. Out of curiosity about high technology, he had collected a particularly large amount of futuristic high-tech items in his space, arranged by year.
As long as they stayed just a little ahead of the times, they were guaranteed to have endless money to make.
"Ah, but the share transfer agreement says 'Yuangu'—doesn't that mean they'll get a tenth of however much we earn in the future?" Guan Yuan suddenly thought of this.
"Stupid, we'll just change the name for future companies!" Zhao Shenggu carefully kept the foam from getting into Guan Yuan's eyes.
"What should we call it?" Guan Yuan asked foolishly.
"Hmm, let's call it 'Guyuan.'"
"Guyuan? That's nice too! Brother, I'll wash your hair later too—this time I promise not to get it in your eyes!"
"Really?" Zhao Shenggu was skeptical.
"Really!" Guan Yuan swore.
A while later: "Xiao Yuan, hurry and hand me the towel..."
Guan Yuan watched as Zhao Shenggu wiped his eyes, then chuckled. "I was already being very careful—how did it still get in your eyes?"
Zhao Shenggu said helplessly, "Let's not force yourself to wash my hair anymore."
The first semester of freshman year was over, and it was now winter break. The weather was nice that day, so after washing their hair, the two of them sunbathed in the courtyard.
"I'm skipping to senior year next semester. Can you handle being on your own?" Zhao Shenggu asked as he dried Guan Yuan's hair with a towel.
This was something they had agreed on. Zhao Shenggu had to attend classes and manage the company—he really was stretched too thin. Skipping to senior year next semester meant he could attend university the year after, and then he'd have much more free time.
Although the thought of studying alone from now on made him unhappy, Guan Yuan knew there was no other way. "Don't worry, brother. I'm even older than you, you know!"
Zhao Shenggu pinched his nose. "In my eyes, you'll always be younger than me."
"Brother, why don't I skip grades with you!"
"No. You're only this old and already in freshman year. If you skip again, it'll scare people to death. Do you want to be treated as a child prodigy? Just attend classes normally."
"Oh, okay." Guan Yuan agreed glumly.
A couple of days later, the final exam results came out. Zhao Shenggu got a perfect score. Guan Yuan only lost one point on his essay—everything else was perfect too—ranking first and second in the entire grade.
With these results, it would be much easier to discuss skipping grades with the school.
The next day, the two of them went to the company.
Yuangu's office building wasn't very tall—only four stories. From a distance, they could see the two large characters "Yuangu" hanging on the outside of the building.
Because of Guan Yuan, the landscaping around the office building was done very nicely, and the interior decor looked simple and elegant. Behind the office building was Yuangu Garment's factory.
Since Yuangu Braised Meat was a food business, cleanliness was essential — so it was set up far away from the garment factory and completely sealed off on its own.
Currently, the management of both Yuangu Braised Meat and Yuangu Garment worked in the same office building. Once the scale expanded in the future, they would definitely need to re-plan.
As soon as Guan Yuan and Zhao Shenggu arrived at the company lobby, the receptionist greeted them with sparkling eyes. Even after the two had walked far away, her eyes were still glued to Zhao Shenggu.
Guan Yuan felt that gaze on his back and snorted unhappily. "Always attracting attention!"
Zhao Shenggu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "I didn't do anything!"
Guan Yuan shot him a look. "Otherwise, did you think you'd get off so easily? I'm telling you, when you go to university alone, if you stir up any trouble, just wait and see—" Guan Yuan made a throat-slitting gesture. Zhao Shenggu's handsome looks and mature demeanor were simply fatally attractive to those girls. Guan Yuan wasn't worried about Zhao Shenggu, but what if some woman played tricks? He had to take preventive measures.
Zhao Shenggu was about to swear his loyalty when Zhang Zixing suddenly popped out. Seeing Zhao Shenggu and Guan Yuan, he nearly wept with joy. "Thank goodness, bosses, you're finally here! This past month I've been eating and sleeping here. See? My hair's gone white!"
"Alright, stop clowning around. You can go home and rest for a day." Zhang Zixing had indeed worked hard during this period, so Zhao Shenggu mercifully gave him a day off.
Zhang Zixing immediately cheered, grabbing Zhao Shenggu's hand with tears in his eyes. "Wonderful, boss! You're practically my reborn parents!"
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