Chapter 1

Okay so basically if you got this far and past the poor description I will say thank you. I mean really take you for taking the time out. As the original novel was perhaps the worst load of propaganda bullshit and racist crap I have yet read coming out of China. With that did I did a lot of heavy editing and rewriting to make it more bearable. But for all the bullshit it the original was very detailed on the more money making side of poor to rich I have read with out overloading you. So give it a shot see if you like it. If you don't you don't. I am mostly doing this to get over some writers block and hopefully get some ideas for my other stories.

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"Feng Yu, Feng Yu get up you lazy boy. It's almost 6. Get up and come get your breakfast." A voice I knew all too well from the past calls out to me.

Opening his eyes, I see someone I had not seen in years standing in the doorway, "Sister?"

"Good you're awake. Go and wash up. I have warned you that you drank too much at the festival. Now hurry up before your food gets cold." My sister says before disappearing behind the doorway.

Sitting up with a loud groan of pain due to the headache from the hangover I have, I looked around the small room I was in. Less than 6 square meters in size, with a single bed, patched bedding, and an old wooden table with a barely working lamp. It was a room I had not seen since I was a boy. A room that was demolished long ago along with my family's home.

What is going on? He wondered to himself. Was this a dream? It had to be, after all how else would his sister be so young again. Raising his hands to his face he gives it a slight smack to wake himself up. But quickly finds that the slap he just gave himself hurt. Which wasn't right seeing as you shouldn't feel pain in a dream. Not unless you were in that American horror movie with the guy who looked like over cooked meat.

Something was very wrong here, he thought as he got off the bed and stood by the door frame and saw the old marks on the doorway that told him how tall he was in the past. Five foot four inches? He had not been that size since 1988. The year he dropped out of junior high. This can't be what I think it is, can it? There is no way I was brought back to 1988 like one of those cheap do it all over again stories, right?

Looking around the house he spots his mother Zhang Muhua cooking with my sister and immediately stops thinking about such things.

"Awh looks like you have finally woken up sleepy head. Perhaps next time you will think twice about drinking so much hum?" My mother says with a loving smile.

It is a smile that almost makes me cry as I look upon my mother. Still youngish with hair that was still black with only a few signs of her age. But as quickly as the tears come to my eyes, I wipe them away. But I does say something he wanted to say to her for a long time. "Mom, thank you. For everything."

Giving her son a strange look Zhang Muhua just says, "What brought this about? Go hurry and wash up. The food will be ready soon."

But inside she was smiling hearing her son acknowledge her hard work for the first time. It showed her that he was finally growing up.

After I get done doing as my mother says with the cold water that the sink only gave out I walked out to the living room to see a man I had never gotten to say goodbye to. My father, the man who raised me and who had died shortly after I had moved away from brain cancer just three months later. It was a blow that I had never really got over.

Calling out to the man before me, I hope beyond hope that this isn't a dream I was about to wake up from. "Dad?"

Looking away from the small TV he was watching at hearing his son's voice Feng Xingtai sees his son standing there, "Oh you are finally up boy. Still feeling woozy I bet. Come watch TV with me."

Again, I had to fight back the tears that are threatening to fall. Showing weakness to my father was never something that was allowed. But even so I couldn't help but go sit down next to him and says, "Dad will you have a drink with me later?"

In all my life I only ever gotten too drink with my dad a few times. So even if this was just a dream I wished to fix that if only by a bit.

This draws a laugh from my father who says, "Still haven't learned your lesson huh? Fine, we will drink later. That way I can see if you will be able to wake up in time for the New Year's Day visits."

A little while later Xiao's mother calls both of them to come eat and when they go to join them, I take a moment to look at my older sister. Feng Danying during this period in time had moved to the city to attend a boarding school and had come back home to visit. Making the already small house feel even smaller. I remembered how much it bugged me back then, but if I had known then what I knew now I would have treasured these moments a lot more.

As we sat in the middle of the living room talking about this and that I looked over at the mirror that sat on a table. Seeing my teenage self in it once more after so long. Unable to even grow hair on my face yet. Looking over at a calendar that hung on the door I see it is dated 1988. Now I was never one to let myself get lost in my own fantasies but nor was I the type to deny reality as it was. Everything so far felt real. From the slap I gave myself to the food I am currently eating. That could only mean one thing. I really was brought back in time to the year 1988. No matter how ridiculous that may have sounded.

That brought up a lot of questions that I had no answers to but at the same time provided a shit load of opportunities for me to raise my poor family's fortune. In the future past/future, fuck it I will just call it the past, I had a number of jobs. From everything like being a security guard for a company that didn't even no I existed to a low end stockbroker who dealt in everything from gold and crude oil to tech. In truth I was a pretty smart guy but was never really successful and only made a small income. Enough to support myself and my mother who ended up living with me after my father passed away.

I was always just a step too late at whatever I tried to do. Always waiting till the last moment to invest or too late to pull out. It was a good thing I never got married as by the year 2015 I was behind on my car payments, mortgage and owned a not so small sum of money to the bank. That is where things really started to take a turn for the worse. As in a last-ditch effort to get rich I scrounge up just about everything owned and invest in the stock market.

At first everything was going well, and the market was a bull market. Even a complete idiot could make money off it. Sadly, it also only took a idiot who was too greedy to lose it all. Seeing as after its initial 5000-point rise, I had not pulled out like some of the smarter people did. Instead, I put more in, while forgetting that all things that rise must also fall. Leveraging more than what I was making off the stock and when it stagnated, I suffered an overall lose once I paid off all my debts. In other words, I had become completely bankrupt in the span of a few months.

Yet as bad as things where I didn't lose hope and was ready to work hard to get it all back again. Well after a night of heavy drinking that looking back now was ill advised. My last memory before waking up was the sight of the all-powerful truck heading right for me. And a driver that looked suspiciously like yaoguai.

"Shit I died didn't I? And in such a fucking stupid way to." In a morbid way I knew I got what was coming to me for being so stupid as to get drunk next to a highway. But again, my death was clearly not the end of line as most thought. It was as they say in the movies only the beginning.

After drinking the one beer my mother had let me and my father have, I laid in bed and thought about how I was going to go about this. In the coming years there will be a lot of opportunities to become rich but along with those opportunities would come enemies. People who would look to ether exploit me or kill me so they could take all I had earned. There were a million stories of the Chinese government killing or straight stealing their own people's wealth in the name of their communist system. At least that would be the case at the start of China's opening to the west. I will have to play this game very carefully if I wanted to survive.

-The Next Moring-

Waking up the next day I found myself with 10 RMB in my pocket after my parents had given me a New Year's gift. Which didn't sound like a lot but back in the late 1980's was quite a bit. Hell, 2 cents at this time could buy you a popsicle and ice cream only cost three. So, it was a huge amount of money for a kid. After thanking my mother and father for the gift I left the house after having a good breakfast to go find my old friend Wen Dongjin. Who thankfully was never too hard to find.

Being a jolly follow who took things lightly all time it was said in the village that if you wanted to find Wen Dongjin all you had to do was follow the sound of trouble. Or laughter depending on who you asked. And that was what I did and quickly found him playing with fireworks. A joyful activity that I once thought was too childish to do once I hit the age of 14. What a fool I was in that old life. Life was made up mostly of unhappy or dull moments with only a handful of happy ones. To live a good life, I now believed that you had to live a bit more in the moment.

Those moments could come later however as I greeted my old friend. If his first plan was to go as he wished he needed to move quickly, "Morning Dongjun."

Hearing my voice Dongjun turns to face me and smiles, "Yu good morning."

"What are you up to my friend?" I asked him kindly.

"Ah nothing much just fooling around." Dongjun answered his friend.

"Cool, hey listen I just got some cash from my parents for New Year's. I thought we could go find Liang and see if he wants to play poker or something." I say and watch my friend's face brighten. If there was one thing Dongjun liked to do more than fool around it was play cards. For money or just for fun you asked him to play, and he was all in.

"Awesome lets go." Dongjun practically yells out.

It was at this point that I felt a bit bad about what I was doing. Today was the day that would mark a moment in time that would change Dongjun's life forever. It was the day that he would accidentally break his leg hunting with Liang. A tragedy that I wasn't 100% was really an accident. Now I had no proof of that but in my heart, I fully believed Liang had purposely led Dongjun into that bear trap that broke his leg. After all the accident had taken place no more then a few weeks after Dongjun's father had refused to lend Liang's father the village's tractor. A petty reason to purposely break someone's leg but people were petty. However even with my suspicions I was willing to risk it for the prize that awaited them in the hills behind the village.

It takes a little over 10 minutes to make it to Liang's house. With the village being only just over 100 houses big everyone lived in close proximity to each other. And just like last time there was Liang sitting on his front porch getting ready to go hunting with his father's rifle. The only difference being that this time I would be going on this hunting trip as well. Instead of like last time when I found it too cold to do so.

Looking up at us Liang, that snake smiles at us and says, "Yu, Dongjun good morning. You two are just in time I was about to go hunting. You two want to join me?"

"Sure, what are we hunting." Dongjun asks in excitement forgetting all about playing cards in exchange for the chance to go hunt something.

"A bear, I heard from some men in the village that one was spotted not too far from here." Liang says while keeping what seems like a genuine smile on his face.

"That would great the bear skin could fetch us a good amount of cash. But shouldn't your father be joining us?" I ask. I never was the type to enjoy hunting in the first place. While I knew now to hunt the calling of the great outdoors as the Americans called it never made much sense to me. But the opportunity to earn money had been a hallmark of my personality ever since I was a child.

"Father doesn't believe there is a bear roaming around out there this close to winter. So, he only agreed to let me take his rifle just in case I ran into one but refused to go." Liang says to us.

It was a good reason, but I knew that there was a bear out there due to some hunters from the village killing it a few days after Dongjun so called accident. So, I was more than willing to go and said as much, "Alright then let me just go get my father's rifle and we will meet back here in let's say 20 minutes?"

"Sounds good." Liang says as Yu and Dongjun depart to go get their own rifles.

-A few hours later-

Yep, it was as I thought I really hated hunting and hated it with passion. It was cold, it was wet and even with the extra layers of clothes on the bite of the wind still chilled me to the bone. It made me wonder if it was worth it to be out here. Sure, a bear skin was worth quite a bit but was it worth the sheer discomfort I was feeling right now. Probably not but then keeping Dongjun from having that accident was. They had grown up together, fought against other kids together and was the closest thing to a brother I had. That was till the accident. After words the once cheerful Dongjun would slip into a deep depression and hardly leave his home. In fact, the last time we would speak would be the day I left home because only a few years later Dongjun would take his own life.

Fuck I must be a some special type of bastard to risk my friends life like this all for a bear skin. I am going to have to make this up to time if we are were successful. Yes, to make it up to Dongjun I would pay him back 100, no a 1000 times over. Even though Dongjun wouldn't ever know I risked his life like this.

Overall however, the trip was uneventful as Liang lead us carefully down the path to where he heard the bear was. Only stopping for a moment to take out a pack of Black Antelope Cigarettes and lighting one up. Before holding the pack out to use. It was a gesture that combined with the fact that Liang was being so careful made me wonder if the accident was really just that. An unfortunate accident.

Waving him off, I say, "No thank you Liang. I never much like the taste of smoking."

Following suit Dongjun also says no politely but unlike me it's not because he doesn't smoke but because he had his own pack.

"It's quite today, we have only seen some pheasants but no bear. Not even a fox." Dongjun complains as he lights his own cigarette.

"Perhaps there really was no bear." Liang says sounding dejected.

Again, the sound of his voice makes me wonder if he was indeed guiltless of Dongjun's accident. But still, I would keep an eye on him just in case.

Letting out a sign Liang says, "Alright let's forget about the bear. Let spread out a bit, 30 meters should be enough. Dongjun you take the rise over there so you can keep us in site."

"Alright," Dongjun says and starts to climb the rise out of danger of the traps below.

However before we can get to far Dongjun who just made it to the top of the rise says quietly, "Wait, look over there."

Looking in the direction Dongjun is pointing we see a large mass just beyond a clearing just in front of us. Having never seen a bear before in my life I looked at the thing with some fear. As while they had rifles with them only Liang had ever hunted a bear before with his father and some of his friends. It was a dangerous thing to do, especially when it came to a bear that had just come out of hibernation looking for food. Perhaps this wasn't such a great idea after all I thought to myself as I looked at Liang for guidance on what to do.

Liang, however, was looking more than a bit nervous himself. As a part of him didn't actually believe they would find a bear. Or if they did it would have already been trapped in a bear trap. Still, he musters his courage and signals us to follow him. Luckly enough they were down wind, so the bear didn't know they were here yet. Giving them time to get in position for the kill.

Once in position Liang because he was more experienced than Dongjun and I takes the first shot. Which hits the bear just above the lung. Making the bear angry as it turns facing us. Luckly enough Dongjun having always been a great shot takes the 2nd shot hitting it right in the lung bring it down. I take the last shot for good measure hitting it in the neck. For a while we wait in place till we are sure the bear is dead before making our way towards it.

All in all, it was pretty anti-climactic but when it came to hunting bears the last thing you wanted was excitement. With that that said I look down at the dead animal and feel some pity for the thing. After all it was just an animal and while I wasn't some animal rights activist, I had just help kill it to its skin. Not the meat or anything else but the skin that would give him enough money for some start off cash.

As we stand over the bear, I look at Liang and say, "Liang I just thought of something. Now about I buy your half of the bear and in exchange I will talk to my father about loaning out our tractor to your family."

The original reason why I suspected Liang of leading Dongjun into a bear trap in my other life was because of a tractor. With Dongjun's father being the village captain, he was in charge of the communal tractor. Loaning it out to those who didn't have one in a certain order. Liang's family was at the bottom of that list due to bad luck and wasn't scheduled to have use of it till much later. However, Liang's father got it in his head to use the tractor to clear some wasteland behind his house. Something that wasn't allowed. So, when Dongjun's father had refused do to being the government representative of the area they had gotten into a heated argument.

Again, it was a petty reason to attentionally break someone's leg or hold a grudge but in my experience people were petty. Yet if I could convince Liang to take the deal his father would get the tractor he wanted for his somewhat illegal activity and the animosity between the two families would lessen. There would still be some bitterness but nothing at the level of one side seeking revenge on the other.

With a bright look on his face Liang takes Yu's hand and says, "Really that would be great Yu. But will you father agree to this?"

"Hey, don't worry my dad is a reasonable man and we won't be needing the tractor till spring anyways." I say knowing my dad would agree. With my sister having to go back to school soon we would need to give her some money and we were more than a bit short at this point in time.

Now all that was left was to convince Dongjun to loan me his half of the money we would make from the bear to do what I needed to. It shouldn't be too hard as Dongjun wasn't an overly greedy man and trusted me to a certain degree.

-Back at the village-

Upon arriving back at the village, the three boys were welcomed back with a hero's welcome. While hunting way out in the middle of nowhere was an everyday thing the hunting of a bear wasn't. So, upon seeing the bear it was the most exciting thing they had seen in some time. But while it was nice to be welcomed so happily, I only handed one goal. To convince my father to loan out our family's tracker to Liang's family. There was only one little problem. His father and him had just had a fight before New Year's about me dropping out of school.

My father didn't like it, and, on some level, I understood why but in this back water going to school made little sense. The only good ones were in the city, and I didn't have the grades at the time to get accepted into one of those. In the end, however, after bringing up the fact that my sister would need money to stay in the city my father had to relent to my point of view.

As for Liang's father, he was more than happy to accept the deal. As while a bear could fetch a good amount of money, split three ways it wouldn't be enough to lift his family out of poverty. That is why he wanted the tractor. He believed that if he could cultivate the land behind his house, it would make his family rich. Not thinking for a moment that doing so could get him in trouble. But it wasn't my problem that the man didn't know how to think ahead.

My mother, however, wasn't so happy and while respectful of her husband only stayed silent till we got home.

"How could you agree to loaning out our tractor like that? What are we going to do with a bear? Can we even eat it all before the meat goes bad?" She asks in clear irritation.

Holding up my hand I says, "Mom, mom please calm down. We are not keeping the bear. According to Teacher Sun a bear in Bing City can sell for 10,000 RMB if not more."

Now with a shocked look on her face my mom asks, "How much?"

"10,000 mom and split two ways that is 5000 for our family. Instead of 3,333 if split three ways. More than worth loaning out our tractor."

Now Yu's parents were not greedy people. Far from it, but nor where they communists. Like most poor people who don't get a choice between being rich or poor they only thought they were communists do to what the government told them. But when faced with a sudden opportunity to make a good amount of cash they immediately thought about how it could best be used for themselves or their family.

Not to mention that even with the recent reforms by the government his family total yearly income was only just a bit over 10,000 RMB. Richer than most in the village but poorer than those in the city. And it was only that much because his family owned their own tractor and rented it out to others. Which was hard work as the thing was old and in constant need of repair. After everything was factored in, they were left with only a couple of 100 RMBs at the end of the year. So, the thought of increasing their yearly income with little effort was just smart.

"5000 RMBs. Just think we can buy some new clothes for the whole family and still have money to spend." Quickly she grabs my father and kissed him hard on the lips much to the old man's joy. Which made me smile at the joy my little plan had brought the family. And this was just the start.

-2nd day of the Lunar New Year-

The next morning saw Dongjun and I were loading up the bear into Xingtai's old truck with Danying siting in the front seat. I had forgotten that at this point my sister had already met my future brother-in-law. Going so far as to tell their parents about him and going with them just to meet the man. Danying really was a daring woman. Especially during this day and age when it was pretty uncommon.

After loading up the bear Dongjun and I climbed up into the truck and started it up. While both only being about 16 years of age it was not uncommon to see young men like them driving in China. Nobody really cared to enforce the law when it came to things like this. Especially in the outskirts like this. So, one everyone was comfortable we set out on a 3-hour trip to the city and the International Hotel. The only place I could remember that we could get 10 grand for a bear.

Even though it was still the New Year and everything else was closed up for the holiday the hotel was still open. So, when we arrived, I got out of the truck and made his way into the hotel lobby and to the front desk.

"Hello, I am looking for Manger Yu." I say to a pretty 20 something year old women who was at the front desk.

Giving the young man a one over the women keeps her face as straight as she could even though she felt that he didn't belong here. What with dressed in the rags that he was in. "And may I ask who it is that is looking for him."

Despite the politeness in her voice, I can easily detect a hint of condescension in her voice. But don't hold it against the women that much. I knew what I looked like all too well after all. In a couple of years, however, the joke would be on her. "Feng Yu, I called him last night about a bear."

"Oh, you are Mr. Feng's son. Yes, Manager Yu has been waiting for your arrival. One moment I will call him now." The women say with a more pleasant tone of voice now that she knew that this was the young man the manager was waiting on.

In less than two minutes a middle-aged man who is wearing a fine suit walks out of the back with two chefs behind him.

"Mr. Feng good day to you." Chunyuan Yu says with a smile and holds out his hand.

Taking it in mine I shake it politely and says, "Good morning to you as well Manager Yu. How are you doing today."

"I am doing well, and even better if you have the bear me and your father spoke about." Chunyuan says to me.

"Don't worry I have it. Just follow me it's in the back my father's truck." I say to him.

As they made their way-out I saw two men of clearly Russian descent looking at the bear and trying to speak with Dongjun who didn't speak a lick of Russian. A language I had learned in my past life and knew well enough. From what I was hearing the one in the front was talking to Dongjun about hopefully buying the bear skin. Seeing as it was a sizeable black bear, he could go around bragging now he hunted it skinned it when he got home.

"Good day sirs can I help you?" I ask in perfect Russian to the two men who upon looking at me look surprised. No doubt because I looked so young, but that surprise quickly vanished. Which to me showed these men were either politicians or military. Most likely both as they often went hand and hand in Russia.

"Is this your bear young man?" The one standing closest to the truck asked.

"It is, well me and my friends bear that is." I say with a smile.

"How much for it?" He asks with all the flair of a rich man who saw something he wanted and was willing to pay a lot of money to have it.

But I shakes my head and say, "Sorry good sirs but I have already sold the bear meat to the hotel here and can't very well go back on an agreement."

"That is fine. I only want the skin. How much for the skin?" The Russian man asks me.

While it was true I had yet to agree to sell the skin to the hotel as I knew it was worth a lot on its own it kind of went without saying that the hotel would get first offer on the bear skin. Looking over at the hotel manager I can tell he is easily following the flow of the conversation. However, it would be rude to speak up on a deal that had nothing to do with him even if he was pissed that these foreigners were trying to get the bear skin over him. Yet they were also important guests and he couldn't insult them. That put me in a bit of a bind as I may have to do business with the hotel in the future. Best not to cross them right now.

So, quickly thinking of a way to save face with the hotel I answer, "Let's say 10,000 rubles. 8 for me and 2 for the hotel who will be doing the skinning and treatment.

With the current exchange rate being one ruble for every 3 or 4 RMB, 2000 rubles was 8,000. It was a good deal and brought in a profit for the hotel. Which by the look on the man was acceptable to him. As instead of paying for the bear skin that would have cost him around 10,000 more RMB he would get 8000 just for treatment and skinning.

The Russian man however was no fool and said, "10,000 rubles is too much. I will give you three."

"Eight." I counter.

"Five that is as far as I will go. I am sure I can find one else wear for the same price." The Russian man says.

"Yes, but it will most likely be beat up and moth eaten. This one will be fresh. So, let's call it 7 because I still have to give the hotel two for the skinning and treatment." I say back to him.

The Russian man stays quite for a bit but then smiles and says, "Fine 7 it is."

We then shake hands and watch as the cooks get the bear out of the truck.

"You're a smart kid. What is your name young man?" The Russian man asks as the other man goes to fetch the money.

"Xiao Yu, it's a pleasure to meet you Mr…." I leave the question open for answering.

"Khlebnikov Iosif Innokentievich. Let me know if you come across any more bear skins young man. I will be happy to buy them off you." The now named Khlebnikov says before handing me a card and walking off when his assistant comes back with the money.

Once the transaction is done Dongjun asks, "What was that about?"

Looking at my friend I say, "Nothing just that we are walking away from this 30,000 RMB instead of ten."

Loving the way his eyes nearly bulge out of his head I laugh and get back into the truck as Dongjun tries to think of what he will do with his half of the money. Which was 15,000 each and coming from a poor family the way he does such an amount was unheard of.

Yet before we can get to far my sister tunes to me and asks, "Yu since when you can speak Russan?"

Looking at her I just smile and say, "Who knows?"

After we drop off my sister where she was meeting her boyfriend, I tell her we will be back within a few hours and not to do anything she shouldn't. Their father was already upset enough that she had a boyfriend he had never met. If she were to get pregnant there would be hell to pay. Though I knew her boyfriend Shiqiang wasn't a bad guy. Never amounted to much but in the past he took good care of my sister, living a semi happy life with several kids.

As she walks off, I look at Dongjun and ask, "Dongjun how would you like to make even more money?"

Dongjun who had been busy daydreaming of how he was going to go about spending his 15,000 wakes up and looks at me, "Huh? What do you mean? We have already made a lot of money."

"Yes, but now would you like to earn more?" I asked him with a smirk.

It takes a while for Dongjun's mind to catch up with what I am asking but then that happy-go-lucky smile comes to his face he answer, "Yes but how do we make more money?"

"Just follow my lead my friend." I start up the truck and we pull off to find somewhere to hang out for an hour or two.

-Two hours later-

When we returned to Shiqiang home me and Dongjun saw my sister waiting for us with her boyfriend by her side. But before she can get into the truck, I get out and say, "Hey sis hold up. I need to speak with my future brother-in-law for a moment."

This makes the happy couple blush red in embarrassment much to my and Dongjun's amusement.

"Yu really, stop your teasing. How what do you what with Shiqiang?" She asks me, looking at me suspiciously. Danying knew her brother all too well. Everything about him was about money. In a word he was greedy. So, if he wanted to talk to her boyfriend, it was no doubt about money. But he just made the family 15,000 RMB. Something she told her boyfriend much to his shock.

"Nothing to import sister just about our families recent good fortune and now he could befit from it as well." I say smiling as I see Shiqiang face become very interested.

While he didn't fully understand how it was such a young man could have such good fortune so quickly or how he was able to negotiate with a foreigner. He did what a piece of that good fortune. If for no other reason then he wanted to take care of Danying who he saw as his women now. But he couldn't very well do that if her brother suddenly made the family rich. As it would be a poor match and one her family would never agree to.

It would seem that Danying however didn't feel the same why as she spoke up and said, "Brother listen I don't know what plan you have going through that little head of yours. But don't go letting a little bit of good fortune go to your head."

"Sister, you hurt me. Trust me, it's nothing to risking. I only what to ask your boyfriend for some help getting some treasury bonds." I say to him.

Looking confused now Shiqiang says, "Treasury bonds. What do you need with those worthless things?"

I just look at him with a smile and ask, "You work at the post office right Shiqiang?"

"Yes…" He answered but not seeing my point but that was because I hadn't made it yet.

"Then I am sure you have heard that people are looking to exchange RMB for foreign currency, right?" I asked him.

It took a moment, but Shiqiang did remember hearing something like that from some of his coworkers and his boss. He just didn't pay much attention to what was being said at the time as it wasn't important to him.

"Yes…. I do remember hearing something about that." Shiqiang answers slowly.

"Good then you can help us. Seeing as you work at the post office, I am sure you can find us a private buyer for the Rubles we have." I say to him.

"Private buyer? Why not just exchange it at the bank?" Shiqiang asks.

"Banks won't give us a good deal on an exchange like this. Most likely only 3 RMB per Rubies and only in small amounts with a lot of hoops to jump though. But I bet you can find someone to buy them for 4 or five RMB. If you can do this for us, I can guarantee my family's approval for my sister's hand in marriage. Along with 1000 RMB for your efforts. Then I can make you even more with treasury bonds." I tell him while my sister gets a look on her face that says she is about to speak out against me.

But hearing this Shiqiang immediately says, "I will do it."

As I knew he would. Shiqiang was like everyone else in the world, greedy. The only thing separating him from others was he was greedy for my sister. He loved her and wanted to give her the type of life she could only dream of. Knowing that people were indeed looking to exchange RMB for any type of foreign currency. This was a way to make over a year's salary in just a few days as well as earn him the good graces of love's family. Which was far more important to him than money. In other words, Shiqiang was trustworthy and easy to manipulate.

After I give Shiqiang 5000 Rubies and get back in the truck with my sister and Danying, my sister immediately starts slapping me hard. And I can't say not for a good reason.

"What were you thinking brother? Making promises like that to Shiqiang, you known father is already angry with me for going ahead and meeting Shiqiang's parents while he hadn't even known about him till New Years. And now you go and give him over 20,000 RMB worth of money. And for what because you are greedy. Father is going to beat you when we get home." She says to me angrily.

Holding up my hand I says, "Sister, sister calm down. Listen, your right father is going to be angry when we get home, and he finds out what I have done. But look at it this way, Shiaiang isn't a complete stranger. He is your boyfriend, so I trust him, and this is a way he can prove himself to father. The only reason father hasn't demanded you end your relationship with him is that you told him Shiaiang works at the post office. Making him better off than those in the village and able to provide for you. If he however can exchange all the Rubies for RMB then father will definitely have a different option of the man."

Her eyes narrowing at her brother, Danying says, "Feng Yu, how long have you been planning this?"

She knew her brother all too well. He may not have always thought things through but was the type to just come with something like this on the spot. No most things he plotted where at least somewhat thought out.

"Ever since we killed the bear." I answer her in a matter-of-fact voice.

Inside the truck it is very silent for a while as I pull away and start the trip back home. That is till my sister says, "2000."

"What?" I ask her in a confused voice.

"You will pay Shiaiang 2000 if things go the way you want. If you don't agree I won't help you calm down father when we get home." Danying says not happy that her brother was using Shiaiang the way he was. But nor could she call into question Shiaiang's character. So, the best she could do was get a bit of revenge on her brother by making him pay Shiaiang at bit more.

I just smiled at her demand, however. I didn't need to agree to it as the wheels were already rolling with or without her help. Father may very well be angry at me for giving such a sum away but there was little he could do about it. As it wasn't his money but my money well mine and Dongjun's. Who was wisely staying silent. With that said however I would not deny her,

"Very well 2000." I say and see her smile somewhat happily.

-Back home-

Things more or less went like my sister said. While my parents were ecstatic that I had brought home 5000 RMB home. They were not so happy to know I had made 10,000 on top of that and just gave it away. Or that is how they saw it till my sister stepped in and told them that they could trust Shiaiang. It took a few hours but my father, with the help of my sister calmed down. After all it was 10,000 extra, that they didn't even know I had made before we returned home.

About 3 days later my gamble, as my father liked to call it, paid off as Shiaiang showed up in a beat up old Jeep that the Li family had in their possession for years. As they got out of the jeep, they brought out some cartons of cigarettes, two bottles of wine, some boxes of tea and to bags of sausages. Just by what they had brought I could tell Shiaiang had been successful but if that wasn't enough his smile told the tell. Well, that and how closely he was holding a backpack. Looking around suspiciously as he did.

After everyone greeted each other and my father and mother took Shiaiang's parents to the side to talk I grab Shiaiang. Then asked him, "So how did it go my future brother-in-law?"

It took a moment for Shiaiang to fight off the blush on his face, but when he does he smiles and answers, "It went great. I was able to exchange everything for 25,000 RMB."

Rasing an eyebrow at this I think 25,000. He was about to exchange everything for a full RMB more than I thought. Not bad, my soon to be brother-in-law may be more capable than I at first thought he was.

"That is great Shiaiang. Very good let's go tell my father and mother. I am sure they will be happy to hear my sister's boyfriend is so capable."

And they were. They were in fact very happy to hear it. As no one in the room had ever heard or known anyone who had made this much money in just a few days. And while half of it belonged to Dongjun he had already given me permission to use it all as I wished. So long as I told him about my plans beforehand that is. Which I did already. He may not have understood it, but we were close friends and I had already made him 5000 RMBs richer. He was willing to risk the extra for a chance at greater gains.

As we all sat down to enjoy a good meal and each other's company I was already thinking about how to take my family's new wealth and turn it in to a even bigger profit. It wasn't going to be easy, but I had a plan that was set in a future event that I knew was about to happen. If things went well, I could make my family millions in the span of a couple of months. That was for later, however, for now I was just going to enjoy this small moment in time where my family was happy and celebrating or good fortune.