I Really Didn't Mean to Make Money

The elderly folks who had been chatting away also started to join in the discussion.

“Who’s that kid, Little Mozi?”

“You don’t know? He’s from Unit Three, the Chen family.”

“That kid’s really made something of himself, driving a Mercedes now.”

“I always knew he’d do well, such a smart kid. He was always at the top of his class.”

“I wonder if Little Mozi has a girlfriend. My niece is about his age.”

“........”

Hearing the loud chatter behind him, Chen Mo stiffened for a moment, then turned around with a smile.

“Aunt Wang, you’re busy here?”

“Busy with what? Just chatting with them. Where are you coming from?”

Aunt Wang asked while munching on sunflower seeds.

“From Jiangcheng.”

Chen Mo replied as he took the New Year’s goods out of the trunk and closed it again.

“That’s not close. It must take over four hours to drive.”

“On the highway, it’s just over three hours. Aunt, I’ll head home first.” 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

“Go on, drop by my place when you have time!”

“Sure!”

After saying this, Chen Mo quickly left with the New Year’s goods. As for visiting, everyone knew it was just polite talk, and no one took it seriously.

He arrived at his doorstep and knocked on the door.

It was his father, Chen Jingrui, who opened it. Today wasn’t a rest day, and he was still on duty at the county government.

“You’re back! Come in and warm up. Your mom’s already made dumplings for you, they’re in the pot.”

His father spoke slowly, taking the New Year’s goods from his hands.

“There are more things in the car. I need to make a couple more trips.”

Chen Mo placed the goods at the door, then went back downstairs to bring up the rest of the goods and his luggage.

Of course, he had to endure another round of questioning from the elderly neighbors.

Back home, he enjoyed a plate of dumplings.

Every time he returned home, the family would make dumplings for him.

In their older generation’s time, life was tough, and having dumplings was a rare treat.

There’s even a saying,

“Nothing tastes better than dumplings...”

Time passed, Evening came, and his mother, Yang Xiulian, had returned from the city government.

“Old Chen, do you think this necklace looks good?”

His mother was showing off a gold necklace to his father.

The necklace was a gift from him to his mother, costing nearly twenty thousand yuan. But since it was for his mother, he didn’t mind the expense.

Of course, when he presented the necklace, he was scolded for spending recklessly.

Besides the necklace, he also bought his father a set of tea utensils and tea leaves, knowing his father’s fondness for them.

He also bought two sets of clothes for them.

“It looks nice!”

His father glanced at his mother, then went back to fiddling with the tea set.

His mother gave his father a look and snorted.

“What a waste on this tea set, it costs thousands.”

“What do you know!”

His father retorted, continuing to play with the teapot.

Chen Mo watched them with a smile and walked away.

The next day, It was the Little New Year.

The family prepared a table full of delicious food.

“Son, there’s a performance at the square later. Why don’t you go check it out? It’s quite lively.”

At the dining table, His mother spoke slowly.

Chen Mo thought about it. Staying home wasn’t that interesting, so he nodded in agreement.

After eating, he headed out.

The square wasn’t far away, so he decided not to drive.

“Chen Mo?”

Just as he reached the square, he heard someone calling from behind.

Chen Mo turned towards the voice and saw a young man in a down jacket looking at him with surprise.

“It’s really you, Chen Mo! I thought you looked familiar.”

“Wang Bin?”

Chen Mo looked closely, then spoke with some confusion.

In his memory, this was his elementary and middle school classmate.

“Yeah.”

Wang Bin quickly walked over.

“After you went to that top high school, we never saw you again. So, where are you working now?”

“I’m in Jiangcheng.”

Chen Mo smiled awkwardly. During elementary and middle school, he didn’t interact much with his classmates.

After all, even though he was in his teens, his soul was already that of an adult.

Watching those childish antics made it hard for him to fit in.

So after high school, he lost touch with those classmates.

“Jiangcheng is a great place, not too expensive, and the pressure of life isn’t that high.”

Wang Bin said with a smile.

“By the way, there’s a class reunion after the New Year at a hotel in the county. You should come. We were just talking about you in the group chat a few days ago.”

Listening to Wang Bin, Chen Mo thought for a moment and agreed.

After all, they were classmates, and it wouldn’t be nice to refuse outright.

“Alright, I’ll be there for the reunion.”

“Great! Let me add you to the group. Most of our childhood classmates are in there. We’ll notify everyone about the reunion in the group.”

“Okay!”

They exchanged contact information, and Wang Bin added him to a group chat.

“Hey everyone, guess who I just added? Scholar Chen.”

As soon as he entered the group and updated his name, he saw Wang Bin’s message.

“No way, it’s really Scholar Chen.”

“Scholar Chen, long time no see. Where are you making it big now?”

“Wang Bin, nice job getting Scholar Chen in here.”

“......”

Looking at the group messages, Chen Mo smiled wryly and greeted everyone in the chat.

Honestly, after so many years without contact, he barely remembered most of the people in the group.

“Chen Mo, you wouldn’t believe it, but Luo Xiao’s doing great. He’s making movies now.”

“He’s coming to the reunion too. I’m definitely going to ask him for a role, get myself on TV.”

Putting away his phone, Wang Bin said with a sigh.

Luo Xiao?

Chen Mo thought for a moment and vaguely remembered.

This person had good grades back then. If it weren’t for him, Luo Xiao would have been the top student.

And during school, Luo Xiao’s family seemed quite wealthy, often having someone pick him up by car. Having a car back then meant the family was doing very well.

Who would have thought he’d become a director now? Must be making a lot of money.

He often saw short videos about movies breaking billions in box office revenue.

That’s way more than he could make, even with his system, racking his brains for every calculation.

As they chatted, they reached the edge of the square.

By now, several teams were standing neatly inside the square. A quick glance showed that these were the performers.

But what surprised Chen Mo was that all the performers were elderly folks.

What’s going on?

But soon, Wang Bin explained it to him.

“The competition starts in 10 minutes.”

“Competition? I thought it was a performance?”

Chen Mo was even more puzzled. His mom had clearly said it was a performance.