Translator: Cheese
Buying an aquarium
In the pavilion of the community, the four gathered around, staring at the “large sum” on the stone table, discussing how to deal with it.
Su Tian originally wanted to return it to the eldest young miss, but You-Overbearing CEO-Pin-Child of Wealth1-Yan waved her hand and said, this money was earned by Su Tian’s own skills, so of course it should be hers.
Su Tian: “…”
Then they had to think about how the 110,000 yuan was going to be spent.
Xi Yun stared at the check and blinked. He asked cautiously, “Is this money enough for publication?”
He still thought about Kaka spin-offs and wanted to make toys to make money.
You Pinyan: “I don’t… I don’t know. It’s probably not enough ba?”
Liu Kaiyan: “No need, I plan on entering the competition later. If I can win a prize…”
Before he finished speaking, Su Tian looked over and said, “It’s free money anyway, so why don’t we give it a try?”
“What?”
“Self-publishing.”
“110,000, including the means and other costs, should be enough to print 10,000 copies first. Let’s test the waters and see how the market will take to this kind of manhua. If the response is unsatisfactory, we’ll just pull out. It’s just a loss of 110,000–it’s money that blew in2, so we’ll treat it as buying a lesson. If the response is good, we’ll invest more. What do you guys think?”
Liu Kaiyan: “…”
He didn’t think that, with these two sentences, Su Tian had thought so much.
But this was 110,000. How could she say it so lightly?
You Pinyan was the first to raise her hands in agreement. “Good, I approve!” She would agree to anything so long as it was Su Tian saying it.
After a pause, she added on a sentence. “Tang Qifeng, this person, is so stingy, only giving Tiantian 110,000! Shouldn’t it at least be 5 million ba? If we had 5 million, we wouldn’t have to worry.”
Su Tian couldn’t help laughing.
The eldest young miss couldn’t get over the 5 million.
Xi Yun thought, then raised his little hand up high. “I agree, too. The students in our class like Kaka a lot. They like him more than ‘Robots.’”
“Robots” was the hottest cartoon show nowadays, but it was only popular among the boys. Xi Yun felt that if Kaka could be made into a cartoon, not only would the boys like it, but the girls would, as well.
Ultimately, the decision fell on Liu Kaiyan’s shoulders. Everyone looked at him.
The seventeen-year-old had never made such a huge decision before. He even felt that his decision to leave the house didn’t give him as much pressure as he felt at this moment.
If he made a loss, he would owe Su Tian 260,000 yuan.
260,000. To an ordinary resident of a small countryside town, it was an amount that couldn’t be paid back for an entire lifetime.
Even if Su Tian felt that this 110,000 was money that blew in, it wasn’t originally her money.
Su Tian: “Liu Kaiyan, take your time to think. You don’t need to worry about our opinions. If you think the prospects are good, then we’ll try; if you think the chances of making a loss are high, then we’ll give up. We can take risks, but we can’t do a business that we know will be a loss, right?”
“Okay.”
“…?!”
Liu Kaiyan’s eyes lowered, partially covering his black pupils. He repeated, “Okay, let’s try.”
To a seventeen-year-old youth from a small countryside town, this was a decision with everything on the line3.
Liu Kaiyan though, if he really did lose money, he would just work for Su Tian’s dessert shop for the rest of his life. That didn’t seem so bad.
With a unanimous agreement, everyone cheered and began to discuss the division of labor.
Liu Kaiyan wanted to revise the manuscript. Of course, it wasn’t to revise the general plot, but rather to improve upon the previous draft’s shortcomings. After he began to study methodically, he became particularly aware that he had actually made many basic mistakes
Su Tian and You Pinyan were responsible for operations and printing. Of course, their cuteness was their bargaining tool!
Everyone finished discussing and happily walked out. Then, they saw Tang Qifeng waiting not far away.
Xi Yun’s eyes lit up. He tugged Su Tian and asked in a quiet voice, “Jiejie, is this the person who gave you 110,000?”
Su Tian quietly whispered back, “That’s right.”
As they spoke, Tang Qifeng walked over.
You Pinyan took Su Tian to leave, not wanting to pay him any mind, but she was blocked off by his outstretched hand.
Tang Qifeng: “Xiao Yan, even if you’re willful, you should think about Grandpa. He’s getting older, yet he has to worry about you all day. Can’t you be more thoughtful?”
At the mention of Elder You, the expression on You Pinyan’s face eased up. She no longer put up the spikes on her body.
Su Tian saw this and patted You Pinyan. “You two talk. I’ll head back to the store first.”
Su Tian left, taking with her the other two.
On the way, Xi Yun asked curiously, “What did that person come to do?”
Su Tian: “Xiao Yan jiejie ran away from home. How her family is worried about her and wants her to come back.”
Xi Yun recalled You Pinyan’s family members, who they had happened to come across at the aquarium, and said with some dislike, “Her family isn’t one bit good to her. She definitely doesn’t want to go back.”
Just like him. Xi Zhiqiang wasn’t good to him, and he didn’t want to go back home.
Su Tian: “But there are still some people at home who treat her well ah.”
Xi Yun lowered his head and said nothing.
Su Tian knew that he was recalling that there was only one person in his family, Xi Zhiqiang, who wasn’t good to him, but she didn’t console him.
Xi Yun, Liu Kaiyan, and You Pinyan were all children from unhappy families. Especially the first two, who had never experienced what a normal family was like.
This abnormal environment for growth was likely to distort their personality and three world views4. This situation was extremely terrible, but if they became like Xianglin’s wife5, it would be very tragic.
Su Tian could only try to tell them that they were just rather unlucky to run into those kinds of parents.
And back luck would always pass. So long as one shook it off, the future was infinite in possibilities.
In the afternoon, the toy store next to the dessert shop didn’t open again.
Su Tian didn’t know what Tang Qifeng had said to You Pinyan, nor whether You Pinyan agreed to go back with him, because she never even saw the eldest young miss.
And Liu Kaiyan didn’t say anything the entire time..
Until the dessert shop closed in the evening. He Qingwan had returned home first. When Su Tian and Liu Kaiyan had locked the doors after them, he suddenly spoke. “Tiantian, even if You Pinyan goes back, you can still stay in touch by calling.”
Ever since the mysterious man had appeared, he felt that she was somewhat downcast.
Su Tian locked the doors and smiled back. “Yes ah, I know. I’m just a bit reluctant, that’s all.”
If You Pinyan really did decide to return home, Su Tian wouldn’t object. Not to mention that there was no use in her objecting.
She was just too worried. You Pinyan was too straightforward. If something really didn happen after she went back, she would be too far away for Su Tian to lend a hand.
Liu Kaiyan comforted her in a low voice and sent her home.
Before the two could head downstairs, they spotted a figure sitting at the entrance of the building.
The eldest young miss had always been as proud as a rooster. Now, as she sat alone under the dim street light, she looked rather pitiful.
She lifted her head as she saw Su Tian, looking as though she were about to cry.
The smile on Su Tian’s face diminished. She walked over and asked in a soft voice, “What’s wrong?”
You Pinyan’s lips thinned. She let out the sentence she had kept in for a long while. “I miss my grandpa.”
Su Tian stroked her head, saying softly, “Then call give him a call first, hm?”
You Pinyan nodded. She picked up her phone and called home.
Su Tian took a few steps back, giving You Pinyan plenty of space.
The call must have connected, because the aggrieved expression on You Pinyan’s face reappeared. She called out “Grandpa,” then stopped talking.
Su Tian surmised that Elder You must be speaking on the other end.
After a while, she heard the eldest young miss say, “Grandpa, can you buy me an aquarium?”
Su Tian: “…”
[1] 散财童子: Sudhanakumara, or Shancai Tongzi as he’s known in Chinese. According to Baidu, upon Shancai’s birth, many rare treasures naturally appeared in his home, hence his name (散财童子 means “Boy who Brings Wealth”).
[2] 大风刮来: blown in by a strong wind. Based on context, it sounds like something (in this case, money) that fell into their hands by chance or minimal effort
[3] 孤注一掷: to stake all on one throw
[4] 三观: the collective term for one’s world outlook, outlook on life, and values
[5] A character from Lu Xun’s 1924 novel “New Year’s Sacrifice.” Xianglin’s wife is portrayed as a hardworking, middle-aged woman whose life was marred by misfortune despite her attempts to improve her fate. In the end, she died in the freezing cold as a beggar shunned by the rest of the village.
I’m not sure what relation the character has to what Su Tian’s talking about, but it may be a reference to how Xianglin’s wife’s relatives forced her to remarry after her first husband’s death for their own capital gain? Or how she continued to be hit while she was down whenever she tried to make the best of her life?
Cheese: never try to figure out the minds of the ultra-wealthy…
Cheese Translations 
Is it because of what happened that day?
Thanks for the chapter!!!!!
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Thanks for picking this up! (And also using the original chapter numbering, it’s frustrating not to know how many chapters you have until the end haha)
Just found this series the other day and enjoying it! I’m usually not too much of a fan of system stories but in this the system aspect doesn’t really come into play at all. I like seeing the development of the “villains” too.
Stay safe!
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Thanks for the update! 🙂 looking forward for more.
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