Chapter 220

Gu Zhanwang took the kids for a walk around, and even Fantuan was silent. If murals were to be painted on the entire building, it would no longer be a task that could be completed in just half a summer vacation.

“Old Gu, why do I feel like we’ve been tricked by you?” Fantuan said.

Gu Zhanwang rubbed his eyes and wore a somewhat enigmatic expression. “What do you mean?”

Fantuan said, “Your mall is so big; if we have to paint all the walls here, how long do you think it will take for just a few of us?”

Gu Zhanwang smiled mysteriously and said, “Do you remember your serialization in the daily newspaper?”

The five kids stared at Gu Zhanwang, their ten eyes fixed on him, almost as if they were saying, “Spit it out already if you have something to say.”

Gu Zhanwang cleared his throat and continued: “Strictly speaking, your serialized work can also be considered a form of comic. This format is very popular in neighboring countries, and it actually appeared in our country a long time ago, but most people don’t have that concept. I never planned for you to finish it in just one summer vacation.”

Gu Zhanwang pointed to the position at the entrance of the first floor and said, “I need you to create a story in the serialized, illustrated format like in the daily newspapers, which means filling the entire building with comics. The entrance and lobby on the first floor are your tasks for this summer vacation. Don’t worry about the small shops inside; you only need to take care of the public areas, including restrooms and elevator lobbies. During the winter break, you can move on to the second floor, the summer vacation of next year will be for the third floor, and the winter break of next year will be for the fourth floor, and so on. Each floor will be a continuation of the story until it reaches the top floor, where the story will finally conclude.”

The five cubs: “…”

This was a plan that Gu Zhanwang had thought of for a long time after hearing Fantuan say, ‘We don’t lack fame or profit; our names are already serialized in the daily newspaper and are well-known.’

The phrase “well-known” gave Gu Zhanwang a lot of inspiration. Many people could draw well, and many could write well, but few possessed both skills to such an exceptional degree. Fantuan and his group were the only ones who had been famous for their serialized comics in the daily newspaper since childhood. That newspaper and its serialized comics accompanied many people as they grew up and were a significant part of their youth. Almost everyone was curious about the authors behind it.

With such a strong wind at their backs, Gu Zhanwang would be a fool not to take advantage of it.

Gu Zhanwang had a far-reaching vision. Of course, he valued them more than just their skills. He could already see the possibilities for the next five or even ten years. These excellent young people will inevitably be the top scorers in the college entrance examination or good candidates for admission to Peking University in a few years. It will be the most prosperous time for this trend, and it is difficult to imagine whether this shopping mall will become popular or not.

Fantuan sighed, feeling that he had misunderstood Mr. Gu Zhanwang: “Old Gu, Uncle Gu, Mr. Gu, I admit you’re cunning, no, you’re farsighted, no, you’re visionary, but we’re just a few weak and helpless elementary school students. Can you bear to trap us here for the next few years of our summer and winter vacations? We refuse to do it anymore. Here’s your plane ticket money back. Can you let us go?”

Gu Zhanwang shook his head and said, “No, when you took my plane ticket money, we already had an agreement between us. A verbal agreement is still an agreement. Han Cheng and Su Xiaoxiao can testify. You can’t back out now.”

Fantuan sat on the ground, lifting his head proudly. “I’m just being unreasonable; what can you do about it? Can you tie my hands and make me draw? You started being unreasonable first. I told you before, my mom plans to open a big restaurant in the future. If we spend all our summer and winter vacations here, what will happen to my mom’s restaurant?”

Zhuzi also said, “Yes, Uncle Gu, we still have a lot of things to do. The serialization in the daily newspaper cannot be stopped, and when we’re in high school, our vacations aren’t that long. We won’t even have time to visit Grandma’s house, let alone stay here.”

Gu Zhanwang mimicked Fantuan’s posture, sitting cross-legged on the ground, and pulled Zhuzi down to sit beside him. The other three kids followed suit and sat down.

Gu Zhanwang looked at the five extremely pleasing cubs, put his arm around Fantuan’s shoulder, and asked, “In your eyes, is Old Gu just a heartless and unscrupulous villain who makes minor work to death?”

Fantuan wanted to say “yes,” but after thinking for a moment, he spoke earnestly, “Old Gu, do you know? Since I was five, my mom has let Xiao Doubao and me make our own decisions on anything that doesn’t go against morality. She said that we must consider any decision carefully and, regardless of the outcome, take responsibility for it ourselves without making excuses or shirking responsibility.

I admit I took this matter too lightly, which was my own fault. I thought it was just a small shopping mall, no bigger than Beijing’s Shopping Mall, okay? I never expected your financial strength to be this big. Painting such a large shopping mall far exceeds our capacity.”

For Zhuxi and Xiao Doubao, it’s manageable since we live in Beijing, but Da Bao, Xiao Bao, and Xiao Yu don’t live here. It’s uncertain if they can come during the winter break. Da Bao and Xiao Bao also help out with their family whenever help is needed during summer vacation. When things get busy on the farm, we’re all out in the fields. We really can’t spare that much time.

My mom says life is more than just work and study; it is more than just food and daily necessities. It’s also about poetry and seeing distant places. When we’re a bit older and can travel on our own during winter and summer vacations, we want to take time to see our country’s magnificent rivers and mountains and experience the poetry and distant places my mom talks about. So, Uncle Gu and Mr. Gu, we can’t spend our best years working in your mall. We’ll have plenty of time to work after we graduate from college.”

Fantuan didn’t know what came over him; his gaze softened even more. “Even if you go to my Mom, she’ll listen to my wishes. When we were very young, my mom told us that learning is important, but happiness is the most important. Playing is also important. We shouldn’t miss out on anything we should experience at our age. If my Mom is not my Mom right now, a smart child like me may have been forced to skip grade and jump right into high school. But my Mom only asked me to go to college before I turned eighteen. As for how to arrange primary and middle school, and how to play, it’s all up to me. So, like all my peers, I had a normal and happy childhood.”

Fantuan mentioned his mom three times; this shows how big Su Xiaoxiao’s influence is on him.

Su Xiaoxiao really knows how to teach children, and there are only a few kids like them in the whole country.

Zhuzi also nodded and said, “Aunt Su is the best mother and mentor in the world. We were all taught by her. Uncle Gu, there are really many things we need to do, and we can’t spend all our time building this mall. Xiao Doubao is still so young.”

Da Bao and Xiao Bao also said, “We were taught by Aunt Su too, Old Gu. We really can’t be sure if we can come during winter vacation. Although we want to earn some pocket money, we also want to see the capital and the world.”

Xiao Yu bulged his cheeks and said, I listen to Fantuan. Whatever Fantuan tells me to do, I do.”

Gu Zhanwang looked at a few half-grown children who couldn’t even be called teenagers, feeling more satisfied the more he looked at them. He shook his head, chuckling. “You guys, Old Gu may indeed be a profit-seeking businessman, but have you forgotten? I’m also your parents’ good friend. Could I deceive my friends’ children? I like you guys too much for that.”

Gu Zhanwang ruffled each of their heads. “You guys, always making a mountain out of a molehill. When did I say I’d use up your entire vacation? We’re just painting one wall in the ground-floor lobby. Do you really need your whole vacation for that?”

The kids exchanged glances. Fantuan spoke up, “Just one wall? Not the whole thing?”

Gu Zhanwang replied, “Exactly. Just the wall directly facing the entrance. The task for the first year is a bit heavier, and we must finish the entrance first. The theme here doesn’t have to relate to the serialization. There’s only one elevator area, and the bathrooms are on two levels. These won’t take up much of your time, will they? As for the serialization, just use that wall. Every six months, I’ll give you ten days or two weeks off. Can’t you manage that? And then we’ll continue like this all the way up.

As for the top floor, I plan to leave it to your mom. I’ll discuss partnering up to open a restaurant or a food street. It won’t hinder your design work because the restaurant will be right here. But that’s a discussion for later.”

Gu Zhanwang pointed again at the tall wall facing the entrance, saying, “Even if Da Bao, Xiao Bao, and Xiao Yu can come to help with this wall, I’ll cover their round-trip tickets. Even if they can’t make it, you, Zhuzi, and Xiao Doubao can handle it in ten days to two weeks. I’ve considered this carefully. I deliberately stretched out the timeline a bit. Customers who visited this year might return next year to follow the serialization, right? But I absolutely have no intention of taking advantage of kids. Besides, can I even fool you, clever kids?

Or do you think Su Xiaoxiao and Han Cheng really don’t care about you anymore? If I tried to deceive you, they’d hold me accountable immediately. How about this? I’ll add another benefit. From now on, if you want to go anywhere or take a flight, I’ll cover your round-trip ticket. How’s that? Isn’t that sincere enough of me? “

Fantuan looked at him suspiciously and said, “Are you really leaving the top floor for my mom to open her restaurant?”

Gu Zhanwang: “It’s a joint venture to open a restaurant. Your mom has the ability, experience, and brains, and I have the money. With your help, we’ll be unbeatable. But it’s not the right time yet.”

Fantuan: “…” 

Fantuan couldn’t help but feel that it sounded unreliable.

Fantuan and his friends had a small meeting and finally felt that getting such benefits for just ten days or two weeks was still worth it. It was easier than any other way to earn pocket money, and with this money, Da Bao and Xiao Bao could buy anything they wanted.

The key was that they could all use “public funds” to fly to the capital in the future. It wasn’t even about money anymore. Gu Zhanwang was indeed generous.

The five cubs bumped their fists in unison. Then, Fantuan raised his fist once more and tapped it against Gu Zhanwang’s. “It’s a deal. Provide me with the exact dimensions of the locations where you want us to paint. Unlike our ‘Three Meals, Four Seasons,’ where we could improvise freely, precision is important here. Additionally, we should brainstorm the storyline for the serialized comics that you want. Do you have any particular themes in mind?”

Gu Zhanwang rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then shook his head and replied, “Just let your creativity run wild. I trust all of you, and I’m looking forward to a surprise, though I’m not sure if you can surprise me.”

Fantuan glared at him and retorted, “No need to provoke us. We’re not fools. Why would we jeopardize our own reputation? I know exactly why you’re dragging this out. You’re thinking we’ll all have to take the college entrance exams in three, four, or five years tops, and one of us might even be the top scorer. Then you can brag about these being treasures from the top scorer. There’s nothing like that anywhere in the capital, right?”

Gu Zhanwang: “…” 

This kid is getting shrewd.

Fantuan knew he guessed it right based on the expression on Old Gu’s face and continued, “Old Gu, with all of these benefits, if you want us to help in the future, this small profit isn’t enough. We also need that thing called a bonus, yes, a bonus!”

Gu Zhanwang tousled Fantuan’s hair and reassured him, “Don’t worry, when the time comes for individuals to open their own ‘branches,’ not only will I give you bonuses, I might even issue you shares.”

Xiao Yu asked, “Uncle Gu, what does the word share mean?”

Gu Zhanwang said earnestly to Xiao Yu, “Xiao Yu, you should follow your dad to join the army in the future. It suits you better, and you won’t be at a disadvantage.”

Xiao Yu nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be like Dad and become a platoon leader. But what does that have to do with shares?”

Fantuan put his arm around Xiao Yu’s neck. “If you’re in the army, shares won’t matter to you. But don’t worry, I’ll be living the good life, and I’ll take you with me. You won’t suffer any losses.”

Xiao Yu has always blindly admired Fantuan and said, “Hmm, Fantuan must be right!”

Fantuan said to Gu Zhanwang again, “Old Gu, you said it yourself. My mom also believes that in the future, individuals will be able to openly start businesses. When that day comes, our ‘Three Meals, Four Seasons’ will expand nationwide.”

Gu Zhanwang adjusted his glasses and nodded. “Your mom is right. I believe that day will come soon. I’ll keep the top floor reserved for her.”

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T/N: 10 chapters to go until the end of the main story. We’re nearing the end!! Oh, and we have 23 extra chapters!!