Chapter 53: Brother Kei

At the dining table, Chen Shuting ate as she asked Ye Fan, "I'm heading back to the Chen family estate. Will you be alright here by yourself?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"I'll be staying with the Chen family for at least two weeks this time. I've left two hundred thousand for you, which should be more than enough for your expenses during this period."

"Two hundred thousand is plenty. I've saved up fifty or sixty thousand of my own!"

Ye Fan replied absent-mindedly, his mind already racing with plans on how to make money.

Before long, the three of them finished eating. Chen Shuting left with Old Luan, leaving Ye Fan alone in the villa.

"Time to get to work!"

Rubbing his hands together with excitement, Ye Fan ran upstairs, opened a box, and found a note left for him by Li Yaoyao.

"Ye Fan, I've gone out to look for a storefront. Leave me a message if you need anything!"

So she had gone to look for a commercial space. Ye Fan wasn't too surprised. He walked straight out of the villa, hailed a cab, and headed toward the nearby wholesale market.

Since he had mentioned opening a clothing store with Li Yaoyao, he deliberately picked out vintage clothes. Those garments might look outdated by current standards, but if taken back to the 1980s, they would be the height of fashion!

Seeing that these clothes wouldn't sell anyway, the shopkeeper practically gave them away for half-price, handing over a dozen large boxes to Ye Fan on the spot!

"Deliver these to Villa 1001, Chunjiang Yueming!"

Leaving the address, Ye Fan wasted no time and headed straight to the nearby electronics market.

To be honest, in the twenty-first century, there were simply too many novel gadgets around. Ye Fan could easily cause a sensation in the 1980s with just a few random items.

However, if he intended to make two hundred million in a month, he needed something extraordinary!

Sitting in the taxi, Ye Fan gazed blankly out the window as the city streetscape flashed past.

"We're here, handsome!"

The driver's voice snapped him out of his reverie. Ye Fan stepped out of the car and headed straight for a familiar shop.

"Brother Ji!"

"Well, well, if it isn't Ye Fan! Why aren't you chasing after your little girlfriend from Daliang Mountains, and what brings you to my place?"

Brother Ji wore a pair of black-rimmed glasses and sported short hair. He had a round, roly-poly build—a bit short and somewhat chubby!

Ye Fan gave Brother Ji a warm hug and asked, "What, can't I miss you?"

"Get lost, get lost! Why would a grown man like you miss me?"

"Of course to have some fun!"

"Fun your sister!"

The two buddies bantered with a smile, and Brother Ji pulled a bottle of cola from the refrigerator.

He was Ye Fan's upper-bunk roommate from college, and the two had always been thick as thieves. After graduation, while all their classmates went out looking for jobs, he announced he was going home to inherit the family business.

That "family business" was Brother Ji's own phrase. His family owned a shop in the electronics market, which could barely qualify as a "family business." They usually sold knock-off electronic products, doing mediocre business mostly reliant on regular customers.

At first, everyone thought he was joking. Running a knock-off electronics business was tough nowadays, and it was practically a sunset industry—what parents would let their child inherit a shop like that?

Yet, he actually took over the store. And even more absurdly, once he got the hang of it, his parents completely emancipated themselves and went on a global tour!

"How is it? Is the family business running okay?"

Ye Fan looked around, up and down. The shop was fairly clean, and the inventory was complete, with PlayStations, mobile phones, and computers everywhere—though all of them were knock-offs.

"Just so-so, living day by day and waiting to die," Brother Ji replied with a grin, handing the cola to Ye Fan while grabbing another bottle for himself.

Ye Fan didn't stand on ceremony; he cracked it open and took a gulp. Then he heard Brother Ji ask, "What made you think of coming here, kid?"

Taking another refreshing sip of cola, Ye Fan said happily, "I have a business venture that requires a massive batch of electronics, and I figured charity begins at home, so I came looking for you!"

"Oh ho! What a good brother!"

Upon hearing this, Brother Ji immediately grew excited. "My shop hasn't made a single sale in a month! How much stock is Brother Ye planning to order this time?"

"No rush, let me see what you have first!"

"What kind of talk is that? Is there anything I don't have? Even if I don't, I can whip something up for you!" Brother Ji patted his chest, brimming with confidence in his DIY skills.

Seeing Ye Fan only inspecting the items on display, he stepped forward and began introducing them.

"This is the latest 1watch. It looks identical and has pretty much the same functions. The genuine article costs several thousand, but I sell this one for just 900! If you want it, as a friend's rate, I'll wholesale it to you for 500!"

"This is the latest PSP4, which can run Black Monkey. Prices on the market have already shot up to five thousand, but I can wholesale it to you for one thousand!"

"This... an electric fascia gun. You can adjust the frequency and depth. Outside, they go for over 200 a set, but if you want it, I can give it to you for 20!"

"And this..."

Ye Fan waved a hand, signaling Brother Ji to stop talking.

"Hold on, Brother Ji, I remember your shop only sold electronics before. What on earth is this fascia gun?"

"Haha!" Brother Ji rubbed his round head sheepishly and explained, "Business is tough these days, you know! If I relied solely on the old knock-off phones and computers, I'd starve to death! I'm just learning from Boss Lei and expanding my product line!"

As he spoke, he even pulled out a small pink electric octopus. "Look at this, isn't it cute? It's also a fascia gun! Our shop's trending product..."

A lewd expression crept onto Brother Ji's face as he insisted on explaining its functions to Ye Fan.

"Alright, alright!" Ye Fan quickly waved his hands to ward off the mental pollution, saying, "These things are all way too trendy; I can't use them! I want some digital watches!"

"What? Watches?"

Brother Ji didn't catch on immediately.

Resigned, Ye Fan picked up his phone, searched for an image, and showed it to him. It was precisely one of those black plastic LCD digital watches.

After looking at it, Brother Ji's eyes filled with suspicion. "Ye Fan, what kind of business are you running? Garbage collection? What era is this? Who still wants these?"

Ye Fan said, "Don't worry about all that. Just find me a hundred of them first and I'll take them back. If people over there like them, I'll place a massive order!"

Brother Ji remained skeptical. "A massive order? How much is a massive order?"

"Hmm..." Ye Fan estimated and said, "If business is bad, a few million pieces; if it's good, maybe upwards of a hundred million!"

"What? Bro?"

Shock washed over Brother Ji's face, and he froze in place, save for the small pink octopus in the gap of his fingers twisting and turning...

"Hey!" Ye Fan helplessly poked Brother Ji's chest. "Are you brain-dead?"

"No, no, no!" Reacting to the poke, Brother Ji subconsciously shrank back, then asked again, "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure!"

Brother Ji finally turned serious. "Then let me go check the warehouse. Wait a second!"

Stuffing the small pink octopus straight into Ye Fan's hand, Brother Ji transformed into a nimble fatty and vanished outside the shop.

"Hey! You know, this little thing is actually quite unique!"

Ye Fan muttered to himself as he toyed with the octopus. Before long, Brother Ji dragged back a dust-covered sack.

"Bottom-of-the-barrel stock! It must have been sitting there for nearly ten years!"

Brushing the dust off his hands, Brother Ji smiled at Ye Fan and said, "I remember it was already here back when I was in junior high. If you'd come a few days later, I probably would have thrown it out as trash!"

Ye Fan pulled a digital watch out of the sack. It was indeed an extremely archaic model, and having sat for a decade, even its plastic casing had aged and turned oily.

"You need to help me make it look newer!"

"That's no problem at all! As long as the movement isn't broken, anything goes for the outer shell!" Brother Ji smiled and said, "I can have them fixed up for you by tomorrow!"

"No problem!" Ye Fan chuckled, taking out his phone. "How much?"

"What money are we talking about!" Brother Ji waved his hand dismissively. "They were just piece-of-junk goods anyway. Even if you didn't buy them, I was going to throw them out. Consider them a gift! I'll collect the money once you've cracked the market!"

"Fair enough!" Ye Fan didn't stand on ceremony with Brother Ji either. Waving goodbye, he turned to leave, then suddenly paused and called back, "Oh, right—try not to print any brand logos on those watches!"

"Well, that makes it even simpler!"

Brother Ji grinned, telling Ye Fan not to worry.

Without further ado, Ye Fan left the electronics market.