Moreover, after working for ten years in my previous life, I had long understood the principle that wealth comes from strategy, not from toil; profit comes from circumstances, not from hard labor!

Sigh, that’s why ordinary people are just damn ordinary people!

Some people dare to take action even with just a one percent chance—if they die, so be it; if not, they make it big.

But me? Even when there’s a ninety-nine percent chance of success, I still habitually hesitate and overthink—Dad, I’ve always believed the lessons you taught me were right, but now, I’m so conflicted!

…………

By evening, the fog had mostly cleared, and the distant mountains were tinged with a faint, bleak yellow glow from the sun.

Edward Brooks carefully rode his motorcycle up the mountain. After turning a corner, he suddenly saw his son sitting by the pond, fishing. When he got closer, he stopped the bike, glanced at the metal bucket, and pressed his lips together.

Unintentionally, he noticed that the ground at his son’s feet was littered with at least twenty or thirty cigarette butts. He was silent for a moment, then met his son’s gaze and said, “It’s almost time to eat!”

“Okay, I’ll head back in a bit!”

So Edward Brooks got back on the bike and rode off with a puttering sound.

Chapter 11: Stories of This Era

At dinner, Dad brought up a piece of news from Xuguan Township today.

It turned out that the director of Huaguang Sock Factory, Matthew Turner, had previously been arrested for alleged embezzlement after being reported. They investigated him for over a year, but after checking the accounts and searching his home, they couldn’t find a single cent’s worth of wrongdoing. It was confirmed to be a false accusation, and he was released, but his job was never reassigned. Today, he officially took up a new post in Xuguan Township.

Director of the Civil Affairs Office.

Speaking of him, Dad couldn’t help but sigh a little.

David Brooks actually had quite an impression of this person—he was widely recognized as very capable. After serving two years as deputy township head, he was transferred to be the director of Huaguang Sock Factory. At that time, the factory was already on the verge of bankruptcy. It had originally belonged to the county’s Light Industry Bureau, but was later handed over to Chengguan Town. After Matthew Turner volunteered to take over the sock factory, he turned losses into profits within the same year. The next year, he even managed to sell socks to the Magic City, with considerable profits and tax contributions. Everyone in the county praised his abilities.

But in the third year… he was reported for embezzlement and taken down.

The case was investigated for over a year. After his release, he stayed idle at home for more than half a year. By now, the new director had already run the sock factory back into the ground. It was said that there were huge outstanding receivables, and the factory itself owed over a million yuan for raw materials. Not only was there no money to buy new materials, but they couldn’t even pay the workers’ wages.

Yet the higher-ups didn’t seem to think there was any problem with this. After being idle at home for half a year, Matthew Turner was even demoted by one rank and returned to the workforce as the director of the Civil Affairs Office.

And the Huaguang Sock Factory, which he had once brought back from the dead, was now on the chopping block.

The county was already holding meetings to discuss selling it off.

Downsizing—a part of the state-owned enterprise reform.

David Brooks quietly listened to these stories unique to this era while eating his meal.

He had a big appetite but ate quickly. By the time he finished, his parents were just about done as well.

Wiping his mouth, he said, “Dad, I need some money.”

His parents stopped talking and turned to look at him.

Dad pondered for a moment and asked, “How much do you need?”

David Brooks didn’t answer directly but asked, “How much do we have at home right now?”

Edward Brooks didn’t intend to hide anything and said directly, “We built the house in ’88, bought a motorcycle last year, and now there’s just over four thousand yuan left at home. Is that enough?”

David Brooks shook his head. “Far from enough. I need this money—the more, the better. How much… can we borrow?”

Edward Brooks fell silent.

David Brooks was already prepared to answer his next question, but unexpectedly, his father didn’t ask why he suddenly needed so much money. After a moment of silence, he started calculating with David Brooks again. “Your grandpa has some savings—not much, all from selling fruit, a few vegetables, some tea he roasted himself, and those little things he made over the years. It should be a bit over five thousand.”

He was being detailed—David Brooks knew he wanted to make it clear that every cent of this money was hard-earned—if you plan to squander it, you should first ask your own conscience.

David Brooks remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

So he said, “Your aunt’s family might be able to lend four or five thousand as well.”

At this point, he turned to look at his son. “If we scrape together fifteen thousand yuan, is that enough?”

That was basically the entire family fortune of the The Brooks Family—not just cash, but also their reputation.

Yes, even though there were already millionaires like Henry Carter in this era, and ten-thousand-yuan households were no longer so rare, in the eyes of ordinary people, having over ten thousand in savings still meant a pretty well-off family.

However, David Brooks shook his head. “How much can we borrow from Second Uncle?”

Edward Brooks was silent for a moment, then said, “I’ll go to Xizhou City in a couple of days to see your second uncle. He’s just been promoted to section chief and has been working for years—maybe he’s saved up some. I estimate… ten or twenty thousand yuan.”

At this, he turned again to look at David Brooks.