Rebirth: Seven Years in a Great Dream

Chapter 15: QQ Number

There are a total of five announcements. First, starting tomorrow, the yard recommends using bank transfers for settlement Second, drivers must provide one Agricultural Bank of China account number registered in this city 3. If a driver insists on cash payment, the rate is 58 yuan per truck 4. For transfers made during the daily afternoon settlement, the rate is 60 yuan per truck 5. Drivers are encouraged to settle and transfer funds once a week; the settlement rate is 62 yuan per truck. Drivers, please take note. Cash payment: 58 yuan; same-day bank transfer: 60 yuan; weekly bank transfer: 62 yuan. Mu Dong also offered some explanations on the spot, noting that distributing large amounts of cash daily is simply unsafe when it comes to the security of funds. Furthermore, frequently having to provide change is inconvenient. Bank transfers are much more convenient. Well, everyone trusts Boss Mu’s integrity. Many people on the spot expressed their support for bank transfers as the settlement method. After hearing about the situation from the drivers, Mu Tongqing and Zhong Shujie even called specifically to express their support for weekly settlements. In fact, for the owners of the sand yards, bank transfers make management much easier. Each sand yard typically has several drivers delivering to the Mu family’s yard. Previously, these drivers would settle their payments at the Mu family’s yard every day, then return to hand the money over to their respective sand yard owners for a second settlement. Not only was this time-consuming and labor-intensive, but it was also prone to errors. Now, all the sand yard owners need to do is provide an Agricultural Bank of China account number, and regardless of how many drivers are under their name, all payments will be settled to them in one lump sum—saving a lot of hassle. That evening, when Mu Daguo tallied the number of trucks that had arrived, there were only 190. Many drivers had rushed to the Agricultural Bank branch to open accounts. The bank’s branch in town was teeming with people and bustling with activity. The staff at the town’s Agricultural Bank branch were getting increasingly frustrated—with so many people, when would they ever finish processing everyone? The bank manager, on the other hand, was grinning from ear to ear. Mr. Mu was really a great client. Now, the bank’s savings targets for the second half of the year would be much easier to meet—he’d heard that Mr. Mu’s yard generated a daily turnover of 10,000 to 20,000. With all the drivers opening accounts here, that money will stay in this branch’s accounts. In his excitement, the manager decided to work overtime—he’d call it a day only when everything was processed. Mu Dong, however, wasn’t concerned with any savings targets; all he wanted was to reduce operational risks and avoid any potential trouble as much as possible. That morning, Mu Dong took Mr. Liu to the bank to settle the payment for the loader. As of today, the loader officially belonged to Mu Dong. Mr. Liu collected the money, handed over all the paperwork, and took his leave. Mu Dong then made a trip to the county seat and transferred all the money from his bank cards to his Agricultural Bank account. From now on, all payments would be made from this account; he wanted to arrange the funds in advance to save himself the hassle later. Mu Dong carefully put away the now-empty bank cards. These included cards belonging to Han Yong, Cai Jiaojiao, and his eldest aunt. Mu Dong was confident that, before long, each card would be credited with more money than it had originally held. He would personally return these cards to their original owners. After finishing his business at the bank, Mu Dong went to his eldest aunt Mu Hong’s restaurant. At the restaurant, Mu Dong had lunch with his eldest aunt and her husband. During the meal, Mu Dong asked about Huang Si. Although surveillance cameras had been installed and they would begin using POS machines for transactions and settlements starting tomorrow, Mu Dong still harbored a hint of concern. You can’t guard against thieves forever. It would be best to learn as much as possible about Huang Si’s situation. Unexpectedly, Wang Shaoqiang gave a different answer. Wang Shaoqiang said, “That Huang Si guy—he must have heard something. I guess word got out that I’d been having people look into him a while back. He’s quite the character. Guess what he did yesterday?” Mu Dong gave a wry smile. “Uncle, how would I know what he did?” Mu Hong also shot Wang Shaoqiang a disapproving look and said, “Let’s get down to business. Stop beating around the bush. If you don’t tell us, I’ll tell Xiao Dong myself.” Wang Shaoqiang stopped beating around the bush and continued, “That kid brought a whole bunch of people over for dinner last night. As soon as they arrived, he came straight to me, introduced himself as Huang Zhanping—nicknamed Huang Si—and said he’d come because he’d heard so much about me. I took one look at him and thought, ‘Whoa! He’s here to pick a fight,’ so I quietly made some arrangements. But in the end, they ate quietly, paid their bill properly, and even said as they were leaving that the food was great and they’d come back to support the place. Later, when I thought about it, I figured he was probably just showing weakness.” Mu Dong listened without saying a word. After thinking for a moment, he said, “Aunt, Uncle, one should never harbor malicious intent, but one must always be vigilant. I’ve installed surveillance cameras at my yard now, and we no longer accept cash payments—we’ve switched to bank transfers. The risk has been significantly reduced. As for Huang Si, let’s just leave it at that. We were only suspicious to begin with; without any evidence, there’s nothing we can do to him. I’ll just be a little more careful, and everything will be fine.” Mu Hong and Wang Shaoqiang felt the same way. After the three of them had dinner, Mu Dong returned to the yard. Looking out at the bustling yard, Mu Dong felt a deep sense of fulfillment. Zhong Guodong was operating a forklift. The actual operation was somewhat different from what he’d practiced at school. Zhong Guodong felt a bit excited; maneuvering the massive steel machine made him feel powerful himself. Tan Jiaming was also thrilled. The crawler tractor he’d meticulously maintained for so many years was finally being put to good use. Amid the roar of the engine, he felt as if something inside him was slowly coming back to life, filling him with warmth. Su Peng wasn’t on the forklift; he volunteered to help direct the unloading. In the past, he’d worked for Boss Liu—first as an apprentice, and later, after completing his training, traveling with Boss Liu from job to job. Overall, he’d put in a lot of effort but received very little in return. Now that he’d officially become a member of the yard crew, he felt a sense of belonging. Yesterday, Boss Mu had told him that his monthly salary would be raised to 3,000 yuan. This made Su Peng feel especially motivated to work. After walking around for a while, he returned to the office, grabbed a pen and paper, and began crunching some numbers. The total capital currently stands at nearly 1. 4 million yuan. Various initial expenses have already consumed over 100,000 yuan. After setting aside three to four months’ worth of wages and operating costs, the amount ultimately available for stockpiling sand is approximately 1 million yuan. A 36-mu storage yard—about 24,000 square meters—wouldn’t quite be filled with 1 million yuan. Even if it were filled to capacity, the sand pile would only reach a height of about 4 meters. That’s still far too low. “I’ve taken on a bit too much, and the money still isn’t enough,” Mu Dong lamented inwardly. “You can’t get rich overnight—this isn’t so bad after all. Let’s just leave it at that,” Mu Dong consoled himself. Just as he was mulling this over, his cell phone rang. Mu Dong picked up his phone and saw it was Han Yong. “Brother Yong, what brings you to call me? Are you coming over here for an inspection?” Mu Dong asked. Han Yong’s voice sounded exasperated: “Inspect my ass! You’re still giving me a headache even after you quit. What was that business trip report you turned in? What on earth were you writing about?” Mu Dong was completely baffled: “What’s the problem? I didn’t make anything up!” Han Yong replied, “You didn’t just make it up—you went on a business trip, so you just needed to make up an itinerary. Why did you have to write about future market prospects? Seriously.” It was true. When Mu Dong had written the business trip report, since the itinerary was made up, he’d felt a little guilty that the report was too thin, so he’d fleshed it out by including a section on the future outlook for the mobile phone market in Southern Shandong. Mu Dong said, “Brother Yong, I meant well at the time—I just made it up on the spot. Is that okay?” “Made it up? When you submitted your expense report last time, this report was filed with the finance department at headquarters. A few days ago, the CFO saw it and thought the section on the future market was well-written, so he forwarded it to the marketing department. After they reviewed it, they passed it on to the CEO. And you call that ‘making it up’!” Han Yong exclaimed. Mu Dong was baffled and said, “Isn’t that a good thing?” “A good thing? The CEO wanted to have you come to Beijing for an interview, but then HR told him you’d been laid off! The CEO gave me a real dressing-down, saying I must be blind to let such an outstanding employee go!” Han Yong exploded. Oh, so that’s what it was all about, Mu Dong thought to himself. “Brother Yong, this is my fault. I meddled where I shouldn’t have. So, about what happens next…” “First, write up a detailed report—make it as thorough as possible. Even though you’ve left the company, consider it a favor to me. If all else fails, you might have to come with me to Beijing. Just be mentally prepared for that.” What else could he do? He had no choice but to agree. Both professionally and personally, Mu Dong had to say yes. What a mess. Even after leaving the company, he’s still getting dragged into this. Hanging up the phone, Mu Dong sighed. Well, I’ll write it then. Luckily, he had the laptop he’d brought from Quancheng at home. Although Mu Dong didn’t plan to connect it to the internet, it would still work fine for writing a report; once he finished, he could just copy it onto a USB drive. After jotting down a simple outline and recalling some details, Mu Dong began writing a lengthy essay titled “Future Outlook for the Mobile Phone Market.” The topic was a bit broad, and the content was somewhat complex. It took Mu Dong several hours to finish; he even had a quick lunch in his office. After finishing, he proofread it from start to finish and thought it was decent. He found a USB drive he used often and copied the report onto it. He stepped out of the office and stretched. Mu’s mother quietly walked over and asked Mu Dong, “Xiao Dong, you’re writing something again, aren’t you? Do you want me to go buy some red paper?” Mu Dong wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. Well, after posting those notices twice, even his mom had gotten a bit more cultured. His cell phone rang again. Mu Dong thought it was Han Yong following up on the report, but when he checked, it was Lin Xiangyan. Lin Xiangyan was feeling a bit down. On Han Yong’s recommendation, she’d just been appointed a few days ago by headquarters as the Marketing Manager of the Ludong Branch. She hadn’t even settled into her new role yet when news broke that the CEO of headquarters had flown into a rage over Mu Dong’s layoff—a development that suddenly put her in a very awkward position. Rumor had it that the CEO’s anger stemmed from a report Mu Dong had submitted, but while the General Affairs Department, the Finance Department, and even Han Yong had copies of this report, she was the only one who didn’t! She didn’t even know what kind of report it was! But given the current situation, she felt too embarrassed to ask anyone else for the report—that would only make others look down on her even more and put her in an even more awkward position. After wrestling with the decision for a long time, Lin Xiangyan called Mu Dong on his cell phone. Mu Dong had a gentle temperament and had once mentored her; asking him for help was like seeking advice from a senior colleague—it wasn’t something to be ashamed of. Lin Xiangyan comforted herself with this thought. Mu Dong answered the call, and Lin Xiangyan hesitantly explained why she was calling. Mu Dong said, “Sister Lin, this is my fault. Since it was a business trip report at the time, I didn’t copy you on it. No problem—I’ll send it to you in a moment. Since I left the company, my work email account has been frozen, so I’ll send it to you via MSN.” Lin Xiangyan thanked him repeatedly, hung up the phone, and let out a deep sigh of relief. Northern Electronics was a state-owned enterprise, and its management reflected some of the typical characteristics of such companies. For example, employees were only allowed to use the email accounts uniformly assigned by the company upon hiring. As for online communication, they were restricted to using MSN; QQ was not permitted—reportedly because QQ had gaming features, and naturally, one couldn’t play games while on the job. Mu Dong went into town and found an internet café. The report from his last business trip was stored on the USB drive he always carried with him. Mu Dong located the file and intended to send it to Lin Xiangyan. However, after searching for quite a while, he realized the café’s computers didn’t have MSN installed. Mu Dong called over the internet café manager and asked; sure enough, MSN wasn’t installed. Furthermore, the computers were set up with restrictions that prevented users from installing other software at will. What was he supposed to do? Mu Dong called Lin Xiangyan to explain the situation. Lin Xiangyan thought for a moment, then whispered to Mu Dong, “Can you send it to me via QQ?” Mu Dong knew that although the company didn’t allow the use of QQ, many people used it secretly on the side, and everyone turned a blind eye to it. Mu Dong, of course, had no problem with that. However, since Mu Dong and Lin Xiangyan weren’t QQ friends, Mu Dong gave her his QQ number and asked her to send a friend request. Lin Xiangyan jotted down the QQ number and said flatteringly, “Manager Mu, you have a really nice QQ number—it’s even an eight-digit one.” Mu Dong felt as if a bolt of lightning had struck his mind! He stared blankly at his phone and muttered, “What did you say? QQ number?” The dregs of his memory were suddenly stirred up, and some distant, hazy memories flashed through his mind. Xiao Xiao giggled, tapping Mu Dong’s forehead with her finger: “You’re so obsessed with money you’ve gone crazy. You, of all people, winning the jackpot?” Mu Dong grinned foolishly: “Well, I didn’t actually win the jackpot. But honey, let me tell you—I didn’t even buy a ticket this time. The numbers for this draw are really close to my QQ number. Look, just add a 1 here and a 2 there, and they’re exactly the same.” Mu Dong felt a roar echoing in his head; he couldn’t make any sense of it. Images flashed by rapidly, appearing and vanishing in an instant. He tried desperately to grasp them, but he could never quite hold on to anything. His face felt burning hot, and he could feel a fine sheen of sweat breaking out at his hairline, as if he could hear a sizzling sound. Mu Dong immediately hung up the phone, turned off his cell, and hurried out of the internet café, returning to the yard. He couldn’t worry about any documents or reports right now—those could wait. He needed to sort out the chaos in his mind as soon as possible. He told Mu Daguo that he had something to take care of and that no one was to disturb him; today’s settlement would be handled at the West House dormitory. Then he went into his office and locked the door. The people at the yard were all taken by surprise. Mu Dong had always been gentle and generous; they rarely saw him looking so flustered and flushed. He stayed in his office until dark, well into the night. Mu’s mother brought him dinner and knocked gently on the door several times, but it didn’t open. Finally, Mu Dong slowly began to sort out his thoughts. In another timeline, after buying his first home, Mu Dong had gone through a phase where he was obsessed with buying lottery tickets. Back then, he was still waiting for property prices to drop—if he won the jackpot, he could pay for the house in full. Mu Dong didn’t buy many tickets—just a few yuan or a few dozen yuan each time. Back then, he hadn’t quit his job yet, and every day after work, he’d go to the lottery outlet to study the trend charts and figure out the numbers. When Xiao Xiao found out, she often teased him about it. The lottery Mu Dong played most often back then was “7-Color Lottery,” also known as “Pick 7 out of 30.” If you won this lottery, the payout was substantial—exactly the kind of windfall most people dream of. Naturally, he never won any big prizes—or even any small ones, for that matter. Mu Dong stuck with it for less than a month before eventually giving up. Even this brief stint as a lottery player was buried deep in his memory. The only somewhat amusing part of his brief stint as a lottery player was when Mu Dong once noticed a newly announced set of winning numbers that looked very familiar. After some research, he discovered they were very similar to his QQ number—all he had to do was add the digits 1 and 2 to the last two digits of his QQ number to form a sequence of seven numbers ranging from 1 to 30. But now he simply can’t remember exactly how he added the 1 and 2. What he’s certain of is that the numbers at the beginning remained unchanged. It’s no longer a problem, though—two positions, two numbers to add; there are only two possible combinations. Mu Dong recalls that the first-prize jackpot for that draw wasn’t very high—he remembers it being in the hundreds of thousands. It was much less than the usual prizes of several million. It seems Xiao Xiao even teased him, saying that even if he won, he wouldn’t be a millionaire. There’s also the question of when the winning numbers were drawn. In the previous timeline, it should have been before Mu Dong quit his job and after he bought his first house. Back then, Mu Dong quit his job in early 2009, and he bought his first house in early October 2008. He’d looked at houses for a few days before giving up, then got hooked on the lottery—though he didn’t stick with it for long. Based on that, the winning numbers for this draw should have been drawn sometime between mid- and late October 2008. Well, there’s still time. After thinking about it for so long, Mu Dong finally relaxed and opened the office door. Then he was suddenly moved. A circle of people was sitting by the door. Mu’s parents, his second uncle and aunt, Mu Daguo, Zhong Guodong, Su Peng, Tan Jiaming—even his older sister, Mu Xiaoxia, was there. The men were smoking in silence, while the three women huddled together, whispering to one another. It was late September, and there was a hint of coolness in the air outside. Mu Dong glanced at his phone—it was already 10:30. Feeling a bit guilty, Mu Dong said softly, “I’m really sorry. Something important came to mind at the last minute, and I needed to write it down right away. It’s my fault for not explaining it clearly to everyone—I’m sorry for worrying you all.” Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Mu Dong come out. The kid had locked himself in his room for seven or eight hours without a peep, and combined with how flustered he’d seemed that afternoon, everyone had been quite worried. Mu’s father said, “As long as you’re okay, that’s what matters. Have something to eat and get some rest.” Then, turning to the others present, he added, “Everyone, you should all go get some rest, too.” Mu Dong asked Mu Xiaoxia, “Sis, why are you here? Where are the two little ones?” Mu Xiaoxia shot him a look and said, “They’re asleep in the west dorm room.” Mu Dong was speechless. After a moment, Mu Dong added, “Here’s what we’ll do: it’s too late, so nobody should go home. Mom, you, Second Aunt, and my sister—the three of you—take the two little ones and make do in the west room for the night. Dad, you and Second Uncle stay in the office. The rest of you, bring your bedding and join me—we’ll sleep on the floor in the lounge.” When Mu Dong had bought the bed, he’d also prepared some basic bedding, and now it finally came in handy. Everyone got up to get ready, and Mu’s mom took Mu Dong to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat. Then everyone laid out their bedding and went to rest.