Chapter 123 – Is There Even Such a Thing as a Money-Losing Business?

“It’s already in the pot.”

Father’s voice came from the kitchen.

Chen Mo quietly watched this scene, feeling a wave of warmth in his heart.

“Son, sit for a while, the dumplings will be ready soon.”

Yang Xiulian pulled him to the living room and sat him down on the couch.

Seeing the barely concealed joy in his mother’s eyes, Chen Mo silently reflected on himself.

He really hadn’t come home much in recent years.

Looks like he should come back more often in the future.

“There were a lot of people on the road today, weren’t there?”

“Is there anything you want to eat? I’ll go buy it later.”

“It’s already autumn, why are you wearing so little?”

“……”

Chen Mo listened to his mother’s nagging by his side and responded patiently.

It had been a long time since he felt like this. In the past, when he was home, it always felt a bit annoying.

Now all he could feel was genuine concern.

“Dumplings are ready.”

Not long after, his father came out carrying a plate of steaming dumplings and placed it on the coffee table in front of him.

“I’ll get you some soy sauce and vinegar.”

His mother stood up and quickly walked into the kitchen.

Looking at the steaming dumplings, Chen Mo’s appetite instantly surged.

It had been a long time since he had dumplings made at home. He picked up his chopsticks and began eating eagerly.

They were a bit hot.

But the taste was the same as always—unchanged.

“Delicious.”

“If you like it, eat more. If it’s not enough, there’s still dough, I’ll go make more.”

“No need, Mom, this is enough.”

Chen Mo quickly stopped his mother from going to the kitchen to make more dumplings.

For a moment, only the sounds of eating filled the room.

As he ate, his parents sat beside him, watching with smiles on their faces.

As if this alone made them happy.

One plate of dumplings—

Was quickly finished.

His mother cleaned up the dishes and went into the kitchen.

Only he and his father remained sitting in the living room, silence between them.

After a while,

His father finally seemed to think of a topic and suddenly spoke.

“I heard you told your mom last time that you’re managing a factory with a friend?”

“Yeah, but it’s not really a partnership. I’m just helping manage it.”

Chen Mo nodded.

He’d mentioned this during a few calls with his mother.

But he hadn’t said that he was the one who started it. Mainly because his system and the employees were all too unreliable.

If he told them he opened a factory himself, but didn’t have much money on hand, they might think he was losing money in some startup.

After all, what kind of company boss is this poor?

So he told a little lie, saying he started it with a friend and he was just in charge of management.

Which wasn’t far from the truth. That “friend” was the system.

The system paid to start the company, and he provided the manpower to manage it.

The company’s profits belonged to the system, and he got paid through settlement.

If the settlement went well, he could get rich overnight and become a millionaire.

If the settlement went poorly, he’d be living on the bare minimum.

But thanks to those troublesome employees, he’d never had a good settlement.

“I see. Well, still be careful. Business hasn’t been easy these past few years. Don’t end up losing money.”

His father said with some concern.

“Dad, don’t worry. All the money for the factory was put up by my friend. I’m just managing it. All the profit or loss is on him. Even if the business loses money, it won’t affect me.”

Chen Mo thought to himself—he wished it would lose money.

The more, the better.

If he could convert all the system funds this time, it would be 15 million.

Then—

He wouldn’t just be a millionaire, he’d be a multi-millionaire.

“Is that so? Then you better manage it properly. Your friend trusts you so much—you can’t just slack off because of that.”

“I know.”

Chen Mo nodded.

After a few lines of small talk, the conversation dried up again, and silence returned.

Chen Mo was already used to it. He and his father were never big talkers. At home, it was usually his mother doing most of the talking.

He and his father would exchange a few sentences and then have nothing else to say.

It wasn’t that their relationship wasn’t good—just their personalities. That was how they interacted.

“Son, I think you’d be better off just taking the civil service exam. Starting a business is too risky. I saw so many stores closed down just walking around outside.”

His mother came out after finishing the dishes and said to Chen Mo with a sigh.

“And your second aunt’s daughter-in-law’s younger sister—last year she joined one of those so-called influencer milk tea franchises. Renting the place, renovations, the franchise fee—she spent hundreds of thousands. All of it gone.”

“She’s completely stressed out now.”

All of it gone?

Chen Mo’s eyes lit up—what a wonderful thing!

He’d been thinking about how to lose money. This could be a perfect opportunity.

“Mom, tell me more about it.”

“What’s so interesting about that?”

“I just want to learn from their failure so I can avoid similar pitfalls in the future.”

“Well, alright then. But don’t go spreading it around. It’s not a good look.”

His mother, Yang Xiulian, gave him a warning and then started explaining.

After a while,

Chen Mo nodded. He more or less understood the whole story.

The main character was the younger sister of his second aunt’s daughter-in-law. After graduating college, she didn’t get a job and instead took out loans to join a trending milk tea franchise.

The shop was in Jiangcheng City, but she ended up losing everything.

Chen Mo had heard milk tea businesses were lucrative. How did she lose it all?

Was it poor management? Bad operations?

He figured he could find some time in the next couple of days to go to his second aunt’s and ask his cousin about the details.

He made a mental note.

While he was thinking, his mother suddenly asked,

“Son, how many days off do you get from your factory? How long can you stay home?”

“Probably about eight days. I’ll head back next Sunday.”

Chen Mo calculated—if he went back on Sunday, he’d be in time for work on Monday.

“You get to stay that long?”

Yang Xiulian smiled happily.

……

The next morning,

Chen Mo was woken up early by his mother for breakfast.

He had barely taken a few bites when she suddenly said,

“Son, you’re not that young anymore. It’s time you found someone to date.”

“Mom, where did that come from all of a sudden?”

Chen Mo was caught off guard—he hadn’t expected to be pushed into marriage talks right after graduating.

“If I don’t bring it up, you won’t worry about it. I’m not saying you need to get married right now, just start dating someone. If it works out, then get married when the time comes.”

“Mom, that’s quite the shift. Back when I was in school, you wouldn’t let me date, and now that I’ve graduated, you’re pushing me into marriage? At least give me some time to adjust!”

“I didn’t stop you in college—you just didn’t find anyone.”

Yang Xiulian couldn’t help but tease.

Ugh.

Chen Mo was momentarily speechless and quietly resumed eating.

Knock knock knock!

There was a knock at the door.

Father Chen Jingrui quickly walked over to open it.

“Hello, I’m here to deliver the home appliances. This is the Chen Jingrui residence, right?”