Chapter 62: No One Brags Quite Like You

Today, Mr. Han brought Su Mu along mainly to observe the progress of the mall’s construction. As one of the co-founders, he needed to stay informed about the company. The title “co-founder” sounded impressive, but the two of them had only invested thirty thousand dollars in total. The initial setup cost over four thousand dollars, most of which went to the lawyer who drafted their contracts. With recent expenditures, their capital was steadily dwindling, and not a cent of profit had yet been made.

Just as Mr. Han had anticipated, Su Mu proved to be a rather decent partner. They had agreed in advance that Mr. Han would handle management, and Su Mu never interfered, only occasionally offering suggestions, which Mr. Han was happy to consider. Some ideas were admittedly childish, like creating a playground where parents could “deposit” their children, but others were genuinely useful.

Business partnerships always require some adjustment. Recently, Su Mu proposed that Mr. Han should receive a salary in the future, separate from dividends, just like any regular employee. With this arrangement, the last knot in Mr. Han’s heart was finally untied. Otherwise, if Su Mu invested money but didn’t manage affairs yet continued to receive dividends, Mr. Han, who contributed more effort, would inevitably feel uncomfortable. Now, a salary made management perfectly reasonable.

The mall had two entrances but only one exit, designed to facilitate checkout. After Mr. Han indicated the location, workers immediately began chiseling through the wall facing the parking lot.

“The opening date might be moved up, right? Things seem to be progressing quickly. If we could open on Black Friday before Christmas, that would be ideal,” Su Mu said, hands in his pockets, fingers brushing the unexpected silver coins he’d found.

He wasn’t rigid by nature; these coins weren’t considered joint assets. If he hadn’t discovered them, they would have been buried under cement in a few days, so he felt justified in keeping them and didn’t tell Mr. Han.

Mr. Han glanced at Su Mu and laughed, pointing at his face. “You’ve got dust on your nose, and on your pants too. Did you fall?”

“No… Just got dirty brushing against something,” Su Mu replied awkwardly, wiping his face and dusting off his trousers.

Mr. Han’s voice rang out again: “It’s not as complicated as you’d think. As long as we buy everything in advance, once the renovations are done, it won’t take long to open. The tricky part is training employees. I’m planning to open in early November, so about two months. That should be enough.”

Su Mu asked, “How long will the renovations take?”

“At most a month for everything to be finished, and we’ll need inspections before we can use the space. I’ve got connections, so there’s no issue here.”

“Oh, that should be enough time. I’ll be studying at Menlo Park High School in the south, so remember to let me know in advance so I can come back for the grand opening.”

Hearing this, Mr. Han looked surprised. “Menlo Park? That’s pretty far—almost close to San Francisco. You won’t help me manage?”

He fired off several questions. Su Mu, rubbing his ears against the noise of chiseling, explained, “That private school is right next to Stanford. It’ll take over five hours by bus to get back. I don’t know if there’s a Greyhound station nearby, but hopefully, before I turn eighteen, the supermarket will have earned enough for me to buy a car. Driving would be quicker.

It doesn’t really matter if I’m here or not; you’re managing the company anyway. If something comes up, just call me. Flying from San Francisco to Los Angeles is faster, but tickets are expensive, so the Greyhound bus is more cost-effective. The scenery along Highway 1 is beautiful—you can see sea lions and seals.”

Greyhound, America’s most famous national bus company, operates routes across the country. Its tall buses feature a greyhound painted on the side. Su Mu had taken one of these buses before when visiting his aunt in San Francisco.

Despite decades of development, airline tickets were still expensive in the early eighties. Most people preferred driving, followed by bus, and only then by plane. As for trains, Americans mostly used them for freight. With more flights available, few chose trains for travel. In recent years, bullet trains had become a source of national pride in Japan, and some in America had tried to build their own, but the investment was too high and prospects too dim, so interest quickly faded.

Mr. Han thought it over and agreed with Su Mu. At such a young age, he really couldn’t offer much help, and besides, a single supermarket didn’t need two managers.

Preparations were busy now, but once the store was running, management would become much easier. Sometimes Su Mu acted so mature that people forgot he was barely in his teens, not yet in high school.

Mr. Han smiled and said, “Just come back occasionally. Let your parents help with bookkeeping—don’t worry about that. The cash registers record all transactions, so you won’t get cheated.”

Su Mu didn’t quite believe this. If someone wanted to cheat, they’d always find a way. But since he’d chosen to trust Mr. Han, he ought to believe in him, so he shook his head. “You’re a good person. You wouldn’t do that.”

Still, Su Mu planned to learn how to audit accounts, just to be safe. If the investment failed, it meant his judgment was poor, but if the business collapsed because money was stolen, that would be truly unjust.

“You trust me, but remember never to place blind faith in anyone, or you’ll suffer for it,” Mr. Han said with feeling, patting Su Mu’s shoulder. “When I was young, I invested in wine with a friend, but he ran off with the money and never showed up again.

Four years of savings gone just like that. I almost followed those who jumped off the Empire State Building—luckily, I couldn’t even afford the fare to New York at the time.”

Su Mu comforted him, “Look on the bright side. If not for that, you might not have achieved what you have today.”

“That’s true. As for achievements, I’m just barely scraping by.” Stretching, Mr. Han laughed, “I’m short on cash lately—almost had to sell my watches. They’re all treasures to me, but I couldn’t bear to part with them. How about I sell you a Submariner? Half price, a real bargain.”

It was a tempting offer—even selling it to a secondhand shop would net a small profit. Su Mu had recently developed an obsession with watches and wanted to agree, but remembering he was still poor, he couldn’t bring himself to buy a Rolex. Even if he did, he had no suitable status to wear it. Watches couldn’t be eaten or drunk, so a car would be more practical.

He shook his head and declined, “With my looks, it’d just seem fake. Better not wear one. I’ll be staying in the school dorm soon and don’t know what kind of roommates I’ll have—if one turns out to be a thief, I’d have nowhere to cry. When I have money, I’ll just buy the whole watch company. Don’t tempt me now, or I’ll blacklist you and you can forget about collecting watches.”

Mr. Han gave Su Mu a thumbs-up. “Bold! I’ve seen plenty of young lads, but you boast the best. Not letting me sell is actually good—it’ll save me a lot of money…”