I am a Big Player
Chapter 407 - 402, Challenge the Rude Parents (First Update)_1

Chapter 407: 402, Challenge the Rude Parents (First Update)_1

When the whole family gathered, the women all went into the kitchen to help Mrs. Ren with the cooking, while Ren He’s uncle immediately praised Ren He’s efforts upon entering, saying how he helped his cousin improve his grades until he was now among the top students in his class.

The more Ren He’s uncle said this, the darker the rude child’s face became. Ren He had been paying attention to the rude child’s behaviour and noticed that he seemed to be regressing. Should he intervene?

"Cousin, how about I take you to set off fireworks later?" Ren He said cheerfully.

At the mention of fireworks, the rude child shuddered, still vividly remembering the power of the firecrackers from the year before. Those weren’t ordinary firecrackers, they were like exploding poop, covering him in soot that wouldn’t wash off!

To this day, the rude child didn’t understand what was packed in those firecrackers to produce such an effect!

The rebellious spirit that had been spreading within the rude child subsided slightly after Ren He’s comment, but as he dwelled on his aggravation, he doubled down on his resolve!

Suddenly, Ren He’s uncle called out to Mrs. Ren from the living room, "Sister-in-law, you leave them to cook, I have something I’d like to discuss with you."

After hearing this, Mrs. Ren washed her hands and came out of the kitchen, curious. "You’re making it sound so formal. What’s the matter that you need to discuss with me?"

"I’ve been thinking, these past two years I’ve saved some money, so I want to start a clothing brand. I’ve found a manufacturer for outsourcing. Look... your commercial plazas are now open in first-tier cities across the country. Can I get a franchise spot inside? It’s just that, after investing in the brand, the budget is pretty tight. I can’t really spare the money right now. Could the rent be deferred?" Ren He’s uncle said with a smile.

Ren He raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. It wasn’t a matter of the money not being handy *now*; he knew his uncle all too well. A few years ago, when Mrs. Ren asked him to take a few tens of thousands of yuan to his grandparents, the uncle had pocketed the money without telling them.

Because of this incident, Mrs. Ren and Ren had many arguments. It wasn’t about the money at all, but because she, as a daughter-in-law, wanted to show her filial piety to her in-laws, and they never even knew about it, thinking their daughter-in-law had forgotten about them.

Rude parents couldn’t possibly raise anything but a rude child, could they? As for paying the rent "later," Mrs. Ren, being the generous sister-in-law that she was, wouldn’t mind that bit of money, and how could she possibly ask him for it directly?

However, Ren He didn’t care about such a trivial sum. It was up to Mrs. Ren to decide whatever she wanted; there was no need to trouble oneself over such matters.

In the past, Ren He might have found this situation a bit disgusting, but now he felt completely detached. The rent from the stores in the 63 commercial plazas he owned was no small amount each month, but that was only from the perspective of ordinary people.

With a changed mindset, certain things no longer bothered him.

Ren He didn’t even know the current scope of Mrs. Ren’s commercial plazas, feeling a bit ashamed for not having taken an interest in these matters while living abroad.

Mrs. Ren pondered for a moment before responding, "Sure, no problem."

Sometimes people say that dating is a matter between two people, but marriage involves two families. Ren He knew his mother must be feeling annoyed. Last year, he noticed these relatives would bring up real estate merely to hitch a ride on the success train, but Mrs. Ren had politely refused them by saying their capital was too small to join in.

This year, they were making a comeback, wanting to get their hands on the commercial spaces directly. Once they were in, Mrs. Ren couldn’t possibly kick them all out.

Moreover, Ren He’s uncle had made up his mind that Mrs. Ren, with her empire worth over tens of billions, wouldn’t fall out with them over a triviality like a few hundred thousand a month.

At this point, Ren He’s second uncle’s eyes lit up, "Sister-in-law, I’d like to get a franchise for my baby supplies store in your plaza too..."

The younger uncle gave some, so the second uncle wouldn’t refuse, right? Gotta keep things fair!

To Ren He now, hundreds of thousands a month are no big deal, and it’s even less of a problem for Mrs. Ren, but such matters are about others treating you like a fool.

If someone borrows five bucks from you every day, borrows day after day, but never intends to pay back, you might tolerate it for a month or two, but certainly not for a lifetime. The loss of money is trivial, but it’s not even enough to cover the annoyance.

Mrs. Ren’s expression then calmed down, but before she could speak, Ren He suddenly said, "Mom, talking about money can damage the relationship between relatives. It would be awkward for the younger and second uncles to rent your storefronts and still have to pay you, right? Better to just forget about the money!"

Upon hearing this, the younger and second uncles immediately brightened, "Ren He makes sense! We’re family after all, talking about money hurts feelings!"

Mrs. Ren raised an eyebrow, not expecting her son to stab her in the back at this moment.

Despite usually giving Ren He just a little pocket money and not paying much attention to him, Mrs. Ren now genuinely showed her affection for Ren He. Even though her son had stabbed her in the back at such a moment, she didn’t take it to heart and wasn’t really mad at Ren He. She just thought Ren He might still be young and a bit naive.

Although her current business strategy—selling office buildings but not renting them, and renting out storefronts but not selling them—was inspired by Ren He’s unwitting insight last year, Ren He was indeed still too young.

Even though Mrs. Ren rarely gave money after Ren He moved in to lodge, the amount on that shopping card could almost buy an average car by now...

A damn shopping card, who knows who came up with it.

But just then, Ren He continued to smile and say, "The younger and second uncles probably can’t afford to pay rent now, so asking them is just putting them on the spot. Instead of using the rent money now, it’d be better to use it to expand and develop their business. Let’s do this, let’s appraise the shops and Mom, you can take a share directly, forming a sort of family conglomerate. It will be, ’I’m in you, and you’re in me; one’s glory is everyone’s glory, one’s loss is everyone’s loss.’ I know you’re busy, but you won’t need to worry too much; just appoint an efficient financial director, and don’t let this financial director take up the labour resource costs of the younger and second uncles. Even if you need to pay those directors a salary, it’s fine."

The younger and second uncles, who had previously complimented Ren He, were suddenly speechless... Throughout the conversation, it seemed like Ren He was speaking on their behalf: Yes, you can’t afford it, so just don’t pay and keep the money for development.

But is that really the concept of a family conglomerate? Appraising those dozens of shops and converting that into shares, how much money is that?!

Damn it, in the end, isn’t it just that Mrs. Ren gets a 90% share and they get 10% or even less? It’s basically like they’re working for Mrs. Ren!

This is utterly like scooping the marrow from the bone!

And the last sentence is the most classic—appointing a financial director!

If Mrs. Ren had said that, the younger and second uncles could have retorted with something like, ’Big sister, don’t you trust us?’ and it would have been difficult for Mrs. Ren to insist, but with Ren He, an apparent bystander, saying it for her, it’s a completely different story.

Throughout, Ren He was advocating for their best interests, but they just felt incredibly vexed at the moment!

When Ren He delivered that last piece of dialogue, Mrs. Ren’s eyes grew brighter and brighter. She truly hadn’t expected Ren He to make such a calculated move, and speaking of the financial director, he’d considered it so thoroughly. Paying the directors’ salaries ensured their loyalty. In fact, the simple survival strategy for a shrewd person in the workplace is just this: you stand by whoever pays your salary.

Watching the younger and second uncles’ expressions change, Ren He found it amusing. He hadn’t had a chance to challenge the impudent child but had managed to challenge the rude parents first, interesting!

The Divine Punishment System prohibited him from challenging the impudent child, but it didn’t say he couldn’t challenge the rude parents!