Chapter 63: The Opening of Morning Star, Six Months Later

A few days later, Huanhuan's final exams came to an end, though her grades were not yet released. Meanwhile, Chenxing Education quietly celebrated its grand opening.

Nan Li was in charge of the opening event, and it was quite a spectacle. To Zhou Chen's surprise, the deputy district mayor of their district even graced them with his presence.

He later learned that Nan Jianlong, eager to drum up influence for them, had swallowed his pride and once again implored his former subordinate, who was now the deputy district mayor.

Nan Jianlong felt that since both his daughter and son-in-law had quit their jobs—and though Zhou Chen claimed he could earn money by writing novels, Nan Jianlong still felt uneasy deep down—as a father, he had to lend a helping hand now that the couple was opening a tutoring institution. Therefore, he painstakingly endured a few grueling days to invite the deputy district mayor to make a brief appearance.

Upon learning the truth, Zhou Chen felt a deep sense of gratitude. Despite Nan Jianlong's various flaws, his devotion to his daughter was absolute and sincere.

State cadres at the deputy district mayor's level were not permitted to participate in corporate ribbon-cutting ceremonies. However, Nan Jianlong had his ways: instead of attending the official ribbon-cutting, the deputy district mayor brought a relative's child to enroll in person and departed shortly afterward.

Although the deputy district mayor did not take part in the ribbon-cutting, his personal visit and bringing someone to register were witnessed by many, which undeniably brought tremendous positive momentum to Chenxing Education.

Consequently, all subsequent ribbon-cutting activities proceeded with utter smoothness, drawing numerous parents and children to visit and enroll.

Through Nan Jianlong, Zhou Chen and Nan Li also learned that Cai Jujing had voluntarily returned to Nan Jianlong's home on the third day after Zhou Chen's conversation with her. At their age, pride and face were no longer paramount; the two of them tacitly avoided mentioning past events and resumed their life together.

Shortly before, Zhou Chen had liquidated all his investments in Bitcoin. In his memory, the peak of Bitcoin during this period could reach around thirteen thousand, but fearing unforeseen accidents, he sold everything once it surpassed eleven thousand.

From start to finish, including additional investments, they had put in just over two million, yielding a net profit of over four million. Combined with their principal, they walked away with more than seven million.

When Nan Li laid eyes on that sum of money, she remained stunned for a long time. It was the first time she had ever seen such a vast fortune sitting in her own bank account.

Once the funds were secured, they first settled the remaining outstanding debts from establishing the tutoring center, after which the couple fully immersed themselves in running the institution.

Time flew like an arrow, and in the blink of an eye, several months passed.

"Honey, when is your workplace going to shut down? The news on TV lately is far too terrifying."

During the winter vacation, which should have been the busiest season for tutoring centers, Nan Li found herself with nothing to do because the municipal government had recently issued a directive ordering all tutoring institutions to close early for the year. Consequently, Chenxing Education had already shut its doors days ago.

"President Fang has already issued a notice. We just need to handle some wrap-up tasks tomorrow, and I won't have to go in the day after tomorrow," Zhou Chen replied while eating his meal.

Two months prior, preliminary preparations had begun for Saima Group's new headquarters. As the design consultant for Saima Group, Zhou Chen had naturally stepped into his role accordingly.

At that time, since Chenxing Education had already entered a stable operational track, Zhou Chen had dedicated the majority of his time to the work at the new headquarters.

As the Spring Festival approached, a massive nationwide epidemic had begun to emerge. Although widespread transmission had not yet occurred, several major cities had already initiated preventative measures. As a top-tier metropolis, Jiangzhou had naturally received the news, and all industries were feeling the impact.

Regarding this matter, Zhou Chen felt profoundly conflicted. He had long known that such an event would transpire, yet it wasn't that he didn't want to take early precautions—rather, he lacked the capacity and dared not act overtly.

If he were to suddenly make such predictions, he would either be dismissed as insane or treated as a criminal disrupting social peace...

Therefore, aside from quietly making early preparations and purchasing staggering quantities of face masks and disinfectant, he took no other actions. As for capitalizing on the disaster for personal gain, the thought had never even crossed his mind.

It was not out of a sense of self-righteousness, but simply because his moral bottom line would never sink low enough to profit from such a catastrophe.

"This situation is grave. Starting today, you must stay home with the children and stop going out. We need to notify Mom as well—no, I think it would be best to bring Mom over to live with us. Safety comes first."

"Is it really that serious?"

Though Nan Li watched the news and understood that the situation was severe—resembling the major crisis of the early 2000s—she was still astonished to hear Zhou Chen speak with such gravity.

"It is extremely serious. You must not lower your guard. Have someone organize the masks and disinfectant we purchased, and send a care package to the family of every single student. These items may not seem valuable right now, but they are vital supplies."

"By the way, how is our online training program doing?"

Nan Li frowned and said, "Ever since we launched it, online training has never turned a profit; it's even operated at a loss due to paying teachers' salaries. After more than half a year, we only have a handful of students."

In truth, she had long wished to shut down the online training branch. Since their offline tutoring had already stabilized and started generating a profit, she wanted to expand offline operations while discarding the online sector. However, Zhou Chen had consistently disagreed, insisting adamantly on keeping it running, leaving her no choice but to follow his instructions.

Zhou Chen remained quite calm as he replied, "It's fine. All beginnings are difficult, but the time for online training to shine is almost here."

"Are you referring to this current situation?"

Nan Li was a clever woman. Since offline tutoring centers were no longer permitted to open, what would happen to those students? How would they continue their studies?

"Honey, did you set up the online training program specifically to prepare for a scenario like this?" Nan Li asked, looking profoundly shocked.

Zhou Chen answered, "I don't possess such extraordinary foresight; I merely believed that online training would inevitably become a trend in the future. Look at all the various training programs springing up online now. In this era of new digital media, offline is crucial, but online is something we can never afford to abandon."

"Is this what you call strategic vision?"

"Heh, let's call it that."

Though he spoke lightly to Nan Li, Zhou Chen's heart was deeply heavy. He knew all too well how arduous and agonizing the coming months would be for the Divine Land of the East.

While he lacked the grand, patriotic ideals of saving the world, the mere thought of countless shattered families and loved ones separated forever filled him with profound anguish, forcing him to block the agonizing thoughts from his mind.

"Huanhuan placed fourth in her final exams this term. She has been waiting for you to give her a reward. Are you prepared?"

Hearing Nan Li's words, Zhou Chen was momentarily stunned. "Uh, if you hadn't reminded me, I truly would have forgotten. I've been far too busy lately."

Nan Li rolled her eyes at him and said, "I knew you'd forget, so I've already prepared it for you—a set of Queen Elsa dolls. You can just hand them directly to her when the time comes."

"Wife, it's wonderful to have you. Come here, give me a kiss, mwah..." Zhou Chen pulled Nan Li into his arms and planted a kiss on her cheek.

Nan Li suddenly added, "Honey, Huanhuan mentioned that Yan Ziyou hasn't been acting like himself lately; he doesn't even play with her anymore. Plus, he only ranked somewhere in the teens for these final exams—something that has never happened before."

Though she held no fondness for Tian Yulan, she retained a very favorable impression of the sensible and kind-hearted Yan Ziyou. After hearing Huanhuan's remarks, she had kept the matter in mind.

"Ziyou?"

Zhou Chen furrowed his brow. Ever since that incident, their family had cut off all contact with Tian Yulan's household. Had Nan Li not brought it up, he would have almost forgotten about them.

If Yan Ziyou's behavior was abnormal, could something have gone wrong again?

Yet that didn't make sense either. Now that the boy was living with his paternal grandparents, tyrannical and overbearing as Tian Yulan might be, Yan Peng's parents were certainly no pushovers; they wouldn't allow Tian Yulan to treat their eldest grandson that way.

After pondering for a moment, he said, "Never mind. There's no use worrying about it from afar; that's their family's business, and there's only so much we can manage."

Nan Li sighed and replied, "That's true. I just feel a sense of melancholy. Such a wonderful child like Ziyou—I hope Tian Yulan doesn't warp his mind."

"Speaking of children, I spend all day at the tutoring center and encounter so many kids, but the one who leaves the deepest impression on me is Mi Tao. That child is truly sensible and obedient. Every day after class, she voluntarily cleans the classroom. They say children of poor families mature early; as long as this child keeps this up, she's bound to amount to something when she grows up."

"Mi Tao? Indeed, she is a wonderful child."

Mentioning Mi Tao stirred Zhou Chen's emotions as well. Unlike in the television drama, Huanhuan and Mi Tao got along exceptionally well now without any conflict. Coupled with the guidance of teacher Zhang Xue'er, Mi Tao remained a remarkably bright and cheerful child.

Following the events of the summer, Zhang Xue'er had ultimately resigned from her previous school and joined Chenxing Education, becoming one of its instructors. Together with Zhong Yi, the two of them were doing a stellar job at Chenxing.