20 years of restarting life

Chapter 3503 Persuading People to Eat and Drink
"Qiuqiu, I know, that's why I've never blamed the people who arrested my parents. That aunt also said that my parents' matter isn't serious. Once the investigation is cleared up, the misunderstanding is resolved, and they can go home in a few days. Yes, that's for sure. They'll be back in a few days."

Sui Xuemeng said to Ai Qiuqiu with an innocent look, "My family's conditions aren't that bad. The same uncles and aunts in the family are about the same as my family. At most, they just accepted some things, like cell phones, computers, and TVs. Everyone does the same thing. Auntie and the others must have made a mistake. Once they find out, my parents can come back."

Ai Qiuqiu gazed deeply at Sui Xuemeng, her best friend and classmate of four years in college, looking at her delicate, fair face that was as smooth as dough.

Her family runs a down jacket business. A few years ago, they bought duck down, imitated popular domestic styles, made fake brand-name jackets, and wholesaled them in Yinji Commercial City.

After a year of hard work, you can make a profit of about 400,000 to 500,000 yuan, which is quite a lot of money. Your annual income is equivalent to the wages of an ordinary worker for a lifetime.

However, living in the city is not easy. The expenses for eight people—my parents, grandparents, myself, and my brother—along with a car and a small truck, plus two fully paid-off high-rise apartments, plus renovations and appliances, would amount to 1.5 to 1.6 million yuan.

It can be said that Ai Qiuqiu's material conditions are not bad, but compared to Sui Xuemeng, she is still a level below.

Perhaps Sui Xuemeng's parents don't earn as much as Ai Qiuqiu's parents, but they are public servants with five social insurances and one housing fund, and their retirement is guaranteed. Moreover, they earn money easily and quickly, so they can spend it generously and without any pressure.

Besides, there are some things that her family doesn't need to buy. For example, Ai Qiuqiu and Sui Xuemeng were college classmates for four years, but in the past six months, because she officially joined OneNanometer, they have had less contact. In the previous three years, Sui Xuemeng changed her mobile phone at least once a year, and sometimes even every six months. They were all gifts from others, and the price was over three or four thousand yuan.

The roll of fixed-term deposit certificates that Ai Qiuqiu was wearing under her down jacket—she didn't know how much money was in each certificate, but judging from its sturdiness and thickness, the roll probably contained at least eight certificates.

Perhaps just eight sheets of paper represent the money her family could earn in ten years of hard work.

Earning money and being able to save it are two different things.

My parents worked hard for many years, and by their forties, their faces were full of wrinkles and their hair was half white. Last summer, they bought three acres of wasteland along the road in the port area to set up a garment factory. It cost them nearly 1.5 million yuan, which used up all their savings. They only managed to build this new factory by taking out a loan from the bank with the contract they signed with the city of Zhengzhou.

It's fair to say they're still heavily in debt.

Ai Qiuqiu had met Sui Xuemeng's parents before; they both looked young and elegant, especially her mother, who was as beautiful as her older sister.

With these thoughts in mind, Ai Qiuqiu picked up a chicken leg from Daokou roast chicken with her chopsticks and placed it on Sui Xuemeng's plate. Then, she used a spoon to scoop winter melon and pork rib soup into Sui Xuemeng's bowl.

He said to Sui Xuemeng, "Eat more, you'll be warm and have more energy if you eat your fill."

"Qiuqiu, you're acting a little strange, aren't you?"

This made Sui Xuemeng feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Don't worry about these things. It's cold this year, so drink more pork rib, winter melon, and kelp soup."

Ai Qiuqiu did not answer Sui Xuemeng's question, but continued to urge her to eat and drink.

-

The meal Wen Ye hosted for the Chu family didn't last long. Chu Daofeng's private trip meant they didn't discuss business. Wen Ye's sullenness, Fan Fanghong's prying eyes through the crack in the door, Zhao Chang'an's frustration and displeasure, and Chu Guangying and Chu Guangwen's natural habit of adopting their mother's personality since childhood all contributed to the situation.

This made the meal utterly devoid of any enjoyment or pleasure; it was merely a formality, a meal eaten simply to go through the motions.

Zhao Chang'an and Wen Ye had been drinking and couldn't drive, so Chu Guangying drove, while Fan Fanghong drove her own car with her husband and son following behind.

It takes about ten minutes to get from this nice hotel to the headquarters of the Nanjing Municipal Government. Zhao Chang'an and Wen Ye sat in the back row, keeping their eyes closed and remaining silent.

"Why are you two so quiet? I'm used to Wenye being quiet, but this is the first time I've seen you so quiet, Mr. Zhao."

Chu Guangying was overjoyed, her heart pounding like a bird in the wind. Forgetting her girlish modesty, she wanted nothing more than to burst into song to express her happiness. She was quite surprised by the silence of the two brothers behind her.

Wen Ye remained motionless as if he hadn't heard her, which was consistent with Chu Guangying's usual behavior when she was alone with Wen Ye. In fact, she hadn't expected Wen Ye to answer her; she was talking to Zhao Chang'an.

"I'm tired these days. There's been so much talking and drinking every day. It's the same in Zhengzhou. I just want to take this opportunity to have some peace and quiet."

Zhao Chang'an said with a smile, "As for why Wen Ye is also so quiet, I guess he was frightened by your mother's aura."

"Pfft!"

Chu Guangying laughed: "He's not afraid of my mom at all. We've met several times already. In Wenjia Village, my mom told him to eat less pickled cabbage because it's unhealthy and contains nitrites, but he ate even more of it. He ate a whole plate of pickled cabbage, and the next morning he even made a big pot of fragrant pickled cabbage and egg fried rice to tempt my mom."

"My mom was both craving his delicious cooking and angry that he deliberately challenged her authority. After eating one bowl, she actually wanted more, but she could only drink winter melon, seaweed and dried shrimp soup."

"Every family has to go through a period of adjustment before a new member joins. And you can't have no rebellious children. As the saying goes, friendship is built on experience. Without conflict, there's no bond. Who knows, their relationship might even get better in the future."

Zhao Chang'an's words made Chu Guangying laugh.

"what?"

Chu Guangying suddenly called out, then continued driving.

"how?"

Zhao Chang'an kept his eyes closed while chatting with Chu Guangying, only responding when she called out to him.

"It's nothing, maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me."

"acquaintance?"

"They're more than just acquaintances, they're practically intimately familiar. But precisely because they're so intimately familiar, I think I'm seeing things."

"You're reciting a tongue twister."

Zhao Chang'an smiled, opened his eyes, and said, "Who is it? Tell me if I know them."

"Never mind, I guess I'm just seeing things."

However, Chu Guangying was unwilling to speak.

"You really know how to keep people in suspense. Fine, don't tell me then."

Zhao Chang'an felt that Chu Guangying was probably feeling stifled by her mother and Wen Ye, and was just making conversation out of nothing.

She just saw an acquaintance while driving, why was she making such a fuss? If Xing Zheliang had appeared, she could have said "Eh" to prove that this world is virtual, but judging from her emotions, she obviously hadn't encountered anything so bizarre, so why was she making such a fuss?
"hehe."

Chu Guangying smiled but did not answer. However, she had finally learned to shut up and stop rambling on, instead focusing on driving.

(End of this chapter)