The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

Chapter 80 New Year’s greetings
Song Yanxi dragged Chen An'an to take a shower.

No matter how angry she is, it's still her own child. Look at her face covered in cow dung, she's washing and beating her without hesitation.

After she finished washing, we changed her into a clean new outfit.

Outside the door, 25-year-old Chen Fan even called on her to go blow up cow dung, or even more excitingly, to blow up the toilet.

I'll beat you little brats to a pulp.

Chen An'an was beaten, so she had no choice but to obediently go with her parents to her grandfather's house for the New Year's Eve dinner.

After eating, the whole family came back to get some snacks, then played cards and watched TV together.

In the evening, we would watch the Spring Festival Gala and wait for the midnight firecrackers.

New Year's Eve passed by in such a dull day.

Chen An'an fell asleep before the midnight fireworks show even started.

I regretted it the next day.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, they have a rule that you can't go out.

The family had a reunion dinner at home, and they couldn't even sweep the trash outside; there were all sorts of rules and regulations.

After playing with firecrackers at home all day, Chen An'an was going to visit relatives on the second day of the Lunar New Year.

First, it was my maternal grandfather's house.

Chen Pingsheng had prepared a car full of gifts in his Bosu truck well in advance, as his maternal grandfather had treated him quite well.

Without his support, he wouldn't have been able to marry Song Yanxi so easily.

Liu Fen was strongly opposed at the time, but her grandfather didn't indulge her at all. When it came to his eldest granddaughter's affairs, it had to be decided by the man.

With his grandfather around, what are you, a woman, whining about?

This wasn't Beijing, where women had no say, yet he still managed to marry Song Yanxi so easily.

My maternal grandfather is in his sixties or seventies, and his health isn't as good as his paternal grandfather's

Various types of high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high cholesterol.

The doctor advised him not to smoke or drink alcohol.

His grandmother wanted him to quit, but his grandfather always said the same thing: "If you can't even drink or smoke, what's the point of living?"

The elderly couple often bickered over this.

Chen Pingsheng brought a lot of good cigarettes and alcohol with him this time. It's really hard to quit these things when you get old. Living a few more years with poor health is actually a kind of torture.

His maternal grandfather's house wasn't too far away, and when Chen Pingsheng's car arrived, it lined up from the front house all the way to his maternal grandfather's house.

Every household set off firecrackers.

This is the whole village welcoming guests.

He rolled down the car window to greet people, and when he arrived at his maternal grandfather's house, many relatives had come to visit.

Song Yanxi led Chen An'an to greet everyone one by one.

There is a very wide and large river in front of my maternal grandfather's house. Small boats are often moored along the river, and the surrounding area is full of reeds.

The children in the village all love to play there, and Chen An'an is no exception.

Two family members, four or five years older than her, took her out to play.

Chen Pingsheng chatted with his grandfather.

My maternal grandfather has two sons and a daughter. The eldest son, Song Huamin, didn't come back this year, but the other two came on the second day of the Lunar New Year.

Song Yanxi's aunt was the one who cooked, and she also helped out.

"Yanxi, when are you guys going to Beijing this year?"

"Let's go after the fifteenth; there's no rush this year."

There's really no rush. Most people who come back drive out around the 7th or 8th. Since they only leave after the Lantern Festival, there's definitely no traffic jam.

"Is your father still being suppressed by my sister-in-law in Beijing?"

"this…"

One is her father, and the other is her mother, so it's hard for Song Yanxi to make a judgment.

The aunt said, "If you ask me, your mother has no taste at all. If my father hadn't insisted that you marry Pingsheng, would you two be so happy now? Your mother is just a person who picked up a lot of bad habits from being born in the capital. Look at the way she looks every year when she comes back."

My aunt imitated Liu Fen quite well, even raising her pinky finger.

"Ah... how wonderful our capital is, how great our capital is, who doesn't know how great the capital is? Every time she comes back, she acts like she lives in the Forbidden City, and she expects us country girls to bow down to her."

In fact, every family has relatives like this.

Liu Fen, a native of Beijing, was alright, but some people were even angrier.

She's clearly from the countryside, and even in the city she only lives in the smallest rented rooms, but as soon as she comes back, she starts speaking like a city person. She says this can't be eaten, that can't be drunk.

People like that are even more annoying, and unfortunately, both of her sisters-in-law are like that.

“Look how good your man is. He makes so much money outside, but when he comes back, he still respects his elders. He can even play with your grandfather and have a great time playing with these five-cent coins.”

That's right, Chen Pingsheng is already playing cards with his grandfather.

In rural areas, if you don't play cards during the Spring Festival, you'll miss out on a lot of fun.

He can play with both big and small toys.

“He’s a good man. After all, he suffered for so many years in the capital before he started to have money. You can’t compare him to my mother.”

"I get angry just thinking about your mother."

My aunt chopped the large piece of meat into tiny pieces with a single stroke of her cleaver.

“Your dad was supposed to come back this year. Your grandpa is already this old, and we don’t know how many more years he can live. Do you think he wouldn’t look forward to the family reunion during the Spring Festival? But your mom insisted on letting him stay in Beijing.”

“My brother was the envy of everyone when he married a woman from the capital. I wasn’t envious, and neither was your grandfather. But as it turned out, he was bullied by his wife’s family his whole life.”

Song Huamin had indeed suffered mistreatment in the capital before.

After all, they didn't buy the house themselves; many rural men who marry city women are like this.

If you can make a lot of money, that's fine; if you can't, it just means no one wants to spend the Lunar New Year at their mother-in-law's house.

You have to be mindful of how others feel about everything you do; don't even talk about personality.

With car loans, mortgages, and kids in school by the time you reach thirty, how many people still have the guts to be independent?

This is the kind of person some unscrupulous bosses like to hire, because they are easy to exploit and will never quit easily.

It's too difficult to find work in the city, so I'll stay in the countryside for the rest of my life.

Song Yanxi's aunt is like that anyway; she refuses to go to the city to develop her career, because even if she did, she'd just end up doing manual labor.

It's better to stay in the countryside and be honest.

A meal was quickly prepared; gaining ten pounds during the Chinese New Year holiday is no joke.

Every day was a lavish feast, just like at his grandfather's house, and he also gave his maternal grandfather 100,000 yuan.

When elderly people reach a certain age, if they have no money, they shouldn't expect their children to be filial.

This is not an exaggeration; this is just how society is.

It's no joke to say that everything revolves around money.

Chen Pingsheng is doing his best to ensure the happiness of his elders in their later years.

In the afternoon, right after lunch, many relatives rode their motorcycles home.

Chen Pingsheng himself chatted with his grandfather.

Even on the third day of the Lunar New Year, people continued visiting relatives until the seventh day.

That's how it is after getting married; there are so many things to do when you go home for the Chinese New Year.

On the eighth day of the lunar new year, Chen Pingsheng accompanied Principal Hu, Teacher Shen Qing, and two leaders from the county to visit Wangcai Primary School.

Then a new site will be selected to build the new school.

He even made the county's big news because of this, the kind where his picture and name couldn't be published.

This was something he requested himself.

Chen Pingsheng has always believed that business people should avoid excessive media exposure, as it not only affects their private lives but also makes them prone to addiction.

It's the same as how nine out of ten entrepreneurs who marry female celebrities end up ruining their businesses.

After spending two days in the village selecting a new school site, they then found a construction team from Shacheng.

Only then did he leave Wangcai Village and take his family to Shacheng to buy a 600-square-meter villa.

It is located in the suburbs, near a five-star hotel and a golf course.

The environment is naturally very good, and the air is fresh.

In 2014, the average price in Shacheng was only around 5,000 yuan per square meter. Even if he bought this villa outright, it would only cost him a little over 4 million yuan.

It's pretty good. For someone who frequently travels to and from Shacheng, buying a house here is naturally much more convenient.

After a busy Lantern Festival, Chen Pingsheng finally decided to head to the capital.

I spent a month at home, did all the travel I wanted to do, and spent almost all the money I wanted to spend.

If I don't go out and make money now, how will I be able to go home and enjoy myself next year?

(End of this chapter)