The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

Chapter 9 New Year’s Arrival

Wow... I bought the Audi outright and still have hundreds of thousands in savings.

This time, Song Ma was truly surprised, because Chen Pingsheng was barely thirty years old.

His family has never contributed a single penny since the start of the marriage.

Back then, he used his own money to build a big house for his family. Later, when he got married and had children, every expense was substantial.

To be honest, if someone like him had a Beijing hukou (household registration), he would be perfect.

She is young, very family-oriented, and has a stable income.

His wife and children, if they stayed with him, would never have an exceptionally good life, but at least they wouldn't suffer any major grievances.

It's a pity that there is no if.

Of all the older women she knew in Beijing, none of their children his age were as stable and capable of making money as he was.

But so what.

With a Beijing residency permit, girls from other places would practically throw themselves at them.

Song Ma Liu Fen put down her chopsticks and said seriously:
"Why are you crying during the New Year? Mom is just worried about you. Housing prices in Beijing are getting higher and higher. If you don't buy soon, who knows how high they will rise in the future? By then, you won't be able to buy even if you want to."

Chen Pingsheng remained silent, holding a small glass of wine, and said:

"I will definitely buy a house within the Third Ring Road before July next year."

"Anyone can talk the talk, but you have to show real skills."

Liu Fen distrusts verbal promises the most. Back then, Song's father was so outstanding, a government employee in a state-owned enterprise, but he was still laid off just like that.

After all that effort, my salary is only a little over ten thousand yuan.

Compared to those first-generation Beijing residents who benefited from land expropriation, they are worlds apart.

"Alright, let's all keep quiet."

Mr. Song was also quite helpless. Why bring up these pointless things during the Lunar New Year?

Every time the son-in-law visits, he brings a gift worth several thousand.

After Song's father clinked glasses with Chen Pingsheng, the meal became unpalatable and tasted particularly bland.

He didn't even need to pull her away; Song Yanxi simply ate a few bites and wanted to leave with Xiao An'an on her own.

Mr. Song tried to persuade them to stay, but to no avail. After they left, he sighed:
"It's a perfectly good New Year, why do you have to keep saying those nasty things?"

“He thought it sounded bad, and I thought it sounded bad too.”

Liu Fen raised an eyebrow and said unhappily, "My daughter is so beautiful. If she can't even afford a house in Beijing if she stays with him, we might as well break up as soon as possible."

"Exactly, I don't want a street vendor with no education or job to be my brother-in-law. It's embarrassing to even talk about it."

Song Wu also pursed her lips and replied with a similar retort.

Mr. Song sighed helplessly. He couldn't change anything about the mother and daughter, so he could only take the initiative to wash the dishes.

……

underground garage.

Once in his car, Chen Pingsheng took out his phone and looked at it.

It was filled with New Year's messages from my family.

Mom: "Happy New Year, son. Take care of yourself out there."

Ding ding ding.

My mom sent me another red envelope with 888 yuan in it, and it said "Happy New Year" on it.

Mom: "Everything is fine at home. We even went to your grandpa's house for a family reunion dinner this morning. They are both in good health, so don't worry about them. It must be quite cold in Beijing, so remember to wear more clothes."

"Be good to yourself; you can never earn all the money in the world."

Little sister: "Brother, why didn't you come back this year? Did you buy a new car? Grandpa and Grandma were very happy to hear that you bought an Audi and asked when you could come back to visit."

Dad: "It's better outside."

A mother worries when her son travels a thousand miles; if there is anyone who can accompany you throughout your life, it is your own mother.

It's always the warmest place to be at home. As long as you're doing okay, no one will ever complain about you.

I long to go back now and have a real family reunion.

It's about 40 kilometers from the Third Ring Road to Beixin'an. There are few cars during the Spring Festival, as many people have gone back to their hometowns for the holiday.

Traffic wasn't so congested in the city, and Song Yanxi drove home without any problems.

Many people in their courtyard haven't gone home either.

For example, his neighbor Zhao Liying, this girl is really hardworking. Even with a minor role and only a few lines, she can still do her best.

Another reason is that the young marshal Zhang Tao hasn't found a girlfriend yet.

He actually has some savings; he could easily take out a hundred thousand or even a hundred thousand.

Given these conditions, finding a partner in the countryside these days wouldn't be too difficult at all.

It's a pity, I spent a lot of money on several dates before, but none of them worked out. The first one I thought was too honest and didn't know how to talk, and the second one I thought wasn't presentable enough.

The job is also unstable.

Now, Zhang Tao has no desire to go back to the countryside for blind dates anymore. In his words, those women he goes on blind dates with are practically just pretending.

I met with you in the morning, and then met with several other people in the afternoon.

It's similar when it comes to dating; if someone can go on a date with you today, they can go on a date with someone else tomorrow.

Anyway, it was just dragged on like this until the very end, before the wedding.

If it's someone else's money, then I'll spend it without missing a single penny.

"Old Chen, why are you back so early?"

"Don't you know my mother-in-law's family?"

"Haha!" Zhang Tao laughed loudly, then patted him on the shoulder and cursed, "That's just an old hag who looks down on us outsiders. What right does she have to look down on us? So what if we were born in a good place?"

"Let's not talk about her. Let's just have a happy New Year at home."

Chen Pingsheng invited him to his home, saying he wanted to set up a table there and invite his neighbor Zhao Liying over as well.

It was just a few of them.

The whole family worked together, and Zhao Liying also put down her script to help. Soon, a large table of food was prepared.

Four meat dishes, four vegetable dishes, and two large bottles of Sprite.

The small number of people makes it easy for everyone to get along well.

Chen Pingsheng, holding his drink cup, was the first to stand up and say:
"2012 is coming to an end, and 2013 is just around the corner. I wish our colleague Xiaoying all the best in becoming a leading actress next year, and may she have a very successful career from now on."

Zhao Liying almost laughed until tears streamed down her face. She stood up and drank it all in one gulp, then gave a rather unladylike burp.

"I wish Comrade Zhang Tao all the best in the coming year, that he finds a wife soon, and has a happy and fulfilling life."

"Tsk... why bring up whichever household you don't want to talk about?"

Zhang Tao stood up and pulled him along, saying, "Brother, I also wish you good fortune next year and hope you can buy a big house soon."

"Yes, I also wish Brother Chen a prosperous 13 and that he can buy a big villa."

Zhao Liying drank another large glass, but Chen Pingsheng laughed and said, "You're exaggerating too much. We can't even dream of owning a big villa in Beijing. If we could buy a 200-square-meter one, we would have lived a worthwhile life."

Zhang Tao: "Hey Lao Chen, that's not very interesting. Teacher Ma is right, people still need to have dreams, otherwise what's the difference between them and Xianyu (a second-hand marketplace platform)?"

For 12 years, the internet has been flooded with quotes from Mr. Ma.

Don't underestimate these street vendors; they all idolize Mr. Ma as an entrepreneur.

Chen Pingsheng watched almost all of his video speeches several times.

"Yes, I want to buy a big villa."

These words sounded somewhat stubborn, as if they were directed at him, but Chen Pingsheng knew that Zhao Liying was speaking to him.

She just wants to be the main character.

Life goes on, the days pass by slowly.

Nobody knows what tomorrow will bring, but at least everyone had a happy and prosperous New Year today.

In the afternoon, Song Yanxi drove everyone to Sanlitun, but many places were closed, including the shopping malls.

On the last day of the year, he still wanted to buy some New Year's gifts for his wife and daughter.

Song Yanxi's hands were bare, so Chen Pingsheng bought her a Longines Elegant Quartz Watch with a white strap and blue dial.

The price is 12,800.

Song Yanxi bought him another Longines sports watch with a white steel strap.

The price is 17,000.

Neither of them mentioned saving money this time; this kind of watch can be worn for a lifetime.

It is also a testament to their lifelong commitment to each other.

Zhao Liying looked at it for a long time, wanting to buy it but reluctant to spend the money; no one would think of that nowadays.

This somewhat rustic extra has now become its global ambassador for elegance.

All I can say is that life is full of surprises.

Later, Chen Pingsheng bought Xiao An'an the little iPad she had been longing for.

I bought myself a laptop that cost over four thousand yuan.

He wants to use this to look up information at home.

When it comes to clothes, Song Yanxi refuses to buy anything expensive.

This whole trip cost more than 40,000 yuan.

We work hard all year round, just so we can spend money freely during those few days of the Lunar New Year.

(End of this chapter)