Financial freedom starts from graduation

Chapter 483 Parents Group

November 2024, 11, 11: in the evening.

The sky was gloomy during the day, but when it was about to turn dark, the sun miraculously appeared, and the afterglow of the sunset poured into Lujiazui, reflecting golden light and shadows in this prosperous area with tall buildings.

Click!Click!
Camera flashes rang out one after another, followed by a helpless voice:

"I say, Ms. Li Xiaolei, please stop moving around so much, or you'll lose focus..."

"Hey, Jiang Jiaxing, it's obviously your photography skills that are not good. I see professional photographers on Douyin constantly changing their poses, why can't you do that?"

"Don't talk nonsense. I've had this camera for several months. How could my skills be bad?"

"It's because you've been tinkering with it for several months and haven't made any progress that I say your skills are not good enough. Look at the photos you took these days, I don't have the nerve to post any of them. I might as well ask Sister Zhao to help me take pictures with her phone..."

"Li Xiaolei, you..."

Seeing that the couple was about to start yelling again, Zhou Dajun, who couldn't bear to watch, stepped forward to dissuade them.

"Alright, alright, stop arguing. Old Jiang, you should also stop talking. We should be happy when we go out to play. How can you quarrel three times a day like this?"

"Old Zhou, you care so much about other people... I see that Xiaolei and Lao Jiang's relationship always gets better and better the more they quarrel. I even like to watch them quarrel. Unlike you, you are like a mute person who can't say a word for a long time!"

However, Zhao Guihua pulled Zhou Dajun back and blamed him for meddling in other people's business.

"Sister Zhao is still good at talking. Hey, Sister Zhao, ignore them, come and take a few pictures for me... Look, I saw on the Internet that you have to shoot from the bottom up, so that you can capture the tops of those buildings..."

Seeing the two middle-aged women gathered together and chattering about photography techniques, Jiang Jiaxing and Zhou Dajun looked at each other, shook their heads and smiled at the same time, and consciously took out cigarettes and lighters at the same time.

This took them at least ten minutes, enough time for them to smoke two cigarettes. After playing all the way, the two of them had already gotten used to it...

"Hey, Lao Zhou, give me one of your Fuchun Shanju cigarettes. They're really good..."

"Just take a pack. I can't finish them."

"No, no, a pack of cigarettes costs several thousand yuan, I can't afford it. After all, this is Zhou Wang's filial piety to you, how can I take it away?"

Seeing that Jiang Jiaxing was so cunning as to take only one cigarette and then lit it up happily, Zhou Dajun was somewhat amused.

You don't dare to buy a pack that costs thousands of dollars, but you feel at ease smoking a cigarette that costs only a few hundred dollars?
To be honest, if this trip was not for the need to bring a few packs of good cigarettes to fill his pockets, and if Jiang Jiaxing was not traveling with him, Zhou Dajun himself would not have been willing to smoke these cigarettes because he did not want to be considered stingy by others.

A pack of "Fuchun Villa" cigarettes has a market value of 20,000 to 30,000 yuan, but there are only five packs of cigarettes inside. Are you smoking cigarettes or gold?

Their two families came to Shanghai this time without telling Zhou Wang or Jiang Qingkui in advance.

The cause of the incident can be traced back to more than a week ago. Jiang Jiaxing, who would occasionally make plans to go to a farm for an outing, suddenly had an idea: how about we go on a self-driving tour?
The background at that time was that Jiang Jiaxing had just bought a new Land Rover Defender, so he wanted to ask Zhou Dajun's family to go out for a ride and try out the new car.

Although our Director Jiang and Minister Zhou have not retired yet, it is not a problem for them to apply for a dozen days of annual leave. According to Jiang Jiaxing, Zhou Dajun can call from time to time to report, and no one will say anything even if he does not go to the office for a whole year...

Some things cannot be felt outside, but in Zhou Wang’s hometown of Jingcheng, the popularity of his name has not subsided until now, and TV stations will talk about this "young hero" from time to time.

In short, Zhou Dajun, who had already initially adapted to the leadership position, went home and thought about it with Zhao Guihua, and it seemed that it was not impossible, so he agreed.

When they were first discussing the destination, Jiang Qingkui's mother, Ms. Li Xiaolei, had a new idea every day. Today she wanted to go to XZ for pilgrimage, and tomorrow she wanted to go to Xinjiang to eat grapes. Finally, Jiang Jiaxing, who was fed up with it, just decided to forget it. Since it was our first time driving out, we should take a city route, which would be safer.

In the words of young people, it means "heading north"... and visiting our daughter at the same time.

The subtext is that, by the way, take a look at Zhou Wang, who may become "one's own son-in-law" in the future.

Even though Zhou Wang and Jiang Qingkui never directly responded to this question, when Zhou Wang brought Jiang Qingkui home for the first time, Jiang Qingkui had already admitted that "she had a crush on Zhou Wang". Later, coupled with the "Mid-Autumn Festival gift package" Zhou Wang gave her and other behaviors, in Jiang Jiaxing and Li Xiaolei's subconscious, they actually tacitly accepted the fact that the two might be dating...

Since Jiang Jiaxing had used this reason, Li Xiaolei naturally had no reason to object.

So the two families drove from Jingcheng and headed north to enjoy the mountains and rivers.

In order not to impose any psychological burden on Zhou Wang and Jiang Qingkui, and also to see how they really get along, neither Jiang Jiaxing nor Zhou Dajun informed them in advance.

Originally they were going to drive all the way to Beidu, but on the way Jiang Jiaxing asked about Jiang Qingkui's recent schedule and learned that she would be going to Shanghai on the 11th to participate in the company's charity dinner. In addition, Zhou Wang was also in Shanghai, so they changed direction and headed towards Shanghai.

Normally they should have arrived in Shanghai yesterday, but Li Xiaolei's sister's family in Hangzhou happened to be marrying off their daughter yesterday, so they went there for a banquet and stayed in Hangzhou for another night, and only arrived in Shanghai today.

"Brother-in-law, Lao Zhou, I bought some milk tea. Can you guys take a look and see what you want to drink?"

At this time, a woman's voice came from the side.

"No need. Lao Zhou and I have brought some tea. You can give it to Xiaolei and the others."

"Hey, brother-in-law, try it. This is the 'bird's nest milk tea' I bought specially. It's only available in Shanghai. A cup costs more than 100 yuan... You definitely can't drink it in Yunnan Province."

However, the woman was still unwilling to give in and insisted on forcing the two cups of milk tea in her hands onto the two men.

Seeing this, Jiang Jiaxing had no choice but to take the milk tea. He looked at Zhou Dajun helplessly with a hint of apology in his eyes.

The fashionably dressed woman in front of him was Li Xiaolei's sister, Li Xiaoya, Jiang Qingkui's aunt. She married and moved to Hangzhou a long time ago. Due to various reasons, the two families had not had much contact until recently, when they became more frequent.

Jiang Jiaxing knew it very well, and the reason why their relationship became close again was because Li Xiaoya's husband, the man named Xiang Ming who had just parked his car and walked over, had made a lot of money in the past two years.

Li Xiaoya is a typical vain and show-off person. She didn't have much to show off before. After all, Li Xiaolei, who married Jiang Jiaxing, lived a better life than her. Her daughter was also very successful and was a famous top scorer in the college entrance examination. She also went to study in the beautiful country at public expense...

It is simply the "life template" that every middle-aged woman dreams of.

On the other hand, although Li Xiaoya married into a big city, her life has always been rather difficult. The family lives in a house of 50 to 60 square meters and has to worry about paying the mortgage every month. In addition, Li Xiaoya insisted on getting married despite her sister's dissuasion, so the relationship between the two sisters has always been rather cold.

But things are different now. Firstly, Li Xiaoya's husband Xiang Ming has had a good turn of fortune in the past two years, catching up with the "new energy vehicle" trend. Although there are constant after-sales troubles, as an agent, Xiang Ming has made a lot of money and is now a billionaire with a net worth of nearly 100 million yuan.

Secondly, the family that Li Xiaoya's daughter married into was also very good, a very powerful family in Hangzhou... This was also the reason why Li Xiaoya made dozens of phone calls in a row and insisted that Li Xiaolei bring her brother-in-law to attend the wedding.

There is another invisible reason, which is that Li Xiaoya has heard from another relative that Jiang Qingkui's current job is to be someone's personal secretary...

Personal secretary!
After her husband Xiang Ming became rich, Li Xiaoya also met many people in the wealthy circle through him, and also met some of the "secretaries" around those wealthy people. In Li Xiaoya's view, they were no different from "mistresses".

After becoming rich, Xiang Ming also had similar thoughts, but he had to give up after Li Xiaoya made a fuss.

In short, when Li Xiaoya now faces her sister's family, she feels truly superior. This sense of superiority is unconsciously reflected in some of her words and actions, which naturally makes Jiang Jiaxing a little annoyed.

But because of Li Xiaolei's face, Jiang Jiaxing couldn't show it.

For example, today, when she heard that Li Xiaolei and Jiang Jiaxing's family were coming to Shanghai to visit their daughter, Li Xiaolei insisted on coming along, saying that her husband Xiang Ming had many acquaintances in Shanghai, and that it would be very convenient for them to do anything...

The feeling revealed in his words was as if he was afraid that they would suffer losses in the Magic City due to their lack of experience.

After all, Li Xiaolei was nominally Jiang Qingkui's aunt, and Jiang Jiaxing and his wife could not find any reason to refuse, so they let them come along.

"Boss Xiang, do you smoke?"

Zhou Dajun took out his Liquan cigarette and wanted to give one to Xiang Ming.

"No, I'm more used to smoking cigars now... I'm not used to smoking regular cigarettes."

Xiang Ming refused without even looking at it. The diamond-studded Rolex Yacht-Master on his wrist was so bright that he couldn't open his eyes.

Jiang Jiaxing wanted to say something, but was stopped by Zhou Dajun. When Xiang Ming walked aside, Jiang Jiaxing couldn't help but frowned:

"I'm sorry, Lao Zhou. I didn't expect Xiang Ming to become like this. I remember him being a very humble person..."

"It's okay, why would I care about these?"

"He's already showing off his Rolex. Don't you have a Patek Philippe? Wear it and show him what true arrogance means..."

Perhaps it was Zhou Dajun's good-natured attitude that further aroused Jiang Jiaxing's inner complaints, and he couldn't help but speak.

"Forget it. I feel uncomfortable wearing something worth seven figures."

Zhou Dajun could only smile bitterly.

During the National Day some time ago, Zhou Wang gave him and his mother a watch each, with nice words like "Remember the time and don't forget the history". In short, after a phone call, Zhou Dajun and Zhao Guihua accepted the two watches that they could hardly name.

Later, when Jiang Jiaxing and Li Xiaolei went to his house for dinner, Li Xiaolei was sharp-eyed and exclaimed that the shiny watch on Zhao Guihua's hand was the latest diamond-encrusted model from Patek Philippe. She had seen it in a magazine a few days ago...

When Zhao Guihua, who was washing vegetables, heard that the watch she was wearing was worth millions, she was so frightened that she almost knocked over the basin.

After checking the two watches and finding out they were really worth millions, Zhao Guihua would occasionally wear them secretly to show off, but Zhou Dajun didn't dare to wear them anymore.

He is a cadre now, so he still needs to pay attention to the impact.

After Li Xiaolei and Zhao Guihua finally finished taking photos of the tourists, Li Xiaoya, who had been waiting a little impatiently, stepped forward and said:
"Sister, is it above the IFC? Can we go up? It's getting dark... Let's go up quickly to have a meal. Xiang Ming has things to do later. Several business partners are waiting for him."

"I heard Qingkui say that the dinner will start at 7 o'clock. It should be about the same time. Let's go up..."

Li Xiaolei and Jiang Jiaxing actually didn't know what the dinner was about. When they asked, Jiang Qingkui, who was not good at explaining, just said that it was an event organized by the company itself.

Since it was organized by their own company, which meant that Zhou Wang was the host, Jiang Jiaxing and Li Xiaolei didn't think there was anything wrong with them coming directly over.

Anyway, Zhou Wang's parents are here, so there is no question of being presumptuous.

Immediately, Li Xiaolei and Jiang Jiaxing took the lead and the group walked towards the IFC building.

Arriving at the lobby, Li Xiaoya looked around curiously and then exclaimed:

"The environment in here is quite nice. Look, there's carpet over there. And the security guards look very formal, all in suits and ties, with headsets..."

"This is the most expensive office building in Lujiazui. My biggest client in Shanghai has his company here. It's a pity that he has something to do tonight, otherwise we could go to his company for a cup of tea."

Xiang Ming on the side smiled.

"Sister, Qingkui's boyfriend, the one called Zhou Wang, is his company also in this business?"

Li Xiaoya turned around and asked.

"That shouldn't be the case. From what Qingkui said, the venue should be rented by them temporarily..."

Li Xiaolei answered hesitantly.

Li Xiaoya was about to say something when she heard this, but suddenly, there was a commotion outside the main entrance of the hall. The security personnel who had been on high alert in the lobby quickly rushed out. Everyone in the group heard screams and turned around to see a lot of young people gathered outside the lobby. They all had fanatical looks on their faces and were holding a lot of cheering signs in their hands.

"How is this going?"

"She looks like some celebrity. Hey, I really recognize her from the poster. I was watching the TV series she starred in a few days ago..."

Li Xiaolei couldn't call out the other person's name for a moment, and just said it with curiosity.

(End of this chapter)