The Red Era: Starting from a Truck Driver

Chapter 255 Uncle Zhou Hewang

Jiang Cheng and his group arrived in Nanjing at around two o'clock.

Because Zhou Lingying told her mother on the phone yesterday that they were taking a sleeper car, Jiang Cheng and his friends saw her father-in-law and his friends as soon as they got off the car.

The scene was full of crying and hugging. It was agreed that a son-in-law was half a son, but Jiang Cheng felt like an outsider.

The father-in-law and mother-in-law were either thinking about Zhou Lingying or their granddaughter. Jiang Cheng, the son-in-law who he saw many times a year and treated to delicious food and drinks whenever they met, has now become invisible.

After coming out of the train station, Zhou Dongming took everyone on a bus, got off at two stops, and then walked home.

"Jiang Cheng, I have to trouble you today. You have acquaintances in the supply and marketing cooperative. Zhou Xingcai, Zhou Fanyi, uncle, and aunt will all come over in the evening. Take this money and help buy two bottles of wine and some meat."

After sitting at home for a while, Zhou Dongming didn't hide anything from anyone and directly took out ten yuan from his pocket and gave it to Jiang Cheng.

Ten dollars is a lot of money, especially if Jiang Cheng is just asked to prepare some meat dishes.

Jiang Cheng has been lying to his father-in-law and his family for more than six years. During these years, he came once a month, if not once every two months on average.

They definitely had to buy meat to entertain the mother-in-law, but even though they were both working, they had enough money but not enough meat coupons. If they only entertained Jiang Cheng, they would not be able to save up the meat coupons to take care of their grandchildren.

Jiang Cheng later lied to them and said that he was a driver of the Changcheng Supply and Marketing Cooperative, and that people in the Nanjing Supply and Marketing Cooperative also sold him face. He could buy a lot of things privately without meat coupons, but the price was a little higher.

The reason why the father-in-law and mother-in-law gave money was because Jiang Cheng always brought gifts every time he came. It was impossible for him to come and bring gifts and then have to prepare the dishes for him every time he was entertained.

"Dad, what do you mean? If Jiang Cheng can buy something, just let him buy it. We are family, why should we give him money?" When Zhou Lingying saw her father asking Jiang Cheng to buy something and even giving him money, she immediately stopped him.

It's not that Zhou Lingying doesn't know how to live because she wants to help her parents, the key is that Zhou Lingying knows how much money her family has. Just for the cloth transactions she handles every year, she has to take a wooden box to store the money every year.

Now when Zhou Lingying spends money, she only cares whether it is worth it, not whether she is willing to spend it. Just like the last time she took the bus back to Jinhe Commune, she argued with the driver over a ticket worth one or two cents. But when she eats on the train, she goes directly to the dining hall and doesn't care if the meal costs nearly three yuan.

Jiang Cheng resigned from his company, and Zhou Lingying never thought about his salary of less than 100 yuan. She just thought about whether she would not be able to get so much food, drink and fabric in the future. But thinking that there was so much money at home, and her man was by her side, it felt better than anything else.

"Yingying, how can you talk like that? Jiang Cheng has the ability to earn a lot of money, that's his ability, some things should be kept separate. When you come back this time, your mother and I will prepare two tables of meals at home. It's not your turn to pay for it." Zhou Dongming said a little loudly.

If it hadn't been so many years before I was reunited with my daughter Zhou Lingying, I would have taught her a lesson today for her unreasonable behavior.

In the eyes of Zhou Dongming and Liu Xiaofang, their son-in-law Jiang Cheng's monthly income is high. The basic salary plus subsidies plus some extra money he earns can be more than a hundred yuan.

But this was not a reason for them to regard their son-in-law Jiang Cheng as a big enemy. Normally, Jiang Cheng would bring at least ten yuan worth of gifts when he came. Just for this reason, the Zhou family felt bad.

Zhou Lingying didn't say anything after hearing what her father said. After all, there was a lot of money at home, not only her parents didn't know, even Jiang Cheng's parents and sister didn't know.

Not only did their relatives not know how much money they had, but Jiang Cheng was now jobless. He did not intend to tell anyone about this, but Jiang Cheng privately told Zhou Lingying that in a few months, he would be able to drive a car again.

It was the same as they had been together for all these years. If Jiang Cheng didn't take the initiative to ask why he could drive the car, Zhou Lingying wouldn't ask too much. As long as she believed what her man said, even if he didn't do what he said, as Jiang Cheng's wife, she would stand firmly by his side.

"Dad, Mom. I'm going to buy some groceries. I'll take my bike away. If the groceries are good, you'll have to pay me if I buy too much and the money isn't enough." Jiang Cheng said with a smile as he took the money from Zhou Dongming.

Zhou Lingying sat aside, watching her man's behavior with a bit of a laugh and tears. How could her man care about ten dollars? However, she also knew the family conditions and didn't care about the ten dollars.

However, Zhou Lingying didn't expect that her man had connections in Nanjing and could buy meat without a ticket.

Jiang Cheng took the money and left. Jiang Zhaozhao and Jiang Panpan also wanted to go out with him, but they really couldn't agree to this. It was okay to play some "little magic" with my daughters in private, but some things were taken out of thin air in front of them. It would be difficult to explain if this was exposed later.

"Dad, Jiang Cheng has bought a lot of things for our family in the past few years."

Seeing Jiang Cheng leaving, Zhou Lingying couldn't help but ask. Because seeing Zhou Dongming giving the money so skillfully, and her mother Zhou Xiaofang was also not surprised, it seemed that Jiang Cheng had not told her these things over the years.

Hearing their daughter Zhou Lingying asking this, Zhou Dongming and Liu Xiaofang were puzzled. How good was this son-in-law to their family? Could it be that their daughter Zhou Lingying didn't know, so they began to talk about it in general.

Let’s not talk about the gifts Jiang Cheng brought every time he came, saying that they were honoring their elders. But most of the good things were given to Zhou Lingying’s two brothers.

They have only two daughters-in-law, and their families have educated youth who went to the countryside. They don’t know how much they asked Jiang Cheng for the canned food, candies, and national food coupons at a low price.

Jiang Cheng gave enough face to his two brothers-in-law, and basically gave them everything they wanted.

Over the years, Zhou Lingying's relatives may not remember Zhou Dongming's daughter who went to the countryside. But every year when they get together during the Chinese New Year, they always mention Zhou Dongming's son-in-law Jiang Cheng, a driver who works at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. He is a man who can get anything he wants.

Zhou Lingying was chatting with her parents at home, while Jiang Cheng took a stroll outside and then hid in an empty corner to choose for a long time.

A lot of meat, river shrimp, freshwater perch, etc. were prepared, and two bottles of mid-range liquor were added. There was a lot of meat, and it could be stored for several days in the cold weather. Jiang Cheng and his friends were going to spend the New Year here, so it was right to prepare more meat, and the price would definitely be more than ten yuan.

When Jiang Cheng returned home, his mother-in-law Liu Xiaofang saw the food and knew that ten yuan was definitely not enough. She just really admired her son-in-law for being so capable in Nanjing. This large piece of pork belly weighed at least six or seven pounds. In addition to making braised pork, there was still a lot left.

For the sake of my grandchildren, I will definitely ask my son and daughter-in-law to bring some meat back tonight.

Jiang Cheng came back from shopping, so Zhou Lingying naturally followed her mother to the kitchen. Even when she went to help in the kitchen, she held her two little daughters in her arms.

Jiang Cheng was chatting with his father-in-law, and the topic turned to Zhou Lingying's uncle.

Now Zhou Lingying's uncle Zhou Hewang is the deputy director of the Cultural Bureau here. If it were not for his cadre status, he would have retired last year.

This Cultural Bureau was a low-income government office and was completely incomparable to later generations.

In this era, there are no Internet cafes, dance halls, game halls, private cinemas, celebrity performances and other industries that make money quickly. The Cultural Bureau can only manage some things such as libraries, dramas, drama programs, fine arts, brush calligraphy and painting, dance, stage songs, etc.

Zhou Hewang's career as a deputy director has basically reached its limit, but after the Chinese New Year this year, his unit gave him a chance to lead a dance troupe to perform abroad.

This may be Zhou Hewang's last highlight before retirement. When they go abroad, they will also receive a sum of activity funds. Let them spend abroad, but the amount is limited, after all, their monthly salary is less than 100 yuan. The activity funds are basically given for free, and it is very good to give each person 200 or 300 yuan, because you have to know that the money is in US dollars.

When it comes to the US dollar, Jiang Cheng feels deeply touched because he is a big victim.

Jiang Cheng didn't know the history of Hong Kong, nor did he pay attention to the exchange rate of Hong Kong currency. The main reason was that he didn't understand the amount. If he knew the history, he might have become a financial tycoon in Hong Kong.

In Hong Kong, the stock market crash occurred in March 1973. In less than two years, the entire stock market fell by more than 90%. This means that if the total market value was 100 yuan, it would be less than 10 yuan later.

The consequence of a stock market crash is that some companies go bankrupt, tens of thousands of citizens go bankrupt, and some even commit suicide by jumping off buildings.

Jiang Cheng did not speculate in stocks or anything like that. He was running a low-end food industry. In those two years, the high-end consumer industry was hit, but Jiang Cheng's industry was constantly improving.

During the two years of the stock market crash, many people went bankrupt and sold their houses. Jiang Cheng knew that the housing prices in Hong Kong would be very high in the future. He knew that no matter if someone sold their house at a loss or bought a house when the economy was stable, they would not lose money.

But Jiang Cheng is really not interested in the real estate industry, otherwise he could switch to the real estate industry when he has accumulated a certain amount of capital.

So during those two years, Jiang Cheng bought a lot of properties that were sold at low prices due to the stock market bankruptcy.

But it must be said that real estate really makes money quickly. Jiang Cheng only bought some real estate to help some bankrupt people so that they could gather some money a little faster.

When Jiang Cheng bought it, it was only over 100 per square foot. When Jiang Cheng first arrived in Hong Kong, it was also over 100 per square foot, but at that time, the salary in Hong Kong was only a few hundred yuan to recruit a worker.

Around 1974, the wages of Hong Kong workers nearly doubled, and the price of houses also increased significantly. So Jiang Cheng bought a house for more than 100 yuan per square foot, which was very cheap, although it was the same price as in 1972. But in 1972, Jiang Cheng had to sell watches to rent a house, and he had no money at that time.

The current housing price in Hong Kong has increased tenfold compared to when Jiang Cheng bought the house.

The rent that Jiang Cheng collects in Hong Kong is increasing every year, but the profits from his food industry only grew rapidly when he expanded the market in the past few years.

Now Jiang Cheng almost monopolizes the market of various meatballs in Hong Kong. However, as many people in Hong Kong look down on it, there are only more than 5 million people in Hong Kong, so no matter how well your meatballs sell, it will only be so-so.

Of course, Jiang Cheng has opened a fairly large Jiangdonglai supermarket in every district of Hong Kong. But he hasn't done much so far. As a food company, opening a few supermarkets cannot attract traffic just by relying on the brand.

Currently, it is only attracting customers with its affordability, and many high-end brand products are unwilling to enter the "Jiangdonglai" supermarket.

In Hong Kong, when someone mentions "Jiang Dong Lai", they don't think of a supermarket, but a place selling meatballs. Jiang Cheng has almost monopolized the meatball market in Hong Kong.

But in terms of revenue, it is really a bit like a certain Donglai in later generations. No matter how good the business is, it only develops in one place. The annual revenue is more than 10 billion, while some real estate industries can make you trillions just by owing debts.

Jiang Cheng can become a wealthy man in Hong Kong now, but compared with those people engaged in finance and real estate, his scale is not up to par.

However, Jiang Cheng has sufficient cash flow. Rental income and physical cash flow make him popular with many banks in Hong Kong.

Let’s get back to the US dollar. Jiang Cheng is a victim of the US dollar because of his large scale in Hong Kong.

You should know that when Jiang Cheng first arrived in Hong Kong, the exchange rate between Hong Kong dollars and US dollars was more than 5 Hong Kong dollars to one US dollar. Now it is 7.7 Hong Kong dollars to one US dollar.

In other words, the current 7.7 million Hong Kong dollars of assets are the same as the 5 million dollars of assets 1975 years ago. If Jiang Cheng knew the history of exchange rates, he would definitely convert all his cash assets into US dollars as soon as he had money.

The current exchange rate between RMB and USD is still 1.5 yuan to 1 USD, but unless there are special reasons, you will not be able to exchange RMB with you in China. You can bring in foreign currency, but you cannot exchange it out.

If you exchange it, you will get foreign exchange coupons instead of RMB. Of course, you can also ask for cash, but cash must be used with tickets, which is even less cost-effective.

If you use foreign exchange coupons, you can buy bicycles, televisions, milk powder, chocolates, candies, biscuits and the like directly in some stores.

The current exchange rate of RMB to US dollar is 1.5:1, but in Shanghai, one US dollar can be sold privately for four or five yuan. This is because there is a trend of studying abroad.

In just two years, it will not only be about studying abroad in Shanghai. As long as you are a foreigner, you will be a sought-after foreign son-in-law in Shanghai.

There are also people who want to work abroad, even if it is to wash dishes, serve bowls, or do hard labor. Many people are thinking about going abroad.

At that time, people with foreign exchange were the bosses in Shanghai. For some foreign exchange, and just for exchange, not for free, some women in Shanghai could give it for free for the first time.

But this is not what Jiang Cheng needs to pay attention to. Even if Hong Kong dollars are exchanged for US dollars now, it takes nearly eight dollars to exchange for one US dollar. With his assets in Hong Kong, it is beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

Jiang Cheng felt that Zhou Lingying's uncle Zhou Hewang was actually a really good elder, although he had not helped Zhou Lingying to go to the countryside before. But he had put a lot of effort into Zhou Fanyi and Zhou Xingcai, and also tried his best to take care of Zhou Dongming and Zhou Siyuan.

You have to know that Zhou Hewang has his own children, and Zhou Lingying's grandparents also lived out their old age with him.

In Jiang Cheng's space, there are actually quite a few US dollars, in addition to US dollars there are also Japanese yen, British pounds and the like.

This uncle Zhou Hewang led a team to go abroad, which may be the highlight of his life. Maybe because the performances were not high-quality enough, and the learning and communication were more important. So the funds given by the higher-ups were too little.

Jiang Cheng thought that if his uncle came to eat here later, he should deliberately show off. Giving Zhou Hewang money directly seemed a bit excessive, but he could give him a chance to exchange foreign currency.

Perhaps Zhou Hewang himself does not need so much foreign exchange, so Jiang Cheng plans to give him the choice.

At around four o'clock, Zhou Lingying's aunt Zhou Siyuan came first. She used to work in the Women's Federation, but now she is the regional director of family planning.

In the past, Zhou Siyuan was shouting slogans such as "Women hold up half the sky", but now she is shouting that women should go to the hospital for IUDs. And her niece Zhou Lingying may be the stubborn person she has encountered in her work.

But work is work, and home is home. Just like before, when Zhou Siyuan was working at the Women's Federation, she didn't dare to teach women at home to go against men.

In the same situation, if Zhou Siyuan, the aunt, dared to tell her niece Zhou Lingying that having a daughter is the same as having a son and asked her not to give birth, she would definitely be kicked out of the Zhou family.

(End of this chapter)