Back to 1984: Earning Money, Raising Kids, and Keeping the Household Busy

Qu Zhiyang was startled and panicked for a moment, but quickly regained his composure. "Mom, don't talk nonsense. My classmate invited me to his house!"

"Oh," Yang Caifeng drawled meaningfully, clearly disbelieving, her expression turning to torture. "Tell me the truth! Is your deskmate a boy or a girl? What do their families do?"

Seeing that his mother's questions were getting increasingly outrageous, Qu Zhiyang immediately defended himself loudly, "I've also met my classmate's grandfather. It was during my high school entrance exam. His maternal grandfather and grandfather got along quite well."

Old Qu, who had originally just been watching the commotion, suddenly stood up. "It's Old Lin's grandson! I've been fishing in Nanxi every day for the past three years, and the biggest fish I've ever caught is a 12-pound silver carp. That was caught by your uncles with a fishing net. That guy is definitely bragging!"

No way! This time I'm going with you to see him, and to have a proper exchange with him.

Old Man Qu had been holding a grudge about this matter. If it weren't for his grandson's heavy workload in high school, he would have spoken up long ago. Now that the opportunity was in front of him, he wouldn't let it pass.

Yang Caifeng and Qu Zhiyang exchanged a glance, and both saw a distress signal in each other's eyes.

She turned to run away, but Qu Zhiyang grabbed her. "Mom! Aren't you curious? Let's go take a look together! Otherwise, I won't be able to keep an eye on Grandpa by myself!"

Yang Caifeng's well-maintained, beautiful face instantly fell. "Can we not go?"

"What do you think?" Qu Zhiyang looked at her sinisterly, as if to say, "You asked for this, figure it out yourself."

Unable to control her son, Yang Caifeng waited for her husband, Qu Junshan, to get off work and immediately pestered him, "Arrange some time these next couple of days so our whole family can go out for a walk, and we can also visit our son's classmate's house. Dad will come too!"

Qu Junshan swallowed back the words of refusal that were on the tip of his tongue, looking puzzled. "How did you convince Dad?"

That old man has been "unsociable" since he retired. He doesn't get involved in anything except fishing, and he doesn't even give face to his old subordinates who come to his door. How could Yang Caifeng persuade him to visit his son's classmate? The sun must have risen in the west.

Yang Caifeng chuckled twice, knowing she couldn't hide it from the perceptive man in front of her, so she had no choice but to tell him everything that had happened that day.

Qu Junshan was speechless. "Are you here to visit or to cause trouble? What if you get beaten up?"

Yang Caifeng smacked her lips and stroked her chin. "It can't be that bad! Zhiyang said that his deskmate is a polite and gentle person with a lot of friends. At most, his family background is just average, but his upbringing is definitely not a problem."

Parents who can raise well-behaved, high-achieving students must also be easy to get along with.

Although she was unsure, she believed her son wouldn't lie to her.

With that in mind, she decided to go out and buy two outfits the next day. She wanted to make her son look good when they visited, so she couldn't dress too casually.

So, before going to work the next day, she went to her good friend's clothing store and picked out two sets of relatively expensive clothes, then went to work looking beautiful.

Lin Qin had just come out of the director's office and, seeing her beaming with pride, couldn't help but tease her, "Did you strike it rich today?"

Yang Caifeng waved the bag in her hand, swayed her waist as she sat down at her workstation, and said with a grin, "Shopping makes people happy. I'm going to take my son out to visit someone in a couple of days, so I need to dress up nicely!"

Lin Qin gave her a thumbs up and continued working.

After she finished her work, she remembered that Ping An had said he wanted to invite his classmates over. Students from No. 1 High School are all talented and have bright futures, so she had to dress them up properly to avoid embarrassing her son.

So Lin Qin made a point of getting close to Yang Caifeng and took the opportunity to admire her clothes.

Seeing that she was interested, Yang Caifeng immediately said she would take her there after get off work.

Lin Qin made this trip and bought ten sets of clothes in one go. Two sets were for Ya Ya, two sets were for Ping An, and two sets were for Lin Yi and Chen Wenjun. She also picked out two sets for herself.

It cost nearly a thousand yuan.

It scared Yang Caifeng.

"My goodness, you really are a real rich woman. You spend such a large sum of money so easily, without even blinking an eye." The shop owner flattered playfully, "You are all people who are not short of money. This is Sister Lin's first time here, and I only bought so much because I am giving you face."

Lin Qin smiled and, seeing that the shop owner was eloquent, nodded in agreement, "Thank you, Sister Yang, for showing me around."

Yang Caifeng scoffed and rolled her eyes, but she was in a very good mood.

When she got back, she immediately told Qu Junshan about it as a topic of conversation after dinner. "I don't know who Lin Qin from our unit is. We've been colleagues for so many years, and I don't even know what her family does! All I know is that besides working, she also invests in businesses. Tsk tsk tsk, she spent almost a thousand yuan just like that!"

It wasn't that she couldn't afford to spend that much money, but rather that the Qu family's background prevented them from being so high-profile.

Qu Junshan wasn't interested in women's talk, and only half-heartedly agreed with them.

Before they knew it, the day arrived when Chen Ruiyu invited Qu Zhiyang to her home.

Yang Caifeng got up early in the morning to get dressed, but when she went downstairs, she found her whole family waiting for her.

She picked up her bag as if nothing had happened, "Let's go! Hurry up!"

Qu Junshan was somewhat helpless, but he didn't say anything and turned to get in the car.

Following Qu Zhiyang's directions, Qu Junshan drove to the vicinity of Nanxi. Looking at the vast expanse of Nanxi, Qu Junshan looked around and asked, "And then? How do I get there?"

Old Qu chuckled, "I know this area well, come on! I'll take you fishing!"

Yang Caifeng's face darkened. She had dressed up carefully not to go fishing. "Dad! Don't forget our important business!"

Old Qu chuckled twice and shut up.

Qu Zhiyang got out of the car first, looked around at the surroundings, and muttered, "That's right! Where are the houses? Just a warehouse!"

He shouted at the top of his lungs, "Chen Ruiyu! Where are you?"

A moment later, the closed roller shutter door next to him was opened from the inside.

Chen Ruiyu suddenly appeared in front of him.

Qu Zhiyang was startled. "Is this your house?"

Just as Chen Ruiyu was about to speak, she saw a car driving by in the distance.

Qu Zhiyang scratched his head sheepishly. "My parents and grandfather insist on coming with me. You don't mind, do you?"

Chen Ruiyu shook her head and pushed the roller shutter door up, "Perfect timing for Uncle to drive the car in."

Qu Zhiyang then realized that it was a garage, which contained not only several tricycles and bicycles, but also a Passat.

His pupils dilated, and he jumped up dramatically, running over to admire the car. "Yours?"

Chen Ruiyu nodded, "My dad sometimes drives it when he goes out to discuss business. Today he's home, so the car hasn't been moved."

"Wow! I didn't expect your family to be so amazing!" Qu Zhiyang's perception of Chen Ruiyu was completely refreshed.

He became increasingly curious about the Chen family.

By this time, Qu Junshan had already parked the car, and the family of three got out, naturally noticing the Passat. (End of Chapter)