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

Chapter 347 Suspicion of Xu Xinyi's Background
Two days before moving, the house was fully furnished. Lin Qin and her husband went to take a look and found that all the appliances, mattresses, and other furniture were imported, and the sofa was ordered from Guangdong Province. There wasn't a single cheap item in the house.

"Where did you get so much money?" Lin Qin stared at her youngest son suspiciously.

Chen Ruiming said smugly, "Dad, Mom! You're underestimating me! No matter what, I'm still your son. With such outstanding older brothers and sisters, there's no reason why I'm nothing, right?"

"Hmm?" Lin Qin's gaze towards him grew increasingly strange. "Speak like a human being!"

Chen Ruiming shrank his neck and chuckled twice. "Actually, I partnered with a classmate to start an export business. My godfather helped me get started. We're in the home appliance business. Everything in our house was brought back from abroad by me."

The mattress was arranged by my classmate, who's from Thailand and his family is in the business; he guarantees it's genuine.

Upon hearing this, Lin Qin was extremely impressed. "Wow, you little rascal, how much did this mattress cost?"

"However, it's only a few thousand yuan per bed. People who sell them at retail can make more than ten thousand yuan a bed!" Chen Ruiming said in a matter-of-fact manner.

Lin Qin felt a pang of heartache upon hearing this. Although her family was wealthy, she wouldn't squander money. Hiring a local craftsman to tie a mattress would only cost a few hundred yuan. Comparing the two options, she instantly fell silent.

After a long pause, she finally pressed for an answer: "How much did you invest in export trade? Did you break even?"

Chen Ruiming nodded, "Absolutely! How could I afford to buy so many things for our family if I didn't break even?"

Lin Qin continued to stare intently at him.

Chen Ruiming had no choice but to confess honestly, "I actually invested all the money I had saved up since I was a child."

"More than a million?" Lin Qin felt her blood pressure suddenly rise.

Chen Ruiming quickly reassured her, "Mom, listen to me, although I invested over a million, the returns are quite considerable. In just six months, I received over ninety thousand, and at the end of the year, I received another one million three hundred thousand. I've broken even, I've already broken even!"

Lin Qin felt her heart pounding, grabbed her son's ear, and gave him a good scolding.

Since things have come to this point, there's nothing else we can do but give them a piece of our mind.

Four days after moving, the Chen family held a housewarming banquet, and all their relatives and friends came.

There is a public space on the first floor of the resettlement housing complex specifically for holding weddings and funerals.

Lin Yi was brewing tea here early in the morning. When people are happy, they are in high spirits and everything looks cheerful to him, until Zhu Fugeng's family came over.

"Uncle, I heard you moved to a new house. Congratulations!"

As soon as Zhu Fugen saw Lin Yi, he came over and forced his son Zhu Laigui to call for help.

Lin Yi raised his eyelids, glanced at them thoughtfully, and nodded almost imperceptibly. "You guys are quite well-informed. I didn't plan on having a big celebration. I'll just invite the villagers for a meal."

Zhu Fugen nodded ingratiatingly, "I know, I know. My uncle has always been very low-key. I just happen to live nearby, and I came over after hearing about it from a friend."

"You live around here? You bought a house here?" Lin Yi was very surprised.

Zhu Fugen quickly shook his head, "It's rented. The village is really too backward, there's nothing there. Laigui didn't want to go back after leaving. He's not getting any younger, and we wanted to buy him a house in the city so he could get married."

Housing prices in the city were already high, and now they've increased by several hundred every year. We can't afford it, we really can't afford it! Uncle, I just want to ask you about that child from back then…

"What child? I don't know anything about him?" Lin Yi's face darkened with displeasure. Li Lan, standing to the side, began to cry, "Uncle, you know the situation in our village. Back then, if you didn't have a son, you would be talked about behind your back. But the government wouldn't allow us to have children, so we had no choice but to send our child away."

Now that Laigui is older, he's a bit lonely on his own. We want to bring back the children we sent away back then, so that the siblings can look after each other in the future.

Lin Yi laughed, "How can you be so shameless! Oh, you say you don't want it anymore, but they raised the child and now they're coming to claim kinship. Why should we? When your father asked us to help with this, it was written in black and white that we wouldn't bother them anymore. Now you're coming to me to ask about it, trying to make me look bad both ways?"

Zhu Fugen's expression changed, and he quickly apologized, "Uncle, that's not what we meant. We just heard that my eldest cousin has another daughter, about the same age as that child from back then."

"And then?" Lin Yi asked calmly, showing no sign of panic.

Zhu Fugen and Li Lan looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

Zhu Fugen chuckled twice and said, "We just want to see that child. Will she be coming today?"

The couple had been inquiring for years before finally finding out this information. Originally, they planned to go to Pingxi Town, but they heard that Lin Ying's family had long since moved out of Xujia Village. Pingxi Town was Xu's territory, and if they went there, they would probably alert them. So they had to hold back and only made a surprise visit today.

Lin Yi chuckled, "You want to see my granddaughter? No problem! Did you bring a gift?"

The couple were stunned. What was going on?

Lin Yi was immediately displeased, "You didn't even prepare a gift, yet you have the nerve to clamor for Ah Ying to bring her daughter to see you!"

Zhu Fugen realized what was happening and quickly said, "We're ready, we're ready, we brought everything! We'll definitely give it to you."

Zhu Fugen took out two hundred yuan.

Lin Yi pushed the money back directly, saying, "Keep it yourself! Give it to me when the child comes back from studying abroad and we have a chance to meet again."

Zhu Fugen and his wife's expressions changed instantly.

Li Lan became anxious, "What is she doing abroad?"

Lin Yi frowned. "What's wrong with my granddaughter studying abroad? Her parents can afford it, so they're happy to let her study abroad. If she wants to develop her career abroad and never come back, it's no big deal. What's the big deal?"

Li Lan's face fell instantly.

Zhu Fugen's expression wasn't much better.

After their plan failed, seeing that Lin Yi continued to entertain guests, the two could only take their son to their seats and inquire about Lin Ying's family from the others.

Over the years, Lin Yi has not had much contact with the villagers. Apart from Lin Qingxiang and the brigade leader, the villagers really don't know anything about Lin Yi's situation, let alone the details of Lin Ying's family.

All that is known is that Lin Ying's two sons are very successful and she has a pampered little daughter, but no one has ever seen her.

Unable to find out anything, the couple, seething with anger, ate the banquet and then took their son home.

As soon as Zhu Laigui got home, he continued to play on his phone and did nothing else.

Li Lan looked worried. "What should we do? If your cousin really sends that child abroad, we won't even be able to see him. You said you'd wait for the child to help you out, but that's just a pipe dream!"

Regardless of whether that child is their daughter or not, they can't count on her at all given the current situation.