Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 259 President Han's Family
As the weather got colder, Yan Hui made a phone call home.

Since arriving in Jinan, Yan Hui has had very little contact with his family. It's almost the end of the year, and he only has a little over 100,000 yuan in funds, which is even less than in his first year at Jianye.

At the end of his first year at Jianye, Yan Hui had approximately 300,000 yuan in funds, and he brought home 220,000 to 230,000 yuan in cash. Now, all his funds amount to only 120,000 to 130,000 yuan.

Society has developed very rapidly in recent years. 97 in 30 is now equivalent to at least 50.

Therefore, although Yan Hui had managed to curry favor with President Han, he still couldn't feel truly at ease. He worked diligently every day, and sometimes he was happy, but when he lay down, he felt empty inside, something that outsiders couldn't know.

I called home, and my grandma answered.

Qinglan is now a senior in high school and doesn't stay at home much.

“Grandma, I’m doing much better here. My brother-in-law and I can see each other every few days. I’ve paid off all my debts and have about 100,000 yuan left.” Yan Hui told his grandmother about his situation.

"Wow, that's amazing! I heard from your brother-in-law that you've been doing business with a big boss and have already earned 100,000 yuan in less than a year. That's much better than when you went to the Northeast." Grandma felt comforted when she heard Yan Hui's voice.

During the year Yan Hui was away, she always thought about him and worried about him. Sometimes she couldn't sleep well, but she never said anything.

Every time Qinglan came home, the two of them would talk about Yan Hui.

“That’s true, it’s much better than the Northeast,” Yan Hui nodded when he heard his grandmother say that.

This is so much better than the two years he spent in Fengtian. President Han's status is extraordinary; following him will definitely give him a head start.

"Anyway, I heard that Jinan is also very cold. You should prepare an extra layer of clothing so you don't catch a cold. If it's convenient, come back earlier this year for the Spring Festival."

"Yes, Grandma, don't worry."

After chatting with his grandmother for a while and hanging up the phone, Yan Hui looked at the calendar.

He doesn't plan to go back home for Chinese New Year this year.

During the autumn and winter seasons, my brother-in-law's air conditioner inventory decreased significantly. The value of the goods in the warehouse was only about 40 yuan, but this was still not a small amount.

In previous years, my brother-in-law rarely left Jinan for the Spring Festival, and sometimes only my sister would come home to stay for a few days. This year, Yan Hui promised my brother-in-law that he would not come home for the Spring Festival and would keep an eye on things for him.

My brother-in-law said he would leave Yan Hui an extra 2000 yuan for the New Year, and Yan Hui did not refuse.

Yan Hui's arrival this year was a huge help to my brother-in-law. Although the wages my brother-in-law paid Yan Hui weren't low, and he only needed to keep watch at night, he definitely couldn't find anyone more reliable than Yan Hui for the same amount of money.

This will be the first time in so many years that Yan Hui will not be going home for the Chinese New Year.

At 3 p.m. on Saturday, Yan Hui arrived at President Han's place early and knocked on the door. The same nanny who answered the door was the same one from last time.

The nanny recognized Yan Hui and led him to a room on the first floor.

Yan Hui knocked on the door and, after receiving permission, went inside, only to find that President Han was the only person there.

When President Han saw Yan Hui, he laughed and said, "You're so lucky! Old Ma told me he'd be here soon, and I had the tea ready, but you're the first one to arrive! Come on, try this tea. I think Pu'er is pretty good now!"

"Thank you, Mr. Han." Yan Hui put the gift down, then picked up the teacup and took a sip.

The taste is indeed quite good. "I heard you're from southern Fujian. Are there many people in your area who are in the tea business? How about trying this?" Mr. Han asked.

"I don't really know much about tea, but yours is really good." Yan Hui didn't show off his limited tea knowledge.

"Well, I wanted to invite you over a while ago, but after Yueyue got sick, her mother also got sick, and then everyone in the family caught a cold. I had Xiuwen stay away from home for a while. Now they've all recovered." President Han sighed helplessly.

No matter how much money you have, there's nothing you can do about getting sick.

"To be honest, I also caught a cold those few days, but I'm in pretty good shape, and I got better after taking medicine for two or three days. At the time, I was afraid of infecting you and the people at the construction site, so I didn't go to collect the money." Yan Hui then brought up the previous incident.

"Oh dear, I called you to ask if you were alright, but you said you were fine. If I had known you had a cold too, I would have sent you some special medicine!" Mr. Han said somewhat embarrassedly. "Last time, it was really fortunate that you were there. I didn't expect you to catch a cold as well. When you go back later, I happen to have some tonics here, so you can take some with you."

"Oh? Mr. Han, I'm only 22 years old, what kind of supplements do I need?" Yan Hui laughed. "That's nothing. I've heard that catching a cold once in a while can boost your immunity."

"You're so good with words, wait a minute."

Just as Mr. Han was talking about this, someone knocked on the door.

The person who entered was Mr. Ma. Mr. Ma was a local from Shandong Province. He wasn't very tall. As soon as he entered, he found a chair and sat down: "It's really a bit cold here. Quickly, pour me a cup of hot water."

Upon hearing this, Yan Hui immediately got up to pour water, but was stopped by President Han: "Everyone is a guest in my home, there's no need to be so polite."

“Exactly, why are you being so polite with him?” After saying that, Mr. Ma looked around, picked up an apple, took a bite, and said, “This apple is good, from Yantai?”

"I'll give you two boxes when you leave. They sent them to me; they said they're from Yantai." Mr. Han then poured Mr. Ma some tea.

“Alright, apples are perfect for this season.” Mr. Ma took a bite of an apple and then picked up his teacup to take a sip.

"Don't just focus on eating, let me introduce you. This is Yan Hui, who's helping me out now; this is General Manager Ma, who's also a shareholder of our company. Besides that, he also owns a crane truck fleet," General Manager Han introduced them.

“Xiao Yan, I know her. I met her once at the company before.” Mr. Ma nodded.

Yan Hui was somewhat surprised, as he had no recollection of Boss Ma whatsoever.

"You have a really good memory!" President Han said with a smile.

“It’s no big deal,” Mr. Ma said, taking a sip of tea. “I even know that the goods he supplies are quite good.”

"You're not saying what I want to hear just because you've met me, are you?" President Han glanced at President Ma.

"You're overthinking it. I'm more outspoken than anyone else! Otherwise, would I have offended Secretary Liu last time?" Boss Ma laughed.

"You didn't offend anyone. Secretary Liu even praised you afterwards. Look how smoothly our project went later, didn't it?" General Manager Han laughed along.

"That's exactly right. I think keeping things simple is best! What's the big deal? Getting things done is more important than anything else." Boss Ma snorted a few times, then looked at Yan Hui, "But young man, don't follow my example!"

Mr. Ma knew so much after only one meeting with Yan Hui; he was definitely no ordinary person. Mr. Ma told Yan Hui not to imitate him, but Yan Hui couldn't find a suitable response no matter what he said.

“You’re right, doing things well is more important than anything else,” Yan Hui repeated the first half of President Ma’s sentence.

(End of this chapter)