Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 286 Pocket Money

For Qinglan's college entrance celebration banquet, Yan Hui's parents invited several elders from the village and made sure everyone who should be invited was there. Even those who couldn't come because they were from out of town were still notified. After calculating, they figured they could seat about 22 tables, but Yan Hui booked 25.

If there are villagers from the surrounding area who were not invited to this kind of banquet, they will have to be provided with chairs and tables, so it is necessary to book several tables.

Let's put it this way: if we can afford this meal, a few more mouths won't hurt! A few auspicious words are all we need; no Fujianese restaurant owner would mind having a few more strangers.

The team that handled the banquet was from the city and had a lot of experience. Yan Hui requested that Buddha Jumps Over the Wall be served at the banquet and paid a deposit of 1 yuan in advance; they had started preparing well in advance.

For a typical wedding banquet, 400 yuan per table would be a very good price for 25 tables, but Yan Hui's offer was just a deposit.

The news of Qinglan's advancement to higher education quickly spread throughout the nearby villages.

In this day and age, it's still very difficult to get into a top-tier university. This year, Qinglan was the only one in the village to get into a top-tier university, and she held a grand celebration for her admission. Everyone who heard about it was envious.

As the appointed time approaches, sheds have begun to be erected near Yan Hui's home.

In those days, there weren't many prefabricated sheds; everything had to be built piece by piece with wood. Yan Hui had high standards, so construction started five days ahead of schedule, giving the village a lot to talk about.

Normally, there are no festivals during this period, and the villagers are all bored. So when the shed was being set up, many villagers came to watch. Yan Hui also came once or twice, and he would give cigarettes to the elders.

Over the course of a few days, Yan Hui earned five or six hundred yuan just from distributing cigarettes, and some villagers even started calling him "Boss Yan".

Of course, the busiest person wasn't Yan Hui, but his father.

Graduation banquets are different from wedding banquets; you don't know about them months in advance, so you only have about a week to prepare. The father ran around making contacts everywhere, and Yan Hui found a driver in the village for 100 yuan a day. He drove his rented Audi and took his father around.

“No, it’s so inconvenient to go out without a car these days.” The father only enjoyed the car and chauffeur for three or four days before realizing he could never go back.

“That’s easy, Dad. When you come to Jinan, I’ll get you a car and a driver.” Yan Hui thought for a moment. “Come over after the New Year.”

"How could that be! I'll just enjoy this for a few days! I need to save face these few days! Later..."

"Dad, there's something I want to talk to you about," Yan Hui interrupted his father.

"You said."

“You and Mom don’t need to work anymore. I recently built a processing plant in Quancheng, and I’ve invested about 80 yuan in it, from the building to the equipment. Besides that, my business is fully established. You two, after you come back this time, how about you go to the county town to learn to drive? After you finish learning to drive, I’ll buy you a car when we go to Quancheng. You can help me out sometimes,” Yan Hui advised.

"You invested 80 to build a factory?" The father was startled. "How much money do you have now? You'd better be careful if you borrow money."

"Don't worry, I didn't borrow any money. Dad, I told you I'm doing much better now, even better than when I was in Jianye. I've been in Quancheng for two and a half years, and I already have my own team. Once the factory is built, we'll have quite a few employees. In short, just listen to me." Yan Hui's speaking style was now very calm and composed.

When Yan Hui sat down at a table, he exuded composure, calmness, and shrewdness, a stark contrast to his impetuousness a few years ago.

This kind of demeanor cannot be imitated.

Once the factory is built and everything is operating normally, Yan Hui plans to invite his cousins ​​to come to Jinan again. If there are suitable projects, he can try to attract some investment. These are things that definitely require personal investigation. "Okay, I'll listen to you," his father said, feeling a bit of pressure.

"Okay, that's fine. I'll pay for your driving lessons. I brought 100,000 yuan in cash with me this time. The banquet will probably cost 30,000 to 50,000 yuan. You can use the rest of the money. You can give Qinglan her college money later. What I give is what I give, and what you give is what you give." Yan Hui had made plans before he came back.

Bank cards are very inconvenient; cash is accepted everywhere.

In early 2000, Yan Hui went bankrupt and left his hometown with 1300 yuan in cash given to him by his mother. His mother gave him a brand new red 100-yuan note. From then on, Yan Hui always liked this festive red note. No matter when or where he went, Yan Hui always carried some cash in his pocket, at least 20,000 yuan or more, otherwise he would feel insecure.

"..." The father was somewhat dazed; his understanding of the amount of money suddenly collapsed.

When Yan Hui used to talk about hundreds of thousands or millions, he didn't really feel anything, especially when Yan Hui failed quickly and started over again, it all felt like a dream.

He wasn't involved in this, so of course he wouldn't understand.

In fact, ordinary people have little concept of money over 100 million, even in 2025.

If you ask any ordinary person what the difference is between 1000 million and 1 million, they would never know. It's something that can't be understood through imagination; you have to have personally used such funds.

The above statement is contrary to common sense. Many people have read many books and think that there is a big difference between 1000 million and 1 million, but the truth is, it is impossible to know for sure.

Even at this very moment, Yan Hui was completely clueless. He only had a general idea of ​​what a world with ten million was like. He didn't even know how much wealth President Han possessed.

It's meaningless to listen to others if you haven't reached that level.

So when his father saw Yan Hui casually take out 100,000 yuan as pocket money, he suddenly realized that his son's world had changed.

He and his wife worked themselves to the bone for a year, but they still didn't earn nearly as much as the pocket money Yan Hui gave them.

"If Qinglan asks you, what will you say?" The father lowered his voice a little.

“The money I gave you is for you. How you give it to him is your business. But, Dad, I don’t think we can give Qinglan too much. She’s going to the provincial capital. Although Uncle is there now, she still has to rely on herself for everything. Giving her too much money isn’t safe,” Yan Hui instructed again.

“How about this, in the second half of this year, I’ll go learn to drive, and then your mother can go to the provincial capital to stay with Qinglan for a few months?” the father suggested.

"I have no objection." Yan Hui nodded; he was actually worried about his sister too.

The security situation in 2002 was not very good. He had been away from home for many years and had experienced a lot of bad things. It was always a good thing that his sister had their mother accompany her for a few months.

"Then it's settled." The father was still somewhat dazed.

"Okay, Dad, I'll give you 10,000 yuan for spending money. Don't be stingy if you need to spend money these next few days." Yan Hui took out a wad of new bills from his bag and stuffed them into his father's pocket.

(Two chapters today, I'm busy. I'll make up for the chapters I missed the day before yesterday, don't worry.)
(End of this chapter)