Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 412 Commitment
Yan Hui's reputation in the village has been getting better and better in recent years.

If we're talking about doing good deeds, Yan Hui's family has made the greatest contribution to the village so far; if we're talking about being tough, last time, because of the issue of homesteads, Yan Hui brought a large group of people to back him up, teaching many people in the village a lesson.

Although Grandpa has passed away, the Yan family still enjoys a very high reputation in the village. If Father wanted to run for village chief, he wouldn't have any problem, but Father wasn't interested, and neither was Yan Hui.

The village party secretary and village head are both constantly working and cannot leave the village for too long. Yan Hui sometimes thinks about bringing his parents to Jinan to stay for a month or two, so they can be more free and do nothing.

That evening, Yan Hui received calls from his second and fourth brothers.

The news that Yan Hui was going to bring running water to the village had already reached their ears. After hearing about it, the second brother briefly inquired about Yan Hui's situation and, knowing that everything was going well for him, didn't say much more. The second brother was always reliable in his work, and over the years he had gradually accumulated a fortune of over a million. In the blink of an eye, he had been doing business in Beijing for ten years.

Years ago, the second son was deported due to a problem with his temporary residence permit. Yan Hui lent him money, and the second son repaid the money when Yan Hui needed it most. In the years that followed, the second son returned to Beijing to do business again, and later collaborated with Yan Hui on several hardware projects. Now his child is four years old.

The second brother is the only one among the brothers to get married, and he married very young. The eldest brother lives abroad and has never met the right person; the fourth brother is somewhat lazy and hasn't made much progress in recent years, still working odd jobs around the country.

Thinking of this, Yan Hui told Lao Si to come to Quancheng to work for him. Lao Si wasn't very capable, but he should be able to get a job as the third-in-command at the plywood company.

"I think I'd better not go. I'm doing alright in Lanzhou. I have drinks and snacks every day, and the lamb here is pretty good too. I don't have your kind of ability." The fourth brother declined Yan Hui's invitation again.

Over the past few years, Yan Hui had invited Lao Si to come and help him several times, but Lao Si refused each time. Lao Si was a person who cared a lot about his reputation, and he was not willing to work with his brothers. He knew that he could not help much.

"The plywood business I mentioned has been going on for almost ten years, it's very stable. You just need to come over and keep an eye on it for me, you don't need to be too professional, I'll pay you 7000 yuan a month," Yan Hui said again.

"How much?" the fourth brother asked, somewhat surprised.

"Anyway, I'll give you 100,000 yuan a year. You can come anytime," Yan Hui said again.

"What's wrong with you today? Why are people rushing to give you money? You know I'm just taking money for nothing!" The fourth brother was telling the truth.

"Today my dad told me that the third brother went back to the village and then left again. My dad asked me if I wanted to get running water connected to the third brother's house, and I said yes. I even said that all the people with the surname Xiao should get running water too. But after dinner, I sat alone, thinking about all these years, and I still felt a little lonely." Yan Hui sighed. Who could he talk to about this?
Yan Hui is a very sentimental person, and because of this, he is also troubled by sentimentality. In recent years, he has been able to bear the consequences of some things, but that doesn't mean he doesn't care about them.

"Don't mention Yan Wentao's messy affairs to me. Just let me know when he dies, and I'll offer incense in his honor. Besides that, if you need someone to drink and eat with, I can come to you. But if you need someone to help you out, I'd rather not add to the chaos. I went to Beijing before and worked for the second brother. To be honest, I couldn't help him much. He worked from dawn till dusk, sometimes more than ten hours a day, and he didn't even have time to eat properly. His hardware store had thousands of items. When he was out, I couldn't even keep an eye on the store. I didn't know the prices of many things, and the money I earned wasn't even enough to cover phone calls," the fourth brother said with a helpless laugh. "Phone calls were so expensive back then!"

“I don’t have much time for drinking and eating now, but the situation is different now than it was back then. I don’t need your help at all. I know you’re proud, but as brothers, I can’t accept you like this. Just tell me, if you succeed, wouldn’t you help me out? Anyway, just come. You can lie around all day, it’s fine. You can have a meal or chat with me occasionally.” Yan Hui invited again.

"I'm not going. I won't go if I can't help you. At the beginning of this year, I opened a small shop selling stationery to students. It's easy to make money from students. Every day after school, around 7 PM, I close the shop and go out to play. I don't open until lunchtime when the students can leave the school. Besides, I have weekends and winter and summer vacations! I take vacations when the students are on vacation. What's the use of making so much money?" Lao Si retorted. "How much do you make a month at your stationery shop over there?" Yan Hui didn't refute Lao Si's words.

“When I don’t have holidays, I can easily make 3,000 yuan a month. Prices here aren’t high; a foot massage only costs a few dozen yuan, which is enough for me.”

“Would you like to expand your stationery store? I can invest. Japanese and Korean culture has been quite popular these past few years. You could sell stationery in that style, expand the store, hire someone, and make things easier for you,” Yan Hui suggested.

"I think it's unnecessary to open a large store because it costs a lot of money." The fourth brother also wanted to earn more, but unfortunately he didn't have the capital.

"Fourth brother, let me be frank with you. Do you remember back in 2000, when you came to Jinan to see me, in my brother-in-law's warehouse, I told you that when I had a hundred million, I would give you a Mercedes-Benz?" Yan Hui lit a cigarette and said calmly.

"Huh? Huh? What's wrong?" The fourth brother suddenly had a bad feeling.

“I’m currently driving a Mercedes S350, and I’m considering giving you a Mercedes E280. I’ll deliver it to you in a while. If you like cars, you can drive it; if you don’t, you can sell it and invest in a stationery store. How you handle it is your business, but I mean what I say.” Yan Hui felt very happy.

Since leaving in 1995, Yan Hui has spent thirteen or fourteen years away from home. His fourth brother only came to see him once, when he was at his lowest point.

At that time, Yan Hui hadn't met Lingling yet, and he was busy and lonely every day. The arrival of Lao Si was the first time he felt relaxed since coming to Jinan. Lao Si was a loyal but lazy man. Yan Hui had wanted to help Lao Si all these years, but Lao Si was unwilling. Now it was different.

"What do you mean? You already have assets exceeding 100 million?" The fourth brother was completely dumbfounded.

"Yeah." Yan Hui nodded.

"You've made over a hundred million?" The fourth brother's voice rose several decibels.

"Ah."

"You've made over 100 million!!!"

"Ah."

"Beep beep beep." The fourth brother hung up the phone.

(End of this chapter)