Courtyard houses: Those who are capable are rewarded, and many children bring many blessings.

Although Yu Haitang was extremely unwilling, seeing Niu Dazhuang's serious expression, she thought it was for her son's good and didn't object.

"Where are you two?" Niu Dazhuang was asking the brothers-in-law.

Chen Dong and his brother-in-law exchanged a glance. Before they could even speak, Niu Hewei spoke first, "Our family doesn't need that. We're doing alright these days."

"Our family too..."

He Ran interrupted Chen Dong: "What do you mean 'okay'? If you won't go, I will. What are you pretending to be, acting all high and mighty in front of my dad?"

Mom and Aunt's hot pot restaurant earns more in a month than our combined fixed salaries do in half a year. Dad, I want to start a freight company, how much investment will you give me?

"The roads are dangerous these days, what are you doing running a freight company, you woman?" Niu Hewei was the first to stand up and retort.

"I don't do long-distance business. I only go to the four districts of the inner city of Yanjing and the four districts in the suburbs. I don't go to the far suburbs."

Niu Dazhuang realized that his second daughter had been preparing for this all along. If he didn't intervene, she would definitely ask her mother for money to buy a car soon. The second daughter's personality was a bit like Yu Haitang's; she was bold and decisive.

"Both of us can drive!"

"If you can't drive, you can learn. Nobody is born knowing how to drive."

"My mom knows I don't want this secure job anymore, and she'll definitely make a scene."

"You don't even have a formal position, what kind of secure job is that? All your mom wants is money, isn't it enough to give her seventy yuan a month?"

This person is determined to do it themselves!

"Alright then!"

Niu Heran turned to Niu Dazhuang and held out his hand: "Let's get a single-cab truck first, plus the money for our driver's license lessons, give me 50,000 yuan to start!"

Chen Dong muttered under his breath, "It won't cost fifty thousand..." Niu Heran turned around and glared at him.

Chen Dong immediately shut up and stopped talking.

Everyone at the table pretended not to hear.

"Okay, fifty thousand it is." Niu Dazhuang then asked Li, "Does your family have one hundred thousand?"

"Wasn't it fifty thousand?"

"The eldest daughter's family also received some; they didn't want to do business, so they kept it for themselves."

"Dad, we don't need it."

"Alright, take it. We don't have that much at home. Xiaojun will take your two older sisters to the bank to withdraw it tomorrow."

Fifty thousand yuan in 1985 is worth more than half a million yuan in the 21st century. How much does a two-courtyard siheyuan (traditional courtyard house) cost?

Niu Heran and his wife did not return that night.

With Yu Li, such a biased mother, Niu Dazhuang asked about the other women's situations over the next few days.

The sisters Ye Chunmei and Ye Chunlan were alright. Although they left most of their family property to their two sons, they still gave their only daughter, Ye Lin, a large dowry.

Perhaps it's because they have two sons and only one daughter. Although their daughter, Ye Lin, is married, they still managed to get both her and her husband working at their family's flour factory, and they're living a pretty good life.

Compared to other families, these two sisters have developed a bit slower.

Seeing that they were all quite content with the status quo, Niu Dazhuang didn't say anything more. Niu Dazhuang had absolute confidence in himself; if they were willing, a little support would allow their company to expand several times, or even dozens of times.

Next up is Ding Qiunan's side. Gillian Chung, who just arrived, is somewhat similar to her. She's quiet, doesn't compete or fight, and never makes any demands, like she's invisible.

After giving birth to a daughter for Niu Dazhuang in 71, she did not have any more children.

I go to get off work and leave work on time, take care of my child, and occasionally visit my parents at my parents' home. I am quite satisfied with my current life.

The two most troublesome are Qin Ling and Zhao Xinmei. These two are now Niu Dazhuang's main targets for care, mainly because they're relatively young, experienced, and have amazing figures...

When heavenly thunder meets earthly fire, a fierce battle is inevitable, and a truly exhilarating fight will ensue...

He smoked a cigarette afterward.

"Old Niu, aren't you being too biased?" Zhao Xinmei questioned him after she came to her senses.

This question left Niu Dazhuang speechless.

"What did I do? How is this considered favoritism?"

"You were the one supporting Chen Xueru and Xu Huizhen's foreign trade company, weren't you? And you were the one who helped them with their connections with Da Mao, weren't you?"

"You're really misunderstanding me. Elena knew Chen Xueru back in the 1950s and 60s, and they've kept in touch all these years. It was Elena who helped me make the connections for the business I started in Russia."

"Is that really true? This isn't the version I heard!"

"What's wrong? Did their connections with the Russians affect you?"

"It's a little bit of an impact, but it's not a big deal. They're a regular army, the boss of Xiushui Street." Zhao Xinmei's words were dripping with sourness.

"Qinling, what are your thoughts?"

"Me? It doesn't matter. But if I work hard and can earn more, who wouldn't want to earn more?"

After thinking for a moment, Niu Dazhuang said, "If you feel tired, you can open more factories. You just need to manage the factories well and sell the clothes you produce to Chen Xueru and the others."

"That won't do. Wouldn't that mean we'd be living at the mercy of others?"

"Then let's work hard for another two years and create a brand of our own." Creating a clothing brand now is indeed a bit early; the domestic consumption level hasn't reached that stage yet.

"If you don't want to make clothes, you can open a restaurant. You can do whatever you want, focusing on people's basic needs like food, clothing, housing, and transportation."

"You mean, shift the focus to the domestic market?" Zhao Xinmei grasped the key point.

"We can divide it into two parts. The population of Russia's Far East is only seven or eight million, while the population of our capital city alone is more than that."

"That's different. China's textile industry is much stronger than that of Russia."

"Give it a try. Let's open a boutique clothing store first, near the Beijing Department Store. If we can buy things, great; if not, we'll rent a storefront."

"I'll give it a try. I'll give it a shot first, and you'll mainly be working on Xiushui Street from now on." Qin Ling agreed.

More than a year later, before the Beijing-Harbin national highway was even open to traffic, Bai Hongyan was already thinking about taking the Beijing-Shanxi national highway.

In short, apart from Ding Qiunan, none of the women in Beijing were idle...

After making a round trip, Niu Dazhuang took his two sons to Sakhalin Island.

After more than a year of construction, the supporting facilities on land have been completed, and the workers here are generally employed by the Mao family.

The initial processing factory has a factory manager, the platform transfer has a team leader, and the boss is busiest dealing with their own relationships.

Niu Dazhuang was working on two things: first, getting the team integrated; and second, waiting for the oil refinery in Dalian, China...

After bringing Niu Chengzhi and Niu Chengguo over, they showed them around and found a translator before sending them away.

The two brothers stared at each other, wide-eyed, as the jeep drove away.

"Second brother, our dad is so unreliable! He just left us two brothers like this, and I can't even speak a word of Russian."

"Hey! You think I can? I can speak Cantonese, and I can say a few words of English, but I can't speak Russian!"