Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 1368 Old Wang's Thoughts

After looking around, Xiaowei told Zang Yuanwei to drive back first, while he, Hou Qiang, Wang Jiwei, and Qin Xuemei accompanied the elderly couple and Wang Jihong as they strolled slowly along the alley, getting familiar with the surroundings.

It's less than 300 meters from here to Meiyuan Garden, 600 meters to the lakeside, and less than 300 meters from the main street of Luoguxiang, which is within the Luoguxiang tourist area.

However, this area is full of alleyways, which can easily confuse newcomers and make the journey seem longer. Two hundred meters or so is nothing in wide open areas, but it's a different story in narrow alleys.

Fortunately, the alleys in this area are not that complicated. They are large alleys, and Meiyuan is directly to the south. You can get there by turning left or right from there. It's just one street corner.

As we walked, Xiaowei pointed out the directions: "At this intersection, going south leads to my shop, going west leads to the lake, which is Houhai, near my home, and going east leads to Luogu Lane, which is always bustling with tourists from all over the country."

"Just one block south of my sister's shop is the wet market; you'll get used to it gradually."

The elderly couple nodded and listened as they looked around, occasionally glancing back to estimate the distance and direction.

After sitting in the plum garden for a while, the elderly couple rested their legs and ate some cookies, pastries, and fruit. Neither of them liked coffee, so they drank two cups of tea instead. The old man was quite interested in making a birthday cake and stood by, pondering it for a long time.

"How much did it cost to open this shop?"

The old man quietly asked his son.

Wang Jiwei thought for a moment and said, "It's less than 900,000, including buying a house, setting up the shop, and everything else. Houses are expensive."

The old man was startled: "So much? How much did our little courtyard cost?"

Wang Jiwei said, "It's less than here. The damage over there wasn't severe. The total is around 500,000 yuan. Why are you asking about this?"

The old man pondered for a moment and sighed. This was his daughter-in-law's money; where was his son going to get it? He was worried; the whole family depended on them. How would they pay off this debt?

Wang Jiwei understood his father and put his arm around his shoulder, saying softly, "Dad, don't worry. We have Xiao Hong and me. I told Xue Mei that the money for this yard is a loan from our family to her. Once your convenience store opens and Xiao Hong starts working, we can slowly save up to pay it back."

The old man nodded, still a little worried. Wang Jiwei said, "Dad, let me tell you, this convenience store can easily earn tens or hundreds of thousands a year. Xiao Hong also earns tens of thousands a year working there."

Don't think that 500,000 isn't much, especially since I'm here.

The old man raised an eyebrow: "Really? It's that easy to make money in the city?"

Wang Jiwei laughed and said, "Xiaowei helped you guys with this, of course he'd make money. Don't worry about it."

The old man nodded: "That's alright. We're poor, but it's not good to spend my wife's money. What kind of situation would that be? From now on, don't bring your money home. Once you're married and have your own family, give your money to your wife."

Wang Jiwei said, "Even if I offered it to her, she wouldn't take it. She told me to keep it for myself, since I don't spend much money on it. Fine, I'll listen to you, okay?"

The old man leaned closer and asked in a low voice, "Did your wife tell you? How much money does she have?"

Wang Jiwei said, "She said she still has more than seven million yuan. I'm keeping the passbooks. She said she's happy to throw things away. She doesn't usually spend money. We can't even spend all the interest."

The old man rubbed his chest and nodded. I was startled.

"There are other investments outside as well, with Xiaohong and the others. It's estimated to be around ten million, but she doesn't know the exact amount herself."

The old man shook his head, his worldview on the verge of collapse: "I don't understand. This guy isn't talking about money anymore."

Wang Jiwei laughed and said, "So you can just live your lives with peace of mind. Eat whatever you want, buy whatever you want, and just enjoy life. We can't spend all the money we earn, even if our whole family spends it all."

Xiao Hong will be starting work soon and will be able to support himself and you all. What are we lacking? Right? Things will definitely get better and better. Once Xiao Hong finds someone to marry, he'll give you a grandson.

The old man raised an eyebrow and glanced at Wang Jiwei: "You... you're not planning to keep it?"

Wang Jiwei said, "Of course I want them, why wouldn't I? Don't worry, you'll have plenty of grandchildren. I'm just afraid you'll be a nuisance."

"What are you saying? Come on, you've rested enough, let's go to the market," Wang Ma called out.

The group went out to the market again, and the old lady shook her head and clicked her tongue as she looked around. The cost of living in Beijing was higher than in Liaodong, and even more expensive than in the county towns below. The old lady was a little dizzy looking at the market.

Leaving the market and turning towards the lake, the old man strolled slowly along the shore, feeling a sense of openness and expansiveness. He took a few deep breaths, stretched his arms, and said, "This is nice. It's good to wander around and enjoy the scenery. Can I fish here?"

Wang Jiwei pointed ahead: "Yes, there are fishing spots over there."

"Is that the imperial city over there?" The old man looked south through a shaded area.

"Over there," Wang Jiwei pointed, "the current central government is over there, about three miles away."

"What a wonderful place! It's a place of great fortune, like a dragon coiled and a tiger crouching."

Wang Jihong laughed: "My dad even started reciting lines as soon as he came to Beijing."

Old Wang remained unfazed: "You look down on your dad? I'm a middle school graduate, you think I'm kidding?"

Xiao Wei said, "Grandpa, junior high school students back then were really something. Why didn't they go to the city?" Back then, junior high school students could definitely go to the city or become cadres.

Old Wang glanced at Wang Ma and shook his head: "Farming at home is good, it's peaceful."

Aunt Wang said, "Back then, household registration was strictly controlled. If your father had left, I wouldn't have been able to leave, so your father stayed. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here today."

Everyone laughed.

Old Wang gave up his career for love; otherwise, he'd be at least a county-level official by now. But thinking about it, it's understandable. People in that era had a different pursuit of official positions and money than people do now.

Strolling to Yinding Bridge, Old Wang looked around and said, "Oh, your courtyard is over there, right? I'm starting to understand."

Xiao Wei said, "Yes, actually they're not far apart. If it were from our side of the street, we could see them at a glance."

After crossing the bridge and arriving at this courtyard, Xiaowei's mother and Lao Wang started chatting warmly, and Xiaowei was free to run off to see Lele.

Chen Hui was working in the front office, while Chen Xiao and Xiao Hong were learning to knit gloves, though it was unclear who they were knitting them for.

"How were the test results?"

Xiao Wei took an apple, munched on it, and sat down next to Xiao Hong. Lele was placed in a stroller to the side, swaying back and forth.

In fact, China has been at the forefront of the world in many aspects, but because it has been used to being suppressed, it feels that it is inferior to others in everything.

Take children's cars for example. In the early 90s, China had all kinds of children's cars with high, medium and low grades and various functions, which once occupied a large share of the international market.

Later, the emergence of inferior counterfeit goods in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions destroyed some of them, and some were acquired and occupied by foreigners, causing their status to plummet.

(End of this chapter)