Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 427 The Gift

Zhang Jun said, "This restaurant is really big. I'll have to go back and try it sometime. Is the food good?"

Xiao Wei said, "When are you and my sister-in-law planning to get married? Shouldn't you come back home before you get married? You haven't even sent a photo. My parents don't even know what my sister-in-law looks like."

Zhang Jun chuckled, reached out and grabbed his sister-in-law's hand, saying, "We're already married, we even got our marriage certificate at the end of last month."

Xiao Hong asked, "So, brother and sister-in-law, you're not planning to have a wedding?"

Zhang Jun looked at his sister-in-law and said, "Let's leave it at that, okay? We've already had our drinks at work, and we've moved out of the house. There's no point in going back now. Once we're settled, we'll just go home and kowtow to my parents."

My sister-in-law said, "Anyway, you've already fooled me, so now it's up to you how things are handled."

Xiao Hong said, "I just remembered Chen Hui and the others. Xia Maosheng and Geng Hui just got married a couple of days ago, and they're exhausted. Chen Hui and Chen Xiao even said they were glad they didn't have a wedding. I'm not planning on having one either, it's too tiring. I'll just go somewhere fun with Xiao Wei."

Zhang Jun patted his sister-in-law's hand and said, "Can you compare yourselves to me? You'll have to take care of it when the time comes."

Xiao Wei shook his head and said, "Forget it, let Xiao Bing do this glorious task. Xiao Hong and I will take it."

My sister-in-law opened her eyes wide with curiosity and asked, "Is this true? Is it really that tiring?"

Xiao Hong said with a twitch in her face, "Sister-in-law, you don't know, I'm just sitting here with you, and my feet and calves are completely numb from exhaustion. Oh my god, I absolutely refuse to do it. If my mom forces me to do it, I'll run away."

Zhang Jun said with a smile, "Take your time. You're not in a rush anyway. Xiao Hong will graduate in the summer of '94, right? That's still three years away."

My sister-in-law asked, "Is Xiaohong still in school?"

Zhang Jun said, "My sister-in-law is a real college student, from Northeast Institute of Technology. Our county produces talented people."

The sister-in-law looked at Xiaowei and asked, "What did Xiaowei recite?" Xiaohong burst onto the bed and began to tremble.

Zhang Jun scratched his head and said, "Xiao Wei didn't go to school, I'm the one who delayed him. I joined the army back then, and my dad's back hurt so he couldn't do heavy work, so Xiao Wei stopped studying and stayed home to farm. How many years have passed in the blink of an eye? Xiao Wei has suffered a lot over the years, I really didn't expect him to be so successful now."

The sister-in-law looked at Xiaowei and then at Xiaohong with surprise, and asked, "I can't help but ask, so how did Xiaowei and Xiaohong meet?"

Zhang Jun said with a smile, "That's a long time ago. Xiao Hong is my Xiao Wei's childhood sweetheart. They've been together since they were little."

The sister-in-law looked at Xiao Hong in surprise: "Child, a childhood betrothal?"

Xiaowei patted Xiaohong's back, afraid she would choke from laughing, and said, "My mom and Xiaohong's mom have been playing together since we were little. Our two families have a very good relationship. When we were little, we just joked around and always played together. As we grew up, it just became like this. They never complained that I didn't go to school."

The sister-in-law leaned against Zhang Jun and said with a hint of envy, "Whether you go to school or not doesn't really matter. Look how good your relationship is. Marriage is just about living life together. People who know each other so well are bound to have a good life together."

Xiao Wei turned to look at Xiao Hong and said, "I wouldn't dare think that way. I read books by myself whenever I have free time. I can't let my wife down."

Zhang Jun asked, "What are my Uncle Wang and Aunt Wang doing now? Are they still in the county? What will you do in the future?"

Xiao Wei said, "No, Uncle Wang was transferred to Fengtian. Chen Hui's dad arranged it. Didn't I tell you he built his own house? We'll be living together from now on."

Zhang Jun nodded and said, "That's good. Uncle Wang only has Xiao Hong as his child, so you should be more filial to her."

Xiao Hong sat up, gathered her hair, and said, "Sister-in-law, how about the four of us go take a picture tomorrow? We can take it back to show my grandparents."

The sister-in-law was somewhat tempted. She glanced at Zhang Jun and said, "I'll go to my workplace tomorrow and ask. If I can get leave, I'll go."

Xiao Wei said, "Once things are settled here, you'll have to come and help me manage this place. If things don't go well at work, you should quit."

Zhang Jun's sister-in-law looked at him, and Zhang Jun said, "I'll quit when the time comes. The salary isn't much anyway, and I need someone from my own family to look after things here."

Xiao Wei said, "Just set up an office in that building, hire a few people, and rent out the three buildings plus the shops. Collecting rent, doing maintenance, it'll take a lot of work. We can also make money by making signs."

My sister-in-law said, "Renting a place is no problem, but we don't know anything about making signs."

Xiao Wei said, "That's easy, just hire two workers. We should also standardize the signs on this side of our store, and make sure they're all the same size, otherwise it'll look messy and unsightly."

Zhang Jun asked, "So, how are the last three people going to split up? Have you decided?"

Xiao Wei took out a cigarette, lit it, took a puff, and said, "It's okay, just divide it according to the proportion of the money invested. I can't accept it if I say it's split equally between the two of them."

Zhang Jun did some mental calculations and said, "So that means you get 50%, and they each get 25%, right? Is that how the hospital calculates it too?"

Xiao Wei nodded and said, "That's how it is. You can't be greedy when you're doing business together. Anyway, we're not going to make any less money. If you keep arguing, you'll only end up hurting yourself. It's not worth it. We can't include the land in the calculation."

During this period, real estate was only prevalent in a few major cities in China. Fengtian was just beginning to see it happen. Ironically, the concept of real estate took off in Hainan Province, where the boom was the shortest. People from all over the country, with their keen sense of information, flocked there to speculate on land. In Northeast China, due to the heavy industry, information was relatively slow. People's eyes were focused on factories, and they were almost completely unaware of things like stock subscription certificates later on.

Neither of the brothers knew that land ownership, which seemed useless now, would become the most valuable thing later on.

Xiao Hong got up and opened the window a little to let out some smoke, then went to the bathroom. Her sister-in-law said to Zhang Jun, "It's late, let's go back and let Xiao Wei and Xiao Hong rest." Zhang Jun checked the time, nodded, stood up, and said, "Okay, you two go to sleep, your sister-in-law and I will go back first."

Xiao Hong came out of the bathroom, shaking the water off her hands, and said, "Brother, sister-in-law, are you leaving?"

Zhang Jun said, "It's getting late, you guys should go to sleep early. Remember to eat breakfast tomorrow. If you want to sleep in, eat breakfast first, then come upstairs. You can't skip breakfast, understand?"

Xiao Hong walked into the house and said, "I heard you! You're still as stubborn as you were when you were little. Old habits die hard. Sister-in-law, come here."

The sister-in-law, who had followed Zhang Jun to the door, heard Xiao Hong call out and turned around to ask, "What's wrong?"

Xiao Hong wiped her hands with a towel and said, "I have something good for you."

The sister-in-law glanced at Zhang Jun, smiled, and walked back, asking, "What good stuff?"

Xiao Hong hung up the towel and went to get the suitcase, saying, "This is a wedding gift from Xiao Wei and me to you. To be honest, we didn't know what else to give you, or what you needed. We didn't even know what you looked like before we came. After discussing it, we decided to give you this. You can do whatever you want with it."

He took a roll of cardboard wrapped in newspaper from his suitcase and handed it to his sister-in-law.

(End of this chapter)