The game of power begins with the police officers at the local police station.

The next morning, Chen Shi drove home for the Chinese New Year.

As soon as the car stopped at the door, Chen Jianyong jogged over, opened the door, and said with a beaming smile, "Xiao Shi, you're back."

Chen Shi got out of the car: "Second Brother, you guys got your holiday early."

"Our temporary workers were on leave for half a month, and they've been back for a few days now." He quickly took out cigarettes and handed them to Chen Shi.

Chen Shi took the cigarette and had just put it to his lips when Chen Jianyong brought his lighter over and lit it.

Chen Shi felt a little uncomfortable around his family and suddenly realized that Chen Jianyong was suited for a career in politics.

To succeed in an official career, you need to be perceptive and discerning.

Leaders like two types of people: one is like Sun Wukong, who gets things done; without him, no one would do the work.

Another type provides emotional value, like Zhu Bajie (Pigsy), which leaders also cannot do without.

As soon as Chen Shigang opened the trunk, Chen Jianyong rushed forward and took out two bottles of fine wine and several packs of good cigarettes.

She's good at handling things, and her brain works much better than Chen Jianhua's.

I followed Chen Shi home.

The family is slaughtering a pig; the pig has already been bled and its hair is being scraped off.

The group quickly stopped and greeted Chen Shi.

"Xiao Shi is back"

Chen Shi stepped forward and offered them cigarettes.

Chen Jianhua had a problem with Chen Shi. Not only did Chen Shi not assign him any work, but he also wouldn't even be allowed to show off his power in the village.

With a dark expression, he took the cigarette and continued scraping the pig bristles.

Chen Jianyong came out of his house with a chair: "Xiao Shi, you just got back, take a rest, we'll get it done in no time."

Chen Shi looked at Chen Yanshi: "Dad, it's almost New Year's Day, why are you only slaughtering a pig now?"

"We wanted to wait for you to come back before we slaughtered the pig. When we were little, you loved eating the pig-slaughtering feast the most."

Chen Shi really wanted to say that when he was a child, there was no food, so everything tasted delicious. He looked forward to slaughtering pigs during the Lunar New Year all year round.

The most enjoyable meal is the "pig-slaughtering feast," where there's plenty of meat.

Now that I've eaten so much of it, I no longer enjoy the "pig-killing feast."

Li Fugui ran up to offer Chen Shi a cigarette. He had come to help on his own, and said with a simple smile, "Chen Shi, my family has been raising a rooster for three years. I'll bring it to my second uncle later so we can kill it and eat it for the New Year."

"You can keep them for yourselves and kill them to eat. We have plenty at home; they were all sent to us."

"What they give is theirs, what I give is mine."

Before Chen Shi could speak, he rushed back and brought the rooster.

When Wang Guihua saw this, she exclaimed, "Fugui, we don't want yours. Your parents wouldn't even kill it to eat. Take it back and kill it tonight for the New Year."

"We have some at home; we'll kill two this year."

Wang Xiufen came out carrying the child: "Fugui, you're so generous this year, killing two. In previous years, we couldn't bear to kill even one for the New Year."

"The past is the past; this year, I'm in charge."

Wang Xiufen laughed and said, "It's up to you. Does your brother agree?"

Why doesn't he agree?

"I heard that a couple of days ago, your brother came back from work without earning a single penny. He gambled away the money you made from selling corn, and if you said anything to him, he would chase after you and beat you up."

Li Fugui blushed and said, "That's not true," before running off to help scrape the pig bristles.

About half an hour later, a fat pig was chopped into several pieces, taken home, and hung up.

Pig limbs and trotters are cured into bacon and ham, then pressed with stones to squeeze out the moisture.

Wang Guihua was cooking, and Wang Xiufen was watching from the side holding the child. Chen Shi walked back into the house, glanced at Wang Xiufen, and Wang Xiufen quickly handed the child to Chen Yanshi to hold and helped Wang Guihua cook.

Xiaomi Le had just woken up and ran out of her room. When she saw Chen Shi, she called out with her short legs, "Uncle, you're back!"

Chen Shi picked up Xiaomi Le in one scoop: "Xiaole, are you a good girl?"

"I'm a good girl, I sleep by myself and I don't cry."

"Great, our Xiaomile is the best."

"Uncle, I've been such a good boy, have you bought me any snacks?"

Before Chen Shi could speak, Wang Xiufen shouted, "If you dare to eat snacks again, I'll beat you up!"

Xiaomi Le pouted and buried her head in Chen Shi's arms.

It's not that your uncle doesn't want to buy it for you, it's just that your mom doesn't agree. I have to listen to your mom on this matter.

The meal was quickly prepared, and the whole family sat around it to eat.

Chen Shi took out cigarettes and gave each person a pack.

Li Fugui received the cigarettes with a simple, honest grin. Wang Xiufen teased, "Fugui, do you know how much these cigarettes cost?"

"I know, sixty-one packs, one carton, five hundred and fifty."

"Wow, you know quite a lot."

Even if you've never eaten pork, you've still seen pigs run.

Wang Xiufen jokingly said, "I told you last time, give me ten thousand yuan and I'll introduce you to my cousin. Have you thought it over?"

Li Fugui said shyly, "I don't have any money this year, we'll talk about it next year."

"By next year, the daylilies will be too cold."

Wang Xiufen took out her phone from her pocket, opened her cousin's photo, and handed it to Chen Shi.

"Xiao Shi, isn't my cousin pretty? She works in Yizhou doing beauty treatments and just got back yesterday. I'll invite her over to play tomorrow."

Chen Shi glanced at her; she was short-armed and short-legged, not even in the same league as a beauty like Wang Yanhong.

It's ugly in one word.

Chen Shi looked at Li Fugui: "Fugui, come over to our house tomorrow, make the most of it."

Li Fugui looked embarrassed and said, "I don't have 10,000 yuan."

"Money can be earned slowly, but opportunities only come once. What if someone takes a liking to you and doesn't want a penny, but instead pays you?"

Wang Xiufen pursed her lips, put away her phone, and said, "I'm introducing you to someone like Li Fugui. My cousin wouldn't even give him a second glance."

They couldn't say it outright, since Chen Shi had a girlfriend and the two lived together, so they could only use Li Fugui as a pretext.

Chen Jianyong picked up the wine bottle and poured wine for everyone.

He raised his glass: "Xiao Shi, let me toast you. Thank you for helping me find a job so I can support my family. We're brothers, so I won't say more. If you ever need anything from me, just let me know."

Chen Shi raised his wine glass, and Chen Jianyong respectfully offered a toast with both hands, holding the glass very low.

The two drank it all in one gulp.

When someone helps you, no matter who they are, you should be grateful and not take it for granted.

Wang Xiufen picked up her teacup: "Xiaoshi, I'd like to toast you too. I don't drink alcohol, so I'll use tea instead of water to thank you for helping me and your brother get jobs at the power management office."

Chen Shi smiled and said, "We're family, no need for all this toasting. Let's all raise a glass to our parents to thank them for raising us."

Chen Yanshi and Wang Guihua smiled broadly, and everyone stood up to pay their respects to the two elderly people.

Wang Guihua doesn't drink alcohol, but she poured herself a beverage and drank with everyone.

Chen Jianhua remained silent with a dark expression throughout, saying that everyone has a job except him, who is still just an ordinary citizen.

My face was flushed from drinking, and I felt really frustrated.

Seeing this, Chen Jianyong asked, "Brother, are you planning to plant a few tobacco trees after the New Year?"

"Plant four or five thousand trees"

"Why did you only plant this little bit? I'm in the tobacco bureau and I know the people there well. Plant more, and I'll sell it for you later."

"We've planted too many trees; we're too busy to handle them all."

"Hire someone!"

"It's not that easy to hire someone like that; I need to find another job."

"Eighty-one days, as many as you want."

"Giving money is fine, but I'm afraid I won't even earn enough to cover the wages of the people who make the tobacco."

Chen Shi put down his chopsticks and looked at Chen Jianhua, finding him increasingly useless.

"Big brother, if you don't plant more tobacco at home, how will you make money? Second brother already said he'll help you sell it, but do you expect him to plant it for you?"

What do you have to worry about? Someone in the tobacco bureau is guaranteed to make money. Where else can you find such a good opportunity?

Look at Tian Guangming's family. They hire people to plant tobacco trees, planting 40,000 to 50,000 trees a year. They know people in the tobacco bureau, so they can easily sell them for over 200,000 yuan. Even after deducting labor costs, they still make over 100,000 yuan.

If you want to earn over 100,000 yuan by growing corn, you need to buy over 100,000 jin (50,000 kg) of corn.

If you're going to farm at home, farm well; don't be all talk and no action.

Chen Jianhua picked up his wine glass, took a sip, and, not daring to contradict Chen Shi, said in a low voice, "I understand. I'll plant more tobacco."

For a large family to be united and respectful of each other, there must be one person with absolute authority whose words are like imperial edicts, and no one dares to contradict him.