I couldn't take it anymore; when I went home for Chinese New Year, the family genealogy book ha

I, Jiang Chen, have taken over the contract to build all the mud roads in the village!

"hiss--!!"

A scream rang out in the courtyard.

The cigarette butt still hanging in Jiang Shunde's hand burned his finger. His hand trembled, and the cigarette butt fell to the ground, still wisps of smoke rising.

But this old man, who had been the village chief for over twenty years, didn't care about the pain in his hand at all.

His eyes widened as he stared intently at Jiang Chen sitting opposite him, his expression as if he had seen a living god in broad daylight. Even his voice cracked as he shouted:

"What?! What did you say?!"

"Chen'er, are you... are you drunk? Or are you just making fun of your uncle?"

Jiang Shunde, ignoring the half-smoked cigarette, sprang up from the stone bench, braced himself on the stone table, leaned forward, and almost spat out saliva.

"That's 3.2 kilometers! Not 30 meters!"

"Even if we just lay the thinnest layer of cement on the existing foundation, the cost of materials, bulldozers, road rollers, plus workers' food... it's unthinkable to expect anything less than several hundred thousand yuan!"

"Several hundred thousand yuan! Our village's annual public account surplus is only a few thousand yuan!"

Jiang Jianjun and Wang Xiuying, who were standing next to him, were also completely petrified.

The teapot lid in Jiang Jianjun's hand clattered back onto the spout, nearly shattering it. Wang Xiuying stared wide-eyed at her son and then at her husband, her mind reeling.

They know their son is rich.

But that's hundreds of thousands of dollars being thrown into the water! This isn't like building a house or buying a car for your own family; it's like building roads for the government! This money will just disappear without a trace!

Faced with these three shocked and distorted faces, Jiang Chen remained as steady as a mountain.

He bent down, picked up the cigarette butt from the ground, threw it into the trash can next to him, and then slowly took out another cigarette and handed it to Jiang Shunde.

"Uncle, sit down. Don't get excited, it can easily cause high blood pressure."

Jiang Chen shoved the cigarette into Jiang Shunde's hand, his tone as casual as if he were saying that they were having cabbage stew with tofu for dinner.

"Don't worry about the money."

"Since I said I'd cover it, then the village definitely won't have to pay a single penny."

Jiang Shunde's hand holding the cigarette was trembling, and he couldn't sit down at all.

"Chen'er, this is no joke. You have money, it's money you earned through hard work outside, you can't do this..."

"Uncle."

Jiang Chen interrupted him, his expression turning serious.

He stood up and pointed outside the courtyard wall, in the direction leading to the village entrance.

"Our road, let alone a road, it's a ditch that's easy to fall into."

"I won't even mention the fall my grandfather took back then. Just look at the present: when the village kids go to school, they're covered in mud on rainy days and dust on sunny days. What era are we living in? The neighboring Lijiazhuang village already has paved roads, while we're still filling in dirt pits."

At this point, Jiang Chen raised a finger and shook it gently.

"If we're going to fix it, we can't cut corners. Filling in the hole or laying a thin layer of cement is just a waste of money."

Jiang Shunde's throat tightened, and he subconsciously asked, "Then... how do you plan to fix it?"

Jiang Chen turned around, looked at Jiang Shunde, and slowly and deliberately presented his "grand plan".

"Rebuild the roadbed, widen all the curves. Expand the road surface from the current 3.5 meters to 6 meters! Two lanes standard!"

"No cement paving, just asphalt! The thickest possible thickness, so even heavy trucks won't crack it!"

"besides!"

Jiang Chen pointed to the sun overhead.

"Starting from the old locust tree at the village entrance, all the way to the town intersection, install a street lamp for me every thirty meters!"

These words were like a series of muffled thunderclaps, striking Jiang Shunde directly on the top of his head.

He swayed twice and almost lost his balance.

Six meters wide? Asphalt road? And with solar streetlights along the entire length?

This isn't just building a village road; it's being built to county road standards!

Jiang Shunde quickly made a mental calculation.

"This...this...this..."

Jiang Shunde stammered for a long time, unable to utter a single complete sentence.

Looking at this young man in his early twenties, he felt that the world was too crazy.

Two million!

If you replaced it with hundred-yuan bills, you could fill this stone table!

Jiang Chen smiled as he looked at the terrified village chief, then walked over and patted his still stiff shoulder.

"Alright, Uncle, it's settled then."

"You won't have to go door to door collecting those two hundred yuan anymore when you go back, and you won't have to put up with Liu Cuifen and the others' attitudes."

"Please take a look at the road conditions over the next few days and see if there are any issues involving land occupation or tree relocation. I'll help coordinate those matters. Money is not a problem; as long as you don't ask for an exorbitant price, I can make up for it."

Before Jiang Shunde could react, Jiang Chen half-pushed and half-sent him toward the main gate.

"Please take this cigarette. I need to contact the construction team, so I won't keep you for dinner."

"We'll start construction after the New Year!"

Jiang Shunde was still in a daze until he was pushed out of the Jiang family's grand mahogany gate and stood on the dusty street.

He clutched the pack of Zhonghua cigarettes tightly in his arms and glanced back at the tightly closed door.

A gust of wind blew, and he shivered, which brought him back to his senses.

"Good heavens... God."

"This kid from Jiang Jianjun's family is destined for greatness!"

……

The courtyard gate had just closed.

Before Jiang Chen could turn around, two dark figures swooped in and surrounded him.

Wang Xiuying grabbed Jiang Chen's arm with such force, as if she were afraid her son would run away.

"Son! Are you delirious from the fever?!"

Wang Xiuying was so anxious that she stomped her feet and her voice cracked.

"That's millions! Not tens of thousands! Even if you're rich, you wouldn't spend it like that! You wouldn't squander money like that even if it came from a windfall!"

Jiang Jianjun, standing to the side, also looked pained, his brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a fly.

"Yes, Chen'er, road construction is a good thing, but this is too big a undertaking. We're already being very generous by contributing 100,000 or 200,000 yuan. Why do we have to take on the whole thing? And why do we have to make it so high-quality?"

"Once the road is repaired, everyone will use it, not just our family!"

Seeing his parents' heartbroken expressions, Jiang Chen couldn't help but laugh.

He reached out and held his mother's shoulder, pressing her back onto the stone bench, and then handed his father a cigarette to calm his nerves.

"Dad, Mom, listen to me."

Jiang Chen moved a small stool, sat opposite the two elders, and put away his playful smile, looking serious.

"Money in a bank account is just a string of numbers. Only when it's spent, even if it becomes a road or a lamp, does that count as real ability."

He pointed outside the yard.

"Mom, you don't want to wear such a beautiful cheongsam to town and end up covered in mud, do you?"

"Dad, if you drive our Audi out in the future and scrape the bottom while trying to avoid a pothole, won't you be heartbroken?"

Jiang Jianjun opened his mouth, but didn't say anything.

That must be heartbreaking, it's an Audi!

Jiang Chen continued, "Besides, our family isn't short of money right now. If this road is repaired, it will be a great act of kindness and good deeds."

"From now on, our Jiang family will walk on this road for generations to come, and everyone in the village will walk on this road. Who wouldn't give us a thumbs up and say 'good!'"

"What do you call that? You call it family heritage!"

"And..." Jiang Chen lowered his voice slightly, speaking mysteriously, "If I don't handle this matter well, do you think people like my aunt and her ilk will shut up? I want them to feel like they owe our family every time they step on this road!"

This last sentence really touched Wang Xiuying's heart.

The thought that Liu Cuifen would have to walk on the road her son had built and suffer in silence immediately lessened her heartache over the money.

"Alright..."

Wang Xiuying sighed. Although she still felt the pinch, she didn't say anything more when she saw her son's determined eyes.

"Anyway, it's your money you earned, so you know what you're doing. Mom's just worried about you... worried that you'll regret it when you're broke later."

"Don't worry, Mom, your son is very capable."

Jiang Chen stood up, stretched, looked at the distant sky, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

Regret?

Are you kidding me!

His little schemes are going on louder than firecrackers during the Lunar New Year!

If this money were wasted, Jiang Chen wasn't stupid; he certainly wouldn't have been so extravagant.

But don't forget, he has a system!

What is the core principle of the 【Family Prosperity Rebate System】?

It signifies the prosperity of the family!

What does it mean to be prosperous? Just having money in your own family is called being a nouveau riche, that's not prosperity.

To truly prosper, one must have prestige, status, and a good living environment!

On a small scale, this road construction makes it easier for my parents to travel and ensures the safety of my family. On a larger scale, it benefits our hometown and elevates the status of the entire Jiang clan in the surrounding area!

This is genuine "merit"!

Jiang Chen felt his heart pounding.

This isn't road construction; it's clearly building a golden road to becoming a billionaire for oneself!

Once this money is spent, even if it's two million, given the system's track record, if the judgment is high enough, the amount returned might directly exceed one hundred million!

It's a big gamble.

But in Jiang Chen's view, this was a sure win!