2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 156 Holiday Routine
Silent all night.

Tan Jincheng has been sleeping very well these past few days. After his aunt came over, she took over all the affairs left behind by his uncle and also took on the responsibility of taking care of his uncle. Occasionally, she would call Tan Jincheng over for meals.

In fact, Tan Jincheng greatly admired his fourth aunt. After his uncle's accident in his previous life, she did not choose to remarry, nor did she take in a husband like some other middle-aged widowed women in rural areas. Instead, she chose to support the household independently.

Auntie Si speaks very loudly, and her temper has been bad since her uncle passed away, which has earned her a lot of criticism from the villagers; however, according to Tan Jincheng's observation, this bad temper seems to be a kind of self-protection.

If you've ever lived in the countryside, you should understand that kind of environment. A woman raising a child alone, even if she has many siblings, is easily bullied. Having a bad temper isn't necessarily a bad thing; at least others won't dare to bully you easily.

After getting up, Tan Jincheng dialed his aunt's number: "Aunt, I won't be going over today. I have to go to the city in a little while."

"You go ahead with your work, you don't need to come over every day. How about coming over for dinner tomorrow for the Mid-Autumn Festival?"

"Okay, I'll go tomorrow, but I'll skip the meal. I'll bring a friend to visit my uncle in the hospital tomorrow."

"Huh? What kind of friend is it that you had to formally inform me? It can't be a girl, can it?" Wu Lamei said with a smile.

In the few days since she arrived, Wu Lamei had heard her husband talk about it and had also seen some of her nephew's so-called friends come to visit. Most of them would leave their things and leave, and some were accompanied by her nephew, but they never notified her in advance.

My husband mentioned that his nephew seems to be quite close to a girl. This girl doesn't work at his factory, but she can freely enter and leave his office. Almost everyone working in the Flash office building knows about this.

"It is indeed a girl, but not the one you're thinking of. We'll go over tomorrow afternoon, but we can skip the meal. It's not really appropriate for my uncle to be in the hospital. Let's have a meal at his house when he's discharged."

"That's right, the hospital can't accommodate them. You go and do your thing, don't worry about us."

"Okay, Auntie, you can call me if you need anything, or if you need a car, call someone named Sun Yuming. My uncle has his number, and I've already spoken to him."

"I know, I know. I've traveled all over the country, so don't worry."

"Okay, let's leave it at that for now."

After saying that, Tan Jincheng hung up the phone. Wu Lamei, who was at the hospital taking care of Zhang Qingliang, smiled and said, "Your eldest nephew is bringing a girl to visit you tomorrow. I'll tidy you up for tomorrow, and remember to shave your beard too."

"Wow, you dared to bring him here? He wouldn't admit it last time we asked him."

"They haven't admitted it yet. They said on the phone that it's not what we think. Remember not to say anything carelessly tomorrow. Young people are easily embarrassed."

"He's thin-skinned? He's thick-skinned."

"What do you know, you're a grown man? Doing business and dating are two different things. Besides, even if you don't care about him, you should at least think about the girl, right?"

"I know, I know. Take a good look at her tomorrow and see what kind of girl she is. My sister often calls me to ask about this."

"Your sister is too anxious. Jincheng is so successful now, how could he not find a wife? He's only 20 years old and hasn't even reached the legal age yet."

"It's because he's too rich, and we're afraid he'll go astray. Haven't you seen how rich people spend their days indulging in pleasure? My sister wants to find someone to keep him in check."

"Your sister is really overthinking it. Jincheng has always had his own ideas since he was a child. He dared to go to sea when he was seventeen or eighteen. Where can you find a girl who can keep him in check?"

"That's true. But it's a good thing that my nephew is doing well now. Wenzuo might need him in the future. With Wenzuo's grades, he might not even get into high school. Maybe we should send him to work in his factory making screws."

"Sigh, grades are indeed a headache, but he still has to go to high school. If all else fails, we can just buy him a high school and let him coast through for three years."

“That will cost tens of thousands more. It looks like I won’t be able to work this year. Maybe we should postpone the house repairs and save the money for now,” Zhang Qingliang said, frowning.

Wu Lamei glanced at him, pursed her lips and said, "Don't worry about the money. The driver is fully responsible and will pay whatever he is owed. You'll also get your lost wages. Besides, Jincheng gave me 5 yuan when I first came here."

“Isn’t it true that we can’t take this money? The car accident had nothing to do with him. If we take the money back, we’ll be cursed to death.”

"I still have to return it. I've tried to return it four or five times, but he won't accept it no matter what. I have no choice but to keep it for now. Anyway, I dare not spend this money."

Zhang Qingliang sighed, "Oh dear, what a mess this has become. Actually, Jincheng always tells me to be careful every time we meet. Now that I think about it, his reminder was right. I was just careless, otherwise this wouldn't have happened."

Speaking of which, their family's income this year is really not low. Originally, the two houses in Yicheng and Beicang were rented for 6 yuan each. Later, they added the office in Jinyi and Zhang Xupeng's house, which brought in another 6 yuan.

Earning 12 yuan a year! Something I never dared to dream of before. All of this was brought about by my nephew. He paid for all the hospital expenses during my hospital stay. Needless to say, once the car accident compensation is received, given my nephew's personality, there's no way he'll ask for the money back.

Therefore, Zhang Qingliang absolutely did not want to accept the 5 yuan. If he really took the money, he would have to work for his nephew and receive workers' compensation, which would make people gossip about him.

"Sigh, let's just leave it for now. If we really can't refuse, we'll give it to my sister when we get back," Wu Lamei sighed. She didn't want to accept the money either.

In their minds, the concept of workers' compensation is completely foreign. They've seen their coworkers get injured at work before. Some employers with a conscience will compensate you a few thousand or even ten or twenty thousand, while others with no conscience won't care at all, and you can only accept your bad luck. "That's all we can do. Sister, why don't we buy things for Jinyue little by little from now on, and try to spend the money as much as possible?"

"Are you kidding me? 5 yuan to buy kids' stuff, how long would that take? You might as well say it's Jincheng's wedding dowry."

"Huh? This seems like a good idea. When the girl comes tomorrow, should we give her a red envelope?" Zhang Qingliang asked, his eyes lighting up.

Wu Lamei rolled her eyes and said, "Have you gone mad from being in the hospital? If you're going to give a red envelope, take it home. Who gives red envelopes in the hospital?"
-
While Zhang Qingliang and his wife were chatting about their eldest nephew, their nephew was already driving his newly bought Audi A6 on his way to Ningbo University. During the two-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, Tan Jincheng also planned to relax.

Let's go explore the city today, then stay here for the night, and head back to Beicang together tomorrow morning. Beicang in 2005 was like a construction site in ruins, there wasn't much to do there.

Phoenix Mountain Harbor Park will not officially open to the public until February next year. Yangshashan Beach is a decent place with a pretty good beach, but the problem is that the tourists' behavior is generally poor and the management is almost non-existent. The litter everywhere is a real eyesore.

Another option is Jiufeng Mountain, but climbing it in the sweltering heat might mess with your brain; as for shopping malls and cinemas? Sorry, there aren't any right now.

In Tan Jincheng's view, state-run cinemas like the Beicang Cinema, which only had one screen, didn't count as cinemas. Fubon and Yintai Mall hadn't been built yet, so the only place to go was probably the arcade outside RT-Mart.

These days, the young people in Beicang really lack spiritual experiences. Apart from internet cafes, karaoke bars, and arcades, there doesn't seem to be much else to do. They either have to take a one- or two-hour one-way bus ride to the city center to have fun.

At the gate of Ningbo University, Gu Qingqing looked around. The agreed time was now, but why hadn't she seen him?
Gu Qingqing was accompanied by several of her roommates. The four of them stood together, and the tall Gu Qingqing stood out. Xu Manli had met Tan Jincheng before and even had a meal with him in the cafeteria.

This time, she brought her two other roommates along to meet in person.

After parking the car, Tan Jincheng walked towards the four scenic spots, and soon Gu Qingqing and the others also saw him.

Gu Qingqing was clearly dressed up today, wearing a white belted long dress and her original ponytail had been replaced with long, flowing hair. From a distance, she looked ethereal, while up close, she had the air of a sophisticated urban woman.

Her delicate face looked like it had a touch of light makeup, and perhaps some lipstick as well, making her look radiant and beautiful.

"Da da da"

Gu Qingqing took small, quick steps and slowly walked towards Tan Jincheng. Once she was beside him, she said, "You changed cars again?"

"We only had one car, which was quite inconvenient for management to go out, so we bought another one. We'll leave that one at the company for them to use."

"Your boss is quite considerate. These are my three roommates. You've met Xu Manli before, this is Zhao Wenjia, and this is Chen Yanan."

Hello, Happy Mid-Autumn Festival.

Zhao Wenjia is petite, while Chen Yanan is a girl with a round face and a bit of baby fat. The two of them look quite cute.

This was the second time Xu Manli had met him, and she felt they were quite familiar with each other: "Hello, Boss Tan, and I wish you a happy Mid-Autumn Festival. I'll leave Qingqing to you now; we're going shopping."

"No problem, have fun, I'll treat you to a meal next time."

"Okay, you said it yourself, so we'll wait and see."

"Let's go first."

"See you."

After seeing the three off, Gu Qingqing looked around the Audi and couldn't help but ask curiously, "This car looks really big, how much does it cost?"

"65? What kind of car does your dad drive?"

"My dad drives an older model Santana."

Tan Jincheng nodded. No wonder he's a Yiwu resident who got his property demolished. The old Santana might not be a big deal now, but it was a legendary car more than 10 years ago.

My cousin Tan Lixin also owns one. I remember that in my previous life, after his business grew, he changed cars all over the place, but he never wanted to replace that Santana and kept it. That was probably a unique sentiment of men in that era.

"Get in the car, let's go shopping."

"where to?"

Tianyi Square.

(End of this chapter)