2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 312 Birthday
P.S.: This is a slice-of-life chapter; please don't subscribe if you mind.

In June, the temperature in Hangzhou can reach over 30 degrees Celsius, which is not really suitable for sightseeing.

Boating on West Lake, the sun was blazing, and Tan Jincheng felt like he was about to get heatstroke, but Zhang Suzhi and Tan Jinyue were in high spirits.

Perhaps staying at home every day is too stifling.

"Mom, when Jinyue is a little older and goes to kindergarten, you can travel all over the country with Dad."

With a doting glance at Tan Jinyue, who was looking around curiously, Zhang Suzhi said, "How can she travel all over the country while she's in kindergarten? She should at least wait until she goes to university."

"When will that be? It'll be about time when she starts kindergarten. By then, my dad will be in his early fifties, and you can all travel around. Once Jin Yue can eat and dress by herself, I can take care of her."

"You'll take care of me? Look at how many days you've spent at home in the two months I've been here. You're the one taking care of me?"

Tan Jincheng thought about it and realized it was indeed true.

Yes, I'm not the same person I was in my past life anymore. I don't have as much time to stay at home taking care of the children.

“That’s true. It seems we really have to wait until she’s a bit older. But it’s okay. By the time she’s about to go to college, you two will only be in your early 60s, which will be just right.”

Then, as he was talking, he started laughing at himself.

Tan Jinyue talked about university in 2022. At that time, her family of three took her to school. Her classmates thought her parents were her grandparents and that Tan Jincheng was her father.

My father, who is over 60, is indeed different from other parents. At first glance, it really feels like three generations have passed.

In three days, they visited West Lake, Lingyin Temple, museums, and the aquarium. Tan Jincheng went to every place he could think of where he could take his child.

Because it's been more than 10 years since I remember Hangzhou, there are still some minor discrepancies.

However, Hangzhou remains a culinary wasteland, as always.

There is a saying that the more delicious food a place has, the more suffering its people endure. Thinking about it carefully, it seems to make some sense. If there were plenty of food, who would go to such lengths to turn something as unpalatable as houttuynia cordata into all sorts of delicious dishes?
On Sunday afternoon, the 11th, Tan Jincheng and his family returned home.

Zhang Suzhi didn't forget to pick out a gift for Gu Qingqing. She bought her a necklace and two sets of clothes that she would never have dared to dream of before, including T-shirts priced at 5000 yuan each, which were completely unthinkable to her before.

Zhang Suzhi paid for it herself, while Tan Jincheng watched her from the side. He felt a little pained when he paid, but he could accept it.

This made Tan Jincheng quite gratified. After all, his mother had worked in a state-owned enterprise, so it would be easier for her to change her mindset compared to the average rural woman. With a few years of subtle influence, her values ​​and consumption habits should be able to keep up with his wealth.

Tan Jincheng himself wasn't very interested in spending money on shopping or buying this and that. In his previous life, he had seen the world and wasn't some kind of nouveau riche.

This is one of the reasons why he dares to brag in front of the media; it's not like I haven't enjoyed it before.

Compared to spending money like this, it's much more exciting to invest tens of millions here and throw a hundred million there to build a factory.

However, this did not stop Tan Jincheng from encouraging his parents to enjoy life. He said, "Now that we've made money, what's wrong with our parents and elders living a better life?"
"What did you buy? I don't see you bought anything. Weren't you supposed to prepare a gift?"

Zhang Suzhi couldn't help but ask her son, who seemed to have no desire to buy anything.

Tan Jincheng smiled and said, "I bought it a long time ago and it's at home. It's not as expensive as yours."

Two outfits plus a necklace, and the necklace was the cheapest one. Isn't that a bit extravagant? But it's a good thing that my mom is willing to spend money. I bet she has seven figures in her bank account.

What did you buy?

"A phone, costing several thousand yuan, is the same brand as the one I'm using now."

Tan Jincheng was still using the V3 that Zhang Xupeng had given him, while Gu Qingqing was still using the Nokia that her father had bought for her when she was a freshman in college. Motorola had released a new upgraded version of the V3 this year, the V3i, which had a significant improvement in functionality compared to the V3, but was half the price.

The biggest feature of the V3 is its stunning appeal. The V3i doesn't have that same stunning appeal. At three or four thousand yuan, it wasn't particularly expensive in 2006. I remember that Jay Chou's "Compendium of Materia Medica" music video featured an advertisement for the V3i.

As an aside, Jay Chou's new album release date is set for September 5th this year. Three months before the album's release, Jay Chou agreed to participate in three commercial events, which shows that this newly appointed spokesperson really has a lot of professional ethics.

There are many phones more expensive than the V3i, and many with better features, but the V3 and V3i can still be considered a couple's set, as girls like things that have a sense of ritual.

Hurry up and release the iPhone; it will make buying phones much easier since they all look the same anyway.
-
Thursday, March 6th.

People's fates are all different. Some people are showered with love and affection on their birthdays, while others spend them in solitude. Gu Qingqing, a 19-year-old in the prime of her youth, spends her birthday at school every year. When she was little, before her family's house was demolished, her parents were busy with their own factory and rarely celebrated her birthday.

After the demolition was completed, I went to high school. With the pressure of my studies, I had even less time to celebrate my birthday. However, I still received a lot of gifts, but only from my parents and a few close classmates.

This morning, I received a call from Tan Jincheng. He said he would come to her house near Ningbo University tonight to celebrate her birthday, and Tan Jincheng's mother and sister would also be coming.

"Uh, I thought you were busy. Ya Nan and the others had planned to treat me to dinner today. What should I do?"

"Bring them along, just so they can get acquainted with the place. They've never been to this house before anyway."

"But wouldn't it be inconvenient with the nanny around?"

"What's inconvenient about it? We're all classmates."

"OK then."

A phone call early in the morning put me in a great mood. Someone specially celebrated my birthday, and the whole family was together in a lively atmosphere. It felt so good.

After class, Gu Qingqing, along with Xu Manli and the other two, returned to the neighborhood with trepidation.

Downstairs, the most cheerful Xu Manli still asked with some curiosity, "Hey, did Boss Tan's mother really come all the way here to celebrate your birthday? His sister came too? Isn't his sister, who's more than ten years younger than you, adorable?"

"She's quite adorable. He dotes on his sister so much that he often brings her to work. Now, everyone in his company is used to bringing snacks to work, just in case they run into their boss with his sister one day," Gu Qingqing said with a light laugh.

"This is really bizarre, bringing a one- or two-year-old child to work," Chen Yanan laughed.

Generally speaking, factories don't welcome children inside because it's considered unsafe.

"Not only that, he's been taking care of his younger sister a lot lately. He was thinking that summer vacation is coming soon, and some parents are not with their children for a long time. It's inevitable that the children will feel regretful if they don't have their parents' company while they grow up. He plans to set aside a plot of land in the factory's safe area to temporarily take care of the children."

Tan Jincheng saw this idea while browsing short videos in his previous life. Some factories had set up an area for the children of their employees who were left behind by their parents to play, giving the children a chance to reunite with their parents. Tan Jincheng thought it was a good idea.

Leaving aside any lofty moral concepts being introduced, doing this is beneficial to the company itself, increasing employee cohesion, and the expenses won't increase much, as long as the safety issue is resolved.

"Huh? I didn't expect Boss Tan to be so kind-hearted. But with so many employees in their company, there must be quite a few children, right? Who will take care of them?" Chen Yanan asked in surprise.

"Their company mainly employs young people, and there aren't many married junior employees. I guess there aren't many children either. I'm not sure about the specifics. As for childcare, they hire a few kindergarten teachers who are on holiday to work part-time, and they also set up a separate children's cafeteria in the canteen. That should be about right."

"That's quite a thoughtful idea. With more children, his sister can play together too. It's a good idea, but you still need the resources. Most factories don't have that capability."

Xu Manli didn't care about that; she was only interested in what delicious food Tan Jincheng's mother would cook, and what gift she would give her future daughter-in-law.

Go upstairs and ring the bell.

The person who opened the door was Tan Jincheng and Tan Jinyue.

Tan Jinyue looked curiously at the person standing outside the door, but quickly recognized Gu Qingqing and rushed over, calling out "Sister!"

Gu Qingqing quickly picked up Tan Jinyue and happily kissed her on the cheek.

Tan Jincheng smiled and said, "Come in, everyone is welcome."

Dinner was not what Xu Manli had imagined; it wasn't cooked by Zhang Suzhi. Since taking possession of the apartment, although the kitchen was fully equipped with all sorts of tools, they had never cooked a meal. Apart from some instant food, there were no other vegetables in the refrigerator.

Tan Jincheng had ordered a table of food from a nearby hotel and had it delivered to his door. Zhang Suzhi was setting up the table at that moment.

Gu Qingqing carried Tan Jinyue and led her three roommates toward the restaurant.

Hearing the commotion, Zhang Suzhi smiled at the four of them: "You're here? Come on, have a seat, dinner's ready."

Then he said to the three of them, "It's a bit rushed. There's no food available for you two. We'll have to book a table at a restaurant. Next time you have time, when you all come to Beicang, I'll cook for you."

Chen Yanan and the others quickly said, "It's alright, Auntie, this is already very good."

"Then come sit down and eat. Don't be shy, make yourselves at home."

(End of this chapter)