Rebirth to Save Myself

The four of them returned home chatting and laughing. As soon as they turned on the lights, a voice suddenly rang out in the living room: "Where have you been? Why are you so late?"

"Ah, a ghost!" Chen Yuan was the first to scream.

She spoke so loudly that she even called out the nanny, and then looked at everyone with a completely bewildered expression.

Chen Jianguo was also startled, and then, after recognizing the person on the sofa, he said, "Mom, why aren't you sleeping in the living room at night and why aren't the lights on?"

"I'm saving you money! Look at this big house, how much electricity does it waste to keep the lights on!" Chen's mother said matter-of-factly. Then, noticing that everyone was carrying shopping bags, she pointed at Chen Chunqi and yelled, "Fine, I'm saving money for my son at home, but you're so carefree. You don't care that your husband works so hard outside, yet you spend money so extravagantly!"

"What? You're jealous because you can't spend your son's money, and you can't stand me spending it?" Chen Chunqi said with a sneer.

"What's wrong with you, woman? Don't you care about your husband at all? What did you buy? Didn't you say you were going to buy a cell phone?" Chen's mother stepped forward and prepared to rummage through the bags.

Chen Chunqi dodged, and Chen's mother almost lost her balance. Chen Jianguo quickly caught her, thinking that if the old lady fell, she might have to stay in the hospital for a long time.

"Of course we're going to buy clothes and cosmetics!" Chen Chunqi said after dodging the question. Then, she led Chen Yuan and Su Xia to sit on the sofa and started looking through today's spoils. As she looked, she said, "This dress looked okay when I saw it in the store, but now that I'm back, it just seems so-so."

"Anyway, it's not expensive, just over a thousand. We can just not wear it," Su Xia said, cooperating with Chen Chunqi.

“That’s true. I usually wear clothes that cost several thousand, so it feels like the quality is not good when I suddenly buy something that costs a little over a thousand.” Chen Chunqi nodded and put the dress aside.

"You spendthrift woman, clothes are fine as long as they're wearable, why buy something so expensive! What's wrong with this dress? I can feel the fine material." Chen's mother picked up the dress with heartache and said, grumbling.

“Grandma, you don’t understand. My mom’s wardrobe is full of dresses that cost thousands or even tens of thousands of yuan. This dress really isn’t suitable for her,” Chen Yuan said. Then she added to Chen Chunqi, “But we bought this as part of a bundle deal. If it’s really not suitable, we can give it to Auntie.”

"Why would I give it to you? I'll wear it!" Upon hearing this, Chen's mother immediately clutched the dress tightly in her hands. She thought to herself, "This dress is so expensive, how can I let the nanny wear it!"

"This pattern looks like something a young person would wear. I can't wear it, Miss, please don't mention me," the nanny said with a smile.

Chen's mother stood to the side, holding the dress, feeling somewhat embarrassed. She also felt she couldn't wear it back to give to her eldest son's wife. She would tell her later that she had specially bought the dress for her in the provincial capital, which would also be a way of doing her a favor.

"Honey, how much did we spend today?" Chen Chunqi suddenly asked.

"Hmm? I haven't calculated it precisely, but it should be around tens of thousands," Chen Jianguo said nonchalantly. He had never bothered to calculate the money he spent on them. Money is meant to be spent, especially on his wife and daughter; why worry about it so much?

"What? Tens of thousands? Jianguo, you can't keep this kind of woman around. She'll squander all your family's wealth." Chen's mother grabbed Chen Jianguo's hand, pretending to be earnestly advising him.

“Mom, I call you Mom only because you raised me. But you’ve always known the difference between me and my older brother. So stop trying to sow discord, go back to your room and sleep, and leave first thing tomorrow morning.” Chen Jianguo got angry when he heard this. His mother would try to persuade him to divorce Chen Chunqi whenever she had the chance.

Regardless of whether her son liked it or not, or that her granddaughter would be without a mother after the divorce, she simply felt that she couldn't control Chen Chunqi. Now she thought that as long as Chen Jianguo and Chen Chunqi divorced, his heart would return to his parents, and she could enjoy this big house and have people to take care of her.

"I'm tired. You two can handle this yourselves!" Chen Chunqi suddenly lost her fighting spirit, perhaps because Chen Jianguo had been on her side from the beginning. So she stubbornly defied her mother, spending lavishly on clothes and cosmetics, but just as Su Xia said, it was pointless. No matter what Chen Chunqi did, Chen Jianguo supported her, so why should she care about her mother, who held little weight in his heart?

"Then you should go and rest. I'll pack your things later." Chen Jianguo quickly stepped forward and said to Chen Chunqi, then said to Chen Yuan and the others, "You should also go and rest. You must be tired on your first day back."

"Okay, Dad." Chen Yuan didn't linger and took her things with her as she went back to her room with Su Xia.

Chen's mother wanted to take advantage of everyone's absence to give Chen Jianguo a good brainwashing, but Chen Jianguo simply packed up Chen Chunqi's things and said to Chen's mother, "I'm tired after a busy day, I'm going to rest first."

"Oh, son, Jianguo, Jianguo!" All she got in response was the sound of the door closing.

Chen's mother, full of wicked schemes, was only realized after being woken up at dawn and getting into the car. She had traveled all the way to the provincial capital to find Chen Jianguo for his money, only to find herself empty-handed after just one night in his mansion. Even the dress Chen Chunqi had complained about yesterday wasn't in her bag.

Chen Jianguo felt relieved after seeing his mother off. He had his assistant arrange the trip to Sanya, and then went to the company to handle business. He hoped to finish things as soon as possible before the New Year so he could have more time to spend with his wife and children.

No matter how unwilling Chen's mother was, she still rode back to the countryside in the car Chen Jianguo had sent. Outsiders, unaware of the situation, assumed that Chen's mother had gone to the city for a nice trip and had returned. When they saw her getting out of the expensive car, they rushed up to flatter her.

"Oh my, the old lady is back! She even came back in a car, she must be worth a lot of money."

"Yes, it must be because Jianguo felt sorry for you being old, so he specially sent it back to you."

"It's really different when you go to the city; everyone has a car now."

"When will Jianguo give our Jianye a try? Let's all make money together!"

Amidst the praise from everyone, Chen's mother gradually forgot the humiliation she had suffered at Chen Jianguo's hands, and laughed, saying, "I said there was no need for a ride, I could just take the bus myself. But that boy wouldn't let me, and he even got angry with me, so I had no choice but to go along with him."

"It's wonderful to have a son who is both filial and good at making money."

When is your son, Jianguo, going to bring you to the city?

Upon hearing this, Chen's mother's face stiffened for a moment, and then she began to lie, saying, "He originally wanted me to stay, but I'm used to living in the countryside. I don't know anyone in the city, so he didn't let me stay."

"Yes, last time I went to the city to visit my daughter, the houses there were so tall. But there weren't many people to chat with; everyone just closed their doors when they went home."

"Yes, we haven't even visited each other's homes yet."

“Yes, yes, yes.” Chen’s mother nodded in agreement, then couldn’t help but show off, saying, “Jianguo’s house is huge, it’s on the 25th floor, and you can see a huge river view from the living room. That community is very strict; they question everyone who goes in about what they’re doing.”

A bystander asked curiously, "It's so high-end, it must have cost a lot of money, right?"

"That's right, it would take tens of millions to come down." Mother Chen involuntarily raised her chest.

"Wow, Jianguo is so rich!" Everyone exclaimed, and the name Jiangjing sounded very high-class.

"That's not all. You have to swipe a card to get on the elevator." Chen's mother's vanity was satisfied, and she continued to chat with everyone about her experiences.

“I heard my son mention that the neighborhood is called XX Bund,” one of the older women asked.

"Yes, how did you know?" Chen's mother was surprised; she didn't think Chen had mentioned the name of the neighborhood.

"That's a luxury mansion! It's the most expensive place in the entire provincial capital. Big bosses and leaders live there." The older woman was truly envious. Her son had also bought a house in the provincial capital before, but in a very remote location. It was only then that she realized how high the housing prices were in the provincial capital, and her son had also explained to her that the XX Bund was a luxury mansion.

"Wow, Sister Chen, you're really living the good life!" Upon hearing this, the others were in for a surprise and immediately began to flatter her to gain recognition.

"Wow, that's amazing! Jianguo is truly the most promising person in our village." Wouldn't it be wonderful if, through Chen's mother, Chen Jianguo could lead everyone to make money together?

Suppressing her joy, Chen's mother said to everyone, "Children and grandchildren have their own blessings. I still prefer the way everyone in the countryside interacts and takes care of each other."

Then everyone chatted for a while before gradually dispersing. When Chen's mother returned home, her eldest daughter-in-law greeted her and asked, "Mom, did your second brother say anything? Did you mention to him about having Jianmin help out at his company?"

"Shut up, where's your father-in-law?" Chen's mother got angry as soon as she mentioned this, having already swallowed a lot of anger at Chen Jianguo.

"He's working in the fields. Should I go and call him back?"

"No need, let's wait until he gets back."

Chen Jianguo rushed to finish his company's business five days before the Lunar New Year, and then his family of four boarded a plane to Sanya. Before leaving, Chen Jianguo specifically instructed his security guards that if anyone approached him claiming to be his parents or relatives, they should be treated as fraudsters. He knew his mother well; after seeing his life, she certainly wouldn't be content to continue living in the countryside. If she then joined forces with her brother and sister, bringing a bunch of people to the provincial capital to seek refuge with him, what would become of him?

If you said his parents helped him from a young age, and his older brother and sister helped him with his business, contributing money or labor, that would be fine. It's not like he can't help them get rich; they're family, and mutual help is only natural. But that's not how it is. His parents doted on his older brother and were good to his younger sister, while he, the second son, received no love from either of them and still had to help his parents with chores. When he was about to marry Chen Chunqi, his mother told him, "The family has already spent all our savings on your brother's wedding; your parents can't afford that much money now!"

"What about the salary I asked you to deposit for you after I started working? I don't need you to pay any money, just give me the salary."

"That's all. Your sister-in-law wanted a lot, so we used it all up."

Chen Jianguo couldn't believe it. His mother had clearly told him that he, as a man, wouldn't save money, and that he should deposit his salary with her to help him get married in the future. Now she was telling him that she had given it all to his older brother. How was he going to get married?

In the end, Chen Jianguo's parents didn't contribute a single penny; the banquet expenses were covered entirely by Chen Jianguo borrowing money from friends. Chen Chunqi was moved by Chen Jianguo's actions and helped out a little. Later, Chen Chunqi would reflect on how fortunate she was to have married such a wonderful husband at that time.

Chen Jianguo's marriage created a rift between him and his parents, who later mobilized elders in the clan to force him to back down. However, his parents made the wrong choice regarding Chen Yuan, leading to a complete break between them. Although Chen Jianguo no longer interacted with his parents, he still visited his older brother and sister during holidays. Unwilling to settle for just earning a meager living working away from home, he wanted to borrow money from his brother and sister to start a business, but they all refused, telling him he had no talent for business and shouldn't waste money.

Under these circumstances, it's impossible for Chen Jianguo to forgive past grievances and allow his parents to come to the city to enjoy a comfortable life, or to arrange for his brother and brother-in-law to work in his company. People say it's easy to add flowers to brocade, but it's much harder to provide charcoal in the snow. He hasn't forgotten those who helped Chen Jianguo in the past, and he does his best to help others when they need it.

So, Chen's mother went home and discussed it with Chen's father. They decided to bring a group of people to Chen Jianguo's house to force him to submit. However, they were stopped by the security guards outside the community and couldn't even enter the building.

“I’m his mother, why can’t I come in? I was here just a while ago!” Chen’s mother jumped up and down in agitation, pointing at the security guard and yelling.

"You are not residents of this community, and you cannot enter without the consent of the residents." The security guard ignored her and stated the facts in a businesslike manner.

"Then you should notify my son and ask him to agree," Chen's mother compromised. Last time, the security guard had to call Chen Jianguo to confirm before they could get in.

"Do I need to notify you about your son? Are you sure you're mother and son?" The security guard looked at the group suspiciously; it was obvious they were there to scam them.

"You, you, if you don't let me in, I'll sue you for bullying an elderly person!" Chen's mother said, and was about to fall to the ground.

"Go ahead and sue me. I have a security camera right above me, and I can clearly see everything you did." The security guard pointed to the white camera above his head, completely unfazed.

"Mom, let's think of another way." Chen Xiaomei pulled her mother over, and the group of people were herded away by the security guards to a short distance away.

"What do we do now? Jianguo has blocked all our phone numbers," Brother Chen asked anxiously, he was the most worried of them all. He got married young and had a son, and now his son was getting married, so he was thinking of getting some money from Chen Jianguo to save face for his son.

"If you can't get through, try a different phone number. If that doesn't work, take turns keeping watch here. He can't just stay hidden in the neighborhood forever!" Mr. Chen said, deciding everything directly.

So the group decided to take turns keeping watch and spend the New Year at the entrance of the residential area. If Chen Jianguo were to let his parents suffer in the cold outside, others would not stand it, and Chen Jianguo's reputation in the neighborhood would be ruined.

Chen Jianguo learned from the security guard that his parents had come looking for him. He gave the guard a red envelope and told him to keep an eye out. He then stopped worrying about it and happily went on vacation with his wife and daughter.