The anti-Qing movement began with the looting of the Eight-Nation Alliance.

"You're still a college student, don't you know any manners? Didn't you hear me calling you Brother Shen? You keep calling me Brother Shen." Wang Cheng quickly changed the subject.

"Dad, you..." Wang Xiaoyuan's face turned red with anger.

"Hey! Mr. Wang, I'm only a few years older than Xiaoyuan. It's fine for her to call me Brother Shen. Please don't call me 'little brother' either, it makes me feel embarrassed. Just call me by my name or Xiao Shen from now on."

"This...isn't that a bad idea?" Wang Cheng hesitated.

“That’s settled then. From now on, I’ll call you Uncle Wang.” Shen Lian nodded.

"Hey! Good, good! Girl, look at your brother Shen, learn from him in the future."

"Alright, Uncle Wang. Let's go downstairs first!" Seeing that the father and daughter were about to start fighting, Shen Lian quickly called them downstairs.

"Xiaoyuan, you don't need to drive your car. Take my car back!" Wang Cheng went downstairs, took out his keys, pressed a button, and a Mercedes-Benz 500 SUV flashed by.

Wang Xiaoyuan didn't say anything, but angrily opened the car door and sat in the back seat.

"Hey! I've spoiled this girl rotten." Wang Cheng shook his head helplessly and opened the passenger door for Shen Lian.

About twenty minutes later, the car entered the village and finally stopped in front of a four-story villa.

A beautiful middle-aged woman with an exceptionally elegant demeanor was already standing at the door waiting for them.

"Mom!" Wang Xiaoyuan ran over as soon as she got out of the car, grabbed her mother's hand, and started complaining.

Ye Rufang patted her daughter's little hand, glared at Wang Cheng, and then greeted Shen Lian with a big smile: "President Shen, welcome, welcome! This is a rather dirty and messy place in the countryside, please bear with us."

"Hehe! Hello, Auntie! Just call me Shen Lian. Actually, my hometown is also in the countryside. It's much worse off than here!"

"Oh! Really? Please come in, it's hot outside, it's cooler inside." Ye Rufang welcomed them inside.

The hall was paved with large slabs of white marble and furnished entirely with mahogany furniture. The decor alone suggested that this family was very wealthy.

The air conditioning was on inside, making it very cool. Ye Rufang first poured Shen Lian a glass of water, then brought out a plate of sliced ​​chilled watermelon and some fruit, inviting Shen Lian to eat.

Shen Lian had no choice but to take a slice of watermelon and start eating it.

"Xiao Shen, where are you from? You're really young and accomplished! How can you build such a big business at such a young age?"

"Auntie, I'm from Shashi, Hunan Province. I just started an import and export company in Shanghai with a friend, and things have been going pretty well these past two years!"

"Oh! It's not easy for you to make a living in Shanghai all by yourself. Are you married?"

"Mom! Brother Shen is here to buy pearls. Look at you..." Wang Xiaoyuan blushed and tugged hard at her mother's hand.

"You silly girl, Xiao Shen just came in, let him rest. What's wrong with us having a chat?"

"Hehe! It's nothing! Auntie, I was married before, but I failed in business two years ago, and my wife ran away." Shen Lian waved his hand and gave a bitter smile.

Ye Rufang's smile faded slightly; "A man as outstanding as you, and she still ran away? She just doesn't deserve it. Do you two have children?"

"Auntie, not yet!" Shen Lian answered honestly.

"Oh! No, that's good! You're so young and capable. You're not afraid of not finding a good girl. Come visit me more often when you have time, don't be shy!" Ye Rufang said with a smile.

Wang Xiaoyuan couldn't stand it anymore and quickly stood up to call her brother and sister-in-law back.

Shen Lian chatted with Wang Xiaoyuan's mother for a while, while Wang Cheng sat to the side smoking and drinking tea without saying a word.

A short while later, Wang Xiaoyuan walked in with a burly man and a young woman.

"Brother Shen, this is my brother Wang Xianjun and my sister-in-law," Wang Xiaoyuan introduced.

"Brother Wang, nice to meet you!" Shen Lian extended his hand.

"Oh! Welcome to our place!" Wang Xianjun belatedly reached out and said, then took out a pack of cigarettes and gave one to Shen Lian and his father.

Wang Xiaoyuan's brother was a quiet, reserved person who didn't say much, but her sister-in-law was secretly observing Shen Lian.

“Xiaoyuan, this is Xiao Shen’s first time here. Why don’t you take him to our pond and show him how we cultivate pearls?” Wang Cheng said.

“That’s right! I’ve never seen pearl farming before! I’ll have to trouble you to be my guide, Xiaoyuan.” Shen Lian knew that the family had something to say, and it wasn’t appropriate for him, an outsider, to be present, so he stood up to oblige.

"But the sun is still quite strong outside!" Wang Xiaoyuan clearly didn't realize what was happening.

"It's alright, it's already four or five o'clock. The sun isn't that strong anymore. I'm a country boy too, what's a little bit of sun to me?" Shen Lian quickly said.

"Fine!" Wang Xiaoyuan reluctantly got up and led Shen Lian out the door.

“This Shen Lian is a big client. He’s planning to buy five million worth of beads this time. We’ll get a share too, so let’s quickly check them.” After Shen Lian walked away, Wang Cheng said to his son and daughter-in-law.

"How dare you say that! This is a customer brought in by Xiaoyuan. Even if we didn't have enough beads, we could easily adjust the numbers. But you went and distributed the order, and we got the smallest share." Since there were no outsiders present, Ye Rufang certainly wouldn't give Wang Cheng a hard time.

Upon hearing this, Wang Xianjun glanced at the old man but didn't dare to speak. He had been afraid of his father since childhood and never dared to oppose any of his decisions. Although he had his own opinions, he dared not voice them.

Wang Xiaoyuan's sister-in-law was very unhappy. Was her father-in-law getting senile? Such a big order! Not only could they sell all their beads and recoup their investment, but they could also make at least 100,000 to 200,000 yuan in profit on the rest. And they were just giving it away like that?

Unfortunately, she had no status at home and no say in anything. The man she married, a man of few words, never uttered a sound. She harbored resentment but had no outlet for it, so she decided to teach Wang Xianjun a lesson that night.

"I just saw that everyone was having a hard time, so I thought I'd help them out!" Wang Cheng scratched his head.

"Help me! Your bunch of cronies? Did they ever help us when we were in trouble? Don't think that just because they fawn over you every day, they really consider you their big brother! Humph! Let's choose the beads first, I'll deal with you tonight." Ye Rufang stormed upstairs.

Wang Xianjun and his wife hurriedly followed, and Wang Cheng wiped his face and followed as well.

On the cement road outside the village, Shen Lian looked at the boundless pearl farm with great satisfaction. It was much larger than any fishpond he had ever seen before; each pond was probably several hundred acres in size.

In the middle of the pool, you can see white foam balls floating in lines. Occasionally, you can see people paddling small boats and working in the water.

"Brother Shen, that's just how my mom is, she talks a lot, please don't mind her!" Wang Xiaoyuan said shyly.

"Hehe! Looks like you get pressured to get married every day, huh?" Shen Lian laughed.

"Ugh! Don't even mention it. Ever since I graduated and came back, she's been arranging blind dates for me every other day. She can't wait for me to get married. I'm starting to wonder if I'm even their biological daughter." Wang Xiaoyuan shook her head in distress.