Chapter 214

Autumn has passed and winter has come; busy days always seem to fly by.

The truck drivers of the Thunder Transport Team worked like madmen with Thunder Army for two months.

For the past two months, the drivers on shifts have had almost no time to rest.

Of course, every time we received our salaries, we felt a sense of satisfaction when we received several hundred yuan, and we felt that all the hard work was worthwhile.

After working non-stop for two months, we finally managed to transport all the building materials needed by Hongxing Factory and Fangyuan Construction.

Thanks to this business deal with Hongxing Factory, Lei Tingjun's Lei Ting Transportation Team successfully gained recognition, and he received two more red brick contracts for construction sites.

Both contracts were negotiated by Lei Jun himself, one by one.

One of the contracts was for a company to build a dormitory for employees. Because the land allocated was not very large, the company planned to build up to eight stories high to save on land area.

After the contract was secured, the demand for red bricks increased dramatically.

Lei Tingjun plans to go back to Honghe Township and recruit more kiln workers.

But at this time, Lei Tingjun was unaware that two of his relatives in his hometown of Honghe Township were waiting for him to return so they could ask him for a job!

Meanwhile, Ji Wanmei gained Mrs. Luo's appreciation for designing a Chinese-style cheongsam for the wives of the Huadong Bank employees, and subsequently received many orders from their social circle of wives.

Ji Wanmei's skills and talent were recognized, and she was able to earn several hundred yuan for living expenses with each design draft.

Although a few hundred yuan isn't much, she takes on an average of one custom order per week, which allows her to save up to two thousand yuan a month.

With the revenue from her shop back home, she saved another five or six thousand yuan in two months.

When Lei Tingjun visited her last month, he gave her the three thousand yuan he had saved up.

Now, Ji Wanmei has become the one who manages the money between the two of them.

Watching the money in their savings account slowly increase made her feel particularly good and at ease.

It feels like a wonderful future is just around the corner!

The weather is getting cooler, and Ji Wanmei's school will be on winter break next month.

Over the weekend, Ji Wanmei took Zhou Min shopping and picked out a leather jacket for Lei Tingjun.

The leather jacket is thick, double-layered, and made of genuine leather with good workmanship.

Black is dirt-resistant, and the garment has two deep pockets on both sides, as well as inner pockets on both the inside and outside of the chest area, making it convenient to store things.

Lei Tingjun usually drives cars and works on construction sites, so a durable and sturdy leather jacket is the most suitable choice for him.

Ji Wanmei took a liking to the leather jacket at first glance, and when she asked the price, it cost more than three hundred yuan.

Ji Wanmei didn't hesitate at all and directly asked the shop assistant to wrap it up for her. She also chose a pair of fleece-lined suede boots, which cost a total of more than 500 yuan.

Zhou Min, who was watching from the side, exclaimed, "You're really generous when it comes to buying things for your boyfriend."

Ji Wanmei said, "He works very hard and he can't bear to buy himself a single piece of clothing all year round. If I didn't buy it for him, he would definitely wear the same clothes until they are torn before he would change them."

Zhou Min added, "He's so lucky. He must have done something good in his past life to win your heart."

Even Lu Zhuoxuan, a well-known academic and morally upright young master from a prominent family, couldn't win Ji Wanmei's heart; yet Ji Wanmei was willing to arrange clothes for him, a man who toiled on construction sites all day long.

Even Zhou Min, who considered herself to be above worldly standards, was curious about the person named 'Thunder Army' that Ji Wanmei mentioned.

This man is either so lucky that it's outrageous, or so outstanding that he can't be judged by ordinary standards.

Based on Zhou Min's understanding of Ji Wanmei, there's a 90% chance it's the latter.

That's why she was even more curious.

Hearing this, Ji Wanmei smiled. "He's preparing for next year's adult college entrance examination. If all goes well, he'll likely apply to our school's civil engineering program. Then you'll see what kind of person he is. You'll know whether my judgment is good or not!"

Zhou Min adjusted her glasses and said, "I'm quite looking forward to it."

Ji Wanmei took the leather jacket and boots she had bought for Lei Tingjun to the post office and mailed them to him.

***

Lei Tingjun, on the other side, had just driven his car to the front of the brick factory in Honghe Township when he was stopped by two people.

"Uncle, what are you doing here?" Lei Tingjun saw Lei Xiangshun staring at him with a complicated expression, and then turned to look at Old Zhang beside him.

Lei Xiangshun and Lao Zhang had been squatting at the entrance of the brick factory, waiting for Lei Tingjun for many days.

However, for the past two weeks, it has been his brothers from the transport team who have come to haul bricks; Lei Tingjun has not returned.

It's possible they came back, but just happened to avoid running into each other.

So, these two would loiter outside the brick factory every day, hoping to run into Lei Tingjun when he came!

This afternoon, Lei Tingjun came over, intending to have Lao Cui recruit more young and strong brick factory workers from the surrounding townships and villages. He ran into his two uncles, each with their own plans.

Lei Xiangshun was covered in dust and dirt, wearing a thick gray padded jacket. Because of the cold weather and strong winds in the countryside, he hunched over, his hands tucked into his sleeves, and kept breathing on them to keep warm.

He stood up, jogged a few steps, and looked up at Lei Tingjun as he got closer, thinking that his nephew had indeed changed a lot.

It's only been four or five years since I last saw him, and he seems like a completely different person.

Lei Xiangshun will always remember the scene when his grandmother passed away: the stubborn look of Lei Tingjun, a teenager, kneeling in front of his grandmother's grave with red eyes and kowtowing.

Who could have imagined that such a lonely and destitute boy would one day become the big boss of the brick factory in their village?

Lei Xiangshun was, after all, Lei Tingjun's uncle. Seeing his elder brother's son achieve such success, he was quite moved.

“Xiao Jun, what have you been doing all these years? You haven’t even sent a message to your uncle. I only heard about it from someone else. They said you recently came back to start a brick factory and wanted to come and see you,” Lei Xiangshun said.

Lei Tingjun noticed that his uncle's hair had started to turn gray, and he had indeed aged considerably over the years.

However, he was only in his forties, not even fifty, but he was hunched over and looked like he was sixty.

After all, he was his own uncle, his only relative in the world. Lei Tingjun sighed inwardly and said, "Uncle, I've been doing well all these years. How are you and Auntie doing too?"

When Lei Xiangshun mentioned his wife, his expression changed and his face scrunched up.

Before he could speak, Old Zhang next to him said, "Lei Tingjun, you must have a bad memory and don't remember your two old uncles anymore, do you?"

Lei Tingjun pursed his thin lips, turned his head indifferently, and glanced at his cousin Zhang.