Shi Zhen parked the van at the construction site in Changxi City.

He drove that Xiali to Anshan Town.

At this time, apart from the main road running east to west, the other roads in Anshan Town are very narrow, and there are many places where cars cannot pass. Fortunately, it is possible to drive past Shi Dalin's small shop.

When Shi Zhen got home, it was around two or three in the afternoon. There were few people on the road, so the journey was smooth.

By the end of June, the weather had already gotten warm, and almost no one was out shopping at this time. However, outside the small shop run by Zhao Meiyun and Shi Dalin, a group of retired women with children had gathered, including an old man with his granddaughter.

They chatted in the shade under the shed, holding fans, and occasionally fanning or swatting their children to keep the mosquitoes away.

When a child wants to buy snacks, the grandmother will open her pockets to show him: "Grandma has no money, look if you don't believe me."

The child had no choice but to give up and go back to playing with his friends.

This is considered well-behaved. Some children, seeing their grandmothers chatting with others and ignoring them, will cover their grandmothers' mouths to prevent them from speaking.

Shi Zhen's car stopped beside them, and no one paid any attention. But when Shi Zhen got out of the car, they were shocked.

Shi Zhen is very busy and doesn't come here often, but Shi Dalin and his team have been running their shop for over a year, so the people living nearby still recognize Shi Zhen.

Some people already knew Shi Zhen when he was building houses here.

Zhao Meiyun is not the kind of person who likes to talk badly about her children in front of others. For example, she would never say a word about Zhao Dongjuan's affairs. She keeps it a secret for fear that others will find out.

There is some good news, though, that she can't keep to herself and wants to tell someone.

But she was also afraid that if she told others, they would say she was showing off.

Praising her own daughter, in particular, would make her feel very embarrassed, so even if she thought Zhao Qiujuan was wonderful in every way, she was too embarrassed to say it directly, and would only mention it indirectly.

For example: "My daughter is really something. I told her not to work so hard, but she wouldn't listen. She didn't have enough rice balls to sell in the morning, so she started selling zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) instead."

"I don't have much to do... Today, my daughter cooked again."

“I’ve told her to stop buying me this and that, but she keeps buying me clothes.”

...

Of course, everyone could tell that she was praising someone.

However, it was different with Shi Zhen. She praised him very directly, and her voice was loud. She was not only praising him to these people, but also to Shi Dalin.

“My son, Zhen, owns a company with dozens of employees.”

“He’s been going to Changxi City every day lately to work on construction projects.”

"He is the most successful person in our village."

"He's good-looking and capable."

...

Zhao Meiyun praised it highly, but before, no one in the neighborhood took it seriously.

Shi Zhen looks young, how could he be so capable? They thought it was probably Zhao Meiyun bragging.

But now that Shi Zhen has driven back... that's different!

The people in the town have a much better living condition than those in the countryside, but most of them just go to ordinary jobs... They can save up enough money to buy household appliances like TVs and washing machines, but buying a car... is still out of reach for them.

In this day and age, owning a car is definitely more prestigious than owning a house.

Immediately, someone called out to Zhao Meiyun, "Meiyun, your son is back, driving!"

Zhao Meiyun was busy inside when she heard this and ran out, almost bumping into Shi Dalin at the door.

Then she saw Shi Zhen and the car parked on the road in front of the store.

Zhao Meiyun looked somewhat dazed: "Azhen, did you buy this car?"

"Hmm." Shi Zhen smiled.

"How much did this car cost?" Zhao Meiyun felt both heartache and pride.

As for Shi Dalin, he had already reached the car and reached out to touch it, but he was afraid that his rough hands would scratch the car, so he didn't dare to actually touch it.

Shi Zhen said, "This is a Xiali, cheaper than a Santana, 80,000."

Zhao Meiyun gasped.

Eighty thousand! That's eighty thousand!

They pooled together 90,000 yuan to buy the land, which was a huge amount for him. But now, this car costs 80,000 yuan...

However, despite her shock, the envious glances from those around her made Zhao Meiyun feel somewhat smug.

Shi Zhen really made her look good.

Shi Dalin was all smiles. Before long, everyone in the neighborhood would know that his son had bought a car, and he was overjoyed just thinking about it!

Shi Zhen bought a car and came over specifically to make Shi Dalin and the others happy.

However, he stayed there for a while before leaving.

Soon, elementary school will be letting out, and people are already starting to set up stalls. Later, countless parents will come to pick up their children... At that time, his parked car will be affecting others.

Shi Zhen returned to Guanjia Village and parked his car in front of Guan Jianguo's house.

Shi Xingchao came out immediately, and exclaimed in surprise, "Ah Zhen, you bought a car?"

"Hmm." Shi Zhen smiled.

"You're really too generous..." Shi Xingchao felt that he would never spend so much money to buy a car. A house can be built and lived in forever, and you can save on rent. A car is different. You have to spend money to drive it!

“It will be useful for doing business,” Shi Zhen said with a smile.

He actually wanted to buy a house, but compared to that, building up his business was more important.

At this time in his previous life, he was still building self-built houses in the countryside. Now he basically doesn't take on self-built house projects in the countryside anymore. Of course, if a big boss offers a high price, he will definitely be willing to take it.

“Business people do need a car.” Although Shi Xingchao didn’t like spending money, as the most popular man among the middle-aged women in the village, he had heard all sorts of gossip and knew a lot about things.

Of course... he understood, but he still couldn't bear to spend the money.

"Shi Zhen, you bought a car!"

"I always said you were going to amount to something, and I knew it!"

"This car is so beautiful!"

...

Some people even asked Shi Zhen if he would be willing to drive a wedding car for someone, and that they would give him a red envelope of 360 yuan.

Shi Zhen refused.

The time spent driving a wedding car for someone else isn't long, but if you can't make it on the day after the date is set in advance, it will be very troublesome.

At this time, no one in the Guan family had bought a car yet, so people kept coming to see it.

Guan Jianguo's mother walked around the car several times and then started complaining to Shi Zhen about Guan Jianguo. She said that ever since Guan Jianguo bought the boat, he had never been home and never brought back much money. Especially recently, every time he went out, he would not come back for at least a month, and when he did come back, he had no money.

Shi Zhen's heart sank slightly.

Around this year, the supply of cargo ships on the river exceeded demand, and competition became increasingly fierce.

In the beginning, you could make a lot of money by sailing and transporting goods, but now... if you're unlucky, you might lose money.

Just like Guan Guangguo raising chickens, if you can get through this wave, your life will become stable again. But it's hard to get through it. Guan Jianguo gave up in his previous life.

Of course, giving up wasn't necessarily a bad thing; Guan Jianguo later did quite well.

Although shipbuilding cost him tens of thousands of yuan, looking back ten years later, he would realize that this amount of money was nothing.

After Granny Guan complained about her son, Shi Zhen saw Zhang Xiumei coming over.

Guan Baiyu's adoptive mother now greets Shi Zhen with a smile. At this moment, she has something to ask Shi Zhen: "Shi Zhen, Jinjin's grades aren't very good, and she doesn't want to study anymore... What do you think we should do?"

Guan Jinjin is in her final year of junior high school and has already finished her high school entrance exam.

Her grades were so-so, or rather, the grades of junior high school students in the countryside were generally so-so. Most of them went to work after graduating from junior high school.

In another ten years, there will be more and more vocational schools in Changxi City, the admission scores will be lower and lower, and everyone's income will be higher... At that time, fewer people will not continue their studies after graduating from junior high school. Most people will spend money to send their children to a vocational school, and many will continue their studies after finishing vocational school.

“If she can study, of course she should go to school. She’s still too young… If she really doesn’t want to study, or if she doesn’t pass the exam, then let her learn a skill,” Shi Zhen said.

If she doesn't have any connections, Guan Jinjin needs to continue her studies, and her grades can't be too bad.

The year before, Zhang Xiumei and Guan Guangguo raised chickens and made a lot of money. They not only paid off their debts, but also had about 10,000 yuan left over. They were reluctant to let their daughter start working at the age of sixteen and still wanted to send her to school.

Zhang Xiumei left, conflicted.

Shi Zhen bought a car, which made it much more convenient for him to go to various construction sites. It was around this time that the policy in Anshan Town was introduced.

Shi Zhen tried to secure the road construction project, but failed. Now the road construction has begun. As for those who bought the land and want to build houses... the government will help with the bidding process, and the specific selection of who will build the houses will depend on those who bought the land.

The government has requirements regarding the total height of the building and its general appearance, but the floor plans inside can be chosen by the builders.

Anshan Town did this kind of thing a lot over the next twenty years: selling land to people so they could build their own houses, and giving people a piece of land during demolitions so they could build their own houses.

The first major project Shi Zhen received in his previous life was of this type.

Therefore, he has experience and suitable design drawings.

Of course, he wasn't guaranteed to win the bid. He really wanted this project, because it would allow his team to upgrade from a ragtag group to a professional one. But recently, he took on a municipal project in Changxi City.

He has completed this transformation.

For him, the project in Anshan Town became dispensable.

He is still concerned about this project, mainly because his own house is involved.

The project bidding was in July, construction is expected to start in September, and completion will definitely have to wait until next year.

Before that, Shi Zhen had to go to Changxi City to pick up Guan Baiyu, who was on summer vacation. In addition, Guan Baiyu, who had already graduated from the second year of high school, had to go back to school for 40 days of make-up classes this summer.

Summer vacation starts with a 10-day break, then make-up classes begin on July 10th. Each make-up class lasts 10 days, followed by a 2-day break, and then the process continues... After making up 40 days of make-up classes, school will start around the same time.

Guan Baiyu and his friends almost never had a summer vacation.

Shi Zhen parked his car in front of Changxi No. 1 Middle School and stood by the car waiting.

His car was a cheap Xiali, but standing next to it now made him look more impressive than he would twenty years later, standing next to a million-dollar luxury car.

"You're Guan Baiyu's brother, right?" someone asked Shi Zhen.

Shi Zhen looked over and saw a woman in her fifties or sixties with permed hair who looked very elegant.

Shi Zhen recognized her immediately.

In his previous life, he always thought Guan Baiyu was a member of the Sun family, so he inquired about the Sun family's situation. They all lived in Changxi City, and he had even met members of the Sun family.

The old lady in front of me is Fei Ping, Sun Pingfu's wife.

He harbored prejudice against the Sun family in his past life and tried his best to avoid contact with them. Sometimes, when he saw members of the Sun family present, he would find an excuse to leave.

He did it discreetly, and others may not know his thoughts, but now, looking back, he feels somewhat embarrassed.

"Hello, my name is Shi Zhen, and I am Guan Baiyu's cousin," Shi Zhen said with a smile.

“My granddaughter’s name is Sun Qiqi, and she also studies at No. 1 Middle School,” Fei Ping said. “This time at the end of the semester, thanks to Guan Baiyu lending her her class notes, her grades in chemistry and physics have improved.”

"That must also be due to your granddaughter's own hard work." Shi Zhen remembered that the Sun family had a granddaughter, but he had never met her in his previous life. It seemed that the girl stayed in the big city after graduation.

Fei Ping's grandchildren, however, are all developing their careers in Changxi City.

Fei Ping was pleased to hear Shi Zhen's words. She then brought up Teacher Fei, saying that he was her cousin, and also mentioned that the house the Shi family was currently living in was actually her family's.

This gave the two of them more to talk about.

As they chatted, Fei Ping said, "I heard from my daughter-in-law that you took on a municipal engineering project? You're a really good young man, doing so well at such a young age."

Upon hearing this, Shi Zhen had a sudden realization and understood how he had gotten the project.

There's probably a connection to the Sun family involved.

I just don't understand why the Sun family would help him...

In their past life, the Sun family was determined to sever ties with the Guan family. Now... is it all because Guan Baiyu lent his class notes to Sun Qiqi?

Regardless, I will definitely remember this kindness: "Don't worry, I will definitely do a good job on this project."

Fei Ping was satisfied. She came over specifically to mention it, just to let people know about it... you can't do a good deed anonymously.

However, after chatting like this... she had a pretty good impression of Shi Zhen.

Because of this, she couldn't help but ask, "Why was Guan Baiyu sent to the Guan family to be raised? What about his parents?"

Shi Zhen didn't hide anything and said in a low voice, "Xiao Yu was abducted, but he himself doesn't know the details."

Fei Ping was startled.

Shi Zhen added, "The old lady of the Guan family bought him back, but she didn't treat him well... In another six months, when he comes of age, I plan to let him live independently."

"That's good," Fei Ping said. "That old lady from the Guan family, sigh!"

Although Fei Ping spends all her time complaining about Old Lady Guan at home, she doesn't gossip about others when she's out in public.

So I mentioned it briefly, and that was that.

However, she no longer harbored any resentment towards Guan Baiyu and even had the intention to befriend him.

Given Guan Baiyu's achievements and abilities, his future development will definitely be promising. It wouldn't hurt to get to know him.

Guan Baiyu came out carrying large and small bags and saw Shi Zhen. He came over excitedly and then saw Fei Ping, and said, "Hello, Grandma Fei."

Fei Ping cherishes her granddaughter very much. Now that she's retired and has nothing to do, she often comes to pick up Sun Qiqi. When she sees Guan Baiyu, she also greets him and praises him a few times.

She was polite, so Guan Baiyu naturally treated her very politely as well.

"It's been a long time since I've seen Xiao Guan. He's grown even more handsome... What was his ranking in the grade this time?" Fei Ping asked.

"Second place," Guan Baiyu said with a smile. He usually ranked third, but the person who ranked second had been busy with math competitions throughout their second year of high school, which caused their Chinese language scores to drop, and Guan Baiyu eventually overtook them.

However, he didn't lose out either. He won an award in the competition, which will give him extra points on the college entrance exam, and he might even be admitted to a university without taking the entrance exam.

Upon hearing this, Fei Ping showered her with praise once again.

At this point, Sun Qiqi arrived, and the two stopped chatting.

Shi Zhen turned around and put Guan Baiyu's luggage into the trunk of the car.

Guan Baiyu was a little confused when he saw it: "Brother, this car?"

"I bought it," Shi Zhen said with a smile.

"Brother, you're amazing!" Guan Baiyu was overjoyed.

This car has air conditioning, although it doesn't work well when the car is driven fast, but the cool breeze it blows out is still a pleasant surprise.

Shi Zhen turned on the air conditioning for Guan Baiyu, drove him back, and told him about the recent events.

In the past six months, Guan Baiyu has not been involved in Huaguang Stationery much, but he is clear about the procedures for starting a company, so he can talk to Shi Zhen about anything.

Guan Baiyu in his previous life could not have done this.

Shi Zhen occasionally turned his head and saw Guan Baiyu's radiant appearance, which made him feel particularly good.