Less than half a day after Chen Xihua returned home, around four or five in the afternoon, the neighbors in the textile factory's residential area began to gossip about it.
"Have you heard? Chen Lao Er and Li Yumei are really smug now. They say their fifth daughter owns a company in Yun City, the provincial capital, and is a big boss..."
"Really? What kind of company is it? I wonder if it's a scam!"
"When Li Yumei went to the pastry shop this afternoon, didn't she boast that her children had bought a large courtyard house in Beijing? Her son has been staying in that courtyard house in Beijing for the past ten days or so..."
"I don't think it's a scam. All five of Chen's daughters are college graduates, and they might actually own a company."
Have you noticed that in recent years, all of Chen's daughters have driven home? Even Chen's second son has a car worth tens of thousands of yuan.
"Li Yumei is really lucky. People used to say that she couldn't have a son and only had five daughters, who were all money-losing goods and were laughed at. But later she still managed to have a son by secret means."
Moreover, her daughters haven't even graduated from university yet, but they've already started companies and are making a lot of money. Once they all marry wealthy men, the Chen family will definitely be incredibly successful!
"That's right. Now, in Chen Lao Er's family, only the eldest daughter, Chen Chunhua, is married. The other four daughters are still unmarried."
You tell me, if any family could marry one of the Chen family's daughters, wouldn't the dowry be huge?...
Upon hearing this, several older women's eyes darted around. The Chen family's daughters were all very beautiful, and with a substantial dowry, they would be highly sought-after.
Some people were already harboring ulterior motives, wondering if they had any sons of marriageable age at home, or if any relatives had any eligible boys who could become in-laws with Chen Lao Er's family.
The daughters of the two top scorers in the college entrance examination in the Chen family may not have the opportunity.
However, the second and third sisters among the five sisters are still a possibility, especially the third sister of the Chen family, who is pregnant out of wedlock and has a daughter who is a burden.
If a man were willing to marry her, the third son of the Chen family would probably be eager to do so.
Among those who shared this idea was Aunt Zhao from the Lü family.
She was wondering whether it would be better for her divorced son, Lü Weijie, to marry Chen's third daughter, or for her nephew, Zhao Zhigang, who was also divorced, to marry her.
Aunt Zhao didn't think that it was a big deal that her son or nephew had previously abused his wife.
As long as the Chen family gives enough dowry when their daughter marries, she will definitely convince them to treat their daughter-in-law well after marriage and promise never to beat her.
Another person with similar thoughts was Li Juan from the Wang family, who was thinking about her youngest son, Wang Xiaoqiang.
Wang Xiaoqiang is still unmarried. After graduating from high school, he works as a bookstore owner in Gaoyang County.
Xiaoqiang and Chen Jinhua, the second daughter of the Chen family, were classmates and even got into fights together when they were in elementary school.
That tomboy was rough and strong, but only her own son didn't mind and even played with her.
Li Juan felt that it might not be a bad idea for her son to marry Chen Jinhua; they were childhood sweethearts and a perfect match.
........
Chen Xihua, who was cooking dinner at home, finished the last dish and waited for Chen Lao Er and Li Yumei to come back for dinner.
It was 5:30 in a flash. Chen Lao Er and Li Yu Mei entered the house one after the other, followed by Grandma Chen and three-year-old Chen Jun Xin.
Outside the second-floor corridor, several elderly women from the residential area were watching a play.
"Second son, I heard your fifth daughter has money from her company, so lend your eldest brother 300,000 yuan." As soon as Grandma Chen entered the door, she made an exorbitant demand on Chen's second son in an unquestionable tone.
The old woman stared intently at Chen Lao Er, as if she would scold him for being unfilial if he didn't agree.
"Mother, where would I get 300,000? I don't have any." Chen Lao Er knew things were going wrong as soon as he heard this, and he looked at Chen Xihua with some guilt.
Grandma Chen pulled Chen Junxin along, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, her eyes showing displeasure: "I'm just asking you to lend, not to give. Jianhua bought a house in the northern new district of the county, which is worth 300,000 yuan. You can lend it to your older brother first to pay for it."
"Mother, I really didn't." Chen Lao Er spread his hands, indicating that he had no other choice.
Of course he knew what his mother wanted to borrow 300,000 yuan from his older brother for.
Some time ago, Chen Jianhua, the second nephew who was a live-in son-in-law in Guangzhou, was accused by his wife, Wang Xiaoling, of murder for money.
It turns out that after poisoning his father-in-law, Chen Jianhua also seized the Wang family's mold factory for himself.
Now that the police have discovered this, they are confiscating his personal property and have sentenced him to eight years in prison.
As for his niece-in-law, Wang Xiaoling, she tried to poison their pastry shop. Although the attempt failed, it was still a serious offense, and she was sentenced to three years in prison.
Grandma Chen wanted to borrow 300,000 yuan from Chen Lao Er so she could buy the apartment that Chen Jianhua had bought for the family, a commercial apartment of over 100 square meters.
It's also on the list of items to be confiscated. It was given to Uncle Chen's family, and they have three days to move it. Tomorrow is the last day.
Mr. Chen and his family have already moved in and do not want to move out.
Today, upon learning that her youngest son's family had made money from their company, Grandma Chen rushed over immediately this afternoon to ask Chen Lao Er for money.
"Fifth daughter, what do you say? I heard it's your company! Just lend your uncle 300,000 yuan."
Grandma Chen knew that her son certainly didn't have that much money.
She had to ask Wu Yatou, so she asked Chen Xihua, who came out of the kitchen.
"Grandma, if you need to borrow money, ask my dad. If he has the money, I won't object."
Also, how is the interest calculated, and when is the repayment due? And who from my uncle's family will repay this debt?
Chen Xihua didn't refuse outright, saying she wouldn't lend the money, but she wouldn't agree to lend it herself; it was up to her father to decide.
"Fifth girl, your father doesn't have that much money. You are his daughter, so you are also part of his money."
Besides, it's a loan from your uncle's family, so there's no need to calculate interest, right? As for repaying the loan, my son Junxin, your nephew, will pay you back when he grows up and earns money."
Grandma Chen pulled Chen Junxin forward two steps, completely unaware that what she said was wrong.
It means they will definitely pay back the money, and they are relatives.
So don't be so calculating, as if it's against all reason that Chen Xihua wouldn't lend it.
"Hehe, Grandma, that's a nice thing to say. But, although I run a small company, I'm having trouble with cash flow lately."
"Grandma, could you ask my uncle's family to lend me 100,000 yuan as well? I'll definitely pay them back later."
Chen Xihua spoke calmly, feeling very unhappy with the old man's self-righteous attitude.
However, since they were the elders of the Chen family, she didn't want to say anything too outrageous, and then she looked at Chen Lao Er with a quiet gaze.
“Dad, we are still living in the residential area. Uncle’s house in this area is currently empty, right?”
“You little brat, how could you not have money? The cars you sisters drive cost hundreds of thousands. Are you just unwilling to lend them to us?” Grandma Chen’s voice rose considerably upon hearing this.
She was originally going to curse him out, but she held back and turned to glare angrily at Chen Lao Er with a dark and wrinkled face.
"Mother, did you hear that? Xiao Wu doesn't have that much money on hand right now."
You and your elder brother's family aren't without a place to live. You can come back to the family quarters here, and your nephew Penghua also has a commercial apartment.
If Jianhua's money for the house was ill-gotten, then it definitely has to be returned. I don't have the money to lend to your son, brother.
Chen Lao Er noticed that Xiao Wu was unhappy, so he quickly tried to explain and firmly refused his mother's request.
He regretted going out in the afternoon and talking to people a bit too much; otherwise, outsiders wouldn't know that Xiao Wu owns a company and that his family is wealthy.
Then, he started to say in a somewhat roguish tone, "Mom, I know a rich boss who doesn't have a son. Why don't you give Junxin to someone else to raise? If he's adopted by a rich family, you should be able to get some money."
"You bastard! Junxin is a descendant of the Chen family! How dare you ask me to give him away? You unfilial son..." Grandma Chen was furious at her son's words and rushed over to punch his arm hard.
She hit Chen Lao Er a few times, then started cursing at Chen Xihua and the others. After she got tired of cursing, she realized that Chen Xihua and the others were completely ignoring her.
Grandma Chen, seething with anger, dragged Chen Junxin, who had been standing there silently, away. Once outside in the corridor, she continued to mutter curses, saying things like, "You unfilial son, may you be struck by lightning!"
Neither Chen Xihua nor Chen Baohua spoke during dinner.
When Chen Lao Er tried to explain, Li Yumei was also disappointed.
However, the siblings pretended not to see it and ate their meals in silence.
The couple knew, of course, that the trouble was caused by their boasting outside.
Chen Xihua knew this would happen, but now she will no longer deliberately hide it, nor will she spread it around.
Previously, she kept a low profile and did not tell her family that she owned a company to make money. One reason was that her Chen family was just an ordinary family from a small county town with shallow roots, and she was afraid of arousing envy.
Another thing is that after they became rich, Chen's relatives would come knocking on their door in all sorts of ways. Today it would be Uncle Chen's house, and tomorrow it would be Shanghe Village, the home of Li Yumei's biological father.
As Chen Xihua predicted, the next day at noon, Li Dongming, the eldest son of Li Dashun from Shanghe Village, arrived at her house with dyed yellow hair and a slovenly appearance.
Li Dongming is about the same age as Chen Xihua. He didn't graduate from junior high school and followed his father, Li Dashun, to learn to drink, play cards, and gamble.
He came to Li Yumei's house, saying he wanted to borrow 20,000 yuan from her, his third aunt, to buy a motorcycle, but in reality, he wanted to use the money for eating, drinking, and having fun.
Chen Lao Er kicked them out, saying that if they dared to come and cause trouble again, he would report them to the police for trespassing.
This is something Chen Lao Er learned from watching Hong Kong legal dramas with Chen Baohua.
After this incident, Chen Xihua believed that Chen Lao Er and Li Yumei would both be more discreet in the future.
Knowing how to be humble and not flaunting one's wealth, rather than showing off everywhere.
She did it somewhat deliberately yesterday by revealing to them that she owns a group company.
After all, people will find out eventually, so let them prepare in advance for relatives coming to their door to beg for money.
Furthermore, if they were to move to Beijing with her, then Mr. and Mrs. Chen would have to learn to restrain themselves.
Fortunately, she had not yet told Mr. and Mrs. Chen the name of her company.
She didn't tell them that she owned the Fanghua Garment Factory in Gaoyang County, otherwise there would have been even more trouble.
After lunch, Chen Xihua prepared to head back to Beijing, first driving to Yun City and then taking a plane.
Although Chen Baohua was very reluctant to leave, he had more important things to do. After returning from Beijing, he began to study the courses for the second and third years of high school on his own.
His goal was clear: to get into Beijing University of Political Science and Law.
......
On August 11, Chen Xihua returned to Beijing and spent the last ten days or so practicing calligraphy in seclusion.
After spending two days with her cousin Zhouzhou, Miao Huizhu returned to the courtyard house to continue practicing traditional Chinese painting.
The calligraphy and painting competition, part of an art appreciation and cultural exchange activity spearheaded by Master Bei Chang, will be held on August 25th at the Beijing Cultural Square.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com