Chapter 161
Chen Lanjun stood in the office, tiptoeing and hanging up a new calendar.
A new calendar, a new year.
The 90s came like this.
Pengcheng City held a grand celebration to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the Special Economic Zone.
Chen Lanjun was invited to attend the memorial dinner.
The dinner was held in the International Building, the tallest building in Pengcheng City, standing proudly in the night. Through the glass windows of the revolving restaurant on the top floor, one could see thousands of lights and a prosperous dream.
A guest at the dinner lamented: "After ten years, this place doesn't even look like a small fishing village anymore."
Indeed, when Chen Lanjun recalled the vast tracts of farmland she saw when she first came here, they have now been transformed into various buildings.
She tilted her head slightly and looked at her own silhouette reflected in the glass window. She was wearing a haute couture white dress and a string of sparkling pearls around her neck, looking extremely wealthy.
I can't help but think of this time before my rebirth. She should have just won a business deal and happily ate pig's trotter rice with her colleagues in the simple factory. At the same time, she said: "When I become a big boss in the future, I will eat three bowls of pig's trotter rice in one meal, and add eggs."
I couldn't help laughing.
My shoulders felt slightly heavy. "What are you laughing at?"
Shao Qinghe gently placed his head on her shoulder, and his hair brushed against her cheek, feeling a little itchy.
Chen Lanjun smiled and said, "Thinking of happy things."
"What?"
"It seems that I have gotten what I wanted." Chen Lanjun raised her head and patted his face, looking at him intently, "You are doing well here too."
Instead of leaving alone on the sea like before.
Shao Qinghe didn't understand what was going on, he just rubbed her shoulder with a smile and said, "I've always been here."
There was a cough. "Mr. Chen, Mr. Shao, I'm sorry to bother you. Our leader is here, and I just wanted to raise my glass to him."
The two of them stood up straight and saw Lao Liang leading a gray-haired leader in a suit standing not far away.
The leader smiled and said, "You two are really a match made in heaven. I am happy for you just by looking at you."
The waiter brought champagne. Chen Lanjun and Shao Qinghe each took a glass and toasted with their leader.
"I heard that Mr. Chen's company is going to be listed in Hong Kong?" the leader asked with a smile.
"Yes," Chen Lanjun said, "We have submitted the application and are expected to be listed in April."
The leader nodded: "Very good. I heard that there is a saying outside that companies like yours with mainland background are called red chips. I wish you a big hit." He smiled and said: "In the future, I hope you can share more of your stock market experience with us."
"Don't worry, leader," Chen Lanjun raised her head and drank the wine in her glass, "I will definitely be a good pioneer."
On the eve of Zhengmei Group's listing, Chen Lanjun arrived in Hong Kong in advance.
This listing is of great significance to the entire Zhengmei Group. For Chen Lanjun, it is also like a test.
Will shareholders admit their mistake?
Will so many people buy the pre-ordered stocks?
Chen Lanjun suffered from insomnia for the first time in a long time.
Whether you are anxious or not, the time to produce results has finally arrived.
It was a cloudy day. Chen Lanjun was sitting in the VIP room of the stock exchange, with Feng Jun and Shao Qinghe beside her.
I don't know how long I waited, but finally someone knocked on the door.
The door opened and the person who came in looked very happy.
"Congratulations! Zhengmei Group's new shares have been oversubscribed by 368 times. Today is the first day of listing, and the increase has reached 210%. It's a good start!"
Feng Jun stood up suddenly, his face flushed, and he pulled Chen Lanjun and laughed: "Second sister, did you hear that? We have successfully listed!"
"Yeah." Chen Lanjun answered calmly, but she was quickly calculating in her mind.
The response on the first day of listing was so good that the amount of funds raised must have exceeded 100 million.
The cash flow exceeded 100 million in the 1990s!
She was a little dazed.
Wow, I’ve really become a big boss.
The funds raised continued to be invested in production, money made money and profits made profits, and the situation was very good.
Chen Lanjun was a little confused for a moment.
She moved into a newly built large villa and sat in a recliner by the floor-to-ceiling window basking in the sun, feeling a little lonely.
The numbers in her bank account kept rising and her company was thriving, leaving her at a loss as to what to do.
It seems that everything I wanted has been obtained, my family is living well, and my wish for rebirth has been fulfilled.
There seems to be nothing more to pursue.
Chen Lanjun felt inexplicably depressed.
After Zheng Mei sensed her daughter's emotions, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Really, at such a young age, how come you suddenly feel empty?"
“I just feel like I have no motivation anymore.”
Seeing her listless look, Zheng Mei smiled and said, "Why don't you and Xiao Shao have a baby and take care of it? That way you'll have more things to do and be more fulfilled."
"Thank you, that's not the same thing, I mean the pursuit of life!"
Zheng Mei laughed loudly on the side, while Chen Lanjun rolled her eyes a little, turned around and went out, picked up the bucket, took the fishing rod and sun hat, and went fishing at the beach.
After autumn, the weather gradually becomes cooler. Every morning there is a thick circle of fallen leaves in the front yard of the villa. Before winter comes, the trees in the south always shed a wave of old leaves and then grow some new leaves to survive the winter.
Chen Lanjun received a call from her hometown.
"Sister Lan," the voice was trembling slightly, it was Ah Jing, "My grandma is gone."
Ajing's grandmother He Xidi passed away at the age of 87, which can be considered a happy funeral.
Chen Lanjun returned to her hometown to attend the funeral.
A sacrificial shed was built in front of Ajing's brand new house.
The elegiac couplet with black characters on a white background trembled in the cold wind. The top line reads "supporting husband and raising children, working hard and without complaint", and the bottom line reads "virtuous wife and loving mother, enduring hardships".
Chen Lanjun stared at the elegiac couplet for a long time.
Ah Jing, in mourning clothes and with a tired look on his face, stopped beside her.
"Do you want me to say something?" Chen Lanjun asked softly.
"No, I'm done arguing with them." Ah Jing sighed deeply, her eyes determined, "I must send grandma home for burial."
Chen Lanjun nodded: "I'll accompany you and see grandma off for the last time."
It was not until her death that Ajing's grandmother, He Xidi, finally told her granddaughter about her life story and expressed her wish to be buried in her hometown.
He Xidi is not a local; her hometown is far away in the mountains of the southwest.
In the turbulent times, someone used a little money to persuade He Xidi's parents to take her away. Although it was called marriage arrangement, it was not much different from trafficking. In short, He Xidi never set foot on the land where she was born and raised again.
She gave birth to five children, two of whom survived, one of whom was Ajing's father. Then came Ajing's story.
When she left, she was a beautiful and young girl, and when she returned, she was an old and dark coffin.
No matter what, I'm back after all.
But after returning, the village where He Xidi grew up was still reluctant: "It is unreasonable to bury a married woman at home."
Ah Jing silently placed a stack of bills on the table.
So there is a new truth.
The fallen leaves return to their roots. Chen Lanjun accompanied Ajing, watching the shovel shovel away the dust one shovel at a time.
In the flying dust, Ah Jing wiped her tears and said to Chen Lanjun: "Thank you, Sister Lan. My grandma was thinking of you when she passed away. She said that she would bless you even in the underworld. If it weren't for you, my grandma and I might have had a different fate."
Grandma probably died when she took the medicine, and she would probably stay in the village, repeating her grandma's life.
There will be no Pengcheng City, no manager, no store manager.
Chen Lanjun gently squeezed her hand: "Don't say that, actually, I didn't do anything."
After the funeral, Chen Lanjun and Ajing and their group went back. They borrowed a car through their connections with the local supply and marketing cooperative and the agent, and traveled through the countryside.
On the way, a girl with two ponytails stopped the car and said, "Hey, can you give me a ride? I'm a teacher in the village, and I'm going to visit a student's home."
"Get in the car." Chen Lanjun rolled down the window and said to her.
Teacher Xiao Zhang from the village thanked us and squeezed into the car.
"Do you still make home visits regularly?" Chen Lanjun asked.
"I don't have the time," Teacher Xiao Zhang shook his head, "It's just that this student hasn't come to school for two days. I have to go and ask him. After all, I have a total of 28 students, and I can't lose any of them."
"Maybe I'm sick."
"I hope so." Teacher Xiao Zhang said, "This is a female student. I'm worried..."
He didn't finish, but Chen Lanjun and Ajing in the car understood immediately.
In such an economically backward area, a girl's interruption of her studies is like a leaf falling into a pile of fallen leaves. She may get married, go to work, or help her family pick pig grass or do housework... It's all possible.
Chen Lanjun and Ajing looked at each other and suggested going with Teacher Xiao Zhang to take a look.
In a yellow mud adobe house, a silent girl was washing clothes at the door. When she saw people from afar, she immediately hid inside.
The girl's mother came forward and said, "It's Teacher Xiao Zhang. Please sit down and I'll pour you some water."
"You're welcome. I just want to ask why Xiaojing didn't come to school these two days."
"Oh, our Xiaojing won't go to school anymore."
"Why? She has good grades and can get into high school."
"Why would she want to take the high school entrance exam? We don't have the money to support a girl like her. If she wants to go to school, it should be her younger brother. We have already arranged a marriage for her. She can work at home for a year and then go there."
…
They started arguing, and the girl's mother slammed the door to express her attitude.
Several people walked forward in silence, and when they reached the window of the back room, a note was suddenly thrown out from the narrow window.
"Teacher, I want to continue studying, but I'm sorry, my parents have accepted the betrothal gift."
Back in the car, a feeling of deep powerlessness shrouded Teacher Xiao Zhang's face. She stuffed the note into her pocket and covered her face, probably crying.
"They always do this, taking my baby girl away for no apparent reason."
The driver was a little embarrassed and asked, "Mr. Chen, where are we going now?"
"Wait a mininute."
Chen Lanjun gently patted Teacher Xiao Zhang on the back and said, "Take me to your school?"
"I don't want to go today." Teacher Xiao Zhang sobbed, "I'm too embarrassed to go."
Chen Lanjun's voice was gentle but firm: "Go ahead. Who knows, I may be able to get your little girl back."
Teacher Xiao Zhang suddenly raised his head.
Ah Jing chimed in, "Really? This is our CEO Chen, the big boss. She never tells lies."
The accompanying dealer saw this and shook his head: "Mr. Chen, this situation is very common. How can you help?"
"I'll help as many people as I can," Chen Lanjun said with a faint smile, "and coincidentally, I'm rich and can afford to help."
After returning from the southwest mountains, Zheng Mei realized something was different as soon as Chen Lanjun entered the villa.
"Hey, you look quite energetic today, not as lazy as before."
"Really?" Chen Lanjun raised her eyebrows. "Maybe it's because I found some motivation."
She withdrew some money from her bank account and set up a charitable company called "Beiluo".
"Welcome everyone to join Beilei Charity Company. Our goal is to help girls from poor families."
Chen Lanjun sat in the boss chair and introduced with great energy.
"On the one hand, we will set up girls' schools in poor areas so that girls can go to school for free and provide free meals. On the other hand, Beilei will work closely with all branches of Zhengmei Group to provide them with work skills training and provide jobs for outstanding ones."
In the mountains of the southwest, the first Zhengmei Girls’ School was completed.
The opening ceremony was very lively. All kinds of sounds echoed in the concrete playground. The girls' laughter and talking were as free and easy as the wind on a sunny day.
Chen Lanjun stood alone under the scorching sun, looking at these students, her heart also feeling as if it had been exposed to the sun.
The wind blew her hair up, and the sunlight was bright, as if it was the day she was reborn, warm and full of hope.
Now, she has new hope.
I hope her rebirth can make this world different and give more people the opportunity to be “reborn”.
Looking at those smiling faces, Chen Lanjun also smiled.
She heard the sound of birds singing in the distance, and she knew that there must be birds flapping their wings from the layers of mountains, trying to fly towards the high and distant blue sky.
【End of the book】
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