"Sister, is this your boyfriend?" Just when Yuan Fangguo and Lin Yumei were alone in the courtyard, suddenly a playful girl's voice came from the woods.
Then a little girl of about thirteen or fourteen came out with two little boys of seven or eight years old.
"Don't talk nonsense, he is my classmate." Lin Yumei quickly explained.
"Hehe, you want to trick us, he must be my boyfriend. He looks good, a handsome guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes." The girl covered her mouth and giggled.
"If you keep talking nonsense, I won't take you to the park." Lin Yumei pretended to be angry.
"Okay, I won't talk nonsense anymore. Brother, you have to do your best." After saying this, the girl jumped into the small woods next to her with the two little boys, looking very happy.
"My cousin, don't take it to heart." Lin Yumei said a little embarrassedly.
Yuan Fangguo smiled and said, "It's okay. Children are just like that, and they say whatever they want. By the way, the Yellow Pages thing I mentioned earlier was also thanks to your mother's help."
"How's it going?" Lin Yumei asked quickly.
"The materials are all ready and have been given to the school publisher. We estimate it will be published by the end of this month or early next month."
"Then congratulations." Lin Yumei said with a smile.
"I have to thank you very much. I will come to visit you again when the book is published."
"Forget about the visit. My mother is not that bureaucratic." Lin Yumei giggled.
"This is proper etiquette. Auntie helped me so much, I feel really bad about it."
"Don't be so polite. How about I appreciate your kindness on behalf of my mother?" Lin Yumei said, blinking her beautiful big eyes.
"That won't do. Let's put things in perspective. Besides, these yellow pages don't belong to me alone," said Yuan Fangguo.
"Well, then you'll have to bring more gifts when the time comes."
"What do you like to eat?"
Lin Yumei said without hesitation, "Banana."
Yuan Fangguo suddenly started joking, "Just like a monkey."
"You're the monkey." Lin Yumei couldn't help but chuckle, "By the way, Fang Guo, are you on the school football team?"
Yuan Fangguo nodded subconsciously, "Yes, what's wrong?"
"I saw you at our school last time, but you didn't seem to be on stage." Lin Yumei covered her mouth and laughed.
"I'm here to pack up their things. I'm a permanent substitute," Yuan Fangguo said self-deprecatingly.
"Next time you come to our school and play, I'll have our roommates cheer you on."
…
When chatting with Lin Yumei, Yuan Fangguo did not notice that she seemed to have that kind of feeling towards him. The two of them interacted more like good friends and were relaxed.
From Lin Yumei's conversation, he also learned that this big family was either rich or noble in Chengdu.
Lin Yumei's father, Lin Huajun, is the second child in the family. He has an older sister who works for the provincial party committee and is a department-level leading cadre like her husband. The third child is a man who is a top official in the main urban area. His wife is the vice president of a medical university. The fourth child is a woman who is a doctor in one of the top three hospitals in Chengdu. Her husband is the dean of the hospital. The fifth child is also a man who does business in Pengcheng, Guangdong Province. They are said to be divorced.
Such a family is considered quite prominent in Chengdu.
Today the whole family gathered at my mother's house to celebrate New Year's Eve together.
Originally, Yuan Fangguo and Li Chunli planned to stay at Old Lady Wu's house for only an hour or two, but Old Lady Wu was very enthusiastic and insisted on having them stay for dinner. Unable to resist the old lady's stubbornness, they had no choice but to agree.
Two nannies cooked dinner while Li Chunli stayed inside to chat with Old Mrs. Wu, her daughter, and her daughter-in-law. Yuan Fangguo was outside chatting with Lin Yumei.
During the chat, young people came over to say hello from time to time. These were Lin Yumei's older brothers and sisters.
When the boys saw Lin Yumei, after saying hello, they would ask if she was her boyfriend. Lin Yumei would quickly shake her head like a rattle and introduce herself as just a classmate.
"Really?" Lin Yumei's brothers and sisters basically all asked this question, and at the same time they would look at Yuan Fangguo with a strange look.
"Of course not." Lin Yumei became a little anxious after being asked such questions so many times.
"Then why are you blushing?"
"I'm not red." Lin Yumei subconsciously touched her face, and it was indeed very hot.
Since Mrs. Wu's children live in different places, some of them have to go home after dinner, so the New Year's Eve family dinner started at 5:30 in the afternoon.
The family members took their seats according to their seniority, and according to family custom, Old Mrs. Wu gave everyone a red envelope, including Yuan Fangguo, Li Chunli and the two nannies.
At this time of family reunion, everyone was in high spirits. When they were drinking excitedly, Lin Huajun's youngest brother Lin Huayong told the story of a classmate named Mendun from their childhood.
Lin Huayong had a shrewd look on his face, and he said with a beaming smile, "That guy was a little chubby, always a step behind the rest of us when he was little. We always bullied him in our class, but then I saw him last time in Pengcheng. I never expected him to be from Hong Kong. I went up to him and said hello, and guess what? He said he's a Hong Kong citizen now, and his English name is Pete. Damn Pete! He's still pretending to be something in front of me. But now I can't bully anyone at all. He's a Hong Kong businessman after all."
"Now the mainland is also attracting investments from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and the policies these businessmen enjoy are very good." Lin Huagang, the third brother who is a senior official in the district, naturally deals a lot with such Hong Kong businessmen.
"These Hong Kong businessmen are crappy. Many of them just go to Hong Kong, get athlete's foot, and then think they are Hong Kong people with Western taste. But many of them come here to get something for nothing. They don't have a penny on them, and they wear fake Pierre Cardin clothes bought at the Lotus Pond Wholesale Market." Lin Huayong said with disdain.
The eldest sister, Lin Huamin, laughed and said, "Old Five, how do you know they are using empty hands to lure a wolf?"
Lin Huayong snorted coldly, "I know all those Hong Kong businessmen. Real ones are generally very low-key. It's the fake ones, on the other hand, who act incredibly impressive, as if they're truly wealthy. They borrowed all their money from banks through the local 'government'. Last year, a county under Pengcheng was ripped off by a fake Hong Kong businessman. He made a fortune by flipping the money around, and in less than six months, he was incredibly impressive! The local 'government' couldn't do anything about him."
After hearing Lin Huayong's words, Li Chunli suddenly whispered to Yuan Fangguo, "Fangguo, how did you manage to get something for nothing?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
