Zhang Peng, a native of Yueyashan in Liaoning Province in Northeast China, had a lazy, materialistic wife who was fond of eating and drinking. During the era when educated youth returned to the city, she abandoned her husband and children, divorced him, and returned to the city alone.
Zhang Peng raised his two children on his own. Later, he made his fortune by trading wild medicinal herbs and game during the reform and opening-up period. He then went to the south and opened a pharmaceutical factory and a chain of hotels. After arriving in the south, he met his next wife, and with the help of her family, he became a local tycoon.
All three of Zhang Peng's children eventually became elites, forging ahead in the tide of reform and opening up. The group he founded later became a nationally renowned super enterprise.
Zhao Ruyi, the educated youth who had abandoned her husband and children, married a young clerk after returning to Beijing. However, decades later, when her husband retired, he was still just a clerk and hadn't even reached the deputy section chief level...
Compared to Zhang Peng, who enjoyed immense success and prominence, Zhao Ruyi's later husband could only be described as mediocre.
Zhao Ruyi regretted it and was depressed all day long. Her family was in complete chaos. She wanted to contact her two children, but they ignored her completely.
She failed to manage her own family well, causing her children to sever ties with her, and ultimately died in melancholy.
This is what Luo Zixi sorted out in her mind: some of the plot points between Zhang Peng and his current wife in the original story.
At this point, she could see clearly that someone like Zhao Ruyi would never have a good life anywhere; she would only yearn for a better and higher life.
Now she wants to go back to the city. When she sees young clerks who are much better off than Zhang Peng, according to the common thinking of women in this era, she would choose the young clerks instead of Zhang Peng, a farmer struggling to make a living in the mountains.
Let alone in this era, even in later generations, there aren't many girls willing to choose someone with a similar background to Zhang Peng.
However, fortunes change, and who knew that such a great trend of the times would come later? Zhang Peng seized the opportunity and his luck turned around, rising with the wind.
Standing at the forefront of the times, even pigs can fly, let alone Zhang Peng, who is a very quick-witted and shrewd person.
Therefore, Luo Zixi felt that Zhang Peng was a good candidate to make good use of.
This guy is good at making money.
With Luo Zixi's support, Zhang Peng will be able to take off even faster and reach even greater heights!
However, let Zhang Peng give his educated youth wife, who is about to file for divorce, a good beating first.
Shame inspires courage. When Zhang Peng realized how insignificant his position was and how weak he was, he yearned to become stronger, to change his fate, and to give his children a better future.
At the time, Luo Zixi remembered an interview with Zhang Peng in the book, in which Zhang Peng responded to the reporter:
"I worked so hard back then because I wanted to get ahead. It wasn't just for myself; I wanted my children to not follow in my footsteps."
"When they get married in the future, they won't have to worry about their financial situation, or they won't have to lose their loved ones because of financial constraints..."
Yes, Zhang Peng truly loved Zhao Ruyi to the core, to the point of being humble to the dust. He took good care of everything, never letting Zhao Ruyi get out of bed or do any housework.
In the countryside, this is simply unbelievable. How can a wife not do housework? These days, rural wives are treated like men, while men are treated like animals.
Only by working hard like this can we make things a little better in harsh environments...
However, despite Zhao Ruyi's many years of working in the countryside, her small hands remained as white as ever, without a trace of hardship.
But Zhao Ruyi felt dissatisfied at all. What she longed for was not the peaceful life in the countryside, nor the so-called tranquility, but the prosperity of the city, a superior family background, a wealthy life, and the envious eyes of others...
Zhang Peng couldn't give her any of this!
So she left without hesitation.
"Zhang Peng, are you even a man? You can't support me, you can't give me the life I want, so why should I stay in this remote mountain village!"
“I want to go back to the city. I’m a city girl, not someone you peasants can afford to support.”
These words pierced Zhang Peng's heart like knives.
Zhang Peng took a deep drag on his tobacco, exhaling a long plume of smoke. He frowned and remained silent.
Zhao Ruyi gets angry when she sees him like this. Whenever she is unhappy, she throws a tantrum and sometimes even breaks things.
Zhang Peng, however, was always like a silent gourd, never saying a word, and then quietly tidying up the mess she had thrown away.
If Zhao Ruyi threw things again, he would slowly clean them up. He continued until Zhao Ruyi had vented her anger.
But today, Zhang Peng didn't move! Because he knew it was useless for him to try and stop her; once a woman was determined to leave, no amount of effort could bring her back...
"Say something! You're always so taciturn, what kind of man are you!"
Zhao Ruyi screamed hysterically, frightening the two children beside her.
"Mom, please stop arguing. Dad didn't do anything wrong, why are you treating him like this?"
The eldest daughter's eyes were red, and she was hugging Zhao Ruyi's legs.
They couldn't understand what was wrong with their mother. Their father hadn't done anything wrong, so why was their mother angry? Why was she yelling about leaving? Did their mother not want them anymore?
Is it because they weren't well-behaved that Mom got so angry?
"Mom, my brother and I will be good and obedient from now on. Please don't go, please don't be angry, okay? Dad will be good too, and he'll listen to everything you say..."
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