The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

Chen Pingsheng went home.

Watching as the little rascal Chen An'an held a magnifying glass bigger than her small face, examining a small bowl from all angles.

His mother, Peng Ying, was watching her nervously from the side, and Chen Bufan and his wife were also there.

"So, is it from the Ming Dynasty or not?"

"The chicken in the picture doesn't look like it."

A few days ago, Peng Ying and her colleagues saw the news that a Ming Dynasty chicken cup had been auctioned for more than 200 million yuan.

Since the old items were so valuable, the old lady simply started keeping an eye out for them outside.

Today I happened to run into a man dressed as a beggar who took out a small bowl and said it was a family heirloom.

The sincerity of those words would move any normal person.

Peng Ying pulled out her trump card, haggling over the price eighteen times before finally buying it for eight thousand.

When I get home, I let the pretentious brat see it.

Chen An'an instantly switched into her dramatic persona. When she first came to Nanluoguxiang, she had also been into antiques for a while.

It's mainly because everyone in the neighborhood likes to play this game, so she started to like it too.

Anyway, with 200,000 yuan of pocket money every month, the most I can do is buy two fewer pieces of clothing.

The first time was when I happily spent 1200 yuan to buy a birdcage.

Whether it was luck or something else, she actually won the bet this time.

When I took it to an antique shop, it turned out to be something from the home of a prince or nobleman during the Qing Dynasty.

It is worth more than 200,000 yuan.

After that, things spiraled out of control.

They bought from the Qing Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, and then from the Ming Dynasty to the Song and Yuan Dynasties.

She buys whatever others tell her to buy.

It took three whole months and over a million yuan to produce, but not a single item was genuine.

Big-kissed kid lost interest in that and decisively switched to playing the erhu.

Unexpectedly, her quiet period didn't last long before the old lady became obsessed with it again.

After moving into the courtyard house, I always felt that there were treasures all around, and I wondered if I could buy one.
Money doesn't matter, the key is to be happy.

After looking at it for a while, Chen Pingsheng picked it up and glanced at it, "What are you looking at?"

"Dad, Grandma said she bought a Ming Dynasty rooster cup."

He had heard of chicken cups, but this was definitely the first time he had ever heard of rooster cups.

Chen Pingsheng looked around and pointed to the blue mark under the bowl, saying, "Do you need a magnifying glass to see such an obvious modern mark?"

Chen An'an had already seen it. She handed the magnifying glass, which was bigger than her small face, to her father. "Isn't this too obvious? I thought it was intentional."

Chen An'an said weakly.

Chen Pingsheng was speechless; Big Paw Kid had always been this unreliable.

He was surprised when she regained her normal thinking.

It's only eight thousand yuan; many people have been scammed when it comes to antiques.

This is nothing at all.

The old woman looked disappointed. Chen Pingsheng never collected antiques, no matter how rich he was.

The guy next door, surnamed Jin, did come over to him with a few old items.

He never asked for it even once.

"Dad, Grandma and the others are leaving tomorrow."

The younger sister got married and had her fun in Beijing, so Chen Pingsheng arranged for the family's custom-made Toyota Coaster to take them back.

As for his father, Chen Jianjun, he had already left by plane because of the road construction project in the village.

Rural areas have been vigorously building roads in recent years, and some roads that have been built this year will need to be repaired next year.

If it's repaired next year, it'll have to be patched up again the year after.

Anyway, it doesn't last long; it's always full of potholes.

Chen Jianjun has mentioned this matter several times; he intends to hand over all road repair projects in the village to outsiders this year.

Avoid those with connections directly.

We've had a few arguments about this, basically because some people disagree.

There are many people who want to take advantage of public funds for projects, and it's not easy to become a minor official in a rural area.

They work so hard to serve the people, yet they can't even get a penny of benefit from public funds projects.

Wouldn't we starve to death if we relied on wages?

Chen Pingsheng often listened to the old man's words on the phone, and in any case, his words were full of disappointment.

The village chief, who is dedicated to serving the people, faces opposition every day.

The old man had no idea what was wrong with society these days.

Previously, when Peng Ying was at home, she would go to the homes of those village officials every day to argue about these matters.

He was angry for several days.

Now she simply stopped thinking about it. Let the old man do whatever he wants; she'll just stay in the capital and live a comfortable life.

Grandpa and Grandma were about to go back, so Chen Pingsheng specially invited them to eat the most authentic Beijing cuisine.

The chefs are the kind who can make an appearance at state banquets.

In places like this, without someone to guide you, it's very difficult to book a spot even if you have money.

It's a membership system, and even a single dish can cost several thousand yuan.

The liquor we drank was Guojiao 1573 "San 60".

A single bottle costs as much as 35.

Guojiao 1573 "San 60" is Luzhou Laojiao's top-tier custom-made liquor.

It is brewed by several nationally designated master blenders in the national treasure cellar.

Every bottle of this wine we drink is one less available.

Chen Pingsheng occasionally enjoys a small drink at home, but he doesn't drink much.

His grandfather still really enjoyed drinking this kind of old wine, while Chen An'an preferred to eat here.

In places like this, spending hundreds of thousands on a single meal is commonplace.

Even a single bottle of wine costs at least 20,000 yuan.

It's not the kind of scam that rips you off; it's the real deal.

Grandpa and Grandma are this age; they've suffered their whole lives.

When I was a child, I witnessed the Japanese soldiers entering the village, and many of my relatives died right in front of me.

Just when we had finally made it through, famine struck.

They kept having more and more sons and daughters, and they ate everything edible, from tree bark to tree roots.

I've eaten almost all of those.

When we were a little older, the reform and opening up came around, and it took decades of hard work to finally build up our family's small outhouse.

A two-story red brick house was built.

Later, the whole family argued every day over trivial matters like firewood and cooking oil. They had never enjoyed a few days of happiness in their lives, but with Chen Ping'an, they truly experienced the ultimate in luxury.

I never need to look at the price when I buy things.

If you're not going to your own restaurant, Fei Yang Yang, the starting price for dining out is usually ten or twenty thousand yuan.

Now, a meal here is considered to be of state banquet standard.

88,000 per table.

The wine also costs hundreds of thousands of yuan per bottle.

Peng Ying, the eldest daughter-in-law who had been frugal her whole life, seemed to have gotten used to it all.

Actually, Peng Ying wasn't used to it when she first arrived.

They kept saying we should be frugal, but after staying there for a while, I just decided to do as the locals do.

Anyway, you won't go broke from eating or dressing.

Perhaps only when an atomic bomb comes will we all be back to square one.

"Grandma, why don't you stay here a little longer?"

"If something happens at home, how can I stay in the capital every day?"

When you get old, no matter how bustling the outside world is, it's not as comfortable as living in your old home.

Perhaps this is what they call "fallen leaves returning to their roots".

Chen Pingsheng had also tried to keep his grandparents with him, but they insisted on returning to the countryside, so there was nothing he could do.

However, Auntie San had a small wish: she hoped that Chen Bufan could stay here.

His grandparents also hoped that he would stay in Beijing.

Although Chen Bufan was born with intellectual disabilities, he was actually a very good person.

He has no temper and is not stubborn; he will do whatever you ask him to do.

He just chuckles to himself for no reason.

As for his normal wife, they are all young people. After seeing the prosperity of Beijing, how many young people would be willing to go back to the countryside?

Chen Pingsheng didn't care.

Anyway, his cousin is quite obedient.

I would never go to a place with many strangers alone.

They wouldn't think of causing trouble; they'd just be honest and law-abiding citizens.

He's just not very smart.

Grandpa and Grandma still hope that he can have a job here.

This is easy to arrange.

Chen Bufan is different from other relatives; he was born with a major defect, so I should still help him.

Otherwise, with his third uncle and aunt, he would have been stuck in the countryside his whole life, unable to do anything.

After returning home.

His wife was still in the room doing calculations on a small calculator, but Chen Pingsheng had no idea what she was calculating.

“Honey, if I spend over 500 million yuan to buy a headquarters building in Shanghai, it would take at least 30 years to break even. Do you think that after 30 years, once the property rights of that building expire, it will still be mine?”

"Theoretically, it's definitely true, but in reality, nobody can say for sure."

Chen Pingsheng thought she was thinking about something else, but it turned out she was still hesitating about buying a Shuiyunjian headquarters building.

She had been thinking about it for several days, and it only calmed down now after her younger sister's wedding.

Song Yanxi was wearing white pajamas.

It's already late October, and the temperature in Beijing is only around ten degrees Celsius at night.

In a while, I'll have to wear down jackets again.

"I'm just afraid that in a few decades, that building won't belong to our family anymore."

"That shouldn't be the case."

Chen Pingsheng said, "It's just a matter of a few hundred million, why are you taking so long to think about it?"

"The property rights will expire in seventy years. You're saying that once seventy years are up, the house won't belong to you anymore? That's impossible."

These days, owning a house often requires the combined savings of three generations.

I still have decades of mortgage payments to make.

It's impossible for something to just disappear for no reason; it's just a matter of what other ways they'll try to make up for it.

Song Yanxi thought about it and agreed. Chen Pingsheng patted her pert butt.

It seems the richer they are, the more timid they become.

I've never seen her hesitate this much when she was speculating on real estate before.

Perhaps it's mainly because there are many people speculating on real estate; with so many people involved, there's naturally less to fear.

Investing in commercial buildings now is unlikely to result in losses.

The reason for the hesitation is that there are relatively few people willing to do this.

Song Yanxi glared at him, wondering why he was slapping his own butt for no reason.

So easy to beat?

She kicked him aside and then covered herself with the blanket to go to sleep.

Next time I go to Shanghai, I must buy myself a big villa.

Let Shuiyunjian show off its power over there.

With the annual meeting of Shuiyunjian getting closer and closer, it is estimated that it will make another eight or nine hundred million.

They certainly won't lack money.

Chen Pingsheng told her to turn around, saying that buying a house wasn't a big deal.

Her younger sister, Song Wu, however, is dating a boyfriend in the entertainment industry.

She's already reached a certain age; it's perfectly normal for her to have a boyfriend around 25 or 26.

Chen Pingsheng asked her what her opinion was.
Song Yanxi doesn't really like male celebrities in the entertainment industry; she always feels that none of them are reliable.

But her sister is also a celebrity, and she's in that industry.

Those are the people I have the most contact with.

"If she doesn't date someone in the entertainment industry, what kind of person could she date?"

Chen Pingsheng was simply asking her if she knew.

Song Yanxi definitely knows about this. Song Wu has told her about it several times, and even brought that person to meet her and asked for her opinion.

Song Yanxi's opinion is simply that she has no opinion and it's up to her.

Chen Pingsheng sighed that she, as an older sister, had a very broad mind.

He didn't specifically ask around; Bai Xin told him.

Even if he doesn't want to know about the things that happen in the entertainment industry, countless people will still report them to him.

There's no way to avoid it, so I'll just treat it as a spectacle.

The next day, after saying goodbye to his grandparents, he went to work at Tengying Entertainment as usual.

(End of this chapter)