The Birth of Shanghai's First Conglomerate

There are still many difficulties in middle age.

For example, divorce, unemployment, or children's poor academic performance.

Of course, all of this is inseparable from things like the parents getting sick.

You could say that at this age, you need money for everything, and without money, you can't maintain anything.

Chen Pingsheng booked a top-tier restaurant to host his class reunion. Because of his limited education, his classmates only went up to junior high school.

I do not have a high school or university experience.

Many of my former classmates dropped out of junior high school. Some of them went to work in factories, while others learned a skill.

For example, auto repair, cooking, hairdressing, etc.

Regardless of whether they had a good relationship before or not, everyone who was available came.

He rarely appeared in the city, but his reputation was immense.

His first public appearance was because of his grandmother, and it caused quite a stir.

Another time, he stood up for his eldest sister's daughter, Xiao Le, who knelt in front of his villa for three whole days.

The school bully's daughter was even personally sent to prison by her father, which became a topic of much discussion in Shacheng.

It can be said that his reputation in Shacheng is entirely due to these two incidents.

That's why most of the classmates attended when he called for a reunion.

Chang Fu attended alone, while Chen Pingsheng brought Da Pi Wa and Er Pi Ya with him.

Most of them have children, and those who used to have a good relationship with them are rarely unmarried.

The meal consisted of elaborate dishes.

Many people know each other to some extent because they all live in Shacheng.

So the conversation went fairly well.

For example, Zhang Wei, who used to follow them around, opened two small-to-medium-sized barbershops in Shacheng.

He had been divorced once, and his second marriage was to the same receptionist from his own shop.

She was seven or eight years younger than him, and quite pretty.

This guy started learning hairdressing after graduating from junior high school, and after more than 20 years, he has achieved some success.

They're the kind of people who're neither rich nor poor, earning a steady 300,000 to 400,000 a year.

This kind of income is definitely not much in Shanghai, but in a place like Shacheng, buying a small villa wouldn't be too much of a burden.

Of course, one can find a young and beautiful mistress.

There was also the student who used to have the best grades in the class, who was always among the top three in the whole school.

I went through junior high school, then high school, and then a pretty good university.

After graduation, I worked diligently at an ordinary company for more than ten years.

Things are relatively stable now; I own a house and a car, and my monthly income is around 12,000 to 13,000 yuan.

For someone like him, it's not really a question of whether studying is useful, because if you learn any skill and work hard without wandering around, you can earn at least ten thousand yuan in one place over ten years.

This is still the most ordinary kind.

Compared to him, another girl in the class also relied on her grades, but they weren't as good as his, and she went to a mediocre university.

But now he's doing much better than him.

This girl was assigned to be a teacher at a very good public junior high school in Shacheng right after graduation.

It wasn't because of her abilities, but because her father was the village party secretary.

The only person in the village with a formal employment status.

Don't underestimate the village party secretary; although his rank is not high, he is one of the lowest-ranking figures in the system.

But the energy is extraordinary.

Those who know, know. Getting into a good public junior high school in Shacheng doesn't just mean higher income; it also means a different social circle.

When you go to work for those small businesses, they stay in their offices.

Even when you meet her in person, you have to treat her with extra respect.

This is the power of a village party secretary. This female classmate is very low-key and usually doesn't drive a fancy car in public.

It's just a Honda Accord.

But her daughter has always attended the best schools since she was little, and the tuition and all sorts of other expenses add up to a lot each year.

It would take at least two or three hundred thousand to get it done.

Her husband was also that junior high school teacher; the couple simply kept a low profile.

If you want to compare yourself to them in terms of wealth, which ordinary family can afford to spend more than 300,000 yuan a year on their child's education?

Both of her daughters are like that.

This is income that people don't see; they would never tell outsiders, much less boast about it.

That's utter idiot.

Aside from keeping a low profile in front of Chen Pingsheng, they were polite to other classmates no matter how much they tried to be polite.

It still can't hide the class gap that exists in people's hearts.

Those in the know understand that people like them look down on you for earning hundreds of thousands a year by running a hair salon, or how much you earn a year as a chef.

It's normal for people with government jobs to be a little arrogant.

However, these two are really low-key. Apart from not using their resources to help classmates, they are very easy to get along with in private.

In addition, some of my classmates who are divorced keep saying that their wives are materialistic and can't stand hardship.

In reality, even after one, two, or ten years, things remain the same.

The greatest despair is the inability to see any hope.

As times changed, these men's wives, having seen more of the world, naturally had no choice but to divorce.

There are also some reasons that are not due to my own fault.

All I can say is that a small class reunion has all sorts of people, and everyone is experiencing their own ordinary life.

Of course, some of the people who came here simply wanted to borrow money from him.

Some people, at this age, no longer need things like face and dignity.

In their eyes, Chen Pingsheng is not someone you can see whenever you want. Even if you leave this place today and go to Shanghai or Jinshan, it doesn't matter.

You tell people you want to meet their boss because you're his classmate.

This wouldn't even reach the president's office, let alone Chen Pingsheng.

Because his schedule is already arranged, it's impossible for him to cut in line just because you come.

Therefore, many people directly say that their parents have an incurable disease, or that their daughter has a disease.

They looked troubled, but all they really wanted was to borrow money.

They never intended to pay back the money they lent. Chen Pingsheng just idly listened to them come up with a bunch of excuses, and he agreed to help anyone who asked him for money.

Whether you ask for one million or ten million, it won't make much difference to him, because everyone can only get a maximum of two hundred thousand.

This is his principle of treating everyone equally.

Those who didn't borrow money will look down on those who did.

Those who borrow money will then mock those who haven't asked for it.

What are you pretending for? Everyone comes to this class reunion just to curry favor with Chen Pingsheng.

He's doing so well now, isn't this class reunion just a way for him to show off?

If he really considers us to be classmates or still have the same relationship as before, then why haven't we kept in touch?

Isn't he just coming back now to show everyone how well he's doing?
This is why Chen Pingsheng dislikes holding these so-called class reunions.

When life takes a huge turn for the worse, whether you like it or not, you'll find that you can never go back to the way things were with those people from before.

Because they will feel inferior and lost when they are around you.

I felt even more the ruthless ostentation.

Even if you don't say a word, it's the same.

But they will instinctively want to get close to you, wanting to gain some advantage from you.

For example, borrowing money for various reasons.

This is what middle age is like: feelings of loss, inferiority, and life's disappointments all come at the cost of the indulgences of your youth.

Erpiya got angry because six or seven people in a row asked to borrow money.

She's not some gentle little girl; she really says whatever she wants.

No one present could persuade her to give in.

Her words made those who wanted to borrow money extremely embarrassed.

Why do you all look like beggars?

The class reunion came with anticipation and left without much disappointment.

Of course, some people did get the chance to go to his private villa.

For example, there was the female classmate who became a teacher, Zhang Wei who owned a barbershop, and several other classmates who wouldn't ask to borrow money.

They all share a common trait: they were all quite hardworking when they were young.

It's not great right now, but it's certainly not bad either.

As long as I don't dream of getting rich, I'll definitely have enough to live on for the rest of my life.

With just one sentence, Erpiya made many people feel ashamed.

Of course, she wasn't just saying it; regardless of whether these messy reasons were true or false.

If she were in Shanghai, and heard that you were her father's classmate and that you couldn't afford her mother's or daughter's medical bills...

She can show you what it means to be the second princess of a wealthy family just by raising her hand.

If you're given five million, you can take as much as you can with both hands.

The premise is that you can only use your hands to hold it.

Erpiya has almost all the characteristics of a princess from a wealthy family, which is the absolute sense of superiority brought about by her birth family.

It won't change just because you take her to work for a month or two, just like the elegance of the older generation in Shanghai.

Even after they run out of money, they will still use their old clothes to dress themselves up in an absolutely exquisite way.

That's the elegance ingrained in their bones, and what sets them apart from the average person.

They don't allow themselves to lose their elegance, no matter how small the house they live in.

That's just how Erpiya is; her sense of superiority has been strong since the day she was born.

No matter how much she misbehaves, if you, an ordinary person, dare to point fingers at her...

She can teach you to change your ways and understand yourself in just one sentence.

This is a common characteristic among children in their social circle; very few are like Chen An'an.

They can still maintain their original aspirations and get along well with ordinary classmates.

No matter how much Chen Pingsheng thought Erpiya was a flaw, he couldn't change it.

Because this is everything that her high-quality life has given her.

If you look at it from a different perspective, she's a six-year-old girl who can casually take millions and spend them like they're nothing.

You are a working-class person who toils hard every day to pay off your mortgage and earn thousands or tens of thousands in wages.

No matter how much you know, or how eloquently you explain your reasoning.

She can knock you to the ground and make you question your existence with just one sentence.

Have you paid off your mortgage?
With just this one sentence, do you still want to reason with her?

That's just how Erpiya is; she won't listen to anyone except her father's reasoning.

Because you are so far inferior to her.

And those in their class don't know how to reason.

Reason seems to be the most useful and reasonable thing in this world.

But in reality, it's completely useless.

For example, you help an old lady cross the street, you're doing a good deed, but someone falsely accuses you of hitting her, saying that you're just an ordinary person and can't afford to help her.

She went to help the old lady, why don't you accuse her of bumping into her?
She can make your entire family question the meaning of life for eight generations.

Making this decision will cause your entire family, generation after generation, to lose their jobs, and no big company will dare to hire you.

Is this reasonable?
No, this is just her family's sphere of influence.

Therefore, rather than saying she doesn't listen to reason, it's more accurate to say she doesn't believe what the weak say.

You need to be far superior to her to have any right to teach her.

Otherwise, she can easily teach you to be an honest person.

Even Chen Pingsheng himself couldn't say anything about Erpiya's behavior.

Because she only believes what the strong say.

In their circle, the truly strong are those who transcend reason.

As long as they don't actively bully the weak, they are already considered good people!

What else do you want to expect?
Erpiya may seem like she's just fooling around, but she actually has her own set of rules.

In her words, it means I can do whatever I want.

(End of this chapter)