Reborn in 97, I solved a cold case at the Municipal Bureau

Chapter 288 [New Volume Begins] Recognizing a Godfather
On Saturday afternoon, Qian Hongxing's familiar Audi drove into the dormitory area of ​​No. 1 Steel Plant.

The workers living in the No. 1 Steel Plant were mostly ordinary workers, and the most common thing they saw was bicycles. Such a nice bicycle was a rare sight. They all stuck their heads out of the windows, wondering whose house it was visiting.

Then I saw the Zhou family of four get into the Audi, and the driver even got out of the car to open the door for them.

"The Zhou family is doing quite well now, they've all climbed up to rich people, this car alone must cost at least several hundred thousand."

"That's because their son is successful; you can't be envious of that."

Zhou Yi sat in the passenger seat, while his parents and grandfather sat in the back.

"Xiao Sun, thank you for making this special trip," Zhou Yi said to the driver.

"It's not hard work. I get paid by Mr. Qian, and I do whatever Mr. Qian tells me to do," said Xiao Sun, the bodyguard I had met at the hospital, in a serious tone.

"Hasn't your boss, Mr. Qian, found a suitable driver yet?" Zhou Yi asked.

"I'm sorry, Officer Zhou, Mr. Qian told me that I'm not allowed to inquire about anything that I'm not supposed to know," Xiao Sun said sternly.

Zhou Yi thought to himself, Qian Hongxing has indeed chosen a decent bodyguard this time, but the man is a bit slow-witted.

But it's also good, after all, it's to protect Qian Lailai and Yao Yuling and her son, and this kind of personality is more reliable.

The grandfather sitting in the back row spoke up: "Young man, are you from the army?"

"Ah."

"Oh, it's good to be from the army. Back in the day, when we went to fight..." Grandpa began to reminisce about the past with the excitement of seeing a relative, even though his relatives were right beside him.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Sun turned around excitedly and asked, "Grandpa, were you a soldier?"

Zhou Yi said, "My grandfather was a veteran who fought against the Japanese and served in the Chinese People's Volunteer Army."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Sun's eyes changed instantly, filled with respect. He immediately turned around, gave a solemn military salute, and shouted loudly, "Greetings, Sergeant!"

This gave Zhou Jianguo and his wife quite a fright.

Grandpa also raised his hand and returned a standard military salute: "Greetings, young comrade."

Fearing that the two veterans and new recruits might get carried away with their conversation, Zhou Yi quickly said, "Xiao Sun, let's go first, so as not to keep Boss Qian and the others waiting."

As the car started, Grandpa began chatting with his grandson, asking if the food in the army was good and if they were warm enough.

Xiao Sun's attitude was noticeably more friendly than before. He opened up and answered every question the old man had.

Upon hearing that the troops were now well-fed and warmly clothed, Zhou Asi couldn't help but burst into tears, repeatedly murmuring, "So good, so good."

The Audi drove into Hongcheng Baodi. Zhou Jianguo and his wife were stunned by the gate of this high-end villa area. Zhang Qiuxia even pressed her eyes wide against the car window and kept saying, "It's so nice, so nice."

The security guard at the gate was as dedicated as ever, respectfully greeting the vehicles and saying, "Welcome home, esteemed resident."

“Zhou Jianguo, you’ve been laid off. Could you come here and work as a security guard?” Zhang Qiuxia said.

Zhou Yi's lips twitched, but he didn't say anything.

As they drove into the villa area, Zhang Qiuxia was even more surprised, feeling like a country bumpkin visiting the Grand View Garden.

Zhou Jianguo couldn't help but scold him, "Don't be so dramatic, you're embarrassing your son."

Soon, the car stopped in front of Qian Hongxing's villa.

As soon as Zhou Yi and his group got out of the car, Qian Hongxing came out to greet them.

"Officer Zhou, it's an honor to have you here. Welcome, welcome!"

Then he greeted Zhou Yi's parents and grandfather.

They call Zhou Jianguo "elder brother" and Zhang Qiuxia "elder sister-in-law," but only when they get to Zhou Asi do they call him "old man."

Zhou Yi suddenly felt as if he had been demoted in seniority.

But upon closer reflection, Qian Hongxing is forty-five years old this year, and his father is forty-nine years old, so it seems that they are indeed of the same generation.

Although they are only five years apart in actual age, they look much older in appearance.

Zhou Jianguo had been a worker for thirty years and looked to be about fifty-four or fifty-five years old.

Qian Hongxing, on the other hand, was a big boss, full of vigor, and looked to be only in his early forties.

Although I aged considerably because of the money incident, I was essentially exhausted and mentally drained. Now that I've recovered, I'm back to my old self.

Qian Hongxing welcomed Zhou Yi and his family into the house. Zhang Qiuxia was about to marvel at the magnificent interior of the villa when Zhou Jianguo nudged her with his elbow to stop her.

With her hair tied up and wearing an apron, Yao Yuling came out of the kitchen with a spatula in her hand and greeted Zhou Yi and his family warmly.

Zhang Qiuxia said, "This girl is so beautiful, she looks just like your father."

Yao Yuling, who wasn't very bright to begin with, asked in surprise, "Auntie, do you know my dad?"

Zhou Yi knew this was an awkward situation and, fearing they might continue talking, quickly tried to smooth things over, saying, "Mrs. Qian, my mother mistook you for someone else. Please don't mind."

"It's alright, Hongxing, you sit with the guests for a while, I still have a few dishes to make." With that, she went back to the kitchen.

Zhou Yi noticed a hint of embarrassment in Qian Hongxing's micro-expression, realizing that he had understood the misunderstanding from earlier.

Zhou Yi tugged at his mother's clothes and whispered, "That's his wife, not his daughter."

Zhang Qiuxia was startled and looked at her son in disbelief: "This...this age difference is too big."

"What business is it of yours how they behave? They're a legally married couple," Zhou Yi retorted.

Qian Hongxing invited them to sit down. The coffee table in front of the sofa was already full of fruits and dried fruits, showing that Qian Hongxing attached great importance to this meal.

To keep them from getting bored, she turned on the television. Zhang Qiuxia looked at the huge 53-inch rear-projection TV with amazement and said to Zhou Jianguo, "Look at this TV, it doesn't have a back."

Color TVs started to become popular in 1997, but they were expensive and, like black and white TVs, had a large back.

Compared to conventional color TVs at the time, rear-projection TVs offered a much more sophisticated viewing experience.

However, Zhou Yi didn't find it strange, because with the advancement of technology, the rear projection TVs that cost tens of thousands of yuan back then were now worthless even when they were recycled for two hundred yuan.

This is the progress of technology.

"That must cost several thousand, right?" Zhou Jianguo couldn't help but ask.

Zhou Yi casually replied, "I'd estimate around thirty or forty thousand."

The couple's jaws dropped open; they felt like they had wasted most of their lives.

"Mr. Qian, come on over?" Zhou Yi asked.

"Sister Yang is taking a nap with him, I'll go call him." Qian Hongxing said, standing up.

"No need, let the child sleep. When will they go back to school?"

“I plan to have my child take a leave of absence from school first, and then transfer him to another school after the summer vacation so he can start first grade again. By then, no one will know his identity.”

Zhou Yi nodded. It's April now, and it'll only be a few months before school starts again in September. Besides, primary schools in the 1990s weren't very competitive, and there wasn't much of a learning curve in first grade.

Even if we take a step back and consider Qian Hongxing's family background, Qian Lailai was already at the very top of the pyramid from birth.

In his previous life, he was unlucky and had no fortune to enjoy life. In this life, he successfully overcame his tribulation and will be a proper rich second-generation heir from now on.

The kind that can take off without needing to fly.

However, it's clear that Qian Hongxing is genuinely afraid; once bitten, twice shy.

"Mr. Qian, relax. Lai Lai is a lucky man, and heaven will surely help him." Zhou Yi comforted him.

Qian Hongxing said with emotion, "No, this is not God's blessing, it's that he met you, his benefactor, in his life."

Just then, footsteps came from the stairs, and Sister Yang came down, holding Qian Lailai's hand.

When Qian Lailai saw so many people in the room, he was a little scared and dared not move forward. But when Zhou Yi, who had his back to him, turned around, the little boy smiled and said, "Hello, police officer."

Qian Hongxing waved his hand: "Come on, come over here quickly."

Qian Lailai immediately ran to his father's side, and Qian Hongxing taught him to call Zhou Jianguo and his wife "Grandpa and Grandma" and Zhou Asi "Great-Grandpa".

Zhou Yi suddenly felt that the relationship was a bit complicated.

Qian Hongxing calls his parents "elder brother" and "elder sister-in-law," but his wife Yao Yuling calls her mother "auntie."

Then he turned around and asked Qian Lai to call his parents, grandparents, and other relatives. This relationship made him feel a little confused, like he was solving a case.

“Come on, do you remember what your father told you?” Qian Hongxing said.

Qian Lailai nodded.

Just as Zhou Yi was wondering what was going on, Qian Lailai suddenly knelt down in front of Zhou Yi and called out, "Godfather."

"What?" Zhou Yi was stunned, and his family was even more dumbfounded.

Zhou Yi quickly went to help the child, because it looked like the child was about to kowtow.

"Mr. Qian, what's going on?" Zhou Yi asked hurriedly.

“Officer Zhou, you have saved my son twice. You are like a second parent to him. I want Lai Lai to recognize you as his godfather so that I can take care of him in his old age and see him off when he dies,” Qian Hongxing said sincerely.

Zhou Yi quickly shook her head and helped the child up, saying, "This won't do, this is inappropriate."

Qian Hongxing pushed his son, who had just stood up, back down. "Officer Zhou, you must do me the honor of doing this, just for the sake of the child. If you take him as your godson, we'll be brothers from now on. You can consider me, as the elder brother, honoring you."

Zhou Yi was both amused and exasperated. It seemed that Qian Hongxing's original intention for this meal was to get Qian Lailai to recognize him as her godfather.

He believed that Qian Hongxing wanted to express his gratitude to him.

At the same time, he also knew that Qian Hongxing, such a shrewd businessman, wanted to establish a closer bond with him, and the child was naturally the perfect excuse.

It's not that he wanted to take advantage of the situation; it's purely for businessmen that having connections in government makes things easier. Zhou Yi remembered that a fishmonger made his fortune that way.

Zhou Yi pulled the child up, but to prevent Qian Hongxing from making the child kneel down again, she picked the child up and sat him on her lap.

“Mr. Qian, I didn’t mean to disrespect anyone. It’s just that this whole thing about him becoming a godfather is really inappropriate. Look, the child is seven years old this year, and I’m twenty-three. There’s a sixteen-year age gap between us. How can a sixteen-year-old become a father?”

“Godfather,” Qian Hongxing explained.

"That's not appropriate either," Zhou Yi said helplessly.

Then he said to the child, "Come on, you can call me uncle from now on, or you can call me brother."

Qian Hongxing immediately said, "Calling me 'brother' won't work, otherwise I'd be taking advantage of you."

Zhou Yi thought to herself, "When you called my parents 'elder brother' and 'elder sister-in-law,' you were already taking advantage of them."

"Mr. Qian, I'll accept the child calling me uncle, but I won't accept him calling me godfather," Zhou Yi finally declared, making the final decision.

Having said that, Qian Hongxing had no choice but to accept it.

"There's one more thing..."

(End of this chapter)