Those Years When I Was Forced to Top the Forbes List

Chapter 73 I'm Different from Some Useless People

Yu Chunyin answered the phone outside for quite a while. Those inside could tell he was somewhat unhappy, but eventually, his voice gradually faded.

A few minutes later, Yu Chunyin appeared at the door with one hand on her hip.

"What's wrong?" Chen Xuebing asked, looking up.

Yu Chunyin sighed: "Your aunt is here."

In fact, Chen Xuebing had already discerned the clues from those few words. Now, upon hearing the answer, he simply nodded and asked, "When will you arrive? Should I ask the landlady to prepare some dishes for her?"

Yu Chunyin's expression was somewhat unpleasant, and he waved his hand:
“There are three people, including your Uncle Luo. They've already eaten on the way, so don't worry about them, we'll eat!”

The atmosphere was a little awkward for a while.

Chen Xuebing suddenly laughed and said, "Your aunt just wanted to come to the countryside with you for a visit! Now that you're here, why are you looking so gloomy?"

Mayor Xu found an opening and laughed, "Haha, Mr. Yu is often away from home, isn't he? His wife is keeping a close eye on him! That's normal! I'm usually busy with work, and my wife doesn't believe I'm in a meeting. She insists that I answer the phone and put it on the table so she can listen!"

"Hahaha…"

Laughter broke out again.

Yu Chunyin also smiled, picked up his wine glass, and sipped the bitterness of a Chongqing man.

……

A black Santana drove into the county town.

In the car, Luo Min sat alone in the back seat, arms crossed, looking dissatisfied.

Luo Hong, in the passenger seat, turned around and glanced at her: "What's wrong? Is your brother-in-law unhappy?"

Luo Min looked embarrassed and didn't say anything.

Luo Hong chuckled and said, "I think you made the right decision to come here."

Luo Min then looked up.

Luo Hong continued, "The construction site has just started, and my brother-in-law's nephew is probably short of money, so he came to borrow some from him. That kid isn't naive. He even said something about letting my brother-in-law go to Shenzhen to make money. He said my brother-in-law has money and connections here, and now we're helping him with projects. He doesn't need to go anywhere. He can just stay home with you and the kids and wait to count the money. Projects will come one after another. Why would we trick him into going out like that?"

Luo Hong's tone became indignant: "Isn't it all to keep your brother-in-law away from your sight so you can swindle money from him? What do you call that? You call cutting off his lifeline! I think you should keep a close eye on him!"

At this moment, Luo An, who was driving, also laughed: "That's right, Second Aunt, he's just using Zhao Benshan's tricks, fooling people! Keep fooling people! I've seen that construction site, it's not that easy to start work. There's a bad road that needs to be repaired first, and if Uncle doesn't go, he can't even see anyone! He must be out of options now, so he's asking Uncle to contribute money and effort. As long as you don't ask Uncle for help, he definitely won't be able to leave that construction site!"

Upon hearing this, Luo Min seemed to have envisioned a satisfying ending and finally let out a scoff:
"He'll just squander all that money of his mother's sooner or later. Luo An, drive faster."

Luo An gripped the steering wheel, feeling relaxed and quickened his pace.

If we completely destroy Yu Chunyin, our nephew, then all the future projects will be his.
……

After the meal, the courtyard was quite lively.

The alcohol wasn't much; the four of them only drank about half a bottle, just enough to warm them up, not quite tipsy.

Everyone had eaten just the right amount and was ready to get in their cars and leave.

A handshake ensued.

At that moment, a black Santana slowly drove past the road in front of the gate, heading towards the construction site. Chen Xuebing recognized the car and immediately waved.
"Jiao Gui! Chase after that Santana!"

Jiao Gui immediately ran out and shouted.

The Santana reversed and drove into the yard. The three people who got out of the car were a little confused when they saw the yard full of cars and people.

Which family is hosting this banquet?

"Luo Min! Come here!" Yu Chunyin beckoned.

"This is Mayor Xu from the local town, and this is General Manager Ren from the project department!"

"Mayor Xu, General Manager Ren, this is my wife, Luo Min. She works at the Labor Bureau!"

Luo Min was taken aback for a moment, then shook hands with Mayor Xu and Ren Kaiping.

Mayor Xu responded with polite formalities.

"Sister-in-law, you're late! You missed our Wujiang fish feast! Welcome to our restaurant! Mr. Yu, I'll be going now! Mr. Chen, thank you for your hospitality!"

"As long as you eat well, Mayor Xu, General Manager Ren, if you want to eat fish, come over. It's on me. Bring your brothers along too," Chen Xuebing said with a smile.

"Haha, yes, yes!"

Luo Min frowned, as if she wanted to say something, but then held back.

Only after the group got into the car and drove away, and the courtyard became a bit quieter, did Luo Min's face fall. Pointing to the room inside, she asked Yu Chunyin:

"Is this a rented house?"

"Mm." Yu Chunyin nodded.

Luo Min entered the house with his arms crossed, muttering as he went, "Nonsense! You even invited the town mayor to keep things quiet? Where did you find those connections? This is all about favors! Don't you know that? And you don't even respect seniority, brothers? I think some people are getting more and more absurd!"

Luo Hong and Luo An, who were behind them, also turned their heads and chuckled as they looked at Chen Xuebing in the courtyard, as if they were watching some kind of spectacle, before following Luo Min into the dining room.

Yu Chunyin was somewhat embarrassed.

"What connections do I need? I don't know anyone around here! This is the groundbreaking ceremony; Xiao Chen invited us himself! What are you doing here?"

"Hmph! Do you think I don't know you? You're just covering for him! You're so indulgent!" Luo Min sat down by the stove inside and noticed the wine bottles on the ground. She was even more outraged: "Oh, you're drinking Wuliangye! You're really generous! Luo An bought the wine and asked you to take it to the water conservancy department to pull some strings, but you refused. You came to this poor, remote place, but you're so proactive, even buying the wine yourself!"

"Hey, Auntie, I bought that."

As Chen Xuebing entered, he said to Luo Min, "I invited Mayor Xu and General Manager Ren. My uncle just arrived. Who should he call for me? I'm working on this project, so people call me General Manager Chen. If I don't call them brothers, what should I call them? Uncles and elders?"

Before Luo Min could speak, Luo An stood up.

"What are you bragging about? You've only been here a few days, how could you possibly have seen the mayor?"

“I even met with county officials,” Chen Xuebing said with a faint smile. “The secretary also gave me a highway worth 370 million yuan, which is quite expensive, at 52 yuan per kilometer.”

Luo An was about to accuse him of bragging. But Yu Chunyin glared at him and said, "Is this the highway general contracting that President Ren mentioned at dinner?"

"Hmm." Chen Xuebing walked to a chair and sat down: "I'm different from some good-for-nothings. I built the road myself for this project, a secondary highway. The county officials thought I did a good job, so they let me into the Western Development project. I'll handle the rest of the connections myself, so you don't need to take care of me. We'll sign the contract in March or April. I won't have your company sign that contract; I'll register my own company."

The air was silent.

Luo An's face was flushed and pale, and he didn't know for a moment whether what Chen Xuebing said was true.

A terrible road is enough to make the county party secretary think he's done a good job? And even give him projects?
He felt like he had missed something.

What incredible luck!

Yu Chunyin thought it was probably true, because he heard Ren Kaiping say during dinner, "General Manager Chen is now doing highway general contracting, and those teams are still waiting for you to assign them jobs."

However, Chen Xuebing didn't respond at the time, and the conversation didn't start.

With Mayor Xu present, and having been scolded by Secretary Lan for this matter, how could Chen Xuebing possibly respond?

"How exactly did you manage to get those connections?" Yu Chunyin couldn't help but ask.

Chen Xuebing grinned: "It's a secret."

"Playing tricks!" Luo Min couldn't help but curse, "Yu Chunyin, I think you're going to regress more and more, believing all this nonsense!"

"Ha, I'm playing the god, and you're just a ghost?"

Chen Xuebing complained, but he didn't have time to argue with this woman. It was just in time for her to come and make things clear.

Thinking it over, he pointed outside and said:
“None of those things matter, but Auntie, I started work at the construction site today, okay? You were so confident the other day, you haven’t forgotten the bet, have you? Can my uncle go to Shenzhen now?”

"Start work? How did you start work?" Luo Min crossed his arms and sneered, "Did you empty your mother's savings for her funeral?"

Yu Chunyin became an instant sensation.

"Luo Min, what the hell are you talking about? What do you mean by 'coffin money'? You can't expect anything good to come out of a dog's mouth!"

Chen Xuebing was just smiling faintly, but now his face finally fell.

"Your money for a coffin? Don't worry, my mom has enough money to buy you a coffin and even hold a funeral for you."

Luo Min gritted her teeth, staring at Yu Chunyin: "Listen to what he's saying!!"

This time, Yu Chunyin didn't back down at all. She cursed something, put her hands in her pockets, and walked out the door.

Seeing that the couple had fallen out, Luo Hong realized he shouldn't have come today. The project wouldn't start until June, and he was worried that Yu Chunyin might take her anger out on him and ruin the project. So he immediately tried to smooth things over:
"Hey, Luo Min, you're the elder, why are you arguing with an ignorant junior..."

Luo An shook his head and stood up, saying to Chen Xuebing, "Your family runs a small shop, and you say you've repaired the road? Do you have the money to repair a secondary highway? It wouldn't cost less than a hundred thousand yuan, would it? Aunt, don't listen to his nonsense, I understand, I'll go see for myself!"

With that, he hurriedly walked out.

Luo Min then remembered what she had said on the way, that Chen Xuebing definitely wouldn't have the money to start the project. Taking advantage of this moment, she launched a decisive attack on Chen Xuebing.

"Didn't you want to pay back your uncle's money? Twelve thousand yuan, and you're still going to take it!"

Yu Chunyin came in again, even angrier than before.

"Luo Min, have you gone mad? Who taught you to say such things? Let me tell you! If you won't let my nephew do it, then your nephew shouldn't do it either! Sanbiao, I'm going to go outside and call some people to do it!"

The atmosphere became completely tense, and Luo Min started shouting.

"Yu Chunyin, are you yelling at me?"

Chen Xuebing wiped his face speechlessly, stood up, shoved Yu Chunyin out the door, and shouted outside:
"Ren Ying!"

"Eh!"

"Pour my uncle a cup of tea!"

Then he turned and shouted upstairs, "Jiao Gui!"

"elder brother!"

"Take my bag down!"

...

"Uncle, please have some tea."

Ren Ying's diligent practice of "smiling service" had calmed Yu Chunyin down considerably. She took the teacup, went inside, and addressed Chen Xuebing, who was counting money:
"Don't listen to your aunt's nonsense! You don't need to pay it back! I'm in charge of this! If the construction site is short of money, come to me!"

It was rare to see Lao Yu so assertive, so Chen Xuebing smiled but shook his head: "No need, I have money here, I've made some recently."

How much money do you make?

"More than two hundred thousand, I guess," Chen Xuebing said casually.

"Ha." Luo Min couldn't hold back any longer and let out another cold laugh: "You're really blowing your own horn!"

This time, Jiao Gui, who was standing next to him with a bag, frowned and said, "Uncle, Brother Bing really made money! Seven of us helped Brother Bing sell mobile phones, and in the past month and a half, plus the Taobao bonus... Brother Bing must have earned at least 220,000 to 230,000 yuan. The town also gave Brother Bing 200,000 yuan to repair the road! He can earn quite a bit here too!"

Jiao Gui, who followed Chen Xuebing, was fairly clear about these matters.

Everyone was stunned.

Two hundred thousand in a month and a half?!
Just then, Luo An returned.

Standing at the door, disbelief was on his face.

"Did you build this road? How did you build it?!"

Chen Xuebing smiled, placed the twelve thousand he had counted out in his hand in front of Luo Min, and then counted out two thousand and placed them on top.

“I told you, I’m not like some good-for-nothings. I don’t lend money for nothing. Twelve thousand, with two thousand in interest.”

(To be continued tomorrow)

(End of this chapter)