Returning wealthy individuals develop their hometowns and become rich in the 1980s

Rewind a little further, Chen Xiangui was sitting in a chair smoking a cigarette. Huang Lanzhi was applying the face cream that her eldest daughter-in-law, Zeng Xia, had brought her back. She was lightly patting her face. Chen Xiangui turned his head and looked at her, teasingly saying, "Why are you slapping yourself while applying face cream?"

"What do you know, you old geezer? Xia said it's better to absorb it this way," Huang Lanzhi said without turning her head, continuing to pat her face.

"Patting your face will help it absorb better. Come on, let me pat it for you, I have a strong grip!"

"Get lost, you're so unreliable!"

The elderly couple were playfully bickering when suddenly there was a knock on the door. Chen Xiangui stopped what he was doing and asked, "Who is it?"

"Dad, it's me, the third son. I've come to talk to you and Mom about something!"

Huang Lanzhi quickly straightened her clothes before sitting on the edge of the bed with her legs together. She watched Chen Zaiguang and his wife walk in without saying a word. Chen Xiangui asked impatiently, "What is it? Can't you tell me tomorrow?"

"Father, I... have something to take care of..."

Chen Zaiguang stammered, too embarrassed to speak, while Lin Ruiqing, standing beside him, rolled his eyes in exasperation and blurted out, "Dad, look at Fourth Uncle and Younger Uncle, their supermarket is open now. My wife and I discussed it, and since Rongrui is growing up... we thought..."

Chen Xiangui frowned, listening to his third daughter-in-law Lin Ruiqing's rambling, and said unhappily, "Just tell me what you want. It's the middle of the night, and you two are here playing guessing games with me. You're giving me constipation!"

"Dad, it's like this, we're thinking of reinvesting in the supermarket, haha!"

Chen Xiangui exclaimed "Oh!" as if suddenly realizing something, then lowered his voice and said angrily, "You were the ones who said you didn't want it in the first place, so why are you coming to me now saying you want to invest!"

"Dad, I was just afraid of losing money back then!"

Chen Zaiguang's weak words made Chen Xiangui laugh in anger. "So you wouldn't invest if it was losing money, but now that it's profitable, you two are thinking of buying tickets halfway through the journey?"

"Too late!"

"Dad, he's your son. You know Guang's personality. He's been cautious since he was little, and we don't have much savings. We really can't afford to lose money," Lin Ruiqing said, resorting to emotional appeals when she heard her father-in-law say this.

"Could you please help talk to Fourth Uncle and Youngest Uncle? They're all brothers. The company just gave out over 50,000 in dividends, right? We'll cover whatever it takes," Lin Ruiqing kicked her husband. Chen Zaiguang added, "Yes, Dad, please help us mediate. We'll cover whatever it takes."

Huang Lanzhi finally realized that her third daughter-in-law, who thought herself clever and was always up to no good, had been causing trouble. None of her five sons had separated from the family yet, and they all had to bring back some money from their jobs to help with household expenses. But she was the one with the most ulterior motives.

When the eldest son, Chen Zaiguang, worked in the water transport industry, his monthly salary was 63.5 yuan. His wife, Zeng Xia, worked in a cotton mill and earned only a little over 50 yuan a month. The two of them gave about 70 yuan of their monthly salary to the family.

The second child used to be a frequent patient, and most of the family's expenses went towards buying his medicine.

The fourth and fifth brothers both worked in the production team to earn work points, but they didn't have much income. Originally, the fifth brother, Chen Zaixing, was a hardworking young man, but ever since his wife, Wu Fangru, told him that his third uncle, Chen Zaiguang, earned more than 60 yuan a month, he only gave 10 yuan to his family.

After Chen Zaixing learned about this, he gradually became less diligent in his work, and later he simply avoided work whenever possible. He respected his older brother and sister-in-law because their combined monthly salary was only 110 yuan, and they could bring 70 yuan home to their family.

When he took his second brother to see a doctor, he worked hard. Sometimes when he came back late, he would eat at his eldest brother's house. His sister-in-law never said anything. She would even go out of her way to buy them a few extra ounces of meat.

From Rong Fei, Rong Jie, and Xiao Huiqin, Chen Zaixing learned that his eldest brother's family usually lived a very frugal life. When his second uncle and younger uncle came, the family could eat meat, and the children were all happy.

Fourth Brother had nothing to say. With the eldest son away, Fourth Brother did all the work and did the most labor. He would go up the mountain to chop firewood and hunt wild game, and he would sell the meat at the commune to supplement the family income. He never kept any money for himself.

But Chen Zaixing was unhappy that his third brother was secretly pocketing money from the public funds while using the large account to fund his own family's affairs.

Adding to Chen Zaixing's resentment was his third sister-in-law's stinginess at home and her occasional sarcastic remarks about his second brother. As a result, Chen Zaixing became even more distant from his nephew, Rong Rui.

Hearing her third son's wife say that everything was for their brothers, Huang Lanzhi said coldly, "You didn't want it yourselves, and now you want us to talk to you? Your father and mother are not going to be the bad guys. You should go and talk to the fourth son and the others yourselves."

"Mother, we're just embarrassed. Please help us smooth things over so that Uncle Si and Uncle Xiao don't misunderstand. We're all family," Lin Ruiqing said gently as she sat down next to her mother-in-law, Huang Lanzhi. "Mother, please help us!"

"If you're too embarrassed to say it, then don't go. Your mother is also easily embarrassed. If your grandmother finds out that I went to speak on your behalf, she'll be begging me for forgiveness tomorrow!"

Chen Zaixing, who had been eavesdropping under his parents' window, grinned as he heard his parents tell his third brother, Chen Zaiguang, and his wife to go back first. He immediately ran back and put his feet back into the enamel basin.

The water had already cooled, but Chen Zaixing's expression remained unchanged. Seeing Chen Zaiguang and his wife emerge, he pretended to only just notice them and chuckled, "Hey! Third Brother, what brings you to Mother's in the middle of the night? Burning incense and praying to Buddha?"

Chen Zaisheng and Chen Zailong, with their backs to Chen Zaiguang and his wife, could only suppress their laughter at Chen Zaixing's words; that brat was too wicked.

Lin Ruiqing knew that her brother-in-law Chen Zaixing was subtly insulting her, but since she needed his help, she had no choice but to endure it and replied with a smile, "Second Uncle, Fourth Uncle, Little Uncle, are you washing your feet? We just had something to discuss with our parents."

Lin Ruiqing said this with the intention that Chen Zaisheng and the others would ask something casually, and as soon as they asked, he would take the opportunity to bring up the topic of investing. However, after waiting for a long time, the three of them did not ask a single question.

Chen Zaixing pretended that the water in the basin was still warm and even started rubbing his feet, saying to his second brother Chen Zaisheng, "Second brother, you really need to wear these leather shoes more often. Look at me, the dead skin has decreased a lot."

"Fourth Brother, what time should we go to the supermarket tomorrow? I need to talk to Ah Fa about the umbrellas."

"Seven o'clock, can you get up?"

"No way, why so early? I'm a boss now, if I'm still working from dawn till dusk, then I'm a boss for nothing!"

The three of them started talking, completely ignoring Chen Zaiguang and his wife who were still standing there. Chen Zaiguang was pushed by his wife and stepped forward, offering cigarettes to Chen Zailong and Chen Zaixing. "Second brother, I want to..."

"Third brother, I don't smoke!"