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

The Chen family ancestral home is only a six or seven-minute walk from the Guangdong Food Factory Industrial Park. Chen Zaisheng usually walks there to work, which he considers a form of exercise.

Chen Zaiguang followed along, preoccupied with his thoughts. When he encountered elderly villagers or peers who greeted him, he merely nodded hastily without any intention of exchanging pleasantries.

When they arrived at the factory gate, they saw the back of his second brother, Chen Zaisheng. No matter how much he called out, Chen Zaisheng did not turn around and walked straight in.

Seeing this, the security guard at the gate assumed Chen Zaisheng hadn't heard him and said, "Brother Zaisheng, Brother Zaiguang is calling you!"

Chen Zaisheng simply nodded, without turning his head, and walked straight away. The security guard was completely confused. By the time Chen Zaiguang jogged over, Chen Zaisheng had already entered the office building.

"Brother Zaiguang, did you two brothers have a fight?"

"It's nothing, it's nothing," Chen Zaiguang waved casually and quickly chased after them to the office building. When he found Chen Dong and his older brother Chen Zaiguang there, Chen Zaiguang was too embarrassed to bring up the matter in front of Chen Dong and Chen Zaiguang.

"Third brother, what's up?" Chen Zaiguang asked when he saw his third brother standing blankly at the office door without coming in. "Come in, what are you standing there for?"

Chen Zaiguang walked in with an awkward laugh, clutching the aluminum lunchbox tightly in his hand. He didn't know what to say for a moment. Chen Dong noticed the strange look on Chen Zaisheng's face when he came in, and judging from Chen Zaiguang's expression, he guessed that something must have happened that morning, and the two brothers probably had a fight.

Chen Dong glanced at Chen Zaiguang, then offered him a cigarette. "Third Brother, is something wrong today? I rarely see you in the office."

"No...it's nothing," Chen Zaiguang said, his mind preoccupied and too embarrassed to speak. He stammered that he would apologize to Chen Zaisheng in person when they went to lunch.

Chen Zaiguang, however, sensed something was amiss. "Third brother, from childhood to adulthood, every time you've made a mistake or lied, you've always stammered with your head down. Tell me, what happened this morning? Did your wife cause trouble at home again?"

Seeing that Chen Zaiguang remained silent, Chen Zaiguang turned to Chen Zaisheng, "Second brother, you speak!"

"I have nothing to say," Chen Zaisheng said, his face ashen. "Just ask someone yourself. To be brothers like this, I've certainly seen something new!"

"Second brother, I..."

"I can't accept being called your second brother," Chen Zaisheng retorted coldly.

"What's wrong, Second Brother? Why are you being so heartless?" Chen Zaiguang frowned, looked at Chen Zaisheng, and said loudly, "Third Brother, tell me, what made your Second Brother so angry?"

"It was today... Dad held a big meeting early this morning to talk about... my reinvestment in the supermarket..." Chen Zaiguang said vaguely. Chen Zaiguang knew his second son, Chen Zaisheng, and it was impossible for him to be so angry over this. There must be something else that his third son hadn't told him the truth.

"hehe!"

As expected, Chen Zaisheng scoffed after hearing this and tried to get up and leave, but Chen Dong quickly grabbed him. "Second Brother, whatever it is, we're all family, just talk it out! Don't hold it in, anger will hurt your health!"

"Third Brother, I heard from Uncle that you were the one who suggested not taking a share in the supermarket. Why did you suddenly decide to take it now? Did your wife put pressure on you?" Chen Dong asked jokingly.

"Third brother, it's not that I'm criticizing you, but your wife is so petty. As her uncle, I can't really say anything to her. I've almost lost my temper and yelled at her several times," Chen Zaiguang thought that it must have been Lin Ruiqing who caused the trouble and angered Chen Zaisheng.

"Brother, who are you trying to insult?"

Chen Zaixing hadn't arrived yet, but his voice came first. He and Chen Zailong had come to borrow the car, and when they saw Chen Zaiguang was there, they had an expression that said, "I knew it."

"Fourth and Fifth Brothers, you've come at the right time. Tell me, what exactly happened this morning?"

"It's nothing serious. It's just that my third brother and sister-in-law were thinking about reinvesting in the supermarket, so they had a few words with my second and fourth sisters-in-law and my husband."

"Did that make your second brother so angry?"

Chen Zaiguang didn't believe it. His second son was an intellectual and didn't usually care much about money. If Chen Zaiguang and his wife really wanted to reinvest, they could talk to him properly. If Chen Xiangui agreed, he would probably agree too.

"It was my third sister-in-law who was complaining about how my third brother was being taken advantage of, how she was dragging my second brother to the county for medical treatment, and how much of his monthly salary he was handing over to the family, trying to take credit for it. My two sisters-in-law couldn't stand it anymore, so they started arguing and brought up the fact that my third brother was secretly withholding his salary, which made my second brother angry!"

"Hidden deduction of wages?"

Chen Zaiguang looked at Chen Zaiguang in a deep voice, "Third brother, tell me honestly, when you worked at the meat processing plant, you earned a little over 62 yuan a month. How much of that did you give home?"

"Ten... dollars!"

With a loud slap, Chen Zaiguang slammed his hand heavily on the coffee table, then stood up, about to go and hit Chen Zaiguang, when the fourth brother, Chen Zailong, quickly stepped forward and, together with Chen Dong, stopped him. "Big brother, don't do that!"

"Chen Zaiguang, you're always complaining about being poor, so this is how you scheme against me?" Chen Zaiguang angrily pointed at Chen Zaiguang, "How did you get your job? When your second brother was sick, when did you ever think of finding him something to eat on the way to the hospital?"

"I misjudged you," Chen Zaiguang said, his anger followed by deep disappointment. Back then, Chen Zaisheng had tuberculosis and was physically weak. His family wasn't well-off, and there wasn't much nutrition to supplement his diet. Chen Zaiguang felt anxious and heartbroken seeing this.

Every month, he scrimped and saved, setting aside most of his salary, along with his wife Zeng Xia's share, to improve the family's living conditions, hoping to cure his second son's illness. He had originally thought that his third son's monthly salary could also help out, but unexpectedly, even before the family split up, he had already secretly kept some money for himself.

Chen Zaiguang was very disappointed!

No wonder Chen Zaisheng was so angry. Back then, Chen Zaisheng pulled so many strings to get Chen Zaiguang a job at the meat processing plant as a cook. But how did Chen Zaiguang treat his second brother? He secretly pocketed money for his own use and didn't even buy Chen Zaisheng a single thing to eat on the way to the county hospital for treatment. He didn't even think about whether his seriously ill second brother would go hungry on the way.

"Big brother, second brother, I was wrong!"

"Now you know you were wrong! How can you live with yourself after doing this?"

Chen Zaiguang kept his head down and remained silent. Chen Dong sighed, "Forget it, it's all in the past. Third Brother, you go and get busy in the kitchen!"

Chen Dong had no choice but to send Chen Zaiguang away first. At this moment, Chen Zaiguang was just keeping his head down like an ostrich. Sending him away first would make Chen Zaisheng and Chen Zaiguang even angrier, and he would come back later to give them a good talking-to.

Chen Zaiguang slowly walked out of the office, only to hear his elder brother Chen Zaiguang cursing inside, "They've completely lost their conscience!"