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

"Do you understand?"

Huang Bingkun still only vaguely understood, but he pretended to understand and said with a smile, "Hey! Secretary, now that you say it, I get it. Lianzhai Street, hehe! That sounds much more impressive than a village."

"Impressive? You think it's as simple as just changing a name?" Tian Chulian took off his reading glasses, wiped the lenses with his sleeve, put them back on, and pointed to the densely packed words on the newspaper. "Look here, the cadre appointment system is being changed to a contract system. This is serious!"

"Why are you bringing up appointment and hiring systems again? What does that mean?"

"What I mean is, after the county was changed to a district, we cadres also have to change. Before, anyone who could read and write could get a job in the village or brigade office and coast along. Now, you need academic qualifications and diplomas, do you understand?"

"Then what about me, the production team leader?"

"What to do? Just withdraw. Do you understand now?" Tian Chulian said impatiently, making Huang Bingkun anxious. Huang Bingkun understood now. It concerned his "job," so he had no choice but to understand.

"No, isn't this like crossing the river and then burning the bridge? Why should I? I was doing a good job as the production team leader, and now you're just going to take my place like this!"

"And what about you, Secretary?"

"What's wrong with me?" Tian Chulian glared at him. "I've been the Party Secretary for over twenty years, from the production team to the brigade. I've seen all kinds of storms. Let them change things. As long as the people of Lianzhai can live a good life, I'll do anything."

Huang Bingkun walked out of the brigade headquarters dejectedly. The reforms had reached him, the production team leader. Now, in his middle age, he was going to be unemployed.

Huang Bingkun, lost in thought with a cigarette dangling from his lips, stood absentmindedly at the entrance of the village committee office. Chen Zaixing, driving a silver Mercedes-Benz 450, honked the horn, shooing a few children who were playing on the roadside to the side of the road before stepping on the gas and heading home.

When Huang Bingkun saw Chen Zaixing driving, his eyes lit up immediately. He quickly ran towards Chen's house. Being unemployed in middle age, he had to cram at the last minute.

Inside the Chen family compound, everyone was gathered together. Chen Zaixing had just been called back from the Huaxingsheng Supermarket in the county town. The women were sitting in the outer circle, while only the head of the household sat on a stool around the coffee table, watching Chen Dong, Chen Zaiguang, and the others.

With the news that Chen Dong's Jinbu Automobile Industrial Park and Zhang Yi's "Angel" Garment Factory in Lianzhai were about to start construction, and that the Chen family had become completely wealthy, various relatives of the Chen family began to come to their door to borrow money.

Today, Chen Zaisheng's brother-in-law from his maternal family came to borrow a thousand yuan. Tomorrow, Chen Zailong's two wives and aunts will come to Ma Jiao, this sister, to complain. Although they didn't say they wanted to borrow money, they kept saying that they shouldn't forget their own family now that they've made a fortune.

Even Chen Zaiguang was invited to drink at the county's state-run restaurant by his brother-in-law, and Zeng Xia was even held by the hands of her two sisters-in-law, who begged her to lend them some money so that her two brothers could start a brick factory to make money.

Of all the people, only Chen Zaixing, this carefree rogue, was the most shrewd. Wu Fangru's family had also come to her, but Wu Fangru had always brushed them off by saying that she needed Chen Zaixing, the head of the family, to give his approval.

When relatives asked Chen Zaixing for money, he would nod and say, "Okay, how much do you want to borrow?" Then he would pull these relatives who wanted to borrow money to him into the district's People's Bank. When they got to the counter, he would tell them, "I can lend you any amount. Just name your number and I'll process your loan!"

The relative was stunned and immediately said, "I want to borrow from you, not take out a loan from the bank."

Chen Zaixing replied with a smile, "The money I used to open the supermarket was a bank loan! I still owe the bank more than a million yuan right now. My branch in the city is about to open, so where would I get the money to lend you? You need the money urgently, right? I know Director Tian well, and I can process it for you right away."

That relative made him flee in a panic. Just kidding, he only came to freeload, taking advantage of Chen Zaixing's new supermarket and money, intending not to pay it back. Chen Zaixing didn't have the face to chase after him for it.

Chen Zaixing was reluctant to ask him for the money, but the bank wouldn't show any mercy. If you wanted a loan, great, but what would you offer as collateral? If you didn't repay the loan, they would take the house.

He may be shameless, but he's not brainless.

The Chen family's third branch has been plagued by troubles lately. On top of that, Zhang Yi's clothing factory is about to open, and some idiot has spread rumors that Chen Lianxiang will become the factory owner just like her eldest brother, Chen Zaiguang. This has really stirred up trouble among the matchmakers.

Don't let Chen Lianxiang's current divorce and three-child status fool you; she's only thirty-one or thirty-two. With Zhang Yi and Elena teaching her how to dress and style herself, and her constant travel in and out of the village in a car, she's practically a single "rich woman." Matchmakers from the surrounding villages are practically making Chen's ancestral home their daily photo spot.

Sometimes, four or five matchmakers would pull Huang Lanzhi together to arrange a marriage for Chen Lianxiang. Even Chen Lianzhen, who was not yet married, had someone eyeing her. However, the matchmakers who came to arrange a marriage for Chen Lianzhen were all from the county town and were mostly from cadre families.

The couple, Chen Xianhai and his wife, were flattered so much by the matchmakers that they almost lost their bearings. In particular, some of the matchmakers encouraged Chen Xianhai, saying that since his elder brother's daughter, Chen Lianxiang, could get a job as a manager in Zhang Yi's clothing factory, and Chen Lianzhen was also Chen Dong's sister, how could he not show favoritism towards Zhang Yi, his sister-in-law?

Chen Xianhai was thinking of talking to Chen Dong about this, but his wife Yang Xifeng was a big mouth and started talking about it everywhere. When Grandma Wei Shufen found out, she called her daughter-in-law Yang Xifeng over and was about to break her leg with her cane. Luckily, Yang Xifeng wasn't stupid.

The small stick takes the hit, the big stick goes!

She still understands.

Now that all three families had arrived, they sat in the lobby for a meeting, intending to set a tone for the recent messy and absurd events.

As soon as Chen Zaixing entered, the women gathered around looked over. Chen Zaixing was now a prominent figure in Nanshan District. He no longer wore coarse cloth clothes as before. Now he drove a Mercedes-Benz, wore a gold watch, a white shirt and trousers, and carried a briefcase. Anyone who didn't know him would think he was an overseas Chinese businessman returning from abroad.

"Hey! Everyone's here. What's up? Got some money to share?" Chen Zaixing walked into the lobby with a sly grin, greeted his brothers and sisters-in-law, sat down on the bamboo stool reserved for him, put his briefcase on the coffee table with a thud, and took out a pack of Huazi cigarettes to offer to everyone.

"Give me a handyman," Chen Xiangui slapped Chen Zaixing on the head, and only after Chen Zaixing deliberately cried out in pain did he take the cigarette from Hua Ziyan. "What kind of stuff are you putting on? It's all sticky."

"Mousse, imported stuff," Chen Zaixing said smugly, smoothing his hair and fixing the hairstyle that his father, Chen Xiangui, had messed up.

"You're almost thirty, stop using this stuff. I heard it can cause hair loss, and you'll regret it when you're bald," Chen Xiangui said, clearly disapproving of his youngest son's love of showing off, deliberately trying to scare him.

"Being bald is good, Dad. Haven't you heard people say that grass doesn't grow on busy roads, and hair doesn't grow on smart heads?" Chen Zaixing said cheekily. "I'm bald not because of this stuff, but because I'm smart!"