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

Upon hearing his brother-in-law Wang Wenxi's words, Huang Bingkun immediately kicked him. Wang Wenxi had anticipated this kick from his brother-in-law, and ran away with a chuckle.

"Let me tell you, don't try any of these underhanded tricks on me. If you cause trouble, I won't be able to face Xing's side anymore." Huang Bingkun, who had been the production team leader for so long, was quite principled in his dealings with people and things and didn't like to play dirty tricks.

Although he wanted to get the task assigned by Chen Zaixing done as soon as possible, he didn't want to resort to any underhanded tricks; he couldn't even get past that mental hurdle himself.

He knew his brother-in-law Wang Wenxi was right; those people were indeed difficult to deal with. But that was precisely why he needed to restrain himself and not act recklessly. This was a cooperative project with the district government, and Huaxing Real Estate Company's first project. If he acted recklessly and caused the company to be implicated, how could he face Chen Zaixing?

Huang Bingkun took out his car keys, pressed the unlock button, and the white car parked in the courtyard beeped and flashed its lights twice. Huang Bingkun got into the driver's seat and said to Wang Wenxi, "Get in the car and let's go check on Aunt Wang."

Wang Wenxi got into the passenger seat with a bitter face, and complained as he fastened his seatbelt, "Are we going again? We've been there eight times already, and every time we've been disappointed."

"We have to go, even if it's eight times. This is what we do. You think you can just get paid without doing any work?" Huang Bingkun drove the car out of the compound and sped off towards Huanghe North Road.

The car turned into the Huaxingsheng Supermarket Plaza. The supermarket security guards patrolling the plaza saw Zhaoyebai drive in and knew it was Huang Bingkun's car. They all waved and greeted him. Huang Bingkun offered each of them a cigarette, smiled and said he had something to do, and then led his brother-in-law toward the shantytown.

The two walked into the shantytown, trying to avoid the puddles and mud in the alleys. The shantytown had all sorts of smells, with children's excrement lying everywhere in the ditches, sand dumped haphazardly, and broken bowls discarded indiscriminately.

Most of the residents had already moved out. Before the two even got close to Old Lady Wang's house, they could already hear the sound of Chaozhou opera coming from the radio. Huang Bingkun quickly took two steps and arrived at Old Lady Wang's door, which was tightly closed.

The door was an old double wooden door, with the words "Self-reliance" and "Rebirth" painted on both sides of the door panel. The paint had peeled off so badly that it was unrecognizable. A hole had been chewed out of the bottom of the door panel by rats, which had been repaired and nailed shut with a wooden board.

Hearing the sounds of Chaozhou opera coming from inside, Huang Bingkun went up and knocked on the door, calling out, "Auntie, open the door, it's me, Bingkun."

No one answered, but Huang Bingkun continued knocking and calling, "Auntie, it's me, Bingkun! Are you home? Open the door!"

Wang Wenxi leaned closer to the door and peeked through the crack. He saw Old Lady Wang sitting on a bamboo stool, listening to Chaozhou opera and pretending not to hear. "Brother-in-law, she's inside. I think she's just deliberately not opening the door."

Huang Bingkun was determined to get Old Lady Wang's door open today, so he simply sat on the threshold and kept banging on the door, calling out, "Auntie, I know you're home. Whatever your request is, we can talk about it face to face."

"What's there to talk about?" Old Mrs. Wang, perhaps annoyed by Huang Bingkun's knocking, shouted through the door, "I've already said, 800 yuan per square meter, not a penny less!"

Seeing that Old Lady Wang inside was finally willing to respond, Huang Bingkun hurriedly called out, "Auntie, you're asking for eight hundred right off the bat, it's really putting me in a difficult position. The government is leading the renovation of this shantytown, and the compensation they've suggested is less than thirty yuan per square meter. Our company is adding ten yuan to take care of everyone."

"Auntie, your apartment is 63 square meters, which is already worth 2520 yuan. If you give us the 2000 yuan compensation, Huaxing Real Estate can give you a new apartment, right? Besides, we can also give you an 80 yuan temporary housing subsidy. You'll definitely make a good deal!"

"I said eight hundred, and that's it! This house was left to me by my old man. If you demolish it, where will he find me then?!"

Well, it's that same old rhetoric again. Huang Bingkun rubbed his face. The reason Huang Bingkun came to persuade Old Lady Wang so earnestly was that he knew Old Lady Wang wasn't really greedy, but rather that she couldn't bear to part with the old house.

In the older generation's mindset, deceased relatives would return home on the anniversary of their death. Old Mrs. Wang believed that once the house was demolished, her husband would not be able to find his way home. The thought of her husband not being able to find her brought tears to her eyes.

What other harsh measures can you take against an elderly person like this? Just like Wang Wenxi said, if you break down the door in the middle of the night, drag Old Lady Wang out, and demolish her house, Old Lady Wang would die on the spot.

Huang Bingkun had no choice but to continue his earnest persuasion, "Auntie, listen to me, this house is already sixty years old. The walls are cracked, it's drafty and leaky, and it's not safe to live in. We'll tear it down and build a new house. You can take the compensation money and live in a new house. Wouldn't that be better?"

He wouldn't try to persuade Old Lady Wang to stop believing in ghosts and gods and start believing in science. People of that age are like children; no matter how you try to persuade them, they won't listen. If you say something wrong, you'll get a few curses, which is just asking for trouble.

"I don't care about new houses, I'll live here, and I'll die here!"

Huang Bingkun stood at the door, unsure of what to say. He sighed deeply, at a loss for words. Just then, a woman carrying a net bag suddenly emerged from the alleyway. Seeing Huang Bingkun sitting on the threshold and Wang Wenxi standing to the side smoking, she looked at him with suspicion.

"Who are you, and what are you doing at my doorstep?"

"Your family? What's your relationship to Aunt Wang?"

"I am her daughter. Who are you?" The woman looked at the two with a scrutinizing gaze, came to the door, knocked, and called inside, "Mother, are you home? I saw you've come."

The woman's shout made Old Lady Wang open the door. Old Lady Wang looked at Huang Bingkun and his daughter with wariness on her weathered face. After her daughter went in, she was about to close the door again when Huang Bingkun quickly reached out to stop her.

"Auntie, please let us in and have a seat. Let us talk face to face," Huang Bingkun said, not daring to push the door too hard. If he really pushed over this thin old lady in her sixties, trouble would follow.

"Mother, what are they doing here?" Old Mrs. Wang's daughter stood to the side, looking at the two people outside the door and asked again.

"They're here to steal the house!"

"Oh, Auntie, what are you saying? How did we become people who came to steal houses? Comrade, don't listen to your mother's nonsense," Huang Bingkun explained to the woman. "We are from Huaxing Real Estate Company. This area is a shantytown, and the district government is leading the redevelopment. We are here to talk to your mother about the demolition compensation."

"How much money can you give?"