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

Lin Ruiqing had a scarf wrapped around her head, covering her still somewhat swollen face. It was only 7:30 a.m., and the morning mist had not yet dissipated. Along the road in Shangbao Village, people were watching as farm tools were carried into the fields to prepare for a day's work.

Unlike Lianzhai, where the entire village has a uniform cement road, the village road leading into Shangbao is still a gravel road. Some puddles have dried up and exposed yellow mud, and if you accidentally step into one, your shoes will be covered in yellow mud.

As they entered the village, more and more tiled houses appeared. At the entrance of the alley, a few chickens were looking for food with their heads down. They did not hide or avoid people as they walked by. Lin Ruiqing skillfully turned left and right and arrived at the two newly built four-story Western-style houses of her parents' home.

The exterior walls of both Western-style buildings are covered with mosaic tiles, and the ink on the new couplets pasted when they moved into the new house is still bright. There are also two brand-new red motorcycles parked outside the wall. The two Western-style buildings of the maternal brother stand out like cranes among chickens in the whole tiled houses of Shangbao.

Lin Ruiqing arrived at her brother Lin Haitao's door, but found it locked from the inside. She pounded on the gate and called out, "Big brother, open the door!"

Lin Ruiqing patted for a long time before a head finally poked out of the second-floor window. It was Lin Ruiqing's sister-in-law, Lin Yan. When she saw that it was her "generous" aunt returning, she smiled and called out, "Aunt, wait a moment, I'll go down and open the door for you right away."

As soon as the courtyard gate opened, the eldest brother's children surrounded Lin Ruiqing, calling her "Auntie." Lin Yan asked Lin Ruiqing warmly, "Auntie, why did you come so early? Have you had breakfast? If not, have something here. Your eldest brother hasn't gotten up yet."

Lin Ruiqing looked at the dining table by the stairs, which was set with soy milk, fried dough sticks, and steamed buns. Lin Yan smiled and pulled up a chair for Lin Ruiqing. "I made these this morning. The children were clamoring for them last night. Aunt, please sit down and have some."

"No, I already ate when I arrived," Lin Ruiqing said without sitting down. Instead, she walked directly to the living room and looked at her older brother's luxurious home. There was a large color TV and a large refrigerator, the floor was tiled, and even the stair railings were made of mahogany. All of this was real money.

Lin Haitao yawned as he came down the stairs. Seeing his sister standing in the living room looking at their home's decor, Lin Haitao said smugly to Lin Ruiqing, "How about it? The renovations I had done are pretty good, aren't they? Look at this big color TV, it cost me a lot of money."

Lin Haitao walked to the mahogany bench and sat down. Seeing his sister still standing there motionless, he lazily asked, "Ruiqing, what's wrong with you today? Are you out of your mind? Why are you standing there like an idiot? Sit down!"

Lin Ruiqing sat down and untied her scarf. Lin Haitao was busy tidying up the teaware and tea tray that hadn't been washed after they finished drinking tea last night, completely unaware of the unusual swelling on his sister's face.

While eating soy milk and fried dough sticks with her children at the mahogany dining table, Lin Yan called out to her husband, "Don't drink tea on an empty stomach. Go wash up and eat breakfast first, then drink it. If you keep doing this, your stomach will be ruined sooner or later."

"You don't know anything. If a tea drinker doesn't drink tea in the morning, he won't have any energy all day. Besides, my sister is here, so I have to make her a good cup of tea." Lin Haitao said, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, as he started to boil water to prepare tea.

After sitting there for a long time, Lin Ruiqing said to her brother Lin Haitao in a tight voice, "Brother, Zai Guang found out about the money I lent you and my younger brother. I'm here today to get that money back from you!"

Lin Haitao paused in his tea-pouring, his expression shifting slightly. Pretending not to have heard his sister's words, he continued pouring the tea. Once it was ready, he personally placed the teacup on the coffee table in front of Lin Ruiqing. "Here, have some tea!"

Lin Ruiqing didn't reach for the teacup, but instead repeated what she had just said. This time, Lin Haitao couldn't pretend not to hear anymore. He gave an awkward laugh and said, "Oh, little sister, the money you lent me and my brother was used to build a house, and the rest was used to pay off old debts. Now you suddenly come running over asking for money back. Where am I supposed to find the money to pay you back all at once!"

Lin Yanshi also put down her bowl and came over. "Yes, Aunt, just tell your uncle. We're all relatives. Are you worried that your brother and uncle won't pay you back? Isn't that right, Tao?"

Receiving a hint from his wife, Lin Haitao continued, "Yes, sister, we're all relatives. How can you borrow one minute and ask for the next? If you really can't tell Zai Guang, I'll go to Lianzhai myself another day and talk to him."

"My brother-in-law, I lent him some money, and he's afraid I'll run away? Honestly," Lin Haitao said, feigning anger as he looked at Lin Ruiqing, making it seem as if Lin Ruiqing had come to ask for money and he had suffered some great injustice.

"Brother, when you borrowed money from me, you told me you were planning to open a sand quarry and needed funds, that's why I lent it to you. You and your underlings took the money and immediately built a small building, bought motorcycles, and what about the sand quarry? What about the profits?"

"Tsk! We're still negotiating with them, Ruiqing. You don't understand business. We can't rush things. If we invest this money and lose it, we'll lose everything," Lin Haitao started making up lies, trying to fool people first.

"I don't care, I have to get the money back today. If I don't get it back, Guang will divorce me," Lin Ruiqing said, tears welling up in her eyes as she looked at her good brother.

Upon hearing his sister utter the word "divorce," Lin Haitao slammed his fist on the coffee table and roared, "He wouldn't dare! Even if Chen Zaiguang had two dogs' guts, he wouldn't dare divorce you! You just want to borrow some money from him, and he wants a divorce? Tomorrow I'll send my men over to Lianzhai to ask your in-laws if they're even going to continue living together!"

Lin Haitao was just bluffing. If Lin Ruiqing said, "Okay, then come with me to Lianzhai," Lin Haitao would have to make excuses to refuse.

Lin Ruiqing turned her head to show Lin Haitao her swollen face from Chen Zaiguang's slap. "You say he wouldn't dare? This face was swollen in front of my mother-in-law. Brother, I beg you, please pay me back the money first, any amount is fine, so I can have an explanation to Zaiguang."

Lin Haitao, who had just been furious, as if he would dare to punch Chen Zaiguang in the face if he stood in front of him, lost his arrogance upon seeing his sister's swollen face. He stammered, "It's outrageous! How could he... how could he hit you? I... I'll have to go over and talk to him about it another day."

Lin Haitao kept talking but never directly answered his sister Lin Ruiqing's request for repayment. Lin Yanshi's eyes lit up. She couldn't let her aunt come and blame their family. She had to call her uncle's family over as well.

So Lin Yan said, "Aunt, it's not that your brother doesn't want to pay you back, he really doesn't have any money. Why don't you ask your uncle first? He might have some. I'll call him over for you."

Lin Ruiqing frowned as she looked at her elder brother, who was bowing his head and remaining silent, and then at her sister-in-law, Lin Yan, who was rushing out to call for help. Her heart sank. When she borrowed money from her, they didn't say the same thing!