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

The next morning, as soon as the roosters in the village crowed once, the Liu family was already busy. Liu Guomin specially wore a white shirt that he usually couldn't bear to wear, along with black trousers and a pair of leather shoes that his brother-in-law Fang Songmao had polished and lent him the night before. He looked very energetic.

He Guiqin got up early and cooked porridge. Her husband, Liu Guoliang, dressed smartly, squatted at the door with a bowl in his hand. He refused to sit down, saying he was afraid of wrinkling his pants.

Liu Li hadn't gotten up yet, but the noise from Fang Songmao and Liu Jiashui's arrival after breakfast woke her from her deep sleep. She yawned as she came out of her room, scratching her stomach with her hand inside her clothes, looking impatient. "What's all the noise? Can't a person get any sleep?!"

"Mom, what time is it? We agreed last night to go to the Chen family in Lianzhai with Secretary Wang. We need to leave as soon as possible." Seeing her mother's appearance, Liu Jiashui clearly did not take the family's discussion last night to heart.

"What's the rush? Why don't you ask Mr. Wang to wait a moment?" Liu Li said as she walked to the water tank, picked up an aluminum ladle, scooped up some water, squeezed toothpaste onto her already forked toothbrush, and started brushing her teeth.

"Mother, if we don't go to Lianzhai soon, the Chen family might have already eaten breakfast and gone to work," Fang Songmao said, pulling up a bamboo stool and sitting down, placing the net he was carrying on the ground.

Upon hearing this, Liu Lishi, with foam still in her mouth, mumbled, "Rich people don't go out to work hard like us poor people. I think you're just making things difficult for yourselves."

He Guiqin ignored her mother-in-law, Liu Lishi, and went to her room to bring her son out, intending to feed him some rice porridge. She knew that her mother-in-law was a lazy person who would not get up until eight or nine o'clock on weekdays. She was probably still grumpy from being woken up so early today.

Liu Guomin just kept eating his porridge in silence, finishing it in a few bites. He put down his chopsticks, got up, walked to the clothes rack where his towel was hanging, wiped his mouth with the towel, and then handed a Hongmei cigarette to Fang Songmao.

After washing up, Liu Lishi walked to the dining table and immediately noticed the biscuits, fruit candies, and canned goods in the mesh bag Fang Songmao had brought. She just looked at them longingly without saying anything. Instead, Liu Guomin asked, "Songmao, we're going to talk about the children, why did you bring all this?"

Fang Songmao was speechless at Liu Guomin's words. He didn't even understand such basic social etiquette. So he said, "Brother-in-law, we're going to discuss business. We can't just come empty-handed. Otherwise, people will think we're begging for food so early in the morning. Bring something with us, at least it will show that we're sincere."

"Alright, I'll pay you back later," Liu Guomin thought to himself, calculating the price of these items, and turned his head away with some reluctance.

"It's nothing, why are you asking me about this little bit of food?" Fang Songmao waved his hand dismissively and asked Liu Guoliang, who was still eating, "Second brother-in-law, are you done yet? Hurry up."

"Alright, alright," Liu Guoliang said, picking at the last mouthful of porridge in his bowl with his chopsticks before putting the bowl back on the table and leaving the house.

A 28-inch motorcycle that Fang Songmao had borrowed from a friend was parked outside. Liu Guoliang, seeing three people on one bike, asked, "How are we getting there?"

Liu Guomin glanced at the 28-inch bicycle and said to his younger brother Liu Guoliang, "Guoliang, why don't you not go? Songmao and I will go."

"No way, we agreed last night that more people would help speak up." Things have already come to this point, and Liu Guoliang has already put on his new clothes. How could he not go now? "If all else fails, I'll just sit on the crossbeam."

"Don't damage the car that Songmao borrowed from someone. Let's just forget about it and not go," Liu Guomin said, putting on airs like the eldest brother. Seeing that the two brothers were about to argue over this, Fang Songmao rang the bicycle bell and said, "Oh, isn't there Secretary Wang's car? Guoliang, you walk to the brigade headquarters and go with Secretary Wang."

The two brothers then remembered, "Oh right, Wang Fuquan also has a 28-inch bicycle. How could we have forgotten about it?" Liu Guoliang immediately walked quickly toward the street office, while Fang Songmao rode his bicycle with Liu Guomin on the back and followed behind.

At the entrance of Shangzhai Subdistrict Office, Wang Fuquan had already checked his watch for the third time. If he hadn't planned to visit the Chen family today to make a name for himself, he would have already turned around and gone into the Subdistrict Office to drink tea.

Liu Guoliang saw Wang Fuquan standing by the car, smiled and jogged over, "Secretary Wang, I'm here, we can go now."

Wang Fuquan asked sternly, "What are you doing here? Where are your brother and Songmao?"

"They're behind me. I'm going to go with them today to help my brother sort this out," Liu Guoliang said, straddling the back of the old-fashioned bicycle, leaving Wang Fuquan stunned.

"You used to help your brother sort things out, how come you're so capable?" Wang Fuquan looked at him unhappily. Seeing that he had already sat in the back seat, he angrily asked Liu Guoliang, "Aren't you planning to just let me take you to Lianzhai like this?"

"Ah! I can't ride a bike," Liu Guoliang said with a look that said, "You know I can't ride," which infuriated Wang Fuquan. "You're a grown man weighing over a hundred pounds, and you expect me, a retired cadre in my forties, to pull you all the way to Lianzhai? Aren't you ashamed?!"

Fang Songmao saw Wang Fuquan and saw him angrily talking to Liu Guoliang. When he got closer and heard what Wang Fuquan was saying, Fang Songmao frowned and glared at his brother-in-law. He then said to Wang Fuquan, "Secretary Wang, I'll ride your bike and give you a ride. Let my brother-in-law and the others ride mine."

After hearing this, Wang Fuquan felt much better. "Damn Liu Guoliang, that bastard! How could he say something like that? Let me take him to Lianzhai. When we get there, he'll be covered in sweat and out of breath. It's so unbecoming of a cadre like him."

With Fang Songmao's arrangement, the four of them set off on two bicycles. Liu Guomin wobbled along, carrying Liu Guoliang, and struggled to keep up with Fang Songmao. Along the way, people from Shangzhai who were going to work in the fields that morning saw them and asked curiously what they were doing. Fang Songmao just laughed it off.

The four of them rode in silence for half an hour from Shangzhai before finally spotting the large granite stele with "Lianzhai Village" engraved on it at the entrance of Lianzhai Village.

After entering Lianzhai Village, Liu Guomin slowed down his pedaling. Lianzhai has changed so much in recent years. Now, the cement roads in Lianzhai are wide and flat, and newly built small buildings line the roadside. Several motorcycles are parked in front of the houses, and white smoke can be vaguely seen coming from the chimneys of factories in the distance.

The four arrived at Lianzhai Subdistrict Office and found Tian Chulian having morning tea. Tian Chulian glanced at Wang Fuquan but didn't say anything. He told them to park their bicycles in the subdistrict office courtyard and then led them to Old Chen's house.

There were only three cars parked in the parking space in front of the Chen family's old house. At this moment, Chen Lianxiang was putting the three children's schoolbags into the trunk of her white "Zhaoyebai" car. As soon as she looked up, she saw Tian Chulian walking over with his hands behind his back, and then she saw Liu Guomin and others following behind. Her face, which was originally going to greet him with a smile, immediately frowned.

"Lotus Fragrance!"