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

Zhao Zhigang was very efficient. He returned to the county committee guesthouse in Chen Dong's Maybach, and after communicating with Director Song Yuanchao, he made an exception and arranged a room for Chen Dong and his family, and used his police identity as a guarantor.

The room was extremely basic, with mottled walls, a pitted cement floor, two hardboard beds, a five-drawer chest with peeling paint, and the only electrical appliance was a dimly lit incandescent light bulb with an old-fashioned pull cord switch. The air in the room was filled with a mixture of dampness and disinfectant.

Zhang Yi, holding the finally asleep Chen Hui, sat on the hard bed, her eyes slightly red and her expression somewhat dejected. "Tony, we...we really can't go back?"

Chen Dong put his arm around her shoulder, about to comfort her, when his stomach growled at the most inopportune moment. After their terrifying journey, they were both starving. Little Chen Hui, half-asleep, smacked his lips and mumbled, "Mommy, I'm hungry... I want a Coke..."

Cola!

In a small county town in China during that era, this was simply a fantasy.

Zhang Yi looked at her son with a mixture of helplessness and heartache, then turned to Chen Dong.

Chen Dong gently squeezed his wife Zhang Yi's hand and whispered, "Don't worry, I'm here. At least, we won't let you and the baby go hungry."

After speaking, Chen Dong stood up, went downstairs, and arrived at the counter. He found Zhao Zhigang sitting upright on a bench in the lobby of the guesthouse. Upon seeing Chen Dong come downstairs, he immediately stood up and asked, "Comrade Chen, is there anything I can help you with?"

Chen Dong didn't mince words and spoke directly to Zhao Zhigang, "It's like this, Comrade Zhao, our family drove all day to get to our county and then went to your office for a talk. Now the child is really hungry, so we wanted to ask you if there's anywhere to eat nearby. We'd like to get some food to take back with us."

As he spoke, Chen Dong opened his wallet and pulled out three hundred-dollar bills. "I don't know the prices in our county. Do you think this money is enough? If not, I'll make up the difference later."

Seeing that Chen Dong took out three hundred US dollars for a meal, Zhao Zhigang hurriedly waved his hand and said, "It doesn't cost that much money. Besides, Comrade Chen, you don't know this, but we in China don't accept foreign currency. You have to go to the county bank or the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office to exchange it for foreign exchange certificates before you can use it."

Upon hearing Zhao Zhigang's words, Chen Dong immediately recalled his experience of traveling to Guba with his wife Zhang Yi. When entering Guba, foreign currency could not be used and could only be exchanged for Guba pesos (CUP).

But it was already almost seven o'clock, the bank had probably closed long ago, and no one from the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office had come either. Chen Dong figured that the place was deserted by now, and he couldn't just let the family go hungry until the bank opened tomorrow.

Chen Dong is, after all, a billionaire with a net worth of billions. In the past, he had professional chefs serving him and bodyguards accompanying him in his own New York mansion. Now, he can't even get a meal. It's too frustrating.

Seeing Chen Dong frown and remain silent, Zhao Zhigang gritted his teeth and said, "How about this, Comrade Chen, I'll personally provide the cash and paperwork to cover your expenses first. You can pay me back tomorrow after you exchange your foreign exchange certificates."

"Thank you, thank you," Chen Dong immediately smiled and took out a pack of already opened cigarettes, took one out and handed it over, "Please try to give me a few things, the child is really hungry right now, thank you for your help, Comrade Zhao."

"It's alright, it's alright. Comrade Chen, you go upstairs first, and I'll bring your food up in a bit," Zhao Zhigang said as he watched Chen Dong go upstairs. After instructing Li Mei and Wu Chunhua at the counter, he then went out to the restaurant.

Meanwhile, upstairs in the room, after Chen Dong went downstairs to find something to eat, Zhang Yi took out her phone, which had lost signal, from her bag again, turned it on, and decided to try her luck to see if there was a signal.

After pressing the power button, nothing happened for a long time; the phone was still displaying a progress bar. Curious, Zhang Yi took Chen Dong's phone and pressed the power button as well, only to find that it also displayed a progress bar, just like her own phone.

After Chen Dong returned and closed the door, Zhang Yi hurriedly held up their phones to Chen Dong and whispered, "Tony, look, what's going on here!"

Curious, Chen Dong wondered if there was a signal. He took his phone from Zhang Yi and saw a red progress bar in the center of the black screen, already at 80% and still slowly moving. Puzzled, Chen Dong asked Zhang Yi, "Honey, what's going on?"

"I don't know, I just wanted to turn it on to see if there was a signal, and this is what happened as soon as I turned it on," Zhang Yi replied.

Chen Dong could only say, "Wait a bit, let's see if the progress bar is full, then wait for it to boot up."

After both phones reached 99% progress, they seemed to get stuck and stopped. Chen Dong thought the program had crashed and stopped, so he planned to hand the phones to Zhang Yi to put away.

Unexpectedly, both phone progress bars simultaneously showed 100%, then a vibration appeared, and a dark blue screen appeared in front of Chen Dong, prompting: Activate WTO Shopping System?

Yes!

no!

Chen Dong looked at his wife Zhang Yi in shock, and asked in an incredulous voice, "Honey, did you see that? A screen of light appeared in front of me!"

Zhang Yi's voice trembled as she gripped Chen Dong's hand tightly. "Tony, I saw it! It's right in front of me! Is it a projection?"

Chen Dong tried to touch the "Yes" button with his hand, but found that he could not click it. He had to use his mind to control it and click "Yes".

Then another prompt popped up on the screen: Confirm to open the WTO shopping system. Once opened, it cannot be cancelled!

Chen Dong clicked "Yes" again with his mind, and then the screen flashed brightly, and a huge blue star icon flashed by. Zhang Yi stared blankly at Chen Dong's operation.

After the icon flashed by, a personal homepage appeared, displaying the names and ages of Chen Dong and Zhang Yi. Chen Dong browsed through it and found that in the upper right corner, his personal account balance was displayed as: US$4285020000!

Meanwhile, Zhang Yi's personal account balance is: US$2345230000!

Chen Dong looked at Zhang Yi, and Zhang Yi also looked at Chen Dong, tentatively asking, "Could it be that these balances are calculated from the total amount of our assets over there?"

Zhang Yi's parents only have her as their daughter. Her parents are shareholders in several American companies, including Carson Shipping, America's largest shipping company, in which they hold a 15% stake. The total value of their shares in other companies is a respectable 2.3 billion US dollars.

Chen Dong inherited all of his grandfather Chen Shengyu's estate. The old man had built a vast business empire in America over decades, with his largest holding company being Huadongsheng, the third largest chain supermarket in America!

The Chen family owns more than 43% of Huadongsheng. As for the other companies invested in by the old man, Chen Dong can only find out the specific details by hiring the family lawyer Jason.