1994: Starting with unpaid leave

Dong Jianguo ignored his second brother-in-law, helped his wife to the dining table and sat her down, gently patting her back.

"It's just a necklace, why get so angry?"

"This isn't about the necklace! This is a birthday gift you bought for my mom. Why should you just give it to her like that?!"

Xiuyun was clearly stubborn and insisted on her decision while sobbing.

Dong Jianguo sighed.

He could understand, to some extent, the obsession the man had with his wife.

Children are the apple of their parents' eyes and the apple of their eye.

But when you stretch out one hand, the five fingers aren't all the same length.

Moreover, parents treat their children differently.

Even among biological children, there are still differences in closeness and distance.

He has never seen parents who treat him equally in his life.

Xiuyun's current state is actually the result of pent-up anger that she has been holding in since childhood, which she is now unleashing today under the pretext of the necklace.

"What's wrong? Why are you crying for no reason?"

My father-in-law, Zhou Yuejin, came in last and had no idea what was going on. He's still completely bewildered.

Seeing that he could no longer hide it, Zhang Jinlong spoke up:

"Dad, the factory's not doing well right now, so we workers have to find our own way out. I recently found a good opportunity, but I need some capital. I was thinking of asking Xiuyun and Jianguo to borrow some money to tide me over, but Xiuqing wanted to borrow from Mom... Xiuyun overheard us just now, so..."

After explaining, Zhang Jinlong turned to look at his sister-in-law:

"Xiuyun, don't cry. Your brother-in-law isn't the type to borrow money and not pay it back. Don't worry, once I earn the money, I'll definitely return the chain to Mom!"

"I see..." Zhou Yuejin frowned.

Since his wife had already agreed, he couldn't very well refuse.

So he could only gently persuade his most obedient youngest daughter:

"Xiuyun, it's just a necklace, nothing serious. Now that you're better off, you don't need to worry about this little bit of money. Your mother is helping your second sister's family out of kindness. You should understand and support her..."

Hearing her father say that, Xiuyun's lips trembled, and she cried even louder...

"Cry, cry, all you do is cry! It's such a small thing, what's there to cry about?!"

The second sister, Zhou Xiuqing, came out from the inner room, holding in her hand the gold chain that Dong Jianguo had given to his mother-in-law.

"Let me tell you, it's only because you two are making money now. Once Jinlong and I make money, we'll definitely buy an even bigger one for Mom!"

Make money from the stock market to buy gold chains?

Dong Jianguo could only laugh when he heard this.

He didn't know anything else; he only heard an expert say that stock market investors are born to lose money and contribute to the company's development...

With experts and professors like these, how can investors not lose money in the stock market?!

Dong Jianguo looked up at his second brother-in-law and felt that his head had become much larger, and he could vaguely see the word "wronged" on his forehead.

"Alright, second sister, stop talking. I'll give you two thousand yuan, we can buy the chain ourselves, okay?"

"real?"

Zhou Xiuqing's eyes lit up.

The whole family was there for her last birthday, and she knew that the gold chain was only worth a little over 1,600 yuan.

If you actually find a gold shop to exchange it for cash, you might get a discount.

If Dong Jianguo really spent two thousand yuan to buy it back, he would actually make a profit!

"Jianguo, a real man has to keep his word!"

Dong Jianguo nodded: "Of course, sister, give me the chain first, and I'll send the money to you and brother-in-law later."

Zhou Xiuqing rolled her eyes: "That won't do. What if I give you the things and you don't pay me?!"

"Although you gave this chain to Mom a long time ago, once it's in your hands, things are hard to say..."

Zhang Jinlong cleared his throat, frowned, and interjected:

"Honey, what are you saying? Is Jianguo the kind of person who doesn't keep his word?! Mom and Dad are right here. If he really takes the chain and doesn't give you the money, how will we face them in the future..."

Dong Jianguo waved his hand: "Alright, alright, brother-in-law, don't try to frame me. If you don't trust me, I'll go downstairs to the convenience store and call someone to send the money!"

"That won't do! If word gets out, who knows what people will say about our family!"

My brother-in-law spoke in a grand and righteous tone, but silently moved aside from the doorway, making way for Dong Jianguo to leave...

Seeing that his actions spoke louder than his words, Dong Jianguo glanced at his father-in-law and mother-in-law.

Although both of them looked a little embarrassed, neither of them said a word.

Understanding the two elders' meaning, Dong Jianguo smiled:

"It's okay, I won't tell anyone. I'll go make a call right now..."

"I'll go with you!"

Xiuyun had cried enough, so she got up, touched her face, and went downstairs with Dong Jianguo.

"Where are you going? Just stay home and rest. Dinner will be ready soon..."

"I'm not eating anymore, I have no appetite! I'll go back to Crane's Taste with you."

As Xiuyun spoke, she glanced at her second sister, rolled her eyes at her, and then pushed open the door and left her parents' house.

Dong Jianguo followed his wife out of the house.

"Hey, you little brat, who are you looking at with that condescending attitude! Who do you think you are, being so disrespectful to everyone!"

The second sister glared and was about to chase after them, but her arm was grabbed by her husband:

"That's enough. They're not going to give you the money, are they? Don't be so unreasonable. If you push them too far, Jianguo might not give you the 2000 yuan. What can you do then?"

Father Zhou Yuejin also sighed:

"Yeah, and no matter what, your sister helped you this time. She just glared at you a couple of times, so what? She's not going to lose a piece of flesh, is she?"

"You and the third brother fought since you were little, and continued to fight until you each started your own families."

"Go ahead and fight. When your mother and I are both dead, you two sisters can fight it out in front of our graves, and we'll be your referees from underground."

Sensing the displeasure in her father's tone, Zhou Xiuqin quickly turned around, took his arm, and said coquettishly:

"Oh, Dad! What are you saying? I just can't stand Xiuyun's smug, self-satisfied face!"

"My son Jinlong told me that investing in stocks is a sure-fire way to make money; you can just lie at home and count your money. It's much better than those two young people struggling to sell eggs!"

Zhou Yuejin frowned and nodded:

"You two better watch out, lest you get hit by a pie falling from the sky and die at home!"

He looked at his second son-in-law, feeling somewhat uneasy:

"The way Jian Guo looked just now, it seemed like investing in stocks wasn't a very reliable thing to do?"

"Why don't you two just give up this and stick to selling eggs with Jianguo? He doesn't just sell eggs anymore; he also owns a food processing plant called Crane Flavor. Didn't you hear what your sister just said?"

"So what if she owns a factory?! So many factories have closed down these days! What makes them any different?! Besides, even if Zhou Xiuyun owns a factory, she's still your daughter and my sister!"

What Zhou Xiuqing finds most unacceptable is losing to her younger sister.

Yes, we can't lose in any aspect!

Zhang Jinlong knew his wife's temper, so he immediately changed the subject:

"Dad, Mom, let's not just wait around, let's eat first."

"Anyway, if Xiuyun doesn't eat, Jianguo probably won't eat here either. Mom's health isn't good; we can't let her get sick from hunger..."

Hearing his second daughter and son-in-law say this, Zhou Yuejin sighed and sat down at the dinner table.

After the family of four finished their meal, the knocking on the door rang again.

Dong Jianguo brought 2000 yuan to the door, exchanged it for the gold necklace without any further words, and was about to leave.

The money was originally intended to be lent to his second brother and sister. Now, not only had he lent it out, but he'd also gained a gold necklace. Dong Jianguo felt he'd made a profit and hadn't lost anything.

The second sister and her husband also felt that they had received more money than expected, and for a while they did not feel that they had lost out.

And so the family, which had just been arguing, finally reconciled once again.

Somewhat worried, Zhou Yuejin called out to his third son-in-law:

"Hey, Jianguo, your second brother-in-law wants to invest in stocks. What do you think about this?"

"What can I do? Offer my blessings, understanding, and respect..."

"Um...so if you were your second brother-in-law, what would you do after getting the money?"

"I think setting up a barbecue stall is better than playing the stock market. Okay, Dad, Xiuyun is still waiting in the car hungry... I'm off!"

As Dong Jianguo spoke, he turned and left without the slightest hesitation.

Watching his third son-in-law's retreating figure, Zhou Yuejin sighed and shook his head.

At this point, he felt even more uncertain about his second son-in-law's decision to enter the stock market...

Inside the living room, the second son-in-law had already turned on the radio.

He knew that his father-in-law had a habit of listening to storytelling after lunch to relieve boredom.

Zhou Yuejin repeated what Dong Jianguo had just said, and Zhang Jinlong smiled:

"Dad, don't listen to his nonsense. Jianguo is just afraid I'll make more money than him! That's why he's trying to scare you!"

"Yeah?"

"Absolutely! Stocks are a quick way to make money; you can have everything you need just by staying home!"

Just then, the radio broadcast came on:

"The taste of cranes, the flavor of cranes, Crane's Flavor Braised Eggs reminds you to be on time..."

Zhou Yuejin was startled and patted his second son-in-law on the shoulder:

"Hmm? Jinlong, did you hear what was said at the beginning of that story?"

"Were we just talking about building national factories?"

"Huh? No way?" Zhang Jinlong didn't take it seriously at all.

"Dad, you must have misheard. These days, getting a 'GG' in the media is incredibly expensive. Let's not even talk about TV; just look at the radio station. One 'GG' can cost several hundred or even a thousand!"

"Jianguo isn't stupid; he wouldn't throw money away like that!"

After counting the money, Zhou Xiuqing continued picking up the bowls and chimed in:

"That's right, Dad! If Jian Guo is really that rich, I can't just sell that gold chain back to him for two dollars; I'll have to charge him at least four or five thousand!"

After hearing what his second daughter and son-in-law said, Zhou Yuejin remained silent.

But he didn't give up. There was a rebroadcast of the storytelling that night, so he could listen to it carefully then...

……

On the other side, Erzhuzi rushed over to give him money without having lunch.

Dong Jianguo didn't stand on ceremony and took him and Xiuyun out to a restaurant for a big meal.

During the meal, Erzhuzi couldn't help but remind him:

"Brother Jianguo, when you called the finance department to ask for money just now, Tian Lina's face looked extremely ugly."

"After hanging up the phone, I went with her to the finance office to get the money. On the way, she kept complaining to me that she was poor and that the factory was almost out of money..."

Dong Jianguo frowned.

He was indeed aware of this situation.

Apart from a few snacks sold through door-to-door sales that brought in cash, the money supplied to the railway bureau had not yet arrived.

This is normal, though. For companies that order large quantities of goods, even if they settle accounts, it will be delayed for three to five months or half a year, and some even settle accounts once a year.

Rumor has it that there are even more ruthless state-owned enterprises that can drag out small contractors' payments until they're broke...

Then, having no creditors means having no debts...

These business tactics allow core enterprises to act like mythical creatures, frantically devouring funds from upstream and downstream partners.

But that's part of the business game.

There's no magic bullet to solve this problem.

The reason why Crane's Taste can still operate and have food and drink is entirely because it has poured all the profits from wholesaling eggs into it...

However, Dong Jianguo also knew that he could not show his difficulties in front of Xiuyun and Erzhuzi, otherwise the news would spread quickly and the morale of the entire factory would fall apart.

"That's normal. What business doesn't involve upfront payments?"

"Maybe after we get the GG (Good Product) done, our offline promotion will be easier, and the factory's financial situation will improve. Come on, have some food!"

……

In the afternoon, the three returned to the factory.

As soon as they entered the factory gate, Tian Lina's face darkened, and she pulled Dong Jianguo into the gatehouse.

Xiuyun followed her in with a curious expression.

"Factory manager, I really can't handle this accounting work anymore. Perhaps you should find someone else!"

"If all else fails, you can invite a God of Wealth to worship. That way, whenever you need money, you can pray to him; it'll be more effective than calling me."

Dong Jianguo was left speechless, both amused and exasperated by what she said.

"No way, no way, I'm not bankrupt yet, am I?!"

"Hehe, I feel like it'll be soon."

"The settlement period for eggs and chicken feet from Angxi Farm is in two days. We've just spent 2000 yuan, and we only have a little over 1,000 yuan left! Let's see how you're going to pay it back!"

Dong Jianguo thought for a moment:

"There are still two days left, right? Besides, we don't just sell eggs from Ang Hei District; we also sell eggs from other farms. We can pool our money and get the payment out by then."

"But you're just robbing Peter to pay Paul! Sooner or later, all four walls will collapse, and you'll be crushed to death by a falling beam!"

"Tian Lina said fiercely."

She wasn't cursing him; it's just that when she tried to reason with him, Dong Jianguo acted as if he were deaf.

She could only resort to this extreme measure to remind Dong Jianguo to be careful.

Dong Jianguo hesitated for a moment after hearing this.

Making money wasn't difficult for him; he owned a fully paid-off house, and he could get a considerable loan even if he mortgaged it.

But... I mortgaged the house to the bank right after moving to the new place, and I don't want Xiuyun to feel so insecure.

Therefore, this move can only be made last.

All we can do now is urge the Harbin-Chengdu Railway Bureau to see if they can collect some payment for the goods.

"Alright, I can picture how bad the situation is from your description. I'll try my best to solve it as soon as possible, don't worry."

"Think of a way, think of a way, what are you going to do to come up with a solution? How many times have I told you, you can't spend money so recklessly."

"You spent 2 on the radio station's fees in one go, why didn't you think to talk to them about installment payments or something?"

Tian Lina walked out of the gatehouse with a look of disdain, like a mother watching her daughter buy things at a street stall without knowing how to bargain.

After she left, Xiuyun realized just how much difficulty and risk lending money to her second sister had brought to the factory.

"Jianguo, shouldn't we have lent money to my second sister and brother-in-law?"

"Yes, theoretically speaking, yes."

"However, considering the bond between you sisters, I think it's good to help if I can. Besides, 2000 yuan isn't much. It's just a drop in the ocean."

"You're just bragging. Tian Lina didn't say that just now."

"That's not necessarily true. As the saying goes, there's always a way out, and after the darkest hour comes the dawn."

"I refuse to believe that God would let a blind sparrow starve to death!"

No sooner had Dong Jianguo finished speaking than the doorman's landline rang...