1994: Starting with unpaid leave

The second stop was my parents' home in Paotaitun.

As soon as the red bread truck stopped downstairs at my brother's house, old neighbors gathered around to look at it.

When they saw Dong Jianguo driving, they couldn't help but greet him with smiles:

"Jianguo's doing pretty well, he's even driving a car now?!"

"This kid's got potential! I've known he'd amount to something since he was little!"

"Wow, Jianguo, you got your driver's license? This guy's already driving a van!"

"Yes, I just got my driver's license not long ago."

Dong Jianguo got out of the car, smiled, and chatted with his old neighbors for a few minutes.

To make things easier, Dong Jianguo had arranged with the driving school to skip practice sessions and go directly to the testing center...

For Dong Jianguo, an experienced driver, getting a driver's license wasn't difficult; he passed all the tests on his first try, no matter which one.

Of course, you should slip the examiner an extra two hundred yuan during the road test, otherwise he might secretly step on the brake halfway through...

"Come on, don't just stand there and do nothing, help carry the stuff up the truck!"

Upon hearing that work was to be done, the old neighbors scattered in a flurry, disappearing in moments, leaving only the lone bread cart behind.

Dong Jianguo gave a wry smile, jumped out of the car and called out to the building. Soon after, his nephew Dong Xiaojun peeked out from the balcony and was immediately conscripted by him.

The little guy looked miserable while moving things.

"Uncle, you're not being fair..."

"How am I not being considerate?"

"You bought a Little Tyrant (a popular Chinese mobile game console) for Dong Chao and Dong Yue, but you didn't buy me anything... and you still forced me to do chores!"

"Look at you, so pathetic! I brought so much delicious food, why don't you eat a couple more bowls of meat? That's much better than playing games!"

"How can that be the same!"

"Alright, alright, how about your uncle buys you some firecrackers later?"

"A few firecrackers and you think you can get rid of me?!"

Dong Xiaojun rolled his eyes, giving Dong Jianguo the impression that he was cunning and calculating, yet impossible to understand:

"Ten?"

"I want fifteen!"

"Uncle will buy you twenty!"

"Uncle, you're so kind..."

Dong Jianguo: ...

"You better not take a firecracker to the public toilet and blow up poop, and if you do, don't betray me!"

……

When the door opened, Dong Jianguo was surprised to find that it was his sister-in-law, Liang Qiuyue, who opened it.

Ever since the last housewarming party, the conflict between the uncle and aunt has been laid bare on the table.

In addition, the most recent time, his sister-in-law came to the factory and asked him to use his connections with the higher-ups to put in a good word for her, but he was refused.

Dong Jianguo didn't even need to look to know that his sister-in-law definitely didn't have a good attitude towards him.

Unfortunately, they have their parents in their hands.

Dong Jianguo lowered his head and sighed inwardly, then looked up with a genuine smile:

"Happy New Year, sister-in-law! You didn't have to work overtime this year?!"

"Without the leadership's attention, working overtime is useless, so why should I even bother?!"

"That's true. If you don't meet a benefactor, you don't need to work so hard. Making the most of your simple life is better than anything else!"

"snort!"

Liang Qiuyue snorted coldly, turned around and shouted into the inner room, "Mom, Jianguo is here!"

Then she turned and went back to her room, slamming the door shut.

"Oh no, Uncle, you're doomed! You've angered Mom, and you're definitely in for it!"

His nephew, Liang Xiaojun, was gloating on the sidelines, making Dong Jianguo want to kick him.

"Oh, Jianguo's here! Why did you bring so much stuff?!"

This was the third time he had heard this, and Dong Jianguo was starting to feel numb to it.

"I bought this for you and Dad... Is Dad asleep?"

"He didn't sleep. He had someone open the door... He went out to play mahjong to calm down..."

Dong Jianguo was taken aback, then realized: "That's great! Why should someone my age work day and night as a night watchman? I wouldn't earn much anyway. It's perfect for me to enjoy my retirement at home!"

"What's so great about it! Staying at home means having to put up with everyone's attitude! It's even worse!"

Zhang Guifen glanced in the direction of her sister-in-law's room, her gaze clearly pointed.

"Why don't you move in with me? Xiuyun is about to give birth, and you can help me take care of her..."

"Give me a break! Taking care of someone during postpartum confinement is an inhuman job! I almost died of anger when I was taking care of your sister-in-law!"

Dong Jianguo grinned.

That's true.

Women in their postpartum period are indeed difficult to take care of; even a mother and her own child can fight, let alone with the mother-in-law...

At this point, the mother couldn't help but ask:

"What are your plans then? Xiuyun's mother isn't in good health, is she able to come?"

Dong Jianguo shrugged: "I doubt it... Her mother has high blood pressure, and sometimes she gets confused after taking her medication... She doesn't get a full night's sleep while taking care of the child, I don't think she can handle it."

"Her second sister just went home and is on leave, so she has some time, but she's not the type to take care of children. I guess it'll be just the two of us taking care of them ourselves..."

"How can that be?! You're so busy with your business, how can you have time to stay home and take care of the kids?!"

Zhang Guifen glared at her: "Besides, a man should prioritize his career! We finally got the factory up and running, and now you're going home to take care of the kids? What are all the people working for you supposed to do?!"

As Dong Jianguo piled up New Year's goods on the balcony, he explained:

"It's not that I don't care, it's just that I spend more time at home and less time at the factory each day. It won't cause any major problems."

"Keep bragging! If it doesn't work out, I'll just come to your house!"

Zhang Guifen rolled her eyes and sighed.

After Dong Jianguo finished putting away the New Year's goods, he noticed that his sister-in-law's room was still closed. His nephew, Junjun, ran into the inner room to watch TV and waved to his mother.

When Dong Jianguo took out the money, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.

It's clearly about being filial to your parents, so why does it feel like you're doing something wrong?

Zhang Guifen was startled when she saw the thick stack of hundred-yuan bills:

"Young man, what are you doing?!"

"I didn't do anything special, just some money to show my respect to you and Dad... It wasn't much, just ten thousand yuan. Xiuyun and I discussed it, and we decided to let you two experience what it's like to be a ten-thousand-yuan household!"

"Not much...this isn't much?!"

Zhang Guifen nearly popped her eyes out of their sockets.

That's ten thousand yuan! Her monthly retirement pension is less than two hundred yuan!

This amount of money is an astronomical sum for her.

The temptation was great, but after thinking about it, I waved my hand and refused.

"I don't want it, you can keep it!"

"Take it. Xiuyun's parents already gave it to you, so you should at least be treated the same!"

"Give me a break! You need money to run your business, Xiuyun needs money to have a baby, and your father and I, two old folks, how much can we possibly spend in a year?!"

The starkly different attitudes of his mother and father-in-law warmed Dong Jianguo's heart.

"Mom, you have to keep this money even if you say you'd spend it! Besides, we're not short of money."

Dong Jianguo leaned close to his mother's ear and whispered the news to her:

"Your youngest son's got money now, there's almost a million in the factory's account!"

Afraid of frightening his mother, Dong Jianguo deliberately kept quiet and did not reveal the truth.

Upon hearing the number, the mother couldn't help but burp.

Then she realized what was happening and raised her hand to hit her youngest son:

"No way, you have so much money, why don't you help your older brother?!"