rebirth from small pockets

Chapter 245 Returning Home

The investment matter was unilaterally shelved by Chen Li.

Although Zhou Xiaoli wanted to find Chen Li to finalize the matter the next day, and even invited Chen Li and Liu Qingqing to visit her home, Chen Li did not agree.

Because the next day, he and Liu Qingqing got on the train back to Sichuan Province.

In fact, to be honest, with Chen Li's current income situation, he can actually afford to fly.

Especially when he and Liu Qingqing bought sleeper tickets, the price difference between the price and the discounted ticket was actually not that big.

The reason why everyone thinks it is expensive is because the national income is very low these days. So at first, Chen Li actually wanted to book a flight.

But just two days ago, the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the State Planning Commission jointly issued a policy stipulating that air ticket prices are not allowed to be discounted.

It is said to be to prevent price wars between airlines, as well as the loss of state-owned assets and decline in profitability caused by disorderly competition among airlines.

To be honest, Chen Li didn't know that there was such a ban on folding in domestic aviation history.

So when Chen Li heard the news, he gave up his plan to fly.

A discounted ticket costing several hundred yuan is still acceptable to Chen Li, but if it is too expensive, it would be better to take the train!

After all, Chen Li and Liu Qingqing were returning to their hometowns to celebrate the New Year, and they were not in a hurry.

But for Liu Qingqing, Chen Li's behavior of buying a sleeper berth ticket was actually luxurious enough.

The ticket price for a hard seat was originally more than 100 yuan, but Chen Li raised it to nearly 400 yuan for a sleeper berth ticket, and Ms. Liu nagged about it for a long time!

When Chen Li's brother-in-law and aunt came to Yanjing before, Chen Li also bought sleeper tickets for them. Chen Li was also talked about for a long time, saying that he was a waste of money.

Well ~ most people are like this these days, save money if you can!

As for enjoyment, except for a very few people, most people don't care much about it.

To be precise, it’s not that I don’t care, but that I don’t care much about the enjoyment of traveling.

In many people's minds, as long as there are no seats, it is acceptable.

But this concept is different here with Chen Li. After all, many of his consumption concepts have been influenced by more than 20 years later, so it is completely worth spending a little more money to make yourself more comfortable.

The two-day train journey was uneventful at all!

This is the advantage of sleeper carriages, which are much higher than hard-seat carriages in terms of safety and comfort.

Two days later, Chen Li and Miss Liu appeared at Yingzhou Railway Station carrying two large boxes.

The same exit, but this time the person who came to pick up Liu Qingqing was not her third uncle, but Liu Jianjun!

Uh~ This makes Chen Li look much more honest in the van.

In fact, there is nothing you can do about being dishonest, because the person driving the car was Liu Jianjun, and Liu Qingqing sat in the passenger seat.

Along the way, Liu Qingqing was like a lark, chatting non-stop with her old man.

Chen Li can basically only insert a few words occasionally.

In fact, it wasn't that he didn't want to interrupt, or that he couldn't handle the situation, but Mayor Liu Da simply ignored Chen Li.

This made Chen Li's heart skip a beat~ He wondered if Mayor Liu knew something?

And the fact is just as Chen Li imagined, Mayor Liu did know something.

This matter was actually done by Chen Li himself.

When Liu Jianjun sent Chen Li and Liu Qingqing to Yanjing to report, when they returned to Sichuan, Chen Li bought a bunch of local specialties from Yanjing and asked Mayor Liu to help bring them back to Erlong Town.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with this. Even Liu Jianjun felt that Chen Li was a sensible child.

But Chen Liqian shouldn't have bought a bunch of things for Liu Qingqing's mother, his future mother-in-law.

If Chen Li bought less, it would be understandable, but Chen Li not only bought a lot, but the most important thing is that Chen Li sent as many things to Liu Qingqing's family as he did to his own family.

Uh~ It is true that Chen Li didn't pay attention to this matter. He only thought about not treating one favorably, but ignored Liu Jianjun's feelings.

After Mayor Liu Da returned to Erlong Town with a bag full of snakeskin, he first sent the things Chen Li brought home to the grain station, and then returned home with the remaining things.

At that time, Liu Qingqing's mother Jiang Rong didn't know that her husband had noticed something was wrong, so she praised Chen Li for his sensibleness while packing his things.

Then Mayor Liu asked a question!

"Are you hiding something from me?"

Mother Liu didn't react at first, but after Mayor Liu said in a suspicious tone that something was wrong between Chen Li and Liu Qingqing, Mother Liu directly confessed everything.

And the most terrible thing is that he didn't even let Liu's mother tell Liu Qingqing that he knew about this.

So at this moment, both Chen Li and Liu Qingqing are actually wasting their acting skills.

Because the truth of the matter has long been known to Mayor Liu Da.

But at this moment, Chen Li and Liu Qingqing are still pretending to be ordinary classmates. This is actually quite comical.

Of course, Chen Li and Liu Qingqing didn't know about it, so they didn't feel embarrassed.

Although Chen Li had some suspicions, he had no evidence, so he just thought that Mayor Liu had encountered something unsatisfactory at work today, but he didn't think much about other things.

Finally, the van drove into the familiar yet unfamiliar town of Erlong.

I say familiarity because Erlong Town is still a run-down and poor town.

It's strange because in the six months since Chen Li and Liu Qingqing left Erlong Town, Erlong Town has indeed undergone some changes.

First is the road!

At first, Mayor Liu took a sum of money from Snow Beer and Huilong County, and then an asphalt road from Erlong Town to Huilong County was built.

Before, Chen Li and others came from the direction of Yingzhou, so they didn't feel much on the road. But when the van drove into Erlong Town, the feeling was different.

The old broken cement road in the town has disappeared, replaced by a clean and tidy asphalt road.

Of course~ not only the road has changed, but also the houses on the roadside!

Six months ago, there were only a few self-built small buildings scattered on both sides of the road in Erlong Town.

But half a year has passed, and now more and more houses have been built or are being built on both sides of the road.

Chen Li even saw a four-story house under construction in Erlong Town. Only the new house of Li Yuan's family had four floors and one bottom.

This means there is another guy making money in Erlong Town!

Yes~ Even though Erlong Town is so backward and poor, there are still smart people who will find opportunities to make a fortune.

There are many smart people in this world. Li Yuan's father is one of them, and there are also others.

For example, the owner of this building on the fourth floor and the first floor!

Another example is Chen Li!

Unfortunately, Mayor Liu's speed was so fast that Chen Li didn't even have time to see who the owner of the house was before the van had already entered the Erlong Grain Station.

What surprised Chen Li was that the section of road from Erlong Grain Station to Erlong Street has also been repaired.

Although it is not a concrete road, the originally bumpy dirt road has now been smoothed out to be extremely smooth.

"Didi~didi!"

When the van arrived at the grain station, Mayor Liu honked the horn three times, and then

"Get out of the car quickly~ I have something else to do!"

"Uh~oh~ok!"

Chen Li quickly agreed, then picked up his suitcase and got out of the car. When he turned around to say hello to Liu Qingqing and Mayor Liu, the van emitted a cloud of black smoke and drove away!

And the words Mayor Liu left before leaving still linger in the air.

"The day after tomorrow, come to my house for dinner!"

Mayor Liu didn't even wait for Chen Li's reply. He drove the van around the cement dam of the grain station and headed towards the gate of the grain station.

In fact, at this time, Chen Li had already realized that something was wrong, but he had no time to think about it.

Because following Mayor Liu's three horn blasts, Chen Li's family members had already walked out of the house.

"Brother~!"

The first person to bear the burden is naturally Chen Li's sister Chen Xue. This girl is a sophomore in high school this year, so she has an early vacation.

"Brother Li~!"

Then the person who rushed over was Chen Li's cousin Wang Yan. This girl now lives in the Chen family.

There was no way, her parents were sent to Yanjing by Chen Li, and they wouldn't even come back to celebrate the New Year this year, so Chen Li told his mother to leave Wang Yan at the grain station.

"Son~!"

The last person to speak out was Chen Li's mother. As for Chen Li's father, he just walked over silently and took away the suitcase in Chen Li's hand.

We haven’t seen him for half a year, and now his family is treating Chen Li with great enthusiasm.

The level of this enthusiasm will gradually decrease as Chen Li stays at home.

Of course, for a sensible child like Chen Li, the enthusiasm of the family will decrease more slowly.

If it were Li Yuan, he would basically stay at home for no more than three days before he would be disgusted by the old man.

"Wash your hands quickly and get ready to eat!"

It was already close to two o'clock, but the Chen family hadn't started eating yet, just to wait for Chen Li to join them.

Today's meal was quite sumptuous.

Pickled fish, boiled meat, mushroom stewed chicken, and all kinds of cured meats.

To be honest, this level is basically the same as Chinese New Year.

And Chen Li could tell that most of these dishes were made by his old man, because his mother couldn't make pickled fish and boiled meat.

However, not all the dishes on the table are made by Chen Guofu, such as this dish.

"Brother, try it, I made this, tomato scrambled eggs!"

After seeing Chen Li's eyes on the dish he cooked, Chen Xue immediately extended an invitation to Chen Li in a way of asking for credit.

"Uh~ Are you making scrambled eggs with tomatoes??"

Chen Li was a little stunned. He did recognize this plate of tomato scrambled eggs, but what kind of tomato scrambled eggs would be black?

This kind of black color is not the kind of black color that is fried into paste, it should be added with seasonings such as soy sauce.

But it can make the tomato scrambled eggs turn black. How much soy sauce should be added?

"Well, I originally only wanted to put in a little bit, but accidentally put in too much."

"But it still tastes very good, brother, try it!"

Chen Xue looked at her brother expectantly, while Chen Li stretched out his chopsticks after thinking about it for a while.

"Hmm~! It's okay!"

Chen Li stuffed a chopstick of eggs into his mouth, chewed them twice and nodded!

When Chen Xue heard Chen Li's comments, a smile instantly appeared on her face, but before her smile blossomed, Chen Li spoke again.

"It shouldn't kill anyone!"

"Haha~! This girl, when she was cooking, she didn't hold the bottle steady and poured almost half a bottle of soy sauce."

"I said no, she insisted on giving you a taste of her craftsmanship."

There is only one person in this family who would laugh at Chen Xue like this, and that is Chen Li's mother, Ms. Wang.

This is not just a matter of the mother laughing at her daughter, but also because Ms. Wang's own cooking skills are not much better than Chen Xue's.

Even now, Ms. Wang occasionally mixes up the bottles of soy sauce and vinegar, and puts the salt and sugar in the wrong place.

So cooking really depends on talent.

"Oh~ okay! Then don't eat it!"

It can be seen that Chen Xue is very disappointed. This is the first time she has cooked seriously, but the result is a failure.

Chen Xue wanted to move the plate away, but was stopped by Chen Li.

"Why don't you eat? I told you, it's okay!"

Chen Li smiled and picked up another chopstick of tomato scrambled eggs.

To be honest, it is not easy for most people to make the dish of scrambled eggs with tomatoes too unpalatable.

Anyone with a little knowledge of cooking can almost cook this dish to an "ok" level.

Although the tomato scrambled eggs made by Chen Xue are indeed "a little" strong in soy sauce flavor, it is not inedible.

Of course~ The premise is that it can’t be just this dish.

If he only ate tomato scrambled eggs, Chen Li would definitely not be able to eat it.

But with a table full of delicacies, he was able to pass on this plate of scrambled eggs with tomatoes. After all, this was Chen Xue's wish!

Originally, Chen Li planned to give his sister a warm ending.

But when he first ate a piece of eggshell and then bit into a piece of salt that didn't fall apart, he finally gave up on finishing the plate of tomato scrambled eggs.

But this is enough to comfort Chen Xue's "injured" heart! This can be seen from the reaction of the little girl who keeps picking up other dishes for Chen Li.

Chen Xue was not the only one who served Chen Li with food. Wang Yan on the side also kept serving food to her cousin.

The little girl has been living in the Chen family for more than half a year and is almost half of the Chen family.

The little girl is no longer depressed as she was on Wangjia Mountain, and now she is starting to become more lively.

Chen Li's stomach was full after eating this meal. He couldn't help it. Two little girls on the left and right kept bringing him food. It was difficult for him not to eat.

"Hiccup~! Okay~ I can't eat anymore!"

Chen Li hasn't eaten so much in a long time. The last time he was full was the last time!

After eating, Ms. Wang and Wang Yan began to clear away the dishes, but Chen Xue, a lazy girl, was tired of being around Chen Li.

In the past few years, Chen Li had never been away from home for so long.

Chen Li's parents are actually fine. Although they miss their son a little, Chen Li often talks to them on the phone.

But Chen Xue was different. This girl could only chat with Chen Li on the phone occasionally, and every time her mother would urge her to tell her that the phone bill was too expensive.

"Go get my bag!"

Chen Li rubbed Chen Xue's head and began to arouse his sister.

He had just returned home, and because he had just eaten tomatoes and scrambled eggs, Chen Xue was very proud of him and went to get Chen Li's bag.

"Dad~!"

"this is for you!"

Chen Li took out a passbook from his backpack, the same one that Chen Guofu gave him before he went to school!

"Hmm? Fifty thousand?"

Chen Guofu pinched off the cigarette in his hand, took the bankbook, opened it, and then looked at Chen Li with a serious face.

"Hmm~50,000!"

This passbook originally contained 20,000 yuan, which was the tuition and living expenses for four years of Chenli University.

Later, because Chen Li invested in Guofeng Software, his family gave him another 20,000 yuan.

So in total, the family gave Chen Li a total of 40,000 yuan. Of course, Chen Li was too lazy to forget the fractions.

"Business is good?"

Chen Guofu didn't usually communicate much with Chen Li, and even when he called, he rarely asked about Chen Li's business matters.

"Well~ the business is not bad, I made some money, but I can still use the other money. I plan to continue to open branches next year."

"So I can only bring so much to my family for the time being!"

Chen Li explained, and Chen Guofu nodded.

"Hmm~! Then ask your mother to pay back the borrowed money tomorrow, and you can take the rest with you then!"

"Didn't you say you still want to open a branch after the New Year? My family is not short of money!"

Chen Li shook his head. He knew what his father meant, but he knew the situation at home better.

In fact, the Chen family's current financial resources are empty.

Chen Guofu works on a construction site, and his monthly salary is just over a thousand, which works out to just over ten thousand a year.

When Chen Li wanted to invest in Guofeng Software, his family's savings were almost wiped out. Chen Guofu even advanced part of his salary with Li Yuan's father.

But Chen Xue is still studying, and Chen Li's mother is also taking care of her at home. This expense is entirely supported by Chen Guofu.

So in fact, Chen Guofu was busy for a whole year last year, and in the end he didn't save any money. Almost all of the money was given to Chen Li.

"Dad, I have saved the money to open a new store!"

"Not only did I set aside the money to open a new store, I also set aside the money I borrowed from Li Yuan."

"Let mom keep this money, and the extra money will be my filial piety to you and mom."

"When we make money next year, we will build the house over at Xinjiekou."

“I looked over the Xinma Road today and many people’s homes are being built.”

When it came to building a house, Chen Guofu did not refuse and directly collected his bankbooks.

"That's right~ It's really time to repair the house."

"When you graduate from college, you can settle things with Qingqing!"

"Well~ you are thinking quite far ahead!"

Chen Li's eyes widened. When did he have this idea?

"I!"

(End of chapter)