13: Has Chen Qiuzhen made money?

The old men chatting on the street corner lifted their cloudy eyelids.

The middle and elementary school students returning home in twos and threes pointed and gestured excitedly.

They had often seen the Xiaomi SU7 on short video apps.

This was the first time they had seen one in person; it was quite a novelty.

But these were the only people in the village right now.

That damn former company of his had laid him off on the 10th just to save on the year-end bonus.

This timing was neither here nor there, making it extremely awkward.

Some universities were still holding final exams.

As for the real blue-collar workers, they usually had to toil away until around the Little New Year before they could start their holidays.

Therefore, there weren't many young people in Nankeng Village right now, and it seemed a bit desolate.

Nankeng Village.

Its administrative division belonged to the suburbs of the suburbs of Gan City.

It was a standard, slowly changing urban-rural fringe.

But this area happened to be stuck right at the border between Gan City and the neighboring Kang City.

Over the past few decades, its jurisdiction had been kicked back and forth like a ball between the two cities countless times.

This had led to it becoming a stepchild that neither father nor mother loved.

Although it was now considered a suburb of Gan City, its economy was terrible, and development plans always seemed to bypass it.

Every household's economic level was uniformly poor.

If it weren't for the new rural development a few years ago which resulted in some demolitions, the village would still be covered in large swathes of mud-brick houses.

And families like Chen Yujie's, who had slightly better conditions, had long since been unable to stand the environment here and had moved to residential areas closer to downtown Gan City.

Chen Qiu parked the car steadily on the concrete pad in front of his house.

An old, battered silver van was already parked on the pad.

Chen Qiu's father, Chen Zhide, was a handyman at a nearby furniture factory.

He usually drove this van to haul goods between various factories and do odd jobs.

This van could be considered his means of production.

It was also the only four-wheeled vehicle in Chen Qiu's family.

Besides that, there was only an electric scooter that creaked when it ran.

Seeing this brand-new, eye-catching Xiaomi SU7 pull up, neighbors from several nearby houses who were picking vegetables and chatting at their doorways all looked over curiously.

"Yo, has Chen Zhide's family got guests?"

"This car is really beautiful, I haven't seen it before."

Chen Zhide, who had just gotten off work not long ago, also heard the noise outside.

He was a bit puzzled.

"Whose car is this? Why is such a nice car parked at my doorstep?"

He had never seen it before.

Just then, he saw the car door open.

His wife, Luo Jinglan, stepped out from the passenger seat.

Then his son, Chen Qiu, stepped out from the driver's seat.

His eyes immediately lit up.

"Chen Qiu, why are you back with your mom..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he froze.

"Dad, I'm home."

There had never been much intense display of emotion between father and son.

Chen Zhide looked at his son, whom he hadn't seen in a year.

Although he had heard over the phone that he had been laid off.

But seeing his son in good spirits now, with no limbs missing, his heart, which had been hanging, immediately settled down.

His gaze fell once again on the brand-new car.

"This... whose car is this? And it's a new car."

"Whose? Your son's!"

Luo Jinglan's voice was filled with pride.

Chen Zhide had thought his son had just borrowed a friend's car to drive back and show off.

After hearing his wife's words, he was stunned.

"Chen Qiu, did you buy a car?"

His brows furrowed slightly.

His first reaction was not happiness.

He didn't know how much the car cost, but just looking at its beautiful exterior and shiny paint, he knew it was at least a car in the hundred-thousand-yuan range.

He knew his son's situation best.

After working hard outside for a few years, at most, he would have saved a few tens of thousands of yuan.

To buy this car, wouldn't he have to take out a loan?

With a car loan, plus a mortgage later, and that terrifyingly high bride price...

The pressure on his son's shoulders would be immense!

A trace of deep worry flashed across his weathered face.

But quickly, he suppressed this worry.

He couldn't show such emotions in front of his son.

He walked up to Chen Qiu and patted his shoulder.

"It is time to buy a car, after all, you have to prepare to start a family!"

He glanced at the car again, his tone filled with heartache.

"You must have spent a lot on the down payment, right?"

"How much do you have to pay back every month for the loan? I'll transfer a few tens of thousands to your card later, you first..."

As a father, his first reaction was not to blame, but to think about taking on as much of the burden from his son's young shoulders as possible.

"What down payment! My son is very successful now!"

Luo Jinglan interrupted her husband.

"This car was given to him by his business partner!"

On the way home, Luo Jinglan naturally couldn't help but carefully interrogate Chen Qiu about the source of this car and house.

Chen Qiu couldn't explain the existence of that magical system.

He could only make up a reason that he had actually been laid off a long time ago, and for the past few months, he had been doing business with someone else, earned a little money, and had some small success.

As for the car and house, they were given to him by that business partner who thought highly of him, in order to win him over.

Chen Qiu didn't know how much his mom actually believed.

But he showed her the blue vehicle registration certificate and the red property ownership certificate.

Seeing those two stamped booklets, she had no reason to doubt further.

"Business partner... gave it to him?"

Chen Zhide was completely confused.

Didn't you say you were just laid off? Where did a business partner come from?

But looking at his wife's expression, which was so proud it was almost flying, it seemed... this was true?

"Yo, Qiu, back so early this year?"

"And you bought a new car? How impressive!"

At this time, the surrounding neighbors all gathered around, clicking their tongues in wonder at the car.

"You must have made a big fortune outside, right?"

Their words sounded like sincere praise, but also like cautious probing.

Neighborhood relationships in the countryside are just like this.

They sincerely hope you live well.

But they don't want you to live much better than they do themselves.

When you are in trouble, they might pull you up without hesitation and bring you a bowl of hot rice.

But when you really become successful, they can't help but gossip behind your back.

This is the countryside, simple yet complex human nature.

Of course, there are also one or two bad eggs who simply don't want your family to have a good life.

"Aunt Li, Aunt Xu..."

Chen Qiu greeted them politely one by one.

"No, no, just lucky, made a little money."

The group of aunts were stunned upon hearing this.

This is... really made money?

Immediately after, Chen Qiu opened the trunk and took out his luggage, as well as the things he had brought back for his parents.

"Oh my! Is this a Chow Tai Fook bag? Is there a gold bracelet inside? Qiu, did you buy this for your mom?"

A sharp-eyed aunt was the first to cry out.

"What is that phone box? It looks like that very expensive Huawei foldable phone I saw on videos!"

"Hiss... is this liquor? Is it real or fake?"

"And this tea, the packaging, it doesn't look cheap either, right?"

The sounds of exclamation rose and fell.

The neighbors' eyes were fixed in amazement.