The night passed uneventfully.
Tan Jincheng had been sleeping very comfortably these past few days.
After Jiùmā arrived, she took over all the affairs left by Jiùjiu and also took on the responsibility of caring for Jiùjiu.
Occasionally, she would call Tan Jincheng over for a meal.
In fact, Tan Jincheng greatly admired Fourth Jiùmā.
After Jiùjiu's accident in his previous life, she did not choose to remarry, nor did she bring a husband home like some other widowed middle-aged women in rural areas.
Instead, she chose to support the family independently.
Fourth Jiùmā spoke very loudly, and her temper was not good after Jiùjiu passed away, for which she was often criticized by villagers.
However, according to Tan Jincheng's observation, this bad temper was more like a form of self-protection.
If you've lived in the countryside, you'd understand that environment.
A woman raising a child alone, even with many siblings in the family, can easily be bullied.
Having a bit of a bad temper isn't necessarily a bad thing; at least others won't dare to bully you easily.
After getting up, Tan Jincheng called Jiùmā:
"Jiùmā, I won't be coming over today. I have to go to the city in a bit."
"You go do your thing, no need to come over every day. Are you coming over for dinner tomorrow on Mid-Autumn Festival?"
"Yes, I'll go tomorrow, but let's skip dinner. Tomorrow I'm bringing a friend to visit Jiùjiu at the hospital."
"Huh? What kind of friend is it that you have to formally inform me? It couldn't be a girl, could it?"
Wu Lamei laughed.
Having been there for a few days, Wu Lamei had heard her husband mention, and had also seen, some of her eldest nephew's so-called friends come to visit.
Most of them would drop things off and leave, and some came with the eldest nephew, but there was never any prior notification.
She had heard from her husband that her eldest nephew seemed to be quite close with a girl.
This girl wasn't from his factory, but she could freely enter and exit his office.
Almost everyone working in the Shanchi office building knew about this.
"It is a girl, but it's not what you're thinking. We'll go tomorrow afternoon, but let's skip dinner. Jiùjiu is lying in a hospital bed, so it's not very appropriate. We can eat at home once he's discharged."
"You're right, we can't entertain people at the hospital. You go do your thing, don't worry about us."
"Okay, Jiùmā, if you need anything, you can call me, or if you need a car or something, call someone named Sun Yuming. Jiùjiu has his number, and I've already spoken to him."
"Understood, understood. Your Jiùmā has traveled all over, so don't worry."
"Alright then, that's all for now."
With that, Tan Jincheng hung up the phone.
Wu Lamei, who was at the hospital accompanying Zhang Qingliang, smiled and said to him,
"Your eldest nephew is bringing a girl to visit you tomorrow. We'll tidy you up tomorrow, and remember to shave your beard."
"Oh, he dares to bring her over now? Last time I asked him, he didn't admit it."
"He still hasn't admitted it. He said on the phone it's not what we're thinking. Remember not to talk nonsense tomorrow; young people are thin-skinned."
"He's thin-skinned? He's got thick skin."
"What do you, a grown man, know? Doing business and falling in love are two different things. Besides, even if you don't care about him, you should think about the girl, right?"
"I know, I know. Tomorrow, take a good look at what kind of girl she is. My sister still calls me often to ask about this."
"Your sister is too anxious. Jincheng is so successful now, there's no need to worry about him not finding a wife. He's not even 20, not yet of legal age."
"It's precisely because he's too rich, she's afraid he'll go astray. Haven't you seen it on TV? Rich people spend their days carousing. My sister wants to find someone to keep him in line."
"Then your sister is really overthinking it. Jincheng has always had his own ideas since he was a child. He dared to go out to sea at seventeen or eighteen. Where would you find a girl who could keep him in line?"
"That's true. But it's also good that this eldest nephew is successful now. Maybe Wenzuo will have to rely on him in the future. With Wenzuo's grades, he might not even get into high school. We might as well send him to his factory to screw in bolts."
"Sigh, grades are indeed a headache. But he still needs to go to high school. If worst comes to worst, we'll buy him a spot in a high school for three years and then see."
"Won't that cost tens of thousands again? It looks like I won't be able to work this year. How about we repair the house later and save the money first?"
Zhang Qingliang frowned.
Wu Lamei glanced at him, then pursed her lips and said,
"Don't worry about the money. The driver is fully responsible, so they'll pay whatever they owe, and you won't lose out on your lost wages. Besides, Jincheng gave me 50,000 yuan when I first arrived."
"Didn't you say this money couldn't be taken? The car accident has nothing to do with him. If we take this money, wouldn't people curse us to death?"
"But I still have to return it. I've tried to return it four or five times, but he won't take it. So I just had to save it for now. Anyway, I dare not spend this money."
Zhang Qingliang sighed,
"Oh, what a mess this has turned into. Actually, every time Jincheng saw me, he told me to pay attention to safety. Now that I think about it, his reminder was right. I was careless myself, otherwise this wouldn't have happened."
Speaking of which, their family's income this year is truly not low.
Originally, the two houses in Yicheng and Beicang were leased for 60,000 yuan.
Later, Jinyi's office and Zhang Xupeng's house were added, bringing in another 60,000 yuan.
Earning 120,000 yuan a year, something they never dared to imagine before.
All of this was brought by the eldest nephew.
Currently, all expenses during the hospitalization are paid by him.
Needless to say, after the car accident compensation comes through, given the nephew's character, it's impossible for him to ask for these fees again.
Therefore, Zhang Qingliang really didn't want to accept the 50,000 yuan.
If he really took this money, working for his nephew and then taking workers' compensation, wouldn't that make people backstab him?
"Sigh, let's just keep it for now. If we really can't refuse, we'll give it to your sister after we go back,"
Wu Lamei sighed, she also didn't want to accept the money.
In their perception, there was no such concept as workers' compensation.
They had seen fellow workers get into accidents.
If the boss had a conscience, they might compensate a few thousand or even ten to twenty thousand.
Those without a conscience wouldn't care at all, and one could only blame themselves for their bad luck.
"That's the only way then. If your sister doesn't take it, we'll buy things for Jinyue little by little later on. We'll buy good stuff and try to spend all this money."
"Are you kidding? 50,000 yuan for children's things, how long would that take to spend? You might as well say it's Jincheng's betrothal gift when he gets married."
"Huh? That actually sounds feasible. So, when that girl comes tomorrow, should we give her a red packet?"
Zhang Qingliang's eyes lit up.
Wu Lamei rolled her eyes at him:
"Are you crazy from being hospitalized? If you're going to give a red packet, you'd do it at home, not in a hospital."
---
While Zhang Qingliang and his wife were chatting about their eldest nephew, their eldest nephew was already driving his newly bought Audi A6 on the way to Yongcheng University.
With a two-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, Tan Jincheng also planned to relax properly.
Today, they would go shopping in the city center, then stay there for a night, and return to Beicang together tomorrow morning.
Beicang in 2005 was like a construction site awaiting revival, there was really nothing fun to do.
Fenghuangshan Seaport Paradise wouldn't officially open until February next year.
Yangshashan seaside could be considered a decent place to go, its beach was quite good, but the problem was that the quality of tourists was too low, and management was almost non-existent.
The garbage everywhere severely affected the experience.
Another option was Jiufengshan, but climbing mountains on a hot day was somewhat crazy.
As for shopping malls and cinemas?
Sorry, none existed yet.
The state-owned Beicang cinema-theater, with just one hall, wasn't considered a proper cinema by Tan Jincheng.
Fubang and Yintai shopping malls had not yet been built.
The only place to go was probably the arcade outside the Darunfa hypermarket.
In those days, the spiritual life of young people in Beicang was truly lacking.
Besides internet cafes, KTVs, and arcades, there really seemed to be no other good places to go.
The only other option was to take a one or two-hour one-way bus ride to the city center for entertainment.
At the entrance of Yongcheng University, Gu Qingqing was looking around.
The agreed time was now, so why wasn't he there?
With Gu Qingqing were several of her roommates.
The four stood together, and the tall Gu Qingqing was very conspicuous.
Xu Manli had seen Tan Jincheng before and had eaten with him at the cafeteria.
This time, she had pulled along two other roommates to meet him in person.
After parking the car, Tan Jincheng walked towards the four figures.
Soon, Gu Qingqing and the others also saw him.
Today, Gu Qingqing was clearly dressed up.
In a white cinched long dress, her original small ponytail was replaced by long, flowing hair.
From a distance, she looked ethereal, while up close she had the air of a city lady.
Her delicate face seemed to have a touch of light makeup, and she appeared to have applied some lipstick, making her look bright and charming.
"Tap, tap, tap."
Gu Qingqing took small steps, slowly walking towards Tan Jincheng.
Only when she reached his side did she say,
"You changed cars again?"
"It's just one car. It's quite inconvenient when the management needs to go out, so I bought another one. That other car can be left at the company for them to use."
"You're quite a thoughtful boss. These are my three roommates. You've met Xu Manli before. This is Zhao Wenjia, and this is Chen Yanan."
"Hello everyone, Happy Mid-Autumn Festival."
Zhao Wenjia was petite, while Chen Yanan was a girl with a round face and a bit of baby fat.
Both of them looked quite cute.
It was Xu Manli's second time meeting him, and she considered herself more familiar:
"Hello, Boss Tan, and Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to you too. We're leaving Qingqing to you; we're going shopping now."
"No problem. Have fun, and I'll treat you to a meal next time we have a chance."
"Alright then, you said it, we'll be waiting!"
"We're heading off now."
"Okay, goodbye."
After seeing the three off, Gu Qingqing looked around the Audi and couldn't help but ask curiously,
"This car looks so big, how much was it?"
"650,000 yuan. What kind of car does your dad drive?"
"My dad drives an old Santana."
Tan Jincheng nodded.
As expected of a Yiwu relocatee.
An old Santana wasn't much now, but more than 10 years ago, it was like a god-tier car.
His paternal uncle, Tan Lixin, also had one.
He remembered that in his previous life, after his uncle's business grew, he also changed cars frequently, but he was always unwilling to replace that Santana, keeping it.
This was probably the unique sentiment of men from that era.
"Get in, let's go shopping too."
"Where to?"
"Tianyi Plaza."
(End of this chapter)
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