"Ah~ I finally sent that little tormentor away!"
Su Chen watched Su Qingya get into the taxi, a look of immense relief washing over his face.
After they had that Chaoshan hot pot, Su Qingya had moved into his place under the pretext of learning from him.
She ended up staying for half a month.
Su Chen's father and mother didn't object to Su Qingya's arrival in the slightest. In fact, they were especially happy about it.
After all, she was the only girl in the Su family and had been doted on by everyone since she was a child.
There were three brothers in total in the Su family. Apart from the eldest, Su Zhuyun, and the third, Su Zhixin, there was the second brother, Su Zhiqi, who also had only one son, Su Yan. True to his name, he was incredibly sturdy and currently serving in the military. He was only a year younger than Su Chen.
Su Chen lit a cigarette for himself, his mind filled with the unbearable memories of the past half-month.
Every morning at five, Su Qingya would drag him out of bed for a run, calling it "physical training." The crucial part was that she had the full support of his parents and was granted the "right to beat up her older brother"...
If Su Chen refused to get up, he would be pummeled by Su Qingya's flurrying fists—the kind he wasn't allowed to fight back against.
Never mind the early morning runs, he also had to go grocery shopping and cook lunch and dinner.
In Su Qingya's words: "Bro, as a guy from Wudu, you'll never find a wife if you don't know how to cook. Oh, right... and you have to do chores too!"
And just like that, Su Chen was put in charge of all the household chores.
He'd get up for a run in the morning, then come back to buy groceries and cook. In the afternoon, he'd clean the house and make dinner, and after cleaning up from that, he had to go for an evening run.
This routine lasted for a full half-month...
'It's a story full of bitter tears!'
As soon as he got home, Su Chen called out to his "long-lost" system.
"System!"
[Host: Su Chen]
[Junior God of Wealth: 510,000/1,000,000]
[Wealth: 1,422,400 yuan]
Seeing the number in the wealth column, Su Chen's grin nearly split his face.
After a moment of thought, Su Chen decided not to withdraw the one million-plus yuan. Once his grandmother's birthday celebration was over, he would focus on upgrading the system.
Su Chen was full of anticipation for the rewards that would come after the system upgrade.
......
"When did they fix the roads back home? I remember they used to be all torn up. Only big trucks and motorcycles could get through. How are they all concrete now?"
"I see a lot of the roads go right up to the front doors!"
Su Chen was driving the Tiguan he'd bought earlier... cruising slowly on the road back to his old home in the countryside.
"They were just fixed two years ago. The policies are better now, with road access for every household... even small cars can drive right up to the house," Chen Shufen said from the side.
Su Chen's ancestral home was in a small village under Fuzhou's jurisdiction, about thirty kilometers away.
It took them nearly an hour to get there.
The rural areas around Wudu... weren't like those in the south or the north, where neighbors' houses were all built right next to each other.
Since Wudu is surrounded by mountains, flat land is scarce. So when people built their houses, they all looked for relatively flat spots, which resulted in neighbors living quite far apart from each other.
Su Chen's family home was situated in a mountain hollow where the terrain was flatter. There were four or five other families nearby, and they had all, by tacit agreement, built their homes to form a large courtyard.
It formed a square shape, with a large open space of nearly five hundred square meters in the middle.
"Well, if it isn't the Su family's eldest! You drove back?"
"Aiyo, and it's a Volkswagen! That car must've cost over a hundred thousand, right?"
"Hey~ Did you all see that handsome young man driving? Looks like Su Chen, who hasn't been back in years. Look at him, must've made a fortune out there."
"Look at that kid, all dressed up and putting on airs. Who knows what kind of shady business he's into out there!"
"Heh~ Aunt Li, I think you're just jealous. This is the first car in our courtyard, you know!"
"Tch, what's there to be jealous of? My grandson said... he's driving back this year too, and his car will definitely be better than this piece of junk Volkswagen!"
Everyone just chuckled cryptically. They all knew each other's family situations perfectly well.
They were all thinking the same thing: 'That precious grandson of yours? You'd be lucky if he didn't come asking for a handout. A car? In his dreams!'
Teasing was one thing, but everyone still got up and headed toward the Su family's home. After all, the first car in the courtyard was still a novelty.
Before Su Chen could even get out of the car, he saw four or five old ladies in their sixties and seventies crowding around.
"Eldest Su, you've made it big, huh? Buying a car and all. Must've cost a lot!" As Aunt Li spoke, she slapped the car a few times with her hand.
It was hard to tell if she did it on purpose, but her slaps made the car door go THUD THUD.
"Aiyo, Aunt Li, you gotta be gentler! What if you dent the car?" Su Zhuyun said with a pained expression, rubbing the spot Aunt Li had just hit.
Seeing Su Zhuyun's reaction, a flicker of amusement flashed in Aunt Li's eyes. "This old lady just touched it a few times, and look how heartbroken you are."
"Eldest Su, this car must've cost a pretty penny!" another auntie asked from the side.
"Aunt Chen, it wasn't that much. We're financing it. The down payment was eighty thousand, and ai, now the monthly payments are nearly 3,000!" Su Zhuyun said with a deliberate sigh.
"Eighty thousand for a down payment..." Hearing that number, everyone gasped.
You have to understand, their families couldn't save eighty thousand yuan even if they worked all year round.
Seeing their reaction, Su Zhuyun knew the timing was right. He sighed again and said, "It's all thanks to my precious son. He worked hard for a few years and saved up some money. He saw how hard I worked every day and bought me this car to get around. Otherwise... I, Su Zhuyun, could struggle for a few more years and still not even afford a tire."
On the way back, Su Zhixin had repeatedly instructed him on how to handle the car situation. He knew there would be all sorts of petty drama when they returned and wanted to nip it in the bud.
When the aunties heard this, they all turned their gazes to Su Chen and began to shower him with praise.
"I knew it! That boy Su Chen has a bright future. He even knows to buy his dad a car. So filial!"
"Yeah, if only my grandson were this capable!"
"The Su family has produced a real talent in this generation!"
Su Chen, flustered by their intense praise, felt his face flush. He greeted everyone and quickly went inside the house.
Most rural houses are two stories, and the Su family's home was no exception.
Passing through the main hall, he arrived at the kitchen.
As soon as he walked in, he saw two white-haired elders chopping vegetables and tending the fire.
"Grandpa, Grandma!"
Hearing Su Chen's call, the two busy figures looked up.
When she got a clear look at him, his grandmother immediately put down her knife and exclaimed, "Aiyo, my good grandson is back! Let Grandma see if you've gotten fatter!"
Grandma took Su Chen's hands and looked him up and down, her face filled with joy.
"You're back?" His grandfather had walked over at some point. His once-sturdy frame had become much thinner.
Su Chen remembered that when he first left home to work, his grandfather was all lean muscle, even having a six-pack. And that was when he was already an old man in his sixties.
Now, most of that muscle was gone, replaced by loose skin.
"I'm back!" Su Chen tilted his head up slightly, holding back the tears in his eyes.