CHAPTER 39

Shen Yaozong didn’t leave, but he usually stayed in the backyard at home and didn’t have much interaction with the front yard, so they didn’t bother each other. The old man asked him to observe carefully and do market research. He often went out, and no one knew what he was doing.

Li Xia just got her driver’s license, and the old man gave heran imported an imported American car. She was so surprised that she didn’t know what to do. She looked back at her husband,, thanked him,him, and accepted it. The old man’s actions were all for his son. If Shen Haiyang said to accept it, she would accept it.

The children were looking at the new car and were and were very happy. They had ridden in Grandpa’s car many times before, but this one belonged to their family, so it felt different. Li Xia wanted to take the children for a ride, but the old man asked the couple to go in and talk, so she said hello to the children and asked them to wait.

After entering the house, she made milk powder for the father and son, and the three of them sat down on the sofa to talk. The old man did not beat around the bush and directly took out two passbooks from an envelope and handed them to Shen Haiyang. Li Xia leaned over and saw that they were all in foreign languages.

“What”What is this?”

“Two deposits, put in the Federal Bank. One for $200,000 is for Haiyang’s future medical treatment. If he needs surgery, this will definitely be enough. The other $300,000 is for the three children’s future college education. It’s enough, according to the current Harvard tuition. If there are any changes in the future, we will make adjustments.”

Li Xia finally understood what he meant by “he is too old to have anything else but money.” Some of his assets in the United States have been transferred back to China, but most of them are still in the United States. The money from partners is the biggest part, and there is no need to transfer money back and forth between the two countries. The cash went directly into his account, which was a way to manage his assets while making arrangements for his children and grandchildren.

In addition to the investment, the old man kept the cash for his son and grandson independently, which was not affected by his investment or Li Xia’s business. The old man said nothing, mailed the passbook back, and bought a car before giving it to them.

“Thank you.” Shen Haiyang said, not for the money, but for his kindness.

“I want to thank Grandpa on behalf of the three children.” Li Xia thanked him sincerely. The old man treated the two children she brought with her and Shen Hui equally, which was worthy of her respect.

“But, Dad, it’s not easy to study abroad in the United States, right? Huihui and Yiyi can work hard on their own, but I’m afraid Huihua won’t be able to pass the exam with her grades in painting.”

The old man sat back with a smile on his face. “You can also study at an art school in the United States.”

“Um.”

That’s great; her daughter can go abroad in the future. In the 1990s, students studying abroad were so rich. As for whether the money was enough, if not, she would pay for it. And looking at the old man, once his factory was running, it would make a fortune, so there was no need for her to pay for it.

She put away the passbook and calmed down. “Dad, let’s go out for a drive to test the new car. Do you want to come?”

“I won’t go. I’ll just take a stroll around the area. Please drive carefully.”

“Ohkay, I know.”

The passbook was put away, and the children were taken for a ride. The new car performed very well, but Li Xia was not very good at driving. She would brake immediately if there was any disturbance on the road.

“Mom, it’s the way you drove that caused the three of us to almost fall into the front glass.” Huihua touched her nose, which had just hit the back of the front seat.

“Dad’s driving is still the best.” Yiyi touched his nose and offered his opinion.

“Mom, you should practice more in the future. It seems that you will become more stable the more you drive.” Shen Hui said this in a rather subtle way and reached out to touch his forehead.

Li Xia also knew that she had stepped on the brakes too hard. If her husband, who was sitting in the passenger seat, had not been wearing a seat belt, he would have been thrown into the windshield. She smiled embarrassedly, and Shen Haiyang spoke up to help his wife out.

“Don’t discourage mom’s enthusiasm. Mom just got her driver’s license, so it’s inevitable that she’s nervous. It’s good that she knows how to brake. At least she won’t drive into the ditch or hit a tree.”

The three kids looked at each other without saying anything, then smiled secretly. What? Dad, you have such low expectations. It’s good enough as long as your wife doesn’t throw you into the ditch.

Seeing the children laughing in the rearview mirror, Li Xia also smiled. Driving is a matter of practice. Her husband was right. She would become good at driving after driving more.

Before going to bed at night, she played with the car keys and said, “It seems that everything the old man gave you is cheap to me now.”

The house and the shop were all in her name. Because of the nature of his job, he certainly couldn’t drive to work, so the old man gave the car to her. The old man also made preparations for the children’s education fund and the money for his medical treatment, so she now has no worries.

“Husband and wife are one; what’s mine is yours.”

She smiled brightly and put her arm around her husband’s waist. “The old man intends to let Shen Yaozong stay to manage the factory. If you are not interested in this kind of job, will the old man train you to do business?”

“He mentioned it before, and I refused.”

“I knew he wouldn’t be so partial.”

Shen Haiyang likes his job very much. The old man has never raised him since he was a child, so he has no right to persuade him to change his career. He would probably be turned down by his cold attitude as soon as he opened his mouth.

“We are just the two of us; let me say a few more words to you.” She looked like she was talking about a private conversation between husband and wife. Shen Haiyang nodded silently, and she continued.

“The old man grew up in China and has a filter for China. Now is indeed a good time for development, and his judgment is correct. He thinks this place is good and wants his youngest son to open up a new world here. As a mother, I understand his heart as a father very well.

However, Shen Yaozong grew up in the United States and was taught that China was very poor and backward. In fact, it is indeed the case now. Will there be any problems with such a big difference between father and son? ”

“It’s true that the old man wants to keep Shen Yaozong in China to manage the business, but he won’t force Shen Yaozong to stay if he insists. Now Shen Yaozong can’t persuade the old man to return to the United States, but he is reluctant to give up all these and leave on his own. The old man wants Shen Yaozong to know more about China, but it’s hard to say how effective it will be. As you said, without filters, people in China are all eager to go abroad, not to mention that he grew up abroad.”

“Shen Yaozong is the same. If you don’t like this place, just leave. According to the old man’s style, no matter who manages the factory, these properties will definitely belong to you two brothers in the future. Is he afraid that the old man will leave it all to you and he won’t get a share?”

“He is not optimistic about the domestic situation. I think he is probably worried that the old man will lose everything he has in his life. When the big river dries up, there will be no small river left, and everyone will be left with nothing.”

Li Xia had never thought of this. However, from a different perspective, as someone who grew up in the United States, the current situation in China is really not good. The number of returning overseas Chinese only increased in the 1990s, and now they are all bold and sharp-sighted.

“Well, do you want to remind the old man?”

“He knows what he is doing. He gave Shen Yaozong a way out and asked him to stay and observe for a while. As for effectiveness, it’s hard to say. How to do it is his business.”

“Okay, just a quick chat with you. Time to go to bed. Sleep.”

The next day, Li Xia went to apply for a business license. The weather was not good, so she drove out. Nowadays, there are few cars on the road, so she drove to the Industry and Commerce Bureau quickly.

“Rainbow, the name of the store is Rainbow.”

After applying for a business license, she expanded the scope of her business as much as possible. She grouped all the fabric and clothing products together and then opened a hardware business. With the development of the times, people’s requirements for housing and home furnishings are getting higher and higher, and hardware products are definitely selling well.

To get a business license, things have to be done step by step. When she returned home at night, the front yard was quiet, and Qin Mu was picking vegetables in the yard. She came to help, and Qin Mu chatted with her.

“Your second brother-in-law came back this morning and advised the old man to withdraw his investment and return to the United States. He said that he would lose everything here. Tell me, is our country really so unpromising? Every day he is unwilling to help his father with his work, and the more he sees, the more he advises the old man to give up.”

“For many years, our country has been labeled poor, and now the living standard is far behind that of the United States. He doubts our country’s consumption capacity, but he should not doubt the old man’s investment vision. This man is too conceited or stubborn. He probably won’t believe something even if the facts don’t slap him in the face.”

Qin Mu looked up at her and said, “Is the United States really that good? Are we so far behind them? Otherwise, why would they look down on everything?”

“I heard that there is a big difference. Nowadays, going abroad is popular, and many people in big cities are scrambling to go abroad. There are only a few who are willing to pay any price to go abroad, and those who have a long-term vision like the old man are few and farsighted.”

In her previous life, she heard about a story about a man in Beijing who sold his courtyard house and went to the United States. When he returned to China ten years later, he found that his wealth accumulated in the past ten years abroad was not even worth one fifth of the money he had spent buying that house.

“You have good vision.”

Qin Mu admired her very much. Li Xia smiled and said nothing. She was cheating, standing on the shoulders of giants. But she didn’t deserve the praise. She walked and pondered, and the things she saw and heard on TV in her previous life were slowly put into practice. In the process of practicing, she discovered new things. She was changing little by little, just like in this era.

The family chatted at the dinner table, and the old man asked about Li Xia, and she said she went to apply for a business license. “There are so many people; this year is obviously different from last year.”

“It’s changing little by little, and only those who observe carefully can see it.”

The old man picked up a piece of tofu, moved his chopsticks towards Shen Haiyang next to him, and finally put it steadily into his bowl. The father and son met each other’s eyes, and Shen Haiyang said thank you in a low voice.

Because Shen Yaozong’s family was not at home, Shen Haiyang’s family had dinner with the old man in the backyard. The old man tried to pick up some food for his son, and when he saw that it was successful, he smiled and picked up a piece of braised pork for his grandson.

“Children are growing up, so they should eat more meat.”

“Thank you, Grandpa.”

Yiyi smiled and held out the bowl. “Grandpa, I want one too.”

“Okay, all of them.”

After clipping and drawing for her, the little girl looked up and thanked him generously. She was nine years old, and she had grown a lot in the past two years. Girls develop early, and when they stand together, she is taller than Shen Hui.

The old man likes children, and Li Xia and her husband are also happy to have them get close. They eat and talk at the table; the little ones chatter about their holiday lives, and the adults chat with them from time to time.

Without that family, they ate in harmony. The old man drank a bowl of grain porridge with some side dishes. He didn’t eat much and basically didn’t eat meat, but he required meat for every meal. It was very convenient to buy things by exchanging US dollars for foreign exchange certificates.