Chickens and dogs fly in chaos and rebirth

Chapter 59

Zhang Chunhua constantly complained that Zhang Hongwei was unfilial and never served his mother-in-law. It wasn't that she didn't complain, but when she saw what she was enjoying, she calmed down.

You serve me every day, but when have you ever spent money to buy me even a pound of fruit?

As for that company in Shanglin... I don't know how big, how good, or how much money it makes, but farmers are honest. If they're managing something for someone else, they have to manage it well, not badly! The third boy is good; he's flexible in his dealings with people, but his abilities are only so-so. Does he dare to manage a big company?

What if you two lose money and just quit? My granddaughter will have to clean up the mess.

Thinking about that old lady from Shanglin's story about the accountability system makes me uneasy. I'll lose money, and then there'll be accountability issues. It's not just about paying out the money; I could go to jail… You're all fine, but my little granddaughter goes to jail? Pah! Dream on! No matter how far away she is, she's still my granddaughter!

Seeing the old lady's expression, Zhang Chunhua vaguely guessed what the old lady was thinking. She spat inwardly and cursed the old lady, then turned her attention to figuring out how to get all her family members into the company.

Xinglong Foods is out of the question; it's owned by Zhang Hongwei alone. He wouldn't even go to help her when she offered, preferring to use distant relatives rather than his own family.

The one in the provincial capital, on the other hand, is far from the central government's reach, and it's someone else's company. There are many positions available, the work is easy and the pay is high, and it sounds respectable...

………

When her husband came home from get off work, Zhang Chunhua was tending to the freshly dried bedding. She said there was food on the table, spread out the sheets, and smelled them. Hmm, they had just been washed and smelled of laundry detergent and sunshine.

Qiu's younger brother sat at the dinner table for a long time without saying a word. She was puzzled. Whenever he came back, he would talk about his experiences and feelings. His mouth was like a woman's mouth, and she couldn't stop him no matter what she did. Before marriage, he was called eloquent; after marriage, he was called a woman's mouth.

"What's wrong with you?" It's hot, and her husband can't stand the heat. He had told her to take out the bamboo pillow a long time ago, but she was afraid of catching a cold, so she only took it out today and left it to dry in the sun all afternoon.

He hesitated and said, "That matter concerning your nephew might not be possible."

Zhang Chunhua immediately glared at him with her slanted eyes: "No? Who said no? If I say yes, then there's no no—I'm not trying to criticize you, but you're still Shanglin's uncle. You finally made a request, how could Hua Qianshan possibly refuse you?"

He stammered, "It wasn't Hua Qianshan... Shang Lin went to the company today and rejected it for me..."

Zhang Chunhua slammed the bamboo pillow in her hand onto the ground. The sound of the pillow hitting the smooth marble floor was ear-piercing, accompanied by a series of bouncing and rolling noises. Still not satisfied, she threw off the folded quilt, her chest heaving with anger.

"This won't work, that won't work, and even my family members can't enter the company! Are they trying to kill us? The company belongs to the Yin family, not the Qiu family. A maid is holding the keys; does she really think she's the master?"

She turned to leave, but her husband quickly stopped her, asking, "Where are you going?"

She roared, "I'm going to find Zhang Hongwei! The old lady can't interfere in her granddaughter's affairs, but shouldn't she, as the mother, at least do something about it? Let her see how her good daughter bullies her aunt!"

Uncle Qiu grabbed her arm desperately, trying to stop her from leaving the house, sweating profusely as he pleaded, "No, no, even my sister-in-law doesn't care..."

"I don't believe it. She crawled out of her mother's womb, how could she not listen to her mother? She's been at odds with me since she was little, and she still is now that she's grown up. What does a child know? It's not all because her mother stirs things up and talks badly about me behind my back!" The more she talked, the more reasonable she felt. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that it wasn't just Shanglin's problem, but rather a conflict between sisters-in-law, and now the revenge had come.

"You have no idea, your nephew is really outrageous. He was gossiping about the company right in front of Shang Lin at the head office, and she caught him red-handed!"

Zhang Chunhua was taken aback, and stopped pulling away, slowly calming down: "Tell me, what happened?"

After her husband explained the whole story and mentioned the company's newly issued policies, she gradually calmed down, though she still gritted her teeth in resentment.

Uncle Qiu concluded, "They're really not targeting us. What they said is true. With such a large company and branches all over the country, there can't be any order without rules. From the head office down to the branch offices and directly operated stores, everyone is trained and tested in batches. If they fail twice, they're dismissed. And it's not just this year; there will be assessments every year. To be honest, I think it's outrageous. Even if Hua Qianshan is made of iron, he can't manage so many things. This method is actually good; those who just coast along can get out, and those with real ability can be promoted so the company can develop..."

Zhang Chunhua spat at him: "You idiot! Aren't you just coasting along? Aren't you worried about getting fired? Don't think your niece is anything special. If you're not up to par, she'll fire you without hesitation. I'll see you cry then!"

After her anger subsided, she was immediately filled with worry about her husband losing his job.

His job wasn't particularly good or bad, but it was enough to support a family of three, making them quite well-off in Zifang Town. For the past few years, she hadn't worked or farmed, renting out all her land and staying home to take care of her husband and child. They had no worries about money or food; if her husband lost his job…

Uncle Qiu smiled proudly: "Don't worry, I'll definitely pass. Don't look down on me because I wasn't a great student back then. I was busy working all day and didn't have time to study. It's different now. I'm studying the professional books that Shang Lin specially bought for me, starting with the simplest ones. She also said that the exam won't be too difficult. As long as everyone's grades are acceptable, there's no need to worry about losing your job. After all, we're business people, not scholars."

Zhang Chunhua angrily poked her husband's forehead with her finger: "You, you treat her like a treasure!"

Seeing that she wasn't angry, he tentatively observed her expression and slowly said, "From now on, don't look at her and your second sister-in-law like you're crossing your eyes. You should think more about their good points. Putting aside everything else, your second sister-in-law paid for the expansion of the ancestral home and said she wouldn't take a penny when dividing the family property. Although we've paid a lot in support for the old folks, we have your second brother. Why would they need our money? In the future, won't it all go to us and your eldest brother?"

"You should treat Shanglin well too. Ya'er is still young. Look at the children of Manqiu's family. Who is more promising than Shanglin? In the future, you'll have to rely on her to help Ya'er. And you want another little boy..." As he spoke, he hugged Zhang Chunhua and was about to have intimate relations with her.

Zhang Chunhua hugged and coaxed him, and he gradually listened, though he grumbled, "Why do I look like I'm cross-eyed? What have I done wrong to her? Every time she comes home, I rush to cook her something delicious... Ugh, we haven't eaten yet..."

A muffled voice: "I'll eat later."

She smiled smugly and let her husband go. She vaguely thought that she shouldn't have been so easily persuaded by her husband. He was her only nephew. He was neither good at studying nor good at working. The company offered good benefits, so she still had to find a way to talk to him. Even if he was still working in the store, he could at least slowly work his way up...

Shang Lin was completely unaware of the rights and wrongs of the Qiu family, nor did she know the uproar that the performance evaluation system she and Hua Qianshan had devised within the company.

Survival of the fittest, Mocha Cats doesn't cater to idlers.

She was planning something big, something very important, enough to make her forget that she was already in fifth grade and of age to take the junior high school entrance exam.

Qiu Xia Lin felt that his sister had been unusually busy lately. She was usually busy, but not like recently. Even his parents often came home, and the three of them would sit in the study and chat for half a day. This always made him suspect that the three of them were going to team up to deal with him again.

Don't think he doesn't know that the last time he was punished, it was the result of a discussion between the three of them!

Although he had to admit his sister meant well, working like that for two years straight, doing all sorts of hard and tiring work, being treated like an animal—anyone would want to rebel, right? He admitted he learned a lot and gained a lot of experience, but that wasn't all…

He pressed his ear against the study door, listening intently.

After listening for a while, all I could hear was people talking and arguing, but I couldn't make out what they were saying or why they were arguing.

He kicked the door hard—but stopped when he was only 0.03 centimeters away from it.

He angrily withdrew the remote and sat in the living room, constantly changing channels with the remote.

The Hongxing Printing Factory raised funds to build houses two years ago, and the family moved into their new home last year. They still have two large houses in town, but the older sister doesn't like living there. The factory-built houses didn't have a good layout, so they bought two adjacent three-bedroom apartments and hired a decoration company in the city to redesign and renovate them. Everyone says their house is different from others; it doesn't even look like it's in the same building.

The two original bedrooms were combined and converted into a study, where the three of them would each have their own desk to do their homework. Xia Linchu was initially delighted and secretly told Changsheng that she no longer worried about her sister catching her. At the time, Changsheng was noncommittal, and Xia Linchu even thought that Changsheng had overestimated her sister. However, countless experiences later proved with blood and tears that Qiu Shanglin had indeed seen through everything!

Whether he was reading martial arts novels while covering his Chinese textbook or secretly drawing little figures on his homework, Qiu Shanglin knew the tricks of the trade better than the teacher, and he caught him red-handed every time.

If Shimobayashi is still not convinced, just look at the row of books on 'Childhood Psychology,' 'Student Psychology,' and 'Rebellious Psychology' on the bookshelf. What else can he say? He'll just have to listen to them.

He'd tried every TV station, feeling restless and agitated. Changsheng wasn't around, and he had no one to consult. He grabbed a newspaper from the coffee table and froze.

Shanghai Securities News?

He knew his sister was buying stocks, but he'd never seen her research them.

Puzzled, I opened the message and saw a line drawn in red: 'Second lottery for stock subscription certificates on June 5th'.

Stock subscription certificates? I scratch my head. I think I've heard of them before; maybe my sister bought one before the new year… or maybe she and my parents were discussing buying one for the family too…

At this moment, no one in the study had the leisure to discuss how to deal with Qiu Xialin; instead, they were arguing endlessly about whether Shanglin should go to Shanghai.

As Shang Lin knows, she had been closely following the stock issuance since its inception. At the time, she had limited liquid funds and could only purchase a small amount, but she still achieved her dream of becoming a millionaire overnight. If Zhang Hongwei knew the amount of money she had now, he would probably be shocked.

On January 10, 1992, when stock subscription certificates were first issued in Shanghai, she didn't hesitate to take out 100,000 yuan and ask Brother Hua to buy more than 3,300 certificates. Even Brother Hua, who was well-informed, was taken aback and advised her that she didn't need to be so extravagant.

However, Shanglin insisted, so they had to use connections to buy the goods in several installments.

At the time, stock subscription certificates had just been issued, costing thirty yuan per set, which was not a small amount. Newspapers advertised that one could participate in a lottery to win a share of the stock, and only those who won could buy it. Moreover, the success rate was not 100%, and the principal would not be refunded if one did not win. As a result, many people hesitated, thinking that the government might be deceiving them. The initial subscription certificates did not sell well. In order to meet the sales target, leaders of many large state-owned enterprises and employees of banks and post offices were forced to purchase them, but the number of buyers was still a minority.

To avoid attracting attention, Hua spent the 100,000 yuan in several installments to buy the complete set. Over the course of a few days, he heard the term "chongtou" (meaning fool in Shanghainese) countless times. Even the sales clerks who received a 30-cent commission for each set sold secretly told others that he was a "chongtou." He was worried about getting scolded by his wife when he got home, which left him both amused and exasperated.

Shanglin urged him to buy as well. In fact, he was not unaware of the huge profits involved, but he always felt that it was not as reliable as working hard. The idea of getting something for nothing had not yet swept the country.

He subtly reported the matter to Yin Yeyao, who remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "Let her have her fun."

Listen to this, even Du Yinyeyao thinks it's not feasible. Although the 100,000 yuan won't be completely wasted, at least half of it will have to be put in. Fortunately, Mocha Cat has a lot of money and isn't afraid of losses.

In the end, he also took out tens of thousands of yuan and bought some subscription certificates with a "whatever" attitude.

However, just two months later, the New Year passed, and by early 1992, Hua Ge was almost speechless with astonishment. Each subscription certificate, which he had bought for thirty yuan, was selling for six hundred yuan on the black market—a twenty-fold increase in just two months. In other words, not counting Mocha Cat's assets, Qiu Shanglin was already worth over a million yuan… This might not seem like much in the South, but in a second-tier city in the North, Hua Ge knew its significance.

He asked Shanglin if he wanted to resell the shares for cash, but Shanglin insisted that he wait until he won the lottery to subscribe to the shares, then sell them as soon as they were listed, use the cash to subscribe to new shares, and sell them again...

Hua Zi thought Qiu Shanglin was obsessed with money. Where in the world could there be such a good thing as a sure-fire way to make money? The stock market is risky; who knows when you might lose everything? Yin Yeyao shared this view, believing she was taking a risky, unethical approach.