The second son of the Li family is named Li Yi. He wears glasses and has a small mustache, making him look older than Li Ling. However, he has regular features and could be a handsome young man if he groomed himself properly.
Actually, neither Li's parents were particularly good-looking; they were just above average. However, their three children were all very good-looking. Li Ling was handsome, the second child was also very dashing, and Xiao Lu was a beautiful young lady.
So some people in the village say that these three children will grow up to be like the two best, which is enviable.
At noon, the family of five had a reunion lunch at a restaurant. Li Ling gave the clothes and shoes he had bought for his second son and told him and his younger sister to study hard.
"Don't worry, I'm earning more now. As long as you can get into university, your older brother will definitely be able to support you."
However, Li Ling didn't give his second son and younger sister much money. There was no need for them to develop extravagant habits now. He still believed that children from poor families matured early, and he didn't want to raise his younger siblings to be spoiled and arrogant.
It's not a bad thing to suffer a little; that's how he got through it back then.
After sending his younger siblings back to school, Li Ling drove his parents to Xidu. Due to traffic congestion, they didn't arrive until evening. They moved directly into their new house, and the two elders were once again amazed by its size.
They all knew about Li Ling's lottery win, but after learning that the house cost more than three million yuan, they couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache, but they were mostly happy. What rural person doesn't want to buy a house in the city and settle down? It's just that this is a bit too expensive.
Li Ling reassured them that houses are appreciating rapidly now, and the larger the house, the greater the appreciation. The elderly couple felt sorry for the house but were also relieved.
The next day, they rushed to the hospital for treatment. These days, money really does make things easier. No problem, you can pay a high price to find a scalper.
After five days of treatment, visiting three hospitals, and undergoing more than a dozen tests, the conclusions were roughly the same: there is no good treatment for Li's father's illness; he can only be kept at home. As long as he takes good care of himself and takes his medication on time, it can still provide relief and prevent the condition from worsening.
At this point, Li Ling had no choice but to give up.
On the way back, Li's father nagged, "I told you, this disease is incurable, but you insisted on wasting money. You've spent several thousand yuan in just a few days."
"Stop nagging, the eldest is just doing this for your own good," said Li Ma.
Li's father was mainly worried about the money.
That's how old people are. They're reluctant to eat or drink, they work hard for their children their whole lives, and end up with a host of illnesses, but in the end, they still can't bear to get treatment.
Li Ling didn't mind his father's nagging and said while driving, "Dad, there's something I want to discuss with you."
"What's up?"
“Dad, I have some money now, and I want to build houses on the empty farmland,” Li Ling said.
After a moment of silence, Li's father said, "It's time to get up. You're 24 now, and your brother is 18. I should have prepared a new house for you two a long time ago, but my illness has delayed everything. Now that you've bought a house, let's build a new one for your brother."
Hearing her father's self-reproach, Li Ling quickly comforted him, "Dad, let's not talk about that. See what we need to prepare for the new house, and we'll get it done when we get back."
Li's father used to work on a construction team and had been doing it for many years. He knew the ins and outs of the place very well. He counted on his fingers and said, "Back when your third uncle was the village party secretary, your and your brother's farmland was about to be demolished. It was a place where each of you had three rooms. It used to be on the edge of the village, but now it's become a good place."
“Let’s build a house first. Red bricks are a major expense. Sand, cement, steel bars, gravel, labor, and miscellaneous expenses all need to be included. Sigh, everything is expensive now. A bare house will cost over 100,000 yuan. Add the decoration, which costs four or five hundred yuan per square meter even with basic decoration. Add the yard, and it will cost tens of thousands more. Sigh.”
The old man sighed as he calculated, "If we had built the house ten years ago, it would probably have cost around 40,000 to 50,000 yuan."
After listening to his father's explanation, Li Ling, without turning his head, asked, "What if we build a house?"
"You still want to build a house, a detached house or a small villa, how many stories?" Li's father asked.
“I think those two-and-a-half-story villas are nice. Let’s build one of those, Dad. The farmland is right next to each other, so don’t divide it between me and my brother. Let’s just build one villa and use the rest as a yard. It’ll definitely be comfortable to live in,” Li Ling said.
After hearing Li Ling's explanation, Li's father immediately raised his voice and said, "Do you know how much a villa like that costs? It would cost three or four hundred thousand to build, and the decoration would also be a lot. You can't spend money like that even if you have it."
Li Ling said with a smile, "Dad, don't worry. I've made some money in the past two months, and our company's business is getting better and better. The cost of building a house is nothing, so if we're going to build one, let's go all out and make it as nice as possible."
My mom exclaimed in surprise, "You've earned hundreds of thousands in just two months at this company!"
"Yes, Mom, our company distributed dividends, so I came home to visit."
Li Ling said this purely to deceive the two old people who didn't understand; otherwise, if he said this out loud, anyone with a little knowledge would spit in his face.
With a smile on her face, Li Ma said to the old man, "It would be nice to build a small villa like that. Look, there are a few houses like that in the village. They are so beautiful. It will be easier to find wives for the eldest and second sons in the future. A good house makes it easier to find a wife."
Li's father frowned and said, "Eldest son, don't push yourself. Let's do what we can."
"Don't worry, Dad, I'll transfer 800,000 to you when we get back," Li Ling said. He still had over a million left, but he wasn't in a hurry; there would be plenty of ways to make money in the future.
The two elderly people were shocked when they heard "800,000". Li's father immediately said, "No need, no need, 500,000 is enough. I will find a familiar construction team. I will keep an eye on them. They can't fool me."
“Okay, then it’s 500,000. We can talk about it if that’s not enough,” Li Ling said.
With the matter settled, Li's parents started talking about who to build the house for, what kind of house to build, which house in the village was nice, and who in the neighboring villages. In the end, they brought up Li Ling again. Now that his work is going well, they told him to find a partner as soon as the house is built. He's already twenty-four or twenty-five, not young anymore.
Li Ling suddenly felt like he had trapped himself in a cocoon.
It seems that all parents are like this: when they don't have the means, they think about how to create those means for their children; once they have a house and a car, they immediately start thinking about their daughter-in-law, and then they are eager to have their grandchildren.
Back home, Li's father contacted people to prepare for building a house. Now the villagers know that Li Ling is making money and is successful outside, and his family has finally made something of themselves.
That's why people often say, "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river," meaning things change, and it all depends on young people; who knows, one of them might rise to prominence.
Every night after the elderly couple fell asleep, Li Ling would sneak into their room and gently knock them unconscious. Li Ling had been a special forces soldier and knew where to strike to make someone faint, but his methods used to be relatively crude and harmful to their health. Now that he had internal energy, it was much easier.
Then Li Ling channeled his internal energy into his father's rheumatic area. After a few days, his father indeed felt much better. However, when Li Ling tried to channel his internal energy again, it didn't have much effect. It seemed that a complete cure for his father would have to wait until later.
Li Ling originally thought the hospital could cure his father's illness, so he didn't dare to use his internal energy to treat the symptoms. He didn't know if it would affect his father's health, after all, his father was his closest relative.
However, since the hospital couldn't cure him, Li Ling had no choice but to try this treatment so that her father wouldn't have to suffer from the pain every day. The results were remarkable.
After staying at home for a few more days, the construction team started digging the foundation. Li's father urged him, "You've been back for more than half a month now. Since you're now doing business with someone, you need to be even more dedicated. My health is like this now, but I've been taking medicine and I'm feeling much better recently. I'll take care of the house. You go back and get to work."
Li Ling thought about it and agreed. His internal energy wasn't very useful anymore, and if he stayed home all the time, his parents would probably become suspicious. He had already transferred the money to his father, and the construction team had covered everything. With his father, who was knowledgeable about the business, overseeing things, things should be fine. So he decided to go back.
After saying goodbye to his parents, he drove back to Xidu City. Just as he entered his home, a system notification sounded in his mind.