Chapter 74

"Also, there's Wang Lianju from 'The Red Lantern,' Mu Renzhi from 'The White-Haired Girl,' and Li Weijun from 'The Surprise Attack on White Tiger Regiment... Oh, Da Dong is back." Bao Yumei chuckled.

"Thank you, Uncle and Aunt, for today's events." Liu Haneast bowed.

"Don't be so formal, my acting is pretty good, right?" Huo Lianhe waved his hand, took out a cigarette, and tossed one to Liu Haneast, which he had brought back from the dinner table, a pack of Su cigarettes.

"Oscar I can't say, but the Hundred Flowers Award is a sure thing." Liu Haneast gave a thumbs up.

"Not so fast, if we talk about the best actor, it still has to be Shan Pao. That earth-shattering, ghost-moving kneel, and that heart-wrenching cry of 'Judge Ma Qingtian,' it has a very postmodern realist style, genuine and exaggerated without being artificial, much better than my dad's acting." Huo Lei interjected.

Huo Lianhe kicked out his foot, and Huo Lei quickly dodged.

Liu Haneast said, "Shan Pao's performance is good, but without the presence of old actors like Uncle and Aunt, his performance would seem restless. I think the script is well-written; the story Shan Pao told is very ordinary but very touching."

Bao Yumei said, "Ha, the script was written by Ma Guoqing himself. This is a real event from last year, it even made it to TV."

Huo Ying pouted and said, "The script was ready, no credit to them. It's all thanks to my coordination. The police uniform was borrowed by me, Shan Pao was called by me, and I contacted Sister Ling, who wasn't very willing. I had to do a lot of talking to persuade her to cooperate."

After a while of laughter, everyone dispersed. Huo Lianhe and his wife said they had plenty of free time tomorrow and could continue the performance, accompanying the "in-laws" to tour the provincial capital, of course, with Liu Haneast footing the bill for food, drinks, and tickets.

"Alright, see you tomorrow then." Liu Haneast said.

The next morning at eight o'clock, Liu Haneast drove to the Home Inn to pick up his mother and stepfather, then returned to pick up Huo Lianhe and his wife. They toured the provincial capital for the morning, and at noon, they found a small restaurant for a casual meal, drinking some beer.

He Jian raised his glass and said, "Thank you, Brother Ma and Sister, for your warm hospitality. We'll be heading back this afternoon."

"Why not stay a few more days?" Huo Lianhe looked disappointed.

"Exactly, stay a few more days." Bao Yumei echoed.

"There are things at home." He Jian was determined to leave, and his mother agreed. Thus, the afternoon itinerary had to be canceled. Liu Haneast drove them to the train station and bought two high-speed train tickets.

The ticket check began, and his mother and stepfather walked toward the entrance. Suddenly, his mother stopped and said somewhat sadly, "Xiao Dong, Ma Ling is a good kid. Even though her family opposes it, don't take it too seriously. These things depend on fate."

Liu Haneast was shocked, "Mom, you know?"

"Child, I've lived for a long time. The two people you found acted well, but they still slipped up."

"Where did they slip up?" Liu Haneast was puzzled; Huo Lianhe and his wife's acting was excellent, there shouldn't have been any flaws.

"Stupid child, Ma Ling is Hui, but her parents ordered a bunch of braised pork, pork knuckles, and stir-fried intestines, eating with oil all over their mouths. Ma Ling didn't touch a single chopstick. Could they be a family?"

Liu Haneast was ashamed, but he had a slight doubt. His mother's logical analysis wasn't that strong; it was probably his stepfather who noticed something.

"Mom won't pressure you anymore. A man should focus on his career first, then his family. Work hard." His mother raised her arm and patted his head, just like when he was a child. She picked up the gift from the "in-laws" and went through the ticket check with her stepfather, boarding the train and leaving.

...

Time flew by, and before they knew it, a month had passed. Winter recruitment began, and at the same time, veterans from all over the country were on their way home.

In Huanghua Neighborhood, Wang Yulan, wearing a cotton pajama and slippers, went out and took out a copy of Huaijiang Evening News from the mailbox downstairs. Her family didn't originally subscribe to the newspaper, but this was a benefit for investors from Hanwei Company. It was said that not only did they get the newspaper, but those who invested over 200,000 yuan also got milk delivered.

After a walk around the neighborhood, Wang Yulan went home, changed her clothes, and took the contract to Hanwei Company to collect this month's interest.

Hanwei Company paid interest monthly. Wang Yulan, for safety, only invested 50,000 yuan for one year, with a monthly interest of 625 yuan. Upon entering the company hall, she saw a huge photo of Mayor Jin Mudust cutting the ribbon for the new office building of Hanwei Company.

Investment advisor Qian Mei greeted her, calling her "Aunt" repeatedly, and led her upstairs. She showed her the contract, and the teller retrieved the information. The dot matrix printer whirred, printing out a very formal three-part form. Wang Yulan signed it and received 625 yuan in cash, all brand new bills.

Wang Yulan was delighted. If she had deposited 50,000 yuan in the bank, she would only get 1,600 yuan in interest per year. Depositing it in Hanwei, she could get 7,500 yuan per year, and it could be collected monthly, safe and flexible. She began to regret not investing more. If she had invested 100,000 yuan last month, she could have gotten 1,250 yuan, losing out on 600 yuan.

Many customers around her were also there to collect interest, but they didn't choose cash. Instead, they reinvested the interest to increase their principal. Seeing Wang Yulan collect a few hundred yuan and be so pleased, many investors looked at her with disdain.

"Aunt, let me see you downstairs." Qian Mei supported Wang Yulan down the stairs like a palace maid supporting the Empress Dowager, making her feel like a VIP. If 50,000 yuan got this treatment, 1,000,000 yuan would be treated like a god.

Seemingly reading Wang Yulan's thoughts, Qian Mei said, "Aunt, you can invest more. With 500,000 yuan, you can enjoy free travel to places like Jiuzhaigou and Zhangjiajie."

"Aunt will think about it." Wang Yulan said, but she had already made up her mind. She would withdraw the other 50,000 yuan from the bank and invest it in Hanwei.

Leaving the Hanwei Company, a brand new Volkswagen Lavida was parked downstairs. The person who got out was financial manager Lü Jianxian. Lü Jianxian actually knew Wang Yulan and greeted her politely, "Aunt Wang, are you here to collect interest?"

"Manager Lü, did you buy a new car?" Wang Yulan chatted.

Lü Jianxian smiled, "No, this is Qian Mei's car. I'm just borrowing it."

Qian Mei giggled, covering her mouth, "Aunt, Manager Lü's car is a BMW. It's just being serviced. How could someone at his level drive a Volkswagen?"

Wang Yulan was shocked. Qian Mei was about the same age as her daughter, just a front-line employee at Hanwei Company, and could afford a car. This showed how wealthy the company was.

On the bus back, Wang Yulan felt a bit lost. Others were getting rich, but her family was living a tight life. Her husband was a wimp and couldn't be relied on. Now, she had to rely on herself.

Wang Yulan went home, took out her passbook, and woke up her daughter, who was lying in bed, to go to the bank and withdraw 49,900 yuan. Then, under the pretext of escorting a large sum of money, she dragged Ma Ling to Hanwei Company.

"Aunt, you're back again." Qian Mei greeted her.

"I want to talk to Manager Lü about something." Wang Yulan showed her the bag of money mysteriously.

Qian Mei led her to the third-floor office. Lü Jianxian was talking to a client, so Wang Yulan and her daughter had to wait. Lü Jianxian's conversation was full of high-level terms like "cash flow," "financing," and "return rate," occasionally interspersed with a few English words. When mentioning specific amounts, he used "milion" instead of "ten thousand."

The client finished and got up to leave. Lü Jianxian nodded to Wang Yulan and her daughter, "Aunt, please wait, I'll see the client out."

After a while, Lü Jianxian returned, personally poured two glasses of purified water, and sat down on the sofa, asking kindly, "Aunt, why are you back?"

Wang Yulan said, "I've brought another 50,000 yuan to invest."

Lü Jianxian said, "Aunt, you're very wise. The client I just talked to is in the coal business and plans to invest 10 million yuan here. Who is this?"

"This is my daughter, Ma Ling." Wang Yulan introduced her proudly.

"Hello." Ma Ling greeted him gracefully, without makeup, with a simple ponytail, her long legs crossed, exuding a free-spirited aura very different from the sweet-talking, honey-mouthed girls at Hanwei Company.

"Hello." Lü Jianxian didn't show any particular interest, not even glancing at Ma Ling, which slightly disappointed Wang Yulan.

"Let Qian Mei help you with the procedures. I have a small meeting." Lü Jianxian glanced at his watch, giving a polite dismissal.

Wang Yulan, seeing her plan fail, had to leave reluctantly. She went to the second floor, deposited 50,000 yuan, signed the contract, and just as she was about to leave, she saw Lü Jianxian come out of the elevator with a briefcase.

"Aunt, are you leaving?"

"Yes, I'm leaving."

"Good, I'm heading south to do some business. Let me give you a ride."

"That would be too much trouble, it would delay your work."

"Don't be so formal. You're my client, my God. It's no trouble at all to give you a ride. It would be rude not to." Lü Jianxian smiled and helped Wang Yulan down the stairs. A white BMW 320 was parked downstairs, with a very eye-catching license plate ending in 168.

Lü Jianxian opened the rear door and invited Wang Yulan to sit in, then closed the door and opened the passenger door, gesturing, "Miss Ma, please."

Ma Ling said, "I'll sit in the back." She opened the door and sat in.

Lü Jianxian got in, fastened his seatbelt, turned on the Bluetooth, and started the car. He was very eloquent, keeping the conversation lively and quickly building a rapport. Before long, Wang Yulan was laughing heartily, and she started calling him "Little Lü."

"Little Lü, what does 'milion' mean? I don't understand." Wang Yulan asked.

Lü Jianxian chuckled, "Aunt, it's the English word for 'million.' We in investment banking use some terms to facilitate communication."

"What is investment banking?" Wang Yulan asked, trying to make conversation.

"It's a non-bank financial institution. There are many such institutions on Wall Street, like Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and JPMorgan Chase. There aren't many investment banks in China, and Hanwei is the first large-scale investment bank in Jiangdong Province. Our business is very broad, covering stocks, securities, and real estate. We have seats in the stock exchanges in Hong Kong and New York. Last month, the silver market in New York fell sharply, and it was the result of our colleagues in New York."

Lü Jianxian spoke confidently, occasionally glancing at Ma Ling in the rearview mirror, but unfortunately, the girl wasn't interested in his boasting.

Wang Yulan, however, kept smacking her lips in admiration, "Little Lü, with your position, you must earn at least a million yuan a year, right?"

"Hehe, close to a million, but my position isn't that high." Lü Jianxian said.