Chapter 27

The crowd was dense, packed with people, and it took him more than ten minutes to walk six hundred meters.

In previous years, snake charmers and snake medicine sellers were a must, and those who performed bare-chested and sold dog-skin plasters were still lively. An old military doctor sat in front of the market in a white coat, treating various difficult diseases. Minority ethnic groups loudly hawked items like tiger bones...

There were also many new things. A few young men in shirts and ties, with pagers on their waists, looked very cultured and successful. They stood by a blackboard and a table of American daily necessities, giving lectures with great enthusiasm and vividly, promoting pyramid schemes, and warmly inviting passersby to join.

It seemed easy to make money, and some classmates had tried it, attending a few classes but finding it unreliable and not joining. In the end, none of the classmates who joined made any money; instead, they ended up in a sorry state.

With no living expenses left, it was embarrassing to ask his parents for money, so he could only rely on others for meals. Old Zhou, who got married right after graduation, was in the worst state, begging for food in the canteen at mealtime.

The products were extremely expensive; a tube of toothpaste cost dozens of yuan. Was there a market for such products in the countryside?

These people were scammers, first deceiving the common people, then making the common people deceive each other. Seeing them made him angry, but unfortunately, this wasn't his jurisdiction. If it were in the night market, he would have had Wu Yongliang drive them away without hesitation.

The stall in front was equally despicable.

They all practiced qigong, and those who sold dog-skin plasters had some skills, more like performers than sellers. These people, however, were like the pyramid scheme promoters, wearing shirts and ties, and giving lectures with great enthusiasm, teaching something called "Zhong Gong" on the spot, claiming it could cure all kinds of difficult diseases.

If it could really cure diseases, what was the point of hospitals?

Many villagers had been deceived, and the industrial and commercial authorities and the police did nothing, leaving them helpless. As he approached his home, Han Bo stopped, his attention drawn to a large platform in front of the agricultural machinery station.

They were selling lottery tickets on the spot, with a basin full of instant scratch-off tickets. The grand prize was a Santana 2000, the first prize was a regular Santana, the second prize was an Alto, the third prize was a 250cc Happy motorcycle, and the fourth prize was a Panda TV...

In previous years, the supply and marketing cooperatives had conducted prize sales, and the people had been deceived badly, so they weren't very interested in or trusting of such activities. Many people were watching, fascinated by the sight of the small cars, but few were buying tickets.

He remembered, he remembered!

In his fragmented dreams, the grand prize had been won in Sihetown.

A large chicken farmer wanted to buy five tickets for ten yuan to try his luck. When he didn't win with the first five, the crowd egged him on, and he lost two hundred yuan. Feeling不服气 (unwilling to accept defeat), he went home to get more money and bought all the tickets in the leftmost basin, tearing them one by one. Surprisingly, he won the grand prize, causing a sensation throughout the county.

A Santana 2000, with electronic fuel injection, metallic paint, a high-end car, priced at 195,000 yuan, with several ten thousand yuan in personal income tax. To get it on the road, he would also have to pay purchase tax, vehicle and vessel use tax, registration fees, insurance, and road maintenance fees.

He didn't have that much money and didn't know how to drive, so he agreed to take 120,000 yuan in cash instead of the car.

The matter didn't end there. The news of winning the grand prize spread quickly, and the town government, the town nursing home, the town middle school, the town primary school, and the village party branch all came to ask for donations, appealing to his emotions and reason, refusing to leave. With no choice, he gave each organization 5,000 yuan, leaving him with only 70,000 yuan.

70,000 yuan was still a huge sum. He stopped raising chickens and started gambling.

He lost more than he won and was caught and fined several times by the police station. In two years, what was a good thing turned bad, and his family was torn apart.

Money isn't everything, but without money, nothing is possible.

This opportunity couldn't be missed. Interrupting someone's source of income was also a way of helping them. Han Bo couldn't bear to watch the spectacle anymore, pushed through the crowd, and hurried home.

"Brother, Xiao Bo is back!"

"Baoguo, Juhua, Xiao Bo is home!"

The street was full of people, and so was the house.

Every year during the temple fair, his grandparents, uncles and aunts, and in-laws would come to have a meal. They would come every year, but this year, his sister had given birth, so they had to bring gifts for the new mother, making it even more important to come.

"Grandpa, Grandma, how are you? Did you walk here or did Uncle Xiao send you?"

"Good, we're good. Your uncle sent us. Go upstairs, Xiaofang has given birth, a big, healthy baby boy, seven or eight pounds." The two elders were overjoyed to see their most capable grandson return.

Becoming a government official made a difference. When he was in college, his uncle would sit and chat with him, and his uncles-in-law would joke around. Now, they seemed more reserved, standing aside and smiling quietly. His cousins and in-laws were even more reserved.

Just as he was about to greet everyone, his father ran down the stairs, beaming, and asked, "How did the exam go?"

"We'll know in a few days."

"It doesn't matter whether you pass or not. You're a government official with a formal job, and you won't really become a lawyer. How did you get here?"

"I drove. There were too many people, so I parked at the bridge and asked the police to watch it."

"What kind of car?"

Li Taipeng had been renovating his new house in the county recently and had been eating at the silk factory canteen every noon. He saw car number 7 every day and had ridden in it a few times when transporting materials. Proudly, he said, "Dad, Xiao Bo is a deputy section chief and police captain, driving a police car, just like the police cars at the Public Security Bureau."

"Go see the baby first, then take us to see the car."

The secretary and the town mayor couldn't even afford cars, traveling to the county by minibus and riding bicycles to other places. His son was driving a police car right from the start of his career. Hoping his son would become a dragon, and now he truly had, Han Baoguo was overjoyed.

The baby was very cute, with fair skin, black hair, and chubby little hands. Although he should have been asleep, his big eyes looked very lively.

His sister lay in bed, looking very happy, and his mother stayed by her side, never leaving. Li Taipeng's mother, though unable to help for the moment, would have plenty of opportunities to hold and care for the baby in the future, as her in-laws would soon return to Donghai to earn money.

"Why didn't you stay in the hospital longer?"

Han Fang looked spirited and laughed, "I went to the hospital to give birth, but many people still give birth at home. It's a normal delivery, not a cesarean section, so there's nothing to worry about."

"It's just that the temple fair coincides with this, and staying in the hospital would be inconvenient." His mother carefully took the baby, her joy as a grandmother evident.

Han Bo leaned in and played with the baby's little hands, asking, "Have you decided on a name?"

"You're the most educated, and you're the uncle. In our family, the uncle is the most important. We're waiting for you to name him!"

His sister spoke confidently, and his father agreed. His brother-in-law had no objections to losing the right to name the child and even looked forward to it.

Naming a child was easy, but the key was what surname the child would have.

His brother-in-law didn't care much about it, but his parents and sister definitely wanted the child to have the Han surname. They hadn't discussed it clearly when they got married, leaving Han Bo in a difficult position.

Given their poor family conditions, it was hard for his son to find a wife and live such a good life. With the Han family now having a government official, the child would have a better future with the Han surname.

Besides, they had several grandsons, so the Li family wouldn't lose its lineage.

Li Taipeng's mother was more reasonable than expected. She looked up and said, "Let's give him the Han surname. It's better for him to have the Han surname in the town."

That's what I was waiting for. Han Baoguo clapped his hands and laughed, "Fine, let's give him the Han surname. We'll raise the grandson as if he were our own! Mother-in-law, all the elders are downstairs, and all of Xiao Bo and Xiaofang's uncles are here. When we eat, we'll ask them to witness this. I treat my son and son-in-law equally. While I'm alive, I won't allow a split. After I die, if they want to split, the assets will be divided equally."

In the countryside, a child's surname was a big deal.

If the grandson had another surname, she would be looked down upon and ridiculed in the village. For her, who had raised several sons with great hardship, making this decision wasn't easy.

Moreover, his brother-in-law had been earning money since he was a teenager, and all the money he earned was here. Unlike himself, who only spent money and contributed nothing to the family.

Han Bo felt he should make a statement, put his arm around his brother-in-law's shoulder, and smiled, "Brother-in-law, I have no objections. What about you?"

"I'll follow Dad, you, and Xiaofang. Whatever you say, I have no objections." With half the assets and a room in the county house, a fool would object. Li Taipeng nodded, feeling a bit embarrassed.