Chapter 2

Shen Zhenghui's parents are both from Sichuan. In the 1980s, they heeded the call of Comrade Deng Xiaoping and came to Pengcheng, an immigrant city. After more than a decade of hard work, they finally entered the ranks of successful people. Looking back, they were surprised to find that their son, who they thought was still in the hometown with his grandparents, was about to enter university. The couple then realized they needed to bring their son to Pengcheng to attend the best schools, but their son was impatient with their plans and took the college entrance exam at the local county high school, eventually being admitted to the highest institution of learning in China. This became the proudest achievement for Shen Zhenghui's parents.

After their son entered university, the couple had another layer of worry. Because they were busy with their careers and neglected their child, they always feared that their son would not be close to them. During the summer, Shen Zhenghui usually stayed in Beijing to work on his own business, and during the winter, he went to Pengcheng to spend time with his parents before returning to his grandparents. Shen Xingguo and Liang Kexiu always felt guilty and worried, so they were especially generous with living expenses. However, when their son was about to graduate, they were shocked to find that he had accumulated more wealth in four years of university than they had in ten years of hard work. The couple was speechless and worried, and their anxiety reached a dangerous level. Thus, when Shen Zhenghui faced the choice of graduation, Shen Xingguo and Liang Kexiu strongly demanded that he return to Pengcheng to help with the family business.

Fortunately, Shen Zhenghui did not want to stay in Beijing either, and his parents' attitude became an excuse for him. So after graduation, he flew back to "home" without any hesitation, something he had never done during his four years of university.

Shen Xingguo started in the construction industry, leading his fellow townspeople to take on projects as a contractor. Liang Kexiu managed the finances and logistics. The construction industry was profitable but difficult to collect payments. If the client delayed payment, the lack of funds could lead to a broken capital chain, leaving the workers without pay and creditors coming from all directions. Shen Xingguo had experienced such a living hell of being pursued by debtors.

After accumulating some wealth, the couple left the construction industry and turned to business, selling small commodities. They traveled all over to find orders and, when the domestic market was tough, they turned to the international market, selling Chinese goods to Americans, Europeans, Arabs, and Africans. With the country's encouragement of exports, they built a reputation and brand, gaining fixed clients and earning millions in export tax rebates each year. By the time their son was ready for university, they realized they had spent too much time on their careers and hardly paid attention to their only son.

The couple then became concerned about the low quality of education in their hometown. During the New Year, they returned home to transfer Shen Zhenghui to Pengcheng for his final year of high school, citing the city's excellent educational resources. As soon as they mentioned this, the next day, Shen Zhenghui's homeroom teacher and a group of other teachers came to their door.

The homeroom teacher repeatedly talked about the adaptation issues of a new environment and the local teachers' concern for Shen Zhenghui. The attitude was simple: Shen Zhenghui had a good chance of being admitted to a prestigious university, and everyone's bonuses depended on him. If he left, it was absolutely impossible. The couple then realized how outstanding their son was in this small county, and even the deputy county magistrate came to their door. Shen Xingguo and Liang Kexiu were scolded by their parents and, with a belly full of complaints about the selfishness of people in the small town, they had to return to Pengcheng reluctantly. When Shen Zhenghui's college entrance exam results came out, Shen Xingguo immediately boasted about his son's achievements in his circle, emphasizing that his hometown was a poor and backward area where no one had been admitted to a prestigious university for over 20 years.

While their vanity was compensated in another way, their son's situation soon made them uneasy again. The generous pocket money they provided turned into investments, and from 1993 to 1997, his wealth grew rapidly in the stock market. By the time he graduated, he was already a young man with 50 million yuan in assets.

If this continued, Shen Xingguo and Liang Kexiu would not be able to maintain their authority in front of their son. So they used the excuse of having Shen Zhenghui take over the company to bring him back. However, after Shen Zhenghui returned, they did not immediately discuss the company's operations. According to Liang Kexiu, they needed to solve his personal issues first.

Shen Xingguo and Liang Kexiu began to look for suitable partners for Shen Zhenghui in their circle. They felt that deciding their child's marriage would help establish parental authority, so they were particularly dedicated to this, even putting their business second.

...

"Mom, is it really that exaggerated? I've only been back for a month, and you've already arranged four blind dates. Are you that idle? The Asian financial crisis is so severe, why don't you spend more time thinking about your business?"

"What crisis? That's none of your business," Liang Kexiu began to ramble, "When I was your age, I was already pregnant with you. I didn't let you date before because you were too young, but now that you've graduated from university, we need to worry. Besides, you didn't bring any female classmates back from university, so how can we not worry?"

"First, I majored in physics, where there are few female students; second, who was it that kept telling me not to date in university because we might have to separate later; third..."

"Alright, alright," Liang Kexiu said unhappily, "I haven't seen you be so obedient before."

"When have I ever been disobedient?" Shen Zhenghui countered.

Liang Kexiu was speechless. She couldn't say that he spent his holidays with his grandparents instead of them. Even if Shen Zhenghui stayed in Pengcheng, Shen Xingguo and Liang Kexiu might not have time to be with him.

The three of them sat in the coffee shop for a few minutes, then saw Shen Xingguo walk in, sweating. Seeing his wife and son, he was surprised, "Hasn't Mr. Liu and his daughter arrived yet?"

"Not yet," Liang Kexiu responded irritably, "We've been here for half an hour. Where have you been?"

"Sorry, sorry," Shen Xingguo smiled and sat down, calling the waiter to order. "Old Chen, who has been doing business in Hong Kong, has a batch of goods stuck. He wants to transfer them to me, and we've been discussing it."

Shen Zhenghui perked up his ears. Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia had been hit one after another, and a financial crisis was spreading across Southeast Asia, likely to spread to East Asia soon. At the moment, people were still immersed in the excitement of Hong Kong's return.

Shen Xingguo sat down and chatted with his wife about business for a while, but then he felt there was nothing more to say. Facing his son, he found it hard to find topics to talk about. Liang Kexiu could still chatter about trivial matters, but Shen Xingguo felt that talking about his career and economic issues with his son was a blow. Although his net worth was in the hundreds of millions, his liquid assets were less than his son's, which was a failure.

Fortunately, the awkwardness was soon broken when Liu Dekai, the boss, and his wife Shang Rongmei entered the coffee shop. Seeing the Shen family, Liu Dekai hurried over and apologized, "Sorry for being late!"

"No problem, we just got here!" Shen Xingguo stood up with his family to shake hands. Liang Kexiu and Shang Rongmei, old friends, sat together and began to chat.

Sitting down, Liu Dekai started to complain about the difficulties of doing business, with clients always delaying payments and employees spending recklessly. Shen Xingguo listened to the boss's complaints and found it quite amusing.

Liu Dekai was in his late forties, overweight. His wife was in her forties but well-preserved, looking almost like his daughter. Liu Dekai had started in construction with Shen Xingguo but stayed in the industry after Shen Xingguo left. His construction company was now one of the top in Pengcheng, with countless affiliated construction teams. If he was complaining about the difficulties of business, what about the smaller companies?

However, Liu Dekai's complaints resonated with Shen Xingguo, and they both criticized the government's corruption and lack of credibility.

Liang Kexiu asked Shang Rongmei about her daughter, Liu Xin, and when she would arrive.

Shang Rongmei looked very awkward and kept glancing at Liu Dekai.

Liu Dekai touched his smooth forehead, "Ah, don't mention it," he sighed, "Brother Shen, I can't compare to you. Look at your son, so young and accomplished, a graduate of the highest institution of learning in China, with a bright future. My daughter, on the other hand, doesn't know anything, just spends money. If I let her do business, she just wastes money on strange investments. Today..." He sighed again, "Anyway, please bear with her," he looked at Shen Zhenghui with an envious expression, "You young people, just meet and make friends. We parents won't put any pressure on you. It's a modern society, free love, no feudalism."

Liang Kexiu was puzzled and pulled Shang Rongmei's sleeve, whispering, "What's going on? It's different from what we discussed."

"Sister, I'm really embarrassed," Shang Rongmei was also awkward.

At that moment, the coffee shop door opened again, and a young girl walked in, immediately catching everyone's attention.

Shen Zhenghui took a look and almost choked on his coffee.

What caught everyone's attention was not her appearance, at least not primarily, but her outfit. She wore a white round-neck shirt, a blue knee-length dress, black stockings, and white canvas shoes, with a red ribbon tied around her shirt collar. Most importantly, her hair was dyed blue.

This kind of outfit would have turned heads even in 2012, let alone in 1997.

As soon as she walked in, Liu Dekai started to sweat, and Shang Rongmei covered her face, seemingly embarrassed. The girl, Liu Xin, had already seen her parents and walked over, sitting next to her mother. She looked at Shen Zhenghui, who seemed to be in a daze, and asked in an unfriendly tone, "You're my blind date?"

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