Chapter 53: Fighting

Chen Jin’s few words made Chen Yongxin laugh, and his mood finally improved a bit.

Remembering something, he quickly called his two uncles, telling them not to come over.

While on the phone, he glanced at Chen Jin and said with a smile, “Really, it’s fine now. With Third Sister here, my dad has backup even when he gets upset. It’s really okay. Minmin, it’s hard to say. My dad and Aunt are calmer now and are discussing things. Yeah, yeah, don’t worry.”

Chen Jin glared at him, “The way you’re talking, it sounds like I came here just to argue.”

Chen Yongxin laughed heartily, “You didn’t come here to argue; you came to team up with my dad. The process doesn’t matter; what matters is the outcome. Do you think Aunt will give Minmin a share of the investment in the end?”

“If she does, will Minmin’s cousin definitely want it?” Chen Jin raised an eyebrow. “Future Cousin-in-law said, what’s the big deal? She can buy a house by herself, and whether Aunt and Uncle give her money for her other half’s house, she doesn’t care. Minmin’s cousin isn’t unemployed; look at her, her family was in decent shape before, right? She doesn’t spend extravagantly, and her salary is definitely enough for her.”

“So?”

“So, if I were Minmin’s cousin, I wouldn’t take that money to avoid having to come back and work like a horse in the future. Before, Minmin’s cousin was reluctant to let her relationship with Aunt and Uncle get strained, but after today, just wait and see? Minmin’s cousin can be a bit proud.”

Having been the only child for over twenty years, why would she endure grievances at home just for a bit of money? Even if Aunt and Uncle agreed to give her something, it’s obvious they wouldn’t give much.

“I think she’s really disappointed with Aunt and Uncle now and doesn’t want to deal with them anymore.” Not to mention the relatives from the Gu family; Gu Minmin probably hates them to death by now.

Chen Yongxin said, “If she’s getting a share, she should take it. Didn’t you encourage her to speak up before?”

“I didn’t expect Aunt and Uncle to be so ruthless. I thought, after raising her for over twenty years, they’d at least have a little softness and share something.” Who knew they didn’t want to give anything at all?

“Second brother, I think Aunt and Uncle are quite terrifying.”

Chen Yongxin sighed in agreement, “Who can argue with that?”

“Forget it. I see that my dad really doesn’t want to deal with them anymore, so we’ll just grow distant from them in the future.”

From now on, they’d only interact as ordinary relatives. Having such cold-hearted and unreliable relatives would only bring trouble; they wouldn’t offer any real help. Even the emotional ties were nearly exhausted by now.

“If we’re going to be distant, so be it. Uncle is at this age, so it’s better to worry less.”

After standing in front of the hospital building for a while, Chen Jin suddenly remembered that this was a maternal and child hospital, and that Chen Ting and Liu Chengzhi also worked here. Thinking of these two, Chen Jin asked, “Second brother, have you and Sister Zhuang Yao, as well as Ting Jie and Liu Chengzhi, set a wedding date?”

Surely they weren’t all planning to get married this year?

“It’s not completely set yet. Zhuang Yao and I plan to get married by the end of the year. As for Ting Ting, she said she would have a meal with Liu Chengzhi’s family after the New Year to discuss it, and then they’ll set a date. The earliest for them will be next year.”

Chen Yongxin smiled and said, “Before, I was blocking Ting Ting, but now it seems like she and Liu Chengzhi are doing well together.”

At least now someone is looking out for her; she’s more clear-headed and knows how to build good relationships with her family. It’s unfortunate, though—what her family tried to teach her, she didn’t listen to, but what outsiders said, she found reasonable.

But really, she’d better learn well. He and his brother were not like their dad, who put in effort for his siblings without expecting anything in return. If Chen Ting dared to act like Aunt in the future, he wouldn’t even spare her a glance.

Forget it; let’s not talk about these troublesome matters anymore.

“How’s the travel agency you partnered with Yong Fei going?”

“I’m just putting in money and waiting for dividends. I’m not involved in the management and operations; I just check the accounts from time to time.”

“I thought you had completely washed your hands of it; I didn’t expect you to still check the accounts?”

“Clear accounts between siblings, right? If anything comes up, while it’s not serious, we can sit down and talk it out. Once it blows up, that sibling bond is gone,” Chen Jin said with a smile. “I don’t have much money left, but if you have a small investment opportunity that doesn’t require too much capital, feel free to let me know. We still have our sibling bond, right?”

Chen Yongxin laughed and tapped her on the head, teasing, “There’s still a little left.”

“Second brother, Third Sister, what brings you here?” Just as Liu Chengzhi was about to walk out the door, he saw Chen Yongxin and Chen Jin chatting by the entrance and went over to greet them.

Chen Jin raised an eyebrow. It seems they’ve changed their tone; good things must be on the way. By next year, she’d have to change her tone too.

“We came to see Aunt,” Chen Yongxin replied. When he saw a nurse calling for him from behind, he declined her invitation to visit. “No need; you go ahead and do your work.”

Liu Chengzhi thought it was probably because Chen Ting’s family matters hadn’t been sorted out yet. Since Chen Ting’s second brother had spoken, he decided not to join in. He hurriedly greeted them and then rushed back to his work.

They waited downstairs for almost an hour when Uncle and Uncle-in-law came out together. Uncle-in-law didn’t look too happy, and Uncle’s expression was just as mediocre.

Uncle-in-law had to go back to work, and Uncle urged his second cousin to return as well. He then got into Chen Jin’s car, saying, “You’re the only one in the family with free time. You take Uncle out for a drive to enjoy the breeze.”

Chen Jin looked up; the sky was clear with no clouds, and the blazing sun hung high. Was it the wind blowing after going out for a few laps? No, it was the car’s air conditioning! What difference was there from staying home with the air conditioning? However, her uncle wore an expression that said, “I can’t make you do anything now, can I?” Chen Jin pouted. What could she do? She could only go along with his wishes.

“Hey, where does this road lead?”

“To the national forest park. The air is good there. I’ll take you to relax a bit.”

“……” Chen Wenqiang glanced at Chen Jin. “Do I look like someone who can climb up there?”

“Don’t worry; I can’t climb up either. We’ll just stroll around the foot of the mountain.” Chen Jin was well aware of her own capabilities; she wouldn’t easily try climbing mountains. Plus, she had an uncle; what if he needed her support? That would be a disaster.

Chen Wenqiang chuckled. No wonder the second one often said, “Don’t you worry about having fun when you go out with the third sister?” If nothing else, they could spend the whole afternoon at a beauty salon.

Once they arrived in the forest park area, tall trees lined both sides of the road. The car window rolled down, and the fresh, moist air rushed in, which indeed was refreshing. She thought about inviting old friends to meet here next time, to cultivate themselves and talk business—it wouldn’t be bad.

“Aren’t you going to ask what I discussed with your aunt and uncle?”

Chen Jin didn’t turn her head, focusing on the road ahead. “So, what did you say?”

How perfunctory.

“Out of a 500,000 investment, 100,000 will go to Minmin. When their child is born, they’ll take care of it themselves. Retirement funding will be discussed later. That’s all I can negotiate. They probably won’t give any money for the wedding house. To have a son, the expenses for pregnancy and the subsequent fees will easily exceed 200,000. They received 500,000 before and even changed to a new house and car. I suspect they don’t have much money left now.”

However, that’s no excuse. They may not have sufficient cash flow, but they still had other assets. If they truly wanted to give, they could always offer some property.

Chen Jin scoffed lightly. “Saying they’ll take care of the child themselves—do you really believe that, Uncle? Your aunt and uncle can still fuss for another ten years. What about the education of your cousin? When your aunt and uncle grow old and need someone to take care of them, your cousin will just be an adult, and the responsibility of caring for them won’t fall solely on cousin Minmin.”

“Ah, you shouldn’t interfere in their matters. I don’t think Minmin is dying to argue over that little money.”

Chen Wenqiang looked at her. “How is it just that little money? Have you got so much money in your hands now that you’re floating?”

“Why am I involved again? We’re talking about cousin Minmin. She probably doesn’t want that money from your aunt and uncle anymore.”

“If she doesn’t want money, what quarrels has she been having with her parents recently?” Uncle spoke earnestly. “Not everyone has to fight for every little thing. I’ve said it many times—what you have in your hands is the most practical. Why think too much about anything else?”

Chen Jin sighed. “Not everyone is as practical as you, Uncle. Cousin Minmin is just upset with her aunt and uncle’s current attitude. Her beliefs have collapsed. She was the only child before, and her aunt and uncle, along with relatives from their side, spoiled her. Now that suddenly there’s a younger brother to share that attention, her parents and relatives have started moralizing and want her to help out with her brother in the future.”

“Sometimes, people just want to stand up for themselves. If she takes money from her aunt and uncle, she’ll always feel inferior in front of them. If something happens with her younger brother, they’ll use her for all the reasons they can because she took her parents’ money. She has to be grateful.”

“What if it were you? Would you think the same way?”

Chen Jin laughed. “Cousin Minmin isn’t as thick-skinned as I am. As for me, give me as much as you want; once it’s done, it’s over. No matter how you try to moralize me, it won’t work. I can always be amoral.”

If the demolition had taken place in Qiaoxi Village, whatever her grandpa would have given her, she would have taken it all.

Chen Wenqiang chuckled at her words. “You’re just good at talking. If it were your turn, you probably wouldn’t take a dime.”

“Who knows?” After all, she had never faced that kind of situation. Even if she made a choice, she might regret it later.

“Whatever. I’ve done what I needed to do; they can figure out their own thoughts.”

Chen Wenqiang rested his elbow on the car window and took a moment to enjoy this rare leisurely time.

After a few quiet minutes, Chen Wenqiang said, “Your aunt and uncle are like that. In the future, for family businesses and project investments, I don’t plan on calling them anymore.”

But what had already been invested and signed could not be divided; it had to stay as it was.

Unreliable and irresponsible people could only share in the joys, not in the hardships. It made no sense for them to stay away from risky ventures and then expect a share when profits were made.

In fact, the previous invitation for her to participate in the building project in Qiaoxi Village showed that, although she hadn’t thought much about it at the time.

Chen Jin didn’t comment.

Branches spread out from a big tree. Her uncle, who had been like a father for decades, should also step back.

They initially wanted to find a stone bench at the foot of the mountain to sit and rest, but after hearing from a shopkeeper that a tea house had opened halfway up the mountain in a beautiful setting, her uncle looked up, decided that halfway up was not so bad, and called on Chen Jin to hike up.

Halfway up the mountain was indeed nice. Just as Chen Jin was contemplating giving up on climbing, they arrived at the newly opened tea house. The environment was serene, and the fragrance of tea filled the air. Chen Jin drank big red robe like water, gulping down several cups. After calming down, she started wandering around the tea house.

Chen Wenqiang remarked that she had no patience but didn’t stop her. Soon, she was chatting with the visitors at the tea house and surprisingly, they got along well.

On the way back, Chen Wenqiang was all smiles, glancing at Chen Jin and then at the little ornament on the car that read “Wishing You Prosperity,” his eyes squinting from laughter.

“Today’s outing was quite lucky. It’s still thanks to the third sister for picking a good place. We should come out more often when there’s nothing to do.”

Chen Jin found her uncle quite amusing. He was chatting animatedly with others at the tea house. If someone didn’t know better, they would think he was there to do business. So, she joked, “Did you make a big fortune?”

Cheng Jin saw her uncle pick up a small ornament to play with and then mumble, “Let’s go to Xichan Temple one of these days to do some divination.”

Go to Xichan Temple? Cheng Jin had no objections. Her uncle was now full of spontaneous ideas; perhaps this was what they called middle age crisis.

That evening, she went to her uncle’s house for a meal. They chatted for a while, and since it got late, she didn’t rush back to the small villa but instead stayed at a house near Hanlin Garden.

Early the next morning, Cheng Jin changed her clothes and drove straight to the Jinxiu (splendid) Community.

Her supermarket was officially opening today!

The name of the supermarket was quite interesting—”Today Supermarket.”

Everyone in the family came to show their support. Chen Jia and Chen Yongan came as representatives of their respective families, and Meng Lin brought her son Junjun along.

There wasn’t much to see; just setting off a firecracker was considered the opening ceremony, without any extravagant displays.

A fifty-square-meter supermarket was actually quite spacious, and daily necessities could be bought here. For now, Tian Miao was the only one managing the store. After a while, they would see if they needed to hire another person. If it got too busy, they would need help; otherwise, they couldn’t leave.

Tian Miao was full of energy, saying, “If we hire someone, we can provide them with accommodation. They can live in the same apartment as me.”

Cheng Jin had reserved one of her nine apartments in the Jinxiu (splendid) Community for Tian Miao to live in. The others were rented out. A hundred-square-meter apartment was too large for her to live alone.

“No need, let’s hire someone from nearby. There’s no need for them to live together with us.”

Living with others for a long time would inevitably lead to some friction. They had the means, so there was no need to put themselves at a disadvantage.

Cheng Jin handed over the remaining eight apartments and a shop to Tian Miao to help find tenants. She had ready-made templates for contracts, and each apartment was rented out for three hundred and thirty yuan, a bit lower than the market rate. She did this to make renting easier, which also made collecting rent simpler.

Not only her properties, but her three uncles’ properties were also entrusted to Tian Miao, and she paid her extra for her efforts.

“Third sister, I just saw Aunt Zhou. Her family opened a fruit shop over here too.”

The shop Aunt Zhou chose was right across the community entrance from hers, not far at all.

Cheng Jin’s eyes lit up; she hadn’t seen Aunt Zhou in a long time and missed her!

“Let’s go! We should go greet Aunt Zhou.”