173: Chapter 171: Return Home 173: Chapter 171: Return Home Zhang Dayong and Zhang Dasheng, the two brothers, had a decent tolerance for alcohol.
Among the twenty-four bottles of beer, Chen Hai figured, he himself had drunk at most four.
The rest of the beer was basically finished by these two.
Anyway, by a little past eleven o’clock at night, when they left, none of the beer they brought remained; it was all drunk up clean.
Apart from a little unsteadiness in their steps when walking, the two of them seemed not to be very drunk.
Of course, their ability to handle their liquor was certainly related to the slow pace at which they drank.
After all, it had been nearly six hours since they started drinking in the late afternoon until now.
On average, Zhang Yong and Zhang Dasheng each drank less than two bottles of beer per hour.
Having experienced a horrifying episode last time from drinking beer until he was out of his senses, this time Chen Hai deliberately controlled himself, and after downing four bottles, he just felt a bit dizzy.
Lying in bed, it didn’t take long before he deeply fell asleep.
The next morning, he checked out of his room and headed off toward Yang City.
Domestic civil aviation in Yanhuang Country had been operational for some years.
However, in earlier years, to fly on a plane not only required an introduction letter but also involved very complicated procedures, making regular people not even qualified to fly.
It was only this year that domestic flights really opened up, allowing anyone to buy a plane ticket if they had the money.
Compared to train travel, a plane ticket might be several times more expensive, but it was safer.
When leaving Haizhu City, Chen Hai decided to withdraw all his money.
Having plenty of cash and bringing too much of it along, he naturally chose the latter without any hesitation when deciding between train and plane.
Wuling City, where Liuyuan County was located, did not yet have an airport.
Chen Hai could only fly from Yang City to Shachang City, the capital of Xiangnan Province, and then transfer to get back home to Liuyuan County.
Taking all sorts of detours, by the time he reached Liuyuan County, it was already night with no more buses running, so it wasn’t until after ten o’clock the next morning that he finally got back to his home in Chenjiaping, Wuyang Town.
Thinking about how much hassle it was to transfer, Chen Hai became even more determined to buy a house and persuade his parents to move into the county.
In fact, when he came back last time to collect those bottles and jars, he had already considered urging his parents to move directly to the Capital City.
After all, the house he had in West Mountain was not small.
Not to mention housing his parents, if a few more people came to stay, that place would definitely be more than comfortable.
Unfortunately, his parents were adamant against the idea.
They said that moving away from one’s hometown lowered one’s status, and living in the Capital City, a place where they had no connections, would make them uncomfortable.
Since he saw they did not have such intentions when he mentioned it to them, Chen Hai did not insist.
He knew his parents had at most been to the county town.
They usually spoke the local dialect of Liuyuan and could not even speak Mandarin clearly.
Moreover, there was concern about not acclimatizing to the new environment and the vast difference in living habits.
If they really moved to the Capital City, their life might become unbearably difficult.
“Little Hai, you’re back…” His mother, Jiang Meixian, was chopping firewood with an axe in the flat land next to their house.
Seeing Chen Hai, she quickly put down the axe, her face bright with happiness, and came over to greet him.
“Mom, I’ve told you before, try not to do so much heavy work on ordinary days.”
“If you’re really bored, go have some chitchat with the neighbors or play some cards to pass the time.”
“If the house is short on money, just tell me, I’ll give you whatever you need.”
“Why not enjoy your good days at ease?
Why insist on tiring yourself out like this?”
Seeing his mother, sweaty and dirty, Chen Hai couldn’t help but feel angry inside.
He pouted and complained to Jiang Meixian.
“You child, what way is that to talk?
Your father and I, while we’re still young and able-bodied, want to help you save a bit for your wife!”
“Let me tell you, around here, if you want to get married, the price of the bride price has gone up again.”
“Do you remember Chen Feng from Chen Laosan’s family?
He’s only a few years older than you, right?”
“Not long ago, he started seeing a girl, and when it came to discussing the bride price, they started off asking for 8,800!”
“To gather that bride price, Chen Laosan borrowed from everywhere he could, but still couldn’t make up the full amount.”
“Having no choice, Chen Feng went to the girl’s house, knelt down to beg them to ask for less, only to be chased out by their parents with a broom and had the marriage called off!”
“With the way things are going, in the future, getting a wife is only going to get more expensive; who knows, in a few years, a bride price might go from 8,800 to 88,000.”
“If your father and I don’t work hard now, where are you going to find the money to get married?”
Taking the luggage off Chen Hai’s back, Jiang Meixian cheerfully explained to him.
Chen Hai was left speechless by his mother’s words.
He chuckled bitterly and shook his head, saying, “Mom, I’ve already told you, I’m capable of making money.
The matter of finding a wife is something I can handle on my own.
You and dad don’t need to worry about it!”
“Besides,” he continued, “no matter how hard you and dad work yourselves to death, how much can you really make?”
His words were indeed the plain truth, without any exaggeration.
In rural areas these days, people who worked themselves ragged really couldn’t earn much.
The money they had was pinched and scraped together from their living expenses, the very definition of hard-earned money.
“Hai, mom knows you’re great at earning money, but as a college student, you should prioritize your studies right now.”
“Saving up for your marriage is our responsibility as your parents!”
“Unless one day, you bring home a wife.
In that case, your dad and I can worry a little less!” Jiang Meixian chuckled.
If it had been during his high school years, and Chen Hai dated a female classmate, she and Chen Zhonghua probably would have invited him for a bamboo shoot and pork stir-fry.
But now that Chen Hai was in college, if he wanted to pursue a relationship, Jiang Meixian wouldn’t only not object, she would definitely offer her support.
“Mom, I’m still in school, right?
What’s the rush about getting married?”
“Are you and dad just worried that I won’t have enough for a bride price?”
“Come on, follow me inside the house…”
Once his mother got stubborn, Chen Hai couldn’t seem to explain anything to her.
He grabbed Jiang Meixian’s arm and headed for their house next door.
“Hai, your father is still chopping trees on the back hill!”
“I still have several bundles of firewood to split here.
What are you dragging me into the house for?”
“Unless you’re suddenly going to conjure up a wife in here…”
Muttering all the way, Chen Hai had already dragged her into the room, but Jiang Meixian’s mouth never stopped.
Chen Hai said nothing.
He simply took back his backpack from his mother and unzipped it straight away.
“Hai, what is this…” Mid-sentence, she was struck dumb by the stacks of banknotes in the backpack, speechless for a good long while.
“A few days ago, when I came back home to get some things, didn’t I tell you and dad that I was preparing to sell some stuff to a Tai Islander introduced by a friend in Yuedong?”
“This over two hundred thousand in the backpack is the profit from my trip to Yuedong!”
“With this money here, do you and dad still worry that I won’t be able to find a wife?”
Pointing at the money, Chen Hai spoke in a relaxed and measured tone.
Such a large sum of money laid out in front of her seemed to truly frighten mother Jiang Meixian.
It was as if she hadn’t heard Chen Hai’s words at all; she just stood there dumbfounded, with no response whatsoever.
Seeing this, Chen Hai wore a look of helpless amusement and smirked.
Walking all the way from the town to his home in Chenjiaping—a distance of over ten miles—he relied on the Number 11 bus and walked half the day, feeling quite fatigued.
He sat down directly on a chair inside the house and began to rest.
“Hai, come on, pinch me to see if I’m dreaming or suddenly having blurred vision…” After a good five or six minutes, Jiang Meixian finally snapped out of her state of utter shock.
“Mom!
Broad daylight as it is, you’re wide awake, not dreaming at all!”
“What’s in front of you is real money, definitely over two hundred thousand.
If you don’t believe it, you can feel it properly!”
Rolling his eyes at his mother, Chen Hai spoke irritably.
“I can’t take it anymore, Hai, I’m dizzy from the sight of money!”
“You watch it here, I’ll go to the back hill and find your father first!”
Indeed, just as Chen Hai had said, Jiang Meixian pulled out stack after stack of money from the backpack, turning them over and over, feeling and sniffing them!
After confirming that what she was holding was indeed real money, she threw a comment at Chen Hai and ran out the door.
For rural folks these days, a few thousand yuan was already a substantial amount.
Two hundred thousand, such a big pile of money suddenly displayed before Jiang Meixian—it was impossible for her to calm down in that instant.
Chen Hai found his mother’s actions simultaneously exasperating and amusing.
Of course, he had no real complaint against his own mother.
He simply felt that staying in this rural village all the time without going out into the world meant one could never truly grasp how vast it was.
Chen Hai took out a cigarette and lit up for himself.
Before he had finished smoking it, his mother Jiang Meixian and father Chen Zhonghua had already hurried back home, all sweaty and breathless, having run the entire way at what must have been a sprinter’s speed.
Hearing about it was one thing; seeing it with one’s own eyes was another.
Chen Zhonghua, who had already learned from his wife about the large bag of money Chen Hai had brought back, still froze for a good while when he actually saw the money laid out before him.
Only then did he gradually come to his senses.