Chapter 178 - 177: Returning to the Village (Fourth Update)
During the winter vacation of Gu Xiaoqing’s final year in high school, Gu Ruhai decided to return home for the New Year to visit his elderly parents.
Although the relationship had been severed, blood ties cannot be cut.
In Gu Ruhai’s heart, they were still his parents; it’s impossible to completely sever such ties with just a piece of paper.
So he still thought about them often.
Moreover, lately, Li Weimin had sent word that Mr. Gu’s health seemed not too good.
This also made the usually filial Gu Ruhai feel very concerned.
He decided to return home this year for the New Year to check on them.
Currently, Li Weimin and Li Weiqiang have already opened branches of Gu Family Hot Pot in the provincial city. They were considered franchisees, a concept proposed by Gu Xiaoqing.
The emergence of a chain store inevitably involves franchising, so there was no need to be strict about who was franchising.
Thus, as the first beneficiaries, Li Weimin and Li Weiqiang joined in.
Li Weimin’s two sons, Jianguo and Jianhui, were already engaged and just waiting for the weddings next year, so the major events in their sons’ lives were considered settled. Thus, Li Weimin and Li Weiqiang thought about finding something for their sons to do.
In these past two years, the changes in the countryside have been significant.
More and more people are going out to work.
More people have broken free from the constraints of the land and started thinking of other ways to earn money.
Going to big cities to earn money has become the primary objective for many.
Therefore, Li Weimin and Li Weiqiang thought about having their two sons take their fiancées to the city to make a living.
Because in these past two years, they’ve seen how well Gu Ruhai has developed.
Even cars that could only be seen in the county town, Gu Ruhai’s family already owned several.
Even Gu Xiaoying had become exceptionally skilled at driving them.
Both of them felt a bit regretful, regretting not staying in the city to develop along with Gu Ruhai back then; otherwise, their development might have been different now.
At the very least, both families started at roughly the same time, but now Gu Ruhai has left them far behind.
You really can’t compare people to people.
The interactions between the two families have not been estranged due to the urban-rural divide.
Because Li Weimin and Li Weiqiang still occasionally came to the city to deliver food to Gu Ruhai’s family and to bring messages.
Every year, even when Gu Ruhai couldn’t return home for the New Year, Li Weimin and Li Weiqiang would still deliver New Year gifts to the city. This gesture has never changed over the years.
Especially last year, under Gu Xiaoqing’s suggestion, Li Weimin and Li Weiqiang brought Li Qinghai and his wife to the city for the New Year.
This allowed Li Xuemei to reunite with her parents for once.
It was during this reunion meal that Gu Xiaoqing introduced the concept of franchising.
Which is why Li Weimin and Li Weiqiang were intrigued.
After all, even though their business in the town was doing well, compared to the people in the village, they were already considered a wealthy family. But seeing the lifestyle of Gu Ruhai in the city, and how his three children had become indistinguishable from city kids, it had a strong impact.
Look at Gu Xiaoying now, dressed in a sleek professional suit, with fair skin and especially that temperament, which was incomparable to before, radiating inner confidence and the aura of a strong manager.
One could clearly see that she couldn’t be compared to before.
Gu Xiaoying is already a senior accountant.
She passed the professional qualification exams and also manages the finances of four branches of Gu Family Spicy Hot Pot, so one could say she holds a position akin to a financial director now.
There’s no need to elaborate on Gu Xiaoqing, who looks like a city student from her attire and manner; she’s transcended the rural characteristics. It’s not that the countryside is bad, but in some respects, the city still has more persuasive power than the countryside.
As for Gu Xiaojie, the kid is now a complete city child, wearing jeans, sneakers, a sweater, and a jacket, looking every bit like a city kid.
So Li Weimin and Li Weiqiang were eager to see such changes in their descendants.
In the mindset of farmers of that time, becoming a city person was an unimaginable blessing, the dream of multiple generations, the most wonderful thing akin to reaching heaven.
So they were immediately moved by Gu Xiaoqing’s proposal.
With Gu Xiaoqing’s help, they selected a location and their branches of Gu Family Spicy Hot Pot opened, and to their surprise, the results after opening were astonishingly good.
In recent years, the fame of Gu Family Spicy Hot Pot had become well-known in the area.
Thus, the branch didn’t require any promotion to become known by everyone.
The level of buzz was surprisingly delightful.
Gu Xiaoqing didn’t return home during this winter vacation because she had to attend extra classes. This winter holiday, they lost their break time, and all the days, except the few they had to take off for the New Year, were packed with lessons arranged by teachers.
So Gu Xiaoqing stayed in the city.
Gu Ruhai and Li Xuemei, along with Gu Xiaoying and Gu Xiaojie, returned to Gu Family Village.
They drove back.
Now they had their own car, so there was no need to rely on long-distance buses, which would be very troublesome, having to squeeze here and there, especially now during the peak of New Year travel when everywhere was packed with people with large and small bags, squeezing onto long-distance buses.
So Gu Ruhai drove them back.
The trunk was full of various items, not only gifts for Mr. Gu but also things their family might need.
After all, they hadn’t been back to the village house for two years. By now, Li Weimin and others might have helped clean it up and heated the kang. But as for food and other essentials, they hadn’t prepared anything.
Moreover, after not returning for many years, the acquaintances in the village would come to visit. At the very least, you had to give each home’s children a few candies or an apple.
So the trunk was packed with various edible items.
Initially, Li Xuemei was worried about leaving Gu Xiaoqing alone, given that it was the New Year and she’d be spending it alone in the city; Li Xuemei was very concerned.
However, Gu Xiaoqing assured them she was fine, as she’s old enough to take care of herself.
Only then did Gu Ruhai and Li Xuemei feel at ease.
The home’s refrigerator was filled with various foods by Li Xuemei.
These past few years, during the New Year, it’s not yet the time when fresh vegetables are easily available, although you can buy some at high prices.
Li Xuemei and Gu Ruhai had their delivery channels, so they weren’t too worried about these. This year, they gave all employees time off, letting everyone have a good New Year.
They even gave each person a fifty-yuan red envelope.
The staff was thrilled.
After all, that was a month’s salary.
So Gu Xiaoqing stayed behind, while Gu Ruhai and Li Xuemei took the family back to Gu Family Village.
It took them a whole eight-hour drive to return.
Mainly because the road from the town to the village was too bad, and they couldn’t drive fast. It was almost dark by the time they got back to the village. (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)