20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 475 Starting a Family and Starting a Business
"Sister-in-law, this is Guyu. Guyu, this is our sister-in-law."

Jiang family mansion, in the small hall on the second floor.

Li Zhengxi took the initiative to bring a little girl to his sister-in-law. His intention was, of course, self-evident - Xifeng was going to get married.

However, this incident happened too suddenly, and no one in the Jiang family noticed it in advance.

There was no preparation at home, but this kid just brought the person back directly. He is truly the kind of person who can "do great things quietly".

Although the girl was born and raised without a father or a mother, thus saving the trouble of going through such formalities as visiting a family to propose marriage, this move still seemed a bit too hasty.

Women understand women best - I humble myself, but when it comes to major events in life, I also had the crazy dream of a sedan chair carried by eight people and bunches of flowers.

Hu Xiaoyan was caught off guard and couldn't help but blame Xifeng a few words, blaming her as the eldest sister-in-law for being unprepared and for treating her brother's wife with disrespect.

Li Zhengxi didn't mind, and waved his hand and said, "Sister-in-law, those are all small matters. The most important thing is to look at the person——" As he said that, he suddenly turned his head and glanced at Guyu, then smiled and said, "Anyway, I have chosen her, and I hope sister-in-law can help us."

After hearing this, Hu Xiaoyan couldn't help but look up at Guyu and looked at him carefully.

When she came to see the eldest sister-in-law, the girl changed into clean clothes. She looked nice, but a little shy and reserved. When she was asked questions, she didn't dare to look at the eldest sister-in-law, at most she stole a glance at Xifeng, her face was red, for fear of saying the wrong thing.

When a girl sees her sweetheart, her eyes won’t lie, and that’s enough.

The so-called "equal status" should not be something Xifeng should consider at all.

There is nothing to complain about Hu Xiaoyan.

If Bei Feng had brought back such a girl, she would probably have frowned, or even tried to obstruct him from behind.

But now it was Xifeng who brought Guyu to discuss marriage, so Hu Xiaoyan just smiled and said, "Very good, very good, we can pick a date to hold the wedding."

Li Zhengxi and Guyu looked at each other and said with a smile: "Thank you, sister-in-law, for your help!"

Hu Xiaoyan nodded with a smile, and then asked, "Xifeng, after you and Guyu get married, do you plan to continue to stay in this house with your brother and me, or do you plan to move out?"

"This..." Li Zhengxi stammered, seeming a little hesitant.

"Don't worry, just tell me what you two think." Hu Xiaoyan comforted, "If you want to stay, there are vacant rooms for you two at home; if you want to move out, sister-in-law will help you two find a house nearby, so it will be convenient for you to come back and stay for a few days whenever you want."

My sister-in-law had already saved enough money to start a family in Sifengkou.

Although we cannot buy them a three-story mansion with carved beams and painted rafters - that would inevitably be considered "overstepping one's authority" - but it is more than enough to buy them a small courtyard with east and west wing rooms.

Li Zhengxi hesitated for a moment, and finally chose to follow his heart.

"Sister-in-law, if it's not too much trouble, I still want to move out with Guyu... But if anything happens at home, I promise to come back at any time and will definitely not delay..."

"Okay, no need to promise, let's do as you say."

Hu Xiaoyan smiled calmly, signaling the two to relax and not think too much.

What's more, Xifeng is now 24 years old, and it is time for him to stand on his own and start his own business.

On the other hand, although the Jiang family mansion is extraordinary, the house is large enough and has many rooms, it is still a mansion after all. It is not like the traditional mansions, which are suitable for a whole large family to live together.

If the four people in the four winds really brought their wives here and had children here, how many people would there be in the Jiang family mansion?
Three women are a drama!

Even though Hu Xiaoyan's position as the mistress of the house is unshakable, can she ensure that the sisters-in-law will not scheme against each other?

I'm afraid not!
Even if God came, he would not be able to settle the trivial matters between women, let alone a mere mortal?
By then, the Jiang family mansion might never have peace again.

Therefore, when Hu Xiaoyan heard that Xifeng wanted to move out, she was naturally willing to help him and was happy to have no more worries.

First talk about starting a family, then talk about building a career.

At this point, Li Zhengxi took the opportunity to mention Nanfeng's suggestion: "Sister-in-law, I have something else I want to discuss with you."

"You said."

"I think--"

Li Zhengxi was about to speak, but suddenly he was startled. He glanced at the glass window behind his sister-in-law and said, "Eh? My brother seems to be back."

Hu Xiaoyan turned around and looked downstairs, only to see Jiang Lianheng talking to Yuan Xinfa at the gate of the courtyard. After a moment, he strode towards the house.

"Xifeng, take Xiaoyu downstairs to meet your brother first. I will come down to find you later."

Hu Xiaoyan mentioned it quickly, but in fact she wanted to take this opportunity to go back to the bedroom and prepare some gifts such as red envelopes and jewelry for her new sister-in-law.

Li Zhengxi didn't think much about it. He turned around and called to the girl, "Come on, follow me downstairs to meet my brother."

"Okay, then...sister-in-law, shall we wait for you downstairs?"

Guyu said goodbye to his sister-in-law in a low voice - he was quite sensible, and Hu Xiaoyan liked him even more - then he turned around, followed Xifeng, and left the room with his head down.

The two of them came to the corridor and happened to run into Sister Hua leading Jiang Chengye upstairs.

The two sides had no choice but to have a few words.

Li Zhengxi quickly took Guyu forward and introduced her with a smile: "Xiaohua, this is Guyu."

Sister Hua held Jiang Chengye in front of her, put her hands on her son's shoulders, glanced quickly at the little girl in front of her, her face cold, and just nodded slightly without saying anything.

Li Zhengxi, however, continued chatting with himself, then turned around and said to his future wife, "Guyu, this is Xiaohua. She and Dongge and the others are the five of us who grew up together. She is the second concubine of my eldest brother, so you can just call her Sister Hua."

Guyu nodded, walked forward timidly, and said softly: "Sister Hua——"

"Call grandma."

Sister Hua suddenly interrupted the girl with a serious expression.

This was probably the first time since she got married that she spoke in the manner of a second concubine and the biological mother of the eldest son of the Jiang family - her tone was commanding and did not allow for any questioning.

Li Zhengxi was a little stunned after hearing this.

After being stunned for a long time, he finally laughed twice and said, "Why are you so formal? Don't scare people."

Sister Hua ignored her and just stared at the girl's face, saying coldly, "You are disrespectful. Are you calling me Sister Hua? Call me grandma."

Guyu was immediately frightened and became a little at a loss.

But women know what is on their mind. She couldn't help but look up at Xifeng, then at Sister Hua, and suddenly she seemed to understand something.

On the contrary, Li Zhengxi felt a little embarrassed, so he frowned and said, "Xiaohua, what are you doing? That's enough, stop making trouble. Guyu is so timid..."

Before he could finish his words, Xifeng suddenly felt someone tugging at the corner of his clothes.

Looking back, I saw Guyu bowing deeply to Sister Hua respectfully, like a servant, and whispering, "Hello, Second Madam."

The atmosphere suddenly became a little awkward.

At this moment, footsteps suddenly sounded at the stairs. Zhang Zhengdong, riding Jiang Ya on his shoulders, leaned over and leaned his head, but did not come over. He just shouted, "Xifeng, big brother asked you to bring the girl downstairs for him to see."

Hearing this, Sister Hua immediately pushed Jiang Chengye across the corridor. Under the gaze of everyone, she silently returned to the room and closed the door.

"boom!"

Li Zhengxi was startled by the emotional sound of the door closing. He was suspicious for a moment, then led Guyu to Dongfeng.

"Brother Dong, who offended her today?"

"Don't ask me."

Zhang Zhengdong hurriedly turned around and went downstairs, but suddenly he felt a pain on his scalp - Jiang Ya grabbed Uncle Dong's hair and made him stop.

The little girl was curious about every stranger who came to the house, but she was not afraid of strangers, so she asked Guyu right away: "Who are you and what are you doing in my house?"

Li Zhengxi explained with a smile: "Niece, this is your third aunt."

"What is Third Aunt?"

"My third uncle's wife is your third aunt."

Jiang Ya nodded in response, and then suddenly opened her voice and shouted downstairs without any warning: "Dad, Dad, my third uncle is getting married! When will you find a wife for my Dong uncle?"

…………

In the living room of the mansion, Jiang Lianheng sat on the sofa and slowly lit a cigarette. Li Zhengxi and Guyu sat in front of him.

Hu Xiaoyan had just come downstairs and gave her sister-in-law a big red envelope and a hairpin.

Brothers and sisters-in-law are like parents.

The four of them had been chatting in the living room for a long time and had asked all the questions that needed to be asked. Xifeng and Guyu had no other elders, so as long as their brother and sister-in-law agreed, the marriage would naturally be settled.

This was the first time that Jiang Lianheng arranged a marriage for someone. His old-fashioned nature made him unconsciously act like an experienced person, and he couldn't help but speak in a pretentious tone.

"Well, well...Xifeng, since you two are so in love, your sister-in-law and I certainly have no objection."

"Thank you big brother for making it happen."

"Don't be impatient, I haven't finished yet." Jiang Lianheng raised his hand to signal Xifeng not to interrupt, "But, this, this... marriage is the top priority in life, you must not be impulsive, you must be cautious, and cherish it."

"Are you qualified to criticize others?" Hu Xiaoyan interrupted.

"Look, I'm here to say a few words to Xifeng as a person who has been through this, why do you keep interrupting me?" Jiang Lianheng was a little dissatisfied.

Li Zhengxi said: "Brother, I am not acting on impulse. Guyu and I have known each other for a year."

"Oh, that was a few years ago. You hid it very well!" Jiang Lianheng continued to pretend to be deep, "In short, I just want to tell you that between husband and wife, love is of course important, but the most important thing is patience. Just make do with it. Otherwise, what else can you do? There is no other way. There is absolutely no other way."

The more Hu Xiaoyan listened, the more she felt something was wrong. She turned around and glared at Jiang Lianheng fiercely, saying in a cold voice, "If you have something to say, you can find a chance to tell me directly. There's no need to make indirect accusations in front of my sister-in-law."

"Hey, Xifeng, look at your sister-in-law. She has improved a lot in recent years and can even use idioms."

"I'm not that good, but at least I'm better than those people who make spelling mistakes all the time."

"What is a typo? If you can recognize it, it's not a typo!"

"Yes, if you really can't do it, just draw on paper. It's not like I haven't done this before."

"Who are you talking about?"

"I didn't say anything to anyone."

The two of them were talking back and forth, and it seemed that they were about to start quarreling again.

Li Zhengxi saw that things were not going well, so he quickly spoke up to bring the topic back to normal, saying with a smile, "Brother, sister-in-law, um... today we should mainly talk about the things between Guyu and me, right?"

Jiang Lianheng waved his hand and said, "What else do you two have to talk about? Wait for Nanfeng and Yansheng to come back, and when everyone in the family is together, why don't you pick a date and hold the wedding?"

Li Zhengxi nodded repeatedly, and then said, "Brother, besides this, I have something else I want to discuss with you and sister-in-law."

"You said."

Li Zhengxi thought for a moment and finally mentioned the "land selling" business that Nanfeng suggested to him.

"Brother, sister-in-law, you see I'm about to start a family, and I want to start a business quickly. After all, I can't always ask you for money in the future."

"It's a good idea to have this idea." Hu Xiaoyan asked, "Do you have any ideas? If it's suitable, sister-in-law can help you two invest some money."

"I've had this idea for a long time. My second brother gave me this idea." Li Zhengxi said hurriedly, "Sister-in-law, you know I'm with those little fans. Many of them are grown up now. I want to try to do some 'land stall' business with them along the river."

As soon as these words were spoken, Hu Xiaoyan frowned immediately, turned her head slightly, looked at Jiang Lianheng, hesitated and did not reply immediately.

Li Zhengxi was a little puzzled, so he asked cautiously: "Sister-in-law, this matter... is not possible?"

"No, no, Xifeng, that's not what sister-in-law meant."

Hu Xiaoyan suddenly smiled and said, "You want to be self-reliant, which is a good thing. Your brother and I will certainly not stop you from doing it, but the business of 'selling things on the ground' is not something that the little scoundrels under you can do whenever they want. You have to think about business matters slowly and don't be too hasty."

"That's right!" Li Zhengxi scratched his head and said thoughtfully, "Before the New Year, my second brother briefly talked to me about it. Sister-in-law, to be honest, I felt a headache just by listening to it once."

"Of course. Every business has its own tricks and it's not easy."

Hu Xiaoyan seemed very pleased, and then she suggested: "Xifeng, how about this. If you want to do this business, my family will help you to set up two account offices, and hire a few old men who often travel around the world, and let them help you with advice on how to get the land, how to arrange the land, and how to share the dividends with the old men. This business also requires dealing with the government and the landlords in the area along the river, so let's take it slow."

Li Zhengxi was completely open with his elder brother and sister-in-law, and immediately heaved a sigh of relief, saying with a smile: "Sister-in-law, if my family can help us get our business up and running, I'll have less to worry about. By the way, that... I will pay the family back when the time comes, and it will definitely not be less!"

"Haha, Xifeng, you are being too polite in front of your sister-in-law. Your brother and I treat you as our own brothers. If you make a lot of money in the future, you can give some to the family if you are willing. If you make less money, you don't have to give it. The family doesn't need your income now. Besides, after all, this is your own business. I am very happy that you have this kind of thought."

Hearing this, Li Zhengxi was overjoyed, and immediately turned around and asked, "Brother, what do you think?"

"If you have ambition, work hard." Jiang Lianheng laughed.

"Thank you, brother and sister-in-law!"

"Don't be so quick to thank me." Jiang Lianheng suddenly said, "You have to put your 'land sale' on hold for a while. Nanfeng and Yansheng have gone to Harbin. I have other things to do here. I need to use those little fan boys. You have to cooperate with Wen Tingge."

"Wen Tingge?" Li Zhengxi's mouth drooped immediately. "Brother, he and I have nothing to do with each other, why should we cooperate?"

"You have to cooperate whether you have anything to do with it or not!"

"So...what exactly is it?"

"I just came back from Lao Zhang's place. Recently, my family has to prioritize the return of workers."

(End of this chapter)