Reborn in the red age

After staying at my mother-in-law's house for three days, after the Lantern Festival, the family of four said goodbye to the old couple and took the train to leave Suzhou.

After he could no longer see the old couple, Hu Jiabao wiped away the tears from his eyes, closed the window and said unhappily: "My brother and sister-in-law are too much. They haven't been back for two years. They finally came back for three days, but they didn't even show their faces."

"Didn't I call you specifically to explain? Our brother went to the south to purchase goods, and our sister-in-law is alone in the store and can't get away. I'm not a big shot, so I'm here if I want. I can't affect other people's money-making." Looking at the angry Hu Jiabao, Li Qingfeng smiled and comforted him.

"Make money, make money. The Magic City is next to Suzhou. It won't take more than a few hours to come back. How much money can she save? My sister-in-law is really a person who uses people first and doesn't use them later. If she asks you to do something again in the future, don't pay attention to her."

Li Qingfeng knew that Hu Jiabao was just speaking up for him, so he naturally didn't really believe what she said.

"Okay, stop talking. My sister-in-law is very nice. I heard from Chuyi that my sister-in-law buys her delicious and fun things every time she sees her."

Chuyi, who was swinging his feet on the upper bunk, also echoed: "Aunt is so nice, mom, you are not allowed to say bad things about Aunt."

"Hey, you little heartless guy, I bought you off with just a little food and drink."

“I am speaking for justice.”

"You are still speaking up for justice? Do you know how to write these four words?"

"I can," Chuyi said with his neck stiff.

“Then write one and see.”

“I don’t have a pen now, but if I had one I would write.”

Hu Jiabao didn't say anything, but took out a pen from his pocket and handed it over.

When she saw there was a real pen, she was dumbfounded. How could she, who was only in second grade, write the four words "speak up for justice" completely?

He hesitated for a long time holding the pen, then rolled his eyes and said quickly, "I only have a pen but no book, how can I write?"

Hu Jiabao, who was well prepared, sneered and took out a small notebook from his pocket like a magic trick.

"."

"Dad, I need to pee, please take me to the toilet."

In Li Qingfeng's hometown, Li Fuqiang started to get busy as soon as he received a call from his daughter-in-law in Suzhou.

He stopped operating his pirated disc factory for a day, gathered all his men together, assigned tasks to them one by one, and had a lot of fun.

After more than ten hours of hard work, the preparations were finally completed before the train that Li Qingfeng's family of four was about to stop.

Li Fuqiang walked around the station, looked at his own arrangement, and nodded with satisfaction from time to time.

When passing by the welcoming team, Comrade Lao Li frowned deeply when he saw the yangko team consisting of a group of old women and old men with non-uniform clothing gathered together in a mess.

He waved his hand and called his nephew and driver Li Qi to him, saying unhappily, "What's wrong with this group of old ladies? Isn't it the county's song and dance troupe? Why are all the old ladies here? The county's song and dance troupe doesn't look like this?"

"Uncle, these people are from the yangko troupe that I invited from the village below." Li Qi hurriedly explained after taking a look at the group of old women.

"Nonsense! I asked you to invite the county dance troupe to perform the Yangko, but who told you to find people from the countryside? Not to mention they are not old enough, but they are all ugly and don't even have uniform clothes. When they start to dance, the people in the county will think that I, Li, can't afford the dance troupe."

After listening to Li Fuqiang's scolding, Li Qi couldn't help but complain in his heart that his second uncle was really difficult to serve.

What's wrong with being ugly or old? Just dancing well is enough. Why ask for so much?

Li Qi didn't dare to say the complaints in his heart. He pushed the shit hat on his head and said, "Second uncle, it's like this. I went to the county yesterday and saw that the people in the county song and dance troupe were all young girls, most of whom were single young women who had not married. I didn't think it was appropriate, so I didn't invite them."

"Huh? What's wrong with young girls? It's only when young girls dance that they look good."

"According to your request for a grand celebration, shouldn't we wait for my third brother to get off the train and learn from the foreigners to put flowers around his neck and give him flowers? I thought my third sister-in-law would come back with me, and seeing young girls getting close to my brother, I was worried that she would feel uncomfortable, so I didn't invite the dance troupe to come."

Li Fuqiang thought about it and felt that what his nephew said made some sense. He smacked his lips and decided to give up the plan of hiring the song and dance troupe.

He glanced at the yangko team over there and saw their untidy costumes, which were really an eyesore to Li Fuqiang.

After weighing the pros and cons, Li Fuqiang sighed and said helplessly: "Let them do the Yangko dance later, but you need to think of a way to get them dressed. Go borrow some clothes from the county song and dance troupe. At least give them a uniform. They can just tie a red ribbon. Where can I put my face?"

"Okay, I'll do it now."

With the order, Li Qi did not waste any time and drove his Santana straight to the county song and dance troupe, renting dozens of performance costumes at a high price.

After replacing the equipment, the rural yangko team looked quite presentable and had some resemblance to a regular army. Father Li felt more or less at ease.

He asked Li Qi to keep an eye on the scene while he went to chat with the county leaders and reporters who came with them.

As noon approached twelve o'clock, the train that Li Qingfeng was riding on slowly arrived at the station.

When Li Qingfeng and his family came out of the train station, they were stunned by the layout outside the train station.

"No, this...what's going on?"

Looking at the square paved with red carpet, various colorful flags fluttering in the wind on the roadside, and banners erected high with words like "Warmly welcome Mr. Li Qingfeng, Chairman of Lemon Company, back to his hometown" and "Punch the Japanese, kick America, sweep the world, Dongming men are strong", Li Qingfeng had the urge to turn around and run away with the train.

Hu Jiabao, who was standing by, was so shocked at the scene that his mouth was wide open.

Ever since they parted during the Chinese New Year, he had a certain understanding of Mr. Li now. He knew that Mr. Li would definitely stir up some trouble at Qingfeng Li's welcome ceremony for the sake of so-called "face".

Before getting off the bus, Hu Jiabao had already prepared himself mentally.

I just didn't expect that Father Li could make such a big scene. The little psychological preparation Hu Jiabao had done couldn't overcome such a big scene.
Before Qingfeng Li could turn back to the train station, a burst of firecrackers rang out not far away, followed by the sound of gongs and drums. The neatly arranged yangko team began to dance the yangko to welcome Qingfeng Li back home.

The scene was filled with loud gongs and drums, blasting firecrackers, waving red flags, and huge crowds of people.

Seeing a large group of people led by his father-in-law coming over, Hu Jiabao quickly picked up Fifteen and said, "Fifteen seems to have wet his pants. I'll take Fifteen to the toilet to change his pants."

After saying this, without waiting for Li Qingfeng to reply, he picked up Fifteen and ran away.

"Wait, don't leave me alone." Upon hearing Li Qingfeng's call, Hu Jiabao not only did not stop, but his pace became even faster. He soon disappeared from the sight, leaving only the father and daughter staring at each other.

Looking at the disappearing figure, Li Qingfeng smiled bitterly. Could this be the legendary saying that husband and wife are birds of the same forest, but fly away separately when disaster strikes?

Without even bothering to look at Hu Jiabao, Father Li, with a rosy face, had already come up with his men.

Coming in front of Li Qingfeng, Li's father frowned and pretended to be angry and said, "Oh, third brother, you finally came back. You haven't been home for two years. I thought you had forgotten about this family."

"How could that be possible? How could that be possible? I'm just busy with work," Li Qingfeng said with an awkward smile.

Just when Li Qingfeng was about to say something, the leader of a group of middle-aged people who followed him smiled and said, "Boss Li, Mr. Li's business has spread all over the world. He must be very busy at work. It's understandable that he doesn't have time to celebrate the New Year."

"Yes, Boss Li is also one of the leading entrepreneurs in our county. He naturally understands how difficult it is to do business, especially international business that involves multiple countries and takes a lot of time on the road."

Hearing a stranger standing up and talking, Li Qingfeng glanced at the person who spoke, then looked at Li's father again in confusion.

Receiving Li Qingfeng's eye signal, Li's father quickly introduced Li Qingfeng: "Third brother, let me introduce you, this is our Dongming Secretary Zhao Hao, and this is our Dongming County Magistrate Xu Wang, County Magistrate Xu."

After the introduction, everyone nodded in understanding. They were all the leaders of the county. Li Qingfeng forced a smile on his face and shook hands with everyone one by one.

There were too many people coming and going at the train station, so the group did not stay at the exit for long. After getting to know each other, they walked out of the train station under the leadership of Li's father.

As soon as he stepped out of the train station, Qingfeng Li experienced what social death meant.

In front of the crowds of people watching the fun at the door, a yangko team first danced around Li Qingfeng. Then, before Li Qingfeng could react, a wreath was put around his neck by the middle-aged woman leading the yangko team, and a bouquet of flowers was stuffed into his hand.

I touched the leaves, hmm, they are fake flowers.
It would have been fine if they just gave flowers, but after the yangko team handed out the flowers, a teenage girl dressed as a student came up to them with a big red flower in her hand.

As Li Qingfeng looked hopeless, a bright red flower was pinned on his chest.

Father Li saw that all his arrangements had been put into practice, nodded with satisfaction, and walked forward in high spirits to the sound of music.

Looking down at his clothes that looked neither rustic nor Western, Qingfeng Li, with mixed feelings, was surrounded by the yangko team and began to parade through the streets wearing flowers, under the guidance of his father, who had a ruddy face.

The parade is not long, only two hundred meters, and it only takes a dozen minutes to complete.

But for Li Qingfeng, these short ten minutes were the experience he least wanted to recall in his life.

It's so damn shameful.
After getting on Father Li's Santana, Qingfeng Li immediately took off the fake red flowers on his body, and said to Father Li, who was grinning from ear to ear, with dissatisfaction: "Dad, look at what you have done, you are really capable of making trouble. My brother is right, the older you get, the wilder you become."

"What do you know, you little bastard? I'm helping you return home in glory and make a lot of money. If you don't spend it in order to let others see it, then all this money will have been earned in vain, right?" Li Fuqiang's old face suddenly fell, and he said with a look as if I was doing this for your own good.

"Returning home in glory? Who's returning home in glory is like this?"

"Of course not. Look at all the top scorers in the past. They all wore red and green and rode horses in a parade. This is an honor. Do you understand?"

"Haha, I don't understand, but you do. You know so much, but why are the things you come up with still neither Chinese nor Western?"

"Nonsense, I made this based on a scene from a Hong Kong movie, how could it be tacky?"

"Why? Did you also learn about the Yangko Troupe and the Big Red Flower from movies?"

"This is called Chinese-Western integration, you know nothing about it"

I'm too lazy to argue with Mr. Li about this. I'm tired. Just destroy it.

Li Qingfeng leaned against the car window, wondering how he could get back the photos and videos that the reporter had just taken.

It’s better not to keep that thing. Judging from the nature of netizens in later generations, if these photos and videos were to spread out, who knows what tricks they would come up with.

He did not go home for lunch, but asked Boss Li to take Hu Jiabao and her mother and son, who had secretly returned after the parade, back home.

Li Qingfeng and his father went to the largest restaurant in the county to have dinner with the county leaders.

In a private room of a two-story restaurant facing the street in the center of the county town, Li Qingfeng, his sons and two other officials were having a pleasant conversation.

Father Li, in particular, was so excited. The status of businessmen nowadays was far less high than in later generations. In the past, as a wealthy family in the county, Father Li could only deal with some middle-level leaders in the county.

This was the first time that he had sat down to have dinner with the top leaders. They spoke very nicely, calling him Boss Li and Brother Li all the time, which made Li's father feel ecstatic.

After three rounds of drinks, Zhao Hao winked at Xu Wang, who understood and immediately started to cry poor to Li Qingfeng.

Something like the county is poor, several factories in the county have been poorly managed in recent years, and the county can hardly afford to pay the salaries of public servants.

Although it was not said explicitly, everyone understood the implication. The county is short of money and is so poor that it can barely pay salaries. As a big boss like you, shouldn't you give back to your hometown?
It is normal for bosses to donate money in this era. Anyone who makes a lot of money outside will donate to his hometown.

After Mou Qizhong made a big profit by trading in airplanes, he donated a large sum of money to the county that month.

Li Qingfeng had completely lost his good impression of the county's top two leaders. These two people did not have a long-term vision.

The first time he returned to his hometown, not only did he attract investment, but he also asked Li Qingfeng to build a factory to provide more jobs for the county.

The first thing they did during the meeting was to ask Qingfeng Li to donate money to pay salaries and provide welfare benefits.

Li Qingfeng didn't say anything, and as per convention he promised to donate one million in cash to the county.

In addition to the one million in cash, Li Qingfeng also proposed a Sunshine Plan to establish a special fund for Lemon Education to subsidize the tuition fees of all school-age students in the county and provide a meal for all students.

Taking into account the fact that the government has no money now, when farmers hand over the public grain or other agricultural and sideline products, the government cannot pay the corresponding purchase fees, and settles the fees with farmers in the form of "IOUs".

Farmers live in poverty and the output from their fields cannot cover the tuition expenses for their children. The Lemon Fund fully covers the tuition and book fees for students with rural household registration, and provides three meals a day.

Zhao Hao and Xu Wang felt that Li Qingfeng's donation of only one million was a bit too little, but they couldn't say anything. After all, it was free money and they should not refuse it.

In addition, Li Qingfeng was responsible for the county's education investment, which made the county's finances more relaxed and allowed the higher-level education funding to be used for other purposes.

In general, the two were very satisfied with Qingfeng Li's donation, and the following banquet became more lively. (End of this chapter)