Can you be called a rich man if you don’t indulge yourself?

Chapter 78 Arriving Home
As the year draws to a close, the highway is still quite congested. A journey that should have taken five hours actually took Gu Heng eight hours.
On the way, Tao Miaomiao was sent to Tongcheng, which delayed the trip by another hour.
However, as the buildings on both sides of the road became more and more familiar, Gu Heng inexplicably became a little nervous.
The phrase "homesickness" is quite appropriate when applied to me now.
In the living room of an old building, several people sat in front of the TV, eating melon seeds, looking at tangerines and chatting.

Gu Heng's grandparents had passed away before he was born, but he had an uncle, a younger uncle and two aunts. By Gu Heng's generation, there were six or seven cousins, so it could be considered a large family.

But it's a rural area.
In fact, after the family split up, they can only be considered a family in name only.

Normally, these people would not get together unless it was a festival.

Gu Jianguo sat on the sofa and listened to the chattering with a smile.

"Third brother, the water is gone, pour me some water."

Gu Jianguo's elder brother Gu Jiandang put on a leadership style and shouted at him.

Gu Jiandang, Gu Jianguo, and Gu Jianjun are also traditional names from the 1970s and 1980s.
"Eh!"

Gu Heng's father, Gu Jianguo, had injured his foot a few years ago and had undergone surgery, leaving him a little disabled. After answering, he also limped and took the kettle to fill the cup in front of Gu Jiandang.

"What do you think? Xinran is now doing an internship at a Fortune 500 company. Will she still recognize me as her uncle when she comes back?"

He took the cup of water from Gu Jianguo, but Gu Jiandang didn't even look at his third brother. Instead, he turned to the other side with a smile on his face and asked.

Upon hearing this, Gu Heng's uncle Gu Jianjun immediately spat out the melon seed shells in his mouth and responded enthusiastically: "Brother, what you said is true. Don't even think about going to any Fortune 500 company for an internship. Even if you go abroad for further studies, you can't forget about your uncle!"

"This girl is now the most promising one in our Gu family. When I have time next time, I will go to the town to ask if the government still has any subsidies for college students. I will try to help her apply for one.

I, as an uncle, don’t have much ability, but I have been a cadre in the village for so many years, so I can still have some say in some areas.”

Although he said that he had no ability, Gu Jiandang couldn't help but straighten his back a little bit when he said this.

Upon hearing this, the young aunt sitting next to him smiled brightly: "Then I'll trouble you, big brother. You don't know that the cost of living in Shanghai is very high. Jianjun and I don't have much ability, so how can we afford it? Thanks to you for worrying about us all these years."

Gu Jiandang smiled and waved his hand after hearing these words: "Xinran has made great progress, which means our Gu family has made great progress. We are all family, and I will help as much as I can."

Gu Jianguo listened to the conversation of several people with an awkward smile on his face.
It is hard to imagine that this man who looks like a patriarch is his eldest brother.
A few years ago, I asked my eldest brother to help me and my wife apply for a rural housing subsidy for the disabled, but it has been delayed for so many years and has not been approved.

Now he is actively applying for subsidies for his brother's family.

And today, not only Gu Xinran but also his son returned home.
But none of these people mentioned him.
At this time, Xu Hong, who had been busy in the kitchen, came over wearing an apron and said, "Jianguo, call your son and ask him when he can get home. It's already seven or eight in the evening, and I can't calm down. I heard that accidents are prone to happen on the highway in this cold winter."

Before Gu Jianguo could respond, a noise suddenly came from the yard.

Before anyone could react, Xu Hong rushed out of the kitchen. As soon as she opened the door, a strong beam of long-range light shot in from outside.
At once, everyone in the room stood up and walked towards the door.

Gu Heng looked at the short figure under the high beam and knew who it was without even thinking. He unbuckled his seat belt at the fastest speed in his life, pushed open the car door and rushed out.

"mom!!!"

Even though they were still a few meters away, Gu Heng shouted with all his strength.

Xu Hong, who was still a little unsure at first, suddenly felt her eyes turn red when she heard the voice, and she ran towards Gu Heng at a speed she had never run before.
If I were to see you, I would definitely run.
This sentence was originally a text used by couples online to express their deep affection, but now it was accurately interpreted on Xu Hong.
"You little bastard! I thought you didn't want me as your mother!!"

For more than two years, more than 800 days and nights, she had not felt the body temperature of her son. Xu Hong hugged Gu Heng and was unwilling to let go. She cried and patted his back hard.
“I was wrong, I was wrong”

On the way back, Gu Heng imagined countless scenarios after meeting his mother and how he could make her happy. But at this moment, all those scenarios were thrown out of his mind, and he just repeated the apology again and again with a trembling voice.

Gu Jianguo also limped to Gu Heng.

"Dad, I'm back."

Gu Jianguo was not as excited as Xu Hong, but he couldn't help but nodded again and again with red eyes, "It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back!"

Gu Xinran walked down from the passenger seat without disturbing the warmth of Gu Heng's family, but ran towards his parents.

After hugging Gu Heng and crying for a long time, Xu Hong reached out and touched Gu Heng's face and said, "It's not clear in the video, but he looks more handsome now."

"That's right, the son you give birth to will definitely be handsome!"

Looking at the deep crow's feet at the corners of his mother's eyes, Gu Heng couldn't help but reach out to smooth them out, but after a few times, the crow's feet remained.
"Stop rubbing. You'll definitely have more wrinkles as you get older. You're already fifty years old. How can you rub them away?"

Just when Gu Heng was about to say something, his aunt suddenly came over and said, "Xiao Heng, call your friend down and treat him to a nice meal to thank him. It's not easy for him to send you back from so far away."

Gu Heng listened to his aunt's words and sneered in his heart.

When she asked me to pick up Gu Xinran during the day, she said she would pay for the gas and travel expenses. Now that she has brought her back, she immediately denied it and said it was not easy to send me back from such a long distance. She did not mention Gu Xinran at all.
Sometimes he didn't even know how this couple could have educated their cousin to be so outstanding.
Although he sneered in his heart, Gu Heng still said politely: "No need to come down. My friend said that the toll and gas fee are 300 yuan. Auntie, just transfer it to me."

"What?!"

"300 yuan? Your friend must be a ruthless person, charging 300 yuan for picking someone up along the way?"

Sure enough, as soon as these words came out, my aunt's expression changed.

Gu Xinran was also an adult, and she knew her mother's bad habits of being snobbish and greedy, and she also knew that Gu Heng was teasing her on purpose, so she quickly pulled her arm and said embarrassedly, "Mom, stop talking.

I'm kidding you, I bought this car myself, and he came all the way from Hangzhou to Shanghai to pick me up."

As Gu Xinran finished speaking, the whole family was stunned.
Gu Heng bought a car?
If this sentence came from Gu Heng himself, someone would definitely come out to refute it.
In their eyes, Gu Heng, who didn't even go to college, could only do hard labor outside? How much money could he make? How could he afford to buy a car?

But since these words came from Gu Xinran, the most promising person in the Gu family in their eyes, their credibility was raised to MAX.
Gu Heng originally wanted to tease this snobbish aunt for a while longer, but since Gu Xinran had already revealed that she bought the car herself, he simply stopped pretending and came clean!

"Aunt, I was just joking with you. Do you think I look like someone who wants your 300 yuan? Look at you, you're anxious again! You're already in your forties, and you get excited easily."

After saying that, without even looking at her face which had begun to change color, he turned to Xu Hong and Gu Jianguo and said, "Mom and Dad, isn't this car beautiful?"

"Pretty!"

"Very beautiful!"

The couple didn't understand anything about this, but they nodded with pride when they thought that the car was bought by their son.

Although cars are not rare now, that is only relative. In Gu Heng's hometown, only a few families have a car. No matter what car it is, it is a great honor to drive it back during the Chinese New Year! Now that his son is capable and can afford a car, the couple is happier than eating honey.

"Xiao Heng, what kind of car did you buy? Look at you, you bought a car without telling your family. Have you become successful out there and don't recognize your family anymore?"

Just when the couple was feeling happy, Gu Jiandang came over with a big belly, took out a pack of soft Zhonghua cigarettes from her pocket, handed one to her uncle, and then put it back into her pocket.

Looking at this uncle with a big beer belly, Gu Heng still had a fake smile on his face.

Among all his aunts and uncles, only his beloved aunt is his relative, while the others are nothing in his eyes.

For example, now, he took out cigarettes from his pocket and only gave them to his uncle, but not to his own father. Doesn’t he know that his father also smokes?
This kind of thing about loose cigarettes can be a big deal or a small one. People who don’t care won’t say anything, but people who care will think you are looking down on me.

In fact, Gu Heng knew very well that his uncle and his younger uncle looked down on his father.

After all, Gu Jiandang has been a village cadre for decades. Although he is nothing in Gu Heng's eyes, in rural areas, village cadres still have some strength and can barely be considered decent people.

My uncle Gu Jianjun contracted a rice field at home. Although it is a bit tiring, he earns more than ordinary workers.

Both of them considered themselves to be prominent figures in the village, so how could they look down on Gu Jianguo, who had problems with his legs and feet and could only support his family by relying on his carpentry skills?

What about his father? To put it nicely, he is a good guy, to put it bluntly, he is a coward. He knows very well that his elder brother and younger brother look down on him, but he always keeps his discomfort in his heart.

But people tend to bully the weak and fear the strong. If Gu Jianguo could be tougher and directly cut off ties with the two families, they might be more restrained.

The more Gu Jianguo endured for the so-called harmony among brothers, the more he endured, the more others would look down on him.

As for Gu Heng?
He could endure the injustice he suffered outside.

But he couldn't stand his father being looked down upon, let alone now that he was rich, he wouldn't be able to stand it even if he was poor!
Thinking of this, Gu Heng put on a hypocritical smile again and said, "Bentley, uncle should know this car, right?"

"What? Bentley?"

I couldn't help but shake the cigarette in my mouth.

Having been a village cadre for decades, he also considered himself a cultured person. Of course, he knew Bentley. Upon hearing this, he immediately cast his eyes towards the car logo. Until he saw the big B logo, he swallowed his saliva and said, "This car should not be cheap, right?"

Gu Heng looked at his expression and there was only one word in his mind!

Cool!
Then he showed a casual expression and said, "It's cheap, not worth much. The full payment is only about 380 million, less than 400 million."

"What? 380 million?! What kind of car costs 380 million?"

The first person to shout was Xu Hong. She immediately grabbed Gu Heng's hand, her face full of disbelief.

Even his own mother found it hard to believe, let alone others. After Gu Jiandang realized what was happening, he was also full of doubts. He continued, "Xiao Heng, you can't come back with the bad habit of bragging. We are all family here, you have to tell the truth."

"I'm telling the truth. Why don't you ask Xinran? She knows more."

When Gu Xinran heard that Gu Heng had a task for him, he quickly stood up and explained, "Brother is telling the truth. This car costs 380 million."

It only works if you are a top student. If I hadn't brought Gu Xinran back today, I wouldn't be able to pretend to be smooth.

Seeing the light of the Gu family in his eyes confirming Gu Heng's identity, Gu Jiandang could only force a smile, and then said as if to smooth things over: "Xiao Heng, did you get the money to buy the car in a good way? You are still young, you can't fool around outside."

Upon hearing this, before Gu Heng could say anything, Xu Hong became unhappy and pulled Gu Heng behind her and said, "Brother, I don't like what you said. My Xiao Heng has made a lot of money out there and bought a car worth millions. Even if you are not happy for him as his uncle, you shouldn't say such things, right? What do you mean this money didn't come easily?"

Gu Jiandang also knew that he had gone too far, so he quickly smiled and tried to explain.

Normally, he would not say such stupid words based on the social etiquette he had learned after spending decades in the village office. It was really that Gu Heng had given him too much of a stimulus.

The family that I have always looked down upon suddenly became rich. This feeling is even worse than going bankrupt.
Before he could finish his explanation, Gu Heng explained for him in advance: "Mom, don't think too much. Uncle is just worried that I have done something illegal outside."

"Isn't that right, uncle?"

"It's like this. Although our Gu family is not a wealthy family, our family tradition is still very upright. You can't mess around outside."

Xu Hong glanced at her son in some confusion.

She knew how much her son disliked his uncle, so why was she speaking up for him now? Could it be that he had changed after being out there for a few years?

But then she realized that her son was still the same son, and even more outrageous than before.
"Look, he's just a small village cadre, and his annual salary is only a few dollars. How could he know how much 380 million is? I guess other than breaking the law, Uncle can't think of any other way to make so much money. He's just ignorant, and he doesn't have any bad intentions."

I originally thought that Gu Heng still had some respect for his uncle, but after hearing what Gu Heng said, his face, which was originally forcing a smile, turned pale in an instant.
The thing he was most proud of in his life was being a village cadre. He felt that he was a state cadre no matter how small. But now the thing he was most proud of was belittled by Gu Heng as worthless.

[The host successfully released his emotions, and used sarcastic and cunning methods to fight back against the snobbish uncle, causing his blood pressure to rise by 10%. He successfully indulged himself, and the reward was 66 yuan. The balance was 7094 million yuan.]

Gu Heng was delighted when he heard the system's reward.

I have long wanted to give these stupid relatives a good beating, and now the system is rewarding me. Doesn't this give me a legitimate reason?

Thinking of this, he was about to say something sarcastic again, but Gu Jianguo hurried out to stop him, signaling him with his eyes to say less.

Looking at his father's pleading eyes, Gu Heng suppressed the anger in his heart and said nothing more.

I just got home, so I'll give my dad some face and not have a falling out with him for now.

But it's only temporary.

Gu Heng never thought of himself as a good person, and in his eyes, apart from his parents, he had no concept of relatives at all.

As long as you are nice to him, even if the person is a stranger, Gu Heng will return the favor.

But if anyone has ill will towards him and his parents, even if they are blood relatives, Gu Heng will not tolerate them.

(End of this chapter)