Chapter 357 - Lavish Clothing
Translator: lav
Editor: llikia
Shi Lei called a few days ago and said that he would be back soon, so his parents had been preparing since then. Their son was coming back. They had to make some nice dishes. Last time he came back, they couldn't even make homemade food for him because of the family incident.
His parents were delighted when Shi Lei said that he would be back soon. They quickly asked, "Son, when's your train? Your dad is a leader in the factory now, so we'll arrange for a car to go pick you up."
"Mom, it's fine. I'm driving back."
"Huh? Where did you get your car from? You are coming back for New Year's. How are you going to return it?"
Shi Lei thought that it would be better to tell them earlier. "I bought a car myself. Didn't I earn some money? I used it for investing and now I earned more, so I got loans for a car."
Shi Lei's mother remembered him saying he had about 700,000 to 800,000 yuan on his card. If he earned more, then it would be over a million by now, which was more than enough to buy a car.
"Aiyo, you have a lot of money now, so why are you getting loans? Last time, we received compensation, so how much in loans did you get? Tell me and I'll transfer it to you. Pay back the loans before you return." Many older people still had the conservative mindset that it was bad to owe others money. Even if they owed money to the bank, interest alone was enough to make them feel insecure.
"Mom, don't worry about it. My money's still in the company so I'll earn more. The loans are from the bank and my car loan is interest-free. Don't worry, I'll be able to pay it back."
"Alright, we'll discuss this when you come back. Your dad and I have nothing to spend the money we received as compensation on, so tell us if you are short on money."
Shi Lei hung up speechlessly. He then packed lightly and left in his car.
He first went to Deji to buy some presents for his relatives. Since he wasn't sure if these would be counted within the sum or not, Shi Lei bought practical and useful things. They weren't too expensive. The total was about 20,000 to 30,000 yuan. Even if it didn't count within the sum, he could use his only chance of checking at the end of the month and it wouldn't be a problem for him to make up for the amount himself.
He also bought some things for his parents before heading onto the highway.
It was an hour's drive home. Everyone in the factory pointed at him and discussed which family's rich relative had come.
However, they didn't expect Shi Lei to be the one who exited the car. The majority of the people from the factory knew each other or were at least able to recognize each other's faces and children.
"Isn't that Old Shi's child?"
"You're still calling him 'Old Shi'? He's the union president now. It's 'President Shi.'"
"President Shi's family had an incident. I heard that his kid found people to help solve the problem. They even made so that cunt, Qin Huaiyuan, was sentenced to the jail. His wife caused an uproar for a few days, then stopped because she was scared. It looks like President Shi's kid is successful now!"
"You can't say that. Although Director Qin's nature was a bit…you know, but he did contribute to our factory. If it hadn't been for him in the first place, we would be homeless right now!"
"What are you saying? Qin Huaiyuan took the most out of everything. You don't know much money he claimed for himself. It's light to just call him a cunt. President Shi is an honest and kind person and everyone here knows it—"
"Honest and kind? I don't know about that. I think there is something wrong with his promotion. How did a normal worker become union president?"
"Enough. What is there to talk about? Look at him, his son drove such an expensive car back. He probably never cared about the money the factory gave him."
The discussion stopped after this sentence. After all, Shi Zhongping hadn't been assigned his post by the previous person and he wouldn't possibly take so much money to buy an expensive car for his son. This only demonstrated that the Shi family was really different now.
Shi Lei parked the car and greeted them with a smile when he saw the familiar faces. "Aunts, uncles, are you all taking a walk?"
After he left, those people began to discuss again. "Look at him. He earned money, but he's not arrogant. You don't see many young men like him nowadays. I say it's because of President Shi's great teaching."
"I can't say anything about that. It's rare to see a young man being successful and polite. The children of our factory leaders pretend they don't know us when they see us."
"So, perhaps it's really a good thing that President Shi has the post. Isn't the union meant for speaking up for the workers? We can tell him if we have problems and he will definitely do something about it."
"Oh, right. When our factory turns into a business, would our lives be easier? With the tiny salary now…"
Shi Lei went upstairs. The door opened from the inside just when he took out his keys. His mother saw him and hugged him happily.
"Come, son. Let me see if you've gotten thinner or not." She had watched her husband become the union president, and her son was now a millionaire, so her emotions were obviously different from last time.
Unwilling, Shi Lei pushed his mother away. "Mom, it's barely been half a month since I last came back. How can I get thinner that easily? I'm eating all the good things in Wudong now. There's no way I'm losing weight. Let me go first. I'll put my things down. Aiyo, I'm so tired. There are so many things—"
"Why did you buy so many things? We don't need anything at home."
"This is for you. I bought a coat for you." Shi Lei picked up a bag and passed it to his mother.
The first thing that his mother saw was the receipt for the bag.
She jumped in shock when she took it out and looked at it. "What? The coat is more than 20,000 yuan?"
Shi Lei beamed. "Your son is rich now, so just wear it. Put it on and see if it fits or not. Where's Dad?"
"That old man is happy to hear that you are coming back, but he fell asleep after a while…"
"Hey, old lady, why are you talking bad about me in front of my son?" Shi Zhongping's voice sounded. Shi Lei saw him limping out of his room with a walking stick.
Shi Lei immediately walked up to him with a laugh and helped him sit on the living room couch. "Dad, I also bought something for you." He turned around and picked up two bags. "This is a suit. When your leg recovers and you officially take over, you can't just wear a jacket all the time. You need to wear a suit to look more like a factory leader. These are some cigarettes I bought for you, but promise me that even though you are a factory leader now, you won't take in other people's bribes of cigars and wines. If you want any cigars, just tell your son and he will buy it for you."
Shi Zhongping didn't make a fuss about the price of the clothes. He knew that the solving of the problem and him being promoted were entirely because of Shi Lei's drastic change from before. It wasn't something he could do just by earning money. Shi Zhongping didn't believe the excuse that Shi Lei had told his mother about how Hu Xiaohua was his classmate and had repeated a few grades. He wanted to have a talk with him after he returned for the winter holiday anyway.
Hence, he didn't mind the expensive price of the clothes. "I'll try it on first," he said, standing up joyfully.
Shi Lei supported him and helped him change into the suit. He then helped him to the mirror. Shi Zhongping studied himself in the mirror and laughed. "Nice! as expected of brand names. I didn't imagine that one day I would be able to enjoy benefits brought to me by my son."