Zhou Dahai said it would take two days, but the next day he couldn't wait to drive Zhou Bin and Zhao Yang to Shangdu first.

Zhou Bin is responsible for the daily operation of Internet cafes and has to work with Wang Xiaojing to assist He Wan in the preparation of supermarkets; Xinchaorui Real Estate will increase the expansion of intermediary stores after the New Year, which is what Zhao Yang is responsible for. Their original plan was to return to Shangdu on the second or third day of the New Year.

After clarifying the future development direction, Chen Li determined three affairs departments based on the two companies, Xinchaorui Real Estate and Xinchaorui Technology: one is the Real Estate Marketing Affairs Department, mainly Liu Tongjiang and Miao Jing; the other is the Investment and Commercial Affairs Department, mainly He Wan and Zhou Bin, Internet cafes or supermarkets, they are just specific projects under the Investment and Commercial Affairs Department; the other is the Real Estate Agency Affairs Department.

In the Real Estate Agency Affairs Department, Chen Li prefers to be responsible for Li Junfeng, but he is embarrassed now, so he directly dug Li Junfeng over and let Zhao Yang and Feng Xin take the initiative.

Thirty new employees will be hired in succession after the New Year.

Whether it is a new employee of the Real Estate Marketing Affairs Department or a new employee of the Investment and Commercial Affairs Department (Xinchaorui Technology), Chen Li plans to first place him in the stores under the Real Estate Agency Affairs Department for internships, so that they can first get familiar with some basic situations in the real estate industry.

The Real Estate Agency Affairs Department had only two stores located in Jinlan Huayuan and Hubin Jiayuan before the New Year, and the expansion will accelerate after the New Year. According to Chen Li's idea, it is best to add three to five new stores every month, and it will initially form a real estate agency network in Shangdu City in about half a year.

With such expansion speed, Zhao Yang and Feng Xin will have a very large workload. Chen Li hesitated whether he would come back to Shangshang in two days and directly asked Li Junfeng to come over.

I was delayed until New Year's Eve before returning to Qingquan. My mother had already scolded me. Chen Li didn't dare to go back with Zhou Bin and the others on the second day of the New Year. He decided to take Shen Tong to play in Qingquan for two more days.

Actually, Qingquan has nothing to do.

Shen Tong's temperament is also very quiet.

Her mother, Shen Jianhong, has always treated her as a lady from a family. She never stood by Shen Tong, who was bored at home and ran around the house. She was not allowed to play TV series. She wasted time playing games, and always urged her to practice piano and dance. Shen Tong was rarely lazy in Qingquan. Chen Li spent more time with Shen Tong in a new famous coffee in Qingquan City, in a daze or make up for sleep.

However, Chen Li and Shen Tong both felt very beautiful on such days; when they thought about returning to Shangdu, they were reading books in the library together, but there was no difference.

Chen Bing was going to visit his girlfriend Zhao Lingshan's house on the fifth day of the New Year. His aunt Shen Jianhong also called him one day to ask Shen Tong when he would go back. Chen Li knew that his aunt Shen Jianhong was thinking about going to Zhang Haoran's house, so he decided to take Shen Tong and Chen Bing back to Shangdu with him.

Chen Li, Chen Bing, and Shen Tong had breakfast at the house of the old man Shen Jingtang early on the fifth day of the Chinese New Year, and then took a bus back to Shangdu.

Originally, Chen Tong and Shen Jianping planned to accompany their eldest son to their in-laws, but after the New Year, the hospital was really unable to leave, so Chen Li, the younger brother, went to visit the door first as a family member.

Because Chen Bing went to his girlfriend's house to talk about marriage, and there was no conclusion on the marriage room and job transfer, the conversation might not be pleasant at that time. After arriving in Shangdu, Chen Li asked Shen Tong to go back first. He accompanied Chen Li to the Guomao Building to buy a New Year gift to visit his father-in-law and mother-in-law.

In addition to parents, Zhao Lingshan's family, there are also brothers, sisters-in-law and nephew, and a total of six people.

After all, Chen Bing is not married yet, so he cannot be considered a formal son-in-law coming to his house. It is difficult to prepare gifts in the traditional way. In addition to taking two cigarettes and four bottles of wine, he chose some regular drinks, food, and Zhao Lingshan's nephew who had just entered junior high school bought new clothes, so he took a taxi to Zhao Lingshan's house.

Zhao Lingshan's family lives in Wudaokou Hutong not far from Guomao.

Shangdu City has lagged behind in the past decade. The 32-storey Guomao Building is currently a landmark building of Shangdu City. The buildings along the street are also glamorous, but when you walk behind the Guomao Building, the old city streets that were built decades ago look quite dilapidated.

"Wudaokou Hutong" is just as its name suggests. The five very short alleys arranged in the east and west can be seen at a glance. There are two old trees at the entrance of each alley, with lush branches and leaves covering the crowded and messy yards in the alley. The old asphalt road is also severely damaged and bumpy.

Zhao Lingshan was waiting for Chen Li outside the yard early. The two Chen Bing brothers came over. She wore milky white and cotton sportswear, with her medium-length hair casually draped over her shoulders, and her slanted bangs just happened to pass her eyelids. Her slightly round face might have been blown by the cold wind, and she had two rosy balls of cold. Although her facial features were not prominent, she looked like a gentle and lovely woman.

Seeing Chen Li and the two brothers of Chen Bing, Zhao Lingshan quickly came up and smiled a little embarrassedly at Chen Bing, then quickly took over what Chen Li was carrying, pushed open the gate and walked in.

"Lingshan, how did you know that we are here now? We won't be waiting at the door all the time." Chen Bing felt much better when he saw the unmarried incident and spoke much more relaxed.

"You think it's so beautiful. Even if I wait, I'll wait for Chen Li. Who will wait for you? The alley is full of anger and voices. At night, the rats knocked over the stove on the street. I can hear it at home, let alone you two living people. I've heard you say a long time ago." Although Zhao Lingshan was also worried about the transfer of the wedding room and Chen Bing's work, she was very happy to see Chen Bing at this time and smiled happily.

"Sister Lingshan, I treat us as mice." Chen Li joked.

The three of them walked into the yard as they spoke.

When Chen Li entered the door, he looked at the small gatehouse outside the courtyard. The cement molded door in the middle of the porch, and the old paint with yellow bottom and red hearts could be vaguely seen. There was a shed above the entrance to the courtyard. There were neat piles of coal balls on both sides. Although it was a large area of ​​black, it was also possible to see that it was divided into five piles in a row, which should be found in each house in the courtyard.

The yard is more than fifty square meters, which is not small anymore, but there are five families living in this yard, and it feels extremely narrow and uncomfortable when you walk in.

Apart from the small flower bed in the middle, there is nothing to be desired. There is no waste in the place where the shed can be built. The piles of debris squeeze the huge yard into five small aisles.

"I said I could smell the fragrance in the morning. It turned out that it was your visitor. It was your partner who came to the door, right?" A fat aunt in her fifties who were pouring coal ash came out and greeted Zhao Lingshan, then looked at Chen Bing and Chen Li following behind.

"Aunt Hua, you will fall back later. Let's go into the house first." Zhao Lingshan didn't care about responding and pulled Chen Bing first, and Chen Li walked into the house quickly.

Although a coal ash pool had been stacked with bricks on the ground, a large area of ​​dust still blew up, blew Chen Li's head and face, and his eyes were directly confusing.

"Ouch, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Aunt Hua apologized to Chen Li who was walking at the end.

"Lingshan, you have garlic, so I borrowed it from me. I forgot to buy it in the morning." Aunt Hua shouted.

Zhao Lingshan agreed and took Chen Bing. Chen Li went to the house first. When he walked past a small shed at the door, Zhao Lingshan shouted to the small shed where smoke kept coming out: "Mom, Aunt Hua's house has no garlic. Come and get two ends later."

There was a constant cough in the small shed, and someone responded in a muffled voice.

Chen Li nodded with a smile and quickly followed the house to the east of the yard; this is the most common slums and slums in the old town of Shangdu City around two thousand years ago.

*********************************

Chen Li followed him into Zhao Lingshan's house. The so-called living room was built later. It was only seven or eight square meters in size. There were cloth curtains hanging on two door holes. It should be two bedrooms, but it looked even more small. Zhao Lingshan's six people were crowded in such a small space for several years.

Although the living room was carefully maintained, there were too many miscellaneous and cardboard boxes, so it was difficult to find a place to stand. A folding dining table could only be placed outside for the time being. There was an old cloth sofa against the wall, and two men were talking.

The older person has a dull face and a thin figure, and he is carrying his back slightly. When he sees the turbid person, he still shows a hint of nervousness in his eyes. It is Zhao Lingshan's father, Zhao Laoguo.

Another person with a vicissitudes of face, a man in his thirties looked like he was forty years old, especially his lips curled down unconsciously, which made him look stubborn and unsuccessful. It was Zhao Lingshan's eldest brother Zhao Dacheng.

Zhao Lingshan's brother and sister are two brothers. The eldest brother Zhao Dacheng is ten years older than Zhao Lingshan. His father Zhao Laoguo used to be a worker in the Shangdu paper mill, but his mother had no job. Later, when Zhao Laoguo was old, he directly asked Zhao Dacheng to take over the work in the factory. His sister-in-law Yang Mei was also a worker in the paper mill before and was laid off at home.

Seeing Chen Li and Chen Bing came in, Zhao Dacheng stood up with Zhao Laoguo who had a slow reaction.

Although Chen Li and Chen Bing tried their best to give in, Zhao Dacheng was forced to sit down on the most comfortable sofa in the room.

The father and son took two stools to sit facing each other. This contrast made Chen Li and Chen Bing a little uncomfortable, but the Zhao family was very calm, especially Zhao Dacheng kept looking at Chen Bing, very happy.

A woman in her thirties heard the movement outside and opened the door from the room inside and walked out.

The woman has black embroidered wide-leg pants on the lower body and a small red wool cotton jacket with an embroidered upper body. Although she looks festive and neat, she looks old-fashioned when wearing a woman of this age. Her thin face and eyes that keep looking around, she looks very energetic.

This woman is Zhao Lingshan's sister-in-law Yang Mei, and behind her is a boy wearing a school uniform with twelve or thirteen years old. She is Zhao Lingshan's nephew.

After greeting each other, Chen Bing took out the clothes for the child first.

Such careful preparation obviously made my sister-in-law Yang Mei extremely happy. She rushed the child to the inner room to try on clothes, and took the other gifts in. She turned her back and accidentally shook the bag of cigarettes and alcohol. When she looked back at Chen Bing and Chen Li's smiles, she added a little more enthusiasm.

In short, this is the first time Chen Bing has come to the door, and both the Zhao family and his son are extremely happy.

The old father of the Zhao family could see that he was a little dull. Most of the time he just sat on the side and smoked. Seeing Chen Bing silly, the eldest brother spoke very well. After chatting politely, he talked to the unit where he had worked before. He complained and kept complaining. Chen Li knew that this kind of speech must be kept on his mouth all day long and talked to people a lot.

Shangdu paper mills had good benefits in their early years, but their benefits have declined significantly in recent years. The city has undergone restructuring and has to be demolished to the industrial park outside the city due to serious pollution. After several twists and turns, the factory, which could have paid millions of taxes, was defeated and nothing left.

Although Zhao Dacheng is not laid off yet, the factory has not paid any wages for more than a year. Workers block the door and petition, and the fight against factory demolition happens from time to time. The old things over the past ten years are very entangled, and it is still difficult to explain them.

Chen Li had heard of some of the things in between, and couldn't help but think of the restructuring of the National Cotton Factory and Liu Tongjiang's lover Wang Yanhui. The life trajectories of the two families were very similar. If Liu Tongjiang had not had a good income outside, he would probably have been better at home in the future than Zhao Dacheng's family.
Chapter completed!