Chapter 62: Just Treat It as a Pigsty
Chapter 62: Chapter 62: Just Treat It as a Pigsty
Zhao Hui thought for a long time and finally decided to ask his sister to help him find a job.
He was spoiled rotten growing up. After he got married and had kids, his parents and sister helped run the household, and his wife was quite capable as well.
He spent his days loafing around, often gambling and drinking heavily. It wasn’t that he never wanted to do something proper; he just had never held a real job and didn’t know where to begin.
When he dealt with the Wang Family, they used him to get close to his sister, and he could feel their deep-seated disdain for him. But at the time, he was blinded by greed, focused solely on the bride price they were offering. So, he fawned over the Wang Family to their faces while cursing them and their ancestors behind their backs.
Many people don’t strive to better themselves not because they don’t want to, but because they have no way in!
Few people would willingly let themselves go to waste. It’s usually the result of a constant lack of opportunity, which eventually leads to them giving up on themselves.
He used to think Wang Hao was the epitome of success. Now, having witnessed Chen Xiao’s wealth—and realizing the man was just a salesman who had built such a fortune using his own wits to make outside investments—his object of admiration had changed.
He had admired Wang Hao before, but Wang Hao’s success came from riding his father’s coattails. That wasn’t an option for him, so since he couldn’t emulate it, he had just given up on himself.
Now, he was starting to admire Chen Xiao, the brother-in-law he had yet to meet. He felt that Chen Xiao’s path to wealth was one he could follow. Most importantly, he knew his sister’s character; if he straightened up and flew right, she wouldn’t turn her back on him. His sister hadn’t had the means to help before, but now things were different!
"Xiangjun, can you help me find a job? I’m not afraid of hard work. I want to prove myself!" Zhao Hui said sincerely.
Although she didn’t believe people could change overnight, Zhao Xiangjun was more than willing to see her brother try. She also saw the unrestrained joy on her parents’ faces when they heard Zhao Hui’s words.
They didn’t stay the night, as they had two young children at home. They stayed until nine o’clock before getting ready to head back.
Zhao Xiangjun offered to drive them, but her parents, worried about a young woman driving alone at night, refused and insisted on taking a taxi.
Zhao Xiangjun didn’t insist. Even though her car had a self-driving feature, she knew she wouldn’t be able to handle an unexpected situation late at night.
She told her parents to wait a moment, saying she was going to grab two cases of liquor for them to take home.
This baffled the others. Where would she buy liquor this late at night? Her parents told her not to go.
She had no choice but to explain that it was just across the hall and she only needed to bring it over. Then she called for Zhao Hui to help.
Looking utterly bewildered, Zhao Hui followed Zhao Xiangjun as she unlocked the apartment across the hall. She then pointed to a storage room filled with Maotai liquor and said, "Brother, can you carry two cases? Are they too heavy?"
Of course, he could carry them. In a complete daze, he carried the two cases of liquor and followed Zhao Xiangjun back to her apartment.
Mr. and Mrs. Zhao were also dumbstruck. What was going on? How could she open the neighbor’s door?
Finally, Mrs. Zhao asked her to explain.
She explained, "They belong to Chen Xiao. He bought both apartments on this floor. I live in one, and he lives in the other!"
Zhao Hui’s hands trembled, and he nearly dropped the cases of liquor!
He had spent the whole evening thinking it was already incredibly extravagant for Chen Xiao to own this one apartment. As it turned out, the man owned the entire floor.
He was dying to meet Chen Xiao right away to see if the man had three heads and six arms. ’Are young people these days really this incredible?’
It was only then that the old couple noticed the Maotai liquor Zhao Hui was holding.
They had never tasted Maotai in their entire lives, and since the case’s packaging was rather plain, no one had paid it any mind, thinking it was just some ordinary white liquor.
Mr. Zhao said, "Xiangjun, he’s not here. Is it really okay to be taking his liquor?"
"It’s fine. He was the one who texted me and told me to get it. He’s at a business dinner tonight and said he’ll come with me to visit you properly in a few days."
It looked like Chen Xiao was truly serious about their daughter.
They understood in their hearts that his kindness to her family was an extension of his love for her. It proved how much he doted on Zhao Xiangjun.
Mr. Zhao felt bad for his son, worrying that he’d get tired holding two heavy cases, so he moved to take one from him.
As he got closer, he noticed the characters on the box’s packing tape. "Maotai?"
This liquor was incredibly expensive. The list price was 1,499 yuan, but in reality, you’d be hard-pressed to find it on the market even with a 1,000-yuan markup. On top of that, you often ended up buying a counterfeit bottle.
Chen Xiao had bought this liquor at a state-run supermarket where each bottle of Maotai had to be purchased in a bundle with a bottle of red wine. So while the Maotai seemed to be priced at 1,499, the bundled red wine, which padded the price by another 1,000 yuan, wasn’t even worth 50.
Mr. Zhao cried out in astonishment, and only then did Zhao Hui realize he was carrying Maotai. Good grief, these two cases were worth tens of thousands of yuan! He had never received such a lavish gift in his life.
This was all thanks to his sister’s good fortune. On the way home, he, Mr. Zhao, and Mrs. Zhao praised the yet-unseen Chen Xiao to the heavens. As for the Wang Family? They were beneath his notice now.
Chen Xiao returned quite late. His business discussion with Cha Lan and Li Guoqiang had gone exceptionally well, and as they toasted back and forth, they lost track of time and drank a little too much.
He knew Zhao Xiangjun couldn’t stand the smell of alcohol and that she usually went to bed early, so he didn’t plan on going over to her place. Instead, he intended to call for a designated driver to take him back to his own apartment.
While he was out, Zhao Xiangjun sent him a few texts asking when he’d be back. It was getting late, and she was worried he was drinking too much.
Chen Xiao told her to go ahead and sleep, knowing she was always in bed before ten.
At eleven o’clock that night, Chen Xiao arrived home. Feeling woozy, he opened the door and was startled to find the lights on and someone lying on the sofa.
He took a closer look and saw it was Zhao Xiangjun, and he breathed a sigh of relief. ’Of course,’ he thought. ’The security here is too good for a burglar to get in. Besides, what kind of thief would be bold enough to fall asleep in someone’s house!’
Hearing the door open, Zhao Xiangjun quickly sat up and came over to support him. "How much did you drink? You reek of alcohol!"
"It’s okay, I’ve got it. You can’t stand the smell; I don’t want you to be uncomfortable."
Zhao Xiangjun said, "I’m already surrounded by it. Can you stop being so dramatic?"
She helped him into his slippers, guided him to the sofa to sit down, and then went to make him some sobering-up soup.
Chen Xiao lay back and let her dote on him. After he drank the soup and ate some fruit, she brought a cool, damp towel and placed it on his forehead.
Watching her bustle around, taking care of him, his heart filled with a profound sense of contentment. ’So this is what home feels like,’ he thought.
He’d had a lot to drink and wanted to take a bath, but she flatly refused, saying it was bad for your health to soak in a tub after drinking. She only allowed him to take a quick shower before helping him to bed.
He was about to tell her to go back to her own room, worried the stench of alcohol on him would keep her awake.
Zhao Xiangjun retorted, "It’s fine. I’ll just pretend I’m sleeping next to a pig in a sty. When I was little, I helped my grandma tend to her pigs, and the stench was pretty similar to this."
...He knew she was just angry because he had drunk so much without any regard for his health, and this was her way of scolding him.
He was already craving her badly. Now that she was willingly offering herself to him, how could Chen Xiao possibly refuse?