1349: Chapter 657: Wealth in the Mountains Brings Distant Relatives 1349: Chapter 657: Wealth in the Mountains Brings Distant Relatives The next morning, Yan Fei was preparing to drive and visit relatives, and everyone could tell that the boss was in a pretty good mood that day.
Nowadays, Yan Fei’s visits to relatives felt like just a formality.
The car was packed with gifts, and every reachable relative got a piece, but Yan Fei didn’t plan to stay long at anyone’s ho, just drop off the stuff and chat for a bit.
Actually, there was a reason for this.
Now that Yan Fei had beco a big boss, relatives ca and went frequently, and there was no need to make a big deal of staying for a al.
Everyone knew Yan Fei was busy, and he couldn’t be like other relatives who sat drinking at soone’s ho until dark.
The second-year students visiting relatives would keep visiting until the fifteenth without finishing…
Visiting relatives was supposed to be a joyous occasion, but if those relatives beca awkward and unnatural because he now owned a cattle farm, Yan Fei felt sowhat uncomfortable too.
In the end, upon arriving at his grandfather’s ho, Yan Fei breathed a sigh of relief—that signified the end of this year’s visits to relatives for him.
The remaining few relatives could just be visited by his parents taking his younger brother, as he needed to stay at ho and maintain order for the remaining days.
During New Year’s in Shanglin Village, there used to be organized teams performing lion dances.
But this year, like Yan Village, they no longer held this event—after the new year, they had to organize teams to continue work at construction sites.
As long as Yan Fei continuously invested money, the construction on River Heart Island could keep going.
The lion dances were lively, and going out could bring in so gifts and money.
But when divided among each household, it wasn’t much.
With more lucrative opportunities now, people decisively gave up the lion dancing.
Maybe in the future, when everyone’s days improve and no one has to worry about making ends et, and there’s no need to toil for a living during the New Year, perhaps they’ll pick up this lost tradition again.
Since his grandfather and uncle were also heading to town in a few days, Yan Fei didn’t linger longer than necessary; he ate, rested for a bit, and drove back.
But unexpectedly, because he returned early, he encountered a rather peculiar event.
In the yard, there were several tables set up to serve guests—a common sight.
But what was peculiar was that these guests belonged to Old Cheng and his grandson Gong Hanqing, as well as Old Gao and Lin Yui and her daughter.
Old Cheng had once been a welfare recipient in the village, sothing Yan Fei had known since he was a child.
In fact, ntioning welfare recipients, younger generations who’ve never encountered it might already find it unfamiliar.
Welfare recipients in the past were essentially lonely old people with no one to depend on, looked after by the whole village because they lacked the ability to work.
Normally, villagers took turns delivering als, and if one got seriously ill, the village committee had to provide care and financial support.
Since it was a collective rotation by the whole village, even those families who were rather harsh wouldn’t be too outrageous in this regard.
After all, everyone needed to eat; whoever’s turn it was to look after the welfare recipient just brought over a bowl of whatever their family was eating—a bun and so vegetables didn’t amount to much for an old person and it wasn’t a burden.
Moreover, in rural areas, people always cooked in large quantities, with leftovers often fed to chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs at ho.
So those delivering als would bring a large bowl, a bun and a bowl of vegetables; the old person ate what they could, and the rest was brought back ho without going to waste.
But being a welfare recipient ant that they were recognized as having no younger relatives to care for them.
Now, suddenly, a ‘younger relative’ appeared, calling out “grandpa” affectionately as if they were long-lost relatives, which was… frankly, beyond words.
The relatives of Old Gong and Gong Hanqing were indeed real; however, they were not very close.
Especially after Gong Hanqing’s parents had passed away, the interactions had all but ceased.
As for Old Gao, that guy lost his parents when he was just a teenager.
He was even less close to these relatives, particularly after spending over ten years in prison; upon release, he had nowhere to even eat—that’s why he hadn’t hesitated to co to the yard and offer his labor.
Now one after another, these relatives seed to erge out of nowhere.
As for Lin Yui’s relatives, one look at Fang Xiaoqing’s expression, her nose not quite a nose, her eyes not quite eyes, made it clear how little she wanted these relatives around.
Moreover, her mother and daughter’s relatives were from two different sides, one being Lin Yui’s maternal family, and the other being Lin Yui’s forr in-laws.
It was no surprise that Fang Xiaoqing didn’t want anything to do with them.
After her own father had passed away, she and her mother had been without a stable place at ho, forcing Lin Yui to take her back to her mother’s family—saying they were kicked out wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
Unexpectedly, even after returning, the maternal family didn’t treat them any better.
A daughter who’s married off is like water that’s been poured out—the mother and daughter returned empty-handed, with Fang Xiaoqing still in need of money for school, essentially adding an unwanted burden to the household.
Fang Xiaoqing’s uncles and grandparents, to their minimal credit, still held so sentintality, but her aunt was another story.
What was even more tragic was that upon their return, they discovered that the aunt had taken charge of the household.
An old saying goes that even a virtuous official finds it hard to settle dostic disputes.
Others really couldn’t intervene in such family matters, so when Yan Fei needed people at his yard, the mother and daughter ca with their bedding rolls.
After coming out, Lin Yui did go back to visit her parents initially, but the reception was likely far from warm, and eventually, she stopped returning—back then, to the locals, the cattle farm was just a foolish venture by naughty children that was good for nothing, who could’ve imagined that this yard, in the blink of an eye, would beco a major enterprise of significance in the whole region!
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