coobybook Chapter 249 Brother
Chapter 249 Brother
Lei Ming smiled憨厚ly: "Calling him 'brother' is more intimate. I remember my grandfather saying that the brothers on my father's side are called cousins because they live in the same house, four generations under one roof; the brothers on my mother's side are called cousins. The word 'cousin' refers to appearance, the outer clothes, so they are outsiders and not close."
"I don't think that's reasonable. Your cousin is much closer than all our four generations of cousins. Besides, 'the maternal uncle is the most important,' so I'm going to call him 'brother.'" He then turned to his wife and said, "Minmin, from now on we'll just call each other 'brother' and 'younger brother,' anyway, your siblings on your mother's side aren't that close."
Gu Xiaomin nodded hurriedly, calling Zheng Xiangqian "brother" and Zheng Ruidong "little brother".
The family was very grateful for Zheng Ruidong's foresight, praising him for being clever and having his aunt and uncle pretend to be poor and go to their place. Otherwise, things wouldn't have been resolved so smoothly, and they wouldn't have been able to get away so easily. The two children wouldn't have been able to start school so soon either; now the road ahead was suddenly wide and bright.
Gu Xiaomin was indeed filled with gratitude; even relatives have different degrees of closeness. She wasn't close to her maternal family; she felt superfluous at home. She had twin brothers and twin sisters, and she was all alone. But it wasn't her choice; was it her fault? Her parents and siblings neglected her because of this, which was truly heartbreaking.
Since her marriage, her family had never contacted her again. Even when she was in such dire straits, her twin brothers didn't even think to help her out; they were certainly not as supportive as her cousin from the Zheng family. So when the whole family moved here, she didn't even consider informing her family; it was best to cut off all contact.
Zheng Ruidong was delighted to have gained another sensible and ambitious older brother and sister-in-law, especially their two well-behaved and sensible nephews. The only downside was that they all idolized their older brother. "Hmph," he thought, "my older brother handled things efficiently this time, and he practices his martial arts every day now, so I won't hold it against him."
On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, after his morning exercise, Zheng Xiangqian went to the county town to handle the paperwork for approving the land. Mu Xudong drove him again, and Zheng Xiangqian felt embarrassed, saying, "Director Mu, I'm so sorry to trouble you every time!"
"Don't mention it. You're Ting Nan's older brother, so we're family. If it weren't for Ting Nan's help back then, we wouldn't be where we are today. We would probably be ruined and dead."
Xiangqian, your sister is naturally kind-hearted and bold. Master Gao said she hadn't been learning martial arts for very long back then, right? You really need to have some skill to be able to strike so readily…”
As Zheng Xiangqian listened, he began to understand, "Director Mu, I feel like you're alluding to me!"
"Hahaha... You figured it out, smart! I was talking about you! You need to keep practicing martial arts. Before you went to Anxi City, I told you to give me a good talking-to every time I saw you." After laughing, Mu Xudong said seriously, "Xiangqian, we're both in business. We should know that the business world is like a battlefield, and we must be vigilant. You can't slack off on your martial arts training. Look at me, I'm so much older than you, but I still keep up with my training and quit drinking and smoking. Let's not say we don't have time; those are just excuses. Think about your families."
Mu Xudong's heartfelt words deeply moved Zheng Xiangqian. His little sister always cared about him, her older brother, and he couldn't let her down. "I'll remember that, Uncle Mu!"
"Xiangqian, we not only have large families behind us, but also a factory full of workers. That means dozens, even hundreds of families depend on us for their livelihood. It's a huge responsibility. Xiangqian, why do you think the current policies are so favorable to us business people?"
"To promote social and economic development, we encourage entrepreneurship!"
"Yes, but you're only right about one thing. You see, as the economy develops, people's living standards improve, and consumption follows suit, creating a virtuous cycle."
Don't underestimate private enterprises like ours! Haven't we helped solve a lot of employment problems? And we don't have as many restrictions as state-owned enterprises; we're more down-to-earth!