Reaching the age of thirty, my income randomly doubled

as well as a cup of Da Qing Tea made from Dahongpao tea from Wuyi Mountain.

Third Aunt was very enthusiastic, mainly because her son, Chen Fan, was doing quite well in Magic City.

"Pingsheng, stay until New Year's before you go back this time, there are several relatives getting married in the village. If they find out you're back, they'll definitely invite you to be the wedding witness."

"I can't stay too long, probably just four or five days before I have to return."

Having to come back every year, Pingsheng said, "Who's getting married now? If I haven't left yet, I'll definitely join in on the fun."

"It's your cousin getting married."

Third Aunt said, "He's marrying a girl from the city. I heard from his parents that the betrothal gift was only 158,000, but that city girl gave him a BMW Series 3 in return."

To be honest, the fact that the betrothal gifts are getting higher and higher these days is indisputable.

Mostly it's in the countryside where they ask for a higher bride price, whereas marrying girls from the city doesn't require much of a betrothal gift.

"That's pretty good, being able to marry a city girl is an accomplishment."

"Isn't that the truth. But it's largely thanks to you; that city girl agreed to marry in because she heard that Fei Yangyang was started by you."

Pingsheng understood quite well.

The relatives back home had similar lives year after year.

Trivial matters used to cause big arguments.

But now it was better.

Those members of the Chen Family who didn't like studying were usually sent to learn cooking at Fei Yangyang, and those with a bit more ambition went to Magic City to claim their family start-up fund.

Among them, quite a few had already squandered their first two million in capital.

The most outrageous was a cousin in his mid-twenties, who, after getting the two million, didn't go to start a business, but spent his days splurging in nightclubs.

Not to say he was buying out the whole bar, but he was there every day for a month.

He saw himself as a rich "playboy" who could squander money freely.

When his two million ran out, he immediately applied for more.

Everyone had four chances, and even sitting in their Magic City headquarters swinging his legs, one glance would tell you he was an idle troublemaker.

In the end, it was his wife who stepped in and kicked him out of the Magic City headquarters.

After that, he went back to relying on his parents.

Gone was the bravado of spending lavishly at the bar, and that was true for many people.

Suddenly coming into wealth, the first challenge wasn't about succeeding in business.

It was about resisting the temptation of money, the thrill of spending it.

He was one of the more extreme cases, indulging in revenge spending the moment he got the money, wishing he could sleep with two nightclub beauties a day.

After he ran out of money, he shamelessly begged and even threw tantrums at the Magic City headquarters without a care for face.

His wife happened to see it and had security chase him away without a second thought.

She declared she had no such relative.

Afterward, he stayed in Magic City for a few more days, using all sorts of excuses to borrow money from people.

When he came back, he was like a soulless shell, seeing a salary of two to three thousand a month as beneath him.

All he talked about was how he lived it up in Magic City during that time.

If he hadn't taken that two million, he might have continued to work diligently for a living.

Having enjoyed the ultimate thrill of spending money, there was no way he could go back to his old life.

Now, his parents in his hometown were worried sick about him.

No one dared to blame Pingsheng, because everyone knew what kind of person he was: he definitely had money.

Easy to talk to? Indeed, he was, but if you came to cause trouble,

a mere look from him was enough for you to regret the consequences.

It wasn't just the relatives causing frequent issues because of the family start-up fund.

Tengnong Breeding, which had always been involved in poverty alleviation, also had its share of disputes over some matters.

Mainly, there was a large village in Wang County that was all cheers when Tengnong Breeding first rented their land for a lease of eight thousand.

There was a local prominent family at the back, who, after seeing the high price and solid quality of the crabs bred in their rented-out fishpond,

actually proposed to increase the rent to fifteen thousand per year. Since they had rented out three small fishponds, that would be forty-five thousand a year. Discover hidden content at My Virtual Library Empire

Tengnong Breeding had already increased the rent about tenfold according to the market price, so naturally, facing such a demand, it was impossible to agree.

They even brought in people from the village to negotiate, but to no avail.

The Liu family even went as far as to catch and sell their own crabs, claiming it was to compensate for the rent increase.

After the dispute escalated, not a single person in the village spoke out against the Liu family.

They all hung back, unconcerned.

It seemed as though they were all waiting to jack up their prices after the Liu family had settled their negotiations,

raising the eight thousand rent to fifteen thousand per year.

The issue went unresolved even after involving the village chief, the party secretary, and the town authorities.

In the end, it reached the ears of Chen Pingsheng.

His approach was remarkably straightforward, with a grand gesture,

he withdrew the over ten million already invested in that village.

And unilaterally terminated all the leasing contracts, fully pulling Tengnong Breeding out of the village.

He abandoned the squandered money and land without a second thought.

Once the news broke, the whole village was thrown into a panic.

Perhaps in their minds, using their land to make a profit, and having already invested so much money, it was unthinkable to just waste it all.

Even if they couldn't agree on fifteen thousand, twelve thousand would suffice.

That was the thought of most villagers, so they were happy to let the Liu family stir up trouble and escalate the situation.

But they seriously underestimated the capabilities of a major corporation.

Chen Pingsheng would rather lose the over ten million invested in the village than cater to the endless greed of these villagers.

Not only was that village written off, but even the town was cast aside by Tengnong Breeding.

Who could blame them when the town officials simply dragged their feet in handling the matter?

Their tactic was to let the dispute run its course until it couldn't be ignored before stepping in with a half-hearted mediation.

It was always this irresponsible, perfunctory attitude.

Now, with Tengnong Breeding completely out of the town, other villagers stormed into the town center, enraged and carrying their belongings to make a scene.

The deputy town chief responsible was directly dismissed by the county authorities.

And even the town mayor received a serious warning and disciplinary action.

When the new deputy mayor tried to retain Tengnong Breeding, they couldn't even get an appointment with a minor representative.

In the end, they were involved in public welfare projects, initiatives that brought tremendous help to the localities.

They didn't rely on Zhengfu resources to make a profit, so why should they bother courting favor?

Ultimately, it was the sheer power of the corporate headquarters that allowed them not to ingratiate themselves with local leaders.

Let alone toasting at dinner parties.

After this incident, the Liu family that had spearheaded the trouble in the village immediately turned into the town's pariah.

The kind everyone would spit at upon sight.

Sadly, Pingsheng's firmness meant that once a decision was made, he never considered turning back.

It also served as an indirect warning to all future partners not to try any funny business.

He could easily write off more than ten million, but those villagers couldn't go without the eight thousand a year from land rent.

That was the difference between them.

Only they themselves would think that Tengnong Breeding, having invested so much, wouldn't just give it up for nothing.

Thinking like this was the greatest underestimation of his strength.

Not to mention ten million, even a hundred million or a billion wouldn't make him compromise on a matter of principle.

This was his bottom line when doing business, to maintain a good initial intention, insisting on lion-like methods.

To meet the world with kindness, but to stand in it with absolute measures.