Chapter 293: A Quiet Night
A night passed without words, and soon it was the next day.
The chickens in the neighboring grandfather's yard started crowing before seven in the morning, and the second uncle's big black dog was barking incessantly as the dawn began to break.
Chen Pingsheng got up in the large room on the second floor and finished washing up.
In the cold winter, he had to wear thermal underwear under his clothes and put on a thick down jacket.
Song Yanxi was no exception; her belly was starting to show. Today, they still had to visit the Tenghui Department Store in the village.
As for the spoiled brat in the other room, she got up earlier than the chickens and slept later than the dogs.
If you asked what she was up to, she was thinking about how to make yet another super cool entrance for the villagers.
In reality, she was practicing her dance moves.
Chen Pingsheng went downstairs to cook several bowls of noodles, adding a bowl of spicy stir-fried pork into the mix.
Thinking about it, it had been some days since he last cooked.
With more than ten days left until New Year, most of the young people had not yet returned.
Only some elderly and children remained in the village. After having breakfast, his family drove to visit the Tenghui Department Store.
This place, which he had spent fifty million to build, had some planning involved with the tenants.
Mostly, the ground floor comprised various electronics and supermarkets.
The second floor had shoes and hats, and it was only on the third floor that one found restaurants.
Further up were the tea rooms, billiard halls, and video game arcades.
The very top housed a KTV and a cinema; because the premises were rent-free, a number of merchants from the town had moved in.
It quickly developed into the largest shopping center in the area, bustling with activity.
Compared to city malls, it was naturally a bit chaotic and lacked major brand clothing stores.
It couldn't attract kid's favorites like KFC either.
Ultimately, its purpose wasn't to achieve profit targets.
It was about improving the consumer environment for the entire village; if there's anything rural areas lack, it's a proper place to spend money.
Education and healthcare came next.
Without a good market to spend money, even the wealthy find no joy in staying in the village.
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Naturally, everyone would move to the city for work.
This was the Chen Family's first rural Tenghui Department Store Plaza, and perhaps in the future, they might open ten, or even a hundred more.
Until it could turn a profit on its own, they were still exploring slowly.
"The Chen family member is here."
"Everyone, come out and look …"
"Who is it, making all this noise?"
"Who else could it be, just look at the types of cars parked outside. The Wang County village committee is here; Chen Pingsheng is back in town."
"How did his return cause no stir at all?"
"They didn't want you to know; you can't just run over to Old Chen's house to ask."
"It's the internet era now, haven't you seen the recent news, all about Tengying Group."
"The person from Old Chen's family, he's the founder of Tengying Group."
"Our Wang Village has truly produced a most influential figure."
"You're telling me, look at him, he's been building schools and health centers, and now he's invested fifty million to build such a grand plaza where we gather to play mahjong every day without any rent."
"What he's doing is a philanthropic project to give back to the hometown, not worrying about such small rent."
"That one in the white down jacket must be his wife, Song Yanxi. My husband is from that side. I used to see her when she was younger, and now she is truly enviable."
"You all just envy them, but when she married her husband, they started out with nothing and only afterward did they rapidly make their fortune. Over the years, Old Chen has been tremendously good to his wife."
"Not a single fault to pick."'
Chen Pingsheng and his family were still visiting the first floor while the merchants from the second, third, and fourth floors.
They were already standing by the corridor, watching. Perhaps he would come up soon.
To the local small traders, Chen Pingsheng was nothing short of a legend.
Every time he returned home, it caused a huge stir, not because he was ostentatious but because of the prestige his status carried.
At ten in the morning, the county secretary's assistant personally came over, hoping to invite him for a visit to the county.
Chen Pingsheng did not go.
At noon, the Sha City municipal committee called without stating specific matters, merely asking when he would visit Sha City.
At one in the afternoon, the secretary personally contacted him, hoping he could spare some time to visit Zhengfu.
The secretary wanted to see him.
Mainly, it was because Tengnong Breeding had set up its headquarters in Sha City and had established a very strong agricultural breeding technology team,
along with dual research and development teams for farmer support and assistance, investing over three billion in Southern Province.
They also recruited a significant number of graduates from major agricultural universities, making it arguably one of Southern Province's top public-service farm aid projects.
Significantly, such a project was initiated by a private enterprise, which was somewhat embarrassing.
The secretary did not make a show of scheduling their meeting but instead set a meeting time first,
and during this interval asked about Chen Pingsheng's overall plans for Tengnong Breeding.
Chen Pingsheng attended with his wife.
In the afternoon after talking for more than an hour with the secretary, he publicly and positively discussed his expectations for the future of Tengnong Breeding, as well as the ultimate purpose of founding it.
Plainly speaking, Tengnong Breeding held two hopes for Chen Pingsheng.
The first was to use his own strength, along with the platform of Tengnong Breeding.