Reaching the age of thirty, my income randomly doubled

What’s even more bizarre is that there really are plenty of people willing to go.

Even more bizarre is that the bride price for a third marriage has risen to 220,000.

Chen Pingsheng really didn’t understand which fool would still dare to marry such a person.

It’s clearly a lucrative way to make money.

Just relying on bride prices they could earn hundreds of thousands each year.

No need to work as hard as going out to labor.

If this trend developed, he felt it would truly be a great devastation for those ordinary rural families.

Getting married with a load of debt, a divorce could ruin two generations.

Sir Song’s funeral lasted a full three days.

The spectacle was something the villagers had never seen in their lifetimes, and it was only then that many truly understood the extent of Chen Pingsheng’s influence beyond his village.

Not to mention the thirty million he donated.

The big stars normally only seen on TV and in the news also turned up in droves.

Although none of them stayed too long, the mere presence of these celebrities in such a small village demonstrated his terrifying influence.

...

After Sir Song’s funeral was over, Pingsheng didn’t go anywhere.

So many people wanted to see him, leaders from the town, representatives from the county.

When officials personally visit your home, it’s a matter of prestige.

Being able to refuse to see them, that’s real confidence.

And he chose not to see them.

Additionally, relatives came looking for him, from both sides of the family.

Village conventions are often very simple: bring some gifts to the house, exchange a few pleasantries.

Then they start talking about their problems.

"My son’s getting married this year, the bride has to have a house in the city."

They can’t even afford the bride price, let alone the down payment on a house.

Now there was no other option but to come to Chen Pingsheng for a loan.

No matter who it was, he just laid out a million at his doorstep, same deal for everyone.

Take thirty thousand home, and if that wasn’t satisfying, take a left turn on your way out.

When it comes to borrowing money, either don’t lend at all, or don’t expect to get it back.

Otherwise, when the time comes to repay the loan and you go asking for it, years of friendship can be lost.

It even makes friendships difficult.

He also parked several cars at his rural home, and there were many weddings among his younger relatives.

Many came to borrow a car from his house to use as a wedding car.

Just a couple of days ago, a youngster in his early twenties was getting married and came to borrow a BMW X5 from his father to serve as the wedding car.

The BMW was lent to him, yet he wasn’t satisfied.

In his words, all he could think about was why he wasn’t given the convertible Rolls-Royce?

This car would show respect, driving up to the bride’s home it would surely astonish her whole family.

Then, before the wedding even started, this youngster drove drunk.

He even managed to hit another car.

Guess what he did?

After drunk driving and hitting another car, he actually ran off to hide in the bathroom.

Then, what was initially a minor private settlement that would have cost just a few thousand turned into

a police affair, which resulted in the loss of his driver’s license and a five-year ban from retaking the test.

His family immediately came knocking, asking for his help to smooth things over.

Chen Pingsheng just sipped his tea nonchalantly, wondering how they had the audacity to propose such an idea.

If having money means being able to trample over the law wantonly,

then what’s the point of having laws at all? Besides, he considered such behavior extremely dangerous.

It’s not just about this drunk driving incident; it’s not even worth mentioning.

It’s about himself.

Outsiders can’t understand that at his level, he really could break many rules.

Like with this youngster, with just a slight glance, he could effortlessly get the lost driver’s license reinstated.

Never underestimate the power of a billionaire.

It’s definitely an easy fix.

One act of violation leads to habitual trampling.

Eventually, it breeds that sort of untouchable, superior attitude.

He felt that such a person would inevitably get into trouble sooner or later.

Relatives at home all knew his influence. After a mishap, their first thought was not to reflect,

but to ask him to pull strings to fix the situation.

Chen Pingsheng thought if he really smoothed things over for them this time,

one day in the future,

relatives he’d hardly ever met could cause a serious problem and still arrogantly tell others,

"My uncle is Chen Pingsheng, do whatever you want."

He believed this was a very real possibility, and that one should never underestimate the impact of even a minor wrongdoing.

Isn’t it necessary to swiftly extinguish these issues while they’re just budding?

Having put down his tea cup, Chen Pingsheng looked at his elder cousin and said, "I get what you all are implying, but you’ve talked so much without a single mention of my BMW that’s still soaked in someone else’s fish pond. Drunk driving makes it ineligible for insurance claims, why haven’t you mentioned that at all?"

His elder cousin and his wife both worked in the city, with a combined monthly income of fifteen to sixteen thousand.

Their life wasn’t too good, but it wasn’t too bad either.

At least 80% of couples in the city are in a similar situation to them.

Not every man is as hard-working as he once was. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Hey, little brother, what’s with you? Your family is so rich now, and when my son crashed your car into someone else’s, not only do you not offer to help, but now you actually want us to compensate you for that broken X5? You’re acting unkind as a wealthy man."

"Oh, so it seems from your perspective it’s all my family’s problem,"

Chen Pingsheng nodded in agreement, "My family does have a problem; the biggest problem is that we shouldn’t have lent the car to you. And besides…"

He paused and then added, "A BMW X5 might indeed not be a great car, at least not for my family, but I’m really curious how, with your combined monthly salary of just over ten thousand, do you have the audacity to call it a ’broken car’?

"You might be placing yourself in my shoes, but maybe it’s time for you to see yourself clearly, so you don’t go home and curse me for not helping your son!"