Chapter 733
Attending My Cousin's Coming-of-Age Ceremony
After hearing his son Xu Bo'an's words, Xu Jiancheng, Xu Bo'an's father, said, "Your parents are getting old and don't understand the way you young people think. In short, what I want to tell you is, never do anything illegal or disorderly! You are our only son in this life. No matter how you do out there, remember that your parents will always be your strong support!"
All parents in the world have the beautiful expectation that their sons will become dragons and their daughters will become phoenixes, and Xu Bo'an's parents are no exception.
However, Xu Jiancheng knew very well that his family's financial situation was average. His son, Xu Bo'an, was already doing very well to be able to live in a villa. If he wanted to break through his current life and reach a higher level, it would be extremely difficult.
Xu Bo'an's parents, Xu Jiancheng and Tang Rongzhi, were honest and upright people who only hoped that their son, Xu Bo'an, could live a peaceful and stable life.
To be honest, Xu Bo'an was quite moved by his father Xu Jiancheng's words. However, as a man, Xu Bo'an naturally wouldn't express these feelings. Instead, he said to his parents with a touch of pride, "Mom and Dad, I know you'll become quite wealthy after receiving the demolition compensation. You're more than capable of supporting me. I'm not stupid enough to do anything illegal or disorderly!"
Xu Jiancheng and Tang Rongzhi couldn't help but laugh when they heard Xu Bo'an's words. They said to their son, Xu Bo'an, "You little rascal, our property is meant for our future grandson. Don't even think about it!"
When Xu Bo'an heard his parents mention "eldest grandson," he knew without a doubt that they would steer the conversation toward his own life's important matters. The thought of this gave Xu Bo'an a headache. He thought he should slip away while his parents weren't looking and then turned around to sneak upstairs on their backs.
No one knows a son better than his mother. Unexpectedly, as soon as Xu Bo'an took a step, Tang Rongzhi grabbed his wrist and said, "I'm getting to the point right now. Where are you going?"
Xu Bo'an looked at his mother with an awkward smile and said, "Mom, I just suddenly needed to go to the toilet!"
Tang Rongzhi said, "You little rascal, why did you have to go to the toilet every time I mentioned your wedding? I think you're doing it on purpose!"
Xu Bo'an said with a smile, "Mom, then I won't go, okay? I'll just sit here and patiently listen to your instructions."
Upon hearing her son Xu Bo'an's words, Tang Rongzhi finally smiled and said, "That's right, that's my good eldest son!"
No matter how old you are, your parents will always treat you like a child. Luckily, it's just the three of them at home now. If there were other people around, Xu Bo'an would be so embarrassed if his mother, Tang Rongzhi, spoke to him like that!
After seeing her son sit down, Tang Rongzhi continued, "You're not getting any younger. Your father and I both thought Chen Pingping, the girl your mother introduced you to last time, was a very nice girl. How did things go between you two?"
If it were before he owned Bonsai World, Xu Bo'an might have considered remarrying. However, now that he owns Bonsai World, he doesn't want to waste his energy on other things. At least for the time being, he has no other thoughts and only wants to devote himself to his career and achieve great things.
Besides, if we get married, it won't be so easy to keep the huge secret of owning a bonsai world.
Especially in big cities, there are quite a few people like Xu Bo'an who are "unmarried". However, young people can understand this idea. After all, society now advocates open-mindedness and freedom. Many young people can also think it through. After all, one person is not hungry and the whole family is not hungry. Not only does one person have no burden, but they are also free.
However, for our parents' generation, they simply cannot accept that their children are "unmarried".
Xu Bo'an could understand his parents' feelings, but he couldn't tell them his inner thoughts directly, otherwise they would inevitably overthink and worry them terribly.
So Xu Bo'an said to his mother, Tang Rongzhi, in a roundabout way, "Mom, we're just trying to get along!"
Upon hearing this, Tang Rongzhi said, "She took such good care of us last time. You must win over such a wonderful girl!"
Xu Bo'an quickly tried to evade the question, saying, "Mom, don't worry, I'll do my best. But if they don't like me, then don't blame me. Alright, it's getting late. We have to leave early tomorrow morning to go to Aunt's house. You should get some rest! If you don't get enough rest, I'm afraid I'll be distracted while driving!"
Xu Bo'an's driving skills are so good that lack of sleep certainly won't affect his driving at all. The reason Xu Bo'an said this was to get the two elders to end the topic as soon as possible. Sure enough, after hearing Xu Bo'an's words, the two elders quickly said to Xu Bo'an, "Oh, right, right, you should go upstairs and rest. We'll rest right away too!"
Xu Bo'an nodded to his parents and hurried upstairs as if fleeing.
After returning to the bedroom and closing the door, Xu Bo'an first looked at Chen Shishi in the fish tank ecosystem and found that Chen Shishi was already resting.
Xu Bo'an then quickly went to bed to rest.
Nothing happened that night. Since he was going to his aunt's house the next morning, Xu Bo'an got up early the next morning. Xu Bo'an actually planned to return that day, but just in case, he put some fast food such as beef, biscuits and sausages in Chen Shishi's aquarium ecosystem.
After doing all this, Xu Bo'an went downstairs. His parents were already waiting downstairs. After tidying up a bit, they went out.
Xu Bo'an's aunt lives in Rongcheng, the capital city of Beiyuan Province. This province is adjacent to Jiangzhou Province and is not too far from Dongjiang. The journey takes about three hours.
After getting in the car, Xu Bo'an set up the navigation and drove towards Rongcheng City. He only stopped at one service area along the way and arrived in Rongcheng City at 10:15 a.m. After exiting the Rongcheng City Expressway, he drove for about 40 minutes to reach the hotel where his aunt and her family were staying, the Hai Shang Ming Yue Hotel. It was already 11:00 a.m. when he arrived at the hotel.
The "Bright Moon Over the Sea" hotel doesn't mean it's built on the sea, and Rongcheng City isn't a coastal city. It's a five-star chain hotel. Xu Bo'an and his parents entered the lobby where his aunt and uncle were. His aunt, uncle, and cousin Bai Jingshu were standing at the entrance greeting guests. After exchanging a few pleasantries with Xu Bo'an's family, they went inside.
Upon entering the hall, Xu Bo'an sat down with his parents at the table with his mother, Tang Rongzhi, and her siblings. Xu Bo'an looked up and saw his cousin, whom he had previously introduced to work in the sand and gravel business with Lao Mao, also sitting at the same table.
This cousin is about the same age as Xu Bo'an. He is the son of Xu Bo'an's maternal uncle and his name is Tang Zhijie. He had been working with Lao Mao in the sand and gravel business under Xu Bo'an's care, but he always cut corners.
Ever since he learned that Xu Bo'an had become the head of Dongjiang No. 2 Construction Company, Tang Zhijie wanted Xu Bo'an to transfer him to a more lucrative position, and he also coveted the position of Minister of Materials.
After proposing this idea to Xu Bo'an, Xu Bo'an rejected it without saying a word.
He knew his cousin Xu Bo'an very well because they were about the same age, only a few months older than each other. Xu Bo'an had always been a very mischievous and troublesome child, often fighting with other children and not studying properly. He dropped out of junior high school.
As he grew up, he became increasingly arrogant and unrealistic, and had a bad temper. He changed jobs several times but couldn't keep up with any of them, which is why he found Xu Bo'an. Xu Bo'an was already being kind by letting him do the sand and gravel business, but he still dared to dream of becoming the head of the materials department in a government agency, which was simply a pipe dream.
If it were any ambitious and motivated relative, Xu Bo'an would definitely lend a hand. But if Xu Bo'an got his cousin, who was good for nothing, into jail, there would be a lot of trouble later on, unless Xu Bo'an didn't want to work anymore.
When Xu Bo'an later heard that his cousin was still talking about gambling debts, Xu Bo'an was even less willing to get involved. He didn't want to get into trouble because of his cousin.
Ever since Xu Bo'an refused his cousin's request, his cousin harbored resentment. Coupled with gambling debts, he became increasingly shoddy in his sand and gravel business in order to earn more money.
However, when Xu Bo'an was the head of Dongjiang Second Construction Company, although everyone felt that he had gone too far, they turned a blind eye to it because of Xu Bo'an's reputation.
Once you start doing something, you only become bolder and bolder. Tang Zhijie not only did not restrain himself, but became more and more reckless. Later, he delivered whole truckloads of fake sand and gravel.
Later, after Xu Bo'an resigned, and with the strict investigation from above, Lao Mao couldn't handle his reckless behavior on his own. After reporting to Xu Bo'an, Xu Bo'an directly and clearly told Lao Mao to kick him out.
Afterwards, Tang Zhijie called Xu Bo'an, but Xu Bo'an pretended not to see it. Tang Zhijie had no choice but to go to Xu Bo'an's parents to plead for him. Xu Bo'an's parents knew what kind of person Tang Zhijie was, so they told him that they couldn't make decisions for their son Xu Bo'an and sent him away after giving him a few perfunctory replies.
From then on, Tang Rongzhi could clearly sense that her younger brother was no longer as enthusiastic towards her as before. He would often make sarcastic remarks about them.
Some of her relatives were unaware of the matter and would often say a few words about it when they met. Tang Rongzhi felt very bad about it, but she couldn't possibly tell her son Xu Bo'an all of this. That would only add to his mental burden. Xu Bo'an was her only son, and she cherished him dearly. How could she tell him these things and cause him unnecessary trouble?
Upon seeing Xu Bo'an, Xu Bo'an's cousin, Tang Zhijie, sneered, "Oh, isn't this President Xu? You're such a busy man, yet you still have time to come to an event like this. You're someone who makes a lot of money; isn't this a complete waste of your time?"
Xu Bo'an could easily understand the meaning behind his cousin Tang Zhijie's words. He looked at his cousin Tang Zhijie and chuckled, saying, "Hehe, cousin, what are you saying? No matter how busy I am, how could I miss such an important occasion as my cousin's eighteenth birthday celebration! How can this be considered a waste of time!"
Tang Zhijie said, "Hey, Cousin Bo'an, you usually don't even have time to answer my calls, but now you have time? We're all relatives, isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to do this?"
Xu Bo'an said, "I can't control what you think is inappropriate, but I don't think there's anything inappropriate about it!"
Before Tang Zhijie could reply to Xu Bo'an, Xu Bo'an's aunt, who was sitting to the side and was Tang Zhijie's mother, couldn't stand it anymore and looked at Xu Bo'an, saying, "Bo'an, it's been so many years since we last met. Have you gotten used to being a big leader or something? Even if you are a leader outside, these are all your relatives sitting here. This is not a place for you to put on airs. How can you talk to your cousin like that? No matter what, your cousin is older than you. It's really disrespectful of you to talk like that!"
Xu Bo'an's aunt, Wang Caiying, was a very domineering and unreasonable woman who had Xu Bo'an's uncle completely under her thumb. When Xu Bo'an's uncle heard his wife speaking ill of his nephew in front of so many relatives, he felt it was inappropriate and quickly tugged at his wife's sleeve, whispering, "There are so many people here, please stop saying that!"
Hearing her husband say that, Xu Bo'an's aunt, Wang Caiying, became even angrier and said, "He's a junior. I said that to teach him a lesson, for his own good, so that he won't become a leader and not know his own limitations!"
Tang Rongzhi was furious when she heard this. Her sister-in-law was always domineering and unreasonable. She could tolerate her sister-in-law's behavior in front of them, but now that she was doing this to her son Xu Bo'an, even though Tang Rongzhi was the kind of person who never complained, she would not let her sister-in-law talk about her precious son like this.
Tang Rongzhi looked at her younger brother's wife and said angrily, "Wang Caiying, don't go too far with your words. Bo'an is my son. You don't need to use the excuse of being good to him to educate him. If my son needs to be educated, it's his father and I who should do it. It's not your place to educate him!"
Xu Bo'an's aunt, Wang Caiying, looked at Tang Rongzhi and said, "Sister, you really don't know what's good for you. Your son is so arrogant, and I'm trying to teach him a lesson, but you're blaming me. You're really ungrateful!"
Tang Rongzhi looked at Wang Caiying with a contemptuous smile and said, "Hehe, his aunt, you were obviously trying to mock our Bo'an by saying those things. Do you think we're all stupid and can't see through it?"
Wang Caiying, now somewhat angry, said directly, "Sister, since you've put it that way, I'll be frank. My son, Tang Zhijie, was introduced to Dongjiang Construction Company by your son. He's worked diligently for so long, how come he suddenly can't work anymore? Later, my son couldn't get through to your son when he tried to call him. We're relatives, how can you be so heartless? You have to give me an explanation!" (End of Chapter)