Chapter Fifty-Nine: The Oblivious Brother-in-Law

"Hua Jiang, I don't know what I've done to upset you, but I'm only doing this for your sake."

As soon as he entered the shop, Lin Guoshan began to defend himself, his face tense, wearing the look of someone whose good intentions had been mistaken for ill will, his brows tightly knit in frustration.

Chen Hua Jiang was wiping his wound with a clean cloth from the counter. Hearing this, he threw the cloth onto the counter in anger.

"Good for you, Lin Guoshan, still playing this act even now. I finally see through you. Was it Fangfang, Chen Yan, or Cuihong that put you up to it earlier?"

"There are two great hatreds for a man: the murder of his father and the theft of his wife, both unforgivable. Who do you think you are, Lin Guoshan? Handsome? Rich enough to burn money? So much so that Lai Zi wouldn’t bother with you? Are you still dreaming that you could say a few words and Lai Zi would willingly strip Fangfang and deliver her to your bed? Should he stand guard at the door for you while you consummate your marriage?"

Chen Hua Jiang looked at Lin Guoshan with a mocking sneer, as if regarding an idiot.

At this moment, he had given up all hope for his brother-in-law. This was a foolish idiot, utterly oblivious to his own stupidity.

If Lin Guoshan had kept silent throughout the day's events, Chen Hua Jiang wouldn't have thought much of him, perhaps just considered him a bit timid.

Cowardice isn't a sin; most people are timid. When faced with a gang of fierce thugs, any normal person would be afraid. The saying 'A wise man does not stand beside a crumbling wall' exists for good reason.

But Lin Guoshan had managed to be a hindrance throughout, always dragging things backward, and Chen Hua Jiang couldn't tolerate that.

In his previous life, at least he was the CEO of a company, and understood the importance of employing people. The most dangerous kind are those who think themselves clever but are actually fools.

Everyone likes hardworking, intelligent people.

Hardworking fools can still be tolerated.

But fools who work hard and believe themselves clever are terrifying.

Such people are oblivious, racing headlong toward disaster, convinced all the while that they’re doing the right thing.

"Chen Hua Jiang, I'm your brother-in-law."

"I understand your reasoning, but what were you doing just now? You almost killed Lai Zi. If I hadn't stopped you in time, you'd be on the run by now, hunted for the rest of your life. What did I do wrong? As your brother-in-law, shouldn’t I have stopped you from committing murder?"

Lin Guoshan was enraged, glaring at Chen Hua Jiang and shouting loudly.

He felt deeply wronged; he had been helping Chen Hua Jiang all along, trying to prevent him from making a catastrophic mistake.

How could Chen Hua Jiang blame him? Wasn't this just like the saying, 'The dog bites the good man'? Not recognizing kindness?

"Enough, there’s no need to talk about this anymore."

"I’ll settle the matter with Lai Zi; you stay out of it."

Taking a deep breath, Chen Hua Jiang forced down his anger and turned to leave.

He feared that if he stayed, they would end up arguing, and the rift would only widen.

After all, Lin Guoshan was his brother-in-law; for his wife's sake, he didn't want to make things difficult for Lin Miaoyin.

But in his heart, Chen Hua Jiang no longer regarded Lin Guoshan favorably. Family would remain family, but he would never place him in a position of importance again, lest he drag him down.

Lin Guoshan watched as Chen Hua Jiang left, his face still furious, growing angrier the more he thought about it. He slammed his palm on the table.

"What nonsense! Just a thug, always picking fights. He’s only proud now because he’s making some money!"

Lin Guoshan’s anger only grew as he mulled things over.

Chen Hua Jiang left the shop and headed straight home. Along the way, he passed a braised food stall, its aroma wafting half a mile, with a crowd gathered around.

"Half a roast duck and a pound of pig’s head meat."

Drawn by the scent, Chen Hua Jiang walked over.

"Coming right up!"

The owner, a sturdy, honest-looking man in his thirties, replied loudly.

His swift hands chopped the roast duck, oil splattering, while the pig’s head meat was tossed with cilantro, sending up waves of fragrance.

Chen Hua Jiang suddenly felt a pang of nostalgia. In ten years, these foods would be gone, no matter how much you craved them.

In the future, roast ducks would be mass-produced, with not even a seed left of the native Chinese duck.

Pigs fared a little better; some still bred black pigs, but the mainstream market would be taken over by imported white pigs.

"Three yuan in total."

The owner quickly wrapped the food in oil paper and pushed it to Chen Hua Jiang.

"Could you pack it in a plastic bag? It’s hard to carry like this."

Handing over three yuan, Chen Hua Jiang made his request.

"What’s a plastic bag?" The owner looked at Chen Hua Jiang, utterly puzzled.

Ah, Chen Hua Jiang realized suddenly—plastic bags hadn’t come into use yet.

They wouldn’t appear until the nineties, and only became widely used after the year 2000.

Back then, the polyethylene production base had caused quite a stir, with the domestic industry being tricked by a certain rival, resulting in a two-year delay for the polyethylene factory's construction.

That seemed like a promising opportunity—a lucrative business.

Plastic bags would be a big business in the future, and Chen Hua Jiang knew the trajectory of the polyethylene negotiations over the next few years; a two-year gap was enough to make a move.

He decided to consider it carefully when he got home. Though he came from a different industry, his insight told him the polyethylene project was very doable.

Most importantly, the country was eager for modernization at the time and gave the polyethylene project every possible green light—money, land, personnel, whatever was needed.

There was even an anecdote about a Hong Kong businessman who produced downstream products for polyethylene. When the market became saturated and the business failed, he sold the land and recouped fifty million, turning a profit overnight.

That story was used to criticize the overdevelopment of real estate, but in a sense, it showed just how much the state was willing to subsidize early industrialization.

As someone reborn, Chen Hua Jiang would be a fool not to seize this opportunity.

Before reaching home, he encountered a merchant selling milk, driving a mule cart.

"Milk! Fresh milk! Twenty cents a bucket, twenty cents a bucket!"

Two large metal containers sat atop the cart, as the merchant led the mule and hawked his wares.

Few stopped to buy; at this time, there was no notion that 'a cup of milk makes a nation strong.' The milk-drinking campaign wouldn’t be popularized domestically until the mid-nineties.

One classic example was the early founding of Bright Dairy, established in 1996 in response to the milk-drinking initiative.

Chen Hua Jiang remembered this so clearly because his restaurant group sourced all their dairy products from Bright, and he’d learned this from chatting with their sales manager over meals.

"I’ll take a bucket."

Chen Hua Jiang approached and spoke to the owner.

Milk was a precious commodity; he’d bring it home for Huanhuan to drink. Children needed it to grow strong.

"Alright, but sir, where’s your bucket?"

The owner nodded briskly, about to fill the milk, but seeing Chen Hua Jiang’s empty hands, he looked utterly confused.