Chapter 386: The Little Son's Ambition, Buying a Car for the Son and Daughter-in-Law

Chapter 386: The Little Son's Ambition, Buying a Car for the Son and Daughter-in-Law

Nayecun.

At 8:00 PM, the highly anticipated Spring Festival Gala officially began.

After the food company distributed dividends last year, every household in the Deng clan of Nayecun had at least a few thousand yuan in savings. For the clan members, a television set costing a few hundred yuan was no longer a rarity, and more than 70% of the households had already purchased one.

However, many people in the village still gathered at Deng Shirong's house to watch the gala, a habit that had formed over the years.

This year, Uncle Benshan brought his sketch "Matchmaking" to the Spring Festival Gala stage for the first time. Apart from Deng Shirong, no one could have imagined that this sketch actor from Tieling, Liaoning, would only miss one gala in the next 21 years and become the King of Sketch Comedy in China.

Unlike previous years, as the clock approached midnight, the clan members did not stay to continue watching the gala but returned home to prepare for the fireworks.

Deng Shirong's family also prepared for the fireworks.

At midnight, countless brilliant fireworks shot up into the sky across the twenty-odd natural villages of the Nayecun Deng clan, exploding in the air and instantly turning the night sky into a dazzling spectacle of colors, truly a magnificent sight.

If someone were to climb to a high vantage point and look down, the scene would be truly breathtaking.

Timely setting off fireworks at midnight is not only a custom in Bobai County but also throughout Guangxi. In the future, someone would capture the scenes of fireworks being set off in Guangxi and upload them as short videos to Kuaishou, causing quite a stir!

After all, policies vary from place to place, and many provinces prohibit the setting off of fireworks.

The unified display of fireworks in Guangxi is a sight not seen in many other provinces.

...

The second day of the Lunar New Year.

It was time for the aunts and sisters-in-law from all over the county to visit their relatives.

After breakfast, Deng Yuntao drove a large truck from his cousin's freight company, taking his wife and children, as well as the families of Deng Changyuan and Deng Changdong, to Longtan Poxin Village to visit relatives.

The distance from Nayecun to Poxin Village is about 20 kilometers. Due to the poor road conditions from Shuangwang Market to Tanlian Intersection, it took a bit over an hour to reach their destination.

First, Deng Yuntao dropped off Deng Changyuan and Deng Changdong at their respective in-laws' homes before driving to his own in-laws' house.

The greetings between the two families are omitted.

After bringing the gifts inside, Deng Yuntao and Zhang Xiuping sat by the fire with the Zhang family to chat.

The children, Xiaodong and Dongzi, played with their cousins outside.

After some casual conversation, Zhang's father asked, "Yuntao, how was the supermarket business last year?"

"It was pretty good."

Deng Yuntao smiled and asked, "Dad, how about your wooden clothespin factory?"

Zhang's father smiled, "We expanded production a bit last year and made more money than the previous year."

Zhang Xiuping said, "Dad, that's great. How's the house in Longtan Market coming along?"

Zhang's father replied, "The main structure is done, and once the renovation is complete, we can move in."

Zhang Xiuping said, "Dad, don't be too careless with the renovation. You've seen how our house is decorated; the beauty of a house depends entirely on the renovation. It's better to spend a bit more money to make the house look nice, so it's comfortable to live in."

The elder sisters-in-law, Zhang Dage, Zhang Ergo, and Zhang Sange, all secretly praised their younger sister-in-law.

They had seen the stunningly decorated house of their younger sister-in-law and dreamed of living in such a beautiful home. However, the money for building the house came from their father-in-law, and the renovation costs were also covered by him. No matter how the house was decorated, they had no say in the matter.

Now, their younger sister-in-law had spoken up for them, and they were all very happy.

After all, with her current status, her words carried significant weight, and both her father-in-law and mother-in-law were willing to listen to her.

Zhang's father said, "I'll try to make it as nice as possible, but it can't compare to your house. The renovation cost was too high."

Zhang's mother added, "As long as it's better than others, there's no need to compare with in-laws!"

Zhang Xiuping picked up her bag, took out two stacks of money, and handed them to her father, saying, "Dad, this is a gift from me and Tai. Use it for the house renovation, don't be stingy."

The two stacks amounted to 20,000 yuan. Even in the future, few rural daughters could afford to give such a generous gift to their parents, let alone in this era, where it was truly unique.

Zhang's father quickly tried to refuse, saying, "No need, the factory business is doing well, and I have the money for the renovation."

Deng Yuntao smiled and said, "Dad, take it. It's a gift from us."

Seeing his son-in-law speak up, Zhang's father no longer refused and accepted the money.

While he didn't know how much money his daughter and son-in-law's supermarket made in a year, he understood it was a significant amount. For them, 20,000 yuan might not be much.

Zhang Dage and Zhang Ergo were both touched by the scene. Unlike Zhang Sange, who had married into the Zhang family when the little sister-in-law’s family was already prosperous, Zhang Dage and Zhang Ergo had witnessed the rise of the little sister-in-law’s family firsthand. When the little sister-in-law first married into the Deng family, the Dengs were one of the top households in the village, but at that time, they were just a ten-thousand-yuan household at most.

However, in less than ten years, the ten-thousand-yuan household had turned into a multi-millionaire, with assets expanding by more than a thousand times. It was truly a miracle.

Seeing that her father had accepted the money, Zhang Xiuping smiled and said, "Dad, Mom, Big Brother and Big Sister, Second Brother and Second Sister, Xiaojun and Yafei (Zhang Sange), Xiaoshan, next month on the seventh, my second uncle is getting married. You all must come to the wedding banquet."

Zhang’s mother perked up and asked, "Your second uncle is getting married? Where is the bride from?"

When the bride's family had come to inspect the Deng household, Deng Shirong had only invited his closest relatives to Nanning. The relationship with the eldest son’s in-laws was a bit distant, so they were not usually invited to such inspections, only to the wedding banquet.

Therefore, the Zhang family did not know that Deng Yunheng was dating someone and planning to get married.

Hearing Zhang’s mother’s question, Zhang’s father and the others also looked at Zhang Xiuping curiously, waiting for her answer.

Zhang Xiuping smiled and answered her mother’s question, then couldn’t help but praise, "My second uncle’s fiancee is impeccable in terms of her figure, appearance, and family background. Her demeanor is like that of an ancient noblewoman, truly outstanding."

Zhang’s father asked, "What does the bride’s father do?"

Zhang Xiuping replied, "The bride’s father is a high-ranking official in the province."

Upon hearing this, the Zhang family was naturally stunned.

For rural people, a high-ranking official in the province was a figure they would never encounter in their entire lives.

Now, their daughter’s little brother-in-law had found a girl from such a prestigious family, which was truly beyond their expectations.

If that girl married into the family, wouldn’t their daughter be a sister-in-law to the daughter of a high-ranking provincial official?

After discussing the wedding banquet, Zhang’s mother led the daughters-in-law to the kitchen to help with the cooking, while the Zhang family’s men stayed behind to chat with Deng Yuntao and Zhang Xiuping.

Of course, Deng Yuntao spoke less, and most of the talking was done by his wife.

After some casual conversation, Zhang Xiuping told her father and brothers about the recent changes in Naye Deng’s family, leaving her father and brothers speechless.

...

The tradition of visiting the maternal family on the second day of the Lunar New Year was deeply ingrained in the hearts of the people of Bobai.

Therefore, even though Deng Yunzhen often saw her father and siblings, she still brought her husband and children back to her maternal home on the second day of the Lunar New Year.

Deng Shirong prepared a large feast to entertain his daughter and son-in-law.

During the meal, Zhu Junjie asked, "Dad, Xiaosong will be graduating soon. Where does he plan to work after graduation? Has he set a goal yet?"

Deng Shirong replied, "If everything goes as planned, he will work in a ministry. He hasn’t decided which one yet."

Zhu Junjie nodded and said, "Working in a ministry is great. Yunheng is the best example."

Deng Shirong said, "Working in a ministry for a year or two not only accelerates promotion but also helps build important connections. These connections can be useful when he is assigned to work in a local area, giving him an advantage over others."

Zhu Junjie said enviously, "It’s different for those who excel in their studies. Only high-achievers like Yunheng and Xiaosong can enter such departments. Others need to have connections to even consider working there."

Deng Yunzhen glanced at her husband and said, "Of course, since the restoration of the college entrance examination, studying has been the only way out for us rural people. The effort required to get into top universities like Tsinghua and Peking is immense. It’s only natural that they have an advantage after succeeding."

Deng Shirong sighed, "Speaking of studying, all seven of you siblings have worked hard, but in the end, only Yunheng and Xiaosong succeeded. Xiaoheng is also doing well now, but the four of you couldn’t even get into ordinary universities. The difference in talent is really significant."

Deng Yunzhu said helplessly, "We really don’t have the talent for studying. Spending the same amount of time, Second Brother and Xiaosong can easily score a hundred, while we struggle to pass. It’s really discouraging."

Deng Yunhua nodded vigorously, "Second Sister is right. Studying is really hard. The more we study, the more we feel like we’re stupid and clumsy. Our high school teacher said that when Second Brother had a question, the teacher just had to give a hint, and he would understand, even being able to apply it to other problems. As for us… even when the teacher slapped the answer in our faces, we still couldn’t figure it out. How can we compare?"

When it came to studying, the struggles of Deng Yunzhu and Deng Yunhua, the academic underachievers, were truly indescribable. They had tried hard, but without any hope of success, anyone would feel discouraged.

Deng Yunheng took a sip of Jianlibao and smiled confidently. Although his grades were not as impressive as his second and third brothers, he was still a top student compared to his second sister and fourth brother.

Therefore, when he heard his second sister and fourth brother say this, he chimed in, "Didn't Edison say that genius is one percent inspiration plus ninety-nine percent perspiration, but that one percent of inspiration is the most important, even more so than the ninety-nine percent of perspiration?"

"Second Sister, Fourth Brother, it's just that you lack that one percent of inspiration. No matter how hard you try, your grades don't improve, and over time, you naturally give up."

Deng Yunzhu glanced at her little brother, "Xiaoheng, don't be so quick to laugh at us. Wait until you take the college entrance exam and get into a good university."

Deng Yunhua added, "Exactly. Your current grades are good, but it doesn't matter how well you do in regular exams; universities care most about the college entrance exam. You need to work hard this last semester. Don't end up failing and joining us, wasting all your years of effort."

Deng Yunheng laughed and said, "The college entrance exam is the fairest test. For multiple-choice questions, you can guess, but for other questions, you either know them or you don't. The college entrance exam is no different from regular exams. You'll always know what you know, and you won't be able to figure out what you don't, no matter how hard you try."

Zhu Junjie, whose own grades were only average, quickly changed the subject, "Xiaoheng, have you decided what major you want to study in university?"

Deng Yunheng replied, "Not yet!"

Zhu Junjie said, "You should think about it carefully. Think about what path you want to take after graduation. If you want to follow in the footsteps of your second and third brothers in the government, you should ask for their advice. I'm sure they can give you good suggestions."

Deng Yunheng shook his head, "I'm not very interested in a career in government."

Deng Yunzhen asked, "Xiaoheng, what industry are you interested in? Do you like business?"

Deng Yunheng still shook his head, "I'm not very interested in business either."

Deng Shirong had planned to discuss this with his youngest son when he was preparing to fill out his college application, but since the topic came up, he asked, "Xiaoheng, tell us, what do you want to do in the future?"

Deng Yunheng clearly had his plans, and he replied, "Dad, I want to study medicine and become a doctor."

Deng Shirong was genuinely surprised; he hadn't expected his youngest son to want to study medicine.

In the future, there was a very famous saying, "Persuading someone to study medicine, may they be struck by lightning," which, though meant to be humorous, was not without basis. It was a wise warning from medical predecessors.

Take Western medicine, for example:

- The long study period is well-known, with high time costs. A typical medical bachelor's degree takes 5 years. If you pursue higher education, it's at least 5+3+3=11 years, and you might still need family support while your high school classmates are already successful in their careers and families.

- Even if you don't aim so high, you still need 3 years of residency after graduating, plus a few years of training as a resident doctor to become a junior doctor with low pay, high pressure, and poor health.

- If you aim for a medical doctorate, it's at least 14 years.

Moreover, studying medicine is much harder than most other majors because the amount of knowledge and materials is vast.

Want to focus on key points?

That's a good idea, but patients don't get sick according to key points.

According to data from the future, the number of words in the four great classical novels of China are: Dream of the Red Chamber (730,000), Romance of the Three Kingdoms (800,000), Journey to the West (860,000), and Water Margin (960,000). In contrast, a few medical textbooks have: Physiology (1,220,000), Biochemistry (1,250,000), Internal Medicine (2,480,000), Surgery (2,280,000), and so on.

The idea of "cramming at the last minute" doesn't apply to medical students at all.

Of course, the difficulty of studying medicine is not the worst part; the most critical issue is that doctors are incredibly busy. In the future, anyone with a doctor friend knows how busy doctors can be, especially young doctors who haven't made a name for themselves yet. They have very little free time.

Only when you become a senior doctor with subordinates to help you do you have a relatively easier time.

Moreover, Deng Shirong had experienced SARS and COVID-19, and he knew that healthcare workers were on the front lines during such terrifying infectious diseases.

So, from a personal standpoint, Deng Shirong didn't really want his youngest son to study medicine. It was too hard, and he was afraid his son might encounter those terrible infectious diseases.

However, whether in the past or the present, Deng Shirong was a relatively open-minded father and wouldn't interfere with his children's choices.

Therefore, he just paused for a moment and asked, "Xiaoheng, have you thought this through? Being a doctor is very hard. You'll need to spend more time and effort studying, and once you become a doctor, you'll be busier than in other professions, with very little free time."

Deng Yunheng's understanding of being a doctor was still quite superficial. He just thought doctors looked cool when treating patients and really wanted to become one. So, when he heard his father say this, he said firmly, "Dad, I'm not afraid of the hard work. I want to be a doctor."

Deng Shirong nodded and said, "If you want to be a doctor, that's fine, but being a small doctor who can't treat serious illnesses isn't very meaningful. If you want to be a doctor, aim to be a great one. That means your goal shouldn't be just a bachelor's degree but a Ph.D. Are you prepared for that?"

Deng Yunheng replied, "I've thought it through. Our family isn't short of money, so I don't need to start working early to earn money. I'll study more and strive to get a Ph.D."

Zhu Junjie couldn't help but praise him, "That's ambitious. Your second and third brothers only have bachelor's degrees, and even if they continue to pursue graduate studies, they'll be part-time students, which isn't as valuable. If you can get a Ph.D., you'll be the one with the highest education in the entire family."

Deng Yunhua, looking at his brother who had grown up with him, gave him a thumbs up and said, "Xiaoheng, that's a really ambitious goal."

Deng Shirong was also a bit excited. In his previous life, none of his children had a proper university degree, and the highest education was his third son, who had a junior college degree.

Of course, after his third son started working, he gradually upgraded his junior college degree to an associate's degree and then to a bachelor's degree, but these were all part-time degrees, which were not on the same level as a regular bachelor's degree.

In this life, his second and third sons not only got into university but also into the top universities, Tsinghua and Peking. This already made Deng Shirong very satisfied, and now his youngest son's ambition was to study medicine and become the first Ph.D. in the Nayecun Deng family.

If he really achieved this, their family's educational level would be better than 99.999% of the people in the country.

Therefore, Deng Shirong encouraged him, "Then you should work hard and aim to get into a good medical university first."

...

A few years ago, the New Year in Nayecun was just a few days long, and many people started working by the fourth day of the first lunar month.

Now, with everyone's economic conditions improving, those who didn't work for the state had more freedom to arrange their work schedules, so they wouldn't rush to start working but would enjoy the holidays more.

It wasn't until the eighth day of the first lunar month that people gradually returned to work, as the festive atmosphere had largely dissipated.

After the New Year, Deng Shirong had two main tasks:

The first was to send out invitations to all relatives and friends, including all the leaders of the county and township governments.

As for his second son's own leaders, colleagues, classmates, and alumni, he would invite them himself.

The second task was to send people to Shanghai to buy cars.

The Nayecun Deng Group, with a registered capital of several hundred million yuan, needed to have cars to maintain its image, as business receptions in this era and the future required a certain level of grandeur.

After all, it wouldn't do to have important guests ride public buses or rickshaws.

Therefore, this time, the Nayecun Deng Group bought six cars, and Deng Shirong bought four cars for personal use, totaling ten cars.

The brand, of course, was the legendary Santana of this era.

Don't underestimate this car; it cost 200,000 yuan in this era, which was not something an average person could afford.

Deng Shirong allocated the four Santanas he bought as follows: one for his eldest son, one for his eldest daughter-in-law, one for his youngest daughter, and one for his fourth son.

As for his eldest daughter, he didn't give her one, as her husband was a county-level leader, and it wouldn't be appropriate for her to drive a car so conspicuously.

His second and third sons didn't need cars, and his youngest son was still in school, so there was no need to rush to get him one.

Regarding driving licenses, Deng Shirong had already arranged for his children and their spouses to learn to drive, so there was no need to worry about them not knowing how to drive.

However, for safety, Deng Shirong also provided bodyguards for his children and their spouses.

The bodyguards for his eldest son and fourth son were selected from the security team at Wuyue Square.

The bodyguards for his eldest daughter-in-law and youngest daughter were specially hired retired female soldiers with excellent driving skills, who were very rare in this era. Deng Shirong offered them very high salaries.

After providing cars for his children and their spouses, it was just in time for his second son's wedding, which would be a very prestigious occasion.

After buying the cars, Deng Shirong returned to his hometown and began preparing for his second son's wedding.

For this wedding, Deng Shirong planned to make it a grand event.

After all, there were no official restrictions on weddings in this era, and a grand event wouldn't affect his second son's career. Besides, the wedding was in the village, and unlike in the future, where a simple video could go viral, the grandeur in the village would only be known in a small area.

...

PS: Dear readers, which medical university should Deng Yunheng apply to, and which specialization should he pursue? If any reader has suggestions, please share them. Thank you!

Thank you to all the relatives who have supported and voted for the story.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end