Rebirth 1983: Building My Business Empire
Chapter 424 - Chapter 424 Chapter 413 Refusal

Chapter 424: Chapter 413 Refusal Chapter 424: Chapter 413 Refusal Second Sister-in-law Lu saw that Lu Jiaxin hadn’t spoken and thought she was considering donating to the child from the neighboring village. She really wanted to slap herself, how could she speak so hastily, “Jiaxin, there are so many in this world who can study but cannot afford it. You can’t support them all, can you? Our Lu Family has a total of twenty-nine members, and Grandpa said it requires at least five to six thousand yuan in expenses each year. The money doesn’t fall from the sky for you, it’s enough to help the children within our clan. If other people’s children can’t study, it’s just their bad fate.”

Doing good deeds isn’t that easy, either. There’s a singer she likes very much who donated all her wealth. She often rushes to disaster zones, and yet she’s still criticized by many detractors.

Lu Jiaxin didn’t continue this heavy topic, “How’s Big Uncle holding up? I would feel guilty if he overexerts himself because of me.”

Second Sister-in-law Lu laughed heartily, “No, no. Big Aunt said he’s full of energy every day. Also, because of this sponsorship you’ve organized, now whenever there’s something happening in our clan, everyone asks for his opinion, even more prestigious than when he was the village Party secretary.”

Having something to do invigorates people, and Big Uncle Lu is used to ordering others around. Now that all the major and minor matters of the clan are referred to him for decisions, that’s more effective than any medicine.

At this point, Second Sister-in-law Lu told her about something else, “The last time I saw Big Sister, I heard her say the clan wants to renovate the ancestral hall. Now that everyone knows you have money, they’ll probably ask you to donate.”

Lu Jiaxin was uninterested in repairing the ancestral hall, “I have no money.”

Second Sister-in-law Lu grunted, “That’s right, don’t donate. The family tree only records the names of males. The girls don’t even have their full names on it. What’s the point of donating money to renovate it? If they want to refurbish it, let the men of the clan pool money to fix it up.”

“Right. Big Brother wanted to talk to you about sponsoring the poor students. He left a phone number with me, said to give him a call when you return from your travels.”

After writing down the phone number, Lu Jiaxin also asked about Xiao Qiu. Hearing that she had rallied, Lu Jiaxin nodded and said, “Second Sister-in-law, don’t always tell Xiao Qiu to marry into a good family. She’s still young. At her age, she should be learning more. There’s no rush to marry until she’s twenty-four or twenty-five.”

In the city, many young women marry at twenty-three or twenty-four, later than those in the countryside. After staying in the Forty-nine City for two years, Second Sister-in-law Lu’s views have changed, “That’s what I tell her now. There’s no rush to date, earn money first.”

Lu Jiaxin joked, “Yes, earn money first. Later, with a house and a shop of her own, it wouldn’t be a problem to attract a son-in-law. Why worry about being bullied by the in-laws then?”

Second Sister-in-law Lu was taken aback. With three sons, she had never considered having Xiao Qiu attract a son-in-law. But if the girl were to marry, she would inevitably face some difficulties at her in-laws’. If she marries into the Lu Family, she wouldn’t have to fear. However, she only thought this to herself and didn’t say it out loud.

Afterward, Lu Jiaxin called Lu Jiaguang. Since she dialed an external phone booth, she had to wait ten minutes before redialing to reach her contact.

Once the call connected, Lu Jiaguang asked her what she had gained from this journey.

Lu Jiaxin, not wanting to lie, simply said she went to increase her knowledge and couldn’t specify what she had learned right now, “Big Brother, did you want me to call for a particular reason?”

Lu Jiaguang brought up the clan’s intention to repair the ancestral hall. Previously, there was a push to destroy the old customs to counter feudal thinking, but now, with a loosening of policies, many things are gradually reviving.

Lu Jiaxin immediately rejected the notion, “Our hometown always says ‘a married daughter is like spilled water.’ If they want to repair the ancestral hall, they should find the men of the clan, not me, whom they deem as spilled water not worth recording in the family tree.”

Lu Jiaguang sounded surprised, “Who said your name isn’t in the family tree? Your name was recorded when you were six years old by my dad.”

The reason it was at six years old was because of the high child mortality rate due to poor medical conditions, but living to six meant a child was likely to survive.

“Is my name Lu Jiaxin recorded in the family tree?”

This question stumped Lu Jiaguang who hadn’t seen the family tree and didn’t know. He didn’t think it was a big deal and said, “If it’s not recorded, I will ask my dad to add it later.”

Lu Jiaxin rejected again, “No need to ask. Whether my name is there or not, I won’t donate. As for repairing the ancestral hall, it should be Big Brother and Fifth Brother, the men of the clan, who put up the money.”

Listening to her tone, Lu Jiaguang asked, “What’s wrong?”

Lu Jiaxin explained, “Last time I went to Rong County to relocate graves, I donated one million yuan to repair their roads on the condition that no one from the Ding Family would interfere. Yet Ding Tangping still showed up during the grave relocation, threatening to kill himself unless I gave him thirty thousand yuan. What’s ridiculous is that the leaders who accompanied me and their village Party secretary were all making excuses, hoping I’d pay the money.”

“Yes, I have money, but I’m not a big sucker. If I donate money for the ancestral hall now, it won’t be long before someone jumps out asking me to fund road repairs.”

Lu Jiaxin continued, “In sponsoring those children, not all but at least most will appreciate me. But for road repairs, I bet they’ll think they’ve got a big sucker and will come looking for me again when something comes up.”

Lu Jiaguang fell silent for a moment before saying, “Some folks from our old home did approach me, asking if you could donate to road repairs, but I refused them.”

Sure enough, that’s human nature.

Learning from the previous lesson, Lu Jiaxin declared, “Big Brother, from now on, I’ll only sponsor out-of-school children and provide aid to orphans. For large societal issues like road repairs, they should turn to the government.”

Lu Jiaguang grunted in acknowledgment, “You didn’t earn your money easily, so you shouldn’t donate anymore. I’ll handle the clan matters; you don’t need to worry about it.”

Lu Jiaxin felt somewhat relieved; at least Big Brother didn’t think she was wrong.

Lu Jiaguang added, “Jiaxin, the news about you sponsoring the children’s education spread. Branches of the Lu Family have come forward, wanting their children to be supported as well. What do you think about this?”

Lu Jiaxin was prepared to keep sponsoring underprivileged children, “As long as they meet the requirements, it’s fine.”

“Good.”

Lu Jiaguang mentioned that Lu Jiajie had partnered with someone to engage in border trade, “He’s in a partnership with a man surnamed Leng. He handles the procurement while Mr. Leng sells the goods in Old Maozi’s territory. They split the profits. The business is risky, but the profits are substantial.”

“High risk comes with high reward. No worries, especially since Fifth Brother isn’t going along. If the business fails, it’s just a loss of some money after all.”

“I’m just worried the partner might not be reliable.

“If the partner isn’t reliable, it’s Fifth Brother’s mistake in judging character, no one else’s fault.”

Lu Jiaguang wanted her to persuade his brother, but realizing it was futile, he said no more.

Lu Jiaxin understood he was influenced by Big Uncle, who believed in looking after the younger siblings, “Big Brother, Fifth Brother is not a three-year-old. He’s almost thirty and knows what he is doing.”

Lu Jiaguang understood the meaning: don’t meddle too much, or it might backfire. He really didn’t have high hopes for this venture, a pity since Lao Wu was too excited to listen to reason. He would wait for the right opportunity to advise again.

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