I'm back in 1990

Chapter 570: Winter Lake View

Follow the pen of Four Seasons Leek and embark on an adventure in Cola Novels titled "1990, I'm Back".

In front of the Huang Family Ancestral Hall, the entire Huang family, young and old, gathered here dressed in new clothes, ready to take photos as arranged by the photographer.

"Maowa, come here to Grandma!" Zeng Lijuan called to Maowa, who was clinging tightly to Fan Yingrong's clothes, to come to her side for a photo.

Seeing this, Fan Yingrong was overjoyed and immediately nudged Maowa: "Maowa, Grandma's calling you, hurry up and go!"

Because they weren't very familiar with each other, Maowa was still a little unwilling. Fan Yingrong was a bit annoyed, but she couldn't lose her temper in front of everyone, so she bent down and whispered in Maowa's ear that she had agreed to his request.

In this way, Maowa finally reached Zeng Lijuan's side.

Zeng Lijuan hugged her grandson tightly and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Maowa is so good!" Then she let Maowa stand in front of her. Her eldest grandson Huang Zemian stood to her right, and Lao Huang sat to her left. Huang Ruiying stood in front of Lao Huang, and Huang Zeji stood to his left.

The three Huang brothers stood behind their father, Lao Huang, and Zeng Lijuan in order of seniority, each with a smile on their face as they looked at the camera.

After glancing at Maowa standing in front of Zeng Lijuan, Lao Huang continued to sit upright and looked at the camera lens at the photographer's instruction.

The photographer kept his eyes glued to the viewfinder: "Keep smiling, good!"

"Great! One more!"

A family photo was taken on Lunar New Year's Eve, January 23, 2001.

Afterwards, the Zeng family and the Yu family both took family photos. Huang Xiaochuan, along with Yu Xiang and their two children, also took a family photo with his mentor, Mr. Wang Deyi. The old man was overjoyed, as Mr. Wang Deyi hadn't taken a family photo for many years since his wife passed away.

After lunch, drawn by the warm winter sun, Yu Minyue and Zhiyuan went for a walk by the lake. Since there were plenty of people to help them take care of the children, the couple took the opportunity to enjoy some alone time together and savor the afternoon.

Yu Min held Yue Zhiyuan's arms with both hands, her face pressed against his arms, and the two walked and talked by the lake.

The lake shore meanders, embracing this pool of clear water. The lake water, blown by the winter monsoon, gently laps against the embankment, passing over the withered reeds, and the sound of waves crashing can be heard from the shore.

The warm afternoon sun generously shone down, making the wide lake surface look as if it were covered with crushed gold, shimmering and sparkling.

Yu Min and Yue Zhiyuan were both captivated by what they saw.

"Huang Xiaochuan really knows how to pick a location! He actually found such a nice place to build a private garden!" Yu Min exclaimed as she admired the scenery.

The upright Yue Zhiyuan corrected Yu Min's grammatical error: "You're always like this, calling him 'brother-in-law' to his face, but calling him by his name behind his back. You're two-faced!"

Taking advantage of the opportunity to be alone with Yue Zhiyuan, Yu Min said in a coquettish tone, "You're so annoying! You're always talking about me like that!"

Yue Zhiyuan ignored Yu Min's coquettishness and instead sighed, "I admire my brother-in-law the most in my life. He has both knowledge and ability. It's no exaggeration to say that he is an outstanding person."

Yu Min still harbored some resentment towards Huang Xiaochuan because of the fact that he had twin sons outside of their marriage. She scoffed, "In my eyes, he's just like that!"

Yue Zhiyuan feigned a look of utter astonishment: "Doctor, professor, tycoon—any one of these three things could make me laugh in the middle of the night, and you're saying it's nothing special? You've got quite the nerve!"

Yu Min was amused by Yue Zhiyuan's expression. She grabbed Yue Zhiyuan's hand and gently bit the back of his hand to show her slight dissatisfaction.

After their playful banter, the two resumed their casual conversation.

"To be honest, Huang Xiaochuan is very generous to us. He gave us the house as a gift. Although we only have the right to use it, the house here is so nice! It's a detached house with its own yard, and there are people to take care of it. We don't have to worry about anything. The best part is how warm it is inside! Just thinking about how it's minus five degrees Celsius outside and five degrees Celsius inside our home in Qingjiang makes me not want to go back."

Yu Min became animated when talking about the courtyard house she now lives in, but when she mentioned the house she shared with Yue Zhiyuan in Qingjiang, she was overwhelmed with conflict.

Yue Zhiyuan, however, had a different opinion: "I think there's no place like home. Besides, if you want to come and stay for a while, you can come anytime. Good times should be lived frugally; it's hard to go from luxury to simplicity!"

Yu Min suddenly had an idea: "I'll ask my sister how she set up this heating system, and we can install one when we get back!"

Yue Zhiyuan understood Yu Min's request very well, because people in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River always endured the winter.

There's a saying that vividly describes how people in this region survive the winter: "The only way to keep warm in winter is by shivering!"

In Qingjiang and Suzhou, people have to wear cotton-padded clothes to get through the winter, unlike people in the north who have central heating and can drink beer and eat popsicles shirtless at home. In rural areas without central heating, every household has a heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove). Here, when people are outdoors, their hands are tucked into their sleeves, their teeth chatter, and their feet are constantly hopping around. If they are indoors, they go straight to bed. The cold is the kind of cold that seeps into your bones, all because of the region's network of rivers and lakes and the high humidity.

So once Yu Min had enjoyed the comfort of central heating, she definitely wouldn't want to go back to her original environment for the winter.

Yue Zhiyuan nodded in agreement, saying, "Sure! I agree, but I wonder if it'll be expensive?"

Yu Min scoffed, "How expensive could it be? At most twenty thousand yuan! It's not like we can't afford it!"

Just then, shouts came from behind them: "Second Sister! Second Brother-in-law!"

The couple turned around and saw that it was Yu Wei and Tang Yuan, who also seemed to be out for a stroll.

Yue Zhiyuan and Yu Min stopped and waited for Yu Wei and his wife to join them.

Soon! Yu Wei and Tang Yuan walked up to Yue Zhiyuan and Yu Min.

Yu Wei also teased his second sister and brother-in-law: "So that's why you two just dumped Xiaoyong at Mom's place and ran off! Turns out you ran off to have some romance!"

Yu Min glared at Yu Wei, annoyed. "Aren't you two the same? You didn't bring your Yu Chengping out either, did you?"

In fact, Yu Min knew that both she and her brother were doting parents, and since it was a rare opportunity to get rid of them, she was eager to enjoy this short period of alone time!

Yu Wei knew his older sister too well, so he didn't respond to Yu Min's comment. Instead, he looked around and said, "This place is really beautiful. Xiao Chuan has good taste!"

Tang Yuan picked up the conversation and asked, "How much would it cost to build such a large area?"

Yu Wei replied, "I asked Xiao Chuan yesterday, and he said he didn't know the exact figure, but he estimated it to be several hundred million, including the entire courtyard house!"

Yu Min gasped, covering her mouth in astonishment, "Several hundred million?"

Yu Wei, however, was quite used to it. After all, he had spent the most time with Huang Xiaochuan. He knew that Huang Xiaochuan had been in Shanghai dealing in stamps since 90. Over the years, although he didn't know exactly how much Huang Xiaochuan's net worth was, it was definitely more than a few hundred million. Just based on Guangda Real Estate's properties in Shanghai, plus the Times Supermarket Group, it must be at least a billion or two, right? And it was definitely more than that.

After calming down, Yu Min recalled the past and said, "We all grew up together since we were little. How come I never realized that Huang Xiaochuan was so capable?"

Yue Zhiyuan glanced at his wife speechlessly. This woman! She'd completely forgotten what he'd just told her!

The exciting chapter "Chapter 570: Winter Lake View" is now available online. Click to read it now!