105: Help from the county's wealthy

“Brother, it’s so good to have met you.”

Nguyen Thi Linh and Li Qinghe sat in the Wrangler, watching Nguyen Tan Minh create a stir at the school gate from a distance. The commotion only died down after he and his sister entered the school with their belongings.

Nguyen Thi Linh, deeply moved, held onto Li Qinghe’s arm. She knew she would never let go of this man in her life.

Last night, while helping her mother clear the dinnerware, her mother mentioned that an uncle they hadn’t been in touch with for several years suddenly showed up, asking her to bring her son-in-law to dinner sometime.

This was after he heard that Li Qinghe had returned by car, and he immediately came to mend their relationship.

Nguyen Thi Linh thought about how different their relatives’ expressions would be when they saw the beautiful house being built for her family.

“Brother, do you know? Because of you, relatives we haven’t seen in years are visiting again…”

Nguyen Thi Linh leaned on Li Qinghe’s shoulder, recounting everything her mother had told her yesterday.

“That’s just human nature. People always flock to those who are doing well; it’s rare to find someone who helps in times of need. A Ling, if we live our own lives well, others will naturally gravitate towards us.”

Li Qinghe also sighed with a bit of emotion. In fact, some relatives in China were just the same.

Pushing down the less fortunate and currying favor with the successful, and judging people from a narrow perspective, were all basic behaviors. It could only be said that human nature never stood up to close scrutiny. Selectively ignoring certain things was the only way to avoid living too tiring a life.

“Yes, Brother, I’ll listen to you.”

Watching all the students enter the school for classes, Li Qinghe also turned the steering wheel.

Today, they were going to look for a construction company in the county town. He just didn’t know if they could find a suitable one here.

Li Qinghe thought for a moment and drove the car directly to the other side of the commercial street.

Asking a local influential person about building a house still had reference value.

Li Qinghe first went to a small shopping mall on the street and bought two boxes of Vietnamese Thang Long cigarettes in tin boxes. These were produced by a joint venture of China’s Hongta Group in Vietnam, costing 600,000 vietnamese dong per box, which was equivalent to over 160 dragon country currency.

He also bought two cases of the best Hue beer from Central Vietnam, costing 260,000 vietnamese dong per case, equivalent to over 70 dragon country currency.

When asking someone for a favor, one couldn’t be stingy. A few hundred dragon country currency was an easy expense for Li Qinghe now.

He called Nguyen Phuc Hung, who happened to be in his office at the shop.

Li Qinghe drove the car to the same spot where he had parked last time, asked Nguyen Thi Linh to wait in the car, and then carried the two cases of beer and cigarettes directly into the shop to find Nguyen Phuc Hung.

“Oh, Boss Li, you’re too kind.”

Seeing Li Qinghe enter with a large pile of items, Nguyen Phuc Hung immediately estimated the value of the pile to be nearly two million vietnamese dong.

That was enough for half a month’s salary for one of his shop assistants. He was very satisfied with Li Qinghe’s apparent regard for him.

He quickly led Li Qinghe to the office.

“Boss Ruan, you’re making fun of me. It’s just a small token of my respect.”

Nguyen Phuc Hung’s office wasn’t large, about ten square meters. After placing an office desk and a few chairs, there wasn’t much space left.

Li Qinghe placed the items in a corner against the wall and, at Nguyen Phuc Hung’s invitation, sat opposite him.

Nguyen Phuc Hung first made Li Qinghe a cup of coffee before sitting down.

“Boss Li, what brings you here today?”

“…”

Li Qinghe exchanged a few pleasantries with Nguyen Phuc Hung and then stated his purpose.

Upon hearing Li Qinghe say he wanted to hire a reliable construction team to build a house, Nguyen Phuc Hung clapped his hands:

“Boss Li, what a coincidence! My house was just finished, and that construction team hasn’t taken on their next job yet. If you don’t mind, let’s go take a look together.”

For Nguyen Phuc Hung, this tall, handsome young man was a very capable boss.

After hearing Nguyen Thi Thuy and Nguyen Tan Minh call him brother-in-law, Nguyen Phuc Hung deduced that this young man must be from a big city, had married Nguyen Thi Linh, a country girl, and was spending a lot of money on her family.

And the can of Coke that a shop assistant later handed him further increased his good impression of this young boss. Someone who considered things so thoroughly must come from a family of considerable wealth.

He had already sensed it when he came to the shop to buy a motorcycle last time; he bought motorcycles worth hundreds of millions of vietnamese dong as if he were buying groceries, paying very casually.

Sure enough, he was here again today about building a house. Nguyen Phuc Hung, eager to foster a good relationship, took the opportunity to extend an invitation.

He decided to wholeheartedly help this young Boss Li with the house construction. Although there was no immediate benefit, having this connection might prove useful sometime in the future.

Li Qinghe also showed a look of pleasant surprise. Coming here today was the right decision. He hadn’t expected Nguyen Phuc Hung’s family to have just finished building a house.

Given his status as a county town Brahmin, the construction team he hired would naturally be quite reliable, as no one’s money came from nowhere.

If he could find one in the county town, he wouldn’t have to bother going all the way to Vinh City. He just needed to find two reliable project supervisors. After all, for their reputation in their hometown, the construction team wouldn’t dare to pull too many tricks.

The two left the shop. As a prominent figure in Xiangyang County, Nguyen Phuc Hung’s car was a Toyota Land Cruiser.

Such an SUV was also suitable for driving on dirt roads in the countryside, fitting the status of a county town wealthy man.

Nguyen Phuc Hung told Li Qinghe to follow his car.

“Brother, how did the inquiry go?”

Nguyen Thi Linh curiously watched Li Qinghe emerge from the shop. The two got into their respective cars, and she couldn’t help but ask.

“It just so happens that this Boss Ruan’s family also just finished building a new house, and the construction team that built his house hasn’t found a new job yet. We’re going to look at his house now, and if it’s suitable, we can hire that construction team.”

Li Qinghe replied to Nguyen Thi Linh while his hands were busy. After starting the car, he followed Nguyen Phuc Hung’s Toyota.

Xiangyang County wasn't large. After driving for about ten minutes, they arrived at Nguyen Phuc Hung's new house, which was located on the outskirts of the county center. It was a detached villa, not connected to other houses.

“Boss Li, please come this way.”

Nguyen Phuc Hung got out of the car and led Li Qinghe and Nguyen Thi Linh inside.

As a wealthy man in the county town, Nguyen Phuc Hung had bought a sizable plot of land and built a four-story European-style villa.

Li Qinghe noticed that his villa also had a good-sized yard, capable of parking three cars directly.

The entire villa was already renovated, only needing some furniture and appliances.

Under Nguyen Phuc Hung’s introduction, Li Qinghe learned about the construction process of this house.

This villa covered an area of two hundred square meters, with the yard totaling three hundred square meters.

Including the land and construction, Nguyen Phuc Hung spent nearly 9 billion vietnamese dong, equivalent to almost 2.5 million dragon country currency.

Only a county town tycoon like Nguyen Phuc Hung could afford this without too much difficulty.

There was no such thing as '250' being an insult in Vietnam, and besides, Nguyen Phuc Hung spent vietnamese dong, so he wouldn't even think of it that way.

Nguyen Phuc Hung had even paved the yard with stone, and aside from some dust that hadn't been cleaned yet, everything else was very complete.

Inside the entire house, except for the first floor which housed the kitchen and dining/living room, each floor above had five rooms.

Each floor had a scenic balcony, and the master bedroom also had an independent balcony.

Nguyen Phuc Hung led Li Qinghe and Nguyen Thi Linh on a tour from the first floor all the way to the rooftop.

Because it was a detached villa with no obstructions on any side, Nguyen Phuc Hung’s villa did not have the common Vietnamese architectural feature of a central atrium. All rooms used floor-to-ceiling windows to maximize natural light.

“Boss Li, what do you think? If you find it acceptable, I’ll call the contractor and have him come here to discuss it.”

Nguyen Phuc Hung watched Li Qinghe, who was looking at the scenery around the rooftop terrace, and asked with a smile.