"I've borrowed all I could, and now there's still a shortfall of about six hundred thousand. I'm just wondering if you have any, Ah Qing, and if so, I'll borrow it, and I'll bring the money back after the wedding..."
Chen Tianyun scratched his head and confessed honestly.
He already spoke with his father-in-law, and his father-in-law really just wants to see his capability.
Being able to make money, what's that worth?
Truly capable people are those who can owe big money and still be nonchalant.
Eight million in cash was piled in front of Chen Tianyun. As long as he can borrow one-tenth of the dowry cash without selling property or taking loan sharks, he can take the daughter and dowry together.
If he can't borrow it, the wedding will carry on as planned, but the notice in the banquet hall will need to be changed to indicate he's marrying into the family.
Without some wild connections, how can one marry a Lin Family member?
"Lin Family... the Lin Family of the Lin Group?" As her cousin spoke of the borrowing details, Ah Qing suddenly realized that her cousin's girlfriend might be a relative of Sister Lin?
A net worth of over ten million given away like that, such a bold family background might really need billions.
Coincidentally, Tianyun's girlfriend is also registered in Jiule City District and surnamed Lin.
"It could be, right? Their whole family lives in the old wealthy villa area by West Lake." Chen Tianyun shook his head, indicating he wasn't sure either.
"Hmm... I don't have that much in savings, even counting next month's streaming salary, even if I smash Xiaolan's piggy bank, I can only scrape together about a hundred thousand." Ah Qing showed a troubled expression.
"?"
Ansheng looked at Ah Qing and put up a question mark.
"A hundred thousand, a hundred thousand will do. The remaining fifty thousand shortfall can only be gambled on the wedding cash gifts." Chen Tianyun said seriously: "Then... I'll go back now and prepare an IOU, borrow a hundred thousand on the 20th, repay you a hundred and ten thousand on the 23rd, including interest."
"During this time, I'll think of more ways..."
The "cash gifts" tradition Chen Tianyun mentioned isn't in the conventional sense of giving money.
In Jiule City, wedding cash gifts actually equal relatives lending money to the newlyweds, helping them settle and start their careers.
Amounts of thirty thousand, fifty thousand are very common, but this cash gift is accounted for, and later, when a relative's child gets married, the full amount needs to be returned.
The prevalence of early marriages in Jiule largely exists because of this reason for cash gifts, starting a family and a career simultaneously.
Chen Tianyun hurriedly left, trying to come up with more ways to gather the fifty thousand shortfall.
"Getting married is so hard..." Ah Qing looked at her cousin, expressing a kind of sigh.
"...If we really go to the Lin Family for the wedding, then there will be great fun ahead. Also, Ah Qing, you can't smash my piggy bank, you should use tweezers!"
Ansheng watched Lin Tianyun's back, with a peculiar expression on his cheeks.
If it really is the Lin Group, Ansheng could well imagine the Lin Group's elders taking turns to toast him with cola.
At that time, one wouldn't be able to tell if it's really her cousin getting married or if it's herself...
"Yeah! Getting married is really hard..." Momo echoed Ah Qing's sentiment with a sigh, instinctively wanting to squeeze a stress ball but realizing she was in public, she crossed her arms and leg instead.
"???"
Ah Qing and Yuyu heard Momo's excessively self-indulgent remark and their faces showed dark lines.
Momo noticed the gaze of her girlfriends and shrugged helplessly without further explanation.
...
At dusk.
With the weekend over, Xia Dong's sisters each carried two boxes of tea leaves as they headed back to school.
Ah Qing personally saw them off at the airport, watching them board the plane and leave.
"Sigh... we're the only ones left now." Ah Qing nudged the little fox with her nose.
During the award ceremony, almost all of Ah Qing's friends showed up, from middle school to high school, as long as they were local, they came over to join the feast and laugh with her.
Now, as the excitement fades, Ah Qing suddenly felt a bit of lonely emptiness like an empty-nesting elder.
"There's more than just you and me; there are also the class notes and six days of classroom assignments in your bag." Ansheng chuckled and kindly reminded Ah Qing.
Ah Qing's face fell, glared at Xiaolan, and angrily turned to walk toward the airport exit.
The tea contest was nearing its end, with one result announcement and closing ceremony remaining, leaving the remaining time for contestants and tea merchants to discuss business.
Old Deng was quite pleased this time; even though the results weren't out yet, the blind tasting of his tea received unanimous praise, and the only possible competition, an old rival, was still in the hospital getting hair implants.
768 tea enterprises and workshops, each type of tea got its gold award, with the finer categories awarded the grand prize, along with silver awards and special prizes.
In the oolong tea category, the grand prize for aromatic oolong tea undoubtedly went to Qing'an Tea.
But the only problem is that this tea is limited by raw material issues and is simply out of stock.
Even if it is released next year, given the small tea tree's annual output, it'll be limited to about sixty pounds.
Old Deng dared to boast and sign broad orders, although not to the point of breaking contracts.
But dividing sixty pounds of tea among over a hundred tea merchants...
In the coming spring and autumn tea picking seasons, Old Deng is destined to participate in a marathon and be picked like crazy by tea merchants.
Ansheng watched the whole thing but kept silent; he's been through the journey from tea merchant to tea company.
He was flying in the air before realizing what "Man's plan is not as good as God's" really means.
Meanwhile, Ansheng taught the old tea master how to fly.
Becoming a micro tea enterprise requires learning how to quickly repair "lazy dog" Tea Masters.
Ansheng wasn't looking to mess with Old Deng, but rather to teach him ways to manage the tea garden and educate employees; some lessons can only be learned fully after stumbling into a pit.
Old Deng is not young anymore; he should go out and experience the dangers of social identity change.
Little Deng is still young; he should enjoy life, hand over power, and let Old Deng continue to strive.
"Xiaolan...why are you laughing? You've been 'ying ying' all the way."
Sitting on the Falcon 8X private jet, Ah Qing flipped the screen of her notebook with her left hand and copied information onto her workbook with her right, while tilting her head. She just got off a phone call about Homeless House, unknowingly closing the first ad deal.
Ah Qing looked pitifully at Xiaolan.
In past years, Ah Qing would also take weekends to help out Xia Dong, helping Dad with negotiating with tea farmers and signing tea contracts.
But this year is different; she took an eight-day leave due to the influence of streaming and her role as Xia Dong's tourism ambassador, and she talked about signing an endorsement contract with Homeless House.
Ah Qing was writing homework, negotiating contracts, and splitting her attention to check information, wishing she could become Nezha and display the divine skill of having three heads and six arms to balance studies and work.
"Didn't Big Sister Dalin give you a call and WeChat, telling you it's Lin Group's investment in an influencer nurturing company?"
"Just leave all those business collaborations to them and let them negotiate for you..." Ansheng jumped onto Ah Qing's lap, lifted a paw and patted her on the head.
Ah Qing has her own video production, business, and legal teams, but Ah Qing doesn't realize that the "outsourced video editing" she thought was actually these people working diligently all along.
Ansheng had advised Ah Qing before, but Ah Qing was worried about her popularity fading, potentially leading the team to unemployment, and hadn't considered forming a team.
Later, Ansheng contacted Lin Bingyun, and Housekeeper Lin wrapped the video team as an influencer nurturing company, hoping Ah Qing would independently reach out to them.
But Ah Qing feared having to engage in formalities, so she hadn't contacted the team working for her for almost half a year.
"Hmm..." Ah Qing thought for a moment, and finally sighed and said, "Okay, okay! I'll contact them as soon as I get back to Chang'an City."
The Falcon 8X landed at Chang'an Airport.
Master Fuli also returned to the land where loyal Spirit Beasts and sidekicks abounded.