[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-reborn-starting-from-1993":3,"chapter-reborn-starting-from-1993-reborn-starting-from-1993-chapter-24":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Reborn Starting from 1993",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2357008,4611,"Chapter 24: Chapter Twenty-Four: Wealth Without Returning Home Is Like Wearing Brocade at Night","reborn-starting-from-1993-chapter-24",24,"\u003Cp>After cleaning a fish, Li Dongshan wiped his hands and grinned sheepishly, “I’m not in a hurry—Dongyue hasn’t even started college yet!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Li Zhenlin glanced at the three tiled rooms he had built, his brow furrowing; now, the Li family courtyard consisted of three tiled rooms: Li Zhenlin and Wang Xiulan slept in one, Li Dongling and Li Dongshan shared another, and their younger sister Li Dongyue had her own room, which also stored miscellaneous items.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Li Dongshan married and had children, these few rooms would certainly be too small; Li Dongling’s remark struck straight at the old man’s heart, making him anxious—Li Zhenlin genuinely felt he owed Li Dongshan, for Li Dongshan never attended university or vocational school, and since starting work, his salary had mostly gone to support the Li family; if this further delayed Li Dongshan’s marriage, he would be utterly tormented by guilt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The saying “wealth without returning home is like wearing brocade at night” wasn’t just a Chinese sentiment—everyone in the world felt the same, and some ethnic groups even fought bloody wars lasting centuries just to return to their ancestral homeland.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>People like Liu, the boss of JD.com, had all renovated their hometown homes; even though their entire families had moved to big cities, they still returned once a year—to pay respects to ancestors or simply to accompany elders visiting old friends—no matter where they lived, their hometown remained something special to everyone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In his past life, Li Dongling had gone to the provincial capital and returned home only a handful of times each year; the Li family house had never been repaired; after Li Dongshan married, he moved to Pingyang City, and when Li Dongling, Li Dongshan, and Li Dongyue returned for the New Year, they stayed only a few days before leaving, since living conditions were truly inconvenient.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You old man, everyone else is building new houses—what are you still complaining about? Who’s stopping you from building a new one?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Xiulan came over and spoke to Li Zhenlin, then turned to Li Dongling and asked, “Where did all these appliances come from?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Big brother, these must’ve cost a fortune—and this pager? I don’t even need it now!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Dongyue pulled out a pager; Li Dongling had given one to everyone in the family; at school, she’d seen school officials and wealthy classmates using them, and she’d heard each pager cost two thousand yuan—enough to buy a color TV.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even though pagers were inconvenient now, they were still among the few tools in the country that enabled timely communication; if they could install a telephone line for the Li family, they could contact Wang Xiulan and Li Zhenlin anytime.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Zhenlin had also perked up his ears; he’d calculated the total value of what Li Dongling brought back—it added up to tens of thousands of yuan; he hadn’t asked yet, but he’d been dying to know: Li Dongling had only been working in Pingyang since returning from the provincial capital—how could he have earned so much money in such a short time?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As parents, they naturally hoped their children would succeed, but they feared most that their children would get into trouble; newspapers constantly reported not only people who became rich overnight by going into business, but also those who got caught in scams and ended up in prison—or even executed; Li Zhenlin naturally had his worries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the gazes of the Li family members, Li Dongling knew what they were concerned about and smiled, “I partnered with the Shangguan Town Yuanqi Factory on a project called ‘Satellite Dish’—I get monthly dividends, and all these things were bought with that money!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You made the Satellite Dish?!” Wang Xiulan exclaimed in delight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even the village where the Li family lived had started installing Satellite Dishes; this device had become real currency in both towns and countryside—once it caught on, no one could resist it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing that the Satellite Dish was Li Dongling’s invention, Li Zhenlin and Wang Xiulan had no further doubts; they knew how popular it was now—Li Zhenlin, who usually weighed every pack of good cigarettes and every few pounds of meat he bought, now bought Satellite Dishes costing three or four hundred yuan without blinking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking of those old buddies who bought Satellite Dishes and effectively sent money to the Li family, Li Zhenlin took a deep drag from his pipe; the resentment he’d felt over Li Dongling’s return to Pingyang instantly eased.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“At least Hanxi Jiaotong University wasn’t a waste,” the old man muttered, attributing it to his son’s college education, then turned to Li Dongyue, who was arranging the new school supplies and winter skincare products Li Dongling had bought her, and said, “You must study hard—next year, aim to produce another college student for the Li family!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Got it!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Dongyue drawled the word; she’d heard this so many times her ears were calloused—every time they returned, Li Zhenlin repeated it several times, and now it felt like a curse tightening around her head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I left Xicheng Wireless Factory No. 1—I’ll start my own business from now on!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During dinner, Li Dongling told the family again; this time, Li Zhenlin, Wang Xiulan, and the others showed little reaction to his leaving the state-owned enterprise—though still somewhat worried, they merely gave him a few words of advice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After dinner, Li Zhenlin, Wang Xiulan, and Li Dongyue watched the color TV powered by the Satellite Dish inside the house, while Li Dongling and Li Dongshan went outside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Dongshan sat in the courtyard, the dim glow of his cigarette occasionally illuminating his face; though simple-minded, he could sense that Li Dongling had specifically called him back from the steel mill for a reason.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brother, I started a company and I’m short on staff—I want you to come help me!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Dongling didn’t want Li Dongshan to spend decades working in the steel mill as he had in his past life, ending up with chronic illness; Li Dongshan wasn’t the type of person with sharp wits, skilled in scheming or intrigue—but he kept his promises; since childhood, he had never broken a word he’d given Li Dongling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Okay!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing Li Dongling’s words, Li Dongshan didn’t hesitate at all—he didn’t ask about his position, benefits, or salary—he simply and firmly agreed without a second thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Dongling glanced at Li Dongshan; the two sat in the courtyard smoking, gazing up at the starry sky, just as they had during summer nights when they used to sit outside cooling off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the new house construction, Li Dongling planned to hire a professional designer, especially for the interior layout, which must accommodate modern home furnishings; once built, this new house wouldn’t be touched again for years—it couldn’t fall behind, or they’d have to tear it down and rebuild in a few years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At No. 25 Changqing Road in Pingyang City, a two-story marble building now bore a sign reading “Dongling High-Tech.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Peng had hired two construction teams: one to renovate the office building, the other to repair and refurbish the buildings behind it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lao Qiao, let me tell you, this client is different from all the others—I’ve personally vouched for you, telling him your craftsmanship is better than construction teams from Shanghai or Beijing!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You won’t be shortchanged—the client said he’ll pay according to schedule; as long as you meet deadlines, he pays, no delays. If you mess this up, don’t blame me, Gao San, for turning my back on you!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Peng said to Qiao Zhiqing, who stood before him; back then, construction teams weren’t formalized—leaders simply gathered skilled workers or relatives from their hometowns and took on jobs wherever they could find them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qiao Zhiqing smiled and offered Gao Peng a cigarette, “Rest assured—I’ve got nothing but seasoned craftsmen under me; we were well-known in the provincial capital, and big companies used to hire us for their projects; if they hadn’t piled up so many unpaid debts, I wouldn’t have brought my crew back here!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Peng gave him a sidelong glance, “If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have hired you—listen carefully, this job must be done right; it’s not just about you—it’s about my future too!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Dongling arrived at the Shangguan Town Yuanqi Factory; it was as busy as ever, with long lines of trucks outside the gate, all waiting to load goods.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Yuanqi Factory was now running smoothly; its new workshops were fully operational, attracting workers from the idle Xicheng Wireless Factory No. 1 and other factories in Pingyang; those factories were shut down, their workers idle at home with no wages, so they had no reason to refuse jobs at Yuanqi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Satellite Dish production capacity had surged rapidly, now reaching over four thousand units per day—and sales remained as strong as ever, with massive cash flow returning daily; the Yuanqi Factory had become the most outstanding state-owned enterprise in Pingyang City for the second half of the year—without question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We’ve secured distributors for the Observing Satellite Dish in Henan, Hubei, Shanxi, and other provinces—we’ve already received orders for eighty thousand units!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Ao, dusty from his long journey back from another province, finished speaking, and the meeting room erupted in applause.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eighty thousand Satellite Dishes—that was a single order worth over twenty-four million yuan!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Dongling clapped too; this order would bring Zhang Ao’s sales department a hefty profit, but the biggest gains would go to the Yuanqi Factory and Dongling High-Tech—Li Dongling himself stood to earn over three million two hundred thousand yuan from this deal alone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Our production capacity still isn’t enough—if it were, we could land even more orders!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the meeting, Zhang Ao entered Zhang Xiao’s office and downed a full cup of tea.\u003C\u002Fp>",1628,"2026-06-21T04:42:08.057Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","aa6d62d791b63109de506af467ca0851070e2b35722176737071d493ca66f060","reborn-starting-from-1993-chapter-25","reborn-starting-from-1993-chapter-23",989,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Freborn-starting-from-1993-cover.jpg"]