Zhen Fugui suddenly had an idea—he could buy a unit upstairs or downstairs!
Bailu Complex was a high-end neighborhood, with one apartment per floor.
He began calculating his assets. After all, the homes here were incredibly expensive, generally around $500 million each.
He had already given his two most expensive homes to his daughters: Kiki lived in Bailu Complex, and Nana had her own place in another high-end neighborhood.
So, he would have to either cash in some stocks or take out a loan to afford it.
Due to his past experience with a failed business venture called "My Fate, My Rules," Zhen Fugui had most of his remaining money tied up in property and a few stocks, primarily bank shares that paid out dividends every quarter.
He owned about 1 billion yuan worth of bank stocks, having reinvested the dividends over time, turning several hundred million into over a billion.
This was his only truly successful investment.
In any case, his rental income alone was enough to cover the expenses of the entire Zhen family.
It looks like he'd have to take out a loan, he thought. He still had several tens of millions in cash and could use his bank dividends to pay off the loan.
After all, he was a shareholder of the bank—maybe he could negotiate a lower interest rate.
Slap!
He clapped his hands in decision.
Once his grandsons' lessons were done, he would start checking whether anyone in the building was looking to sell their unit.
...
Lesson time arrived.
Today, Kiki was sitting nearby, watching the two kids as they studied.
Meanwhile, Jia Fuhai, working on his food factory idea, pulled Zhen Fugui aside to ask for advice.
Hong Kong had a land area of over 100,000 square kilometers, divided among four main powers: one in the east, one in the north, one in the west, and then the local Hong Kong people like his father-in-law, who managed to thrive between these larger forces.
The local community had built good relations with the other three powers, maintaining stability through delicate balancing. After all, the three powers kept each other in check.
It seemed like the business environment was favorable, and since he was now married into a local family, Jia Fuhai figured he could count on some of that local support.
After getting a sense of the situation, Jia Fuhai felt confident about starting his business. If anything went wrong, his father-in-law could use his local influence to help out.
With no more worries, Jia Fuhai began researching the machinery needed for a cake factory.
There were a lot of options when it came to baking equipment. After getting a rough idea, he figured it was best to check out some production sites first. He didn't intend to start big anyway—he didn't want to bite off more than he could chew.
He then turned his attention to looking for land, both nearby and further away.
Luckily, Hong Kong still had plenty of cheap land available. With over 100,000 square kilometers, it was vast.
The only problem was that most of the available land was in remote areas. However, as long as transportation was convenient and there were no nearby sources of pollution, a food factory could still work.
Too bad his father-in-law had just left. If he had asked earlier, maybe his father-in-law, who was a landlord, would know of some properties.
Later, Jia Fuhai also looked into potential supermarket chains, as they would be crucial for selling his products.
Feeling inspired, he dove into research. His previous venture into short videos had been a half-failure, mainly because he didn't dedicate himself to managing it.
Initially, he posted gaming videos daily, but as Nana got more involved and he had to take care of his son, his content posting dropped to a few times a week and eventually to weekly.
Part of the problem was that he was doing it more for fun, so now his short video account, which had nearly a million followers, had stagnated.
In the days that followed, Jia Fuhai had his elder son help him in the kitchen, guiding him as he cooked. Thanks to his son's direction, his cooking skills improved rapidly.
Meanwhile, his younger son had caught the attention of the Go master.
At first, the Go master, a five-dan player, had no problem beating the young boy—Go was much more difficult than chess, after all.
But after only a few games, the master's expression turned to one of despair.
Jia Naji was improving at an astonishing rate. Once he got a feel for his opponent's style, he quickly began dominating the board.
The Go master was overwhelmed by both joy and sorrow—his emotions swinging wildly.
He was overjoyed because these two brothers were true prodigies. If they could join his Go Academy, it would be... amazing!
But he was disheartened because the children's parents only allowed them to play through video calls, with no chance of in-person lessons.
Go Master Zhang understood, though. After all, they were still very young.
But it made him wonder—how long would the Go community have to wait before these two brothers grew up?
In the end, he comforted himself with the fact that he could at least play Go with them regularly through video calls.
Meanwhile, Jia Fuhai's father-in-law had quickly purchased a unit in the building, becoming an official neighbor upstairs.
His efficiency was remarkable—within just a few days, the transaction was completed.
The original owner was reportedly a second-generation star who had failed in business and had to sell the property to pay off debts.
Seeing this, Zhen Fugui warned Jia Fuhai not to start a food factory. He didn't want him to end up in debt like the former owner—these days, businesses either went bankrupt or failed catastrophically.
The only people who succeeded were those with deep pockets or strong connections.
After his father-in-law moved upstairs, Jia Fuhai found his life much more enjoyable.
His two sons were often taken upstairs to sleep, leaving him and his wife with more freedom to relax.
Nana, on the other hand, announced that she was going to move back to her own apartment—she couldn't stand living there anymore.
Without her parents and kids around, a "Teddy" appeared in the house, and she hated Teddy dogs.
For some peace of mind, Zhen Linna even decided to cuddle Jia Naji to sleep, a rare occurrence for her to show maternal love.
Zhen Fugui, seeing Nana's behavior, couldn't stand it anymore. Back when they were living in the house, Nana would leave the kids in his care whenever they were asleep.
Now that he had moved upstairs and taken the grandkids with him for a few nights, Nana suddenly started insisting on taking care of them herself...
Jia Naji, with his prodigious talents, had no strength to resist his mother's overwhelming affection. Filled with resentment, he thought, I don't need this motherly love! Every night, Mom insists on cuddling me to sleep—is this motherly love?
He was just a one-year-old baby. Even though he was as agile as a rubber doll, there was no way he could resist his grown mother!
He only wanted a mom like Kiki's mom.
In the end, it took Kiki's mom and dad to scold her before she finally stopped with her forced affection.
But the next day, she seemed to be taking a break.
...
One day.
"Nana, let's go check out the small factory Dad gave us," Jia Fuhai said, seeing that things were relatively calm at home. He was ready to take action.
He had originally planned to go somewhere farther away to look for a site, but since it was so far, the sisters didn't agree.
Otherwise, what would they eat while he was busy? They couldn't go without Brother Hai's cooking! Jia Qiyi had tried guiding others, like Zhen Fugui, but it just wasn't the same as when Jia Fuhai cooked.
Zhen Fugui agreed with this. He had been freeloading off his daughter's meals every day and didn't want to miss a single one.
So he offered up one of his own properties—a small factory on the outskirts of the city.
"Let's go, let's go!" Zhen Linna jumped up excitedly when she heard.
"Xiao Hai, here are the keys. That factory used to be a food production site, so all you need to do is clean it up. Most of the equipment is still in place," Zhen Fugui handed the keys to Jia Fuhai and reminded him.
It was a stroke of luck. The previous owner was an old friend of his who had just decided to sell it.
For the sake of... no, for the sake of supporting his son-in-law's business, Zhen Fugui had spent a hefty sum to buy it as a gift.
"Got it. I'll take Nana there to check it out and clean up," Jia Fuhai said, pulling Nana out the door.
After they left, Zhen Fugui turned to his eldest daughter and asked, "Do you think Xiao Hai's business venture is reliable?"
"Don't worry, he's my man! If he wants to start a business, I'll support him. If it doesn't work out, I'll take care of him," Zhen Linqi said confidently, fully backing her husband.
"Ah, my daughter, you're one of a kind! Xiao Hai must have hit the jackpot marrying you," Zhen Fugui said, giving his daughter a thumbs-up.
"Dad, could you find a better way to put it?" Zhen Linqi replied, exasperated at her father's choice of words.