Chapter 163: Maintaining a Facade at All Costs

"Huajiang, you're not being reasonable here. Since you've already been fired by the Red Flag Factory, why are you still so obsessed with keeping up appearances that you bought a pack of Soft Zhonghua just to show off?"

"Isn't that just slapping your face to look imposing? It's bad, very bad."

Chen Jianjun's expression darkened as he pulled out a cigarette, looking at Chen Huajiang with dissatisfaction and a face full of mockery.

Deep down, he felt quite unhappy, harboring a faint sense that his thunder had been stolen.

At that moment, he firmly resolved that even if Chen Huajiang came begging to work with him, he would never take the guy along to make money.

"Everyone, don't let your imaginations run wild. As the old saying goes, heaven never starves a blind sparrow."

"Can a grown man like me really be driven to a dead end? Even though I've been laid off—laid off just means being fired—I have hands and feet. Doing a little small business won't starve me to death."

"As for this pack of cigarettes, it's just for show. What I actually smoke myself is this."

Chen Huajiang smiled and pulled a pack of Asmara cigarettes from his trouser pocket.

Soft Zhonghua tasted too mild; it was generally used for business talks outside to hand out to other people.

When smoking for his own pleasure, he preferred something a bit stronger.

"Look at you, really slapping your face to look fat all right, pulling out two whole packs of cigarettes. One for yourself, and one just to put on airs."

Chen Jianjun's mood improved slightly at this, and he said with a laugh.

"Haha, Huajiang is still quite honest. If he'd claimed he smokes Soft Zhonghua himself, I certainly wouldn't have believed it."

"Exactly. A pack of Soft Zhonghua costs four yuan and fifty cents; how could he possibly afford to smoke that?"

"No kidding. Even Brother Jianjun can't afford to smoke those regularly. Huajiang doing some small trading to scrape by is fine, but smoking Soft Zhonghua? Heh—"

Hearing Chen Huajiang put it this way, the others burst into laughter, their suspicions about whether he had been up to any shady business dissipating.

After chatting for a little while longer, Chen Huajiang bid them farewell, took Huanhuan from Lin Jiayin's hands, and walked toward home.

After they left, Chen Jianjun and the others naturally continued discussing them.

"Hmph, at least he was honest. If he had dared to claim he smoked Soft Zhonghua, I'd have stripped his pride right off on the spot."

Chen Jianjun snorted coldly, casting a glance at Lin Jiayin's retreating back as a sudden wave of irritation washed over him.

Because he abruptly realized a problem: although he was wealthier than Chen Huajiang, the woman he was courting seemed less pretty than Lin Jiayin.

Had he been outdone by the guy again? Whenever he ran into them in the future with his girlfriend, wouldn't he end up looking like the lesser man?

"Ain't that the truth? If he were doing better than you, Brother Jianjun, I'd never believe it."

"Brother Jianjun, we've got a deal then. Come next year, we brothers are counting on you to show us the ropes outside."

"I really envy you guys. As soon as the Chinese New Year is over, you can head out and make big money. My old man's legs are shot and he can't work the fields. I'm stuck here in the village farming, otherwise the family would starve."

The crowd chimed in with various remarks, some flattering Chen Jianjun while others sighed over their family circumstances.

In this day and age, many villagers lived hand-to-mouth; when their hands stopped working, their mouths stopped eating. Unless a family had many brothers and sisters to share the burden of farming and paying the agricultural tax, nobody had the luxury of leaving home to seek work.

When Chen Huajiang returned home, the old man was squatting on the threshold by the front door smoking a cigarette. Spotting Chen Huajiang and his wife the moment they arrived, he immediately stood up.

He was just about to smile when he caught himself, tightened his expression, and nodded. "You're back?"

"What a silly question. With a grown man like me standing right in front of your eyes, if I'm not back, what am I? A wandering ghost drifting home from the netherworld?"

Chen Huajiang instinctively retorted out of habit.

The moment the words left his mouth, he froze.

Clearly, his mind was still carrying the emotional baggage of his past life. Before his transmigration, the old man had still been alive, and their relationship had been exceptionally poor.

Because of years of lingering grievances, while they hadn't quite cut ties completely, bickering the moment they met and sticking "daggers" into each other was a regular occurrence.

Chen Tieshu was equally stunned, clearly not expecting his son to speak to him in such a manner.

"What kind of gloomy nonsense are you spouting on New Year's? If you didn't want to come back, you should've just said so. What's with all the crap?"

With a glare, he snapped back in indignation.

Only then did Chen Huajiang snap out of it. Without the grievances of his past life, their relationship in the present was actually quite harmonious.

Chen Jinshu still deliberately maintained the image of a stern father in front of him, while he, despite being a bit rebellious, was still considered a "good" child.

"Where's Mom? Did she go down to the fields?"

Unsure how to explain, Chen Huajiang simply changed the subject.

"She went to your grandmother's place to drop off a new quilt and some food."

"Huanhuan, come here, Grandpa will hold you."

Not dwelling on the "gloomy" remark either, Chen Jingen softened his expression into a smile for Huanhuan and reached out to take her into his arms.

He adored this granddaughter far more than he adored Chen Huajiang. She looked just like a porcelain doll and knew how to wrap him around her little finger.

"Grandpa, have a candy."

Huanhuan was quite fond of him as well, pulling a peanut candy from her pocket and offering it to him.

"Good, good, good. Huanhuan is such a good girl, unlike certain people who think they've become lords just because they got factory jobs, completely forgetting their roots."

Chen Jingen chuckled as he held Huanhuan, taking the opportunity to take a jab at his son Chen Huajiang.

"I wouldn't dare act like any lord. I've already been fired."

Hearing the old man's barbed remarks, Chen Huajiang instinctively shot back.

He regretted it the second the words left his mouth. Habits formed over many years were not something Chen Huajiang could change overnight.

Indeed, he regretted it instantly.

"You—you—you—"

Chen Jingen's whole body jerked as his face turned ashen, his eyes blazing with fury.

"Dad, listen to—wait, wait, let me finish talking!"

Sensing the situation turning south, Lin Jiayin hurried forward to explain on her husband's behalf.

But it was already too late. Chen Jingen shoved Huanhuan back into her arms, grabbed the carrying pole by the doorway, and lunged straight at Chen Huajiang.

"I'll beat you to death, you unfilial bastard! I'll break every bone in your body!"

The carrying pole came whistling down toward Chen Huajiang's head with terrifying momentum and crushing force.

Clearly, the old man meant business; a blow like that could easily kill someone if it connected properly.

Chen Huajiang wasn't foolish either; he immediately started dodging around the octagonal table in the living room.

"Hey, don't do anything rash! Careful you don't throw your back out, because I'm not taking responsibility if something happens to you!"

Chen Huajiang yelled while dodging.

"Throw my back out? I'll beat you to death, you little bastard, and you still dare dodge?"

"Stop right there and don't run!"

Furious to the point where his eyes turned bloodshot, Chen Jingen swung the pole in a flurry of wild blows.

"Am I an idiot? Not run? Stand here and let you beat me?"

Chen Huajiang retorted with disdain, his nimble footwork carrying him in circles around the octagonal table.

After circling a few times, he even found a rhythm: three steps left, three steps right. In short, there was no way Chen Jingen was going to land a hit.

This only enraged Chen Jingen further. Seizing a chair from the side, he hurled it straight at Chen Huajiang.

This time Chen Huajiang didn't dodge in time—or rather, Chen Jingen's aim was slightly off, and the trajectory shifted, causing Chen Huajiang to get clipped right as he tried to evade.

"I'll bash you to death, you unfilial son!"

Seizing the opening, Chen Jingen lunged forward with the carrying pole and brought it smashing down toward Chen Huajiang's head.