Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 410: Somewhat Strange Parents_1

Chapter 410: Chapter 410: Somewhat Strange Parents_1

Wang Ye’s hometown is a small county town, situated slightly to the north in the middle of Zhongyuan Province.

Originally, Zhongyuan Province is one of the poorer provinces, however, his hometown is one of the poorest areas in Zhongyuan...

Despite it being already 2002, the winds of Reform and Opening Up might have swept across the nation, but it seems they had little impact here.

The small county town was dilapidated as ever; there were no significant industries, and the buildings seldom rose more than five stories high.

The town had only one main street, deprived of any street lights. Once night fell, the whole town submerged into darkness.

The only substantial road was still pockmarked, riddled with "bomb craters".

It’s lucky that Wang Ye’s was driving a Mercedes Benz, well-equipped to handle such road conditions. If he had been in a sedan, he’d have to keep his eyes peeled, driving slowly to avoid the deeper potholes.

Wang Ye’s "memories" from this life hadn’t dissipated, so he still remembered where his house was.

Driving into the western side of the county town, he turned onto a smooth cement road. This was the "wealthy area" of the little county town, where Wang Ye’s family lived.

In this county town, if you tell someone that your home is in the "West Door", they will regard you highly because everyone knows that the county’s rich people all live there.

Of course, this "wealth" is relatively speaking...

The environment in West Door is somewhat better, with numerous small western-style buildings that show a significant contrast to the dilapidated, old houses in other parts of the town.

Wang Ye’s family had bought a piece of land here just a few years back to build their cottage with a construction team.

The total expenditure for land purchase, construction, and decoration was nearly two hundred thousand!

Back then, the houses weren’t cheap. You need to know that the plot Wang Ye’s family bought wasn’t particularly large, and the yard was quite small.

His uncle, who was in charge of admissions at the teacher’s college, also bought and built a house in this area. The courtyard and building area were both quite larger than Wang Ye’s, which supposedly cost him over four hundred thousand!

Slowly moving along the cement road, Wang Ye looked around as he drove.

Upon reaching a sizable intersection, he halted, thought for a moment, and then turned left.

Advancing another two hundred meters or so, he spotted a sizable restaurant on the left side of the road. His eyes lit up. This was the place!

He had deep impressions of this restaurant because when he was studying for his college entrance examination, his mother gave him some money every weekend to get takeout from this restaurant as a treat.

Especially the restaurant’s braised pork in brown sauce, which was Wang Ye’s favorite...

There was a small hutong facing the restaurant on the right, and Wang Ye’s house was located within this hutong.

The Mercedes Benz was too wide to squeeze into the hutong, so Wang Ye parked the car on the side of the road.

Although this was the wealthy area of the county town, there were only few cars. Besides a few parked by the restaurant, hardly any other cars were seen.

Moreover, there were no luxury cars. Apart from Wang Ye’s Mercedes Benz, the best cars were probably a Santana 2000 or a Jetta...

...

As there were no street lamps and it was already dark, coupled with the lack of people on the street, Wang Ye didn’t attract any attention when he arrived home.

Any passers-by only gave the Mercedes Benz a second glance due to its large stature. But perhaps in their eyes, it was just a new model of a BJ Jeep...

In those years, SUVs weren’t common. These two-box styled cars were generically referred to as "Jeep vehicles"!

And the most famous among them was, of course, the BJ Jeep.

A certain model of the BJ Jeep indeed looked similar to the Mercedes Benz...

After parking and turning off the engine, Wang Ye opened the trunk and only took out his suitcase, leaving the cigarettes and alcohol untouched.

Dragging the suitcase into the hutong, which only hosted three families, Wang Ye’s was the third, at the very end.

Wang Ye banged forcefully on the large black gate, as there was no doorbell...

His knocking quickly met with a response as footsteps echoed from within the yard, followed by a familiar yet estranged voice, "Who is it? Xiaoye, is that you?"

It was his mother’s voice...

Wang Ye’s chest tightened as he exhaled deeply, his voice hoarse as he answered, "Mom..., it’s me."

The large iron door creaked open, revealing his mother’s face. Surprised and delighted, she looked Wang Ye over before turning back to yell, "Lao Wang, Xiaoye is back!"

His mother’s face looked much younger compared to his memory.

But Wang Ye was confused – the image of his mother he remembered was from now or twenty years later...

Another flurry of footsteps echoed, and out came his father too.

Under the lantern hung by the gate, Wang Ye could see his father, whose hair was already half white. Signs of aging were beginning to surface.

His nose felt a bit sour, and his eyes a little moist.

You must know that his father was only in his forties this year...

He seemed to have aged a lot in these past few years.

Perhaps it was all because of himself. Having not managed to get into a good university, his parents struggled to find a solution, eventually deciding to send him abroad to study. The preparations for the tuition fees also posed quite a challenge...

His father reached out to take the suitcase from Wang Ye and said with a smile, "You must be exhausted from all that traveling. Come on in, have a wash, and let’s eat. Your mother made dinner for you, and even bought your favorite braised pork in brown sauce from the restaurant across the street. We haven’t eaten yet because we were waiting for you."

Wang Ye’s nose felt sour. It was nearly eight o’clock in the evening.

The fact that his parents were waiting for him to have dinner together touched him deeply.

Wang Ye forced a smile onto his face, "Why didn’t you have your dinner first? You should have just left me some."

His mother latched onto his arm and started walking towards the house, saying, "Oh dear, your hands are freezing! Why are you dressed so lightly? Where’s your thick down jacket?"

Indeed, even though their home wasn’t particularly up north, it’s quite cold in the winter, and there’s no heating...

Wang Ye had the heater on in the car, so he wore only a thick jacket. After getting out of the car, he felt chilled to the bone, with his hands and feet icy cold.

...

Wang Ye’s house was a small two-story building. Each floor had just three or four rooms, so it wasn’t particularly expansive.

The ground floor comprised the living room-cum-dining room, the kitchen, a bathroom, and a guest room which was rarely occupied and used more as a storeroom.

The second floor featured two bedrooms and a study, along with the main bathroom.

His parents occupied the master bedroom while Wang Ye was in the secondary bedroom.

In terms of the living conditions, they were pretty great for a small county town.

After all, his father was a respectable public servant and a school leader, well-positioned within the bureaucratic hierarchy.

His mother too worked for the "public meal", earning a steady wage, no matter the weather.

The TV in the living room was turned on, probably due to his parents waiting for his arrival while watching some show.

His mother, gesturing for him to wash his hands upon entering the living room, headed for the kitchen, ready to serve the warm meal she had been keeping in the pots.