Reaching the age of thirty, my income randomly doubled-Chapter 785 - 592: Return to Sha City

Chapter 785 -592: Return to Sha City

Sha City was covered by a thick layer of snow.

The ground was blanketed in pristine white snow, but the roads had been pressed smooth by passing cars.

Only along the edges of the roads could one find piles of accumulated snow.

This time, Chen Pingsheng wasn’t returning alone—his parents, his eldest sister, and many relatives had all come back.

It had been ages since they had returned to their rural hometown, and the older generation was particularly eager to spend the New Year there.

Chen Pingsheng didn’t mind; he wasn’t planning to return to their rural home but just stayed in Sha City instead.

Er Piya, who disliked the cold, was bundled up like a little dumpling, while the spoiled brat didn’t seem to mind as much, sitting in the car quite comfortably.

Sha City was still a pretty livable place, with housing prices only around ten to twenty thousand per square meter for now.

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Only in a few rare spots did prices exceed twenty thousand.

This time, he hadn’t planned to do anything specific—mostly just taking his relatives to visit their old hometown.

The pressure of living in Sha City was definitely not as intense as in Magic City. Due to the housing price difference, the locals here didn’t have an overwhelming sense of superiority either.

In a place like Magic City, even a local with an average job and income would have plenty of girls eager to marry them.

This was the advantage of location. Sha City obviously didn’t quite have that, as even outsiders could buy houses here with just a bit of effort.

This reduced disparities significantly; one might even say the higher a city’s housing prices, the more pronounced the local arrogance.

In some cases, it even led to exclusionary attitudes.

His parents and grandfather were all eager to return to their rural hometown, but he chose to stay in Sha City instead.

Er Piya couldn’t figure out why her dad had come back. Wouldn’t it be better to spend New Year’s in Magic City?

“Dad, when are we going back?”

“When your grandpa feels like returning to Magic City.”

“Oh~” In Sha City, she was no longer the president of the three major companies—her dad forbade her from bringing her resources here.

She was now just an ordinary Er Ya, and naturally didn’t want to stay for too long.

On the other hand, Chen An’an quite liked Sha City. Her older cousins Xiao Le and Xiao Ya had both grown up here.

The family first headed to the villa in Sha City. His wife, busy with the expansion of Tongxin Family, hadn’t had much free time this year.

At the earliest, she would only stop once the expansion was completed—probably around the New Year or shortly after.

The weather was bone-chillingly cold, so Chen Pingsheng decided to take the two little ones in his family to eat spicy hotpot in the city center.

The hotpot here was far more authentic than Magic City’s; he hadn’t had it in ages.

Spicy hotpot was something generally loved by young people, especially young couples.

It was affordable and warmed you up.

Having gone so long without it, Chen Pingsheng ate with immense relish.

Then, his phone rang—it was Chang Fu asking where he was, as he had also just returned to Sha City.

Chen Pingsheng said he was having hotpot in Kaifu, and Chang Fu arrived soon after in his car.

He was driving a Range Rover in Sha City—a bold and imposing model.

The vehicle suited his middle-aged, slightly overweight figure quite well.

“Old Chen, are you planning to spend the New Year in your old hometown this year?”

“Not sure yet, depends on my parents. They’d been talking about wanting to return for some time now. If it weren’t for the unusual circumstances in Wu City, they’d have gone back ages ago.”

“Hmm… I came back and realized how much less crowded it is here. The number of people out shopping has dropped by at least half—many don’t even bother going out anymore.”

“That’s normal.”

Chang Fu hadn’t been back in a long time either. This year, he returned with Yang Qian, and their household was bustling with activity.

Chen Pingsheng asked, “I heard Gao Hu is back too. Is there really no chance for him and Xiao Danchun anymore?”

“No chance. Xiao Danchun doesn’t want to go back to the nerve-wracking life she had before. She just wants a simple and steady life with an ordinary person.”

Sure enough, Xiao Danchun had found someone new.

She even called Yang Qian before making the decision, asking if her choice was the right one.

Yang Qian neither supported nor opposed her decision.

Now, Xiao Danchun had decided to be with that persistent store manager who’d always pursued her.

The guy didn’t earn much—just over ten thousand a month.

But he was hardworking and reliable, and since Xiao Danchun already had her own car and house, the two could live quite well.

She really didn’t want the kind of life where she was constantly on edge anymore. Gao Hu must be feeling utterly devastated now.

His child might even have to call another man “father” now.

Even if not, the kid would still live with someone else.

At Xiao Danchun’s age, she’d likely have another child. This was the natural consequence of his reckless behavior in the past.

Gao Hu was destined to spend his entire life paying for the debts of his youth.

On top of that, now that Old Friends had closed down, he was undoubtedly even more despondent.

Chang Fu also filled Chen Pingsheng in on the lives of their old classmates—several had gotten divorced in just the past year or two.

Some because their wives had cheated on them, others simply due to poor earning ability.

The worst case? A good-hearted man from a well-off family who had poured all his family’s resources into getting his wife a great job.

Then her boss hit her with a single sentence: “If you want to keep this job, you know what to do.”

And so she spent an entire year sleeping with her boss—discovered only when her health began to decline.

Marrying a beautiful woman these days comes with truly overwhelming risks.

Once back, Chang Fu spent much of his time gathering with friends, drinking, playing cards, and chatting.

He was well-informed about their classmates’ situations, though he rarely played high-stakes games anymore, finding them uninteresting.

Yang Qian had also banned gambling at home, and not many of their old classmates could afford to play with him anyway.

The one person who could—Chen Pingsheng—wasn’t into card games.

“Your household is lively, huh.”

“Of course. If our classmates find out you’re back, they’ll all come looking for you.”

“Let them know I’m here. I’ll host a gathering for everyone to have a meal together someday.”

“That sounds great. If you’re treating, they’ll all show up for sure.”

It had been years since Chen Pingsheng last attended one of their old classmates’ reunions.

This time, he wasn’t sure how long he’d be staying, so he figured he might as well catch up.

“Dad, I want to go too!”

Er Piya eagerly chimed in—she was the most excited about social gatherings in the family.

“Alright, tomorrow, you can come along.”

At their age, classmates’ gatherings often included bringing their kids along.

After all, as they got older, family naturally became the focus.

Anyone who was still unmarried by this point probably ended up sitting at the kids’ table.

And really, there were quite a few who hadn’t tied the knot yet.

These people outwardly proclaimed they didn’t want to marry and preferred to live freely, but deep down, they were begrudgingly resigned to it.

The cost of getting married these days was no joke. Not to mention that the bride price alone often ran into tens of thousands, let alone a house and car.

If you didn’t have at least four or five hundred thousand, you’d never pull it off. And if the marriage ended up unstable? A runaway wife and divorce could leave you depressed for life.

Scams involving bride prices were also increasingly common. In the neighboring village, a woman had accepted over 200,000 yuan as bride price, lived with the man for three days, then demanded a divorce.

When the man’s family tried to recover the money, she flatly refused to return a cent.

No matter how they argued, she wouldn’t budge. Eventually, things calmed down—because the man had erased her from this world.

He was, of course, sentenced to death. The woman’s once-oppressive family became incredibly quiet after that.

The woman and her mother, who had been complicit in the scam, both left this world together.

Her younger brother was lucky to have been out that day, or he would have been taken along as well.

That’s the outcome of pushing an honest man too far.

Can you blame him? A man in his thirties who emptied his family’s savings to marry, paying hundreds of thousands in bride price, plus buying a house and car.

And in the end, she ran off with the money, refusing to acknowledge it. Wherever he went for help, the response was always the same: “No money, just a life. Kill me if you want your money.”

The words turned prophetic, as the desperate man took them all out in one go.

The incident was the biggest news in the whole county—unparalleled.

It also served as a stern warning to any woman scheming for bride prices, as well as families hoping to make a fortune this way.