"Qishan, Qingyu, and I grew up together."
"My grandfather raised all three of us."
"Speaking of my grandfather, he's the person I admire most in this world."
Zhou Qiang and Wang Xiaoliang both pricked up their ears. Fan Qishan also set down his teacup and looked at Liu Xinyu.
"Have you ever heard of a ten-thousand-yuan household?" Liu Xinyu asked.
Zhou Qiang nodded. Back then, the term "ten-thousand-yuan household" carried as much weight as being worth ten million did today.
Wang Xiaoliang shook his head. His understanding of that era was hazy; he had only seen it in old films and television dramas.
A proud smile curved Liu Xinyu's lips.
"When everyone else thought a household with ten thousand yuan was something special, my grandfather already had a hundred thousand."
"But he didn't tell anyone. Even my grandmother didn't know. Life at home was exactly the same as before. Nothing changed."
A hundred thousand!
In that era, that was an astronomical sum. Wang Xiaoliang's thoughts churned. What depth and self-control must it have taken to save a hundred thousand yuan without letting anything show?
"His business was very simple," Liu Xinyu continued.
"He set up his stall in the middle of the night, selling beef offal soup and rice wine he brewed himself."
"Around here, we call it 'Early Morning Wine.' Have you heard of it?"
This time, Zhou Qiang shook his head.
Wang Xiaoliang, however, nodded.
An image of Li Laifu's face, flushed dark red from drinking, surfaced in his mind.
He had heard about Early Morning Wine from him.
"Our Early Morning Wine tradition
actually goes back a very long way.
Later, for certain historical reasons, it stopped for a long time,
and my grandfather was one of the first to revive the business."
"Picture the scene.
A