The speaker was none other than Eighth Aunt. Eighth Uncle worked away from home and had not made it back in time, so only Eighth Aunt had attended the clan meeting.
Eighth Aunt had married into the village nearly twenty years ago, but her fierce temper and difficult nature made her one of the few people unpopular within the clan.
Li Rui was not angry at Eighth Aunt's words. He had a system, and his future achievements were destined to be extraordinary. With him here, the place she called a backwater where even birds wouldn't shit was also destined for extraordinary things. There was really no point in getting angry with her.
Just as Li Rui was about to explain, an armored cash truck stopped at the entrance, followed by two police cars. Perfect timing. He did not need to say anything now; seeing was believing. He raised his hand and pointed. "Whether it's true or not, you'll know if you look over there."
Hearing Li Rui's words, his uncles and aunts all looked in the direction he pointed. They immediately saw an armored cash truck and two police cars.
An armored cash truck? Their village did not even have a bank. How could an armored cash truck possibly be here? His uncles and aunts were all astonished.
A moment later, a man in his forties, dressed in a suit and polished shoes, stepped out of a police car, along with four police officers. The armored truck then opened, and two guards carrying shotguns got out, along with two staff members.
When had ordinary people ever seen a scene like this? While everyone was still stunned, the middle-aged man asked, "Which of you is Mr. Li Rui?"
Looking at the man, Li Rui knew this was almost certainly Qin Baichuan, Bank President Qin.
He immediately said, "I'm Li Rui."
Hearing him, Qin Baichuan looked Li Rui up and down. Although he had known this God of Wealth was only twenty-five, only upon seeing him in person did he realize just how incredibly young he was. To have a net worth of ten billion at such a young age-he truly was young and accomplished.
Having confirmed that the man before him was the person he had come for, Qin Baichuan strode forward and shook Li Rui's hand. "Haha, hello, Mr. Li. Mission accomplished. All the cash is in the truck. Please check and receive it."
With that, he waved his hand, and the staff unloaded the cases from the armored truck one by one. A full fifty cases were arranged neatly on the open ground.
"Mr. Li, each case contains one million. There's fifty million here. Is there anything else you need?"
Seeing so many villagers present, Qin Baichuan could make a rough guess, although he did not know what Li Rui wanted so much cash for. It surely had something to do with these villagers. He did not know the specifics, nor did he need to. All that mattered was building a good relationship with this young man.
"Sorry for the trouble, Bank President Qin, but please have all these cases opened for me." Everyone present had first heard Qin Baichuan mention the fifty cases, then heard that each contained a full million in cash.
They all craned their necks, trying to get a clearer look. If Qin Baichuan was not lying, this was fifty million in cash. For many people here, the most cash they had ever seen in their lives was a hundred thousand or so, and even that had been bride price money a family had prepared for their son's marriage.
As the cases were opened one after another, stacks of hundred-yuan notes were revealed before everyone's eyes. Each case contained one million. Never mind the village elders-even Li Rui had never seen such a spectacular sight.
Gasps of shock rang out one after another. Their normally small eyes were now wide and round, and some could not even stop their hands from trembling. Had there not been four police officers and two cash guards armed with loaded guns present, and had these people not all been elders and relatives, a cash-grabbing incident would surely have broken out.
Looking at the wide-eyed, astonished elders, Li Rui cleared his throat and said, "This fifty million will be deposited into a separate account specifically for rebuilding the ancestral hall. Eldest Uncle, Second Uncle, and my dad will manage the funds together."
The elders all voiced their agreement. Although Eldest Uncle and Second Uncle were getting on in years, keeping accounts and the like would pose no problem. As for his father, Li Rui also wanted to give him something to do. Otherwise, if he left him idle during something that brought such glory to their ancestors, his father would complain him to death.
"There's one more thing. Our Li clan is going to establish a clan business group and a clan fund. This requires our clansmen working away from home to come back. Anyone who doesn't return tomorrow will have nothing to do with either the clan business group or the clan fund. Please let everyone know today." As soon as Li Rui finished speaking, another wave of discussion arose.
Although the elders had limited experience of the world, they knew that establishing a clan business group and a clan fund concerned everyone's interests. They all said they would call their family members home that very day.
Once the matters had been discussed, Li Rui asked Qin Baichuan to help him get an Agricultural Bank card. With the bank president handling it, a single phone call was enough. In less than ten minutes, the card had been issued and would be mailed to his home within a day. Li Rui then transferred fifty million into the account and instructed that Eldest Uncle should keep the bank card once it arrived.
After settling the ancestral hall's reconstruction, he had the villagers disperse and asked the bank staff to load the fifty cases of cash back into the armored truck.
The money had mainly been there to show off and establish his authority. There was no need to keep so much cash at home; after all, spending cash was inconvenient these days. Once these matters were handled, Li Rui remembered something he had planned long ago: buying land.
As long as he had the system, he would definitely receive high-tech rewards from it. To put that technology to use, he would certainly need to establish industrial parks and technology parks.
Buying land was therefore imperative. Bank President Qin, standing before him, was also an important figure in the county. Asking him to make introductions would surely save a great deal of trouble.
With that thought, Li Rui said to Qin Baichuan, "Bank President Qin, I'd like to buy some land to invest in industrial and technology parks. Would you happen to know anyone who could help?"
Qin Baichuan was slightly surprised to hear the young man before him talk about investing in industrial parks. The real economy was not doing well these days, yet this young man actually wanted to invest in it, and in a backwater county town like this, at that. This little county town had nothing anyone could want.
"Mr. Li, if I may ask, why would you choose to invest in our little county town? As you know, our backwater county doesn't have many resources."
Hearing Qin Baichuan's question, Li Rui smiled faintly. "Because this is my hometown. Is that reason enough?" As for whether his real reason was to better complete the mission of revitalizing his clan, or something else, did that matter?
That was right. This was his hometown. Did wanting to make his home better require a reason? Just like students who studied abroad, then gave up generous compensation overseas after completing their studies to return and build their country-did that require a reason? Qin Baichuan silently admired him.
"Haha, Mr. Li, to have such a grand ambition to build up your hometown at your young age truly earns my admiration. The county magistrate, Ning Guoliang, is an old classmate of mine. He'll certainly give his full support to a young man like you who wants to contribute to building his hometown."
As a bank president in the county, he was fairly familiar with its various officials, especially the heads of the investment promotion bureaus. After all, once they attracted investment, they sometimes still had to approach the bank for loans to secure funding.
Logically, since this young man wanted to invest in the county, he ought to introduce him to the heads of the investment promotion bureaus. This would be a considerable political achievement. After all, given the young man's net worth, the investment would presumably be no small sum.
But precisely because this would be a considerable political achievement, the first person he thought of was his old classmate, Ning Guoliang.