's tendering office now..." Xiao Yunchun glanced at Su Can before continuing her response."Oh, that's quite a high-ranking official... It has been so long since we last met. I should really pay Uncle...The second chapter is also about someone wearing Nike

… Upon placing the luggage in the old-style maroon Santa Fe sent to pick them up by their relatives, the car drove out of the airport and onto the bypass highway.

In contrast to Xia Hai City's dimly lit streets, the provincial capital city of Ge City was brightly illuminated, giving a sense akin to starlight cascading upon earth. This city should be full of endless possibilities.

Entering the city proper, they passed through intricate and new streets lined with unfamiliar high-rise buildings, along with familiar chains like McDonald's, KFC, IKEA, Hilton Hotels, and other commercial buildings lit up at night, as well as highways bustling with traffic.

Of course, the surrounding cars undoubtedly lagged behind in appearance compared to modern times. Many of them still had the popular "brick" design, although the ratio of luxury vehicles was incomparable to Xia Hai City's; however, they were not as ubiquitous as in later years and there were significantly fewer vehicles on the road.

At this moment, if a Bugatti Veyron revved its engine and sped past, it would surely be quite impressive.

The Third Ring Road in the northern part of the city was still relatively desolate. However, once they exited the bypass highway at the southern side of the city, it became vibrant with lights and bustling activity.

Su Cun's new home is located on the Second Ring Road in the south district of the city, which is an irreplaceable area for future urban value appreciation. In later times, this southern district was referred to as a wealthy neighborhood due to skyrocketing property prices; early purchases of commercial housing here easily appreciated five to six times their original value.

Conservatively estimated, the forty thousand yuan apartment bought by Su Cun's family would appreciate to around three million yuan within ten years. Of course, when he told his mother about this, she naturally didn't believe it.

The rapid expansion of real estate prices not only demonstrated the country's economic might but also indirectly led to an increasingly severe wealth gap in society. As the economic pie grew larger and larger, the real estate industry, with its tales of overnight riches, was indeed the primary cause of unfair distribution of wealth.

However, there was no way around it; this was reality, a necessary stage during social transformation and national rise. It could only be regulated to some extent but not entirely halted.

To tackle high housing prices, one needs to establish an orderly and healthy economic market, something clearly beyond Su Cun's current capability.

So he could only sit in the spacious old Santa Fe, listening to conversations between his father and Uncle Zhen about topics related to Ge City's headquarters company.

"Your official status issue, I am working on it for you. This matter will eventually be resolved properly. If all else fails, you can always approach the elder." Zhong Jianjun was talking about his father’s official status within the headquarters company.

Daxiang Construction Group was a bureau-level state-owned enterprise with administrative level units. The central government had yet to officially issue regulations requiring SOEs not to use civil service ranks and instead determine benefits for corporate managers based on their administrative levels. Hence, similar to Dake Construction Group, internal factions and circles within such SOEs were quite serious and hierarchical.

Daxiang Construction Group had twelve management bodies authorized by the government across various provinces and cities, plus over twenty subsidiaries involved in road design, bridges and tunnels, tourism, energy-saving technology, international projects abroad, hospitals, construction schools, architectural newspapers, periodicals, etc.

It was a huge aircraft carrier. Every move made by the headquarters company affected various interests, making it intricate and intense.

Among these government-authorized management bodies were Dake City Architectural Design Institute, as well as the Fourth Construction Division in Xihaishi, both of which were directly under the group corporation. Only the highest-level responsible leader among these provincial and municipal branches was an official within the headquarters company's roster.

People like his father, even if they later rose to deputy director positions at such divisions or were vice presidents in their original companies, remained outside the system in the headquarters company.

Zhong Jianjun had been busy recently trying to secure a position for Su Licheng. However, it seemed that opposing forces within the group corporation still exerted considerable resistance. For someone like Su Licheng who had overseen major county-level construction projects such as Xinhai Plaza, his rank upon joining the company roster should at least be deputy department level.

A deputy department-level position was quite prestigious in Dake Construction Group.

Simply inserting a relative like this into such an important role would naturally face resistance from others.

"Forget it. Your father has so many significant tasks to handle each day. We shouldn’t bother him with trivial matters." Su Licheng also frowned. Although he seemed promoted, without the official appointment letter, he still belonged to the periphery of Dake Construction Group, as did his family.

"No worries, you've hit a good time. The group's annual meeting is in two days, and after that comes the adjustment period. I'll ensure the board reserves your position in my department—the Enterprise Management Department—as deputy director!"

Su Licheng nodded without further discussion, then talked about the current situation at the headquarters company. Currently, Dake Construction Group had assets of around 8 billion yuan and was expected to enter the "billion-yuan club" within one or two years, becoming the first SOE group in Dacheng city to achieve a total value of over 10 billion yuan. If this came true, it would mark significant recognition for Dake Construction Group's overall strength and status; naturally, the prospects for Su Licheng’s family working there were also very promising.

Both parents became quite excited upon hearing this news.

Su Can's new home "Urban Legends" was right next to the headquarters company building. In fact, it was closely connected with it.

"Five... strikes only the fence separates them. The Grand Oak Construction Group headquarters covers nearly a thousand square meters, built in the 1980s, so compared to the newly constructed City Story next door, it looks somewhat outdated.

The new home's unit building has voice-controlled doors; pressing buttons can directly connect with any household within the unit. Each household has an electronic key to open their unit’s front door.

This was quite novel for a mother accustomed to old ways.

Upon entering their new apartment on the fifth floor, Su Can still felt that this renovation style suited his parents' tastes very well; the walls were wrapped with plywood panels. The overall decoration style is identical to their home in Xiahai City, but it's an upgraded version and much more spacious.

The place was indeed larger than before—80 square meters compared to 130 square meters now. The living room was寬敞，長虹電視等一應俱全。部分家居用品已經準備妥當，當然更多的還在火車托運中，估計明天後天會到。

Su Can carried two bags into the house and immediately went downstairs to help. A middle-aged woman, a seven or eight-year-old girl, and a boy around Su Can's age then appeared beside Zong Jianjun’s car, carrying things. They were surprised when they saw Su Can.

Su Can took a suitcase from his hand and heard his father introduce him: "Su Can, meet Aunt Liu, Xiaojing." “Oh, this is...”

Zong Jianjun said, "This is Guo Zhaodong's son, Guo Xiaozhong. You should help Uncle Su move the things upstairs!"

"Sure! Your family has quite a lot of stuff. I'm stronger than you; let me carry two more bags while you follow." Guo Xiaozhong took the suitcase from Su Can and rushed up the stairs without looking back. Though not bad-looking, he had many pimples on his face and was slightly taller but bulkier than Su Can. His honest demeanor made a good impression on Su Can.

Su Can then helped carry some boxes of bowls in his mother’s hands and went upstairs.

This Guo Zhaodong from the Project Management Department, Su Can knew him because this department was one of the busiest within the company headquarters; they traveled most frequently and dealt with varied tasks throughout the year. Therefore, at 40 years old, Guo Zhaodong decided to switch to a more relaxed role in the corporate management department before retirement.

However, his father took over this position instead, which probably made him quite unhappy.

Moving things into the house today was not easy; a thorough cleaning had to be done. The apartment had been left idle for so long after renovation, leaving considerable dust inside that could not be ignored and items needed space to be arranged properly.

Guo Xiaozhong also offered help enthusiastically while admiring Su Can's new home, saying with admiration: "It’s really beautiful! Wu Shimiao, Zhao Xin, Wang Jia, Yang Zhao's homes are all here. However, Wu Shimiao's is the most gorgeous.

Su Cen smiled, "You like her"

Guo Xiaozhong immediately became flustered. "N-no!"

Su Cen remained silent. Seeing Su Cen's expression, Guo Xiaozhong sighed and said, "Well, yes, I did like her before. But now, with many suitors in our class and grade, what can I do"

"You're really strange. Why is it that whenever I'm around you, everything seems to want to come out of my mouth"

Su Cen smiled again and said, "Oh, probably because although you appear outgoing on the outside, deep down, you're quite lonely."

Just by observing Guo Xiaozhong play with Zong Xiaoqing who was barely seven years old, Su Cen could tell that among his peers, Guo Xiaozhong was somewhat of an outcast. It seemed that even in this seemingly tranquil group company, the children weren't any less divided than those from some government compounds.

Upon hearing this, Guo Xiaozhong froze for a moment before feeling as if he had found a kindred spirit. In this era, teenagers hardly understood what loneliness meant. However, it seemed that Guo Xiaozhong might have just started to understand the meaning of loneliness from Su Cen's words.

The more Guo Xiaozhong looked at Su Cen, the more he liked him. He even helped Su Cen with household chores such as serving dishes and moving small items around while also helping clean, causing Zeng He to laugh uncontrollably out of joy for this diligent Guo Xiaozhong.

When Guo Xiaozhong chatted with Su Cen, he felt that the boy was extraordinary. His breadth of knowledge and insightful views often cut straight to the heart of many things that he himself struggled to express, clearly indicating that this new neighbor was no ordinary person.

This made him, who had always been shunned by the big circle, ecstatic with joy as his mind couldn't help but wonder. Every day Zhao Xin and Wang Lei et al bragged in front of Wu Shiyin and Liu Qing about how unique they were; did buying a pair of Nike sneakers or wearing an Adidas tracksuit make them different Was being able to show off their relatively affluent families considered uniqueness

They probably hadn't even met their new companion Su Cen yet.

Moreover, this guy wore Nikes too and his shirt was from a brand they couldn't recognize. It must be something amazing!

The update of the day is here. Thank you for everyone's support. A new chapter begins with a new opportunity for Su Cen to soar.

By the way, if anyone has recommendation votes, please give some to Roast Fish.n wasn't participating in the discussion.Zhang Ke snapped out of her trance and realized that everyone had already taken sides. One side was thoroughly criticizing Su Cen, believing that his selection...