After Transmigrating Into a Book, She Struck It Rich in the Eighties #601-856
Author: 渐进淡出
Date: 2026-03-17T16:34:57+00:00

Chapter 601: You Guys Are the Ones Who Are Amazing

Jiang Xia pushed her bicycle into the yard at that moment.

She greeted Li Qiufeng as she walked in.

On her way back, she had seen Grandpa and Grandma out for a walk with the children.

Hearing Jiang Xia’s voice, Zhou Chenglei stood up.

Zhang Rui immediately said, “I’ll go call Sister-in-law in!”

He didn’t have the slightest interest in their business talk; he’d much rather sit outside.

Zhou Chenglei sat back down. “Tell your sister-in-law I’m in here.”

“Got it.” Zhang Rui took two cups of tea and headed out.

“Sister-in-law!”

Jiang Xia parked her bicycle and smiled. “You’re here? You should stay for dinner tonight. We have fish that Fourth Brother caught himself.”

Zhang Rui chuckled. “Even if you didn’t ask, I was planning to stay. Sister-in-law, my brother is here too. Fourth Brother is talking to him about a factory. He wants you to come inside.”

Jiang Xia was puzzled. “What factory?”

Zhang Rui replied, “Didn’t you choose Fashion Design as your major? Fourth Brother is thinking about leasing a garment factory so you can spread your wings!”

Jiang Xia: “…”

She hadn’t known a thing about this.

Jiang Xia washed her hands and then went to the kitchen to rinse the grapes she had bought.

Zhang Rui placed a cup of tea on the stone table next to Li Qiufeng. “Cousin, have some tea.”

Li Qiufeng was knitting a sweater. Hearing him, she whispered, “Thank you.”

Zhang Rui sat down in a chair by the stone table.

“Aren’t you going in?” Jiang Xia placed a plate of grapes on the stone table; she had another plate in her hand intended for the study.

Zhang Rui said, “It’s cool out here. You go ahead!”

Jiang Xia left him to it and went inside.

Zhang Rui looked at the sweater Li Qiufeng was knitting and praised, “Cousin, you’re so skilled! This sweater is turning out beautifully! You’re really amazing!”

Li Qiufeng couldn’t help but blush. “I only know how to knit. How is that amazing? You guys are the ones who are amazing.”

For some reason, Zhang Rui enjoyed seeing her blush. He asked with a smile, “How are we amazing?”

“You’re amazing for protecting the home and defending the country!”

Zhang Rui couldn’t help but laugh. Seeing her face turn even redder, he stopped teasing her. “I’m not the amazing one. My fourth brother is the one who’s truly incredible.”

With that, Zhang Rui began telling Li Qiufeng about the missions he and Zhou Chenglei had undertaken together.

He certainly praised Zhou Chenglei, but he managed to talk himself up a bit as well.

Li Qiufeng listened very intently.

Inside the house, Jiang Xia was listening to Zhang Rong talk about the factory.

“There’s a massive backlog of clothes in the warehouse,” Zhang Rong said. “I heard some of them have been sitting there for years. The workers are still producing those old styles that were popular years ago. With so many new styles available now, who with the money to buy new clothes would want those? It’s not like they don’t have enough of that old stuff at home. If you want to lease that garment factory, you have to take over the hundreds of thousands of items stuck in the warehouse as well. Figuring out what to do with them after the lease is a massive headache. Spending that much money to lease it feels like too big a risk. It might be better to build our own factory and buy new equipment. That factory is twenty years old, and the machinery is outdated. But currently, it’s the only garment factory in the city that’s failing so badly.”

“Whenever you have time, you should go back and take a look before deciding,” Zhang Rong continued. “There’s no rush. If no one else wants it, the price might even drop. These days, failing factories are a dime a dozen. I suspect that once these plants are forced to become self-sufficient, many more will face the risk of layoffs and closure. No need to hurry! The signs are already there, so just wait for the right moment to strike.”

Zhou Chenglei agreed. “We’ll be heading back at the end of the month. We’ll check it out then.”

Jiang Xia also felt it was best to see it first.

Zhang Rong then asked Zhou Chenglei, “There’s an electromagnetic factory in the capital that’s also at risk of failing. Someone asked me to partner up and lease it. I think it has potential, but I can’t handle it alone. I figured you might be interested in an electromagnetic factory. Want to join in?”

Zhou Chenglei thought for a moment. “I could go take a look.”

He truly had too much free time in the capital. The children slept a lot during the day, so he wanted to find something to do.

Zhang Rong asked, “Are you free tomorrow morning?”

Zhou Chenglei looked at Jiang Xia.

“I have classes tomorrow morning, so you two go ahead,” she said.

She had already coordinated her teaching schedule with the principal. She had no major-related classes on Monday and Wednesday mornings, and she didn’t need to attend the other elective courses, so her teaching was scheduled for those times.

Tomorrow happened to be Wednesday. Since the schedule had just been set, it wouldn’t be right to miss the very first class.

Actually, Jiang Xia had no classes at all on Friday afternoons, but she didn’t want to schedule her teaching then. She felt that having no classes on Friday afternoon was like having a two-and-a-half-day weekend, especially since she had no classes on Saturdays either.

Back when she was in university, she hadn’t had classes on Friday afternoons either, so her class always got to go home half a day earlier than the others.

Just then, Grandma and the others returned with the children. Jiang Xia went out to meet them, leaving the two men to continue their discussion.

Jiang Xia thought it was a good idea for Zhou Chenglei to lease an electromagnetic factory in the capital with his friend. It would be too stifling for him to spend every day at home taking care of the kids and working as a translator.

The children were now familiar with Grandma and the others, so they wouldn’t be unable to leave their parents’ side.

And so, both Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei became very busy.

Jiang Xia was occupied with teaching, preparing lessons, creating proposals for several factories, and researching their backgrounds.

Whenever Zhou Chenglei had time, he went out to negotiate and inspect the electromagnetic factory.

Leasing a factory was like acquiring a company; at the very least, you had to perform due diligence. They had to check for debts, legal disputes, and the like.

If they leased it only to find out the factory was drowning in debt, they would just be asking for trouble.

Consequently, there was a lot of information to gather and verify.

Jiang Xia was an expert at solving these kinds of problems—after all, she had worked in venture capital in her previous life. She gave them suggestions and let them handle the legwork.

However, since Zhou Chenglei had to look after the children most of the time, he couldn’t go out every day, so Zhang Rong handled the bulk of the work.

In the midst of the hustle and bustle, the end of September arrived without notice.

The matter with the electromagnetic factory wasn’t finalized yet. There were indeed several unpaid bills to suppliers, but there were also several payments that hadn’t been collected yet.

The discrepancy between the two was significant—tens of thousands of yuan.

One day, the Zhang brothers visited again.

Zhang Rong said to Jiang Xia, “Fortunately, Sister-in-law, you reminded us how to audit those accounts and check the debts! Otherwise, I really would have thought there was only uncollected money and no liabilities!”

Jiang Xia replied, “You were the ones who noticed something was off and came to ask me. Take it slow, don’t rush; everything will become clear eventually. The more information you have, the more leverage you’ll possess.”

“I didn’t notice it; it was A-Lei who felt something wasn’t right. I’m not in a hurry now! We’ll take our time!”

Who knew if they had actually uncovered everything yet?

“Use those sharp eyes of yours to look through these documents again and see if there are any issues. Take your time, no rush.” Zhang Rong pushed a thick stack of documents toward the couple.

Jiang Xia didn’t look at them immediately, planning to wait until the evening when things quieted down. “Alright.”

Zhang Rong continued to vent his frustrations.

Meanwhile, under the ginkgo tree in the yard, Zhang Rui and Li Qiufeng were still talking.

He asked Li Qiufeng, “Are you going home for the October 1st holiday?”

Li Qiufeng lowered her head to knit. “No.”

“Then… would you like to go see the flag-raising ceremony?”

Li Qiufeng looked at him in surprise. “Can we go?”

Chapter 602: Disdain

Zhang Rui said, “It’s fine. I have an invitation, I’ll give it to you.”

Li Qiufeng heard that an invitation was required and that it wasn’t just somewhere she could walk into. She quickly refused, “No need. I just thought I could go and take a look whenever I wanted. I didn’t mean I actually wanted to go.”

She was too honest; Zhang Rui could see through her immediately. She clearly wanted to go but felt bad about accepting the favor.

So, Zhang Rui said, “I don’t have anyone else to give it to, and I don’t need it myself. It would be a waste if you didn’t go.”

Li Qiufeng didn’t believe it would go to waste for a second; surely many people wanted to attend. “No, really. It’s too cold, I don’t want to go out. I’ll just stay home and knit sweaters.”

This was something Zhang Rui had gone out of his way to secure.

He had his own duties to perform that day.

He claimed he wanted her to watch the ceremony, but in reality, he wanted her to come and see him.

However, Zhang Rui didn’t press her further. Instead, he went into the study and gave the invitation to Zhou Chenglei. “Your cousin probably wants to go, but she’s too shy to accept it from me. I’ll give it to you; you can give it to her!”

Both Zhou Chenglei and Zhang Rong looked at him.

Zhang Rong asked, “What’s with you?”

When had he ever seen Zhang Rui fight for these invitation slots before?

Zhang Rui sat down. “What do you mean, what’s with me?”

Zhang Rong continued, “Grandma wants you to go back to the residential compound over National Day to meet that granddaughter of the Dong family. I accepted on your behalf.”

Zhang Rui was dumbfounded. “Wait, why on earth did you accept for me? Since you accepted, you go see her yourself! Anyway, I’m not going!”

“What about Zeng Jing then? Her grandmother also approached our grandma. Grandma wants you home for National Day so the two families can have dinner together.”

Zhang Rui felt a massive headache coming on. “Not eating, I’m busy!”

Were all the girls in those families unable to get married? Why were they all targeting him?

Zhang Rong added, “Grandma thinks your cousin is quite nice and wants to introduce her to you. Will you meet her?”

“No! I’m not meeting anyone! And ‘cousin’—haven’t you heard that close relatives shouldn’t marry?”

Wait, where did he get a cousin from? Does his family even have a cousin like that?

“Which cousin?”

“A-Lei’s cousin.”

Zhou Chenglei interjected, “Stay away from my cousin.”

Zhang Rui: “…”

Wait, why did he have to stay away?

Was his Fourth Brother looking down on him?

As October 1st approached, the festive and joyful atmosphere grew stronger.

It was palpable both in the schools and on the streets.

In the evening, when Jiang Xia returned home after class, she heard Father Jiang and Mother Jiang in the yard playing with the children before she even entered the courtyard gate.

The children were responding with little “un-un” sounds.

Jiang Xia pushed her bicycle inside and said in surprise, “Dad, Mom, why are you here?”

“It’s National Day, so we’re here on a business trip. Look, Mommy’s home!” Father Jiang stood up while holding his granddaughter and took a look at Jiang Xia. She had lost weight again!

The three grandchildren had grown chubbier and taller.

But his daughter had gotten thinner.

Jiang Xia squeezed her daughter’s soft little hand. “We were planning to head back the day after tomorrow!”

Zhou Chenglei had booked the plane tickets long ago—September 30th at two o’clock in the afternoon.

That day happened to be a Friday, and Jiang Xia had no classes in the afternoon.

“I know. Your mom and I will head back on the 2nd after National Day.”

Mother Jiang hadn’t been able to rest easy, so she came along with Father Jiang. “Your dad and I came to see you all. That person… they didn’t come looking for you, did they?”

Father Jiang felt helpless; his wife was far too anxious.

Who asks that kind of question the moment they arrive? Everyone was in high spirits.

Even if they did come looking, there was nothing to fear!

Facts were facts; his daughter was his daughter, and no one could take her away!

Jiang Xia replied, “No! We’re strangers; why would they look for me?”

Mother Jiang felt relieved hearing that. Since no one had come looking after all this time, they probably wouldn’t bother Jiang Xia anymore.

Father Jiang looked at his daughter. “Studying and raising children at the same time is tiring enough, and yet you’re still participating in the Canton Fair. Don’t overwork yourself; you’ve lost weight recently.”

“I’m not tired, and I haven’t lost weight. My muscles have just gotten firmer. I ride my bike every day, and the school is so big that my legs have become rock hard!” Jiang Xia patted her long legs clad in jeans, making a sharp slapping sound. “They call these ‘Steel Legs’!”

Zhou Chenglei looked at Jiang Xia; she really had become more toned lately.

Father Jiang was amused by his daughter. “Nonsense.”

Jiang Dong grumbled, “Dad, look at me! I’m the one who’s lost weight!”

Father Jiang shot his son a look. “You’ve been mooching off your brother-in-law’s food and drink so much you’ve gotten as fat as a pig! And you claim you’re thin!”

“How is that possible?”

He exercised every day!

Zhang Fuyan laughed. “You really have put on weight!”

Jiang Dong: “…”

“Starting tomorrow, I’m eating back at school!”

The whole family laughed.

Father Jiang then said to his daughter, “If it’s too late when you get back the day after tomorrow, stay at our place. Or you can stay at your own house; your mother and I have already cleaned it thoroughly.”

Father Jiang ran over to Jiang Xia’s house every morning during his jog to clean up, open the windows for ventilation, and head up to the roof to tend to the small garden.

He and his wife didn’t eat at home often, and the vegetables from that garden were more than enough for them. Sometimes they had leftovers to give to colleagues.

“Alright.”

They would likely stay in the city for one night.

They would land around four o’clock in the afternoon. His aunt probably wouldn’t have a ride back to the village then. If they all went back to the village together only to return to the city the next day for transportation, it would be too much hassle.

They decided it would be better for everyone to stay in the city for a night, take the children for a check-up while they were at it, and head back to the village the next morning.

However, since Second Auntie was also there, they didn’t plan to stay at the Jiang family home; staying at their own house would be fine.

Mother Jiang didn’t want to wait for Father Jiang anymore. “I’ll go home with you guys then. Can we still book tickets now?”

Father Jiang was here for a business trip, but she had nothing to do if she stayed. Once the children were gone, what would be the point of her staying?

Jiang Dong said, “I’ll call and ask.”

After dinner, he could call to book the flight tickets when he walked Zhang Fuyan home.

The next morning, Jiang Xia had an early class. After quickly feeding the children and eating breakfast, she went to the bedroom and said to Zhou Chenglei, “I’m heading to school!”

“Put on another jacket; it’s windy outside today.” Zhou Chenglei was changing a diaper, but he still stood up to grab a jacket for her.

He still went for a run every morning and returned just as the children were waking up.

The temperature had dropped slightly this morning, and the wind was quite strong.

“Okay,” Jiang Xia replied, taking the jacket and her school bag before pushing her bicycle out the door.

Father Jiang returned from his run and saw from a distance that his daughter had merely hung her jacket over the handlebars. He picked it up and gestured to her.

“The wind is strong, put it on first! Why didn’t you let A-Dong take you?”

Jiang Xia had no choice but to put it on. “It’s inconvenient.”

She had to travel between the two schools, and her finish times were different from Jiang Dong’s. Riding a bike was more convenient.

“Button it up.”

Jiang Xia obediently put on the clothes and buttoned them before leaving.

However, not long after she left, she took it off again. She cycled fast and tended to break a sweat easily.

After classes ended in the afternoon, she arrived home at four o’clock. Jiang Xia and Zhang Fuyan accompanied Mother Jiang for some shopping.

The three of them went to the Friendship Store, as Jiang Xia wanted to buy Mother Jiang a watch.

While helping bathe the children last night, Mother Jiang had accidentally dropped her watch into the basin. It had taken on water and stopped working.

It was inconvenient without a watch, so Jiang Xia brought her to buy a new one.

Mother Jiang took a fancy to a Longines watch; it was very simple and elegant.

It looked beautiful on her wrist, but:

“It’s a bit expensive.”

It cost over three hundred yuan.

Her previous one had only cost a bit over a hundred.

Jiang Xia said, “It’s not bad, it looks great.”

Actually, Jiang Xia wanted Mother Jiang to buy a Rolex because it would hold its value better.

But Mother Jiang didn’t like them.

Zhang Fuyan also nodded. “It really suits your temperament, Auntie.”

While pulling out the money, Jiang Xia said to the clerk, “We’ll take this one.”

She paid the money.

The salesclerk said enviously, “Your daughter is so filial!”

She wished she had such a good daughter.

Mother Jiang smiled.

Both of her children were extremely filial.

As the three of them were about to leave, they spotted Dong Yan.

Chapter 603: The Watch

Mother Jiang did not recognize Dong Yan, and Jiang Xia treated her as if she were invisible.

Flanking Mother Jiang, Jiang Xia and Zhang Fuyan each took one of her arms and walked away.

Dong Yan was out shopping with her best friend, intending to buy a new watch and a new dress for her daughter, Gu Yue. She wanted her to look her best when they went to the Zhang house for dinner on National Day.

The dress had already been bought.

Since her daughter was constantly clamoring about how nice Jiang Xia’s watch was, Dong Yan couldn’t help but want to buy her a high-quality one today.

These past few days had been incredibly stifling for her.

Jiang Xia had actually become her daughter’s foreign language teacher!

To make matters worse, Gu Yue said she was an excellent teacher. Her daughter described how, when Jiang Xia entered the classroom—no, it wasn’t a classroom, it was the Grand Auditorium!

According to Gu Yue, Jiang Xia didn’t hold her classes in a regular room but in the Grand Auditorium because not only students from Q University but also students from Jingda came to listen.

She said that the moment Jiang Xia entered the auditorium, she astonished the entire audience with her talent and overshadowed everyone with her presence. Every student went from being shocked to being utterly impressed.

Rumors were flying around the school that she wasn’t just teaching a class; she was giving an expert lecture. People were calling her the most beautiful and youngest expert at Q University.

It was also said that after she finished one session, the auditorium would be packed for the next one. During her lectures, except for when she was answering questions, the entire hall remained pin-drop silent as everyone listened intently.

Now, her daughter came home every day talking about Jiang Xia.

When Gu Heng heard this, his face was filled with a sense of pride as if he shared in the glory.

But Dong Yan felt only resentment.

She felt her daughter was being foolish!

It also made Dong Yan feel like she had lost. She felt like the daughter she had raised couldn’t compare to that woman, as if her own flesh and blood was somehow inferior.

Why should her daughter have a life worse than Jiang Xia’s?

Thus, she had gone out of her way to find someone to buy foreign exchange certificates at a high price so she could come to the Friendship Store to buy a watch.

Dong Yan hadn’t expected to run into Jiang Xia here.

She sized up Mother Jiang, who was standing beside Jiang Xia. Mother Jiang was very beautiful, but she didn’t look like Jiang Xia.

She didn’t look like the woman in the photograph either.

What was going on? Were they really mother and daughter?

Jiang Xia spoke again at that moment. “Mother, do you want to buy some clothes?”

“No, you just bought some for me recently. Xiaxia, shouldn’t you buy something for A-Lei’s parents to take back with you?” Mother Jiang didn’t want to spend too much of her daughter’s money. Her son-in-law had already bought new clothes for both her and her husband the last time he was home.

Since Jiang Xia had just bought her such an expensive watch, it didn’t feel right to buy nothing for her parents-in-law. When it came to the elders, it was best to try to treat everyone equally.

“How about we pick out a watch for your father-in-law and mother-in-law? I’ll pay for it.” Mother Jiang tried to pull her daughter back toward the counter.

Jiang Xia replied, “There’s no need. They already have watches. My mother-in-law doesn’t like wearing one anyway; she says it gets in the way while she’s working. A-Lei and I have already prepared gifts for them.”

Only then did Mother Jiang drop the subject. “Then should we go grab a coffee?”

There were coffee shops in the capital. She had visited one during her last business trip and missed it.

“Sure.” The three of them headed off for coffee.

Dong Yan watched them go, speechless.

Why did Jiang Xia call that woman “Mother”?

And what was the relationship between Jiang Xia and the woman in the photograph?

Could the woman in the photograph be dead?

Dong Yan felt a surge of fear. She was afraid that if Jiang Xia had been adopted, Gu Heng might try to take her back.

No wonder Gu Heng looked so devastated when he had returned home that time.

Seeing her pale face, Dong Yan’s friend asked, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

Dong Yan was no longer in the mood to shop and nodded. “My stomach hurts a little.”

Her friend assumed her period had started. “Then let’s stop shopping and head back.”

“Alright.”

By the time Dong Yan arrived home, it was after five o’clock, nearly six.

Gu Heng was already home. Seeing his wife return, he asked with concern, “Did you go shopping?”

Dong Yan gave him a complicated look and nodded. “I wanted to buy a watch and some clothes for Yue-er to wear when we go to the Zhang house on National Day.”

Mentioning a watch made Gu Heng think of Jiang Xia. Jiang Xia liked watches too.

He asked nonchalantly, “Did you buy them? Let me see.”

“Not yet. I wasn’t feeling well, so I came back early.”

Gu Heng replied, “Then buy them another time, or I can go buy them for Yue-er tomorrow while you rest. What brand and style? Just tell me.”

Dong Yan didn’t have time tomorrow, and the day after was October 1st. “Get a Titoni, the newest model—whatever looks pretty. I have foreign exchange certificates here; you can go to the Friendship Store.”

Longines was more expensive, but she was a bit reluctant to spend that much, and even more reluctant for anything pricier.

Dong Yan thought about Mother Jiang’s outfit and appearance.

From head to toe, she looked better than Dong Yan herself. Her skin was well-maintained, and she carried herself with immense grace—noble, elegant, beautiful, and poised. She had even outshone a high-society wife like Dong Yan.

Jiang Xia shared some similarities with her: their skin, their silhouettes… even the way they walked was very similar. Their figures from behind were quite beautiful.

“Alright,” Gu Heng agreed.

The next day, Gu Heng approached a colleague and bought two foreign exchange certificates at a high price. During his lunch break, he went to the Friendship Store and bought two watches.

The two watches were similar in style and price, differing by only about ten yuan.

Initially, he had thought about buying two identical ones, but the temperaments of his two daughters were different.

When he got home, Gu Heng took out Gu Yue’s watch and gave it to her.

Gu Yue was overjoyed. “Thank you, Dad!”

Even though it wasn’t the specific one she had her eye on, she already had a Titoni now. She’d get a Longines next time!

Gu Yue put it on and asked Dong Yan, “Does it look good?”

“It’s beautiful. Wasn’t there another one that looked even better?”

Gu Heng paused as he was about to take a sip of tea. “I felt this one suited Yue-er’s temperament better and looked nicer on her. Does it not look good? If not, I can take it back after work this afternoon and see if I can exchange it.”

The watch he felt was more suitable for Jiang Xia was tucked away in his briefcase. Interchanging them wasn’t an issue.

He just hadn’t figured out a way to give it to Jiang Xia yet. Since she was currently his daughter’s teacher, perhaps he could have his daughter give it to her as a Teacher’s Day gift?

Dong Yan said, “It looks good. Since you’ve already bought it, where could you go to exchange it? Let’s just keep this one.”

It saved her about a dozen yuan, and as long as her daughter was happy, it was fine.

Seeing the mother and daughter occupied with the watch, Gu Heng quietly took his briefcase back to the study. He closed the door, took out the other watch, and placed it inside his safe.

He would wait for an opportunity to give it to Jiang Xia.

The next morning, after Jiang Xia finished her class, she went home for lunch and then began the journey back home with the children.

Father Jiang drove them to the airport.

Grandpa, Grandma, and Li Qiufeng were not returning; only Second Auntie was going back with them.

The elderly couple didn’t feel like dealing with the travel. More importantly, plane tickets were expensive, and they couldn’t bear the cost, so they refused to go back no matter what was said. They planned to wait until the Lunar New Year to return.

Li Qiufeng stayed behind to keep the elderly couple company and to watch the October 1st flag-raising ceremony and the military parade.

Zhou Chenglei gave the invitation Zhang Rui had left to Li Qiufeng. “Since you’ll have nothing to do at home, you can go see it.”

Jiang Xia added, “It’s a rare opportunity. It’s worth a look.”

This was an invitation intended for performers and staff, essentially allowing students and the public who served as background performers to attend. Even such invitations were not easy to come by; many people wanted to see the event and scrambled to apply.

Zhang Rui had originally wanted to get a few more for the grandparents, but they were too old to handle the logistics.

Both Q University and Jingda would have representatives of outstanding students and professors invited, as well as performance teams.

The presidents of both universities had asked Jiang Xia if she wanted to participate, but she declined. Her three children hadn’t been weaned yet, so it was inconvenient.

She told the presidents with a smile to give her an invitation next year instead, noting that next year would likely be even grander. Both presidents laughed and agreed.

Jiang Dong and Zhang Fuyan had already participated once as outstanding student representatives, so they weren’t participating this time either. They flew back with the group.

The plane took off at two o’clock in the afternoon and landed just after four.

Chapter 604: Dr. Ruan is a Devil

Father Jiang had arranged for Uncle Feng to pick them up, driving Jiang Dong’s Jeep.

By the time they returned to the city center, it was already after five o’clock.

Dinner was held at the Jiang family home. While still in the capital, Father Jiang had called home to ask Auntie Feng to prepare dinner, specifying the dishes.

Auntie Feng had gone to the pier at four o’clock in the afternoon to buy the freshest seafood, creating a table full of seafood favorites for Jiang Xia, Mother Jiang, and Zhang Fuyan. There was only one dish that Jiang Dong and Zhou Chenglei particularly liked.

Jiang Dong declared that he, his brother-in-law, and his father were not picky eaters at all!

As long as the women were happy, they were happy!

Before eating, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei gave the three babies a bath. This way, by the time they returned to their own house, the triplets could go straight to sleep.

They finished dinner at seven-thirty. Jiang Dong drove them home first, then drove Zhang Fuyan back to her maternal grandparents’ house.

Early the next morning, Zhou Chenglei took Second Auntie to the bus station and coordinated a time to meet in Suicheng.

Her maternal home wasn’t far from Suicheng, so Second Auntie could just go directly to the Suicheng provincial bus station to wait for them when the time came.

This time, Second Auntie could stay at home for half a month.

However, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei had to return to the capital on the 5th. The Canton Fair team would be leaving for Suicheng by train on the 8th.

They needed to head there early to make preparations. Jiang Xia didn’t need to go so soon; she would continue her classes at school until the 13th and then fly there directly.

The Canton Fair would begin on the 15th.

After seeing off Second Auntie, Zhou Chenglei drove back home to pick up Jiang Xia, Mother Jiang, and Jiang Dong to take the children to the hospital for a check-up.

Zhou Chenglei had already made an appointment with Dr. Gao.

Dr. Gao was coming off a night shift today and had agreed to wait for them before heading home.

She would be on leave for the rest of the National Day holiday and wouldn’t return to work until the 6th.

Gao Jie was delighted to see the triplets. As soon as she took their tiny hands to check their pulses, they grinned at her.

“Mm-hmm, ah-ah,” they babbled, appearing to greet Dr. Gao.

“Oh my, you’re so happy to see me?! Do you remember me?”

The younger brother didn’t know what Dr. Gao was saying, but he politely gave her another wide grin.

Dr. Gao’s heart melted. She had watched them from the time they were mere embryos in the womb until she heard their fetal heartbeats, saw them take shape, and eventually personally welcomed them into the world. Seeing them now, fair, plump, and smiling at people, she felt she had been involved in every step. They were among the children she had invested the most care into.

Furthermore, triplets were extremely rare and difficult to raise, so she naturally paid close attention to them.

After checking the pulses of the three children, Gao Jie picked one up to measure their height and weight.

The moment the little sister entered Gao Jie’s arms, she grinned again and let out some baby talk: “Mm-ah!”

“So cute! Are you calling me Grandma?”

Jiang Xia laughed. “All three of them love to smile now, and they love talking to people.”

Mother Jiang added with a smile, “After they’ve eaten and woken up from a nap, if you hold them and tease them to talk, they can babble back and forth with you for ten or twenty minutes.”

Gao Jie laughed. “It seems they don’t take after their father; they’re more like their mother, with such lively personalities.”

Jiang Dong chimed in, “They take after me! If you added my sister and brother-in-law together, they still wouldn’t be as lively as me! They don’t smile as much as I do either! Usually, I’m the one with the most patience to sit and talk with them.”

Dr. Gao laughed again. “Haha… it seems their uncle is the best after all!”

“That’s for sure!”

Gao Jie continued chatting and laughing while measuring the height and weight of the three children.

“Not bad. Their height and weight have completely caught up; they’re even a little taller than average children. These three babies are definitely going to be tall in the future.”

A nurse nearby heard this and smiled. “With parents that tall, the children are bound to be tall too.”

“Genetic factors at work,” Gao Jie nodded in agreement. She then turned to Jiang Xia. “The babies are now no different from singletons born at full term. In fact, some singletons aren’t growing as well as our three little ones. We can start their vaccinations now. Shall I administer them?”

Mother Jiang looked nervous upon hearing this. “Should we wait a bit longer? Back when Xiaxia was in middle school, she would get a fever at night after a vaccination.”

Jiang Xia: “…”

“There’s no need to delay any further. This specific vaccine can usually be given at birth. I only delayed it because our three babies were a special case. Now that you’re frequently flying back and forth with the children and they’re coming into contact with more people, I recommend getting them vaccinated as soon as possible.”

Because the three children had been both premature and low-birth-weight, Dr. Gao had temporarily suspended their vaccinations.

With their current constitutions, they were perfectly ready!

She hadn’t expected them to raise the children so well in just three months; they were sturdier and smarter than other infants their age.

At three months old, they had already learned to engage in socially conscious communication.

Zhou Chenglei looked at Jiang Xia. “Should we? It’s necessary and good for the babies.”

Jiang Xia also knew the importance of vaccinations. “Let’s do it.”

They were going to the Canton Fair soon, and it usually took about a week for immunity to develop after a vaccination.

Gao Jie had intended to administer the shots herself.

However, a nurse rushed in and shouted, “Dr. Gao, quick! There’s a newborn that needs emergency resuscitation!”

Ruan Tang happened to be right behind the nurse, followed by Zhou Chengsen, who had driven over to take Jiang Xia and the others home.

Ruan Tang had just started her shift and was bringing breakfast to Gao Jie, while also bringing Zhou Chengsen to find Jiang Xia and the others.

Gao Jie immediately said to Ruan Tang and the nurse, “Tangtang, you help vaccinate the children. We’ll start with the BCG vaccine today.”

With that, she ran out. Despite being in her fifties, she was still as light on her feet as if she were flying.

Ruan Tang set down the breakfast, washed her hands, and put on gloves. “Sit down first. Unbutton the top two buttons of the children’s clothes to expose their upper left arms.”

Thinking of Ruan Tang’s injection technique—which was notoriously painful—Zhou Chengsen’s lips twitched. “Maybe we should…” have the nurse do it?

Before he could finish his sentence, Ruan Tang turned around after washing her hands and shot him a glance.

For some reason, Zhou Chengsen instinctively changed his tune. “Maybe I should be the one to hold them?”

Mother Jiang, who was holding the eldest brother, felt her heart sink with dread. “Okay!”

She couldn’t bear to watch the injections.

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

He really wanted to slap himself!

Why did he have to open his mouth?

Steeling himself, Zhou Chengsen took his little niece from Mother Jiang’s arms.

The moment the little niece was in her second brother’s arms, she gave him another wide grin. “Mm-ah~”

In the next second, Zhou Chengsen’s heart turned to mush!

This smile was just too cute!

“Little Bao, I’m your second uncle. Do you still remember me?”

When someone spoke to her, the little sister immediately responded with “mm-hmm, ah-ah.”

Usually, this was the time of day she would “talk” and exchange ideas with Grandpa and Grandma in the yard.

Today, many people had been passing her around, but no one had engaged her in conversation. Seeing someone hold her now, she couldn’t help but want to “chat.”

As the other children were being held by Jiang Dong and Zhou Chenglei, Jiang Xia knew Zhou Chengsen was afraid of needles and asked, “Second Brother, how about I hold her? You can take photos?”

Every time they came for a check-up, Zhou Chenglei would bring a camera to record the occasion.

The children were only three months old, yet they already had two large photo albums.

“No need,” Zhou Chengsen replied without looking up, his eyes fixed on his little niece.

She liked him so much and was talking to him; she clearly hadn’t said enough yet.

If he handed her over now, she might be traumatized!

“Little Bao still wants Second Uncle to hold her, right?”

“Mm-ah.”

Zhou Chenglei sat down holding the eldest brother, carefully unbuttoning his clothes and pulling them down to reveal a slightly chubby little arm.

He held the child firmly, one hand gripping the baby’s arm to keep him from moving.

Ruan Tang approached with an alcohol swab and a syringe.

The eldest brother gave Ruan Tang a little smile.

Ruan Tang smiled back at him. While smiling, she rubbed the swab over the muscle of his arm a few times, and then the needle went in.

The eldest brother’s smile froze instantly!

It was as if someone had pressed the pause button on him.

After the needle was withdrawn, his little mouth puckered into a pout.

And then another pout.

He wanted to cry!

Zhou Chengsen tightened his grip on his little niece and thought to himself:

Dr. Ruan is simply a devil!

Chapter 605: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Just as Dabao was on the verge of tears, Jiang Xia smiled and captured her son’s series of aggrieved little expressions on camera before coaxing him, “Dabao is so brave! What a good boy!”

His father had said, “Boys bleed, but they don’t cry!”

The culprit, Dr. Ruan, dabbed the injection site with a cotton swab. “What a good baby!”

Grandma added, “Our Dabao is the bravest. Don’t cry!”

His Uncle Jiang Dong said, “Don’t be afraid, Uncle is here! I’ll buy you sweets later.”

Dabao’s little mouth pouted. He looked left, then right, and then up. With so many people around, and seeing that his younger brother and sister didn’t seem to be crying, he finally managed to hold it back!

Jiang Xia handed the camera to Mother Jiang and reached out to take her eldest son. “Come to Mama!”

Once in his mother’s arms, Dabao’s emotions stabilized. He stared at his younger brother with his round, large eyes.

It was Erbao’s turn!

Zhou Chenglei held out his hands to Jiang Dong. “Give him to me.”

Jiang Dong handed Erbao over. “Our Erbao has to be just as brave as his big brother.”

Mother Jiang held up the camera. “Let’s be even braver than big brother, okay?”

Erbao responded with a wide, toothless grin. “Mm-hmm!”

He responded cheerfully, but he cried just as quickly.

His little mouth popped open, and he immediately wailed at the top of his lungs. The needle had only just gone in! He didn’t even give anyone time to coax him.

Jiang Dong and Mother Jiang hurriedly tried to soothe him from the side. By the time the shot was done, tears were streaming down his face.

Jiang Xia handed Dabao to Jiang Dong and moved to pick up Erbao to comfort him. “Erbao, don’t cry. Mama will blow on it for you…”

When it was the little sister’s turn, Ruan Tang looked at Zhou Chengsen.

Zhou Chengsen’s legs trembled. “…Xiaobao, go to your dad.”

He was afraid Ruan Tang might aim for the wrong spot! What if she accidentally stuck it in his arm?

“Mm-hmm!” the little girl responded happily.

Fear was contagious, and Zhou Chenglei didn’t feel comfortable handing his daughter over to Zhou Chengsen either. He reached out and took her himself.

Ruan Tang smiled. “It’s our Xiaobao’s turn now!”

Xiaobao gave her a huge smile. “Ngh-heh.”

Ruan Tang gave her the shot!

She had the exact same expression as her eldest brother—a little pout, then her mouth opened wide to cry. At first, no sound came out, but a few seconds later, she let out a loud wail.

After Ruan Tang finished, Zhou Chenglei pulled his daughter’s clothes back into place and buttoned them up, coaxing her, “Alright, all done. Blow, blow, Xiaobao doesn’t hurt anymore!”

Zhou Chenglei lowered his head and blew gently on the spot.

Erbao had already stopped crying, so Jiang Xia said, “Let me hold Xiaobao.”

Mother Jiang immediately took Erbao so that Jiang Xia could hold her daughter. Fortunately, both children only cried for a few moments before stopping.

Ruan Tang looked at Zhou Chengsen. Remembering how much he feared needles, she couldn’t help but tease him. “A few days ago, a patient at the hospital next door didn’t get a shot after being bitten by a dog. Seven days later, he suddenly fell ill and passed away. Since you’re here, why don’t you get a booster shot to be safe?”

Zhou Chengsen was speechless. “…”

“Didn’t I finish all five shots? Didn’t you say there were five in total, and once I finished them, I wouldn’t need any more?”

Ruan Tang nodded and then shook her head. “I later realized I gave you the wrong vaccine. It’s the type that requires fourteen shots, so you still have nine more to go.”

Zhou Chengsen was stunned. “…”

Fourteen shots? His backside would be turned into a sieve!

“Are you serious?”

Ruan Tang couldn’t hold back her laughter. “Of course… I’m joking!”

A grown man, yet more afraid of needles than the children!

Zhou Chengsen’s legs went limp from relief. Dr. Ruan really is a demon! She scared the life out of him.

After the children finished their vaccinations, they stayed at the hospital for thirty minutes of observation before leaving. By the time they drove back to the village, it was already ten-thirty.

When the Jeep entered the village, Guangzong, Yaozu, and their siblings were playing by the roadside with other children.

Seeing the Jeep return, they immediately stopped playing. “My Uncle and Auntie are back from the capital! We’re not playing anymore!”

They hurriedly chased after the Jeep as it drove toward their house.

Hearing this, the other village children couldn’t help but run along to see the commotion. They all knew that the last time their Uncle came back from the capital, he had brought plenty of delicious treats. They were green with envy!

As a result, when the Jeep came to a stop, it was surrounded by children.

Father Zhou and Mother Zhou also came out of the house. Having not seen their three grandchildren for so long, they couldn’t wait to welcome them.

Jiang Xia stepped out of the car holding Xiaobao and greeted them with a smile. “Dad, Mom.”

“Aye,” Father Zhou replied with a grin, immediately reaching out. “I finally get to see my Xiaobao. Grandpa will hold you!”

Jiang Xia handed her daughter to him.

Zhou Chenglei stepped out of the car behind Jiang Xia. Mother Zhou and Tian Caihua reached out to take the two boys from his arms.

Mother Zhou said, “My dear grandsons have grown so much! Do you still remember Grandma?”

Tian Caihua chimed in, “Oh my, these three little sweethearts are getting more and more beautiful! The air and water in Beijing really do suit people better! They’ve grown even bigger than the one next door!”

She was referring to the daughter Wen Wan had given birth to. She had been a chubby baby at birth, but now she was thin and scrawny. There was no comparison to the fair and plump triplets.

Truly, a child without a mother is like a blade of grass!

Zhou Chengxin was a step too slow and didn’t get to hold a baby. He said to Tian Caihua, “Give me one to hold.”

Tian Caihua snapped, “Move aside!” She had only just gotten her hands on one.

All three children had fallen asleep on the way, so they couldn’t show off their charming smiles to Father Zhou and the others. But even while asleep, they were incredibly adorable.

The children gathered excitedly around Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei. “Auntie! Uncle! You’re finally back!”

“That’s right!” Jiang Xia smiled and rubbed Zhou Zhou’s head, then patted the heads of the other children one by one.

The village children also followed suit, calling out, “Fourth Uncle, Fourth Auntie.”

Jiang Xia took a bag of Beijing crispy candy out of her bag, along with a package of candied fruits and some biscuits, and let the siblings share them with the other village children. With food in sight, the children cheered and took the snacks to divide among themselves.

Jiang Xia turned back to grab the bags from the car, which contained baby bottles, powdered milk, and other necessities.

Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengsen each carried two suitcases down from the car. There were also two crates of fruit, which Zhou Chengxin went to carry.

The family started heading toward the house.

Just then, Zhou Bingqiang’s wife came out carrying Wen Wan’s daughter. She called out to Jiang Xia, “Xiao Xia, where’s Xiao Wan?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t seen her.” Jiang Xia glanced at the child in her arms and was slightly surprised. This child was far too thin! She looked yellow and scrawny, a complete contrast to her chubby appearance at birth.

“Has this child’s jaundice not cleared yet? You should probably take her to the hospital for a check-up,” Jiang Xia couldn’t help but suggest.

As Zhou Chenglei passed Jiang Xia, he took the bag from her hand to carry it inside, not wanting her to carry anything.

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife replied dismissively, “It’s fine! It’s almost gone! Guohua called Wen Wan a few days ago, and she said she was flying back this morning. Wasn’t she on the same flight as you? I even told her to go to your school to find you and ask when your flight was so you could all come back together for convenience. You wouldn’t have seen her and just refused to give her a ride back to the village, would you?”

This entitled tone made Jiang Xia laugh. “Why should I give her a ride just because I saw her? She’s your daughter-in-law, not mine. Besides, we came back yesterday; we only returned to the village today.”

Great-Grandma came out at that moment, smiling broadly. “Oh, you’re finally back!”

Jiang Xia smiled and greeted her, “Great-Grandma, let’s go inside. I brought some good things for you.”

The two of them walked happily into the house, completely ignoring Zhou Bingqiang’s wife.

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife was fuming. Pah! What kind of person is she? And after being neighbors all this time!

She felt foolish for her actions the previous day when she had seen a papaya almost ripe on their tree in the vegetable garden and had even reminded Zhou Yongfu’s wife to pick it before it got stolen.

If she had known, she would have just picked it and eaten it herself! Truly, no good deed goes unpunished!

Chapter 606: How Much Was Paid?

The three children were all fast asleep, but Father and Mother Zhou couldn’t bear to put them down in their cribs, holding them in their arms instead as they chatted.

Since Tian Caihua was helping with the cooking, Zhou Chengxin finally got a chance to hold one of the babies.

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei went up to their room on the second floor and found it had been cleaned until it was spotless.

Mother Zhou had already changed the sheets on their bed, and the balcony was filled with children’s clothes and diapers that she had washed and hung out to dry.

Zhou Chenglei began organizing their luggage, though there wasn’t much to sort through; most of it consisted of souvenirs and gifts.

Seeing that there wasn’t much for her to do, Jiang Xia said, “You go ahead and organize things. I’m going downstairs.”

“Alright.”

Jiang Xia went downstairs to help with the meal.

In the kitchen area, Great-Grandma, Tian Caihua, and Mother Zhou were all busy. Mother Zhou and Great-Grandma were inside the kitchen, while Tian Caihua was outside shucking oysters.

Jiang Xia rolled up her sleeves to help, but Tian Caihua stopping her, saying, “Go wash those greens and shred the potatoes. You always cut them thinner than I do.”

Oyster shells were difficult to pry open, and since Jiang Xia didn’t do it often, she wasn’t very good at it. Usually, Tian Caihua saw Zhou Chenglei doing that task.

Jiang Xia went to shred the potatoes.

Tian Caihua immediately began sharing the village gossip from the past few days.

“Liao Ruixiang and Feng Yifen finally got divorced a few days ago! Li Xiuxian has already moved into his house. They haven’t registered the marriage or held a banquet yet. They say it’s because Li Xiuxian is in poor health, so they’ll wait until after the baby is born. Hmph, no banquet is one thing, but not even registering the marriage? If you ask me, Liao Ruixiang isn’t all that eager to marry her.”

Jiang Xia was surprised. “Did Liao Ruixiang finish the lawsuit?”

“He didn’t fight it. The lawyer he hired said his chances of winning were slim. Apparently, the lawyer Feng Yifen hired was too good—really famous. His lawyer didn’t have the confidence to win and was afraid that if they lost, Liao would have to pay even more. So, they settled out of court.”

Jiang Xia was curious. “So, how much did he end up paying?”

Tian Caihua let out a sigh of admiration. “Feng Yifen really hit the jackpot this time. It turns out Liao Ruixiang had bought a house in town that he’d kept hidden, but Feng Yifen’s lawyer found it. She got that house in town, plus over seven thousand yuan in cash. On top of that, Liao Ruixiang has to give her thirty yuan a month for living expenses, and she’s entitled to ten percent of the pig farm’s profits. And get this—those living expenses have to increase every year based on the local wage levels! I never knew getting a divorce could be such a good deal! It’s like she gets to live the life of a wealthy lady of leisure without lifting a finger!”

Living in her own house, having a man provide for her every month, and not having to serve in-laws or take care of a household—she only had to look after herself. It sounded incredibly pleasant.

Tian Caihua concluded with a final sigh, “I don’t know where Feng Yifen found such a capable lawyer! They even knew to make sure the alimony increased with the local wage levels. I asked her where she found him, and she just said she met him by chance. The lawyer heard she was getting a divorce and asked if she needed representation.”

Jiang Xia listened but didn’t say anything.

“Liao Ruixiang really lost the gamble this time—he lost his wife and his money.”

“True enough,” Jiang Xia agreed.

Tian Caihua continued, “Liao Ruixiang’s mother is not easy to get along with; she’s quite a fierce woman! Just you wait—Li Xiuxian is in for it. She’s so lazy. Once that child is born, she’ll see. Right now, she’s on bed rest to nurture the fetus, and her mother-in-law is desperate for a grandson, so they’re treating her like a Bodhisattva!”

Jiang Xia didn’t know Liao Ruixiang’s mother, so she didn’t comment.

Tian Caihua didn’t really need her to comment; she could carry the conversation on her own. She had told these stories to almost every woman in the village, and even her own family back home knew everything. Jiang Xia was the only one left to tell.

She had been waiting for Jiang Xia to return just to vent all this information.

“She’s just too lazy! Her own sister-in-law back home couldn’t stand her. She expected her to help with the laundry and cooking every day. I heard she worked so hard she almost had a miscarriage, and since she couldn’t stay at her parents’ house any longer, she went to Liao Ruixiang’s to rest.”

“But she’s been resting for over a month now. I reckon she should be recovered by now. Once she’s better, she won’t have it this easy. Her mother-in-law is famously tough!”

Jiang Xia didn’t know about that.

Just then, Zhou Chengsen walked out. Tian Caihua immediately shut her mouth. Only after he had passed did she continue:

“A-Sen is the same. It’s been months since the divorce, and our triplets are already smiling, yet every time I try to introduce him to someone, he refuses! My family has a cousin who graduated from junior high! She’s eighteen, very pretty, and a hard worker! You should help me talk to him. My cousin is really great!”

Jiang Xia declined. “Second Brother probably has his own plans. It hasn’t been that long since the divorce, and he’s likely not in a rush.”

Zhou Chengsen probably wouldn’t marry again so soon; he had to consider Zhou Ying’s feelings.

“What do you mean ‘not in a rush’? Of course, he should hurry up and get married! What if Li Xiuxian gives birth and the child doesn’t look like Liao Ruixiang, but looks like A-Sen instead? If Liao Ruixiang kicks her out then, Li Xiuxian will definitely come crawling back to A-Sen, mark my words! Do you think A-Sen would remarry her for the sake of the child? She’s already a tarnished woman; having to take her back would be so humiliating, wouldn’t it?”

Tian Caihua was deathly afraid that Li Xiuxian would try to return to Zhou Chengsen and that he would accept her again for the sake of Yingying. After all, Li Xiuxian was quite beautiful.

Given Li Xiuxian’s lazy and gluttonous nature, Tian Caihua felt she wouldn’t last long in the Liao family.

“People in the village are placing bets on whose child is in Li Xiuxian’s belly!”

Tian Caihua was still waiting to see Li Xiuxian’s downfall; she absolutely did not want to be her sister-in-law again.

Jiang Xia was speechless. This was getting a bit ridiculous.

“Since Li Xiuxian moved into the Liao house, there’s been so much gossip in the village. Yingying even came home crying the other day, asking A-Sen if her mother was going to have a younger brother and didn’t want her anymore!”

Hearing this, Jiang Xia couldn’t help but ask, “And then what happened?”

“Then? Well, A-Sen comforted her, of course. He even took Yingying right up to those busybodies who were whispering to her! He told them if they had questions, they should ask him directly instead of the child, and that he’d tell them everything they wanted to know. It scared them so much they shrunk back like quails, not daring to make a sound. Now, no one in the village dares to say anything—at least not in front of our family, and certainly not to me.”

Jiang Xia admired Zhou Chengsen’s approach; it truly was a way to solve the problem once and for all.

The men of the Zhou family actually raised their children quite well, which clearly had a lot to do with their own father.

Jiang Xia decided that in the future, her three children would also be left to Zhou Chenglei to discipline.

Just then, one of the babies woke up and started crying. Father Zhou called out for Jiang Xia, “Xiao Xia, the baby is awake and crying. Are they hungry?”

“Coming!” Jiang Xia quickly washed her hands.

Zhou Chenglei also came down from upstairs, and the couple took the children to the second floor for feeding.

Once the babies were fed and satisfied, lunch was ready.

The whole extended family enjoyed a lively lunch together. Afterward, Jiang Xia distributed the souvenirs she had bought for everyone—mostly specialty snacks from the capital.

She had, of course, prepared separate gifts for Father and Mother Zhou.

Jiang Xia had also brought back two crates of fruit. The shipping costs for those two crates had been quite high, but she felt it was worth it.

She opened the crates, planning to give ten pieces of fruit to each household.

As soon as the crate was opened and Tian Caihua saw the fruit inside—each one larger than her fist—her eyes widened. “What is this?”

Why did it look so different from the fruit she knew?

Hearing her exclamation, everyone gathered around to look.

Chapter 607: Immortality Peaches?

Mother Zhou asked, “Is this a peach? Can peaches really grow this big?”

Great-Grandpa added, “It looks like a peach! Are the peaches in the capital really this large?”

Tian Caihua chimed in, “Is the soil and water in the capital really that nourishing? Even the peaches grow exceptionally huge!”

Great-Grandma cradled a honey peach in her hands, clicking her tongue in wonder. “This must be the ‘Immortal Peach’ held by the God of Longevity in those New Year paintings, right?”

“Now that you mention it, I think so too!” Great-Grandpa agreed. “They look exactly the same! I never thought such immortality peaches actually existed in this world!”

Zhou Zhou asked, “If we eat the immortality peach, will we live to be a hundred years old?”

The whole room erupted in laughter!

Father Zhou said jovially, “That’s right! You’ll live to a hundred! Eat it, and you’ll have a long life of wealth and honor!”

Since Wealth-bringer bought these immortality peaches, whoever ate them would be blessed with longevity and prosperity!

Father Zhou immediately took one outside to wash off the fuzz.

Upon hearing this, several children instantly cried out, “Auntie, I want to eat an immortality peach! I want to live to a hundred!”

“I want one too! I want to live to a hundred!”

…

Jiang Xia interrupted, “Wait a moment. These need to be washed and peeled before eating. There’s too much fuzz on the skin. These are called honey peaches.”

In reality, honey peach season had already passed, and they were rarely seen on the market. Zhang Rui had heard that Jiang Xia wanted to buy some to bring home for National Day, so he had contacted a familiar orchard owner to set some aside. It just so happened that the owner had two trees of a late-maturing variety.

There were no honey peaches this large in their local area; no one had ever seen anything like them. The peaches around here were all small, fuzzy peaches about the size of a chicken egg. Jiang Xia had wanted to bring some back for everyone to try.

Tian Caihua volunteered, “Here, let me peel them for you!”

Father Zhou took a cheerful bite of his washed immortality peach, watching his boisterous, laughing family.

The house was always much more joyful when Wealth-bringer was home! Since Wealth-bringer went to the capital, the house had felt quite lonely.

After taking a bite of the honey peach, he walked out the door with a grin, heading out to “spread the celestial spirit.”

Sharing joy was better than keeping it to oneself! Now that they were eating immortality peaches, what was the point if no one else knew?

Before long, the children also headed out, each clutching an “immortality peach”—also known as a honey peach—to spread the celestial spirit!

Consequently, a group of children gathered around them at the village entrance, hoping for a bite of the peach. They all wanted to rub off some of that celestial spirit to live to a hundred!

“Zhou Wenzu, give me a bite! Just one bite!”

“Yingying, is this immortality peach sweet? I want to try a bit. It smells so good!”

…

Unfortunately, the Zhou children were all shrewd operators. They might share candy, but how could they share their hundred-year lifespan?

The honey peaches were fragrant, sweet, and succulent. The surrounding children watched, their mouths watering. Eventually, some children couldn’t take it anymore and ran home crying to their mothers, demanding immortality peaches so they could live to a hundred!

But their mothers could do nothing about it.

In the afternoon, Jiang Xia, Mother Zhou, and Tian Caihua took the children for a stroll at the pier while waiting for the fishing boats to return.

While the three of them were chatting with the villagers, a sharp honking sound suddenly pierced the air.

Liao Ruixiang was on a motorcycle with Li Xiuxian, leaning on the horn with all his might!

“Beep! Beep! Beep!…”

“Move! Get out of the way!…”

People scrambled to clear the path, looking on with curiosity.

“What’s going on?”

“What’s the rush? Are they racing to their own funerals?”

“Is having a motorcycle that impressive? Zhou Chenglei has had one for ages, and he even has a Jeep, yet he’s never been that arrogant!”

“Li Xiuxian is clutching her stomach. Looking at how panicked he is, could she be having a miscarriage?”

“Looks like it to me! Otherwise, why would Liao Ruixiang be in such a frenzy? I heard Feng Yifen say Liao Ruixiang has a low sperm count and struggles to conceive. It wasn’t easy to finally get one; of course he’s panicking!”

“Psh! Who knows if it’s even his!”

“Well, won’t we have to wait until it’s born to see who it looks like?”

“Shhh!…”

Someone noticed Mother Zhou and Jiang Xia were nearby and immediately signaled the others to stop talking.

Tian Caihua couldn’t help but say to Mother Zhou, “Mom, shouldn’t you hurry up and find A-Sen a wife? I told you I’d introduce my cousin to him.”

“A-Sen isn’t a child anymore; he has his own plans. Don’t worry about it too much. He already turned her down, so stop meddling!”

Mother Zhou had long since stopped worrying about such things. Her own judgment hadn’t been great in the past, so she didn’t want to interfere in her sons’ marriages anymore. Now, the two elders only cared about helping their sons with work and looking after the kids; they stayed out of everything else. They let the children decide for themselves and follow their own hearts.

Whether Zhou Chengsen married or not, the two elders wouldn’t pressure him. They just wanted their son to live however he felt most comfortable. At any rate, he already had a child.

Tian Caihua didn’t understand. Why was she the only one in the family who was worried about this?

Seeing that Tian Caihua wanted to continue, Jiang Xia cut in, “Sister-in-law, your family’s boat is back.”

Several of the family’s fishing boats were returning.

That afternoon, after Father Zhou finished his rounds of spreading celestial spirit, he returned home to find that besides food, Jiang Xia had bought fishing rod sets for him, Zhou Chengxin, Zhou Chengsen, and Zhou Yongguo.

Zhou Chenglei had picked them out, saying the quality was excellent, and he had even bought two sets for himself.

As the saying goes, a bad student needs many pens, but a good fisherman needs many rods! This was the only hobby the father and sons shared. Like boats, one could never have too many fishing rods.

Having received a new rod, Father Zhou couldn’t wait to test it out. Zhou Chengsen and Zhou Chengxin felt the same way. Thus, the father and sons took the small wooden boat out to sea for some hand-line fishing. They claimed they were going to catch a few fish for tonight’s dinner.

Jiang Xia saw the boat filled with shimmering white fish and said to the younger brother in her arms, “Look, younger brother! Daddy caught a lot of fish!”

Tian Caihua saw it too. “Did A-Lei run into a school of fish?”

Mother Zhou said with a smile, “Looking at this haul, he definitely did!”

The three of them hurried closer, eager to see exactly what kind of fish had been caught.

The small wooden boat Zhou Chenglei was steering was quite small, making it easy to dock. Jiang Xia couldn’t see very clearly; they looked like herring, but she couldn’t be sure, as many fish looked similar to herring.

It wasn’t until Zhou Chenglei passed them carrying a load of fish that Jiang Xia confirmed they were blue round scad.

Jiang Xia smiled. “Ran into a school?”

“Yeah.” Zhou Chenglei glanced at Jiang Xia, then greeted the child, “Daddy’s back!”

The younger brother gave his father a wide grin in response, making a happy “Ah~” sound.

Mother Jiang smiled. “This must be about 200 to 250 kg, right?”

“About that.”

Tian Caihua noted, “A-Lei truly has great sea luck! A-Lei, are you going out fishing tomorrow? You and Dad should come on my family’s boat!”

Zhou Chenglei replied, “Not tomorrow. There’s a major ebb tide tomorrow. I’m taking Xiaxia beachcombing.”

Tomorrow was the day of a major ebb tide, and the tide would recede twice, allowing for two rounds of beachcombing. Jiang Xia hadn’t been out to sea in a long time, nor had she gone beachcombing. While going out to sea was impossible since she was still breastfeeding, beachcombing was perfectly fine. Plus, Jiang Dong and Zhang Fuyan had said they were coming over to join them. Therefore, Zhou Chenglei didn’t plan to go out to sea.

The purchase price for blue round scad today was 0.30 yuan. Five loads of blue round scad sold for 138.60 yuan.

It was currently the autumn fishing season for blue round scad, and fishing boats had been encountering schools of them frequently lately. Today, both of the family’s trawl net boats had encountered schools. Blue round scad often mingled with horse mackerel and sardines, so there were a fair number of those in the catch as well.

The fish caught by the trawl net boats were naturally much more than what was on Zhou Chenglei’s small wooden boat. The two fishing boats together had netted over 3,000 kg.

The total sales came to over 1,900 yuan. Combined with the 130-plus yuan Zhou Chenglei earned, it came to just over 2,000 yuan.

That evening, after the couple coaxed the children to sleep, they began to go over the accounts.

There were the accounts for the food processing workshop, the two small trawl net boats, the two large fishing vessels, and the fried fish sales. Jiang Xia only looked at the workshop accounts; Zhou Chenglei handled the boat accounts.

Under the leadership and management of He Xiuhuan and Auntie Fen, the workshop was earning roughly 2,500 to 3,000 yuan per day. For the entire month of September, the food processing workshop had earned 85,798.25 yuan. This was the profit after paying out bonuses and wages according to the reward standards Jiang Xia had established.

Once a business established its sales channels, it was truly profitable, especially when there was little competition. Currently, the market for the seasoned small dried fish had not been fully tapped; the future prospects were limitless!

Jiang Xia decided to use the National Day holiday to give everyone another large red envelope. During her absence this month, they had all worked very hard.

Chapter 608

Jiang Xia finished balancing the accounts for the food processing workshop, while Zhou Chenglei had already settled the books for the boats.

The money from the small boat was collected by Mother Zhou every day. Together with the earnings from the large boat, Father Zhou helped them deposit it all into their savings book. There wasn’t much to calculate; they just needed to check the balance occasionally to know how much they had.

Zhou Chenglei was mainly checking the accounts for the fried fish, as it involved purchasing dried fish from the villagers and reselling it.

He paid particularly close attention to the expenditures for building the factory.

So far, the costs for buying the land, constructing the workshop, and ordering equipment had already reached 300,000 yuan. He conservatively estimated that it would take 350,000 yuan to finish everything.

The factory wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t small either; it was considered a small-to-medium-sized food processing factory.

“The factory should be finished by the end of next month,” Zhou Chenglei said.

Jiang Xia replied, “Then I’ll have someone post some recruitment notices. You have great calligraphy—help me write them.”

“Alright. After National Day, I plan to ask Second Brother to help me apply for a telephone line so we can install one at the factory.”

It would be much more convenient to have a phone at the production site.

The area where their factory was located was an industrial zone. Some factories there had already installed phones, so the application shouldn’t be too difficult. The line they needed to run probably wouldn’t be very long.

Hearing this, Jiang Xia said, “How about we install one at home too? Our house isn’t that far from the production team’s office. We should be able to run an extra line for installation, right?”

Zhou Chenglei nodded. “We can. Let’s put one in the house as well.”

Jiang Xia asked further, “Is the installation fee expensive?”

“I’m not sure. The residential one should be cheaper, while the factory’s will likely cost more.”

Zhou Chenglei only knew there was a policy stating the initial installation fee was between 300 and 500 yuan. This was just the basic fee; there would also be material costs and other charges.

However, having a phone would be much more convenient.

Since he and Jiang Xia spent time in the capital, and they had a factory here, a fishing ground to manage, and the small fried fish business to oversee, their need for a telephone was particularly high. Every time they wanted to make a call, the round trip to a public phone took half an hour. It was too troublesome and a waste of time.

Zhou Chenglei also wanted to install one in the capital; after all, the courtyard house was their own property. Installing it at Jiang Dong’s place would also work.

…

The couple discussed their plans for a while before going to sleep.

Because of the exhausting journey the day before, Zhou Chenglei had refrained from being intimate for the past two days, fearing Jiang Xia was too tired. They went to bed early tonight, and since Jiang Xia had taken a two-hour nap in the afternoon, she wasn’t sleepy yet.

He made love to her twice, continuing until she fell asleep in his arms, exhausted.

The next morning, at only five-thirty, the sky was just beginning to brighten when Jiang Xia heard voices outside.

She opened her eyes to find Zhou Chenglei no longer by her side; he must have gone for his run again. Jiang Xia sat up and checked on the babies. They all had their little hands raised above their heads, sleeping soundly.

Jiang Xia lay back down, intending to sleep a bit longer, but then she heard the voices from downstairs more clearly.

“We just want to borrow your Jeep. The motorcycle is too windy, and the child has a high fever; he can’t be exposed to the wind. Can’t you just have A-Lei drive us to the town health clinic?”

“If it weren’t for the child’s high fever, I wouldn’t even be asking to borrow your car!”

Mother Zhou replied, “A-Lei went out for a run. He leaves at five every morning and doesn’t get back until six. I have no idea where he’s run to right now. By the time you find him and get him to drive, you could have reached the health clinic yourself on a bicycle! Instead of wasting time here, you should have just left already!”

Riding a bicycle to the health clinic would take less than ten minutes if one pedaled fast.

Back when Zhou Zhou was sick and the family was so poor they didn’t even have a motorcycle, Zhou Chenglei had taken Xiao Xia to the health clinic in the middle of the night on a bicycle. Were they not going to see a doctor just because they didn’t have a car?

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife argued, “What about Xiao Xia? Doesn’t Xiao Xia know how to drive? And what about A-Sen?”

“Doesn’t Xiao Xia have to nurse? What if the three babies wake up hungry? A-Sen is out at sea; doesn’t he need to earn a living?”

Mother Zhou was truly fed up with Zhou Bingqiang’s wife. The woman argued with her every few days, yet that didn’t stop her from coming to the door whenever she needed something!

Whenever Zhou Bingqiang’s wife saw that the papayas were ripe and told her, or when someone borrowed their field to drain water and she mentioned it in passing to remind her to plug the embankment—she considered those huge favors. She would act as if they were reconciled and then show up every day to borrow things.

And she’d get upset if Mother Zhou refused!

Mother Zhou went to her garden every day; did she not know when her own papayas were ripe? And whoever borrowed a field to drain water always plugged the embankment afterward; who wouldn’t?

At that moment, Zhou Guohua hurried over. Following behind him was Wen Wan, cradling a child. He said urgently, “Auntie, just lend me the motorcycle. The child won’t wake up.”

Mother Zhou took one look at the child in Wen Wan’s arms and her heart skipped a beat. “Wait here, I’ll get the keys!”

She quickly ran inside and grabbed the keys for Zhou Guohua.

“Thank you, Auntie.”

Zhou Guohua then started the motorcycle and sped off with Wen Wan and the child to see a doctor.

Jiang Xia didn’t get up to look. She was too sleepy. Once the sound of the motorcycle faded into the distance, she fell back asleep. When she woke up again, it was already past seven, stirred by the “oohs” and “aahs” of the babies’ babble.

In the crib, the three infants were waving their arms and legs, “talking” in their baby language.

Zhou Chenglei was already back and was preparing powdered milk.

Jiang Xia reached for her watch and glanced at it. It was 7:15 AM. “They only just woke up?”

Zhou Chenglei approached with two bottles. “Yeah.”

He placed the two bottles on the bedside table and went to pick up the little sister. It was her turn to be breastfed this morning.

As soon as the little sister saw her father approaching, she beamed. “Ah~!”

Zhou Chenglei picked her up and handed her to Jiang Xia.

“Is Little Bao hungry?” Jiang Xia smiled as she reached out to take her.

The little sister gave her mother a wide grin. Once in her mother’s arms, her head instinctively turned, and she opened her mouth wide. She was definitely hungry.

…

After the babies were fed, Father Zhou and Mother Zhou used the baby strollers to take the three of them out for a walk.

Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia drove to the factory.

Construction was indeed nearing completion. The basic structures for the raw material sorting and cleaning workshop, the drying area, the air-drying field, several production workshops, the packaging workshop, and the finished goods warehouse were all built, and the exterior walls were finished.

A portion of the perimeter wall and the staff dormitories were still under construction. Once those were finished, they would pave the roads with concrete and plant some greenery in the designated areas.

Jiang Xia asked Zhou Chenglei, “What kind of trees do you think we should plant?”

Zhou Chenglei suggested, “Fruit trees? Let’s plant all kinds of fruit trees. That way, the children won’t have to worry about not having fruit to eat in the future.”

“That works,” Jiang Xia agreed.

She had originally intended to plant trees for decoration and shade. But planting mango trees wasn’t a bad idea either. In her previous life, she had seen mango trees used as greenery along the roads in some cities. However, those mangoes absorbed too much exhaust from the cars, and their heavy metal content was likely too high to be edible.

But her factory was a food factory, so that wouldn’t be an issue.

There were other factories nearby, but they were quite a distance away. The closest one was a soy sauce factory, and another was a food factory. The factories most likely to emit toxic exhaust were quite far from them, so there was no need to worry.

The plot of land Zhou Chenglei had secured was large, spanning 50 mu. The food factory currently only occupied 10 mu, leaving 40 mu of vacant land.

“Then we’ll plant mangoes along both sides of the road. For that empty reserve land in the back, you can plant whatever you like.”

“Okay, I’ll go check with Jiang Yang to see what fruit saplings he has.”

After inspecting the factory buildings, the two prepared to head home.

Just then, a man with a bald head and a thick gold chain around his neck walked toward them. He first glanced at Jiang Xia, his eyes filled with admiration.

Chapter 609: Occupying the Privy

Zhou Chenglei stepped directly in front of the man, blocking his view. “Can I help you?”

The bald man looked at Zhou Chenglei and realized the other man was even taller than himself.

He chuckled. “Brother, is this factory yours?”

“Yes.”

“And the land next to the factory—is that yours too?”

“That’s right.”

“Your factory’s built now, right? You won’t be needing the rest of the land. How about transferring it to me? The price is negotiable!”

He’d been waiting for the landowner for a long time.

He was helping a big boss from Hong Kong find a plot of land to build an electronics factory.

But all the land in this area already had owners.

He’d asked around—the workers at this factory said there were no immediate plans to build on these several dozen mu of land.

Other plots were either under construction or preparing to be built.

Even the ones not yet being developed were mostly claimed by big foreign investors or joint ventures with deep pockets and government support. Getting land from them was impossible.

Only this plot was privately owned, and by a single person at that—which made things much simpler.

His boss had already had a feng shui master from Hong Kong come look at it. The feng shui of this land was excellent—the best in the entire area!

The big boss believed in all that mystical stuff and told him to get this land by any means necessary, no matter the cost.

Of course, he couldn’t tell the other party all this. He was hoping to skim a little off the top for himself.

Just the crumbs from the big boss’s fingers would be enough for him to live comfortably for a lifetime.

Zhou Chenglei replied coolly, “Not selling. We still have use for it.”

“But your factory’s already built, isn’t it? I saw they’re putting up the perimeter walls. Your workers said it’s almost done. Brother, my boss has deep pockets. The price is negotiable. You won’t get a bad deal.”

“Not selling at any price.”

“What do you need it for?”

Zhou Chenglei ignored him. There was no need to explain himself to a stranger.

After saying this, he took Jiang Xia’s hand, led her to the Jeep, and drove away.

When Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia had acquired the land, they’d already planned it out: the food processing factory would initially use only ten mu, with another ten mu reserved for future expansion. The remaining thirty mu would be used to build another workshop—even if they didn’t run a factory themselves, they could rent it out for income.

Besides, Zhang Rong had mentioned a garment factory, but it was still uncertain if it would be suitable. If not, Zhou Chenglei planned to build a garment factory on this land himself.

Having two factories together would also make it easier for Jiang Xia to manage.

The bald man spat as he watched the Jeep disappear into the distance.

“Ptooey! What use is it sitting there? Are you going to build another one? Got that much money to build? If you really had that much, why not build bigger in the first place?”

Driving a Jeep and thinks he’s something special?

He’d never seen a real luxury car!

The bald man looked at the adjacent plot of land, thought for a moment, and decided to ask the big boss to negotiate with the relevant authorities directly.

Occupying the privy without doing your business! What kind of nonsense is that?!

Probably just holding out for more money.

The bald man rode off on his motorcycle.

Zhou Chenglei took Jiang Xia on a drive around the area.

This entire zone had been designated as an industrial district—a future famous industrial hub.

Now, nearly all the nearby land had owners. Development was happening everywhere. The dirt roads were filled with construction vehicles and workers.

Dust flew in the air, everything bustling with activity, striding into a new era and new hopes with vigorous momentum.

Fortunately, the plot they’d secured was still relatively large. Now, there was no land left to be had.

Jiang Xia noticed several of the factories under construction were being built by the construction company they’d invested in.

Jiang Xia: “Those shares really were a good buy.”

Zhou Chenglei drove and hummed in agreement.

They arrived home at half past ten. The children were still asleep.

Jiang Xia washed her face and hands, changed her clothes, and came out just as they woke up.

Jiang Xia held each of them for a while, talking to them.

All three babies were hungry, snuggling into her arms and babbling “mm-hmm, ah-ah” at her.

By the time Zhou Chenglei had prepared the powdered milk and fed the three children, Jiang Dong and Zhang Fuyan had arrived.

Along with them came Zhang Fuyan’s cousin, Ou Minling, and Ruan Tang.

Ou Minling was Zhang Fuyan’s cousin—that is, Editor-in-Chief Fan’s daughter.

Ou Minling had originally planned to go shopping with Ruan Tang today; they were good friends.

But when she learned Zhang Fuyan was going beachcombing, she wanted to go too, so she asked Ruan Tang.

Ruan Tang had been here for several years but had never been beachcombing. Shopping could be done anytime on a day off, but beachcombing wasn’t so flexible. So the two of them came along with Zhang Fuyan.

Jiang Dong took the initiative to introduce everyone.

He mainly introduced Zhang Fuyan’s cousin, since Ruan Tang and Jiang Xia already knew each other.

Just then, Zhou Ying and Zhou Zhou ran back in. “Uncle, Dad says the tide’s starting to go out! We can get ready to go beachcombing!”

Zhou Chengsen and Zhou Chengxin had gone to the mussel farm early that morning to work.

The children had followed them to play on the beach over there.

As soon as Zhou Ying entered the house and saw Ruan Tang, she exclaimed in surprise, “Doctor Sister, what are you doing at my house?”

Ruan Tang smiled. “I came to play with you! Will you take me beachcombing?”

Zhou Ying immediately replied, “Sure! Then you stick with me!”

Ruan Tang patted her head. “Thanks, Yingying.”

Zhou Ying: “Doctor Sister, I’ll teach you how to spot snail holes. If you can’t spot them, you won’t find anything while beachcombing!”

Ruan Tang said in surprise, “Really? Then you absolutely have to teach me! It’s my first time beachcombing. I don’t know anything.”

“I’ll teach you!”

Zhang Fuyan laughed. “This sister and I don’t know either. So who’s going to teach us?”

Zhou Zhou: “I know how too, Sister. I’ll teach you. I’m the best at spotting snail holes. I also know mantis shrimp holes, mudskipper holes, crab holes…”

Zhang Fuyan laughed. “Zhou Zhou, that’s amazing!”

Zhou Zhou grew shy. “It’s not that amazing. Everyone in our village knows how.”

Everyone laughed.

Jiang Xia smiled. “Then let’s go teach these three sisters how to catch crabs!”

During a major ebb tide, the seawater recedes faster than usual. It was about time to head over now.

“Let’s take the tractor!” Zhou Chenglei said, seeing so many people. Mainly, he felt Zhang Fuyan and the others weren’t used to beachcombing and didn’t know how tiring it could be. He was worried they’d be too exhausted to walk back.

So Zhou Chenglei gathered some beachcombing tools, loaded them onto the tractor, and drove everyone over.

Ou Minling said excitedly, “This is my first time riding a tractor.”

Ruan Tang put her arm around Zhou Ying’s shoulders to protect her and laughed. “Mine too.”

Zhou Ying sat next to Ruan Tang and asked them, “Isn’t riding a tractor fun? It’s my favorite.”

Zhou Zhou sat beside Jiang Xia, who held him securely. “It’s my favorite too.”

They soon reached the beach. Jiang Xia glanced out. “The tide hasn’t fully receded yet, but it’s good enough.”

Once Zhou Chenglei parked the tractor, everyone grabbed buckets, mesh bags, small shovels, iron tongs, and other tools, heading straight for the beach.

Zhou Chengsen saw them arrive and steered a small boat closer, waving for them to come aboard. “Let’s go to the beach by the mangroves!”

This chapter makes up for last night’s update. Today’s update will still be in the evening. See you tonight, darlings~

Chapter 610: She Didn’t Believe It

Zhou Chengsen and Zhou Chengxin got off the boat. The two of them pushed the wooden boat closer to make it easier for others to board.

Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Dong first carried Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying onto the boat, then went to help Jiang Xia and Zhang Fuyan.

Tian Caihua was already on the boat and laughed, “You two are going too? Where are the eldest brother and the others?”

Zhou Ying pointed a finger, “They’re already on the beach, over there!”

Tian Caihua glanced over, no longer concerned about her sons.

After Jiang Xia and Zhang Fuyan boarded, they helped Ou Minling and Ruan Tang onto the boat.

Jiang Xia helped Ou Minling, and Zhang Fuyan helped Ruan Tang.

As Ruan Tang climbed on, her foot slipped, and she nearly fell.

Zhou Chengsen hadn’t boarded yet and was waiting nearby. He instinctively reached out to steady her.

Then he noticed a large bruise, black and purple, on a section of her waist that was accidentally exposed.

He wondered how she got injured.

Ruan Tang got onto the boat, tugged her clothes, and said thank you, “Thanks.”

Zhou Chengsen glanced at her, said nothing, and deftly pushed the boat further out until it was in deeper water before climbing aboard.

Once everyone was on board, Zhou Chenglei started the boat and headed to the beach near the mangroves.

The boat went full speed, arriving in about ten minutes.

From a distance, several people could see a flock of white seabirds on the beach, as if attending some kind of feast.

Zhang Fuyan excitedly said, “So many seabirds!”

Ruan Tang, “Are they catching fish?”

Ou Minling, “Oh my! How beautiful!”

Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying were already used to the sight.

Jiang Dong was snapping photos frantically with her camera.

The tide had receded even further on the beach by the mangroves, exposing a large stretch of sand. Since no one else was here, the seabirds in the forest emerged in groups to forage.

Jiang Xia watched from afar, feeling that the fish it picked up seemed quite large. “What kind of fish is that?”

Zhou Chenglei, “Probably mudskippers.”

Soon the boat stopped. Zhou Chengsen and Zhou Chengxin again got off first, forcefully pushing the boat onto the sand for easy disembarkation.

Once the boat was secured, they went to carry the two children.

After everyone had gotten off the boat, Zhou Ying tugged Ruan Tang, “Sister, you follow Big Sister and Zhou Zhou, we’ll teach you how to recognize snail eyes.”

“Alright!” Ruan Tang and Ou Minling didn’t dampen the children’s spirits and followed them.

Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying led them towards the area with the most seabirds.

There was still shallow water on the beach, so they couldn’t run, otherwise the two children would have loved to sprint.

Zhou Chengsen followed behind his daughter and Zhou Zhou, carrying buckets, mesh bags, and other tools.

As Zhou Zhou walked, she discovered a scallop’s eye: “Scallop!”

Everyone looked down in the direction Zhou Zhou was pointing.

Zhou Ying, “Yes, this is a scallop’s snail eye, it’s long.”

The two sisters used shovels to dig.

Ruan Tang and Ou Minling also began looking for them at their feet.

Zhou Chengsen came over and pointed at the sand near Ruan Tang’s feet. “There’s one here too, but it’s not obvious. As long as you see the sand looking a little different, there’s usually something there.”

He then pointed at his own feet. “Tracks like these are usually from cowries.”

He bent down, dug with his hand, and pulled a cowry out of the sand.

Then he went to dig for that scallop.

Ruan Tang and Ou Minling worked hard to find more.

Ruan Tang carefully observed a slight bulge in the sand underwater. She dug it with her hand and found a crab hidden beneath the sand.

It was a red rock crab.

Ou Minling gasped, “Wow, Haitang, you’re amazing!”

Zhou Chengsen looked over, “Careful, don’t touch it!”

But it was too late. Ruan Tang’s finger was instantly clamped by the red rock crab’s claw!

Ruan Tang let out a soft cry.

Zhou Chengsen walked over, took her hand, and put it in the water.

The crab released its grip and quickly scurried away.

He cupped some sand over it before picking it up and tossing it into the bucket. Then he looked at Haitang’s hand: it was bleeding.

Zhou Ying, “Dad, Doctor Sister’s hand is bleeding.”

“It’s fine, just a little bit.” Ruan Tang didn’t mind and continued searching.

Zhou Chengsen handed her a pair of gloves. “Wear these gloves.”

“Thank you.” Ruan Tang took them.

Zhou Chengsen didn’t speak, and gave Ou Minling a pair as well.

Ou Minling also thanked him.

“You’re welcome.” Zhou Chengsen replied, continuing his search. There were quite a lot of scallops today.

He picked up his iron shovel and began digging.

They were digging for scallops here.

Jiang Dong and Zhang Fuyan ran towards the seabirds to see if there was anything to pick up.

Jiang Xia walked a few dozen meters after getting off the boat and saw many cowry tracks.

Cowries were quite delicious, but usually not common.

Scallops were harder to dig and required effort; Zhou Chenglei was the one doing most of the digging.

The couple worked together, dividing the tasks.

Jiang Xia picked up snails, including cowries, clams, and blood clams.

The cowries, clams, and blood clams today were all very large.

Many appeared in groups, yielding two or three, sometimes three or four, and occasionally even five or six at a time.

It couldn’t be more satisfying!

Zhou Chenglei couldn’t stop digging for scallops either. There was one every few steps, sometimes even two together.

Before long, he had dug a bucketful.

This area of the mangroves only exposed itself during major ebb tides, so there was still a lot of stuff.

There were also many tree oysters on the trees, and they could pry some oyster meat to eat. However, there were many mosquitoes in the mangroves, and the tree oysters had small meat, not as plump as the oysters on Pearl Island. Zhou Chenglei didn’t plan to take Jiang Xia there.

It was rare to encounter so many scallops, so Zhou Chenglei dug enthusiastically.

Jiang Xia loved to eat this stuff.

If they couldn’t finish them, they would dry them and take them to the capital to eat slowly.

Jiang Xia saw a mantis shrimp hole.

She stamped her foot on it.

With one stomp, water spurted from another hole.

After several stomps, a mantis shrimp spurted out from another hole.

Mantis shrimp shells could easily prick hands, so Zhou Chenglei picked it up without thinking.

Zhou Chenglei saw that the mantis shrimp had roe and said, “Keep stomping, there should be another mantis shrimp in the hole.”

Jiang Xia continued to stomp, but nothing came out.

Zhou Chenglei simply dug open the hole and reached in to grab, indeed pulling out another mantis shrimp.

Tian Caihua pulled Zhou Chengxin and followed near Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei.

She wasn’t going anywhere else!

Only by staying next to Jiang Xia would they have a great harvest.

Zhou Chengxin was also immersed in digging for scallops.

Scallops were delicious and quite valuable.

If they couldn’t finish them, they could dry the adductor muscles of these scallops into dried scallop.

Adding a handful while cooking porridge, steaming eggs, making noodles, or simmering soup would make it incredibly fragrant and sweet.

After they had been picking for a while, other people gradually appeared, coming in batches.

However, it didn’t affect them; everyone picked their own.

Tian Caihua, from the corner of her eye, saw Jiang Xia bend down, and couldn’t help but look over to see what Jiang Xia was picking.

“Are you here for beachcombing, or what are you doing?”

Zhou Chengxin couldn’t help but ask.

In just over ten minutes, she had looked at Jiang Xia dozens of times!

She had only dug a few scallops.

Fortunately, she wasn’t looking at Fourth Brother.

Otherwise, he would have been suspicious!

“Don’t bother me, go away!”

Tian Caihua was puzzled seeing that Jiang Xia was only picking snails!

Something wasn’t right!

Xiao Xia, who was blessed by the God of Wealth, shouldn’t only be finding small snails and small shrimp, right?

She didn’t believe it!

Absolutely didn’t believe it!

“Zhou Chenglei, come here for a moment.” Jiang Xia suddenly called out.

Tian Caihua quickly ran over.

Here it comes!

Zhou Chengxin, “…”

Chapter 611: One Would Never Have Guessed

Zhou Chenglei quickly pulled up a scallop, tossed it into the bucket, and walked over to Jiang Xia’s side.

Jiang Xia was vigorously digging into the sand.

Hidden beneath the sand appeared to be an iron box. As a corner of it was revealed, Zhou Chenglei thought it looked somewhat like a safe. The body of the safe had been submerged in water for so long that it had started to rust.

“Does it look like a safe to you?” Jiang Xia asked.

Zhou Chenglei knelt down to help dig. “It does look like one.”

Tian Caihua also crouched down to help. “Is this a safe? Like the safes on TV?”

Anyone who watched television knew that only incredibly wealthy people owned safes. Rumor had it they were used to store expensive jewelry, confidential documents, cash, and the like. She knew Jiang Xia wouldn’t just pick up small snails and shrimp.

See? A big prize had arrived!

Zhou Chengxin also walked over to assist with the excavation.

Tian Caihua speculated, “Do you think there might be millions worth of jewelry inside? Diamonds bigger than pigeon eggs? Gold bars? Silver? Reams and reams of cash?”

Isn’t that how it always happened on TV?

Jiang Xia replied, “It’s also possible it’s just a discarded safe with nothing inside.”

Finding a safe on a beach usually meant it had been thrown away by someone. The chances of it being empty were the highest.

“That’s impossible!” Tian Caihua exclaimed.

If she had been the one to find a safe, Tian Caihua would believe it was empty. But if Jiang Xia was the one who found it, there was absolutely no way it was empty! She was willing to bet a hundred yuan on it.

Together, Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia managed to dig the safe out. It was locked.

Zhou Chenglei felt that this safe looked somewhat familiar.

“Can we open it and see what’s inside?” Tian Caihua asked.

“I can’t open it right now,” Zhou Chenglei replied.

“Shake it! See if there’s anything inside,” Tian Caihua urged impatiently.

Zhou Chenglei gave it a shake and heard a clattering sound.

Tian Caihua immediately said, “There’s definitely something in there! Put it in a woven sack first. We can study it slowly when we get home.”

One shouldn’t let others see their fortune!

Zhou Chenglei used a woven sack to cover the safe, planning to carry it back to the boat when they left. Regardless of what was inside, they were definitely taking this safe back.

Tian Caihua eagerly grabbed Jiang Xia’s arm. “Xiaxia, let’s keep digging for treasure! Which direction do you plan to take?”

“Let’s just keep going straight,” Jiang Xia said.

Tian Caihua immediately set off, her head down as she searched everywhere. Jiang Xia ignored her and lowered her own head to focus on looking for snail eyes.

Spotting a sea bean sprout, she bent over and pulled it up. Continuing forward, she saw a pair of crab eyes. With a quick snap of her iron tongs, she plucked out a palm-sized flower crab. She had already caught four flower crabs today; they could make a nice seafood congee when they got back.

Finding a scallop, Jiang Xia picked that up too. She spotted a prawn—caught it! A mantis shrimp burrow? Step on it! Up ahead was a clump of dragon beard grass—picked that up too! This seaweed would be great in a cold salad.

Oysters? She wasn’t letting those go either. A group of spicy snails having a family meeting? Rounded them all up! A shrimp was hiding in the sand, thinking she couldn’t see it? Collected!

Razor clams? Collected!

Scallops?

“Zhou Chenglei, there’s a scallop here.”

…

Jiang Xia had a wonderful time harvesting on this fertile stretch of beach.

Zhou Chenglei, with his great strength, was responsible for digging up the scallops. In just over an hour, he had filled two woven sacks. Jiang Xia had also gathered a bucket full of various snails—cowries, spicy snails, clams, blood clams, oysters, and scallops—along with several flower crabs, over a dozen mantis shrimp and prawns, and a few clumps of dragon beard grass.

It was a very mixed haul; she had a bit of everything.

Jiang Dong and Zhang Fuyan walked over, carrying their own buckets, and said in surprise, “Sis, Brother-in-law, you caught that much?”

“Xiaxia, you’re amazing! We only caught half a bucket. How did you do it?”

Hearing this, Tian Caihua remarked, “You can’t compare the two. You guys are here to play, but we’re here to find something to eat!”

To put it more politely, one group was here to experience the lifestyle, while the other was working to support the family. The former could pick up a few things just for the sake of it, while the latter had to give it their all.

Her words made Jiang Dong and Zhang Fuyan feel a bit embarrassed.

At that moment, Second Brother Zhou arrived with Ruan Tang, Ou Minling, and the two children. He was carrying two buckets filled with the sea snails and scallops they had gathered.

“The tide is starting to come in. It’s about time to head back, isn’t it?”

Zhou Chenglei tossed one last scallop into the woven sack. “Let’s go!”

By the time they reached home, it was already one o’clock in the afternoon.

Mother Zhou had already prepared white congee and stir-fried rice vermicelli. Zhou Chenglei processed the crabs, while Jiang Xia washed the shrimp and sea snails. Second Brother Zhou shucked the oysters for their meat, and Big Brother Zhou opened the scallops to prepare them for steaming with vermicelli.

Tian Caihua was in charge of cleaning the sand worms. Big Brother Zhou had dug up almost 1 kg of them. Sand worms are full of sand, so one must use a bamboo skewer to flip them inside out and wash the insides thoroughly before they can be eaten.

Mother Zhou made a mixed seafood congee containing oysters, prawns, crab, oyster meat, sand worms, and lean pork. Tian Caihua stir-fried some clams, steamed the scallops with vermicelli, and prepared a large plate of poached spicy snails, cowries, and blood clams.

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei went to feed the babies first. Once the children were full and lulled to sleep, the group sat down for a lively, late lunch.

By the time they finished eating and chatting, it was past four o’clock.

Jiang Xia used mesh bags to pack up the seafood they had gathered. Seeing this, Zhou Ying and Zhou Zhou said, “Auntie, please let the three sisters take the ones I found home too. I’m giving them as a gift.”

“Send the ones I found home with the three sisters as well!”

“Alright,” Jiang Xia agreed.

Jiang Xia filled several mesh bags to the brim and then added some dried fish—about 0.5 to 1 kg of various types—for them to take back.

Both Ruan Tang and Ou Minling were hesitant to accept. They felt embarrassed to take so much after already eating a full meal. They had already troubled Jiang Xia’s family for most of the day.

Jiang Xia smiled and said, “It’s fine, we have plenty at home! We can’t even finish it all. Take it back so your families can have a taste. These are for Dr. Gao; please bring them to her for me.”

Neither Ruan Tang nor Ou Minling had come empty-handed. Even if they had, given how well Dr. Gao and Editor-in-Chief Fan looked after her, Jiang Xia would never have let them leave without a gift.

Jiang Xia signaled for Jiang Dong to move everything to the vehicle. Zhou Chenglei had already lined the trunk with cardboard and plastic bags. Jiang Dong obediently hauled the bags to the Jeep.

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei followed their car to the pier, intending to buy some fresh sea fish for them to take back as well. Father Jiang was returning today, and fish was his favorite food. As luck would have it, the family’s fishing boat was just coming in, so Zhou Chenglei picked out several choice fish for them.

Seeing Ruan Tang and Ou Minling’s hesitation, Jiang Xia laughed. “These were caught in our own boat’s nets; they didn’t cost us anything.”

Jiang Dong unceremoniously loaded them into the car. There was no need to stand on ceremony with his sister.

As the Jeep drove out of the village, they encountered Liao Ruixiang returning on a motorcycle with Li Xiuxian. Jiang Dong was about to call out a greeting when Zhang Fuyan quickly tugged at him. “Did you forget!”

Jiang Dong immediately shut his mouth. “Right, I remember now.”

Ou Minling asked curiously, “Forget what?”

Zhang Fuyan explained, “That woman just now is Second Brother Zhou’s ex-wife.”

Being in the media industry, Ou Minling had a natural curiosity for gossip. “Second Brother Zhou is divorced? Why?”

One would never have guessed.

“His wife cheated on him.”

Ruan Tang, hearing this, was stunned as she looked out the window.

A man like him, and his wife still cheated?

Chapter 612: The Poor Child

Divorce was already a rare occurrence, let alone a woman committing adultery.

It was truly something one seldom heard of.

Ou Minling was almost tempted to get out of the car to conduct an interview and write a special feature report.

She really wanted to write it! She felt an incredible surge of inspiration.

Ou Minling couldn’t help but look back once more. “Is that man the one she cheated with?”

Zhang Fuyan didn’t know either. “I suppose so.”

After all, the woman was practically leaning all over him.

As they had passed each other earlier, Ou Minling had caught a glimpse of the man’s face. “He’s not as handsome as Second Brother.”

It wasn’t just that Second Brother was handsome; he also possessed an indescribable aura. Even in conversation, he exuded refinement and humility.

Zhang Fuyan agreed, “I think so too.”

Ou Minling continued, “Second Brother’s ex-wife is also quite good-looking. She has a certain charm.”

Zhang Fuyan nodded. “Yes.” There was no denying that. “But Xiaxia is much prettier than her.”

She had often heard her mother and cousin say that Jiang Xia was beautiful, intelligent, spoke foreign languages perfectly, and was very capable. Meeting her today, Zhang Fuyan found her to be nothing short of breathtaking.

She was truly a beauty—flawless from every angle. She stood head and shoulders above everyone else, enough to captivate the world. In all her years, Zhang Fuyan had never seen anyone more beautiful. Even wearing rubber boots, oversleeves, and a fisherman’s hat, Jiang Xia’s natural beauty was impossible to hide.

Jiang Dong: “…”

Could you please not compare my sister to that woman?

Zhang Fuyan was also slightly displeased. “Isn’t that obvious? There’s absolutely no comparison!”

Realizing she had misspoke, Ou Minling quickly changed the subject. “True, there’s no comparison. But why did Second Brother’s ex-wife cheat in the first place?”

Ruan Tang also looked toward Zhang Fuyan.

Zhang Fuyan shook her head. “I’m not entirely sure myself.”

“Didn’t Xiaxia say anything?”

Zhang Fuyan shook her head again. “She didn’t say much. She only mentioned a few things so we wouldn’t be caught off guard. She didn’t want us to run into her on the street and address her as ‘Second Sister-in-law,’ which would be awkward.”

Ou Minling thought back to how Jiang Dong had almost called out to her just moments ago.

Dropping the subject, Ou Minling asked, “When are you returning to the capital?”

“On the fifth,” Zhang Fuyan replied. “I’ll be going back with Xiaxia. We need to go back early to prepare for the Canton Fair.”

Ou Minling’s eyes lit up. “I’ll be going to the Canton Fair for an interview then. Can you help me book a room? Preferably right next door to yours? It’s finally my turn this time.”

The rooms her newspaper office booked would certainly not be as good as the ones Zhang Fuyan could secure.

Zhang Fuyan sighed. “I might not be able to book a separate room for you. More people are going this year, and there likely won’t be any vacancies. If I can’t get one, you can share a room with me. We’ll just squeeze onto one bed.”

“That works. Is Xiaxia’s foreign language skills really that impressive? Does she truly understand the languages of five or six countries?”

Zhang Fuyan’s expression turned serious. “It’s not just impressive; she’s mastered them to perfection. She can converse with people of several different nationalities simultaneously, switching between five languages effortlessly without getting confused!”

“I’m impressed. I can’t even remember the twenty-eight letters of the English alphabet.”

“There are only twenty-six letters in the English alphabet.”

“…”

Ruan Tang didn’t join the conversation, staring absentmindedly at the rolling rice fields outside the car window.

Autumn had arrived, and the harvest days were not far off.

After everyone had left, Tian Caihua nudged Zhou Chenglei. “Fourth Brother, aren’t you going to open that safe and see what’s inside?”

Father Zhou also looked on expectantly.

“No,” Zhou Chenglei replied flatly.

Tian Caihua pursed her lips. “You aren’t trying to keep it from me, are you? Don’t worry, I just want to know what’s in there. I won’t tell anyone.”

Zhou Chenglei offered a rare explanation. “This isn’t an ordinary safe. I plan to hand it over to the relevant authorities without opening it.”

Tian Caihua was stunned. “Hand it over?”

“Yes.”

Tian Caihua: “…”

If she had known that, she wouldn’t have helped dig it up! After digging for half the day, it was just going to be turned in. “Even if you turn it in, you can still open it to see what’s inside!”

Zhou Chenglei didn’t bother responding. He didn’t feel the need to explain everything to her. He turned to Jiang Xia. “I’m going to make a phone call.”

He had already explained the situation to Jiang Xia privately while she was nursing the baby. This safe looked very similar to one he had seen in a photograph.

If it was the same one, it likely contained classified documents or something of the sort. According to the story, when officials were arresting a suspect who was attempting to smuggle materials out of the country, the suspect had thrown a box into the sea in a desperate attempt to destroy the evidence.

The moment the safe was thrown was captured in a photograph; that was how he had seen it. The waves had been enormous that day, and a typhoon hit that night, so the safe was never recovered.

Of course, this was all information Zhou Chenglei had heard from an old friend. He had also heard that despite a thorough search of the boat, nothing was found.

Zhou Chenglei wanted to take the motorcycle to make his call, but he found it was still missing. It hadn’t been there when he returned from his morning run, so he had assumed his father or Second Brother had taken it out. But they were both home now.

“Where’s the motorcycle?”

Mother Zhou answered, “Zhou Guohua came to borrow it at dawn. His daughter is sick, and he took her to see a doctor. He hasn’t returned it yet, so he probably went to the city hospital.”

Zhou Chenglei didn’t say anything more. He took the bicycle and headed out.

Around five o’clock in the evening, Zhou Guohua returned on the motorcycle. He said to Mother Zhou, “Auntie, can I borrow the bike a bit longer? The child has been hospitalized in the city. I came back to grab some clothes and diapers.”

Mother Zhou asked with concern, “Is it that serious? Why the hospitalization?”

Zhou Guohua was filled with regret. “The doctor said the jaundice was left untreated for too long, and it caused complications. I have to go pack.”

He had no idea that a bit of yellow skin could lead to such severe consequences. Zhou Guohua hurried home.

Next door, Auntie Qiang (Zhou Bingqiang’s wife) saw that only Zhou Guohua had returned and asked, “Where are your wife and the baby?”

Zhou Guohua shouted something back, and the mother and son immediately began to argue.

“It’s just jaundice! You had it when you were little and it went away on its own! How was I supposed to know it would be this serious? Every baby gets it! How was I supposed to know it could affect her intelligence?”

“I’ve been raising your child from diapers; what did I do wrong?! How is it my fault she’s sick? She was fine yesterday during the day. You two must have failed to look after her last night, and she caught a cold and fever…”

…

Mother Zhou listened, her brow furrowed. “How can you delay when a child has jaundice? She’s over three months old! I reminded her more than a month ago, and then I reminded her again later. Auntie Qiang always said it was fine. She listened to some ‘secret folk remedy’ and boiled some herbs for the child to drink. That would have been one thing if it worked, as the herbs aren’t poisonous, but when it didn’t work after two or three days, she should have taken her to a doctor! Now that poor child, who was so pale and chubby, has been raised until she’s nothing but skin and bones with a yellow pallor.”

Jiang Xia had also noticed something was wrong when she saw the baby yesterday—the skin was far too yellow. She had even been unable to stop herself from offering a reminder.

Tian Caihua added, “Auntie Qiang values boys over girls more than anyone! If it were a fat grandson, she wouldn’t have been like this. Look at how she treats her other granddaughters; it’s not much better. And Wen Wan, she just went off to study after giving birth and didn’t look back. That poor child! Crying every day, getting scolded every day! Every time I come over, I hear the baby crying and Auntie Qiang yelling. But what are the complications? Jaundice has complications?”

Tian Caihua didn’t understand either.

Jiang Xia wasn’t entirely sure either. She had only heard that if a newborn’s jaundice levels are too high, they need blue light therapy. The complications, as she recalled, could involve damage to the brain’s neurological development, affecting intelligence.

Mother Zhou pointed to her head. “There was a child my age when I was little who had severe jaundice when he was born. No one understood it back then, and it affected his brain. At least, that’s what his mother said. I don’t know if it’s true. That’s why when A-Lei and the others were born and their skin looked a bit yellow, I was very worried. I told Auntie Qiang about this, but she wouldn’t believe me.”

Jiang Xia asked, “Didn’t Zhou Guohua or Uncle Qiang notice the yellow skin? It’s so obvious.”

Mother Zhou sighed. “Zhou Guohua and Zhou Bingqiang go out to sea every day; they don’t have the time, and they don’t know the first thing about raising children.”

Tian Caihua chimed in, “Auntie Qiang was the one looking after the baby. She’s the grandmother, so if she said it was fine, they took her word for it. What do they know about childcare? Besides, some babies’ jaundice really does fade on its own. Who knew there would be complications? I’d never even heard of it!”

Tian Caihua looked at Jiang Xia. “Do you think Wen Wan’s child will have intellectual problems in the future?”

The poor child! To be stuck with such a family!

Jiang Xia replied softly, “…I hope not.”

Chapter 613: The Rivalry

The next day, the entire family drove to the city in the Jeep and a tractor.

Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia were heading to the city for three reasons: first, to deliver the safe to the relevant authorities; second, to meet Zhang Rong and look at that garment factory; and third, to officially take possession of the stalls and shops they had previously purchased at the seafood market.

Tian Caihua, Big Brother, Father Zhou, and Mother Zhou were there to see the shops.

Zhou Chengsen also tagged along to take a look. Both Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei suggested that he buy one or two stalls as well.

Jiang Xia felt that among the three brothers, only Zhou Chengsen hadn’t bought any yet, so it was worth encouraging him. After all, it was a guaranteed profit; whether he bought it or not was ultimately his decision.

Father Zhou felt that anything Wealth-bringer took an interest in was bound to be good. He said, “A-Sen, you should buy one too. You can rent it out in the future. Leaving money in the bank is just letting it sit there. If you buy a stall, you can collect rent—won’t that be higher than bank interest?”

Father Zhou was very happy to know that the brothers planned to partner up and buy a large ocean fishing boat. He planned to contribute 30,000 yuan as a deposit, 10,000 for each of the three brothers.

Of course, if his savings grew by the time the boat was ready for delivery, he would put in a few tens of thousands more to lighten their burden.

“Then I’ll take a look. If it’s suitable, I’ll buy one,” Zhou Chengsen replied. He had a virtue: he knew what he wanted and could be stubborn, but he was also open to advice and appreciated the good intentions of others.

The children preferred riding in the tractor. Sitting in the trailer, they could play and gather together to eat snacks. So, Big Brother drove the tractor with them in the back.

Mother Zhou, Father Zhou, Tian Caihua, and Zhou Chengsen all rode in the Jeep.

Mother Zhou, Father Zhou, and Tian Caihua each held one child.

Whenever one of the three children leaned over to say something to them, the adults would respond. The cabin was filled with “baby babble and laughter,” joyful and adorable.

Father Zhou played with the children every day, and the smile never left his face. Each time, he would smile until his facial muscles went stiff.

The children spoke “baby talk” the whole way. By the time they nearly reached the city, the adults gave them some water, and they fell asleep shortly after.

Zhou Chenglei dropped them off at the seafood market first, then drove off to deliver the safe.

Jiang Dong also arrived. Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei had bought a shop and a stall for him, and Father and Mother Jiang had also bought him a stall.

He had agreed with Jiang Xia yesterday to come together to officially take possession.

Jiang Xia and Tian Caihua first went to settle the remaining balance they owed.

After the payment was made, Li Zhihua personally led them into the market to see their shops and stalls.

Jiang Xia’s group was considered a major client, and since he happened to be free today, he accompanied them. “You’ve definitely made a profit buying these. Prices have already gone up.”

The seafood market had begun the handover process starting on National Day.

The stalls didn’t require any renovation. The developer had already given the shops a simple coat of white paint, and the lofts were already built. If they were selling dried seafood directly, the shops didn’t need any work at all. However, if they were selling fresh seafood, they would need to build their own cold storage and water tanks.

Right now, some stalls in the market already had people selling fried fish.

However, there weren’t many people buying. Most people coming to the market currently were there to take possession of their properties.

Tian Caihua looked at such a large market with so few people and felt a bit uneasy. “Isn’t this place a bit too desolate?”

Father Zhou remarked, “It hasn’t officially opened yet, so of course it’s quiet. Once all the stalls are open, it won’t be quiet anymore. A market is just a big bazaar with a roof over its head; there will definitely be crowds.”

Zhou Guohua shared Tian Caihua’s initial concern.

Zhou Guohua had driven Wen Wan over on his motorcycle.

He looked around. “The surroundings of this market are so desolate. Will people really come? If people want to buy seafood, won’t they just go to the pier?”

“A market doesn’t just sell seafood,” Wen Wan countered. She knew the seafood market here was starting its sales, so she had dragged Zhou Guohua along. Since the baby was in the ICU and they could only sit around uselessly at the hospital anyway, they couldn’t do much to care for the child.

As Wen Wan spoke, she spotted Jiang Xia’s family, though the Zhou family hadn’t noticed them yet.

Wen Wan pointed at the Zhou family. “See that? The family next door is here to buy too! Let’s head over! They seem to have a salesman with them.”

She absolutely couldn’t let Jiang Xia buy the good stall she had her eye on!

Wen Wan pulled Zhou Guohua and walked quickly toward them.

Hearing the words of Tian Caihua and Father Zhou, Li Zhihua explained with a smile, “Haha, Uncle is right! Moreover, this market will be open every day, making it convenient for citizens to buy groceries daily, and it’s cleaner. On November 1st, the market’s property management will hold a grand opening ceremony to attract traffic. If you’re using those stalls and shops for your own business, you might consider opening before November 1st. Believe me, you won’t lose money on this purchase. Prices have already risen.”

Tian Caihua immediately followed up, “How much have they gone up?”

“Right now, the cheapest ones are at least 2,800 yuan. The stalls you bought have already risen to 3,000 or 3,500 each. You’ve definitely made a profit.”

Jiang Xia wasn’t worried at all about the market’s popularity. She asked, “Are there any good stalls left?”

“Every stall in this market is a good stall. The ones remaining are further inside. The most available ones are in the very center of the market.”

Mother Zhou noted, “But the business is always best at the most convenient spots near the entrances; things sell fastest there.”

“That’s true, but the number of customers in the market is roughly the same every day. As long as your goods are high quality and cheap, people will recognize your stall and you specifically! If you do a good job, you’ll get plenty of regular customers. Location isn’t everything.”

Zhou Chengsen said, “Let’s first see which stalls are available.”

Li Zhihua took them to look. The remaining stalls were indeed deep inside, mostly in the center area.

Tian Caihua took a look around and walked toward a spot. “This one is considered the closest to the entrance among what’s left.”

Zhou Chengsen looked at it but wasn’t satisfied.

Father Zhou, holding Eldest Brother, asked Jiang Xia, “Xiao Xia, which one do you think is good?”

Jiang Xia believed that no matter what location they bought, it would be profitable in the future.

Wages weren’t rising as fast as the price of these stalls.

However, since they were buying, they should naturally try to pick the best location possible.

Jiang Xia stood in an aisle, looking at the hanging signs, and asked Li Zhihua, “The left side is the fruit and vegetable section, and the right side is the meat section?”

“Yes, that’s how it’s partitioned. Those signs were just put up a few days ago.”

Jiang Xia asked again, “No one has bought the stalls in these two middle rows?”

“No, the stalls at the very beginning and end of this aisle have been sold. Only these in the middle haven’t been bought yet.” Li Zhihua pointed out which ones were taken. “Actually, I don’t think the middle is bad. Look, there’s a cross-aisle here. On the left, they sell vegetables and fruits; on the right, they sell meat. Won’t the people buying vegetables on the left naturally walk over to the right to buy some meat? If they don’t want to walk further, they’ll just buy from these stalls right here. Isn’t that convenient? Plus, these stalls are cheaper! If you want them, I can give them to you for 2,600.”

Jiang Xia had the same thought. She asked Zhou Chengsen, “What does Second Brother think?”

Zhou Chengsen shared Jiang Xia’s perspective and also felt the ones in the middle of the aisle were better. He picked a stall on the left side of the intersection in the meat and vegetable section. “How about this one?”

Jiang Xia nodded. “This one works!”

Just then, a voice cut in. “We want this one!”

Everyone turned to look at the source of the voice.

Wen Wan said to Li Zhihua, “Comrade, are you the salesman for this market? I’ll take this stall! 2,500 yuan, and I’ll pay right now.”

Chapter 614: The Weakling

Tian Caihua immediately bristled. “Pah! We already picked out these stalls. Who are you to demand them?”

Wen Wan countered, “You only looked at them; you didn’t say you were buying. I was the first one to say I’d buy them!”

Zhou Guohua pulled at Wen Wan’s hand. “Xiao Wan, let’s choose another one.”

He signaled with his eyes for Wen Wan to stop. They were neighbors, and they had just borrowed the other family’s motorcycle—how could she be so shameless?

His father and Uncle Fu had bickered their whole lives, but that was just verbal sparring and showing off their family’s belongings; it had never crossed the line like this.

How was this any different from highway robbery? There were so many stalls; why did she insist on snatching the one the others had already picked?

“Shut up! I want this one!” Wen Wan was adamant. In her past life, she had visited this market. This specific stall had been a butcher’s shop, and it was the busiest spot in the entire place.

She had once bought pork from the owner of that stall, and he had told her that while others sold one pig a day, he could sell two, and even three during the holidays.

Currently, all the good stalls in the market were marked with red “Sold” signs. Out of what remained, this was the best location. She wasn’t embarrassed, nor did she care what people said; words wouldn’t hurt her. However, failing to buy this stall would mean losing a lot of potential money. After all, the busiest stalls were the ones people fought to rent, and she could charge a higher price for it.

Tian Caihua fumed, “You’re absolutely shameless! We saw this stall first!”

Wen Wan couldn’t be bothered with her. “Comrade, I’ll take this stall! Two thousand six hundred is fine. Actually, I want two! I’ll take both this one and the one next to it.”

She had saved the money she earned from translating, living frugally just to buy two stalls here. Since they were a guaranteed investment, she didn’t care about an extra hundred yuan. Once she bought two stalls, by the time she was old, the combined rental income would be over ten thousand yuan. Wouldn’t life be grand?

Li Zhihua was speechless.

Jiang Xia looked at Li Zhihua and asked calmly, “Comrade Li, are you selling to her?”

Li Zhihua shook his head and addressed Wen Wan, “I’m sorry, comrade, but these people arrived first, and they chose these stalls first. We still have many other stalls in the market to choose from. You can look around and pick another.”

Zhou Guohua quickly added, “Fine! We’ll look at others. Xiao Wan, let’s go.” He hurried to pull Wen Wan away.

Wen Wan shoved him off. “I was the first to say I’m buying! They were just haggling over the price, but I’ve already committed to the full price!”

Jiang Xia ignored Wen Wan. Saying even a single word to someone like her was a waste of breath. Instead, she spoke directly to Li Zhihua. “Comrade Li, can we get a discount on these stalls? If the price is right, I might buy a few more.”

Hearing that Jiang Xia intended to buy several, Father Zhou chimed in, “Comrade, can you do two thousand for one stall?”

Li Zhihua’s eyes widened. They were cutting the price by six hundred yuan just like that? “Two thousand won’t work! That’s too cheap! Two thousand five hundred and fifty—I can only knock off fifty yuan.”

Wen Wan shouted, “I won’t haggle! I’ll pay the full two thousand six hundred right now!”

Jiang Dong glanced at Wen Wan, wondering where this lunatic had come from to annoy his sister. He spoke up immediately, “What if we buy all the remaining stalls along this aisle? Actually, what if we buy every remaining stall in the market? Can we get them for two thousand then?”

Wen Wan: “…”

Zhou Guohua: “…”

Li Zhihua: “…”

Tian Caihua: “…”

She looked at Jiang Dong with stars in her eyes. What a display of wealth and power!

Truly, knowledge was power! She decided that as soon as she got home, she would make her children study even harder. She and her husband woke up at four o’clock every morning to go out to sea and fish, working themselves to the bone just to afford one or two stalls. Yet Xiao Xia’s younger brother could claim them all in one breath.

Having money was truly a dominant feeling! With money, there was no need to choose—you just took everything! How satisfying!

She thought about how Jiang Xia and Jiang Dong were about to head to the Canton Fair again. Who knew how much they would earn this time? Tian Caihua was filled with envy. She wanted to be that imposing too, instead of arguing until her face was red, crying, “I saw it first!”

Li Zhihua quickly replied, “Two thousand really is too low, but I can ask what the lowest price is for you. How about this? Come with me to talk to our boss. I’ll let you bargain with him directly. He happens to be nearby today.”

A piece of land nearby was being prepared for development, and today his brother-in-law, several directors, and representatives from a few construction companies were on-site for a field inspection.

Jiang Dong nodded. “Fine, let’s go talk to your boss.”

“Alright, this way, please. You should drive over; it’s a few hundred meters away.”

“Okay.”

The group began walking toward the parking area.

“Wait,” Jiang Xia called out. Everyone turned back to look at her.

Jiang Xia walked up to Zhou Guohua. “We need to use the motorcycle. Give it back.”

Flushing with embarrassment, Zhou Guohua handed the keys back to Jiang Xia. “Sorry about that. And thank you.”

Jiang Xia replied, “No need for thanks. I didn’t lend it to you; I rented it to you. The tank was full when you took it, and I don’t know how much fuel you’ve used. Counting the rental fee, give me fifty yuan. Twenty yuan a day for two days, plus ten yuan for the gas. That’s fifty total.”

Wen Wan screeched, “Fifty yuan? Why don’t you just rob us? A full tank doesn’t even cost ten yuan! we just put in two yuan worth of gas!”

Jiang Xia stared her down. “Exactly, I am robbing you. Are you going to pay or not?”

Wen Wan: “…”

Knowing that Wen Wan had thoroughly provoked Jiang Xia, Zhou Guohua hurriedly pulled out five “Great Unity” ten-yuan notes and handed them over. “Here, here’s fifty yuan.”

Wen Wan glared at Zhou Guohua. What a spineless coward!

Jiang Xia took the money. “If you think it’s too expensive, don’t ask to borrow our vehicle next time. This is the price for borrowing a motorcycle from my family.”

Having said her piece, Jiang Xia turned and walked back to the group.

Tian Caihua felt vindicated. “Serves her right! Some people are only good at causing trouble. Her mother-in-law was right—whoever marries her is in for a life of bad luck!”

Wen Wan: “…”

Fearing Wen Wan would explode and start an argument with Tian Caihua, Zhou Guohua quickly tried to soothe her. “Let’s go. We’ll go buy our own motorcycle.”

Since they couldn’t buy the stall, they might as well use the money for a motorcycle. That way, next time Wen Wan came back, he could pick her up from the airport or the train station.

Wen Wan shoved his hand away. “You buy it if you want; I’m not buying anything.”

This weakling! He didn’t say a word when his own wife was being bullied. He even sided with the outsiders! If he hadn’t helped them instead of her, wouldn’t she have been able to buy the stall?

Wen Wan was nearly dying of rage. Her future retirement fund was gone! She felt as if she and Zhou Guohua were fundamentally incompatible. Why else did every opportunity to strike it rich slip through her fingers whenever he was involved? Enraged, she stomped away.

Zhou Guohua quickly chased after her.

Zhou Chengsen reached out to Jiang Xia. “Xiao Xia, give me the keys. I’ll ride the motorcycle.”

Jiang Xia didn’t stand on ceremony and handed him the keys; she would just ride in Jiang Dong’s car.

Li Zhihua also had a car, and he invited Jiang Xia, Father Zhou, Mother Zhou, and Tian Caihua to join him.

Tian Caihua had never ridden in a sedan before; she had only been in Jeeps. She smiled broadly. “Sure! I’ll ride with you.”

Jiang Xia accompanied Tian Caihua into Li Zhihua’s car. Father Zhou and Mother Zhou took the children and got into Jiang Dong’s car. The rest of the children remained on the tractor.

Li Zhihua led them to a nearby empty lot. About a dozen people were standing together talking, while excavators and bulldozers worked in the distance. The weeds and trees on the lot had mostly been cleared.

Among the dozen people standing there, Jiang Xia recognized two of them.

Chapter 615: Why Do You Do Everything?

The yellow earth was vast and open, making anyone approaching particularly conspicuous.

Jiang Xia and her group drew near.

The elderly man who had lost his wallet at the train station recognized Jiang Xia immediately. He smiled happily and said, “Xiao Xia?”

Mr. He from the construction company also remembered Jiang Xia. After all, she was one of the company’s shareholders. When Zhang Rong had brought the couple over, he had been struck by their impressive presence. He also smiled and said, “Xiao Xia.”

Jiang Xia approached with poise and laughed. “Elder Mai, Mr. He, what a coincidence.”

A dozen or so people all turned to look at Jiang Xia.

She was truly beautiful and had an exceptional temperament. Furthermore, both Elder Mai and Mr. He clearly knew her.

However, Elder Mai and Mr. He had not known each other before today.

Because of this, everyone began to speculate about Jiang Xia’s identity.

The managers of the other two construction companies felt their hearts sink.

The largest investor for this piece of land was Elder Mai from Hong Kong.

Elder Mai looked at He Jianxin. “Manager He, you know Xiao Xia?”

He Jianxin smiled. “Comrade Xiao Xia is one of our company’s shareholders.”

Seeing Elder Mai’s friendliness toward Jiang Xia, he felt their company now had a sixty percent chance of winning the bid for this project.

Originally, he hadn’t been very confident, as the other two companies were far more established and powerful than his own.

Jiang Xia truly was their company’s lucky star.

Ever since Jiang Xia bought the shares from their other partner, the company’s business had surged. Out of every ten projects they negotiated for, they managed to land eight or nine.

At the same time, the people from the other two companies felt a strong sense of crisis.

Sometimes, it wasn’t strength that counted, but connections.

Tian Caihua’s jaw nearly hit the ground in surprise!

What?

What did “one of the shareholders” mean?

Was a “shareholder” like the ones in those Hong Kong TV dramas?

When did Jiang Xia become a shareholder in Mr. He’s company?

Aren’t shareholders supposed to be very wealthy people?

Hearing this, Elder Mai assumed Jiang Xia was here to participate in the project. He asked with a smile, “And what are you in charge of this time?”

The first time he met her, she was selling fried fish at the train station. The second time, she was serving as a translator for several factories at the Canton Fair. This time, she was a shareholder of a construction company. Just how many jobs was this girl holding down?

Why did she do everything?

Wasn’t she afraid of exhausting herself?

Jiang Xia laughed. “How could I have the ability to be in charge of anything? I’m just here to buy something and haggle over the price.”

“Haggle over what?”

Li Zhihua seized the opportunity to speak. “Chairman Mai, Comrade Xiao Xia and her younger brother are planning to buy stalls at the seafood market. Since they’re buying quite a few, I brought them over to ask Manager Zheng for a discount.”

Manager Zheng was Li Zhihua’s brother-in-law.

Manager Zheng knew the remaining stall locations weren’t the best, so giving a larger discount didn’t matter. Even if he didn’t offer one, Chairman Mai was the largest shareholder, and he would have likely spoken up anyway.

He directly offered the highest possible discount. “Then let’s do twenty percent off and round down the total!”

That brought it down to nearly twenty-five percent off in total.

Li Zhihua was shocked. This was the same discount he had received. This time, they really were two thousand yuan each. He smiled and said, “Fine.”

Elder Mai said nothing. The shareholders had already discussed what prices to give to relatives and friends; those rules shouldn’t be broken lightly.

If he wanted to help Jiang Xia, he could do so in other areas rather than through these small favors.

Elder Mai looked at the people beside Jiang Xia.

He knew Jiang Xia had given birth to triplets. He guessed the people holding the three children were Jiang Xia’s family. He asked with a smile, “Xiao Xia, won’t you introduce me?”

Mr. He also looked at Jiang Xia, waiting for an introduction.

“This is my father-in-law, mother-in-law, Big Brother, Big Sister-in-law, Second Brother…”

Jiang Xia smilingly introduced her family to the two men.

Elder Mai and Mr. He shook hands with each of them, their tones warm and friendly.

Sometimes, the higher someone’s status and position, the more humble and polite they were in their dealings with others.

After the introductions were finished and a few more pleasantries were exchanged, the stall prices were settled. Jiang Xia wanted to leave, but Elder Mai reached out toward Father Zhou. “Is this the eldest brother? Old comrade, would you let me hold him?”

Father Zhou handed the child to him.

Elder Mai took the eldest brother, staring unblinkingly at the peacefully sleeping child in his arms.

This child…

He then looked at the second brother and the little sister.

They looked so much like him!

All three children looked like him!

In truth, at first glance, the three children looked very much alike. It was only upon closer inspection that one could see the differences.

Jiang Xia noticed Elder Mai’s hands trembling slightly. Fearing he might not hold the child steadily, she said, “Is he a bit heavy? Let me take him.”

Elder Mai shook his head, holding the eldest brother tightly. “He’s not heavy. It’s just been a long time since I’ve held a child; I’m just a bit emotional.”

Once Jiang Xia saw that Elder Mai’s hands had stopped trembling, her heart settled, though she still watched closely.

After all, Elder Mai was around the same age as her Grandpa and Grandma.

Still holding the child, Elder Mai spoke to the representatives from the construction companies. “That’s all for today. Go back and prepare your proposals, then show them to us. Let’s say next Friday? We’ll have a joint meeting next Friday. Thank you all for your hard work today.”

The people from the construction companies took their leave to go back and work on their plans.

Mr. He didn’t stay either. He said to Jiang Xia with a smile, “I’ll be going now. When you have time, come have tea in my office with A-Lei.”

Jiang Xia nodded. “Alright. Safe travels, Mr. He.”

After the construction company people had left, Manager Zheng said, “Come sit in my office for a bit. We can sign the stall contracts while we’re at it.”

Elder Mai didn’t have an office here; he was only responsible for the investment and didn’t participate much in the management.

So, the group got into vehicles to head to Manager Zheng’s office.

Elder Mai continued to hold the eldest brother, so Jiang Xia rode in Elder Mai’s car.

Before getting in, she asked Jiang Dong to go to the seafood market to see if Zhou Chenglei had returned.

Hearing this, Li Zhihua immediately said, “I’ll go tell the staff over there. I’ll have Comrade Zhou come to my brother-in-law’s office when he gets back.”

Jiang Xia thanked him. Just then, she saw a Jeep driving toward them. It stopped, and Zhou Chenglei stepped out holding a hat. He walked toward Jiang Xia.

Elder Mai laughed. “Speak of the devil.”

Zhou Chenglei greeted Elder Mai, Manager Zheng, and Li Zhihua, then walked up to Jiang Xia. “Where are we going now?”

Elder Mai replied, “To sit in Manager Zheng’s office for a bit.”

Jiang Xia added, “A-Dong and Second Brother are buying stalls and need to sign the contracts. I’m riding with Elder Mai.”

Zhou Chenglei nodded.

And so, Jiang Xia got into Elder Mai’s car.

Inside the car, Elder Mai was still holding the eldest brother. He said to Jiang Xia, “After the Spring Canton Fair ended, I originally wanted to look for you and A-Lei, but something came up at the company and I had to go back. I planned to visit you during this trip as well, but I didn’t expect to run into you here.”

Jiang Xia smiled and said, “It means we are fated!”

Elder Mai nodded. “Indeed, fate. Shall we have lunch together?”

Hearing this, Jiang Xia said, “My parents have already reserved a table. If you don’t mind, Elder Mai, would you like to join us?”

Jiang Dong had told her as soon as he arrived that Father Jiang had booked a private room at Fuman Restaurant for the two families to have lunch together.

However, Elder Mai would likely have to eat with Manager Zheng and the others, so he would probably refuse.

Jiang Xia waited for him to decline so she could invite him for a meal on the fifth instead. To her surprise, Elder Mai agreed immediately. “Alright.”

Jiang Xia: “…”

Chapter 616: Adopted Son

Zhou Chengsen only bought one stall. He needed to save money to buy a boat, so he didn’t have much to spare.

Jiang Dong, on the other hand, bought the remaining eighteen stalls in one breath and added four storefronts to his haul.

It was only after Manager Zheng asked Jiang Dong and Jiang Xia if they wanted to buy storefronts at a twenty percent discount that Jiang Dong decided to buy them.

The four storefronts cost eight thousand yuan each. This was even cheaper than when Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei had bought theirs, though the location wasn’t quite as prime as Jiang Xia’s previous purchase.

However, they were on the same street, and the entire street was a booming area, so there was no need to worry.

Jiang Dong planned to give one of the storefronts to his parents and then give one to each of his three nephews and nieces for their 100-day celebration.

The day after tomorrow, the fifth, would be the triplets’ 100-day milestone.

Jiang Dong hadn’t told Jiang Xia his plan yet. If he did, she would surely refuse and tell him to buy them for himself.

When they were signing the contracts just now, Jiang Dong had filled in the names of Jiang Xia and the triplets.

Jiang Xia hadn’t been there at the time; the children had woken up, so she and Zhou Chenglei had gone back to the car to change diapers and feed them. They were completely unaware of what he had done.

By the time she finished feeding them and came back up, Jiang Dong had already finished signing everything.

Jiang Dong’s reasoning was simple: it was only right to buy gifts for his sister’s children. Currently, he and Wen Wan were staying at his sister’s house, eating and drinking for free every day. Shouldn’t he buy something for his niece and nephews?

Besides, the ideas that had allowed him to earn so much money had all come from his sister. Without her, he wouldn’t have earned this much or been able to afford these properties.

Jiang Dong looked at the baby girl in his arms and asked, “Little Bao is almost a hundred days old. Do you want a gift? Uncle will give you one, okay?”

Elder Mai heard this and asked, “When is their 100-day celebration?”

Jiang Dong replied, “The fifth.”

Jiang Xia chimed in, “Do you have too much money with nowhere to spend it? Who gives such lavish gifts for a 100-day celebration? Don’t go breaking social norms.”

The baby girl was already awake. As soon as Jiang Dong spoke to her, she responded happily, “A-goo!”

“See, Little Bao says she wants it too. If I want to give it, I will. Why worry about so many rules?”

Jiang Xia didn’t argue further. She didn’t know what Jiang Dong was planning to give, but Tian Caihua did!

Tian Caihua was envious. Why wasn’t Jiang Dong her brother? She really wished she had a brother like that.

Unfortunately, her own brothers back at her parents’ home still relied on her for support; they wished she would build houses and buy shops for them.

After finishing the purchase of the stalls, Jiang Xia invited Manager Zheng and Elder Mai to lunch.

Manager Zheng declined, as he still had things to attend to.

As the group walked out of the office, they encountered Elder Mai’s son. “Dad!”

Elder Mai was surprised. “What are you doing here?”

Elder Mai then introduced him to Jiang Xia and the others. “This is my adopted son, Mai Nianshan.”

“Nianshan, this is Comrade Jiang Xia, the one I mentioned before who helped me find my wallet at the train station. This is her husband, Comrade Zhou Chenglei, and this is…”

Mai Nianshan was slightly taken substitute. It had been a long time since his father introduced him to others as his “adopted son”; usually, he just said “my son.”

Why was he saying “adopted son” again now?

Elder Mai had never married or had biological children in his later life; he had only adopted one son.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t that Elder Mai had never married. Before he left for Hong Kong, he had a wife and a son. However, during those turbulent and restless years, he had accidentally become separated from his wife and child while crossing over to Hong Kong and had never been able to find them again.

He spent his whole life looking for them. Many people told him that since he hadn’t found them after so many years, they were likely long dead, and they urged him to marry again and have children. But he never did.

Later, by chance, he saw Mai Nianshan at a children’s welfare home. Realizing the boy shared the same birth date as his lost son, he adopted him and named him Mai Nianshan.

In Chinese, “Shan” (Mountain) sounds like “Shan” (Graceful). Elder Mai’s wife was named Mai Shan.

However, Elder Mai’s actual surname was Jiang, not Mai. His name was Jiang Mai, and it was his wife who was surnamed Mai. Because the company he founded was called Sanmai Group, everyone called him Chairman Mai or Elder Mai. Back in Hong Kong, some people even called him Mai San.

“Mai San” was his childhood nickname because he was the third child in his family. The number “San” (Three) sounds like his wife’s name “Shan,” so he felt he shared a deep destiny with her.

Naming his adopted son “Nianshan” (Missing Shan/Mountain) was a clear expression of how much he missed his wife and son. Elder Mai had even told Mai Nianshan that his lost son’s name also contained the word “Shan.”

After the introduction, Mai Nianshan pushed aside his thoughts and shook hands with Jiang Xia and the others with a smile. “I’ve heard so much about you. Thank you very much for helping my father find his wallet.”

He was humble, polite, warm, and friendly.

When Mai Nianshan shook hands with Zhou Chenglei, he glanced at the infant in Zhou’s arms and froze for a moment.

The baby grinned at him.

Mai Nianshan smiled. “How cute!”

Then he looked at the other two infants. “Are these triplets? They look so much alike!”

“Yes,” Zhou Chenglei replied simply.

Mai Nianshan then smilingly shook hands with Father Zhou and the others.

After the pleasantries, he leaned in and whispered a few words into Elder Mai’s ear.

Elder Mai’s expression changed slightly upon hearing the news. He turned to Jiang Xia and the group. “I have an urgent matter to attend to and must return to Hong Kong immediately. I’ll make sure to have dinner with you all next time I’m here. I’m very sorry!”

Jiang Xia and the others naturally said it was no problem.

Elder Mai offered a few more polite words and then left hurriedly with Mai Nianshan.

The Zhou family then set off for Fuman Restaurant for lunch.

On the way, Tian Caihua couldn’t help but discuss it with Jiang Xia. “Doesn’t Elder Mai have a son of his own? Why did he adopt one?”

Jiang Xia replied, “I don’t know.”

“Don’t you know him?”

Jiang Xia shook her head. “I’ve only met him twice. We aren’t that close. I don’t know anything about his family situation.”

With those two sentences, Jiang Xia effectively extinguished the flames of Tian Caihua’s gossip.

Seeing Zhou Chengsen riding a motorcycle, Zhou Chenglei asked Jiang Xia, “What’s the story with the motorcycle?”

Tian Caihua immediately spoke up, “It’s all because of that shameless Wen Wan…”

She chattered all the way there. Zhou Chenglei slightly regretted asking the question in front of Tian Caihua. It was too noisy!

After lunch, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei planned to visit the garment factory in the afternoon. Zhou Chengsen decided to take the children to the city to see a movie.

Tian Caihua refused to go. Taking so many kids to wander the streets and watch a movie meant buying tickets for everyone, plus popsicles and melon seeds—it would cost quite a bit of money.

Tian Caihua didn’t like wandering around. There was a TV at home for free; wasn’t that enough? Why spend money to see a movie? She was never enthusiastic about activities that required spending money.

Tian Caihua said, “I’ll go to the fourth brother’s house to rest for a bit.”

Seeing that Tian Caihua wasn’t going, Zhou Chengxin said, “Then I’ll go with A-Sen to take the kids. I’ve never seen a movie before either. Dad, Mom, do you want to go?”

The two elders weren’t interested in movies. “No.”

Father Jiang invited them, “Why don’t the relatives come to my house to sit and have some tea?”

Father and Mother Zhou were too embarrassed to bother them and shook their heads. “No, we got up early today. We’ll go to Xiao Xia’s house in the city to rest.”

Jiang Xia then said to Zhou Chenglei, “You take Mom, Dad, and Big Sister-in-law home first. I’ll take Xiao Dong’s car back to my mother’s place to put the babies to sleep. You can come pick me up then.”

Father and Mother Jiang wanted to spend time with their grandchildren; they felt they saw too little of them.

“Alright.”

The couple split up to handle their respective tasks.

Jiang Xia took the children back to her parents’ house, fed them, and coaxed them to sleep. By then, Zhou Chenglei had arrived.

The two of them then set off for the mall to pick up Zhang Rong before heading to the garment factory together.

The children were left at home to be looked after by Father Jiang, Mother Jiang, and Jiang Dong.

The garment factory was located within the city. It wasn’t very large, less than two thousand square meters.

Chapter 617: The Garment Factory

The factory director was a man in his fifties. He personally led them on a tour. “Don’t let the fact that these workshops look a bit old and small fool you; small as it may be, this place is perfectly formed. It has everything you need. Look, here is the warehouse, the accessories store, the fabric store, and the finished goods store.”

“This side is the production workshop, which is five hundred square meters. Over there is the finishing section, three hundred square meters. Cutting, buttonholing, buttoning, thread trimming, pressing, quality control, and so on are all handled over there.”

Jiang Xia walked into the workshop to take a look.

Rows of sewing machines were lined up inside.

She stepped up to one at random and tried it; it was broken.

She tried another one; it was also broken.

The director immediately spoke up, “These sewing machines only have minor issues. Find a mechanic to fix them up, and there’s absolutely no problem using them for another eight or ten years. You know how it is with machinery; small problems are inevitable after long use. But they’re all minor issues—fixable. For instance, this one just needs a new belt.”

The garment factory was indeed old. An old workshop didn’t matter, as it could be renovated. Being a bit small didn’t matter either; she didn’t have enough money right now to take over a massive factory anyway.

The biggest issue was the excessive inventory and the outdated equipment. Many of the sewing machines were broken, almost to the point of being obsolete.

Jiang Xia tried several more machines, and nearly all of them had problems of varying degrees.

She turned to him and said, “These sewing machines are too old and have too many issues. I’ve tried this many, and every single one has a problem.”

“These are all minor issues,” the director insisted. “They can be used once fixed. We’ve been using them like this all along. The factory has a maintenance mechanic who’s very familiar with them; he can fix anything. I can introduce him to you. If you hire him, he can solve any problem the factory’s machines might have.”

Jiang Xia replied, “Let’s go take a look at the stockpiled clothes in the warehouse first.”

She would decide after seeing the inventory.

The director claimed the sewing equipment could be used after some repairs.

And it was true—they could be used if fixed.

You could keep fixing them and keep using them forever.

However, the garment industry had two major characteristics: it was highly seasonal and highly trend-dependent.

Once something went out of style, it was worthless.

A season only lasted three months, so the clothes for each season—from design to production—had to be prepared two seasons in advance.

You couldn’t produce summer clothes during the summer; you had to start producing winter clothes then.

Moreover, while producing winter clothes, you still had to produce summer ones. This was because you wouldn’t know which styles would become hits until the products hit the market.

When a hit style emerged, customers wanted to make more money, so wouldn’t they want to place additional orders? And the factory, wanting to make more money, would take those orders.

Additional orders meant workers had to work overtime to rush the production, getting the clothes out and sold before the season ended.

Therefore, suffering a large-scale equipment breakdown was a serious problem.

By the time the cold front arrived, if you only just finished producing the summer clothes, who would buy them?

If they couldn’t be sold, wouldn’t that just become more inventory? Even if you kept them for the following year, they would be outdated, out of fashion, and worthless.

Furthermore, having too much stockpiled clothing meant money was tied up. If too much capital was tied up, how could the factory have any cash flow?

When the group arrived at the warehouse, they could see the shelves were overflowing with clothes.

“These clothes have been stored very well,” the director said. “They’re all new, and the colors are very bright.”

They were indeed new, but they were all blue, army green, black, and gray—the styles that were most popular in the sixties and seventies.

This garment factory had been producing these kinds of clothes all along.

They had even been producing them as recently as two months ago.

If the policies hadn’t changed and they hadn’t been the unlucky ones to become part of the first batch of pilot factories, there would have been no problem selling these clothes with the government’s help.

But things had changed. Since last year, they had to find their own ways to sell their products, and then they couldn’t find any buyers. They simply couldn’t sell them.

Consequently, the several-hundred-square-meter warehouse was packed to the brim with clothes.

Jiang Xia felt like backing out just looking at it.

Seeing her deep frown, the director immediately said, “These clothes can still be sold. They’re all very good quality; you could make a lot of money selling them. There are over thirty thousand sets here!”

Jiang Xia let out a small laugh. “Of course I could make money if they could be sold. But Director, haven’t you been unable to sell them either? Otherwise, this garment factory wouldn’t need to be restructured.”

Over thirty thousand sets of clothes—even at ten yuan a set, it would cost over three hundred thousand yuan to take them over.

What’s more, this inventory included styles for spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Only the summer wear was ten yuan a set.

With over three hundred thousand yuan, she could buy over three thousand new sewing machines.

This entire factory didn’t even have three thousand machines.

It wasn’t worth it!

The director was speechless.

Jiang Xia continued, “How about this? I don’t want the clothes. You sell them, Director, and I’ll just lease the factory.”

“That won’t do,” the director replied. “Anyone who wants to lease the factory must also take over these clothes.”

Everyone who had come to see the factory had refused the inventory.

If he didn’t get rid of the clothes, he would be responsible for selling them.

If he could sell them, would the factory’s restructuring have failed?

Would the workers be facing layoffs?

Jiang Xia shook her head. “It’s too expensive; I can’t afford the lease like that. Instead of spending money on this batch of clothes, I’d be better off buying new sewing machines and new equipment, wouldn’t I?”

The director argued, “That’s not how you should look at it. If you take over these clothes, you’ll make a profit once you sell them. These are long-sleeved clothes; they can sell for over a dozen yuan a set outside, and the thick ones can go for over twenty!”

Jiang Xia shook her head again. “But there’s too much inventory. I don’t have enough money; I really can’t afford the lease. I’m truly sorry.”

She turned to Zhou Chenglei and Zhang Rong. “I can’t afford it. Let’s go.”

Zhang Rong said to the director, “Director Shen, thank you for your trouble today. We’ll be going now.”

The three of them started to walk out.

Seeing them leaving, Director Shen grew anxious.

Several people had already come to look, and no one wanted the clothes.

The director was still waiting to sell these clothes so he could pay the workers’ wages.

“Then… how about I lower the price a bit? Seven yuan for a summer set, ten for spring and autumn, and fifteen for winter?”

Jiang Xia shook her head. “I still can’t afford the lease at that price.”

She really didn’t have enough cash on hand, and there was just too much clothing!

The director persisted, “This price really can’t go any lower! If you sell them for just one yuan more per set, someone will definitely buy them. You could still make tens of thousands of yuan.”

Jiang Xia thought for a moment and asked, “Director, are you waiting for this money to pay the workers’ wages?”

“That’s right. They’re owed three or four months of pay. That’s why anyone who wants to lease the factory has to take these clothes too.”

“How about this? We’ll go with the prices you just mentioned. I won’t take over the clothes as part of the lease, but I’ll find a way to help you sell them. I’ll sell as many as I can, and I’ll keep the price difference as my profit. What do you think?”

“And what if you can’t sell them?”

Jiang Xia replied, “If I can’t sell them, you’re just back to where you started—you haven’t lost anything. If I do sell them, you clear your inventory and have money to pay wages, and I don’t have to put up so much money to lease the garment factory, right? Why not give me a chance to try? It’s a win-win for everyone. Just give me one month.”

Chapter 618: Cheap Calligraphy

The director of the garment factory also felt that Jiang Xia’s words made sense. In any case, she was helping him sell the stock; if she succeeded, he would make a profit, and if she didn’t, he wouldn’t lose anything.

The factory had currently ground to a halt. Without wages being paid, the workers were unwilling to come in. Some had already found other jobs.

He also knew that with hundreds of thousands of pieces of clothing piled up, finding someone to lease the place was difficult. After all, the value of the dead stock was even higher than the lease for the factory itself.

Furthermore, the workshop was old. Even though it had been renovated a few years ago, the equipment was nearly obsolete.

Most of the people who had come to inspect the site were businessmen from Hong Kong, and they all stated they didn’t want the clothes—the cost was too high.

Nowadays, the city had its own industrial zones. Foreign investors building factories enjoyed preferential policies; why would they buy an old factory when building a new one was better?

Besides, this garment factory wasn’t particularly large, with a floor area of only about two thousand square meters.

“Alright,” the factory director thought it over and agreed.

Seeing him relent, Jiang Xia began to discuss the details with him. “How many months of wages does the factory owe the workers?”

The director replied, “Four months for most, though some are only owed three.”

Jiang Xia suggested, “Let the factory workers have the first pick of this batch of clothes. The cost of the clothes can be deducted from their back pay.”

Hearing this, the director shook his head and waved his hand. “I’ve already spoken to the workers about this. They aren’t willing to take clothes in lieu of wages. They want cash, not clothes.”

If this was what Jiang Xia was planning, she might as well give up now! He had already tried that idea, and it didn’t work. The workers had been so vehemently opposed that they nearly tore the roof off the workshop!

The director told Jiang Xia about the situation back then.

Jiang Xia clarified, “It’s not about forcing them to take clothes instead of wages; it’s just asking if they want to buy them.”

“What’s the difference? They won’t buy them!”

“Not necessarily. These clothes are so cheap now. Even when the workers bought them before, they weren’t sold at this price, were they?”

The director said, “Of course not! Previously, the price for workers was the same as the price at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. The only difference was that they didn’t need cloth coupons.”

In this era, getting a cloth coupon wasn’t easy. For factory workers, being able to buy clothes without coupons was already a great perk.

Jiang Xia smiled. “As the saying goes, ‘Don’t let the good water flow into others’ fields.’ Director, you can notify everyone that the factory has been acquired and that there is a clearance sale. If they want to buy a few sets, they should hurry. …Actually, never mind. I’ll come over tomorrow and say it myself! Director, can you help me notify twenty workers to come tomorrow? I need them to help me pack the clothes in the warehouse and handle the sales. I’ll pay them daily—two yuan a day.”

“Of course I can!” At two yuan a day, many people would be willing to work. “Don’t worry, tomorrow I’ll call over our factory’s former ‘Model Workers’ to help. They are capable and diligent.”

Jiang Xia knew that in this era, many factories held annual selections for Model Workers. The title of Model Worker was not easily earned; it carried significant prestige. Those who held it were diligent, possessed top-tier professional skills, and had made outstanding contributions. They were true paragons of labor!

Jiang Xia hoped to retain such talents after she took over the garment factory.

She smiled and said, “Thank you, Director.”

Jiang Xia then asked, “Director, does the factory have brushes and red paper? Cardboard is fine too!”

“We do! I’ll go get them now. Actually, follow me to the office. It’ll be more convenient to write on my desk.”

The factory occasionally had announcements to post—nominations for commendations, notices of punishments, or slogans for visiting leaders—so red paper and brushes were essential supplies.

The three of them walked to the director’s office.

Jiang Xia looked at Zhou Chenglei. “Help me write some slogans.”

“Okay.”

Zhang Rong laughed. “A-Lei’s calligraphy is excellent.”

The old man had always praised Zhou Chenglei’s writing, saying that none of the other brothers could match him.

Jiang Xia smiled. “He said he learned it along with you all.”

“We started learning before him, but we can’t write as well as he does. The old man said he’s a fast learner in everything.”

Zhang Rong began to share some amusing stories from when Zhou Chenglei was learning to write.

Jiang Xia listened intently.

Unfortunately, they arrived at the director’s office very quickly. The three of them went inside.

The director brought out a brush, ink, and red paper.

Zhou Chenglei asked Jiang Xia what to write.

Jiang Xia said, “Let me cut the paper first.”

Zhou Chenglei picked up a small knife, not letting Jiang Xia touch it. “I’ll do it. Tell me how you want it cut.”

“Cut a few rectangles first, about this big…”

Half an hour later, Jiang Xia looked at the large characters Zhou Chenglei had written: “Clearance Sale, Everything Must Go, Entire Collection as low as 5 Yuan, Last 3 Days.” Each character was bold, powerful, and pleasing to the eye, but she felt they lacked the necessary “blood and tears”!

Jiang Xia shook her head regretfully. “No, this won’t do. We have to rewrite them.”

The director was still admiring Zhou Chenglei’s calligraphy and was confused. “The writing is excellent! Why rewrite it?”

Zhang Rong also looked at her.

Jiang Xia explained, “It’s written too well! It’s not appropriate. It lacks ‘blood and tears.’ It doesn’t convey that sense of a tragic, loss-making clearance sale at rock-bottom prices!”

The three men: “…”

What kind of handwriting would convey that feeling?

Jiang Xia continued, “This calligraphy is suitable for a company’s main sign, not for a ‘going out of business’ warehouse sale. It doesn’t look ‘cheap’ enough.”

Jiang Xia decided that when the time came, she would have Zhou Chenglei write the main plaque for the garment factory; it had pure dominance!

The director: “…”

Zhang Rong said, “Now that you mention it, I think you’re right. The writing is too regal; it doesn’t look like a bargain sale!”

Jiang Xia looked at the director. “Director, how about you write it?”

The director: “…”

What does that mean? Does it mean my handwriting is cheap?

Jiang Xia realized that in this era, many people had decent calligraphy skills. She waved it off. “Never mind, I’ll do it myself.”

Jiang Xia picked up the brush and started working.

Zhou Chenglei saw her hair falling over her cheeks, obstructing her view. He gently tucked her hair behind her ear and then held it back for her.

Jiang Xia finished quickly and asked the three of them, “How is it?”

Zhang Rong gave her a thumbs up. “Brilliant! You really captured the ‘blood and tears’ of a loss-making clearance sale! Sister-in-law, you are truly talented to be able to write like this! A-Lei, you should learn from your wife—you have to match the writing style to the situation! It’s a bargain sale; why make it look so high-class? Who’s going to believe it’s a bargain written like that?”

The director also nodded. “Indeed, this is much better than before!”

The calligraphy itself wasn’t great, but the feeling was perfect! The writing had a vibe that screamed “cheap,” “bankrupt,” and “bargain.”

Jiang Xia never expected her calligraphy to be praised one day. It seemed that whether it was a weakness or a strength, as long as it was put in the right place, it could shine.

The factory director asked, “Are you really confident you can sell everything in just three days?”

Jiang Xia replied, “How is that possible? Didn’t you say you’d give me a month?”

The director asked, “Then why did you write ‘Last 3 Days’? Shouldn’t you write ‘Last Month’?”

Jiang Xia explained, “Three days creates a sense of urgency! If I write ‘one month,’ people passing by won’t feel any rush to buy.”

The director asked, “What if you can’t sell it all in three days?”

With tens of thousands of garments, how could she possibly sell them all in three days? He hadn’t been able to clear them in three years!

Chapter 619: Tian Caihua Is Shocked Again

Jiang Xia said, “If we can’t sell them all, I’ll pack them up and ship them out. Starting tomorrow, we’ll only sell for three days.”

The garment factory director asked curiously, “Pack them up and ship them where?”

“To the capital,” Jiang Xia replied.

The garment factory director was speechless.

Ship them to the capital? The shipping costs alone would be significant, wouldn’t they?

However, he decided not to worry about it. She was the one earning the price difference, so she should be able to cover the shipping. He only hoped these goods would sell, so the factory could be leased out quickly. Then he could pay the workers’ wages and settle the debts owed to the textile and accessory factories.

the mountain of over 300,000 yuan in debt weighed so heavily on him that he couldn’t sleep!

“The capital is a great idea! I’ll make sure people pack everything properly tomorrow. How do you plan to transport them?”

“Have twenty thousand sets packed tomorrow with a full range of sizes. I’ll arrange for someone to take them to the train station the day after.”

Twenty thousand sets?

The director felt mostly relieved instantly! He guessed that Jiang Xia must have connections in the capital.

Originally, he hadn’t been optimistic about her plan to just stick some red paper on the factory gates and sell clothes directly. No one knew the foot traffic on the road in front of the garment factory better than he did. The people passing by were almost always the same crowd; selling two or three thousand sets that way would be the absolute limit.

But now that she mentioned shipping twenty thousand sets to the capital, he was at ease! Shipping twenty thousand out and selling a few thousand at the factory would leave only about ten thousand sets in stock. At least more than half the inventory would be cleared.

The factory director said happily, “Good! I’ll make sure they’re packed. If you’re starting the sale here tomorrow, do you need to prepare now? Should I arrange for some people to come and take instructions from you?”

Jiang Xia didn’t have time to wait for everyone to arrive and give them individual instructions. She had to go back and breastfeed. Besides, a clearance sale wasn’t rocket science; she could just come early tomorrow and teach them what to do.

“No need, just have them come early tomorrow. However, we can start spreading the word today…”

Jiang Xia then taught the director how to spread the news and how many people to arrange for tomorrow’s tasks. She also instructed Zhou Chenglei and the director on where to paste the red “Clearance Sale” signs.

After settling everything and signing a contract with the director—agreeing that she would help sell the clothes for a month and that he couldn’t transfer the factory to anyone else during this time—the three of them left, planning to return the next morning.

Once they left the garment factory, Zhang Rong said, “Shipping twenty thousand sets of clothes to the capital might still be hard to sell.”

“It’s fine. We’ll sell as many as we can. Since we don’t have to pay for the stock upfront right now, it’s just a matter of effort and time. We won’t lose much money. Let’s just try first,” Jiang Xia replied.

Zhang Zheng agreed upon hearing this. Since there was no risk of loss, he stopped trying to persuade her otherwise.

Although these styles were outdated and no one was buying them at the Supply and Marketing Cooperative or the malls, that was mainly because the prices hadn’t dropped. Furthermore, the social climate had changed; things weren’t as tense or restrictive as before. People had started wearing vibrant colors, and there were more choices in the market. At the same price point, everyone naturally chose newer and prettier styles.

However, poverty was still widespread in this era. Many people in the villages still wore clothes with patches. Even on university campuses, some students wore patched clothing.

Therefore, if these clothes were taken to street stalls at a market, they would sell as long as they were cheap enough and didn’t require cloth coupons.

In particular, autumn had already arrived in the capital, and the weather was getting cooler, making this batch of clothes very suitable. When clothes are patched over and over, there eventually comes a point where they can’t be fixed anymore. As long as there was a need, people would grit their teeth and buy a set while it was cheap. After all, they couldn’t afford expensive ones or were reluctant to spend the money.

In short, she would sell as many as possible. Jiang Xia still wanted to take over that garment factory.

Mainly because the location was fantastic!

The factory’s floor area was about 2,000 square meters, but there was also a large yard, totaling about 3,000 square meters. In a future city center where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold, what did owning over 3,000 square meters of land represent?

If it weren’t for the massive backlog of inventory and her lack of liquid cash, she wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble. If she had the money, she would have taken it over directly and dealt with the clothes slowly.

She was truly a bit busy right now. Fortunately, she could hire people to help sell the clothes.

Jiang Xia had already thought of who to ask for help with the sales. She had also decided: even if the clothes weren’t sold out in a month, she would still take over the garment factory. By then, the Canton Fair would be over, and she should have more money.

After dropping Zhang Rong back at the mall, Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia drove home.

Zhou Chenglei said, “We could opt out of investing in the electromagnetic factory in the capital. That would give us enough money…”

Jiang Xia interrupted him, “That won’t do. If I don’t have enough to take over the garment factory then, I’ll just sell some stocks.”

The matters regarding the electromagnetic factory had mostly been settled between Zhou Chenglei and Zhang Rong. That was what Zhou Chenglei actually enjoyed doing; she couldn’t keep letting him make sacrifices for her.

“I thought you felt it wasn’t the right time to sell yet?”

Jiang Xia nodded. “It isn’t the right time yet, but physical industry is more important than stocks. It’s not like that’s the only good stock out there; I can always buy more when I have money later.”

Hearing this, Zhou Chenglei said no more. He only thought about working harder during the Canton Fair to earn as much as possible.

The couple first went back home to tell Father and Mother Zhou that they would be staying in the city tonight and going to the garment factory early tomorrow.

Father Zhou heard this and asked, “Are you planning to lease it?”

Zhou Chenglei nodded. “Yes, but there are too many backlogged clothes. The cost to lease it is too high, so we plan to help the factory clear that stock before leasing it.”

Tian Caihua was shocked again and couldn’t help asking, “How much does it cost to lease a garment factory?”

How can they be so rich? Where on earth is this money coming from?

Jiang Xia replied, “We don’t know yet. It depends on how many clothes we can clear out.”

Father Zhou didn’t ask more. Since his son and Wealth-bringer had looked at it and intended to lease it, it must be worth it. He said directly, “Then tomorrow, if Xiao Xia’s parents can help with the baby, your mother and I will go help sell clothes. We’ll stay in the city tonight and won’t go back to the village.”

Tian Caihua chimed in, “I’ll go too!”

Jiang Xia smiled. “No need, the factory has workers. You and Mother can just rest at home. Where are Big Brother and Second Brother?”

Mother Zhou answered, “They went to see a movie. It’s almost five o’clock and they’re still not back. Can a movie really last that long?”

Jiang Xia said, “Some movies are two or three hours long.”

Father Zhou added, “If they don’t get back soon, it’ll be dark. They’ll have to travel back to the village at night.”

Jiang Xia said, “If it’s too late, there’s no need to rush back. They can just stay in the city for a night. A-Lei and I will stay at my father’s place tonight.”

There were three rooms there. Three of the brothers including Guangzong and Yaozu could share one room with Zhou Chengsen. Father and Mother Zhou could take another with Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying. Tian Caihua and Zhou Chengxin could share the last one with Zhou Wenzu.

Someone could also sleep on the sofa in the living room, or they could sleep on a floor mat in the rooms; there were enough blankets and such. If they didn’t want it to be crowded or sleep on the floor, they could have Father Jiang go to his government unit to get a letter of introduction so they could stay in a hotel.

Tian Caihua also wanted to go help at the garment factory, mostly wanting to see how big it was. “Then let’s stay for the night.”

Father Zhou said, “We’ll talk about it when your Big Brother and the others get back.”

…

At the cinema.

Zhou Chengsen had been watching the movie with the children for two hours. The movie wasn’t over yet, but his craving for a cigarette kicked in.

Having held back for quite a while, he told Zhou Chengxin and then walked outside to smoke.

During the October 1st holiday, the area around the cinema was crowded everywhere. Zhou Chengsen walked a bit further away to a small side road next to the cinema. He was only halfway through his cigarette when he spotted Ruan Tang.

Chapter 620: Stalking

They were a bit far apart; he was at one end of the alley, while she was at the other.

Zhou Chengsen took a drag of his cigarette. He didn’t intend to greet her, merely watching as she carried a vegetable basket into a residential building at the end of the road.

That wasn’t the hospital’s staff dormitory; it was just an ordinary residential building.

Zhou Chengsen took another puff, tossed the half-finished cigarette butt into a nearby trash can shaped like a panda, and turned to walk back toward the cinema to continue watching the movie with the children.

At that moment, at the end of the road, a man glanced around surreptitiously before following her into the residential building.

Ruan Tang had just finished work and bought some groceries to cook at home. She took out her keys and opened the door. Just as she stepped inside and moved to close the door, it was shoved open with great force.

Ruan Tang’s expression shifted instantly as she tried desperately to force the door shut.

The man outside exerted himself, pushing the door open and stepping inside before closing it behind him.

His face was flushed as he looked at Ruan Tang. “Tangtang.”

Ruan Tang smelled the heavy scent of alcohol on him. Terrified and startled, she tried her best to remain calm. “What do you want? Get out!”

The man dropped to his knees. “Tangtang, I told you, I’ll never hit you again. I swear, if I ever lay a hand on you, may I never know a day of peace! I’m begging you, don’t break up with me. Let’s get married, okay? I’ll treat you well for the rest of my life!”

Ruan Tang tried to soothe him while cautiously inching toward the door. “You’re drunk.”

“I’m not drunk! I’ve been so full of regret for hitting you that day—I was so miserable that I only had two cups, no more! If you don’t like me drinking, I swear today is the last time. I’ll never touch it again! As long as you marry me, I’ll quit drinking after the wedding, and I won’t hit you either. I truly know I was wrong. Don’t break up with me, let’s just register the marriage, okay? I really can’t live without you! I wanted to marry you the moment I first saw you! It’s only because I love you so much that I get angry when I see you with other men. I just couldn’t help myself in the heat of the moment! I know I misunderstood you…”

Ruan Tang suddenly bolted for the door, twisted the lock, and pulled it open to run out.

The man surged up from the floor with startling speed, grabbed her, and yanked her back with a violent jerk!

“Ah!”

Ruan Tang screamed as she was flung across the room.

Her body slammed hard against the sharp corner of the coffee table.

The agonizing pain in her waist nearly made her black out; her entire body went numb.

The man approached and began to kick her, blow after blow landing on Ruan Tang’s body. “I got down on my knees and begged you! What more do you want? I even swore I’d never drink or hit you again! What more do you want? People like you are just asking for it—you won’t listen unless you’re beaten! Were you trying to run to the police to have them arrest me? Speak! Talk to me! Say you’ll marry me! Say it now, say you’ll marry me!”

Ruan Tang curled into a ball on the floor, her hands clutching her head to protect herself.

The man bent down to pull her up. “Come on, come with me to register the marriage! We’re getting married right now!”

Taking advantage of the moment he leaned over, Ruan Tang grabbed him and yanked!

The man stumbled and fell, his head slamming into the coffee table. Blood immediately began to pour from the wound.

Ruan Tang seized the chance to scramble up and run for the exit, but the man tripped her. She crashed back down onto the floor!

Feng Bing grabbed her ankle and dragged her back toward him.

Ruan Tang kicked at him, struggling with all her might. “Let me go! You madman! You’re insane! Help! Help… ah!…”

Feng Bing caught her kicking foot, pinned her down, straddled her, and delivered a brutal slap to her face!

“You say I’m insane? You were trying to call people to arrest me again, weren’t you? You’re not going anywhere! You’re going to marry me! Say it! You have to marry me whether you want to or not!”

As he spoke, he began to tear at her clothes.

Zhou Chengsen charged in, kicking the door open just in time to see this scene!

He grabbed the man by his clothes, hauled him off her, and began raining heavy punches down on him.

His movements were swift and ferocious; in the blink of an eye, he had landed nearly a dozen punches on the man’s head.

Zhou Chengsen even used his boots to kick him!

Caught completely off guard, Feng Bing saw stars as blood poured from his nose. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth.

Finding an opening, he scrambled up to counterattack, landing a punch on Zhou Chengsen’s face!

Taking advantage of the moment Zhou Chengsen stumbled, he turned and bolted!

Zhou Chengsen gave chase.

Feng Bing grabbed a vase from the cabinet near the door and hurled it at Zhou Chengsen!

Zhou Chengsen instinctively raised his arm to block; the vase shattered directly against his forearm.

Feng Bing turned to flee again!

“Stop right there!”

“Hold it!”

Two uniformed officers rushed up the stairs at that moment. They caught Feng Bing as he lunged out the door, twisting his arms behind his back and pinning him down until he could no longer move!

Zhou Chengsen breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to look at Ruan Tang.

Ruan Tang had already pushed herself up and had her back turned to everyone while she tried to adjust her clothes. However, most of her buttons had been torn off, leaving her with no choice but to clutch the lapels closed with her hands.

The elderly woman from the apartment across the hall finally worked up the courage to walk over. “Xiao Tang, are you okay?”

Ruan Tang turned around, looking utterly disheveled: her clothes were torn, her hair was a mess, and half of her face was swollen.

She held her arms across her chest, one hand tightly gripping her collar. Her voice was cold as she tried her best to remain calm. “I’m fine.”

Seeing this, Zhou Chengsen picked up a thin blanket from the sofa and draped it over her shoulders.

“Thank you.” Ruan Tang pulled the blanket tight and cast a glance at him.

Zhou Chengsen had taken a punch from Feng Bing, and the area around his eye was already turning black.

Ruan Tang didn’t understand why he would appear at her home.

Seeing Zhou Chengsen drape the blanket over Ruan Tang, Feng Bing flew into a rage and struggled violently. “Ruan Tang, who is this man? Is he the reason you won’t marry me? You bitch…”

The officer held him firmly. “Don’t move!”

“Shut up!”

Feng Bing remained hysterical. “Officers, arrest him! Arrest that paramour! I’m Ruan Tang’s partner, we’re about to be married! It’s only because this man showed up that Ruan Tang is refusing to marry me and wants to break up! I’m Ruan Tang’s husband, we’re a betrothed couple, we were just about to register our marriage, but she’s got her eye on this man…”

The officer tightened his grip. “Shut up and calm down!”

Ruan Tang snapped, “You’re lying! Don’t talk such nonsense—we have nothing to do with each other! I am not your fiancée! You’re a lunatic…”

The officer interrupted, “That’s enough! Everyone, come back to the station with us. You can say what you need to say there.”

Zhou Chengsen said to the officers, “Comrades, could you allow the victim to change her clothes first? Then she should go to the hospital to have her injuries treated before coming to the station to give a statement.”

The two officers looked at Ruan Tang. Having seen her disheveled state earlier, they nodded. “Go change your clothes first.”

Zhou Chengsen turned to look Ruan Tang in the eye. “Go change. I’ll handle things here.”

It was a simple sentence delivered with a calm gaze, but for some reason, Ruan Tang felt a strange sensation in her heart.

“Okay.” She regained her composure as well and silently turned back to her room to change.

Zhou Chengsen and the elderly woman from next door began to provide their accounts of the incident to the officers.

Chapter 621: Hospitalized for Observation

The elderly woman next door had heard the commotion and opened her door to see what was happening, just in time to see Ruan Tang being grabbed and dragged back inside by Feng Bing.

As soon as the door slammed shut, she hurriedly told her grandson to run downstairs and call the police.

The public security office was nearby; one only had to cut through the small alley next to the building to reach it.

Consequently, law enforcement officers arrived very quickly.

When Zhou Chengsen was walking back to the cinema, he had caught a glimpse of a suspicious figure out of the corner of his eye following Ruan Tang into the residential building she had just entered.

Sensing something was wrong, he followed them to investigate. He then heard Ruan Tang’s cries for help from downstairs and rushed up…

Zhou Chengsen gave his statement, slightly embellishing and exaggerating what he had seen, and explained that his actions were a matter of justifiable defense taken in the heat of the moment to save Ruan Tang.

He pointed to his eye and then to the shards of the broken vase on the floor. “He hit me here, and he threw this at me. Officers, you saw it with your own eyes.”

Feng Bing, whose head was bleeding profusely, shouted, “You’re full of crap! Officer, this man beat me so badly! Arrest him…”

Ruan Tang stepped forward at that moment. “Officer, I want to report this man. He stalked me and broke into my home to behave like a hooligan! It was Comrade Zhou who kicked the door open and saved me.”

Zhou Chengsen interrupted, “Let’s go to the hospital to check your injuries first. We can talk more later.”

And so, the group headed to the hospital.

The hospital they went to for the injury assessment happened to be the one where Ruan Tang worked.

When the doctors there heard what had happened, they were absolutely livid!

Ruan Tang had been harassed by this man once before, resulting in an injury to her lower back. However, that incident had occurred at the hospital, where the man was caught by security and sent to the local station.

Now that he was out, he had actually tracked down Ruan Tang’s home?

Zhou Chengsen held his head and said to the doctor, “Doctor, I feel very dizzy and a bit nauseous. Is something wrong?”

Ruan Tang was startled. “You’re dizzy and nauseous? Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

Zhou Chengsen blinked at Ruan Tang. “I was too nervous just now.”

Ruan Tang: “…”

The doctor saw the exchange and almost slapped his thigh in realization. “Dizzy and nauseous? I suspect you have a concussion from the blow!”

Zhou Chengsen clutched his head. “So it’s a concussion! Oh, no, my head is spinning! I feel like I’m going to throw up!”

The doctor added, “Those are the after-effects of a concussion. Lie down immediately!”

Zhou Chengsen obediently lay down.

The more serious the injuries, the better it would be for Ruan Tang.

Once Zhou Chengsen was settled, he continued to hold his head and said, “Doctor, Comrade Ruan Tang’s waist and abdomen took a heavy impact, and she was kicked and punched by that man. I’m worried about her injuries. Could there be internal organ damage? I saw her taking painkillers and trying to endure it.”

Ruan Tang: “…”

When did she ever take painkillers?

The doctor took an immediate liking to this male comrade. “A heavy impact to the waist? Internal organ damage is very likely! There might even be internal bleeding! I’ll examine her!”

The doctor turned to Ruan Tang with a stern face. “You, lie down too! Do you have a death wish? Don’t think you’re fine just because you took painkillers! Lie down, I’m going to check you over.”

Ruan Tang silently lay down.

Half an hour later, the doctor informed the officers, “This female comrade suffered a severe blow to her waist and has multiple bruises across her body. There are signs of internal bleeding, so she must be hospitalized for observation for a period of time.”

The officers: “…”

Was it really that serious?

“The other male comrade suffered a heavy blow to the head, resulting in a concussion. His arm is also injured with significant blood loss. He must also be hospitalized for observation for a period of time.”

The officers silently glanced at Zhou Chengsen’s arm, which was wrapped up like a mummy.

They began to wonder if they had misjudged the severity earlier.

Zhou Chengsen clutched his head with an expression of pure agony.

Ruan Tang silently looked away.

The officers finished taking their statements at the hospital before finally departing.

As soon as the uniformed officers were gone, the doctor waved his hand at the two of them. “Alright, your ‘observation’ is over. You can be discharged now. Just remember to apply your medicine on time when you get back. Go on! Don’t take up the beds!”

Ruan Tang: “…”

So that was what “hospitalized for observation for a period of time” meant!

By the time they left the hospital, it was already dark.

Zhou Chengsen was famished. He asked Ruan Tang, “Should we grab something to eat?”

Ruan Tang said to him at the same time, “I’ll treat you to dinner.”

They spoke simultaneously and shared a smile.

Zhou Chengsen said, “Let’s go!”

Earlier, on the way out of Ruan Tang’s building, Zhou Chengsen had run into Zhou Chengxin and the children. He had told Zhou Chengxin that he would be home late.

As they walked down the street, many people stared because of the injuries on Zhou Chengsen’s face.

Ruan Tang looked a bit better; she had iced her face at the hospital, so the swelling had gone down, and she had applied medicine to her other injuries.

The bruising around Zhou Chengsen’s eye, however, was becoming darker by the minute.

Passing a noodle shop, Ruan Tang asked, “Would you like some noodles? I’ll treat you to a proper meal another time.”

“Sure.” Zhou Chengsen also wanted to eat quickly so he could see Ruan Tang home and then get back himself; his parents would be worried.

So, the two of them went in for noodles.

After finishing their meal, Zhou Chengsen walked Ruan Tang home. Only after he heard her lock the door did he head back to his own place.

When he arrived home, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei were both there.

The two had gone back to the Jiang family home to feed the children first, waiting until the little ones were asleep before coming over to check on the situation.

Jiang Xia asked, “Is Dr. Ruan okay?”

Zhou Chengsen replied, “She sustained some superficial injuries.”

He hadn’t seen the extent of her injuries personally, but remembering the severe bruising he’d seen on her waist the day before—which had been struck again today—he suspected it wasn’t a light matter.

Tian Caihua asked curiously, “Who was that man? Why did he go to Dr. Ruan’s home to hit her?”

Mother Zhou frowned. “He’s been arrested now, right? I wonder how long they’ll keep him. What if he comes back to retaliate against Dr. Ruan when he gets out?”

Zhou Chengsen had only learned the details while Ruan Tang was giving her statement, and he explained briefly, “That man was Dr. Ruan’s boyfriend from a few years ago, introduced by her family. After dating for a while, she discovered he would get violent whenever he saw her near other men. After he hit her the first time, she broke up with him. But he wouldn’t stop harassing her and hit her twice more. She reported him to the police, and he was supposed to be imprisoned for several years, but they claimed he had a mental illness, so he was transferred to a psychiatric hospital instead.”

“After that, Dr. Ruan moved here for work. No one knew when he was released, but he found her again.”

Mother Zhou sighed, “You can’t marry a man like that!”

Jiang Xia nodded. “When it comes to domestic violence, it’s either zero or a thousand times.”

Tian Caihua agreed wholeheartedly. “Exactly. If they hit you once, they’ll hit you forever. We have people like that in our village too.”

Mother Zhou’s frown deepened. “To run into someone like that is truly a stroke of terrible luck! Dr. Ruan should get married soon; otherwise, that man will surely harass her again when he gets out.”

Tian Caihua nodded in agreement. “She’s right. A man like that is clearly bad news. If he could find her once, he’ll find her again! If I were Dr. Ruan, I’d get married as fast as I could.”

Zhou Chengsen was exhausted and had no interest in their discussion. Whether Ruan Tang got married or not was none of his business. He stood up. “I’m going to take a shower.”

Seeing that Zhou Chengsen was fine, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei prepared to return to the Jiang family home, leaving the house to the others.

Zhou Chenglei held a flashlight to light their path, leading Jiang Xia down the stairs.

Jiang Xia had one hand in Zhou Chenglei’s palm and the other wrapped around his arm. “I never expected Dr. Ruan to have a past like that.”

No wonder she wasn’t married at twenty-six; she had likely been traumatized by her first relationship.

The next morning, Jiang Xia woke up early to feed the three babies. After giving them each a kiss, she hurried out to the garment factory.

Seeing her leave before finishing more than a few bites of breakfast, Mother Jiang couldn’t help but complain, “She just loves to toss herself about! That factory building looks like it’s about to collapse, yet she spent so much money to lease it. The garment industry is struggling right now; even the old factory director couldn’t revive it. With everything she has on her plate, does she really have the time to turn it around? You should talk some sense into her!”

“Xiaxia and A-Lei know what they’re doing. You shouldn’t worry so much,” Father Jiang said cheerfully while coaxing his three grandchildren in their crib, looking like a man who lacked for nothing now that he had his grandkids. “Even if the garment factory doesn’t work out, leasing the plant and transferring it later won’t be a loss. It’s not your money anyway, so why nag her?”

“You’re the one who spoils them! Letting them decide everything for themselves, each one of them is so ambitious!” Mother Jiang said as she cleared the dishes.

If she hadn’t seen that the factory was in such a prime location, she would have stopped them long ago.

However, Mother Jiang hadn’t known back then that the factory had hundreds of thousands of yuan worth of backlogged inventory—even more than their own factory!

Otherwise, she definitely would have stopped Jiang Xia!

How on earth would she sell tens of thousands of items?

Mother Jiang herself had a headache trying to sell a few thousand pieces of unsold stock!

Chapter 622: Here to Experience Life Among the Commoners?

Jiang Xia rode her bicycle to the garment factory ahead of the others.

Zhou Chenglei went to pick up Tian Caihua, Father Zhou, and Mother Zhou to come and help.

When Jiang Xia arrived at the garment factory, it was five minutes before six-thirty, and about twenty workers were already there.

They were all veteran employees of the factory, mostly around thirty or forty years old.

The factory entrance had been set up according to Jiang Xia’s requirements from the previous day. A long row of tables was laid out, and large wooden frames were placed on top of them.

The wooden frames had been nailed together by the garment factory director yesterday afternoon following Jiang Xia’s specifications.

The factory director introduced her to everyone with a smile. “This is Comrade Jiang Xia. She’s here to help our factory clear those tens of thousands of sets of deadstock clothes. Everyone is to follow Comrade Jiang Xia’s work arrangements today. Don’t go bullying her or refusing to follow orders just because she’s young. Today, even I have to follow Comrade Xiao Xia’s arrangements!”

Although the director didn’t explicitly say Jiang Xia was the new director, they all knew the factory couldn’t keep going and was about to be transferred. They were all facing layoffs.

Naturally, they assumed Jiang Xia was the new director coming to take over.

However, no one expected the new director to be so young.

Wasn’t she a bit too young?

Even more shocking than her youth was her beauty.

She was simply too stunning.

To become a factory director at such a young and beautiful age?

What was she relying on to get there?

Some people instantly conjured up several dramatic storylines in their heads. They couldn’t help but size Jiang Xia up, pursing their lips before averting their gaze.

Some rolled their eyes secretly, dissatisfied with the director.

Some were bewildered, while others were disappointed.

They had come full of anticipation, thinking that a new director taking over the garment factory would bring new hope.

And then this person showed up?

Was this some kind of joke?

A few women couldn’t help but whisper among themselves:

“Which family’s rich young lady is this, running out here to experience life among the commoners?”

“That’s no rich young lady! She looks more like someone’s pampered mistress.”

“Probably not. She looks like a girl who hasn’t even married yet.”

“A mistress is exactly someone who isn’t married. If she were married, would she still be a mistress? Don’t some of those overseas businessmen love finding these young and beautiful ones? They set up one family abroad and another little home domestically. We have a girl in our village who became a mistress at a young age. That man bought her clothes, a car, and even a house. But the man is so old he could be her father!”

“Really? Do her parents know?”

“They know…”

Jiang Xia took in everyone’s reactions. Although she couldn’t hear their whispers, she guessed they weren’t saying anything good.

She didn’t care. She was looking for workers, not a partner.

As long as they could do the work well, it was fine. If they couldn’t, she simply wouldn’t hire them.

Jiang Xia started with a simple self-introduction. “Hello, everyone. I am Jiang Xia. You are all my seniors, so you can just call me Xiao Xia. I’ll be troubling everyone today. Now, let me arrange the work.”

“Would the comrades previously responsible for the warehouse please step forward?”

A few people stepped out.

Jiang Xia said to them, “You are familiar with the warehouse, so you will be responsible for locating the clothes. When a customer wants a specific size, you’ll find it for them. Understood?”

They nodded. “Understood.”

“Thank you for your hard work!”

Jiang Xia followed up by assigning the finance department staff to handle the cash and bookkeeping, while the procurement department staff were put in charge of sales.

Then, Jiang Xia picked out several women with well-proportioned figures to act as models.

She had them put on some of the inner layers she had brought.

Those few inner layers were specifically meant to be paired with the factory’s clothes, showing everyone different ways to style them.

When selling clothes, one naturally had to show people how they looked when worn.

However, they were only required to wear them and stand around to show the effect. They didn’t have to do much else. Those who were eloquent would naturally say a word or two while selling: “Look, this is how the clothes look on me! Doesn’t it look good?”

Jiang Xia distributed the clothes based on each woman’s temperament and sent them off to change.

Since it was just a clearance sale, nothing was overly complicated. After a brief briefing, Jiang Xia asked the director, “Director, is the megaphone ready?”

The director immediately replied, “Ready!”

He had someone quickly bring the megaphone over.

Jiang Xia took it. “I’ll have to trouble the director to keep an eye on things nearby to prevent anyone from causing trouble or stealing. Also, every now and then, take the megaphone and shout: ‘Come one, come all! Don’t miss out! Factory direct clearance sale, only ten yuan a set! Only ten yuan a set, ten yuan a set! Suits and sets available…’ I’ve written everything you need to say on this paper. Just repeat it! It doesn’t have to be exactly the same, as long as it’s close. You can even ad-lib if you want.”

The director: “…”

Jiang Xia then signaled everyone to start moving a batch of clothes to the factory entrance to pile on the wooden frames, and to move the clothing racks out as well.

Every style of clothing in the inventory was hung on a rack with its price attached, making it easy for customers to inquire.

Everyone set about their tasks as Jiang Xia requested.

Jiang Xia also grabbed a jacket and prepared to go into the office to change.

The window of the director’s office had been covered with a curtain, turning it into a temporary fitting room.

Today, she was wearing a white chiffon shirt paired with green army trousers.

The shirt was tucked neatly into her pants, cinched with a brown belt, and she wore a pair of Martin boots on her feet.

She looked both elegant and fierce.

She was indescribably beautiful.

The director noticed the jacket Jiang Xia took was a large size and reminded her, “Xiao Xia, you’ve got the wrong size. That’s too big; it won’t fit.”

Jiang Xia replied, “It’s not wrong. I want this size.”

Jiang Xia entered the office, intending to help the “models” with their styling as well.

The director couldn’t understand. There were clothes that fit her perfectly; why choose an oversized one?

Once Jiang Xia went to change, someone walked up to the director and asked, “Director, is she really our new director?”

Everyone looked at him.

The director smiled. “Very likely.”

He could see that Jiang Xia was sincere about leasing the garment factory. He guessed she probably didn’t have enough money yet, which was why she was clearing some inventory first.

Otherwise, why would she go to all this trouble to help the factory clear its deadstock?

Hearing this, everyone’s hearts sank!

“She’s still wet behind the ears. How is she supposed to manage a factory?”

“I thought someone taking over the factory meant we wouldn’t have to worry about layoffs. It looks like I need to start looking for another job.”

“Exactly. She’s too young. I bet the garment factory won’t last more than a few months in her hands before it goes bankrupt again!”

…

The director said, “Haven’t you heard that the youth are to be feared? Don’t look down on Xiao Xia. I can tell she’s well-educated. Maybe she really can breathe life back into this factory. If she does, none of you will have to worry about layoffs.”

If the factory closed, the director had other options and didn’t need to worry about being unemployed. But the workers were different.

If the factory went under, they would lose their livelihoods.

He had managed this factory for twenty years and had feelings for both the place and its workers. He sincerely hoped someone could keep the garment factory going so the workers wouldn’t be left jobless.

“Being educated doesn’t mean she knows how to manage a garment factory! It doesn’t mean she knows how to produce clothes!”

“Right. I bet she doesn’t even know how to use a sewing machine. How can she be the director?”

…

Chapter 623: Beautiful

The factory director understood everyone’s anxiety and reassured them, “A factory director doesn’t need to know how to use a sewing machine. Alright, everyone, don’t worry. Just cooperate well with Comrade Xiao Xia’s arrangements and do a good job this time. Let’s see if Comrade Xiao Xia can really sell the clothes in the warehouse! If she can sell them, you’ll get your wages sooner, and it’ll prove she has the ability to manage the factory. You won’t have to worry about layoffs anymore.”

Why was the garment factory failing?

It was because the clothes they produced weren’t selling! When a factory can’t sell what it makes, it goes out of business.

If Jiang Xia could sell the clothes, it would prove she had some skill, and the factory would have a glimmer of hope.

One of the factory’s salesmen heard this and said, “The director is right. Let’s see what kind of tricks she has to move so many clothes from the warehouse!”

In the past, the factory sold clothes by the truckload, sending them directly to various government units or Supply and Marketing Cooperatives. Now they were setting up a street stall to sell them one by one—how long would it take to finish?

He wasn’t optimistic about Jiang Xia’s approach.

Only a few hundred people walked down this street every day.

Selling even a thousand pieces at the factory gate would be considered a success.

Likely because they lacked hope in Jiang Xia, everyone’s patience was wearing thin.

“Aren’t we supposed to be selling clothes? We’ve moved all the clothes out; why haven’t they come out yet? People are already coming over to ask about the prices.”

“I don’t understand why she wanted everyone to change clothes! Aren’t we already wearing the factory’s clothes? The streets are full of people wearing these things; haven’t people seen enough? Do they really want to wear them more?”

“Exactly! We’re already wearing the factory’s clothes! They’re just a bit old and washed out until they’ve turned white, but that just proves the clothes we make are durable! Is there a need to change?”

“A new official likes to make a fuss over nothing, she’s just looking for—” Just then, several “models” walked out. The speaker’s eyes widened, and their tone instantly shifted: “Of course there’s a need to change! Look, quick!”

Was this the clothing their factory produced?

Did it look this good when worn?

The eyes of the other factory workers couldn’t help but fall on Jiang Xia and the others.

Was it possible that the clothes they wore every day were actually this beautiful and stylish?

Everyone looked from one person to another, but they looked at Jiang Xia the most.

Jiang Xia was stunning! She looked elegant yet fierce.

In truth, Jiang Xia had simply used different inner layers and accessories to add small styling techniques to the outfits, and the effect was completely transformed.

Fashion is all about coordination. One jacket, paired with different inner linings, can produce different effects and styles.

Take Jiang Xia, for example: she used a chiffon shirt as a base, paired it with a green military-style jacket, and buckled a belt over the outside of the jacket. The jacket buttons were left undone, and she had slightly flared the hem to emphasize her waist, making it look exceptionally slender.

Today, she had specifically chosen a chiffon shirt with a complex collar and a tie design at the neck. This layering created a sense of depth.

What was clearly a formal, rigid military-style jacket instantly gained a touch of feminine grace.

The bold, heroic spirit of the military uniform clashed with the soft beauty of the chiffon shirt, creating an indescribable beauty.

In the details, the color of the belt matched her Martin boots, creating a visual harmony that tied the whole look together.

Coupled with Jiang Xia’s tall stature and the fact that she had intentionally picked an oversized jacket that was slightly longer, the proportions looked perfect.

Strength met softness; she was beautiful yet fierce.

The other “models” were wearing the same style of jacket as Jiang Xia but used different inner layers to create different effects and showcase different temperaments.

Regardless, they all looked fantastic.

No one knew how to describe it other than “beautiful.”

It was entirely different from how they usually threw clothes on haphazardly.

Clothes the factory workers were tired of seeing had been given new life by these women!

They simply couldn’t look away.

Jiang Xia saw Tian Caihua, Father Zhou, and Mother Zhou walking over, so she said to the group, “Alright, everyone to your posts. Let’s start selling!”

Then Jiang Xia picked up a portable megaphone, walked to the pile of clothes at the entrance, and began to shout loudly: “Step right up, don’t miss out! Come and take a look! Factory clearance, selling at a loss! Everything must go! Eight yuan for a summer set, eight yuan a set! Only for three days, only for three days! Clearance sale! Limited quantities, while stocks last! Step right up, don’t miss out…”

Tian Caihua and Mother Zhou walked over.

They were there to act as shills.

Tian Caihua pointed at the jacket Jiang Xia was wearing and asked, “That outfit you’re wearing is eight yuan a set? Includes the jacket and the pants?”

Jiang Xia responded through the megaphone, “The autumn set I’m wearing is fifteen yuan, including the jacket and pants. The eight-yuan sets are the summer ones, which are a bit thinner. The summer sets are eight yuan for both the top and long pants—that’s only four yuan per piece, and you don’t even need cloth coupons! It’s a real bargain! Sister, do you want to buy a set?”

Tian Caihua immediately said, “I want three sets of what you’re wearing! That exact same set sells for twenty-five yuan in our town’s Supply and Marketing Cooperative! It’s identical!”

Mother Zhou added, “I want two sets as well. Fifteen yuan a set and no coupons required—where else could you find clothes this cheap? Is it fifteen yuan a set for both men and women?”

Jiang Xia: “Yes, regardless of gender. Summer sets are all eight yuan. The thicker spring and autumn models are only fifteen yuan. Winter quilted jackets are only twenty yuan each. Look at how thick this jacket is; such a heavy quilted jacket for only twenty yuan. You definitely couldn’t buy a winter jacket this thick for less than thirty yuan at the mall. And these military overcoats—the military overcoats are only thirty-six yuan each.”

Tian Caihua: “I want six quilted jackets! And I’ll take a military overcoat too!”

Tian Caihua had originally come to act as a shill, but she hadn’t expected it to be so cheap! Moreover, since no cloth coupons were required, she obviously had to buy several pieces.

Tian Caihua didn’t like spending money, but she loved getting a bargain even more!

With the clothes discounted so heavily, in her eyes, it was a massive steal!

In one breath, Tian Caihua bought a set for everyone in the family. A quilted jacket could last ten years or more!

It was worth it!

Guangzong and Yaozu and their brothers’ quilted jackets were old and stiff, and they weren’t very warm anymore. Their jackets from last year were all bought by Jiang Xia.

Zhou Chengxin had said she was unwilling to spend money on the children’s clothes; well, now she was buying them!

It was the morning rush hour for people going to work and buying groceries, and many people were passing the factory gate.

There were many people like Tian Caihua who were frugal and loved bargains. Consequently, a crowd soon gathered in front of the garment factory.

Everyone knew what these clothes cost elsewhere. After all, people had been wearing them for years. Many people were currently wearing these very styles, though they were old, washed out, or even had holes in them.

Getting a discount of over ten yuan was a genuine bargain, and many people couldn’t resist buying.

“I want two of the fifteen-yuan sets and one military overcoat.”

“I want one quilted jacket.”

“I’ll take one of these ten-yuan sets and two of the fifteen-yuan ones.”

“I want a military overcoat and a quilted jacket!”

…

Chapter 624: Couple Outfits?

Jiang Xia called out for a while before handing the portable megaphone to the garment factory director.

The director took the megaphone and began shouting, “Don’t pass this up! Come and have a look…”

The director had a booming voice, and because he was a longtime smoker, it had a slightly raspy edge to it, making his sales pitch sound much more authentic and convincing.

Jiang Xia’s voice was pleasant, but she didn’t quite have that same gritty “street vendor” feel when she shouted.

More and more people began stopping at the garment factory gates, approaching the stall to flip through the clothes. The more people huddled together, the more passersby were drawn in by the commotion.

“Is it really ten yuan a set?”

“It’s true! A summer set is ten yuan. A three-piece set consisting of a top, a vest, and trousers is only ten yuan. Without the vest, it’s eight yuan a set. These thick quilted jackets are only twenty yuan each! I just bought two of them! It’s cheaper than the mall!”

“It’s way cheaper than the Supply and Marketing Cooperative too! Buy them quickly! I’ve already bought three sets. I’m going back now to tell my sister-in-law to come. Even if you just buy them and put them away for the New Year, it’s worth it.”

…

As those who gathered saw others buying one, two, or even three or four sets at a time, they couldn’t help but start picking through the piles themselves. As they searched, they realized the summer sets were a great bargain and the quilted jackets were incredibly cheap!

Buy!

A military overcoat was actually only thirty-six yuan?

Buy!

Some people had been hoping to own a military overcoat for years but could never bring themselves to spend the money. Now, hearing it was only thirty-six yuan, those who didn’t have enough cash on them turned and sprinted home to get more.

They were afraid that if they were even a step too slow, everything would be sold out.

Many people didn’t have enough cash on hand and ran home to grab money, informing their friends, relatives, and neighbors along the way.

Those who had already made their purchases went home and spread the word. When their relatives and neighbors saw the quality and heard the price, they agreed it was a steal and rushed over.

Some people got home and felt they hadn’t bought enough, so they grabbed more money and hurried back to keep shopping.

Waves upon waves of people flooded in.

Mainly, the clothes were truly inexpensive—you simply couldn’t find prices like these elsewhere—and more importantly, no cloth coupons were required, no matter how many pieces you bought.

For the price of one autumn set elsewhere, you could now buy an autumn set and a summer set.

For the cost of a single quilted jacket elsewhere, you could now get a quilted jacket and two summer sets!

For citizens used to pinching pennies and stretching every resource, this was a massive windfall.

Though the styles were somewhat dated, it wasn’t as if they couldn’t be worn. When you’re poor, you don’t worry about being fashionable; as long as it provides warmth and covers you decently, it’s enough.

Most of those gathered and scrambling for the goods were middle-aged women and the elderly.

The younger generation didn’t care much for these old styles, but some young women saw how well Jiang Xia and her group were dressed and couldn’t help but ask if the inner layers they were wearing were for sale.

Jiang Xia stood to the side, enthusiastically answering everyone’s questions. “We don’t have the inner layers or the shirts for sale; these are our own clothes. But you can buy a new jacket and pair it with a shirt or T-shirt you have at home. It looks great with a striped sailor shirt too. Don’t button the jacket all the way up—wear it like this…”

“I want to buy a set for my partner. Is it ten yuan for the men’s sets too?”

“Yes, ten yuan for men as well. They look great on men! You could buy a set for yourself too, and the two of you can wear couple outfits.” Hearing that the young woman was buying for her boyfriend, Jiang Xia immediately beckoned to Zhou Chenglei. “Come here for a second!”

When Zhou Chenglei walked over, Jiang Xia held up a jacket. “Try this on.”

Zhou Chenglei reached out and slid his arms into the sleeves.

As Jiang Xia smoothed out the jacket for him, she said, “See? When a man wears this jacket, even a simple white shirt underneath makes it look very sharp, doesn’t it? This is my husband. Look at us together—doesn’t it look like we’re wearing couple outfits? Anyone can tell just by looking that we’re a pair! And if you wear something like this to take your photos when you register the marriage, the pictures will come out looking wonderful and you’ll look perfectly matched!”

Zhou Chenglei glanced at Jiang Xia, then looked down at the clothes he was wearing and decided to buy two sets to take home.

One for him, and one for Jiang Xia.

The young female comrade had originally only intended to buy a set for her boyfriend, but looking at Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei, they truly did look like a perfect match. Besides, she and her partner were indeed planning to register their marriage soon!

This woman at the garment factory was right. When they went to get their marriage certificate, they could wear these together.

When the workers at the garment factory heard Jiang Xia refer to Zhou Chenglei as her husband, they couldn’t help but steal glances at him.

They had assumed Jiang Xia was the second wife of some old foreign merchant!

It turned out her husband was actually so tall and handsome.

Moreover, one could tell at a glance that he was no ordinary man; his presence was very intense. That look in his eyes could practically scare someone to death!

Yet, despite being such a powerful-looking man, when the new factory director told him to put on clothes, he put them on; when she told him to take them off, he took them off.

He did whatever she asked of him.

He even adjusted his stance to accommodate the factory director’s height, bowing his head and leaning down for her as she helped him straighten his clothes.

This man was far too obedient to his wife!

Because Zhou Chenglei was so cooperative, more and more young women asked him to try on clothes, and even the older ladies started asking him to model for them!

Zhou Chenglei’s face grew darker and colder by the minute. Whoever asked him to try something on would receive a chilling glare, yet he continued to cooperate with Jiang Xia, not daring to show his husbandly displeasure to her.

…

Fortunately, Jiang Xia only stayed at the garment factory until nine o’clock before heading home; she still had to go back to breastfeed.

Father Zhou didn’t want to leave. Having nothing else to do, he stayed behind to help keep an eye on things.

Tian Caihua and Mother Zhou didn’t want to leave either; they both loved joining in on the excitement.

Zhou Chenglei didn’t mind them and planned to come back to pick them up around lunchtime.

Back at the Jiang family home, Jiang Dong and Zhang Fuyan were each holding a child, trying to make them laugh.

The house was filled with the rhythmic giggling of the two babies.

The children had recently learned a new skill: whenever an adult gently bumped their heads against the babies’ chests to tease them, they would burst into loud laughter.

“Dad, where’s Mom?” Jiang Xia asked, bending over to change her shoes.

Zhou Chenglei reached out to steady her.

“Dad is in the bathroom washing the younger brother’s bottom, and Mom went out to buy groceries.”

Zhang Fuyan said with a smile, “You guys are back so soon?”

Zhang Fuyan had originally planned to go and help Jiang Xia sell the clothes, but she hadn’t expected Jiang Xia to set out so early in the morning.

“I was afraid the kids would get hungry.” Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei finished changing their shoes and went into the kitchen to wash their hands.

Just as they finished, Father Jiang came out carrying the younger brother, whose bottom was now freshly cleaned.

As soon as the baby saw his parents, he immediately let out a joyful cackle. “Ha…”

Father Jiang handed the child to Jiang Xia. “Take him out to put some pants on. I’ll go wash the diapers.”

Zhou Chenglei said, “I’ll go wash them.”

“No need, I can handle it. You two get some rest.”

Zhou Chenglei didn’t argue and walked straight into the bathroom.

Jiang Xia took the child. “Did you have a messy diaper?”

Being in his mother’s arms made the baby boy smile again. Seeing her talking to him, he immediately responded, “m-ah~”

Even though he had no idea what his mother was actually saying.

Father Jiang brought out a pair of pants and a fresh diaper. “How was the sale?”

Jiang Xia placed the child in the crib, took the diaper and pants from Father Jiang, and skillfully changed the baby. “Pretty good. By the time I left, we had already sold over three hundred pieces.”

After eating lunch and soothing the children to sleep, Jiang Xia headed back to the garment factory to check on things.

Chapter 625: Beyond Expectations

In the afternoon, even more people came to the garment factory to buy clothes.

It was likely that the people from the morning had gone back and spread the word. As the saying goes, one tells ten, and then ten tell a hundred, and soon a massive crowd had been drawn in.

The tables were moved inside the factory yard because there were so many people that the road outside was becoming blocked. By selling inside the factory, they avoided obstructing traffic.

Jiang Xia walked over to tally the sales. They had already sold over eight hundred summer sets, over five hundred spring and autumn sets, more than three hundred quilted jackets, and nearly a hundred military overcoats.

Remarkable!

It had already far exceeded her expectations.

Father Zhou had been mentally calculating the earnings all day. Every time a piece was sold, the sound of “clinking” gold coins echoed in his mind. It was even more thrilling than catching fish.

He knew exactly how much profit each set of clothes generated.

The summer sets were sold as three-piece sets—a top, a vest, and pants. Selling one set earned a profit of three yuan. The spring and autumn sets with thin cotton lining earned five yuan per set. The thick winter quilted jackets also earned five yuan, while the military overcoats didn’t make a single fen of profit.

There weren’t many military overcoats to begin with, only about two hundred. Furthermore, the winters in this region weren’t particularly harsh, with only about ten days of truly freezing weather. Therefore, those buying the military overcoats were likely either people who worked in cold environments or the elderly.

As a result, only about a dozen of the two hundred military overcoats remained, as they were a genuine bargain. These overcoats even came with fur collars, which themselves were worth two or three yuan.

There were also some other styles of clothing in smaller quantities—about ten or twenty pieces each. Jiang Xia let the factory director set the prices for those and didn’t add any markup. The ones she marked up were the items available in large volumes.

Zhou Chenglei arrived with the tractor. Today, they would first haul five thousand items of clothing to the train station to be shipped to the capital. There was an express train heading to the capital at five o’clock in the afternoon.

Jiang Xia went home at four o’clock. After feeding the children and playing with them for about an hour, she returned to the garment factory at five-thirty.

Five-thirty was quitting time for many, which brought another large wave of people. They remained busy until six o’clock, when the workers were supposed to get off work. They asked the remaining customers to return the next day.

Once all the shoppers had departed, Jiang Xia spoke to everyone. “Today’s sales have exceeded my expectations. We sold over two thousand sets in total. Thank you for your hard work, everyone.”

The garment factory director also hadn’t expected to sell so much; it had indeed surpassed his estimates. He smiled and said, “It’s all thanks to your clever methods.”

However, even if they sold two thousand sets a day, they would only sell six thousand in three days. That would still leave thirty thousand sets. The situation remained grim.

Could the capital really absorb thirty thousand pieces of clothing? The factory director lacked confidence.

Jiang Xia began distributing wages. “Everyone worked truly hard today. To express my gratitude, I’ve decided to give everyone a bonus of one yuan for every one thousand items sold. Since we sold over two thousand five hundred sets today, I’m giving everyone a bonus of two yuan and fifty fen.”

The workers’ eyes lit up upon hearing this, and their fatigue vanished instantly.

Had they known, they wouldn’t have finished work so early. They could have sold a few more to reach three thousand sets and earn a five yuan bonus.

Many felt a twinge of regret at that moment. It wouldn’t have mattered if they stayed until seven or eight o’clock. They hoped the people who had just been turned away would definitely come back tomorrow.

As Jiang Xia handed out the bonuses and wages, everyone who received their pay thanked her happily.

While distributing the money, Jiang Xia continued, “The factory director told me before that you were all Model Workers, and today I’ve seen your capability firsthand. You stood there selling goods all day without a single complaint of hardship or exhaustion! It’ll be hard work again tomorrow and the day after! There will be bonuses tomorrow as well, and they will be even higher. Tomorrow, I plan to change the bonus structure: everyone will receive a ten fen bonus for every set they sell.”

Someone did the math in their head, and their eyes widened in disbelief. “Does that mean selling ten sets gets a one yuan bonus? Is that right? My math isn’t wrong, is it?”

Jiang Xia nodded. “That’s right. Sell ten sets, and you get one yuan. Sell a hundred sets, and you get ten yuan. The more you sell, the higher the reward. Your base wage remains the same; it doesn’t matter if you sell less, as the two yuan daily wage is guaranteed. Keep track of how many sets you sell, and we’ll reconcile the numbers with the finance department when you finish work in the evening.”

The workers’ blood began to pump with excitement! Each of them had definitely sold more than a hundred sets today!

The factory director chuckled and said, “Work hard tomorrow and try to earn more money.”

Everyone shouted in unison, “We definitely will!”

After Jiang Xia finished paying the workers, she added, “It’s getting late. Everyone, please head home! Those from the finance department, please stay for a moment.”

The workers went home happily with their four yuan and fifty fen.

There were two people in charge of collecting the money. Jiang Xia said to them, “You worked hard today as well. It will be a bit difficult tomorrow to record the number of items sold by each person, so I will give you both a large red envelope then.”

The two had been worried that this new bonus system would disadvantage them—since the salespeople got bonuses, wouldn’t those handling the money miss out? Hearing her words, smiles instantly broke out on their faces. “Thank you, Comrade Xiao Xia.”

Jiang Xia then taught them a more convenient way to keep the accounts. After that, she consulted with the garment factory director regarding how the remaining clothes would be sold and the logistics of shipping the goods.

When she was finally ready to head home, Tian Caihua pulled her aside. “Xiao Xia, I want to take some clothes back to the town to sell. I’ll sell them at the market!”

Jiang Xia replied, “Of course! Take them tomorrow then. Sell as many as you can. Whatever you don’t sell, as long as it isn’t dirty or damaged, you can just return it to me.”

Jiang Xia felt that selling at the market was a viable option. She had been waiting for a business-minded employee at the factory to suggest it.

Tian Caihua was delighted. “Great! Then I’ll take fifty sets of each style back to the town tomorrow. It happens to be market day.”

Jiang Xia really was the best! She wouldn’t mind having a few more sisters-in-law like her.

If only Zhou Chengsen were willing to marry her cousin! Her cousin was very hardworking and had always been close to her and listened to her since they were children. She wondered what kind of wife Zhou Chengsen would eventually marry.

Tian Caihua almost hoped he wouldn’t marry at all, as she felt Zhou Chengsen would likely choose someone educated. Most educated people were stuck-up. If he married another educated woman like Li Xiuxian, who refused to do any farm work, it would be incredibly annoying.

Of course, if he married someone educated like Xiao Xia, that would be no problem at all!

Jiang Xia offered a suggestion: “You can take a bit more. Take a hundred summer sets, a hundred autumn sets, and fifty quilted jackets. Just return whatever you can’t sell.”

“Alright, I’ll do as you say! I’ll come to the factory early tomorrow to load the goods. I’ll have your Big Brother drive the tractor over to pull them back.”

Father Zhou was beaming. “Selling clothes makes more money than fishing!” He had been counting money all day and was still in a state of high excitement.

Mother Zhou nodded happily in agreement. “Selling clothes is good. Going out to sea has risks, but selling clothes involves no risk. Once the factory starts producing clothes regularly, will it be even more profitable?”

Chapter 626: A Chance Meeting is Better Than a Formal Invitation

The next day marked the triplets’ 100th-day celebration. Early that morning, they received large red envelopes from their Grandpa and Grandma, as well as a storefront gifted by their Uncle.

No one had ever seen gifts like these for a 100-day celebration! Jiang Xia held her little daughter, a look of helplessness on her face. “It looks like Mommy is going to have to work even harder to make money. Your Uncle gave you such a precious gift; what on earth am I going to give your future cousins later on?”

Seeing her mother talking to her, the little girl grinned, then promptly stuffed her tiny fist into her mouth.

In the last couple of days, the little girl had learned how to gnaw on her own fist.

Jiang Xia pulled her hand away, but a moment later, it was right back in her mouth.

Jiang Dong said, “No need to give anything.”

Jiang Xia replied, “I’d be giving it to my niece or nephew, not to you.”

Jiang Dong: “…”

Father Jiang held his eldest grandson, a bean-pole of a smile on his face as he watched his daughter and son bicker. He didn’t care how they got along; he was too busy teasing the grandson in his arms.

Regardless of the cost, the gift had been given. Jiang Xia decided she would just have to make it up to Jiang Dong in other ways.

Today, the children needed their heads shaved for the tradition, and at two o’clock in the afternoon, they were scheduled to fly back to the capital.

After breakfast, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei took the triplets over to the paternal grandparents. They let the two elders and Zhou Chengsen take the children to the barbershop for their haircuts.

Zhou Chenglei drove them there. Jiang Xia was worried that the children might squirm and get nicked by the razor, so she insisted that Zhou Chenglei stay to hold them steady during the process.

Jiang Xia still needed to check on the garment factory, so she took the tractor there.

Tian Caihua and Zhou Chengxin were driving the tractor, bringing Guangzong, Yaozu, and the two girls, Zhou Zhou and her sister, along to pick up some stock.

Once they had the goods, they would head straight back to the town.

Over the past two days in the city, the children had seen movies they had never seen before. The day after that, Zhou Chengsen had taken them shopping at the mall, buying the things they had been longing for and taking them for a stroll in the park.

The park wasn’t fully completed yet, but the children were incredibly satisfied.

Once they got back to the village, they would have enough stories to brag to their friends for an entire morning!

On the tractor, the children were discussing things animatedly.

“Zhou Zhiwen and his brothers definitely haven’t seen a movie or been to a park. When I get back, I’m going to tell him how big the cinema screen is—ten times, no, a hundred times bigger than that little TV in his house!”

“Zhou Zhiwu and the others definitely haven’t been to a park! They’ve never even been on a slide!”

“And they won’t have stickers like ours. The stickers in the city are way cooler than the ones in the village!”

…

Listening to them from her seat on the tractor, Jiang Xia couldn’t help but find it amusing.

Zhou Zhiwen and Zhou Zhiwu were Zhou Bingqiang’s grandsons.

When Father Zhou named his grandsons “Guangzong” and “Yaozu” (meaning “Bring Honor to Ancestors”), Zhou Bingqiang had found out and named his own grandsons “Wenwu” and “Shuangquan” (meaning “Adept with both Pen and Sword”).

Guangzong, Yaozu, and their brothers loved nothing more than going over to brag to Zhou Bingqiang’s grandsons.

It seemed that these traits were just part of the family genes.

Zhou Wenzu suddenly tugged on Jiang Xia’s sleeve. “Auntie, are you and Uncle going to be factory directors soon?”

Jiang Xia replied, “Not yet. Why do you ask?”

Zhou Wenyao asked, “Is a factory director more powerful than a village head?”

Jiang Xia explained, “The responsibilities are different, so you can’t really compare them. But I think a village head is quite impressive. He manages the whole village and works for everyone; it’s called ‘serving the people.’”

Zhou Wenyao pursed his lips. “So Zhou Zhiquan’s grandpa isn’t that impressive?”

Zhou Zhiwen and his brothers had been acting incredibly arrogant lately just because their grandfather had become the village head!

It was so annoying!

Zhou Wenzu chimed in, “What’s so impressive about it? He only got the job because our Grandpa didn’t want it! Besides, a village head doesn’t make as much money as a factory director! Right, Auntie? The person who makes the most money is the most impressive!”

Tian Caihua immediately added, “Of course! Whoever makes the most money is the most capable!”

Jiang Xia: “…”

Well, that was a very Tian Caihua way of looking at things.

Jiang Xia had only found out after returning that Zhou Bingqiang had been elected by the villagers recently. He was now the village head, and the production team had officially become the village committee.

When Father Zhou mentioned it, he even said, “Even though Zhou Bingqiang is the village head now, it’s only because I refused the position! He doesn’t dare act smug in front of me!”

Father Zhou had refused because he frequently had to take the boat out on distant seas voyages, but he also simply didn’t like the job. As he put it: “My heart isn’t in politics; it’s in the mountains and the seas.”

Soon, they arrived at the garment factory. It was still crowded today.

Moreover, the employees seemed even more energized than they had been yesterday.

Yesterday, they had mostly just stood by and watched people browse, answering questions about sizes and helping fetch items.

Now, every single one of them was actively introducing and promoting the clothes. They were much more proactive.

They looked as if they wanted every customer to walk away with eight or ten sets of clothes.

Jiang Xia stood there and watched for a while, and she could already tell who had the potential to be a top salesperson.

She didn’t have much time to linger. She spoke briefly with the factory director, and once the goods Tian Caihua wanted were loaded onto the tractor, Jiang Xia settled the bill and prepared to leave.

Tian Caihua had to pay for the stock she took, just as Jiang Xia had paid upfront for the five thousand sets of clothes she was shipping to the capital.

It was better to keep the accounts clear and avoid confusion.

It was also because she had to pay upfront that Jiang Xia hadn’t taken ten thousand sets. She sent five thousand first, keeping the remaining cash for Zhou Chenglei to use.

For lunch, Zhou Chenglei had booked a private room at Fuman Restaurant so both families could eat together. Tian Caihua and the others had already headed back, so it was just Father Zhou, Mother Zhou, and Zhou Chengsen.

As the two families walked into Fuman Restaurant, they happened to run into Dr. Gao and Ruan Tang, who were arriving with a middle-aged couple.

Ruan Tang bore a resemblance to both of them; they were likely her parents.

Gao Jie was technically her daughter’s savior, so Father Jiang was the first to greet them with a smile. “Dr. Gao, a chance meeting is better than a formal invitation! Why don’t you join us for a meal?”

Gao Jie smiled and returned the greeting, then introduced them to Ruan Tang’s parents. “Brother, Sister-in-law, this is…”

Everyone stepped forward warmly to shake hands.

When it came time to introduce Zhou Chengsen, Gao Jie smiled and said, “This time, we really have to thank Second Brother Zhou for saving Tangtang.”

Ruan Tang’s father looked at the bruising around Zhou Chengsen’s eyes and gripped his hand tightly with both of his. “Thank you so much! Let’s eat together today; it’s my treat. I had planned to invite you to a meal anyway, but Tangtang said you might have already gone back to the village. We’re rushing back to the capital this afternoon, so we thought we’d have Ruan Tang invite you first, and then we’d pay a formal visit during the New Year.”

“Mr. Ruan, you’re too kind. It was just a small matter. Dr. Ruan has helped me quite a bit, and she’s already treated me to a meal. Let’s all eat together today. You and your wife have come a long way; let me be the host.”

“That doesn’t count!” Father Ruan insisted. “The girl said she only bought you a bowl of noodles. That’s simply not proper! This is on me!”

Gao Jie was never one for polite social filler; she always spoke her mind directly. “It doesn’t matter who pays. Can we please sit down first? We need to order and eat if we’re going to catch that two o’clock flight, don’t we?”

The owner of Fuman Restaurant finally found an opening to speak and stepped forward eagerly, leading them to the largest private room.

Zhou Chenglei had already pre-ordered several dishes, picking something that everyone liked. Now that there were more people, they definitely needed to add more items.

Since Zhou Chengsen had insisted on hosting, Zhou Chenglei let his second brother take the lead.

Zhou Chengsen politely asked Dr. Gao, Ruan Tang’s parents, and Jiang Xia’s parents to order more dishes, but they all declined. Only then did Zhou Chengsen add a few more himself.

Since Ruan Tang had shared a meal at the Zhou family home just two days ago, Zhou Chengsen ordered a dish she had eaten the most that day. He also remembered Ou Minling mentioning that Ruan Tang liked capelin, so he added an order of deep-fried capelin as well.

Hearing Zhou Chengsen order two dishes in a row that were her daughter’s favorites, Ruan Tang’s mother cast a thoughtful look at him.

When the food arrived and the server brought out the two dishes Ruan Tang liked, Zhou Chengsen, who was sitting near the serving area, stood up. He shifted a plate in front of Ruan Tang to make space and signaled for the server to place the dishes directly in front of her.

At this point, Ruan Tang’s mother was certain—it wasn’t a coincidence. The man certainly knew exactly what her daughter liked to eat.

Chapter 627: A Magnet for Trouble

Throughout the meal, aside from the brief moments spent ordering and when the food was served, Zhou Chengsen didn’t pay any more attention to his own daughter. Instead, he spent his time conversing with Father Ruan and Father Jiang.

Since all three men worked within the government sector, they found plenty of common ground.

In contrast, Mother Ruan’s own daughter, Ruan Tang, glanced over at Zhou Chengsen several times.

Knowing her daughter better than anyone, Mother Ruan felt a pang of worry.

One look at Zhou Chengsen and it was obvious he had been married before. Given that his younger brother, Zhou Chenglei, already had three children, how could he not be married?

Mother Ruan felt a deep ache for her daughter. She grieved for Ruan Tang’s troubled romantic past; her first boyfriend had frightened her so badly that she had refused to date for years and had even been forced to leave her hometown.

Fortunately, her brother-in-law and his wife had been transferred to this area, so Ruan Tang at least had family nearby.

She had only been living peacefully for less than two years when that man suddenly appeared again, hunting her down!

It had scared Mother Ruan to death. This time, she would insist the hospital staff keep a close watch on him so he couldn’t escape again.

But what about the rest of her daughter’s life?

Ruan Tang needed to get married as soon as possible to finally rid herself of that ticking time bomb.

Seeing her daughter steal another glance at Zhou Chengsen, Mother Ruan grew even more concerned.

Once they returned to the capital, she absolutely had to find her daughter a suitable partner.

After lunch, Jiang Xia, Zhou Chenglei, Zhang Fuyan, and Jiang Dong prepared to head to the airport.

Zhou Chengsen drove them there, planning to return home afterward. He left his motorcycle in the city.

Father Zhou intended to stay in the city for another day or two. He wanted to keep an eye on the garment factory—or rather, listen to the glorious sound of gold coins rolling in. He would ride the motorcycle home himself later.

Since Ruan Tang’s parents were on the same flight as Jiang Xia and the others, they all piled into the car together.

Ruan Tang also tagged along to see them off.

Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang waited together in the terminal until the others had checked in and passed through security.

Though Father and Mother Ruan were on the same flight as Jiang Xia’s group, their seats were quite far apart.

After finding their seats, Mother Ruan leaned toward Father Ruan and whispered, “What do you think of Comrade Zhou Chengsen?”

Father Ruan was used to taking naps. Having rushed over the previous night as soon as they received the news, they had barely slept. This was typically the time Father Ruan felt most exhausted. Without thinking too deeply, he replied instinctively, “Not bad. He’s learned, far-sighted, and has a bright future.”

Mother Ruan wanted to press further, but seeing him close his eyes to sleep, she let it go.

While Mother Ruan had gone to the restroom with Gao Jie earlier, she had learned that Zhou Chengsen was divorced and had a daughter.

To be honest, she could tell her daughter had developed a slight interest in Zhou Chengsen, but Mother Ruan was somewhat bothered by his past marriage and the fact that he had a child.

She believed any mother would feel at least a little bit hesitant!

Though her daughter had dated before, she had never been married. She was beautiful and talented; Mother Ruan felt that only the most exceptional man was worthy of such an outstanding daughter.

However, her daughter was already twenty-six. Nine out of ten men her age were already married.

If she looked for someone younger, her daughter wouldn’t like it. If she looked for someone her age or older, there were very few eligible bachelors left. Even if she did find someone, Mother Ruan often found them beneath her standards, let alone her daughter’s.

They were truly caught in the middle—unwilling to settle for less, yet unable to reach for more.

Mother Ruan fretted over this throughout the flight, suspended between the blue sky and the white clouds.

Back at the airport, Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang didn’t head back to the car until they saw the plane take off.

On the drive back, it was just the two of them in the vehicle.

Zhou Chengsen asked Ruan Tang, “Are we going to your home or the hospital?”

“Home. It’s my day off,” Ruan Tang replied.

Having his answer, Zhou Chengsen focused on the road and didn’t say another word.

As long as Ruan Tang didn’t speak, Zhou Chengsen would never initiate idle chatter. Even when they were eating noodles together that night, he hadn’t said a single word.

After a few seconds of silence, Ruan Tang turned to look at the dark circles around his eyes and asked, “Did you apply any medicine to the area around your eyes?”

He hadn’t. A minor injury like this would heal on its own in a few days, so why bother? However, Zhou Chengsen dreaded doctors’ prying questions, so he lied, “Yes.”

Ruan Tang responded, “If you had applied the medicine, the bruising should be lighter by now. The effectiveness of the ointment from the hospital isn’t that poor.”

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

She could tell even that?

Was she a pediatrician or a surgeon?

“How many times did you apply it?”

Seeing how sharp she was, Zhou Chengsen didn’t dare lie again. “Once. That one time at the hospital.”

Ruan Tang: “…”

Well, at least he was being honest now!

He was truly a master of being vague.

They eventually reached the residential building where Ruan Tang lived.

Zhou Chengsen got out of the car, intending to escort her upstairs.

Seeing this, Ruan Tang said, “I can go up by myself.”

Zhou Chengsen replied, “It’s only a few more steps.”

Given that every time he saw Ruan Tang, some sort of accident happened, he felt she was a bit of a magnet for misfortune. He decided he might as well walk her up to ensure she got home safely.

Ruan Tang heard this and said, “Alright then. Let me apply some medicine for you. I doubt you’ll do it yourself when you get back.”

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

Was this an occupational hazard for doctors? Feeling the itch to treat a patient whenever they saw one?

Just as they were about to head inside, Gao Jie came running over in a hurry and stopped them. “Don’t go up yet! I think Feng Bing’s mother is here.”

Zhou Chengsen noticed Ruan Tang’s face turn pale instantly.

It seemed Ruan Tang really did attract trouble.

He said calmly, “It’s fine. I’ll go up and check. You two wait here.”

Gao Jie grabbed Zhou Chengsen’s arm. “Wait, A-Sen, could you do me and Tang a favor?”

After lunch, Gao Jie had stopped by the hospital and learned that Feng Bing’s mother had been there. She had immediately rushed over to wait for Ruan Tang.

“Tell me what it is. If I can help, I will.”

“In a moment, could you pretend to be Tang’s boyfriend?”

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

Was that even something he could help with?

Gao Jie continued, “I know this is asking a lot, but this is sudden, and I can’t find anyone better to play the part. If it’s truly inconvenient, it’s alright.”

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

“Tang, maybe you shouldn’t go home yet. Stay at my place today, and tomorrow I’ll find a doctor at the hospital to…”

At that moment, Feng Bing’s mother came running down the stairs. “Tang!”

Upon seeing Ruan Tang, she immediately charged toward her.

Terrified, Ruan Tang instinctively backed away, twisting her ankle in the process.

Zhou Chengsen, who was standing right behind her, caught her to steady her.

Feng Bing’s mother stopped and stared at Ruan Tang, her eyes red as she spoke. “Tang, Bing really loves you, and I love you too. I promise that if you marry him, nothing like this will ever happen again. I’ll watch him myself; I promise I won’t let him hit you! You know I’ve always treated you like my own daughter! Better than I treat Bing. And Bing really isn’t sick; he just loves you too much, he cares about you too much! Everything will be fine as long as you marry him. You know Bing is my only son. If you marry him, our house and all our savings will be yours.”

In her desperation, Feng Bing’s mother rambled incoherently.

Zhou Chengsen shifted to stand in front of Ruan Tang, shielding her from the woman. He said in a cold voice, “Please leave immediately. Do not harass Comrade Ruan again, or I will call the police!”

Chapter 628: Soothing the Liver and Relieving Depression

Mother Feng looked at Zhou Chengsen, then at Ruan Tang, who was hiding behind him. “Tang, who is this man? Did Bing see him? That explains it! Bing likes you too much; seeing you walk with other men just makes him jealous! I’ll explain it to him and clear everything up. Trust me, I know my son. Once you two are married and he feels secure, he won’t be jealous anymore. Dr. Gao, please be our witness—if Bing ever hits Tang again, I’ll break his legs!”

Mother Feng was well aware that her son had issues. She had discovered them long ago. Because of this, she felt Ruan Tang was the only one who could help him, as he truly loved her.

As long as Ruan Tang stayed by his side to soothe him, comfort him, and cater to him—just as she, his mother, satisfied all his demands—he would be a normal person and wouldn’t have an episode.

Under her care, no one had noticed for all these years, had they?

She was getting old and couldn’t stay with him forever. She needed to find someone to look after him before she could rest easy.

That was why she had to help her son marry Ruan Tang.

Even if people called her shameless, even if she had to get on her knees and beg!

Gao Jie was so angry she laughed. “You actually want me to be a witness? Then go ahead and cripple him! Your son has hit so many people; why haven’t you crippled him yourself yet? I’m telling you, our Tang already has a boyfriend! Stop bothering her!”

Mother Feng immediately dropped to her knees.

“Tang, I’m begging you! I have no other choice; I only have this one son. Can you understand a mother’s heart? He really isn’t sick; he just loves you too much. Seeing you get close to other men just makes him a bit impulsive. Give him one last chance. I promise that once you marry him, he won’t be impulsive anymore. I know you don’t have a boyfriend yet—I’ve checked! Help me, forgive Bing, okay? If you don’t agree, I won’t get up!”

Gao Jie snapped, “You’re wrong! Tang’s parents were just here, and they found a partner for her. Stop harassing my niece!”

Zhou Chengsen saw passersby stopping to watch the commotion, and residents of the residential building were poking their heads out. Since Ruan Tang still had to live here, he spoke up, “Dr. Gao, take Tang and leave first. Leave this to me.”

Gao Jie quickly pulled Ruan Tang toward the police station.

Mother Feng tried to chase after them but was blocked by Zhou Chengsen.

Seeing Ruan Tang walking away, she shouted, “Tang, I won’t give up! Not until you agree!”

Gao Jie ignored her and pulled Ruan Tang into a back alley.

Both mother and son were lunatics!

Mother Feng turned her gaze back to Zhou Chengsen, who was still blocking her path. “Hello, let me introduce myself. I am the mother of Ruan Tang’s fiancé. She and my son are already preparing to register the marriage. She has even stayed the night at my house; she is my son’s woman. You’re Tang’s colleague, right? Thank you for stopping my son the other day. Those two just had a little spat. He had been drinking and got impulsive that day; he was just drunk and misunderstood that you two were dating. My son isn’t usually like this. He only acts on impulse when he sees men around Ruan Tang. He’s stubborn; once he’s set on Ruan Tang, he’ll never change for the rest of his life. He can’t stand seeing other men near her, even if she were married.”

The claim that Ruan Tang had stayed the night was, of course, a lie. She simply wanted the man to look down on Ruan Tang and grow disgusted with her.

She didn’t believe that anyone would dare date Ruan Tang if she kept up this harassment!

Ruan Tang was her son’s lifeline. She couldn’t let her marry someone else; she had to wait for her son to get out of custody.

In the past, whenever she heard someone wanted to introduce a partner to Ruan Tang, she would find them and say similar things. Sure enough, the men would always end up looking disgusted and walk away.

Later, she learned that Ruan Tang herself didn’t want to date anymore.

But after all these years, Ruan Tang was getting older. If she didn’t marry soon, she’d become an old maid. Mother Feng guessed that Father and Mother Ruan had started looking for someone for her again, which was why her son had been triggered when he came out to find her.

Zhou Chengsen saw right through her scheme. Truly classless—bullying someone like this!

He laughed and said darkly, “Is that so? Then your son is welcome to come find me and Ruan Tang anytime. We can see who’s better at fighting—him or me. By the way, have you seen his injuries? Is he in worse shape, or am I?”

Mother Feng: “…”

Now that Ruan Tang and Dr. Gao were far away, Zhou Chengsen spoke without restraint. “You might not know this, but I’m recently divorced. For someone like me, marrying Ruan Tang would be marrying up. Why would I care if she’s dated someone before? And do you know why I got divorced? I was a cuckold. My wife even got pregnant with another man’s child. So, I’m in an extremely foul mood right now. I need someone to lash out at. Tell him to come; it’ll be perfect for me to soothe the liver and relieve depression!”

Zhou Chengsen’s knuckles cracked as he balled his hands into fists.

Mother Feng: “…”

“Also, you might not know that my family are fishermen. I’ve known how to use a knife to clean fish since I was a kid. I’m very efficient at gutting and filleting. My house doesn’t have much, but we have plenty of knives. Your son is easily triggered? He hits people when he sees them with Tang? Well, do you know that the law clarified the regulations for justifiable defense several years ago? Do you know what justifiable defense is?”

“Justifiable defense means the law stipulates that citizens have the right to defend themselves when facing illegal infringement, and they bear no criminal responsibility. Simply put, if someone hits you, you can hit them back. As long as you don’t kill them, it’s not illegal! With the way your son treats Ruan Tang, even if he were beaten to death, it wouldn’t be against the law!”

Mother Feng: “…”

“Tell your son to come find me and Ruan Tang. Tell him to keep bothering us. He’s welcome anytime! Don’t worry, I won’t kill him. I just happen to need someone to soothe the liver and relieve depression.”

Mother Feng: “…”

Zhou Chengsen gave a sinister smile. “How about I take Ruan Tang to visit your son with you? We can pay him a visit once a month. Or even once a week. I’d be more than happy to!”

“…”

Madman!

He was crazier than her son!

And so, when Ruan Tang and Dr. Gao returned in a hurry with a police officer, all they saw was the retreating back of Mother Feng as she fled in terror.

Gao Jie was stunned. “Why did she leave?”

In the past, when that woman showed up, she wouldn’t leave for half a day, not even after the police arrived.

Zhou Chengsen: “I scared her off.”

Gao Jie: “…”

Ruan Tang: “…How did you scare her?”

“I was crazier than them.”

Ruan Tang: “…”

Zhou Chengsen didn’t give her the specifics. He only said, “You don’t need to find someone else to pretend to be your boyfriend. If she comes looking for you again, tell me. I’ll go with you to scare her. Or we can take the initiative and go scare her ourselves! Who’s afraid of whom?”

Ruan Tang couldn’t help but glance at him.

Zhou Chengsen didn’t look at her. He reached into his shirt pocket and took out a fountain pen and a pack of cigarettes.

It was a soft pack, and there was only one cigarette left inside. He took it out, stuck it in his mouth, tore open the empty pack, uncapped his pen, and quickly scribbled two phone numbers on the inside of the paper. He handed it to Ruan Tang.

“One is for my government unit, and the other is for my production team. You can reach me at the government unit during work hours and at the production team after hours.”

Chapter 629: Who’s Afraid of Whom

Zhou Chengsen saw that Ruan Tang’s face was still a little pale. She was, after all, just a young girl, and his tone unconsciously softened. “They like coming to find you, don’t they? It’s fine. If she comes to find you once, I’ll go with you to find them twice, three times, four times, five times—even ten times if needed! Let’s see if they dare bother you again.”

His voice was like one coaxing a daughter, yet the words he spoke were the most powerful and reassuring.

Ruan Tang: “…”

Zhou Chengsen thought it over and decided it was better to take the initiative. After all, he had to work and couldn’t always be free to come help Ruan Tang. “I still have two days of leave. Tomorrow, I’ll come with you to give her a good scare. Scare her twice, and she probably won’t dare come looking for you again.”

One good scare to last a lifetime!

If she wanted to act crazy, then let’s see who could be crazier.

Who’s afraid of whom?

None of this intimidated Zhou Chengsen in the slightest.

Ruan Tang: “…”

Zhou Chengsen figured Ruan Tang probably wouldn’t dare stay here alone tonight. He thought about seeing them off again, but since he didn’t know if she was staying at Dr. Gao’s place or a hotel, he didn’t ask directly. “Where is Dr. Gao’s house? I’ll take you back.”

Gao Jie: “No need. I rode my bicycle here. I still need to help Xiao Tang pack her things and take her to my place to stay. You should head back! We can manage on our own. Xiao Tang needs to bring her bicycle too. My home is quite far from the hospital; it’s inconvenient without one.”

Ruan Tang also felt bad troubling him further. It was already past four o’clock, and he still had to get back to the village. She quickly said, “I’ve troubled you again this time. You should hurry home!”

Zhou Chengsen didn’t insist. It was indeed inconvenient to get to work without a bicycle, and with Dr. Gao accompanying her, there was no safety concern. “See you tomorrow.”

Then, after exchanging a few words with Gao Jie, he drove off in the Jeep.

Ruan Tang and Gao Jie watched the Jeep drive to the end of the road, turn a corner, and disappear.

Gao Jie sighed. “He’s a reliable person too. Your Uncle used to say Zhou Chenglei was a rare, dependable man, and his second brother is the same. The whole family is good.”

Ruan Tang didn’t speak. She had heard it and agreed in her heart, but her thoughts hadn’t fully returned yet.

Gao Jie said to her niece, who was still staring blankly at the intersection, “Let’s go. Go upstairs and pack your luggage. Come stay at my house. You can’t live in this place alone, otherwise, your uncle and I won’t be able to rest easy.”

Jiang Xia and the others returned to the capital, first dropping off Father Ruan and Mother Ruan at home.

As soon as Father Ruan and Mother Ruan got home, they called Gao Jie to report they were safe, and that’s when they learned that Feng Bing’s mother had actually gone to find Ruan Tang, and that Zhou Chengsen had helped scare her away.

Mother Ruan was both furious and worried. After giving her daughter detailed instructions, she said to her husband, “Tomorrow, go find your colleague and tell him to have his friend keep his wife in check! What kind of people are in that family? Once again, we owe it to Comrade Zhou Chengsen!”

Father Ruan was also livid. “I’ll go talk to him tomorrow.”

Mother Ruan: “How about transferring Tangtang back to a hospital here? Now that family has found their way over there, I’m really not at ease. Besides, Tangtang isn’t that young anymore; it’s time she got married.”

Father Ruan deeply regretted agreeing to his colleague’s introduction back then, setting up his colleague’s friend’s son with his daughter. Although his daughter and wife never blamed him, he felt immense guilt inside. “Alright, I’ll look into it. It’s not as simple as just transferring; you need to apply and there has to be an opening. As for finding a partner and getting married, I’ll let Tangtang decide according to her own wishes. If she meets a good person to spend her life with, that’s naturally a good thing. But if she doesn’t marry, that’s fine too. Let’s not meddle too much. Our interference might not be a good thing.”

“If she doesn’t marry, who will take care of her when she’s old? We can’t accompany her for her whole life.”

“Tangtang has a stable job. When she’s old, she’ll have her pension and can hire someone to take care of her. Besides, isn’t there still Xiao Jie? The siblings have a good relationship; Xiao Jie won’t ignore Tangtang.”

Mother Ruan didn’t say that while the siblings’ relationship was good now, their son was about to get married. Once he was married, he’d have his own family, his own wife and children to take care of. How much energy would he have left to look after Tangtang?

Even if he had the intention, he’d have to see if his wife was willing!

Furthermore, their son would also grow old. Expecting their son’s children to take care of their daughter was even more unrealistic.

Even one’s own children might not all be filial. How could one expect nieces and nephews to provide care?

Life was too long, and these were very real problems.

Her husband and his siblings were very united now, always helping each other whenever something came up, with one call bringing a hundred responses. He thought the next generation would be just like theirs.

But each generation is different!

Who could predict what the future would hold?

“Let’s talk about marriage later. First, bring Tangtang back here!”

“Mm, but we should ask Tangtang’s opinion about that too. If she comes back, it’ll be more convenient for Feng Bing’s mother to come knocking. Don’t forget, her family is in the capital.”

Mother Ruan: “…”

This was truly maddening!

Jiang Xia only learned about this incident the next evening from Zhang Fuyan. Ruan Tang and Ou Minling were close friends who shared everything.

Ou Minling had told Zhang Fuyan, who also passed along Ruan Tang’s thanks, saying she’d treat their family to a meal when they returned.

Today, Feng Bing was being sent back to the psychiatric hospital in the capital. Ruan Tang and Zhou Chengsen went together to see Feng Bing and his mother.

Feng Bing was agitated again, his emotions running high.

But it truly scared Feng Bing’s mother!

She hadn’t expected Zhou Chengsen to be serious!

She even saw Zhou Chengsen playing with the small knife on his keychain.

Zhou Chengsen also said that before the New Year, when he was on holiday, he and Ruan Tang would visit Feng Bing and his family in the capital.

It scared Feng Bing’s mother so much that she looked at Zhou Chengsen as if she’d seen a ghost!

Ruan Tang didn’t know what Zhou Chengsen had done that day to make Feng Bing’s mother so afraid of him.

Ruan Tang was curious, Ou Minling was curious, and Zhang Fuyan was curious too. They wanted Jiang Xia to find out.

At eight-thirty in the evening, after the three children were asleep, Jiang Xia told Zhou Chenglei about it. She was also a little curious. “What do you think Second Brother actually did? Can he really scare someone that much?”

Having not made love for three nights, Zhou Chenglei pulled Jiang Xia into his arms. “There’s no problem my Second Brother can’t solve. He’s always been shameless. If the other party is sick, he just has to be sicker than them.”

With that, he kissed her soft, beautiful neck, ending the topic and starting a grand affair between the two of them.

The next morning, after Jiang Xia fed their son, Zhou Chenglei took the children out to be looked after by their grandparents.

Jiang Xia got up to change clothes for school and found that Zhou Chenglei had prepared a high-neck sweater for her.

It wasn’t that cold, and she didn’t really want to wear a high-neck sweater. It would be hot riding her bicycle, and she had many classes today, needing to ride back and forth.

Jiang Xia went to the wardrobe and found a low-neck sweater to change into.

While combing her hair in front of the mirror, she noticed marks on her neck and shoulder blades—deep-colored ones he had accidentally left last night.

Jiang Xia had no choice but to go back to the wardrobe and take out that high-neck sweater.

Zhou Chenglei walked into the room. “Breakfast is ready.”

Jiang Xia pointed to her neck and shoulder blades, glaring at him.

Zhou Chenglei pulled her into his arms and kissed her lips. “I’ll be more careful next time.”

He was usually very careful, rarely leaving marks in exposed places, but there were always moments when he couldn’t help but get too carried away and lost in passion.

Jiang Xia put on the high-neck sweater, ate breakfast, kissed the three children, and went to school.

Jiang Xia was very busy today.

Yesterday afternoon, Zhou Chenglei had already brought the clothes back from the train station.

Today, she needed to find people at school to help sell the clothes.

Chapter 630: General Agent

After the professional class ended, Jiang Xia called out to Liu Weizhen, who was leaving in a hurry: “Liu Weizhen, student.”

Zeng Jing glanced at Jiang Xia, still disliking her, but now she no longer bothered Jiang Xia.

Jiang Xia had become a legend in their class. Everyone in the class admired her, and many went to listen to her foreign language class, saying that her method of teaching foreign languages was excellent.

Zeng Jing was also pulled by Song Huiru to listen for a while. Her foreign language was fluent, chattering about who knew what. Zeng Jing didn’t hear anything special, except that the classroom was a bit quieter, and everyone seemed very attentive in class.

But that was only because Jiang Xia was pretty, and everyone was just staring at her face.

Zeng Jing had investigated; Jiang Xia was merely a substitute teacher. Professor Ji was hospitalized for recuperation, so they found Jiang Xia to teach in his place. She would only teach for one semester, and when Professor Ji returned, she would be out of a job!

She was hired because Old He recommended her!

Who was Old He?

Old He and Elder Zhang were good friends, and both treated Zhou Chenglei as a godson.

Jiang Xia just married a good husband and was riding on Zhou Chenglei’s coattails; otherwise, she was nothing!

Zeng Jing also found out that Jiang Xia took the Gaokao four times to get into Q University.

Tsk! Even a pig could get in if it took the test four times!

Zeng Jing was a good person, so she wouldn’t expose her, lest her eldest brother come lecture her again, but a wrapped package couldn’t hide its contents forever!

Liu Weizhen turned around and saw it was Jiang Xia calling her, smilingly asking: “Xiao Xia, what’s up?”

“Last time, I didn’t partner with you for the photography business, but this time I have a business request for you. Are you free? Are you willing to come home with me so I can tell you the details?”

Liu Weizhen’s eyes lit up immediately upon hearing this: “Yes!”

“Then hop on the back of my bicycle, and we can talk on the way.”

Jiang Xia pushed her bicycle, mounted it, and Liu Weizhen lightly jumped onto the rear of the bicycle.

Jiang Xia then said: “I’m helping a garment factory clear its deadstock, and I want to partner with you to sell clothes…”

Liu Weizhen’s family was not well-off. Her mother was in poor health and required a considerable amount of medical expenses each month, which had led to a pile of debt.

She was the provincial top scholar of Z Province and received a scholarship when she got into Q University. She had just used it to pay off her family’s debt, but unexpectedly, her mother’s condition worsened in the middle of last month and required surgery.

She sent all the subsidies she received from the school and the money she earned working at a shop back home. Together with the money her family borrowed from relatives and friends, they finally raised enough for the surgery.

After finishing the call and returning to her dorm, thinking she was alone, she couldn’t help but cry to vent.

Jiang Xia had breast engorgement and her bra was wet. She went to the dorm bathroom to change, and when she came out and saw Liu Weizhen, she showed concern, and that’s how she learned about Liu Weizhen’s situation.

Jiang Xia had seen her working at the convenience store Jiang Dong and others jointly opened, so she asked how much money she still needed and offered to lend it to her.

She refused the loan, saying she had already gathered enough. Instead, she asked Jiang Xia if she wanted to partner with her for a “photography” business.

The last room on their dorm floor was a “darkroom,” specifically for students to develop photos.

After learning about it, she thought of this way to make money.

The October 1st Gala and the school sports meet were approaching, and Liu Weizhen felt that buying a camera and taking photos for students at school could earn money.

Besides the October 1st Gala and the school sports meet, the school also had many activities regularly. Even without activities, individuals sometimes had a need for photos. She believed that buying a camera to take photos for classmates to earn money was a viable business.

So she asked Jiang Xia to partner up: Jiang Xia would provide the money to buy the camera, and she would be responsible for taking and developing photos for people. The profits would be split equally between the two, and Jiang Xia wouldn’t have to do anything except invest money for the camera.

As soon as Liu Weizhen arrived at school, she immediately eyed this business and quickly learned how to develop photos.

She worked hard to earn money specifically to buy a camera, but then her mother’s condition worsened, and she had to send all the money she earned back home, leaving her with no money for a camera.

At that time, Jiang Xia thought she had good business acumen, so she lent her 150 yuan to buy a camera, without partnering with her, telling her to just pay back the 150 yuan once she earned enough.

So this time, for selling clothes, Jiang Xia immediately thought of Liu Weizhen again.

Jiang Xia brought Liu Weizhen home and introduced her to her family.

Zhou Chenglei was not home; he had gone to discuss matters concerning the electromagnetic factory again.

The three children were asleep, while Grandma and Li Qiufeng were knitting sweaters in the yard, and Grandpa was planting flowers.

Grandma saw Jiang Xia bring a classmate home and enthusiastically brought out food for her.

“Xiao Xia, is this courtyard house only occupied by your family?”

“Yes.”

Jiang Xia didn’t say much. At that time, courtyard houses couldn’t be openly bought or sold.

Liu Weizhen knew Jiang Xia’s family background should be quite good, but she didn’t expect it to be this good!

To actually own such a large courtyard house in the capital.

What kind of family was this?

All the courtyard houses she knew were occupied by three or four families. This was the first time she saw a family like Jiang Xia’s owning an independent courtyard house.

This courtyard house was clearly newly renovated. She wondered if it was privately bought or returned to their family after the political climate changed.

Liu Weizhen wisely didn’t inquire further.

Jiang Xia took out a large bag of sample clothes.

“These are the clothes I told you about on the way. I have a total of five thousand sets of clothes here. For these three-piece summer sets, I’ll charge you ten yuan a set. For this thickness of spring and autumn sets, fifteen yuan. For these winter quilted jackets, twenty yuan each. I don’t care how much you sell them for.”

Liu Weizhen looked at Jiang Xia in disbelief, pointing at the clothes: “These three pieces for ten yuan a set? These padded ones for fifteen a set? And these thick quilted jackets for twenty yuan each?”

“Yes! You decide how much to sell each set for. Anyway, I’ll only charge the prices I just quoted. Are you in or not?”

The price level in the capital was slightly higher than in her city. Liu Weizhen could absolutely sell them at a higher price than the base price Jiang Xia gave her.

As for how much she could raise the price and how much she could sell, that depended on her courage and sales ability.

Jiang Xia still trusted her very much.

Liu Weizhen nodded frantically like a chick pecking at rice: “I’m in!”

Jiang Xia wasn’t charging her for the goods; the only cost was a little shipping fee after selling. It was like giving her money for free, why wouldn’t she do it?

She could easily add one or two yuan to each set and sell them!

From five thousand sets, she could earn more than five thousand yuan!

Why wouldn’t she do it?

This time, she really hit the jackpot!

“Are there only five thousand sets?” Liu Weizhen needed to check the quantity, then decide on the price and how to sell them.

Li Qiufeng listened attentively to their conversation while knitting a sweater.

Jiang Xia shook her head: “There are about thirty thousand sets. If you can sell them, there will be more later.”

Which garment factory didn’t have some deadstock?

As long as Liu Weizhen was capable, Jiang Xia could help more garment factories clear their inventory.

Jiang Xia knew that cloth coupons would be completely abolished and cotton cloth would be openly supplied starting December 1st this year, making the clothing industry easier to operate.

Liu Weizhen nodded frantically: “I can sell them! I can sell as many as there are.”

She could go from class to class asking if people needed photos, and she could go from market to market, from school to school to sell.

Jiang Xia also believed her, “Then take some back today to try it out.”

Liu Weizhen immediately said: “I’ll go call for a trishaw right now.”

Liu Weizhen hurried out, almost bumping into Zhou Chenglei, who was returning from outside.

Zhou Chenglei deftly dodged her, his sharp eyes falling on her.

Liu Weizhen froze there, scared, not daring to move.

Jiang Xia saw this and said: “This is my roommate, Liu Weizhen. This is my husband.”

“Hello!” Liu Weizhen unconsciously used an honorific.

Zhou Chenglei just nodded faintly, holding a file bag, and walked towards Jiang Xia: “The children aren’t awake yet?”

Liu Weizhen finally caught her breath, “Xiao Xia, I’m leaving!”

“Okay,” Jiang Xia responded.

She quickly ran off! But this time, she didn’t dare to run too fast.

Chapter 631: Her Perspective Had Changed

Zhou Chenglei brought the file bag back to the room and put it away; this was the contract he had signed this afternoon.

Jiang Xia poured a glass of water for him. “Is the contract signed?”

“Signed. Second Brother and Zhang Rui are coming over for dinner in a while.”

He and Zhang Rong held equal shares at twenty percent each. The largest shareholder held thirty percent, and the remaining thirty percent belonged to the three shareholders who had contributed technical shares.

He and Zhang Rong were only investors and would not participate in daily management, but they retained voting and decision-making rights.

Zhou Chenglei washed his face and hands, then took the glass and drained it in one go before asking, “Are you planning to ask your classmate to help sell the clothes?”

“Yes.”

“Are you giving her a salary or something else?”

Jiang Xia thought highly of Liu Weizhen and didn’t mind earning a bit less herself. “I’ll give them to her at the same price I get from the factory. She’ll cover the shipping and other costs. How she sells them isn’t my concern.”

Zhou Chenglei nodded. “That’s good. Everyone gets their share of the profit.”

As long as Jiang Xia wasn’t the one out there selling them personally and didn’t have to work too hard, it was fine.

“Yes, this way the profit margin is large enough for her to stay motivated, and it gives her more room to operate.”

With a decent profit margin, if she couldn’t sell them all herself, she would find ways to hire others to help. This would allow for even higher sales volume.

It was a virtuous cycle.

Jiang Xia was essentially finding herself a General Agent.

She would see how capable this agent was; if it didn’t work out, she could look for others.

Li Qiufeng, listening to their conversation, also felt like trying her hand at selling clothes. She felt far too idle staying here.

Moreover, she had come out because she wanted to see what kind of work she could find for herself in the future.

Now that she had spent more time with her cousin-in-law and the others, she realized she was surrounded by intellectuals. The things they said and the problems they discussed were completely different from what people in her village talked about. She felt the gap between herself and them, and her perspective had changed.

She even wanted to enroll in a night school. Going to classes in the evening wouldn’t interfere with helping to look after the children during the day.

However, since her mother wasn’t here right now and there were only the grandparents, she was afraid they wouldn’t be able to manage on their own. It was more convenient for the three of them to take care of the kids together.

Besides, she wasn’t very familiar with the capital yet. She would wait for her mother to return before talking to her cousin-in-law.

Jiang Xia had long noticed that Li Qiufeng seemed interested, so she asked directly, “Cousin, do you also want to try selling clothes?”

Zhou Chenglei looked over at her as well.

Li Qiufeng stood stunned for a moment, not expecting Jiang Xia to notice.

She nodded. “I’ve thought about it, but I don’t know if I can do it. I’m not familiar with the capital yet, and I’m a bit afraid I won’t do a good job.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xia said, “You can follow my classmate every day to get familiar with things. See how she does it. Once you’ve learned, you can do it on your own.”

Li Qiufeng had come out to see the world and learn something so she could have a career later. She couldn’t help look after the children forever; at her age, she naturally needed to find a proper job.

Li Qiufeng shook her head. “I’ll wait until my mother comes back before I try.”

Jiang Xia replied, “There’s no need to wait for Second Auntie. We’re going to Suicheng in a few days. You don’t have to come with us; you can stay here and learn how to sell clothes from my classmate. Someone needs to keep an eye on the house here, too.”

Three people were enough to mind the children. Since the three babies had each other’s company, they were usually very well-behaved. Once they woke up and were fed, they could play on the bed by themselves for nearly an hour. If an adult sat by them and talked to them, they could play even longer.

It was just that they had to go out for walks in the morning and evening. Staying in the yard was fine, but they couldn’t just stay inside the house.

After spending more than a month together, Jiang Xia had found that although Li Qiufeng was quiet, she was very meticulous, organized, and intelligent.

Jiang Xia then remembered that around April of next year, it would be announced that secondary professional schools would begin recruiting from junior high graduates—often called “Junior Secondary Professional Schools.”

In other words, one could take the entrance exam after graduating from junior high. For rural children of this era, this was a major way to “jump over the dragon gate” and change their social status.

Furthermore, students of secondary professional schools in this era enjoyed excellent benefits and were highly sought after.

Not only were they exempt from paying tuition fees, but they were also provided with grain and oil subsidies and stipends. Upon graduation, they were guaranteed a state job assignment.

Moreover, they could convert their rural household registration to an urban one, granting them access to more secure state-supplied grain. In this era, an urban household registration was far more desirable than a rural one!

Since these students could receive a job after only two or three years of study, everyone wanted to go.

However, the admission rate was low, only about five percent.

Because it was so difficult to get in, the graduates of these schools were considered the cream of the crop.

Jiang Xia suggested further, “Would you like to go learn something? If you’re interested, you could enroll in night school. I can also borrow some books for you to study on your own. If there’s something you don’t understand, you can ask me. Next year, you can take the entrance exam for a secondary professional school. After graduation, you’ll be guaranteed a job.”

“Can’t you only take the secondary professional school exam if you take the Gaokao? I only graduated from junior high.”

Their village was nestled deep in the mountains. To attend junior high, she had to trek across mountains to the town. High schools were only located in the county seat, which was even further away.

Most people in her village stopped after primary school; not many even made it to junior high.

Her junior high classmates had mostly married and had children shortly after graduation. She simply hadn’t been willing to just get married and have kids like that; she wanted to see the world. So, when she heard her cousin-in-law was looking for someone to help with the kids in the capital, she had followed her mother here.

After finishing junior high, she hadn’t particularly wanted to go to high school either; she had wanted to hurry up and start working to earn money. But after coming to the capital, her perspective had changed.

“I heard that starting next year, junior high graduates can also take the exam for secondary professional schools. It’s a three-year program, and you get a guaranteed job afterward.”

Li Qiufeng’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

Jiang Xia nodded. “That’s what I’ve heard. You can start preparing in advance. If you’re ready when they hold the first exam, it might be easier for you. Once the news is out that junior high graduates can apply for schools with guaranteed jobs, there will be a lot of people competing for spots.”

Hope flared in Li Qiufeng’s heart. “Then I’ll have to trouble you to help me borrow some books, Cousin-in-law.”

Jiang Xia nodded. “Alright, I’ll go look for some tomorrow.”

Li Qiufeng said, “Thank you, Cousin-in-law.”

Zhang Rui and Zhang Rong walked in at that moment.

Zhang Rui asked curiously, “What are you looking for?”

Jiang Xia replied, “Cousin wants to continue her studies and take the secondary professional school exam. I’m going to find some books for her.”

Zhang Rui immediately spoke up, “I’ll find them for you! Your school library probably won’t have books for that level.”

Jiang Xia agreed, “That works then. I’ll leave it to you.” Zhang Rui was the one Zhou Chenglei had tasked with finding her own Gaokao review materials in the capital.

Just then, the babies woke up. Jiang Xia heard them crying and went inside to carry them out.

Zhang Rui had also heard rumors about junior high graduates being able to take the secondary professional school exams. He sat down next to Li Qiufeng. “If you want to go to a professional school, have you thought about what kind of work you want to do later?”

During the National Day holidays, Zhang Rui had taken her to see the October 1st ceremony and a gala. The next day, they had gone to see a movie. They were finally becoming somewhat familiar with each other, and Li Qiufeng wasn’t as shy around him anymore. She replied, “I don’t know what kind of jobs they assign after graduation.”

Zhang Rui knew a bit about it. Currently, there was a severe shortage of mid-level technical personnel and intellectuals in industries like agriculture, forestry, hydropower, commerce, finance, healthcare, and education. That was why they were creating these junior programs.

“If you study at a normal school, you’ll become a teacher. If you study medicine or nursing, you’ll enter the health system as a doctor or nurse. If you study finance or business, you’ll likely be assigned to the industry and commerce, tax, or supply and marketing systems…”

Li Qiufeng asked, “I wonder if the normal school is hard to get into.”

“It’s hard. But you’re smart, you have a good memory, and you like peace and quiet. It shouldn’t be hard for you. It would be too hard for me! I can’t sit still…”

Then, Zhang Rui started telling her about his bitter history of studying while in the military.

Zhang Rui had no talent for academics. He loved martial arts and hated books; he couldn’t settle his mind and would fall asleep the moment he looked at a book. To him, studying was impossibly difficult.

But if he wanted to go far in life, he couldn’t do it without an education.

He had only managed to get into university while in the military because Zhou Chenglei had forced him!

The only thing more painful than studying was the hellish training Fourth Brother put him through.

Chapter 632: All Old Cows

Jiang Xia came out after feeding the babies and overheard Zhang Rui complaining about how “abnormal” Zhou Chenglei used to be.

Holding the eldest brother, she asked with a smile, “Were you really that strict before?”

Zhou Chenglei was holding their daughter, gently patting her back. “Yes.”

If he hadn’t been strict, it would have cost them their lives and compromised the country’s interests and security.

Zhang Rong held the younger brother and was feeding him water with a small spoon.

Grandma had mentioned that after nursing, they should be given a bit of water to ensure no milk residue remained in their mouths, so he followed her instructions. He hadn’t even been this patient when feeding his own son years ago.

After finishing, he smiled and said, “Your dad was fierce. Everyone used to be terrified of him. You little ones better watch out when you grow up.”

Seeing Zhang Rong talking to him, the younger brother waved his little hands, kicked his legs, and let out a wide-grinned, “A-ha~!”

Zhang Rui added, “Luckily, all three children take after their mother and love to smile. If they were like their dad, they wouldn’t be nearly as cute!”

Jiang Xia laughed.

Zhou Chenglei didn’t even bother to acknowledge the two brothers’ teasing.

Just then, Liu Weizhen’s voice came from the courtyard gate. “Xiao Xia, I’ve brought the trishaw!”

Jiang Xia called back with a smile, “Come on in!”

Then she turned to Zhou Chenglei. “Put the baby down and help move the clothes outside.”

Li Qiufeng immediately stood up. “I’ll hold Little Bao.”

Zhang Rui also jumped in. “Where are the clothes? I’ll carry them.”

Jiang Xia pointed toward a room. “In the east room.”

The three men went to move the clothes.

When Liu Weizhen entered with the driver, she was stunned to see the three men coming out with large bundles of clothes. Each one was more handsome and well-built than the last.

As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. Jiang Xia was beautiful, and everyone around her was either handsome or pretty!

Holding one of the babies, Jiang Xia spoke briefly with Liu Weizhen. “Take two hundred sets today. Come back for more once you’ve sold those; otherwise, you won’t have room in your dormitory.”

“Alright.”

“My cousin wants to learn how to sell clothes from you. Would it be convenient for her to tag along?”

Liu Weizhen replied instantly, “Of course, why wouldn’t it be? Cousin, come find me whenever you’re free. I usually go out to sell whenever I don’t have classes. My schedule is the same as Xiao Xia’s. I have no classes tomorrow afternoon, so I plan to head to Wangfujing Street to set up my stall at one thirty after lunch. Are you free?”

Zhou Chenglei cut in, “Go ahead. I’ll be home tomorrow.”

The contract had already been signed, so he and Zhang Rong didn’t need to go to the factory every day. They only had to attend meetings once or twice a week.

Li Qiufeng nodded. “Okay, I’ll come find you tomorrow then.”

One thirty was the time the babies took their nap; they usually slept until four thirty, so she could be back by four.

Jiang Xia added, “I’ll take you to the school to look around tomorrow.”

Jiang Xia had many classes over the next few days. Besides her major-specific courses, she also had foreign language classes. Because she was heading to the Canton Fair, she had discussed it with her students and rearranged the schedule, moving three of next week’s four foreign language classes earlier. She would make up the remaining three once she returned.

Once the clothes were loaded onto the trishaw, Zhang Rui returned to the yard and gave Li Qiufeng a thumbs-up with a grin. “You’re getting more impressive by the day!”

For someone as quiet and introverted as her—someone who used to blush just because someone spoke to her—it took real courage to go out and sell clothes on the streets.

Li Qiufeng still wasn’t used to being praised, and her face turned red involuntarily.

Seeing her blush again, Zhang Rui chuckled.

Zhang Rong glanced at his younger brother.

When they had returned to the capital yesterday, he had gone to see the old man and Grandma right after getting off the plane. Grandma mentioned that during the National Day holiday, this boy had brought a girl along to watch the ceremony. She asked if Zhang Rui finally had someone he liked.

She also mentioned that he had turned down the granddaughters of both the Dong family and the Zeng family.

Grandma said that from a distance, the girl looked sweet and well-mannered. She told Zhang Rong to remind Zhang Rui to bring her home for a visit when he had the time. That way, people would stop coming to the door trying to set him up, which would stop bothering the elders.

In recent years, countless people had approached the old man and Grandma to introduce potential partners to Zhang Rui, which had seriously disturbed Grandma’s peaceful life. Zhang Rui was perfectly fine hiding away in the military with his ears clean of the chatter, but the two elders were the ones suffering.

That evening, after dinner, Zhang Rong asked Zhang Rui on the way back, “What are your intentions toward the Little Cousin?”

Zhang Rui looked at the dimly lit road ahead and admitted honestly, “I like her. I feel relaxed and comfortable when I’m with her.”

She wasn’t like the girls his family introduced, who looked at him like he was a prime piece of meat. Those girls weren’t interested in him as a person; they were interested in his external conditions and his family background.

Of course, the girls introduced to him also had excellent backgrounds, and marrying one could be seen as a mutually beneficial arrangement. But he didn’t need mutual benefits, and he was tired of all that messy business.

If he wanted something, he could work for it himself. He would take what he earned.

As for marriage, he wanted something like his grandparents—simple, peaceful, and supporting each other through life. He didn’t want to come home exhausted after a day of training only to worry about the complicated interpersonal relationships of two powerful families.

Like his eldest brother’s marriage—a total disaster. That wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted to marry a simple woman and live a simple life.

“Then formally ask A-Lei for permission to court her! If you keep going like this, A-Lei is going to stop letting you through the door. I won’t always be free to come back to the capital to accompany you for free meals! If you’re officially dating, you can visit whenever you want without dragging me along.”

Zhang Rui replied, “I don’t have much leave left this month. You can come with me next month.”

The next time he had time off, he would just bring the Little Cousin some books. He had a legitimate reason; he didn’t have a guilty conscience.

Zhang Rong: “…”

This was more of a headache than when he married his own wife!

Zhang Rui turned to look at him again. “Do you think the Little Cousin would even agree if I proposed the idea of courting her right now?”

Zhang Rong: “…Probably not.”

A-Lei’s cousin was pure-hearted, but precisely because she was so simple, she didn’t harbor any delusional social-climbing fantasies.

Zhang Rui sighed. “I wish I were a few years younger.”

He felt like an old cow now. He didn’t even dare to look Fourth Brother in the eye!

Zhang Rong’s lip twitched. When this boy was ten, he used to yell every day about wanting to grow up faster. He wanted to go to the battlefield! He wanted to fly fighter jets! He wanted to drive tanks and fire cannons!

Now at twenty-six, he suddenly felt old!

“Second Brother, can you help me test the waters with Fourth Brother? I’m too embarrassed to tell him myself,” Zhang Rui said, sounding genuinely sheepish.

He was afraid the Little Cousin would mind his age, and he was afraid Second Auntie and the grandparents would think he was too old—like an “old cow eating tender grass,” with impure intentions. He was also afraid of Zhou Chenglei…

Anyway, he was afraid of everything. He was more nervous than when he was on a mission. On a mission, he felt nothing but excitement!

Zhang Rong understood his concerns. “What are you afraid of? A-Lei himself is an old cow.”

Zhang Rui: “…”

He knew that, of course, but he didn’t dare say it out loud! His fists weren’t as hard as A-Lei’s!

“Second Brother, if Fourth Brother tells me to get the hell out, you have to say that to him! Help me out!”

He decided that next month, once Second Auntie was back and the Little Cousin knew him a bit better, he would make his feelings clear.

Zhang Rong: “Get out!”

Did the kid think he was stupid?

Zhang Rui: “…”

Chapter 633: Scheming Woman

The next day, Jiang Xia took Li Qiufeng to the school with her. Since Li Qiufeng was interested in continuing her studies, Jiang Xia wanted her to first experience the atmosphere of a prestigious century-old university.

She knew Li Qiufeng would fall in love with it.

Q University in the early morning was bustling and vibrant.

The dining halls at Q University weren’t very large yet and couldn’t accommodate many people, so students could be seen everywhere across the campus, sitting in corners eating buns while reading their books.

The thick academic atmosphere, accompanied by the first light of dawn, made a profound impact on Li Qiufeng.

In an instant, Li Qiufeng felt that spending all her free time knitting sweaters was a waste of time.

She had originally thought that only her younger Cousin and Cousin-in-law were particularly fond of reading. Every two days, her Cousin-in-law would bring back several books for her husband to read. When the couple had free time, they were either translating, reading, or preparing lessons.

It turned out she was wrong. There were so many people in this world who were even more diligent than them, reading even while eating breakfast.

Jiang Xia asked her, “Do you want to come to class with me, or would you rather go take a look at the Library?”

Li Qiufeng thought about it and said, “I’ll go to class with you first, then check out the Library later.”

“Alright.” Since Jiang Xia also held the status of a teacher at the school, she had become friends and colleagues with her professors. Taking Li Qiufeng along for an introductory experience in a class wasn’t an issue.

Jiang Xia led Li Qiufeng into a specialized major course.

Zeng Jing froze when she saw Jiang Xia and Li Qiufeng walk into the classroom together.

She remembered Li Qiufeng!

That was the girl Zhang Rui had brought along during the National Day holiday!

She had even seen Zhang Rui at the cinema with her. He had been so attentive, buying her melon seeds and snacks, and even holding a paper bag to catch the shells for her throughout the movie.

Mrs. Zhang had rejected her grandmother’s attempt to propose a courtship, saying that Zhang Rui seemed to already have a girl he liked.

Zeng Jing had guessed it was the woman Zhang Rui went to the movies with.

But why was she with Jiang Xia?

Then Zeng Jing heard Jiang Xia say, “Cousin, let’s sit next to Liu Weizhen.”

“Okay.” The two of them sat down.

Zeng Jing’s heart sank. So, Jiang Xia had introduced her cousin to Zhang Rui?!

Was she following the logic of “Don’t let the good water flow into others’ fields”?

To climb the social ladder and “turn into phoenixes,” these two sisters wouldn’t let a single high-quality man escape their grasp!

They were so calculating!

No wonder her sister had lost to Jiang Xia!

What a scheming woman!

She was furious. She had liked Zhang Rui for many years!

This wouldn’t do. She had to investigate who this cousin of Jiang Xia’s was. Was she also a student at their school?

The lecture began as the professor arrived. Zeng Jing stopped staring at them, but she was too angry to focus on the lesson.

Li Qiufeng listened intently. Since the lecture was about clothing, it wasn’t entirely foreign to her. As she listened, she felt as if she were suddenly seeing the light.

She realized she had been like a frog at the bottom of a well.

After the two consecutive periods of theory classes ended, Jiang Xia took her to the Library.

“If there’s a book you want to read, just grab it. You can also borrow them to take home. Just pick them out, and I’ll help you check them out.”

Li Qiufeng nodded. “Okay.”

Jiang Xia left her to find books on her own while she headed off to her next class.

After her classes were over, Jiang Xia and Liu Weizhen went to the Library to find Li Qiufeng.

Jiang Xia asked with a smile, “After a morning of experiencing this, how do you feel?”

Li Qiufeng said somewhat bashfully, “I want to study even more.”

This experience at Q University had made Li Qiufeng even more determined to continue her education.

There were so many books in the Library where she couldn’t even understand the titles. She recognized every character in the titles, but she had no idea what the books were actually about.

The world was too big, and she was too ignorant.

She didn’t aim to be as profoundly learned as the students here, but she wanted to find a path for herself through education.

Jiang Xia encouraged her, “Then study. I once read a quote: ‘Do not fear the hardships of studying; it is the best path for you to reach the world.’”

This was a quote Jiang Xia had seen in the daily gold sentences of the People’s Daily online in her past life.

Li Qiufeng felt a stir in her heart.

Liu Weizhen was also deeply moved. “Exactly! You must study. For those of us from rural areas, studying is the way to change our fate, the way to ‘leap over the Dragon Gate.’ While it’s not the only way out, it is absolutely the best way. Studying doesn’t stop you from taking other paths; in fact, it allows those other paths to go further, higher, and wider! My family was very poor and couldn’t afford my tuition. I went to the river to catch fish, climbed mountains to pick wild fruit, and wove bamboo trays to sell in secret just to earn my tuition fees. Then I became the provincial top scholar and received several hundred yuan in scholarship money—otherwise, my mother wouldn’t even have had the money to see a doctor!”

Li Qiufeng looked at her in shock.

Jiang Xia nodded in total agreement. “Exactly. So, go for it!”

Li Qiufeng nodded solemnly.

Jiang Xia gave Li Qiufeng some food coupons, and she followed Liu Weizhen to the dining hall for lunch. After eating, they went straight to sell the clothes.

Jiang Xia found a few reference books for Zhou Chenglei in the Library and then headed home.

In the evening, Liu Weizhen came to the courtyard house with Li Qiufeng, sounding ecstatic. “Sold out! Everything is sold out! Those autumn and winter clothes are especially easy to sell! They went incredibly fast!”

A cold front had arrived recently, making the weather in the capital quite chilly. The ginkgo leaves in the yard had begun to turn yellow.

With the cold weather, thick clothes naturally sold well.

Jiang Xia asked with a smile, “How much did you sell them for?”

Liu Weizhen pulled out the money and handed it to Jiang Xia, smiling. “For the summer sets, I only added fifty cents. For the spring and autumn sets, I added one yuan. For the winter clothes, I added one yuan and fifty cents.”

This time, they had fifty sets of each season’s clothing. They had earned a total of two hundred yuan.

She had never earned so much money in a single afternoon!

She and Li Qiufeng would split it, one hundred yuan each. Moving forward, they planned to continue their partnership just like today.

Though the individual profit might be slightly less, it was much easier with two people. Li Qiufeng was very diligent and meticulous; she had even spotted someone trying to steal a garment.

Besides, if she didn’t cooperate with Li Qiufeng, Li Qiufeng could just sell them on her own if she wanted to. After all, Jiang Xia was her cousin-in-law.

Liu Weizhen was open-minded. Selling alone meant more profit per person, but selling together was better—it was more convenient, easier, and safer.

After all, several hundred pieces of clothing were worth a significant amount of money.

Jiang Xia took the money. For the clothes they had sold, she hadn’t collected a single cent from them beforehand. She smiled and said, “Not bad. Do you want to take more to sell tomorrow?”

“Yes. Tomorrow, Qiufeng and I plan to take another hundred sets. I don’t have classes tomorrow morning, so I’ll come by to pick them up. For now, I’m taking a hundred sets back to the school; there are plenty of people there who want them too.”

“Alright. You can just look for Qiufeng when you come over.”

“Okay.”

Jiang Xia added, “When you’re busy, you can find some classmates who need work-study opportunities to help out.”

Liu Weizhen had been planning to do exactly that. She happened to know a few people who were looking for ways to earn money.

And so, Jiang Xia completely handed over the clothing sales business to Liu Weizhen and Li Qiufeng.

The two of them went out to sell clothes for half a day every day. Li Qiufeng hired others to help, and the clothes were cleared faster with each passing day.

On their best day, they sold a thousand sets. Jiang Xia had already called the factory to have them send another ten thousand sets, which were due to arrive in the capital tonight.

The factory was also still running their “Final Day Clearance Sale.” Many people, like Tian Caihua, were going there to pick up stock to sell at local markets.

Not counting the ten thousand sets currently on the train, they had already cleared over ten thousand sets between the two locations!

Chapter 634: The Factory Director Was Losing His Cool

Back in the capital, Jiang Xia was calculating how much inventory she had left, while over at the garment factory, the director was also having his accountant tally up how much stock they had cleared so far.

The accountant replied, “Including the ten thousand sets sent out last night, we’ve cleared a total of about twenty-two thousand three hundred sets.”

“Not counting those ten thousand, how many summer sets were cleared, and how many were autumn and winter clothes?”

“If we don’t count the ten thousand, six thousand summer sets were cleared. We’ve basically emptied the summer stock; there are only about a thousand sets left. Between the spring-autumn and winter clothes, we’ve cleared over six thousand three hundred sets in total.”

The director did the math in his head. “In other words, Comrade Jiang Xia has earned over thirty-seven thousand yuan in just these few days?”

That calculation was staggering!

The accountant was incredibly envious. “About thirty-seven thousand five hundred.”

She had earned over thirty-seven thousand yuan in just a few days. Why hadn’t he thought of this method to help the factory clear its deadstock back then?

After all, they had sold over seven thousand sets right at the factory gates. Just by selling those seven thousand, he could have become a ten-thousand-yuan household himself!

The garment factory director: “…”

The director was starting to lose his cool!

“The summer clothes are cleared? The rest are all autumn and winter clothes?”

The accountant confirmed, “Yes.”

For the autumn and winter clothes, Jiang Xia earned five yuan per set!

In the capital, it might be more than five yuan—maybe six or even seven.

“Calculate how much Comrade Jiang Xia will earn once she clears all the clothes in the garment factory.”

The accountant had long since finished that calculation. “If all the backlogged deadstock can be cleared, she’ll earn roughly one hundred thirty-seven thousand yuan.”

The garment factory director: “…”

Over a hundred and thirty thousand. He had been director for so many years and had never earned that much money!

Not counting the backlogged clothes, leasing this twenty-year-old factory only cost two hundred thousand yuan. This meant that Comrade Jiang Xia would only need to add another seventy thousand yuan to take over the garment factory entirely.

The garment factory director felt like he had encountered a true master!

He remarked gloomily, “Once Comrade Jiang Xia leases the garment factory, none of you should have to worry about layoffs anymore.”

The accountant also felt in his heart that Jiang Xia would be able to make the garment factory thrive.

“Even if we won’t be laid off, we won’t have a pension after we retired, right?”

“That’s for certain. Regardless, having a job is better than not having one.”

Pensions were issued by the state. Who would have the capability or the charity to keep paying workers a pension after they retired?

“That’s true.”

Just then, the security guard walked in. “Director, someone else is here saying they want to lease the factory.”

The Capital

Jiang Xia stopped worrying about selling the clothes because she was genuinely busy. Besides attending classes, she had to train the models.

The large-scale runway show at the Canton Fair required models. For the past few days, she had been selecting and training them, arranging their choreography.

When she finished her work that day, Jiang Xia rode her bicycle out of the school gates and happened to run into Gu Heng, who had come to pick up Gu Yue.

The two were walking toward the school gate.

Gu Heng hadn’t seen Jiang Xia for several days. He had specifically come to pick up his younger daughter after work so he could see his eldest daughter.

He had heard she was going to the Canton Fair soon.

He hadn’t even found an opportunity to give her the watch he’d bought.

He had brought the watch with him today, hoping for a chance to present it.

Seeing Jiang Xia, Gu Yue immediately smiled and called out to her, “Teacher Jiang!”

Then, she immediately began scrutinizing Jiang Xia’s outfit, looking at the watch on her wrist and the shoes on her feet.

Today, Jiang Xia was wearing a white rabbit fur sweater and a pair of bell-bottom jeans.

The sweater had been knitted by Li Qiufeng, but the design had been specified by Jiang Xia.

Gu Yue was wearing the same outfit today! However, her sweater was sheep’s wool; it wasn’t as fluffy as Jiang Xia’s and didn’t look nearly as soft or comfortable.

For some reason, even though they were both wearing sweaters and jeans, Jiang Xia looked exceptionally good in them. Her proportions were perfect, making her stand out.

The watch was a Longines, which she had seen before.

Gu Yue had figured out that Jiang Xia had a total of four watches—at least, she had only seen her wear four.

Other people didn’t even have the money to buy one watch, yet she owned four, each one more expensive than the last.

Gu Yue had studied watches extensively. She could tell the year and approximate price just by the style. Jiang Xia’s watch purchases were getting increasingly expensive!

The most expensive was that Rolex, which was also the newest!

Would the next one be a Patek Philippe?

“Teacher Jiang, where did you buy that sweater?”

Jiang Xia didn’t look at Gu Heng. “It wasn’t bought; it was knitted. Is something the matter?”

If Gu Yue weren’t a student in her class, she wouldn’t have even bothered to acknowledge her.

Gu Yue said, “I heard the Canton Fair needs models. I want to sign up too. Do you think I could?”

Jiang Xia shook her head. “No, we have enough people now.”

Disappointment flashed across Gu Yue’s face. “Teacher Jiang, please help me out. Didn’t you find Yue Shan from our class? She said you approached her yourself. I really want to go! I only found out today, or I would have signed up sooner.”

Jiang Xia shook her head again. “There’s nothing I can do. The numbers are set. Sign up next time!”

With that, she pushed off the pedal and rode away on her bicycle.

Gu Yue pouted. “She really has no sense of social obligation. What a waste of me calling her ‘Teacher’ every time I see her!”

Hearing this, Gu Heng didn’t want the sisters’ relationship to sour, so he quickly said, “If they have enough people, there’s nothing to be done. It’s not up to her to decide the headcount. She has her own difficulties as a teacher. If you had asked her at the beginning, I’m sure she would have helped you.”

“I didn’t know at the beginning! And she didn’t come to me; she went to another classmate.”

Gu Heng subconsciously spoke up for Jiang Xia. “Perhaps she isn’t close with you and didn’t know you wanted to participate.”

Gu Heng still hoped the two sisters could bond. “In the future, try to get on better terms with the teachers in your class. When opportunities arise, they’ll remember you. Didn’t you say Jiang Xia knows Old He? You should talk to Jiang Xia more, learn your foreign language, and you’ll have a better chance of joining the translation department later.”

“I chase after her every day after class, but she’s never warm toward me.” Gu Yue truly felt wronged.

She wanted to be close to Jiang Xia. In the entire school, Jiang Xia was the best dresser—unsurprising, given she was a clothing design major.

Gu Heng watched Jiang Xia’s receding figure, reluctant to look away. “You’re of a similar age; you should be able to get along.”

His younger daughter’s interest in Jiang Xia was likely a subconscious desire to be close to her elder sister due to their blood relation.

“You could invite her to go shopping or eat together. On Teacher’s Day or other holidays, send her a small gift. If you build it up slowly, you can become like sisters. Jiang Xia is so outstanding; you’ll benefit from spending time with her and learning from her. If you don’t have money for gifts, you can ask me.”

He could only think of this method to compensate his eldest daughter.

Gu Yue thought of how her roommate, Liu Weizhen, had given Jiang Xia a bag of local specialties from her hometown.

As a teacher, Jiang Xia couldn’t easily accept things from students, so the next day, she had given Liu Weizhen a plaid wool skirt.

That skirt was beautiful and looked very expensive. Jiang Xia hadn’t worn it; it was brand new. She said she had lost weight and it didn’t fit anymore—a friend had given it to her early in her pregnancy.

When it was given, the weather back home wasn’t very cold, so she couldn’t wear it. By the time it was cold enough, her belly was too big.

The current weather was perfect for it, but it no longer fit her, and it was inconvenient to wear a skirt while breastfeeding.

Liu Weizhen and Jiang Xia were about the same height, but Liu Weizhen had a physique that was prone to weight gain, making her a bit heavier than Jiang Xia, so it fit her perfectly.

Jiang Xia was so generous, willing to give away such nice clothes.

If she gave Jiang Xia something, the return gift shouldn’t be bad, right?

She wanted Jiang Xia to give her a watch!

“Dad, you’re right! What do you think I should give? Jiang Xia likes watches. I want to give her a watch. Can you give me the money to buy one for her?”

Like father, like daughter—they were on the same wavelength.

But Gu Heng couldn’t bring out the watch now. He didn’t agree immediately. “I’ll give you the money when the time comes.”

Chapter 635: Giving It Away Just Like That

Jiang Xia received the watch from Gu Yue three days later.

After her foreign language class ended, she packed up her lesson plans and left the classroom.

Today was her final class; tomorrow, she would be flying to Suicheng.

Gu Yue caught up to her, holding a watch with a smile. “Teacher Jiang, my dad and mom both bought me a watch because they know how much I love them. I can’t wear so many at once, and I noticed you’re really good at matching watches with your outfits. I’d like to give this one to you!”

Jiang Xia glanced at the watch and refused immediately. “Thank you, I appreciate the thought, but it’s too valuable. Keep it for your own outfits.”

Jiang Xia stepped around her and walked away briskly.

Gu Yue chased after her. “I already have one exactly like it! This one is a duplicate, it’s useless for me to keep it. Please, just take it!”

In truth, Gu Yue felt that the watch her father had recently bought for Jiang Xia was slightly more attractive than her original one. So, she had cleaned her own worn watch and decided to give it to Jiang Xia.

She didn’t know if Jiang Xia had noticed her wearing it before, which was why she made that excuse.

If Jiang Xia ever asked why she wasn’t wearing that specific watch anymore, she could just say she gave it to her mother!

Seeing her persistence, Jiang Xia said bluntly, “I have too many watches already and no use for another. Give it to someone else. Besides, I don’t have the habit of using second-hand items.”

Gu Yue: “…”

How did Jiang Xia know it was second-hand? She had clearly polished it until it looked brand new, and she hadn’t even worn it for very long.

Gu Yue held the watch up, examining it closely from every angle.

She still couldn’t see anything wrong with it!

Fine. Since Jiang Xia didn’t want it, she would just have two watches to rotate between!

When she got back, she would ask her dad for more money to buy something else as a gift.

Returning home, Gu Yue told Gu Heng that Jiang Xia had refused the watch.

Dong Yan spoke up, “What watch?”

Gu Heng: “…”

He hadn’t expected his wife to overhear so coincidentally.

Gu Yue explained, “Dad asked me to give a watch to Jiang Xia to build a good relationship with her. It might lead to more opportunities later.”

Dong Yan was so angry she laughed!

Giving away a watch worth over 100 yuan just like that?

Gu Yue had wanted a watch for so long, and they had only recently been willing to buy one for her.

With such blatant favoritism, would Gu Heng eventually give this entire house to that bastard child as well?

Dong Yan glared at her husband.

Gu Heng acted as if nothing were wrong, calmly arranging the tea set on the coffee table. “Jiang Xia is Gu Yue’s teacher, and she knows Old He.”

Dong Yan sneered inwardly.

Her own grandfather knew Old He as well!

On the morning of the thirteenth at nine o’clock, Jiang Xia, Zhou Chenglei, and their three children boarded a plane to Suicheng. Grandpa and Grandma joined them.

Zhang Fuyan and Jiang Dong had departed two days earlier. Jiang Dong had gone home first before driving to Suicheng.

The plane landed in Suicheng shortly after one in the afternoon. Jiang Dong was there to pick them up. By the time they reached the accommodation arranged by Old He, it was nearly three o’clock.

Staying in a hotel was inconvenient because the three babies had so many diapers that needed to be washed and dried. Old He had prepared a suite for them—it had three bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, and two balconies.

It had already been cleaned, making it a true “move-in ready” home.

Jiang Xia held the little sister as she looked around the apartment. It was fully furnished and even had a refrigerator and electric fans.

Second Auntie saw that the children were asleep and said, “The cribs are all set up. You can put the babies down to sleep.”

Jiang Xia, Zhou Chenglei, and Jiang Dong carried the children into the bedroom and placed them in their cribs.

Before Jiang Dong had picked up Jiang Xia, he had gone to the train station early that morning to collect Second Auntie.

Furthermore, when Jiang Dong drove down, he had brought all the supplies the children would need.

Zhou Chenglei had packed everything during the National Day holiday so Jiang Dong could bring it to Suicheng.

Jiang Dong had arrived yesterday with a vehicle full of supplies. He and Zhang Fuyan had then done a preliminary cleaning and assembled the cribs.

Second Auntie had cleaned again this morning, unpacked the children’s things, and familiarized herself with the nearby market. She had bought some ingredients and prepared some pastries and porridge, worried that they hadn’t eaten well on the plane.

They would have a light snack now and have a proper dinner in the evening.

After tucking the children in, Jiang Xia walked through the apartment. “This place is great. It’s bright, well-ventilated, and the two balconies are large enough that we won’t have to worry about where to dry the diapers.”

Besides the balcony off the living room, the master bedroom unexpectedly had its own balcony as well.

Second Auntie nodded. “It’s very nice. I liked it as soon as I stepped inside.”

Jiang Dong added, “Old He asked if you wanted a hotel or this apartment. I thought this house was better, so I chose this.”

Jiang Xia agreed, “This is much more convenient.”

Even though they were only staying for about twenty days, Old He had clearly gone to a lot of trouble to arrange such a comfortable environment.

In the evening, Old He dropped by specifically to ask if they needed anything.

Second Auntie had prepared a table full of local specialties from their hometown. Jiang Xia invited Old He to stay for dinner so they could discuss the Canton Fair.

Second Auntie was incredibly hospitable. “Old He, this chicken was raised at our home. The meat is firm and sweet. Try it and see how it compares to what you get in the capital.”

Old He smiled. “Alright.”

Second Auntie had brought many specialties from the village, lugging two heavy loads of goods. There were various dried vegetables, pickled greens, chili sauce, soybean paste, and an assortment of dried fruits: starfruit, longan, lychee, and jackfruit… She had even brought two live chickens and two live geese, carrying over 50 kilograms of goods on her journey.

If she hadn’t been afraid of the chicken, goose, and duck eggs breaking, she would have brought those too.

Jiang Xia was truly impressed.

They probably wouldn’t finish it all in twenty days. Second Auntie even mentioned that before they returned to the capital, Second Uncle would send more so they could take it back with them, saving them from having to buy everything.

Her cousins were all married and had their own households now. Only Second Uncle remained at home to farm, and he grew more than he could eat. Her cousins also grew plenty. Hearing that things were expensive in the capital, Second Uncle kept everything for them instead of selling it, waiting for Second Auntie to take it back.

The next morning, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei went to the exhibition hall early to check in.

The entire group headed out with the children.

Grandpa, Grandma, and Second Auntie followed along, pushing the baby strollers and getting used to the route.

Their accommodation was very close to the exhibition hall, only a few hundred meters away.

Jiang Xia carried the little sister, Zhou Chenglei carried the eldest brother, and Second Auntie carried the younger brother.

The three babies were now old enough to look around at their surroundings with curiosity.

They went for walks every day, and they seemed to be wondering why today’s scenery looked so different.

The family walking together attracted the gazes and comments of many passersby.

“Triplets?”

“They really are triplets! It’s my first time seeing them.”

“Mine too. They’re raised so well! Look how chubby they are! So beautiful!”

“So cute! Their skin is so fair! Truly lovely!”

“They look like their mother. Their mom has very fair skin and is quite a beauty herself.”

“Are all three of them girls?”

…

Passersby praised them in the local Suicheng dialect.

The family was used to it. Whenever people asked in surprise, Grandma would respond cheerfully.

When people heard it was two boys and one girl, they were beyond envious!

During the era of the family planning policy, having three children, including both boys and girls, was something anyone would envy.

The mindset of people in this era was different from modern times.

People of this generation preferred having many children, believing that “more children brought more blessings.”

The group soon arrived at the exhibition hall.

Right at the entrance, Jiang Xia was called out to by a familiar voice.

Chapter 636: My Granddaughter is Amazing

The person who called out to Jiang Xia was Elder Mai.

Elder Mai knew that Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei would come directly to the capital to attend the Canton Fair. This time, after coming over from Hong Kong, he had gone straight to Suicheng to wait for Jiang Xia.

He had arrived the day before yesterday and spent the whole day wandering around the exhibition hall, hoping to run into Jiang Xia, but he hadn’t seen her.

Coming here early this morning, he finally encountered her.

Jiang Xia smiled and asked, “Elder Mai, why are you here so early?”

Elder Mai chuckled. “When you get old, you can’t sleep much, so I got up to walk around. Actually, my surname is Jiang, and my name is Jiang Mai. You can call me Grandpa Jiang.”

Jiang Xia had been calling him Elder Mai because she heard others address him that way.

Now that he had specifically brought it up, she assumed he didn’t want people to mistake his surname for Mai. Jiang Xia followed his lead and changed her address. “Grandpa Jiang.”

“Ah, good,” Elder Mai replied with a smile, his eyes almost misting over. He silently ignored the “Jiang” part of the title, focusing only on the “Grandpa” bit.

Elder Mai’s hurried return to Hong Kong last time was because an old friend had suddenly fallen ill and was hospitalized for surgery. He had rushed back for fear of not seeing his friend one last time.

Now, his friend had completed the surgery, and it was considered a success; he only needed to stay in the hospital for a period of recuperation.

Once his friend’s condition stabilized, Elder Mai had hurried back here.

At his age, every day lived was one less remaining. He was also afraid that he might suddenly fall ill like his friend and pass away without ever finding his long-lost wife and son.

He looked at Jiang Xia, searching for any resemblance to himself or his wife. This time, he finally found it!

It was the earlobes.

Jiang Xia’s earlobes were exactly like his when he was young—thick and fleshy.

Of course, his own earlobes had changed now. He was old, the skin was saggy, and they hung lower. His entire ear had grown much longer than it was in his youth.

During this time, he had his secretary look into Jiang Xia’s background and saw a photo of Father Jiang.

One look and he was almost certain that the man was his son; there was a thirty percent resemblance to his younger self.

He had seen Father Jiang in newspapers before, but at that time, he hadn’t thought much of it, never imagining the man could be his son.

What was hard for him to accept was that Father Jiang was an orphan. The records showed that both of his parents had died when he was three years old.

This meant his wife had been gone for a long time.

No wonder despite him making Sanmai Group so famous, frequently sponsoring television and movies in the group’s name, and coming back to the mainland to invest everywhere—building roads and donating school buildings in Sanmai’s name, even in his and his wife’s hometown—his wife had never brought their son to find him!

Jiang Xia felt that Elder Mai’s emotions seemed a bit off. “Grandpa Jiang, are you feeling unwell?”

Elder Mai smiled. “I’m fine. I just suddenly remembered some things from the past.”

Elder Mai looked toward Grandpa, Grandma, and Second Auntie, who were pushing the baby strollers, and asked with a smile, “And these three are the children’s…?”

Zhou Chenglei introduced them, “This is my Grandpa, Grandma, and Second Auntie.”

Elder Mai quickly reached out to shake Grandpa’s hand. “So it’s the Grandpa, Grandma, and Auntie. Pleased to meet you, truly! Shall we Have lunch together?”

It wasn’t convenient to talk here with people constantly moving past. He had things he wanted to say to Jiang Xia.

Elder Mai looked at Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia. “A-Lei, Xiaxia, how about lunch together? We can go to the nearby Cotton Tree Hotel.”

Zhou Chenglei looked at Jiang Xia, unsure if she was free.

Jiang Xia shook her head. “Grandpa Jiang, I’m truly sorry. There’s a fashion show this afternoon, and I’m the coordinator for this runway show, so I’m quite busy. I might not be able to spare much time for the next two or three days. When are you returning to Hong Kong?”

There was a lot to prepare for the runway show. Aside from eating lunch today, she also had to go back to her lodgings to breastfeed. She definitely wouldn’t have time for a meal with Elder Mai.

Hearing this, Elder Mai quickly said, “Then there’s no rush. It won’t be too late to eat once you’re free. I’ll be staying in Suicheng a bit longer this time.”

Just then, someone else called out to Jiang Xia. It was the owner of the furniture factory. “Xiao Xia, you finally made it to this Canton Fair! You haven’t forgotten our agreement, have you?”

Jiang Xia smiled. “I haven’t forgotten. I’ll definitely go over and help out. Do you have the product information for the furniture? Give me a copy, and I’ll look it over tonight.”

When they bought furniture last year, she had said she would work as a part-time translator for the furniture factory at the next Canton Fair.

The owner had sold them so much furniture at cost price, saving them a lot of money. She had to act as a translator for the factory this time regardless.

She probably couldn’t be there every day, but taking a day or two to go over and help would definitely work.

The furniture factory owner said hurriedly, “I have it! I have it! Will you come to the booth with me to get it?”

“Sure,” Jiang Xia agreed with a smile, placing the child in the baby stroller.

Elder Mai spoke up quickly, “Give her to me, let me hold her!”

Jiang Xia handed the child to Elder Mai. “Grandpa Jiang, then I’ll go get busy. We’ll arrange a meal later.”

“Go on, get to work!” Elder Mai held the little sister, his heart racing with excitement. His great-granddaughter!

Jiang Xia turned to Zhou Chenglei, the grandparents, and the others. “I’m going over there for a bit. If you finish looking around, feel free to head back. No need to wait for me, I’ll make my own way back later.”

Zhou Chenglei looked at Elder Mai and replied, “Okay.”

And so, Jiang Xia followed the furniture factory owner to the furniture exhibition area to pick up the product materials.

Elder Mai looked at the triplets, who looked so much like his own son, and couldn’t bear to return to the hotel yet. He asked Zhou Chenglei, “Are you all planning to walk around some more?”

“Yes, taking my Grandpa and Grandma for a stroll.”

Elder Mai said, “I’ll join you! I was planning on walking around anyway.”

So, Zhou Chenglei led Elder Mai, Second Auntie, and the grandparents on a circuit through the exhibition hall.

He took them to see the private rest area that the fair had prepared for Jiang Xia.

Inside the rest area was an iron frame bed, a small table, a thermos, and new water cups and lunch boxes.

Elder Mai remarked, “This rest area is quite well-arranged.”

Second Auntie’s heart swelled with pride, and she couldn’t help but say, “Old He specifically prepared this so Xiao Xia could participate in the Canton Fair without neglecting the children.”

Hearing this, Elder Mai couldn’t help but feel proud as well!

His granddaughter was truly amazing!

After leaving the rest area and passing by the shipyard, Zhou Chenglei was also called away by Factory Director Zhou of the shipyard.

Zhou Chenglei asked Second Auntie and the grandparents if they knew the way back to their lodgings. They all said they did, so he let them wander on their own.

He told them that if they got tired, they could sit in Jiang Xia’s rest area and wait for him for a while.

Elder Mai stayed with them the whole time, but because of his age, he grew tired after holding the child for a while. He put the child back into the baby stroller and pushed it.

Second Auntie needed to go back to buy groceries and cook, so the children were left in the stroller, being pushed around the exhibition hall by the three seniors.

The three seniors were of similar age and had all lived through that difficult and chaotic era, so they had much to talk about.

When Grandpa and Grandma learned that Elder Mai had lost contact with his wife and son and had never been able to find them, they were filled with sympathy.

Grandma said, “Heaven looks after kind people. You will definitely find your wife and son.”

Elder Mai smiled and nodded. “Yes! I believe so too.”

Chapter 637: Ready

On the other side, Jiang Xia followed the furniture factory director to their booth. She took their materials and glanced at the exhibits for this session to get a general understanding before heading up to the clothing exhibition area on the third floor.

The runway rehearsal was scheduled for today.

The T-shaped runway had already been set up in the atrium of the third floor, where a section of space had been cleared out.

As soon as Jiang Xia stepped onto the third floor clothing section, the directors of the two garment factories from the capital saw her from a distance and hurried over. They flanked her on both sides, attempting to pull her toward their respective exhibition areas.

“Xiao Xia, the clothes for tonight’s runway show have been arranged in the order you specified. Help me check if they’re correct.”

“Xiao Xia, I’ve revised the order materials according to your requirements. See if there’s anything else that needs changing.”

The two factory directors immediately began bickering after trying to win Jiang Xia over. “Get out of the way! Our factory has the first show tomorrow; we’re in a hurry!”

“You get out of the way! I approached Teacher Xiao Xia first! Our factory has the second show, but our order materials haven’t even been printed yet!”

“It’s your own fault for being so slow…”

Jiang Xia was held fast by both of them. “Don’t worry, everyone. I’ll go check the order materials first.”

Factory Director He interjected, “Checking order materials takes a long time. Come look at my side first; it’ll only take a moment.”

At that moment, Old He walked over and came to Jiang Xia’s rescue. “Alright, stop arguing. One at a time, and handle the urgent things first. The order materials must be ready today. Xiao Xia, go help Factory Director Qiu’s factory check their materials first.”

Jiang Xia replied, “Alright! I’ll check Director Qiu’s materials first since they need to be printed ahead of time. Factory Director He, please wait a moment.”

Hearing this, Factory Director He had no choice but to let it go.

Factory Director Qiu said happily, “Xiao Xia, let’s go!”

Jiang Xia followed him to his booth to look over the revised order materials.

After reviewing the original materials from several garment factories, Jiang Xia felt they weren’t clear enough. If a client used those documents to place an order, it would be easy to get confused and waste time.

It wouldn’t be a major problem for regular ordering since one could take their time, but during a runway show, customers wouldn’t know how to place an order at all. It was difficult to watch the show and place orders simultaneously.

The goal of this runway show was to secure orders!

How could the order materials in the customers’ hands be inconvenient for ordering?

Jiang Xia had designed two templates for the order materials.

One was for customers ordering without watching the show.

The other was for customers at the live show.

The identification numbers of the clothing in the order materials were synchronized with the models’ appearance order, making it convenient for customers to place orders on the spot.

However, current conditions were limited; the layout software, printing, and copying technologies were not very convenient. Otherwise, Jiang Xia could have made the order materials perfect.

For now, she could only rely on a combination of the physical display and the order materials to make it easier for customers to find the corresponding items.

Of course, this would be a bit of a hassle. For instance, some customers might pick up a garment and not hang it back in its original spot. This required staff to put the clothes back where they belonged.

And even if the staff couldn’t hang them back in time during a rush, it wasn’t a problem. Every garment had a number, and customers would be reminded to double-check the numbers before placing their orders.

Their workload had increased, but it made things easier for the customers.

Jiang Xia believed that a transaction begins with service. One must never be afraid of trouble.

Service must be done well—so well that the customer feels the care and attention, feels satisfied in their heart, and feels happy about the purchase. Only then will they be willing to spend money.

Inadequate service was like paying to be mistreated; who would want to come back a second time?

Quality was number one, but service had to be number one as well.

Jiang Xia had a good memory. Since she had modified the order materials herself, she remembered everything. After proofreading them one by one, she said to Factory Director Qiu, “There are no more issues. You can have them printed.”

“Great!” Factory Director Qiu immediately turned to his assistant. “Take the order materials and get them printed. Print one hundred copies of each set.”

He didn’t expect a hundred foreign businessmen to place orders—he would be laughing in his dreams if there were fifty, and he feared there might not even be thirty—but it was always better to be over-prepared.

A total of six garment factories would be holding runway shows at this Canton Fair. Aside from the two from the capital, the other four were the garment factories that had ranked in the top five for transaction amounts at the previous fair.

The garment factory managed by Factory Director Qiu hadn’t even made the top five last time, only the top ten. His opportunity to host a show this time and become a demonstration unit was largely due to geographical advantage and riding on Jiang Xia’s coattails. Because the idea was hers and his factory was based in the capital, it was convenient for Jiang Xia to carry out the work.

The assistant acknowledged the order and hurried off to photocopy the materials. “Understood.”

Jiang Xia then took a look at the display of clothes at the booth.

She had already visited their factory showroom back in the capital and spent a whole day helping them coordinate and display all the clothing.

Later, after returning home and reviewing the order materials, she had new ideas, which led to the revisions.

Now, all the runway outfits were coordinated and hung in order, making it easy for the models to change.

“Everything’s correct. When the time comes, just follow this sequence.”

“Will do.”

“No problems on your end. I’m going over to Factory Director He’s side to check on them. The rehearsal starts at 1:30 PM this afternoon. Remember to have everyone eat early and be ready.”

“Alright!”

Seeing that things were fine here, Jiang Xia went to the next garment factory booth to see how their preparations were going.

There were four other factories that weren’t from the capital, but their directors and deputy directors had previously gone to the capital to learn. Old He wanted her to see how their arrangements were progressing.

She was busy from 7:00 AM until after 9:00 AM, took a break to breastfeed the baby, and then continued working until 11:45 AM before returning to her quarters for lunch.

After eating, she nursed the baby again and coaxed him into a nap. At 1:15 PM, she headed back to the exhibition hall.

The runway was ready, set up in the atrium on the third floor.

Because the runway had to be built, the space for each booth had been compressed slightly this year to make room. The manufacturers who were not participating in the runway show were quite vocal with their complaints.

Now that the rehearsal was about to begin, the area around the runway was crowded with onlookers.

Many exhibiting manufacturers wanted to see what kind of “tricks” these garment factories could pull off after forcing everyone else to give up space for their show.

Since their own interests were affected, disparaging remarks were inevitable:

“The spring breeze of reform is really blowing hard! Some factories are even bringing that foreign-worshiping nonsense to the Canton Fair!”

“The whole point is to attract foreign businessmen, so of course we should arrange things according to their preferences. I think this runway layout looks quite professional.”

“With that much space taken up, of course it looks professional!”

“I hope it succeeds! A few years ago, I saw a fashion show held by a foreign designer at the Cultural Palace in the capital, and it was incredible! If this show is a success, they’ll keep doing it next year, which will benefit us. Didn’t the leaders say during the meeting that more manufacturers could sign up next year?”

“I think it’ll be hard! Who knows if those college students they hired as models even know how to walk a runway? I just hope they don’t end up looking like a clumsy imitation and embarrass us internationally!”

Chapter 638: A Perfect Proposal

They were here!

Old He arrived with some of the leaders and staff responsible for this Canton Fair to watch the rehearsal.

The crowd instantly fell silent, stopping their chatter to look toward the stage.

Backstage, twenty models were already dressed and lined up, waiting to go on.

Jiang Xia was the planner for this fashion show, as well as the host and narrator.

She was going through the final checks, instructing each model on exactly when to take the stage and which outfit to change into after returning backstage.

Zhang Fuyan and another female staff member served as her assistants. Both held detailed runway schedules, notebooks, and pens.

The two listened intently to the runway flow, cross-referencing Jiang Xia’s instructions with their notes to identify any gaps or missed details, making sure everything was foolproof.

Jiang Xia had already gone over these details in the capital, and even as recently as this morning; she had repeated them to the models several times.

After finishing with the models, Jiang Xia turned to the volunteers and staff of the photography team to give them their instructions.

“Every single outfit must be photographed during the show.”

“Understood!” the staff replied loudly.

“Once the photos are taken, they need to be developed immediately. Select the best shots and print extra copies to be made into albums. This will make it easier for customers to refer to them when placing orders.”

In reality, a professionally printed catalog would have been better, but the cost was high and the design work required more time than they had.

“Understood!” the response was thunderous.

“Every photo must have the style number attached to the corner. Tops, bottoms, shoes, bags, hats, accessories—don’t miss a single thing!”

“Understood!” they shouted in unison.

After finishing all her instructions, Jiang Xia glanced at her wristwatch. “Time’s up! Is everyone ready?”

“Ready!”

“I’ll head out first. You all follow the plan we just discussed!”

Zhang Fuyan, the other assistant, and the models all nodded. “Okay!”

Jiang Xia walked out and stepped up to the microphone. “Distinguished guests, friends…”

…

The first rehearsal took over an hour.

For that entire hour, the audience was silent.

Those who had previously claimed it would be looking like a clumsy imitation were now speechless. As soon as it ended, they immediately turned and went looking for their respective leaders!

“Team Leader, I think holding a fashion show is a fantastic idea! It will definitely increase the transaction amount! Our No. 6 National Cotton Mill wants to participate too. Since the runway’s already built anyway! We can hold ours after these six factories are done. Can you go to the higher-ups and apply for us? I’m willing to make a commitment! If we hold a fashion show, I guarantee I’ll exceed our targets for this Canton Fair!”

“Leader, please help me apply. Our leather bag factory can cooperate with the garment factories to hold a show!”

…

On the stage, a new round of the runway show began.

This segment featured menswear.

Male models began walking out, showcasing clothes from the second menswear garment factory.

However, many factory directors couldn’t even focus on the stage. From the moment the first factory’s show started, they had recognized the potential business opportunity!

A massive business opportunity!

Everyone scrambled to find their leaders to fight for a chance.

It wasn’t just garment factories; there were shoe factories, leather goods and bag factories, and accessories factories as well.

When the models walked out, some were styled with bags, shoes, belts, jewelry, hats, scarves, and silk wraps.

The key was that all these accessories were listed in the order materials!

A single runway show involved multiple factories.

This show proposal was planned perfectly—it was incredibly cost-effective!

…

Factory directors went to their team leaders, team leaders went to high-level leaders, and those leaders eventually found Old He.

One leader said to Old He, “Old He, why don’t you have Comrade Xiao Xia help a few more factories plan a show?”

Old He waved his hand. “Xiao Xia doesn’t have the time. Going forward, she has other categories of exhibitions to manage; she doesn’t have time to do this for other factories. If any of you want to hold a show on stage, you can submit a proposal for me to review. If it’s well-planned and well-prepared, I’ll approve it. The proposal must be out by tomorrow night at the latest. If there’s something you don’t understand, you can ask Factory Director Qiu and Factory Director He from the capital. Also, don’t go looking for Comrade Xiao Xia; she really is too busy.”

Old He was afraid they would all swarm Jiang Xia, so he gave them a heads-up in advance to prevent them from disturbing her.

The runway was already built. If more garment factories could use it for shows, it would indeed increase the transaction amount of the Canton Fair.

Old He also wished Jiang Xia could help them draft a proposal, but it wasn’t practical, so he rejected them on her behalf.

Old He knew that planning a good fashion show was not easy.

First, one had to understand every style of clothing the factory produced, then research all the accessories—clothes, shoes, socks, and jewelry. The workload for styling alone was immense.

Then there was selecting the models, having them try on the clothes, and finalizing their hair and makeup.

The preparation of order materials and the display of the booths all had to be synchronized.

It really was a case of “a quarter-hour on stage takes a month of work offstage.”

This wasn’t work that could be finished in a day or two.

“This runway is a stage to show the charm of China’s clothing brands to friends from all over the world. If you can’t do it well, we won’t approve your application,” Old He warned them.

This concerned China’s reputation; they couldn’t afford to lose face on the international stage.

Despite this, the factory directors still wanted to try.

the Canton Fair lasted nearly a month; they could make a final push in the last few days!

The six rehearsal sets didn’t finish until after seven in the evening.

And that was with the pace sped up and the narration segments removed. Tomorrow, they would leave plenty of time for guests to place orders.

When they left, all the leaders were smiling. Everyone was looking forward to tomorrow night’s runway show.

The next day, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei arrived at the exhibition hall at seven forty-five.

Zhou Chenglei went straight to the shipyard area.

Jiang Xia, just like last time, stood at the entrance with Zhang Fuyan to wait for the arrival of foreign guests.

A few volunteers and staff members were also at the entrance.

In addition to the volunteers, there were translators hired by various manufacturers.

These translators had all learned from Jiang Xia’s tactics during her first Canton Fair, coming directly to the entrance to solicit customers. Naturally, the factory staff had instructed them to do so.

Since Jiang Xia had created a legendary transaction record at last year’s Autumn Canton Fair, many factory translators were imitating her.

Wen Wan was still among them.

This time, Wen Wan was acting as a translator for several garment factories, working on a base salary plus commission.

As a student from the Capital Foreign Language University, she had managed to find several factories to work for part-time.

Not only did she find work for herself, but she also brought along several classmates from her department who were good at foreign languages to work part-time, helping them accumulate experience and connections.

She wasn’t like Jiang Xia used to be—hiding profitable work for herself. Even though Jiang Xia knew Wen Wan was good at languages, she never introduced her to any opportunities.

Wen Wan glanced at Jiang Xia. This time, she was determined to earn a lot of money to save up and eventually buy a house, a shop, and a courtyard house in the capital.

Wen Wan was very confident that she would make a lot of money this time, because she had several classmates helping her earn it.

Chapter 639: Unfairness

This time, Wen Wan was very confident that she could earn a lot of money.

This was because she would also receive a commission from the orders negotiated by the senior students she recruited. She only had to pay them a daily wage of ten yuan plus a small bonus.

When they found out they would be getting ten yuan a day, they were incredibly happy.

Anyone would be happy. Being able to earn two hundred yuan from one trip to the Canton Fair—where else could they find such easy money?

Wen Wan and several of her classmates watched for merchants approaching. Whenever one drew near, they would warmly step forward to greet them. As long as the visitor was there to look at clothing, they would personally lead them to the apparel exhibition area.

If the foreign merchant wasn’t there for clothing, they would simply say they didn’t know and tell them to find the exhibition volunteers. Their target was very clear.

Jiang Xia wasn’t paying attention to Wen Wan. She was talking with Zhang Fuyan and several students from Q University and Jingda who had attended her lectures.

She was currently answering their questions.

Every time a merchant walked up to them, they would politely ask about the person’s needs and provide directions accordingly.

At the entrance, staff members were responsible for handing out invitations.

There were invitations for a large-scale runway show and invitations for a large-scale free food tasting event. Both events were being held today.

The runway show was in the evening, while the food tasting event was during the day.

When the staff encountered foreign merchants from the clothing or food industries, they would hand them an invitation and invite them to attend.

The invitations were exquisitely crafted, designed by students from the Design Institute.

Having just arrived at the exhibition hall today, Wen Wan didn’t know about the runway show, and she certainly didn’t know that Jiang Xia was the sole planner behind it.

Hearing everyone talk about how beautiful the clothes from a certain factory were during yesterday’s rehearsal, she assumed that every factory had a chance to go on stage.

She was thinking that the runway show might be her chance to make big money, and her mind was already racing with ways to use the show to turn a massive profit.

Around 8:15 AM, two large buses pulled up by the main road of the exhibition hall.

Seventy or eighty foreign merchants stepped off the buses.

Old He also arrived on one of the buses, personally leading them toward the exhibition hall.

Some of these merchants were old clients who already knew Old He.

Jiang Xia had been waiting for them, so she went out to meet them.

Seeing Jiang Xia take the initiative, Wen Wan immediately said to her classmates, “Let’s go meet them too.”

And so, the group strode forward together.

Zhang Fuyan hurried to stop them. “Everyone, just wait here. We don’t need so many people going over.”

Thinking Zhang Fuyan was afraid she would steal Jiang Xia’s clients, Wen Wan said directly, “Why didn’t you tell Jiang Xia to wait here? You guys just stay here!”

After saying that, she didn’t even look at Zhang Fuyan. “Let’s go! Hurry up.”

The group followed Wen Wan in a rush, even overtaking Jiang Xia.

Of course, Wen Wan didn’t dare run too fast lest she appear rude or lose her job. She only dared to take larger, faster steps to make it look like they were being proactive and enthusiastic in welcoming their foreign friends.

Seeing Wen Wan and the others wearing red armbands, Old He knew they were staff. He waved them off. “You all go back and stand at the entrance. There’s no need to come over.”

If so many people walked over together, someone who didn’t know better might think it was a delegation of leaders coming for an inspection!

Seeing Old He dismiss them, Wen Wan gave a stiff smile. “Alright.”

She had miscalculated. If she had known, she would have walked over alone; then Old He probably wouldn’t have sent her away.

She turned back toward the entrance with the others.

Jiang Xia continued toward Old He.

As Wen Wan brushed past Jiang Xia, she gave her a “kind” reminder: “Jiang Xia, Old He told everyone to wait at the entrance.”

“Oh,” Jiang Xia replied and kept walking forward.

Wen Wan pursed her lips. “…”

She knew Jiang Xia wouldn’t believe her. She turned her head, waiting to see Old He chase her away.

Old He approached with the crowd, smiling as he said to Jiang Xia, “I’ve brought the guests for you. You better treat them well for me!”

More than half of the people on these two buses were foreign merchants in the food industry. Old He had personally brought them over specifically for Jiang Xia to translate for them and introduce the products.

This was a suggestion Jiang Xia had made based on her experience from the first Canton Fair. She had proposed that they try to pick up and drop off merchants according to their industries.

Therefore, for this fair, they had conducted surveys from the moment the merchants checked into their hotels to understand their needs. They then provided them with a corresponding bus schedule and a schedule of exhibition events.

This not only made it easier for the staff to provide excellent service—allowing the merchants to feel the meticulousness and thoughtfulness of the hospitality—but it also saved manpower. A single staff member could lead a group of merchants to the relevant exhibition zones.

This prevented situations where staff members were overwhelmed and made it easier to promote large-scale events.

The large-scale food tasting event was scheduled for today.

Jiang Xia smiled. “I won’t let you down!”

Wen Wan: “…”

So, Old He had recruited all these clients for Jiang Xia?

He gave her all the resources just like that?

Wasn’t this a blatant way of handing Jiang Xia money?

This was simply too much!

Jiang Xia stepped forward and greeted the merchants with warmth and poise. “Welcome to China’s Canton Fair…”

After greeting everyone and introducing herself, Jiang Xia began to lead them toward the food exhibition area, asking everyone to follow her.

Jiang Xia still remembered some of the merchants’ names. She greeted them warmly, and they remembered her as well. Seeing her made them very happy; some were even more enthusiastic than she was, giving her big hugs. Some even kissed her on the cheek.

After the warm greetings, Jiang Xia guided the food industry merchants toward the exhibits.

The food section was filled with the aroma of food.

The merchants were all aware of the large-scale free tasting event. Many of them hadn’t even eaten breakfast; they had come straight on the buses after waking up.

They were in the food business, so naturally, they would want to taste things to see how they were before placing an order.

Jiang Xia did not favor some and neglect others. Leading the group, she started from the very first booth, acting as a translator and relaying the staff’s product introductions to the merchants.

Of course, she personally tasted the food as well, adding her own opinions and evaluations to attract as many orders as possible.

Jiang Xia managed the time well, spending about ten minutes at each booth.

When some merchants encountered products they were interested in, they would stay behind to communicate further with the factory representatives.

Most people, however, continued to follow Jiang Xia.

Many of the merchants weren’t visiting for the first time. They had their own fixed products to source, but that didn’t stop them from wanting to hear Jiang Xia’s explanations to see if they could pick up some new products.

Wen Wan and her classmates were leading several merchants toward the clothing area when she happened to see Jiang Xia leading a massive crowd of merchants from one booth to the next!

She was stunned!

“This is just too much!”

One of the male students had a good impression of Wen Wan. He came from a well-off family in the capital and had only come to the Canton Fair because he wanted to spend more time with her. Seeing her get angry, he asked, “What’s too much?”

Wen Wan pursed her lips and shook her head. “It’s nothing. I just feel like this world is very unfair. That girl’s father is very powerful. She’s a translator who gets a commission.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Qian looked thoughtfully at Jiang Xia, who was currently eating a piece of ham sausage while giving a serious explanation.

Chapter 640: Coming to Terms

Jiang Xia led a group of foreign merchants from one stall to the next. Regardless of whether it was a factory she was officially representing, she worked hard to promote the new products at every booth to the visitors.

Many of these foreign merchants were already familiar with the older products, so there was no need for her to say much about them. Furthermore, Chinese exports had a notable characteristic: there were often too many similar products of the same category.

Jiang Xia specifically selected new products from various manufacturers for tastings and helped promote them. “Are these instant noodles and pasta your new products?”

The staff member quickly replied, “Yes! We just brought in a new production line in June this year. The instant noodles are incredibly chewy and bouncy! We have some prepared right here; please, have a taste.”

Jiang Xia took a pair of disposable bamboo chopsticks and a small bowl folded from oil-resistant paper. She picked up a bit of the pasta and took a bite; the flavor was indeed quite good.

She then tried the instant noodles. They were also delicious—refreshing and firm.

Then she asked, “Can these instant noodles be eaten dry as a snack?”

“Yes! They can be eaten dry as well. Give it a try.” The staff member handed Jiang Xia a packet.

Jiang Xia took it, tore open the bag, sprinkled in some seasoning, and ate it dry.

After trying both ways, Jiang Xia called over a foreign merchant who had ordered a large quantity of instant noodles last time, inviting him to try this food factory’s version.

This merchant was from Vietnam.

Last time, the instant noodles he purchased, when paired with the sauces Jiang Xia had blended, sold exceptionally well. They had even sold out at one point, leading him to increase his orders every month.

Nine times out of ten, the products Jiang Xia introduced sold very well. Even the remaining one or two didn’t necessarily sell poorly; they just didn’t perform as spectacularly as the others.

Therefore, he trusted Jiang Xia implicitly. When Jiang Xia called him over to taste, he immediately accepted and took a bite. After finishing, he gave a thumbs up: “Delicious!”

Jiang Xia smiled and said, “If you add the fish sauce and chili sauce from our sauce factory to these noodles, along with their own original seasoning packet, it will truly amaze your taste buds. You can give it a try, and if you like it, then you can make your purchase.”

The wealthy Vietnamese merchant waved his hand and said, “No need for a trial; I trust you. I’ll order three hundred thousand cases of these instant noodles!”

Several of Jiang Xia’s other “old clients” also placed orders one after another, ranging from fifty thousand to one hundred thousand cases.

Other merchants from countries where instant noodles were popular saw them ordering so much at once and couldn’t help but ask, “Aren’t you going to try other brands before placing an order?”

The Vietnamese merchant replied, “No need. I trust the instant noodles Jiang Xia recommends. Everything she introduced at last year’s Canton Fair sold incredibly well for me.”

In a little while, he intended to continue purchasing the same food items as last year, but in even larger quantities.

He didn’t just deal in one product; he was in the business of importing food from all over the world. As long as a product could make money, he would buy it. He would even purchase some products that weren’t very profitable just to ensure his inventory was rich enough to showcase his strength, which in turn attracted more distributors to his door.

He wasn’t afraid of buying new products; he was only afraid of not having good new products to buy. One more new product meant one more way for him to make money.

Jiang Xia then said to the staff, “This gentleman wants to order three hundred thousand cases of instant noodles. Please register it.”

The factory director hurriedly told his subordinates, “Quickly, write up the order for this gentleman.”

A lucky start!

The exhibition had been open for less than half an hour, and they had already secured a massive order.

The staff immediately began writing the invoice.

Jiang Xia asked the factory director for two packets of noodles. When they reached the sauce factory booth later, she planned to personally mix a sauce for everyone to taste.

The factory director immediately had one of the staff members follow Jiang Xia, carrying a whole crate of noodles.

Jiang Xia saw this but didn’t say much, simply saying, “Thank you for your hard work,” and continued leading the group to the next stall.

Jiang Xia had an excellent memory. She remembered every client she had ever dealt with, including exactly what they had purchased. Before coming to the Canton Fair, she had even researched how well their previous purchases had sold—which items were hits and which were mediocre.

Whenever she encountered a client whose previous items had sold well, she would call them over to try something new.

Along the way, she had already used this method to help several manufacturers secure successful opening orders.

However, the order from the Vietnamese merchant was by far the largest.

While Jiang Xia was helping other food factories promote their products, she would also conveniently mention the products of the factories where she was working part-time.

Once they reached the booths of the factories she actually represented, there would no doubt be a massive surge in sales.

While Jiang Xia was busy in the food exhibition area, over in the clothing section, the few foreign merchants Wen Wan had brought over glanced at the clothes being promoted, asked about the price, and then moved on to the next stall.

Early in the morning, there weren’t many people yet, so Wen Wan and the others had no choice but to head back to the entrance to wait.

As the group went downstairs, they happened to overhear that Jiang Xia had secured a major order.

A female classmate, remembering Wen Wan’s earlier comment about Jiang Xia working for commissions, wondered exactly how much she could earn from such a large order. She couldn’t help but ask, “Xiao Wan, you mentioned earlier that woman works for commissions and that her father is very powerful. What did you mean by that? What does her father do?”

Wen Wan replied, “It didn’t mean anything specific. I just meant she is very talented. During last year’s autumn Canton Fair, she worked as a part-time translator for several factories and made over a hundred thousand dollars in commissions alone. Look, she’s already landing big orders now.”

Wen Wan didn’t actually know exactly how much Jiang Xia had made, but it was likely around that figure.

Over a hundred thousand US dollars?

The group gasped in unison!

A part-time translator making over a hundred thousand dollars?

What did a hundred thousand US dollars even mean in this era?

That was hundreds of thousands of yuan!

They were all working as translators, yet she was making hundreds of thousands while they were only getting ten yuan a day?

The difference was simply too staggering!

Wen Wan glanced at their shocked expressions and then looked at the thoughtful Jiang Qian. She felt compelled to offer a balanced explanation: “Actually, it’s not that surprising. You should go listen to her speak; her foreign language skills are truly exceptional. Because she speaks so well, those foreign merchants love listening to her introduce products. If you don’t believe me, go take a listen. Her sales techniques and pronunciation are definitely worth learning from. Once we have skills like hers, maybe one day we can also earn eighty or a hundred thousand by translating at the Canton Fair.”

After everything that had happened, Wen Wan had come to accept that Jiang Xia was not the spoiled, useless girl she had been in her previous life. She did indeed have genuine talent.

Of course, Wen Wan still believed Jiang Xia relied heavily on her family background. It was her family that had lifted her up, allowing her to become one of the first people to get rich after the “Spring Breeze” of reform began to blow.

After all, the world was full of talented people. Take herself, for example—she was reborn and her language skills were excellent! She also knew many things others didn’t. But without a good family background or the help of a benefactor, she simply couldn’t make money as fast as Jiang Xia. When you have to rely entirely on your own efforts for everything, you’re bound to fall behind.

She knew that the seafood market would be very profitable in the future, that those stalls were valuable, and the rent would be expensive. But because she didn’t have the deep pockets and powerful background of the two Jiang siblings, she could only watch helplessly as it was snatched away.

Wen Wan had already come to terms with it.

There were simply too many injustices in the world.

A female classmate asked, “How can a hundred thousand be that easy to earn? I’ve never even heard of that much money in my life. Her commission rate must be incredibly high, right?”

Chapter 641: Shocked

Wen Wan replied, “I’m not sure. It shouldn’t be that high, right?”

Another female student sneered, remembering what she had seen early that morning. “It’s probably not low. It’s hard for us to earn that much, but is it hard for her? The leaders brought two busloads of foreign merchants over. If each person orders several hundred thousand or even a million US dollars’ worth of goods, and she gets a one-percent commission, she’d earn a thousand dollars just from a hundred-thousand-dollar deal!”

A male student couldn’t help but do the math. “There were about forty or fifty foreign merchants following her just now! If every merchant takes a hundred thousand dollars worth of goods, wouldn’t she earn fifty thousand US dollars?”

Another male student looked at Jiang Xia. “Not every merchant will necessarily order that much, but I believe now that she could earn over a hundred thousand dollars.”

Jiang Qian had been listening to everyone speak, but remained silent.

However, he knew that even with commission, it would be difficult to earn that much money relying solely on oneself.

That woman was relying on connections; the leadership had personally delivered two busloads of foreign merchants to her to help her make money.

Jiang Qian said to Wen Wan, “My stomach feels a bit upset, I’m going to the bathroom. You guys go on ahead!”

A moment after Jiang Qian left, Wen Wan glanced back and noticed that the direction he was heading was not toward the bathroom at all.

Wen Wan didn’t pay it much mind and continued leading the group out.

She purposefully led them past Jiang Xia, wanting everyone to see how formidable Jiang Xia’s sales ability was.

They should at least learn a thing or two; if they successfully secured orders, the commissions from those orders would also be credited to her.

Wen Wan could no longer deny that Jiang Xia was truly capable.

At that moment, Jiang Xia arrived in front of Auntie Fang’s food factory booth.

The remaining half-row of booths was Jiang Xia’s home turf!

The order and positions of all the booths for the food factories Jiang Xia worked for had been arranged by Old He after Jiang Xia reviewed their products and created a promotion plan. The goal was to make it easier for her to sell.

Since these were the last few booths, Jiang Xia intended to stay here for the remainder of the time.

She was going to go all out.

Jiang Xia smiled and greeted Fang Aiyuan. “Auntie Fang.”

Fang Aiyuan nodded with a smile. “I’ve finally been waiting for you to come over.”

She had been watching Jiang Xia lead people from booth to booth, explaining everything, and she had practically been waiting with bated breath.

Jiang Xia smiled, about to start a proper introduction when, without needing her to say a word, the wealthy merchant from Vietnam immediately said, “Jiang Xia, I’m placing an order! I want six hundred thousand cases of instant noodles, ten thousand cases of luncheon meat, and fifteen thousand cases of ham sausage…”

Several other regular customers also chimed in: “Miss Jiang, I want to place an order too! I want a hundred thousand cases of instant noodles…”

“Miss Jiang, I want two hundred thousand cases of instant noodles this time…”

…

Shipping was handled on a first-come, first-served basis. These were all profitable commodities, so several old customers didn’t even need to hear Jiang Xia continue; they wanted to place their orders immediately.

These products had stood the test of time over the past year and sold exceptionally well.

Often, as soon as a container arrived, it was immediately snapped up by distributors.

Old distributors frequently placed repeat orders, and new distributors actively sought them out.

Jiang Xia said, “Please, everyone, don’t be in such a hurry. Let me first introduce the new products our food factory has launched.”

While she was helping promote products for the food factories earlier, she had mentioned other products in passing.

If they placed their orders now, they wouldn’t have heard her sales pitch—no, that’s not right—they certainly wouldn’t order as much or as many varieties as they would after hearing her detailed explanation!

As Wen Wan and the others passed by, they heard several foreign merchants scrambling to place orders.

Someone tugged at Wen Wan’s sleeve and whispered, “See! They’re all old customers. She doesn’t even have to say anything, and people are already ordering!”

Someone else looked at Jiang Xia, and thinking of Wen Wan’s earlier words, remarked sourly, “There’s nothing we can do about that; who told her to have such a powerful father?”

Wen Wan explained, “With so many people, there are bound to be some old customers, but there are plenty of new customers too. You can stay here and listen to how she promotes the products. She does have talent. I’ll just wait outside.”

Wen Wan still wanted them to learn from Jiang Xia’s skills. Once they learned, she could privately contact the food factories here to work part-time and then arrange for a couple of people to act as translators.

She would take the commission and pay them wages and bonuses.

Wen Wan’s classmates really wanted to know if Jiang Xia was truly capable of earning that much money, so they all stayed behind.

Wen Wan walked out alone.

Jiang Xia held up an established product and smiled at the foreign guests. “Our old friends know that these products are our food factory’s star products sold overseas, well-loved by friends all over the world. If you don’t believe it, you can ask them, or you can taste them for yourself. At this Canton Fair, besides our new products, these best-selling star products also have new flavors and new ways to be enjoyed. Everyone, please have a taste first. It won’t be too late to place your orders after trying both our new and old products.”

Because they had been trained before the fair, the staff had already prepared various samples for tasting.

The staff handed the samples to the foreign merchants.

Jiang Xia stood to the side, explaining to everyone.

…

Those in the food business often knew which products would sell well just by taking a bite.

Jiang Xia’s explanation was practical and tailored to each individual, making it highly targeted.

In her previous life, she had tried cuisines and snacks from many countries. She had also analyzed data and information, looking at purchase volumes, repurchase rates, and flavor profiles from various countries to deduce what people from different regions preferred.

Therefore, she could provide specific suggestions to these foreign merchants on which flavors to buy more of, and the advice she gave to each person was almost different.

Jiang Xia was not just out to make money by blindly encouraging everyone to buy mass quantities of their products.

What Jiang Xia said happened to be exactly what they found most delicious and what sold the best for them.

It was one thing to guess one person’s preferred flavor or best-selling product, but there were people from twenty or thirty different countries here, and Jiang Xia hit the mark for every single one of them!

And Jiang Xia wasn’t just talking off the top of her head; she brought out her data analysis to convince everyone.

She had analyzed which products and which flavors sold well in which countries, and which did not, and she shared all of this unreservedly with everyone.

With charts and data combined, it was clear at a glance.

This data was the result of over a month of work by Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei, analyzing nearly ten years of purchase and repurchase data from foreign merchants of various countries.

The couple had been busy late into the night almost every evening. Zhou Chenglei stayed up even later than Jiang Xia.

Jiang Xia couldn’t have finished the analysis alone because she had classes during the day. Most of it involved her teaching Zhou Chenglei, and then Zhou Chenglei performing the analysis.

This brilliant display by Jiang Xia shocked all the workers, dozens of foreign merchants, the passers-by, and Wen Wan’s classmates!

What did this represent?

It represented dedication!

It represented professionalism!

It represented sincerity!

No one dislikes being treated with such care.

And people are more likely to trust professional recommendations.

Sincerity is the winning formula that earns trust.

No one had ever seen a translator and salesperson like Jiang Xia.

She had truly taken it to the absolute limit!

Some foreign merchants were even inspired by Jiang Xia’s data analysis, realizing why products they had purchased in the past hadn’t sold well and learning how to make better purchasing decisions in the future.

Jiang Xia looked at everyone’s expressions: Great! They’re hooked!

Wait, no!

It should be: Great, they’re impressed!

Jiang Xia secretly rubbed her hands together in anticipation. Bring it on!

Now, let the ordering begin!

Chapter 642: A Sweeping Victory

Jiang Xia motioned for everyone to place their orders if they found something suitable. “Order early, and we’ll ship early. If you place your order today, the goods might even arrive by the time the Canton Fair ends and you return home.”

The Canton Fair lasted for twenty days, so Jiang Xia’s claim wasn’t far-fetched.

A wealthy merchant from Country V heard Fang Aiyuan calling Jiang Xia “Xiao Xia,” and he addressed her the same way. “Xiao Xia, how many units of each flavor of this new product do you think I should order this time?”

“Jiang Xia, can I take a look at that statistical data of yours? I’ll base my order on that.”

“Jiang, I’d like to see it too.”

…

No matter who it was or what their procurement requirements were, Jiang Xia fulfilled them all. Of course, the specific quantities were for them to decide. Jiang Xia checked the inventory levels and production speeds; if an item was out of stock, she told them how long the lead time would be. She subtly hinted that they should stock up; otherwise, once the inventory was gone, they would have to wait.

Consequently, orders for fifty thousand cases, a hundred thousand cases, two hundred thousand cases… and even hundreds of thousands of cases were signed one after another.

For every order, the minimum quantity for any single product was fifty thousand cases, because that was the threshold for receiving a bonus gift.

This time, Jiang Xia had changed her promotional tactic. It was no longer about a discount or a “buy-one-get-some-free” deal based on volume.

Instead, as long as they ordered fifty thousand cases, whenever a new product was released in the future, they would be given priority—receiving twenty cases of every new product and flavor for trial sales, along with priority shipping.

This effectively took care of the promotions for future new products in advance.

Regardless, the best way to promote a new product was to give a few cases to distributors for trial sales. Now, she was simply giving away a bit more.

However, giving away a few extra cases could persuade someone to order tens of thousands more cases of existing stock.

In the food business, the cost per case wasn’t very high, but the profit margins were considerable.

Why not do it?

…

The clock hands turned quietly, eventually pointing to the number ten.

The exhibition had been underway for over two hours.

At this time, the entire Canton Fair exhibition hall was teeming with people.

Many foreign merchants in the food industry saw the crowd gathered around this row of stalls and followed the commotion.

As a result, more people gathered, and more orders were placed!

Old He and the relevant leaders were making their rounds. When they reached the food exhibition area, they once again saw the sight of foreign merchants queuing up and rushing to place orders.

One leader remarked, “Seeing this, I knew Comrade Jiang Xia must be translating here.”

Old He knew Jiang Xia wouldn’t let him down. He turned to his assistant and said, “Go and check the transaction volume for the food exhibition area today.”

Half a day had passed; he wondered how many orders Xiao Xia had secured.

The assistant acknowledged and hurried toward the central service desk to inquire.

The answer he got was staggering!

He ran back to the food exhibition area, neglecting his professional composure.

Coming to Old He’s side, he whispered a figure.

Old He’s eyes widened. “Over twenty-six million? Are you sure you heard that right?”

The other leaders turned to look at Old He.

The assistant tried his best to suppress his excitement but failed. “I heard correctly! I asked twice! Every single manufacturer has opened their books today! Most factories have reached a transaction volume of one million. Every factory’s new products have received orders. It’s a collective success—a sweeping victory across the board!”

The leaders all broke into smiles at these results!

The retail price of food products was low, so achieving over twenty million US dollars in such a short time meant the sales volume was massive!

“There’s still over an hour until noon! I wonder if we can break thirty million.”

“Given this momentum, it’s very likely! More and more people are coming.”

“Which province has the highest transaction volume, and which has the lowest?” one leader asked.

Old He’s assistant had already looked into this and named two provinces.

After all, when a leader asks you to look into something, you must understand every related detail to answer their questions at any time.

The leader of the province with the lowest volume couldn’t help himself. “Old He, have Comrade Xiao Xia translate more for the other food factories. Look, the foreign friends are all heading toward the capital’s stalls! We can’t have a single flower blooming alone while the others wither. Success needs to spread across the whole river!”

At the Canton Fair, there was competition between factories and between provinces.

The higher the transaction volume, the better the performance, and the more praise they would receive.

The leader in last place was truly afraid of finishing the year at the bottom. That would lead to being criticized by name in meetings and having to write a formal self-reflection report.

Old He said irritably, “Xiao Xia has already taken the foreign merchant group on a full circuit. One person cannot do the work of an entire team. You should think about how to learn from Comrade Xiao Xia and improve your own standards; that would be better than anything else.”

Zhou Chenglei never gave him a good look whenever they met now; Old He didn’t dare to keep imposing on Jiang Xia.

Wen Wan followed behind them and heard everything.

So, Jiang Xia had secured over twenty million in sales in just over two hours?

How much commission would she get from that?

Wen Wan had originally been quite happy.

She had brought several groups of foreign merchants to her stall that morning and secured 2,500 orders, earning about twenty-five yuan in commission.

It was a lucky start!

But now, she couldn’t feel happy at all.

She walked over to her classmates. “How is it? Have you learned anything?”

She was counting on them to sell more clothes in the coming days!

Otherwise, she would be losing money just paying their wages!

One female student said, “I’ve learned what to do, but it feels like I can’t actually do it.”

The others nodded in agreement.

It was too much!

They felt they couldn’t possibly emulate her.

It was one thing to switch between multiple foreign languages as if they were her mother tongue, but she was also familiar with every single product and incredibly knowledgeable about the culinary cultures of different countries. They simply couldn’t do that!

They had been asked to memorize the technical details, fabrics, colors, and sizes of every garment, and they still hadn’t fully memorized them!

Yet Jiang Xia could recite the ingredient lists of every product from several food factories by heart!

She could even talk at length about the nutritional components of those foods and the health benefits of eating them.

They felt utterly inferior.

It was no wonder she could earn over a hundred thousand US dollars.

Even if her father was powerful and had the connections to push her up, she had the strength to stand firm on her own.

The world admires the strong. They were all about the same age, yet she was so much more capable than them. It left them completely convinced and filled with admiration!

Jiang Xia glanced at her wristwatch. It was 10:40 AM. She needed to go to the lounge to check on the child, so she apologized to the group, asked to be excused, and hurried off toward the lounge.

As Jiang Xia emerged from the crowd and passed Old He and the other leaders, they all said to her, “Comrade Xiao Xia, thank you for your hard work!”

Jiang Xia smiled. “It’s not hard. No matter how tiring it is, it’s worth it to earn foreign exchange for the country! I need to use the bathroom, so please excuse me.”

The leaders nodded one after another. Comrade Jiang Xia’s awareness was truly high!

One of the male students, hearing Jiang Xia’s words, felt a deep sense of agreement. He watched her receding figure and asked, “Which school is this Jiang Xia from?”

The translation staff and volunteers had all met for a briefing earlier, but they hadn’t seen Jiang Xia there.

A volunteer from Q University happened to be passing by and said with a sense of pride, “Are you talking about Teacher Jiang Xia? She is a teacher in the Foreign Languages Department at our Q University, and she’s also a freshman in our Fashion Department.”

Wen Wan: “…”

The classmates beside Wen Wan: “…”

Chapter 643: Nemesis

Jiang Xia?

The student who was also a teacher?

One female student looked at Jiang Xia in shock. “So it’s her! I heard some students from Jingda talking about her! No wonder I thought her name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t remember where I’d heard it! Her foreign language skills are incredible! She’s fluent in five or six different languages!”

“I remember now! The youngest, most beautiful, and most talented foreign language teacher at Q University! She holds two roles—she’s both a teacher and a student! Many students from Jingda’s Foreign Languages Department even go to Q University to attend her lectures. I heard it was because she’s also a student in the Garment Department and didn’t have enough time to teach at both schools, so the presidents of both universities worked it out. They allowed the Jingda students to attend her classes at Q University instead.”

“That’s right! Her classes are held in the auditorium. Everyone says it doesn’t even feel like a regular class; it feels like she’s giving an expert seminar.”

Wen Wan had no idea that Jiang Xia had actually become a teacher!

Jiang Xia was just a freshman. No matter how well she spoke a foreign language, on what basis could she be a teacher?

Did university teachers not need degrees or qualifications these days?

If that was the case, could she also be a student and a teacher at the same time? In her past life, she had passed the English Level 4 exam!

“I heard people are practically fighting to get into her classes.”

“Yeah, I also heard that if you don’t show up early, you won’t even find a seat.”

Wen Wan blurted out, “Is it because there are so many men in her class that there aren’t any seats?”

Wen Wan couldn’t deny that Jiang Xia was beautiful, but she looked like a total vixen.

The woman was clearly married and had already given birth to three children! Yet she still dressed herself up every day like a colorful peacock.

What was she trying to do? Wasn’t she just trying to seduce men?

She was just like certain women Wen Wan had seen in her previous life, who used their beauty and bodies to flirt with male colleagues and bosses to get ahead in the workplace.

Just look at the foreign businessmen surrounding her moments ago—they were almost all men.

the female student shot Wen Wan a look, finding her words a bit malicious and her mindset skewed. “There are plenty of both men and women! I heard her lectures are excellent. During her classes, the entire room is so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everyone listens so intently they don’t even notice people passing by outside. Every single one of them has notebooks filled with notes.”

Wen Wan pursed her lips, not wanting to talk about Jiang Xia anymore. “Let’s go. Let’s go check out the entrance. The factory director is getting annoyed. We haven’t signed a single order all morning.”

A male student spoke up upon hearing this, “Since the factory director has an issue, how about I just take a commission and skip the base salary?”

Another female student’s eyes widened. “That’s right! I can do that too!”

The others thought about it and chimed in, “I also think taking only a commission is better!”

They all turned to Wen Wan. “Xiao Wan, let’s go talk to the factory director. We’ll tell him we only want a commission and no salary!”

Wen Wan was stunned. She hurriedly said, “But we already agreed with the garment factory on a daily salary of 10 yuan. If you change it now, the factory director won’t agree.”

The male student who had suggested it argued, “We can just take the commission and forgo the salary. That way, if we don’t land any orders, the factory doesn’t have to pay us, so they won’t lose money. I don’t see any reason why the director would refuse.”

Another male student had also been motivated by Jiang Xia’s example. “There are so many foreign businessmen at the Canton Fair. I think the commission from even one order would be higher than our salary.”

Wen Wan tried to damage-control. “If you only take commissions without a salary, you have to actually land an order to get paid. Honestly, orders aren’t that easy to get. I haven’t closed a single one all morning. Not everyone is as talented as Jiang Xia. She has a established customer base; those foreigners are old clients who buy many items every year. We don’t know a single foreign businessman, so it’s going to be very difficult!”

She hadn’t intended for them to learn from Jiang Xia’s sales tactics if it was going to cause her this kind of trouble!

Jiang Xia truly was her nemesis!

If everyone wanted a commission instead, what profit would be left for her?

The male student shook his head. “I still think taking a commission will earn us more. With so many foreign businessmen coming to the Canton Fair every day, as long as we close one deal within twenty days, we could potentially earn much more than 10 yuan a day!”

“I agree! Xiao Wan, come on, let’s go talk to the factory director!”

“Let’s go! Let’s talk to him!”

The group crowded around Wen Wan, dragging her toward the factory director.

Wen Wan: “…”

This was a disaster!

What if they found out that she was already being paid on commission?

Wen Wan felt a surge of panic as her classmates pulled her toward the garment section booth.

Seeing a foreign businessman there, she immediately thought of a way out. “Let’s wait until lunch when the director goes to eat, and then I’ll talk to him. He’s talking to a client right now; we shouldn’t disturb him.”

They were university students, after all—future builders of socialism with high standards of awareness. Knowing the importance of the Canton Fair, they certainly didn’t want to become an obstacle to the country earning foreign exchange. They all agreed.

One male student suggested, “Let’s help with the translations and product introductions first!”

“Good idea!” the others echoed.

The male student continued, “Let’s take this chance to learn more about the clothes. Even if we can’t memorize every detail like Jiang Xia, we should at least be able to answer questions. Earning money is secondary; don’t forget we’re here to help the country earn foreign exchange! That’s the most important thing!”

“Right!”

Jiang Xia had now become the role model for these students.

Wen Wan breathed a massive sigh of relief.

It seemed she’d have to give them a small cut of the commission. Maybe one cent per set of clothes?

Hmph! She shouldn’t have encouraged them to learn from Jiang Xia. Look at what they’d picked up instead!

When Jiang Xia returned to the lounge, Zhou Chenglei was already there, and all three children were being fed.

Zhou Chenglei looked at her, weariness visible on his face. “You don’t need to nurse them. The bottle works just as well. They’re almost full; go and get some rest.”

The milk in the bottles had been prepared by Jiang Xia earlier and kept in the refrigerator. They had been taken out and warmed in water before being given to the babies.

Since the children were already feeding, Jiang Xia didn’t insist on nursing. She smiled and asked, “Were the kids good today?”

Hearing his mother’s voice, the younger son in Second Auntie’s arms rolled his eyes and spotted Jiang Xia. He immediately spat out the nipple with a “pfft” sound and launched into a long string of babbling in baby talk directed at her.

Jiang Xia was charmed by the little boy’s cleverness, and her exhaustion vanished instantly.

The eldest brother and little sister had been on the verge of falling asleep, but hearing their mother’s voice, their eyes fluttered open to look for the source of the sound.

Jiang Xia stroked their soft, nearly hairless little heads. “Go back to sleep.”

The two babies were indeed sleepy, and they closed their eyes again.

Second Auntie tried to put the nipple back into the younger son’s mouth, but he spat it out again and turned his head away. “Pfft, pfft, pfft…”

Second Auntie laughed. “This child is so smart. He knows it’s his turn to nurse.”

“I’ll take him,” Jiang Xia said with a smile, taking her younger son into her arms and feeding him the bottle herself.

Once he was in his mother’s embrace, the boy settled down and continued drinking his milk obediently.

Zhou Chenglei said to Jiang Xia, “Don’t go back to the booth for a while. Rest here.”

“I won’t go back to the booth; I’m going back to our place. I’ll be back in the afternoon,” Jiang Xia replied.

She had to go back to prepare more food for the children, as she wouldn’t be able to look after them this evening.

Zhou Chenglei eased up hearing that. He wouldn’t go back to their residence; he would stay here.

In the afternoon, Jiang Xia spent half the day busy at the plastic factory. At five-thirty, she returned home for a short while to have dinner and feed the children before arriving back at the exhibition hall by six-thirty.

Tonight’s fashion show was scheduled to begin at seven o’clock.

Chapter 644: Making Money is Better Than Winning Arguments

When Jiang Xia arrived at the third floor of the exhibition hall, she ran into three staff members.

It was already 6:30 PM, and they were preparing to head over to the atrium.

One of the staff members saw Jiang Xia and greeted her with a smile, “Xiao Xia, have you eaten yet?”

Jiang Xia smiled back and replied, “I just finished eating.”

Another staff member, seeing how late Jiang Xia had appeared, asked, “Comrade Jiang, you’re only heading to the runway show now?”

Jiang Xia replied, “Yes.”

Yang Qiuqiang chimed in, “Aren’t you the main planner for the fashion show?”

The unspoken words were: even the leaders had already made their appearance, yet she was only heading there now? Was this how the “main planner” supposed to behave?

Jiang Xia glanced at him. “I am.”

Yang Qiuqiang remarked, “Then you certainly seem quite relaxed.”

Jiang Xia shot him a look. “I’m likely not as relaxed as you are.”

“…”

Yang Qiuqiang hadn’t expected Jiang Xia to talk back. He was about to lose his temper when a few foreigners walked over from not far away.

He held his tongue.

The foreigners were currently discussing the upcoming fashion show.

Evans grumbled, “You invited me here just to watch a fashion show? What’s there to see in a Chinese fashion show? It’s a waste of time!”

Jack replied, “I haven’t seen one yet, so I figured I’d take a look. There might be a surprise.”

Evans scoffed, “What kind of surprise could there be? Their clothes are all cheap goods. Why even bother with a runway show? I never wear Chinese clothes—they’re for hillbillies.”

Carlton added, “I also think Chinese clothes are incredibly rustic and ugly. They have no idea how to coordinate outfits. The people on the streets of China dress so poorly.”

Jack cautioned, “Don’t jump to conclusions. Let’s go see. This is the first time they’ve held a fashion show at the Canton Fair. The quality of Chinese export clothing is actually quite good, and the price is cheap—it’s very cost-effective.”

He had made quite a bit of money from the clothes he purchased and took back last year.

“Exactly, so they’re just cheap goods for hillbillies.”

“Chinese people don’t understand fashion. I bet this show will have a pathetic, shabby vibe to it.”

…

The leaders present happened to understand foreign languages, and these words infuriated them.

Yang Qiuqiang understood them as well, and he was the angriest of all!

Jiang Xia turned her head toward the two foreigners. She was about to walk over to them when someone called out to her.

“Comrade Xiao Xia!” Yang Qiuqiang couldn’t help but snap at her. “You heard that, didn’t you! This fashion show is a matter of China’s national pride! The show is about to start, isn’t it? What sort of behavior is it for you to only show up now? This is a show being held in front of guests from dozens of countries—the very first fashion show at our Canton Fair. If you aren’t prepared and we lose face, can you handle the consequences?”

“I’m telling you, this fashion show must be handled perfectly. There cannot be a single mistake! We need to use our strength to slap those foreigners in the face!”

Jiang Xia replied, “You don’t need to worry about the fashion show. Right now, those two foreigners are openly slandering Chinese clothing. Shouldn’t you step forward and stand up for the dignity of the Chinese fashion industry?! What’s the use of lecturing me here?”

Yang Qiuqiang fumed, “Making the fashion show a success and letting them see the style of Chinese clothing is the best way to slap them in the face! That’s how we maintain China’s dignity! What’s the point of a verbal dispute? You, as the main planner, haven’t prepared seriously or given this your full attention, and now you want to shirk responsibility?”

Jiang Xia laughed out of anger. “Why don’t you just say you’re afraid to confront them?”

Yang Qiuqiang stammered, “…”

He was truly enraged!

He was focusing on the big picture! How was he “afraid”?

Jiang Xia didn’t bother with him anymore. She walked straight past him and strode toward the group of foreigners.

Seeing her head for the foreigners, Yang Qiuqiang’s heart skipped a beat. She better not cause a scene right now; the fashion show was waiting on her!

If the show couldn’t start on time, there would be trouble!

She was young and impulsive after all, with no sense of priority or weight in her actions!

“Come back! Are you just going to ignore the fashion show? Aren’t you going to prepare for it?”

Old He’s voice suddenly rang out from behind. “Since you’re so worried that the fashion show isn’t prepared, why did you just go off to eat dinner? You should have stayed backstage the whole time to keep an eye on things! If something goes wrong, should I hold you solely responsible? After all, you are in charge of this entire textile section.”

Yang Qiuqiang fell silent.

Ignoring the criticism for a moment, Yang Qiuqiang hurriedly said to Old He, “Old He, Comrade Xiao Xia wants to go pick a fight with those foreigners. I’ll go pull her back!”

If a real argument broke out, it would have to be handled, and then how would the fashion show proceed? If things were ruined, he wouldn’t be able to escape the blame!

Old He looked toward Jiang Xia. “Xiao Xia knows what she’s doing. You’d better hurry and get your own tasks in order! Look at what time it is. If an accident happens because the security work on your end isn’t done properly, I will hold you solely responsible!”

Yang Qiuqiang had nothing to say.

Jiang Xia walked up to the foreigners. “Excuse me, are you here to see our Chinese fashion show?”

The foreigners looked at Jiang Xia. One of them replied, “Yes.”

Jiang Xia asked, “You think our Chinese clothes are very cheap?”

Evans glanced at Jiang Xia, a flash of surprise in his eyes at her stunning appearance. Her outfit and style were actually quite good, but he still nodded arrogantly. “Yes!”

Jiang Xia asked again, “You think our clothes are rustic and ugly?!”

“Yes!”

Jiang Xia looked him up and down with mockery in her eyes. “Then you are wrong! It’s not that our Chinese clothes are cheap; it’s that you can’t afford the expensive ones!”

Evans laughed from anger. “I can’t afford them? I have enough money to buy every piece of clothing in all of China! I don’t buy them because your Chinese clothes are too ugly!”

Jiang Xia retorted, “Who says so? That’s just your personal opinion!”

Evans insisted, “I’m not the only one saying it; everyone says so! People come to your China to buy clothes because they are cheap!”

Jiang Xia said, “That’s also just your one-sided claim! I believe many people who see our fashion show will praise our clothes, find them beautiful, and place large orders one after another!”

Evans scoffed, “Impossible!”

He knew several friends in the garment industry from developed countries, and they all said Chinese clothes weren’t good-looking!

Jiang Xia challenged him, “What if, after watching the show, everyone says they look good?”

“If everyone says they look good, I’ll place an order for one million US dollars on the spot!”

Jiang Xia gave him a look. “Didn’t you say you could buy all the clothes in China? It turns out you only have a million dollars? You want to buy all of China’s clothes for a million? For a million dollars, you couldn’t even buy a thousand of our high-end pieces!”

Evans felt slighted. He wasn’t lying; he truly was very wealthy. “If ten people say your Chinese clothes look good, I’ll place a one-million-dollar order. If twenty people say they look good, I’ll place a five-million-dollar order. If the entire audience says they look good, I’ll place a ten-million-dollar order!”

That’s more like it! Jiang Xia’s irritation subsided slightly, smoothed over by the millions of dollars he was throwing around.

She turned to Carlton. “Sir, what about you? If everyone says our Chinese clothes look good, will you place an order just like your friend?”

Carlton was here to source fabric. He had never thought much of Chinese finished garments and only bought the materials. He had never heard his peers say Chinese clothes were beautiful, but if they truly were, what was the harm in buying?

He nodded. “Yes!”

Jiang Xia looked at Jack. “Then I’ll have to ask your friend to bear witness for you!”

Jiang Xia was satisfied. Before the fashion show had even begun, she had secured orders worth tens of millions.

Of course, she didn’t dare hope that everyone would say they looked good, but having twenty people say so was definitely achievable.

Old He knew that Xiao Xia was a person with a sense of propriety and wasn’t someone who only cared about winning a verbal argument.

Look! How well did she handle that?

Winning an argument was nowhere near as good as making money!

Making those who looked down on Chinese clothing willingly part with their money to buy those very clothes was the most satisfying way to vent one’s anger.

He had great confidence in the clothing for this show!

Chapter 645: A Hit Style Emerges

Jiang Xia arrived backstage to find the models already dressed and their makeup finished.

She quickly changed into a formal gown and touched up her own makeup, which she had already applied at her residence.

With ten minutes to spare, Jiang Xia personally inspected the models’ outfits, as well as the clothes and accessories they would change into later. After ensuring everything was perfect, she stepped out to take a look at the venue.

All the officials had arrived, and the seats flanking the runway were filled with foreign merchants. Foreign visitors were generally very punctual.

More than a hundred invitations had been sent out in total.

Garments and textiles had always been a top priority for China’s exports.

It looked like everyone was here.

Jiang Xia checked the time; there was one minute left.

She returned backstage and said to everyone, “One minute to go. Get ready!”

Everyone gave her an “OK” hand gesture.

After a moment, Jiang Xia began the countdown: “Ten, nine, eight… one!”

The lights suddenly dimmed, leaving only the runway illuminated, making the entire stage glow brilliantly.

This kind of lighting highlighted the texture of the clothes, making them look clearer, more delicate, and more high-end.

Jiang Xia was the first to step out.

“Distinguished guests, welcome to China’s 50th…”

Everyone’s gaze was instantly drawn to Jiang Xia—or rather, to the gown she was wearing!

Those who had been lounging nonchalantly sat bolt upright in an instant.

Jiang Xia wore a black formal gown with a strapless design. On the upper left was a large white bow. It was simple yet sophisticated, perfectly accentuating her figure and proportions.

The classic contrast of black and white made the black gown appear vivid and dynamic.

She also wore a pair of long black gloves. With every movement, she naturally exuded an air of refined elegance, mystery, and nobility.

It was beautiful!

So noble!

The buyers quickly looked at the order materials in their hands, flipping through to find the style number for the gown.

Once they found it, they placed their orders one after another.

They ordered in batches of ten or twenty pieces across different sizes.

Jiang Xia spoke a few brief words of welcome before withdrawing from the stage.

The runway show officially began.

One by one, the models stepped out with confident, brisk catwalk strides. They were vibrant, agile, and bold.

This was the biggest difference between the shows of this era and modern ones.

Women of this era pursued a beauty that was free, passionate, and uninhibited, and the models showcased this to the fullest.

The first model on stage wore a khaki-white short dress with batwing sleeves.

The foreign merchants, who had just finished their orders, looked up and their eyes lit up again!

Beautiful!

Stunning!

No one spoke; their upbringing wouldn’t allow them to talk casually and disturb those around them or the show itself.

As the model drew closer, the details were clearly presented to the audience.

The buyers grew increasingly satisfied, thinking to themselves:

This one is gorgeous!

Exquisite!

This set will definitely be a hit style!

…

As the model turned to walk back, some looked at the people beside them.

Sure enough, everyone was looking down at their order materials, scribbling away.

These were people who had been in the garment industry for over a decade, some even decades. They knew a hit style when they saw one!

Jiang Xia, watching from below the stage as everyone used the order materials to place their orders, was satisfied.

To be honest, if this dress were taken on its own, it was very simple!

There was nothing wrong with simplicity; eternal classics tend toward the minimalist.

But it couldn’t be too simple.

Simplistic did not mean minimalist.

If this dress had simply been hung up at a booth for display, it would be an ordinary white batwing-sleeve dress. Aside from the batwing sleeves fitting the current trend of exaggerated wide shoulders, it had no other special features. It was a “safe” design.

After all, simple pairings rarely go wrong.

Moreover, because its original price was set low, people would still order it, but it wouldn’t command a high price or move in massive volumes.

So, Jiang Xia had styled it and modified some details.

She added what was lacking and trimmed away what was excessive!

The cutting and silhouette were vital!

The dress was originally a loose design, and its length went past the knees. If a dress with this silhouette is too long, it loses its shape, fails to show off the figure or make the legs look long, and the proportions suffer.

Jiang Xia increased the width of the hem of the sleeves from the original 2.5 cm to 4 cm, making the batwing sleeves more structured and stylish!

She shortened the length to just above the knee. With a belt cinching the waist, the upper and lower proportions became perfectly coordinated.

Punk elements were still very popular now, so Jiang Xia paired it with a black sheepskin belt decorated with row upon row of square metal buckles.

Once the belt was fastened, the loose dress naturally developed folds, creating a sense of layering!

With a bit of manual adjustment, the silhouette and lines of the garment were perfectly presented!

But the belt alone wasn’t enough; it was still a bit plain.

So, Jiang Xia chose a leather necklace with metal buckles of the same material, along with a pair of black sheepskin gloves. The gloves were long, reaching past the elbows, and featured a hollowed-out, distressed design.

This was an application of the currently popular “ripped” or “distressed” elements. The leather was of high quality, making them look very high-end.

The outfit truly came to life!

On the feet, she paired it with black sheepskin boots made of the same material.

The top, bottom, left, right, and center all echoed each other!

It was truly simple yet sophisticated!

The grade of the entire outfit had been elevated.

It looked high-end at a single glance!

The aura of a major brand!

Of course, the price had gone up as well!

The model walked with confident steps, wearing the concise dress without any cumbersome stacking of fabric. The simple lines and silhouette exuded casualness, comfort, minimalism, and a touch of ruggedness and structure.

Combined with the perfectly chosen accessories, the entire outfit perfectly showcased the beauty of women of this era—their pursuit of freedom, boldness, elegance, and passion!

It was a hit style at first sight!

Order!

Order!

Order!

…

One by one, they gripped their pencils and scribbled down orders.

From the clothes to the accessories to the shoes, they didn’t miss a single item.

From time to time, they would glance at how many pieces their competitors were ordering. If they found the other person was ordering more, they would rub out their numbers with an eraser and increase their own.

The numbers everyone filled in under each size were 100, 150, or 100 pieces.

This wasn’t a formal gown; it was everyday wear. It could be worn normally and was suitable for many occasions, so many people would buy it. Consequently, the order volumes were far higher than for the formal gowns!

If one person bought several hundred pieces across different sizes, ten people meant thousands of pieces, and dozens of people meant tens of thousands.

A bona-fide hit style!

The price for the complete set wasn’t cheap, but it couldn’t stop the foreign merchants’ enthusiasm for ordering.

China’s economic level hadn’t risen yet in this era; it was considered quite poor, and not many people could afford this. But there were plenty of wealthy people in developed countries.

As long as it met their aesthetic standards, they had the money to buy it and were willing to spend it.

Thus, the first hit style was born less than ten minutes into the runway show!

The garment factory director sat in the very last row behind the foreign merchants. When he craned his neck to see the order quantities the merchants in front were writing down, his legs began to tremble!

Good heavens!

In all his years as a factory director, he had never seen such a massive order volume for a single style of clothing!

Chapter 646: Everyone Was Delighted

The first model hadn’t even finished her walk.

The second model was already stepping onto the stage.

She wore a short black jacket, its front and cuffs adorned with gold metal buttons.

Underneath was a white blouse designed with a round, semi-high neckline. Below the collar was pinned a white chiffon-woven rose bow brooch, while three long pearl necklaces were layered around her neck.

For her lower half, she wore a black pencil skirt that fell past her knees, cinched at the waist by a belt about four or five centimeters wide.

The belt featured a metal buckle in the center with a light scattering of studs on either side.

As the model reached the front of the stage, she tucked her hands into her skirt pockets. At the moment she turned, she perfectly showcased the bracelet on her wrist.

This was an outfit suitable for many formal occasions.

The original design for the inner layer was a collared shirt, as the jacket featured a collarless round-neck design.

However, with the addition of the brooch, a collar would have felt redundant and cluttered.

When Jiang Xia was coordinating the look, she had swapped it for a round-neck blouse with a semi-high collar to go with the bow brooch.

The white and black round necklines complemented each other at different heights, creating clean, sharp layers, with the black ribbon bow serving as a central accent.

The metal buckle and studded belt at the waist provided further decoration.

The resulting look exuded a sense of “rebellious elegance.”

It was clearly dignified, yet slightly unruly.

It was clearly elegant and sophisticated, yet carried a hint of cool swagger!

It was a perfect fusion of elegance, flamboyance, defiance, and intellect!

Fashionable!

Sophisticated and full of personality!

It perfectly met the aspirations of women in this era.

Even decades later, this kind of classic style would never go out of fashion.

It looked incredible!

Order!

Fifty, one hundred, thirty…

Fifty, seventy, twenty…

This style was more elegant and noble, suited for women over thirty. Its target age range wasn’t as broad as the previous style, and the price was very high, so the order quantities weren’t as massive as the first look.

But they were still substantial!

Because it was a classic!

The garment factory director’s heart was already beating out of rhythm. Every step the model took felt like she was playing his heartstrings.

It was too thrilling!

As it turned out, clothes shouldn’t just be hung one by one on hangers at a booth or draped over mannequins.

They had to be styled!

They had to be worn by models and showcased under the lights.

Only then could the clothes truly shine.

Glittering like stars!

In the darkness, camera flashes strobed incessantly. Aside from the music, the only sound in the entire atrium was the constant “click-click” of shutters.

The Suicheng Evening News would surely give tonight’s fashion show a prominent place in tomorrow’s edition.

It might even make its way into foreign magazines and newspapers.

This was providing another wave of free advertising for the garment factory’s clothes.

The garment factory director beckoned to his assistant.

The assistant quickly leaned in.

The garment factory director whispered into the assistant’s ear, “Call back to the factory immediately. Tell purchasing and merchandising to buy fabrics in bulk. We need to rush the production of those two outfits we just saw. But remember, the workmanship and quality must be guaranteed! Our clothes have been on a runway now; they’ve stepped onto the international stage! They aren’t cheap goods anymore—they are high-end fashion!”

The director’s tone was filled with unprecedented pride!

The assistant was equally excited. “Understood. How much stock should we prepare initially?”

“For Style S001, prepare for ten thousand pieces. For C002, prepare for five thousand sets!”

There were too many orders; he was afraid that if they waited until the Canton Fair ended, the factory wouldn’t be able to produce them in time. Making them in advance would be the right move.

After all, there were many more styles to come!

In fact, Jiang Xia had reminded him from the start to stock at least six thousand of the Style 01 skirts.

At the time, he hadn’t quite dared to do it.

Mainly because Comrade Jiang Xia had raised the price!

The price was so high that he was afraid they wouldn’t sell.

He hadn’t expected that Jiang Xia’s estimate of six thousand pieces was actually conservative!

Six thousand was nowhere near enough!

He should have prepared ten thousand!

But no one could have imagined they would break the ten-thousand mark.

That skirt, without those accessories, was just a plain little white batwing sleeve dress with no decorations at all.

And with Jiang Xia’s price hike, he had been terrified they would sit on the shelves.

It turned out… he was still too timid! He had only prepared three thousand sets.

He should have listened to Teacher Jiang!

“Got it!” The assistant slipped away quietly. After walking a short distance and rounding a corner, he broke into a run!

Ten thousand pieces!

In all these years, the highest sales record for a hit style had been just over six thousand pieces.

Now, with a single fashion show, the very first style had easily broken that record, setting a new benchmark of ten thousand orders!

Which garment factory in all of China could compete with this?

For a typical garment factory, selling a thousand pieces was considered a hit.

Now, it seemed any style with fewer than a thousand orders would have to be diverted to domestic sales.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to keep up with the workload.

Wen Wan had also arrived at the scene. Standing right behind the garment factory director, she overheard him whispering to his assistant to call back and prepare stock.

From the moment Jiang Xia stepped onto the stage as the host, Wen Wan knew that someone was once again handing Jiang Xia resources and money!

The clothes sold during this show today would surely be credited to Jiang Xia’s merit, and she would receive a commission.

She just had to go on stage and say a few words to earn a commission from an entire fashion show.

No one made money easier than she did!

It was simpler than picking leaves off a tree!

Selling ten thousand of one and five thousand of another—at a commission of ten cents USD per piece, Jiang Xia was already making a fortune.

The few words she spoke on stage were literally worth their weight in gold!

And the fashion show had only just begun!

Weren’t there dozens of outfits left?

These clothes looked very upscale; they belonged to the category of high fashion. Fashion was already more expensive than casual wear, and high fashion was even pricier. The commission should be quite high, and Jiang Xia was likely going to make a staggering amount of money.

However, Wen Wan knew that as a “nobody” without a powerful father or a capable husband, she couldn’t afford to be envious.

She had to come to terms with it!

After all, Jiang Xia’s earnings came from Father Jiang’s connections and the network Zhou Chenglei had built. She couldn’t compare, so she could only focus on her own path.

Right now, the garment factories where Wen Wan worked as a part-time translator all made casual clothes. They were cheaper than high fashion, but she should still be able to get a commission of one jiao per piece.

She was satisfied!

Just then, the third model stepped out.

This time, it was a black suit with broad shoulders and a feather brooch pinned to the chest.

What caught everyone’s eye was the satin-textured rose-red bustier underneath.

This was the first splash of bright color!

The combination of black and rose red provided a powerful visual impact!

Those who liked it absolutely loved it.

Without further ado, buyers who found it appealing took one look and bowed their heads to place orders.

They knew which clothes would sell well.

They rarely made mistakes.

Though occasionally they might overlook a style and fail to see its potential to become a hit.

After all, everyone had their own preferences; sometimes a lack of interest in a specific detail meant they just didn’t like it.

Wen Wan watched as the foreign merchants placed orders for every single style. Her heart raced with excitement, and her sense of anticipation grew stronger.

As expected, holding a fashion show was the best way to attract large orders from buyers.

The director had said that as long as the proposal was well-written and the application was approved, their garment factory could also hold a fashion show.

Wen Wan didn’t stick around to watch any longer. She slipped away quietly, heading back to work on her own fashion show proposal.

She had seen fashion shows on television in her previous life and knew how they worked.

She would surely be able to put together an outstanding fashion show as well.

No one noticed Wen Wan’s departure. With every new outfit that appeared, the garment factory director couldn’t help but peek at the order quantities of the foreign merchants beside him. Good!

Not bad at all!

Suits: thirty, fifty, twenty.

Inner layers: twenty, thirty, ten.

Foreigners really did have a high tolerance for bold styles!

They even liked clothes this revealing.

The leather bag factory director was sitting right next to the garment factory director. Seeing the latter secretly checking others’ orders, he couldn’t resist peeking himself!

One look, and he was delighted!

It was very good; most orders were for twenty or a dozen pieces.

It was much less than the clothing, but that was normal.

He was satisfied.

The belts were also produced by his factory, but since they were sold as a set with the clothes, his factory would definitely meet its targets this time!

They had reached their goal on the very first day!

Chapter 647: A Perfect Conclusion

The director of the pearl cultivation farm had also come. For this occasion, Jiang Xia had ordered several custom designs of pearl necklaces, bracelets, and stud earrings to complement the clothing.

They were all pearls of the highest quality, and their prices were far from low—one could even call them expensive.

Since he had nothing else to do, the director had decided to come and see how many sets they could actually sell.

He originally thought it would be quite good if they managed to sell ten sets!

To his surprise, when he took a peek, he encountered a foreign buyer with exceptionally deep pockets who ordered fifty sets of a single necklace style!

The director of the pearl cultivation farm had to pinch his thigh hard just to keep himself from laughing out loud.

Tears even welled up in his eyes!

He wasn’t sure if it was from joy or the pain, but either way, he was crying.

The owner of the shoe factory was also beaming, singing the national anthem in his heart.

While the order volume for shoes was slightly lower than for the clothes, it was far beyond his expectations!

Compared to the past, every single runway style had essentially become a hit style!

He wouldn’t even need to sell his other shoes this time; just selling these twenty-some styles would be more than enough!

…

Time slipped away amidst the visual feast, and the fashion show gradually drew to a close.

In this era, the popular buzzword was “exaggerated,” and the trending elements included broad shoulders, stripes, distressed looks, punk, leather, and androgynous styles.

However, one did not need to use every element in a single outfit; in fact, that was a major faux pas.

One or two points of interest were sufficient.

Classic, enduring styles that never went out of fashion were always simple yet sophisticated.

Therefore, when Jiang Xia was coordinating the outfits for the garment factory, she tried her best to ensure every outfit featured a touch of the current trends.

If there was too much, she trimmed it back; if it was lacking, she added a bit through accessories. Only when something was truly off would she ask the garment factory to make alterations.

For pieces with the potential to become hit styles or classics, Jiang Xia would have the factory adjust the silhouettes and switch to high-end fabrics to elevate the overall quality of the garment.

Western economies were developing rapidly during this period, which meant many people there had the money to spend.

The styles on stage were the result of Jiang Xia personally testing the fit and reviewing the patterns, followed by the factory’s designers and pattern makers staying up all night to refine them.

For several garments, the fabric was swapped and the silhouette was modified multiple times within a single month before reaching a result that satisfied Jiang Xia.

In the limited time they had, they strove for perfection, which led to tonight’s visual feast.

By the time all the clothes had been displayed one by one, it was already past nine o’clock.

The twenty models lined up and did one last circuit around the runway together. Returning backstage, they quickly changed into another set of clothes with the help of assistants and went back on stage.

This continued until every outfit had been worn once. Finally, all the models stood together on the stage.

Thunderous applause erupted!

The audience thanked them for providing such a wonderful evening.

Jiang Xia took the stage once more to announce the end of the fashion show. She thanked everyone for their support and took the opportunity to invite them to watch the men’s fashion show tomorrow night at the same time.

As Jiang Xia finished her speech, she gave a slight, graceful bow.

The entire fashion show had come to a perfect conclusion.

Then, the thunderous applause rang out once again!

Zhou Chenlei had come over tonight after coaxing the child to sleep. He had been standing in the corner the whole time, watching the fruits of Jiang Xia’s labor.

He was the one who clapped the longest in the entire venue.

As it was getting late, the buyers began to leave their seats and exit the hall one after another.

Every buyer discussed the event with those around them. “I think the clothes this time were incredibly beautiful! What do you think?”

“Gorgeous! I ordered quite a lot of every set. How many did you order?”

“I ordered a fair amount too. For the style I ordered the least of, I still took a hundred sets.”

“Indeed, every piece is very fashionable and looks great. I think Style 01 will be a hit.”

“Yes, I also think 01 will explode. It’s simple yet distinctive, fitting the public’s aesthetic! That’s the one I ordered the most. There’s also the T010 shirt and leather pants set—that also looks great. I ordered over a thousand sets! The customers in our country really love that kind of combination.”

“Yes, that set is also very beautiful. I ordered many as well.”

…

The surge of positive reviews washed over the leaders like a tide.

Old He was all smiles.

He turned to the director of the garment factory responsible for tomorrow’s show and instructed, “Tomorrow night is your factory’s turn. Prepare well!”

“I certainly won’t fail the leadership’s expectations!” The director was now filled with confidence!

After leaving the stage, Jiang Xia went back to the backstage area to change.

As she approached each model, she smiled and said, “Thank you for your hard work. Tonight’s fashion show was a huge success. You all were truly amazing!”

“It wasn’t hard work at all, it was so much fun!” Every model was beaming with joy, feeling exceptionally excited and a great sense of achievement.

This was the first fashion show at the Canton Fair, and it held a unique significance.

They felt as though they had made history for the Canton Fair fashion shows in China.

It was a landmark moment!

Some models wanted to buy the clothes; it was also their first time wearing such beautiful garments. “Xiao Xia, can I buy the two sets I wore for the show today? I want to keep them as a souvenir.”

“Xiao Xia, I want to buy mine too. They’re so beautiful!”

“Xiao Xia, me too! I want to buy!”

“I want to buy as well! There are several sets I want!”

“Xiao Xia, help us ask the factory director. I want to buy them too.”

…

There were several sets that Jiang Xia wanted to buy for herself as well. As she changed, she said, “Sure, I’ll ask for you and see if we can get them at the factory-gate price. Or you can wait until the bulk production is finished; if you buy the samples then, the clearance price will definitely be much cheaper.”

“Thank you, Xiao Xia!” the models chirped one by one, happily expressing their gratitude.

“You’re welcome. I happened to want to buy some too.”

Everyone laughed.

Outside, people could hear the cheerful laughter coming from the backstage.

Jiang Xia wanted to buy them because several sets had excellent silhouettes and the craftsmanship was somewhat complex. The pattern masters and sample makers had revised the patterns repeatedly to achieve the effect she wanted.

Since Jiang Xia intended to open her own garment factory, whenever she encountered clothes with good silhouettes, she naturally wanted to buy them as a reference for her future pattern makers.

This was a common habit among people in the fashion industry!

When they saw a beautiful garment with a good fit, they would buy it for their designers and pattern makers to use as a design and construction reference.

Especially for more complex silhouettes, having a sample for the pattern master to reference could save a lot of communication time and yield twice the result with half the effort.

After changing, Jiang Xia walked out of the backstage area.

Zhou Chenlei was waiting for her outside. Seeing her come out, he stepped forward.

Evans, Carlton, and Jack were also waiting for Jiang Xia. Seeing her emerge, the three of them hurried forward as well.

Zhou Chenlei shot them a sidelong glance.

The three men: “…”

Zhou Chenlei took the water bottle from Jiang Xia’s hand. “Are you tired?”

She was exhausted, of course. She had been standing in high heels all day, and her heels were chafed raw. But she hadn’t had the time to tell Zhou Chenlei yet. “Wait for me a moment.”

Jiang Xia looked at Jack and the others, asking with a smile, “Did you three gentlemen see the fashion show? How was it? Did you hear everyone saying how beautiful our Chinese clothes are?”

The men handed their order materials to Jiang Xia.

Evans said, “In your country, you have a saying: ‘be prepared to accept your loss if you bet.’ These are the goods I’m ordering.”

He had said ten million, so it would be ten million.

He was a businessman of his word.

The clothing, bags, accessories, shoes, and jewelry all added up to over ten million.

He was the person who had ordered fifty sets of pearl necklaces in one go; for every set of pearl jewelry, he had ordered no fewer than fifty sets.

Carlton was also a man of his word. “The clothes this time were very beautiful and fashionable. They weren’t rustic at all.”

Jiang Xia smiled as she took the two sets of order materials and shook their hands. “Thank you for your recognition! I hope we can continue to earn your approval in the future.”

Evans said, “I look forward to China designing even more beautiful clothes in the future!”

Carlton added, “I look forward to more cooperation with the Chinese garment industry in the future.”

Jiang Xia smiled. “It would be our honor.”

Chapter 648: Friends?

Only after his two friends admitted defeat did Jack step forward to hand his order materials to Jiang Xia. He smiled and said, “Thank you both for a wonderful evening. Tonight’s collection was breathtaking; it truly surprised me. I am very much looking forward to the menswear show tomorrow night.”

Jiang Xia accepted the materials and shook his hand again, smiling. “It is our honor to receive your recognition. I hope tomorrow night’s show will be just as surprising for you.”

Jack nodded with a smile. “I look forward to the menswear tomorrow.”

Jiang Xia continued, “I can take you to place your orders now, or if you’d prefer, you can look over the clothes again tomorrow to see if you want to adjust the quantities before placing the order then. It wouldn’t be too late.”

Evans replied, “No need to change mine.”

Carlton added, “Mine doesn’t need changing either.”

No matter how they adjusted it, they still had to reach a ten-million-dollar order.

Ten million was a massive sum, and they couldn’t possibly use it all just for clothing. No matter how expensive tonight’s pieces were, they weren’t luxury brands. If they used the entire ten million just to procure clothes, the volume would be too large, and they were afraid they wouldn’t be able to sell it all.

After all, this procurement amount far exceeded their initial expectations. But a loss was a loss, and they weren’t the type to be sore losers.

Both men had carefully considered the orders in their minds. They had purchased the most appropriate quantities across several categories—clothing, shoes, bags, and accessories—to ensure they could earn back that ten million.

Therefore, there was no need for further modifications. They had given it thorough thought.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xia offered to personally escort them to place the orders. Along the way, she introduced herself properly and then introduced Zhou Chenglei.

One certainly had to get to know such honorable foreign friends who kept their word; there was a good chance they could become clients for her own garment factory in the future.

The three men—Evans, Carlton, and Jack—also introduced themselves, shook hands with Zhou Chenglei, and offered Jiang Xia plenty of praise.

From the moment Jiang Xia had walked up to them to argue her point, they had felt a spark of goodwill toward this Eastern girl.

Even though they had been “tricked” out of ten million, they didn’t hold it against her. In fact, they admired her actions at the time, which was why they had approached her with their orders.

The group chatted and laughed as they made their way to the service center.

Evans even invited the couple to Paris to watch the fashion shows there, mentioning he would be attending as well.

Jiang Xia smiled. “We’ll see if we have time then. If we do, we will certainly go.”

Evans immediately gave Jiang Xia his contact information and asked for hers in return. Carlton and Jack did the same.

Jiang Xia provided the phone numbers for the Jiang family home and Zhang Fuyan, and she also left the address of their courtyard house.

The service center was crowded. Some foreign buyers had come straight from the show to place their orders instead of waiting until tomorrow. Consequently, many staff members were still hard at work.

The garment factory director was also there, tallying the approximate quantities for the hit styles. This would allow the procurement department to buy extra fabric and accessories and enable the production department to schedule manufacturing.

The factory director was delighted to see Jiang Xia. “Xiao Xia, haven’t you headed back yet?”

“I was just about to,” Jiang Xia said. “These three foreign friends wanted to place orders, so I brought them over.”

Since the other staff members were busy, the factory director immediately said, “I’ll handle it!”

Jiang Xia translated for the three men and then handed the orders over to the factory director.

When the director took them and looked, he felt as if those three pieces of paper weighed a thousand pounds. These were undoubtedly the largest orders he had received so far.

He estimated that even after the other buyers confirmed their orders tomorrow, none would be as large as these three!

Especially two of them; the order volume for several styles broke a thousand pieces per size—reaching several thousand pieces per style.

A single order was worth more than several others combined.

He quickly pulled out his abacus and began calculating.

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei stayed by their side, keeping the three men company.

The conversation naturally drifted from fashion to other industries.

When they talked about fashion, Jiang Xia had already researched Western fashion history. When they talked about other industries, Jiang Xia, as someone from the future, knew more than they did.

In short, she could hold her own in any topic, offering unique insights and staggering perceptiveness.

Zhou Chenglei, having traveled extensively and even been abroad, was well-informed and far-sighted. Due to his personality, he wasn’t talkative, but every word he spoke was sharp and hit the nail on the head.

The couple’s conversation and breadth of knowledge took Evans and his friends by surprise; they felt as if they had met kindred spirits. They became even more animated, talking even more.

Seeing how happily they were chatting, the factory director assumed the three men were friends of the couple.

Once the tally was done, the factory director had them sign to confirm the deposit amount and the shipping schedule. Production and delivery would begin once the deposits were wired.

Evans, Carlton, and Jack all ordered large quantities. Only Jack’s didn’t reach ten million; his was around five million. Evans and Carlton stayed true to their word and indeed ordered over ten million in goods.

Jiang Xia was thrilled. Her exhausting work over the past few days had not been in vain.

After signing and taking copies of the orders for their records, the three men noted the late hour. They made plans to meet Jiang Xia tomorrow night and then departed.

Once they were gone, the factory director asked, “Xiao Xia, were those orders from your friends? I’ll make sure to instruct the factory workers to do a perfect job on these three orders.”

They were definitely VIP clients!

Looking at the shipping addresses and company names, they weren’t old clients of their factory. Such major clients had to be well-served to ensure they became recurring customers.

Jiang Xia shook her head. “They aren’t friends. We just had a chance meeting before the fashion show started, and we had a bit of a verbal dispute at the time.”

The factory director: “…”

What kind of “chance meeting” was worth this much?

A meeting worth a thousand bars of gold!

He wanted that kind of chance meeting and verbal dispute too!

If one meeting wasn’t enough, he’d take a thousand! If someone were to procure this many clothes from him, he’d go to their door and argue with them every single day! He wouldn’t care if his lips got parched from talking!

Yang Qiuqiang was also there. Seeing Jiang Xia treat those three foreigners like old friends, he was incredibly surprised. If he hadn’t seen with his own eyes how Jiang Xia had set that trap for the two foreigners, he really would have thought they were friends.

It was ten o’clock. Jiang Xia said goodbye to the factory director and prepared to head back to her lodgings with Zhou Chenglei. She had been on her feet for over ten hours; though she hadn’t needed to speak much tonight, she had been helping the models change. She was exhausted and just wanted to go home and sleep.

Then, she overheard the factory director say, “With so many orders, I’m afraid the workers won’t be able to keep up even with overtime. We’ll have to find other factories to help out.”

An assistant added, “But other factories aren’t focus on exports, and those that do have their own orders. The workmanship at the domestic garment factories is inconsistent, making it hard to guarantee quality. Our goods are high-end; Xiao Xia said we must strictly control the details and quality.”

Hearing this, Jiang Xia suddenly felt she could stand for another ten hours without a problem.

She stopped in her tracks, tugged at Zhou Chenglei’s sleeve, and pulled him back. She looked at the factory director and asked, “Director, are you looking for a factory to do some contract manufacturing?”

The factory director caught her drift immediately. “Do you have a garment factory to recommend?”

Chapter 649: Suspicion

Jiang Xia nodded. “To be honest, I am currently in the process of leasing a garment factory.”

Jiang Xia had personally sold the deadstock from that factory, and she had seen that the workmanship was excellent. This proved that the factory’s workers were highly skilled.

Yang Qiuqiang was also present and had not yet left. Hearing this, he cast a glance at Jiang Xia. He was becoming a bit suspicious of the relationship between the two.

The garment factory director was aware that since the opening of the economy, the state had selected several factories to trial new operating policies. After these factories were allowed to produce and sell their own goods, some could not sustain themselves and were forced to restructure. Factories like theirs, which focused on exports, were doing better.

He smiled and said, “Alright then. Once you’ve leased it, I’ll outsource some of our work to you.”

He had absolute confidence in the way Jiang Xia handled things. If he gave the work to other factories, he would worry about poor quality and the need for rework, which would be a huge headache. “Come over and take a look. Which styles do you want to manufacture for us?”

Jiang Xia replied, “There’s no rush. We’ll wait and see which styles you’re unable to produce in time on your end. If you can handle the production yourselves, then there’s no need to outsource. Hiring a contract factory will increase your costs slightly.”

Her lease on the factory wasn’t finalized yet, and she still needed to talk to the director there to understand the production speed of the workers.

“Alright, we’ll see how things stand then.”

Once Jiang Xia finished her discussion with the garment factory director, she finally left with Zhou Chenglei.

This time, they were truly heading back.

As soon as Jiang Xia and her husband were out of earshot, Yang Qiuqiang walked over. He asked the factory director, “Did those three foreigners place a lot of orders?”

“Yes, two of them are massive orders worth over ten million.”

When mentioning these extremely lucrative orders, the director could not hide the excitement in his voice; he was unconsciously energized. He roughly estimated that the clothing for these two orders alone was worth five million, and once shoes, bags, and accessories were added, the total would reach ten million.

Yang Qiuqiang picked up the order forms and flipped through them, asking with feigned nonchalance, “I heard this Comrade Jiang Xia is a translator hired by several of your factories together.”

The director laughed. “She’s not just a translator. Xiao Xia does much more than that. She’s our factory’s mastermind!”

Yang Qiuqiang: “…”

“I heard she works on commission?”

“Yes, she takes a commission instead of a salary.”

“Then she must be asking for a very high commission, right?”

“It’s not high. Not compared to the profit she brings in for the garment factory.”

Jiang Xia had raised the prices for all the runway styles in the factory. She took a ten percent commission, which was a drop in the bucket compared to the extra money the factory earned from her price hikes.

Director Peng had said that even with Jiang Xia’s commission, the factory wouldn’t make any less profit. With her eloquence and sharp mind, she was able to sell at higher prices. The commission she took came out of the extra earnings she generated; the factory still kept the lion’s share of the increase. It wasn’t a loss at all.

Yang Qiuqiang: “…”

What kind of answer was that? It was utter nonsense! If Jiang Xia’s commission was higher than the factory’s earnings, that would be truly outrageous.

“How much exactly?”

The garment factory director didn’t give him a straight answer. “Not much, the percentage is very low. I need to calculate the quantities so the procurement department can rush to buy the fabric tomorrow. I’ll get back to work now. Comrade Yang, you should get off work early too!”

Yang Qiuqiang: “…”

Being so evasive and talking in circles—if those two weren’t in cahoots, he didn’t believe it! His suspicions were growing stronger by the second.

Jiang Xia linked her arm with Zhou Chenglei’s as they walked out of the exhibition hall. “Tomorrow, I’ll call home and ask Dad about the factory’s deadstock. I’ll have him lease the garment factory first.”

Once they were outside, the area was mostly deserted. Zhou Chenglei bent down and said, “I’ll carry you back.”

Jiang Xia shook her head. “No need. It’s only a few hundred meters; it’s not far.”

He had also been standing at the booth all day, and besides, she had already changed out of her high heels.

Just then, a car by the roadside gave a light honk.

The couple looked over and saw it was Jiang Dong’s car. Jiang Dong and Zhang Fuyan had also come to watch the fashion show. Jiang Xia had assumed they would go back as soon as it finished, but she didn’t expect them to still be there.

Jiang Xia pulled Zhou Chenglei along and quickly walked over.

Only Jiang Dong was in the car. Zhang Fuyan had already returned to the hotel. She had also been exhausted from the long day, so Jiang Dong had dropped her off first before coming back to pick up his sister.

After getting into the car, Jiang Xia said, “You’ve been tired all day too, why did you come back? Don’t wait for me tomorrow. You should go back to the hotel and rest early. You don’t have to watch the shows.”

“I’m not tired. Sitting in the car is a form of rest.” His sister had been standing for over ten hours; there was no way he would let her walk back.

Jiang Dong joked, “Tomorrow is the men’s wear show. I have to go see if there’s anything I like. Sis, if I see something I want, will you buy it for me?”

“I’ll buy it.” There were several styles she liked and intended to buy anyway. There would be something for all the men in the family. “Was there anything Xiao Yan liked today? I’ll buy it for her as well.”

“There was. I’ll tell you tomorrow,” Jiang Dong said, not standing on ceremony with his sister. Earlier, while watching the runway, he had made sure to note the styles Zhang Fuyan liked. There were several sets she particularly favored that suited her temperament perfectly. Jiang Dong had already planned to ask his sister for help in buying them.

Jiang Xia added, “If you like them, we can buy a few extra sets. We can use them as sample garments for my garment factory later. Don’t be afraid to spend my money; I’ll make it all back.”

Once they were done wearing the men’s clothing, the factory could use them as references for silhouettes and fits. The pattern maker at the garment factory she was leasing likely didn’t understand many modern fits. After all, the man had worked for decades, and the factory’s styles were limited to the most basic patterns.

However, Jiang Xia didn’t plan to produce men’s wear for a year or two. She would wait until she had more energy and time.

Creating a piece of clothing was no easy feat. From design to finished product, it required the hard work of many people.

It began with a design sketch from the designer, followed by the approval of the factory director or owner to proceed with prototyping. Then, the pattern maker would create the paper patterns. The designer would then visit the fabric market to find suitable fabrics and trimmings, purchasing sample fabric and accessories. After that, a tailor would cut the fabric according to the paper patterns, and the cut pieces would be handed to a prototyping master to be sewn together.

The finished sample garment then had to be tried on by someone with a good physique for a sample review. Any necessary adjustments would be made—if the design needed changes, it went back to the designer; if it was just a matter of the fit not being good enough, the pattern maker would revise it. After the modifications, there would be another sample review. This cycle continued until the factory director, the owner, or the head designer was satisfied.

Of course, the process wasn’t identical for every piece. Sometimes a designer would find inspiration from a specific fabric at the market and design around it, handing the color cards to procurement to buy the sample fabric. Other times, the factory would have deadstock fabric that needed to be cleared, so the designer had to create styles specifically to use up that inventory.

But the general workflow remained similar. Once a garment was designed, buyers were invited to place orders. After the orders were placed, there was still a mountain of follow-up work to do.

From the design department to the pattern room, the procurement department, the production department, the finishing section, the warehouse, and finally to sales—every person in every department had to be mobilized. Even a simple T-shirt purchased by a customer, as long as it was mass-produced in a factory and not custom-made, was typically the result of more than a dozen people working in specialized roles.

Chapter 650: Liquidated Damages

The next morning, after Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia finished taking care of the three babies—kissing their little cheeks and being rewarded with dancing limbs and bright smiles—the couple headed out, looking completely revitalized and in high spirits.

The previous night had been exhausting, but Zhou Chenglei had given her a massage before bed. She wasn’t sure how long he had worked on her, as she had drifted off to sleep almost instantly. When she woke up this morning, all her fatigue had vanished, and even the blisters on her heels had improved after he applied some medicine.

Jiang Dong’s car was already waiting by the roadside of the neighborhood office.

Just as the two were about to get into the car, Elder Mai arrived with breakfast.

Over the past few days, he had been coming over whenever he was free to play chess with Grandpa or play with the children. He had been busy at the exhibition hall yesterday, but he was back again early this morning.

Seeing Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei about to leave, Elder Mai called out, “Xiao Xia, A-Lei, wait a moment! The breakfast at the hotel where I’m staying is quite good. I brought some over for you to eat before you head off.”

In Suicheng, people had the habit of “drinking morning tea,” which essentially meant having breakfast. The dim sum offered was incredibly varied and rich.

Elder Mai had learned from Grandpa and Grandma what Jiang Dong and Jiang Xia liked to eat, so he had packed over a dozen varieties.

Jiang Xia had already eaten, but since it was a kind gesture from an elder, she didn’t want to disappoint him. She smiled and said, “Great! I was just missing the morning tea in Suicheng, and here you are bringing it to us.”

Elder Mai was delighted to hear this. He hurriedly handed a basket of breakfast to the two of them. “If you like it, I’ll bring more tomorrow. I’ll come a bit earlier. Take these boxes with you! There are many colleagues at the exhibition hall; it wouldn’t be right to eat alone. A-Dong and Xiao Yan should try some too. I also brought some for your Grandpa and Grandma.”

Zhou Chenglei quickly took the baskets. “This is too heavy. Next time we’ll go and eat with you; you don’t need to deliver it.”

Jiang Dong and Zhang Fuyan also got out of the car to greet him. “Grandpa Jiang, thank you! How did you know I wasn’t full yet? This dim sum is like a godsend! This is wonderful!”

Elder Mai was very pleased. He knew they were already headed out and must have had breakfast, so he understood they were just saying that to make him happy and show their appreciation. He chuckled and said, “I brought plenty, so eat up! Your work is hard—standing and talking all day at the hall is exhausting.”

Elder Mai had packed over ten boxes of breakfast. Jiang Xia gestured for Zhou Chenglei to take one basket into the house while she held the other. She said to Elder Mai, “Grandpa Jiang, no need to bring food tomorrow. When A-Lei and I have some free time, we’ll take you, Grandpa, and the others out for morning tea together.”

Elder Mai was thrilled. “Sure, sure, that works too! You go on and get to work now; I won’t hold you up.”

After Zhou Chenglei came back out, the couple got into the car and headed for the exhibition hall.

Once the four of them reached the exhibition hall, they split up.

Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Dong headed in one direction toward the machinery section.

Jiang Xia and Zhang Fuyan went in the other.

Jiang Xia intended to go to the service desk to call Father Zhou to find out how the deadstock clothing was selling. She also wanted to call the garment factory director to tell him that she was sending Father Zhou and a lawyer to sign the contract to officially take over the lease of the garment factory.

Zhou Chenglei had already contacted a lawyer to draft the contract. The terms were based on what Jiang Xia and the garment factory director had previously discussed. They had already signed a contract before when they were helping the factory sell its inventory.

Since she had to call the production team first so they could notify Father Zhou, she knew it would take at least twenty minutes for him to get to the phone. So, Jiang Xia first dialed the garment factory director’s number.

It was exactly eight o’clock. The garment factory director had just arrived at his office and was brewing a pot of tea when the phone rang. He picked it up. “Hello, Shenda Garment Factory.”

Jiang Xia: “Good morning, Director. This is Xiao Xia.”

The Shenda Garment Factory director perked up immediately upon hearing her voice. “Comrade Xiao Xia! I’ll have the remaining ten thousand pieces of deadstock shipped to the capital for you later today.”

Jiang Xia had previously given the director’s number to Liu Weizhen, telling her to call the factory in advance if the clothes were running low so they could restock.

The weather in the capital had turned cold a few days ago, and the clothes were selling exceptionally well. Many had been sold at the university; students were buying sets for themselves and extra pieces for their parents or the elderly back home. After all, they were significantly cheaper than what was available elsewhere.

Liu Weizhen had also mobilized students from several other universities to sell them in various locations, which had greatly accelerated the pace.

Jiang Xia smiled. “Thank you for the trouble, Director.”

“No trouble at all, it’s only right! By the way, I have something to discuss with you. I’ve been waiting for your call.”

“What is it? Please, go ahead.”

“A few days ago, a businessman from Hong Kong took an interest in our garment factory and wants to lease it. He’s offering a very high price and is even willing to pay the liquidated damages for breaching our current agreement. I was thinking, why not let him have it? That way, you’d receive several hundred thousand in liquidated damages.”

Jiang Xia listened patiently before saying, “I won’t let it go. I was actually calling to tell you that my father-in-law will be coming over with a lawyer in the next day or two to formally sign the contract with you.”

The Shenda Garment Factory director continued, “Comrade Xiao Xia, listen to me. We can’t just pass up a chance to make money, can we? We’re talking about 500,000 yuan in liquidated damages! Adding that to what you’ve earned from clearing the factory’s inventory, it’s a massive sum. With 600,000 or 700,000 yuan, you could take over another garment factory anywhere. 500,000 isn’t easy to earn these days; I haven’t even made that much in my entire life!”

The director truly believed this was a great deal, which was why he was trying to persuade her.

It was 500,000 yuan for doing nothing!

Jiang Xia replied, “Forget about 500,000; I wouldn’t give it up even for a million. Director, you absolutely cannot transfer the factory to him. I’ve just secured some orders, and our factory employees will have plenty of work soon.”

Wen Wan happened to be arriving at the sign-in desk just then. Hearing Jiang Xia’s words, she glanced at her and picked up a pen, slowly signing her name stroke by stroke.

Jiang Xia had bought another factory? And someone wanted the factory she bought and was offering an extra 500,000 yuan in compensation? But Jiang Xia thought the offer was too low and wanted over a million?

Is that what she meant?

What did 500,000 yuan signify?

In this era, 500,000 was worth more than five million would be in the future!

One could buy many houses in a small town with that much money!

She wondered if someone was trying to hand her money again.

On the other end of the line, the director felt that not transferring it might actually be better. After all, if he transferred it, he had no idea what the other party would use it for. If they didn’t keep it as a garment factory, the several hundred workers there would truly be unemployed and laid off.

When the other party had come by, the director hadn’t given them any details since he hadn’t received Jiang Xia’s consent.

The director had developed deep bonds with many of the employees, especially the older ones; twenty years of working together made them feel like family. He didn’t want them to lose their jobs in their old age.

“Alright, since you don’t agree, I’ll turn him down.”

Jiang Xia: “Thank you for your help. My father-in-law will head over to finish the paperwork in the next couple of days. I’ll ask him and the lawyer when they’re free and let you know.”

“Okay.”

After hanging up, Zhang Fuyan asked, “What happened?”

Jiang Xia: “Nothing major. Someone took an interest in that factory. Luckily, the director didn’t agree.”

Zhang Fuyan: “The director is quite a man of his word.”

“Yes.” However, Jiang Xia felt that if the other party was willing to pay such a large sum in liquidated damages just to get the factory, they probably wouldn’t give up so easily.

Jiang Xia took out her phone book to call the lawyer. She intended to set an appointment and explain the situation.

Even writing slowly, a two-character name should be finished quickly, yet Wen Wan wanted to eavesdrop further. She pretended she had made a mistake, crossed it out, and started writing again.

Someone else was waiting behind her to sign in and was getting impatient. “Could you write a bit faster?” they asked Wen Wan.

Was a two-character name really that difficult to write?

Chapter 651: A Thorn in the Side

“Sorry,” Wen Wan said, quickly finishing the last character. She put down the pen and stepped away.

The person behind her picked up the pen to sign the register. Glancing at Wen Wan’s name, they looked utterly speechless. “Writing her own name and messing it up? I’m impressed. Seeing her write so slowly, I thought her handwriting would be beautiful. It turns out she only writes slowly because her handwriting is hideously ugly. How did someone like this even become a translator?”

Wen Wan, who hadn’t walked away very far yet, was at a loss for words.

After the person finished signing, they saw the signature Jiang Xia had left and couldn’t help but exclaim, “Xiao Xia, your handwriting is truly beautiful!”

Wen Wan bit her lip. Another one kissing up to the powerful while stepping on the weak! How rude! It was one thing to praise Jiang Xia’s handwriting, but why did they have to call hers ugly? Ever since she was a child, her teachers had always praised her calligraphy.

Jiang Xia, whose call was still connecting, replied with a smile, “I actually had someone design my signature for me. I practiced for a long time to get it to look like this.”

“You can get a name designed? Where? Can you tell me?”

Jiang Xia shook her head. “It was someone I met on the street near our city train station years ago. I have no idea where they are now.”

The person looked disappointed and wanted to say more, but the call went through. Jiang Xia said into the receiver, “Hello, is this Lawyer He?”

The person then left the service center to get back to work.

Wen Wan had forgotten her water bottle. As she turned back, she ran right into the other person, but she didn’t even give them a glance. She truly detested people who intentionally put others down just to curry favor with those from good backgrounds.

Besides, she could mimic anyone’s handwriting! No matter how beautiful the script, she could replicate it perfectly. How could someone like her have ugly handwriting?

Wen Wan picked up her bottle from the table and glanced at Jiang Xia’s signature. It’s just alright, she thought. Looks like chicken scratch to me!

Jiang Xia finished her call after arranging to meet the lawyer at the garment factory at ten o’clock the next morning. She checked her watch; it hadn’t even been twenty minutes yet. She had to stay at the service center and wait.

Just then, the staff member who had been tallying the data for the garment factory last night arrived. Seeing Jiang Xia waiting there, they greeted her happily. “Xiao Xia, guess how many orders we received last night?”

“A hundred thousand?” Jiang Xia guessed.

The staff member laughed. “Close! We’re only short by about five thousand units.”

The factory’s goal for the entire year was a hundred thousand sets. They hadn’t expected to nearly hit their annual target in a single night.

Jiang Xia smiled. “That’s very good. There should be quite a few more buyers placing orders today.”

“True. Today will likely be even busier than last night.” However, they didn’t expect to see another ten-million-dollar order today.

After chatting for a bit, Jiang Xia called the production team again. Father Zhou answered this time. Once she explained everything to him, she hung up and called the factory director, informing him that Father Zhou would be coming to the garment factory with the lawyer at ten tomorrow morning.

Yang Qiuqiang had just started his shift when he saw Jiang Xia making one call after another. He didn’t address her by name, but as he signed in, he remarked loudly, “The phones in the exhibition hall aren’t for personal use. Don’t occupy public phones with private matters.”

Jiang Xia replied calmly, “Director Yang is right. That’s why I was calling to help the garment factory find a contract manufacturing plant.”

Yang Qiuqiang snorted coldly. “I’m not talking about you specifically. I just worry that some people get so used to taking small advantages of the authorities that they start taking more and more.”

Jiang Xia tilted her head. “I originally thought these phones were for staff use in case of emergencies. After all, just yesterday at noon, I saw a man on the phone saying, ‘Please tell my wife for me that I won’t be coming home for dinner tonight.’”

The staff in the service center suppressed their laughter.

Jiang Xia looked directly at Yang Qiuqiang. “Director Yang, do you know who that person was? To me, the silhouette looked a bit like yours. Director Yang, you should find him and give him a piece of your mind! Now that is truly occupying public resources and failing to distinguish between public and private affairs. It’s not like me; I had urgent business. Why would anyone need to call just to say they aren’t coming home for dinner? Phone calls are expensive; if you added a few more cents to that, it would have been enough to buy a whole meal! Don’t people communicate with their families before leaving the house? Even if they forgot, if they aren’t home by mealtime, their family would surely figure out they aren’t coming! And even if they did come back, the food could just be saved for later! Don’t you agree?”

Yang Qiuqiang: “…”

Seeing his face turn dark, Jiang Xia added another jab. “People like that really need to be lectured! Otherwise, they’ll never realize they’re in the wrong!”

Jiang Xia then checked her watch again. “Oh my, it’s already past eight-thirty! Isn’t the start time eight o’clock? Even as a part-timer with no fixed hours, I made sure to be here on time before eight. Director Yang, when did you arrive? Have you finished your rounds of the booths already?”

Yang Qiuqiang: “…”

The Canton Fair usually didn’t see many foreign merchants at eight in the morning, so Yang Qiuqiang often arrived a bit late. But who would dare call him out to his face for being late?

As expected, Jiang Xia was exactly what his sister had described: a real thorn in the side!

Yang Qiuqiang was fuming. No one had ever dared to speak to him this way. Fine, let her be arrogant for a while longer. Once the Canton Fair is over, I’ll show her!

“Since you know it’s past eight-thirty, why aren’t you working? Why are you standing here talking so much? Do you not want the job anymore?”

Jiang Xia shrugged. “It doesn’t matter to me whether I do it or not. I’m not being paid a salary. If I’m in a good mood, I’ll work. If I’m not, I’ll go home and lie down. Unlike some people who are paid with taxpayer money and supported by the millions of farmers paying their public grain tax—those people really shouldn’t be arriving late or leaving early!”

Yang Qiuqiang: “…”

Truly, for every word he said, she had ten rebuttals ready! She was the definition of “argumentative” and a “thorn in the side.” He felt sorry for whoever her parents were—they must be worried sick. And whoever married a woman like this would be cursed with bad luck! They’d probably be chewed out to death in every argument.

Having successfully silenced him and vented her frustration, Jiang Xia walked away.

She knew exactly why Yang Qiuqiang was targeting her. On the way back last night, Jiang Dong had told her that Yang Qiuqiang was Yang Qiuying’s older brother. Apparently, Zhang Fuyan had told Jiang Dong to warn her.

Yang Qiuying had been suspended last year and had lost a very good job. Yang Qiuqiang targeting her was likely his way of getting revenge for his sister.

When Jiang Xia reached the garment factory booth, the factory director immediately said, “Xiao Xia, the order volume from last night is out.”

Jiang Xia smiled. “I heard the news when I stopped by the service center.”

Just then, Peng Yuhua walked over. “Xiao Xia, come over to our factory today! Our booth is your real home base.”

Director Qiu also approached. “Xiao Xia, our factory’s fashion show is tonight. Come over and give us a hand!”

Factory Director He chimed in, “All of you, get in line! Many buyers didn’t place their orders last night; they’ll definitely come by this morning. Once they’ve placed their orders, I won’t fight you for Xiao Xia.”

Director Qiu shoved him slightly. “Move aside, don’t hog her! You hit your target in a single night and you still want us to wait? If you can’t keep the orders coming after such a successful fashion show last night, that’s your problem. I have a fashion show tonight! Xiao Xia should come to my side first.”

Here we go again.

Jiang Xia quickly announced her plan: “I’ll stay with Director He this morning and head over to Director Qiu’s in the afternoon. Director Peng, I’ll go to your booth tomorrow morning.”

Chapter 652: Changing Tracks

Jiang Xia naturally had to stay at the booth. It wasn’t because she was worried the buyers wouldn’t place orders, but because she wanted to get to know more clients.

Only after hearing Jiang Xia’s arrangements did Peng Yuhua and Factory Director Qiu return to their own booth with peace of mind.

While the foot traffic was still light, Jiang Xia checked the clothing displays. Everything looked fine.

The factory staff had arrived early and set everything up perfectly.

Even the fresh flowers in the vases had been replaced; Factory Director He had instructed his employees to change them every day.

Around nine o’clock, the buyers who had seen the fashion show the previous night continued to arrive, and new customers who were passing by also stepped inside.

Jiang Xia and the staff began their busy day.

This busyness lasted the entire day yet again.

In the evening, after eating dinner and leaving enough milk for her children, she hurried back to the third floor of the exhibition hall to prepare for tonight’s menswear show.

Jiang Dong drove her over, while Zhou Chenglei stayed at their lodgings to help bathe the children and coax them to sleep.

Jiang Xia arrived at the atrium at the same time as she had yesterday.

All the leaders were already there; she, the planner, was the last to arrive.

However, this time, no one criticized her.

The success of last night’s fashion show had made everyone sensible enough to keep their mouths shut.

In fact, everyone greeted her warmly: “Xiao Xia is here? Keep it up! Create another miracle tonight!”

“Go, Xiao Xia!”

“Comrade Jiang, keep up the good work!”

…

Watching the leaders all greeting Jiang Xia, Wen Wan whispered to Jiang Qian beside her, “Doesn’t she look like a princess?”

Jiang Qian glanced at Jiang Xia.

She really did.

Who else would show up only after all the leaders had gathered?

What an ego.

Jiang Xia smiled and greeted everyone, shouting slogans about how she would definitely work hard for the sake of earning foreign exchange for the country.

Seeing Jiang Xia’s “righteous” expression, Wen Wan pursed her lips. “She’s clearly doing it to make money for herself, yet she makes it sound so noble.”

Jiang Qian was accompanying Wen Wan to watch the fashion show tonight, intending to help her with a proposal. Hearing this, he glanced at Jiang Xia again. “Don’t mind her. Let’s focus on tonight’s fashion show. Let her enjoy her moment of vanity; someone like her won’t be arrogant for long.”

He had already filed a report against her.

Wen Wan looked at him and smiled. “You’re right. But do you really plan to work on a proposal with me? Do you know how?”

“No, I’ve never done it before. But ‘two heads are better than one.’ We’ll do it together.”

“Alright.”

Wen Wan had stayed up all night to produce a proposal and showed it to the factory director. It was a thick, detailed stack. The factory director had been quite satisfied after a quick look and submitted it. However, it was rejected this afternoon as being substandard.

The factory director told her to come tonight to see how others did it, learn from them, and then revise it tonight to try to succeed tomorrow.

So, Wen Wan had no choice but to come.

Jiang Xia reached the backstage area where the male models were having their makeup done.

Having already gained experience from the first show, the employees of this factory who had helped out yesterday were ready. Additionally, Factory Director He’s employees also came over to help, so everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion.

The styles for menswear weren’t as diverse and colorful as womenswear. Furthermore, this garment factory’s styles had always focused on suits, shirts, sweaters, and leather jackets.

They didn’t export many suits, but their shirts, sweaters, and leather jackets did quite well.

Especially the leather jackets—exports to Russia were getting better year by year.

However, there was no competitive advantage in making suits in China.

Their suits couldn’t beat the international competition.

Jiang Xia had looked over the factory’s suits and agreed there was indeed no advantage.

In that case, they would change tracks!

They would play to their strengths and avoid their weaknesses!

Jiang Xia only selected five suit styles she considered decent for the runway.

Then, she focused on promoting leather jackets and various shirts as inner layers.

She aimed to capture everyone’s interest through novel and bold combinations.

This runway show was also different from the usual ones people were familiar with.

For a single suit, Jiang Xia paired it with at least five different styles, and at most seven.

She then had the model go out alone and finally show the audience the different styling effects.

The buyers felt like they were seeing many different suits, but when they looked closely at the style numbers, they realized they were all the same set.

Were suits rigid? Strict? Restrictive?

No! It turned out suits could also be this fashionable, this relaxed, and have such a youthful feel.

Not rigid, not restrictive—casual yet without losing a gentlemanly demeanor.

You want something formal and gentlemanly? They had it! That was its original essence.

You want something casual, relaxed, and fashionable? That worked too!

Even teenagers could wear them!

…

By the time the fashion show was over, the significance of suits in the workplace had been redefined!

After the show, the suits that previously had dismal sales volumes became hit styles!

There was no helping it; the clothes were just too easy to pair!

They were practically universal.

If you bought one suit and several inner layers, you would have an entire week’s worth of outfits without repeating a look!

It felt like you were wearing different clothes every day; it felt like you were a different person every day!

Evans and Carlton hadn’t originally planned on ordering much; one million dollars was their limit.

But tonight, they broke their limit several times over!

They felt that if the show didn’t end soon, they wouldn’t have any bottom line left.

When Jiang Xia finished her speech on stage, thunderous applause echoed throughout the entire exhibition hall!

Tonight’s menswear show was a complete success!

Old He stood up and saw Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Dong standing in the corner. He asked with a chuckle, “See any styles you like? Let Xiao Xia ask the factory director to get you a few sets. Even I want to buy them after seeing that.”

Old He wanted to buy every single set, but unfortunately, he was no longer young.

Jiang Dong laughed. “I like them. I want to buy every set, but I’m afraid my dad would break my legs!”

Old He burst into laughter.

When the show ended and Jiang Xia came out after changing her clothes, Zhou Chenglei, Jiang Dong, Evans, and Carlton were all waiting for her.

Evans smiled. “We mainly came to China this time to discuss cooperation regarding the trolley suitcases. We didn’t expect that it was your brother who produced them.”

The two of them had already seen many friends using these trolley suitcases and had even bought one in their own country.

Their trip to China was specifically for the trolley suitcases.

They felt that the trolley suitcases had great potential.

Jiang Dong said, “My sister came up with the idea, not me. I just followed her lead and made them. As for how exactly we’ll cooperate, you should talk to my sister.”

Jiang Dong admitted he wasn’t as capable as his sister in business, especially when dealing with foreigners.

Moreover, the things he was researching now were even more difficult, and he didn’t have much time. He would be returning to the capital in a few days.

Jiang Xia glanced at her watch. “It’s too late today, and I’ll be quite busy for the next few days. When are you returning to your country?”

Evans replied, “We’ll be in China all this week.”

It didn’t matter if she didn’t have time right now; he could wait.

Mainly, he had discovered that these two siblings were a true treasure trove!

The swivel wheels were their invention.

The trolley suitcases were produced by them.

The baby strollers that were so easy to use and sold well in Western countries were also produced by them.

Then there was that small vacuum machine.

And all these products had patents applied for.

The patent fees for the swivel wheels alone were enough to make people’s eyes turn red with envy.

Furthermore, they had just chatted with Jiang Dong for a while, and according to him, new products would be coming out soon. He didn’t know what they were this time.

With such talented siblings, who knew what else they would come up with in the future? They were certainly worth the wait.

After Jiang Xia set an appointment with them to discuss the details, she headed back to her lodgings.

The next day, when Jiang Xia arrived at the service center, she asked about the sales figures from the previous night.

Chapter 653: The Secret is Out

The staff member said excitedly, “It’s a bit less than the women’s wear, but it’s still over eight thousand sets. However, the total transaction amount last night was even higher than the night of the women’s fashion show!”

Jiang Xia smiled. “That’s to be expected. Men’s clothing is more expensive, and a lot of people probably ordered trolley suitcases last night, right?”

Jiang Xia had made sure to give the trolley suitcases a turn on the runway last night as well.

“Yes, many. We sold over thirty thousand trolley suitcases.”

Then it made sense. The sales volume from the trolley suitcases alone was quite substantial.

The sales of the trolley suitcases had been very good every day for the past two days, and tonight’s runway show had pushed them to a new high.

In truth, even without participating in the Canton Fair, their sales had been consistently strong.

The factory was rushing to fulfill orders every day and was constantly hiring. The production line had already been expanded once last year, and now they were preparing to gradually open four more.

After Jiang Xia signed in, she went to Director Peng’s booth and stayed busy until eleven o’clock. Estimating that Father Zhou had already signed the contract with the Shenda side, she gave them a call.

The phone was picked up quickly. After greeting them, Jiang Xia asked the factory director, “Director, is the contract signed? Is my father-in-law still at the factory?”

The factory director laughed and said, “Old Comrade Zhou just left. The contract is signed; we’re just waiting for the lawyer to finish the relevant procedures.”

The factory director then asked, “Xiao Xia, didn’t you say the workers could start soon? Roughly when will that be?”

Jiang Xia replied, “The specific time hasn’t been set yet, but probably in about half a month. The Canton Fair will be almost over by then, so I’ll head back early to arrange everything.”

Hearing this, the director felt relieved. “You promised me before that once you lease the factory, you’ll take on all the workers and won’t fire a single one. That still stands, right?”

“Of course. As long as they follow the factory’s rules and regulations, work diligently, are responsible, and don’t make major mistakes, I won’t fire anyone. Isn’t that all written into the contract? Are you still worried, Director?”

“I’m at ease. I trust your way of doing things.”

Jiang Xia added, “When the time comes, I’ll need to arrange for a few group leaders and prototyping masters to come to the capital with me to learn how those clothes are made. For export orders, the workmanship and details must be perfect.”

“Alright, I’ll notify several group leaders and prototyping masters in the workshop to go to the capital with you when the time comes.”

After hanging up the phone, the weight on Jiang Xia’s heart finally lifted.

She had long decided that once she leased the garment factory, she would first take on contract manufacturing work.

While this wouldn’t earn as much as designing and producing her own clothes, it would be enough to keep the garment factory running.

Jiang Xia also planned to demolish the canteen, the kitchen, the dormitory building, and the old storage areas to build a new workshop.

There was a piece of vacant land behind the kitchen with a water well, where some vegetables and fruit trees were planted.

The canteen, kitchen, and dormitories were all single-story buildings that weren’t very useful. Combined with the vacant land, the area should be over a thousand square meters.

By the time the new workshop was built, she would be close to graduating.

In the evening, Jiang Xia organized another fashion show, this time for a garment factory she had cooperated with last year.

For the following days, she didn’t need to work overtime at night; the remaining activities were all during the day.

However, Jiang Xia remained very busy. She organized a special showcase for fabrics, another for plastic utensils, and spent a day helping out at the furniture factory booth.

Finally, all the activities she was responsible for came to an end. Other factories wanted her help, but she turned them all down.

After working six days straight, Jiang Xia finally took a day off to rest.

Zhou Chenglei didn’t rest and continued to go to the exhibition hall.

After waking up at six to feed the baby, Jiang Xia went back to sleep. She slept until she woke up naturally and played with the children until half-past ten before finally heading out.

She was going with Jiang Dong to discuss cooperation with Evans and his associates.

Evans and the others originally wanted to invest capital to expand the factory’s scale and help open up the American and European markets.

Both Jiang Dong and Jiang Xia disagreed. It wasn’t as if they lacked the money to expand the production lines themselves, so there was no need. If they lacked funds in the future, they could reconsider then.

Furthermore, Jiang Dong was already in a partnership with others. Without the consent of the other partners, this deal couldn’t be done anyway.

The final result of the negotiation was that the General Agent rights for the American and European markets were handed over to Evans’ party. It was considered a successful and pleasant cooperation.

This was much easier than trying to expand into those markets themselves solely through the Canton Fair.

In the evening, Jiang Xia had planned to have dinner with Elder Mai, as they had discussed last time. However, something urgent suddenly came up at Elder Mai’s company, and he had to rush back in the afternoon.

Jiang Xia stayed busy at the Canton Fair for another ten days. As the fair neared its end, the foot traffic decreased day by day.

Moreover, every factory she was responsible for had already exceeded their targets.

Jiang Xia planned to head back to settle the arrangements for the garment factory.

When Jiang Xia was leaving work, she said goodbye to the staff and informed them that her work here had concluded early and she wouldn’t be coming back tomorrow.

Everyone told Jiang Xia they would see her at the next Canton Fair.

Wen Wan and several classmates happened to be finishing work at the same time and overheard this.

Watching Jiang Xia’s upbeat figure from behind, Wen Wan couldn’t help but remark as she signed out, “I guess she’s earned enough and is heading back early?”

Comparison breeds resentment. Watching Jiang Xia make so much money every day while the several of them combined only earned a hundred or two hundred yuan—and she still had to split that with her classmates—made Wen Wan feel truly bitter.

She didn’t understand why her proposal kept getting rejected. She had revised it ten times!

If she could hold fashion shows as well, she would surely earn a lot of money too.

One of her classmates said, “Probably. I think Comrade Jiang Xia is amazing; she sells so much stock every day. And how does she know how to sell everything? I wish I were as capable as her.”

One day she would see Jiang Xia in the clothing exhibition area, the next in the food section, and the day after that in the furniture exhibition area…

Every time they saw her, she was in a different place, speaking knowledgeably about all sorts of products. How exactly was her brain wired?

The accountant for the factory where Wen Wan was interning happened to be leaving work as well. Hearing this, he said, “There are still a few days left. Work hard and try to earn as much as Xiao Xia does every day. Your commission is the same as Comrade Xiao Xia’s—one percent. Xiao Xia can earn over a thousand yuan a day; with so many of you together, you shouldn’t be earning only a hundred or two.”

Wen Wan’s classmate froze for a moment upon hearing this. “What one percent? Isn’t our commission zero point one percent?”

Wen Wan’s heart skipped a beat!

She was really in trouble now!

The other classmates also chimed in, “Yeah! Wasn’t it zero point one percent?”

They all felt like they had worked for nothing these past few days!

The accountant glanced at Wen Wan. “No, you must have remembered wrong. Everyone’s commission is one percent!”

Wen Wan’s classmates turned to look at her. “Xiao Wan, what’s going on?”

“Wen Wan, what’s the deal? Did you lie to us?”

Wen Wan could only play dumb; she absolutely couldn’t admit it! She hurriedly said, “I didn’t lie to you! I said one percent! You must have misheard!”

One classmate sneered. “It’s one thing if I misheard, but did all of us mishear?”

“Exactly! I heard you say zero point one percent too!”

Chapter 654: Who Is the One Going Too Far?

The accountant glanced at Wen Wan and smiled at the others. “It’s possible Xiao Wan just had a slip of the tongue at the time. It’s good that the misunderstanding is cleared up. It is one percent of the net profit, not zero point one percent. After the Canton Fair is over, come to my office to collect your wages!”

The factory director had been wondering why these few lacked enthusiasm for their work.

Just look at Comrade Jiang Xia, who also received a commission—how active she was!

Even when dealing with small customers with transaction amounts of only a few thousand yuan, she was as warm and attentive as if she were dealing with major clients worth tens of millions.

Whenever a customer left the booth, she personally saw them off for several meters, regardless of whether they had placed an order. When passing guests asked where the bathroom was, if they were older, she would personally lead them there.

As a result, one elderly foreign merchant came back from the bathroom and placed an order for over five million yuan in one go.

Factory Director Qiu and Factory Director He had told the other factory directors all about this. At every daily summary meeting, they sang Comrade Jiang Xia’s praises.

These other students really weren’t nearly as proactive as Comrade Jiang Xia.

Hearing the news, several classmates hurriedly said, “Alright, I’ll come to see you personally to collect my wages. I definitely won’t let anyone else collect them on my behalf.”

“Director, I’ll also come personally. I won’t let anyone else do it for me.”

“Director, me too. I’ll collect it myself.”

…

Even though Wen Wan claimed it was a slip of the tongue, not a single person believed her.

Is it really that easy to say one percent instead of zero point one percent?

And she hadn’t just said it once back then.

The accountant smiled and agreed. “Very well. I won’t give it to anyone else; you must come and collect it yourselves.”

The group said happily, “Thank you, Director!”

Originally, they thought their daily earnings wouldn’t even match a high fixed salary!

It turned out they were wrong!

Wen Wan took a deep breath.

These people!

Had they forgotten that she was the one who introduced them to the Canton Fair in the first place?

The accountant continued, “A one percent commission is actually quite high. The foot traffic at the Canton Fair is massive. As long as you work hard and stay proactive, it’s not difficult to earn a hundred yuan in commission a day.”

“Garment exports are the vanguard of our country’s trade now that the ‘spring breeze’ of reform is blowing. It’s a major contributor to the trade surplus and holds a leading position! It’s easier to sell than other categories. Every year, it accounts for a huge portion of the Canton Fair. Many foreign merchants come specifically for goods.”

“With a platform like the Canton Fair and this kind of foot traffic coming straight to your door, the stars have aligned for you! If you sell twenty to thirty thousand yuan worth of goods a day, you can earn a hundred yuan in commission. Isn’t that easy?”

“The factory director only agreed to give you a one percent commission because you are students from the capital’s foreign language university. With Comrade Jiang Xia as an example, he thought all university students would be more or less the same. But Comrade Jiang Xia sells hundreds of thousands of yuan worth of goods every day, while you…”

The accountant didn’t finish the sentence, leaving them some dignity.

In any case, the ideals were rich, but the reality was bone-thin.

The difference wasn’t just a little—it was a literal world of difference.

Every one of them lowered their heads as the accountant spoke.

“There are only a few days left of the Canton Fair. Put in some effort! Work hard!”

With that, the accountant finished speaking and left.

Wen Wan said to her classmates, “I really didn’t know I said zero point one percent. I have everyone’s commissions recorded in my notebook!”

“Is that so? Well, you don’t need to keep track for me anymore! I’ve been keeping my own records. I’ll go to the accountant myself to get paid when the time comes.”

“I don’t need you to keep track for me either.”

…

“You don’t need to help me either. I remember exactly how much I sold. In these ten-plus days, I’ve sold eighty thousand… no, including the five thousand from today, it’s eighty-five thousand!”

Wen Wan was stunned. “That five thousand today wasn’t just your sale; we closed it together. It should only count as two thousand five hundred for you!”

The classmate flared up. “I didn’t ask you to come over and help me! I was the one who greeted that customer first!”

Wen Wan: “…”

Hearing this, the others immediately chimed in. “That order of over ten thousand yuan from yesterday was mine, too. I had practically finished the negotiations when you came over to say a few words. That definitely doesn’t count as yours!”

“So that was your plan all along! I had an order for over twenty thousand yuan two days ago. You heard the client was ordering a large quantity and hurried over! I’m telling you, that’s my order. No way am I splitting it with you!”

“I also had an order for over twenty-five thousand. That’s mine too, don’t even think about taking half! You saw the customer was ordering a big volume and ran over immediately! You were planning to take the lion’s share of our hard work, weren’t you? You were afraid we’d notice, so you purposefully ran over to say a couple of sentences while we were writing the orders, then claimed you helped negotiate it so you could take half the commission?”

…

Wen Wan was both furious and aggrieved. “I didn’t even say anything! Who said I wanted half your commission? Did I say that? Why are you all targeting me? I said it was a slip of the tongue! I was the one who fought to get you this one percent commission in the first place!”

“It’s for the best if you didn’t!”

“You wouldn’t get it even if you wanted to!”

“Let’s go! Stop talking to her! She’s full of lies!”

Once the tower of trust collapses, it is very difficult to rebuild.

The group walked out together, complaining as they went:

“I’m never believing her again! Telling us the commission was zero point one percent instead of one percent! We could have earned a hundred yuan, but it turned into ten. That’s way too much!”

“And she calls herself a classmate! She even told us how good it was for us to take a fixed salary back then! I’ve never seen such a black-hearted person! She’s more vicious than a stray dog in Suicheng!”

The last part was a local slang she had picked up in the city.

…

Wen Wan watched them leave with indignation.

Who was the one being “too much”?

She had simply invited them to help her as translators. Shouldn’t she have a say in what the wages were?

After introducing them to such a good job, shouldn’t she get some benefit?

If she hadn’t brought them here, would they have been able to participate in the Canton Fair?

What a bunch of ungrateful wolves!

Jiang Xia had forgotten to return the lounge key and happened to walk back just in time to witness Wen Wan’s massive social death.

With red eyes, Wen Wan glared at the departing group and then spotted Jiang Xia.

She turned her head away, unwilling to let Jiang Xia see her in such a pathetic state, and hurried off.

Nothing good ever happened whenever she ran into Jiang Xia!

She was cursed to have been reborn at the same time as her.

Jiang Xia walked straight to the service desk, returned the key, and headed back to her lodgings.

Early the next morning, Jiang Xia gave the house keys to Zhang Fuyan and asked her to help hand them in.

Jiang Dong had already flown back to the capital a few days ago because something had come up at the research lab. He left the Jeep for Zhang Fuyan and Jiang Xia to use. Zhang Fuyan couldn’t leave yet; she had to stay until the Canton Fair officially ended.

Zhang Fuyan would eventually fly back to the capital with the main group.

The Jeep was left for Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia to drive back.

It was perfect, as they had plenty of luggage to bring with them.

At eight o’clock in the morning, Zhou Chenglei loaded all the luggage into the vehicle.

The house was restored to its original state, with no personal items or trash left behind.

Then, they drove the Jeep toward home.

Chapter 655: Good News

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei returned to the village in the evening.

Father Zhou knew they were coming back, so in the afternoon, he personally went out to sea and caught some fresh fish, shrimp, and crabs.

Since they had bought the garment factory, Father Zhou felt they should at least prepare two tables of food to invite relatives and friends to a celebratory dinner.

As Jiang Xia carried her eldest brother inside, she saw He Xinghuan, Tian Caihua, Mother Zhou, Great-Grandma, Xu Ling, and Second Great-Aunt busy in the kitchen.

She smiled and greeted them one by one.

Mother Zhou was making sour fish soup. Father Zhou had caught a 850-gram Leopard Coral Grouper while out at sea today, and later, at the pier, he bought another 750-gram one.

Mother Zhou knew Jiang Xia loved sour fish soup, so she made it with both Leopard Coral Groupers.

She smiled and replied, “Your dad said you’d be back around this time.”

Tian Caihua laughed, “Perfect timing, dinner will be ready soon, just one more dish to go.”

Guangzong Yaozu and his brothers, along with Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying, excitedly shouted, “Auntie, Dabao, Erbao, Little Bao, you’re back!”

Great-Grandma had just finished washing the dishes and chopsticks. Seeing them carry the three children in, she quickly put the dishes and chopsticks on the table, wiped her hands on her apron, and reached out to Jiang Xia with a cheerful smile, “Oh my, you’re finally back! Great-Grandma wants a hug.”

Father Zhou was opening wine inside the house. Hearing the commotion, he quickly came out and took the child from Grandpa’s arms.

After taking the child, Father Zhou had to carefully identify them. Only after looking at all three children could he tell which one was which. After all, children’s appearances change quickly. He chuckled, “We haven’t seen each other for over twenty days, and our Erbao has grown taller and stronger! Our Erbao is so impressive! Do you still recognize Grandpa?”

“Yi ya…” The younger brother didn’t understand what Grandpa was saying, but he knew how to respond with the few limited vocalizations he knew.

“Oh, you still recognize Grandpa, don’t you? That’s right, I’m Grandpa…”

Zhou Wenguang went over to Second Auntie, “Second Auntie, which baby is this? Let me hold them.”

It had been a while since he last saw them, so Zhou Wenguang couldn’t recognize them either.

Second Auntie handed the little sister to him, “This is Little Bao, be careful.”

Zhou Chengxin and Zhou Chengsen were moving stools inside, getting ready for dinner. At this moment, they also came out and said with a smile, “Grandpa, Grandma, Second Auntie, please come inside and sit.”

Father Zhou happily held his younger brother and ushered his father-in-law and mother-in-law into the house.

Jiang Xia went outside to help Zhou Chenglei with the luggage. Zhou Chengsen and Zhou Chengxin also went out to help.

Because there were three children, there was a lot of luggage, filling all three back seats. Jiang Xia also bought some souvenirs in Suicheng to bring home, distributing them to the food processing workshop employees and Great-Grandma and the others.

She also bought gifts for the children, which were some new toys, and Jiang Xia took them out to distribute.

For Zhou Wenguang, Zhou Wenzong, and Zhou Wenyao, there were the latest game consoles and roller skates.

Their previous roller skates no longer fit.

For Zhou Wenzu and Zhou Jie, who were still young, she bought toy cars and game consoles.

Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying received dolls, plushies, and game consoles.

This time, each of them got the latest model of game console.

The siblings immediately wanted to run out with their game consoles to play (and show off) to their friends in the village.

However, Tian Caihua stopped them.

After dinner that night, Xu Ling helped clear the dishes and chopsticks. Mother Zhou quickly said, “No need, I’ll clear them. The courtyard is slippery, you just sit. Go hug Dabao and the other two, catch some good luck!”

Jiang Xia heard this and glanced at Xu Ling’s abdomen, asking with a smile, “Is this…”

She didn’t finish the question.

Xu Ling nodded and held up one finger, indicating she had just gotten pregnant about a month ago.

Jiang Xia smiled, “Congratulations!”

She and Zhou Guodong had gotten married in September. Jiang Xia was in the capital at the time, having just started school, so she didn’t return, but she had sent a gift in advance before she left. On the wedding day, she also asked Mother Zhou to help deliver another gift.

Xu Ling smiled a little shyly, “Thank you.”

Great-Grandma quickly urged, “Come, come hug Dabao!”

Second Great-Aunt chuckled, “Hug Little Bao first, then Dabao.”

Now, if the first child was a son, they could only have one child. But if it was a daughter, they could have one more.

Neither of their families had ever had twins, so it was impossible to be like Jiang Xia.

Second Great-Aunt hoped that Xu Ling’s first child would be a daughter, and the second a son.

Of course, she knew she couldn’t just have what she wanted, but people always have desires and hopes, wishing they would come true.

If Xu Ling’s first child was a son, she would naturally still be happy; no one dislikes a grandson.

Once they had money, it wouldn’t be impossible to hide away and have another child.

People by the sea liked many children for good fortune.

Every household had many children, except for those with government jobs.

Jiang Xia said, “Do you need to adjust your work at the food processing workshop?”

Xu Ling quickly replied, “It’s fine, I can manage it! No need to adjust. People work in the fields even when they’re pregnant! I don’t feel tired at all doing this work.”

With such high wages, she couldn’t bear to stop working.

She and Guodong also needed to build a house. Living together in one large family was too cramped and inconvenient.

Their bridal room was only made available when Zhou Guodong’s nephews moved to sleep in their grandparents’ room.

It was created by rearranging rooms, and the wall wasn’t even built to the ceiling before; it was extended for their wedding.

Every time they “did that,” she was afraid of being overheard.

Besides, her current job wasn’t tiring, she was used to it.

Jiang Xia had also seen village women working in the fields with big bellies, and she had seen them carrying a load of water to water vegetables, so she said, “Then do lighter tasks. Don’t move the goods.”

“I know, my mother-in-law, Ah Huan, and Aunt Fen also don’t let me move goods. They only let me tend the fire and wash things.”

Jiang Xia felt relieved after hearing this. With Second Great-Aunt watching over her, there was nothing to worry about.

However, she still decided to talk to He Xinghuan and Aunt Fen tomorrow, asking others to help share Xu Ling’s work, and giving them a larger bonus at the end of the year.

The next morning, Jiang Xia went to the old house to discuss the matter, adding at the end, “It’ll be tough for you all these next few months, but I’ll give you a bigger bonus at the end of the year.”

Xu Ling smiled, “Everyone has been taking such good care of me during this time. Let’s share my year-end bonus with everyone!”

Everyone quickly said, “No, no, you’re not doing nothing, everyone has inconvenient times. Besides, if you do less, your mother-in-law will do your share.”

The operation of the food processing workshop was already very mature. Even with Jiang Xia absent, the kitchen was still very clean, and everyone worked in an orderly manner. Jiang Xia glanced around and then drove to the city.

Zhou Chenglei had driven to the factory workshop early in the morning to check on the factory’s progress.

The two acted separately.

Jiang Xia went to the city to discuss garment factory matters with the factory director and hold a meeting.

Jiang Xia appointed a deputy factory director to manage the garment factory’s affairs in her absence.

Jiang Xia did not change the personnel in other positions, feeling it was not suitable to do so for now.

The original factory director had a job transfer. After the garment factory was leased out, his work here was considered complete, and he would report to his new department next month.

However, the factory director was also nearing retirement age and could retire by the end of the year. He chuckled, “When I retire, I’ll come here to be a gatekeeper.”

Jiang Xia laughed, “You’re always welcome back, old friend. No need to be a gatekeeper, you can continue to be the factory director.”

The factory director’s position was vacant, and everyone assumed Jiang Xia would be the director. However, Jiang Xia intended to invite the original factory director to manage the factory again after his retirement.

Chapter 656: Chance Encounter at a Dinner Party

At noon, Jiang Xia hosted a lunch at Fuman Restaurant for the garment factory’s leadership team who had attended the meeting.

A large round table was set, seating a total of twenty people. She had invited the supervisors and group leaders from every department.

Jiang Xia stood up and raised her glass to offer a toast. “Here’s to a successful partnership in the future!”

Zhou Chenglei was coming to pick her up and take her home that afternoon, so she didn’t need to drive. She had driven Jiang Dong’s car that morning and left it at Father Jiang’s government unit so her father could drive it home after work.

One by one, everyone stood up and raised their glasses in return.

Jiang Xia wasn’t usually a woman of many words, but when she hosted a gathering, she made sure every guest felt perfectly at home.

The meal was a success, enjoyed by both host and guests alike.

As they were leaving, several people walked out of the neighboring private room. Among them were Mai Nianshan, along with Manager Zheng, the developer of the seafood market, and Li Zhihua.

Mai Nianshan smiled and greeted her. “Miss Jiang, Factory Director Tan.”

Li Zhihua and Manager Zheng also greeted Jiang Xia.

Hearing Mai Nianshan greet the factory director, Jiang Xia guessed that he was the Hong Kong businessman who had wanted to acquire the garment factory. She returned their greetings with a smile.

The factory director spoke up then. “Xiao Xia, this Mr. Mai is the gentleman who was previously interested in leasing the garment factory.”

Mai Nianshan chuckled. “It was my father who had taken a liking to it.”

Jiang Xia replied, “It seems my investment instincts are quite aligned with Grandpa Jiang’s.”

Mai Nianshan’s expression stiffened for a fraction of a second before quickly returning to normal. He smiled. “No wonder my father felt like he’d known Miss Jiang for a lifetime the moment they met.”

Jiang Xia noticed the slight change in his expression, but she didn’t understand what she might have said wrong and didn’t give it much thought. She simply said, “Please give my regards to Grandpa Jiang. We’ll be heading off now.”

Mai Nianshan nodded.

Jiang Xia bid farewell to Manager Zheng and Li Zhihua as well, then walked out with the factory director and the deputy director.

As the group stepped out of Fuman Restaurant, Zhou Chenglei’s vehicle was already parked outside.

Seeing Jiang Xia, Zhou Chenglei opened the door and stepped out, coming forward to greet the factory director.

The director and the others had met Zhou Chenglei before. They smiled, exchanged greetings, and then tactfully took their leave.

Mai Nianshan and his group walked out as well, leading to another round of pleasantries.

After the greetings, Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia walked toward the Jeep.

Jiang Xia asked him, “Have you been here long? Have you eaten? Why didn’t you come inside?”

This was her event, so Zhou Chenglei hadn’t wanted to go in and disturb her.

“I just arrived. I already ate; I had lunch with your father at his cafeteria.”

The truth was that he had arrived over ten minutes ago. He never wanted to make her wait for him, so he always arrived early.

Zhou Chenglei opened the car door, habitually shielding the top of the frame with one hand while steadying her with the other. As he helped her into the car, he caught the faint scent of alcohol on her. He asked casually, “Did you drink?”

“I toasted everyone. Is the smell very strong?”

Since she was still breastfeeding, Jiang Xia didn’t dare drink much, but offering a toast was a necessary courtesy.

Jiang Xia instinctively sniffed her own clothes, reminding herself that she must change before holding the babies when they got home.

“Not strong.” Zhou Chenglei helped her fasten her seatbelt before gently closing the door. He rounded the front to the driver’s seat and started the engine.

The Jeep soon overtook Mai Nianshan’s sedan.

Mai Nianshan watched the departing Jeep and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

He had originally been surprised that his adoptive father had set his sights on such a small garment factory. It was highly likely he wanted to buy it as a gift for Jiang Xia.

It was understandable for his father to set up some assets on the mainland for his biological son, grandson, and granddaughter. After all, the old man had spent his entire life searching for his wife and children.

However…

Not long ago, Counselor Jiang had returned from abroad, and his father had rushed back to Hong Kong Island to meet him, seemingly intending to modify his will.

The Jeep cruised steadily forward. As they passed the cinema, Jiang Xia saw Ruan Tang waving at their car from the roadside.

“It’s Dr. Ruan. She’s waving. Pull over for a moment.”

Zhou Chenglei saw her too. The vehicle slowed down and pulled to the curb in front of Ruan Tang.

Ruan Tang recognized the Jeep’s license plate and knew it was Jiang Xia’s, which was why she had waved.

Standing beside Ruan Tang were two other female comrades. Jiang Xia recognized them as nurses from the hospital; one had even helped deliver her triplets.

Jiang Xia rolled down the window and greeted them with a smile. Zhou Chenglei nodded to them as well.

Ruan Tang smiled. “Are you two heading back to the village now, or do you have other things to do?”

“Nothing else. We’re heading back to the village now.”

“We were thinking of going beachcombing. Is it a good time for it today or tomorrow?” Ruan Tang had previously asked Zhou Chengsen about the best times for beachcombing.

Jiang Xia smiled. “Actually, you can go beachcombing every day because there are high tides and low tides every day. It’s just that during a major ebb tide, the water recedes much further, and you can find more things. On normal days, there isn’t as much to pick up.”

Jiang Xia tried to recall today’s date on the lunar calendar. She couldn’t remember exactly, but it should be about time. She turned to ask Zhou Chenglei, “Is there a major ebb tide these two days?”

“Yes. Today happens to be the first of the month.”

Jiang Xia said, “You want to go beachcombing? Hop in then!”

Jiang Xia then smiled and called out to the two nurses, “Nurse Li, Nurse Su, you two get in as well!”

Ruan Tang laughed. “We’re all off duty for these two days and were planning to head over to your place for beachcombing. In that case, we won’t stand on ceremony!”

The two nurses also added, “Sorry for the trouble.”

“What’s there to be troubled about? Get in! You all helped me so much when I was giving birth!”

Ruan Tang opened the door and let the two nurses get in first before climbing in herself.

In the car, the two nurses asked about how the triplets were doing. They also mentioned that many children were getting sick lately with the change of seasons and told them to be careful.

They chatted about the children the entire way. Zhou Chenglei focused on driving, not uttering a single word.

Once they reached the town, Ruan Tang said, “Drop us off here in town. We’ll find a guesthouse to stay in first.”

Hearing this, Jiang Xia said, “We have plenty of guest rooms at home. There’s no need for a guesthouse. Only my two nieces and Second Auntie are staying on the third floor; you can stay in the guest rooms there.”

The first floor was full.

The three of them demurred. “No, really.” “It would be too much of a bother.”

Jiang Xia insisted, “It’s no trouble. The tide might turn in the middle of the night anyway. What time is the low tide tomorrow?” She asked Zhou Chenglei.

Recalling the tide levels he had seen during his morning run, Zhou Chenglei estimated, “Tomorrow, the low tide should be around four or five o’clock in the morning and four or five o’clock in the evening.”

The three women were speechless. Both times were quite inconvenient for them. They had to head back to the city tomorrow afternoon because they had work the following day.

If they only started beachcombing at four or five in the evening tomorrow, there would be no buses left to take them back to the city.

Jiang Xia suggested, “Then stay at our house tonight, and we’ll go beachcombing together in the middle of the night. It’s been a long time since I’ve gone beachcombing at night too.”

Ruan Tang thought for a moment. “Then we’ll impose on you for the night.”

They were actually a bit afraid of three women walking from a strange town to the village beach in the dead of night.

They arrived back at the village just after three o’clock in the afternoon. Zhou Chenglei specifically drove past the beach to see if the tide had started to recede yet.

Jiang Xia said, “We can go play at the beach today when the tide goes out, too.”

Ruan Tang looked toward the beach, a bit disappointed. “It doesn’t look like the tide is receding yet.”

Jiang Xia replied, “It should be around five or six o’clock. We’ll just have an early dinner today, and then we can go out and play.”

At 5:35 PM, Zhou Chengsen returned from work and saw his daughter excitedly holding Ruan Tang’s hand as they ran out.

He was momentarily stunned.

Chapter 657: Beachcombing

Zhou Ying was the first to notice her father had returned. She said excitedly, “Dad! I’m taking Sister Ruan to go beachcombing!”

By now, Zhou Ying had already changed her way of addressing Ruan Tang to “Sister Ruan.”

Zhou Chengsen smiled at his daughter. “Alright. Have you eaten yet?”

“We just finished. Grandma left some food for you, so remember to finish it all!”

“Okay.”

Ruan Tang glanced at him. The wind was a bit strong today, making his hair look a little messy. He always smiled so gently at his daughter, the warmth softening his rugged features.

Zhou Chengsen looked up and met Ruan Tang’s gaze, a gentle smile still lingering on his lips. “Dr. Ruan, it’s been a long time.”

As their eyes met, Ruan Tang’s heart skipped a beat. She looked away. “I have tomorrow off, so I thought I’d come beachcombing with some colleagues. I happened to run into Xiao Xia in the city, so we hitched a ride back in their car. Sorry for the intrusion.”

Did he think it had been a long time too?

They hadn’t seen each other for a month.

During this month, Ruan Tang found herself thinking of him from time to time, wanting to see him. When she heard her colleagues say they wanted to find a beach to go beachcombing, she brought them here.

As someone with such a cool and reserved personality, she rarely took the initiative to go out with colleagues.

Usually, when she had time off and her colleagues organized trips to go shopping, see a movie, or go hiking, she would decline. She preferred to stay alone in her small house, reading a book or making something delicious to reward her body for its hard work.

She wanted to come see him and confirm his feelings for her.

Zhou Chengsen smiled. “No intrusion at all. If you like beachcombing, feel free to come often.”

Ruan Tang’s heart fluttered again. She replied softly, “Okay.”

Two nurses came out, one on each side of Zhou Zhou.

When Zhou Zhou called out “Second Uncle,” the nurses also smiled and greeted him. “Hello, Second Brother Zhou.”

Zhou Chengsen looked at them and nodded with a smile. “Hello. If you like, you can come often with Dr. Ruan. Feel free to bring other colleagues and friends too. As long as I’m free, I’ll take you out. Our beach here has quite a lot of seafood.”

The two nurses laughed. “Don’t worry, we’ll be coming often! We won’t be shy!”

Zhou Chengsen laughed. “No need to be.”

Zhou Ying urged, “Dad, stop talking! We’re going beachcombing now! It’ll be dark soon!”

The adults all laughed.

Zhou Chengsen chuckled. “Go on then. Be careful, and don’t go where the water is deep.”

“I know! Do you still think I’m a child? I’ve already grown up!”

Zhou Chengsen felt helpless. Ever since he had told his daughter she had to be brave and face everything once she grew up, she had been using that line constantly.

“Sister Ruan, Nurse Sisters, let’s go!”

The three women were pulled away by the two children.

Perhaps influenced by the adults, the children of the Zhou family were all very hospitable and warm toward guests.

After being pulled about a dozen meters away by Zhou Ying, Ruan Tang looked back once.

Zhou Chengsen was pushing his bicycle into the yard.

She wondered if he would go beachcombing in a little while.

Zhou Chengsen parked his bicycle.

Zhou Chenglei came out of the garage after gathering the beachcombing tools.

“We’ve already eaten. Your food is keeping warm in the pot.”

“Okay. I’ll head over in a bit.”

Zhou Chenglei called out to Jiang Xia inside the house. “Xiaxia, are you ready?”

Jiang Xia finished changing a diaper and called back, “Coming!”

Then she said to her daughter, “You stay with Grandpa and Grandma and play by the sea. Mommy will go and get some big clams for you to eat.”

Since she ate them and passed the nutrients through her breast milk, rounding up, it counted as them eating it too.

Father Zhou and Mother Zhou spent little time with the three children. Except for when the babies were sleeping or when the adults were working, the two elders were unwilling to let go of the children. After all, they would be heading back to the capital in a couple of days.

The two elders had many grandsons and granddaughters, all of whom they had helped raise. Only the triplets were different; they might not see them even once a month. Each time they met, they had to look carefully to distinguish who was who.

Furthermore, these were the children of their most beloved youngest son and daughter-in-law, so they were naturally very precious. If the babies hadn’t been unweaned yet, they would have been tempted to keep all three children at home and raise them themselves.

Mother Zhou reminded them, “A-Lei, take a few more hoes. There have been a lot of sand worms at the tidal flats lately.”

Grandpa and Second Auntie also went beachcombing.

Grandma didn’t go. Digging for sand worms was too hard on her back.

She went for a walk along the beach with Father Zhou and Mother Zhou, bringing the children along.

Soon, the whole family had left the house, except for Zhou Chengsen, who was still eating.

Today wasn’t a spring tide, but there were still quite a few people beachcombing in the tidal flats.

It was likely because there were many sand worms.

To dig for sand worms, one had to know how to identify their “eyes”—the small holes they lived in.

Zhou Chenglei taught Jiang Xia, Ruan Tang, and the others. “You can use the hoe to tap the sand like this. The sand worm’s eye will squirt water. You can find razor clams the same way.”

Zhou Chenglei tapped the sand heavily with his hoe, and water sprouted from two small holes.

There was a bit of water on the surface of the tidal flats. When digging for sand worms, one had to learn to build a small sand wall to block the water.

“When digging for sand worms, use sand to surround the hole to block the water. This prevents seawater from flowing in. You have to dig following the sand worm’s burrow…” Zhou Chenglei taught them as he dug.

After several strikes with the hoe, he finally saw something—either the head or the tail of a sand worm; Jiang Xia couldn’t tell the difference.

“You can’t pull the sand worm too hard, or it will break. It’s best to tug a little then loosen, tug then loosen. When it let’s its guard down, pull it out all at once.” Zhou Chenglei bent down, grabbed the tail of the sand worm, and pulled it from the hole.

Jiang Xia watched him drop a fleshy-colored sand worm about the length of a finger into the bucket.

Knowing she was afraid of creepy-crawlies, he didn’t make her hold it.

Nurse Li remarked, “It looks just like a roundworm from a person’s stomach!”

Jiang Xia: “…”

Nurse Su said, “Eek! Could you use a different word to describe it? You’ve made it sound so disgusting, are we even going to dig for them now?”

“My description is quite accurate, though!”

In this era, raising children wasn’t as refined or hygienic as in modern times. Children wouldn’t wash their hands before eating, and if flies had touched the food, they’d eat it anyway. Consequently, many children suffered from roundworms.

People often came to the village to sell “Pagoda Candy” to deworm the children.

Zhou Chenglei told them, “If you’re afraid to dig those, you can go over there to rake for clams. There are people raking for them over there.”

Zhou Ying couldn’t dig for sand worms; those things were hidden deep and required a hoe. She said to Ruan Tang, “Sister Ruan, Nurse Sisters, let’s go over there and pick up clams!”

Zhou Zhou added, “I don’t want to dig for sand worms either.”

The two nurses quickly agreed. “Alright! Let’s go pick up clams!”

It just so happened they didn’t want to dig for sand worms either.

Jiang Xia didn’t go over. She stayed and dug for sand worms with Zhou Chenglei.

Zhou Chenglei asked her, “Not afraid?”

Jiang Xia replied, “Are you underestimated me? Aside from snakes, I’m not afraid of anything!”

Zhou Chenglei laughed. “Digging for these is very tiring. Go pick up clams.”

“No, I’ve never dug for sand worms before.”

Jiang Xia had eaten sand worms before, and they were quite delicious.

She liked them.

Zhou Chenglei let her try. “Wear gloves, or your hands will get blisters.”

Jiang Xia put on gloves and started tapping with the hoe to find sand worm eyes.

Once she found one, she started digging.

Digging for sand worms really wasn’t easy. They were hidden deep, and the digging was strenuous.

She had struck the sand seven or eight times before she finally saw a sand worm retracting into its hole.

Jiang Xia said, “You pull it out.”

Zhou Chenglei squatted down.

After finishing his meal, Zhou Chengsen walked over. Seeing the couple busy digging for sand worms, he didn’t disturb them and headed toward his daughter.

But as he got closer, his expression suddenly changed. “Get back!”

Chapter 658: Harmony

Jiang Xia heard Zhou Chengsen’s loud shout and looked over.

Zhou Chenglei looked over as well.

Not far away, Ruan Tang was running into the sea to retrieve Zhou Ying’s little floral hat, which had been blown into the water by the wind. Hearing Zhou Chengsen’s shout, she subconsciously looked back. “It’s fine, I’m just picking up a hat!”

Zhou Chengsen had already sprinted into the water like an arrow. He grabbed Ruan Tang’s arm and pulled her back toward the shore.

He didn’t let go of her arm. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

His tone wasn’t great, but he was trying his best to moderate it.

Just now, seeing Ruan Tang walk into the sea where the waves weren’t breaking and the water color looked wrong, Zhou Chengsen’s heart nearly jumped out of his chest.

That was a rip current!

He was terrified she would follow that hat straight into the rip current zone.

Ruan Tang didn’t understand the source of his anger; she wondered if he thought she was trying to commit suicide by jumping into the sea.

Ruan Tang explained, “I was just picking up a hat. Yingying’s hat was blown into the sea by the wind. The water isn’t deep; it hasn’t even reached my knees. If it were too deep, I wouldn’t have kept going. It’s not summer right now; it’s so cold.”

The little floral hat had been carried away by the waves, but the water depth looked shallow, and since Ruan Tang knew how to swim, she had rushed to grab it.

The two nurses also walked over, leading Zhou Zhou.

Nurse Li had seen it too and followed up with an explanation. “Yes, it was just the hat being blown into the sea.”

Zhou Ying was standing nearby. Ruan Tang hadn’t let her get close to the water earlier. She hurriedly said, “Daddy, a gust of wind blew my hat away. Sister Ruan was helping me get it back. It’s the little floral hat you bought for me. Don’t be so mean! You’re being so scary!”

“…”

Was he really being that mean?

Zhou Chengsen glanced at Ruan Tang and realized he was still gripping her tightly. He let go and tried to soften his tone as much as possible. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t being mean to you; I was just worried. In the heat of the moment, I didn’t watch my tone.”

“I know.”

Even though she knew his concern held no other meaning, Ruan Tang’s heart still fluttered a bit.

The spot on her arm where he had gripped her so tightly still felt hot.

She subconsciously touched the area.

Zhou Chengsen glanced at her, wondering if he had been too rough just now and if he had hurt her.

“Is your arm injured?”

Ruan Tang let go of her arm and shook her head. “No.”

Zhou Chengsen looked at his daughter. “If it’s blown into the sea, then just let it go. Daddy will buy you another one. Look closely at the surface of the sea over there.”

Hearing this, Zhou Ying looked over. Her face turned slightly pale. Compared to the areas on either side, the water in front of them had very few whitecaps and looked very calm. She could see her little floral hat just a moment ago, but now it was gone, carried far away in just this short time.

“Is it a rip current?”

Her father had taught her how to identify rip currents before.

“Yes. Do you see how your hat is gone now? In just an instant, it was carried out to the open sea. Hasn’t Daddy taught you many times that when we are active by the shore, we must always pay attention to the waves and the tide? Otherwise, you could lose your life if you aren’t careful.”

Zhou Ying was quick to admit her mistake. “I understand. I’ll definitely remember next time.”

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei arrived at that moment.

Jiang Xia asked, “What happened?”

Zhou Chenglei glanced at the sea surface. “It’s a rip current.”

Hearing this, Jiang Xia looked toward the water.

She hadn’t seen a rip current before.

Zhou Chenglei had explained them to her previously. If you see a rip current at the beach, you shouldn’t go near it, and you certainly shouldn’t swim in a rip current zone.

In simple terms, a rip current is like the waves that crash onto the shore carving out a channel for themselves so they can flow rapidly back into the depths of the ocean.

It is a narrow and powerful current of water that flows very fast. Because the surface appears calm, it isn’t easily noticed, making people think it’s safe.

But in just a few seconds, it can carry a swimmer or someone who has fallen into the water out to the open sea.

“What is a rip current?” Ruan Tang didn’t know; she had never even heard the term.

Zhou Chengsen pointed to the unusually calm patch of water. “Look at the difference between this part of the sea and the areas next to it.”

Ruan Tang looked over and scrutinized the difference. “It’s calmer? There aren’t many whitecaps?”

“Correct. And the color is different from the other areas as well. Can you see it?”

Ruan Tang looked closely, and indeed, it was a bit different—deeper in color. But if one didn’t look carefully, who would notice?

The two nurses didn’t understand these things either. They looked closely and said, “It really does look different.”

“I didn’t expect such a calm sea surface to be so dangerous.”

Zhou Chengsen added, “When things are out of the ordinary, there’s always a hidden danger. Sometimes, the calmer a certain area of the ocean is, the more you should stay away. When beachcombing, you must frequently check if the tide is coming in, especially at unfamiliar beaches. During a major ebb tide, sea trenches might be exposed. When the tide comes back, it rises very quickly; before you can even walk back to shore, the water level in the trench might already be higher than you.”

Ruan Tang nodded. “I understand. I don’t know any other beachcombing spots; I only knew we could do it here.”

Zhou Ying added, “That’s right! Sister Ruan, don’t go beachcombing alone at unfamiliar beaches. Come to our village and find my dad; he can take us. He can take the boat out for beachcombing! He knows so many spots! With my dad around, it’ll be safe.”

Ruan Tang smiled. “Alright, I’m just afraid of bothering you and your dad. Yingying, do you think it’s a bother?”

“I don’t think so! And my dad won’t think so either. Right, Daddy?” Zhou Ying shook Zhou Chengsen’s arm.

If Sister Ruan came to ask her dad to take her beachcombing, she could tag along too.

Adults usually didn’t like taking children out to sea.

Zhou Chengsen could only nod. “It’s no trouble. I’m free on my days off.”

For children growing up by the sea, learning to swim and beachcomb were essential survival skills.

Knowing how to swim could save your life, and knowing how to spot snail eyes meant you wouldn’t go hungry; no matter how poor you were, you could always have a meal of sea snails.

It was indeed time to take the children beachcombing more often to learn how to recognize various snail eyes.

Nurse Li smiled and said, “Yingying, we want to come beachcombing too. Can you lead us? Do you mind the trouble?”

Nurse Su also said, “Yeah! I want to follow Yingying beachcombing too.”

Zhou Ying immediately replied, “It’s no trouble at all! You should all come! Everyone! If you take the clams from here back and roast them, they are delicious!”

Jiang Xia laughed and said, “Alright then, let’s get back to picking clams! Let’s get more so we can have a roast tonight.”

“Yay!” Zhou Ying had been wanting a barbecue tonight!

She quickly grabbed Zhou Chengsen with one hand and Ruan Tang with the other. “Daddy, Sister Ruan, let’s hurry and pick clams. Daddy, you rake them! You use the rake to dig them up, and Sister Ruan and I will pick them up together.”

“You certainly know how to arrange things.” Despite saying that, Zhou Chengsen took the tools for raking clams and found a patch of sand to start.

As the prongs of the rake scraped the sand, the clams and white clams hidden beneath were turned up.

Their luck was pretty good; each stroke of the rake turned up three or four clams.

Ruan Tang and Zhou Zhou picked through the turned-over sand while Zhou Chengsen raked ahead of them.

Zhou Chenglei pulled Jiang Xia over to dig for sand worms, planning to make sand worm porridge tonight.

Jiang Xia intended to buy some dried sand worms from the villagers to take back to the capital when it was time to return, and to give some away as gifts.

After digging up a few sand worms, Jiang Xia felt tired. She handed the hoe to Zhou Chenglei. “You dig. I’m going to go pick clams.”

Zhou Chenglei pulled out a sand worm and took the hoe.

Jiang Xia watched Zhou Zhou leading the two nurses in picking clams, then glanced toward Zhou Ying.

Suddenly, she felt the scene of Zhou Chengsen raking clams with Ruan Tang and Zhou Ying was very harmonious.

Li Xiuxian felt the harmony as well.

And it was a harmony that was a stinging eyesore.

Chapter 659: I Don’t Mind

Li Xiuxian had used the excuse of digging for sand worms to sneak out and slack off.

If she hadn’t come out, she would have had to stay at the house to help with the cooking. Today, Liao Ruixiang’s two elder sisters had both returned to their parents’ home. Each sister had brought their husband and children, totaling over a dozen people.

She had already eaten her own dinner, but she was expected to prepare another meal for the two brothers-in-law and their families, who had just returned from town.

She couldn’t be bothered to serve them, so she made an excuse to come out and dig some sand worms for herself. She never expected to witness this scene!

Seeing her daughter getting along so well with Zhou Chengsen’s new romantic interest was a stinging eyesore to Li Xiuxian.

“She’s just like her father—a real ungrateful wolf!”

Li Xiuxian walked straight toward them.

She could no longer control who Zhou Chengsen wanted to marry, but she would absolutely not allow her daughter to develop an affectionate bond with another woman!

As Zhou Chenglei looked back, he saw Li Xiuxian heading toward Zhou Chengsen and the others.

Jiang Xia saw it too. “Li Xiuxian isn’t going to humiliate Dr. Ruan, is she? I’ll go take a look.”

Zhou Chenglei held her back. “Second Brother will handle it.”

He wasn’t blind to the subtle sparks between Dr. Ruan and his brother. If the two were to have a future together, Li Xiuxian was someone they would have to face sooner or later.

After all, she was Zhou Ying’s biological mother. No one could stop her from seeking out Zhou Ying, nor could they prevent Zhou Ying from seeking out her own mother.

Jiang Xia realized he was right. She picked up her woven sack. “I won’t meddle, then. I’ll go over there to pick up some snails. You keep digging for sand worms.”

With that, Jiang Xia “abandoned” Zhou Chenglei.

“…”

Zhou Chenglei could only lower his head and continue digging for sand worms; he didn’t have enough for a single meal yet.

Li Xiuxian walked up to the trio and smiled. “Yingying, are you out beachcombing?”

The three people who had been focused on their work all looked up at the sound of her voice.

Zhou Chengsen gave Li Xiuxian a single glance before lowering his head to continue raking for clams.

Ruan Tang scrutinized Li Xiuxian, noting the slight bulge of her abdomen. Belatedly, she realized this was Zhou Chengsen’s ex-wife. She instinctively looked at Zhou Chengsen.

He didn’t look back at her; he was focused on raking for clams, his expression not changing in the slightest.

Zhou Ying stood up. “Mother.”

Li Xiuxian said to her, “Yingying, come beachcombing with Mother today!”

Zhou Ying was a bit reluctant. In her heart, she preferred staying with her father and Sister Ruan. However, she didn’t know how to refuse Li Xiuxian.

Seeing his daughter’s hesitation, Zhou Chengsen said, “Maybe another day. It’s almost dark; we’ll be heading home soon.”

Zhou Ying’s eyes lit up. “That’s right! We’re going to have a barbecue when we get home!”

Li Xiuxian’s expression shifted when she heard that.

Has this woman already moved into the Zhou family home? How shameless!

Seeing the look on Li Xiuxian’s face, Zhou Ying said softly, “Mother, I’ll go beachcombing with you next time. Today I want to stay with Sister Ruan; she is my friend.”

Li Xiuxian hadn’t intended to say anything too harsh, but Zhou Ying’s words sent her over the edge. “Come here and stay with your mother! Don’t stay here and disturb your father and this lady being all lovey-dovey.”

Ruan Tang: “…”

Only then did Zhou Chengsen look at her. “Didn’t you hear what Yingying said? Besides, you really are quite a disturbance. Don’t do it again.”

Li Xiuxian: “…”

Zhou Chengsen was going too far! In front of Yingying and this woman, he didn’t give her an ounce of face!

She instinctively looked at Ruan Tang. Does this woman know he has such a poisonous tongue?

Jiang Xia hadn’t walked close, but the wind carried Zhou Chengsen’s words to her. As expected, there was no situation Zhou Chengsen couldn’t handle. She moved to a less crowded area to see if there was anything worth picking up. Usually, there was more to find after a major ebb tide or a typhoon.

Leaving Li Xiuxian speechless with his rebuttal, Zhou Chengsen turned to Ruan Tang. “Dr. Ruan, there aren’t many snails here. Shall we try the other end?”

Li Xiuxian was surprised by how he addressed her. This woman is a doctor?

With such a good job and looking so young, how could she have any interest in Zhou Chengsen? Was she also a divorcee or did she have some hidden illness? Or perhaps her family was just very poor and she was after his money!

“Oh.” To avoid further awkwardness, Ruan Tang didn’t look at Li Xiuxian. She stood up and picked up the mesh bag on the ground, which was filled with the sea snails she and Zhou Ying had gathered, weighing about 0.5 to 1 kg.

Zhou Chengsen took the mesh bag from her and grabbed Zhou Ying’s hand. “Yingying, let’s go look somewhere else.”

Watching the attentive Zhou Chengsen, Li Xiuxian thought of Liao Ruixiang and felt a wave of frustration. In terms of being considerate, Zhou Chengsen was far superior. Liao Ruixiang often wouldn’t do anything unless he was told. And his whole family expected her—a pregnant woman—to serve them.

“Goodbye, Mother,” Zhou Ying said, waving to the sour-faced Li Xiuxian. Her mother looked so scary! She was terrified that her mother might snatch her away and scold her at any moment.

Zhou Ying pulled Zhou Chengsen along, walking quickly.

Li Xiuxian just stood there watching them walk away. Zhou Ying’s pace was exceptionally fast, as if the three of them were the real family!

Li Xiuxian wanted to follow them, but then Liao Ruixiang ran over and called out, “Xiao Xian! Why are you out beachcombing at this hour? My sisters have arrived! Let’s go home!”

Li Xiuxian felt a surge of annoyance. Go home for what? To cook and serve a whole crowd?

“My stomach feels a bit uncomfortable. I’m going to stay at my parents’ house tonight.”

“Why is it uncomfortable again?”

“I was standing for too long while cooking today, so I don’t feel well.”

“…”

Every time she did the slightest bit of housework, she claimed to be unwell. He was starting to suspect she was faking it.

Having walked about a dozen meters away, Ruan Tang glanced back and saw a man with his arm around Li Xiuxian’s shoulder, leading her away.

Just then, Zhou Ying spotted a fan shell. She immediately bent down to pick it up, shouting happily, “Father, Sister Ruan, look! This fan shell is huge! It must be very plump!”

Ruan Tang turned back and smiled. “Yingying, you’re amazing!”

The sand ahead looked a bit different. Zhou Chengsen said, “Yingying, go see if there are many snails up ahead.”

Zhou Ying saw it too and immediately dashed off.

Once his daughter was a safe distance away, Zhou Chengsen spoke up. “I’m sorry. I involved you in that just now. My ex-wife says unpleasant things, but she was aiming them at me. Don’t take them to heart.”

Ruan Tang glanced at him. “I don’t mind. You shouldn’t mind, either.”

Zhou Chengsen replied, “I don’t mind anymore.” He had long since become immune to her.

A silence fell between them.

Ruan Tang felt she had to find a topic of conversation. Bringing up his ex-wife was out of the question, so she asked, “What should one do if they get caught in a rip current? Is it still dangerous if you know how to swim? I know how to swim.”

“If you’re caught in a rip current, don’t panic. A rip current only carries people out to the open sea, not down to the seabed. When it happens, don’t panic—just float with the current until you’ve left the rip current zone. Then swim sideways to avoid that area before heading back to shore.”

“That doesn’t sound too terrifying.”

Zhou Chengsen countered, “It is very terrifying! Rip currents come in different sizes. If you hit a large one and get carried far out, someone who isn’t familiar with the water might not be able to swim back. Even a good swimmer could run out of strength from swimming for too long.”

“That makes sense.”

Zhou Chengsen added, “Even if you can swim, try not to enter the water needlessly. If you are really swept away by a rip current, don’t be afraid. Don’t try to swim desperately toward the shore; you’ll exhaust yourself. Try to swim sideways, parallel to the shore. Rip currents aren’t usually very wide. Once you’re out of it, then you can swim back.”

“Have you ever been caught in one?”

“No, but I’ve saved people who were.”

“That’s impressive!”

Zhou Chengsen demurred, “What’s so impressive about that? Many people in the village have rescued people from the water.”

“Anyone who dares to go in and save someone is impressive.”

“If you put it that way, it’s not as impressive as being a doctor. You practice the noble art of healing; who knows how many patients you’ve saved.”

…

The two of them chatted casually as they walked.

Suddenly, Zhou Ying waved to them and shouted loudly, “Father, Sister Ruan, come here quickly! There are so many spotted babylons here!”

Ruan Tang immediately ran toward her.

Chapter 660: All Stubborn Blockheads!

The beach was vast, so Jiang Xia found a secluded spot to gather shellfish.

Usually, when beachcombing, one wouldn’t find much.

However, today the clams were exceptionally large, nearly the size of the triplets’ small palms.

Jiang Xia also found over a dozen scallops, all of which were quite plump.

As the sky grew dark, the seawater began to creep up. The tide was coming in, and the villagers started heading back to the shore one after another.

“Xiaxia, let’s go home. Second Brother and the others are heading back too.”

“Alright.” Jiang Xia’s back was already aching from all the digging.

Real beachcombing was far from easy; it was incredibly taxing on the lower back. This was especially true for the fishermen who relied on it for their livelihood.

Zhou Chenglei walked over to Jiang Xia, lifted her bucket, and took a look. “Why didn’t you call me over to dig for scallops?”

Digging for those took quite a lot of effort.

“There weren’t many; I only found these few.” Jiang Xia held up a clam and asked with a smile, “Is it about as big as the triplets’ little hands?”

Zhou Chenglei glanced at it. Thinking of the three children’s chubby little hands, a hint of a smile touched his eyes. “Just about.”

By the time they climbed back onto the shore, they met up with Zhou Chengsen and the others.

Zhou Zhou said excitedly, “Auntie, look at the king scallop I dug up! I pulled it out all by myself!”

Jiang Xia took a look. “Wow, it really is huge! Even bigger than the ones I found! Zhou Zhou, you’re amazing!”

Zhou Zhou beamed with pride at the praise. “Auntie, I’m saving this one for you to eat! I’ll grill it myself!”

Jiang Xia laughed. “Alright!”

“I also led the two nurse sisters to find lots of scallops, clams, and blood clams.”

The two nurses laughed and agreed, “That’s right. We dug up over a dozen scallops, and it was all thanks to Zhou Zhou.”

“Zhou Zhou has sharp eyes. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have noticed them at all.”

Zhou Zhou was overjoyed to hear this!

Not wanting to be left behind, Zhou Ying pulled out a fan shell. “Auntie, this is a fan shell I found. I’m giving this to you to eat! There are only two! One for you, and one for Sister Ruan.”

Jiang Xia smiled. “Wow, Yingying is amazing too, finding a fan shell.”

Ruan Tang also smiled. “There’s one for me too? I’m so touched. Thank you, Yingying.”

Zhou Ying said happily, “I’ll grill them for you both in a bit!”

Ruan Tang replied, “Great, I’m really looking forward to it!”

Zhou Chengsen asked, “What about Daddy?”

Zhou Ying replied, “Daddy, you’ll have to wait until next time! You’re home every day, so there’s no rush!”

Zhou Chenglei added, “What about Uncle? Like Auntie, Uncle isn’t home every day either.”

Zhou Ying said, “…”

“Uncle, you’re a grown man. Are you really that greedy for treats?”

Everyone burst out laughing at her remark.

Back at home, since they didn’t have a proper barbecue grill, Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengsen started using bricks to build a temporary one.

The bricks were leftovers from Zhou Chengsen’s house construction.

Zhou Chengsen’s house was already built and renovated; he just hadn’t bought the furniture yet.

The two houses stood side-by-side. The exterior and internal layout were identical, though Zhou Chengsen’s house was only two and a half stories, one floor shorter than Jiang Xia’s.

He figured that since only he and his daughter would be living there, he didn’t need to build it too high. Even if his parents came to stay, there would be plenty of room.

Great-Grandma’s new house was also next door and had been completed. The three houses looked exactly alike and were quite beautiful.

Zhou Guodong’s house was still under construction, but it followed the same design.

Seeing them moving bricks, Jiang Xia asked, “Second Brother, have you picked a date for the housewarming yet?”

Zhou Chengsen stacked the bricks one by one. “Mother said we should do it on Minor New Year.”

Mother Zhou came out carrying a basket of sweet potatoes and smiled. “That’s the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month. I picked a day when you all would be on holiday.”

Jiang Xia said, “That’s coming up soon, about two months away. Have you ordered the furniture?”

Zhou Chengsen replied, “Not yet. No rush. I’ll go take look when I have time at the end of the year.”

The three brothers had recently gone in together to order a large ship over sixty meters long, and Zhou Chengsen didn’t have much money left.

Fortunately, the boat could earn at least a hundred yuan a day out at sea. On good days, it could make three or four hundred, and with a bit of extra luck, even more.

So, it wouldn’t be too late to buy furniture when he had more money at the end of the year.

Tian Caihua spoke up then, “Xiaxia, could you ask the furniture factory where you bought yours if they have any discounts? The second and third floors of my house are finished, and I want to buy two sets of furniture to put up there.”

Jiang Xia nodded. “Sure, I’ll ask the factory director for you. If you have time, Big Sister-in-law, you can go and see if there’s anything you like. I’ll speak to the director then.”

“Great,” Tian Caihua responded happily.

Usually, the thrifty and frugal Tian Caihua would never bear to spend money on such expensive furniture.

However, since Jiang Xia could get the factory-gate price, she felt that buying it would be a huge bargain, which made her willing to spend.

In her eyes, a huge bargain was equivalent to making a profit!

Jiang Xia told Zhou Chengsen, “Second Brother, you can also go to that furniture factory and pick out some pieces when you have time. Let me know what you like, and I’ll negotiate with the owner for everything together.”

During this Canton Fair, Jiang Xia had worked as a translator for the furniture factory for two afternoons for free, and the transaction amount had been quite high. The director had promised she could continue to buy furniture at the factory-gate price.

Tian Caihua urged, “Second Brother, let’s go together! We’ll go tomorrow! Aren’t you off tomorrow?”

Zhou Chengsen replied, “I won’t be going. Xiaxia, just help me order a princess bed. I plan to buy the rest of the furniture in town.”

He only wanted to pick out a princess bed for Yingying; everything else could be bought in town. Even at factory-gate prices, a single sofa from Jiang Xia’s source would cost enough to furnish both floors if he bought from the local town shops.

Tian Caihua disagreed. “Why buy in town? The furniture there is so ugly! It’s tacky and looks cheap! You built such a nice new house; of course you should buy some good furniture! You’re getting a princess bed for Yingying, so shouldn’t you pick a nice big bed for yourself too? That way, you won’t have to buy one when you remarry. You can take care of it all at once and save the trouble!”

Hearing the word “remarry,” Ruan Tang’s hand paused while washing the clams.

Zhou Chengsen remained unmoved. “That won’t be necessary.”

Tian Caihua was frustrated!

At moments like this, she truly felt that Zhou Chengsen and Zhou Chengxin were indeed brothers—they were both stubborn blockheads!

If both families bought together, who was to say Jiang Xia wouldn’t just give them the furniture for free?

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei must have made a fortune at the Canton Fair again, right?

Besides, Jiang Xia had made over a hundred thousand yuan just by clearing out the garment factory’s deadstock.

Tian Caihua had spent a whole night trying to calculate the figure and couldn’t figure it out, so she had asked Zhou Wenguang to calculate it for her.

A hundred thousand yuan. She was so envious she wished she could swap brains with Jiang Xia.

Fortunately, she had followed Jiang Xia’s example and taken clothes to the town market to sell, earning over two thousand yuan herself!

Tian Caihua felt that for a brain like hers, earning over two thousand yuan was already quite good.

Tian Caihua patted her “spare tire” of belly fat. Of course, if she could swap bodies with Jiang Xia too, that would be even better.

How did Jiang Xia manage to give birth to triplets all at once, avoid heavy labor, and still not get fat? And she had seen Jiang Xia eat quite a lot at every meal!

And she ate well! Fish, meat, and soup every single day.

Meanwhile, Tian Caihua did heavy labor every day and didn’t dare to eat as much, yet she was somehow getting fatter. Life was so unfair!

At night, during their “private time,” when she was on top, even Zhou Chengxin said he felt like he was being crushed and could hardly breathe!

Tian Caihua was afraid that if she kept getting fatter, Zhou Chengxin would lose interest in her and be lured away by some vixen.

Tian Caihua hurried over to Jiang Xia’s side. “Xiaxia, I’d like to ask your advice on something.”

Jiang Xia set the washed eggplants aside to be grilled later. “Advice is a strong word, Big Sister-in-law. Just tell me what’s on your mind.”

Chapter 661: What Is This Woman Up To Now?

Tian Caihua stared at Jiang Xia’s slender waist. “How did you get so thin after having the baby? Do you have some kind of secret?”

Jiang Xia replied, “Breastfeeding is hard work, and I don’t sleep well at night. The weight just came off naturally.”

Tian Caihua: “…Is it really that easy?”

She couldn’t exactly have another baby just to breastfeed herself thin, could she?

As Jiang Xia minced garlic, she asked, “Does Big Sister-in-law want to lose weight?”

“Yeah, I’m afraid if I keep getting fatter, your Big Brother will start to dislike me.”

“Big Brother isn’t that kind of person. You can rest easy. But being too overweight isn’t good for your health, so it’s not a bad idea to slim down a bit.”

Lately, Tian Caihua had indeed been getting heavier.

Tian Caihua glanced over at Zhou Chengxin, who was shucking scallops nearby, and whispered, “You don’t know! Now that your Big Brother is making more and more money, but his figure and looks haven’t changed—he’s still so handsome—those shameless widows in the production team have been flaunting themselves and trying to flirt with him whenever he walks by! Even some of those shameless old maids are acting coquettishly in front of him.”

“It’s not that your Big Brother is that kind of man, but he’s too soft-hearted. When someone asks him to help carry a load, he’s foolish enough to carry it all the way to their house. Then they use all sorts of excuses to keep him from leaving, and he ends up doing half a day’s work for them before he can get out! I’m not afraid of him being unfaithful; I’m afraid he’ll fall into some vixen’s trap!”

Jiang Xia was curious. “How do you know all this?”

“Other people told me! If I ever saw it with my own eyes, I’d go in there and scratch that shameless woman’s face off!”

“Don’t worry, Big Brother knows where to draw the line.”

“How can I not worry? Your Big Brother isn’t like A-Lei, who acts like he’s blind and doesn’t even look at other women. Your husband only has eyes for you; it doesn’t matter who tries to flaunt themselves in front of him! And I’m not young and beautiful like you anymore. Sigh, back in the day, I was the flower of the production team! I was capable, industrious, and pretty!”

Jiang Xia suppressed a laugh.

Tian Caihua was about to say more when Father Zhou walked over. “Xiao Xia, the older boy is asleep. Do you want to take him up and put him in bed?”

“Okay.” Jiang Xia washed and dried her hands, took the baby, and carried him upstairs to the bedroom.

The younger brother and sister were already fast asleep.

Soon, all the ingredients were ready, and Jiang Xia went back downstairs to start the barbecue.

During the BBQ, Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying stayed true to their word, personally grilling the king scallop and two fan shells for Jiang Xia and Ruan Tang to eat.

Because there were many people, they had prepared a feast. In addition to what they had found beachcombing, Mother Zhou had slaughtered a chicken, and Father Zhou had bought a sheep from Wen Father to make a whole roasted lamb.

On top of that, there were the shrimp and fish that Zhou Chengxin and Tian Caihua had brought back from the sea today, as well as oysters and mussels they had pried off the rocks on the island.

Zhou Chenglei used a small knife to carve the most tender pieces from the roasted lamb and placed a plate of it in front of Jiang Xia and Zhou Zhou.

He then sat down beside Jiang Xia, grilled a few more clams, and placed them in her bowl.

Zhou Chengsen sat next to his daughter, placing a plate of roasted mutton in front of Ruan Tang, inviting the three of them to eat.

Ruan Tang and her two friends sat on the other side of Zhou Ying and thanked him.

Ruan Tang took two of each item she had grilled—oysters, scallops, and shrimp—and put them in a bowl, handing it to Zhou Chengsen. “These are done. Give them a try.”

Zhou Ying added, “Dad, the scallops and clams Sister Ruan grilled are delicious! Try them quickly.”

Zhou Chengsen reached out to take the bowl, carefully avoiding her fingertips. “Thank you.”

He shared some with his daughter. “Eat up. Once you’re done, go to bed. If you can’t wake up tomorrow morning, I won’t be calling you.”

After Zhou Ying finished the food in her bowl, he told her to go brush her teeth and wash her face with Zhou Zhou before heading to bed.

Previously, the two girls didn’t have the habit of brushing their teeth at night, but they had started doing it after Jiang Xia insisted.

Guangzong, Yaozu, and their brothers were also herded home by Tian Caihua to sleep.

Zhou Wenguang was already in middle school, so he could lead his younger brothers back home.

At that moment, Tian Caihua felt a surge of regret for not building their house here because she used to think being close to the sea was too damp. “Sigh, you guys all built your houses here. Now I want to build here too.”

Her house currently had the worst layout and was the least comfortable. She really wanted to move here and build a new one.

“There’s no land left for you even if you want to build,” Mother Zhou said as she cleared the children’s used bowls.

Each brother had been allocated one residential plot back when the division was made.

Tian Caihua thought of Zhou Zhou.

There was still one plot left belonging to the third branch that hadn’t been built on yet—which meant Zhou Zhou still had a plot.

Zhou Zhou was just a girl and would eventually marry out. Would she really build a house at her parents’ home?

What would be the point?

Tian Caihua suggested, “Mother, how about I build on the third brother’s plot? It’s just sitting empty anyway.”

Zhou Chengxin was stunned and blurted out, “Have you had too much to drink? What nonsense are you talking?”

What was this woman up to now?

“I just thought it would be more convenient and fun for everyone to live together.”

Besides, she felt the feng shui on this side of the old house was better!

Just look at Zhou Chengsen; even though he lived at Jiang Xia’s and just hired people to work his boat, he still made more money every day than their family did.

Mother Zhou paused.

Father Zhou chuckled upon hearing this. “It’s not impossible. How about you give your current house to Zhou Zhou, and then you can build a new one here!”

Tian Caihua: “…”

Zhou Chengxin nodded. “That works. If you want to build, we’ll give the house we’re currently living in to Zhou Zhou as her dowry.”

Tian Caihua forced a laugh. “…I was just joking! I just added two stories to my house; where would I get the money to build another one?”

“I’m going to go see if those little monkeys made it home!” Tian Caihua hurried away.

Besides, she was afraid of getting fat and didn’t dare eat much more anyway.

Father Zhou didn’t say anything else.

Helping each of his sons get married, build houses, and raise their grandchildren was what Father Zhou considered his duty as a father.

A parent’s love for their children is deep and far-reaching, but this was the extent of what he could do.

From the oldest to the youngest, while he might have had some shortcomings, he felt he had fulfilled his responsibilities.

His third son was gone. Raising Zhou Zhou, building a house for her so she would always have a home to return to after marriage—giving her a foundation no matter what happened—was the last goal Father Zhou had for the rest of his life. It would also give the third son’s soul a place to rest when it returned.

He figured he still had some years left in him and wasn’t in a hurry to build. He would wait until Zhou Zhou was a bit older, closer to marriageable age, so the house would be newer.

Jiang Xia changed the subject, and the atmosphere quickly became lively again.

The adults continued grilling the remaining food. They hadn’t eaten much earlier while looking after the children.

With the children gone, there was no longer anyone sitting between Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang.

Sometimes Zhou Chengsen would reach over for the seasonings, and sometimes Ruan Tang would ask him to pass them to her.

Unknowingly, their interactions increased.

Everyone chatted about various things while eating BBQ and drinking beer.

Father Zhou talked about his youth, and Mother Zhou talked about the hardships they had shared.

Jiang Xia spoke about school, and Ruan Tang and her friends shared interesting stories from the military medical university and the hospital.

Everyone listened and laughed.

The men didn’t say much, but they listened intently, occasionally chiming in with a word or two.

It was an ordinary night, without moon or starlight, yet Ruan Tang felt incredibly relaxed and warm.

She hadn’t been this relaxed in many years.

Chapter 662: Sprayed

The barbecue did not end until midnight.

Ruan Tang and the other two women had agreed with the Zhou family to go beachcombing around four or five o’clock the next morning.

Ruan Tang and her friends were beachcombing for the fun of it, not for a living. They felt bad making the family stay up so late and then have to wake up so early the next day to accompany them.

Jiang Xia arranged for the three young women to go to the third floor to shower and sleep.

The men took responsibility for tidying up.

Everyone finally went to bed around one o’clock.

Not long after Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei fell asleep, the children woke up.

Zhou Chenglei gently pressed down on Jiang Xia, who was trying to get up, and said, “I’ll do it. You keep sleeping.”

“No need. Once they’re awake, I won’t be able to sleep anyway.”

How long would it take him to handle three children by himself?

Besides, the children would cry if they had to wait too long. They were usually good, but that didn’t mean they were good all the time.

And so, the couple busied themselves with changing diapers and feeding. It wasn’t until past three o’clock that they managed to coax the children back to sleep.

As Jiang Xia lay in Zhou Chenglei’s arms, she murmured dizzily, “I wonder when they’ll stop needing milk in the middle of the night so they can sleep until dawn. Feeding them every night is exhausting!”

Zhou Chenglei replied, “Next time we go for a check-up, let’s ask Dr. Gao when we can start weaning them from night feedings. We’ll slowly change their habit.”

“Mhm,” Jiang Xia hummed softly and fell asleep.

Zhou Chenglei lowered his head to kiss the top of her hair and closed his eyes, falling into a deep sleep shortly after.

The next morning, Zhou Chenglei woke up at five o’clock. Their sleeping positions from the night before had shifted.

Out of habit, he glanced at Jiang Xia, who was sleeping soundly in his arms, and then turned to look at the three children in their crib.

Seeing that they were all sleeping well, he withdrew his gaze.

He carefully lifted his hand to brush Jiang Xia’s long hair, which was spread across the pillow, to one side. Then, he slowly withdrew his arm, taking care not to pull her hair and wake her.

Zhou Chenglei got out of bed quietly and tucked the covers around Jiang Xia.

After leaving the bed, he went over to the crib and moved his daughter’s small arm, which was draped over her brother’s neck.

He gently held his daughter’s hand and tucked it back under the blanket. Then, he took his clothes and went to the room next door to change, avoiding the rustling sounds that might wake Jiang Xia.

After washing up in the guest bathroom, he went downstairs, grabbed a flashlight and beachcombing tools, and went out for a run.

Zhou Chengsen happened to be returning from outside just then.

“Second Brother, you’re up early,” Zhou Chenglei greeted him.

“It’s a major ebb tide. Should I go wake them?”

“Let Mother go up and have Yingying wake them. You take Yingying and Zhou Zhou to lead them beachcombing. Don’t wake Jiang Xia; the kids woke up shortly after she fell asleep last night. She hasn’t had a good rest since attending the Canton Fair. She’s exhausted.”

After saying this, Zhou Chenglei prepared to head out.

Zhou Chengsen grabbed him. “Weren’t you two the ones who brought them here? Is this how you treat your guests?”

Zhou Chenglei replied, “We brought them back for you to host.”

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

Zhou Chenglei walked straight out.

The guests had come specifically to see his second brother anyway, so Zhou Chenglei felt perfectly justified in passing the responsibility.

He planned to go catch some fresh shrimp, crabs, shellfish, and octopuses to bring home so he could cook a bowl of fresh seafood noodle soup for Jiang Xia.

It had been a long time since she had eaten a truly fresh bowl of seafood noodle soup.

Zhou Chengsen also felt awkward about going up to the third floor to call them, especially since there were female comrades staying there.

Mother Zhou was already awake and was feeding the chickens.

She and Father Zhou had gone to bed earlier than the younger crowd the night before.

Zhou Chengsen found his mother. “Mother, it’s a major ebb tide. Could you go up and see if Dr. Ruan and the others are awake? I’m not sure if they still want to go beachcombing.”

“Alright. I’ll go check. You finish feeding these chickens.”

“Okay. Should I let the geese and ducks out to forage?”

“Let the ducks out. I’ll herd the geese over to the hill in a bit.” Mother Zhou washed her hands and headed upstairs.

However, Mother Zhou didn’t even need to call them. Zhou Ying and Zhou Zhou were already leading the three women downstairs.

Mother Zhou smiled and said, “The tide has gone way out. I was just about to go up and see if you were going beachcombing. I didn’t expect you to be awake already.”

Zhou Ying immediately piped up, “I was the first one awake! I went to wake Sister Ruan so we could go beachcombing.”

Zhou Zhou added, “I woke up very early, too!”

Mother Zhou asked, “Did you children wake the sisters up?”

Ruan Tang and the others laughed. “No, we were woken up by the roosters crowing.”

“That’s how it is in the countryside—either chickens crowing or dogs barking. Anyway, A-Sen says it’s a major ebb tide. If you’re going out, put on an extra layer of clothes. Take some eggs and sweet potatoes to eat, and you can have a proper breakfast when you get back. Yingying’s grandfather and A-Lei are already out at the beach.”

Zhou Ying rarely had the chance to wake up this early for beachcombing. “Hurry! We can catch lots of octopuses while it’s still dark. They’ll hide in their holes once the sun comes up!”

Nurse Li hurriedly said, “Then let’s go quickly!”

As they walked out of the yard, Zhou Chengsen had already prepared the beachcombing tools for them, along with a basket of boiled eggs and sweet potatoes that Mother Zhou had prepared.

He told them to change into their water boots, grab their tools, and head out.

Zhou Chengsen drove them there on the tractor.

Jiang Xia heard the sound of the tractor and woke up briefly. She checked on the children and was about to go back to sleep when she remembered something. She quickly got out of bed and walked onto the balcony, only to see Ruan Tang and the others leaving on the tractor.

She figured Zhou Chenglei hadn’t wanted to wake her, so she didn’t call out for them to wait.

She would ride her motorcycle over by herself in a bit.

Since she was the one who brought them here, and they were women, Jiang Xia felt it wouldn’t be right as the hostess to be negligent in her hospitality.

The children had only fallen asleep after their three o’clock feeding, so they wouldn’t wake up anytime soon; they would likely sleep until past eight o’clock.

Jiang Xia got up, brushed her teeth, and washed her face. She took the opportunity to prepare and store some milk for the babies in the refrigerator before heading downstairs.

By the time Zhou Chengsen reached the beach with the group, there were already many people there.

Everyone was carrying a flashlight, scanning the ground.

Zhou Chenglei was in the water with Father Zhou, Zhou Chengxin, and Zhou Guodong, pulling a net.

As the tide receded further, they would be able to trap quite a few fish.

Zhou Chengsen led the women onto the beach and shone his flashlight on the shallow water. “Many cowries come out to forage at night. You can find them just by shining your lights around.”

Zhou Ying didn’t want to pick up cowries. “Dad, we want to catch octopuses. Didn’t you say octopuses like to come out and forage at night?”

Zhou Chengsen replied, “That’s true, but the sun is about to come up. Just catch whatever you see for now.”

“Alright. Dad, did you put out any clay pots?”

“I did. When it gets light, I’ll go pull the clay pots up. For now, let’s just catch the ones that have come out to find food.”

This was the season for octopuses, and many villagers would place clay pots in the sea to catch them.

If one was lucky, they could catch dozens in a day, which could be sold for several yuan.

Zhou Chengsen had set some out yesterday as well. He planned to pull them up later to see if any octopuses had hidden inside.

Zhou Ying said, “Okay.”

Zhou Chengsen added, “You and Zhou Zhou should have a competition. Whoever catches more gets to play with the game console for an extra half hour.”

The two kids’ eyes lit up instantly. “Deal!”

Zhou Ying realized that they didn’t have flashlights and would have to stick close to the adults, which was inconvenient. She said, “Dad, you and Little Sister be a team. Sister Ruan and I will be a team. Let’s compete!”

“Fine by me.”

Zhou Ying quickly pulled Ruan Tang along. “Sister Ruan, follow me! For the sake of my gaming time, we have to win!”

Ruan Tang laughed. “Alright.”

And so, the groups went their separate ways.

Octopuses were easier to spot when they were out foraging at night. Ruan Tang shone her flashlight over the water’s surface, and Zhou Ying immediately spotted one. “There’s one here!”

Ruan Tang looked over and saw that it was just about to crawl back into its hole!

She reached out immediately to grab it, but the moment she lifted it, she was sprayed directly in the face with ink.

Zhou Ying: “…”

Ruan Tang: “…”

Chapter 663: What’s This?

Zhou Ying giggled. “Sister Ruan, I forgot to tell you, these octopuses have a secret weapon!”

“I’m going to stew it the moment we get back,” Ruan Tang said, laughing with mock indignation.

Ruan Tang tried to toss the octopus into the bucket, but it had wrapped itself tightly around her hand.

Zhou Chengsen advised, “Use a bit more force and give it a hard shake.”

However, she tried several times and still couldn’t shake it off. Her other hand was occupied, holding the bucket and the flashlight.

Zhou Chengsen stepped forward to help her pull the octopus away and threw it into the bucket for her.

Only then did Ruan Tang raise her arm to wipe the ink off her face.

Zhou Chengsen took a glance and pointed to her forehead. “There’s still some here.”

Ruan Tang wiped at it.

When she finished, Zhou Chengsen pointed to another spot. “And here.”

Ruan Tang wiped again.

Zhou Chengsen pointed once more. “Here, and here too.”

Ruan Tang kept wiping, but no matter how much she rubbed, she couldn’t get it clean.

Zhou Ying watched them, tilting her head back until her neck felt sore.

Just then, Zhou Zhou caught an octopus nearby and shouted happily, “I caught one!”

Zhou Ying grew anxious and hastily handed her small handkerchief to Zhou Chengsen. “Dad, hurry and help Sister Ruan wipe it off. She’s even got some on her eyelid.”

Ruan Tang was speechless. “It’s fine, I don’t really need to wipe it.”

Zhou Chengsen took the handkerchief. “Close your eyes.”

Ruan Tang closed her eyes.

Zhou Chengsen gently wiped her eyelid and then dabbed near her hairline. “There, all done.”

Ruan Tang kept her eyes shut, hardly daring to breathe. It was only when she heard him say it was done that she dared to open them, though her heart was racing fast.

Jiang Xia walked over, carrying her bucket, just in time to witness that scene. That sense of perfect harmony between them had appeared again!

Zhou Ying grabbed Ruan Tang’s hand again. “Sister Ruan, let’s keep looking!”

“Okay,” Ruan Tang replied, not daring to look at Zhou Chengsen as she walked away with Zhou Ying.

Zhou Zhou didn’t want to lose; she really wanted to play with the game console. “Second Uncle, we need to hurry too!”

“Mhm,” Zhou Chengsen responded.

But then Zhou Zhou spotted Jiang Xia and immediately said, “Second Uncle, you go catch them yourself! I’m joining Auntie’s team!”

He was far too unprofessional! Zhou Zhou decisively walked toward Jiang Xia.

Zhou Chengsen was left standing there.

“Auntie, will you team up with me to catch octopuses? We’re competing against Sister Yingying and Sister Ruan.”

Jiang Xia smiled. “Sure. Is there a prize if we win?”

“Yes, we get to play an extra thirty minutes on the game console.”

Jiang Xia laughed. “Then we absolutely have to win.”

Zhou Zhou nodded vigorously. “We need to hurry.”

Zhou Chengsen explained to Jiang Xia, “A-Lei said you didn’t sleep much last night and told us not to wake you.”

Jiang Xia smiled. “I figured it was his idea.”

Not far away, Zhou Ying called out excitedly, “There’s another one! Quick, it’s trying to run!”

Ruan Tang hurried after it.

Zhou Zhou urged her on, “Auntie!”

The adults were all so relaxed, but she was worried about her game time!

“Alright, we’re catching them right now!”

Jiang Xia turned on her flashlight and began searching. Zhou Chengsen was left to use his own flashlight and search nearby.

With Jiang Xia taking action, the results were significantly different. Wherever her light swept, there was bound to be a harvest!

“There’s an octopus here!”

Zhou Zhou immediately ran to grab it.

Jiang Xia also spotted a large mud crab lying under the sand. She moved quickly with her dip net and scooped it up.

Zhou Zhou caught an octopus and even found a large sand snail. Just as she tossed them into the bucket, Jiang Xia’s flashlight spotted another octopus. “Quick, the octopus is heading that way.”

The aunt and niece gave chase. That octopus swam quite fast, but it was no match for the giant hands of humans. Zhou Zhou snatched it up.

Jiang Xia reached out and caught a mantis shrimp swimming in the water. Upon inspection, it wasn’t very meaty, so she threw it back to let it continue growing. Then, she picked up an oyster nearby. It felt heavy, so it was likely plump.

After Zhou Zhou dropped the octopus into the bucket, Jiang Xia continued scanning with her light.

Between the major ebb tide and the fact that it was still dark, the sea was yielding plenty of treasures. While others might struggle, Jiang Xia seemed to find something every few steps. Of course, this was partly because the fishing industry in this era wasn’t as developed as in modern times, meaning various fish and shellfish were far more abundant.

However, Zhou Chenglei had also mentioned that many types of fish weren’t as plentiful as they used to be. That was why the prices for certain fish increased every year.

“Zhou Zhou, here. There’s an octopus hiding under this oyster shell. Do you see its tentacles?”

“I see them! It’s hiding so well!” Zhou Zhou reached for it immediately.

Jiang Xia felt something unusual in the sand beneath her feet. She leaned over and dug it up. It turned out to be a pearl shell! It looked quite old. She tossed it into the bucket.

Then, Zhou Zhou shouted, “Auntie, a big crab!”

Jiang Xia walked over. “It’s right here in this hole. I saw it crawl in.”

Jiang Xia used her metal tongs to reach inside. It took several tries before she finally clamped onto the large flower crab and dropped it into the bucket.

“Auntie, I caught another big octopus!”

“Great job.”

…

While Jiang Xia and Zhou Zhou were having a blast, Zhou Ying and Ruan Tang were doing just as well. Nurse Li and Nurse Qiu were also incredibly busy, both bent over until their backs ached.

There weren’t many octopuses on their side, but there were plenty of cowries. Both of them were happily gathering them. Cowries were delicious, although they tended to be sandy.

Unknowingly, they had been foraging from the dark of night until the break of dawn. They had started when the tide was at their ankles and continued until the tide had completely receded.

The orange glow of dawn appeared where the sea met the sky. Now that it was light out, it became much harder to find octopuses.

The two pairs of sisters asked each other how many octopuses they had caught. It turned out they had the same amount.

Zhou Zhou asked, “What do we do if nobody won? Who gets to play an extra half hour? Does it mean none of us get to? How about we keep competing for a bit?”

Jiang Xia was at a loss for words. This girl was far too honest. She would surely be at a disadvantage in the outside world later on. Jiang Xia decided she would have to teach her to be a bit more shrewd.

Before Jiang Xia could say anything, Zhou Ying immediately objected. “It’s not that nobody won—it’s that we both won! We both get to play an extra half hour!”

Zhou Ying looked at Zhou Chengsen. “Right, Dad?”

Zhou Chengsen nodded. “Right. Both of you can play an extra half hour today.”

“Yay!” Zhou Ying jumped for joy.

At that moment, Zhou Chenglei and the others began hauling the nets back. They appeared to be struggling, so when Zhou Chengsen saw them, he said to Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying, “I’m going over to help with the nets. You two stay with your Auntie.”

Jiang Xia suggested, “Let’s forage our way over there then.”

“Okay,” the two girls agreed.

They ran forward excitedly, continuing their search for octopuses. Jiang Xia and Ruan Tang followed behind them, eyes scanning the sand for anything else as they walked toward the men.

Suddenly, Jiang Xia noticed something odd in a patch of sand. It looked as though a round object was hidden beneath. She picked it up; it was round and resembled a giant copper coin.

Jiang Xia had never seen one before. “What is this?”

Ruan Tang looked at it. “This is a type of Chinese medicine called Sea Money. It has many medicinal values. The medicated oil made using it as an ingredient is highly effective for rheumatism and kidney diseases…”

Ruan Tang listed a series of benefits. Hearing this, Jiang Xia felt the thing was practically a miracle cure. “I’ll see if there are any more. Dr. Ruan, could you write a prescription for me? I’ll buy some medicinal herbs when we get back and brew some medicated oil.”

Ruan Tang smiled. “Alright.”

Chapter 664: Jiang Xia Has That Talent

Both Mother Zhou and Father Zhou suffered from rheumatism, and the damp spring season always brought on aches in their waists and legs.

Moreover, according to Dr. Ruan, that thing also had an effect on conditions like Uncle Dong’s.

Jiang Xia continued to look around to see if there were any more.

To prepare the medicated oil, finding just one wasn’t enough!

As a result, the two of them searched even more earnestly.

However, those things weren’t easy to find. Even after they reached the spot where Zhou Chenglei and the others were hauling in the net, they didn’t find any more.

At that moment, Zhou Chenglei and several others combined their strength to drag a net full of fish onto a dry patch of sand.

Seeing the silver-white fish clinging to the net, Jiang Xia smiled and said, “Dad’s luck is great today. This haul must be over 50 kilograms.”

Father Zhou chuckled. “Just about!”

He knew that since a whole bunch of lucky charms had come home, even a random pull of the net would result in a bursting net.

It had been a long time since he had gone out to sea with Wealth-bringer! If they went out to sea, they would surely earn even more.

Father Zhou still missed the days of going out to sea with Jiang Xia.

It was already November, the autumn fishing season was ending, and winter was approaching. By the time Wealth-bringer went on holiday, it would almost be the New Year.

Nurse Li and her companion also walked over, asking in surprise, “With so many fish, is it really only 50 kilograms?”

“I thought there would be hundreds of kilograms!”

Jiang Xia explained, “Not hundreds. A few hundred kilograms would be a massive pile of fish. Most of these are small fish that don’t grow very large. They look like a lot, but they’re quite light.”

Typically, the fish caught in such nets were mostly small, non-growing species like Grey Mullet, sillago, and Yellow Croaker. Of course, there would also be some shrimp, crabs, and squid.

Grey Mullet, Yellow Croaker, and sillago couldn’t fetch a high price.

However, the shrimp caught today were particularly large. Jiang Xia picked one up to compare; it was already as long as her palm.

Shrimp this large were meaty—one prawn per bite was incredibly satisfying. They were Jiang Xia’s favorite.

The flower crabs in the net today were also plump.

Father Zhou said with a smile, “Let’s get all the fish off the net first.”

Jiang Xia squatted down to start picking the fish. She asked Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying, “Do you two want to keep beachcombing, or do you want to help sort the fish?”

Zhou Zhou replied, “I’ll help sort the fish.”

Zhou Ying hesitated. “I… then I’ll sort the fish too!”

In reality, she wanted to keep beachcombing.

Jiang Xia saw through her and smiled. “You two are so good! You already know how to help the grown-ups with the work. Today, Auntie will allow you to play on the game console for an extra ten minutes.”

Zhou Ying was instantly delighted.

Zhou Zhou did a quick calculation in her head. With twenty more minutes, it would be almost two hours. She asked Jiang Xia, “Auntie, how about Yingying and I have a competition to see who picks more fish? The winner gets to play the game console for an extra twenty minutes. Is that okay?”

“Fine. Since you’re being so helpful today, I’ll make an exception.” Jiang Xia had set a rule that Zhou Zhou could only play the game console for one hour a day to prevent her from becoming addicted and neglecting her studies.

But the rule wasn’t set in stone; there was room for flexibility. If she saw that Zhou Zhou had done her homework well, taken the initiative to help with chores, or made progress in her exams, she would reward her. Sometimes it was extra gaming time, and sometimes it was other things the girl wanted.

Because she gave out rewards frequently, Zhou Zhou had figured out the trick and had finally learned to take the initiative to strive for what she wanted.

Zhou Ying cheered. “Yay!”

No child disliked playing games.

And so, the two sisters happily began their fish-sorting competition.

Jiang Xia reminded them, “Use your brains before you start. Fish have many spines, and some are even poisonous. You need to think about how to protect yourselves from getting hurt, and what you can do to work quickly and well without getting injured.”

Jiang Xia felt that a person’s mindset when doing things was very important.

Thinking about how to do something before starting, and organizing the sequence of events, often prevented mistakes and oversights. It also allowed one to achieve more with less effort.

She hoped to instill such habits in the two children.

After hearing this, the two sisters began to think of ways, discussing them back and forth.

Ruan Tang and the others also came over to help pick the fish.

Ruan Tang glanced at the two girls discussing things closely and smiled. “Xiao Xia, you really know how to teach children.”

As a pediatrician, she had seen too many parents in the hospital. When they told a child to do something, most of the time it was a direct command. They didn’t let the child think, nor did they teach them how to do it. If the child made a mistake, they would immediately start scolding or even deliver a slap to the forehead or buttocks.

One couldn’t say that method was useless, but Ruan Tang felt that Jiang Xia’s way was better.

She hadn’t just noticed this today; she had seen it in various small details several times.

Sometimes, when Jiang Xia asked the children to work, both the boys and the girls would do it happily.

But when the Big Sister-in-law of the Zhou family shouted at the kids to work, they were never willing to do it. Then she would scold them, the children would get defiant and talk back, and it basically always ended in chaos.

From this, one could see that the children in the Zhou family liked Jiang Xia more and were more willing to listen to her.

Jiang Xia was stunned for a moment and shook her head. “I don’t actually know how to teach children. I’m just crossing the river by feeling the stones, and I’m very afraid of teaching them wrong.”

“You teach them very well.”

Being able to make a child listen isn’t a talent; being able to make a child happily listen to you—that is the real talent.

Jiang Xia had that talent.

Even when it was just making children do chores, she had the ability to make them do it with joy.

Even being around Jiang Xia made Ruan Tang feel comfortable.

Ruan Tang thought that if she had children in the future, she would teach them this way too.

At this time, many villagers walked over.

“Yongfu, what kind of luck do you have? You just randomly pulled a net and got over 50 kilograms of fish!”

“Zhou Yongfu, you’ve struck it rich again, catching so many fish!”

Father Zhou said cheerfully, “The luck is just average! They’re all worthless small fish.”

Father Zhou first picked out several large sea bass and placed them in a bucket to keep them alive.

In a while, when Ruan Tang and the others were leaving, he would give each of them one, then add some fish and shrimp, and that should be enough.

Ruan Tang and the other two had brought a lot of fruit and health supplements. As a matter of etiquette, Father Zhou had taken advantage of the high tide to pull a net and give them some fresh seafood as return gifts.

If it wasn’t enough, he would go to the pier to buy more.

“What do you mean ‘worthless small fish’?! There are several large sea bass and plenty of big shrimp! This much could easily sell for fifteen or twenty yuan!”

“Sigh, if I had known, I would have pulled a net too! But it’s too dark, and I was afraid of the hassle!”

Father Zhou replied, “You were born for a life of leisure; why would you need to work?”

“You’re the one who can enjoy leisure. Every one of your sons has built a big house and married a wife! I still have a daughter left, and none of my sons are married yet!!”

…

Father Zhou chatted idly with several villagers.

Jiang Xia and Ruan Tang also talked while sorting the fish.

When Ruan Tang grabbed a long-tailed squid from the net, she wasn’t careful and got sprayed right in the face with ink!

This time, she couldn’t even open her eyes!

She hurriedly raised her hand to wipe them with her oversleeves.

But her oversleeves were dirty and wet.

Seeing this, Jiang Xia felt around her pockets and realized she had forgotten to bring a handkerchief.

Zhou Chengsen saw the situation, pulled out Yingying’s handkerchief, and handed it to Ruan Tang. “Dr. Ruan, use this handkerchief to wipe it.”

Ruan Tang only had one eye open. She reached out, took it, and began to wipe.

This scene was caught by the village women standing nearby, and they couldn’t help but steal extra glances at Ruan Tang.

Chapter 665: Village Enthusiasm

An auntie looked at Ruan Tang, who was using Zhou Chengsen’s handkerchief to wipe her face. Misunderstanding the situation, she asked with a grin, “A-Sen, is this your new girlfriend? She’s lovely! Is she a doctor? Well, this is great—if anyone in the village gets sick from now on, we won’t even have to go to the hospital.”

Ruan Tang was stunned. Her face flushed involuntarily, but she kept wiping with the handkerchief, pretending she hadn’t heard a thing.

To avoid further awkwardness, Zhou Chengsen replied in a joking tone, “She is a doctor, but she’s not my girlfriend. She’s a friend of Xiao Xia and Yingying. Auntie, don’t go making cracks like that, or people will think I’m an old cow eating tender grass! I’m old enough to be Dr. Ruan’s uncle. Besides, a female comrade like her might already have a boyfriend. It’s not right to say things that could lead to a misunderstanding.”

Village women loved to joke around; Zhou Chengsen had seen it his whole life. Since he was no longer a green youth, he could handle any situation at his age with composure, defusing the awkwardness in just a few sentences.

However, while those words defused the tension for everyone else, Ruan Tang wasn’t particularly happy hearing them.

She found his self-deprecating remark about being an “old cow eating tender grass” and being old enough to be her “uncle” a bit jarring.

If she had known, she never would have called him “Uncle” in the first place!

“Oh, so she’s not! My mistake, my apologies,” the woman quickly said to Ruan Tang.

Ruan Tang managed a smile. “It’s alright.”

Most people felt an instinctive sense of respect toward doctors. Having just heard Zhou Chengsen call her Dr. Ruan, the auntie took the opportunity of Ruan Tang’s response to keep talking. “Dr. Ruan, which hospital do you work at? The town health clinic?”

“No, the hospital in the city.”

The words “hospital in the city” immediately commanded the respect of all the surrounding women.

The city hospitals were all large institutions!

To be a doctor in the city at such a young age—how talented must she be?

Jiang Xia’s friends were truly extraordinary!

Soon, a flock of women began trying to cozy up to Ruan Tang.

They wanted to get to know her and become familiar faces. If they ever had to go to the city hospital in the future, they might be able to ask Ruan Tang for a favor.

After all, who could guarantee they’d never get sick?

Beds at the city hospital were always in short supply.

“Oh my, a doctor at a big city hospital at such a young age? That’s truly impressive!”

“Dr. Ruan, what kind of doctor are you?”

“A pediatrician.” In truth, Ruan Tang was an internist, but when she transferred over, there was only a vacancy in the pediatric department, so she became a pediatric internist.

She had also studied basic surgery and gynecology.

“Oh, a pediatrician! Pediatricians are wonderful!”

Upon learning Ruan Tang was a pediatrician, someone immediately piped up:

“Dr. Ruan, my son’s nose has been running every day. Could you take a look at him?”

“Dr. Ruan, my grandson caught a cold last week and he’s still coughing. Could you help him?”

“Dr. Ruan…”

…

Zhou Chengsen felt that his use of the title “Dr. Ruan” had brought her trouble. He spoke up, “Aunties, how is Dr. Ruan supposed to examine anyone here? There’s no stethoscope, no medicine… even if she looks at your kids, she can’t write a prescription! Besides, Dr. Ruan is beachcombing; her hands smell like fish.”

“She doesn’t need to give us medicine, she can still take a look! Dr. Ruan can write down the name of the medicine, and we can go buy it ourselves. It would still be cheaper than a hospital visit! And I don’t mind the fishy smell! My kid smells worse than fish—he’s rolling in the mud every single day!”

Zhou Chengsen countered, “Doctors prescribe prescription-only medications. The medicine Dr. Ruan might suggest might not even be available for sale outside. Stop making a fuss; Dr. Ruan has to head back in a little while.”

Someone laughed and teased, “A-Sen, if Dr. Ruan isn’t your girlfriend, why are you being so protective of her?”

“Exactly! Anyone who didn’t know better would think she was your woman!”

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

He instinctively looked at Ruan Tang, afraid she would take offense.

Ruan Tang happened to be looking at him at that exact moment.

Their eyes met.

A spark ignited.

Zhou Chengsen’s heart skipped a beat.

Dr. Ruan’s gaze…

He wanted to say something to the crowd, his Adam’s apple bobbing, but he found himself momentarily at a loss for words.

Ruan Tang hadn’t expected Zhou Chengsen to look her way either. She hurriedly averted her eyes, not daring to look at him again.

Jiang Xia stepped in at the right moment. “Dr. Ruan is a guest in our home, and she’s the savior of Yingying and Zhou Zhou. Of course we have to look out for her! Besides, we aren’t at the hospital; there are no medical tools here. How do you expect Dr. Ruan to examine your kids? If you really need help, you should go to the hospital.”

Jiang Xia didn’t suggest going to Ruan Tang’s specific hospital, as that wasn’t a place just anyone could easily visit.

Suppressing her racing heart, Ruan Tang followed the lead of Zhou Chengsen and Jiang Xia. “Aunties, I don’t mind taking a look at your children, but I don’t have a stethoscope with me. Without it, some diagnoses might not be accurate. Also, every doctor has their own prescribing habits, and different hospitals carry different brands. The medicines I usually prescribe are the ones we stock at my hospital, which you might not find outside. Even then, most hospital pharmacies only fulfill prescriptions written by their own doctors. They won’t just give you medicine based on a random slip of paper.”

“It’s fine! Just check my grandson’s pulse and see if he’s almost better or if he needs more medicine.”

“Yes, please look at my daughter too, just to see if we need to take her to a doctor.”

…

Since they were so persistent, Ruan Tang felt it would be rude to keep refusing. Helping out wasn’t a difficult task, so she nodded with a smile. “Alright. are the children here? I’ll take a look at them now. I have to return to the city once we’re done at the beach.”

The women immediately scrambled. “I’ll go back and call her right now!”

“I’m going to go drag that brat over here!”

…

The group ran off to find their children.

People with healthy kids and sick kids alike went to fetch them. Most of them felt their children had some minor ailment that wasn’t quite worth paying for a doctor’s visit. Now that there was a free doctor available, they naturally jumped at the chance.

Ruan Tang was finally left with a bit of space.

The fishing net was very long. Most of the men were at Father Zhou’s end, which was quite a distance away. Zhou Chengsen was only at this end to keep an eye on the children.

Zhou Chengsen said to Ruan Tang, “Some of the women in the village are like that—thick-skinned and bold enough to ask for anything. If you find it a bother, you have to be a bit thick-skinned like them and just say no.”

Ruan Tang looked at him and smiled. “It’s okay. This isn’t a problem for me, and I don’t find it bothersome. It’s just the villagers’ enthusiasm. It’s a small thing I can do since I’m free anyway. Serving the people is what I should do.”

Zhou Chengsen looked at the gentle curve of her eyes and turned his gaze away.

He had rarely seen her smile before. Except when she was with the children, she had always seemed cold and standoffish toward adults, her words often having a sharp edge. Seeing her again this time, she seemed to be smiling much more.

Chapter 666: Great-Grandma is Up to Something

Great-Grandma had also come down to the shore for beachcombing, and she was currently watching the two of them exchange meaningful glances.

She had originally thought there might be something brewing between Ruan Tang and Zhou Chengsen. After all, the way this young girl looked at the second son wasn’t quite ordinary!

But did she already have a partner?

She leaned in close to Ruan Tang and asked, “Dr. Ruan, is your partner a doctor as well?”

Ruan Tang looked at Great-Grandma and smiled. “No.”

“Then what does your partner do for a living?”

Ruan Tang had grilled food with Great-Grandma the night before. She had a good impression of this aunt who held an extremely high seniority in the family but still seemed quite young at heart. She replied with a smile, “Great-Grandma, I don’t actually have a partner yet!”

Great-Grandma knew she hadn’t misread the situation. She shot a glance at Zhou Chengsen and said with a grin, “How about I introduce someone to you?”

Ruan Tang’s heart skipped a beat for some reason. “Alright!”

Seeing Great-Grandma’s beaming face, Zhou Chengsen immediately felt a sense of foreboding. He hurriedly called out, “Great-Grandma, don’t go playing matchmaker where it’s not wanted!”

Great-Grandma looked at him with a smile. “What’s the matter? What are you so anxious for? Scared I’ll introduce Xiao Tang to someone else?”

Zhou Chengsen replied, “You’re joking again! I’m just afraid Dr. Ruan will be too embarrassed to refuse you. As for Dr. Ruan’s marriage, her parents will surely take care of that.”

Great-Grandma wasn’t going to fall for this cunning boy’s tricks. Back then, hadn’t she used a single snake to settle things between Xiao Xia and A-Lei?

“I’m not joking! And don’t push it off on Xiao Tang! She just said I could introduce someone! Even if parents worry about it, they still rely on others to make introductions. One more introduction means one more choice.”

Great-Grandma then said to Ruan Tang, “Xiao Tang, don’t you worry. I’m not playing a random matchmaker; I’m acting as a herald of a perfect union! I’ve seen those common lovers’ matches—they’re unreliable! The couples I pick out usually never go wrong. After Xiao Xia and A-Lei moved to the old house, I took one look at them and knew their future wouldn’t be anything but wonderful, and they’d be a devoted couple. You see, I wasn’t wrong, was I?”

Ruan Tang smiled. “Great-Grandma has sharp eyes.”

“Xiao Xia, don’t you think what Great-Grandma said is right?”

Jiang Xia felt that Great-Grandma was starting to stir things up again, but she still smiled and said, “An elder in the family is like a hidden treasure. Great-Grandma’s words are golden; everything she says is right.”

Satisfied, Great-Grandma thought they were truly a pair of good children. She then turned back to Ruan Tang. “Xiao Tang, what do you think of our boy Sen?”

The “boy Sen,” who was well into his years, was speechless.

Zhou Chengsen, who considered himself thick-skinned enough that nothing could embarrass him, for the first time wanted to be a razor clam and burrow deep into the sand to hide.

Ruan Tang looked toward Zhou Chengsen.

Great-Grandma was still waiting for Ruan Tang’s answer.

However, before she could get one, someone came running over, dragging their grandson along. “Dr. Ruan, this is my grandson. Could you take a look at him? He’s been coughing for a long time.”

Ruan Tang snapped back to reality and smiled. “Of course.”

The feeling in her heart was hard to describe. She didn’t know if she was relieved or disappointed, or perhaps a bit of both.

Suppreing all her emotions, Ruan Tang began to check the child over.

Zhou Chengsen truly breathed a sigh of relief. He caught a glimpse of her serious expression before shifting his gaze away and turning to walk toward his father.

Great-Grandma got angry just looking at his retreating back. She picked up a clam and threw it at him!

She had created the opportunity for him, yet he didn’t know how to take the initiative!

Hit in the back, Zhou Chengsen looked back once, rubbed his nose, and continued walking.

Great-Grandma, please stop causing trouble.

Dr. Ruan was wonderful, but he was a divorcee with a child. He really didn’t have the heart to drag her down with him.

While Ruan Tang was checking the child’s pulse, she glanced in Zhou Chengsen’s direction. Soon, her attention was pulled back as another woman ran over with a child. She smiled and said, “Please wait a moment, let me finish looking at this child first.”

Soon, Ruan Tang was surrounded by several women.

Jiang Xia continued gathering her fish, shrimp, and crabs.

Slowly, the fish caught in the fishing nets were mostly gathered. Ruan Tang was still surrounded by quite a few people; both children and adults were asking her to check their pulses.

Mainly, it was because her diagnoses were incredibly accurate!

Zhou Chenglei was beside Jiang Xia, pulling in the nets. Jiang Xia smiled and said, “We’ll give some of these shrimp to Dr. Ruan and the others later, and also bring 1 kg to my parents.”

“Alright,” Zhou Chenglei agreed, taking the nets back to the shore first.

A middle-aged aunt happened to be walking by and overheard Jiang Xia’s words. Seeing that Jiang Xia had gathered over half a bucket of shrimp—each as long as a palm—she stopped.

These shrimp were so meaty. She loved eating shrimp of this size.

However, they were too expensive; she usually couldn’t bear to buy them.

People said that the city wife A-Lei had married was generous—paying high wages to workers and frequently giving them gifts.

She squatted down and leaned in toward Jiang Xia. “These shrimp are delicious! So much meat!”

Jiang Xia glanced at her. “Mhm.”

“You’re A-Lei’s wife, right? I’m A-Lei’s Great-Aunt.”

In their village, everyone’s surname was Zhou. Hundreds of years ago, they all shared the same great-ancestor. They were all aunts, grand-aunts, or cousins of some sort. Jiang Xia was used to it and followed suit, calling her “Great-Aunt” with a smile.

“A-Lei’s wife, I love these shrimp the most. Could you give me a few? You have so many here, you can’t possibly eat them all!”

Jiang Xia replied, “Great-Aunt, there are plenty more in the sea. You should go out and catch some! I don’t even have enough here.”

Father Zhou saw this skinflint and immediately walked over. “We can’t give the shrimp away. My grandsons love them too; I was even worried there wouldn’t be enough for them. Do you want a few grey mullets?”

What a joke. Shrimps this large were rarely caught even with a trawl net. Selling just one would fetch a few mao!

Of course, Father Zhou wasn’t going to sell these; they were for gifts and for the family to eat.

Wealth-bringer and the younger son were returning to the capital the day after tomorrow. Once they were in the capital, they wouldn’t be able to eat such fresh large shrimp.

Father Zhou picked out a few grey mullets for her.

“I don’t want these fish. Such small fish have too many bones and little meat. What if I get a bone stuck in my throat? Give me a sea bass! Just this one.” She pointed to the largest one.

“If you don’t want them, then forget it. I can’t give you the sea bass! Catch whatever you want to eat yourself! The sea has everything!” Father Zhou tossed the grey mullets back into the crate.

He had only offered those few grey mullets out of consideration for the distant relative connection.

The woman was a cousin of Father Zhou.

Her grandfather and Father Zhou’s grandfather were cousins.

In any case, by their grandfathers’ generation, they were already secondary cousins. With relatives separated by so many generations, they usually stayed far away when there was trouble but swarmed in whenever there was something to gain.

The relationship was no different from that of ordinary neighbors.

Furthermore, she had been married off for so many years; the bond was even weaker than with a regular neighbor!

Besides, this woman was also an aunt from Li Xiuxian’s mother’s side of the family.

Now, Father Zhou wanted to stay away from her even more.

The Great-Aunt pursed her lips and walked away. Coming near Ruan Tang, she said pointedly, “Stingy enough to refuse a few shrimp and a fish! You haven’t changed in decades—miserly since you were kids! People like your family, who abandon a devoted wife the moment you get money… even if you find success, you won’t keep your wealth! You’ll go bankrupt sooner or later! The whole family is nothing but harsh, petty people!”

She had heard from Xiuxian’s mother that Zhou Chengsen had found a doctor as a girlfriend!

Such a good girl shouldn’t marry into a harsh family like the Zhous!

Father Zhou simply spat on the ground!

He didn’t even bother to acknowledge her.

The tide was starting to come in.

Chapter 667: She Knew

The tide was starting to come in, so Father Zhou said to Jiang Xia, “Call Dr. Ruan and the others. It’s time to go! The tide is rising!”

“Alright.”

Zhou Chenglei put the fishing nets back onto the tractor, then returned to Jiang Xia’s side. He picked up the two buckets of fish she had gathered, placed them into crates, and carried them back.

Jiang Xia grabbed Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying, then went to call for Ruan Tang. “Dr. Ruan, let’s go! The tide is coming in!”

“Okay!” Ruan Tang responded. She then gave one last instruction to the woman she was speaking with: “Remember to go to the hospital for a check-up. From your pulse, I feel you might have some heart issues. It’s safer to get it checked.”

“Alright, no wonder I always feel a tightness in my chest. Thank you, Dr. Ruan.”

Ruan Tang then addressed the crowd, “The tide is rising, so I have to go. Everyone should head back to shore quickly! I’ll see you all again if there’s another chance.”

Once the tide started coming in, they had to leave immediately. They were still quite a distance from the shore. If they didn’t hurry, it would be dangerous.

Not daring to delay, everyone began making their way back.

Ruan Tang arrived at Jiang Xia’s side.

Zhou Chengsen approached, carrying a load of fish over his shoulder, and their eyes met instinctively once again.

Zhou Chengsen gave Ruan Tang a small smile. “The villagers are quite enthusiastic, aren’t they?”

He had regained his calm and composure, acting as if Great-Grandma’s joke from earlier had never happened.

Ruan Tang nodded. “Indeed.”

Just moments ago, she had been worried it would be awkward, but a man like him, as long as he was willing, would not let the other person feel uncomfortable.

It wasn’t awkward, but she felt a flicker of disappointment.

Jiang Xia glanced at Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang, then looked toward the shore. It felt like they still had a long walk ahead of them.

After walking for a long time, they finally reached the shore.

Once there, Zhou Chenglei moved two crates of fish onto the tractor. He climbed up and pushed the crates to the very back to make room for everyone to sit.

Zhou Chengsen also moved his two crates of fish onto the tractor. Zhou Chenglei reached out and pulled them to the back as well.

Some villagers asked Zhou Chenglei to help carry their catch back to the village. Zhou Chenglei told them to place it in the trailer and come to his house later to collect it.

Then, he jumped off the tractor. “Second Brother, you drive the tractor back. Xiao Xia and I will head back on the motorcycle first. I’m worried the kids might wake up.”

Zhou Chengsen replied, “Sure, leave things here to me. You two head back first!”

Jiang Xia said to Ruan Tang and the others, “Dr. Ruan, Nurse Li, Nurse Qiu, I’m heading back first. See you in a bit!”

The three of them waved at Jiang Xia. “See you in a bit.”

With that, Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia left first.

Zhou Chengsen lifted Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying onto the tractor, then asked Ruan Tang and the others to climb up.

As the three women boarded the tractor, he stood by the side, watching them. He only watched to ensure they didn’t fall; he did not offer a hand to help them up.

However, when Great-Grandma climbed on, he did reach out to support her.

Great-Grandma slapped his hand away. “I’m not that old yet!”

He doesn’t help the one he should help!

He’s not nearly as sensible as Lei!

Thinking back to when Xiao Xia was afraid of snakes, that boy held onto her in broad daylight and wouldn’t let go!

Zhou Chengsen pretended not to understand her meaning.

He silently wished Great-Grandma wouldn’t push things. He had enough self-awareness to know there was too great a gap between him and Ruan Tang. They weren’t a good match. It would be a disservice to her.

Li Xiuxian had also come beachcombing today. Seeing Zhou Chengsen standing guard as Ruan Tang boarded the vehicle felt like an eyesore to her.

She had also seen the crowd surrounding Ruan Tang earlier, seeking medical advice. It was as if Ruan Tang couldn’t wait to show off her status as a doctor even while beachcombing.

Li Xiuxian walked over and said to Zhou Chengsen, “I have something to say to Yingying. I’ll take the tractor back as well.”

Zhou Chengsen gave her a cool glance. “There’s no room. If you have something to say, say it now.”

“It’s not convenient to say it now.”

Great-Grandma stretched a leg across the remaining space. “There’s no room! This spot is for A-Sen’s father and Great-Grandpa.”

Li Xiuxian: “…”

Li Xiuxian turned to her daughter. “Yingying, Mommy has something for you. How about I hold you while we sit?”

“Okay!” Zhou Ying replied.

Great-Grandma’s face darkened. Truly shameless, using the child like that!

Li Xiuxian didn’t care about Great-Grandma. She didn’t want to walk back; it was too far! She started to climb onto the tractor and instinctively reached for Zhou Chengsen’s arm for leverage. In the past, he would have naturally supported her to make it easier for her to get up.

But this time, her hand grasped at thin air. Zhou Chengsen had already moved away.

Li Xiuxian pulled her hand back and looked at him.

Zhou Chengsen looked at the ground expressionlessly and said calmly, “Sorry, the road is bumpy. It wouldn’t be right to let a pregnant woman like you hold Yingying while sitting. If something happens, we can’t take responsibility. Yingying, get down and talk to your mother. Daddy will wait for you.”

“Okay!” Zhou Ying obediently climbed down.

Li Xiuxian: “…”

Zhou Chengsen is so heartless!

Great-Grandma said cheerfully, “You should be careful with the child in your womb. This is the Liao family’s only heir for several generations, isn’t it? The Liao family is so anxious about your belly. I heard you’re feeling unwell every few days. I really don’t dare let you ride the tractor. If something goes wrong, you might blame it on our A-Sen. If you have something to say to Yingying, say it quickly.”

Li Xiuxian: “…”

Those words were incredibly biting!

She actually had nothing to say to Zhou Ying. She just wanted Ruan Tang to know that she was Yingying’s mother and Zhou Chengsen’s ex-wife.

“Yingying, it’s a holiday today. Do you want to go to Grandma’s place with Mommy to play?” She still hadn’t given up.

Great-Grandma pursed her lips. She knew that was just an excuse! If it were something “inconvenient,” why say it now?

That was why she had ignored Zhou Ying’s feelings and firmly refused. Otherwise, if it happened once, it would happen again. She didn’t want this woman constantly seeking attention and making things unpleasant once A-Sen eventually married a new wife.

Of course, she also felt bad for Zhou Ying. But the reality was already set, and the child had to learn to accept it. Besides, no matter what the child faced today, it wasn’t her father’s fault! He just needed to be himself.

Since Zhou Chengsen couldn’t bring himself to be firm with the child, she would do it for him.

“Yingying, why don’t you walk with your mother to Grandma’s place then?”

After all this time, Zhou Ying already knew what divorce meant. She knew her mother had married someone else and was going to have a baby brother with him. She knew her mother was the one who had wronged her father.

She said, “Mommy, I’ll walk back to Grandma’s place with you. Dad, you guys go ahead!”

Great-Grandma smiled. “Yingying is such a good girl.”

Just then, Father Zhou and Great-Grandpa walked over slowly.

Great-Grandma urged them irritably, “Can’t you two hurry up? The sun is setting. Do you want to walk back yourselves?”

Great-Grandpa was most afraid of Great-Grandma getting angry. Not knowing how he had crossed her this time, he quickly picked up his pace.

The two men hurried to the tractor, set down their tools, and nimbly climbed on.

Zhou Chengsen instructed his daughter, “Then go play at Grandma’s place. Daddy is going back now and will come pick you up later.”

Zhou Ying nodded. “Okay!”

Zhou Ying then said goodbye to Ruan Tang and the others on the vehicle. “Sister Ruan, Nurse Sisters, goodbye.”

Ruan Tang smiled and waved. “Goodbye.”

Ruan Tang was young and beautiful, possessing a naturally cool and elegant temperament. The morning sun fell on her smiling face, making her look like a white peony blooming quietly in the sunlight—delicate and heart-stirring.

Li Xiuxian felt a pang of jealousy seeing Ruan Tang’s smile. She looked at Zhou Chengsen and saw that he was also looking at Ruan Tang.

Her heart felt even more stifled. She grabbed her daughter’s hand. “Let’s go!”

Zhou Chengsen withdrew his gaze and gave her a cold, warning look. Then he said to his daughter, “Daddy will pick you up at 11:00 AM.”

With that, he started the tractor and drove away.

Watching the tractor disappear into the distance, Li Xiuxian felt a wave of panic for the first time. Zhou Chengsen was actually heartless enough to leave his daughter behind!

Did this man truly no longer belong to her? She had thought that as long as they had Zhou Ying, she and he would always be connected. But reality seemed different from what she had imagined.

Zhou Ying tugged at Li Xiuxian’s hand. “Mommy, let’s go. Let’s go back to Grandma’s place!”

Feeling panicked, Li Xiuxian couldn’t suppress her temper. “Go where? You’re completely useless! You couldn’t even help Mommy get onto the tractor.”

Zhou Ying lowered her head and didn’t speak again.

Li Xiuxian sighed. “Mommy isn’t scolding you. I’m just a bit angry because your father ignores you and abandons us now that he has that Sister Ruan.”

“I know,” Zhou Ying replied in a small voice. Her originally good mood had completely vanished.

She knew it was her mother who had first abandoned her and her father, not her father who had abandoned them.

Chapter 668: An Accident

When Jiang Xia returned home, Mother Zhou, Second Auntie, and Grandma had just finished feeding the triplets and were preparing to take them out to play.

Seeing their parents return, the triplets excitedly waved their little limbs and babbled, “Eeya… eeya…”

They clearly wanted to be held.

Every morning since they were born, the first thing they saw when they opened their eyes was their parents. But this morning was different. The three little ones had been crying for quite a while, and their eyelashes were still damp with tears.

Jiang Xia’s clothes were dirty.

She smiled and said, “Mama is all smelly right now. I’ll hold you in a little bit.”

The three babies watched as Jiang Xia bypassed them and headed upstairs.

The triplets’ expressions shifted in unison—their little mouths turned down, and they performed that specific “staccato” sob children do right before a full-blown meltdown: “Ah… ah… ah…”

After a few of those hitching breaths, they let out a collective wail!

They all turned their heads together, watching the direction where Jiang Xia had disappeared.

Mother Zhou called out to Jiang Xia, “Don’t rush. We’ll take them out for a stroll. Breakfast is warming in the pot, just bring it out when you’re ready to eat.”

Jiang Xia called back, “Okay!”

Zhou Chenglei walked past at that moment. The triplets’ crying paused for a heartbeat as they stared at their father with teary eyes.

Zhou Chenglei coaxed them, “Daddy is dirty. I’m going to take a shower first, then I’ll hold you.”

Then he, too, walked away.

The triplets cried even louder!

Mother Zhou and Grandma quickly began to soothe them. “Papa and Mama are all messy and smelly! They have to wash up! Let’s go out and play. We’ll go see the sea, look at the fishy-fishes, and see the birds, okay? There are also big geese, mother hens, and big ducks! We can go find some chicken eggs and duck eggs!”

The three women then carried the triplets out the door.

Zhou Bingqiang happened to be carrying his granddaughter out at the same time. Seeing the fair and plump triplets, and then looking at the thin, scrawny granddaughter in his arms, he let out a sigh. Originally, when his granddaughter was born, she had been fair and plump—much heavier than the triplets. He hadn’t expected she would end up like this, looking so frail and lacking a child’s natural spark.

Children have short memories. Once they were outside and saw new things, they were easily distracted.

After Mother Zhou and the others took the triplets out, the crying stopped after only a short while.

On the way, they encountered villagers returning from beachcombing. Everyone looked at the pink, chubby triplets and couldn’t help but stop to coo at them, making the babies grin and giggle.

Everyone couldn’t help but praise them: “Oh my, these three little ones are so handsome! They’re just too cute!”

“The environment in the capital really nurtures people. Look how well our three babies were raised!”

“Of course, that’s the capital! It used to be the place with the strongest auspicious energy. Growing up there, these three will surely be dragons among men in the future!”

…

After praising the babies, people started chatting with Mother Zhou about Ruan Tang. “Dr. Ruan is A-Sen’s girlfriend, isn’t she?”

Mother Zhou was taken some distance back. “No, don’t talk nonsense. Dr. Ruan is Xiao Xia’s friend!”

“I saw them stealing glances at each other; I bet there’s something there! A-Sen is already divorced, and Li Xiuxian has remarried—she’s practically ready to give birth in a few months! I think Dr. Ruan is quite nice. Tell A-Sen to work harder!”

“Exactly! How great would it be to have a doctor as a daughter-in-law? You wouldn’t even have to go to the hospital if you got sick. Besides, A-Sen is a leader now. A leader and a doctor are a perfect match! As his mother, you need to put some heart into this!”

“Oh, stop it, all of you! They aren’t in that kind of relationship, they aren’t dating. I’m not meddling in the children’s affairs anymore! Fate is decided by the heavens. Let nature take its course!”

Despite her words, Mother Zhou was already considering the possibility of Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang.

It was just that her son was a divorcee with a child. It felt like a bit of a slight to Ruan Tang, who had never been married.

She feared Ruan Tang’s parents would look down on him.

Better to let nature take its course!

She wouldn’t interfere.

Just then, the sound of a tractor approached. Everyone knew Zhou Chengsen and the others were back, so the gossip stopped.

Mother Zhou and the two others carried the children toward the beach.

Grandma said to Mother Zhou, “It really would be better for A-Sen to find another wife. Otherwise, once Yingying gets married, he’ll be all alone. It’s not good for the child, either; Yingying won’t be able to stop worrying about him after she marries. Given his situation, don’t set your standards too high. If you can’t find an unmarried girl, a divorcee or a widow is fine too. Don’t mind if she has children, since he has one himself. As long as she has good character, it’s better than growing old alone.”

“I know, and I’m not being picky! But I haven’t been looking for him, and besides, these things can’t be found just because you want them. Whether or not people have the destiny to be husband and wife is up to the heavens. Let those young people do as they like. If we interfere too much, they might not even like it. They aren’t kids anymore; they’re more capable than us and know more than we do. How can we control them? Even if we tried, they wouldn’t necessarily listen.”

Grandma went silent. She already had great-grandchildren; she knew that you couldn’t control children once they grew up, but her heart still couldn’t help but want to worry, always seeing them as children.

After Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia changed their clothes, they went downstairs to prepare breakfast for everyone.

Mother Zhou and Second Auntie had already made it before they left.

After Ruan Tang and the two nurses finished eating, they were ready to return to the city.

Jiang Xia said, “There are no buses to the city at this time. There’s one at one in the afternoon. Stay for lunch before you go.”

Ruan Tang replied, “No, it’s fine. We can wander around the town for a bit, and by the time we’re done, the timing will be just right.”

Great-Grandma said to Zhou Chengsen, “A-Sen, you can take Xiao Tang and the others back later.”

Usually, Zhou Chengsen would have just agreed, but this time he hesitated.

He looked at Zhou Chenglei and said silently with his eyes: You brought her here, you deal with it.

Zhou Chenglei countered, “Sure! Second Brother, why don’t you drive them? I was planning to go, but it’s fine if you do.”

Zhou Chengsen glared at him.

Zhou Chenglei rubbed his temples. “I’ve been staying up late looking after the kids too much lately. My vision has dropped significantly; I can’t see a thing. It looks like I’ll have to catch up on some sleep this afternoon.”

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

As it turned out, Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengsen didn’t need to argue about who would drive Ruan Tang back.

Because something happened to Zhou Ying!

Li Xiuxian’s nephew from her maiden family arrived at the Zhou family home on a bicycle, shouting urgently, “Uncle, Yingying accidentally cracked her head open! There’s so much blood, and she’s fainted! Sister told you to hurry up and bring a car to take her to the hospital.”

Zhou Chengsen’s face turned pale instantly as he rushed to grab the car keys.

Ruan Tang asked urgently, “Where did she hit?”

Li Xiuxian’s nephew pointed vaguely toward the back of his head. “I think it was here. I didn’t see clearly, but there was a lot of blood. Her head hit the table.”

Ruan Tang’s expression became serious. She asked Jiang Xia, “Is there a medical kit? Or some hemostatic medicine and cotton balls? I’ll go over and help stop the bleeding first. We should take the car so we can get her to the hospital quickly.”

Jiang Xia replied, “Yes, we have one!”

Zhou Chenglei had already pulled out the medical kit. “Let’s go! I’ll drive.”

He took the keys from Zhou Chengsen; no one here had better driving skills than him.

Jiang Xia hurried to Mother Zhou’s room and grabbed several newly bought, washed-but-unused diapers. These diapers were made of gauze; she was afraid the gauze in the medical kit wouldn’t be enough.

The family piled into the car and left in a hurry, leaving only Grandpa to watch the house.

As Zhou Chenglei started the engine, he asked, “Is Yingying at your house?”

Li Xiuxian’s nephew quickly replied, “No, not at our house. She’s at the Liao family home.”

Zhou Chengsen was shaking with rage.

Was Li Xiuxian crazy? What was she thinking, taking Zhou Ying to the Liao house?

Zhou Chenglei floored the accelerator, and the car sped off.

When the family arrived at the Liao residence, Jiang Xia could already hear the sound of Li Xiuxian arguing with another woman.

Chapter 669: Don’t Touch My Daughter

Inside the house

Li Xiuxian was holding the unconscious Zhou Ying and arguing with Liao Ruixiang’s second sister!

Her hand was pressed against the back of Zhou Ying’s head, covered in blood.

Li Xiuxian’s hands trembled slightly in panic:

“You think you’re in the right? How did you teach your son? Snatching my daughter’s toy and then pushing her down, and you still have the nerve to argue? I’m telling you, if anything happens to my daughter today, I’ll make your son pay with his life!”

Liao Ruixue held her son, looking at the slap mark on his face, and flew into a rage:

“Kids snatching toys is perfectly normal! He didn’t do it on purpose. How could an adult like you hit a child? Besides, this family’s surname is Liao, not Zhou! Why did you bring your child from your previous marriage to the Liao family home? If you hadn’t brought her here, none of this would have happened!”

“What’s wrong with me bringing my daughter? This is my home! You’re the one who’s married out—you shouldn’t be running back to your parents’ home every other day to scrounge for handouts! You shouldn’t be bringing your son back! And it was Liao Ruixiang who told me to bring Yingying! He said my daughter is his daughter!”

Liao Ruixue looked at Liao Ruixiang: “Little brother, tell me! Am I not allowed to come back to this family anymore?”

Li Xiuxian: “Ruixiang, throw her out right now!”

Liao Ruixiang’s head was pounding: “Can you two stop arguing!”

Li Xiuxian: “Are you going to throw her out or not? Ow, my stomach hurts! You’ve made me so angry my stomach hurts! Liao Ruixiang, are you going to throw her out or not? Do you want to anger our son to death?”

Liao Ruixiang felt a wave of frustration. Here we go again!

Zhou Chengsen strode in quickly. He saw Yingying lying on the ground with her eyes closed, Li Xiuxian half-holding her, her hand pressed against the girl’s head covered in blood.

Li Xiuxian’s clothes and the floor were both stained with blood.

His legs went weak for a moment!

Jiang Xia reached out to steady him, then saw Zhou Ying’s condition and felt a surge of panic. She called out urgently: “Dr. Ruan!”

Ruan Tang had already knelt down with her medical bag, taking out gauze and cotton balls.

When Li Xiuxian saw Ruan Tang approaching with cotton balls and gauze, she instinctively recoiled: “Don’t touch my daughter!”

Ruan Tang: “I’m a doctor. Let me check on Yingying and stop the bleeding first.”

“No need! Zhou Chengsen, take Yingying to the hospital.”

Zhou Chengsen roared: “Shut up!”

Li Xiuxian: “…”

Zhou Chengsen then said to Ruan Tang: “Dr. Ruan, please continue. I’ll assist you.”

If anything happened to Yingying, he wouldn’t let Li Xiuxian off, nor the Liao family!

Ruan Tang took gauze and cotton balls from the medical bag to press against Zhou Ying’s wound, stopping the bleeding. Then she said to Zhou Chengsen: “Carry Yingying to the car. Go to the hospital immediately, to the city.”

The health clinic in town probably didn’t have an ambulance, and many diagnostic equipment were unavailable.

Zhou Chengsen carefully picked up his daughter and walked out.

Jiang Xia had already run out to open the car door.

Zhou Chenglei had already turned the car around. Seeing Zhou Ying’s condition, his eyes sharpened.

Once they were in the car and seated, Zhou Chenglei stepped on the accelerator, and the car shot forward like a bolt.

Inside the house, Li Xiuxian followed them out.

Liao Ruixiang grabbed her: “You’re heavily pregnant and your stomach hurts. You won’t be able to help even if you go.”

Liao’s mother looked at the bloodstains on the floor and couldn’t help muttering: “What bad luck!”

Hearing this, Li Xiuxian’s anger flared up again!

She started arguing with the Liao family members once more.

In the car, although Ruan Tang wasn’t a surgeon, she wasn’t completely ignorant about surgery—she had studied it.

She had also studied traditional Chinese medicine pulse-taking.

She took Zhou Ying’s pulse in the car and felt slightly relieved. “The bleeding has stopped. Being hit in this spot isn’t as frightening. It probably isn’t as serious as we thought. Yingying likely fainted from shock, or has a mild concussion. We’ll need to wait until we get to the hospital for an examination to know for sure.”

Ruan Tang’s medical skills weren’t as impressive as Gao Jie’s, and neurosurgery wasn’t her specialty, so she couldn’t confidently say everything was fine. They needed imaging to know for certain.

But seeing how frightened they were, she offered some reassurance first.

Nurse Li also comforted them: “From what I can see, it’s just a superficial wound. The brain should be fine.”

Nurse Qiu nodded and added: “Seven or eight times out of ten, it’s just a superficial injury. No need to worry too much.”

They were medical staff who had seen many situations, but patients and their families hadn’t, so it was normal for them to feel afraid and tense.

Because patients didn’t understand, they tended to imagine the worst.

Zhou Chengsen just looked at his daughter and nodded.

Jiang Xia thanked them.

Ruan Tang used a cotton ball to wipe the blood off Zhou Ying’s face.

The road was rough, but Zhou Chenglei got them to the hospital in less than half an hour.

Under Ruan Tang’s arrangements, Zhou Ying was quickly sent for examination.

Ruan Tang personally went into the examination room to see the imaging results.

Soon, she came out. “Rest assured, there’s no brain hemorrhage for now. Just a mild concussion. We’ll admit her for observation first.”

Soon, Zhou Ying was brought out and taken to have her wound re-bandaged.

Ruan Tang followed to help.

After the wound was bandaged and an IV drip was set up, Zhou Ying was sent to a hospital room. Not long after, she woke up.

The moment she opened her eyes and saw the IV bottle, Zhou Ying immediately started crying: “I don’t want an injection, I don’t want an injection…”

Ruan Tang held her down and soothed: “Yingying, don’t move. The needle is already in. If you pull it out, they’ll have to stick you again. And I give really painful injections! Ask your dad if you don’t believe me!”

Zhou Ying: “…”

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

Jiang Xia: “The bravest girl I’ve ever met is Yingying. She’s not even afraid of snakes, so she definitely wouldn’t be afraid of injections. I’m so scared of snakes, yet I’m not afraid of injections. How could Yingying be afraid? Right, Yingying?”

Ruan Tang added: “Yingying is the bravest child I’ve ever met. She’s not afraid of injections, right?”

Zhou Ying looked at the two women and felt like she’d been tricked again!

She glanced at the needle in her hand. Now she wasn’t afraid anymore—it was already in.

“Right, I am pretty brave. I’m not afraid of injections. I’m not even afraid of snakes, so how could I be afraid of injections? I’m braver than Auntie (wife of younger brother of husband/father). Auntie is even afraid of geckos.”

Zhou Ying stopped fussing about not wanting the injection, but she didn’t dare move the hand with the needle in it.

Seeing his daughter could cry and fuss, Zhou Chengsen finally felt relieved. He held his daughter’s hand: “Yingying is so brave, braver than Dad! If you hurt your head and don’t get injections, you might become silly. We have to listen to the doctor and never be afraid of injections again.”

Only then did Zhou Ying belatedly feel some pain in her head.

“Dad, my head hurts.” She touched the wound with her free hand.

Zhou Chengsen held her hand: “Dad knows. Don’t touch it. After the injection, it won’t hurt anymore soon. Yingying, bear with it.”

Zhou Chengsen decided he would never let Li Xiuxian take Zhou Ying away again.

Zhou Ying suddenly remembered something and became tense: “Dad, where’s my game console? That cousin from the Liao family snatched it from me.”

Ruan Tang picked up the game console from the bedside table: “It’s right here!”

When she had grabbed the medical bag earlier, she’d seen the game console on the floor and knew it was Yingying’s. She’d also heard Li Xiuxian arguing with someone and understood that Yingying had bumped her head while fighting with a boy over the game console. Afraid the girl would cry for it when she woke up, she’d picked it up.

She’d seen too many times how much children cherished their beloved toys and how they’d cry and fuss if they went missing.

Zhou Ying felt relieved.

Zhou Ying was a child who told Zhou Chengsen everything: “Dad, that cousin from my husband’s sister’s family is so mean! He snatched my game console! I never want to play with him again.”

Seeing that Zhou Ying was awake, Ruan Tang guessed Zhou Chengsen probably had things to discuss with his daughter. Moreover, none of them had eaten lunch yet. She said: “I’ll go get you all some food.”

Jiang Xia said: “I’ll go with you.”

Zhou Chenglei: “I’ll go make a phone call home.”

So the three of them left the father and daughter alone.

Chapter 670: Can’t Refuse

Once only the father and daughter were left in the ward, Zhou Chengsen gently stroked his daughter’s head and said, “Daddy is the one who caused Yingying to get hurt. If Daddy hadn’t let you and your mother go to Grandma’s place to play, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Zhou Ying looked at her father’s reddened eyes, which were also bloodshot, and sensing he was about to cry, she touched his face. “It has nothing to do with Daddy. That older boy was just mean! I won’t go to Grandma’s place with Mom anymore, and I won’t go to the Liao family home with Mom either. Daddy, don’t be sad. My injury isn’t your fault. And my head doesn’t hurt anymore. I’m not afraid of injections anymore, so a few more shots won’t be a problem. I’ll get better soon.”

Hearing his daughter say this made Zhou Chengsen even more heartbroken. “If Yingying doesn’t want to go, then don’t go. Daddy won’t let your mom take you there again. It’s not that a few more shots will make you better faster. When you’re injured, you need to rest for a few days to recover. Wounds need time to heal.”

Zhou Ying immediately asked, “So I have to stay in the hospital for a few days?”

“Yes, at least two days. The wound is a bit deep.”

“Then I don’t have to go to school tomorrow? And I don’t have to go to school until my wound is better, right? What if my classmates at school bump my wound? It would hurt a lot!”

In a child’s world, being sick isn’t scary, because you can take time off, which is actually a happy thing.

Zhou Chengsen said helplessly, “The doctor said you can take as many days off as you need.”

Zhou Ying thought Dr. Ruan was her doctor and decided to have a good talk with Ruan Tang.

Zhou Chengsen added, “In the future, if someone tries to snatch your toy, don’t fight them for it, especially boys. If you’re not strong enough, you need to protect yourself first and not get hurt. You can run back and tell Daddy. If Daddy’s not home, you can tell your elder brothers, tell Grandpa and Grandma, and Big Brother, so Daddy and your elder brothers can go find them, understand?”

“Understood. This time, he was only two grades above me. Otherwise, I definitely could have won against him! Fourth Brother tried to snatch my game console, and I won!”

“That’s because your Fourth Brother was letting you win! Anyway, outside, at school, if you encounter boys bullying you, don’t confront them directly. Use your wits. Find a teacher, find your elder brothers, or go home and find an adult…”

…

When Jiang Xia and the other two returned with the food, Zhou Chengsen had already finished educating his daughter.

This was a private ward, and the few of them ate together.

Jiang Xia thought about how girls often suffer more when facing bullying from boys, so she said, “How about letting Yingying and Zhou Zhou learn some self-defense? It can both protect them and strengthen their bodies.”

Ruan Tang’s eyes lit up and she nodded. “That’s a great idea!”

Jiang Xia looked at Zhou Chenglei. “Can you teach them?”

Zhou Chenglei nodded. “Yes, I’ll teach them after winter break.”

Zhou Ying, who was eating porridge, almost choked.

Is Auntie (wife of younger brother of husband/father) a demon?

She didn’t want to learn martial arts!

Learning martial arts from Uncle (younger brother of husband/father) was too terrible!

All four of her elder brothers had learned martial arts from Uncle (younger brother of husband/father), and it was really too hard!

They were punished terribly, terribly, by Uncle (younger brother of husband/father)!

And they had to wake up half an hour earlier every morning to work out.

She already woke up very early for school, and now she’d have to wake up half an hour earlier? That’s insane!

Zhou Chengsen also thought it was good for girls to learn some martial arts, but his fourth brother’s teaching methods were not suitable for girls. He still cared deeply for his daughter. “I’ll teach them myself.”

Zhou Chengsen had also learned from Zhou Chenglei. Of course, he wasn’t as skilled as Zhou Chenglei and only knew one or two moves, but he could still teach the basics.

Moreover, Zhou Chengsen didn’t expect the two girls in his family to be formidable fighters. Learning one or two moves to catch someone off guard and take them down would be enough.

Zhou Ying instantly hated the guy who snatched her toy!

He was the reason she had to learn martial arts.

She was going to tell Big Brother.

She would have Big Brother teach him a lesson.

Ruan Tang looked at Zhou Chengsen, “Can I learn too? I can come to you for half a day every week.”

Zhou Chengsen, “…”

Zhou Ying immediately said, “Great! Sister Ruan, let’s learn together!”

Ruan Tang chuckled, “I’d like to, but I don’t know if your daddy will teach me.”

Zhou Ying: “Daddy! Teach Sister Ruan too!”

Zhou Chengsen felt a headache coming on. “Daddy doesn’t know much, just one or two moves. When your Uncle (younger brother of husband/father)…”

Ruan Tang: “One or two moves are enough! I don’t have time to learn too much either.”

Zhou Ying nodded. “Exactly, one or two moves are enough! I still have to study! I don’t want to learn from Uncle (younger brother of husband/father) either!”

Uncle (younger brother of husband/father) was very scary when he taught people!

What else could Zhou Chengsen say?

Thinking of the bruise on Ruan Tang’s waist, he couldn’t refuse to teach Ruan Tang one or two moves either.

Zhou Ying still needed to stay in the hospital for two or three days. After dinner, Jiang Xia glanced at the time and said, “Second Brother, A-Lei and I will head back first.”

She left the key to their house in the city with Zhou Chengsen.

The guest room in the city had a complete set of clothes for their family. After bringing them last time, Jiang Xia had everyone leave one or two outfits there, so they wouldn’t have to worry about not having clothes if they stayed the night in the city in the future.

And it saved them the trouble of bringing clothes every time.

Zhou Chengsen sometimes had to attend meetings in the city and needed to stay overnight, so he would also stay at their house.

It was Jiang Xia who told him not to stay at outside guesthouses but to stay at their house.

A house needed to feel lived-in to be good.

However, Father Jiang now went up to their rooftop and balcony every morning to water the vegetables and flowers, and cleaned the house once a week, so it wasn’t lacking human presence.

Because he needed to make something nourishing and promote wound healing for his daughter, Zhou Chengsen took the key. “Drive carefully on your way back.”

Jiang Xia said hello to Ruan Tang again, then left.

As the Jeep drove back to the village and passed the pier, Li Xiuxian waved, trying to stop the Jeep.

Zhou Chenglei ignored her completely and drove straight past.

Li Xiuxian: “…”

She just wanted to know about Yingying’s condition, did they have to be like this!

However, seeing that Zhou Ying and Zhou Chengsen weren’t in the car, Li Xiuxian couldn’t help but worry again.

So Yingying was in the hospital?

Was it very serious?

Li Xiuxian truly loved her daughter. She quickly followed the Jeep’s tail and walked towards the Zhou family home.

When the Jeep stopped in front of the house, the whole family heard the sound of the car and rushed out. “Xiao Xia/A-Lei, is Yingying alright?”

Jiang Xia reassured them, “She’s fine, just a superficial injury. The wound is a little deep, and she has a slight concussion, so she needs to stay in the hospital for two days.”

What Jiang Xia said was similar to what Zhou Chenglei had reported over the phone.

But Mother Zhou was still worried. “I’ll go to the city to take care of Yingying then. A-Sen has to work tomorrow.”

Zhou Chenglei, “Second Brother took leave, Mom. You just stay home. Yingying will be discharged soon. I’ll take you to see Yingying tomorrow.”

Grandma heard this and said, “Go buy some pigeons and stew a soup for Yingying. Pigeons are good for wound healing.”

Mother Zhou no longer worried. “Right, I’ll soak more sea cucumbers. Sea cucumbers are good for wound healing too.”

Jiang Xia: “Soak more. You can take them to the city and put them in the refrigerator at home, it will be convenient for Second Brother to make them for Yingying.”

“Alright,” Mother Zhou responded.

Father Zhou: “Shouldn’t we pack two sets of clothes for A-Sen and Yingying?”

Jiang Xia: “No need, Second Brother’s and Yingying’s clothes are at the house in the city.”

Father Zhou nodded when he heard this. “Right, I forgot.”

At this moment, Li Xiuxian arrived at the Zhou family home and saw the house next to Jiang Xia’s house. It looked exactly like Jiang Xia’s house, but one story shorter.

Chapter 671: Feeling a Little Bit Better

Knowing that this was the house Zhou Chengsen had built, Li Xiuxian felt a wave of mixed emotions and a sharp pang of bitterness.

The courtyard gate was made of wrought iron, and through its ornate patterns, she could see the garden inside.

Many flowers were planted there, though the varieties were a bit mismatched and cluttered; at a glance, it was clearly the work of her daughter.

Zhou Chengsen must have stayed by her side while she planted them.

He had always been patient with their daughter, willing to accompany her in anything and letting her have her way.

A perfectly good garden, turned into a mess.

Li Xiuxian felt a surge of irritation just looking at it!

If she had been the one to arrange it, she would have made it far more beautiful than the garden Jiang Xia had.

But then, Li Xiuxian quickly remembered that she and Zhou Chengsen were divorced; she no longer had the right to arrange anything in this house.

The house was beautiful—the kind of home she had always dreamed of—but unfortunately, it was no longer hers.

Feeling a weight in her chest, Li Xiuxian stopped looking and walked into the Zhou family home. As it happened, the entire family was still in the yard.

She asked directly, “Yingying, is she alright?”

As soon as Li Xiuxian’s voice rang out, the whole family went silent.

Mother Zhou had already gone to the Liao family home earlier that day to make a scene and throw a fit; she hadn’t expected this woman to have the audacity to show up at their door!

Grandma was the first to snap back to reality. She immediately grabbed a slop bucket from the kitchen door and splashed the contents toward her. “Get the hell out of here!! What did you come here for? Haven’t you caused enough misery for A-Sen and Yingying already?”

Her grandson was a good man, a leader in his work unit! He was someone who carried himself with dignity!

Yet he had been cuckolded by this wretched woman!

He was mocked whenever he stepped outside!

He had become the laughingstock of the entire village!

If the people in his work unit found out, how could he ever hold his head high in front of his subordinates? How could he maintain his authority?

How much courage did it take for him to face the villagers and the people at his unit every day as if nothing was wrong?

And then there was her great-granddaughter, Yingying!

What a well-behaved child she was.

At such a young age, her home had been broken, and she was mocked by her classmates when she went out!

She couldn’t even attend the primary school in town anymore and had to return to the village school!

And now, a perfectly healthy child had been beaten until her head bled and was currently lying in the hospital!

The whole family had been sick with worry for half the day!

Fuming with rage, Grandma grabbed a broom and started swatting at Li Xiuxian. “Are you leaving or not! Get out! Don’t you dare step foot in my daughter’s house ever again! Don’t you dare come within half a step of my grandson or Yingying! Or I’ll beat you to death!”

This was the slop Mother Zhou had been saving all day, preparing to boil it as pig feed.

Though the weather was cold and the slop didn’t smell too foul, it was filled with food scraps and leftovers.

Mother Zhou was so frugal she wouldn’t even pour out vegetable juice, dumping it all into the slop bucket for the pigs.

Li Xiuxian was drenched, her hair and face covered in it. Just as she was reeling from the disgust, the broom came swinging down!

She screamed and ran out.

Grandma chased after her.

The ground was slippery, and fearing Grandma might fall, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei quickly stepped forward to support her.

They only held her up; they didn’t stop her.

They let her continue chasing and hitting Li Xiuxian.

“I’m telling you! If anything happens to Yingying, I’ll give up my own life just to beat you to death! You don’t deserve to live! Your life is nothing but a scourge! A scourge to my grandson! A scourge to my granddaughter!”

Grandma was truly incensed. She was old, but an old mother is still a mother, and she still viewed the aging Mother Zhou and her grown grandson as children.

She might be old, but she still had the strength to protect her children.

Everyone in this house was her child.

It broke her heart to see any of them hurt.

Because she was old, she was no longer afraid of anything.

“From now on, if you ever dare to get within half a step of A-Sen and his daughter again, I’ll kill you even if it costs me my life! I’m telling you, I’ve lived long enough! I’m not afraid of death! If I kill you and go to prison, I’ve still come out ahead—I won’t even need my children to provide for me or look after me anymore!”

Li Xiuxian was struck by the broom several times and fled in a panic.

“You scourge! If you dare come near them again, just see if I won’t do it! My wonderful grandson, my wonderful granddaughter! You’ve ruined them! You’re nothing but a drag! Stay away from them! Don’t show your face! If you show up, I’ll beat you to death!…”

Grandma chased her for a distance and only stopped when she threw the worn-out broom at her.

She ceased her pursuit only because the villagers had started coming out to watch the commotion.

She turned to Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei, who were supporting her. “Alright, let go! I’m not so old that I can’t run.”

Only then did the two release her.

Zhou Chenglei went to retrieve the broom.

Jiang Xia switched to linking her arm with Grandma’s to lead her home.

It wasn’t good for an elderly person to get too worked up, so Jiang Xia tried to coax her. “Grandma, you were so mighty, so amazing! You’re my idol! If anyone dares to bully my children in the future, I’m going to learn from you!”

Grandma patted Jiang Xia’s hand. “This was nothing. I was even fiercer when I was young! There wasn’t a soul in the whole village who wasn’t afraid of me! No one dared to encroach on my fields! And nobody dared to bully your mother or your uncles in the village!”

Zhou Chenglei also knew that the elderly shouldn’t stay angry. He brought the broom back and poked fun at his own past to cheer her up. “Grandma is indeed fierce. When I was a kid and went to her place to play, I secretly went up the mountains and hunted a wild boar. Instead of praising me, she chased me with a rod through several villages. I didn’t see a single cent from the sale of that boar! I didn’t even get a single piece of pork! The whole family sat there eating meat while I ate pickled vegetables! Truly, she didn’t give me even one piece of meat!”

Jiang Xia laughed. “That’s because you wouldn’t listen!”

“Exactly, he’s been stubborn since he was a boy! At eleven years old, he had the guts to go up the mountain for wild boar! He was naughty beyond repair! If he went three days without a beating, he’d be up on the roof! It was like he’d swallowed nerves of steel! If it wasn’t dangerous, he didn’t want to play with it! I sometimes think the reason I’ve lived so long is because I couldn’t stop worrying about him! Of all the children, you were the boldest! The biggest worry! The most disobedient!”

Grandma spoke this way, but her tone was brimming with pride.

When it comes to their children, parents remember everything vividly, even if they live to be a hundred.

Some things were infuriating when they happened, but in memory, even the air around those moments felt sweet.

“A-Lei only settled down once he married you. Before that, he was full of a rebellious streak! It was you who set him right.”

Grandma then turned back to Zhou Chenglei. “You were lucky to marry a child as well-behaved and filial as Jiang Xia. You must cherish her! You both must cherish each other. Out of all the people in the world, becoming husband and wife is a profound fate. Life isn’t long; it passes in the blink of an eye. Be better to one another…”

Grandma couldn’t help but lecture them a bit, and they both listened intently, nodding occasionally.

When they returned home and saw the slop residue on the ground, Grandma felt a bit of regret. “Sigh, you young people shouldn’t learn from my impulsiveness. If I was going to splash her, I should have done it at her house. Getting our own home dirty and having to clean it up—that’s a real loss!”

“But I was just so furious. If I’d known, I would have gone to her house to do it! I’ll go right now!”

Mother Zhou didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Mom, just sit down! I already went there and splashed them! I drenched the whole Liao family! They didn’t dare say a word! Do you feel a little better now?”

Grandma smiled. “I feel a little bit better.”

Chapter 672: The Vacancy

At the hospital.

Ruan Tang told him she would wipe their daughter down, so Zhou Chengsen closed the ward door and stepped outside.

As his daughter grew older, it became less convenient for him, a man, to handle certain aspects of her care. He had to leave those tasks to Ruan Tang.

Zhou Chengsen walked to the safety stairwell and stood by the window. He pulled out a cigarette, bit down on the filter, lit it, took a drag, and exhaled.

Amidst the swirling smoke, he looked through the branches of the white magnolias at the crescent moon hanging in the sky. His thoughts were as ethereal and distant as the night sky.

By the time he snapped back to reality, the cigarette had burned to the end, its ash long since carried away by the night wind.

Zhou Chengsen pinched out the butt, left the stairwell, and went to the bathroom to throw it away.

When he returned to the ward, Ruan Tang was hanging up the clothes Zhou Ying had changed out of.

Seeing this, Zhou Chengsen quickly said, “I could have washed those clothes.”

“It’s fine, I was doing it anyway.” Ruan Tang hung up the last item.

She had just helped Zhou Ying into a clean hospital gown, wiped her down, and massaged her acupoints. Zhou Ying had fallen asleep shortly after.

Once Zhou Ying was out, she took the opportunity to wash the clothes so the girl would have something clean to wear when she was discharged.

Zhou Chengsen had no choice but to walk over and take the basin back to the bathroom.

Ruan Tang caught a faint scent of tobacco and said, “Smoking is bad for your health, and secondhand smoke isn’t good for Yingying’s wound recovery either.”

Hearing this, Zhou Chengsen replied, “I understand. I’ll be careful next time.”

With that, he took the basin into the bathroom.

When he came out, Ruan Tang said to him, “You can go back and take a shower. I’ll keep an eye on Yingying for you.”

“No need.” Zhou Chengsen glanced at his watch. It was past eight o’clock. “It’s late. I’ll take you back.”

Ruan Tang shook her head. “No, I’ll stay in the hospital dormitory tonight. You go home and shower! Your shirt is covered in blood. You should change, otherwise, it’s not good for Yingying if you’re tending to her with bacteria around.”

Zhou Chengsen looked down at his white shirt; there were indeed quite a few bloodstains.

He glanced at Ruan Tang, who had already sat down by the bed, and didn’t refuse again. “Then I’ll have to trouble you.”

“It’s no trouble, it’s only right. I’m always bothering you anyway. You’ve helped me so much—taking me beachcombing and teaching me martial arts moves. Let’s not be so formal.”

“I’ll take you to borrow a bicycle from one of my colleagues; it’ll be faster.”

“Alright.” The two walked out together and found the doctor on duty to borrow a bike.

Zhou Chengsen rode the bicycle back to Zhou Chenglei’s house to shower and change.

When he returned, he brought a spare set of clothes to the hospital so that he could shower there the next night without needing to trouble Ruan Tang to watch the child.

She had her own work to attend to, after all.

Back at the hospital, he found Ruan Tang asleep, slumped over the edge of the bed.

Zhou Chengsen lightened his footsteps instinctively as he entered.

He had intended to wake her so she could go back to her dorm to sleep, but hearing her faint snoring and remembering that she hadn’t slept much the previous night, he decided against it.

After a moment’s hesitation, he gently picked her up, placed her on the attendant’s bed, removed her shoes, and tucked her in with a blanket.

Having finished this, he stepped out onto the balcony to stand in the breeze.

He pulled out another cigarette, but remembering what she said, he only held it between his lips without lighting it.

The crescent moon still hung in the night sky.

The autumn moon felt particularly cold and bright.

On the bed, Ruan Tang secretly opened her eyes and peered at the man on the balcony.

Truthfully, she had woken up the moment he picked her up, but she hadn’t dared—and hadn’t wanted—to open her eyes.

Suddenly, Zhou Chengsen turned his head to look back inside.

Their eyes met instantly.

Ruan Tang immediately squeezed her eyes shut, pretending to be asleep.

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

Seeing her tense body, Zhou Chengsen could only look away as if nothing had happened, continuing to watch the moon in the breeze.

Ruan Tang remained nervous for a while, but seeing that Zhou Chengsen didn’t try to send her away, she breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t dare open her eyes again and began thinking of how to change the nature of their relationship. Before she knew it, she had actually fallen asleep.

After a long time, guessing she was finally asleep, Zhou Chengsen looked back. He walked into the room and saw Ruan Tang deep in sleep again, one of her arms resting outside the covers.

He tucked her arm back under the blanket before sitting down by his daughter’s bed, leaning against the edge to sleep.

He didn’t even realize that he was leaning in the exact same spot where Ruan Tang had been resting earlier.

The Next Day.

When Ruan Tang woke up, Zhou Chengsen had just returned with breakfast.

Zhou Ying hadn’t woken up yet.

He handed her a portion. “Dr. Ruan, have some breakfast.”

Ruan Tang glanced at the time—it was seven-thirty already!

She had never slept so deeply that she didn’t realize the sun was up.

“I can’t! You eat. I need to get back to the dorm to brush my teeth and wash my face.” With that, Ruan Tang hurried off.

There was no time for breakfast. It was almost time for her shift, and she still needed to shower and change.

Zhou Ying woke up at that moment. “Daddy, I’m hungry.”

Zhou Chengsen couldn’t worry about Ruan Tang anymore and began helping his daughter wash up and eat breakfast.

While Zhou Ying was eating, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei arrived with the triplets. They were joined by Father Zhou, Mother Zhou, Big Brother Zhou Chengxin, Tian Caihua, and Second Auntie.

The whole family fussed over Zhou Ying again. Mother Zhou brought out a thermos and personally fed Zhou Ying her breakfast.

Seeing that his daughter was well-attended, Zhou Chengsen took a portion of breakfast over to the pediatric clinic to find Ruan Tang.

Once Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei saw that Zhou Ying was fine, they took the triplets to see Dr. Gao for a check-up.

The babies were still a few days shy of five months old, but Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei were returning to the capital the next day.

So, they brought the children ahead of time for Dr. Gao to check them over and to get their vaccinations.

Gao Jie had just arrived for work and went straight to the pediatric department to find Ruan Tang.

Ruan Tang’s parents had called the previous night. Since Ruan Tang hadn’t come home, she had only called to say that Zhou Chenglei’s second brother’s child had hit her head and that she was staying at the hospital to help and would sleep in the dorm.

When Gao Jie arrived, she happened to see Zhou Chengsen delivering breakfast to Ruan Tang.

Zhou Chengsen set down the food, politely greeted Gao Jie, and left.

Ruan Tang held the breakfast Zhou Chengsen had specifically brought her, her heart feeling sweet and a smile touching her lips. “Auntie, why are you here?”

Gao Jie was an experienced woman; how could she not see what was going on?

She could only relay the message from her sister-in-law: “Tangtang, your mother called last night. A vacancy has opened up at a hospital in the capital. They said they’re going to apply for a transfer to bring you back.”

Ruan Tang: “…”

Zhou Chengsen, who hadn’t walked far from the office, heard this as well. He paused for a fraction of a second before continuing forward.

Inside the office, it took Ruan Tang a long moment to process this unexpected news. Her good mood vanished instantly. “Why did my mother apply for it without asking me? When did I ever say I wanted to go back? I’m not going! I’m going to call her.”

She stood up and marched out.

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei arrived just then, carrying the triplets to find Dr. Gao. Zhou Chengsen said to them, “Dr. Gao is in Dr. Ruan’s office talking to her. She should be out in a moment.”

He was subtly warning the couple not to interrupt their conversation.

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei didn’t go in, choosing instead to wait for Gao Jie in her own office.

Chapter 673: The Goods Arrive

Gao Jie soon returned to her office from Ruan Tang’s office. When she saw the triplets, she couldn’t help but smile. “Oh, look at these three little cuties! You’re getting more adorable and beautiful by the day! Come on, let’s go to the examination room. I’ll check if you’ve grown taller recently.”

Seeing someone talk to them, the three children responded enthusiastically. They started by grinning widely, then began “eeya-eeyaing” non-stop.

They were even waving their hands and kicking their feet in excitement!

Who wouldn’t love such lively and adorable children?

Whenever Father Zhou took the children to the village, everyone would scramble for a chance to hold them.

The three children were absolute little chatterboxes; they would respond excitedly to anyone who spoke to them.

Gao Jie loved lively children. She picked one up and led the family to the health examination center.

In the examination room, Gao Jie performed routine health checks on the three infants.

Upon measuring their height, she found that all three had grown another three to four centimeters this month.

The little sister had grown a bit over three centimeters, while the eldest brother and the younger brother had both grown four centimeters.

All three were already taller than other children their age.

Since birth, they had grown faster than average every month. Typically, infants under six months grow two to three centimeters a month, but these three siblings consistently grew one to two centimeters more than their peers.

Gao Jie smiled and said, “Both of you are tall, so the children have completely inherited your good genes.”

After the physical exam, it was time for their vaccinations.

This time, only the eldest brother didn’t cry; he just pursed his lips and that was it.

The younger brother and sister, however, cried quite piteously!

Tears streamed down their faces, and it took quite a while to soothe them.

Once the shots were done and Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia had finally calmed them down, Gao Jie tried to hold them again, but the three babies refused. As soon as she reached out, they started crying.

Gao Jie laughed. “Oh dear, that’s it! They’ve already learned to recognize people and they’re holding a grudge against me! I guess I can’t be the one to give you shots next time; I’ll have to let a nurse sister do it.”

After the vaccinations, Zhou Chenglei asked about when the children could stop night feedings.

Gao Jie replied, “There’s no need to force it. By eight or nine months, they should be able to sleep through the night, and naturally, you won’t need to do night feedings anymore.”

“Once they reach six months, you can start feeding them soft foods—rice paste, fruit juice, or use a spoon to scrape some banana or apple puree for them. Don’t feed them too much or too many different things at once in the beginning, as their stomachs might not handle it. Add items gradually…” Gao Jie had originally planned to tell them this during next month’s check-up, but since he asked, she took the opportunity to explain.

After leaving Dr. Gao, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei returned to Zhou Ying’s ward.

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei still needed to go to the train station to pick up some goods.

The garment pieces sent from the capital were arriving at noon today, and they needed to transport them to the garment factory.

Jiang Xia also needed to go to the garment factory to organize the work.

She was returning to the capital tomorrow and planned to take the workshop director and several group leaders with her for a study and exchange trip.

The plane tickets were already booked.

The couple left the children with Father and Mother Zhou and headed to the train station.

Zhou Chenglei hired several trishaws to help transport all the garment pieces back to the garment factory.

At the garment factory, Jiang Xia called the factory in the capital to confirm the quantity of garment pieces and cotton thread received.

Jiang Xia pulled a sample garment out of a bag of cotton thread and asked several workshop group leaders to make one on the spot for her to inspect.

Because the clothes sent over were of the simplest style and required no complex technical skills, the group leaders finished a garment very quickly.

Jiang Xia was very satisfied with their workmanship, and then she called an impromptu production meeting.

At the meeting, she held up several sample garments and said, “Mass production must follow this standard. The finishing section must do a good job with quality control, and any substandard garments must be pulled out. Items that can be reworked should be fixed; those that can’t must be treated as seconds and cannot be sent to the customer.”

The workshop director immediately replied, “Understood.”

The deputy factory director added, “Then I’ll notify the workers to start this afternoon. I had originally told them we wouldn’t start until tomorrow.”

Now that the garment pieces had arrived, the sewing machines in the garment factory had been repaired, and the workshop had been cleaned according to Jiang Xia’s requirements, production was ready to begin at any time.

Jiang Xia nodded. “That’s fine, provided the workers are willing.”

The deputy factory director then asked, “How will the workers’ wages be calculated?”

This matter hadn’t been discussed before, and now that work was officially beginning, the workers needed to be informed. After all, wages were their primary concern.

Without knowing how much they would earn, who would have the heart to work?

Jiang Xia replied, “Before the New Year, all workers’ wages will remain the same as before. After the New Year, I will adjust everyone’s wages based on personal performance. Adjustments will primarily be increases; at the very least, they will stay the same. I won’t lower wages lightly, except for those who take a salary but don’t do any work. I don’t support idlers here, nor can I afford to.”

Hearing this, the deputy factory director felt relieved.

The department heads and group leaders attending the meeting also felt at ease.

Jiang Xia continued, “Other benefits might not be as good as before, but we will have attendance bonuses and also commissions.”

Upon hearing “commission,” the deputy factory director asked, “What kind of commission?”

Jiang Xia explained, “The capital’s garment factory sent pieces for thirty thousand garments this time. These clothes are relatively simple to make, so we will give the workshop workers an additional commission of 0.05 yuan per piece.”

For such a simple style, the capital’s factory was only paying Jiang Xia 0.50 yuan per piece. Operating a garment factory involved not just paying workers’ wages, but also machine maintenance and significant utility bills. After deducting all wages, bonuses, and other expenses, Jiang Xia giving an extra 0.05 yuan commission per piece meant she wasn’t making a huge profit.

She would earn roughly 0.20 yuan per garment, perhaps even less.

Of course, the processing fees for more complex styles would be higher.

The eyes of the workshop group leaders lit up when they heard this!

This was basically “more work, more pay!”

As model workers, this was exactly what they liked.

For a T-shirt this simple, they could finish several a day, meaning they could earn an extra 0.20 or 0.30 yuan daily. Over a month, that added up to an extra eight or ten yuan.

Combined with their base salary and bonuses, they could earn nearly fifty yuan a month.

This wage was much higher than before.

It didn’t matter if there weren’t other benefits!

Jiang Xia was worried that the workers might sacrifice quality for speed.

“If a garment is substandard, it must be reworked. If it’s ruined, the worker must compensate for it at cost. So, please instruct the workers under you that they must do a good job. They cannot forget quality for the sake of speed.”

“Understood, we will definitely instruct the workers.”

“The specific rules and regulations remain the same as the factory’s previous ones, with one or two additions, such as the attendance bonus…”

…

After the meeting ended and she had settled everything at the factory, Jiang Xia left.

At three o’clock in the afternoon, the family arrived home.

Great-Grandma said excitedly, “You’re finally back! Someone came looking for you this morning.”

Chapter 674: The Telephone

Seeing Great-Grandma so excited, Jiang Xia asked curiously, “Who’s looking for us?”

Several women were outside Great-Grandma’s house, sorting through small fried fish. Once these fish were sorted, they would all be sold to Jiang Xia’s family.

One of the women said impatiently, “It looks like people from the Post and Telecommunications Bureau. About a dozen of them came, saying they’re here to install a telephone at your house. Xiao Xia, did your family sign up for a phone?”

Jiang Xia replied, “We did. Did they say when they’d be back?”

Great-Grandma said, “They said they’d arrange to install yours today, and if you missed them, you’d have to wait for the higher-ups to reschedule. I told them you’d be back by two or three in the afternoon and could open the door for them. So, they went to string the wires first; they said that would take most of the day.”

When Jiang Xia was coming back, she had indeed seen workers stringing telephone lines along the road. At the time, she wondered if her home’s phone was finally being installed.

Just then, two workers from the bureau arrived again.

“Is Comrade Zhou Chenglei back?”

Mother Zhou quickly said, “He’s back. I’m Zhou Chenglei’s mother.”

“We’re from the Post and Telecommunications Bureau. You applied for a telephone installation last month, and we’re here to set it up.”

Their attitude was quite good. After all, in this era, families who could afford to install a telephone at home were no ordinary households.

Jiang Xia knew that home telephones wouldn’t become common until the nineties, and back then, people had to make appointments and wait in long lines just to apply. The installation fee was very expensive, but even now, it wasn’t cheap.

Father Zhou said with a smile, “Finally, it’s getting installed! Please, come in.”

The two workers walked into the house. The women from the village followed them inside; none of them had ever seen how a telephone was installed.

Once inside, the two workers saw the set of genuine leather furniture in the living room and secretly clicked their tongues in amazement! They had installed many phones, but this was the first time they had seen such a grand house and furniture in a village. Even in the city or the town, it was rare; even the homes of big leaders weren’t as impressive as this one.

What kind of background did this family have?

One worker scanned the living room and asked, “Do you plan to install the phone in the living room or a bedroom?”

Jiang Xia said, “The living room.”

“Which corner? Next to the TV cabinet or next to the sofa?”

Jiang Xia replied, “Next to the sofa.”

Installing the phone next to the sofa made it convenient to sit while taking calls. If it were by the TV cabinet, they would have to stand, and it would be inconvenient if the television was on.

Jiang Xia thought it would also be convenient to have an extension in the house where Zhou Chengsen lived, so she asked, “Comrades, how much does it cost to install an extension?”

The worker heard this and said, “On the second floor? That’s about another hundred to nearly two hundred yuan.”

Jiang Xia said, “Then install an extension on the second floor for me as well, in the study.”

“Alright.”

When the villagers heard that an extension on the second floor alone cost two hundred yuan, they asked Mother Zhou, “Installing a phone is really expensive, isn’t it? How much did it cost you?”

Mother Zhou said, “It was incredibly expensive! Besides the installation fee, you have to buy the telephone itself, then the telephone lines are charged separately, and even picking a number costs money! If they have to plant utility poles to string the wires, the poles cost money too. A-Sen said we had to string at least a thousand meters of wire from the production team to my house. Luckily, our village already has electricity, so they can use the existing utility poles. Otherwise, it would cost even more!”

Mother Zhou didn’t know the exact amount. Regardless, since they were installing one at home and another at Jiang Xia’s new food factory, she had seen her younger son give the second brother several thousand yuan to pay the installation fees. She didn’t know if all those thousands had been spent.

Mother Zhou knew that phones had also been installed at the factory and the place in the capital two days ago, and the prices were all different. She didn’t understand how these installation fees were priced; it seemed so unreasonable. Why were they treated differently?

Furthermore, the electricity in the village was more expensive than in the city! What was the logic in that? Were the incomes of city people not higher than those in the village?

Great-Grandma asked in surprise, “They charge for other things on top of the installation fee?”

“Exactly! At first, I thought just paying the installation fee was enough, but I didn’t expect material costs too! Fortunately, our village is close to the production team. They already have a phone there, so they can pull the line from some box at the production team office. That made the material costs cheaper. If the production team didn’t have a phone, they’d have to pull the line all the way from the town, which would be even more expensive!”

The workers overheard their conversation but didn’t explain that the high fees were due to the construction of the exchange rooms, line construction, investment in mechanical equipment, and so on. Their bureau had even introduced program-controlled exchanges last year. To quickly recover the equipment costs, installation fees were much higher than before—even higher than in other cities.

But compared to the construction and equipment costs, the installation fee wasn’t expensive at all!

A villager asked, “Now that your family has it, will it be cheaper for my family to install one later? My house is so close to yours, just a few hundred meters, and we wouldn’t need poles, right? They could just nail the wire to the wall and pull it over.”

Mother Zhou shook her head. “I don’t know, maybe it would be a bit cheaper?”

“You think your family can just install one because you want to? Xiao Xia was only able to install it because she opened a food workshop.”

“Exactly. It’s not just because Xiao Xia opened a food factory; it’s also because A-Sen is a big leader in town that they have the qualifications to install it.”

That person couldn’t help but ask Mother Zhou, “I heard A-Sen got promoted recently?”

After the reform of the production teams, there were changes in the town’s leadership. Because of Zhou Chengsen’s outstanding work ability and high education, he had indeed been promoted by the leaders recently.

At the mention of this, Mother Zhou beamed. She smiled and said, “What’s the use of a promotion? Only a raise is useful! With a promotion comes more work, but the salary hasn’t gone up much.”

“A promotion means a salary increase; of course the pay goes up! You really are something, every one of your sons is capable.”

“It’s not about being capable, just good luck.” Mother Zhou chatted with the villagers while watching the workers finish the installation.

…

Nearly ten workers spent their time stringing wires and installing equipment, working until almost half-past five before they were finished.

The staff asked Jiang Xia and the others to try making a call.

Jiang Xia immediately called Father Jiang.

The worker saw Jiang Xia rotating the numbers on the telephone and couldn’t help but steal another glance at her.

Once the call connected, Jiang Xia said happily, “Dad, are you off work yet? We have a phone installed at home now.”

Then, Jiang Xia gave Father Jiang a four-digit phone number.

The four-digit number was easy to remember, and it happened to be the last four digits of Jiang Xia’s birthday. Father Jiang memorized it as soon as he heard it. Then he said to his daughter, “I don’t have much work to handle tomorrow afternoon. I’ll take some time off to drive you to the airport.”

Jiang Xia replied, “No need, Second Brother is taking us.”

Since it was just a test call, Jiang Xia spoke a few more words with Father Jiang and then hung up.

The phone worked fine, so the workers packed up to leave.

Zhou Chenglei gave each of them a pack of cigarettes, and Jiang Xia gave them several bags of flavored small fried fish.

After the workers left, a villager said, “Xiao Xia, what’s your phone number? Can you write it down for me? Next time my son calls me, I’ll tell him your number and let him call your house. That way, I won’t have to run all the way to the production team to take a call.”

Other villagers heard this and also started asking Jiang Xia for the phone number.

Everyone had times when they needed a phone for emergencies, and since they were all neighbors who usually helped each other out, Jiang Xia wrote the number down for them.

Seeing this, Tian Caihua immediately thought of a way to make money.

Chapter 675: Doesn’t Bother With Her Anymore

When the whole family gathered for dinner that evening, Jiang Xia said to Zhou Chenglei, “Once Second Brother’s new house is ready for move-in, we can pull the telephone extension from the second floor directly from our balcony over to his living room. That way, it’ll be more convenient for him to use. I specifically asked the workers to leave a long wire for us.”

Jiang Xia had bought the entire remaining roll of wire, intending to run it from their second floor over to Zhou Chengsen’s new house.

Tian Caihua grew anxious upon hearing this. Her potential path to making money was being handed over to the second branch by Jiang Xia herself. She hurriedly said, “Second Brother’s house is so close to yours, why would he need a separate phone line? He can just walk a few steps over here to use it! Xiao Xia, you should pull that second-floor extension to my house instead!”

Zhou Chengxin said irritably, “Can you stop being so ridiculous?”

She really looked for any opportunity to take advantage of things!

Tian Caihua glared at him. “How am I being ridiculous? Am I not speaking the truth? The two houses are so close together, is there really a need to pull an extension over there? It’s different if it’s pulled to our house. If Xiao Xia needs me for something, I can help immediately! Besides, Xiao Xia, I’ve thought of a way to make money…”

Jiang Xia interrupted her, “Sister-in-law, the distance between our two houses is quite far. We can’t do that.”

Mother Zhou added, “That’s right, the wire isn’t that long.”

Tian Caihua argued, “We can buy more telephone wire and splice it! Just make it longer, right? I’ll pay for the wire myself. Isn’t A-Lei able to fix anything? A-Lei, help me extend the telephone wire.”

Zhou Chenglei was busy peeling shrimp for Jiang Xia. Hearing this, he said calmly, “I don’t know how to do that.”

Jiang Xia said, “Sister-in-law, the distance between our houses is too great. If the people from the Post and Telecommunications Bureau find out, it won’t be good. We could be fined.”

Their house and Zhou Chengsen’s house were close and shared a perimeter wall. It wasn’t a stretch to call them one household; Jiang Xia could claim it was the house where her parents lived.

Furthermore, with a distance of only about ten meters, the telephone line could just be unplugged and pulled back if necessary.

However, the straight-line distance to Tian Caihua’s house was hundreds of meters. How could they possibly stretch a wire that far?

Tian Caihua’s request was simply too outrageous.

Zhou Chengxin scoffed, “Go ahead and connect it then! If there’s a fine, your sister-in-law can just pay for it, can’t she? She’s got plenty of money.”

Tian Caihua was speechless. “…They fine people for that?”

Zhou Chengxin replied, “What do you think? At that distance, no one would believe you’re in the same household. If you want a phone, we can go and apply for one. But even if we install it, you don’t have anyone to call anyway, so what’s the point? A-Lei and Xiao Xia installed theirs because they’re running a factory.”

Even the people in the production team were saying that out of every ten calls to the production team’s phone, five were for Jiang Xia or Zhou Chenglei.

It wasn’t right to keep occupying public resources.

“Apply for one ourselves? Spend all that money to install a phone? I usually don’t even make one call in a whole year. Do you think I’m stupid?”

Sigh, she was starting to regret not building her house over here!

It really was better to be right next to Jiang Xia!

Now the second branch was getting all the benefits.

Zhou Chengsen was getting a telephone without spending a cent!

And because he lived right next to Jiang Xia, even his luck at sea was better than theirs.

She really wanted to move over and live with Jiang Xia too.

Tian Caihua wasn’t ready to give up. Once the phone was installed, would the people from the Post and Telecommunications Bureau really come to the door?

She spoke to Jiang Xia again, “Xiao Xia, I’ve thought of a way to make money! In the future, if anyone comes by to borrow the phone, we can charge them. We’ll charge an extra two mao per minute. If you’re too busy, I can do it for you. We just need to pull the extension to my house. We can split the profits—you might not even have to pay your own phone bill anymore.”

Jiang Xia shook her head. “Forget about making money that way. You won’t make much from the villagers. If you opened a convenience store in the city or the town and installed several public phones, you could make a lot of money in the future.”

Tian Caihua sighed, “I don’t have the time to open a convenience store in town, let alone the city. I can only make this money at home!”

Jiang Xia said, “Doing it at home isn’t practical.”

Tian Caihua thought about the money Great-Grandpa made from his convenience store in town, which wasn’t a small amount. She couldn’t help but ask, “Do you really think opening a convenience store in town with a phone would make money?”

“Yes, and the profits won’t be small. They might even increase year after year. You might earn back the installation fee in just a year or two.”

One shouldn’t underestimate how fast a convenience store could make money. In a few years, when everyone started carrying BB pagers, the profit from public phones would be even greater.

Especially since their city was a future metropolis growing at a rapid pace with many opportunities. Every year, more and more migrant workers were coming to find jobs.

When Jiang Xia went to the train station, she had clearly felt that the foot traffic this year was significantly higher than last year.

Tian Caihua felt a bit tempted. Perhaps she could open one and ask her parents to help watch the shop, splitting the profits fifty-fifty.

That way, her parents wouldn’t always be complaining to her about being poor, having no money to build a house, or her younger brothers not being able to find wives.

They were constantly hinting for her to ask her elder and second brother to take them out to sea or help with fish farming.

She wouldn’t dare ask again!

But hiring her parents would be a way for her, as their daughter, to show them some filial piety.

“Then where in town do you think is the best place to open one?”

“Near the town bus station! Isn’t that street the busiest?”

Jiang Xia recalled that in a couple of years, the initial installation fee for phones in the city would be raised across the board, becoming even more expensive than it was now. By the nineties, it would be even higher.

She reminded Tian Caihua, “If you want to install a phone, you should apply for it in the next year or two and see if you can get it. If you wait any longer, I expect it will be much more expensive.”

To get her phone installed as quickly as possible, Jiang Xia had applied under the name of her food processing factory and workshop, which made the installation fee a bit higher.

Tian Caihua looked at Jiang Xia. “How do you know it’ll be more expensive in two years?”

Could she have insider information?

Jiang Xia knew this from her knowledge of the future, but she couldn’t say that. She explained, “Last year’s newspapers said our city is cooperating with foreign companies to introduce more advanced program-controlled exchange equipment. This phone of mine is a program-controlled phone; it doesn’t require manual switching. Right now, it’s still in the trial phase, a transition period between old and new equipment. That’s why the initial installation fee hasn’t gone up yet. I’m guessing that in a year or two, once the infrastructure is more complete, they’ll raise the prices to recoup the investment and expand the phone network further.”

Zhou Chengxin, wanting to stop Tian Caihua from constantly eyeing his younger brother’s extension, said, “How about our family goes and applies for a phone too?”

Tian Caihua refused immediately. “What’s the use of a phone at home? Who do you need to call? We wouldn’t need to make a call in ten years. What’s the point? Besides, if you want to make a call, it’s only a few steps away. Will your legs break or will you die of exhaustion? All you know how to do is spend money!”

Zhou Chengxin: “…”

He didn’t bother with the woman anymore!

Tian Caihua then pulled Jiang Xia aside to ask in detail about running a convenience store.

Seeing that she was genuinely interested in opening one—which was indeed a viable path to earning money—Jiang Xia shared her ideas and methods of management with her.

Chapter 676: Really Good at Planning

The next morning, Tian Caihua woke up early and got into Jiang Xia’s car to go to town to look for a shop to open a convenience store.

She believed Jiang Xia.

Jiang Xia said opening a convenience store with a shared telephone would make money, so it definitely would.

Tian Caihua told Jiang Xia her plan.

She noticed Jiang Xia was very good at managing people. Even when Jiang Xia wasn’t there, He Xinghuan and the others in the food processing workshop would complete their tasks as if Jiang Xia were supervising them every day, without the slightest bit of slacking off.

“Last night, Big Brother and I agreed to open a convenience store in town and then ask my parents to help mind the shop. The profits would be split fifty-fifty.”

Jiang Xia didn’t offer an opinion.

“Xiao Xia, how do you usually manage your employees?”

Jiang Xia: “My method of managing employees isn’t suitable for you. After all, you’re not hiring outsiders, but your own parents. You can’t follow my method.”

If Tian Caihua and Zhou Chengxin opened it themselves, Jiang Xia would offer some advice. But since she was partnering with her own family, Jiang Xia, not knowing her family well, didn’t know what to say.

“This is what I’m thinking: I’ll talk it over with my parents to avoid them being like Li Xiuxian’s parents. My husband and I are willing to share half the profits with our parents to help out my maternal family. But if they’re not satisfied with even half, and secretly pocket some money or take things from the convenience store, once I find out, I definitely won’t hire them again.”

“Xiao Xia, do you think this is acceptable?”

Jiang Xia: “Agree to it, and then follow through. It’s better to discuss these things with Big Brother.”

Tian Caihua: “Big Brother doesn’t have any objections, but he’s worried that something might happen that could strain my relationship with my maternal family. After all, opening a convenience store in town means renting a shop and stocking up on goods. Alcohol and cigarettes are quite expensive to stock, and if we don’t sell them, it won’t be as profitable. Plus, installing the phone will cost several thousand yuan, which is a considerable amount for our family. If there’s a conflict and we can’t keep it open, those few thousand yuan will go down the drain.”

Zhou Chengxin had no objections because his money was invested in a partnership to buy a large boat and add another floor to the house, and he still needed to buy furniture. Now, he didn’t have as much money as Tian Caihua.

Tian Caihua had made some money following Jiang Xia to sell clothes, and she usually saved money herself. She would use that money to open the convenience store, and he would only need to supplement it if it wasn’t enough. Zhou Chengxin couldn’t object even if he wanted to.

Moreover, while Father and Mother Tian were a bit partial to their son, they were good to Tian Caihua and the four brothers Guangzong Yaozu, and they were honest people.

Jiang Xia: “Several thousand yuan is indeed a lot, and opening a convenience store won’t make back several thousand yuan in a short time, so it needs to be managed well.”

“Sigh, I wish I had a wealthy maternal family like yours to help me out!”

Jiang Xia’s maternal family never caused her trouble; they always brought her money and saved her face!

If Jiang Xia’s parents hadn’t accepted the gift money Zhou Chenglei gave, and probably given Jiang Xia some extra savings, the couple wouldn’t have had enough money so quickly to order a trawl net boat and start their prosperous journey.

Jiang Xia smiled: “Big Sister-in-law, it’s alright if you don’t have a wealthy maternal family. You and Big Brother can earn more money, and let A-Guang and his brothers have wealthy parents; just let them become second-generation rich.”

Tian Caihua’s heart warmed when she heard this, especially the part about her son being second-generation rich.

She laughed: “You’re right, that’s why I’m working so hard to earn money! Big Brother says I love to scrimp and save! Does he think I want to scrimp and save? We have four sons! If we don’t have money, no land to build houses, I’m afraid that in the future, our four sons will end up unable to marry a wife, just like my brother!”

Jiang Xia just smiled. Anyway, no one could take Zhou Zhou’s plot of land!

“Now that my younger brother goes out to sea to fish with Ah Xin, everyone knows he earns a lot, so people are introducing partners to them. Didn’t my brother start seeing someone a while ago? The woman wants to build a house before getting married. My parents asked me to borrow money to build it. But it just so happens that our three families are partnering to buy a large boat, we’ve added another floor to our house, and we still need to save money for the final payment for the large boat. Where would I get money to lend?”

“And poverty is a bottomless pit! So I thought, why not open a convenience store and let the old couple help mind the shop. This way they can earn money, and we can also earn some money. Once we earn it, we’ll have more money for the final payment for the large boat.”

“Mm.” Jiang Xia nodded.

“Sigh, you have a rich maternal family. You don’t know how hard it is for poor families like ours.”

Tian Caihua was never one to suffer losses. She was afraid her family wouldn’t have money to repay her if she lent them money to build a house, but if she didn’t lend it, she feared people would say she wasn’t filial and had forgotten her roots.

So she came up with this idea, but she was afraid of entrusting the shop to her parents, fearing they couldn’t be trusted and might commit internal theft.

All in all, it was bothering her.

Zhou Chenglei drove quickly, not wanting Tian Caihua to bother Jiang Xia with her maternal family’s affairs: “What’s so hard about it? Since Big Sister-in-law has so many worries, then don’t open it. If you open it, don’t worry about this and that. The right way is to find a way to avoid the things you’re worried about!”

“A-Lei, do you have a solution?”

“I don’t have a good solution, but your convenience store’s inventory has a definite quantity. All the goods in the shop have a set number, unlike fishing, which doesn’t. You can clearly know how much you sell, how much stock is left, and how much you can earn. Think about the rest yourself.”

They arrived in town quickly. Zhou Chenglei said to Tian Caihua: “Big Sister-in-law, we’ve arrived in town.”

Tian Caihua reluctantly got out of the car.

After dropping off Tian Caihua, Zhou Chenglei drove directly to the city.

This afternoon, they had a plane back to the capital.

Mother Zhou went to the city to take care of Zhou Ying, and Zhou Chengsen drove them to the airport.

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei, bringing Grandpa and Grandma, went to the hospital to see Zhou Ying. Then she and Zhou Chenglei went to have lunch with Father and Mother Jiang.

After lunch, they went to the garment factory, arranged a taxi to send four employees to the airport first, and the remaining two employees would ride with them later.

Finally, the couple returned to the hospital to pick up Grandpa, Grandma, and Second Auntie, and bid farewell to Zhou Ying, telling her to recover well.

Ruan Tang knew Jiang Xia had a plane back to the capital this afternoon. She also took leave and booked a plane back to the capital for this afternoon, planning to ride in Jiang Xia’s car to the airport.

Mother Zhou smiled and asked Ruan Tang: “Dr. Ruan, are you going back to the capital to see your parents or for a business trip?”

Grandma smiled: “Can’t it be to go back for a blind date?”

Zhou Chengsen looked at Ruan Tang when he heard this.

Ruan Tang unconsciously looked at Zhou Chengsen as well, and their gazes met.

Ruan Tang quickly looked away and said busily: “No, I’m not going back for a blind date. I’m going back to see my parents, and I also have work matters to handle.”

Zhou Ying heard this and asked: “Sister Ruan, how many days will you be in the capital? Come back soon! I’ll miss you.”

For the past two evenings, Ruan Tang had helped her wipe her body, and when Zhou Chengsen left the ward, Ruan Tang would stay with her.

Zhou Ying already liked her, and now hearing that she would be away, she inexplicably felt a little reluctant.

Ruan Tang smiled: “Three and a half days. I’ve taken three and a half days off.”

Zhou Ying remembered today was Tuesday: “So you’ll be back on Friday? What time on Friday?”

Ruan Tang nodded: “Mm. The plane is at four thirty on Friday afternoon, but I don’t know if the flight will be delayed.”

Mother Zhou: “Then you’ll be back by eight or nine at night. Will there still be cars?”

Ruan Tang: “Yes, I can also take a taxi.”

“You’re a girl, taking a taxi at night isn’t safe. You can book an earlier plane ticket.”

“There’s only one flight with tickets on Friday. I have to work Saturday morning.”

Zhou Ying: “Dad and I can pick up Sister Ruan! Dad said I need to come back for a dressing change on Friday. Auntie, can you lend your car to my dad to pick up Sister Ruan?”

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

This little girl is really good at planning!

Jiang Xia smiled: “Of course. You can stay the night at the house in the city, and go back the next day.”

Ruan Tang waved her hand: “No need, it’s too much trouble!”

Zhou Ying: “It’s not troublesome at all! I also want to see a plane! I’ve never seen one.”

Zhou Ying looked at Zhou Chengsen: “Dad, it’s not troublesome, is it?”

Zhou Chengsen nodded: “Mm, it’s not troublesome.”

She had been helping to take care of Yingying these past two days; picking her up was only right. Zhou Chengsen told himself this in his heart, that it wasn’t because he was worried about her taking a taxi alone so late.

Zhou Ying happily said: “Then it’s settled.”

Chapter 677: Someone Is Looking for You

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei only stayed at the hospital for a short while before heading to the airport. The family didn’t arrive in the capital until after six o’clock in the evening.

Jiang Xia still had to settle several employees from the garment factory. Jiang Dong had already helped book a hotel for them. After dropping them off at the hotel to check in and making an appointment to visit the local garment factory the next afternoon, Jiang Xia finally went home.

Once back in the capital, Jiang Xia became completely preoccupied. Early the next morning, she returned to school for classes. After her sessions ended, she spent the afternoon taking the employees on a study tour of the garment factory.

For the three of them, it was truly an eye-opening experience.

After the tour, Jiang Xia asked them for their thoughts.

“As expected of a factory that focuses on foreign trade orders; it’s much larger than our garment factory! Their finished goods store and fabric store combined are bigger than our entire plant!”

“The machinery is new, too. Some of the machines are more advanced than ours.”

“The whole factory is exceptionally clean and organized.”

Jiang Xia wasn’t just looking for generic praise. The size of the factory couldn’t be changed for now, and while new machinery had been ordered, it would take some time to arrive. As for the factory’s cleanliness, that was indeed something to focus on later. “What else?” she prompted.

The group leader from the workshop added, “The clothing styles they produce are very diverse. Some styles involve complex craftsmanship that the workers in our factory have never encountered before.”

The clothes their factory produced had always followed very standard, traditional silhouettes.

Jiang Xia nodded. “That’s why you need to study this thoroughly during this trip.”

“I will.”

The warehouse supervisor spoke up: “The warehouse management is excellent. Every type of material is clearly categorized and logged. Even someone unfamiliar with the warehouse could find things easily.”

Jiang Xia nodded. “That is definitely worth learning.”

“Their buttoning method is different from what the comrades in our factory’s finishing section use.”

“The attention to detail on the garments is superb. There isn’t a single loose thread. From the pressing to the packaging, it feels very…”

Each of them shared what they had observed.

After listening, Jiang Xia said, “Very good. These details are exactly what we need to learn. Once we get back, I want you to organize what you’ve learned from this visit so we can adopt their strengths and fix our weaknesses. Our factory needs to implement these improvements.”

“Understood!”

Then, the factory’s workshop director called over a group leader, who gave a live demonstration of several sewing techniques. An ironing master also showed them how they pressed shirts, trousers, and pleated skirts—items that required high-level pressing skills.

As the saying goes, “Tailoring is sixty percent sewing and forty percent pressing.” Whether a garment looked good or not depended heavily on the skill of the ironer.

The pressing master from Jiang chemistry followed the local master’s demonstration closely to learn the techniques.

This was a rare opportunity. Previously, their factory only produced very standard clothes that required simple flat pressing. Jiang Xia’s pressing master truly didn’t know how to handle pleated skirts, so he studied with great intensity.

Jiang Xia stayed with her team at the factory until the workday ended at 5:30 PM. Afterward, she treated everyone to a meal at the Beijing Grand Hotel.

When it was time to part ways after dinner, the deputy factory director of the capital’s garment factory said with a smile, “Time was a bit tight today. If there’s anything else you’d like to understand, you’re welcome back to our factory tomorrow.”

Jiang Xia smiled and replied, “Thank you, Director. We truly benefited a lot from this visit. If the need arises, we will certainly organize for our workers to come and learn again.”

She didn’t want to disturb them every day; a half-day visit was sufficient.

“You’re welcome anytime; we can all learn from each other. Perhaps in the future, we will organize a trip for our workers to visit your factory as well.”

“That would be our factory’s honor.”

…

After exchanging pleasantries, they went their separate ways.

The next morning, Zhou Chenglei helped Jiang Xia drop the factory employees off at the airport, waiting until they had passed through security before heading home.

Jiang Xia had to rush to class early.

She could catch up on her own professional courses by reading books and borrowing notes from classmates, but she had missed two foreign language classes that she needed to make up for her students.

Consequently, Jiang Xia remained quite busy after her return to the capital.

She had classes all morning and another one scheduled for the afternoon.

During her second morning class, Jiang Xia was suddenly called away by another teacher, who said someone was looking for her.

She didn’t return for the next period, and she didn’t even show up for her afternoon foreign language class.

When Gu Yue walked out of the school gates after classes ended, she overheard people gossiping about Jiang Xia.

“I recognized one of the two people who came to question Teacher Jiang. He’s a staff member from the Discipline Inspection Department.”

“No way? Why would people from that department be looking for Teacher Jiang?”

“How should I know? It’s not like I could eavesdrop. I just happened to know the guy.”

“Are you sure? You didn’t mistake him for someone else?”

“How could I be mistaken? He’s an uncle I know personally.”

“Jiang Xia couldn’t have done something illegal, could she?”

“This morning, some students from the school next door who went to the Canton Fair were also called in for questioning. I only found out when I went to see my cousin at noon.”

“Then it must be about something that happened at the Canton Fair.”

“What could have happened at the Fair?”

Someone whispered, “I heard Jiang Xia was colluding with certain leaders to embezzle money from the authorities.”

“Seriously?”

“Anyway, that’s what people at my cousin’s school are saying. If it weren’t true, Jiang Xia wouldn’t have been taken away.”

“I never would have guessed Teacher Jiang was that kind of person!”

“You can know a person’s face but not their heart.”

…

Having learned from Gu Yue that Jiang Xia was back in class, Gu Heng had come specifically to pick up Gu Yue and catch a glimpse of Jiang Xia.

He hadn’t seen Jiang Xia for nearly a month. He never expected to hear such rumors.

His heart sank in a panic!

Just then, Gu Yue ran over to his side.

Gu Heng immediately asked, “Jiang Xia was taken away?”

Gu Yue shook her head. “I’m not sure. But for the afternoon foreign language class, the school arranged for another professor to substitute. I heard she was called away by a teacher this morning and didn’t even finish her morning classes.”

Gu Heng frowned.

“Dad, why are you so concerned about our teacher?”

Gu Heng snapped back to reality. “I just happened to overhear and asked out of curiosity. Get in the car. I’ll take you home first; I have some social engagements.”

“Oh.”

Gu Yue got into the car.

After Gu Heng dropped Gu Yue off at home, he didn’t even go inside before driving away again.

Seeing only her daughter return, Dong Yan asked, “Dinner is ready. Where’s your father? Didn’t he say he was picking you up?”

“Dad said he has an engagement. He dropped me off and left.”

Dong Yan found it strange. “What sudden engagement? Didn’t he say he was eating at home tonight?”

Gu Yue replied, “How should I know? He didn’t say. Mom, let me tell you something big! Jiang Xia from our school was taken away!”

Dong Yan’s hand paused as she set the table. “What did you say?”

Gu Yue proceeded to tell her everything she had heard.

“No wonder she had so much money to buy all those clothes and watches,” Dong Yan sneered after hearing the story.

So, Gu Heng was constantly acting all proud of Jiang Xia?

Look at what she really was!

Dong Yan knew she was that kind of person—someone who would even embezzle money meant for the school’s film rolls.

Truly, a wicked person eventually brings about their own destruction!

Chapter 678: What Do You Mean?

Zeng Jing had also learned about Jiang Xia being taken away, and she was currently at the Zeng family home, excitedly sharing the news with Zeng Yuan.

A look of surprise flashed across Zeng Yuan’s face upon hearing this. “Is that for real?”

“Of course it’s real! Someone saw it with their own eyes! Didn’t you say Zhou Chenglei is the pinnacle of integrity? By marrying a wife like that, his lifelong reputation is ruined. Let’s see how he’ll hold his head up in front of his old comrades now. He deserves it! That’s what he gets for failing to see how great you are, Sister! He married a wife who’s going to make him lose everything! He deserves it!”

Zeng Yuan shook her head. “It’s likely some kind of misunderstanding. If Jiang Xia were really that kind of person, Zhou Chenglei wouldn’t have fallen for her.”

Having loved Zhou Chenglei for so many years, Zeng Yuan understood him reasonably well.

Zeng Jing countered, “Haven’t you heard of being blinded by love? What man wouldn’t lose his head when looking at a vixen like Jiang Xia?”

Zeng Yuan shook her head again. “He isn’t that kind of person.”

Zeng Jing: “…”

She had forgotten that her sister was also blinded by love!

She was so infatuated with Zhou Chenglei’s looks that even after all this time, she still hadn’t moved on.

Zeng Yuan didn’t explain further. Zeng Jing didn’t understand Zhou Chenglei, but she did.

Zhou Chenglei was a man of strict discipline and impartial justice. If Jiang Xia were a person of poor character, Zhou Chenglei wouldn’t love her so much.

Since Zeng Yuan loved Zhou Chenglei herself, she could naturally see the immense love and indulgence in his eyes whenever he looked at Jiang Xia.

Zeng Yuan knew their union came about because Father Jiang saw Zhou Chenglei’s limitless potential and took the initiative to ask Elder Zhang to act as a matchmaker.

In the beginning, Zhou Chenglei certainly didn’t love Jiang Xia, but for her to make him love her so much after marriage—rather than it being out of mere responsibility—Jiang Xia must have her own shining qualities. It wasn’t just about her beauty or her figure.

In any case, Zhou Chenglei was not a man to be blinded by love.

Zeng Jing asked again, “You didn’t have to work this afternoon. Did you see Zhou Chenglei come to find Elder Zhang? I bet he’ll definitely ask Elder Zhang for help. I just wonder if someone as impartial as the old man will actually help him?”

If Elder Zhang did step in to help, should she find a way to interfere so that even the old man couldn’t resolve it?

Should she vent some frustration on her sister’s behalf?

Zeng Yuan shook her head. “I didn’t see him. If Jiang Xia really did something like that, Zhou Chenglei wouldn’t go around looking for people to settle it for her. He would only make her accept her punishment; at most, he’d wait for her to get out so the two of them could continue to live a proper life.”

Her bedroom window faced the Zhang family’s yard.

She had been sitting at the desk by the window reading medical books all afternoon, and she hadn’t seen Zhou Chenglei visit the Zhang house.

“Psh!” Zeng Jing didn’t believe it. All men were driven by lust; when they were mesmerized by a woman, there was nothing they wouldn’t do.

Just then, the sound of a car came from the yard.

The two sisters looked at each other and immediately peered out the window.

A car had parked outside the yard. Zhang Rui jumped out and strode toward the Zhang family’s courtyard gate.

His steps seemed somewhat hurried.

Zeng Jing immediately said, “I bet Zhou Chenglei asked Zhang Rui for help! And when Zhang Rui couldn’t handle it, he rushed back to find the old man to intervene.”

Zeng Yuan: “…”

“And you still say Zhou Chenglei isn’t blinded by love? Well, just watch and see if he’ll abandon his principles for Jiang Xia and go around begging people. See if he’s still that impartial, disciplined Zhou Chenglei you know!”

Zeng Yuan: “…”

“I’m going to go ask Zhang Rui!” Zeng Jing shouted through the window, “Rui! Wait for me! I have something to tell you—it’s about Teacher Jiang Xia.”

She absolutely would not let anyone from the Zhang family help!

A person like Jiang Xia deserved to be punished!

Zhang Rui turned his head and stopped in his tracks after hearing Zeng Jing’s words.

Zeng Jing hurried downstairs and ran up to him.

“Rui, are you coming back to find the old man’s help because Teacher Jiang Xia was taken away?”

Zhang Rui was stunned for a moment. “What do you mean, ‘taken away’?”

Zeng Jing was surprised. “You didn’t know?…”

She then repeated what she had heard at the school to Zhang Rui.

Zhang Rui had no idea at all!

His fourth brother hadn’t contacted him!

If it was regarding the Canton Fair, perhaps his fourth brother had been taken in for questioning as well!

Zhang Rui had come back on his day off to pick up some books for Li Qiufeng from his grandfather’s place. He had already sent her some textbooks before, but this time he had asked a friend to find some review materials, and they had been delivered to his grandfather’s house.

He couldn’t worry about the books now. He turned around to leave in a hurry.

Zeng Jing immediately chased after him. “Rui, I’ll go with you! My dad knows people over there; maybe he can help.”

As Zhang Rui got into the car, he turned to glance at her. Eventually, he only said, “Get in!”

Growing up in the same yard, Zhang Rui still had some childhood impressions of Zeng Jing.

And both impressions were not good.

Even at a young age, she was a tattletale, petty, and spiteful.

After she grew up and entered middle school, she stopped showing it as much.

Just now, when she was telling him about his sister-in-law, even though she tried her best to hide her schadenfreude and put on a worried face, Zhang Rui had still sensed it!

He didn’t trust Zeng Jing!

The situation was unclear right now, and he was afraid she might stir up trouble behind his back—it was better to be safe than sorry.

So, it was better to keep her right under his nose.

While it wasn’t necessarily true that she could cause trouble just because she wanted to, sometimes a random report could still create a bit of a headache.

Zhang Rui drove to Zhou Chenglei’s house first to see if they had returned.

Usually, if it was just routine questioning, they’d be fine once it was over.

Zeng Jing sat in the passenger seat, gazing at the handsome profile of the focused man, her heart thumping.

Since middle school, her feelings for Zhang Rui had grown stronger with every meeting.

“Rui, Mrs. Zhang said you already have a girl you like. Is that true?”

Zhang Rui spun the steering wheel to make a turn and gave a brief “Mm, it’s true.”

Zeng Jing hadn’t expected him to actually admit it. It felt like a needle pricking her heart. “Who is it? Do I know her? How come I haven’t seen you bring her to see Elder Zhang and Mrs. Zhang?”

“She hasn’t set her sights on me yet. I’m still working on it.”

His tone was a bit dejected.

Hearing this made Zeng Jing truly feel a pang of bitterness. She could feel Zhang Rui’s love for the girl and his helplessness at not being able to have her in every word he said.

This was Zhang Rui!

Elder Zhang’s precious youngest grandson!

He had lived a charmed life since childhood, getting whatever he wanted.

“You’re so outstanding, and she still hasn’t taken a liking to you? Then she must be even more incredible. Which family’s wonderful sister is it? You’ve really piqued my curiosity.”

Zhang Rui found these games annoying. “Who it is has nothing to do with you. Just keep your curiosity to yourself.”

Finally, Zhang Rui added a line that Zhou Chenglei often used on the opposite sex: “You talk too much!”

Zeng Jing: “…”

Fine. After that, Zeng Jing didn’t dare say another word!

Zhang Rui could finally focus on driving!

Why did he like his little cousin?

Because he absolutely detested women like this!

Fake to the core!

If he married a woman of this type, he’d be annoyed to death!

Thirty minutes later, Zhang Rui’s car pulled up in front of the courtyard house.

He knocked on the door. “Fourth Brother! Sister-in-law! Grandpa, Grandma, Second Auntie, Little Cousin!”

Zeng Jing didn’t know this was Jiang Xia’s house. She was wondering when his grandparents had moved here?

Just then, another car drove up and stopped behind theirs.

It was a taxi.

Father Jiang scrambled out of the car in a hurry. He banged his forehead against the roof as he exited, and his foot even stumbled.

Chapter 679: Otherwise, what did you think?

Seeing it was Jiang Xia’s father, Zhang Rui quickly stepped forward to support him. “Uncle Jiang, be careful.”

Father Jiang was simply in too much of a hurry and hadn’t noticed his footing. “I’m fine! Are you looking for A-Lei? Are Xiaxia and A-Lei home yet?”

If it was just for questioning, they should have been home by now.

At noon, he had received a call from a former teacher saying his daughter had been taken in for questioning. Then, he immediately called Jiang Dong’s laboratory, only to find that Jiang Dong had also been asked to come in for questioning.

When he called his son-in-law’s side, they said people had come looking for him as well, and his son-in-law had left with them.

Upon hearing this, he immediately booked the earliest possible flight.

The flight was at 1:30 PM. He hadn’t even had time to go home and pack his luggage; he only hurriedly called his wife to say he was going to the capital on a two-day business trip before rushing to the airport. He nearly missed the flight.

After landing, he hailed a taxi and arrived here at past six in the evening.

Zhang Rui replied, “I don’t know yet. I also just received the news and rushed over.”

Zeng Jing glanced at Father Jiang. Based on his words, she guessed that he was Jiang Xia’s father.

If so, this must be Jiang Xia’s home.

She looked at the courtyard house and then thought about how Jiang Xia usually dressed.

To say she was corrupt wasn’t an exaggeration at all!

Just then, the courtyard gate opened.

The cries of the triplets, loud enough to tear the roof off, drifted out from the house.

Three voices were trying to soothe them, but the babies were crying so hard that they couldn’t be calmed.

Li Qiufeng came running out after finishing a bottle of powdered milk. Seeing Father Jiang and Zhang Rui, she said in surprise, “Uncle Jiang, Brother Zhang, why are you here?”

Zeng Jing’s mouth fell open in surprise when she saw Li Qiufeng. “The clothes seller?”

Zhang Rui gave her a cold look for her impolite form of address.

Zeng Jing: “…”

She was just too surprised!

What was the relationship between this clothes seller and Jiang Xia?

Li Qiufeng only just noticed her. Thinking she had bought clothes from her before, she nodded. “Yes, I used to sell clothes.”

Zhang Rui stepped forward to block Zeng Jing, not wanting her words to hurt his little cousin. He asked, “Little Cousin, are Fourth Brother and my sister-in-law back?”

Father Jiang asked almost at the same time, “Are Xiaxia and A-Lei home?”

Li Qiufeng didn’t understand how they knew her cousin and his wife weren’t home. She shook her head. “Not yet. My cousin called and said they won’t be back for dinner tonight; they’ll be home later. Come inside first; they should be back soon.”

The three babies had been crying for half an hour because they were looking for their father and mother.

Hearing his grandchildren’s cries, Father Jiang walked inside and asked, “What about A-Dong?”

“A-Dong isn’t back either. He’s with my cousin and his wife.”

Hearing Li Qiufeng say this, Zhang Rui knew she probably didn’t know anything. Likely, Zhou Chenglei was afraid that Grandpa and Grandma would be frightened due to their old age. He asked again, “Little Cousin, when did Fourth Brother call? What did he say?”

Li Qiufeng didn’t understand why they seemed so tense. “At noon. Why? What’s wrong?”

Zeng Jing was very sensitive. She felt that Zhang Rui treated Li Qiufeng differently. She couldn’t say exactly how, but it was just an intuition. She couldn’t help but speak up: “What did he say? Did he say where they went? What time will they be back tonight?”

Li Qiufeng answered, “Cousin Lei said Xiaxia went to the Great Hall for a meeting and won’t be back until after dinner.”

Zeng Jing said, “But people at our school are saying Jiang Xia embezzled a lot of money at the Canton Fair and was arrested during class.”

Li Qiufeng countered, “Impossible!”

Zeng Jing insisted, “Many people saw it.”

She looked at Zhang Rui and reached out to pull his sleeve. “Rui, do you want to come with me to ask a friend of my father’s for information?”

Zhang Rui avoided her hand. “No need.”

He walked toward the house. “I’m going to make a phone call.”

Having visited at the end of last month, he knew a telephone had been installed here.

Li Qiufeng quickly followed him. “Is what that female comrade said true?”

Zhang Rui comforted her, “I’m not sure, but even if it’s true, it’ll be fine. Don’t you know what kind of people your cousins are? I’ll call and ask. Don’t worry.”

Inside, Father Jiang was already on the phone: “Alright, thank you. I’m sorry to bother you so late. Yes, I’m in the capital. Fine, if you’re free tomorrow, I’ll come by and we can have a good catch-up.”

Father Jiang hung up the phone and smiled at Zhang Rui. “They really are at the venue! I’m going to go pick them up.”

Grandpa and Grandma finally realized something was up. “What happened? Did something happen to Xiaxia and A-Lei?”

“Nothing, they’re just at a meeting.” Father Jiang smiled and patted the three children’s small hands. “Grandpa is going to bring your parents home. Don’t cry! Grandpa will give them a good scolding for you! How outrageous! Leaving our three babies behind and not coming home until this late! I’m going to go yell at them!”

Zeng Jing: “…”

How was that possible?

She was clearly called away right in the middle of a lecture!

Was Father Jiang saying that on purpose just to keep the two elderly people from worrying?

Zhang Rui said, “I’ll drive and accompany Uncle Jiang.”

“Alright, sorry to trouble you.”

“It’s nothing. Why are you being so polite with me, Uncle Jiang?”

Fearing his daughter might be hungry, Father Jiang said to Second Auntie, “Could I trouble you to cook some porridge, Auntie? Any kind will do. I’m afraid they haven’t eaten much.”

Second Auntie quickly agreed, “Of course.”

Then, the two of them said their goodbyes to Grandpa, Grandma, and the others and walked out.

Zeng Jing naturally followed.

She didn’t believe Jiang Xia was okay! How could someone be fine in a situation like this?

They must have had some evidence to bring her in for questioning.

By the time Jiang Xia walked out of the venue, the sky was completely dark.

Having been pulled in to translate on short notice, her mind had been highly focused for most of the day, leaving her exhausted.

As soon as she looked up, she saw Zhou Chenglei, Jiang Dong, Father Jiang, and Zhang Rui all waiting outside.

And even Zeng Jing was there?

Jiang Xia quickly walked up to Father Jiang. “Dad, when did you come to the capital? Brother Zhang, why are you here too?”

Could the news have reached them already?

As Jiang Xia finished speaking, her nose tickled, and she turned her head away. “Achoo!”

The sudden change from the well-heated venue to the outdoor air was hard to adjust to, and with the cold wind blowing, Jiang Xia couldn’t help but sneeze.

Zhou Chenglei draped a down jacket over her shoulders. “Put your coat on first.”

A cold front had arrived last night, making today exceptionally cold.

Father Jiang also wrapped the scarf from around his neck onto his daughter’s. Seeing her exhausted expression, he felt a pang of heartache. He didn’t mention anything else and smiled. “I’m here on a business trip. Knowing you were here, I came to pick you up. Are you tired? Have you eaten?”

“I’m not tired. I’ve eaten.” Jiang Xia tucked her hands into her sleeves, and Father Jiang naturally started helping her straighten her clothes.

Zeng Jing looked at Jiang Xia as she emerged from the building. She was so shocked that she couldn’t help but ask, “Jiang Xia, you didn’t go to class this afternoon because you were here for a meeting?”

What possible reason could she have to be in a meeting here?

Realizing she had come to see the drama, Jiang Xia looked at her with a smile. “That’s right! Otherwise, what did you think?”

Zhang Rui added, “She thought you had been arrested. She was the one who told me.”

He even suspected that she was the one who had reported her!

Zeng Jing stammered, “…It wasn’t me. It was a rumor going around the school.”

Chapter 680: No Match for Her Words

The truth was that Jiang Xia, Zhou Chenglei, and Jiang Dong had all been “invited for tea” that morning.

Even earlier than them, Old He and several factory directors had also been brought in.

As long as someone had transferred money to Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei, not a single person was spared; they were all questioned.

Even Zhang Rong was implicated.

However, Jiang Xia and the others didn’t know that yet.

On the way home, Jiang Xia sat in the back seat with Father Jiang.

Father Jiang held his daughter’s hand. “Were you frightened?”

Jiang Xia smiled. “No. It’s not like they’re monsters. Besides, their questioning attitude was very polite, and they had good tempers. Plus, I didn’t do anything illegal, so what is there to be afraid of?”

People only feel fear when they have a guilty conscience, but Jiang Xia hadn’t done anything of the sort, so why should she be afraid?

“Is it convenient to tell your father about what happened this morning?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

And so, Jiang Xia recounted the morning’s events to Father Jiang.

The scene shifted back to the morning.

Jiang Xia had been taken to an office to face questioning and investigation by two officials.

One official handed a transfer record to Jiang Xia and asked, “Two days ago, the Capital International Trade Garment Factory No. 1 transferred 378,600 yuan to you. Why did they send you such a large sum of money?”

Jiang Xia glanced at it. “That’s the commission I earned working as a part-time translator and sales consultant for the garment factory at the Canton Fair! What’s wrong? Does the organization think my abilities are outstanding and want to give me a reward? What kind of reward? An ‘Advanced Individual’ award or ‘Model Worker’?”

The two officials: “…”

Were they being too kind and approachable, making her think they were there to present an award?

The official’s expression turned more serious. “Other factories have also sent you payments. The total amount involved is enormous!”

Jiang Xia looked at them and smiled. “That’s right. I didn’t just translate for Garment Factory No. 1; I helped several factories. That’s why Capital International Trade Garment Factory No. 3 also transferred over 286,000 yuan, Capital Plastic Factory No. 1 transferred over 88,000 yuan, Capital Food Factory No. 1 transferred over 105,500 yuan, the pearl cultivation farm sent 120,000… and the S City Textile Factory transferred over 98,000 yuan. These are all commissions I earned as a part-time translator and sales consultant for these manufacturers at the Canton Fair! It adds up to a little over a million!”

The officials: “…”

She said the last sentence, “adds up to a little over a million,” with her face beaming.

She couldn’t have been prouder!

Great, they didn’t even have to ask them one by one; she had honestly confessed everything!

But was there something wrong with this female comrade’s head?

Could it be she didn’t realize why they were there? Why was she so smug?

If there wasn’t something wrong with her head, then she must be completely clean and upright, which was why she was so self-satisfied and took pride in it.

Of course, it couldn’t be ruled out that she was just putting on an act.

The official continued to ask sternly, “Isn’t this commission you took a bit too much?”

Jiang Xia tossed her long hair, her smile becoming even more confident. She said “humbly,” “Is it much? It’s just so-so! It’s much less than I expected! If I hadn’t been so tired—having to look after the kids and work at the same time—and ended my work early because I couldn’t take the exhaustion, I could have achieved another ‘small target’ for the country! I will definitely work harder at the next Canton Fair!”

The officials: “…”

Jiang Xia continued excitedly, “Do you know how much a ‘small target’ is? One hundred million! You didn’t know, did you? I don’t receive a salary for working as a part-time translator and sales consultant; I only take a commission. The commission is 1% of the sales volume or net profit. For products where I managed to increase the price, the commission is calculated based on the sales volume; otherwise, it’s based on profit. Do you know what it represents that I earned a million in commission? It means I generated over a hundred million in foreign exchange for the country at the Canton Fair! Do you know what the total transaction amount was for this Canton Fair…?”

The officials: “…”

The two officials couldn’t listen anymore and hurried to interrupt her. “How can one person act as a part-time translator and sales consultant for so many factories?”

If they let her keep talking, it felt like they weren’t there to question her, but rather to listen to an Advanced Worker’s debriefing report.

They were listening to her brag about her achievements and the sales records she had set.

“The commission you took from each factory isn’t low, which proves you sold a lot of goods. The Canton Fair only lasts twenty days. How did you manage to sell so many products for every manufacturer? Do you have the ability to be in multiple places at once?”

Jiang Xia laughed. “I can’t be in multiple places at once, but I have the art of synergy! For this, I have to thank Old He and the Canton Fair staff for believing in me, cooperating with my suggestions to arrange the work, and creating a good working environment for me. I proposed a suggestion…”

Then, Jiang Xia excitedly began to share her sales techniques again.

How hard she had worked to plan several fashion shows, showcasing products from multiple factories in a single show.

How to hold large-scale specialized food tasting sessions.

How to start with the foreign businessmen’s accommodation arrangements and vehicle transportation to easily centralize targeted customers and then conduct focused product promotions.

…

Jiang Xia was silver-tongued and her explanations were detailed. The officials listened, dumbfounded.

The thought “that actually works?” must have crossed their minds countless times.

Anyway, after hearing Jiang Xia finish, they all felt that her being able to generate a hundred million in foreign exchange was only to be expected!

It wasn’t surprising at all!

Those foreign businessmen were essentially calculated perfectly and arranged properly from the very moment they checked into the hotel.

The report against her had mentioned that staff members personally sent clients to her.

Hearing it this way, it wasn’t really that they were personally sending her clients or money. They were simply centralizing clients for promotional activities to increase the transaction amount.

The official asked again, “But isn’t a 1% commission on the sales volume from the factories too high? As far as we know, there are other translators and promoters who, like you, only take commissions and no salary. But they only take 1% of the profit, not 1% of the sales volume, so they earn much less than you.”

Jiang Xia replied, “What does it have to do with me if they don’t earn as much as I do? That’s because they lack the ability! I am too capable and have outstanding talent—is that a crime? Not everyone in this world receives the same salary! Even the salaries of your colleagues in your work unit aren’t necessarily all the same, right? Those who are more capable earn more. Isn’t it normal that I earn more because I’m more capable than them? Besides, the commission I take is 1% of the sales volume or 1% of the net profit…”

Jiang Xia explained how she took either 1% of the sales volume or 1% of the profit.

For products where she took 1% of the sales volume, that was a commission she only took after she had successfully increased the price of the products.

Calculated this way, those factories didn’t earn less because they gave her a 1% commission. On the contrary, because Jiang Xia had raised the prices, they earned even more.

For goods where the price wasn’t increased, Jiang Xia only took 1% of the profit.

“The others didn’t have the ability to raise the price to sell the products and earn more foreign exchange for the country. Is that my fault?”

The officials: “…”

They were no match for her words!

One of the officials finally showed his cards. “To be honest, the reason we sought you out for questioning today is that someone reported you, saying you were conspiring with others at the Canton Fair to defraud the authorities of their money.”

Chapter 681: Truly Leaves One Speechless

Jiang Xia was instantly enraged. “To be honest, I’m angry! Where is the evidence? He who asserts must prove! What evidence do you have to say I’m corrupt?”

The officials: “…”

“I have signed contracts with those manufacturers in black and white! I don’t take a salary; I only take a commission. If I sell more, I earn more; if I sell less, I earn less. If I don’t sell a single piece, I don’t get a single cent! This time, I was lucky and earned a bit more. If I hadn’t been lucky, I might not have earned a penny!”

“I didn’t realize I was so excellent, that my abilities were so outstanding, that I could sell so many goods and earn so much money. To think it would actually attract jealous people! Who reported me?! See if I don’t screw over their whole—no, wait—report their whole family!”

“…”

The expressions of the two officials were quite the sight.

It was truly impossible to tell that such a sophisticated and beautiful female comrade would speak such crude words.

They had heard she was even a university student!

However, they didn’t know that Jiang Xia had come from a background of selling vegetables in her previous life. She had spent her childhood hanging around wet markets; what kind of crude language didn’t she know?

It was just a matter of whether she chose to use it or not.

When the atmosphere called for it, she spoke her mind.

If she kept it bottled up inside, the only thing she’d end up hurting was her own health.

Jiang Xia continued her furious output: “The commission I take is a bit high, but didn’t you also say that there are part-time translators from universities taking the same commission? It’s just that they didn’t earn as much as me. So, were they reported? Did you go to question them?”

The officials: “…”

Jiang Xia sneered. “No? If not, why did you come to question me? Shouldn’t these matters be treated equally? Why is there such a double standard? And since when does having a high transaction amount and earning a lot of money mean my commission rate is too high? If the other party takes the same commission rate but has a lower transaction amount and earns less, does that mean they aren’t taking a high commission? Don’t you think this is a form of suppression? Aren’t you bullying someone who has generated more foreign exchange and made a greater contribution to the country?”

The officials: “…”

One official spoke up in a placating tone, “We are only here to understand the situation. We definitely don’t mean to suppress or bully you.”

Jiang Xia remained fierce. “If you’re not bullying me, then what’s with this double standard? Are you intentionally targeting me?”

The official replied, “Someone filed a report, so we are conducting a routine inquiry. We aren’t targeting you on purpose. Many people are questioned, not just you. Our staff handles all issues with impartiality.”

Honestly!

Who exactly was the one being held accountable here?

Only then did Jiang Xia’s expression soften slightly, though she continued to press them. “Who was the one who reported me? Was it the people from the factories? Did they see how much money I earned, regret it, and decide they didn’t want to give me that much, so they reported me? Is that it?”

Jiang Xia became enraged again, standing up in her anger. “This won’t do! I’m taking my contracts to court to sue them! They can’t just burn the bridge after crossing it! Who is it? Which factory’s people reported me? I’m going to find a lawyer and sue them immediately! I’ll serve them a court summons! This is infuriating! They really think I’m a pushover!”

The officials: “…”

Wait, did this person have some kind of persecution complex?

They hadn’t even said anything yet!

The officials quickly tried to soothe her. “It wasn’t the factory people who reported you. They were also called in for questioning. Don’t misunderstand! Don’t be angry, don’t get worked up. Please sit down and let’s talk calmly!”

Jiang Xia countered, “I’ve been reported; how can I talk calmly? I worked so hard, wracked my brains, and exhausted myself to generate foreign exchange for the country. I thought you were here to praise me and give me a certificate! I never expected you were here to interrogate me! Who exactly was the one who reported me? I want to ask them myself! This is absolutely outrageous! They’re just jealous that I earned a lot of money! Dammit, they take me for a pushover! I’m going to sue them! Sue them for slander! Tell me right now who reported me!”

The officials: “…”

They had never seen anyone like this!

The people they usually dealt with were cultured individuals who cared about their face. Who else would act like such a tangled, unreasonable mess?

Furthermore, people being questioned were usually afraid of them. How was she like this?

They truly couldn’t find a way to keep questioning her!

But they had gathered more or less what they needed to understand.

“We don’t know who the informant is either. We will report your situation to our superiors. We’ve gathered the relevant information, so that will be all for today. We’ll be leaving now! We still have to go question others.”

The two officials now only wanted to make a run for it.

But Jiang Xia wasn’t about to let them off. “Comrades, this isn’t the first time I’ve been reported! It can’t be helped—I’m just too excellent! It always provokes jealousy and framing from others!”

The officials: “…”

Jiang Xia continued, “If you find out who reported me, I must trouble you to investigate that person thoroughly as well! Ask them why they want to frame an outstanding national talent and an Advanced Worker! Such a petty person surely wouldn’t do anything good! If you investigate them, you might just find something! We can’t let these petty people always frame us excellent Advanced Workers behind our backs!”

The officials: “…”

They didn’t know if she was excellent in other areas, but her mouth was certainly “excellent”!

The officials replied, “We’ve received your feedback. We will report it to our superiors when we return. We’re leaving now!”

Leaving? You think you can leave just because you want to?

She wasn’t finished!

Jiang Xia blocked their path. “Wait, I still have suggestions to make, and I have some merits I haven’t told you about yet. If I don’t tell you, you won’t know, and I wouldn’t want to waste your time investigating.”

The officials: “…”

No, it wouldn’t be a waste of time at all because they wouldn’t investigate.

Their scope of work didn’t even cover that much!

She really thought too highly of them!

Jiang Xia said, “My merits don’t stop at the Canton Fair! I also opened a factory and created many job opportunities for the villagers. I even leased a garment factory, preventing over two hundred employees from facing layoffs! I have actively responded to the national call, riding the spring breeze to become one of the first to get rich, and then helping others get rich alongside me! You can check all of this. Surely, there should be a place for me as one of this year’s national Advanced Workers or Model Workers, right?”

The officials: “…”

“Selecting Advanced Workers and such… that isn’t our job.”

“Then you can pass it up the chain! I was reported, so don’t you have to investigate thoroughly? Once you’ve clarified the truth, remember to report it to the relevant departments! Have them award me a Model Worker prize, an Advanced Worker title, and a Canton Fair Promotion Grand Prize! After all, I generated so much foreign exchange for the country and created so many jobs, saving over two hundred employees from unemployment.”

“…”

She truly left one speechless!

In just over an hour today, they had been left speechless several times!

“By the way, comrades, what are your names? Which government unit are you from? I’ll call you another day, or I’ll visit you in person to treat you to a meal and see how the investigation is progressing.”

“…”

They were truly defeated!

Completely defeated!

Those foreign businessmen who helped her buy things… they probably weren’t doing it because they wanted to, but because they were scared of her pestering, weren’t they?

They probably felt they had no choice but to buy whatever she wanted just so they could escape!

Chapter 682: Father Jiang is Scared

Jiang Dong listened with rapt attention, wanting more. “And then? Sis, did you get their phone number?”

Jiang Xia replied, “Of course. They gave me a whistleblower hotline number.”

After speaking, she hugged Father Jiang’s arm and laughed. “When they left, I felt like they never wanted to see me again.”

Father Jiang let out a great laugh.

Jiang Dong took one hand off the steering wheel and gave a thumbs-up to the back seat.

“Drive properly!” Father Jiang barked.

Jiang Dong was full of admiration. “Sis, you’re something else! I just sat there like a good boy, answering whatever they asked. Weren’t you afraid? You actually dared to get angry?”

“What’s there to be afraid of?” Jiang Xia asked. “I didn’t do anything wrong! I clearly deserved praise, yet they came to bring me to task! Shouldn’t I be angry?”

Father Jiang smiled. “You should be. Why wouldn’t you? Even when we’re angry, we have every right to hold our heads high!”

Jiang Xia then asked Jiang Dong what they had questioned him about.

“They asked why I transferred money to you and why I bought a courtyard house for you,” Jiang Dong replied.

Father Jiang raised an eyebrow. “And what did you say?”

“What do they mean, ‘why’? She’s my sister! My money is her money. I’ll buy whatever I want for her—is there anything I can’t buy? I even rolled my eyes at them. It’s too ridiculous! Does that even need to be asked? Don’t they know we came from the same womb?”

That was the most irreverent thing he had said during the questioning!

He had been truly speechless at their questions! He couldn’t help himself!

Did he really need a reason to give his sister money?

Father Jiang: “…”

He suddenly didn’t want anyone to know this was his son!

He was already a postgraduate student, yet he could still say something as crude as “came from the same womb”?

Zhou Chenglei and Zhang Rui were in the car behind them.

As for Zeng Jing, Zhang Rui had already entrusted a familiar neighbor to take her home.

When Jiang Xia had come out, she happened to see a neighbor she knew, so Zhang Rui let Zeng Jing take that person’s car.

Zhang Rui asked Zhou Chenglei, “Any idea who reported you?”

“Check on a student named Jiang Qian from the Foreign Language College for me,” Zhou Chenglei said. “Also, see if you can get your hands on that whistleblower letter. A photo is fine; I just need the handwriting.”

Zhang Rui found the name a bit familiar. Surnamed Jiang?

“Do you suspect him? Is there some history between you?”

“It’s not a suspicion; it’s an instinct.”

Of course, Zhou Chenglei’s instinct wasn’t entirely baseless.

He felt the way the man looked at Jiang Xia was wrong. It was full of disdain. It was a look that said, ‘Let’s see how much longer you can act so proud.’

So, he had taken note of the man.

Additionally, the man was close to Wen Wan. He had happened to see them together a couple of times.

Wen Wan was also a strange woman; she harbored an inexplicable hostility toward Jiang Xia.

Zhou Chenglei didn’t know where that hostility came from or when it started, but he knew that Jiang Qian’s hostility toward Jiang Xia likely stemmed from Wen Wan.

In the entire Canton Fair, those two were the most likely candidates to have filed a report.

Of course, Zhou Chenglei wouldn’t wrongly accuse them; he would go looking for evidence tomorrow.

When the family arrived home, the children had already cried themselves to sleep.

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei went into the room to check on the kids before heading out to join the others for a late-night snack.

Second Auntie had prepared a spread for everyone: a plate of stir-fried rice vermicelli, a dish of pan-fried shredded taro cake, a plate of fried wontons, and a plate of fried capelin.

Except for the capelin, the other three items had been prepared in advance by Second Auntie.

Zhang Rui hurried forward to take the plates from Second Auntie’s hands. “I’ll do it, I’ll do it! You’ve worked hard, Second Auntie, making snacks for us so late. Please, sit down and eat.”

“It’s no trouble. You sit and have something.” Second Auntie felt that during their last few meetings, this Comrade Zhang had become increasingly warm toward her.

Li Qiufeng brought in bowls of dried scallop lean pork porridge for everyone.

Zhang Rui set down the plates and quickly took the tray from her. “Let me, be careful, it’s hot.”

“It’s fine, it’s not that hot.” Li Qiufeng asked Zhang Rui, “What about your friend? Isn’t she coming inside for a snack?”

“She’s not my friend, just a neighbor,” Zhang Rui clarified. “She said she could help Fourth Brother, which was the only reason I brought her along. I’ve already sent her home in another neighbor’s car.”

Zhang Rui had brought her because he thought Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia had been detained for half a day without returning. When he saw her gloating, he was afraid she might pull some strings behind their backs.

After all, her parents did know people in that department. He also didn’t want her running to his grandfather to say anything.

Zhang Rui stole a glance at Li Qiufeng.

Li Qiufeng had no reaction; she had just asked in passing.

Zhang Rui: “…”

Everyone sat together to eat.

Since Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Dong had come straight from the Canton Fair team’s victory banquet in the capital, they weren’t very hungry.

Jiang Xia had attended a business negotiation meeting. There had been a dinner afterward, but because she had to translate, she hadn’t eaten much. Since the weather was cold today, she was craving the hot porridge.

Both Father Jiang and Zhou Chenglei moved the dried scallops from their bowls into Jiang Xia’s.

“I have enough, you guys eat,” Jiang Xia said, holding her bowl away to avoid them.

Seeing this, Zhang Rui plucked up his courage and placed a small dried fish into Li Qiufeng’s bowl.

Second Auntie: “…”

What is going on here?

The next day, Friday.

Jiang Xia prepared the children’s food early as usual and ate breakfast before heading to class.

Father Jiang decided to take his daughter to school on his bicycle. “I’m going to the school to visit some teachers anyway. Your dad will give you a ride.”

Since there wasn’t much going on and tomorrow was Saturday, Father Jiang simply took an extra half-day off to stay for another two days. He planned to visit a few friends and old colleagues.

Jiang Xia couldn’t possibly let him peddle her there. She grabbed a scarf and a pair of gloves belonging to Zhou Chenglei for Father Jiang.

“These are new; A-Lei has never worn them. I bought them last year, but it was too warm back home for him to wear them, so I brought them to the capital. He still won’t wear them, saying they’re too hot and get in his way. On a cold day like this, he goes running in just a thin shirt—he’s not afraid of the cold at all. I won’t buy him anything ever again; it’s a waste of my money.”

It was freezing today; you could see your breath in the air. At five in the morning, Zhou Chenglei had headed out in nothing but thin sportswear, and he had taken a cold shower when he returned.

Jiang Xia handed the gloves to Father Jiang and helped him wrap the scarf.

Father Jiang’s constitution couldn’t compare to his young, strong son-in-law’s. Moreover, he enjoyed his daughter’s care, so he let her wrap the scarf for him, a constant smile on his face. He was genuinely happy to see his daughter and son-in-law getting along so well.

Once Father Jiang was fully equipped, Jiang Xia pushed the bicycle forward. “Dad, I’ll ride you there. You carried me when I was little; now that I’m grown, I’ll carry you.”

“No need, I’ll take you! Your dad isn’t that old yet. Wait until I’m too old to pedal, then you can take me. You don’t think I’m too old, do you? Are you afraid I’ll drop you?”

“How could I? It’s not like I don’t know how to jump off. Can’t you just let me start being filial now? By the time you’re too old to ride a bike, you’ll be in your seventies or eighties, and I’ll be in my fifties or sixties. An old lady like me wouldn’t dare try to carry you on a bike then! When that time comes, if you want a bike ride, let your three grandchildren take you. I definitely won’t be able to. So, now is the perfect time. I’ve just grown up, and you aren’t old yet.”

Father Jiang chuckled at her words. He found himself looking forward to seeing his daughter grow old and his grandchildren grow up. He decided he must persist in exercising every day so he could live for many more decades.

He laughed and said, “You’re right. You do it, then. Just don’t drop me!”

“Dad, you have to trust my riding skills. I can transport 50 kg of fish without any problems.”

Father Jiang: “…”

But…

But!

But he weighed more than 50 kg!

He was over 60 kg—nearly 65 kg!

Son-in-law!

Where is my son-in-law?!

Chapter 683: Confirmed

Father Jiang couldn’t find Zhou Chenglei.

Zhang Rui had driven over early that morning to pick Zhou Chenglei up, and no one knew what the two of them were busy with.

Since his son-in-law was nowhere to be found, Father Jiang had no choice but to look to his son for help.

Jiang Dong understood instantly. “Dad, it’s freezing out. Why don’t you take my car? I’ll ride on the back of Sis’s bicycle to school.”

He had never sat on the back of his sister’s bike before!

He had grown quickly as a child, and by the time he learned to ride, he was already taller than his sister, so he was always the one giving her rides.

Father Jiang: “…”

“Get lost!”

Was that what he meant?

He wanted his son to help convince his daughter to let her old man ride the bike and carry her!

Jiang Xia said, “No need. I’ll just take Dad. You drive yourself. Get moving—aren’t you supposed to pick up Xiao Yan? Hurry and bring her breakfast, or it’ll get cold.”

Jiang Dong didn’t want to be left behind by the two of them; after all, this was supposed to be wonderful family bonding time. “Dad, Sis, can’t you both just take my car to school? Sis, once we get there, I can just leave the car for you to use.”

Jiang Xia replied, “No, Dad and I are riding the bicycle together. I can get some exercise that way.”

She didn’t run or do any other sports, so she treated her daily bike ride as her workout.

Father Jiang added, “You should learn from your sister. Why always drive? Riding a bike is good exercise.”

Jiang Dong countered, “Sis is just lazy about running. I run for exercise every single day.”

Besides, he mostly drove because it was convenient for picking up and dropping off Zhang Fuyan.

Father Jiang was just talking; his son’s habit of daily exercise was something he had personally cultivated by taking the boy running since he was little.

He had originally wanted to take his daughter along, too, but seeing how soundly she slept, he could never bring himself to wake her.

And his daughter truly did despise running; running even a couple hundred meters looked like it would be the death of her.

“Let’s go!” Jiang Xia pushed the bicycle out of the courtyard gate and hopped on. “Dad, get on. Can you hop on while it’s moving?”

“No.”

He was afraid that if he tried to jump on, he’d knock his daughter right over.

“Fine, then I’ll hold still. You get on first.”

Father Jiang looked at his confident daughter and, with his heart in his throat, braced himself and climbed onto the bicycle.

“Ready?”

“Ready.”

Jiang Xia pushed off, and the bicycle wobbled precariously.

Father Jiang nearly jumped off.

Fortunately, after a few wobbles, she stabilized it.

Only then did Father Jiang relax.

He knew he could always trust his daughter.

Jiang Dong started his car and watched them pull away.

He waited for the engine to warm up before driving off to follow them.

Father and daughter rode toward the school, chatting and laughing.

It was mostly Father Jiang talking about his days studying in the capital and how he had met Mother Jiang.

The streets and alleys in the early morning were at their liveliest, filled with people cycling to work.

Jiang Xia didn’t ride fast. When people passed them and overheard their conversation, they couldn’t help but cast looks of envy.

It was rare to see a father and daughter with such a good relationship!

Gu Heng had gone to investigate the previous night and learned that Jiang Xia had only been taken in for routine questioning and had returned home long ago.

Only then did his heart settle.

Early this morning, he was dropping his daughter off at school and intended to catch a glimpse of Jiang Xia while he was at it.

He knew Jiang Xia had no classes from this afternoon onward, so if he wanted to see her, he’d have to wait until next Monday.

Then, Gu Heng saw them from a distance—Jiang Xia on the main street, pedaling the bicycle with Father Jiang sitting on the back, heading toward the school.

Both father and daughter were wearing wide smiles.

Gu Heng’s eyes grew hot with a sudden ache.

That was his daughter!

His and Wen Yi’s daughter!

If the day ever came when they could recognize each other, would Jiang Xia also ride with him, her biological father, chatting and laughing along the road?

Despite the cold weather, breakfast stalls could still be seen along the streets.

Jiang Xia liked fried dough sticks, but no one at home knew how to make them.

Moreover, Father Jiang couldn’t bear the thought of his daughter carrying him such a long distance.

Father Jiang said, “Stop for a moment. Dad’s going to buy a fried dough stick.”

Jiang Xia stopped.

Father Jiang hopped off, walked over to buy a fried dough stick, and stuffed it into Jiang Xia’s hand. “Eat it while it’s hot. Dad picked one that just came out of the fryer. I’ll ride now; my backside is getting sore from sitting.”

Jiang Xia took the fried dough stick and let Father Jiang take the handlebars.

She held the fried dough stick up to Father Jiang’s mouth. “Dad, you have some too.”

Father Jiang shook his head as he began to pedal. “I’m not eating. You have it. I don’t care for them.”

Jiang Xia said, “But I can’t finish it all.”

“Eat what you want, and I’ll finish the rest. Get on!”

Just then, Gu Yue spotted Jiang Xia too.

“Dad, look, it’s Jiang Xia!”

As the car passed the father and daughter, Gu Yue couldn’t help but twist her body around in her seat to look back.

“Looks like she’s fine. Is that Jiang Xia’s father? They have such a great relationship!”

Gu Heng replied, “They’re not father and daughter.”

His tone was a bit sharp.

Gu Yue turned back and looked at Gu Heng in surprise. “How do you know?”

Gu Heng: “I’m guessing. They don’t look alike.”

Gu Yue looked back again, but they were already out of sight.

She hadn’t gotten a clear look at Father Jiang’s face just now, only noteing that he looked to be roughly the same age as her dad, so she couldn’t tell if they looked alike or not.

The campus in the early morning was a hive of activity.

A Jeep slowed to a stop outside the gates of the Foreign Language College.

Zhou Chenglei and Zhang Rui were inside. Just as they were preparing to get out, Wen Wan walked out of the school gates.

Zhou Chenglei said, “Wait a moment.”

Wen Wan headed toward the newspaper stand.

Every morning, she went to the stand outside the school to read the news.

She was too thrifty to spend money on papers, so she would stand outside the booth, flip through the headlines of a few major papers, and then head back into the school.

On the very first paper today, she saw Jiang Xia’s face!!!!!!!!!!!

The photo had been taken inside a hall. Jiang Xia was holding a microphone and speaking. The image was a bit blurry, but one could still see her serious and focused expression and her cool, elegant aura.

She wasn’t even the main subject of the photo, yet she was in the frame. Even in the corner, that stern yet beautiful presence was impossible to ignore.

She was like the star beside the bright moon in the night sky.

Even if she wasn’t the lead, no one could overlook her existence.

Because she was a star, she would shine even from the corner.

Wen Wan didn’t care if Jiang Xia was “shining” or not!

She glanced at the time of the meeting mentioned in the report. It was yesterday afternoon?

Wasn’t Jiang Xia taken away yesterday morning?

The rumor had spread all over their school!

How could she have appeared at such a high-level commercial trade meeting?

Wen Wan couldn’t even finish reading. She hurriedly dug out some change, bought a copy of the newspaper, and ran back into the school.

Zhou Chenglei and Zhang Rui also got out of the car and walked into the school together.

Since there were no classes for the first period this morning, Wen Wan wanted to find Jiang Qian, which meant she had to run to the boys’ dormitory.

Jiang Qian was woken up by his roommate, who told him Wen Wan was looking for him.

He quickly changed and went out.

Wen Wan shoved the newspaper directly at him. “Look at this.”

Jiang Qian took it. “What’s wrong?”

“Look who this is! Didn’t you say Jiang Xia was taken in for questioning yesterday and was going to be taught a lesson this time? She was at the Great Hall yesterday afternoon! She’s in the paper! Who knows what kind of ‘important’ thing she was up to.”

Zhou Chenglei and Zhang Rui had come to the Foreign Language College specifically to find a way to check Jiang Qian’s handwriting.

Now, there was no need.

Chapter 684: How Ruthless

Jiang Qian stared at the photo of Jiang Xia in the newspaper. Hearing Wen Wan’s questioning tone, he looked up at her. “If nothing happened to her, it proves she didn’t violate any laws or regulations. We were mistaken. Or perhaps there’s insufficient evidence, and the relevant departments are still looking for more. But I went to report her on the first day of the Canton Fair based on what you told me, and nearly a month has passed since then.”

He stopped there, leaving the rest unsaid.

Wen Wan understood his unspoken words: the evidence wasn’t enough to convict Jiang Xia.

She had known it would turn out this way, so she couldn’t even say she was disappointed.

She just had to get used to it.

To put it bluntly, Jiang Xia was simply blessed with good life and good luck.

These were things she had no way of changing; they were innate. She wasn’t born with them, so what could she do?

Jiang Qian felt they might have misunderstood the woman. He wanted to say something more, but then he noticed how pale Wen Wan’s face was.

Her clothes were thin against the biting cold wind, making her look inexplicably frail and pitiable.

His heart softened, and he kept his thoughts to himself. Reaching out to take her hand, he found it freezing. “Why are you so cold? Have you had breakfast? Let me take you to eat. Wait for me a moment!”

From the shadows, Zhang Rui held up his camera and captured this scene.

Jiang Qian heard the click of the shutter and instinctively looked over.

He saw Zhang Rui aiming the camera at a bird’s nest in a tree in front of the dormitory building, capturing another click.

Thinking it was just someone from the photography association, Jiang Qian glanced away and hurried into the dormitory to grab a scarf. When he returned, he wrapped it around Wen Wan.

“Let’s go!” Jiang Qian lightly put his arm around her shoulder and led her toward breakfast.

Wen Wan snapped back to reality and walked with him to the cafeteria.

Jiang Qian knew she had been isolated by her classmates recently and was in a bad mood, so he had been accompanying her for meals and study sessions lately.

Wen Wan couldn’t afford to be without a single friend; it would make her life at the university too difficult.

Furthermore, Jiang Qian came from a very good family background, and many of his friends were from similar circles.

Jiang Qian had even helped her find her part-time translation job in the capital.

Wen Wan felt that being friends with him could help expand her personal network.

Moreover, she wanted to partner with Jiang Qian to start a business—opening a clothing store near the school.

The clothes would be sourced from Suicheng—the kind of clearance stock and seconds sold by the 500g.

She didn’t have much capital. If she opened it alone, she wouldn’t have time to mind the shop while in class and would need to hire one or two people, which would increase her investment costs.

The travel expenses to Suicheng to pick up stock were also significant.

Finding a partner would reduce the risk.

Actually, opening a convenience store was the easiest, lowest-capital, and most stable option, but several had already opened near the school. The market was saturated.

So, after returning from the Canton Fair, she had come up with the idea of selling clothes.

As they ate breakfast together, Wen Wan shared her plan with Jiang Qian.

Jiang Qian agreed immediately. Since they didn’t have classes for the first two periods that morning, they decided to head out to the streets to see if there were any shops for rent.

Zhang Rui followed them the whole way, taking several photos before returning to the car to find Zhou Chenglei.

Sigh, he never expected that as a regimental-level officer, he would have to do reconnaissance work like this.

He hadn’t been a scout in many years!

“Fourth Brother, why are you taking these photos?”

Zhou Chenglei replied coolly, “To report them.”

Zhang Rui started the car. “Is dating not allowed in university now? As far as I know, your brother-in-law is dating too, isn’t he?”

Zhou Chenglei said indifferently, “Dating is allowed, but dating a married woman should not be.”

Zhang Rui: “…”

“You plan to report them to the school?”

Zhou Chenglei: “Not just the school.”

Zhang Rui: “…”

As expected of him!

How ruthless!

Zhou Chenglei believed that being merciful to the enemy was being cruel to oneself!

“Drive.” Zhou Chenglei glanced at his watch. It was past eight, nearly nine o’clock.

Zhang Rui drove to Elder Zhang’s home first to pick up some review materials, and then headed to the Zhou family home.

Elder Zhang wanted to keep Zhou Chenglei for a few more words, but it wasn’t possible.

Zhang Rui had to return to his unit the day after tomorrow. He had spent half the day accompanying Zhou Chenglei and hadn’t spent much time developing his relationship with his Little Cousin during this break. Once they had the materials, he pulled Zhou Chenglei along and left.

On the other side, Jiang Xia returned to school for classes and was met with concern from her classmates.

Many students asked where she had been the previous afternoon.

Jiang Xia smiled. “I had some matters to attend to.”

Zeng Jing, the only one in class who knew the truth, hadn’t arrived yet. Her friend, Song Huiru, smirked and said, “What kind of matters does Student Jiang Xia have? Were you invited for questioning and felt too ashamed to see anyone, so you took the afternoon off?”

Liu Weizhen couldn’t help but interject, “You’re the one who should be questioned! Student Jiang Xia was at a meeting!”

The thirty thousand sets of clothes were all sold out. Liu Weizhen had earned over ten thousand yuan, and Li Qiufeng had earned over seven thousand yuan.

She was incredibly grateful to Jiang Xia! There was no longer any need to worry about her mother’s subsequent medical expenses!

Song Huiru sneered, “What meeting? A self-criticism meeting?”

Jiang Xia looked at her and said calmly, “I was indeed invited for tea, but why would Student Song think I’d feel too ashamed to see anyone? Is being invited for questioning such a shameful thing?”

Song Huiru scoffed, “Stop playing dumb. By ‘invited for tea,’ I mean being questioned by people from the Discipline Inspection Department. Isn’t that shameful?”

Jiang Xia looked at her with cold eyes. “Someone like Student Song—who isn’t much to look at, has a crooked heart, doesn’t know how to respect teachers, can’t stand to see others do well, and gloats over others’ misfortunes—doesn’t feel ashamed! Why should someone like me—who is beautiful, excels in my studies, and performs excellently in my work—feel ashamed?”

Song Huiru: “…”

“You…”

Jiang Xia interrupted her. “Me what? Was I wrong? Do you not lack respect for your teachers? Were you not gloating? Should someone with a crooked heart and problematic values like yours be praised? How about I give you an award at the New Year’s Day Gala? We’ll call it the Best Gloater Award! Let the whole school know how noble your sentiments are. After all, I am a foreign language teacher at this school; I am qualified to issue a certificate to a student.”

Song Huiru: “…”

“Haha…” The whole class erupted into laughter.

Student Jiang Xia was too talented!

What kind of thing was a “Best Gloater Award”?

How did her brain come up with that?

Jiang Xia looked at the flushing Song Huiru and said indifferently, “Student Song, do you know what ‘shameful’ means now? This is shameful! If you can’t even distinguish between honor and disgrace, you should go back to elementary and middle school to retake your ethics and character classes!”

Song Huiru: “…”

Liu Weizhen nodded in agreement. “If someone reported her, it’s only because Student Jiang Xia is too excellent and attracted jealousy! After the staff finished their routine questioning, they didn’t arrest her, which proves that Student Jiang Xia is innocent. So, the shameful one is definitely not Student Jiang Xia. It’s the jealous people who reported her and those who are gloating. If those with dark hearts, who can’t stand to see others succeed and have vicious tongues, don’t feel ashamed, why should Student Jiang Xia?”

Liu Weizhen pulled out a newspaper. “This is the front page of this morning’s Citizens’ Daily. Once you all see this photo, you’ll know where Jiang Xia went!”

Chapter 685: Flight Delay

Liu Weizhen slapped the newspaper down directly in front of Song Huiru!

In addition to taking photos for her classmates, she now worked part-time delivering newspapers. Today, when she saw a picture of Jiang Xia in the paper, she bought a copy immediately.

Yesterday, in just half a day, rumors had spread throughout the class and the dormitory that Jiang Xia had been arrested for embezzling a lot of money while working as a translator at the Canton Fair. After all, everyone knew her because she was both a student and a teacher at the school.

Liu Weizhen knew that Song Huiru and her clique looked down on Jiang Xia and were always badmouthing her behind her back. She bought this newspaper specifically to show everyone the truth. She wanted them to see exactly where Jiang Xia had been yesterday instead of attending class.

Song Huiru looked down and immediately recognized that cold, elegant side profile in the photograph. Since she saw Jiang Xia every day, she was very familiar with her.

The other students were curious and crowded around to get a look.

“She’s in the newspaper!”

“And it’s the front page of the Citizens’ Daily!”

Could just anyone get onto the front page of the Citizens’ Daily? What a glorious honor it was to be featured there! And their classmate, Jiang Xia, had actually made it?

More than a dozen heads crowded around Liu Weizhen.

The front page of the Citizens’ Daily, combined with the image of the Great Hall where major conferences were often held, proved the prestige of the meeting. It also indirectly suggested that the people attending were of no ordinary status!

“It really is Jiang Xia! She’s amazing!”

“Jiang Xia looks so beautiful in the photo!”

“Even though she’s sitting in the corner, I spotted her instantly! She really steals the scene!”

“As expected of Teacher Jiang Xia. She’s qualified to attend a conference of this level.”

“Who said she was sitting in a corner? There are so many people in the venue, yet she was caught on camera. That proves her seat wasn’t in some remote corner at all!”

…

“Song Huiru! Come and look! Jiang Xia did ‘lose face’—enough that her face was printed on the front page of the Citizens’ Daily!”

However, Song Huiru had already taken the opportunity to pull a bathroom dodge!

Originally, she had wanted to vent some frustration on Zeng Jing’s behalf to make her happy. After all, she was currently dating Zeng Jing’s cousin. Zeng Jing’s father held a higher position than her future father-in-law, so for whatever reason, building a good relationship with her future sister-in-law brought only benefits and no harm.

She never expected that Jiang Xia had skipped class yesterday to attend such a high-level meeting!

Today, Jiang Xia once again became the talk of the students at Q University and Jingda.

However, Jiang Xia didn’t care what others said. Whether it was praise or insults, she remained indifferent.

After class, Jiang Xia went home with Father Jiang.

Since there were no classes in the afternoon, Jiang Xia had planned to take Father Jiang shopping to buy him some clothes, as he hadn’t brought any luggage with him. However, during lunch, Father Jiang received a call from his government unit.

There was an urgent matter at work, so Father Jiang immediately called to book a flight home. By chance, it was the same flight as Ruan Tang—the only one available that day.

Jiang Xia simply called Ruan Tang and mentioned that they would pick her up and take her to the airport.

Upon hearing this, Father Jiang added, “Tell Xiao Tang that after we land tonight, I’ll have my driver take her home. There’s no need for her to contact her family to pick her up; it’s on the way anyway.”

Ruan Tang heard him on the other end of the line.

Jiang Xia relayed Father Jiang’s words to Ruan Tang.

Ruan Tang replied, “Okay, then I’ll have to trouble Uncle Jiang.”

Ruan Tang was also starting to regret asking Zhou Chengsen to pick her up, considering how late it would be. This arrangement was better.

After hanging up, Jiang Xia called home to tell Zhou Chengsen that he didn’t need to pick up Ruan Tang.

Before the call connected, Jiang Xia said, “I wonder if Second Brother has already left for the city.”

Zhou Chenglei replied, “If he’s already left, let him pick her up. Dad won’t need to arrange a driver then.”

Father Jiang suddenly wondered if he was being a busybody.

When the call went through, Zhou Chengsen hadn’t left for the city yet. He was still at home, so Jiang Xia explained the situation: “Second Brother, my dad came to the capital and is taking the same flight back as Dr. Ruan. You don’t need to pick her up tonight. She’ll take my dad’s car home.”

“Alright,” Zhou Chengsen replied.

He looked down at the new shirt and sweater he had just put on. He had been preparing to take his daughter to the city to get her bandages changed.

Zhou Ying heard him and asked, “Daddy, why was Auntie calling you?”

Zhou Chengsen said, “We don’t need to pick up Sister Ruan tonight. Let’s go to the hospital early to change your dressings and come home sooner.”

Zhou Ying was immediately unhappy upon hearing this. “I don’t want to! We agreed to pick her up! I want to give Sister Ruan her birthday present!”

Zhou Ying had learned it was Ruan Tang’s birthday while they were chatting earlier. After returning home, she had used cord to weave a bracelet for her. She had made four in total—one each for herself, Zhou Zhou, Sister Ruan, and Auntie.

When Zhou Zhou found out, she prepared a gift too. Zhou Zhou had made a wind chime out of colored ribbons, something she had just learned from an older girl in the village.

“Grandpa Jiang and Sister Ruan are flying back together. It’s more convenient for her to take his car.”

“No! Daddy, let’s go anyway! We don’t have to pick her up to take her home, we can just go to give her a surprise! Once tonight is over, it won’t be Sister Ruan’s birthday anymore! Right, Zhou Zhou?”

Zhou Zhou nodded. “That’s right! Second Uncle, let’s go give Sister Ruan her birthday gift. You can call Uncle and pick up Grandpa while we’re at it.”

“Exactly! Anyway, I’m going to give Sister Ruan her present.”

Zhou Chengsen couldn’t win against the two children. He knew how seriously they had taken the preparation of these gifts. The two kids had recently become obsessed with handicrafts. Every day, they were either weaving bracelets, making wind chimes, or folding stars. They spent every day folding lucky stars. They had started back in the summer, folding one every day and writing a blessing on each one, saying they were for Auntie’s birthday next year.

Zhou Chengsen called the capital again to explain the situation.

“Dad, call Mom and tell her you don’t need a driver to pick you up. Let my Second Brother take you home when the time comes.”

Father Jiang waved his hand. “No need. Just let him pick up Xiao Tang when the time comes. I’ll have the driver come for me.”

Was he such an person who wasn’t chivalrous and tactful?

“You don’t need to say anything more to A-Sen either. Once we land, we’ll make our own arrangements.”

So, Jiang Xia didn’t call back again.

At four o’clock in the afternoon, Zhou Chenglei dropped Father Jiang and Ruan Tang off at the airport right on time. He waited until their plane took off before driving home.

At 5:30 PM, Zhou Chengsen took his daughter to the hospital to have her dressings changed, and then he took the two children to a restaurant for dinner. It wouldn’t be too late to head to the airport after eating.

As they passed a mall, Zhou Ying asked Zhou Chengsen, “Daddy, aren’t you going to buy Sister Ruan a birthday present? We’re all giving her something. If you don’t, won’t it be awkward for you to just stand there?”

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

He felt that if he did give a gift, it would be even more awkward!

But Zhou Ying didn’t know that. She dragged Zhou Chengsen into the mall to pick out a gift.

By the time Zhou Chengsen arrived at the airport with the two children, it wasn’t even eight o’clock yet. Zhou Ying and Zhou Zhou excitedly looked around the airport lobby. They thought the recently built lobby was very grand.

Just then, an announcement came over the loudspeaker stating that the flight from the capital was delayed.

Hearing this, Zhou Chengsen rushed over to ask the staff, “Why is the flight from the capital delayed? When will it arrive?”

“The aircraft has suffered a bleed air failure. The crew is following procedure and preparing to make an emergency landing at the nearest airport. Once the plane has landed safely, the company will arrange for passengers to transfer to another aircraft for the remainder of the flight. As for when they will arrive, I’m sorry, we don’t know yet.”

A chill ran through Zhou Chengsen’s entire body as he listened.

Chapter 686: The More They Heard, The More Scared They Became

Uncle Feng, Father Jiang’s driver, had arrived at the airport early to pick him up. Upon hearing about the flight delay, he immediately went to inquire about the situation and happened to hear the explanation from the airport staff.

He greeted Zhou Chengsen and then pressed the staff member for details. “What are the consequences of a bleed air system failure? It won’t affect the plane’s ability to land safely, will it? Nothing bad is going to happen, right?”

The staff member explained patiently, “I’m sorry, we don’t have all the specifics yet, but our flight crew is already inspecting and addressing the issue. Please wait patiently for further updates.”

Uncle Feng knew he wouldn’t get much from them, so he went to find their supervisor to see if he could gather more useful information.

Zhou Chengsen took the two children and followed him.

The ultimate answer was the same: the crew on the plane was still inspecting and dealing with the fault.

However, they did learn some bad news. The nearest diversion airport was being affected by a cold front, resulting in strong crosswinds and low broken clouds—essentially, it was unsuitable for landing.

This meant the malfunctioning aircraft had no choice but to fly back here to land; there were no other airports available.

The more they asked, the more frightened they became!

Uncle Feng asked, “Can the plane make it back if the bleed air system has failed?”

The official replied, “The captain and the crew have judged that it can, so it should be fine. They will definitely choose the safest landing plan possible.”

Sometimes, they simply had no other choice!

Zhou Chengsen asked, “What exactly does a failure in the bleed air system affect?”

He wasn’t like Zhou Chenglei. Beyond knowing that a plane had wings to fly, he wasn’t familiar with anything else.

the official gave a brief explanation.

The bleed air system has many uses for an aircraft, one of which is providing heating to the cabin.

The air at high altitudes is extremely cold and the pressure is very thin. This cold air must be heated and pressurized by the aircraft’s engines before it can be sent into the cabin. This process is called “bleeding air.”

If the bleed air system fails and cannot provide heat, it affects the temperature and pressure in the cabin, making passengers feel very cold or even unwell.

Of course, compared to safety, this impact was relatively minor.

The bleed air system also provides air for several other vital systems, such as air conditioning pressurization, wing anti-icing, water tank pressurization, and hydraulic reservoir pressurization.

Therefore, if the system fails, these other systems might also fail to operate normally, which in turn affects the overall performance and safety of the aircraft.

This was the truly terrifying part, and it was unpredictable.

The more they heard, the more scared they became!

Zhou Ying and Zhou Zhou also sensed the heavy atmosphere among the adults. Their earlier excitement vanished, and they sat quietly so as not to disturb the conversation.

The official spent two or three minutes explaining this to them before leaving.

After waiting for another ten minutes—ten minutes that felt incredibly long to Zhou Chengsen—the sound of sirens from multiple ambulances began to wail in the distance.

Uncle Feng ran off again to check the situation. The word was that since the diversion airport didn’t meet landing conditions due to the crosswinds, the plane was flying straight back. Meanwhile, some passengers on board were feeling unwell.

Zhou Chengsen looked out and saw a sea of flashing red and blue lights. The rapid, insistent sirens only added to the mounting panic.

Time ticked by second by second. Zhou Chengsen stood in the lounge, staring toward the runway, feeling as though every second lasted a year.

Their waiting room had a view of the runway.

In the dead silence, Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying drifted off to sleep.

Zhou Chengsen asked the staff for blankets to cover them.

Uncle Feng couldn’t even sit still. He kept standing up to look out the window. “Should I call the Madam and let her know?”

He wanted to report the situation to Mother Jiang, but he was afraid of scaring her.

Yet, if he didn’t call and something happened, he worried it would be worse.

He was truly caught in a dilemma.

Zhou Chengsen said, “Let’s wait a bit longer. If there’s no definite news by ten o’clock, we’ll call. Calling now won’t help anything.”

Zhou Chengsen also didn’t want to call Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia yet. It would only add to their worry, and there was nothing they could do to help at this moment.

He would tell them once the situation was clear.

“Alright.”

In the capital…

After Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei coaxed the three children to sleep, the couple was busy with their own work in the study.

Jiang Xia was preparing lesson plans, while Zhou Chenglei was studying a book on transformers.

The electromagnetic factory he had partnered in with Zhang Rong and the others mainly produced transformers. Recently, Zhou Chenglei had been researching them constantly—reading books and looking through materials at night, and going to the factory during the day to work with the R&D department.

Jiang Xia didn’t understand those things, but as she watched his focused expression, she felt a restless unease tonight.

As the night grew deeper, the feeling only intensified.

She eventually put down her pen.

Work without efficiency was better left undone.

Zhou Chenglei noticed her movement and looked up. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t concentrate.” Jiang Xia glanced at the watch on the desk. “My father’s plane should have landed by now, right?”

Zhou Chenglei checked his watch; it was eight-forty. “Yeah, it should have landed. But it takes time to get off the plane. I’ve already told Second Brother to call us as soon as he picks him up.”

Jiang Xia said, “I’m going outside to wait by the phone.”

Zhou Chenglei put down his book and went out to get Jiang Xia some bird’s nest.

As it happened, the bird’s nest had just finished stewing.

She could eat it while waiting for the call, and then go straight to sleep.

Jiang Xia sat by the telephone, eating her bird’s nest in milk while waiting.

She didn’t have much of an appetite, but she ate it because the nutrients would pass through her milk to the babies. She finished it in a few quick bites.

Zhou Chenglei took the empty bowl and went to wash it.

Just then, the courtyard gate sounded, and Jiang Dong walked in.

He had also been feeling restless, which was why he came over.

“No call from Dad yet?”

Zhou Chenglei comforted the two. “Wait a bit longer. He’ll probably call once he gets home.”

While the three of them waited anxiously for the phone to ring, back at the airport, Zhou Chengsen and Uncle Feng were constantly checking their watches.

Eight-fifty-two!

Finally, they heard the faint, distant “rumble” of a jet engine.

Uncle Feng ran to the window. “Do you hear that? Is that the plane?”

Zhou Chengsen walked over as well. “I hear it.”

The two of them stood at the window, staring into the night sky.

The few people left in the hall who were there to pick someone up also began looking around for a spot to watch the landing.

At first, nothing was visible.

But soon, a faint light appeared.

Gradually, that faint light grew brighter.

The roar of the engines grew louder and louder.

“Is that their flight?” Uncle Feng’s face was pressed against the cold glass.

“It should be!” Zhou Chengsen stared fixedly at the point of light in the night sky, where red strobes were flashing.

The light moved closer, lower, and brighter; the sound became a deafening roar.

They could even vaguely see the silhouette of the aircraft.

Just as their hearts leaped into their throats, the plane began its landing!

The fuselage touched down steadily on the runway!

The medical personnel moved!

The plane came to a stop!

The heart Zhou Chengsen had been carrying in his throat all night finally settled halfway back into his chest.

The medical team was already waiting outside the cabin door.

Uncle Feng shouted, “I’m going to the exit to meet him!”

Leaving those words behind, he dashed out.

Zhou Chengsen woke the two children. He wasn’t in a hurry to get to the exit; from here, he could still watch the passengers disembark, which he wouldn’t be able to see once he was at the gate.

Even though it was too dark to see clearly, seeing something was better than seeing nothing at all.

Chapter 687: Surprise

Zhou Chengsen saw Ruan Tang.

She was assisting the medical staff, shielding the passengers as they disembarked.

However, he hadn’t seen Jiang Father yet.

At that moment, Jiang Father was still inside the cabin, guiding the passengers to disembark in an orderly fashion and telling them not to panic.

The past forty minutes or so had been so terrifying that everyone thought they wouldn’t make it home.

First, the plane’s heating system encountered a problem, making it colder and colder inside the cabin.

Then, the crew announced over the PA system that the bleed air system had malfunctioned, requiring an emergency landing at the nearest airport before transferring to another flight.

At that point, no one was too nervous. Everyone cooperated with the broadcast, sitting down and fastening their seatbelts.

Even though it was getting colder, everyone was wearing thick clothes since they were flying from the capital, and they had more in their luggage. The flight attendants also provided blankets.

But then, the plane suddenly hit turbulence and dropped in altitude instantaneously.

That moment was truly terrifying. It caused a massive panic among the passengers, and some even began to feel physically unwell.

Throughout the ordeal, Ruan Tang and Jiang Father assisted the flight attendants in calming the passengers. Ruan Tang even performed emergency first aid on a passenger with a heart condition.

Once the plane came to a halt, Jiang Father continued to help the flight attendants soothe everyone, letting those who felt unwell disembark first.

Ruan Tang assisted the medical staff in helping the sick passengers off the plane.

Zhou Chengsen caught a faint glimpse of Ruan Tang and Jiang Father, and his heart finally settled.

He hurriedly pulled the two children toward the exit to wait.

It wasn’t until past ten o’clock that Jiang Father and Ruan Tang finally walked out.

When Ruan Tang saw Zhou Chengsen waiting for her at the exit with the two children, her eyes instantly turned red.

She had thought she would never see him again!

Her biggest regret while on the plane was that she hadn’t confessed her feelings.

She had always felt that she had no regrets in her twenty-something years of life, but the greatest one was not daring to confess to the person she liked.

She had told herself that if she had the chance to get off that plane, she would definitely confess.

Zhou Chengsen watched her without blinking.

Ruan Tang walked quickly toward him. Having survived a brush with death, she just wanted to throw herself into his arms.

Zhou Chengsen watched as Ruan Tang hurried toward him.

He felt as though she was about to leap into his embrace.

“Sister Ruan!” Zhou Ying and Zhou Zhou broke free from Zhou Chengsen’s hands and rushed in front of Ruan Tang, grabbing her hands from both sides.

The two adults: “…”

Ruan Tang glanced at Zhou Chengsen.

Zhou Chengsen gave her a small smile.

Ruan Tang smiled back, then looked down at the two children and rubbed their heads. “Why are you all here? You must have been waiting for a long time. Are you sleepy?”

“Not sleepy! We’re here to give you a surprise. Happy Birthday, Sister Ruan! This is the birthday present I got for you.”

“Happy Birthday, Sister Ruan! This is the wind chime I got for you.”

Ruan Tang was truly surprised!

She bent down with a smile and gave them both a hug. “Thank you!”

She had asked the children when their birthdays were before, and they had casually asked for hers in return. She hadn’t expected them to remember.

She never thought they would remember it and even prepare gifts for her.

Zhou Ying added, “Dad bought you a gift too! Dad!”

Ruan Tang’s heart skipped a beat, and she looked at Zhou Chengsen.

Zhou Ying also looked back.

However, seeing that Ruan Tang was occupied with the children, Zhou Chengsen had already walked over to greet Jiang Father.

“Father-in-law, are you feeling unwell anywhere?”

Jiang Father smiled and said, “No, I’m fine. You should get home early. I’m going to give A-Lei and Xiaxia a call.”

It was already past ten. Although Uncle Feng had already called his own wife to report that they were safe, Uncle Feng didn’t have Xiaxia’s phone number.

His daughter and the others were probably anxious from waiting.

“Alright. Father-in-law, please be careful on your way home. Give A-Lei a call when you get there as well.” Zhou Chengsen didn’t mention that he had already called; Jiang Xia would surely want to hear Jiang Father’s voice with her own ears.

Jiang Father nodded and hurried off to find a telephone.

In the capital.

Jiang Xia had learned from Zhou Chengsen that the flight was delayed due to a malfunction but had landed safely.

He also said he had seen that Jiang Father and Ruan Tang were both fine.

Even though Zhou Chengsen said everything was alright, the three of them only truly felt at ease after hearing Jiang Father’s voice for themselves.

Jiang Father’s warm, smiling voice came through the receiver, soothing their hearts. “A-Sen picked up Xiao Tang as well, and she’s fine. Alright, it’s late. I’m taking a car home now. Your mother is probably waiting for me to get back before she sleeps, so you all should get some rest too. Don’t wait for my call when I get home. It’s too late, go to bed early.”

He was worried that it would be too late by the time he reached home and would affect the children’s rest, so he borrowed a phone at the airport to report his safety so they could sleep in peace.

Jiang Xia told Jiang Father to stay safe on the road before hanging up.

Of course, they would still wait until Jiang Father was safely home before sleeping.

Jiang Xia remarked, “We shouldn’t take night flights in the future.”

Jiang Dong replied, “A plane malfunction probably doesn’t have much to do with whether it’s day or night.”

“I know, but at least during the day you can see. The visibility is better, so landing should be safer than at night, right?”

Jiang Dong nodded. “That’s true.”

Since they were waiting for Jiang Father to get home, the three of them continued to discuss the plane malfunction.

Jiang Xia asked them what a bleed air system was.

Jiang Dong was quite interested in machinery and had actually researched it before.

Zhou Chenglei was also interested in these things; he had trained to fly fighter jets and had studied them as well. The two of them took turns explaining the technical details to Jiang Xia.

They chatted until eleven o’clock when Jiang Xia called home.

Jiang Father had just arrived and was walking through the door.

Mother Jiang held the phone. “Your father is back! Just walked in.”

Jiang Father took the phone and told them to go to bed. He also informed them that Zhou Chengsen’s car was right behind his and that he had safely reached the city center.

Knowing everyone was home safe, the three finally went to sleep.

Jiang Father arrived home first, as Zhou Chengsen still had to drop Ruan Tang off.

The Jeep stopped at the foot of her residential building.

The two children were already asleep in the back seat.

Zhou Chengsen got out, opened the door for Ruan Tang, and placed his hand over the roof to protect her head as she stepped out. “Get some rest soon. I’ll watch you go upstairs.”

Ruan Tang stepped out. It was less than half an hour until midnight. She stood between him and the car, looking up at him. “Regarding me… did you forget something?”

Yingying said he had bought her a birthday gift too, but he hadn’t given it to her yet.

Zhou Chengsen met her expectant gaze.

It was very late, and the two children were in the car, so Zhou Chengsen had originally planned to speak the next day.

But if he didn’t say it now, he felt she might speak first.

He couldn’t let a girl be the one to speak first about such matters.

That would be unfair to her.

“I didn’t forget.”

Under his gaze, Ruan Tang’s heart thudded. “What is it?”

Zhou Chengsen saw her eyes grow brighter. He paused to organize his thoughts. He had spent the whole drive thinking about how to say it, analyzing the difficulties she might face being with him. But meeting her expectant eyes now, he found he had forgotten all his prepared speeches.

Zhou Chengsen’s grip on the car door tightened. Despite the cold weather, his palms were sweating. He looked into her eyes and finally uttered the most direct words: “Are you willing to date me?”

Ruan Tang froze for a moment, and then her heart raced even faster. “What did you just say?”

So, was the birthday gift Yingying mentioned actually a confession?

This was such a huge surprise!

Even surviving the flight wasn’t as surprising as this!

Now that the words were out, saying them again wasn’t so difficult.

Zhou Chengsen said, “I like you. If you feel anything for me too, are you willing to date me with the intention of marriage?”

Chapter 688: So Good!

Ruan Tang had only meant to ask him for a birthday gift; she never expected a surprise like this.

She suddenly threw herself into his arms.

She had wanted to do this back at the airport.

Zhou Chengsen was knocked back a step by her impact before he managed to catch her. Once he had steadied her, he let go of his grip.

Ruan Tang wrapped both arms around his lean waist, burying her face against his solid chest. “I’m willing.”

Zhou Chengsen’s fingertips twitched slightly, but he didn’t pull her into a full embrace. His smile and tone were exceptionally gentle. “Alright. Then let’s give it a try. If you ever feel that it’s not a good fit, or if you aren’t happy, you can call it off at any time.”

This relationship was unfair to her, so he was handing her the initiative.

Zhou Chengsen looked at the two children sleeping soundly in the car. “You know my situation. I’m divorced and I have children to look after…”

Ruan Tang reached up to his shoulders, stood on her tiptoes, and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

“I don’t mind.”

Zhou Chengsen’s chest vibrated with a silent tremor.

Feeling a bit shy, Ruan Tang still didn’t let go. She buried her face back into his chest and held him tight, afraid he might take back his words in the next second. She whispered, “I like you too. Ever since long before you liked me. Long before.”

A hint of grievance unconsciously seeped into her voice.

Zhou Chengsen’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “I know. I’m sorry.”

He had still let her suffer.

“I don’t blame you. I understand your fears and concerns. Everything you’re worried about, everything you’re hesitant over—I’m not afraid of any of it. As long as those things don’t come from you, I’m fine.”

She understood his reservations, but facing his previous evasiveness, she hadn’t been without her own feelings of hurt.

Ruan Tang tightened her grip on his sweater.

Zhou Chengsen swallowed the bitterness in his throat. At his age, there were very few things left in life that could truly move him.

He pulled her hands down, clasping them firmly in his. The thousand words he wanted to say eventually boiled down to a soft, “Thank you.”

He had originally wanted to tell her that being with him would inevitably bring gossip and perhaps other troubles. The rumors and whispers would hurt her and make her sad. He was also afraid—afraid of leading her into a bottomless abyss. After all, there were some external factors even he couldn’t control.

But Zhou Chengsen realized there was no need to say anything.

She understood.

Zhou Chengsen squeezed her hand, holding it tight.

It wasn’t a hug; he didn’t pull her into his arms, yet Ruan Tang could feel his cherish and his grace.

A gentlemanly deep affection.

This was the man she loved.

Ruan Tang smiled, though tears welled in her eyes. It was for all those days and nights she had loved him one-sidedly while he had pretended not to know.

It hadn’t been without its sorrows.

Zhou Chengsen reached up and gently wiped away her tears.

He understood her tears. “It won’t be like that anymore.”

He never made promises lightly, but once he gave his word, he never failed to keep it.

A biting draft whistled past them, but his palms were very, very warm.

She had always known that if she could become his wife, she would be very, very happy.

On this journey, she had gathered the courage to take ninety-nine steps toward him, all just to get him to take that one single step forward.

But that one step was enough!

His proactivity at the final moment smoothed over all her grievances, leaving her heart full of only joy and happiness.

Those ninety-nine steps had been worth it!

She had originally thought she would have to walk a hundred and one.

After some time had passed, Zhou Chengsen said softly, “It’s late. Why don’t you go up and rest? Don’t you have work tomorrow?”

He said the words, yet he didn’t let go of her hand, waiting for her to be the one to pull away first.

“Mhm.” Ruan Tang moved to pull her hand back to check the time, and only then did he release her.

At this moment, Ruan Tang didn’t yet know that for the rest of their lives, every time they held hands, he would be the one to reach for her first—and then he would wait for her to let go before he released his grip.

Ruan Tang glanced at her watch. It was almost midnight. Remembering something, she added, “Today is my birthday, and you gave yourself to me! You’re mine from now on, no backing out.”

She still felt a lingering sense of insecurity.

Zhou Chengsen smiled and nodded. “Mhm. Unless you don’t want me anymore.”

“I would never! I finally found a treasure, I have to hold on tight! I’ll be like an octopus, suctioned onto you so tight I’ll never let go!”

Zhou Chengsen couldn’t help but laugh. “Alright. But you might have it mixed up. I’m the octopus.”

Ruan Tang laughed.

If he was the octopus, then she was the treasure!

“Uncle Octopus!”

Zhou Chengsen smiled. “Mhm.”

Both of them thought back to when they first met.

He had lacked foresight.

She had been covered in thorns.

A thorny Haitang flower.

Yet her heart was kind and soft.

Thinking of the flower, Zhou Chengsen turned and took a brocade box from the car, handing it to her.

In the final second before midnight, he said, “Happy birthday.”

Not expecting another surprise, Ruan Tang took it with delight. She opened it to find a pearl necklace and bracelet set from the Haitang collection.

The pearls weren’t large; they were small and delicate. Two white pearls were paired together to create the effect of two stacked bracelets. Between each pair were small gold beads acting as spacers. Then, a small white pearl was paired with a pink pearl, followed by another gold bead, and then back to two white pearls. The bracelet was strung in this rhythmic pattern—exquisite, elegant, and youthful.

It looked as though small pink and white Haitang flowers were blooming around her wrist.

Ruan Tang loved it at first sight. It was truly beautiful!

“Was it very expensive?”

“It was alright.”

The moment Zhou Chengsen had seen it at the counter, he felt it suited her temperament perfectly. So, he had bought both the bracelet and the necklace.

The set was a bit pricey, especially with the gold involved.

“Aren’t you going to help me put it on?” Ruan Tang held the box, looking at him expectantly.

“I will.” Zhou Chengsen took the bracelet first, unfastened the clasp, and slipped it onto her slender wrist.

Ruan Tang held her breath as she watched his long fingers pinch the small ends of the bracelet and carefully click the clasp shut.

With that click, the two of them were fastened together for a lifetime.

From then on, they were connected, their hearts locked together.

His hands were large, and the jewelry was delicate; the metal clasp was particularly tiny. After Zhou Chengsen finally managed to get the bracelet on, he picked up the necklace and unfastened it.

He gathered her long hair and moved it to one side.

Ruan Tang reached up herself to hold her hair, lifting it and exposing her snow-white, slender neck.

Zhou Chengsen didn’t linger on the view as he put the necklace on her. He was more practiced this time, so it went faster.

Once it was done, Ruan Tang touched the necklace, then looked at the jewelry on her wrist.

“It’s so pretty.” This set hit exactly what she loved.

“Mhm.” Zhou Chengsen looked down at her. “It is pretty.”

It was indeed beautiful. Under the dim yellow streetlights, her skin glowed as lustrously as the pearls against the dark night, the jewelry and her beauty reflecting off each other.

“Go upstairs. it’s too late.”

She had a full day’s shift tomorrow.

“Mhm. What time are you heading back to the village tomorrow?” The atmosphere was so good that Ruan Tang looked at him, feeling a bit reluctant to part.

They wouldn’t see each other for another week.

She had to work every day this week, though she had one night shift, after which she would have the entire next day off.

Noticing her reluctance, Zhou Chengsen said, “I’ll come over tomorrow morning to have breakfast with you before I head back. Sunday is a day off, so I’ll come see you then. I have to head back to work tomorrow morning too; is six-thirty alright?”

Ruan Tang was satisfied. “Okay. I’m going up now then.”

Zhou Chengsen nodded. “Go ahead. I’ll wait until I see your light go on before I leave. Leave your luggage in the car for now; I’ll carry it up for you tomorrow morning.”

With the two children in the car, he couldn’t leave them alone to walk her upstairs.

“Mhm.” Ruan Tang walked toward the stairwell happily, turning back to look at him after a few steps.

Zhou Chengsen just stood there, watching her.

Ruan Tang smiled and waved her hand.

Zhou Chengsen gave a helpless smile and waved back.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Ruan Tang turned and hurried into the stairwell.

She felt like she was in a dream tonight; it all felt a bit surreal.

She was afraid that once she went upstairs and he left, she would wake up to find it was all just a dream. Then she would be back to two days ago when he had started avoiding her.

Reaching the stairwell entrance, Ruan Tang couldn’t help but look back again.

Seeing her look back with every step, Zhou Chengsen recognized her unease. He understood she lacked a sense of security because of his previous behavior.

He called out to her, “Ruan Tang.”

Ruan Tang looked at him and immediately said, “I’m going up right now!”

“There’s no rush. I wanted to say that when winter break comes, I’ll accompany you to the capital to visit your parents.”

Ruan Tang smiled again. “Okay.”

This time, her racing heart finally settled. Her feet no longer felt like they were walking on clouds.

She finally went upstairs with a mind at ease, opened her door, quickly flipped on the lights, and then ran out to the balcony.

Zhou Chengsen had been watching the second floor. It was only when he saw the light turn on and that beautiful silhouette appear on the balcony that he waved, signaling for her to go to bed quickly.

Ruan Tang signaled for him to leave first.

Zhou Chengsen got into his car.

Ruan Tang watched as the Jeep disappeared into the night. She looked up at the bright moonlight in the sky, a smile fixed on her face, her heart unable to calm down for a long time.

So good!

Chapter 689: Welcome to the Family

The next morning, Zhou Chensen arrived downstairs at Ruan Tang’s place with the two children at half-past six.

Ruan Tang hurried down the stairs.

Today, she wore a black sweater paired with a red and black checkered wool skirt. The pearl necklace around her neck stood out vividly against the backdrop of her black sweater.

She had also applied light makeup, making her look exquisite and beautiful.

Once she got into the car, the two children were very supportive: “Wow, Sister Ruan is so pretty today!”

Ruan Tang smiled. “Such sweet talk? Did you eat honey today?”

As she spoke, she couldn’t help but steal a shy glance at Zhou Chensen.

It had been a long time since she last wore makeup. She hadn’t slept well all night and felt a bit drained, which was why she had put it on.

Zhou Chensen was looking at her with a smile.

Ruan Tang withdrew her gaze, her face flushing red, making her look as radiant as a Haitang flower.

Seeing this, the corners of Zhou Chensen’s mouth curled upward.

Zhou Ying asked her father, “We’re telling the truth. If you don’t believe us, ask my dad. Dad, isn’t Sister Ruan very beautiful today?”

Zhou Chensen smiled and nodded. “Yes, very beautiful!”

Ruan Tang grew embarrassed. “Hurry up and drive; we won’t have time for breakfast.”

Zhou Chensen started the car. “Where do you want to eat?”

Ruan Tang asked the two children, “What do Yingying and Zhou Zhou want to eat?”

Zhou Ying and Zhou Zhou replied in unison, “Morning tea.”

They had only gone for morning tea a few times, but it had left a deep impression on them.

Ruan Tang suggested, “Then let’s go to Jufu Restaurant. Their dim sum is quite good.”

Zhou Chensen then took the three girls—one big and two small—to Jufu Restaurant for morning tea.

The weather was cold and it was still early, so there weren’t many tables occupied in the tea house.

The group found a seat, opened a service card, and soon three carts laden with dim sum rolled over.

One cart held bamboo steamers filled with tea snacks, including classic pork ribs, chicken feet, steamed pork dumplings (siu mai), char siu bao, and glutinous rice chicken.

Another cart was filled with desserts: spring rolls, egg tarts, cakes, and the like.

The third was a rice noodle roll cart, offering various flavors of freshly pulled rolls.

Zhou Chensen asked Ruan Tang what she wanted to eat.

Ruan Tang looked at him with a smile. “You order for me.”

Zhou Chensen stopped asking her and turned to the children to see what they wanted.

The two little ones pointed out several items from the dessert cart.

Adults generally weren’t as fond of those sweets, so Zhou Chensen ordered several tea snacks he remembered Ruan Tang liking or that she had mentioned before.

Seeing that everything Zhou Chensen ordered was something she loved, Ruan Tang felt particularly satisfied.

Good mood +1.

As expected, he had always been paying attention to her.

Breakfast passed in a joyful atmosphere.

The two children had asked for too many desserts. Zhou Chensen figured that if they couldn’t finish them, they could pack them up for Ruan Tang to take back to the hospital. She could eat them when she got tired or hungry at work, so he didn’t stop them.

After breakfast, Zhou Chensen dropped Ruan Tang off at the hospital. They agreed that he would come by tomorrow at noon before he drove back.

It was only seven o’clock, not yet time to start work. Ruan Tang walked happily into the department and greeted her colleagues on duty, “Morning!”

The nurses and doctors on duty were somewhat surprised to see Ruan Tang walking in with such a wide smile.

After all, Ruan Tang was usually quite a standoffish person. Every time she entered the department, she would just say a brief “morning” and head straight to her office.

She rarely smiled so brightly and radiantly! No, it would be more accurate to say she had never done so before.

Furthermore, her work attire was always a simple pair of black trousers and a white top.

Everyone was used to her being cold, quiet, and socially distant.

While working, she only smiled at the children; at other times, she kept a cold face. Despite being very beautiful, she gave off the vibe of the stern Abbess of Extinction.

It wasn’t until a psychiatric patient caused a scene at the hospital that everyone understood why she didn’t like to dress up despite her youth and always maintained a standoffish demeanor.

They assumed it was a way to arm herself and protect herself.

Yet today, she was actually wearing a skirt?

Had something good happened?

“Dr. Ruan, why are you here so early today?”

Someone noticed the packed breakfast in her hand and said in surprise, “Dr. Ruan, did you go for morning tea this early? Who did you go with?”

“Dr. Ruan, is there extra breakfast? I haven’t eaten yet!”

Ruan Tang placed several paper bags on the nurse’s station and smiled. “I woke up early today, so I went for morning tea. These were leftover snacks we packed up. If you don’t mind, please share them!”

“We don’t mind! How could we possibly mind? Jufu Restaurant’s dim sum is the best!”

The nurses hurried over to divide the snacks.

“Dr. Ruan even put on makeup today. It seems your mood is exceptionally good. Did you go home and find a boyfriend?”

Ruan Tang admitted it openly with a smile. “Something like that.”

“Wow!” Everyone chimed in with congratulations. “You must treat us to wedding candy; snacks alone won’t do.”

Ruan Tang laughed. “It’s not time yet. When it is, I definitely will.”

“Tang, who is your boyfriend?” someone asked.

Ruan Tang smiled. “I’ll introduce him to you when he comes by later. Enjoy your food! I’m going to change.”

There was another round of cheers and anticipation.

After speaking, Ruan Tang went back to her office, put on her white coat, washed her water glass to pour herself a drink, and happily began her day’s work.

In a single morning, almost the entire hospital knew that Ruan Tang was in a relationship!

Gao Jie found out as well and took some time to visit Ruan Tang’s office to ask about it.

After learning it was Zhou Chensen, she wasn’t surprised—or rather, it was as she expected.

She smiled. “That’s good. It’s just that your mother, grandparents, and maternal grandparents might be a bit of a problem.”

One issue was social status, and the other was Zhou Chensen’s status as a divorcee.

Not only was Zhou Chensen twice-married, but he also had children. The elders likely wouldn’t agree.

Ruan Tang smiled. “I’m not afraid.”

At worst, she would drag Zhou Chensen to register the marriage first—act first and report later.

She had already cleared the biggest hurdle; the remaining obstacles were nothing.

Gao Jie saw that her niece looked like a completely different person, practically glowing. She was also very happy for her. “I will definitely speak up for you two when the time comes.”

Ruan Tang smiled. “Thank you, Auntie.”

Gao Jie laughed. “Just live well with Comrade Zhou Chensen from now on.”

Ruan Tang replied, “I will.”

He was such a meticulous person; he wouldn’t let her live anything less than a good life.

During her lunch break, Ruan Tang called Jiang Xia to tell her the news.

If it weren’t for Jiang Xia, she and Zhou Chensen would never have met. If it weren’t for Jiang Xia taking her beachcombing, she and Zhou Chensen would never have developed feelings for each other.

So, Jiang Xia was the first friend she told.

Jiang Xia wasn’t surprised after hearing the news and laughed. “Second Brother finally made a move! I was getting anxious for him! I’ve finally been looking forward to this! On behalf of the whole family, I welcome Dr. Ruan to our big family.”

Zhou Chenglei was holding the child, coaxing him into a nap. Hearing Jiang Xia’s words, he turned his head to look at her.

Ruan Tang smiled, feeling a bit shy. “I haven’t joined yet. I haven’t even gotten my entry ticket. I still need to keep working hard to make it happen as soon as possible.”

Jiang Xia chuckled. “Good luck! Get married before the year ends. It’s better to be married before the New Year so my three babies can get an extra red envelope.”

Ruan Tang’s smile grew even brighter. “I’m just afraid I won’t be able to conquer your Second Brother.”

Ruan Tang also wanted to register the marriage before taking him home during the winter break.

That would avoid many complications.

She was just afraid Zhou Chensen wouldn’t agree.

Jiang Xia encouraged her. “Have faith in my Second Brother. He actually moved faster this time than I anticipated.”

She and Zhou Chenglei had analyzed it before—which of the two would be the first to break and confess.

Zhou Chenglei had been very certain it would be his Second Brother.

On the other end of the line, Ruan Tang laughed. “Although it’s a bit wrong to say, I really have to thank the plane for having a malfunction yesterday. I think he was scared.”

Jiang Xia, as someone who had been reborn, commented with deep feeling, “Yes. Once you’ve experienced a life-or-death moment, you realize nothing else is important. Then you learn to live well and cherish the present.”

“Yes.”

Ruan Tang then told Jiang Xia that she planned to take Zhou Chensen to the capital to meet her elders during New Year’s Day or the winter break. After talking for a while longer, they hung up.

Jiang Xia looked at Zhou Chenglei and smiled. “It looks like our family will be adding a new member very soon.”

Zhou Chenglei nodded. “That’s good.”

Chapter 690: Like Her Mother?

Zhou Chenglei used to believe that a person could go through life without getting married, and that being alone offered more freedom.

But if one could find a girl who was a kindred spirit, a like-minded companion to become their partner, the wonder and happiness of that bond were beyond words.

In the past, Zhou Chenglei didn’t understand this, but now that he had Jiang Xia, he did. Every day, opening his eyes to see his wife and children sleeping peacefully in his arms made him feel as satisfied as if he possessed the entire world.

Previously, working hard and studying were driven only by interest; now, his work and studies had found true meaning.

Zhou Chenglei hoped that his Second Brother could also find a marriage like his this time and lead a happy, fulfilling life.

After Jiang Xia hung up the phone, the younger brother in her arms had already fallen asleep, his small hand still clutching the phone cord tightly.

She gently pulled the cord away, then stood up holding him and walked back to the bedroom, intending to accompany the child for an afternoon nap.

Zhou Chenglei followed Jiang Xia back into the room. He took the eldest brother and the little sister, one on each side, and coaxed them to sleep; they soon drifted off as well.

Jiang Xia placed the younger brother on the bed. “Are you going to the electromagnetic factory this afternoon?”

“Yes, I’m going to check the test results. When I get back, we’ll go look at the studio together.”

The large transformers previously produced by the electromagnetic factory used someone else’s technology, and they had to pay a large patent fee every year.

Even after paying the patent fees, the transformers produced with that technology were becoming obsolete. They lacked stability, ran too loudly, and were less efficient than similar models produced by other companies on the market.

Outdated products couldn’t command a high price and would gradually be phased out by the market.

Furthermore, the patent rights were set to expire at the end of December, which would require another large sum of money to purchase someone else’s technology.

And for more advanced technology, the patent fees were exorbitantly expensive! On average, each shareholder would have to invest several hundred thousand more.

None of the shareholders wanted to dump that much money into buying another person’s patent.

Some wanted to keep buying the old patent and wait until they made more money before deciding.

Other shareholders pinned their hopes on the shareholder who had joined with the technology for a small transformer, hoping he could develop a better large transformer.

Zhou Chenglei had once dismantled a broken large transformer and understood its working principles.

Consequently, Zhou Chenglei had spent the past two months researching alongside the technical department, eventually achieving a breakthrough.

Now, they were just waiting for the prototype to be completed for testing.

So, he had to go this afternoon to see how the progress was coming along.

“No need. You handle the factory matters first,” Jiang Xia said. “I’ve made an appointment with Xiao Yan to go look for a place to rent at two o’clock. Jiang Dong will drive us.”

Jiang Xia planned to find a house or a shop to rent near the school to open a Fashion Design studio. She wanted to hire Fashion Design students to design clothes. Once the sample garments were made, they would be mass-produced by the factory.

Hearing this, Zhou Chenglei said, “The weather forecast last night said it would snow today. Come home early so we can take the kids to see the first snow. I’ll take photos for you.”

“Okay.”

The children were over five months old now. They could roll over, grab their own toes to play with or even chew on, pull off their socks, and play with toys.

Zhou Chenglei remained extremely enthusiastic about recording every one of their ‘firsts.’

Regardless, the house gained a new photo album every month.

Jiang Dong even joked that the frequency of this camera’s use was higher than those in a professional photo studio.

Zhou Chenglei placed the children on the bed, changed his clothes, and headed out.

Jiang Xia napped with the children for half an hour before Jiang Dong arrived with Zhang Fuyan.

Jiang Dong then drove them to several streets near the school to search for available houses or shops for rent.

However, all the shops on the streets near the school were already in business. After walking through three streets, the three of them hadn’t found a single lead on a shop or house for rent.

Both Jiang Xia and Zhang Fuyan were exhausted from walking.

Seeing that it was getting late—nearly five o’clock—and the sky was darkening, Jiang Xia said, “Let’s go home! we can look again next time.”

Jiang Dong replied, “I’ll go get the car. You guys wait for me here.”

Jiang Xia said, “We’ll wait for you in the cafe up ahead.”

“Alright.”

So, Jiang Dong went back toward the school to get the car.

Jiang Xia and Zhang Fuyan walked into the cafe to rest.

Dong Yan was also out for coffee today with a close friend. Gu Heng’s actions had made her feel so stifled and frustrated that she couldn’t help but find someone to confide in.

They were sitting in a relatively secluded corner, hidden by a flower rack.

Jiang Xia couldn’t see them, but Dong Yan recognized Jiang Xia’s voice.

Primarily, it was because Jiang Xia’s voice was clear and pleasant to the ear. As Gu Heng’s illegitimate daughter, Dong Yan had committed it to memory long ago.

She turned her head and looked through the flowers, spotting Jiang Xia and Zhang Fuyan.

Since the weather was cold, both Jiang Xia and Zhang Fuyan preferred something sweet, so they both ordered a hot mocha.

They didn’t order for Jiang Dong; he didn’t like coffee and, like Father Jiang, preferred drinking tea.

The two women found a seat that was neither too close nor too far from Dong Yan and sat down.

Only when the coffee was in their hands did they completely relax.

Zhang Fuyan asked Jiang Xia, “If there’s nothing near the school, would somewhere further away be okay? I’ll ask someone to help keep an eye out.”

Zhang Fuyan was a local of the capital. Asking her neighbors for information was much more convenient than their aimless wandering.

Jiang Xia replied, “If there’s nothing near the school, a bit further away is fine.”

Zhang Fuyan asked, “Does it matter if it’s a house or a shop?”

“Mhm. It should ideally be around one hundred square meters. If the place isn’t big enough, there won’t be enough room to work.”

“Okay, I understand.”

“Once you open the studio, give me all those discarded sample garments! I won’t have to buy clothes ever again.”

“Sure, I’ll have everyone make the sample garments according to your size.”

“I’m really looking forward to the clothes you design.”

Jiang Xia smiled and said, “When you and A-Dong get married, I’ll design a wedding dress and a qipao for you, and a suit for A-Dong.”

Zhang Fuyan said, “It’s a deal then! You have to make them yourself!”

“Mhm, I’ll make them myself.”

Then Zhang Fuyan brought up Ruan Tang. “Did you know Ruan Tang and Second Brother are together?”

Ruan Tang and Ou Minling were good friends. After telling Jiang Xia, Ruan Tang had told Ou Minling.

Ou Minling, in turn, told Zhang Fuyan.

Jiang Xia nodded. “I know. Ruan Tang called me at noon and told me.”

Zhang Fuyan thought back to the way the two of them were inseparable while beachcombing and smiled. “I feel like they’re a great match.”

Jiang Xia nodded. “Indeed.”

“I’m starting to realize that finding an older man is quite nice; they know how to take care of people.”

Jiang Xia teased, “You better not say that, or Jiang Dong will cry!”

“Haha…”

“It looks like I’ll have to make A-Dong reflect on himself!”

“No, I’m just joking. He takes very good care of me too.”

…

After they finished their coffee, Jiang Dong drove up.

The two women left the cafe.

After they were gone, Dong Yan said to her close friend, “That girl in the brown coat just now is Gu Heng’s illegitimate daughter.”

He Yun looked out the window. “She’s quite pretty. Does she look like her mother?”

Dong Yan told He Yun everything, so He Yun knew that Gu Heng kept a photo of his old lover in a book, though she had never seen it.

She only knew the woman was very beautiful.

“Yes.”

“Luckily, she’s dead.”

Dong Yan didn’t say anything, but in her heart, she agreed. Otherwise, if Wen Yi were still around, Gu Heng would likely have abandoned them.

“Looking at her clothes and style, her living conditions must be quite good.”

Dong Yan said, “They are very good.”

So good that Dong Yan couldn’t help but feel envious.

Thinking about what Jiang Xia had just said, Dong Yan added, “Didn’t you say you wanted to open a clothing store? I’ll partner with you.”

Chapter 691: Enemies Meet on a Narrow Path

Gu Heng had come to pick up his wife and take her home. Dong Yan had called him from a public phone earlier, asking him to meet her at the coffee shop.

He hadn’t expected to see Jiang Xia.

Although he only saw her figure from a distance as she got into a car, it was still a pleasant surprise.

When Dong Yan saw Gu Heng’s car, she walked out with He Yun.

He Yun teased with a smile, “Gu Heng, what are you looking at?”

Gu Heng retracted his gaze only to meet Dong Yan’s sharp eyes. His heart skipped a beat, but he smiled and acted as if nothing was wrong. “I thought I saw Xiao Yue’s teacher.”

His wife didn’t know about Jiang Xia, and he absolutely couldn’t let her find out. He didn’t want to bring any trouble to Jiang Xia.

He Yun asked, “Are you talking about the person in that Jeep up ahead?”

“Yeah. Get in the car! It looks like it’s about to snow.” Gu Heng stiffly changed the subject.

Once the two women were in the car, He Yun said to Gu Heng, “Yan and I are thinking of opening a clothing store together. Gu Heng, you know a lot of people; can you help us look around for a shop for rent?”

Gu Heng was a bit surprised. Dong Yan hadn’t mentioned opening a clothing store to him.

He asked, “Why the sudden interest in a clothing store?”

“Seeing Jiang Xia makes me feel poor,” Dong Yan replied. “My daughter wants to buy pretty clothes or a nice watch, and I can’t even bear to spend the money. I want to earn some. I don’t want to hear Yueyue talking every day about what watch Jiang Xia is wearing or what clothes she has on, only for me to be unable to buy her a single one.”

“…”

Gu Heng felt a twinge of guilt. He had recently bought another new watch, intending to give it to Jiang Xia on New Year’s Day. “I’ll keep an eye out.”

He Yun chimed in, “Oh, come on. What do you people with iron rice bowls have to be poor about? You don’t have to worry about food or clothes your whole life, and your jobs are respectable! It’s only mall service workers like me who want to do a little business and make some money. If my job were as respectable and easy as yours, I wouldn’t be thinking about striking out on my own.”

In reality, that wasn’t quite it. She had worked in the mall for so long that she felt she could definitely make a lot if she opened her own shop. Moreover, she had received word that cloth coupons were about to be abolished; opening a clothing store was bound to be the right move.

Dong Yan didn’t bring up Jiang Xia again. She didn’t dare push it too far; the fact that Jiang Xia was Gu Heng’s illegitimate daughter was like a bomb wrapped in a thin layer of paper.

She was afraid that if she poked through it, her family would be blown apart.

She ignored Gu Heng for the rest of the ride, focusing instead on discussing the logistics of the clothing store with He Yun.

Just as Jiang Xia and the other two arrived home, the first snow of the year began to drift down from the sky.

Jiang Xia said excitedly, “I’m going to get the babies so they can see the snow.”

The three little ones were at an age where they loved exploring the world with their hands. She wanted to see their expressions when they felt the icy snow melt in their palms.

Jiang Xia hurried inside the house to bring the children out to the yard.

Hearing this, Jiang Dong and Zhang Fuyan went to help carry the babies as well.

Zhou Chenglei was already back. Hearing the car, he came out carrying two of the children. “Did you find a shop?”

The little girl, seeing her mother, kicked her legs excitedly in her father’s arms. She let out a little laugh and lunged toward Jiang Xia.

Jiang Xia quickly took her. “No.”

Zhou Chenglei handed his daughter over. “I’m free tomorrow. I’ll go look.”

“Is the testing on your end finished?”

“It passed. There are just a few minor issues to adjust. I’m not needed there anymore.”

Jiang Xia kissed her daughter. “Then we’ll go together.”

Jiang Dong and Zhang Fuyan brought the eldest brother out from Grandma’s room.

As she held the eldest brother, Zhang Fuyan whispered to Jiang Dong, “Have you noticed that your brother-in-law is very good at speaking and handling things?”

Jiang Dong was puzzled. “…”

What did his brother-in-law say?

He had also taken his sister to look for shops today; why didn’t she say he was good at speaking and handling things?

Zhang Fuyan felt that one of Zhou Chenglei’s best qualities was that whenever he did something for Jiang Xia, he never framed it as “helping” her.

Just like now, he didn’t say, “I’m free tomorrow, I’ll help you look,” but rather, “I’m free tomorrow, I’ll go look.”

Though the result of those two sentences was the same, the feeling they gave was different.

The way Zhou Chenglei phrased it proved that he believed Jiang Xia’s affairs were his own affairs from the bottom of his heart. The idea that husband and wife were a single unit, with no distinction between “yours” and “mine,” was etched into his bones.

Zhang Fuyan analyzed this for Jiang Dong.

Jiang Dong understood and secretly told himself that in the future, he must do even better than his brother-in-law!

Zhou Chenglei handed the younger brother to Jiang Dong. “You hold him; I’ll take photos.”

Jiang Xia held her daughter with one arm and pointed at the falling snow with a smile. “Little Bao, look! It’s snowing! This is snow.”

The little girl opened her eyes—which were identical to Jiang Xia’s—and curiously watched the snow drifting from the sky.

Jiang Xia reached out to catch a snowflake.

Seeing her mother reach out, the little girl waved her tiny arms too, though she couldn’t yet hold her arm steady and open her palm to catch one like Jiang Xia did. Her limbs were not yet fully under her control.

Seeing this, Jiang Xia took the baby’s soft, chubby little fist and gently flattened the palm so they could catch snowflakes together.

The snowflakes fluttered down around them, but for a while, none landed on the tiny palm.

Jiang Xia coaxed her daughter while guiding the small hand to catch the snow.

Zhou Chenglei captured this scene.

After a moment, a snowflake finally landed on the tiny palm—two of them, in fact.

Jiang Xia instantly closed the little fist.

The child’s palm was warm, and the snowflakes melted immediately.

The little girl’s expression froze for a moment.

Jiang Xia laughed.

Grandpa, Grandma, and the others nearby all laughed as well.

Coming back to her senses, the little girl seemed to find it fun. She excitedly babbled “Eeya, eeya” and waved her hands to catch more snow.

Zhou Chenglei captured every one of these moments.

Not wanting to favor some and neglect others, Jiang Xia took the eldest brother and younger brother through the experience as well.

The three children were soon giggling and chiming in with “ge-ge” laughs.

Grandma looked at the heavy snow and smiled. “I’ve never seen snow this big. Back home, the coldest it gets is some ice on the mountains or a bit of rime ice.”

Li Qiufeng added, “The falling snow is truly beautiful.”

Jiang Dong said, “Tomorrow will be even more beautiful when the roofs, the courtyard, and the whole world are covered in a layer of white. Especially the Forbidden City—though we can’t get in there. You can come to my school to see the snow; it’s very beautiful there too.”

The group of Southerners, wide-eyed as little sprouts, spent the better part of the day playing in the snow before heading inside the house to have hot pot.

Today’s happiness was brought by the first snow and a steaming pot of soup.

The next morning, Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Dong even built snowmen for the children, keeping the joy going.

It had to be said that the power of the “auntie network” was formidable. By noon, Zhang Fuyan had brought Jiang Xia news of a vacant shop.

They made an appointment to see it at half-past two in the afternoon.

After their nap, Jiang Dong drove them to see the shop, bringing the children along for the ride.

The shop was a renovated old house located on a street near Fujing Street, spanning three floors in total.

The first floor was the shop space, while the second and third floors were apartments. The renovation had just been completed.

The owner intended to rent out the entire building.

Jiang Xia thought that if the location was good, renting the whole building wouldn’t be a problem.

When they arrived at the shop, the owner was already there, discussing the rent with a few other prospective tenants.

All three of those tenants were people Jiang Xia knew.

Wen Wan, Jiang Qian, and Gu Heng.

Chapter 692: Are You Even Going to Let Others Live?

Inside the shop.

Wen Wan was currently discussing a joint rental with Gu Heng.

She and Jiang Qian had been searching all the way here when they noticed a sign posted on this building stating it was for rent in its entirety, prompting them to step inside.

When they entered, Gu Heng was already in the middle of negotiating the rent with the landlady.

Gu Heng felt the shop was too large and the rent too expensive, so he wanted to rent only half.

The landlady had refused, saying that if she split it, the other half would be difficult to lease out.

Wen Wan had been searching for so many days and was truly at her wit’s end trying to find a storefront. The moment she heard the situation, the idea of a joint lease came to mind.

This storefront was indeed massive, likely around 130 square meters. To open a small clothing shop, she didn’t need nearly that much space. They could simply install a wooden partition in the middle to divide it into two shops and split the rent—killing two birds with one stone.

Wen Wan suggested to Gu Heng, “Uncle, this shop is over a hundred square meters. Why don’t we take half each? We can split the rent fifty-fifty. When the time comes, we’ll just put up a wall in the middle to separate them.”

Gu Heng had already been balking at the high rent, which was nearly half his monthly salary, so he agreed to Wen Wan’s proposal.

Coincidentally, Dong Yan and He Yun had also mentioned that the shop didn’t need to be too large; fifty or sixty square meters would be plenty.

Seeing that Gu Heng had agreed, Wen Wan turned to the landlady to haggle.

“Landlady Auntie,” Wen Wan said, “we only want to rent this ground-floor shop. We don’t want the second or third floors. How about giving it to us for twenty yuan a month?”

The landlady immediately waved her hand in dismissal. “No way. The first floor is at least fifty yuan a month. This is 136 square meters! I wouldn’t even let you have the second or third floor for twenty yuan.”

Wen Wan persisted, “We don’t want the second or third floors, just the first. Twenty yuan is already quite high; it’s more than what many people earn in half a month. Just rent it to us!”

“Absolutely not! The rent for the first floor is fifty yuan, and I won’t lower it by even a cent. You couldn’t even rent the second floor for twenty yuan—I’d want at least twenty-five for that! Look at the location of my shop. Wangfujing Street is just around the corner; the foot traffic is enormous! If you open a clothing shop here, you’ll be making over a hundred yuan a month.”

Wen Wan countered, “You said it yourself—it’s around the corner from Wangfujing Street, not on Wangfujing Street. How can you compare the two? Let’s both take a step back. How about twenty-five yuan?”

The landlady’s mouth twitched. “Do you think you’re buying vegetables at a wet market? I told you, fifty yuan, not a cent less.”

“Are you renting or not? If not, my grandson’s classmate will be here in a moment; they said they wanted to rent it too. Even for my grandson’s classmate, the price is exactly the same.”

Wen Wan suspected the woman was just using that as an excuse to drive up the rent. “Fifty yuan a month? That works out to over three mao per square meter! That’s too expensive! I’ll give you my final offer: forty yuan. If you agree, we’ll sign the lease right now.”

“No! Fifty yuan is non-negotiable! This is a shop of over 130 square meters.”

“Fifty is just too much. Fine, forget it. We’ll go look elsewhere first.”

Even forty yuan was a high price; in the capital, that was nearly a full month’s salary for an average worker.

Wen Wan was certain the landlady would cave.

She shot a meaningful look at Gu Heng.

The two of them began to walk out together, only to see Jiang Xia stepping out of a Jeep.

Zhang Fuyan followed closely behind her.

The owner followed them out and, seeing Zhang Fuyan and the others, smiled. “Xiao Yan, you’re here!”

Zhang Fuyan greeted her with a smile, “Auntie Fang.”

Jiang Xia followed suit, “Hello, Auntie Fang.”

Wen Wan’s face darkened the moment she saw Jiang Xia. Truly, enemies were bound to meet on a narrow road.

Could she be having someone tail her?

Why did she run into her everywhere?

She feared that Jiang Xia was also here to rent a storefront for a clothing business.

Finding a shop these days was no easy feat.

She and Jiang Qian had searched from the area around their school all the way here before finally finding this one.

Expensive or not, so be it!

By sharing the lease with someone else, her portion would only be twenty-five yuan. With Jiang Qian helping her cover half of that, she’d only be paying twelve or thirteen yuan a month. She’d make that back just by selling eight or ten items of clothing.

She refused to believe she couldn’t sell ten items in a whole month!

The priority now was to ensure Jiang Xia didn’t snatch it away.

Wen Wan immediately turned back to the landlady. “Landlady Auntie, fifty yuan it is! I’ll rent this first-floor shop!”

The landlady didn’t think much of Wen Wan; she seemed like the type who would be a constant headache. Not particularly wanting to rent to her, she said, “Wait a moment. I had an appointment with them first. Let me see which floor they plan to take. Xiao Yan, which floor were you all looking at?”

Zhang Fuyan looked toward Jiang Xia.

Wen Wan interjected quickly, “Landlady Auntie, didn’t we just agree? We’re renting the first floor. You already quoted me fifty yuan! I’m accepting it now.”

Wen Wan looked at Gu Heng, knowing he was an acquaintance of the landlady. “Uncle, didn’t we just tell the landlady we wanted to rent the first floor?”

Upon seeing Jiang Xia, Gu Heng immediately changed his tune. He couldn’t possibly compete with Jiang Xia for a shop; he already felt he owed her far too much. He said, “We hadn’t actually settled on anything. Didn’t you think it was too expensive and say to forget it?”

Wen Wan was speechless.

Gu Heng greeted Jiang Xia, “Xiaxia, are you here to rent a shop too?”

As he spoke, he looked at the children in Jiang Xia’s arms. Were these his three grandchildren?

They were simply too adorable.

Gu Heng patted his pockets, feeling a pang of regret for not carrying any red envelopes with him.

Wen Wan fumed silently.

Dammit!

Why is it that no matter where I go, everyone I meet is on Jiang Xia’s side?

Is she even going to let others live!

Jiang Xia didn’t pay any attention to Gu Heng, not even sparing him a glance. She spoke directly to the landlady, “Auntie Fang, how much would it be to rent the entire building?”

Jiang Xia could have just rented the upper floors, but she had no interest in sharing a lease with either Gu Heng or Wen Wan. She would rather spend a bit more money; she was confident she could make it back.

The landlady hadn’t expected her grandson’s classmate’s friend to want the whole building. That certainly made things easier!

She smiled. “If you take the entire building, it’ll be a hundred yuan a month. After that, the rent will increase by five percent each year. How does that sound?”

A five percent annual increase was very reasonable. Jiang Xia agreed readily. “That works. Thank you, Auntie Fang.”

Wen Wan glared at Jiang Xia. “You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you? This gentleman and I already agreed with the landlady to co-rent the first floor!”

Jiang Xia didn’t even bother to respond to her, continuing her conversation with Auntie Fang. “Auntie Fang, can I rent the whole building then? If the first floor isn’t available, the second and third floors won’t be enough space for me, and I’ll have to look elsewhere.”

“…”

Seeing that Jiang Xia was ignoring her completely—not even acknowledging her words—Wen Wan was truly infuriated by her arrogant attitude.

“Jiang Xia, I’m talking to you!”

Jiang Xia remained silent.

It was all nonsense anyway; responding wouldn’t change anything.

She was here to rent a shop; she only needed to speak with the landlady!

Wen Wan snapped, “How can you be so rude!”

Jiang Xia continued to ignore her, treating her like thin air.

The landlady watched the exchange with amusement and laughed. “Of course you can. They just said it was too expensive and weren’t going to rent it. Since you’re taking the whole building, I won’t lower the monthly rent, but I’ll give you the first month for free—that’s a hundred yuan saved.”

To be honest, the building was quite large, and the second and third floors were designed as suites. Very few people coming to the capital for work were willing to rent such a large space for themselves; usually, it would involve many people rooming together, and she worried that too many tenants would leave the place in a filthy state.

She had heard from her grandson that they were renting it to open a design studio. A design studio wouldn’t produce oily smoke or grime, so it would certainly be cleaner than a residence. Furthermore, they were students from Q University and Jingda; they were bound to have good manners. She was naturally much more willing to rent to university students.

Hearing this, Wen Wan couldn’t help but protest, “Landlady Auntie, how can you do that? You didn’t mention anything about a free month to me just now! If you had, I wouldn’t have tried to lower the price! I would have rented it directly!”

Chapter 693: A Guilty Conscience

Auntie (the landlady) said, “I have no intention of waiving your rent! You’re different from her; she’s renting the entire building! Besides, I find her much more agreeable.”

Wen Wan: “…”

The landlady was telling the truth. She had originally thought that if Jiang Xia tried to bargain, she would be willing to lose a few yuan and rent the whole building to her for a bit less just to keep things simple. She hadn’t expected Jiang Xia not to haggle at all.

Since Jiang Xia was generous, the landlady decided to be generous too, waived one month’s rent for her.

That was a hundred yuan! Jiang Xia also felt the landlady was being very generous; after all, a hundred yuan was a significant amount that could buy many things. Jiang Xia smiled and said, “Thank you, Auntie Fang. Let’s sign the contract now!”

“Good, good. I like people who are straightforward like you, not like some stingy folk who bargain over every mao as if they’re buying vegetables at the market. It’s exhausting.”

“You decided to rent it without haggling over a single cent. I can tell you’re someone meant for big things! A university student indeed.” The landlady went to get the contract, not forgetting to praise Jiang Xia along the way.

Wen Wan: “…”

Was the landlady calling her stingy?

She hadn’t even been trying to lower the price by just a mao!

Who doesn’t bargain when renting a house?

Jiang Xia only acted that way because she was competing with her!

The landlady already had the contract ready; it was a draft her grandson had asked a classmate from the law department to prepare.

She handed it to Jiang Xia. “This is the housing lease contract. Take a look and fill in your personal details while you’re at it.”

Jiang Xia took it.

Seeing that they had already reached the contract-signing stage, Jiang Qian pulled Wen Wan’s hand. “Let’s go. We’ll look somewhere else.”

Wen Wan glared at Jiang Xia, shook off Jiang Qian’s hand, and walked out.

Jiang Xia watched their retreating backs, lost in thought for a second: Aren’t those two a bit too intimate?

Zhou Chenglei handed the child in his arms to Jiang Dong. “I’m going to the car to get something.”

After walking about a dozen meters away, Wen Wan couldn’t help but complain, “Did the Discipline Inspection Department get it wrong back then? Why didn’t they send her to prison to sew? She shows up and opposes me every single time. She snatched the shop away again! Before, when I wanted to buy a stall in the seafood market back home, her and her brother snatched that away too!”

Jiang Qian remained silent for a moment before saying, “Wait, didn’t you just give it up because you thought it was too expensive? If you had committed to it just now, the landlady wouldn’t have rented it to her.”

Wen Wan looked at him angrily. “I was trying to pressure the landlady on the price by pretending to leave! I wasn’t giving up!”

“But the landlady refused to lower the price by even a cent. Even if you walked away, she wasn’t going to budge. Besides, fifty yuan split between two people isn’t that expensive; we’d only have to pay twenty-five each. Didn’t you say that selling clothes is very profitable?”

Wen Wan flared up upon hearing this. “Then why didn’t you say a word just now? If you didn’t think it was expensive, you should have told the landlady you’d rent it! I saw you stay silent and thought you found it too pricey, so I tried so hard to drive the price down! If you didn’t think fifty yuan was much, you should have spoken up! Then it wouldn’t have been snatched away!”

Jiang Qian: “…”

The more Wen Wan spoke, the angrier she got, eventually bursting into tears. “Who was I haggling for? Wasn’t it to save money for you? I was worried you’d invest too much, or that we’d lose money if the rent was too high! If you didn’t think it was expensive, why didn’t you say anything?”

“…”

Jiang Qian hadn’t expected her to start crying. He hurriedly tried to comfort her. “Alright, it was my fault. I’ll find another shop in an even better location. Please don’t cry!”

Zhou Chenglei returned to the car, picked up his camera, and captured this scene.

Tomorrow, along with the photos he had collected over the past few days, he would give them a “big gift.”

Back in the shop, Gu Heng approached Jiang Xia and said, “Xiaxia, I’m leaving too.”

He had no choice; Jiang Dong kept blocking his line of sight with his back, so he couldn’t see Jiang Xia.

Actually, Gu Heng was a bit reluctant to leave so soon. It was the first time he had seen his three grandsons, and he wanted to look at them a bit longer.

However, he had notified Dong Yan and He Yun to come look at the shop, and he was afraid there would be a misunderstanding if they arrived while he was still there.

Jiang Dong really couldn’t stand him anymore. “If you’re leaving, then leave! What does that have to do with my sister? Who even are you?”

Gu Heng: “…”

He glanced at Jiang Xia, but she still didn’t give him a single look.

The landlady glanced at them, sensing that there was some history between Gu Heng and these two siblings.

Though curious, she didn’t pry.

Gu Heng walked out of the shop feeling somewhat dejected.

Just then, Dong Yan and He Yun walked over.

Dong Yan hadn’t seen Jiang Xia inside yet. She sized up the storefront. “Is this the shop you mentioned? It’s so big.”

He Yun added, “It is quite large. But if the rent is cheap, size can be a good thing.”

Fearful that she would see Jiang Xia, Gu Heng quickly pulled her away. “No, the rent for this one is very expensive, and it has to be rented as an entire building—a hundred yuan a month. It’s too big for us! I’ll ask someone else to help look.”

Dong Yan looked back. “The whole building? A hundred yuan? That is indeed expensive.”

He Yun found it a bit strange. “Is the landlady out of her mind? Who would rent an entire building? This house isn’t big enough to be a factory, but it isn’t small either. If someone wants to open a small shop, even with their family, they don’t need all three floors.”

Although he hadn’t been the one to give it up, and Jiang Xia renting the building had nothing to do with him, Gu Heng felt an inexplicable sense of guilt. “I wouldn’t know. Anyway, she said she wants to rent out all three floors together.”

Hearing this, Dong Yan cast a glance at Gu Heng.

Having shared a bed with him for over twenty years, she knew him all too well.

He was feeling guilty!

Dong Yan looked back at the house.

What does he have to be guilty about?

In the end, Jiang Xia signed a three-year contract with the landlady.

After signing, the group left.

Upon returning home, Jiang Xia called the procurement officer at the garment factory to order five sewing machines, one keyhole machine, one buttonhole machine, a model, and other essential tools and equipment like irons.

Next, she needed to renovate the shop and find a carpenter to custom-make a large table for cutting patterns.

Having rented the entire building, Jiang Xia had already decided what to do with it.

The first floor would be a clothing shop. Although her factory hadn’t produced its own clothes yet, she knew many garment factory directors. She could just get stock from their factories for the time being.

The second floor would serve as offices and a showroom, while the third floor would house the pattern room and the sample sewing room.

During dinner, Jiang Xia asked Li Qiufeng and her Second Auntie, “Second Auntie, Little Cousin, I rented a building. The first floor is a commercial space. I don’t need it for my studio, so I plan to open a clothing shop there. Are you interested in helping me manage it?”

Second Auntie’s eyes lit up immediately. “Yes! Of course we are! Will it be open in the evenings? If it is, Qiufeng can go during the day while I look after the kids at home. Then, when she goes to her classes in the evening, I can take over her shift.”

Ever since her daughter had earned over seven thousand yuan selling clothes with Jiang Xia’s classmate last time, Second Auntie had become very interested in the clothing business.

Li Qiufeng was currently attending night school to prepare for the Junior Secondary Professional School exams next year, but she was free during the day. She couldn’t spend the whole day revising.

She could split the shifts with her mother.

Jiang Xia said, “At that time, you’ll be working with my classmate, and you can figure out a schedule together. The shop isn’t renovated yet; it should take about ten days.”

Second Auntie asked, “Is it Weizhen? It’s good to hire her! That girl is sharp. We can learn from her. Once the shop is renovated, it’ll be the end of the year. We can make a nice profit before the New Year!”

Jiang Xia smiled. “Yes, it’s Liu Weizhen. That’s exactly what I was thinking. Let’s make a big profit before the New Year so we can go home for the holidays.”

Second Auntie laughed. “Haha! Last time I went back, people said I was returning home in glory. This time, I think I really will be returning home in style!”

The next morning, Monday, Jiang Xia had classes early. After breakfast, she said to everyone, “I’m heading to school.”

“I’ll go with you.” Zhou Chenglei placed the babies in the crib to let them play.

Toys hung over the crib. Once the three of them were fed and satisfied, they could lie in the crib and play by themselves for over an hour with a single toy. Now, they were even starting to snatch toys from each other’s hands.

Chapter 694: The Lesson

Zhou Chenglei dropped Jiang Xia off at school early in the morning. Afterward, he headed to the Foreign Language College and slipped a thick, heavy envelope into the suggestion box outside the principal’s office before departing.

Every morning upon arriving at school, the principal’s first task was to check the suggestion box for letters, looking for any feedback or concerns regarding the institution.

Right away, his eyes landed on a whistleblower letter. The words “Whistleblower Letter” were written on the brown paper envelope in bold, formal brush strokes.

The three neatly written characters appeared exceptionally grave and eye-catching, causing his heart to sink slightly.

It felt like something serious!

The principal couldn’t help but sit up straighter. He picked up a letter opener and slit the envelope open.

As he finished reading the contents and looking through the photographs, the principal’s brow furrowed. He picked up the telephone on his desk.

Wen Wan didn’t have classes this morning, so she had gone out early with Jiang Qian to look at shops.

Consequently, when the Director of the Dean’s Office went to their dormitories to find them, neither was there.

The two didn’t return from outside until it was almost time for their afternoon classes.

Jiang Qian was riding his bicycle with her on the back as they entered the campus.

With class about to start, the campus paths were crowded with students rushing to their classrooms, making it difficult to steer the bicycle straight.

They needed to go back to the dormitories to grab their books first.

As they neared the dormitory building, someone suddenly rushed out. Jiang Qian slammed on the brakes, nearly sending Wen Wan flying off the bike. In her startle, she instinctively grabbed him around the waist.

“Mother, why are you here?” Jiang Qian asked in surprise as he looked at the person who had intercepted them.

“Auntie,” Wen Wan greeted politely as she hopped off the bike.

Jiang’s mother didn’t say a word; she stepped forward and delivered a stinging slap across Wen Wan’s face. “You married woman, stay away from my son! You shameless hussy! Hugging and clinging to my son in broad daylight!”

She was absolutely livid!

She had arrived in the morning and spent the entire time waiting for them here!

What had the two of them been doing all morning?

The slap landed right by Wen Wan’s ear. Jiang’s mother had used considerable force; Wen Wan’s head buzzed, and she was completely dazed. “What are you doing?”

“Mom! Why are you hitting people?” Jiang Qian was shocked. He quickly parked the bike and moved to support Wen Wan, looking down to check on her. “Xiao Wan, are you okay?”

Students were passing by the dormitory building on their way to class, and seeing the commotion, many couldn’t help but stop to watch.

Jiang’s mother pointed a finger right at Wen Wan’s nose and shouted, “What am I doing? I’m here today to expose the true face of this wanton woman! You’re a married woman who has already had a child, yet you’re still out here seducing my son! Shameless! I’m warning you, stay far away from my son from now on!”

Jiang’s mother yanked her son over to her side!

Seeing his classmates stopping to watch the spectacle, Jiang Qian’s ears burned with embarrassment. “Mom, this is school. What kind of nonsense are you talking?”

Jiang’s mother snapped, “I’m not talking nonsense! Stay away from her, don’t let her fool you! She is a married woman, and her child is almost six months old! She abandoned a baby who hasn’t even been weaned and her husband just to come out and attend university! How can a woman like this be any good?”

Jiang’s mother was nearly dying of anger. When she went to work this morning, she found a letter in her mailbox downstairs. After opening it, she was nearly scared to death!

Her son was actually this intimate with a married woman?

If the other party’s husband found out and reported it to the school, saying her son was seducing his wife, engaging in improper male-female relations, and destroying someone’s family…

Would her son even be able to continue university?

After seeing those photos, Jiang’s mother had rushed to the school immediately.

Then she learned her son had no morning classes but wasn’t in his dorm.

She was terrified, fearing her son was staying out all night or opening a hotel room with that woman.

Wen Wan was also enraged. Holding her face, she snapped back, “Who is seducing your son? Watch your mouth! Don’t go throwing mud at me! Otherwise, I’ll sue you for defamation!”

Jiang’s mother retorted, “Who’s throwing mud at you? Tell me, are you or are you not married with a child? Is what I’m saying not the truth?”

Wen Wan didn’t know how Jiang’s mother had found out about her marriage, but since she knew, it meant the woman had proof. Even in front of so many classmates, Wen Wan knew she couldn’t deny it even if she wanted to. “I am married! Is it a crime for me to be married?”

“It’s not a crime to be married! But as a married woman, concealing the fact that you’re married and staying so close to another male comrade without the slightest bit of discretion—that is wrong! If you’re so lonely that you’re lacking a man, go back and find your own husband! Don’t drag my son down with you! My son has never even been in a relationship! He is very naive! Don’t you dare seduce him!”

“Who is dragging your son down? Who is seducing him? We are just partners opening a clothing shop!”

“You’re not seducing my son? Then why were you just clutching his waist? Why were the two of you holding hands and being all lovey-dovey every day? People have taken photos! I’m telling you, don’t you dare hide your marriage and child just to seduce my son! If my son gets punished or expelled by the school because of this, I won’t be finished with you!”

Wen Wan felt that Jiang’s mother was completely mindless. If this were true, wouldn’t the school punish Jiang Qian anyway after she made such an indiscriminate scene for everyone to see?

“I’m telling you, your son and I are perfectly innocent! Don’t slander me! Otherwise, I really will sue you! Jiang Qian, explain it to your mother yourself!”

It was almost time for class, and more and more people were coming out of the dormitory. Wen Wan didn’t want to keep arguing with her and began heading into the building.

But then she turned around and saw Zhou Guohua and Zhou Bingqiang’s wife standing there, holding her daughter.

Wen Wan: “…”

Why were they here?

As if things weren’t bad enough, a roommate who had been watching the scene from the side said to her, “Wen Wan, the dormitory warden was looking for you early this morning. She said the Director from the Dean’s Office wants to see you. You’re supposed to go to the principal’s office as soon as you get back!”

Jiang Qian’s roommate also spoke up: “Jiang Qian, the Director was looking for you at our dorm since early this morning too. He said for you to go to the principal’s office immediately upon your return.”

Wen Wan: “…”

Jiang Qian: “…”

Jiang’s mother felt as though the sky had fallen. “You unchaste wench! You’re going to be the death of my son!”

Good news never leaves the door, but bad news travels a thousand miles. Jiang Xia heard about the incident during the break after her afternoon foreign language class.

She was on the podium answering questions for some students when she heard others discussing it below.

“They were reported to the principal. Both of them denied any improper relations, saying they were just classmates partnering to open a clothing shop. But the school still handed out disciplinary actions. That Jiang fellow got a formal warning, but the one named Wen was apparently expelled.”

“No way? Expelled? That’s so severe. If they were just classmates partnering for a business, why did the school give such a harsh punishment? And why did the guy only get a warning while the woman was expelled?”

“I heard the woman hid the fact that she was married from the guy and was acting ambiguous with him. Plus, her husband and mother-in-law both came to the school and caught them in the act. Her mother-in-law made a huge scene in the principal’s office, demanding she be expelled so she could go back home. I’m not entirely sure of the details; I just heard some people from the Foreign Language College talking about it while I was out for dumplings at lunch.”

“Right, I heard her husband brought the child along. Apparently, they brought the baby to see a doctor. I heard the kid looks thin and listless.”

“I also heard the baby is only a few months old and hasn’t even been weaned yet. It sounds so pitiful.”

…

Listening to them, Jiang Xia felt certain they were talking about Wen Wan, but Zhou Guohua and Zhou Bingqiang’s wife shouldn’t have been in the capital.

However, when Jiang Xia finished class and Zhou Chenglei came to pick her up, she saw the four of them arguing loudly in the streets.

Chapter 695: New Shop Opens, Big Sales

Out on the streets, Wen Wan and Zhou Bingqiang’s wife were engaged in a loud, heated argument. Zhou Guohua stood there holding his daughter, his expression stony and silent.

From beginning to end, he didn’t utter a single word.

Zhou Chenglei acted as if he hadn’t even seen them, riding his bicycle straight past.

Jiang Xia looked back at them and asked in surprise, “Why are Zhou Guohua and his mother in the capital?”

Zhou Chenglei replied, “They’re likely here to get medical treatment for the child. Mother mentioned it in passing when she called the other day, saying Zhou Guohua came by the house to ask how to book plane tickets.”

It wasn’t an important matter and had nothing to do with their family, so Zhou Chenglei hadn’t mentioned it to Jiang Xia before.

“What’s wrong with the child?”

“Mother said it was pneumonia. They spent a week in the city hospital, but there was no improvement.”

“Pneumonia in small children is very troublesome.” Jiang Xia then shared what she had heard with Zhou Chenglei: “You were the one who reported Wen Wan, wasn’t it?”

Zhou Chenglei admitted honestly, “Yes.”

Jiang Xia continued, “Just acting flirtatiously with male comrades shouldn’t be enough to get someone expelled. What else did you report?”

“Scamming classmates out of money at the Canton Fair.”

However, Wen Wan’s expulsion was likely more due to Zhou Bingqiang’s wife. He had simply timed the delivery of the whistleblower letter for when Zhou Guohua arrived in the capital.

One could only say the stars aligned.

Zhou Bingqiang’s family was very concerned with their face; they valued it more than anything else.

When Zhou Bingqiang’s wife discovered that Wen Wan was getting so close to other men while away for school, she would definitely do everything in her power to ensure her son wouldn’t be made a cuckold.

For her, causing a scene that made it impossible for Wen Wan to continue her university studies—leading to her expulsion and return to the village—was the safest and most convenient option.

Furthermore, Wen Wan being unable to study provided many benefits for Zhou Bingqiang’s wife; at the very least, she wouldn’t have to look after the child for her.

If Wen Wan finished her degree, there would be no benefit to the mother-in-law either.

Given the way Wen Wan behaved, even if she did become a university graduate, Zhou Bingqiang’s wife worried she wouldn’t remain a part of their family.

So, she only wanted to seize this opportunity to force Wen Wan home to wash clothes, cook, and raise the child.

Both Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia could guess Zhou Bingqiang’s wife’s motives, but they didn’t continue the topic.

Zhou Chenglei changed the subject: “I found a carpenter this morning. His handiwork is good. I made an appointment for him to come and look at the shop tomorrow afternoon.”

“Alright.” She didn’t have any specialized classes tomorrow afternoon, and she had already mastered the material in her other classes, so she didn’t need to attend them.

Besides decorating the shop, she also needed to contact several garment factory directors to see if they had any inventory they needed to clear out.

The shop was finished twelve days later. Jiang Xia, Liu Weizhen, and Li Qiufeng went to two garment factories together and brought back a truckload of clearance inventory.

It happened to be a Sunday, so the three of them, joined by Zhang Fuyan who came to help, spent the day hanging and arranging the clothes.

The ordered equipment—sewing machines, buttonhole machines, desks, a sofa, and other office supplies—were also delivered that afternoon.

Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Dong were responsible for working with the delivery driver to move the machines, desks, and other heavy items upstairs.

All the machines were set up on the third floor.

The second floor was for the office, a meeting room, and the showroom.

Auntie (the landlady) lived nearby. While the shop was being renovated, she would drop by whenever she was free.

She came by today as well.

In the second-floor meeting room, Jiang Xia had bought a set of fabric sofas.

When Auntie (the landlady) saw it, she laughed and said, “This sofa is even prettier than the one in my house. This studio is decorated even more cozily than my own home.”

Jiang Xia smiled. “We’re opening a business, so we need to put on a good front. If the studio looks too shabby, people won’t dare to collaborate with us!”

“That’s true.”

After the shop was set up, the clothing store opened the very next day. This was because the enthusiastic Auntie (the landlady) told them that tomorrow was an auspicious day; she was going to two wedding banquets herself, as many people were getting married then.

Since there was no time like the present, Jiang Xia decided to open the next day.

Opening day was Monday, Jiang Xia’s busiest day for classes.

During the day, both Jiang Xia and Liu Weizhen were busy and couldn’t go, so Li Qiufeng minded the shop alone.

Grandpa, Grandma, and Second Auntie took the children there to play for a while.

After school in the afternoon, Liu Weizhen went to take over the shift, and Jiang Xia went with her to see how things were going.

It was finishing time for workers, and there were several people in the shop trying on clothes. Li Qiufeng was a bit overwhelmed.

Auntie (the landlady) had nothing to do, so she had come over to help keep an eye on things. She had been sitting on the shop’s sofa all afternoon chatting with Li Qiufeng.

She had already met Jiang Xia’s entire family, including the triplets.

As soon as Jiang Xia walked in, she greeted the two women. Seeing a customer hesitating between two coats, unsure of which color to buy, Jiang Xia pointed at the black one. “Ma’am, this one suits your graceful temperament better. It also matches the sweater you’re wearing underneath. Besides, black is more slimming and hides dirt well. If it gets a bit dirty during daily chores, you don’t have to worry about not being able to get it clean.”

out The customer was thinking the same thing. “But I wanted to buy something for the New Year. Wouldn’t red be more festive? I’m just worried that wearing such a bright red normally would make me look like I’m going to a wedding.”

Jiang Xia picked up a red sweater. “Do you have a red sweater at home? During the New Year or when attending a wedding, you can just wear a red sweater underneath. Look, isn’t this both festive and suitable for daily wear? For New Year’s, holidays, or wedding banquets, you can style it like this without people saying you’re wearing all black to a celebration.”

Jiang Xia put down the sweater and took a red scarf, draping it loosely over the coat.

“If you don’t have one, pairing it with a red scarf works too. Doesn’t this look very festive? Besides, black and white coats are very versatile; they go with any color.”

Jiang Xia pulled out several base layers to show the customer.

“See? Doesn’t it look good with everything? Different inner layers, different pants, or skirts create different effects. If you change your inner layers, silk scarves, or scarves for work every day, it will feel like you’re wearing a different outfit daily.” Jiang Xia casually grabbed some base layers, trousers, and skirts from the racks to demonstrate various outfits.

The customer had never thought about styling before. With Jiang Xia’s quick demonstrations, she really felt that every set looked different.

“Can you make it a bit cheaper? Twenty yuan?”

“Twenty-six yuan is the lowest price; we don’t overcharge here. This coat is a real bargain. We only have this price because it’s our opening day. All the clothes in our shop are sourced directly from the factories. These are factory-direct sales, at least three to ten yuan cheaper than elsewhere. Plus, these are export-quality goods intended for foreign markets. If you buy elsewhere, the quality won’t be as good as ours, and the price will likely be higher. A coat this thick can be worn even in the snow, and it’s only twenty-six yuan. You don’t have to buy it now; you can go compare prices first, and then you’ll know the clothes in our shop are a great deal.”

Other people in the shop had been listening to Jiang Xia. Her voice was pleasant, she was beautiful, and every item she paired with the coat looked uniquely stylish.

“Is this coat twenty-six yuan? Do you have it in medium? I want one. How much are that red scarf and the white sweater?”

“I want a coat too! Can you show me how to style the red one?”

“Yes, we have it.” Jiang Xia handed a medium to the first woman. “The scarf is three yuan and eighty mao. The white sweater is a steal—it’s only ten yuan! This is an opening day special for all sweaters storewide. Except for pure rabbit fur, pure wool, and cashmere, they are all ten yuan each. Even sweaters with thirty percent wool content are ten yuan. The coats are limited in quantity and sizes are incomplete, so grab one while you can. For every purchase over fifty yuan, you get a free export-quality silk scarf worth ten yuan!”

“I want a black coat!”

“The red coat is also very beautiful. Let me style it for you now.” Jiang Xia began styling again.

…

With just that one loud announcement, several more people were ready to buy.

The woman from before couldn’t resist either. She ended up buying a coat, two sweaters, a scarf, and a shirt. She reached the fifty-yuan mark and received her free silk scarf.

Auntie (the landlady) was stunned. She had sat in the shop almost all day, and Xiao Feng hadn’t sold as many clothes in the entire day as Jiang Xia had in just this short while!

Chapter 696: Beyond Reach

It was closing time, the exact hour when foot traffic on the street was at its peak.

Women passing by saw a crowd scrambling to buy clothes inside the shop. Looking at the stylish decor, they felt the boutique was even more high-end than the department store.

Then, they noticed a wooden sign hanging by the door: Grand Opening Sale: Wool Sweaters, 10 Yuan Each.

Was it really that cheap?

Unable to resist, they stepped inside.

As long as a customer entered, Jiang Xia had a way to ensure they wouldn’t leave the shop without buying at least a piece or two.

Under Jiang Xia’s “magical” styling and her keen understanding of consumer psychology, no one could resist her pitch.

Once clothes touched Jiang Xia’s hands, it was as if a spell had been cast on them. She made everything look exceptionally beautiful with an endless variety of styles.

She truly made people feel like a single coat could be worn for an entire week without ever looking the same twice!

“If you’re not sure which color to choose for this coat, I recommend the black one. Black is so easy to coordinate! You can never go wrong with it,” Jiang Xia said, holding up a black woolen coat and constantly swapping out the inner layers to demonstrate. “Look at this woolen coat. Just by changing what you wear underneath, anyone from an eighteen-year-old to an eighty-year-old can pull it off. The daughter can wear it today, the mother tomorrow, and the grandmother the day after—it’s no problem at all! Am I right? If you want to look young, you can look young; if you want to look sophisticated and elegant, you can; if you want to look mature and wealthy, you can style it that way too. It all depends on how you pair it!”

“Besides being versatile, its biggest selling point is the price! A wool-blend coat like this in the department store would cost at least eighty or ninety yuan, wouldn’t it? Today, we’re not asking for a hundred, or even ninety! It’s only sixty-six yuan! To buy it is to earn money!”

“Think how fashionable you’ll look wearing this coat during the New Year. The mother can wear it to visit relatives today, the daughter can wear it to her class reunion tomorrow, and the day after, when the eldest aunt’s family comes to visit Grandma, Grandma can wear it! How much face would that give you? We don’t have much stock left for this coat—only about twenty pieces. If any of you sisters want to look a bit more stylish, trendy, and high-class for the New Year, you’d better act fast! Once they’re gone, they’re gone!”

With a black woolen coat in her hands, Jiang Xia effortlessly whipped together outfits that transcended age gaps.

And a wool coat for sixty-six yuan was truly a bargain!

“Buy, buy, buy!”

“I want a black one in medium!”

“Give me a black one in large!”

“I’ll take a small in palm brown. Comrade, help me pick out a sweater and a skirt to match. I’m buying this for my daughter to wear on a blind date.”

Jiang Xia replied, “Certainly, no problem. I’ll style it for you. A blind date, you say? A coat is perfect for that! I’ll put something together that looks very chic. Does your daughter have fair skin? If her complexion isn’t bright enough, I’ll pick colors that make her skin pop…”

…

“Sister, that sweater in your hand is only ten yuan! Except for the pure wool, cashmere, and rabbit fur items, every sweater in the shop is ten yuan for our grand opening! The one you’re holding is thirty percent wool. It’s so thick and sturdy, yet it’s only ten yuan. Where else could you find a deal like that? Plus, it’s incredibly warm; you won’t feel the cold even on a snowy day. Every member of the family needs one! These are all basic styles, very versatile. Even if you don’t wear it much this year, it won’t be out of style next year.”

“The pure wool sweaters are also on sale and very affordable. Pure wool pullovers are twenty yuan, and pure wool cardigans are twenty-eight. These prices are only available for the grand opening. If you miss this event, they won’t be this price again. And if you buy early, you get your pick of colors and styles. Our stock is limited; once it’s gone, it’s gone. If you don’t buy now, you’ll regret it when you get home. It’s so cheap, why wouldn’t you buy it? By the time you come back, it might be sold out. A pure wool sweater for twenty yuan… at this thickness, the wool yarn alone would cost more than that if you knit it yourself! Right?”

She was right!

A pure wool sweater for twenty yuan—the wool yarn itself would cost more than that!

“Buy, buy, buy!”

“Big Sister, are you asking about these pants? You have great taste! Those are the same ones I’m wearing. They’re super comfortable, super warm, and look amazing! Look, don’t they have a great shape on me? See how long and slim they make my legs look? And they go with everything! See, I can wear them with a quilted jacket, or I can take the jacket off and pair them with a sweater. I can swap in a coat or even a shirt. Don’t they look great?”

Everyone looked at the pants on Jiang Xia.

They did look great!

Her legs looked incredibly slim and straight!

“Buy!”

“Buy!”

“Buy!”

…

As Jiang Xia spoke with a silver tongue, endlessly promoting the clothes, Liu Weizhen and Li Qiufeng finally witnessed what true salesmanship looked like!

It was a far cry from just answering how much a coat cost—Jiang Xia would manage to sell the inner layer, the pants, and the scarf along with it!

As long as someone asked Jiang Xia for styling advice, they were destined to walk away with a heap of clothes!

By a stroke of luck, today happened to be payday for many of the local factories.

The workers heading home had their month’s wages in their pockets, and to varying degrees, they all contributed to Jiang Xia’s till.

That is, except for those whose entire families relied on their wages just to put food on the table.

Later, Liu Weizhen took over the cash register, getting so busy she was flustered. The enthusiastic Auntie (the landlady) also helped pack the clothes, keeping a watchful eye at the same time to ensure no pickpockets took advantage of the crowd.

Li Qiufeng had an evening class and went back to eat at six o’clock. Since the shop was still crowded, Jiang Xia didn’t leave.

She stayed busy until nearly eight o’clock when the tide of people finally receded and the shop fell quiet.

As the weather was cold, Zhou Chenglei had driven the car Jiang Dong bought for Zhang Fuyan to pick up Jiang Xia. He had already been waiting on the second floor for over an hour and a half.

There wasn’t even time to reconcile the accounts properly. Jiang Xia only knew that the entire drawer was overflowing with money!

Jiang Xia said to Liu Weizhen, “I’m going home to eat first. I’ll leave the shop to you. Don’t stay too late either; close up whenever you’re ready.”

Liu Weizhen had already eaten at school. She nodded and said, “Okay, I’ve got it. Get home safely.”

The next morning, Jiang Xia and Liu Weizhen didn’t have classes for the first two periods, so they came over to go through the books with Li Qiufeng.

In just one hour yesterday afternoon, Jiang Xia had sold 156 items. Between the ten-yuan sweaters and the eight-yuan thermal pants, a total of 106 items were sold. The rest were coats, pants, shirts, and scarves.

In a literal “golden hour,” the transaction amount reached a staggering 1,681 yuan!

Jiang Xia sounded a bit regretful. “We were still quite a ways off from two thousand. If I’d known, I would have put in a bit more effort.”

Liu Weizhen and Li Qiufeng: “…”

She could have put in more effort?

So, she was still holding back last night?

Was she even human?

This transaction amount was already something they could only hope to achieve in their wildest dreams!

The two of them had finally witnessed how a sales champion—someone who had single-handedly secured over a hundred million yuan in transactions at the Canton Fair—actually sold goods.

Li Qiufeng felt a bit ashamed. “Yesterday, twenty-three people entered the shop throughout the entire day, but I only managed to keep sixteen customers. I sold a total of twenty-two items, including pants and clothes. The amount Xiao Zhen sold in one evening is equivalent to what I sold in an entire day.”

She had mostly sold quilted jackets and sweaters, with a total transaction amount of 296 yuan. She had originally felt pretty good about it—she would have made 22 yuan for herself, and Jiang Xia would have made 56 yuan from it.

She hadn’t expected that after she had guarded the shop all day, Jiang Xia would surpass her in less than half an hour.

Chapter 697: Hideously Ugly

Liu Weizhen said, “It’s not the same. You haven’t seen the way Jiang Xia does it during the day yet. Last night, I didn’t close until nine, and ten customers came in during that time. Only eight of them bought clothes. I tried to use Jiang Xia’s sales methods to explain things to the customers, but I probably didn’t do it very well at first. Those people only bought one or two items; they didn’t fall for my pitch. They just bought a sweater or an outer coat. But the more I talked, the smoother I got. The last two customers who came into the shop actually bought a whole set after hearing my recommendation.”

“Sigh, when will I be like Xiao Xia, where no customer who walks in can escape my clutches?”

Jiang Xia said, “…It’s not quite that exaggerated. For those who have no intention of buying or have no money, even if you talk until you’re blue in the face, they won’t fall into your ‘clutches’.”

Liu Weizhen had sold a total of twenty-two items the previous night. Her turnover was similar to Li Qiufeng’s, coming in at 303 yuan.

Between the three of them, their total turnover had actually exceeded 2,000 yuan.

Jiang Xia continued, “Last night was a special case. Usually, what you two experienced is the normal situation. There definitely won’t be that many customers on a regular basis. Last night, I just happened to have the right time, the right place, and the right people. Didn’t you hear customers saying the factory had just paid out wages? They hadn’t even made it home before half their money was spent. Moreover, it was right at the peak of the evening rush hour. I seized that moment to create a buzz, drawing in the crowds, building momentum, and stirring up the atmosphere. By capitalizing on those psychological triggers, I was able to close the deals in one go.”

“In a situation like last night, even if I were the one tending the shop, I couldn’t achieve that every single moment. Even if another wave comes tonight, it won’t be as prosperous as yesterday.”

“However, during this promotional period, you can use the ‘Grand Opening Sale’ as a gimmick to attract as many customers as possible. After all, promotions can’t happen every day, and prices can’t stay this low forever. We’ll just hold a promotion every now and then to attract customers and cultivate some regulars.”

Liu Weizhen asked, “Then when is the next promotion?”

Jiang Xia replied, “The next round of price-cutting promotions will be scheduled for New Year’s Day. There will definitely be a lot of foot traffic then, so we’ll focus on small profits and high volume. After that, we’ll do a clearance sale right before the Lunar New Year to try and sell out as much stock as possible before the holiday. Those will be the two main rounds of sales. Once the New Year is over and we return, we’ll do a promotion for the new arrivals and a seasonal clearance.”

“And I want to set up a points card system for the customers to increase customer stickiness…”

Jiang Xia then went on to explain techniques for increasing customer retention and various sales skills.

After discussing shop matters, Jiang Xia checked the accounts and paid them their wages from the previous day.

Yesterday, Li Qiufeng had earned 22 yuan during the day. After the others arrived, she stayed to sell a few more sets before leaving, earning a total of roughly 34.50 yuan.

Liu Weizhen had worked a shorter shift and earned 26 yuan.

Because Jiang Xia intended for them to be partners rather than just hiring them as salesclerks, she didn’t give them a fixed salary. Instead, it was all commission-based. They earned as much as they could sell.

Jiang Xia set a base price for each type of clothing. Depending on the category, she herself earned between one and five yuan per item. They also earned between 0.50 yuan and 3 yuan per item.

During price-cut promotions, everyone would earn a little less per item, passing the savings to the customer to ensure high volume.

On normal days when there weren’t many customers, they would use the regular retail price to maintain income.

Therefore, how much the two of them could earn depended entirely on their own abilities. If they sold more, they earned more; if they sold less, they earned less. But one thing was certain: it would definitely be more than a fixed wage.

By doing this, Jiang Xia earned a bit less for herself, but it saved her the headache of micro-management. She could confidently leave the shop’s operations to them.

Since each person earned their own share without interfering with the others, both women would work hard to sell. Jiang Xia didn’t have to worry about them doing anything dishonest behind her back.

The two women also knew that Jiang Xia was essentially handing them money. It was as if they had opened a clothing store and become owners without contributing a single cent of capital.

As a result, both were incredibly grateful to Jiang Xia.

After all, if Jiang Xia had offered a monthly salary of thirty or forty yuan, plenty of people would have been willing to do the job, and Jiang Xia could have kept more of the profit for herself.

But Jiang Xia didn’t do that.

They had never met anyone as generous and sincere as her.

Jiang Xia said, “From now on, wages will be settled daily. As long as the accounts are clear and I’ve checked them, there won’t be any problems. The end of the year is approaching, and the peak season will be here soon. If you get too busy, you can hire one or two people to help. Weizhen, you can just find some students at the school looking for part-time work. They’ll get 55 yuan in total if they work until the shop closes for the year.”

It was already mid-December, and the Lunar New Year fell at the end of January this year.

People valued the tradition of clearing out the old to welcome the new, and many would buy new clothes for the New Year. Thus, the shop was bound to get busier and busier in the coming days.

“Okay.”

After all the arrangements were discussed, Jiang Xia and Liu Weizhen headed back to school for class. There were no classes in the afternoon, so they planned to come back then.

Jiang Xia didn’t return until 5:30 PM after eating dinner; she had stayed home to spend the afternoon with her children.

Liu Weizhen had come straight over after eating lunch when school let out at noon.

When Jiang Xia arrived, it was again the peak time when people were leaving work, and there were several customers in the shop.

Among them were Dong Yan and Gu Yue.

Dong Yan had come along with a colleague.

A colleague at her government unit had worn a new outfit to work today, and everyone had praised how good it looked.

That colleague had mentioned that the clothes at this shop were a great deal—ten yuan for a wool sweater, and the quality was excellent. Many people were buying them.

So, after work today, several colleagues had followed her there to take a look.

Dong Yan had come along too; after all, she was planning to open her own clothing store, even though she hadn’t found a shop space yet.

When Gu Yue saw Jiang Xia, she smiled and greeted her, “Xiao Xia, are you here to buy clothes too?”

Dong Yan gave Jiang Xia a flat look and ignored her, continuing to browse the clothes on the racks.

She couldn’t understand. If such good sweaters were being sold for only ten yuan, was there really any profit to be made?

Before Jiang Xia could say anything, Dong Yan’s colleague chipped in, “No, she’s an employee here too. Comrade Xiao Xia, come over and help us put some outfits together! I specifically brought a few colleagues today to support your business.”

Jiang Xia smiled and said, “Of course, Sister Wen.”

Hearing this, Dong Yan turned to her colleague. “What did you say?”

Sister Wen smiled and replied, “Didn’t you say the clothes I was wearing today were very pretty? This female comrade helped me pick them out. She has a real eye for coordination. I’ll have her put together a set for you.”

Liu Weizhen, who was currently assisting Gu Yue and the others, recognized Gu Yue from their school. Hearing the conversation, she chimed in with a smile, “That’s right. Comrade Xiao Xia is the owner of our shop. She’s very skilled at choosing clothes that match a person’s individual temperament. You can all let her help you pick something out.”

When Dong Yan heard those words, she was literally provoked into a sarcastic laugh.

No wonder Gu Heng had looked so guilty that day!

It turned out he had given the shop to this illegitimate daughter!

This was simply outrageous!

It was too much!

“Alright!” Jiang Xia would never turn away money. Besides, excluding Dong Yan and Gu Yue, there were several other people here, some of whom were repeat customers who had brought friends. She stepped forward with a smile. “Which items caught your eye? Let me tell you a bit about them.”

Sister Wen pointed to a woolen coat. “This colleague of mine and her daughter both want to buy a coat.”

Dong Yan snapped, “No! I think the clothes here are terrible. They’re so tacky—earthy and hideously ugly. Cheap goods have no quality! I wouldn’t take them even if you gave them to me for free! You all can buy them if you want, but I’m not buying anything!”

With that, she grabbed Gu Yue and stormed out.

Sister Wen was left standing there, speechless.

Chapter 698: It Hurts, It Hurts, It Hurts!

As soon as Dong Yan spoke, her colleagues looked at her in disbelief.

Was this something a normal person would say?

Sister Wen’s face turned red with anger.

She had brought everyone here because she thought she had found high-quality products at a great price and couldn’t help but want to share the discovery with her colleagues!

And the result?

She never imagined that Dong Yan, who usually carried herself with such refinement, would say something so rude, uneducated, low-class, and immoral!

It was simply deranged!

Gu Yue also hadn’t expected her mother to say such things. She didn’t even have time to react before Dong Yan started pulling her away.

Jiang Xia reached out and blocked their path.

She wanted to use the situation to make a scene, ruin her mood, and then just leave?

No way!

Seeing this, Li Qiufeng immediately stepped forward to block their exit, standing beside Jiang Xia to hold the two of them back.

Having grown up in a village, she didn’t have much of an education. She only knew one thing: if someone came to your door to bully you, the whole family had to unite and bully! Them! Back!

If the other party cursed at them, they cursed back!

If the other party hit them, they hit back!

If they could win, they fought; if they couldn’t win, they still fought!

Even if they died, they would drag the other person down with them!

They had to let everyone know that they were not to be trifled with!

Seeing the situation, Liu Weizhen also moved to surround them from behind.

“What are you doing? Do you want to hit someone?” Dong Yan asked aggressively.

Jiang Xia’s expression was indifferent. “Apologize. Otherwise, don’t even think about walking out that door today!”

She wanted to make a scene, right?

Fine, she would let her make as much of a scene as she wanted!

Let’s see who was actually afraid of things escalating!

“Why should I apologize? Did I hit you? I only said a few words; is that a crime? What do you mean by stopping me from leaving? Do you believe I’ll call the police?”

The corners of Jiang Xia’s mouth quirked up. “No need for you to call. I’ll do it. Cousin, go call the police. Tell them someone is spreading rumors and causing trouble in our shop, and that she’s insulting national goods!”

“Okay!” Li Qiufeng immediately turned and ran out. She knew where the police station was; it was nearby!

Dong Yan: “…”

Gu Yue didn’t want the situation to escalate, especially not to the point of calling the police. She hurriedly said, “Mom, did you say something wrong by accident? Didn’t you just say the coats here were very beautiful? That the woolen coats were a great deal?”

She then turned to Jiang Xia. “Teacher Jiang, I’m sorry! My mom just accidentally said the wrong thing! That’s not what she was saying before! She was just praising the clothes in the shop for being so pretty! She even wanted to buy a woolen coat. Mom, say something! Aunt Wen, you all heard it too, right?”

Dong Yan’s colleagues also chimed in. “That’s right! Ah Yan, did you just slip up? You didn’t say that at first! Hurry up and say sorry to the owner!”

“Xiao Dong must have misspsoken. Just apologize to the owner!”

…

“Mom, speak up! Hurry and apologize to Teacher Jiang!”

Seeing Gu Yue like this only made Dong Yan angrier. Why should her daughter act so submissively in front of this illegitimate daughter?

“I didn’t say anything wrong! I think these clothes are hideous! So what if I think they’re rustic and ugly? Did I break the law by saying that? Which law did I break? Am I not allowed to have my own preferences? Call the police then! Who’s afraid of who?” Dong Yan pointed her finger right at Jiang Xia’s nose. “Get the hell out of my way! What right do you have to stop me?! Who do you think you are! Move! I’m going home!!”

As she spoke, she shoved Jiang Xia with force!

The moment Dong Yan’s hand touched her body, Jiang Xia grabbed her wrist, yanked it forward while twisting her arm back, and pinned her down with a reverse lock!

The arm was wrenched out of its socket! The wrist was dislocated too!

“Ahh! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts… Let go! Help, she’s hitting me!” When had Dong Yan ever suffered like this? Tears immediately sprang to her eyes!

Jiang Xia held her down firmly. “You were the one who moved first! If you want to talk, then talk. Why get physical? To keep you from doing it again, I’ll only let go when the police arrive!”

She hoped her little cousin wouldn’t run too fast back.

Dong Yan was teary-eyed from the pain. “Who got physical?! You’re clearly the one hitting me! My hand is sprained because of you! Let go, now!”

Jiang Xia pressed down harder. “I won’t! If I let go, will you hit me again? I’ll let go once the police are here!”

“Ahhh!” Dong Yan screamed!

“You… you… let go! My… my hand hurts so much! It’s going to break!”

Jiang Xia kept her pinned and didn’t let go, secretly applying more pressure.

“Ahhh!” A scream like a stuck pig echoed through the shop.

Everyone: “…”

Gu Yue watched her mother’s distorted face as she screamed. Cold sweat seemed to be breaking out on her mother’s brow, and she worried her hand really was injured. “Teacher Jiang Xia, why don’t you let my mother go first?”

“I said, I’ll let go when the police arrive.”

Gu Yue: “…”

Dong Yan was drenched in cold sweat. “Xiao Yue, go call the police! Go now! Quickly! My hand is going to be ruined!”

Dong Yan was truly terrified that her hand would break. It hurt too much!

She felt that if Jiang Xia applied even a little more force, the joints in her arm and shoulder would separate!

This bitch was truly heartless!

Was she trying to cripple her?

Gu Yue didn’t understand how things had spiraled so out of control. She had no choice but to run outside to see if the police were coming.

Sister Wen saw that Dong Yan seemed to be in agonizing pain and didn’t look like she was faking it. She feared Jiang Xia might actually injure her, which would turn a small matter into a major disaster.

Young people were often impulsive and lacked experience in handling such situations. In the heat of the moment, they might do anything. If she truly injured Dong Yan, Jiang Xia would go from being in the right to being in the wrong. She quickly advised, “Xiao Xia, let go first! Let’s talk things over calmly! Otherwise, you’ll lose your high ground.”

The other colleagues also tried to soothe her. “That’s right! Comrade Xiao Xia, let go first! We can talk this out! She was out of line with her words just now. When the police come, we’ll testify for you.”

…

Under everyone’s persuasion, Jiang Xia estimated the police would be arriving soon anyway.

Jiang Xia gave one last forceful press, then released her. She pulled Dong Yan up and, with a sharp crack, popped her arm back into its socket.

“Ah! Ahhhhh!!!!” The pig-stabbing scream rang out again.

Jiang Xia grabbed Dong Yan’s arm and palm, snapping her wrist back into place as well!

“Ah!”

Once finished, Jiang Xia tossed her hand aside.

After being shoved away, Dong Yan realized the pain in her hand seemed to have vanished. She moved it cautiously; it really didn’t hurt anymore. She finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Dong Yan looked at her colleagues. “I want to report this to the police. You all have to testify for me. This bitch just—”

Jiang Xia raised her hand.

Dong Yan was so terrified she turned and ran.

At that moment, Li Qiufeng arrived with the police.

“Comrades, this is the woman who came to our shop to cause trouble!”

Dong Yan rushed in front of the officers. “Comrades, she hit me! I want to report her! This woman hit me!”

The two officers surveyed the scene and began their inquiry. “Who is the owner of the shop?”

Jiang Xia stepped forward. “I am the owner. This woman insulted national goods, refused to apologize, and even initiated a physical attack! I was acting in justifiable defense!”

Dong Yan yelled, “Who hit who first? Look, my face is swollen because of you! My hand was almost ruined! And who’s insulting national goods? Don’t you dare throw mud at me or pin such labels on me; that kind of thing doesn’t fly anymore! I said the clothes in your shop are ugly and unattractive! I didn’t insult national goods! Everyone has different tastes. I just think the clothes in your shop aren’t good-looking. Am I not allowed to say I don’t like them? Is that a crime? Is it a crime just to speak?”

Chapter 699: The One Hit Was Her, and the One Apologizing Was Also Her

Once the uniformed officers arrived, Jiang Xia became exceptionally calm. She said in a level voice, “That isn’t exactly what you said. Your original words were: ‘I don’t think the clothes here are good at all. They’re so tacky—tacky and ugly. Cheap goods are never high quality! I wouldn’t take them even if they were free!’”

Jiang Xia repeated her words verbatim and continued, “As you said, everyone has different tastes, and to each their own. You don’t have to like them. If you don’t like them, you don’t have to buy them; you could have just walked away. But you cannot publicly disparage the clothes in my shop! This talk about ‘cheap goods never being high quality’ is unacceptable!”

Dong Yan fired back, “So what if I said it? You get what you pay for! Was I wrong to say cheap goods aren’t high quality? Did I break the law? Did I?!”

Jiang Xia countered, “These are all export-grade clothes from the National Cotton Factory. They are top-quality garments made with the best fabric and the best workmanship our National Cotton Factory has to offer! These high-quality clothes have earned countless foreign exchange for our China and have been recognized by many international friends. And yet you say they are cheap goods of poor quality? Are you suggesting that the goods our National Cotton Factory exports to other countries are rubbish? You’re disparaging national products—how can you possibly think you’re in the right?”

Dong Yan: “…”

“I didn’t mean it like that! I didn’t know these were foreign trade goods! I just didn’t like the styles! Fine, consider my comment about ‘cheap goods’ a mistake! I take it back! But you shouldn’t have laid a hand on me or refused to let me leave, right? Couldn’t you have just explained it clearly?”

Jiang Xia said, “The reason our shop sells them so cheaply is that we are working with the National Cotton Factory to pass the savings of these high-quality clothes onto the people. We want our citizens to spend the least amount of money to get the best clothes! If you don’t like them, don’t buy them, but please do not disparage national products in public! Rumors can spread from one person to ten, and ten to a hundred! If this gets out and international friends hear it, they might think the products we sell are inferior and demand returns. Can you take responsibility for that?! I stopped you to ask for an apology—was I wrong to do that? You were the one who struck first, and I acted in justifiable defense. Was I wrong in that?!”

Dong Yan shouted, “I didn’t hit you! I was just pushing you away! Stop talking nonsense!”

Jiang Xia replied, “Oh, is that so? But you looked so fierce that I thought you were hitting me!”

Jiang Xia ignored Dong Yan and turned to the officers. “This person is intentionally spreading rumors and disparaging national goods. Please take her back for some ideological education! Don’t let her stay here and ruin my shop’s business. Thank you for your trouble!”

The officers had already looked at the clothes in the shop. One turned to Dong Yan and said, “Apologize to the shop owner and admit your mistake. If the clothes don’t suit your aesthetic, you don’t have to buy them, but don’t go making wild claims. Where else could you find such a thick wool sweater for ten yuan?”

Gu Yue urged, “Mother, just hurry up and apologize!”

If her mother were actually taken away, it would be incredibly embarrassing!

The other colleagues also persuaded Dong Yan. “Xiao Dong, it’s a small matter. We know you didn’t mean it. Just apologize quickly!”

What a sharp-tongued brat! Dong Yan thought.

That mouth of hers was like a knife, drawing blood with every word. Dong Yan glared coldly at Jiang Xia.

Apologize to Gu Heng’s illegitimate daughter? In her dreams!

Besides, the girl had hit her!

Why was she the one who had to apologize?

Jiang Xia hid behind the officers. “Comrades, please take her away quickly! Look at the way she’s glaring at me—if someone didn’t know better, they’d think we had a deep-seated grudge! I’m afraid she might burn my shop down! Please, take her away and give her a thorough lesson in ideological education!”

The phrase “deep-seated grudge” snapped Dong Yan back to reality!

If this mess grew any bigger and Gu Heng found out, it would do her no good!

Seeing that Dong Yan was not cooperating, the officer said, “In that case, come back with us.”

Dong Yan took a deep breath. “I spoke out of turn just now! The clothes here are good quality and excellent value for the money! I was mistaken! I’m sorry!”

The officers said a few more polite words to wrap things up, and the matter was settled.

Dong Yan marched out of the shop!

She had apologized; she had admitted fault!

She had lost both face and dignity!

She was beyond frustrated!

Dong Yan felt as if she had swallowed a fly!

It was disgusting!

After the officers and Dong Yan left, Sister Wen apologized to Jiang Xia again. “I’m so sorry. I brought my colleagues here because I thought your clothes were such a good deal. I didn’t mean to cause you trouble!”

Jiang Xia smiled. “It’s alright! You had good intentions, Sister Wen. I know that. What she did and said has nothing to do with you; please don’t let it bother you. Are these ladies your colleagues? I’ve taken up everyone’s time today! If any of you see clothes you like, I’ll give you twenty percent off.”

The women quickly replied, “We do! We’ve already picked out several pieces! A-Wen said you have a great eye and know how to dress well. I want to buy a quilted jacket—could you help me style an outfit?”

“Of course.”

“I also found a coat I like and want a skirt to match. Could you help me pick one?”

…

The presence of uniformed officers earlier had attracted many onlookers, and some of them now wandered into the shop.

Liu Weizhen and Li Qiufeng busied themselves greeting the new customers and inviting them to look around.

Thus, the atmosphere in the shop quickly became lively again.

After Dong Yan and Gu Yue returned home, Gu Yue couldn’t help but ask, “Mother, do you seem to really dislike Jiang Xia?”

Dong Yan snapped, “That’s not true. Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Then why did you target her today?”

Gu Heng was in the study. He had heard his wife and daughter returning and was about to come out, but his daughter’s question made him freeze with his hand on the doorknob.

“I wasn’t targeting her! I just didn’t like those clothes!”

“But you clearly thought the clothes were decent at first! You even wondered how such high-quality clothes could be sold at such a low price. It was after Jiang Xia appeared that you changed! You said such nasty things!”

Her daughter’s persistence was giving Dong Yan a headache, but she patiently explained, “You know I’ve been looking for a shop to open a clothing store lately! I had my eye on that specific shop first! I didn’t expect Jiang Xia to beat me to it! When I heard the shop staff say she was the owner, I felt upset. I felt like she had snatched my shop, so I just said some unpleasant things!”

“Look at how good the business is in that shop! If I had rented it and sold clothes there, we would have made so much money. You could have bought whatever you wanted! But now it’s gone!”

Gu Yue believed her and hugged Dong Yan. “I’m sorry, Mom.”

Dong Yan patted her daughter’s back.

She was determined to make sure her daughter lived an even better life than Jiang Xia!

That night, when they were going to bed, Gu Heng couldn’t help but try to explain the situation regarding the shop to Dong Yan. He was afraid she had misunderstood and would go looking for trouble with Jiang Xia again.

As Dong Yan listened to him constantly defending Jiang Xia, the frustration and bitterness she had suppressed all day finally exploded. She couldn’t hold it back anymore. “What’s wrong? Do you feel sorry for her?”

Gu Heng felt a pang of guilty conscience. “What are you talking about? Why would I feel sorry for her?”

“Don’t think I don’t know! Jiang Xia is your illegitimate daughter!”

Gu Yue, who had gotten up to use the bathroom, was completely stunned as she overheard this through her parents’ bedroom door.

Chapter 700: Not Satisfied

The next day was the Winter Solstice, and it was also Jiang Dong’s birthday.

Jiang Xia had a full morning of classes. After finishing her final foreign language class, she hurried home to prepare for the birthday dinner tonight.

She planned to make a birthday cake and prepare dinner by hand with Zhang Fuyan today.

Zhang Fuyan specifically wanted to cook a dinner for Jiang Dong herself, but since she was a disaster in the kitchen, she wanted to learn from Jiang Xia.

Jiang Xia pushed her bicycle out of the shed and was about to leave.

Gu Yue approached her. Having cried all night, her eyes were still swollen and bloodshot. “Are you satisfied now?”

Jiang Xia glanced at her, roughly guessing why she was asking this.

“Not satisfied. Satisfied with what? Satisfied that your whole family is constantly making your presence felt in front of me every day? I’m not satisfied at all! I’ll only be satisfied when your whole family stops appearing in front of me!”

Gu Yue: “…”

“To be honest, I am extremely annoyed by your family showing up in front of me! Don’t bother me again!”

Gu Yue: “…”

Having said her piece, Jiang Xia maneuvered around her and walked away.

Gu Yue snapped out of it and chased after her. “Did you already know my father was your father?”

Jiang Xia laughed. “Does your whole family suffer from delusions? How could your father possibly be mine?

“Use your brain. Do you think someone like your father could produce a daughter as smart and beautiful as me? How do I look anything like him? Do you have some kind of misunderstanding about your father?

“My younger brother and I both inherited our father’s high IQ. My father knows more foreign languages than I do and has more of a talent for linguistics! And you know how smart my brother is, right? That all came from my father!”

Gu Yue: “…”

She naturally knew who Jiang Xia’s younger brother was.

He was a celebrity at both Jingda and Q University.

He was even more famous than Jiang Xia!

He had already made a name for himself two years ago.

Jiang Dong was a genius who had won several major awards both domestically and internationally and held several technology patents.

She heard that the money he earned from those few patents alone was enough for him to never worry about finances for the rest of his life.

She had also heard that he had opened two companies and was a millionaire at a very young age.

Jiang Xia clarified, “When your father saw me, he thought I was the daughter of his first love. The truth is that his first love was my maternal aunt, who passed away a long time ago. My mother and maternal aunt were twins, and I just happen to take after my maternal aunt. That’s all there is to it! I have absolutely no relation to your family!

“Is that clear enough now? Please tell your family to stop disturbing my life and my parents’ lives in the future. Otherwise, I’ll start thinking your family sees how well we’re doing and is trying to fabricate some kinship just to scrounge for handouts! Or perhaps you’re all just desperate for a daughter? Your parents aren’t even fifty yet, are they? Tell them to have another one soon and stop day-dreaming about other people’s children every day!”

Gu Yue: “…”

Gu Heng knew his daughter’s temperament, so he had come to the school to check on her. He hadn’t expected to overhear these words from Jiang Xia.

At that moment, his heart twisted in pain.

Dong Yan had also come, fearing her daughter would pick a fight with Jiang Xia.

Her daughter was no match for Jiang Xia and would surely suffer at her hands.

She had experienced Jiang Xia’s ability to twist black into white the previous night.

And so, the three family members stood in different directions, all overhearing Jiang Xia’s words.

Dong Yan was so angry her chest felt tight with pain.

Who wanted to scrounge for handouts?!

No matter how bad things were, she was still someone with a government unit and a job. Did she need to scrounge for handouts?

Jiang Xia rode away on her bicycle.

She had intentionally said those last two lines.

Being looked down upon like that, anyone with a shred of face and self-respect would be too embarrassed to show up in front of her again, right?

Every time she met Gu Heng and saw that affectionate, lingering gaze in his eyes, she really couldn’t stand it!

But since there was no paternity testing technology in the country yet, she had no way to prove she wasn’t Gu Heng’s daughter.

She could only resort to saying this.

Jiang Xia pedaled her bicycle, preparing to head home.

Then she saw Father Jiang ahead, looking at her with a smile.

“Dad! Why are you here?”

Jiang Xia pushed her bicycle and ran over.

“Aren’t you going to make a birthday cake for Jiang Dong? Since I’m here on a business trip, I thought I’d come and have a taste. I’ve never tried a cake you’ve made.” Father Jiang laughed as he helped his daughter tie the scarf that was loosely draped around her neck, then took the bicycle from her. “Let’s go! Let’s go home.”

It was his son’s birthday, and his grandchildren were turning six months old in a couple of days. Since he had a business trip coming up in two days anyway, he had come early. He hadn’t expected to hear his daughter’s heartfelt words.

That’s right, their intelligence was all inherited from him!

A father generally doesn’t want his children to feel he’s gotten old. Last time, he could feel that Father Jiang was very happy carrying her on the bike. This time, Jiang Xia let Father Jiang ride the bicycle and took her seat on the back.

“Is Mother here too?”

Father Jiang shook his head. “No, she’s away for work. It’s the end of the year, so her side needs to settle accounts, clear inventory, and collect payments. She’s busy!”

From next year, his wife’s factory would be responsible for its own profits and losses.

Many payments for fabric haven’t been settled yet, and the money for the goods they sold hasn’t been collected. Before the factory’s restructuring, all these accounts had to be cleared and settled.

In any case, his wife was even busier than he was.

Hearing this, Jiang Xia said, “I opened a clothing store in the capital. If Mother needs help on her end, I can help clear some inventory.”

The clothes produced by Mother Jiang’s factory weren’t fashionable enough; they were all very traditional styles. The designers and pattern makers were older people who considered themselves seniors with an iron rice bowl job. As long as they didn’t make mistakes, they could keep working until retirement.

Therefore, the working principle of the factory employees was simply to not make mistakes!

Because of this, the biggest change in the clothes every year was to slightly modify the styles that had sold well before.

One year they’d add a pocket, the next they’d remove a pocket, the year after they’d add a flap to the pocket, and the year after that they’d get rid of the pocket again.

Then they’d change the buttons or the fabric, and that would be the “new style.”

The workers were so familiar with the patterns that the pattern makers could cut them with their eyes closed, and the workmanship was so routine the sewers could finish the clothes while nodding off.

In an era of material shortages and limited supply, this wasn’t an issue.

But now that the Reform and Opening-up had been underway for several years, continuing like this was no longer viable.

Father Jiang: ” I’ll ask her when I get back.”

Jiang Xia: “When Mother gets back from her business trip, I’ll call and ask her.”

Father Jiang: “No need, I’ll ask.”

“Alright.”

Dong Yan watched Father Jiang and Jiang Xia leave while chatting and laughing. She froze in place, not even realizing that Gu Yue had already left.

She hadn’t known that Jiang Xia’s father was actually him!

Gu Heng didn’t dare appear before his daughter. Seeing that the two girls hadn’t started a fight, he also left, feeling lost and dejected.

In the end, all three members of the family went home separately.

Father Jiang could stay in the capital for four days. After finishing his work, he stayed to accompany his three grandchildren for their six-month milestone before heading home.

The next day, Second Auntie brought out the rice she had washed the day before, intending to grind it into powder to make rice paste for the children.

Father Jiang said, “Let me do it. When Xiaxia was little, her favorite thing was the rice paste I cooked. It was especially fragrant.”

Zhou Chenglei: “Dad, let me. You teach me.”

He felt that since the children’s first milk came from their mother, their first bowl of rice paste should come from their father!

Even if the father-in-law prepared it, he wanted to be part of the process!

Father Jiang: “No need. You just watch and learn from the side, then you’ll know how to do it next time.”

Zhou Chenglei didn’t argue with him. He just took 500 grams of rice and began learning alongside him.

Thus, early in the morning, the father-in-law and son-in-law were there grinding the rice into powder, filtering it, and drying it…

Jiang Dong came over and rushed to help as well.

He felt that he must participate in his nephews’ first meal too!

Jiang Xia held the children and took photos of them, capturing these precious moments one by one.

My babies, look how lucky you are to have so many people who love you.

Chapter 701: Dad is the Most Biased

The next day was exactly the day the babies turned six months old.

Zhou Chenglei woke up at his usual time, but he didn’t go for his run. Instead, he went to the kitchen to practice cooking rice paste, hoping to beat his father-in-law to the punch and give the children their very first bite of rice paste himself.

However, just as he entered the kitchen, Father Jiang also got up. He took the small pot from Zhou Chenglei’s hands and said, “Go for your run. I’ll handle this.”

Zhou Chenglei replied, “I’m just practicing. You go ahead and cook first, Dad; I’ll watch and learn from the side.”

Father Jiang was very satisfied with Zhou Chenglei’s attitude and began to teach him. “Rice paste is indeed easy to burn. You need to practice more. Otherwise, if the child eats burnt rice paste, it’s easy for them to get internal heat.”

As it turned out, because Father Jiang hadn’t cooked it in over twenty years, the bottom of the first pot of rice paste was scorched, while the middle was still raw.

“I haven’t cooked this in too long. My hands are a bit rusty. The next pot will be better.”

So, by the time Jiang Dong woke up and walked over, there were more than a dozen bowls of rice paste lined up on the kitchen counter.

Seeing him, Father Jiang immediately said, “You’re up? Breakfast is ready, go ahead and eat! Your brother-in-law cooked it himself.”

Jiang Dong: “…”

Jiang Xia had also woken up by then and walked in.

Jiang Dong immediately said, “Sis, Brother-in-law cooked breakfast for you.”

Father Jiang intervened, “That was cooked for you. Your sister doesn’t eat this stuff. Xiaxia, wait a moment, the noodles will be ready soon.”

“…” Jiang Dong couldn’t help but mutter, “Dad is the most biased!”

Father Jiang countered, “Your sister has to breastfeed. Do you? If you have the ability to breastfeed Little Bao and the others, I won’t make you eat it.”

Jiang Dong: “…”

That was an ability he truly didn’t have!

Fine, he would be the one to eat it!

Who told him he was already an uncle?

Jiang Dong rolled up his sleeves. “I’ll learn how to cook it too. Let’s each cook a bowl of rice paste for the children.”

Zhou Chenglei added, “If you mess it up, remember to eat it. We can’t waste food.”

He had already eaten several bowls of the rice paste Father Jiang had cooked.

Jiang Dong: “…”

Once the three babies had woken up and had their faces washed, Jiang Dong, Father Jiang, and Zhou Chenglei each held a baby to feed them the rice paste.

Grandma smiled and said, “Give them some water to drink before feeding them the rice paste.”

The three men did as they were told.

It was already time for a milk feeding, so the three babies thought they were getting milk, but what was fed to them was water.

After taking two sips, the little sister and younger brother immediately went “Pffft~ pffft…” spitting it out, unwilling to drink.

Zhou Chenglei used a handkerchief to wipe his daughter’s mouth, then scooped a small spoonful of rice paste and put it into her mouth.

The little sister instinctively “pffft-ed” a bit, then paused. She smacked her lips, and then her eyes lit up. She immediately reached out to grab the bowl in her father’s hand. “Mua~”

Zhou Chenglei scooped another spoonful and fed her.

The little sister swallowed it with a smack of her lips. “Ah, mua~”

Her tiny hands gripped the edge of the bowl tightly, refusing to let go. She opened her little mouth wide, looking like she was eagerly waiting to be fed.

The whole family was amused by her impatient, greedy look.

The younger brother was similar to the little sister, except he didn’t hold onto the bowl. However, he ate so enthusiastically that his little feet curled up and he stretched his neck out, also looking quite impatient.

The eldest brother was the most composed. He drank his water in small sips, never letting a drop leak. When he took his first bite of rice paste while leaning in Father Jiang’s arms, he only lowered his eyes to look at it because the texture was unfamiliar, then continued eating calmly.

He ate very cleanly; even though he was so small, he didn’t get it all over his mouth.

Father Jiang laughed and said, “Our Dabao is so calm in everything he does. He is destined for greatness in the future.”

Grandma smiled. “The eldest brother is very impressive; he’s the fastest at learning everything. Even at this age, it’s like he can understand what adults are saying. He also loves being clean. If his diaper gets wet, he will definitely cry, which is why he never gets diaper rash. The younger brother and little sister chew on their fists and toes every day, putting anything they find into their mouths to bite, but he never does that.”

The family warmly helped the three babies start their solid foods.

Jiang Xia held her camera, smiling as she captured the expressions on their faces as they ate their very first bite of rice paste.

Father Jiang flew back the next morning.

He didn’t want the children to worry, staying up in the middle of the night by the phone waiting for his call to say he’d arrived safely. Father Jiang had decided last time that unless there was an emergency, he wouldn’t take night flights anymore.

After Jiang Xia hung up the call from Father Jiang confirming he was home, she dialed the home number again to ask Ruan Tang if they were coming to the capital for New Year’s Day.

Chapter 702: Is This Any Way to Treat a Brother?

Today was Monday, and Jiang Xia called the hospital to look for Ruan Tang.

During the lunch break, Ruan Tang quickly came over from her office and returned Jiang Xia’s call.

“Second Brother and I discussed it over New Year’s Day. We won’t be returning to the capital for now; we’ll wait until the winter break.”

This was mostly Ruan Tang’s decision, and Zhou Chengsen followed her lead in everything.

Now, he came to the city every week to see her. If she had to work on Saturday or Sunday, he would bring fresh seafood and cook a meal for her. If she was off, he would pick her up and take her back to the village to go out to sea or go beachcombing.

Sometimes, when she had the day off after a night shift, she would take a bus to see him. They wouldn’t do anything special—she would just keep him company for lunch.

If he had a business dinner in the evening, she would have lunch with him and then take the bus back to the city on her own.

If he didn’t have any social obligations after work, she would wait for him to clock out, and then he would drive her back to the city.

While waiting for him, she would wander around the town or sit on the green planters at his government unit and read a book; the time passed quickly.

Zhou Chengsen had offered to let her sit in his office, but she refused, fearing it might reflect poorly on him.

Both of them had jobs and lived in different places, so they only managed to see each other once or twice a week. Though life was quiet, Ruan Tang felt very much at peace.

Jiang Xia smiled. “That works too.”

Ruan Tang added in a low voice, “I’ll wait until the marriage report is approved before I bring him back to the capital to meet my grandparents.”

She had already submitted her marriage application.

Once it was approved and they registered their marriage, she would take Zhou Chengsen back to meet her family.

Fortunately, her household registry and records were with her work unit and not in the capital; otherwise, she wouldn’t even be able to register the marriage secretly.

The only issue was that she still hadn’t convinced Zhou Chengsen to register the marriage before meeting her parents.

Jiang Xia understood what she meant and laughed. “Good luck!”

Ruan Tang’s eyes were full of smiles, her whole being bathed in happiness. “My supervisor said they’ve been waiting forever for me to file a marriage report and promised to approve it as quickly as possible.”

Jiang Xia smiled. “Congratulations!”

Ruan Tang laughed. “It’s not too late to congratulate me once it’s approved.”

Jiang Xia chuckled. “I’ll congratulate you again then.”

Ruan Tang sighed. “My only problem now is that I can’t get your second brother to agree to register the marriage before meeting my parents.”

Jiang Xia replied, “…That might be difficult. It would be considered quite rude. Second Brother won’t agree to it.”

“It’s my request, so it shouldn’t count as rude,” Ruan Tang argued. “Registering first could save a lot of trouble.”

Jiang Xia shook her head. “Don’t worry, Second Brother isn’t afraid of trouble; he’s best at handling it. Doing it that way would be too disrespectful to you and your family. He won’t do it. Don’t overthink it; just leave everything to him!”

Ruan Tang couldn’t think of how to persuade him either. On matters of principle, Zhou Chengsen was very stubborn.

He had only asked her to file the marriage report first and told her to leave the rest to him.

Jiang Xia changed the subject. “My break starts on the sixth. Yingying and the others start theirs on the thirteenth. Do you have any plans for when you’ll come over?”

She had mentioned taking the kids to the capital during the winter break and wanted to coordinate a time.

“It depends on when the report is approved. If it’s early, we’ll leave on the fourteenth. If it’s closer to the Lunar New Year, Chengsen said we can wait until the holiday itself. However, he said that once Yingying and the others start their break, he can bring them to the capital to play for a few days first.”

Jiang Xia said, “There’s no need for Second Brother to make an extra trip. We have to head back on the seventh, so we can just pick up the children then.”

Zhou Chenglei and Factory Director Zhou had an appointment to receive a boat on the ninth. Furthermore, the food factory was opening that same day, so Jiang Xia had to go back regardless.

“It’ll be inconvenient for you to go back and then bring the kids here again. We can just bring them.”

“It’s fine, we’re used to it. When I get back, I’ll ask the kids if they’d rather come to the capital after the Lunar New Year; that way they can stay for more days.”

The family would be busy at the end of the year, but there was no need to go out to sea during the first lunar month. If they came to the capital after the New Year, then Father and Mother Zhou could stay and enjoy themselves for a longer period.

Although many tourist attractions in the capital weren’t open yet, it was still the capital, and it was worth bringing the children to see it.

After chatting with Ruan Tang for a bit longer, Jiang Xia hung up.

The following week was exam week. The students were busy, and Jiang Xia was busy too.

To prepare for the peak sales season, Jiang Xia contacted factories everywhere to source goods. During the day, she attended classes while Zhou Chenglei went to the factories to transport the goods back.

After the goods arrived and Jiang Xia finished her classes, she had to lead her team to organize, categorize, and display everything.

Since Liu Weizhen and Li Qiufeng had never opened a shop before and lacked experience, Jiang Xia had to personally teach Li Qiufeng how to do things.

Once she learned, Liu Weizhen and Li Qiufeng could lead the others themselves in the future.

Not only was Jiang Xia busy, but the whole family was occupied.

Jiang Xia helped two children’s clothing factories clear their stock, bringing in a large batch of kids’ clothes.

The shop was large; the left side sold ready-made clothes, and the right side sold children’s wear.

As the end of the year approached, many people working in the capital were buying clothes to take home for the New Year. Even if they were reluctant to spend on themselves, they were willing to buy for their children, wives, and elderly parents. After all, many migrant workers only returned home once a year during the Spring Festival.

Consequently, business at the clothing store was booming. During the day, Li Qiufeng couldn’t handle the rush alone.

Auntie, the landlady, introduced four people to help out, and she helped as well.

In the evening, another four university students were hired. Jiang Xia went to help whenever she didn’t have classes, and even Zhang Fuyan came to lend a hand.

Second Auntie and the grandparents would sometimes take the children to the shop during the day to help watch things—primarily to keep an eye out and make sure no one walked off with anything.

Even with so many people, they were barely keeping up.

It wasn’t just their shop that was busy; the shops on the streets and the malls everywhere were packed.

The streets were filled with people.

The crowds grew larger with each passing day.

However, compared to the other clothing shops on the nearby streets, Jiang Xia’s shop was the most popular. They had a daily foot traffic of two to three hundred people, and that number was steadily increasing.

This was because their clothing prices had a clear advantage. Jiang Xia sourced directly from factories, making her prices a few mao to several yuan cheaper than the competition.

Almost every customer who entered the shop would buy one or two, or even several items. Buying this way saved them several yuan compared to other stores.

So, some customers would come in, look around, and leave without buying, only to return after checking other shops.

Excluding accessories like trolley suitcases, scarves, and silk scarves, Jiang Xia made a profit of at least one yuan per garment, and as much as five yuan.

Because the weather was cold, most people were buying coats, which typically netted a profit of two to five yuan each.

As a result, Jiang Xia had been earning just over one thousand yuan a day lately.

Opening the shop and the studio had cost a total of over fifteen thousand yuan, and Jiang Xia had already earned back half of it.

Li Qiufeng and Liu Weizhen earned a bit less than Jiang Xia, but they averaged around three hundred yuan a day.

They stayed busy like this right up until the sixth, as Jiang Xia was scheduled to go home the next day.

Zhang Rui had known from Zhou Chenglei for a while that they were returning home on the seventh.

So, he specifically took the seventh off, intending to see Li Qiufeng off; otherwise, he wouldn’t see her again until the Lunar New Year.

However, when Zhang Rui arrived at the Zhou family home, he learned that the little cousin and Second Auntie were staying in the capital for a while longer and wouldn’t be leaving so soon. He breathed a sigh of relief.

At nine o’clock that evening, he went to pick up Li Qiufeng after her shift.

When they returned home, Second Auntie had prepared a midnight snack.

While eating, Second Auntie told Jiang Xia about an incident at the shop that evening. “It was extremely crowded around closing time today. A woman bought a coat but then tried to steal a cashmere sweater that was even more expensive than the one she’d paid for. Xiao Feng caught her, but she started shouting that she’d paid for it! She claimed Xiao Feng was wronging her and even tried to slap Xiao Feng.”

Zhang Rui’s heart leapt into his throat as he listened. He turned to the person beside him. “Did you get hit? Do you remember what she looks like?”

Jiang Xia frowned. “Is Cousin okay?”

Second Auntie waved it off. “She’s fine! Xiao Feng dodged it; the woman didn’t land a blow! Then an argument started. Some other customers testified for us, saying they saw her only pay for one coat. Besides, we mark the care labels of every item that’s been paid for. Finally, when we threatened to take her to the police station, she got scared, said she must have remembered wrong, dropped the cashmere sweater, and ran off.”

With so many people in the shop, they encountered all sorts of customers every day. Since this wasn’t the first time they’d seen this, they had come up with the idea of marking the laundry tag with a part of the cashier’s surname right in front of the customer once they had paid.

Zhang Rui hadn’t expected that selling clothes could lead to getting hit. He said to Li Qiufeng, “I’m off tomorrow and the day after. I’ll go help you sell clothes. Let’s see who dares to try anything then!”

Zhou Chenglei, who was sitting next to Zhang Rui, heard this and said, “Didn’t you say you were going to take us to the airport tomorrow?”

Zhang Rui refused to admit it. “Did I say that? You must have misheard! Besides, is sending you to the airport more important than helping Sister-in-law’s shop make money? Sister-in-law, don’t you agree?”

He finally had two days off; couldn’t they let him nurture his relationship with the little cousin?

Thinking back to when Chenglei and Jiang Xia got engaged, Zhang Rui had proactively offered to take over Chenglei’s missions so his friend would have time to go home and bond with Jiang Xia.

Now Chenglei even had a child and was living a happy, fulfilled life! Didn’t he ever think about his brother who was still all alone?

Is this any way to treat a brother?

Jiang Xia laughed and said, “I think selling clothes isn’t as important as taking us to the airport!”

Zhang Rui: “…I can’t steal A-Dong’s job! A-Dong, you take your brother-in-law to the airport tomorrow!”

Jiang Dong quickly said, “Brother-in-law, I’ll take you tomorrow.”

Zhang Rui immediately raised his glass to toast Jiang Dong. “A-Dong! From now on, you’re my brother! My real brother! If you ever need anything, just say the word! I’ll go through fire and water for you! When you and Xiao Yan get married, your brother here will give you a massive red envelope!”

Jiang Dong replied, “That’s not necessary. Brother Rui, just be my best man! And bring your friends along!”

Zhang Rui felt a pang of sorrow and said gloomily, “…A-Dong, why are you cursing me?”

Jiang Dong was confused. ” I’m not.”

Zhang Rui retorted, “Then why are you asking me to be your best man? Do you think I won’t be married before you?”

His goal was to get married next year!

Jiang Dong remained blunt and honest as ever. “Isn’t that just a fact? You don’t even have a girlfriend, and I can marry Xiao Yan as soon as I graduate.”

The whole room erupted in laughter!

Zhang Rui: “…”

That cut deep!

Hmph, he definitely had to get married before Jiang Dong.

He had already planned it out: during this Lunar New Year, he would follow Zhou Chenglei to visit the grandparents to pay his New Year respects and, while he was at it, declare his intentions!

Jiang Xia smiled and changed the subject, saying to Li Qiufeng, “Cousin, Second Auntie, if you want to go home early, just call me and I’ll book your plane tickets.”

Zhang Rui immediately asked, “Auntie, Little Cousin, when do you plan on heading back?”

Li Qiufeng and Second Auntie intended to keep working until the clothing store closed for the holiday.

Second Auntie said, “No need. We won’t go back early; we’ll head home on the twenty-eighth of the lunar month. This time, I’m going to make a fortune and return home in glory!”

Second Auntie made a grand proclamation.

She and Li Qiufeng planned to seize this wave of New Year shopping and make a significant profit.

Second Auntie even intended to set up a stall at the train station; the train station and the bus station were where the crowds were thickest.

She hoped to earn enough money to go home and build a new house.

Zhang Rui immediately encouraged her, “Go for it, Auntie, you can do it! I’ll help you book the plane tickets when the time comes.”

And so, the next day, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei headed home first with the grandparents.

Jiang Dong would also be staying a bit longer before returning.

Firstly, because of company matters, and secondly, because of things at the research institute. Furthermore, Zhang Fuyan’s parents were returning to the country in a few days, and Jiang Dong planned to have a meal with his future father-in-law and mother-in-law before heading back.

Chapter 703: The Ideal Partner

Jiang Xia’s flight was at eight o’clock on the morning of January 7th.

The plane landed at noon, and Father Jiang came to pick them up.

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei planned to stay in the city for one night to spend time with Father Jiang and Mother Jiang before heading home the next day.

Jiang Xia still had matters to handle at the garment factory. Once the children were down for their afternoon nap, she headed straight there to check on things.

After lunch, Zhou Chenglei drove Grandpa and Grandma home.

The two elders were advanced in age, and neither Zhou Chenglei nor Jiang Xia felt comfortable letting them take the bus back on their own.

When Jiang Xia arrived at the garment factory, she saw that the framework for the new workshop was already completed. It was a six-story building, with each floor spanning over 1,500 square meters.

Zhou Chenglei had suggested building two extra floors now, as adding them later would be a massive headache, especially regarding fire safety regulations.

Since the building was quite tall, relying on manual labor to carry fabric up and down would be too exhausting and time-consuming, so Jiang Xia also planned to install cargo elevators.

The construction was being handled by the same construction company they had invested in.

Once this workshop was finished and the operations moved over, they would add two floors to the old workshop and convert it into a staff dormitory and a cafeteria.

Having a staff dormitory and a cafeteria on-site would make it much easier to recruit workers in the future.

After touring the factory, Jiang Xia spent the rest of the afternoon in the office going over the accounts.

After work hours, Jiang Xia went out for dinner with the entire staff.

She had already coordinated this with the deputy factory director over the phone, asking him to pass the word along.

Jiang Xia booked over twenty tables at Fuman Restaurant. She treated all the factory workers to a meal and distributed year-end bonus red envelopes. After the dinner, the factory would officially be on holiday, with work resuming on the eighth day of the first lunar month.

Jiang Xia gave the management-level staff a bonus equivalent to one month’s salary. Each department’s group leader received ten yuan, and regular employees received five yuan.

The deputy factory director stood up and addressed all the employees, “Let’s all raise a glass to Director Jiang! If it weren’t for her, we might not even have had the money to celebrate the New Year this year!”

The bonus red envelopes had been handed out before the meal, so everyone was in high spirits. They all stood up in unison.

A five-yuan bonus was worth much more than the few kilograms of rice or oil they used to receive.

The deputy factory director raised his glass. “May the factory get better and better in the new year, and may the Director make a great fortune!”

He meant every word.

Even though the factory’s fortunes had declined this year and it had transitioned into contract manufacturing, he still hoped that things would improve in the coming year.

Jiang Xia had already stood up. She clinked glasses with the deputy factory director and then raised her glass to everyone. “Everyone has worked hard this year! Our factory will only get better next year, and the bonuses I give out will grow as well. Without further ado, I wish you all a happy family, good health, and may all your heart’s desires come true in the New Year.”

The crowd raised their glasses and cheered in unison, “We wish the Director a prosperous New Year!”

The deputy factory director felt that Jiang Xia was being very generous with the bonuses. From the time they started contract manufacturing in late November until now, they had only earned about 12,000 yuan in fees.

He knew the factory was currently expanding its workshops, meaning it was still in a state where outgoings exceeded income.

Every month, Jiang Xia had to transfer money into the factory’s account for construction, wages, and equipment.

The factory was closing for over twenty days for the New Year, seven of which were paid leave.

While seven days of paid leave might not sound like much, for over three hundred people, it was a significant sum—another 3,000 to 4,000 yuan in expenses.

If they didn’t receive new orders immediately after returning from the New Year break, Jiang Xia would essentially be supporting over three hundred people for nothing.

Therefore, the deputy factory director and the accountant were quite surprised that Jiang Xia still set aside so much money for bonuses.

However, a generous boss proved they had chosen the right leader. No one wanted to work for a stingy employer.

Furthermore, the deputy director noticed that since the introduction of commissions and bonuses, the workers had become much more proactive!

He hadn’t realized before that so many people in the workshop were capable of sewing over a dozen garments a day!

They used to be such a lazy bunch!

After a joyful dinner with the staff, Jiang Xia arrived back at the Jiang family home around eight o’clock.

The three children were not yet asleep. Father Jiang, Mother Jiang, and Auntie Feng had just finished bathing them and were preparing to bottles and coax them to sleep.

Jiang Xia quickly changed her clothes and took the children to settle them down.

Zhou Chenglei didn’t return to the Jiang home until two o’clock in the morning.

The children happened to wake up then, crying for milk.

Hearing the babies, Father Jiang and Mother Jiang also got out of bed to help.

The whole family was in the living room when they saw Zhou Chenglei walk in.

Father Jiang was holding two of the children. “Why did you drive back so late? It’s not safe to drive at night.”

Jiang Xia was mixing the powdered milk. Seeing him back so late, she couldn’t help but say, “Didn’t I tell you to stay the night at Grandma’s place? Aren’t you tired?”

“I’m not tired. I figured I’d sleep better if I came back.” Zhou Chenglei went to the kitchen to wash his hands and came out to help with the milk.

Jiang Xia didn’t let him. “Go take a shower first.”

Father Jiang and Mother Jiang also urged him to go wash up.

Zhou Chenglei had no Choice but to shower first, intending to help with the babies afterward. However, by the time he finished, the three children had already finished their milk and fallen asleep.

The next day, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei had lunch at the Jiang home before heading back to the village.

Zhou Chengsen drove the Jeep to pick them up. Before getting them, he had picked up Ruan Tang so they could all head home together.

It was Saturday, so Ruan Tang was off for the afternoon and the following day.

Inside the Jeep, Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengsen sat in the front, while Jiang Xia and Ruan Tang sat in the back.

Originally, Jiang Xia had planned to take the triplets to the hospital to see Gao Jie for a check-up, but since she knew Zhou Chengsen was picking up Ruan Tang, she decided against it. She could just ask Ruan Tang to help check the babies.

Ruan Tang held the little sister, feeling her chubby little wrist to take her pulse.

She had already checked the pulses of the elder and younger brothers; they were very healthy with no issues.

As for their height, weight, and head circumference, there was no need to measure—one look was enough to see they were perfectly on track.

After checking the girl’s pulse, Ruan Tang said, “Everything looks fine, though she has a tiny bit of indigestion. Just be careful not to overfeed her in the future. Babies are prone to getting sick when they have food stagnation. Besides, after six months, the antibodies passed down from the mother gradually disappear. From then on, they have to rely on their own immune systems, which is why infants over six months are actually more likely to fall ill.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xia hurriedly asked, “What should we do about the indigestion?”

Zhou Chenglei couldn’t help but look back as well.

Ruan Tang replied, “It’s okay, it’s only very slight. Once we get home, I’ll give Little Bao a pediatric massage to help her digestion.”

Ruan Tang held the little girl’s hands and asked with a smile, “Is our Little Bao a little glutton? You can’t eat too much, or you’ll get sick, and getting sick means getting shots!”

The little sister didn’t understand what was being said, but she gave Ruan Tang a wide grin and responded with an enthusiastic “eeya-eeyaing…”

Lately, they were spending less and less time sleeping during the day.

Jiang Xia breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. “Having a doctor in the family really gives such a sense of security! When I was a little girl, I dreamed of growing up and marrying a doctor.”

Zhou Chenglei: “…”

Ruan Tang smiled. “Being a doctor is very busy. You have to work night shifts and sometimes can’t look after the family. Even when you’re off, you’re on call and can’t go too far from the hospital. But our hospital is okay; it’s not as busy as some others.”

By the time they reached the village, it was already half-past eleven. Mother Zhou and Tian Caihua had lunch ready.

After the family enjoyed a happy meal together, Ruan Tang gave the little sister a pediatric massage.

Zhou Chenglei stood by the side, watching with intense focus.

Chapter 704: Can We Chat About Something Else?

Jiang Xia watched from the side. Realizing the children hadn’t had any water since waking up, she said to Zhou Chenglei, “Go give the boys some water.”

Zhou Chenglei didn’t even blink, his eyes fixed on Ruan Tang’s movements and timing as he memorized her steps. Hearing Jiang Xia’s words, he didn’t even turn his head, simply saying, “Second Brother, go give Dabao and Erbao some water.”

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

Are they my sons or your sons?

“We’ll do it.” The two elders were already holding their grandsons, teaching them to say “Grandpa” and “Grandmother.” It had been over a month since they last saw them. The last time they were home, the three little ones had only just learned to roll over. Now they could sit up, although not for long before toppling backward.

The two elders went to get the baby bottles.

The weather was cold, and the water already prepared in the bottles had chilled. Seeing how intently Zhou Chenglei was watching, Jiang Xia didn’t bother him. She went to get the bottles and added some hot water herself, sparing the elders from having to do it while holding the babies.

The pediatric massage Ruan Tang was performing on the little girl was “spinal pinching.”

Spinal pinching was suitable for various types of food accumulation and indigestion.

After diagnosing Little Bao’s symptoms, Ruan Tang combined the pinching with techniques like nourishing the spleen meridian, clearing the stomach meridian, kneading the palm’s base, revolving the inner eight trigrams, clearing the six bowels, massaging the abdomen, and kneading the Zusanli point. These steps helped strengthen the spleen, circulate qi, and regulate the balance of yin and yang to eliminate food stagnation and resolve phlegm and accumulation.

Perhaps it was because the massage felt too good, or maybe it was just nap time, but the little girl unknowingly drifted off to sleep.

Great-Grandma smiled as she watched Ruan Tang pinch the little granddaughter’s back. “This method is wonderful. Back in the day, when a child had food accumulation, I always took them for ‘pricking therapy.’ They would cry so hard every time, it felt like they were going to blow the roof off the house.”

Second Great-Aunt added, “Every time I saw that needle go into the fingertips, I’d get scared myself. I couldn’t bear to look.”

Mother Zhou, while feeding Erbao water, said, “I couldn’t stand it either. It felt so cruel.”

Father Zhou’s lip twitched. “If you couldn’t stand the sight, why did you still take the kids to get pricked?”

Great-Grandma replied, “What else could we do? If a child has food accumulation, you have to prick it out! We didn’t know you could use massage.”

Second Great-Aunt noted, “To be fair, pricking is quite effective, and you don’t have to take medicine. It just looks terrifying and seems painful.”

Father Zhou asked Ruan Tang, “Little Bao’s case isn’t serious, right? How many massages does she need?”

Ruan Tang answered, “It’s not serious. Little Bao hasn’t reached the level of true food accumulation; she just ate a bit too much and has some indigestion. There’s no need for pricking or blood-letting.”

Ruan Tang understood what they meant by “food accumulation” and “pricking.”

The “pricking” they referred to was the Traditional Chinese Medicine “Sifeng point” needle therapy.

Great-Grandma asked, “Besides massage and pricking, what other ways are there to treat accumulation?”

Ruan Tang said, “You can use specific medications, or if the accumulation isn’t severe, you can cook some ‘Three Immortals’ soup, rush pith porridge, or white atractylodes and lean meat porridge to regulate their system.”

Ruan Tang shared the recipes for those three dietary remedies with everyone.

Aunt Dong, thinking about how Xu Ling had been vomiting uncontrollably lately, asked, “Xiao Tang, can you take a look at my daughter-in-law? Lately, she throws up everything she eats. She’s lost so much weight.”

“For morning sickness, I can use acupuncture to ease it.”

As soon as Xu Ling heard that, she grew frightened. “Forget it, I don’t dare. Are there any dietary remedies?”

“There are, though I’ve heard some pregnant women say they work while others say they don’t or even make the vomiting worse.” Ruan Tang offered some dietary suggestions regardless. “You can try them and see if they provide any relief.”

Now that she was pregnant, Xu Ling truly admired Jiang Xia, remembering how she had performed so much labor even with such a large belly. “Cousin-in-law, you didn’t seem to have morning sickness back then?”

Jiang Xia laughed. “No. When I was pregnant, besides eating well, being lazy, and loving sleep, I didn’t have any reaction at all. I even suspected I was carrying three little lazybones! As it turned out, after they were born, the three of them really were fond of eating, lazy, and sleepy. For the first five months, these three little lazybones did nothing but eat and sleep; they were even too lazy to roll over.”

Father Zhou immediately countered, “That’s not being lazy, that’s being blessed! Our three treasures are blessed! To eat is a blessing, and to sleep is a blessing!”

They were clearly “prosperity babies,” how could they be lazybones?

Mother Zhou also piped up, “How were you lazy? Back then, you were just a bit fond of sleep, but you did the housework, worked in the workshop, and even went out to sea for fishing. You did everything. And the three children are still small—of course they just eat and sleep. What else are they supposed to do?”

Xu Ling said, “I’m so envious. My reaction is just too strong!”

Jiang Xia comforted her, “Everyone’s constitution is different. You’ll feel better after the first three months.”

“I’m almost at the three-month mark.”

Ruan Tang then took Xu Ling’s pulse.

“Nothing is wrong. You’re just a bit deficient in qi and blood. It’s not a big problem.”

Aunt Dong asked, “Then how can we nourish her?”

Ruan Tang asked Xu Ling about her sleep patterns and checked her tongue. After her diagnosis, she suggested, “You can stew some water with eggs, brown sugar, astragalus, red dates, and goji berries… Remember to add two slices of ginger.”

Ruan Tang taught her how to prepare it.

“I’ll stew it as soon as I get back. Thank you, Xiao Tang!” After thanking Ruan Tang, Aunt Dong smiled and said, “It’s so wonderful to have a doctor in the family!”

Jiang Xia agreed wholeheartedly. “I think so too.”

“A-Sen really knows how to pick a wife. But when A-Sen was little, he was the most afraid of seeing doctors. Every time he got sick, he’d hide in my house. I didn’t expect him to find a doctor when he grew up.”

Mother Zhou chuckled. “It’s called ‘one thing conquers another’! A man like him who avoids doctors needs a doctor to set him straight! In the future, he won’t even need to go to the hospital when he’s sick; his wife can treat him at home. He won’t be afraid then, right?”

Ruan Tang whispered, “He’s not afraid of doctors; he’s afraid of needles.”

Great-Grandma laughed, “Then if he doesn’t behave in the future, you just poke him with a needle!”

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

Everyone couldn’t help but laugh!

Zhou Chengsen: “Can we chat about something else?”

Great-Grandma teased, “Let’s talk about when you’re going to marry Xiao Tang and bring her home. If you don’t hurry up, how much longer do you plan to wait?”

Second Great-Aunt chimed in, “Exactly. Such a wonderful girl—if you don’t marry her soon and someone else snatches her away, you’ll have nowhere to go to cry!”

Zhou Chengsen glanced at Ruan Tang and said with a smile, “Soon. You all better have your big red envelopes ready.”

“They’ve been ready for ages! We’re just waiting to drink that wedding tea.”

“And when exactly is ‘soon’? Don’t just talk; you need to take action. The earlier it is, the bigger the red envelope!”

…

Everyone took turns teasing the new couple.

Whenever Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei returned, the Zhou house was full of life. Next door, in their yard, Zhou Bingqiang’s wife had her ears pricked, eavesdropping for quite a while.

She hurried upstairs to Wen Wan, who had been acting like a walking corpse ever since she was expelled and returned home. “Take your daughter next door and let Zhou Chengsen’s girlfriend take a look at her. That new girl of his is a doctor; I heard she’s very skilled at taking pulses.”

Wen Wan was lying on the bed taking a nap and didn’t acknowledge her.

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife shoved Wen Wan. “Hey! I told you to take your daughter next door to see Zhou Chengsen’s girl!”

Wen Wan snapped, “If you want to go, then go. Stop bothering me!”

Her entire future had been ruined by this woman, and yet she still wanted her to do this and that?

In her dreams!

She was already planning to divorce Zhou Guohua!

This was too much!

“Bothering you? Isn’t this your daughter? If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was the one who gave birth to her! Get up! Lying in bed all day long—do you think you’re some empress dowager? Get up! You don’t care about anything. What is wrong with you? I must have owed you in a past life to have married such a plague-bearer…”

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife ranted and cursed for a long time, but Wen Wan ignored her completely!

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife was so angry her blood pressure felt like it was going to burst her veins.

She couldn’t understand why Mother Zhou had such good luck. Every daughter-in-law she brought in was better than the last!

Even Zhou Chengsen, a divorced “second-hand” man, could land a doctor from a major hospital.

Meanwhile, her own son wasn’t any worse than Zhou Chengsen or Zhou Chenglei, yet he had married this thing.

It truly was infuriating to compare oneself to others!

In the end, Zhou Bingqiang’s wife went down, picked up the child herself, and carried her over to let Ruan Tang see her.

Chapter 705: Great-Grandma’s High Praise

In the village, during the day, as long as someone was home, the courtyard gates of every household were kept wide open.

In their spare time, the villagers loved to drop by their neighbors’ houses after meals to sit and chat.

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife walked straight in, carrying her granddaughter, and asked Ruan Tang to take a look at the child.

Remembering the woman’s character, Jiang Xia said, “Dr. Ruan is busy. If your child is feeling unwell, you should hurry and take her to the hospital!”

Mother Zhou added, “That’s right! We’re about to head out! We don’t have time!”

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife insisted, “She’s not unwell! I just want Dr. Ruan to help condition her body. This child has a weak constitution; she’s always catching colds and running fevers. Just check her pulse! It’ll be quick!”

Ruan Tang understood from Jiang Xia’s tone that this woman wasn’t the easy-going type of patient. Seeing that the child looked abnormally thin and frail, she said, “I can take a look, but my medical skills are limited, and I mainly specialize in treating common pediatric colds and fevers. I suggest you go to a major hospital and see a specialist.”

“It’s fine, just help me take a look. I just want to help improve her health.”

Ruan Tang examined the child regardless, asked a few questions, and then said, “I can’t treat the after-effects of jaundice. As for the child being weak and frequently ill, I can write a prescription to help regulate her stomach and spleen to boost her immunity. However, dietary therapy takes a long time to show results; it won’t work after just one or two meals.”

The jaundice hadn’t been treated in time back then, and it had already affected the child’s neurological system, resulting in hearing issues. This was actually a milder case; more severe instances could lead to an unstable gait, slow or uncoordinated movements, and muscle weakness.

This truly wasn’t Ruan Tang’s area of expertise, so she didn’t elaborate further.

Ruan Tang only suggested two or three recipes for regulating the spleen and stomach, though in her experience, very few people could stick to dietary therapy.

Looking at the child’s sallow and thin face, she got the feeling that the family didn’t prioritize her care.

She looked at the triplets—they were as small as kittens when they were first born, and Jiang Xia had even worried they wouldn’t survive. Now, look how well they were being raised.

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife was disappointed. As she carried the child away, she couldn’t help but mumble under her breath, “Didn’t they say your medical skills were amazing? That you could diagnose anything? What’s the use of diagnosing it if you can’t cure it?”

Zhou Chengsen’s sharp ears caught her words. He shot her a look. “Since food eventually comes out as waste after you eat it, why do you bother eating at all? You might as well just stop!”

“How could a perfectly healthy child end up like this? You can’t even raise a kid right, and you call yourself a grandmother? Stop dragging down the next generation!”

Ruan Tang: “…”

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife: “…”

Mother Zhou, standing nearby, heard it too and chimed in crossly, “She gives you a consultation for free, and you still have the nerve to complain! Do we owe you something from a past life? Back then, so many people in the village tried to be kind and told you to take the child to a doctor, but you refused to listen! Whoever is born into your family is truly unlucky!”

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife hadn’t expected them to hear her whispering. Finding herself outnumbered under their roof, she knew she couldn’t win an argument against the whole family. Cursing the Zhou family’s ancestors in her head, she hurried away with the child.

After watching her flee in a panic, Zhou Chengsen turned around to find Ruan Tang staring at him.

“…”

“Ahem, I don’t usually speak like that.”

Jiang Xia suppressed a laugh and said to Ruan Tang, “I can serve as a witness; Second Brother really doesn’t usually talk like that. He was just looking out for you.”

The two of them: “…”

Great-Grandma smiled and said, “If he doesn’t look out for his own wife, who else would he look out for? Xiao Tang, some people in the village are just like that—they have vicious tongues! They think it’s your duty to help them and aren’t grateful at all. You don’t need to take it to heart. When you run into people like that, follow A-Sen’s example. If they say something nasty, you just be nastier! You need a sharp tongue to survive in this village! You should learn from A-Sen; he’s had a poisonous tongue since he was a boy! If he ranks second in verbal combat, no one dares to claim first place. No one can out-talk him!”

Ruan Tang: “…”

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

“Great-Grandma, you’re giving me far too much credit!”

Please, don’t give me any more credit in the future!

Thank you! _

He still wanted to maintain some semblance of an image!

The whole room erupted in laughter.

After Ruan Tang finished the pediatric massage for the little sister, the three children were left in the care of Father Zhou and Mother Zhou. Jiang Xia needed to head to the Food Factory.

Tomorrow was the official opening day of the Food Factory, and Jiang Xia needed to make some simple preparations.

She drove over, bringing Ruan Tang and Tian Caihua along.

Zhou Chenglei had gone to town to hire two tractors. The three brothers each drove one, transporting one ton of the family’s small fried fish to the factory.

Zhou Chenglei hired several people from the village to help with the moving and also brought along Wenguang and Wenzong.

The two boys were now in the eighth and seventh grades respectively; they were big boys now and could be of great help.

When they arrived at the Food Factory and Tian Caihua saw the two imposing tall buildings, she was stunned. “Xiao Xia, your food factory is this big?”

It was her first time visiting!

Jiang Xia took some banners and red cloth out of the car. “It’s actually quite small compared to the other factories nearby.”

Tian Caihua looked around curiously. “Was the money to build this place really all earned from that little workshop at the old house?”

“Pretty much.”

Tian Caihua could never have imagined that such a tiny workshop could pull in enough profit to build a factory this large!

“Xiao Xia, now that you have this factory, will you stop running the workshop at the old house?”

If Jiang Xia wasn’t going to run it, she would!

Jiang Xia replied, “We’ll still keep it open. Second Great-Aunt and the other older women aren’t very willing to commute to the factory to work, so they’ll continue working at the old house.”

Tian Caihua felt a bit disappointed. She had been thinking of taking over the workshop if Jiang Xia closed it.

Last time, following Jiang Xia’s advice, she had opened a convenience store in town, and it really was quite profitable. She could earn twenty to thirty yuan a day, sometimes even forty or fifty. It was mainly because many people bought cigarettes and quite a few bought alcohol. Moreover, the children in town had plenty of pocket money, so soda and snacks sold very well. Since the convenience store was near the station, people who got motion sickness would buy a pack or two of shredded ginger before getting on the bus.

By the end of the month, even after splitting the profits fifty-fifty with her parents, she could still take home four or five hundred yuan.

Therefore, following Jiang Xia’s lead was never the wrong move!

Tian Caihua was considering setting up a few more stoves at home to make small dried fish to sell as well.

Ruan Tang held up a banner and asked Jiang Xia, “Do we hang this at the main gate?”

“Yes, I’ll go get the ladder.”

The three of them set to work decorating the site.

Zhou Chengsen had specially ordered some banners, vertical hanging scrolls, and the big red silk flowers and red cloth used for the unveiling ceremony.

The banners were hung at the main gate and the entrance to the factory building.

The vertical scrolls were draped down from the roof of the factory building.

The plaque at the main entrance was also put up.

It looked much more festive this way.

The three of them worked for a little over an hour to finish the decorations.

Jiang Xia then took Ruan Tang and Tian Caihua for a tour.

All the equipment in the workshop had been arranged according to her specifications.

“Second Brother came over whenever he was free to supervise the construction for us; that’s why it turned out so well. He and Big Brother also took the time to plant those fruit trees. They’re mature trees, so they should start bearing fruit in a year or two.”

Ruan Tang smiled. “I heard him mention that. He said he and Big Brother spent two Sundays planting those trees and ended up with blisters on their hands.”

Jiang Xia laughed. “Once those trees bear fruit, they’ll have to eat their fill!”

Ruan Tang added, “He also said that when the time comes, he’s going to eat extra fruit to make up for those blisters.”

The three women laughed together.

After she finished laughing, Tian Caihua asked, “What time should we come tomorrow?”

“Around five o’clock.”

Tomorrow, between five and seven o’clock was an auspicious time. Jiang Xia planned to hold a simple opening and unveiling ceremony at the factory and arrange the workers’ tasks before rushing to the shipyard at noon to take delivery of the boat.

The Food Factory was located right between Xiaoyucun and the shipyard.

From the food factory, it wouldn’t even take half an hour to drive to the shipyard.

At five o’clock the next morning, Jiang Xia’s family drove the Jeep and the tractors, bringing He Xinghuan, Aunt Fen, and several others to the factory to hold a simple opening ceremony.

Chapter 706: It Looks Very Prosperous

The opening ceremony was quite simple: a prayer to the gods, followed by the unveiling of the red cloth covering the plaque, and that was it.

Jiang Xia hadn’t prepared any large firecrackers. As this was a food factory, setting off firecrackers would litter the ground and likely scatter dust everywhere, necessitating another thorough cleaning. It simply wasn’t necessary.

Father Zhou, however, felt that it wouldn’t be festive enough without firecrackers, so he had invited two lion dance troupes to liven up the atmosphere.

The scene sounded quite lively and celebratory, though it was still early and there weren’t many people around—just family.

When Jiang Xia stepped forward to unveil the plaque, Zhou Chenglei personally joined the lion dance. He then reached out, grasped her waist, and lifted her high into the air.

It was a winter morning, and the sun was late to rise. As the first rays of sunlight finally spilled over the factory grounds, Jiang Xia, held aloft by Zhou Chenglei, pulled down the red silk cloth.

The plaque, featuring black characters on a silver background, sparkled in the sunlight.

On the plaque were the words “S City Jiang Xia Food Co., Ltd.” The calligraphy was upright, honest, simple, and profound—firm and powerful!

These were the characters Father Jiang had written for his daughter, complete with his signature and seal at the bottom.

The bald man who had visited once before happened to pass by just as the plaque was being hung.

Upon seeing the signature on the plaque, he politely greeted the gatekeeper and then left. After that, there was no “after that.”

Father Zhou carried his eldest grandson over to touch the sign for good luck—to bring in wealth and treasures, and to make their fortune even greater.

Yet, Father Zhou was afraid his behavior might seem too abrupt and that Father Jiang might laugh at him. So, he held Dabao’s small hand and praised the plaque while they touched it. “Dabao, look at how well your grandfather writes. These characters look like they’ll really be a Wealth-bringer! They’re truly auspicious!”

In his heart, Father Zhou was frantically chanting: Let the Wealth-bringing child touch it, and may wealth come rolling in! Make a big fortune every day, more and more and more… never-ending fortune!

In a moment, he would have Erbao and Little Bao touch it too, to double and triple the luck, making the prosperity never stop!

Father Jiang: “…”

This was the first time he had heard someone praise his calligraphy in such a way!

His relative-in-law was certainly unique!

Mother Jiang and Father Jiang had arrived today as well.

Since it was Sunday, neither had to work, so they had come to help out.

Father Zhou had graduated from high school, and his brush calligraphy was decent, but only “decent”—the kind of level where one could write spring couplets on a street corner. In Father Zhou’s eyes, good handwriting was a way to make money and bring in wealth, which was why he practiced.

But Father Jiang’s writing had character; it was the style of a master!

Father Jiang was a man of great talent; his brush calligraphy was excellent, and his traditional Chinese paintings were even better.

Father Jiang’s work was very famous within the art circles; his pieces could fetch quite a bit of money if sold. Furthermore, he didn’t easily write inscriptions for others.

But since his daughter was opening a factory, he felt he had to gift her a plaque!

Father Jiang had consulted many people and, considering everyone’s opinions, had selected this specific style from among many others to create the plaque for his daughter.

Truthfully, this wasn’t his finest piece of writing, but it was the one he and everyone else felt was most appropriate.

They say that writing reflects the person, and Father Jiang felt that a factory also had a spirit, a life, and a soul!

He hoped that his daughter’s factory would be just like his calligraphy: upright, honest, simple, and unyielding!

He hoped it could stand firm amidst the great tide of the Reform and Opening-up, taking a leading role and becoming a trendsetter of the era alongside those other bold pioneers.

A person needs faith and perseverance to go far, and the same was true for an enterprise.

Father Jiang held Little Bao and smiled. “It was just some casual writing; I’m afraid I’ve made a fool of myself.”

He was being modest.

Mother Jiang whispered to Jiang Xia, “Your father spent an hour every night practicing his calligraphy for this plaque. He practiced for several months. He didn’t just write one version; he wrote several in different styles and sought out opinions. He also painted a picture for you and had it mounted. Someone will deliver it later; he said it’s to be hung in your office.”

Jiang Xia laughed. “My food processing factory office won’t be turned into something that looks like a university principal’s office by Dad, will it?”

Mother Jiang smiled. “If it doesn’t fit, just take it home and leave it there. Don’t worry about your father.”

Jiang Xia smiled back. “That won’t do. We have plenty of offices in the factory; I’ll hang one in each.”

Just then, several workers found their way over. They approached Jiang Xia and Mother Jiang standing under the sign. “Is this the Jiang Xia Food Processing Factory? I interviewed before and I’m here to report for duty today.”

Jiang Xia smiled. “Yes! Just go inside to the registration desk in front of that large building. It’s the row of red tables—that’s the registration area. I’ll show you the way!”

Jiang Xia led them in and helped them with their onboarding registration, with Mother Jiang following to assist.

Once the sun was fully up, workers began arriving in small groups, bathed in the sunlight. Some came by bicycle, others on foot.

People peeked tentatively around the factory gates, and someone eventually shouted out a question: “Is this S City Jiang Xia Food Co., Ltd.?”

Stationed at the security booth were two gatekeepers and a security captain.

The captain smiled and said, “That’s right. Are you here to report for duty? Come on in! The registration desk is right in front of the production building. You can handle your onboarding registration there.”

The newcomers looked inside and indeed saw several long tables set up in front of a building, covered with red velvet cloths. A few people were sitting at the tables, and others were already standing by the staff, registering.

They headed inside.

A bit later, Xu Ling arrived with a large group of people from the production team. She smiled and greeted her colleagues at the security office. “Captain He, I’ve brought the people for work.”

The security staff had already met Xu Ling and He Xinghuan during the hiring process.

Moreover, the security office had already been staffed for some time.

After Zhou Chenglei had encountered that bald man during his last visit, he had helped Jiang Xia hire people to guard the factory in shifts.

They had hired a total of six security personnel and three gatekeepers. They worked on a rotating schedule to ensure there were always four security guards and two gatekeepers on duty twenty-four hours a day.

The security personnel were all discharged disabled veterans. While they might no longer be suited for the battlefield or high-intensity missions, they were more than capable of handling security work and responding to emergencies.

The gatekeepers were older men around fifty years old, hired from the village.

The security captain smiled. “Go on in!”

Xu Ling turned to the villagers. “This is Xiao Xia’s food factory. Let’s head inside!”

The group followed Xu Ling, their heads craneing as they looked around in wonder.

What a magnificent, grand building!

It was too big, too imposing!

“This is the food processing factory Jiang Xia opened? My goodness! It’s built so high and so large?”

“How impressive! It’s truly impressive!”

“Xiao Xia is amazing! How much must a factory this big cost?”

“She’s really capable! To have started such a massive factory…”

Everyone felt like their eyes weren’t enough to take it all in.

Aside from the city center, they had never seen such a tall building!

And the buildings here were massive, standing like giant mountains.

Looking at such a grand and magnificent factory, everyone suddenly felt that being a worker here gave them a different status!

Many people instinctively puffed out their chests.

When Father Zhou saw the people from the production team arriving, he immediately perked up and stepped forward. “You’re all here! Hurry over there to handle those… what do you call them… right, onboarding procedures! Go over there and finish your onboarding!”

“Yongfu, your family’s factory is built so impressively!”

“Your A-Lei is truly capable! To have started such a huge factory!”

“It’s too big, really too big. It looks like a palace! How much did it cost to build a factory this size?”

Father Zhou’s eyes squinted with a wide grin as he replied “modestly,” “It’s not that big yet. There are still several hectares of land that haven’t been built on! Once the construction is fully finished, then it’ll be considered big.”

The crowd: “…”

Chapter 707: Had His Fill of Bragging

Everyone was stunned by Father Zhou’s humble-bragging!

There were still dozens of mu of land that hadn’t been built on yet?

Then how large would the entire factory be once it was finished?

Would it stretch as far as the eye could see?

“Yongfu, how much did this factory cost? Was a hundred thousand enough?”

Someone immediately chimed in, “A hundred thousand definitely wouldn’t be enough! A hundred thousand wouldn’t even cover the cost of the land!”

“With such a large plot of land and three tall buildings already constructed, it must have cost several hundred thousand at least!”

Father Zhou wasn’t about to tell them the exact figure. He said with a beaming smile, “I don’t know how much it cost to build. I never asked. I’m out at sea every day with two large boats making distant seas voyages; I didn’t have time to worry about these things. If it weren’t for the factory opening today and having to pick up a ship this afternoon, I’d still be out at sea. I didn’t want to come back so early; I originally planned to work until the end of the year before returning.”

“…”

“A-Lei bought another fishing boat? Is it another one of those massive ones dozens of meters long?”

“No, it’s not a fishing boat.”

“They bought a freighter, didn’t you know?”

“Of course I didn’t know; I’m not the one buying it! Is it being sailed back today? I’ve never even seen a large freighter before! I have to go up and take a look later no matter what.”

“Are you stupid? Our village pier can’t accommodate a ship that big! It won’t be sailed back here.”

“…I completely forgot about that.”

“Amazing! Truly amazing! A-Lei is so capable.”

…

Father Zhou had his fill of bragging. Every cell of vanity in his body was deeply satisfied; he was absolutely thrilled today!

He had to save some material to brag about later.

So, he didn’t tell everyone that his three sons had partnered up to order another large fishing boat. Until the physical ship was in their hands, he had to keep a low profile—matters are concluded through secrecy.

He would wait until the ship was about to be delivered before he started bragging!

As for his son and Wealth-bringer partnering with people in the capital to lease an electromagnetic factory and open a clothing store, he wouldn’t mention those things either. Some things couldn’t be hidden forever, so it was fine if they got out, but whatever could be kept secret should stay secret. He was content just being happy in his heart.

Father Zhou chuckled, “You all should go and handle your onboarding now! Do it while the crowd is small. Otherwise, it’ll get crowded in a bit. It seems Xiao Xia hired over a hundred people this time.”

Everyone: “…”

Father Zhou: He really couldn’t help himself with every single sentence!

He was just so used to it!

The people Xu Ling brought over were all from the production team, both men and women. Jiang Xia mostly knew them, and those she didn’t know by name, she had at least seen before.

Jiang Xia waved at them, calling them over as Aunts, Great-Aunts, and Uncles. “Fortune’s Mother, Great-Aunt, Second Aunt, Wanyi… come over here and let me register you.”

Father Zhou reminded them again, “When you do your onboarding procedures, remember to collect your employee cards! You must bring your employee cards to enter the factory when you officially start work tomorrow, otherwise, you won’t be allowed in!”

Everyone flocked toward Jiang Xia, showering her with a stream of flattery. “Xiao Xia, this factory you built is wonderful! It’s built like a castle.”

“It’s so big, so impressive! Truly amazing!”

“It’s even more beautiful and larger than a palace. How grand!”

“Today is a real eye-opener! I never thought that at my age, I’d get to work in such a grand factory.”

“Xiao Xia, how much did it cost to build this factory?”

…

In the face of everyone’s exaggerated praise and inquiries, Jiang Xia merely smiled or gave brief, vague responses while having them fill out their information to complete the formal onboarding procedures.

Many among them were illiterate and had to rely on the management staff to help them fill in the forms.

When the hiring began, staff for the administration department, finance department, and logistics department had already been recruited. The management department staff had all been interviewed by Zhou Chengsen.

Many in management only found out yesterday that the owner wasn’t Zhou Chengsen, but Jiang Xia.

To prepare for the opening, the management staff had also worked yesterday and had formally met the boss’s wife.

The factory wasn’t in production today. During the opening ceremony, they had simply powered on the machines and let them run for a bit to mark the occasion.

The administration department was sufficient to handle the onboarding procedures. Jiang Xia and her group stayed at the factory until noon, having lunch right there.

The Second Cousin prepared several tables of food for them.

Father Jiang took a bite of the pork intestines with pickled vegetables and smiled. “The cafeteria chef is quite good.”

Cooking pork intestines required great skill; if not done well, they would have a strong, unpleasant smell.

Mother Zhou smiled and said, “It was made by A-Lei’s Second Cousin.”

Father Jiang took another bite of goose meat, which suited his preference for strong flavors. He laughed and said, “The Second Cousin’s cooking is comparable to a chef in a restaurant.”

The Second Cousin was a man of few words and quite introverted. Seeing that Father Jiang was actually speaking to him, he was momentarily unsure how to react. He quickly put down his chopsticks and said, “I can’t compare to a professional chef’s talent. I just made this casually; it’s not that delicious.”

Father Jiang: “It’s already very delicious. It’s exactly to my taste.”

Mother Jiang added, “It really is delicious. He loves dishes that are seasoned this well.”

The food in their own cafeteria was usually quite light, as was the food made by the helper at home. The doctor had also advised Father Jiang to eat light, but he actually preferred dishes with bold, heavy flavors.

The others also chimed in, praising the food.

Jiang Xia said, “The Second Cousin is the lead chef in our village. Whenever anyone in the entire village holds an event, they invite him to be the chef. I only knew how good his cooking was because I ate at his house during the New Year, which is why I asked him to come here.”

The cafeteria could earn quite a bit of money, so it was naturally given to someone close to the family.

The procurement position was also one with a lot of perks, so Jiang Xia gave the procurement roles for the food factory to He Xinghuan’s younger brother and Li Qiufeng’s big brother.

Giving it to He Xinghuan’s brother was a way to thank her for managing the workshop so well while Jiang Xia was studying in the capital.

Giving it to Li Qiufeng’s big brother was to thank Second Auntie, Grandpa, and Grandma for taking such good care of the triplets.

Doing procurement often involved kickbacks. Even without kickbacks, suppliers would give the procurement officers red envelopes or gifts during holidays. Besides, there were other “gray” income opportunities. Rather than letting an outsider earn it, it was better to give it to their own people.

As long as they weren’t too excessive and could guarantee that the purchased goods had no quality issues and the price difference wasn’t too large, Jiang Xia wouldn’t hold it against them.

Of course, Jiang Xia didn’t choose people at random.

The people she chose were relatively honest and kind-hearted, and she had asked Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengsen about them. Only after both said they were trustworthy did she make her choice.

Father Jiang gave a thumbs-up. “No wonder the food is so good. Truly, masters are found among the common people. This level of skill is enough to open a restaurant outside. The workers in our factory are lucky!”

Father Zhou joked, “Since you like it, eat more, relative.”

“I have to eat two bowls of rice today.”

The Second Cousin and the Second Cousin’s wife were relieved to see that everyone thought the food was good.

Of course, the workers’ meals wouldn’t be this lavish, but having a good taste was also very important.

After lunch, it was already 12:30 PM. The family headed toward the shipyard.

Father Jiang and Mother Jiang went along as well. Since they were free anyway, they could help look after the children if their daughter’s family got too busy.

Just how big was a 27,000-ton bulk carrier?

The entire family was instantly awestruck.

Even the triplets, held in the adults’ arms, couldn’t help but turn their heads and crane their necks to look, their eyes filled with immense curiosity.

Chapter 708: More Profitable than Fishing Boats?

Tian Caihua asked with a look of utter shock, “How big is this ship?”

Two shipyard workers were busy with preparations. One of them overheard and replied, “The total length of the ship is 175 meters, with a length between perpendiculars of 162 meters. The molded breadth is 22.3 meters, the molded depth is 13.2 meters, and the designed draft is 9.5 meters.”

175 meters!

Tian Caihua was stunned. “This is a 175-meter ship?”

It was a full hundred meters longer than the fishing boat they had jointly ordered!

The worker said proudly, “You can measure it if you like; the margin of error is less than two millimeters!”

When it came to dimensions, their shipyard was already capable of maintaining precision within two millimeters. There was practically no error at all!

This level of accuracy had even shocked foreigners.

That was to say nothing of their other technical innovations and breakthroughs.

This was precisely why the shipyard’s export orders were increasing year after year. Their technology was advancing by leaps and bounds, improving with each passing year.

Tian Caihua certainly wasn’t going to measure it. It wasn’t her ship, after all. If it were hers, she definitely would have. “A ship this big must be a ‘heavy eater,’ right?”

The worker understood she was asking about fuel consumption and replied proudly, “Fuel consumption is approximately 32 tons per day.”

Tian Caihua looked at Jiang Xia. “How many jin is 32 tons?”

Her son spent every day memorizing that one ton equals 1,000 kilograms.

One kilogram equals one kilo!

One kilo equals two jin!

So…

Jiang Xia replied, “64,000 jin.”

Tian Caihua: “…”

“What is your husband planning to transport with a ship that ‘eats’ this much? Gold?”

Consuming 64,000 jin of fuel a day—you’d probably have to transport gold ore just to break even, wouldn’t you?

Everyone was amused by her words.

Father Zhou laughed and said, “That’s right, it’s for transporting gold!”

They would deliver a shipload of goods for others and then bring a shipload of ‘gold’ back home!

Zhou Chengxin explained, “This is a cargo ship that can carry 20,000 tons of goods. How big is the difference between 20,000 tons and 32 tons? Or, compare 20,000 yuan to 32 yuan. If you look at it that way, don’t you think the fuel consumption is quite small?”

Tian Caihua hadn’t even finished primary school, so she couldn’t calculate numbers that large.

However, she understood exactly how big the gap was between 20,000 yuan and 32 yuan!

With Zhou Chengxin’s analogy, Tian Caihua understood instantly.

She even started connecting it to other things…

So!

If this ship transported goods for others and the freight was calculated at one yuan per kilogram, wouldn’t one trip earn them nearly twenty thousand yuan?

Even if the freight was calculated at 0.50 yuan per kilogram, they could still make ten thousand yuan in one trip!

Damn!

Damn, damn, damn!

Wasn’t that even more profitable than a fishing boat?

How did Zhou Chenglei know how to buy such a good ship?

Why did the three brothers go in together on a fishing boat back then? They should have partnered up for a ship like this!

Tian Caihua immediately ran to Jiang Xia’s side. “Xiao Xia, are you going to order more cargo ships like this in the future? How about our three families partner up to order one? What do you think, Ruan Tang? Let’s have the three brothers continue their partnership and get a cargo ship like this. This ship is a real money-maker!”

Ruan Tang: “…”

Jiang Xia: “…”

Zhou Chengxin was truly exasperated. “Do you have any idea how much this cargo ship costs?”

Partnering up?

Partner up with what?

Tian Caihua asked, “How much? A million? We can take delivery of the ship later.”

That way, she could slowly save up. In a few years, she could save three hundred thousand—would that be enough?

The shipyard employee was so shocked he blurted out, “Big Sis, are you joking? A million? Even a million US dollars wouldn’t be enough! That wouldn’t even cover the costs! The equipment and technology used on this ship are the most advanced in our entire shipyard!”

the shipyard employees didn’t know that Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia were getting this ship at cost price.

This was because Zhou Chenglei had provided free technical guidance to the shipyard on more than one occasion, saving them a vast amount of time and testing costs. Not only had he saved them money, but he had also helped them make a fortune! Using the Kent ring as an example, it was now internationally renowned!

Furthermore, a while ago, Zhou Chenglei had provided suggestions regarding the ship’s structure, stability, and wind and wave resistance.

All the experts had researched and calculated for a month and deemed it feasible; they just hadn’t built it to verify it yet.

If it succeeded, their ships would reach a new peak of excellence! The price could definitely be raised significantly.

Just now, Zhou Chenglei had signed another agreement with the shipyard to let them use the ship as a test vessel for new technology during a trial period.

This meant the sea trials would be relatively long because the shipyard needed to conduct repeated tests and record various data. If there were problems, they would need to be recalibrated.

For all these reasons combined, Director Xu had applied to his superiors, and the ship was given to Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei at cost price.

Once the launch and the trials were complete, the final payment would be made, and they would officially take delivery.

The remaining balance on the ship had been earned by Zhou Chenglei by acting as a translator for the shipyard and the machine tool factory at the Canton Fair. Originally, Factory Director Zhou said they could use that directly to pay the balance, but both Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia had declined.

The money Jiang Xia earned was instead invested back into the two factories to buy new equipment and build workshops.

So, the couple currently didn’t have much cash on hand.

Tian Caihua fell silent. She hadn’t expected it to be so expensive.

Jiang Xia said, “Let’s go on board and see what the ship is like.”

Even Jiang Xia hadn’t seen it yet.

So, the family carefully climbed onto the ship.

The ship was massive, and the family toured various parts of it.

When Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei reached the cargo hold carrying the children, he said to Jiang Xia, “I’ll put Little Sister at the top and let her slide down. Will you catch her?”

This was a bulk carrier, so the cross-section of the cargo hold was hopper-shaped.

This design was convenient for unloading cargo and also prevented the cargo from shifting, which would jeopardize the ship’s stability.

Because of this, one side of the cargo hold was inclined, allowing a child to slide down it.

“Okay.” Jiang Xia crouched down, ready to catch the child.

Zhou Chenglei placed his daughter on the inclined surface.

The daughter’s body immediately slid downward.

Although the slide wasn’t as long as a playground slide, a six-month-old baby had never played on a slide before.

Little Sister’s small face looked dazed for a moment, but after being caught by her mother, she began to giggle uncontrollably.

Once her mother caught her, she reached out toward her father again and then pointed at the ship.

Clearly, she wanted to play more.

Zhou Chenglei was patient. He took his daughter back from Jiang Xia’s arms and placed her on the slope again.

Over and over.

“Giggle, giggle…”

The baby’s bell-like laughter drew everyone over.

Father Zhou and Father Jiang were both carrying babies.

Younger Brother was in Father Jiang’s arms. Hearing his sister’s laughter, he turned to look, lunging forward and shouting excitedly to join in.

Father Jiang almost lost his grip and quickly brought him over.

Eldest Brother in Father Zhou’s arms was much more composed, merely watching his sister’s direction.

He knew he would get to play eventually. Just like eating, sometimes it was fast and sometimes it was slow; it was only a matter of time. This child already had experience.

Father Zhou loved these scenes of joy most of all. Children were mystical; if they went to a place with bad energy, they would cry and fuss.

Now that his little granddaughter was laughing so happily, her laughter echoing throughout the cargo hold, it proved that this ship had good energy and good fortune!

“Grandpa will take you to play too!”

Let more laughter ring through the cargo hold, and let that laughter bring a lifetime of smooth sailing, prosperity, and peace!

Chapter 709: Smooth Sailing

Seeing the fun, Zhou Wenzu, Zhou Zhou, and Zhou Ying all wanted to join in. Jiang Xia laughed and said, “If you want to play, climb up yourselves and slide down. It’s even more fun if you climb higher before sliding.”

As soon as the children heard this, they scrambled up one after another and came sliding back down.

The laughter of the children echoed through the deep, high, and cavernous cargo hold.

Father Jiang and Father Zhou’s arms were getting tired, but every time they tried to stop, the little boys would desperately lunge toward them to keep going.

Father Jiang had no choice but to continue.

Fortunately, after they had played for a while longer, Factory Director Zhou arrived to remind them that the ship was ready to be launched, and those not staying on board needed to disembark.

Once the ship was in the water, the shipyard staff would begin the sea trials. Only after the sea trials were completed would the official handover and signing take place.

These sea trials would take a considerable amount of time—anywhere from one or two months to as long as three or four. There was no need for the family to stay on board for that.

So, the whole family went back down to the shore.

Once everyone was off the ship, Father Zhou signaled for the women to cover the children’s ears; he was about to set off firecrackers.

Ruan Tang, Tian Caihua, and Mother Jiang all stepped in to help cover the triplets’ ears.

With their ears covered, the three children twisted their heads curiously to look at the people holding them. They let out a “ha!” and grinned at Ruan Tang and the others.

They thought they were playing peek-a-boo and that their ears had been covered by mistake.

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei often played peek-a-boo with them using handkerchiefs or by pulling their hats down over their eyes. This was especially common in the car or on the plane to keep them from getting bored and fussy now that they spent less time sleeping.

In the distance, the firecrackers began to pop. Amidst the crackling “pi-pi-pa-pa” of the explosions, the massive ship slowly slid into the water.

Every employee of the shipyard had come out to watch.

The banks were crowded with people, heads packed tightly together.

Attracted by the sound of the firecrackers, the children looked over, their eyes wide with curiosity as they watched the scene unfold.

The little sister pointed at the big ship, babbling “eeya-eeya” as she lunged forward, wanting to go back up and play.

Zhou Chenglei held her tightly. As the children grew older, they became more active and harder to hold.

The ship hit the water, sending up a massive spray.

The vessel rocked violently a few times.

Then, it stabilized!

Everyone cheered in unison: “New ship launched, smooth sailing ahead! When the engine roars, ten thousand taels of gold!”

“Good!” Father Zhou shouted back loudly. “Smooth sailing and safety to all!”

Then, Father Zhou started another round of firecrackers.

The crew on board the ship also helped set off firecrackers.

Once the big ship had safely entered the water, Jiang Xia said to everyone, “Let’s head back!”

Father Jiang said to Father Zhou, “Today is an auspicious day. Let’s go to the city for a celebratory meal.”

Father Zhou waved his hand. “No need. We’ll go back to the village. I’ve already arranged for several tables of food to be prepared at home. Today, us relatives by marriage must have a proper drink together.”

He absolutely had to have a good drink with Father Jiang to thank him for marrying such a wonderful daughter into their family!

For such a joyous occasion, Father Zhou had planned everything well in advance.

Jiang Xia also persuaded Father Jiang and Mother Jiang to go back to the village for dinner.

And so, the family headed home in high spirits.

By the time they returned to the village, it was already five o’clock. The pier at Xiaoyucun was still bustling with activity and teeming with people.

The people waiting at the pier for the boats to return were gathered together, discussing Jiang Xia’s factory. They praised it so much you’d think it was larger than the Imperial Palace!

Even though none of them had ever been to the capital or seen the Imperial Palace.

It was dinner time, but Li Xiuxian didn’t feel like cooking. Supporting her large belly, she walked down to the pier for a stroll.

That was when she overheard everyone praising Jiang Xia’s food factory.

“That factory is truly massive. It covers over a dozen mu, and there are dozens more mu left to build on.”

“Zhou Chenglei is really loaded! I don’t know how he makes it all.”

“How could he not be? That factory even has an elevator! Only the tallest buildings in the city have those, but their factory has one! Those things are incredibly expensive. I heard they cost one or two hundred thousand yuan each—more than a truck!”

“The machinery in that factory is also very expensive. I heard they’re several tens of thousands of yuan apiece. There are several workshops, and each workshop has several large machines.”

“And there’s some kind of potato chip and french fry production line. I’m assigned to that line. I heard one production line costs tens of thousands. I don’t even know what it’s for. I’m worried I won’t do a good job. But after we start tomorrow, someone will teach us! I’m just afraid I won’t be able to learn and might break the machine. If I had to pay for it, I wouldn’t have enough money even if I sold myself.”

“Is it much easier to produce things with machines?”

“Yes, it’s a bit easier, but there are so many rules. I’m afraid I won’t remember them all.”

“What rules?”

“There are many things to watch out for when operating the machines. Also, that factory is very clean. Before entering the workshop for work, you have to change your shoes, change your clothes, and wear a hat, mask, and gloves. Everyone was issued four sets of clothes, shoes, hats, and masks! They have to be washed every day.”

…

Li Xiuxian pursed her lips. She didn’t want to hear any of it; it had nothing to do with her! Liao Ruixiang made plenty of money too—much more than Zhou Chengsen! Liao Ruixiang was already preparing to buy a truck to transport pigs to more distant places to sell.

She turned to walk away, trying to distance herself from those people, but their voices still drifted into her ears:

“I never imagined that just cooking some small fried fish at home to sell could make so much money and allow them to build such a huge factory!”

“Do you think they were just cooking ‘some’? Didn’t you see that Lord Hou delivering a huge truckload of kelp every day and taking a huge truckload away? And every time Zhou Yongfu returns from a distant seas voyage, he buys back so much small fried fish—five thousand kilograms at a time! Even if they only make one mao per 500g, that’s a lot of profit!”

“That’s true. People with an education really do have sharper minds and know how to make money. We deal with small fried fish and kelp every day, yet we never thought of it.”

“Even if you thought of it, you couldn’t do it. Is the stuff you cook as delicious as theirs?”

Li Xiuxian walked further away, these being the last words she heard.

Others might not know how to make those small fish taste good, but Li Xiuxian knew a little.

After all, back when she and Zhou Chengsen lived in the old house after moving back from town, she had seen bits and pieces of the process while coming and going.

As Li Xiuxian moved further away, the villagers continued their conversation.

“Even if yours tastes as good as others’, do you have people coming to your door to buy it? If you rely on selling it yourself at the market, how much can you really sell?”

“And you don’t even have that many small fish and kelp to work with!”

“Didn’t Zhou Bingqiang’s family try it too? Didn’t that eventually just fizzle out?”

“I guess so.”

…

Li Xiuxian was contemplating the possibility of making small fried fish.

She couldn’t possibly do the physical labor herself; her due date was next month, and she wasn’t up for it.

But she could tell Liao Ruixiang and have his mother, his older sister, and his younger sister do it. That way, they wouldn’t spend all day staring at her and calling her lazy.

She was heavily pregnant! What else did they want from her? Did they want her to serve the whole family with her big belly?

When she was pregnant with Yingying, she didn’t have to do a single thing.

Now, they were subtly trying to get her to work—in their dreams!

However, Li Xiuxian wasn’t stupid; she knew the Liao family was different from the Zhou family.

Right now, the Liao family was putting up with her because Liao Ruixiang had longed for a child for many years. Once she gave birth, if it was a boy, things might be okay. But if it was a girl, they would likely torment her even more.

So, she had to find a way to get a handle on Liao’s mother and her sisters-in-law, making them treat her like a goddess.

Most importantly, she wanted to live better than the Zhou family! She wanted to be richer than Jiang Xia!

Liao Ruixiang also had middlemen who came to buy his pigs; he had his own network of connections.

Li Xiuxian walked along the beach, trying to recall the recipe for the small fried fish.

Just then, the sound of a car and a tractor came from behind her.

The only people in the village who owned those two types of transport were the Zhou family.

She turned around to look.

They were back.

Chapter 710: Furious

The Jeep pulled up at the pier.

Zhou Chengsen was the first to hop out from the passenger seat.

He then pulled open the back door to help Ruan Tang out. Since the Jeep’s chassis was quite high, he held her by the arms, allowing her to hop down easily.

Once Ruan Tang was on the ground, she turned back to help Jiang Xia out of the vehicle.

After Jiang Xia stepped down, the three of them began walking down toward the beach.

Since the family had hired help for their fishing boat, as long as the weather was good, the boat went out to sea every day. They were headed down to see what catch their own boat had brought in, and to see if any other boats had anything special they could buy for dinner.

Of course, Father Zhou had already asked Aunt Dong to buy and cook the more common seafood; they were specifically looking for rarer, tastier delicacies.

It was a rare occasion for Father and Mother Jiang to come over for dinner, after all.

As they walked, everyone they passed greeted them with immense warmth:

“Xiao Xia, Dr. Ruan, A-Sen! Your boat isn’t back yet, but I ran into them out at sea—the catch looks great today!”

People were warm toward Jiang Xia because her food factory employed most of the women in the village.

They were warm toward Ruan Tang because she provided medical consultations for free.

Nowadays, whenever these two walked through the village, anyone who saw them would greet them from a distance.

And their voices were certainly loud!

Jiang Xia and Ruan Tang both smiled and chatted with them for a moment.

Li Xiuxian watched from afar as Zhou Chengsen helped Ruan Tang out of the car. She watched as he stood protectively by her side, escorting her down to the beach.

The invisible intimacy between the two of them made her feel a surge of discomfort.

She had, of course, heard that Zhou Chengsen and this doctor were in a relationship.

She had also heard that Zhou Chengsen brought Ruan Tang home almost every weekend, taking her out to sea to fish or beachcombing.

Li Xiuxian watched as Ruan Tang pointed at a crate in front of a certain stall and said something to Jiang Xia and Zhou Chengsen. Jiang Xia nodded, and Zhou Chengsen immediately began pulling money out of his pocket.

This sight made Li Xiuxian’s blood boil with rage!

That ungrateful Zhou Chengsen!

He was always so generous when it came to spending money on others!

Down on the beach, Ruan Tang had spotted some strangely shaped creatures—were they shrimp or fish?

She had never seen them before and asked, “What are these?”

Jiang Xia looked over as well. “Rhino shrimp, also known as piggy shrimp. These are quite rare.”

She had only seen Zhou Chenglei catch them twice.

The scientific name for rhino shrimp was “slipper lobster.” Their meat was firm yet tender and smooth, with a delicious, rich flavor. It had the texture of lobster but was even smoother, though there wasn’t as much meat on them.

“The meat on these is very tender. Uncle Wen, how much for the shrimp? I’ll take them all,” Zhou Chengsen said, already pulling money from his pocket.

“Since it’s for you, I’ll give them to you for one yuan each. There are twelve in total. Let’s just call it ten yuan!” Uncle Wen said with a smile, his teeth looking exceptionally white against his dark, weathered skin.

Jiang Xia smiled. “Uncle Wen, you had great luck today, catching so many fat rhino shrimp.”

Zhou Chengsen still pulled out twelve yuan to give him.

Uncle Wen only reached for the ten-yuan Great Unity bill, laughing. “Ten is fine. My luck really was good today; these were all caught in the trawl net. I saw your family’s boats out there too, and their harvests looked excellent.”

Zhou Chengsen stuffed the remaining two yuan into the man’s pocket. “Business is business. We agreed on one yuan each, so one yuan it is.”

Uncle Wen had high expenses and relied on this one boat to support a huge family. He had five sons; four were married, and each had two or three children, resulting in a swarm of grandchildren. His youngest son was not yet married, and his two eldest grandsons were already at marriageable age. The entire clan depended on that single boat.

Because Zhou Chengsen insisted, Uncle Wen finally accepted the money.

Two of his daughters-in-law worked at Jiang Xia’s food factory, which was why he offered a discount. These shrimp were rare; he wouldn’t have lowered the price for anyone else.

Uncle Wen grabbed a mesh bag and transferred the rhino shrimp from the bucket into it. “A-Lei’s wife, is your factory hiring any tractor drivers?”

Jiang Xia replied, “We are. In fact, we’ll not only need tractor drivers, but we might also be looking for heavy truck drivers after the New Year. Do you have someone in mind, Uncle Wen?”

Jiang Xia planned to equip the food factory with one truck and two tractors. In this era, people who knew how to drive tractors and trucks were rare, and those who did usually already had jobs, making recruitment difficult.

Uncle Wen said, “My youngest son and my eldest grandson just went to learn how to drive trucks and tractors.”

Hearing this, Jiang Xia said, “Have them come to my house tomorrow. I’ll have A-Lei take them for a test drive.”

Driving involved public safety. If their skills weren’t up to par, Jiang Xia wouldn’t feel comfortable hiring them. If she hired someone, she had to be responsible for their lives; hiring a driver required caution.

Uncle Wen hurriedly replied, “Good, good, good!”

He was so happy he couldn’t help but repeat himself.

After packing the rhino shrimp, Uncle Wen grabbed the two largest fish from his bucket and put them in the mesh bag, then added some other prawns.

Jiang Xia quickly protested, “Uncle Wen, there’s no need! Don’t be so polite! We have plenty at home!”

Uncle Wen insisted, “What you have at home is yours. These were from my last haul—they’re incredibly fresh! Take them and try them! Is this A-Sen’s girlfriend? Consider this a treat from Uncle Wen for your girlfriend.”

He handed the bag to Zhou Chengsen. “Take it, don’t be a stranger. I netted these myself, so they didn’t cost me anything. Some other day when you net some good fish, I’ll come by and take a couple to eat myself.”

Ruan Tang felt a bit embarrassed.

Zhou Chengsen took the bag and thanked him. Ruan Tang and Jiang Xia followed suit, offering their thanks.

Then, the three of them moved on to see what else was available.

Up on the shore, Li Xiuxian watched Zhou Chengsen carrying a mesh bag full of fish and shrimp, and she instinctively felt a pang of heartache.

That had to be worth over ten yuan!

Even though it wasn’t her money anymore, she felt that the money Zhou Chengsen saved belonged to her daughter, so in her mind, it was no different from her own.

Besides, the reason Zhou Chengsen was so rich now was surely because of the money he made using the boat she had “bought” for the family? Otherwise, his measly salary of a hundred or so yuan wouldn’t be worth a damn!

Li Xiuxian supported her belly, watching as Zhou Chengsen led Ruan Tang and Jiang Xia to the next stall.

The three of them wandered along, stopping at various stalls to check the catch. Some villagers proactively asked if they wanted fish or shrimp, and before they could even refuse, the villagers would bag the items up and try to give them away for free.

Even after they declined, some villagers would finish packing the fish and chase after them to hand over the bags.

“Really, it’s not necessary, we have plenty at home! Thank you, though! We’ve already bought a lot of food; we’re just looking to see if there’s anything my father particularly likes.”

“We’ve already bought this kind of fish; truly, it’s not needed! Thank you, Auntie!”

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chengsen turned down offer after offer. The villagers only gave up when they saw Jiang Xia was truly adamant.

After walking a bit further, Jiang Xia spotted a stonefish and asked, “Uncle, how much for this?”

Father Jiang loved stonefish.

Ruan Tang added, “This fish is venomous.” She had once treated a patient who had been stung by one.

The seller laughed. “It is venomous, but it’s delicious. Besides, I’ve already pulled out the venomous spines. A-Sen knows how to handle it; just let him take care of it when you get home. Here, this is a gift for you! No charge.”

The stonefish was very ugly, resembling a reddish-yellow rock, and it was indeed venomous—its dorsal and pelvic fins, as well as its gill covers, contained toxic spines. However, the meat was incredibly tender and delicious; one just had to be very careful during preparation.

Zhou Chengsen insisted on paying one yuan anyway.

As they continued forward, Jiang Xia’s eyes landed on a coconut snail.

Chapter 711: A One-in-Ten-Thousand Chance is for Other People

Jiang Xia stopped in front of the coconut snail.

Seeing her pause, the fisherman immediately said, “A-Lei’s wife, do you want to buy it? If you do, I’ll sell it to you for fifty yuan.”

A fisherman nearby overheard and immediately chimed in, “Fifty yuan? Zhou Guiquan, are you trying to swindle A-Lei’s wife? How dare you ask for fifty yuan? Even twenty is too much!”

“Zhou Guiquan, you’re being dishonest! Trying to trick Xiao Xia like that. If you cracked that thing open just to sell the meat, it would only go for a yuan and change! That thing isn’t even worth ten yuan!”

Seriously, he was going too far!

Zhou Guiquan countered, “This coconut snail of mine looks very old. There’s a high probability of there being a pearl inside. If a pearl is found, wouldn’t it be worth the investment?!”

“Is that so? It’s true these snails can produce pearls, but the probability of finding one is one in ten thousand! I’ve lived for thirty years and have only seen one person find one! If you’re so sure it has a pearl, why don’t you open it yourself?”

Someone else added, “Because even if there is a pearl, it might not be worth fifty yuan!”

“Everyone here is from the same production brigade. How can you have the heart to scam people like this!”

Jiang Xia’s food factory had hired more than half of the women in the village and quite a few men as well. Now, practically everywhere she went, people would speak up for her.

Zhou Guiquan glared at them. “How am I scamming anyone? If I open it myself, I can’t guarantee it’ll be a good pearl. But A-Lei and his wife are famous for their good luck. They might just find a pearl worth thousands! Wouldn’t that be worth it? You lot, stay out of this and stop causing a scene!”

The crowd was speechless. Worth thousands? What a load of nonsense!

Zhou Guiquan turned back to Jiang Xia. “Don’t listen to their nonsense. This coconut snail looks very old; there’s an eighty to ninety percent chance there’s a pearl inside! Fine, I’ll give it to you for thirty yuan! I can’t go any lower. I found this while diving to catch lobsters; I nearly didn’t make it back alive. Do you want it?”

Jiang Xia’s intuition told her to buy it. She said, “I’ll take it. I hope your words come true and there really is a pearl inside. Did you catch any lobsters?”

“Yes, I caught two. One is a bit bigger, the other smaller. The big one is 700g, and the smaller one is 500g. I’ll sell them to you cheap—fourteen yuan for the big one and ten for the small one. Both for twenty yuan. Which one do you want?”

“I’ll take both.”

Zhou Chengsen moved to pay, but Jiang Xia quickly said, “Second Brother, no need. I’ll pay for it.”

“It’s fine, I’ll pay,” Zhou Chengsen insisted, handing the money to the man.

Zhou Guiquan took it.

Jiang Xia counted out a few Great Unity bills and handed them over. “That won’t do. I want to take a gamble and see if my luck is good today!”

Zhou Chengsen didn’t mind. “I’ll pay, and you can open it. If there’s a pearl, it’s yours anyway.”

Jiang Xia handed the money to Zhou Guiquan. “Uncle Quan, take mine and give my brother’s money back to him.”

Zhou Guiquan took Jiang Xia’s and shoved Zhou Chengsen’s money back into his shirt pocket. “Fine! Your luck at sea isn’t as good as A-Lei’s wife’s. If you pay and we don’t find a pearl, what will I do if you come back asking for a refund? Take it back! I’m not taking yours!”

Zhou Chengsen had no choice but to take the money back.

Li Xiuxian only saw Zhou Chengsen counting out a large stack of money. Jiang Xia was facing away from her, so she didn’t see that Jiang Xia had paid as well. She cursed inwardly, thinking Zhou Chengsen was just trying to show off!

Today was surely the day the Zhou family was hosting several tables of guests to celebrate the opening of Jiang Xia’s food factory. Zhou Chengsen, that fool, just loved being a sucker.

He could have just bought something small as a gesture!

It wasn’t even his party.

Li Xiuxian watched, fuming with rage!

Jiang Xia said, “This is enough. Second Brother, let’s head back!”

Zhou Chenglei and Father Zhou had discussed today’s menu the night before. Father Zhou had asked Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa to help buy the supplies early that morning.

They had prepared many dishes.

The three began walking back.

Zhou Chengsen carried everything in one hand and walked on the outside of the group, shielding the two women from being bumped by passersby.

Li Xiuxian watched as Zhou Chengsen occasionally stretched out his arm to shield the doctor, or lightly pulled her aside to prevent someone’s shoulder pole or basket from hitting her.

Seeing this made Li Xiuxian feel miserable.

Sseeing Zhou Chengsen being kind to another woman made her feel uncomfortable—even pained!

Every time she saw it, it hurt anew!

The three of them finished their shopping and headed home. They passed right by Li Xiuxian, but because they weren’t particularly close and Jiang Xia was busy talking to Ruan Tang, none of the three even noticed her. Not a single person looked in her direction as they walked right past.

“Zhou Chengsen!”

The three of them looked over.

Li Xiuxian didn’t even know why she had called out to him.

Only after the words left her mouth did she realize she had actually addressed Zhou Chengsen.

She said, “Why won’t you let me see Yingying? Why won’t you let me take Yingying home to play?”

“I don’t want to risk her ending up with a bloodied head again.”

Li Xiuxian: “…”

Having said his piece, Zhou Chengsen continued walking.

Since Jiang Xia and Ruan Tang hadn’t stopped, they kept moving forward.

Jiang Xia continued her conversation with Ruan Tang.

Zhou Chengsen glanced at Ruan Tang.

Ruan Tang looked at him. “What is it?”

“Nothing.”

Seeing that her expression and tone were normal, Zhou Chengsen breathed a sigh of relief.

The pier was right here, and people from several nearby villages came here to buy fish or go out to sea. Scenes like this would be unavoidable in the future.

As long as Ruan Tang didn’t mind, it was fine.

Ruan Tang truly didn’t care. She wasn’t the type of person to indulge in self-inflicted emotional turmoil.

Besides, the other woman was doing it on purpose.

If she got angry, she would be falling right into her trap!

With that thought, Ruan Tang directly linked arms with both Zhou Chengsen and Jiang Xia!

She just happened to be walking in the middle.

Li Xiuxian: “…”

She was truly livid!

And the irritation was significant!

That doctor was intentionally provoking her!

She was flaunting her position right in her face!

It was infuriating!

Her chest felt tight, and she felt like she couldn’t quite catch her breath.

Li Xiuxian was heavily pregnant, with her due date in early February. Lately, she had been feeling some chest tightness, but it felt much worse now.

It turned out she was a hypocrite after all!

No wonder she had managed to charm the whole village into praising her as a good person!

Li Xiuxian looked at the two mesh bags Zhou Chengsen was carrying. At a glance, they must have cost dozens of yuan!

She felt even worse.

Zhou Chengsen was so generous to others, yet he always complained about her being stingy and mean! Every word he said to her was laced with thorns, and he wouldn’t yield even on the smallest matters!

If it weren’t for the boat she had bought, would he even have the money to be generous?

A man who mistreats his wife will never see wealth!

Hmph, she would see just how well Zhou Chengsen would do in the future!

Li Xiuxian went home in a huff to eat. But when she reached home, her stomach began to ache. The pain grew more and more intense—she felt like she was about to give birth!

Without even eating, Liao Ruixiang hurriedly rushed her to the hospital.

When Jiang Xia reached home, she began processing the seafood they had bought. She started with the shrimp, while Zhou Chengsen handled the stonefish and Zhou Chenglei took care of the coconut snail.

Everyone gathered around them to watch.

Mother Jiang asked, “Is the pearl produced by this kind of snail a Melo pearl?”

Father Jiang nodded. “Yes. But the probability is very low—one in tens of thousands.”

Father Zhou added, “This one looks like it has a pearl!”

To others, it was a one-in-ten-thousand chance, but for Wealth-bringer, it was one hundred percent!

Father Jiang looked at Father Zhou in surprise. “Relative, you can even see that?”

“It just looks a bit old.”

Even as he said it, Father Zhou thought to himself: He didn’t see it with his eyes!

He simply had faith in Wealth-bringer!

Tian Caihua looked at Zhou Chenglei as he removed the snail meat, feeling a bit of regret. “If I had known, I would have gotten off the bus with you guys to buy seafood earlier.”

Maybe she would have been the one to spot the coconut snail first.

At that moment, Zhou Chenglei removed the entire piece of snail meat.

Everyone held their breath.

Chapter 712: The Pearl King

Zhou Chenglei was about to search through the snail meat for any pearls when Father Zhou stopped him. “Hold on! Let Xiao Xia do it. Xiao Xia, you take a look.”

He didn’t trust anyone else’s hands.

He only trusted Wealth-bringer’s lucky, money-making hands!

The shrimp were easy to handle, and Jiang Xia worked quickly. She had already scrubbed the dozen or so rhino shrimp clean and placed them on a plate.

She had originally intended to clean the two lobsters as well, chop them up, and arrange them on the plate with the rhino shrimp to be steamed together.

Hearing Father Zhou’s words, she walked over. After all, finding a pearl in snail meat wouldn’t take much time.

Tian Caihua leaned over, her head down as she stared at the zebra-striped snail meat that was the color of a coconut shell. She didn’t see any obvious bulges, but the snail meat was large, and there was still one side she couldn’t see. She was itching to go in and search herself. “Just looking at it like this without—”

She almost said something tactless but immediately corrected herself. “I wonder if there are any pearls at all.”

Father Zhou replied, “You should be asking how many pearls there are!”

What did she mean, “if there were any pearls”? Of course there were!

“Move aside and let Xiao Xia look.”

Jiang Xia walked over and drifted into a squat. She reached out to feel the snail meat and immediately felt a round, hard object at the bottom.

Seeing Jiang Xia’s movement pause, Father Zhou knew they had found something!

He knew it! Jiang Xia’s hands were truly wealth-attracting hands.

Father Zhou decided that in the future, whenever they went on a distant seas voyage and docked at other piers, he would buy any sea snails he saw!

Jiang Xia flipped the snail meat over and pried the hard object out. An orange-red pearl with a flame pattern appeared before everyone.

Tian Caihua’s eyes widened. “!”

It was this big?

It was even bigger and rounder than the first one Jiang Xia had found!

From now on, she was going wherever Jiang Xia went!

Mother Zhou couldn’t help but exclaim, “It’s huge! Is this really a pearl?”

“A Melo pearl,” Jiang Xia replied.

Father Zhou laughed excitedly. “Quick, see if there are any auspicious patterns! A-Lei, keep looking to see if there’s a second one!”

He knew it!

He knew it would be like this!

With a pearl this size, it didn’t even matter if there wasn’t a second one!

Of course, a second one would be even better!

Father Jiang looked at the pearl in his daughter’s hand. “I once saw a 200-carat Melo pearl in the past. This one looks about the same size.”

Jiang Xia also felt that this Melo pearl was around 200 carats.

This was likely close to the maximum size a Melo pearl could naturally reach according to world records.

Jiang Xia looked closely and saw no flaws.

Naturally, there were no “auspicious patterns,” but the flame patterns were beautiful, swirling like clouds and flickering like fire.

The pearl’s luster was moist and ethereal, with a fine, delicate texture.

The color of the entire pearl was also stunning—a rich orange similar to a ripe papaya.

This was considered the most beautiful and expensive color for a Melo pearl.

Zhou Chenglei turned on a flashlight for Jiang Xia to illuminate it.

Under the light, Jiang Xia rotated the pearl. The reflected surface was like the finest, smoothest porcelain—not a single flaw, black spot, or depression! It was perfectly beyond imagination! So perfect it almost looked fake!

Its value was immeasurable!

“There are no flaws!”

Father Zhou said excitedly, “Let me see! You look again to see if there’s a second one.”

Jiang Xia handed the pearl to Father Zhou and continued her search.

Father Zhou took it, and Mother Zhou and Tian Caihua crowded in for a closer look.

As Mother Zhou looked, she kept saying, “It’s beautiful! So beautiful!”

“It’s too pretty!”

“This is the first time I’ve ever seen such a beautiful and large pearl.”

Mother Zhou was full of praise.

Father Zhou declared, “This is absolutely the King of Pearl Kings!”

Jiang Xia continued searching through the snail meat. “That’s it! No more!”

Father Zhou smiled. “One is enough!”

With a pearl this good, one was plenty!

They didn’t need many!

In many cases, a handful of pearls couldn’t compare to the value of a single high-quality one!

As people of the coast, they had truly seen many pearls.

Sometimes they would even find pearls while eating oysters.

It was normal to find a few pearl shells while beachcombing or find one or two pearls while eating shellfish throughout the year.

However, most of those pearls were tiny and lumpy—essentially worthless.

Most people just collected them in a jar to sell all at once or ground them into powder for personal use when needed.

Pearl powder could be used in medicine.

Father Zhou’s record was saving up dozens of pearls in a year—about half a small jar—but what was the use? Selling the whole lot only brought in five yuan!

Even then, he had been happy for days.

In these matters, quality surpassed quantity!

Exquisite quality was everything!

After Father Zhou finished looking, he passed it to Father Jiang and Mother Jiang.

The family took turns admiring the Melo pearl, everyone praising it endlessly.

Just then, Zhou Guiquan returned from selling fish and walked into the house.

Zhou Chenglei had been extracting the snail meat on the kitchen counter, so the whole family was gathered in the kitchen.

He looked at the people in the kitchen and asked, “A-Lei’s wife, did that Coconut Snail have a pearl in it?”

He had specifically stopped by Jiang Xia’s house to see if the snail had produced anything.

The pearl happened to be in Zhou Chengsen’s hand. Seeing the man enter, he closed his fist around the pearl. “No!”

If the man found out, he would surely feel regret and resentment.

If he were the unreasonable type, he might even make a fuss and try to demand more money.

It was better to avoid trouble.

Zhou Chengsen denied it outright.

Father Zhou also added, “No! How could it be that easy to find a pearl?”

Zhou Guiquan felt secretly relieved. His intuition had told him it wouldn’t have one, which is why he sold it.

This kind of snail wasn’t uncommon in their area, and everyone knew they could produce pearls, but he had never seen anyone actually find one!

Anyway, he had found this kind of snail many times. He had found ones with shells that looked older and larger than this one, and they never had anything!

He gave an awkward smile. “Oh? Nothing? I thought a Coconut Snail this big would definitely have a pearl!”

He looked up at the sky. “It’s already dark! I’m going home to eat. I have to go out to sea in the middle of the night!”

With that, he hurriedly picked up his bucket and left.

Father Zhou waited until the man had left the yard, then followed him to the courtyard gate. After confirming he was far away, he walked back and told everyone, “Go inside the house to look, and keep your voices down.”

So the family moved back to the living room to continue their admiration.

The people eating at the house today were all family: Great-Grandma, Uncle Dong, Aunt Dong, and the like. None of them were gossips. The most talkative one was Tian Caihua, but even she wouldn’t dare leak family business now for fear of upsetting Jiang Xia.

She still wanted to stick close to Jiang Xia and make a fortune.

While the others went inside, Jiang Xia continued processing the lobsters, and Zhou Chenglei handled the snail meat. Everyone went back to their tasks.

Dinner included home-raised mussels and fish, which Father Jiang praised incessantly.

After dinner, Father Jiang and Mother Jiang prepared to return to the city. They both had to work the next morning. Although they could have made it if they woke up very early, there was no need to rush.

Ruan Tang took the car back with Father and Mother Jiang instead of having Zhou Chengsen drive her.

Jiang Xia told them to call once they arrived.

The next day, Zhou Chenglei planned to go out to sea to see if the fish and mussels were ready for sale. Jiang Xia drove to the food factory, taking He Xinghuan, Xu Ling, and a few others along.

Today, the food factory was officially starting production, and she needed to go and oversee things.

Furthermore, she had purchased two production lines for potato chips and french fries, and she hadn’t yet taught the workers how to make them.

Chapter 713: She’s Given Birth

Jiang Xia arrived at the factory at 7:45 AM, just as many workers were heading in for their shifts.

Instead of driving inside, Jiang Xia parked the car outside. As the group walked in, they overheard people discussing Liao Ruixiang and Li Xiuxian.

One of them was from Liao Village.

“Li Xiuxian gave birth last night at the town health clinic. My sister-in-law happened to be on duty and helped deliver the baby. She told me all about it when she got home this morning.”

“She gave birth? What was it?”

“A girl. My sister-in-law said the baby looks exactly like Liao Ruixiang! She even takes after her grandmother; there’s no doubt she’s his. My sister-in-law mentioned that as soon as Liao’s mother heard it was a girl, her face darkened. When she saw the baby, she even claimed it didn’t look like Liao Ruixiang at all. Tsk, everyone in the obstetrics department thought she was the spitting image of her father, but the mother-in-law insisted she didn’t!”

“And what did Liao Ruixiang say?”

“Liao Ruixiang actually seemed quite fond of her. He said she clearly looked like him, just like his childhood photos.”

…

Jiang Xia stepped into the guardhouse, and the gossip faded behind her.

She wrote a meeting notice on the guardhouse’s small blackboard, instructing the guard to inform the management team as they arrived.

At 8:00 AM, Jiang Xia held a production meeting that lasted about half an hour. Once the meeting concluded, Lord Hou arrived trailing two heavy trucks full of goods.

One truck was loaded with fresh kelp, while the other carried squid and small fried fish.

He had attended the factory’s opening the day before and had brought gifts: a decorative mirror screen, a jade cabbage ornament, and a large brass Pixiu statue.

Flower baskets weren’t really a thing for grand openings in this era; in modern times, they would be everywhere.

Jiang Xia instructed the warehouse staff and the cleaning workshop workers to help unload the trucks.

The warehouse staff were all men, while the cleaning workshop was split between men and women. After all, the cleaning process involved dumping raw materials into the washing equipment, which required significant physical strength—something the men were better suited for.

Lord Hou and Jiang Xia stood to the side, watching the unloading process. He turned to her and said, “Tell the workers to pick up the pace. Give them more bonuses, have them work overtime—the more we produce, the better. It’s the end of the year; every household will be buying gifts and snacks to entertain guests. Demand is only going to skyrocket.”

Jiang Xia smiled. “I know. You’ve said it many times. But we can’t exploit the employees!”

Lord Hou huffed, “I’m just worried you’re not taking this seriously! It’s been a whole year and the output hasn’t budged. Only 1,500 kg a day? I can’t even keep up with my own sales! Everyone is breathing down my neck for stock.”

He was genuinely anxious. So many people were coming to him for goods, everyone asking for more, but he had nothing to give them.

It wasn’t that there were no other brands of small fried fish on the market, but Jiang Xia’s production was the best seller. Everyone felt that hers tasted better and, more importantly, were cleaner.

Other brands either lacked flavor, or people found sand in the fish. Some even used un-fresh fish that caused stomach issues.

Only Jiang Xia’s products had customers coming back for more. No one ever complained about the quality.

Aside from the occasional packaging issue during transport—a tear or a leak—no one had a bad word to say about the quality of the fried fish. They all said it was delicious, if a bit pricey.

But even with the higher price, people were lining up to buy.

Jiang Xia found it a bit funny. “You can’t rush these things. The factory was just finished, and I opened it as soon as I could. You know I originally planned to wait until after the New Year.”

“You won’t make a damn cent if you wait until after the New Year! You just don’t have enough drive to make money. Come on, I’ve waited long enough for this factory to be built! Pay them more, let the workers produce as much as they possibly can. I’ll have someone send another truck of kelp and fried fish this afternoon. I’m hauling away everything you process today first thing tomorrow morning. I don’t care how you do it—just get it done! If you’re short-handed, hire more people.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Jiang Xia didn’t yet know the full daily output capacity of a single production line.

As for making the workers pull overtime, she left that up to them.

However, the factory provided room and board, charging the workers only three yuan a month for it. When they filled out their employment forms yesterday, many of the workers living on-site were more than happy to work nights.

Overtime meant more money, and the night shift pay was double.

Working from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM was only three hours, but they would be paid for six. It was practically equivalent to a full day’s work during the sunlit hours.

Moreover, people in this era were exceptionally hardworking.

They had been hardened by hardship and poverty; they were tired of being hungry and cold. Everyone was eager to earn more to change their lives.

Especially with the New Year approaching—between gifts for relatives, groceries for guests, red envelopes, and new clothes for the children, there were countless expenses.

For a poor family, the New Year could be a heavy financial burden.

Once the workers realized the overtime pay was doubled, those who didn’t have children to rush home to were all eager to stay late.

“Can’t you just build a few more temporary stoves here? Or buy a few more production lines?”

Jiang Xia ignored him. Did he think production lines could just be bought on a whim?

At that moment, a tractor arrived at the factory gate hauling a load of potatoes.

Lord Hou asked again, “What are the potatoes for? Did you come up with a new snack?”

“Mhm. If you come back this afternoon, you can taste the new product. I guarantee these two new items will sell even better than the small fried fish! Mostly because they’ll be cheaper.”

Upon hearing this, Lord Hou couldn’t help but feel a surge of anticipation.

If even Jiang Xia said they would outsell the small fried fish, what on earth could they be?

Once the kelp was moved to the cleaning workshop, Jiang Xia and Lord Hou changed into factory clothes and boots, putting on hats and masks before heading inside.

The two of them watched as the workers moved the kelp into the cleaning area.

Jiang Xia needed to verify if the automated cleaning equipment was doing a thorough job.

The kelp being delivered was freshly harvested. It came in large sheets and needed to be processed into kelp knots and kelp shreds.

To reduce the manual labor, the kelp would go through an initial wash in the machine, then be processed into knots and shreds by the workers, and finally washed one more time.

The female comrades were particularly skilled at tying the kelp knots.

However, since the job involved moving heavy crates around, Jiang Xia had specifically recruited some men for the cleaning workshop.

Lord Hou watched as workers dumped crate after crate of kelp onto the conveyor belt. The belt carried the kelp into the cleaning tanks. Before falling into the tank, it passed through a section with rotating brushes and high-pressure sprayers designed to remove surface impurities. Then it dropped into the tank for a thorough soak and rinse.

Floating debris and impurities flowed out through an overflow trough, while sediment was discharged through a waste outlet.

Once cleaned, the kelp was transported by another belt into waiting crates.

Workers stood by to swap the crates as they filled up.

After watching the entire process, Lord Hou checked the time. The whole cycle took twenty minutes. He praised, “This is incredibly convenient!”

Jiang Xia nodded. “It is.”

“It can wash about 100 kg at a time?” Lord Hou noted the workers had dumped in about four crates, which was roughly 100 kg.

“Roughly.”

“That’s much faster than manual washing.”

Jiang Xia added, “I plan to run it through a second wash, though the second time can be shorter.”

She intended to have the first wash, then have the workers tie the kelp into knots, and then wash it again.

While the workers were tying the knots, if they saw any mud or dirt the machine had missed, they would clean it by hand. They would also discard any pieces with poor appearance, insect holes, or rot.

Regardless, she had to ensure that the kelp reaching the consumers was clean, hygienic, and of the highest quality.

Chapter 714: New Products

Lord Hou asked, “Does it really need to be washed this many times? Why don’t you tie the kelp into knots before cleaning? Wouldn’t that be more efficient?”

Jiang Xia replied, “I’m worried that if I wash them after they’re tied, the grit inside the knots won’t come out. This way is indeed more labor-intensive, but when it comes to food, it’s better to be clean. Sometimes, trust between people only happens once. If a customer finds mud in one of your kelp knots even once, they might never buy from you again.”

Lord Hou gave her a thumbs up. “No wonder your small dried fish is the most expensive yet still the best seller. For the same amount of money, people would rather buy a bit less just to ensure they’re buying from you.”

In reality, the kelp was farm-raised, not gathered from the beach, so it was quite clean. Tying it before washing wouldn’t have been a major issue.

However, Lord Hou’s children loved eating them, and since he always took them home for his kids, he naturally preferred them to be as clean as possible.

He had visited other workshops before, and the chaotic, fly-ridden environments made him lose his appetite just looking at them.

That was why he only brought home the snacks produced by Jiang Xia.

Jiang Xia smiled. “The main reason is that they taste good.”

To be honest, people’s standards for food hygiene weren’t as high as in modern times, and most followed the “what the eye doesn’t see, the heart doesn’t grieve over” philosophy.

The two of them then went to check the potato production line.

The potato line was fully mechanized, from washing and peeling to slicing and cutting into strips.

Workers only needed to pour the potatoes into the equipment for washing and peeling. Then, as the potatoes moved along the conveyor belt, they checked to see if any skin remained.

Any potatoes not peeled cleanly were picked up to be finished by hand, and any rotten ones were discarded.

Qualified potatoes were automatically sent by the conveyor belt into the slicers or cutters to be turned into chips or fries.

What Jiang Xia needed to verify was whether the size of the fries and the thickness of the chips met her requirements.

Even though she had seen the equipment’s output before, she still checked.

This entire set of production equipment had been designed by Jiang Dong based on Jiang Xia’s specific requirements.

strictly speaking, all the equipment in Jiang Xia’s factory was researched and developed by Jiang Dong according to her needs.

Because the technology wasn’t overly complex and similar equipment already existed, Jiang Dong only needed to make improvements. For example, the kelp washing equipment had an added scrubbing stage, which was Jiang Xia’s idea.

This carried a slight risk of bristles falling into the food, but since there was manual knotting and hand-washing afterwards, followed by a final rinse without brushes, Jiang Xia wasn’t worried.

Lord Hou watched as the potatoes tumbled in the drum, being washed and peeled simultaneously. Moments later, clean, bald, white potatoes emerged on the conveyor belt and were sent to the slicer to be turned into thin rounds.

“The potato line seems a lot more efficient,” he noted.

Jiang Xia agreed. “Yes, the kelp requires manual knotting, which is time-consuming. The chip and fry cutters handle everything automatically. If we have enough potatoes, one production line can process 10,000 kg a day. But for now, I can’t source that many potatoes.”

Lord Hou was satisfied. “Finally, a product with some efficiency! I’ll find a way to get the potatoes!”

They then visited the small fried fish production line.

The fish also needed to be cleaned, slightly dried, then deep-fried and seasoned.

The most critical factors were the temperature and duration of the frying.

As for seasoning, they just had to add the corresponding amount based on the weight of the fish.

He Xinghuan and the others were already very familiar with how to produce the small fried fish. She had already led a team to produce a batch yesterday afternoon.

There was no choice; they had to deliver the goods today, and Lord Hou was pressing them.

After checking several production lines and seeing all the goods from the truck unloaded and the seasoned small dried fish loaded up, Lord Hou departed.

Jiang Xia stayed behind to experiment with making potato chips on the equipment. For now, she was only making original and BBQ flavors.

She planned to introduce flavors like tomato, cucumber, and lime later, gradually rolling out new products.

Jiang Xia remained at the factory with He Xinghuan, testing the new products until twelve o’clock, when she finally achieved the crispy texture and flavor she was satisfied with.

She let everyone have a taste, and they all agreed this flavor was the best.

Jiang Xia handed her notebook to He Xinghuan. “From now on, follow this oil temperature and seasoning ratio.”

For these potato chips, Jiang Xia hadn’t worried about the shape yet. In reality, a hyperbolic paraboloid (saddle) shape was more structurally sound and better for transport.

But she would take it one step at a time. The shape could be refined later and introduced as another “new product” update.

For now, she wanted to capture the profit from the New Year’s rush.

“Alright,” He Xinghuan said as she took the notebook.

“I’m heading home now. I’ll come back in the afternoon to make the french fries.”

Jiang Xia took a large woven sack of potato chips home for the children.

“Okay.”

He Xinghuan wouldn’t be going home at noon; she would stay until her shift ended in the evening.

As the deputy factory director, she had her own office in the factory, which included a lounge area that was even more comfortable than her home.

Of course, that wasn’t why she stayed. The factory had just opened, and she had a lot of work to do. She was still learning how to manage such a large factory and so many employees alongside Aunt Fen and Xu Ling.

Fortunately, Jiang Xia was on break and could visit the factory often; otherwise, they would have felt quite intimidated.

By the time Jiang Xia reached home, it was already 12:32 PM. She greeted Mother Zhou in the kitchen. “Mother, I’m back.”

Jiang Xia had mentioned she wouldn’t finish until noon, so Mother Zhou had timed the lunch perfectly. She smiled and replied, “You’re back! Wash your hands, it’s time to eat.”

The three babies had already finished their rice paste and strawberry puree. They were in high spirits, lying in their cribs and babbling “Eeya” as they played with their two older sisters.

The eldest brother liked playing with the toys Zhou Zhou handed him and was generally quiet.

The younger brother was scrambling with the eldest brother to grab the little rattle Zhou Zhou was teasing them with, his mouth babbling away.

The little sister clutched a toy and talked incessantly to Zhou Ying, her drool soaking her bib.

Zhou Ying was teaching her to sing, and it was hard to tell if the baby was trying to sing along.

The living room was filled with the happy sounds of the children.

Jiang Xia carried the large woven sack inside and gave two small bags of potato chips to the two girls.

Each took a bag.

Zhou Zhou asked, “Auntie, what are these?”

Zhou Ying added, “They look really delicious.”

“These are potato chips, a new product from the factory. Have some after lunch.”

The two sisters were thrilled to hear it was a new product. The packaging alone made it look tasty!

Zhou Zhou asked, “Auntie, what are potato chips?”

“They are thin slices of potato that have been deep-fried. After lunch, taste them with your brothers and see if they’re good. You can also share some with the village children and ask which bag’s flavor they like best. Help me do a little market research; there are numbers written on the bags.”

“Okay! Mission accepted!” the sisters replied happily.

Both Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying knew what “market research” meant. When Jiang Xia was developing the kelp products, she had asked everyone to taste them and give feedback, using the term back then.

Jiang Xia cautioned them, “You can’t eat too many potato chips in one day. Just a few slices are enough, or you’ll get parched and break out. Understand?”

“Got it!”

After a few more instructions, Jiang Xia washed her hands and helped bring out the food.

Zhou Chenglei and Father Zhou had gone out to sea and wouldn’t be back for lunch.

Even though the men weren’t home, Mother Zhou hadn’t skimped on the meal; she had prepared four meat and seafood dishes.

There were fried golden threadfin, a mixed fish stew, stir-fried pork with peppers, garlic choy sum, and a plate of poached shrimp.

Since Jiang Xia was still breastfeeding the three babies, she needed soup with every meal to keep her milk supply up. Mother Zhou had made a papaya, peanut, and octopus soup.

After finishing lunch, Jiang Xia let Mother Zhou play with the children for a while. She cleared the table, washed the dishes, and planned to join the three babies for a nap.

Just then, the house phone rang. Jiang Xia picked up the little sister and went to answer it.

Chapter 715: The Plan

The call was from Elder Mai.

Elder Mai’s kind and amiable voice reached Jiang Xia’s ears through the receiver. “Xiao Xia, are you on break?”

Jiang Xia caught her little daughter’s hand as she reached for the handset and smiled. “Grandpa Mai, hello. Yes, the break started. I just got home yesterday. Have you come to S City? When will you be free for a meal?”

She hadn’t seen Elder Mai since he returned to Hong Kong after the last Canton Fair, and Jiang Xia still owed him a dinner.

Elder Mai replied, “Not yet, I’m still in Hong Kong. Those fish you’re raising should be grown by now, right? I’ll be returning to the mainland tomorrow morning. I’m bringing a seafood wholesaler to meet you. He wants to source seafood from the mainland and wishes to visit Xiaoyucun. He’d also like to see your fish and mussels. When would you be free?”

Hearing this, Jiang Xia smiled. “We’re free lately, so you’re welcome anytime. Just let us know when you’ll be arriving, and A-Lei and I will go pick you up.”

“No need for that,” Elder Mai said. “We can just drive to your village ourselves.”

“Our village isn’t that easy to find. We should pick you up.” Jiang Xia insisted on asking for their customs clearance time and estimated arrival so they could meet them.

Navigation didn’t exist yet. Although there were road signs pointing toward their village because of the pier, it was still genuinely difficult to find even with signs.

The little sister in Jiang Xia’s arms was “eeya-ing,” clearly wanting to either listen to or speak into the phone again.

Elder Mai heard the child’s voice and asked with a laugh, “Which little one is that? Let her listen to the phone.”

Jiang Xia said, “It’s the little sister.”

Then, Jiang Xia spoke to her daughter. “Little Bao, Great-Grandpa is talking to you. Say hello to Great-Grandpa.”

Jiang Xia placed the receiver against her daughter’s ear.

On the other end of the line, Elder Mai softened his voice to coax her. “Hello? Is that Little Bao? It’s Great-Grandpa! Do you still remember Great-Grandpa? Did you miss me? I’ll see you tomorrow! Great-Grandpa misses you all so much…”

Elder Mai continued chatting with the little girl on the phone.

The little sprout widened her eyes, listening curiously, and stopped talking altogether.

Jiang Xia smiled and gently squeezed her chubby little hand. “You’re usually so talkative. Why are you quiet now?”

The little sister looked up at her mother, then, as if suddenly reacting, began to “eeya” back.

Elder Mai listened happily; even if he couldn’t understand her, he was content just to hear her voice.

He didn’t care that the long-distance fees were expensive.

The two of them “communicated” for nearly ten minutes. Since neither could understand a word the other was saying, Jiang Xia realized this couldn’t go on. She told him she needed to put the baby down for a nap, chatted with Elder Mai for a few more moments to finalize the meeting time, and hung up.

The little sister clutched the phone cord, unwilling to let go!

This little girl was definitely going to be a chatterbox when she grew up!

Jiang Xia carefully pulled the cord away. “Time for a nap. Your brothers are waiting for us, you know? We’ll talk again next time.”

The little sister continued pointing at the phone and babbling.

Coaxing her along, Jiang Xia carried her upstairs.

Mother Zhou had already taken the eldest brother and younger brother upstairs.

The three babies could now fall asleep on their own without being rocked. If placed on the bed to play for a while with Mother Zhou lying beside them, the three of them would happily communicate in baby talk.

No one knew if they actually understood each other, but Jiang Xia certainly didn’t. She just found it adorable and pleasant to listen to. She couldn’t help but kiss them, then lay down for a bit and fell asleep herself. By the time she woke up, the three children were also fast asleep.

She had no idea when they had drifted off.

After getting up, Jiang Xia asked Mother Zhou to keep an eye on the three little ones while she drove to the factory. she still needed to finish the french fries.

She ended up being busy for the entire afternoon.

Setting the flavor aside for a moment—since that could be adjusted—Jiang Xia could guarantee that the texture of the french fries was an absolute winner!

Even compared to modern brands, few could match it.

At four thirty in the afternoon, Lord Hou came by again. He tasted the finished potato chips and french fries, his eyes widening in surprise. He gave an excited thumbs up. “Delicious! This stuff will definitely sell! How much per bag?”

“This is a new product promotion. The factory-gate price for the potato chips is 0.30 yuan per bag. The french fries are 0.35 yuan per bag.”

The fries would be slightly more profitable than the chips.

Because potato chips were fragile, the packaging had to be more specialized.

Jiang Xia had done the math. Potatoes were very cheap, but the seasoning and oil were expensive. Labor, transportation, and packaging costs were also high—especially the packaging, as she used nitrogen flushing for the bags. A 50g bag of chips cost about 0.20 yuan to produce.

There was also another type of packaging for the chips: paper canisters made of foil-lined kraft paper. That packaging was still on order. Canisters were more convenient for transport, but ordering those containers would be even more expensive.

The cost of the packaging was actually higher than the cost of the chips themselves.

Lord Hou was well-traveled and knew that potato chips were something only found abroad. He said, “Alright. Whatever you made today, I’ll take it all.”

Jiang Xia replied, “Mass production won’t start until tomorrow afternoon. I don’t have stock today, only sample packs. I’ll give you some to take back for the suppliers to taste. For the bulk goods, just take the small dried fish and kelp for now!”

“Sample packs are enough. Once they taste these, they’ll order even more.” He had great confidence in these potato chips and french fries.

Jiang Xia added, “After Chinese New Year, I’m going to advertise these fries and chips on TV and radio. You can tell your customers that. Tell them to order more now; once the commercials start airing after the New Year, they won’t be at this price anymore. It’ll be at least 0.40 to 0.50 yuan per bag.”

These were the first potato chips and french fries in China. Jiang Xia wanted to build brand awareness quickly and seize the entire Chinese market.

Several more production lines were scheduled to be delivered before the New Year, allowing them to rapidly expand production afterward.

Lord Hou’s eyes lit up. “Understood!”

He hadn’t expected Jiang Xia to think of advertising the chips, and not just in newspapers, but on TV and the radio!

While not many people owned TVs or radios yet, those who did were exactly the kind of people who could afford snacks.

The factory’s workday ended at five thirty. At five twenty, Jiang Xia called He Xinghuan, Aunt Fen, and Xu Ling to head home together.

As they walked toward the car, Jiang Xia noticed someone talking to the guard at the security office.

She initially thought someone was inquiring about a job, but she vaguely overheard the person asking what products the factory was making and why they smelled so good.

She figured it was someone from a nearby food factory snooping around, but she didn’t pay it much mind. As long as the secret recipe didn’t leak, it was fine.

The market was huge. Even if they found out what she was making and tried to copy her, it didn’t matter.

She couldn’t earn all the money in the world. Whoever could grow the largest would be the one with the most skill.

Furthermore, Jiang Xia had previously researched the main products of the surrounding food factories.

Competition among peers was perfectly normal.

Seeing Jiang Xia drive away from the factory and guessing she was the factory director, the man quickly left.

Jiang Xia arrived home around six o’clock, just as Zhou Chenglei and Father Zhou returned from the sea.

Jiang Xia asked, “How is it? Are the fish in the net cages ready to be sold?”

Chapter 716: Visiting Early in the Morning

Father Zhou beat everyone to the punch, replying, “They’re ready to be sold. Each one is about 400 to 450 grams, or around 500 grams. Their sizes are very consistent. If we raise them for another ten days or so, all of them should be around 500 grams by the Lunar New Year.”

50,000 kilograms of Red Seabream! Even if they sold for a bit less than wild-caught ones during the New Year, they would surely fetch 1.20 or 1.30 yuan per 500 grams.

They could sell over 100,000 yuan worth in one go. Although they hadn’t broken even yet, they certainly would by next year.

Moreover, if the market was good this year, they might even sell for 1.50 yuan per 500 grams, as purchase prices fluctuated wildly at the end of the year.

Regardless, they would definitely make at least 100,000 yuan.

In recent years, the price of Red Seabream had never dropped below one yuan per 500 grams.

Jiang Xia mentioned that Elder Mai planned to bring over a seafood wholesale owner to take a look.

“If that seafood owner likes our fish, we might be able to sell all 50,000 kilograms at once. I just don’t know if they’ll take an interest in our Red Seabream.”

Father Zhou, who was washing his hands, excitedly splashed water onto his face. He wiped his face dry, trying to clear his head for fear that he had misheard.

A big boss from Hong Kong?

If they could sell the fish to Hong Kong, the price would be on a completely different level!

“Did you just say a boss from Hong Kong is coming to see our fish tomorrow?”

Jiang Xia nodded. “Yes.”

Father Zhou grew even more excited. “They’ll definitely like them! The fish in our net cages are being raised so well! I treat them like my own grandsons!”

Father Zhou picked up a Red Seabream from the bucket he had brought back. “Look, it’s been out of the water for over two hours and it’s still this lively! Look how fresh it is! Look at that energy!”

“Mhm, they do look very good.” Jiang Xia had tasted their farmed Red Seabream the day she returned. The color was vibrant, and the taste was delicious.

Although the meat wasn’t as firm as wild-caught fish—since farmed fish ate more and moved less, making them fattier and more tender—there wasn’t much of a difference otherwise. Aside from the meat being slightly looser and richer, and the color being not quite as starkly red and white as the wild ones, they were practically the same. This was because the seawater quality there was excellent and rich in microorganisms. Throughout the entire breeding process, no drugs were used to promote growth or prevent disease; the fish had never been sick, and they were fed fishmeal, which was similar to a wild diet.

Jiang Xia was also looking forward to it. “If we can sell the fish to Hong Kong and open up a sales channel there, we’ll definitely make more money than in the mainland. The cost of living there is much higher. It’s just a question of whether we find our own ship for transport or if they have a ship to come and collect them. The price difference between those two options is also significant.”

In this era, Hong Kong was already very developed, with an economy far better than that of the mainland.

China was currently like a reborn giant dragon, still recovering its strength; it would be a long time before it truly soared.

Father Zhou said, “We’ll find out the details when the time comes.”

Father Zhou was very confident. He even felt their farmed Red Seabream tasted better than wild ones because they were so fatty!

People these days loved the fattiest part of the fish—the belly. Firstly, it was smooth and tender, and secondly, everyone lacked oil and fat in their diets.

Only Wealth-bringer preferred the meat on the back of the fish. Jiang Xia didn’t like fatty fish, nor did she eat fatty meat.

Jiang Xia then asked Zhou Chenglei, “What time did you guys get back? Did Uncle Wen’s younger son and oldest grandson come to see you?”

“We got back at 4:45. They came over at 5:00. I let them do a test drive, and they drove the tractor quite well. When we go to buy the heavy truck tomorrow, I’ll have them come along for a test drive so I can observe them more. Large trucks are different from Jeeps. There are many things to keep in mind when driving a heavy vehicle.”

Zhou Chenglei could drive any vehicle. He could tell the two of them had a natural talent for driving tractors; they were already quite good at controlling them despite having just learned.

Zhou Chenglei had taught many of his soldiers how to drive, and he had been the one to teach Zhou Chengxin and Zhou Chengsen as well.

He knew that some people were born with a better “feel” for vehicles and could learn in an instant, while others weren’t as sharp and needed more practice.

Jiang Xia was one of those naturally talented ones. He knew she had learned to drive when she was eighteen. She hadn’t driven much since learning, but as soon as she gripped the steering wheel, she felt like a veteran driver.

“Alright.”

Since they were picking up Elder Mai tomorrow, Jiang Xia planned to head into the city to buy a heavy truck and another tractor while they were at it.

It would be more convenient for the food factory to have its own truck and two tractors.

The tractors would be used to haul raw ingredients, while the heavy truck would be used for deliveries.

The next morning at 8:00, just as the family finished breakfast, someone came to the door.

“Yongfu, is A-Lei home?”

Mother Zhou was in the kitchen preparing egg yolks and pumpkin puree for the three babies.

Father Zhou, who was in the yard chopping sweet potato leaves to feed the pigs, looked up. “Sister Huangchang, Hongjie, what brings you here so early?”

Huangchang-sao said, “It’s like this. I heard your daughter-in-law’s factory is hiring drivers. My Hongjie also knows how to drive tractors and heavy trucks, and he’s very good at it. The master who taught him said he drives exceptionally well and wouldn’t stop praising his intelligence, saying he learns everything instantly. Hongjie, isn’t that how the master praised you?”

Zhou Hongjie’s face turned beet red. “Mom, stop talking.”

That was the boasting he had done when he got home. In reality, the master had praised Zhou Dalin and Zhou Xiaozhi.

Huangchang-sao snapped, “Why are you being shy, you kid? Since when did you become so humble! Uncle Yongfu isn’t an outsider! What are you afraid of?”

Father Zhou replied, “…I heard A-Lei say he’s already recruited Dalin and Xiaozhi from Wenjun’s family.”

Inside the house, Jiang Xia had just walked downstairs carrying a baby when she heard the voices outside.

“I know. Those two went to learn driving with Hongjie. The master teacher even said my Hongjie drives better than Dalin and Xiaozhi! To be honest, driving is no laughing matter. If one isn’t careful and drives into a ditch or hits someone, wouldn’t that be terrible luck? Those two really don’t drive well; they aren’t stable enough! You should hire my Hongjie! My Hongjie is steady! Even the master praised him!”

Zhou Hongjie tugged at Huangchang-sao’s sleeve. “Mom, what nonsense are you talking? Master Lin said Dalin and the other drive much better!”

At that moment, Uncle Wen’s younger son, Zhou Dalin, and his oldest grandson, Zhou Xiaozhi, happened to arrive. Hearing those words, the two stood outside the courtyard gate, unsure whether they should enter or not.

Father Zhou was displeased by what he heard.

To come by so early in the morning and say such inauspicious things—whose bad luck was she trying to stir up?

He said bluntly, “I’m sorry, you’re too late. A-Lei has already hired the two boys from Wenjun’s family. We have enough people. Dalin and the other have already finished their onboarding procedures. Besides, if someone isn’t steady, they’ll get steady once they drive more. A-Lei said they drive the tractor quite steadily and have a natural talent for driving.”

Hearing this, Hongjie quickly tried to pull his mother away. “Mom, since they have enough people, let’s just go home!”

He was good friends with Zhou Dalin and Zhou Xiaozhi; they hung out every day. They were the ones who told him to come and ask if there were more openings, but now that his mother had spoken like that, he was too embarrassed to stay!

Huangchang-sao slapped his hand. “What are you rushing for? Are you in a hurry to get to your own funeral?”

She had known yesterday that Zhou Dalin and the other were going to be drivers for Jiang Xia’s food factory and were being interviewed. He hadn’t rushed her to come over then!

He waited until after the interviews were done and only mentioned it when he came home for dinner! The opportunity had been missed!

If she had known earlier, she would have sought out Zhou Chenglei on the spot and asked him to give her son a trial interview too!

It infuriated her!

How did she give birth to such a stupid son?

He was just like his father! Dead stupid, with no prospects his whole life!

As Huangchang-sao was being pulled by her son, she spotted Jiang Xia in the living room holding a baby.

She rushed inside. “Xiao Xia!”

Huangchang-sao hurried into the living room, and Zhou Hongjie couldn’t hold her back.

“Xiao Xia, I heard your food factory is hiring drivers?”

Chapter 717: Me?

Jiang Xia held her daughter as she glanced at Huanchang’s wife and nodded. “Yes, but we’ve already hired enough people.”

“I know, you hired Wenjun’s younger son and his eldest grandson. We’re so familiar with each other that I’ll tell you the truth—their driving skills aren’t as good as my Hongjie’s!”

Zhou Hongjie hurriedly interjected, “Mom, don’t talk nonsense! That’s not true! They drive much better than I do!”

Aunt Huanchang was furious and slapped his arm. “Shut up! If you don’t know how to speak, then don’t! You’re always thinking of others, but do they think of you? You’re just too kind-hearted! The three of you clearly agreed to look for work together, but they left you behind and found jobs for themselves.”

Jiang Xia used a handkerchief to wipe the drool from her daughter’s chin as the baby chewed on her own fingers. She didn’t say anything.

She wondered if the little girl was about to start teething, because she was drooling a lot lately and loved to bite things.

Jiang Xia had been bitten once while breastfeeding last night. Even though the baby had no teeth yet, it had been incredibly painful!

Aunt Huanchang turned back to Jiang Xia. “This child of mine is just too honest! He’s on good terms with Dalin and the others, so he speaks well of them. But the fact is, his driving skills are the best among the three. Even the instructor praised him, saying he drives more steadily than Dalin and his nephew.”

Jiang Xia offered a polite but firm refusal. “Auntie, we really have enough people now. I’m truly sorry.”

Whether or not people could get along sometimes came down to something as simple as a single sentence.

If you were looking for a job, you should just focus on that. Jiang Xia disliked dealing with people who intentionally put others down just to lift themselves up.

Aunt Huanchang’s face darkened. “I already told you, those two aren’t as good as Hongjie.”

Jiang Xia simply smiled. “With Hongjie’s skills, I’m sure he’ll be able to find an even better job.”

Upset, Aunt Huanchang muttered, “Of course! Your food factory is just a small place; it has no future compared to a government unit. Who knows, maybe my Hongjie will be able to get into a government department later. Isn’t a government job much more promising than staying in your little factory?”

“Mom, stop talking nonsense!” Zhou Hongjie’s face turned bright red. He grabbed his mother and forced her to leave.

Jiang Xia smiled. “You’re right. My ‘temple’ is too small to house a ‘Great Buddha’ like your son. Please, leave my home.”

Just as the mother and son walked out, Zhou Dalin and Zhou Xiaozhi entered the yard. “Uncle Yongfu, Auntie, is Fourth Brother home?”

Then, acting as if they had just noticed Zhou Hongjie and his mother, the two smiled and greeted them.

Zhou Dalin said, “Aunt Huanchang, Hongjie, you’re here too?”

Zhou Xiaozhi added, “Hongjie, are you here for an interview? Uncle, are they still hiring?”

Seeing that they seemingly hadn’t heard his mother’s words, Zhou Hongjie breathed a sigh of relief. He shook his head. “No, they’ve filled the positions. We’re leaving now!”

With that, he pulled his mother and hurried away.

Aunt Huanchang yanked her hand back. “What are you running for?! I don’t see you running like this when there’s something good happening! You only know how to run at times like this! All the good jobs have been snatched up! Being last in line is even worse than squandering the family fortune! Haven’t you heard that saying before?”

Zhou Hongjie replied, “Mom, what you said just now was way too much. If Dalin and the others heard you, they’d cut ties with me!”

“Then let them! You treat them like brothers and keep them in mind whenever there’s something good, but they treat you like a fool! They had jobs and didn’t tell you early on, only mentioning it after the interviews were over!”

Zhou Hongjie said irritably, “Uncle Wen helped them find those jobs. They told me before the interviews, but I was busy going fishing and only told you about it last night.”

Aunt Huanchang was so angry she hit him. “You’re just stupid! Just as stupid as your father! You’ll never make anything of yourself!”

…

In the yard.

Father Zhou said to the two men, “He’s home. Go inside and wait a moment. A-Lei’s wife is in the house, and A-Lei should be coming downstairs soon.”

The two walked inside and greeted Jiang Xia. “Little Sister-in-law.” “Auntie.”

Jiang Xia smiled and said, “Wait just a moment, it’ll be quick! Have you two had breakfast yet?”

“We’ve eaten.”

Jiang Xia then called out toward the stairs, “Zhou Chenglei, Dalin and the others are here!”

Mother Zhou peeled a pale, boiled egg, putting the yolk in one bowl and the white into a clean dish before bringing it into the living room.

Jiang Xia loved egg whites, so Mother Zhou handed them to her. “You eat the whites?”

“Okay.” Jiang Xia took them and ate them in one bite.

Zhou Chenglei came downstairs carrying two of the babies, who had just finished their milk.

Zhou Dalin and Zhou Xiaozhi stood up again to greet him.

He said to them, “Sit. Give me five minutes, and we can head out.”

The two sat down on the sofa.

Jiang Xia placed the little girl into the baby stroller, then took the eldest brother from Zhou Chenglei’s arms and put him in as well. It wasn’t convenient for him to put the babies in the stroller while holding two at once.

Once Jiang Xia had settled the eldest brother, Zhou Chenglei placed the younger brother in the stroller and adjusted the height so Mother Zhou could feed them the egg yolks.

As soon as the little girl was in the stroller, her short legs began kicking at the bells tied to the railing, and she let out a “giggle-giggle” laugh.

The younger brother propped his little feet up on the railing, looking like a little boss.

Only the eldest brother remained still, simply watching the unfamiliar faces in the house.

Mother Zhou said to them, “Alright, you guys head out! It’s getting late. Your father and I will look after the children.”

Jiang Xia said, “Then we’re off.”

Jiang Xia said goodbye to the children, telling them to be good and listen to their grandfather and grandmother before they left.

Zhou Chenglei handed the car keys to Zhou Dalin, letting him drive. “You go and drive the car out.”

Zhou Dalin stuttered, “…Me? Right now?”

Zhou Chenglei looked at him. “Is there a problem?”

Meeting his gaze, Zhou Dalin’s body instantly tensed up. “No, no problem.”

Taking the keys, Dalin accepted the task and took a deep breath as he looked at the car parked in the garage.

Zhou Xiaozhi gave his uncle a look of sympathy.

Driving a car out of the garage and then out of the yard was no easy feat!

Most importantly, the yard wasn’t very large, the road outside wasn’t wide, and the courtyard gate was narrow. It was very easy to scrape the car body while exiting.

Zhou Dalin got into the car, started the engine, and waited for it to warm up before shifting into gear.

He stepped lightly on the gas, very carefully backing the car out of the garage.

Everyone stood in the corner of the yard, watching him.

Zhou Dalin was so nervous his back was soaked with sweat. Because of that tension, he ended up pulling forward and backing up a dozen times. It took nearly twenty minutes just to get it out of the yard.

The couple watched without rushing him.

Though it took a while, it was a successful exit nonetheless.

Zhou Chenglei only said one thing: “No need to be nervous when you drive.”

The road to the city wasn’t smooth, and since Jiang Xia was also in the car, Zhou Chenglei didn’t feel comfortable letting him drive all the way there.

Zhou Chenglei drove to the city himself with Jiang Xia in the passenger seat.

It was nearly ten o’clock by the time they reached the city. They went first to the tractor factory and ordered a tractor directly.

Because it was ordered in the name of a factory and the policies were currently in their favor, they could come and pick it up in a week.

As for the heavy truck, Zhou Chenglei had already made arrangements with the manufacturer. Back at the Canton Fair, he had helped the automobile factory promote their vehicles and had paid a deposit then. He just hadn’t decided on the size of the truck yet.

Today they came for a test drive. If there were no issues and the registration was completed, they could drive it away.

Jiang Xia didn’t have a heavy vehicle license, nor had she ever driven one, so she didn’t join the test drive.

As it was getting late, she left them there to test the trucks while she drove the other car to pick up Elder Mai.

Zhou Dalin and Zhou Xiaozhi watched as Jiang Xia pulled a smooth, sharp turn and drove away.

“…”

In that moment, they felt like their own driving skills had been thoroughly put to shame!

When Jiang Xia reached the meeting point, Elder Mai was already there, waiting with a group of people dressed in suits and leather shoes.

Jiang Xia checked her watch; it was still half an hour before their scheduled meeting time.

Chapter 718: So Frumpy

Jiang Xia parked the car, quickly stepped out, and walked over. “Grandpa Mai, I’m sorry, I’m late.”

Elder Mai said with a chuckle, “You’re not late. We arrived early; we just got here ourselves. Let me introduce you.”

Then, Elder Mai turned to the group beside him and said, “This is the Comrade Jiang Xia I mentioned.”

The people Elder Mai brought this time, aside from old friends in the seafood business, included his entire family (including his adopted son’s in-laws) and a team of lawyers.

He intended to formally recognize his son before the New Year, striving to ensure they could share a reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve.

“Xiaxia, this is Xu Bodong, Elder Xu. You can just call him Grandpa Xu. He’s a dear friend of many years and came specifically to see the fish in your net cages.”

Jiang Xia smiled and nodded politely. “Grandpa Xu, I’ve heard so much about you. Welcome to S City! Please excuse the poor reception for making you wait.”

Elder Xu smiled and extended his hand. “Not at all, we just cleared customs ourselves. You coming to pick us up personally is more of a bother for you! I always hear Old Mai talking about you, and today I finally get to meet you!”

Jiang Xia shook his hand and joked, “Was Grandpa Mai saying bad things about me? I’ve been saying I’d treat him to a meal for ages but never managed to. Today, I finally have the chance!”

Elder Xu burst into laughter. “Haha… so that’s how it is? He only says good things about you to me! He says that despite your young age, you’re very good at business and very driven—that you remind him of his younger self.”

Jiang Xia smiled. “Is that so? That’s the highest praise I’ve ever heard; I’m truly flattered! It seems I must do my best to fulfill the duties of a host today.”

Elder Mai laughed. “You won’t escape today! This meal is definitely on you! Come, let me continue the introductions. This is my relative by marriage, Elder Tan—Grandpa Tan! and this is Elder Tan’s wife, Grandma Tan.”

Jiang Xia smiled and gave a polite nod. “Grandpa Tan, Grandma Tan, hello. Welcome to S City. I’m sorry for the wait; please don’t take it to heart if the reception is lacking.”

Elder Tan smiled and shook Jiang Xia’s hand. “Hello. Old Mai’s granddaughter is my granddaughter; there’s no need to be so formal with me.”

Mrs. Tan did not extend her hand. She held her Hermes bag with both hands, dressed head-to-toe in Chanel, and stood there smiling. “So you’re Xiaxia? You’re quite beautiful! Even better looking than the big stars in Hong Kong!”

She sized Jiang Xia up; the girl looked nothing like Old Mai!

She didn’t know how Old Mai had decided so certainly that this girl was his granddaughter.

Jiang Xia gave a small smile. “Grandma Tan, you flatter me. How could I compare to a movie star? I’m just naturally a bit fair-skinned. As they say, fair skin hides three flaws.”

Mrs. Tan merely pursed her lips and smiled, not bothered to say another word.

Elder Mai continued the introductions. “You already know Nianshan. This is Nianshan’s wife. Xiaxia, call them Uncle Mai and Aunt Tan for now!”

Jiang Xia smiled and greeted them.

Mai Nianshan looked at Jiang Xia with an affectionate expression. “It’s been a while. Xiaxia, you seem to have lost weight?”

Tan Zhiying smiled warmly and took Jiang Xia’s hand. “So this is Xiaxia! So beautiful! You really do look like one of the family! I’ve finally met you! I’ve constantly heard the old gentleman mention you and wanted to come meet you long ago to thank you for taking care of my father-in-law! I finally have the chance today! Thank you so much!”

Jiang Xia replied, “It was my pleasure. I also often hear Grandpa Mai say how filial his son and daughter-in-law are. He even said Aunt Tan’s soup is delicious.”

Tan Zhiying laughed. “Is that so? Being filial is only right; Father-in-law treats us even better.”

Finally, Elder Mai introduced his two grandchildren. “These are my grandson, Mai Jinping, and my granddaughter, Mai Xiaoan. Xiaxia is a year or two older than you, so call her Big Sister.”

Mai Xiaoan shot a discrete, disdainful look at Jiang Xia.

Mai Jinping said with a smile, “Sister Xiaxia.”

Mai Xiaoan followed, “Sister Xiaxia.”

Jiang Xia smiled. “Hello, both of you.”

With the greetings finally finished, Jiang Xia invited everyone to the Mountain Treasure Pavilion at the Friendship Restaurant for lunch. “My husband already went ahead to reserve a table.”

The Mountain Treasure Pavilion at the Friendship Restaurant was a joint venture between a local catering company and a Hong Kong firm. The decorations were high-end and luxurious, the head chef was from Hong Kong, and the restaurant’s service standards were quite high.

Jiang Xia treated today’s meal as a business reception, so it was naturally more appropriate to go somewhere high-class and formal.

One could tell what it represented just by the word “Friendship” in the restaurant’s name.

Elder Mai’s side had two private cars for transport.

Elder Mai invited Elder Xu, “Let’s take Xiao Xia’s car. I’ve never ridden in a Jeep before.”

He then instructed Mai Nianshan to take good care of his parents-in-law.

Elder Xu laughed. “Let’s go! I haven’t ridden in one either.”

And so, the two elders went to get into Jiang Xia’s car.

Jiang Xia opened the doors and invited them in.

In the car, the two elders discussed the purpose of Elder Xu’s visit with Jiang Xia.

Elder Xu operated dozens of international hotels, restaurant chains, dried seafood chain stores, and seafood wholesale businesses in Hong Kong and abroad.

His visit this time was primarily to invest in hotels and piers; sourcing seafood was secondary.

Mainly, since his companies included seafood wholesale markets, he was doing it as a favor to Elder Mai.

“Elder Mai and I are very optimistic about the mainland’s development.”

Jiang Xia smiled. “You won’t be disappointed. Now that things have opened up, as a key city in the reforms, the pace of development will surely change with each passing day.”

“It will.” Elder Xu looked at the low houses on both sides of the road, which were worlds apart from Hong Kong. He thought of the scene when he had been forced to leave all those years ago. Decades had passed; his home was in Hong Kong, and his company was in Hong Kong. It wasn’t something where he could just move the whole family back on a whim. Moving one part would affect the whole, and the policies were still uncertain.

They, as Chinese people, believed in the saying that falling leaves return to their roots. Now that there was an opportunity in their homeland, they wanted to return and contribute whatever small effort they could.

He considered himself late, unlike Elder Mai, who had done so much over the years, donating towards schools and roads heaven knows how many times. Of course, he didn’t have his old friend’s financial power either.

Elder Mai asked about Jiang Dong. “When is A-Dong coming back?”

When he formally recognized his son, he hoped everyone would be present, with not a single person missing.

Jiang Xia nodded. “He should be back the day after tomorrow.”

…

In the black sedan following behind, Tan Zhiying took off her gloves as soon as she got in and tossed them into the storage compartment on the car door.

She had specifically worn gloves today so she wouldn’t have to make direct contact during handshakes.

Mai Xiaoan said, “Mommy, that woman is dressed so frumpy.”

She had disliked Jiang Xia the moment she saw her.

Mai Nianshan warned his daughter, “An-An, don’t be so rude.”

It wouldn’t matter if she talked about others that way, but if she spoke so recklessly about Jiang Xia and his adoptive father heard it, what would he think?

Tan Zhiying looked at her daughter, who was dressed in Chanel, and also cautioned her, “Your father is right. She is the biological granddaughter your grandfather worked so hard to find. Don’t throw tantrums in the future; get along with her properly. People here dress this way, but it’s not because she can’t afford better. If she wants to wear it, your grandfather can buy it for her—perhaps even more than what he buys for you.”

To put it bluntly, the comfortable life her daughter led was provided by Elder Mai. Yet, they were not Elder Mai’s biological children or grandchildren. The debt of being raised by him was already greater than the heavens. If Elder Mai wanted to give everything to his biological descendants, no one could say anything.

And the rest of the world would see it as only right!

Elder Tan also educated his granddaughter: “Your mother is right. If her father hadn’t been separated from your grandfather, then she would be the one wearing your clothes and living the life you live now. We wouldn’t even know where you would be. An-An, remember, you are one family now. She is your elder sister. You must treat her the same way you treat Jinping.”

Mai Xiaoan said nothing more, but she pouted, unconvinced. She felt the woman had likely seen how rich her grandfather was and deliberately approached him while he was searching for family! He hadn’t found the person for so many years, so how could it be such a coincidence to meet at a station? It sounded like a conspiracy!

Mai Jinping glanced at his sister and patted her shoulder.

He understood her. She was the little princess of the family, and her grandfather usually doted on her the most. Now, Jiang Xia was constantly on their grandfather’s lips, and all he thought about was reclaiming his biological son.

It was only natural for his sister to feel unhappy and resentful.

Chapter 719: Feeling Frustrated

Jiang Xia led Elder Mai and the others to the Friendship Mountain Treasure Pavilion. Zhou Chenglei had already arrived and was waiting outside the door.

Seeing the cars approach, he stepped forward to meet them.

As the group got out of the vehicles, Elder Mai introduced Zhou Chenglei to everyone with a smile.

This was followed by another round of greetings and handshakes.

After the pleasantries, Zhou Chenglei said, “The private room is reserved, and the food is ready to be served. Let’s head inside. Please!”

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei accompanied Elder Mai, Elder Xu, and Elder Tan at the very front.

Mai Nianshan, Tan Zhiying, and Mother Tan walked in the middle.

As they passed a trash can, Tan Zhiying pulled off her gloves and tossed them into the bin when she thought no one was looking.

The two siblings, Mai Jinping and Mai Xiaoan, walked at the very back.

Mai Xiaoan covered her nose and whispered to her brother, “Do you smell that fishy odor?”

She knew her mother had several pairs of gloves in her bag. Although her mother didn’t say anything, she was clearly repulsed by the other party in her heart as well.

Mai Jinping replied calmly, “This is a restaurant; a fishy smell is perfectly normal.”

Mai Jinping knew what his sister wanted to say. Their grandfather had mentioned that the couple had started their fortune through fishing.

Whenever their grandfather brought it up, his voice was full of pride. He said they were even more capable than he had been back in the day, claiming the couple had a natural talent for business and incredibly sharp insight.

The two siblings had never heard their grandfather praise their business acumen like that; he only ever praised their academic performance.

His sister felt slighted.

But even if she felt slighted, she had to endure it.

Their current situation was awkward; she could no longer afford to be willful.

The other person was the true rich young lady.

If she continued to be so outspoken and failed to hide her emotions, it would be troublesome if she displeased their grandfather.

It seemed that once they returned to the hotel, he would need to have a serious talk with his sister!

Mai Xiaoan grabbed Mai Jinping’s arm and whispered, “Brother, do you suspect she’s a fake? I suspect she’s approaching Grandfather on purpose.”

Mai Jinping’s eyes flickered. Of course he had his doubts.

Mai Jinping lowered his voice. “Don’t talk nonsense! If Grandfather says she is, then she is. Even if she isn’t, if Grandfather could adopt Father, he can adopt Jiang Xia. As long as Grandfather likes it, that’s all that matters, right?”

Mai Xiaoan: “…”

But could someone adopted halfway through life be the same as those raised from childhood?

Once they reached the private room, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei saw everyone to their seats.

Taking advantage of the moment everyone was settling in, Jiang Xia asked Zhou Chenglei, “Where are Dalin and the others?”

Zhou Chenglei replied, “I ordered a meal for them at a restaurant near the station. After they finish eating, they’ll take the bus straight back.”

Jiang Xia didn’t say anything else; as long as it was arranged, it was fine.

Elder Mai invited Jiang Xia to sit beside him, and Zhou Chenglei sat next to Jiang Xia.

Jiang Xia took her seat next to Elder Mai.

Tan Zhiying called out to her daughter and son, “Jinping, An-An, you are around the same age as Xiaxia and Chenglei. You should have plenty to talk about. Come sit over here.”

“Alright, I was just thinking of learning a thing or two from Sister Xiaxia and Brother Lei,” Mai Jinping said with a smile as he sat down next to Zhou Chenglei.

Mai Xiaoan was reluctant, but Mai Jinping gave her a warning look.

She listened to her brother most of all, so she had no choice but to follow. Fortunately, her brother sat between them; otherwise, she feared the fishy smell would make her faint.

She hated eating fish more than anything!

However, during the meal, Elder Mai steered the conversation toward real estate in Hong Kong and the mainland, the seafood industry, and the shipping industry. Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei were able to chime in on every topic.

The cities and specific districts that Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei favored happened to be exactly the ones Elder Mai and Elder Xu were optimistic about.

Mai Jinping could manage a few words occasionally, but compared to what Jiang Xia said, his contributions felt a bit hollow—as if they were lifted straight from a textbook.

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei didn’t say much, but their short remarks were incisive and hit the nail on the head every time.

Mai Xiaoan truly couldn’t contribute a single word.

Tan Zhiying frowned. With such a stark contrast, she suddenly wondered if the way she had raised her children was wrong.

Just having good grades wasn’t enough!

In the future, such a massive corporation would be waiting for them to inherit it.

Seeing that the couple seemed very familiar with Hong Kong, Elder Xu asked with a smile, “Have you two been to Hong Kong?”

Jiang Xia shook her head. “No, I’ve only heard about it from friends around me.”

Elder Tan, seeing his grandson being outshone by Jiang Xia, shifted the topic to the stock market.

The mainland didn’t have a stock exchange yet, so the two of them surely wouldn’t be able to answer this?

As it turned out, Jiang Xia could speak on this as well. Again, she didn’t say much, but her analysis of several stocks was absolutely professional!

Elder Xu asked curiously, “Xiaxia, do you buy stocks in Hong Kong?”

Jiang Xia nodded. “I bought some before. I had someone help me with the purchase.”

Tan Zhiying asked, “Oh? Which ones did you buy?”

Tan Zhiying also played the stock market. Recently, the overall market had been performing very poorly, but because she was well-informed, she had sold off early and made a significant profit!

This was her greatest point of pride. Even her father-in-law had praised her timing for both buying and selling.

Jiang Xia named the stocks.

Hearing them, Tan Zhiying smiled and said, “What a coincidence! I bought the same ones. However, they are dropping quite heavily now. When did you buy in, and have you sold them yet?”

“I sold them.” Jiang Xia mentioned two specific price points.

Tan Zhiying: “…”

Elder Xu’s eyes widened. “Then you bought in at the absolute lowest point and sold at the peak! You’re even better than Zhiying! This is true high-selling and low-buying! A master! A true master!”

Tan Zhiying: “…”

…

The meal lasted until after three in the afternoon, leaving the family of four feeling quite frustrated!

There wasn’t enough time to go out to sea anymore, so they could only wait until tomorrow.

As the group left the restaurant, Elder Mai accidentally spotted the gloves in the trash can. Zhou Chenglei saw them too.

Tan Zhiying was walking behind Elder Mai and saw that he had noticed!

She: “…”

If she had known, she wouldn’t have been so quick to throw them away!

Outside the restaurant, Jiang Xia set a time to meet them tomorrow. After seeing them back to their residential area, she and Zhou Chenglei went home.

Elder Mai owned a house in this city.

That evening, after Jiang Xia finished her shower, she sat on the bed playing with the children and humming to them to get them to sleep. Zhou Chenglei was in the bathroom showering.

The little sister somehow managed to pull the jade safety buckle hanging around her neck and put it into her mouth. Jiang Xia pulled her hand away, shook her finger, and scolded gently, “You can’t put things like this in your mouth, okay?”

Father Zhou had bought these safety buckles for the three children, one for each of them. He said jade could protect them and calm their nerves.

The little sister just looked at her mother, listening intently to her voice and babbling back randomly, though she didn’t actually understand a word.

Seeing this, Jiang Xia took off the safety buckle from the baby’s neck, pretended to put it in her own mouth, and mimicked the appearance of choking. How could the children understand? They thought their mother was playing with them and let out “ge-ge-ge” giggles.

Then Jiang Xia pretended to collapse beside them, motionless.

She lay down next to the little sister because the girl was the one who put everything in her mouth.

Thinking her mother was playing, the little sister rolled over and used her soft, pink little hand to touch her mother’s face, calling for her to continue playing. She didn’t quite know how to stroke yet, so her movements looked more like grabbing. She was “eeya-ing” to get her mother to keep going.

The eldest brother and the younger brother also turned their heads to watch their mother.

But Jiang Xia didn’t move.

The little girl grabbed at her mother for a long time, but her mother didn’t react. It was never like this before. Her little mouth puckered, and she began to cry.

Jiang Xia had been watching secretly and immediately started pretending to cough.

Seeing her mother move, the little sister continued to cry while reaching out to pull her mother.

Jiang Xia sat up, coughed for a while, and then pretended to spit out the safety buckle.

She said to the three children again, “See? You can’t put it in your mouth, okay? Otherwise, you’ll choke. Do you understand?”

The three children all watched their mother as she spoke. Whether they truly understood, only they knew.

Zhou Chenglei, who was showering in the bathroom, heard the child crying. He hurriedly turned off the shower, threw on his clothes, and rushed out. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing. I was teaching them not to eat random things by pretending to choke. I scared the little one.”

Zhou Chenglei: “…”

Chapter 720: Such a Sudden Surprise

Jiang Xia felt that children understood more than people gave them credit for. “Do you remember when you were making the powdered milk before? The little sister reached out to grab the kettle, and you took her small hand and let her touch the steam near the spout so she could feel how hot it was. Later, when you tried to guide her hand toward the kettle again, she pulled back. Now she doesn’t touch the kettle at all. I’m just following your lead and teaching them that way.”

“Mm.” Zhou Chenglei wiped the water droplets from his hair, went to the wardrobe to grab a dry set of clothes, and changed before returning to the bed. He sat down beside Jiang Xia, and together they looked at the three babies on the bed. “Then let’s see if the little sister still dares to try and eat this?”

Jiang Xia was just about to put the jade safety buckle back on the little sister, but hearing this, she placed the jade pendant near the baby’s mouth instead.

The little sister immediately pursed her lips and blew: “Pooh, pooh…”

Jiang Xia laughed. “See! She understands, doesn’t she?”

Zhou Chenglei smiled as well. “Mm.”

His children were certainly bright!

Jiang Xia then moved the jade pendant toward the younger brother’s mouth. The boy directly waved his hand to push it away, his little expression full of utter disdain.

It was hard to tell if he was disdainful of the jade pendant or if he was annoyed that his mother was treating him like he was silly.

Jiang Xia then held the jade pendant near the eldest brother’s mouth. The eldest brother gave his mother a look and turned his face away.

Jiang Xia felt as though she could read the resignation in the eldest brother’s eyes. “Dabao looks like he’s saying, ‘Am I really that stupid?’”

Zhou Chenglei Chuckled. “Mm.”

Jiang Xia leaned down and kissed the eldest brother. “What a smart baby.”

Seeing this, the little sister and the younger brother immediately waved their hands, “eeya-ing” loudly.

They wanted kisses from Mama too.

Jiang Xia kissed them both as well!

This coaxed the two babies into satisfying fits of “giggle, giggle” laughter.

The laughter of children at this age was truly the most beautiful sound.

Jiang Xia never tired of hearing it and continued to play with them.

After a while, seeing that Jiang Xia and the children were completely lost in their play, Zhou Chenglei took out the watch from under the pillow and checked the time. It was eight-thirty!

“It’s time for sleep.”

Jiang Xia stopped and asked with a smile, “What time is it?”

“Nearly nine.”

“So fast?”

Then it really was time to sleep.

“Mm.” There were only thirty minutes until nine o’clock; he wasn’t wrong.

Zhou Chenglei picked up the eldest brother to help him urinate, then came back to do the same for the younger brother.

Meanwhile, Jiang Xia helped the eldest brother put on a clean diaper.

Once all three children had finished their business and were tucked into their diapers, Jiang Xia lay down directly beside the children. “Time for sleep!”

Zhou Chenglei turned off the light and lay down on the other side of the children.

The couple lay on either side of the babies, gently patting the three of them.

With Mom and Dad there to accompany and soothe them, the three babies fell asleep very quickly.

This ability to fall asleep in seconds was likely something the three of them had inherited from Jiang Xia.

Once the children were sound asleep, Zhou Chenglei got up and carried them over to the small bed.

The previous crib was no longer large enough, so it had been replaced with a small bed.

Zhou Chenglei pulled the light blue floral curtain over the bed’s guardrail and let down the mosquito net.

This served to keep out mosquitoes and drafts, while also blocking the view.

Zhou Chenglei switched off the light.

The moonlight tonight was exceptionally bright, spilling through the window onto the children’s small bed and the dressing table.

The room was bathed in light.

Jiang Xia had never seen moonlight this bright back in the modern era, likely because modern cities had too much artificial light.

Zhou Chenglei pulled the window curtains shut as well, blocking out the moonlight before returning to the bed.

…

On a deep winter morning, the morning light leaked through the gaps in the curtains. The three babies were “eeya-ing” in their small bed, announcing to their parents that they were awake.

However, they weren’t crying. The three babies were on the bed playing with their toes or their fingers, “chirping” away as if talking to one another.

The sound of rushing water came from the bathroom.

Jiang Xia was exhausted and sleeping soundly.

Soon, the sound of water in the bathroom stopped.

The man walked out, covered in a light mist of steam, looking refreshed and invigorated.

Jiang Xia was still asleep.

Last night, he hadn’t shown much restraint; it had happened more times and lasted longer than usual, and they had even gone for another round this morning.

She hadn’t had much sleep.

Through the mosquito net, the little sister saw her father come out. Her chubby little hand played with her pink little toes, and her mouth kept emitting sounds:

“Baba, baba…”

A series of sounds resembling “Papa” spilled from her mouth, sounding like heavenly music!

Zhou Chenglei’s footsteps halted. He looked at the child in the small bed in surprise.

“Baba, baba…” the little sister continued to cry out.

In her daze, Jiang Xia suddenly leapt up from the bed, flung back the covers, and rushed over.

The little sister was still playing with her upturned big toe. “Baba, baba…”

It was like she was singing.

Jiang Xia rushed to Zhou Chenglei’s side and asked in a pleasant surprise, “Is the little sister calling for Papa?”

Zhou Chenglei reached out a long arm, grabbed a coat from the clothes rack, and draped it over Jiang Xia’s shoulders. “I don’t know, she’s probably just singing.”

He had initially thought she was calling him too, but since the little sister kept repeating it, he wasn’t sure.

Jiang Xia smiled. “I bet she’ll be able to call for Papa very soon.”

Jiang Xia pulled back the mosquito net, leaned in, and said to the little sister, “Little Bao, say Mama. Ma-ma, ma-ma…”

Seeing her mother peak in, the little sister stomped her foot in excitement and let out a laugh.

The bedboard even made a “thumping” sound.

Jiang Xia: “Mama, mama…”

Little Sister: “Baba…”

Jiang Xia: “It’s Mama. Look at Mama’s mouth. Mama”

Little Sister: “Baba~”

Jiang Xia: “…”

Fine, she would take it slow!

The pronunciation for “Mama” was indeed a bit harder than “Papa.”

Just as Jiang Xia was about to give up and affectionately pat the three little heads before going to wash up, the eldest brother grabbed his mother’s hand. “Mama.”

Jiang Xia: “…”

The surprise had come so suddenly!

Jiang Xia scooped the eldest brother up. “Is Dabao calling Mama? Say it again, Mama.”

Eldest Brother: “Mama~”

Jiang Xia then pointed toward Zhou Chenglei. “What about Papa? Can you say Papa? Papa, papa…”

Zhou Chenglei looked at his eldest son expectantly.

The eldest brother glanced at his father. “Ba-ba~”

The couple both laughed!

Jiang Xia was happier than when she had earned a million at the Canton Fair!

Jiang Xia gave the eldest brother a forceful kiss.

After being kissed by his mother, the eldest brother smiled and buried his head in her neck. Then, noticing many red marks on his mother’s neck, he even reached out a tiny finger to scratch at them.

Zhou Chenglei: “…”

In the future, he would try his best not to leave marks above the collarline. It would be awkward if the day came when the children could speak and asked what those were.

On the bed, the little sister saw her mother kissing her brother and began waving her limbs urgently. “Ma… mua~, baba…”

Jiang Xia was even more pleasantly surprised. “Little Bao can say it too?”

Zhou Chenglei reached out and picked up his daughter, who was desperate for a kiss, and gave her one.

Seeing that his brother and sister were both calling for Mama and getting rewards, the younger brother dropped the toy in his hand, reached out, and followed suit. “Mamama~, bababa…”

“Wow, the younger brother can call for Papa and Mama too? That’s amazing!” Jiang Xia laughed and handed the eldest brother to Zhou Chenglei so she could pick up the younger brother.

The three children had always learned things at the same time, just like when they learned to flip over.

The eldest brother had learned first, and then the younger brother and little sister followed suit after seeing him.

Jiang Xia picked up the younger brother and gave him two hearty kisses!

Now satisfied, the younger brother leaned his head toward his mother’s face and gave Jiang Xia a kiss back.

After the family of five finished their celebration, they got dressed and went downstairs to spread the joy.

Zhou Chenglei carried the eldest brother and the little sister downstairs and stood before Father Zhou. “Dabao, Little Bao, call for Papa!”

Eldest Brother: “…”

He turned his head away!

Jiang Xia: “…”

The little sister was more cooperative. “Baba, baba…”

Father Zhou was in the middle of preparing the fishing gear for going out to sea today. Upon hearing this, he dropped the fishing nets in his hands and took his granddaughter from his son.

“Oh, my dear grandchild can talk now? Grandpa! Quickly, say Grandpa! Grandpa, grandpa…”

Mother Zhou also ran over and took the eldest brother. “They can talk? I spent all day yesterday teaching them! Grandma, grandma!”

Zhou Chenglei: “For now, they only know how to say Papa and Mama. Dabao, Little Bao, say Papa and Mama for Grandpa to hear. Papa, papa…”

Father Zhou: “…”

“Get the hell out of here!”

Chapter 721: Anxiety

Jiang Xia watched as Mother Zhou and Father Zhou held the eldest brother and the little sister, teaching them how to say “Grandpa” and “Grandma.” She smiled and reminded them, “You can teach the eldest first. Once the eldest brother learns, the younger brother and sister will follow suit.”

Father Zhou nodded. “True! Back when they were learning to flip over, Dabao was the first to learn it. Once Erbao and Little Bao saw their big brother do it, they followed along and learned in no time!”

With that, the two elders squeezed their heads together in front of the eldest. “Dabao, say Grandpa… Grandpa, Grandpa…”

“Grandma, Grandma, Grandma…”

Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying had also finished their exams yesterday. They were on break today, with only a final school ceremony in two days before their summer vacation officially began.

The two also crowded around, trying to teach the triplets how to say “Big Sister.”

Zhou Chenglei set the breakfast on the table and signaled for everyone to eat.

“Papa, are you going out to sea today?”

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I?” Father Zhou glanced at the time. It was only seven-fifteen, and they had agreed to head out at nine. What was the rush?

Still, Father Zhou reluctantly went to eat his breakfast. He couldn’t help but nag Mother Zhou, Zhou Zhou, and Zhou Ying to keep teaching the three little ones to say “Grandpa,” lest his three grandchildren end up learning how to say “Grandpa” last.

City Center

After waking up her son, Tan Zhiying went to wake her daughter.

“An-An, hurry up and get out of bed. We’re leaving for the fishing village soon.”

Except for school days, Mai Xiaoan usually didn’t wake up until eleven in the morning. It was only six-thirty!

She pulled the duvet over her head. “Mommy, can I please not go? That fishing boat must be dirty and smelly! I don’t want to go at all!”

When she went out to sea with her friends for fishing, they always took yachts!

If her friends ever found out she was going out on a beat-up fishing boat, she would lose all face.

Tan Zhiying said very seriously, “No! Get up now! Your brother is already awake. If you don’t want to make your grandfather angry, you’d better get up this instant.”

Normally, she would let her daughter have her way in everything, but she couldn’t now.

Mai Xiaoan felt like her life was a misery!

Elder Mai had woken up early to go for a run around the neighborhood.

He hadn’t had a habit of running before; he had only started after finding his son.

When he returned home around six-thirty, Tan Zhiying had already prepared breakfast.

His adopted son’s family was sitting in the living room, all dressed up and ready.

Tan Zhiying said with a smile, “Dad, I’ve made breakfast. We can eat now. After breakfast, we can head out to the fishing village. We’re all ready!”

Elder Mai replied, “You all eat! After my run, I saw an old-fashioned shop selling rice noodle rolls and already ate there.”

Elder Mai glanced at Tan Zhiying and Mai Xiaoan.

Both were wearing suits from Chanel and were wearing elaborate makeup.

His granddaughter even had on a rather garish beret.

This was what they called “being ready”?

Tan Zhiying: “…”

They didn’t have a cook here, so she had woken up at five-thirty to prepare that breakfast!

Elder Mai added, “You don’t need to come along today. Elder Xu and I will go ourselves.”

Tan Zhiying’s heart skipped a beat when she heard that. “Didn’t we agree to go together yesterday?”

Was it because of the pair of gloves she had thrown away?

Elder Mai said, “The fishing boat isn’t large. Besides, are you sure you won’t just be causing them trouble dressed like that?”

They found even shaking hands to be “dirty”—could they handle being on a fishing boat?

A-Lei and Xiaxia were both perceptive people. Do they think they wouldn’t notice?

He didn’t want to ruin his granddaughter and grandson-in-law’s day!

Whoever dared to make things difficult for them, he would make things difficult for that person!

He had worked so hard to find his biological son and grandchildren; he wasn’t about to let these people upset them!

Tan Zhiying: “…”

Tan Zhiying looked at her husband with an uneasy expression.

She loved this brand of clothing, so half of the items in her wardrobe were from it. This was how she usually dressed!

Mai Nianshan said, “Dad, let me go with you. I won’t feel at ease with you going out to sea alone.”

Elder Mai replied, “No need. With A-Lei and Xiaxia there, what is there to worry about? There isn’t much left to do here over the next few days. Why don’t you take your wife and children back to Hong Kong? You clearly aren’t used to staying here anyway.”

After saying that, Elder Mai went back to his room to change into some ordinary clothes and left.

“…”

The couple felt even more anxious now!

Mai Nianshan looked at his wife. “We’re going out to sea today, and you and Xiaoan dressed like this? What were you thinking?”

Tan Zhiying replied, “Weren’t you wearing a suit too? All the clothes I brought are this style. If I don’t wear this, what am I supposed to wear?”

Mai Xiaoan, however, let out a sigh of relief. It was better not to go!

Tan Zhiying frowned, her heart filled with dread.

Mai Nianshan massaged his temples. What a headache!

He had suggested bringing his wife and children over because he wanted to build a good relationship with his father’s biological son to show his sincerity.

If his father really found his biological son, there was no way he wouldn’t acknowledge him.

He hadn’t expected it to backfire and make his father unhappy!

Xiaoyucun

After Jiang Xia’s family finished breakfast and said goodbye to the children, they headed to the pier.

They didn’t need to pick up Elder Mai today; his driver was a local who knew how to get to the fishing village.

They had agreed to head out to sea at nine o’clock.

By the time Jiang Xia and the others arrived at the pier, it was only eight-thirty.

In the dead of winter, this was the perfect time for everyone to come out and buy seafood. The pier was bustling with activity.

If it were summer, the busiest time would be around seven in the morning, as the sun would be scorching by eight-thirty.

While Zhou Chenglei went to buy diesel, Father Zhou and Jiang Xia moved their things onto the boat first.

The villagers all greeted them as they passed.

“Xiaxia, you’re going out to sea today? I haven’t seen you out on the water in a long time.”

“Xiaxia just got back from university; of course you haven’t seen her go out to sea for a while.”

“Yongfu, why so late today?”

“We have guests coming today. I’m taking them out to sea, so we’re starting a bit later.”

Jiang Xia and Father Zhou responded to the villagers one by one.

Just as the two finished loading the boat, Jiang Xia saw a car driving toward the pier.

Elder Mai and his group arrived at eight-fifty.

Elder Mai was older and woke up early. He had wanted to come over much earlier, but he had Been afraid that an earlier time might interfere with the young people’s rest, so he had set it for nine.

Seeing the car, Jiang Xia and Father Zhou got off the boat to receive them.

Elder Mai and Elder Xu stepped out of the car, looking around the fishing village.

Elder Xu remarked, “It’s quite lively here.”

However, the fishing boats were all a bit small—little wooden boats. Even if they collected all the fish from the village, it wouldn’t be much.

Jiang Xia and Father Zhou stepped forward quickly. “Grandpa Mai, Grandpa Xu!”

Jiang Xia then introduced Father Zhou to them. “This is my father-in-law. Papa, these are Elder Mai and Elder Xu.”

Father Zhou smiled. “Elder Mai, Elder Xu, hello! Welcome to our fishing village!”

…

After some pleasantries, Zhou Chenglei returned from buying diesel.

The group boarded the boat together.

Neither Jiang Xia nor Zhou Chenglei asked why the others hadn’t come.

Zhou Chenglei started the engine.

Elder Mai looked around the fishing boat and said with a smile, “This is a nice boat. Is it for trawling?”

A small boat wouldn’t be stable enough, so they had specifically kept a trawler to take them out today.

Father Zhou smiled. “Yes, it’s primarily used for trawling.”

Elder Xu asked, “About how many fish can you net in a day?”

Father Zhou replied, “It depends on luck. If luck is good, we can get 500 or even 2,500 kilograms. If luck is bad, we might only get 20 or 30 kilograms.”

“How much fish does your purchase station collect daily?”

…

Father Zhou chatted with Elder Mai and Elder Xu, and before they knew it, they had reached the sea area used for sea-cage aquaculture.

Chapter 722: So Fast?

The day was clear and bright, without a single cloud in the sky.

Where the sea met the sky in a seamless blue, a few seabirds skimmed the surface, diving into the rolling waves to snatch up fish.

The ocean was a breathtakingly deep blue. Floating in the distance were two massive circular objects—deep-sea net cages.

On a nearby island stood a white stone house, built as a residence for the workers who guarded and fed the fish.

As Zhou Chenglei steered the boat closer to the net cages, two workers were busy pouring bags of bait into the enclosures.

Countless fish swarmed to the surface from the depths, competing for the food.

Seeing Zhou Chenglei and Father Zhou, the workers greeted them one after another. “Uncle Zhou, Boss, Sister-in-law! And the two veterans.”

The group responded with smiles.

Father Zhou dropped the anchor to secure the boat.

Zhou Chenglei helped Elder Mai and Elder Xu off the boat, onto the edge of the net cage. Finally, he reached back to steady Jiang Xia.

The group watched as thousands of fish broke the surface to feed.

Zhou Chenglei took a dip net and casually scooped up two fish for Elder Xu to inspect.

Both fish were roughly the same size, weighing around 400 to 450 grams each.

Elder Xu nodded in approval. “These fish look very lively, and their color is vibrant. They’re much brighter than any other farmed Red Seabream I’ve seen.”

Farmed Red Seabream usually tended to have a darker, blackish hue, which Elder Xu was well-acquainted with.

Jiang Xia smiled. “The water quality in this sea area is excellent, and there are coral reefs on the seabed. We’re also trial-farming premium species like abalone, Grouper, and Greater Amberjack down there.”

Elder Xu was genuinely surprised this time. “You’re farming abalone too?”

Jiang Xia nodded. “We’re in the trial phase, so the quantity isn’t very high yet.”

“You should expand the scale,” Elder Xu said. “I’ll take as much abalone as you can raise. The same goes for these Red Seabream. You should raise more and perhaps build more net cages for Golden Pomfret.”

“That’s the plan,” Jiang Xia replied. “After these cages successfully weathered two major typhoons last year, we ordered thirty more. They’ll be installed after the New Year.”

When they first started, they weren’t sure if it would succeed, so they hadn’t dared to order too many cages, starting with just two to gain experience. The main reason was a lack of funds back then. While a single cage wasn’t prohibitively expensive, the peripheral equipment and the cost of building a house on the island added up to a significant investment.

Now that they had some experience and the basic infrastructure was in place, it was only natural to order more cages and aim for a profitable return next year.

Elder Xu asked, “Can one cage really hold 50,000 kilograms of fish?”

“Yes.”

“That’s not bad at all.”

Thirty cages would mean an annual production of 1.5 million kilograms of fish. While that yield still wasn’t enough for his needs, he knew the aquaculture industry carried immense risks. It was wise not to overextend too quickly.

Because of this, he didn’t pressure them to install even more.

“Are these cages really able to withstand a Category 12 typhoon?”

“That’s what the specifications say. However, the typhoons last year didn’t reach Category 12, so we don’t know for sure if they can actually hold up.”

Besides, they had been lucky last year that no typhoon had made direct landfall in their area.

Next, Jiang Xia and Father Zhou took Elder Xu and Elder Mai to Abalone Island to fish.

Zhou Chenglei dove into the water to catch a Mouse Grouper, a Leopard Coral Grouper, and pry up some abalone. Their lunch would be settled right there on the island.

The small house on the island had a fully equipped kitchen.

Knowing the group was coming today, the workers had cleaned the house until it was spotless.

The house was already naturally clean, as the workers maintained their habits from their time before being discharged from the military. Their clothes and bedding were folded into perfect squares, and everything was organized with military precision.

Dust was rarer on an island than on the mainland, but they still cleaned every day, so the house looked as good as new.

Elder Mai joked, “Everyone, work hard! Whether we have a feast for lunch today depends on our luck!”

Elder Xu laughed. “Then it’s all up to you lot. I’ve never had much luck at sea when it comes to fishing. If you rely on me, we’ll probably go hungry.”

He loved seafood, especially when it was freshly caught. Whenever he had free time, he would go sea fishing, but he usually spent half a day just to catch a single fish.

Elder Mai shook his head. “I haven’t fished in many years.”

In the past, Elder Mai spent all his spare time looking for his wife and son; he hadn’t had the luxury of time to go fishing. That was a childhood memory for him.

Father Zhou reassured them, “Don’t worry, today is different. I guarantee your arms will be sore from pulling in fish!”

Elder Xu looked at Father Zhou and teased, “Do you have some secret fishing technique to teach us?”

Father Zhou chuckled. “The secret is my daughter-in-law’s incredible luck at sea! Anyone who stays near her will catch fish until their hands are weak. she brings us good fortune.”

Elder Xu: “…”

Jiang Xia: “…”

Father Zhou laughed, “Don’t believe me?”

Elder Xu smiled but said nothing.

“You’ll witness a miracle in a moment!” Father Zhou turned to Jiang Xia. “Xiao Xia, come touch Elder Mai’s and my fishing rods.”

Jiang Xia didn’t want to spoil the fun and smiled. “Alright, let me cast a little spell! Abracadabra!”

She stepped forward and touched the two elders’ fishing rods. She even touched the rods belonging to Elder Mai’s driver and Zhang Dejun, Zhou Chenglei’s former comrade.

The old men were all amused by her antics.

Father Zhou then said to Elder Mai, “The two of us will sit right next to Xiao Xia. Let Elder Xu see the power of Xiaxia’s ‘magic’!”

Elder Mai laughed, “Haha, alright.”

So, the group took their baited fishing rods and found spots to sit on a massive reef.

Jiang Xia was very skilled at casting now; with a swift motion, she sent her bait flying far out into the water.

Elder Mai was the least practiced, casting his line the closest to the shore.

Elder Xu teased, “Old Mai, with that skill level, even if Xiaxia had infinite power, she couldn’t help you!”

Elder Mai countered, “Haven’t you heard that the one closest to the water gets the fish first?”

Just as he finished speaking, Elder Mai saw his float bob.

Father Zhou saw it too and immediately shouted, “Elder Mai, you’ve got a bite!”

Elder Xu looked over, stunned. “!!”

So fast?

Elder Mai looked down and saw it was true. “Haha! Indeed, the one closest to the water gets the fish first!”

As Elder Mai went to reel it in, Father Zhou cautioned, “Wait a second, let it take the hook firmly before you pull!”

At that moment, Father Zhou felt a tug on his own line.

He exclaimed happily, “I’ve got one too!”

Jiang Xia laughed. “What a coincidence, I have a bite as well!”

The driver yelled, “I’ve got one!”

Zhang Dejun added, “Me too!”

One by one, they all started reeling in their fish.

Elder Xu: “…”

Was there a hidden pipe connecting the deep-sea net cages to the water beneath this reef?

Otherwise, how could they all get bites so quickly?

Elder Xu tugged on his own line, only to find his bait still sitting there perfectly untouched!

Elder Mai was the first to pull his fish up. It was actually a Blue-spotted Grouper, looking to be about 500 grams!

Elder Xu: “…”

This luck is just too much!

Elder Xu said sourly, “I’ve been fishing for so many years and I’ve never caught a Grouper! Let alone a Blue-spotted Grouper.”

Chapter 723: The Letter

“I told you I had a secret, but you didn’t believe me!” Father Zhou said with a chuckle. His fish had also broken the surface—it was a squid, and a very large one at that.

Elder Mai was delighted. Having a granddaughter was wonderful; she truly brought him good luck. Ever since he had met her at the train station, everything had been going smoothly.

The driver reeled in a sea eel. It was thick, even thicker than Jiang Xia’s arm.

Zhang Dejun pulled up a sea bass.

Jiang Xia felt it was becoming difficult to reel in her line. She quickly called out, “Papa! Give me a hand!”

Father Zhou hurried forward and took the fishing rod from Jiang Xia.

As the line grew shorter, a large black fish appeared in everyone’s sight.

Zhang Dejun cried out in surprise, “Sister-in-law, this fish is huge!”

The driver added, “Is this a Greater Amberjack? You actually caught a Greater Amberjack!”

The fish was struggling violently. Standing on the reefs, Father Zhou almost lost his footing.

Jiang Xia and Zhang Dejun were quick to grab him and offer support.

Then Elder Mai and the driver both stepped in to help hold the rod.

Elder Xu was still holding his own fishing rod, which had no bite yet. Seeing the crowd gathered there, he didn’t move closer. Seeing the rod bent into a steep arc, he hurriedly cautioned, “Don’t force it! Tire it out a bit more! Use a dip net to scoop it up, or the line will snap!”

Jiang Xia had already grabbed a large, long-handled dip net and ran back, handing it to Zhang Dejun.

Zhang Dejun took the net and went to scoop the fish.

The fish was still thrashing with all its might in the water.

Drawing from his years of fishing experience, Elder Xu reminded him, “Scoop from the tail, not the head!”

Zhang Dejun had been stationed on the island for nearly a year. During his night watches, his most frequent activity was fishing, so he was quite experienced.

He waited until the fish was exhausted from its struggle and had slowed down. Seizing the perfect moment, he swept the net toward its tail!

With a flick of its tail, the fish’s head slid right into the mesh bag!

Success!

He quickly hauled it up.

Elder Xu, who had been watching closely, smiled and said, “That young man is very experienced!”

Zhang Dejun laughed and replied, “My brothers and I have nothing to do at night, so we fish here.”

Their boss was generous. During the day, after they finished feeding the fish and had some free time, he let them take the small wooden boat out to fish for their own profit.

Then at night, they would fish from the shore.

Now that their boss was renting a house for them in the city, none of them wanted to go back except on typhoon days.

By staying here, the brothers could fish and chat together.

The fish they caught could be kept in the sea overnight and sold the next day for some extra money.

Each of them could now earn several hundred yuan a month just from fishing, and that wasn’t even counting the wages their boss paid them.

Life was truly full of hope now!

Being strong, Zhang Dejun hauled the large Greater Amberjack up by himself.

Father Zhou said with a smile, “This fish must weigh over 15 kg.”

Zhang Dejun agreed, “Definitely. It might even be 20 kg. I’ve been fishing here for a year and I’ve never caught one this big.”

Elder Xu added, “I go out to sea to fish often, and even I haven’t caught one like this.”

Father Zhou boasted proudly, “I catch them often. Maybe you guys will catch one today too. Carry on, carry on!”

Elder Mai baited his hook again and cast it out. This time, he finally managed to throw it a bit further.

He asked his friend, “You’re so busy watching us, do you have a fish on your hook yet? Don’t let us catch a second one while you haven’t even caught one!”

Elder Xu retorted, “Don’t get cocky! That’s absolutely impossible! Usually, people who fish for the first time have incredible beginner’s luck. The second catch isn’t a guarantee. Now that I have some experience, I’ll definitely be faster than you!”

They had just been lucky a moment ago!

Elder Mai teased, “Have you been spending too much time in the casinos over in Macao? I’ve heard of beginner’s luck in gambling, but in fishing? It’s not like I didn’t fish when I was a kid. I remember the first time I went fishing, I didn’t even catch a single minnow!”

“Believe it or not!”

Elder Mai replied, ” I really don’t believe it! Wait, I think I have another fish on the hook!”

Elder Xu: “……”

“Brother Zhou, look! Is that another fish?”

Father Zhou glanced over, “Yes! I have one too!”

Zhang Dejun joined in, “So do I!”

Jiang Xia added, “Me too!”

Elder Xu: “……”

Elder Mai asked, “Old Xu, what about yours?”

Elder Xu: “……”

He had nothing!

Were the fish in this sea being raised by them?

How could they be caught so easily?

Elder Xu said gloomily, “I suspect A-Lei is underwater helping you hook the fish! Or maybe your hooks lead directly into the net cages below!”

The group burst into laughter.

Elder Mai said, “You’re just making excuses because you can’t keep up! Brother Zhou shared his secret with you, but you didn’t believe him!”

Elder Xu muttered, “…I just don’t believe it. You won’t be that lucky for the next round! You probably just happened to catch them when they came out to feed because they were hungry.”

Father Zhou countered, “What kind of fish comes out to feed in the middle of the day? Fish prefer to feed at night and in the early morning.”

One by one, they pulled their catches in.

This time, Jiang Xia caught a large squid, which was very easy to bring up.

Father Zhou caught a large mud crab. “Not bad, this crab is nourishing. Xiao Xia, I’ll give this to you later! You love eating crab.”

“Thank you, Papa.”

The driver caught another sea bass.

Father Zhou asked with a smile, “Do you have a personal grudge against sea bass?”

The driver unhooked the fish and dropped it into a bucket to keep it alive, smiling helplessly. “Probably, but I’d much rather catch a big fish!”

Elder Xu said gloomily, “Be happy you have a fish at all! Don’t be picky! Big fish aren’t that easy to catch.”

Elder Mai hadn’t reeled his in yet. “I feel like I’ve caught a big one this time!”

Elder Xu: “……”

Was today specifically designed to embarrass him?

But Elder Mai really had caught a large fish!

As the line was reeled in, everyone saw that it was indeed a big fish!

A large Spanish Mackerel!

Spanish Mackerel bite the hook fiercely.

Fearing that Elder Mai lacked the experience and might be pulled into the sea by the fish, Father Zhou hurried over to help.

The driver also quickly grabbed the rod.

Zhang Dejun picked up the dip net he had just set down.

Just like before, they let the Spanish Mackerel struggle in the sea for a while. Once it was tired and stopped moving, Zhang Dejun saw his chance and scooped it up with the net!

He laughed, “This Spanish Mackerel is over 10 kg!”

He stepped on the fish’s head to remove the hook.

Father Zhou remarked, “This is a blue-spotted Spanish mackerel. These are delicious.”

Jiang Xia said, “We’ll pan-fry it for lunch.”

“Keep going! Keep going!” Elder Mai was truly in high spirits now. One fish after another was being caught; everyone was excited!

After baiting his hook, Elder Mai asked Elder Xu, “Old Xu, do you believe I’ll be faster than you again this time?”

Elder Xu: “……”

This time, Elder Xu had no choice but to believe. “Xiaxia, come here! Transfer some of your magic power to my rod. Actually, forget it! I’m swapping rods and spots with you!”

It had to be because he hadn’t chosen a good spot!

Jiang Xia walked over with a smile, took the fishing rod from his hand, and gave him hers.

Father Zhou laughed. “The rod and the spot don’t matter. Xiaxia could catch a big fish even with a bamboo pole! Believe it or not, within five minutes of taking your rod, she’ll have a bite?”

Elder Xu sighed, “I believe it. How could I not?”

Because he could already see Jiang Xia starting to reel in the line!

However, he felt that this fish was actually his catch!

If he had just held on for a few more seconds, he would have caught it!

Chapter 724: This Once, and Only This Once

This time, Jiang Xia had reeled in an Emperor Star Grouper!

Father Zhou exclaimed, “My god! My God of Wealth! You’ve caught an Emperor Star Grouper!”

It was an incredibly rare species of grouper.

It was also quite beautiful.

This fish was even rarer than the Leopard Coral Grouper. While Father Zhou could catch a few Leopard Coral Groupers every year, the Emperor Star Grouper was truly a rare sight. One might only see it once or twice a year at the pier.

Rarity made things precious, so this fish sold for even more than the Leopard Coral Grouper.

Father Zhou had heard that this fish tasted even better than the Leopard Coral Grouper. He had never eaten one himself, but many years ago, he had caught one and sold it for over one yuan. He and his wife had been quietly celebrating that for a whole month.

Back then, they were so poor it was deafening, raising so many children. Whenever they caught a decent fish, they sold it, leaving only the cheapest, unwanted fish for themselves. It wasn’t like now, where they had three or four different meat and vegetable dishes every day. Now they could eat large mouthfuls of meat without having to specifically pick out the fish heads, tails, and fins while claiming they preferred them just to save the meat for the children.

Elder Xu said shamelessly, “See! Even though I waited a bit, I caught an Emperor Star Grouper. I’ve completely outdone you all!”

Elder Mai shot him down without mercy. “Don’t try to pat your own back. Did you catch it? Xiaxia caught it.”

Elder Xu replied with a thick skin, “I think the fish had just hooked itself when Xiaxia took over!”

Elder Mai asked, “Do you have no shame at all?”

Elder Xu replied, “I’ve never had such a thing.”

Everyone was amused by him.

Elder Xu continued to spout his life philosophy: “What do you need a ‘face’ for? You can only make big money if you’re thick-skinned and shameless!”

Elder Mai retorted, “No wonder you’re so rich; you earned it all by being shameless!”

The group laughed again!

Elder Xu said, “Back in the day when Elder Mai and I smuggled ourselves into Hong Kong, it was by being shameless that we survived and made money. To be honest, Elder Mai is richer than I am, so he’s even more shameless! You guys just don’t know!”

Elder Mai delivered a precision strike: “I am richer than you because I don’t have a wife to support, so I have nowhere to spend my money. You have homes in every corner of the world. If you added up your wives and children, you could form a whole company to fight a war! How can I compare to a philandering ‘flower-heart’ radish like you?”

Elder Xu: “…”

“Haha…”

“Haha…”

Everyone couldn’t help but laugh!

After Father Zhou finished laughing, he looked at the sea and immediately reminded Elder Xu, “Boss Xu, you have a fish on the hook!”

Elder Xu focused his eyes:

It really was true!

Finally, a fish was biting!

Elder Mai also took a look. “Changing to Xiaxia’s fishing rod really made a difference. You’ve finally made a sale!”

“Yes, yes, yes! A business that makes no sale for three years, but one sale supports it for three. I reckon I’ll be faster than all of you from here on out. Just you wait! My title as the King of Fish wasn’t earned for nothing.” Elder Xu happily pulled the fish up.

It was a yellowish-brown fish with blue stripes—a Blackspot Tuskfish.

Elder Xu’s eyes lit up when he saw it.

One of the four legendary fish of Hong Kong—the “Pig-toothed” Blackspot Tuskfish!

Its most prominent feature, aside from its unique color, was its set of buckteeth that resembled a wild boar’s tusks. It likely got its nickname from that.

Elder Xu said excitedly, “This fish is delicious! The head is especially good!”

Father Zhou smiled. “This fish is indeed tasty. The jaw is the best part. The meat is so tender it melts as soon as you press it with your tongue.”

Elder Mai added, “Good luck. You caught one of your favorite fish.”

“The quality of fish in this sea area is quite good!”

Whether it was the Emperor Star Grouper or the Blackspot Tuskfish, neither were common. They were usually more abundant in the fertile waters of Xisha.

Father Zhou said with a hint of pride, “Of course!”

This was Fuhai—the Sea of Fortune! Could a sea area leased by Wealth-bringer be anything but excellent?

Jiang Xia cast her bait out. “It’s likely because there’s coral on the seabed that attracted these two species.”

Elder Mai’s excited voice rang out again: “I’ve got another one!”

Father Zhou: “I do too!”

While the two were busy reeling in their fish, the driver and Zhang Dejun also began to get bites one after another.

By the time they had all reeled in their catches, Jiang Xia had another fish on the hook.

It was one after another, an endless stream!

By the time Zhou Chenglei and his two comrades returned from prying abalone off the seabed and brought the boat back, everyone on deck had already caught a full net cage of fish, which were kept alive in the water!

One of the comrades looked at their haul with a face of disbelief. “Were these all caught with fishing rods?”

It had only been half an hour, right? Even casting a net might not catch this many fish!

Zhang Dejun nodded frantically. “The fish today seem like they haven’t eaten for a year! As soon as the bait hits the water, they bite in less than a minute! Less than a minute! It’s like they’re fighting for the hook! Look, another one’s on! Holy crap! It’s a big one!”

Father Zhou also said excitedly, “I’ve got one too!”

Elder Mai: “Haha! Me too!”

The two comrades immediately said, “We’re fishing too!”

The two moved quickly to put the harvested seafood into the kitchen.

Zhou Chenglei didn’t see Jiang Xia on deck, so he guessed she was in the kitchen preparing lunch. He carried a mesh bag of abalone toward the kitchen.

Upon entering, he found Jiang Xia and Elder Xu busy at work.

Elder Xu was processing a Greater Amberjack. He planned to make sashimi. A freshly caught, live Greater Amberjack made for exquisite sashimi—so fresh it would make one’s tongue melt. Even high-end restaurants couldn’t offer Greater Amberjack sashimi this fresh. After all, the Greater Amberjack in high-end restaurants was usually flash-frozen on fishing boats and then transported. No matter how much they boasted about flash-freezing technology, it could never beat a bite of something still living moments ago.

Elder Xu insisted on handling all the fish himself. Jiang Xia, who was usually the head chef, had been relegated to an assistant.

Elder Xu was a true foodie. He wasn’t like Elder Mai, who had spent his entire life’s free time searching for his wife and child, working hard just so his group could become world-renowned in hopes his wife would see him. Aside from his work, Elder Xu lived to enjoy life and food, so his culinary skills were excellent.

Because of this, although they were the same age, Elder Xu looked much younger. Elder Mai’s hair was half-white, making him look about ten years older than Elder Xu.

Zhou Chenglei set the abalone down. “How do you want to eat the abalone? Steamed or braised with chicken? I’ll process them.”

Jiang Xia told him, “We’re having seafood hotpot for lunch.”

Elder Xu added, “Just clean the abalone, remove the innards, and scrub them. Leave the rest to me.”

Jiang Xia smiled. “Grandpa Mai said Elder Xu is a master chef. The signature dishes in his restaurants and hotels were all developed by him.”

Elder Xu laughed. “Don’t listen to his bragging. He’s actually the better cook. When we first arrived in Hong Kong, we started out as cooks.”

Elder Mai had wanted to help earlier, but Elder Xu hadn’t let him, deliberately saying some disparaging things to keep him away. Who told him to be so pitiful? The man hadn’t relaxed like this in his entire life! Elder Xu couldn’t remember how many years it had been since he’d seen such a relaxed smile on his old friend’s face—he was even in the mood to joke around.

Just then, Elder Mai’s excited voice came from outside again: “A big fish! I’ve hooked a big fish! Someone come help, I’m not strong enough!”

“Whoa! Elder Mai, you’ve hooked a Giant Grouper!”

“Careful, slow down, relax! Don’t let it get away!”

Elder Xu suddenly regretted being in the kitchen!

If he had known, he would have let Elder Mai do the cooking! After all, letting him cook would also be a way for him to spend more time with his granddaughter. Why did he stop him?

Hmph!

This once, and only this once!

Chapter 725: Feeling Swindled

Lunch today was incredibly lavish. In addition to the rich assortment of seafood hotpot ingredients—paper-thin slices of abalone, lobster meat, Emperor Star Grouper fillets, sea bass fillets, various sea shrimp, squid rings, oysters, and chicken—there was also a variety of vegetables.

Elder Xu had also prepared Greater Amberjack sashimi and a shrimp and crab porridge.

The seven of them ate until they were completely stuffed.

After lunch, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei took Elder Mai and the others away from the island to the nearby sea area to check on the mussels they were farming.

As the tide began to recede, the tops of the wooden stakes across dozens of mu were exposed, covered in mussels.

Zhou Chenglei steered the boat closer so they could see the mussels beneath the water’s surface.

Elder Xu took a look. “The size isn’t quite there yet. The shells need to be at least five or six centimeters long before the price really goes up. Most of these are still a bit small. Let them grow for another six months; there’s no rush. However, if you don’t mind the trouble, you could pick out the larger ones to sell.”

Elder Xu knew that mussels farmed this way were usually harvested by taking down the entire wooden stake and selling all the mussels together, which saved time and labor costs.

Picking out only the large ones to sell was tedious, especially since they were submerged in water. It was only convenient to harvest them during low tide, and picking them one by one by hand was very troublesome and would incur significant labor costs.

However, wages in the mainland were currently extremely low; people were willing to work for 1.50 yuan a day.

Furthermore, these mussels were an introduced species from overseas, and there wasn’t much farming of them domestically yet. This meant that even if labor was expensive, there was still a profit to be made—which was why Elder Xu made the suggestion.

“The price during the Lunar New Year will definitely be higher than usual. Mussels of this size are considered medium-sized, and the purchase price could probably reach one Hong Kong dollar per jin.” Elder Xu had already tasted these mussels. “Though they aren’t huge, the variety you’re farming has thin shells and delicious meat. They’re quite plump, with a soft yet bouncy texture, a fresh oceanic flavor, and a natural sweetness. They’re not inferior at all to the ones I’ve eaten abroad. They will definitely sell well.”

Zhou Chenglei had also been thinking about harvesting a batch of the larger mussels to sell in time for the New Year.

Firstly, it would bring in a sum of money. Secondly, removing the larger ones would free up space for the smaller ones to continue growing.

The wooden stakes were currently densely packed with mussels, leaving the smaller ones with no room to expand.

The people in the village weren’t afraid of hard work; they were only afraid of having no way to make money.

One yuan per jin was definitely not a low price. Since these things were sold with their shells, they would weigh heavily on the scale.

Zhou Chenglei said, “We’ll harvest a batch to sell before the New Year.”

Elder Xu nodded. “Fine. When the time comes, just transport them to Hong Kong along with those Red Red Seabream. Any high-quality fish you have in your underwater net cages can be sent over together. We’ll negotiate the price based on the market rate at that time. Rest assured, we definitely won’t cheat you. I won’t let you lose out—I’d rather let Old Mai take a loss than you.”

Elder Mai rolled his eyes at him!

Jiang Xia smiled and said, “We trust Grandpa Xu completely.”

After looking at the mussels, everyone returned to Jiang Xia’s house.

This was Elder Mai’s first time visiting Jiang Xia’s home. He looked around the house and was quite satisfied with the furnishings.

Given the economic level of the mainland, his granddaughter was essentially living in a “mansion.”

Elder Mai and Elder Xu stayed for dinner at Jiang Xia’s house before leaving.

The two elders, along with Father Zhou, took the triplets for a walk to see the whole village and the pier.

Zhou Chenglei, Mother Zhou, and Jiang Xia stayed home to prepare dinner, and Tian Caihua came over to help.

Tian Caihua had seen Elder Mai and the others arrive in a sedan and had been dying to find out who they were. Countless villagers had approached her today asking about them.

“Xiao Xia, are Elder Mai and Elder Xu big bosses from Hong Kong? I heard them mention Hong Kong earlier. They came from there, didn’t they?”

“Yes.”

“Really?! You’re amazing! You even know big bosses from Hong Kong.”

Jiang Xia didn’t respond to that.

Tian Caihua didn’t mind and continued, “How did you meet them? I feel like they’re especially warm toward you. Are they relatives from your side of the family?”

“No, I helped Elder Mai out once. We met at the Canton Fair.”

“What are they here for? You took them out to sea first thing this morning. Was it to look at the fish in the net cages? Are those Red Seabream going to be sold to Hong Kong in the future?”

Since it was only a matter of ten days or so, Jiang Xia didn’t hide it. “That is the plan.”

Tian Caihua couldn’t help but feel envious again. “Selling those fish to Hong Kong must be much more expensive than selling them here in the city, right?”

“The price will be a bit higher.” Jiang Xia added, “The fish in the underwater net cages and the mussels will also be harvested and sold to Hong Kong then. Big Sister-in-law, remember to find people to help with the harvest in advance. Start harvesting around the twenty-eighth or twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month.”

They needed to be transported to the Hong Kong pier before four o’clock on the morning of New Year’s Eve.

Tian Caihua’s eyes lit up at this. “The mussels are going to Hong Kong too? How much can they sell for per jin?”

Jiang Xia replied, “I don’t know for sure yet. I estimate around one yuan per jin, though it might be ten or twenty fen lower.”

“One yuan per jin?!” Tian Caihua shrieked.

“That’s just an estimate! You know the purchase price for seafood changes every day. Don’t get your hopes up too high. It depends on how many mussels are in the market that day.”

“I know, I understand! How could I not know? I thought being able to sell them for 0.50 yuan per jin would already be great! We’re going to be rich! We’re going to be rich!”

Those mussels were weighed with their shells; it only took sixteen or seventeen mussels to make a jin.

Tian Caihua quickly did the division Jiang Xia had taught her.

That meant a single mussel could sell for six fen!

Tian Caihua suddenly felt like vomiting up all the mussels she had eaten recently and putting them back on the wooden stakes!

She had been eating six fen with every bite!

How many “six fen” pieces had she eaten over the last few days?

Such a spendthrift!

At dinner, as Elder Xu looked at the exquisitely plated dishes, he realized he had encountered a master!

Especially the Red Cornetfish sashimi—one look at the knife work told him her skill level was higher than his own.

He looked at Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei. “Did you two make these dishes?”

Zhou Chenglei said, “My wife made them; I just assisted.”

Elder Xu: “…”

He felt like he had been swindled!

He shouldn’t have bothered cooking at noon; he should have gone fishing!

“Xiaxia, why didn’t you say you knew how to cook?”

Jiang Xia looked innocent. “I did say it! Didn’t I tell you to just let me know how you wanted it done and I’d do it? I even said I should be able to make anything. It’s just that Grandpa Xu didn’t believe me!”

Elder Xu: “…”

On the way back, Elder Mai and the driver were excitedly discussing how many fish they had caught today and how delicious they were!

Elder Mai praised Jiang Xia’s excellent cooking, saying she had inherited his talent.

Elder Xu felt bitter. “That’s right, she even inherited your habit of playing the fool to outsmart others!”

He had missed out on at least dozens of fish today!

To prepare that lunch, how many Emperor Star Groupers and Giant Groupers had he missed out on!

Elder Mai snapped, “Stop using the name Xu; you should change your name to ‘Blame’! You didn’t believe her and insisted on doing it yourself, and now you’re blaming others!”

Chapter 726: Good News

After Elder Mai and Elder Xu left, Jiang Xia cleaned up while asking Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying, “Do you want to go to the capital right after the closing ceremony, or wait until the fifth or sixth day of the New Year?”

Zhou Ying immediately said, “Let’s go when school breaks!”

She couldn’t wait!

Zhou Zhou asked, “Is there a difference? Which time is more convenient for Auntie?”

Zhou Zhou always considered things more deeply when answering these kinds of questions; she was a very considerate child.

Jiang Xia chuckled, “Either time is convenient for Auntie, it’s up to you. If you go before the New Year, you can only play for three days before coming back. If you go after the New Year, you can stay until school starts.”

They didn’t know when school would start, but based on previous years’ experience, it was usually the twelfth day of the New Year or after the Lantern Festival.

That meant they could play in the capital for many days, right?

Zhou Ying immediately changed her mind, “Let’s go after the New Year!”

Anyway, it was a lot of fun in the village before the New Year.

At that time, people from several villages would pull a large net in the sea, which was very lively.

And before the New Year, every household would make rice cakes, cloud slice cakes, tea fruit, deep-fried oil dumplings, sugar rings, oil puffs… in short, a lot of delicious food.

She had already agreed with her little friends in the village that when it was their family’s turn to make delicious food, she would go to their house to eat!

Every day, she could go to different friends’ houses to eat.

Zhou Zhou heard this and said, “Then let’s go after the New Year.”

Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengsen were washing dishes. “Second Brother, when are you going to visit Comrade Ruan Tang’s family?”

Zhou Chengsen replied, “I’ll accompany her back to the capital on the twenty-eighth day of the year, and visit them then.”

Although Ruan Tang disagreed, Zhou Chengsen knew she was worried that her family would make things difficult for him.

But Zhou Chengsen wasn’t afraid of being challenged; if they did, it would be because they loved Ruan Tang dearly.

Compared to any potential difficulties, he cared more about her feelings. Since she thought of him so much, he wouldn’t allow himself to fall short in any way.

Moreover, Ruan Tang’s marriage report would probably not be approved so quickly.

Besides applying for a marriage report, they also needed to apply for a relationship report.

And they could only apply for a marriage report after being in a relationship for more than six months.

If he didn’t visit her parents soon, would they have to secretly date for more than half a year? He couldn’t do such a thing.

Zhou Chenglei nodded, offering no opinion.

Zhou Chengsen then added, “Please help me collect those mussels when the time comes. I probably won’t be back until New Year’s Eve.”

Zhou Chenglei replied, “No problem.”

Normally, when he was in the capital, Second Brother and Big Brother handled everything for him at the fishery and factory here. Now, he was just helping with a small favor.

The next day, Zhou Chengsen returned to his government unit for work. As soon as he sat down in his office, someone came looking for him.

Seeing the visitor, he stood up in surprise, “Elder Mai, why are you here?”

Elder Mai smiled, “I plan to fund the construction of a road from your village pier to the city, expand your village’s pier, and donate two elementary school teaching buildings, as well as establish a middle school.”

Of course, that road wasn’t strictly from the village pier to the city; accurately speaking, it was from his granddaughter’s doorstep to the city.

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

At ten in the morning, Village Head Zhou Bingqiang received a message from the production brigade, instructing him to lead the villagers in cleaning up the village’s hygiene, ensuring there were no fruit peels or rubbish everywhere, to welcome a big owner from Hong Kong who was coming to donate money for road and school construction.

As soon as Zhou Bingqiang received the notice from the production brigade, he excitedly ran home to get his gong.

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife asked, “What are you doing with the gong? Does the production brigade have more news for everyone?”

Zhou Bingqiang excitedly said, “A big owner from Hong Kong is coming to our village to build roads and expand the pier, and also to donate money to build an elementary school and a middle school! I’m going to notify the villagers right away to clean up the pier and the small paths in the village, so that the owner doesn’t see our dirty village and get scared away!”

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife was surprised when she heard this. “Why would a Hong Kong owner come to our village to build roads? Do they have too much money to spend?”

Her first thought was: who is this spendthrift doing such a foolish thing? Are they rich and naive?

Zhou Bingqiang said, “Big owners from Hong Kong love to come back to the mainland to build roads and schools; they are doing good deeds! What do you know? Hurry up and grab a broom and go clean up the pier! Don’t let the pier smell of fish or dead fish!”

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife retorted, “I’m busy! You use the gong and drum to notify others to clean up!”

Zhou Bingqiang insisted, “I’m the village head, and you’re my wife. Don’t you need to take the lead?”

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife pursed her lips, “So what if I’m the village head’s wife? I don’t get a share of the good things, but I have to take the lead in exhausting work! Don’t bother me, if you want to do it, do it yourself! I’m busy!”

Zhou Bingqiang was furious at her lack of ambition, “I say you have long hair and short sight, but you won’t admit it! Do you know what benefits we’ll get if that big owner really comes to our village to build roads, a pier, and donate schools?”

“What benefits?”

Zhou Bingqiang whispered, “This counts as a political achievement for me as village head! If it really succeeds, how much more will the villagers respect me in the future? Maybe I can even get promoted to a cadre in the town!”

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife hadn’t realized there were such benefits. She spun around looking for a broom, “I’ll go sweep now! I’ll call others to clean, and make sure it’s spotless! Not a single leaf! You hurry up and take the gong and drum to tell everyone else too!”

Seeing that she understood, Zhou Bingqiang also quickly grabbed his gong and ran out, banging it as he went, “Attention, all villagers! We have big news! Good news to announce! There’s a Hong Kong owner…”

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife found a large broom, one made of bamboo.

She grabbed the broom and a bamboo tray and ran out. As she passed Jiang Xia’s house, she saw Mother Zhou sitting there feeding the triplets. She walked into the yard and said, “Yongfu’s wife, it’s time to sweep the streets! Bingqiang found a Hong Kong owner to build roads, a pier, and schools in our village. That big owner will be here this afternoon for inspection, so everyone in the village needs to go clean the pier and the main streets! You hurry up and go too!”

Mother Zhou had already heard Zhou Bingqiang’s words. This was good news, and she should have participated, but her husband and A-Lei were out at sea, and Jiang Xia was at the factory. How could she, with children to watch, have the time?

“I’m with my grandsons now, so I don’t have time to clean the pier. Later, I’ll sweep the small path near our doorstep.”

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife said, “Who doesn’t have grandsons to watch? You’re not the only grandmother! I’m telling you! This is a huge good deed! A great good deed that benefits the villagers! It was my man who finally convinced that big Hong Kong owner to come to our village for inspection first! If your family doesn’t send someone to clean, causing a shortage of hands and the pier not being cleaned properly, and that big owner goes to other villages to build roads, piers, and schools, then you’ll be the village’s biggest sinner! Hurry up, every family must send one person to sweep! If you don’t go, if you’re so capable, then you go find a big Hong Kong owner to build roads! Don’t you people know many big Hong Kong owners?”

After saying this, Zhou Bingqiang’s wife walked away. She had only come to show off a bit and flaunt her “cadre’s wife” prestige.

But she also had to go urge everyone to clean the pier thoroughly and didn’t have time to say more to Mother Zhou.

Chapter 727: What Day Is It Today?

Mother Zhou ignored Zhou Bingqiang’s wife. She planned to head down to the pier to help only after Jiang Xia returned.

Without any rush, she finished feeding the three children half an egg yolk each and gave them a little water to drink.

The little sister wanted to keep eating, “eeya-ing” as she pointed toward the small bowl.

Mother Zhou wiped her mouth. “Not full yet? Didn’t you already have a bottle of milk? You can’t eat too much egg yolk, it’s hard to digest. Your tummy will feel uncomfortable if you eat too much.”

The little sister didn’t understand. She continued to point at the bowl, “eeya-ing.”

The younger brother also watched with wistful eyes.

Only the eldest brother didn’t. He didn’t actually like egg yolks; instead, he was looking toward the corner of the yard at a strawberry that hadn’t fully ripened yet.

He hadn’t eaten a strawberry today.

Mother Zhou naturally wanted to keep feeding the children. She felt that feeding them a whole yolk wouldn’t be a problem—one yolk wasn’t that much—but she followed Jiang Xia’s instructions to only feed them half and add new foods slowly.

Although Mother Zhou had never raised Zhou Chenglei and his brothers this way—back then, if they were lucky enough to have an egg, she would steam it into a custard and feed them the whole thing, and there were no rules about not eating salt—raising grandsons was different from raising sons. When it came to how to raise a grandson, she just had to listen to her daughter-in-law. As an elder, she would help out if she could, but she wouldn’t make the final decisions.

To put it simply, she could offer suggestions, but she wouldn’t act on her own. Doing as her daughter-in-law said could reduce ninety-nine percent of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflicts!

After wiping all three children’s mouths clean, Mother Zhou called out to the brothers, Guangzong and Yaozu, as well as Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying, who were inside the house watching television, to come out to the yard and play with their little brothers and sister.

She first set about sweeping the yard and the area in front of the house.

And so, the siblings ran out and began to surround the triplets, teaching them to say “eldest brother” and “big sister.” These past few days, whenever the family played with the triplets, they mostly spent the time teaching them how to address people.

The triplets watched their brothers’ and sisters’ mouths moving non-stop as they said “Big Brother,” “Second Brother,” “Eldest Sister,” “Second Sister.” They gave plenty of face by responding with “eeya-ing” sounds, but they wouldn’t actually call out “Brother” or “Sister.”

Zhou Zhou thought of a way. She pulled a roasted rice cake out of a cookie tin to coax them.

The roasted rice cakes were freshly made by Mother Zhou this year and were very hard. The three children were currently teething and loved to bite things. Jiang Xia had grown afraid of being bitten, and since she didn’t have time to make teething biscuits for them, she had given them the rock-hard roasted rice cakes to gnaw on last night.

The roasted rice cakes were fragrant and sweet, and the three children loved gnawing on them. However, because they were so hard, the children couldn’t actually break off a piece. Even after gnawing for ages, they could only scrape off the top layer. They were perfect as teething biscuits or for coaxing them when they cried.

The moment Zhou Zhou pulled out the roasted rice cake, the little sister’s eyes lit up. She kicked her legs in excitement, waving her arms.

She recognized this thing; her mama had given it to her last night.

Zhou Zhou held the cake in front of the little sister’s face and coaxed, “Sister! Say ‘Sister,’ and Sister will give it to you!”

Little Bao reached out to grab it, but Zhou Zhou moved it away. “Sister, sister. If you say ‘sister,’ you can eat it. Sister…”

Little Bao grew anxious. “Sie…”

When Zhou Wenguang and the brothers heard this, they got excited. “She really knows how to say it!”

So, they all went running to grab roasted rice cakes.

Jiang Xia spent a little time at the factory today. Seeing that the operations were normal and there were no issues to handle, she headed back.

Only Mother Zhou and the nieces and nephews were at home looking after the triplets, and she was worried Mother Zhou might be overwhelmed.

As she drove onto the small road leading into the village, she noticed many villagers were out cleaning.

She felt a bit surprised. What day was it today?

Why was everyone being so proactive?

It wasn’t until she passed the pier and heard Zhou Bingqiang’s wife directing everyone while they swept that she understood.

“That big owner from Hong Kong originally planned to visit other villages first. It was my husband, Old Zhou, who fought hard to bring him here! Only then did he agree to come look at our village. So we must get the sanitation right and welcome that big owner! Otherwise, if they think our village is too dirty and decide to go to another village to build roads and schools, we’ll lose out big time!”

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife knew that most people wouldn’t go up to the big owner to ask if it was really Zhou Bingqiang who brought him. As the Village Chief, it was normal for Zhou Bingqiang to seek such things, so she spoke with righteous indignation.

Hearing this, everyone put even more effort into the cleaning.

The road leading out of the village became extremely muddy every time it rained, making it very easy to wipe out on a bicycle.

When the children went to or from school, a single fall would turn them into “mud people.”

Everyone hoped the road would be fixed.

Back when Zhou Chenglei bought the beach for that large sum of money, the production brigade had originally planned to use it to repair the roads and the pier. However, other villages disagreed, feeling that repairing only this village’s road was unfair. They demanded that the roads in their villages be fixed as well, which meant the money wouldn’t be enough, so the project eventually fell through.

Now, this big owner from Hong Kong was even donating a primary school building and building a middle school—and that middle school included both junior and senior high!

And it would be built right in their village!

How close would it be for the kids to go to school in the future!

So, the villagers were all very enthusiastic.

They had to keep this big owner from Hong Kong in the village and not let him go to other villages. This was simply a windfall falling from the sky.

People chimed in one after another, praising Zhou Bingqiang for being a good Village Chief.

“The Village Chief did a great job on this! He’s so capable, bringing such a God of Wealth to our village!”

“What the Village Chief did this time is exactly like what they say on TV—a great deed for the present, a blessing for generations to come! From now on, he’ll be the hero of our village—no, the hero of our entire production brigade!”

“We really chose right when we picked Bingqiang as the Village Chief! In all these surrounding villages, he is definitely the most outstanding one!”

“The most awesome Village Chief in history!”

Hearing everyone’s praise, Zhou Bingqiang’s wife finally felt like she could hold her head high!

Just then, she saw Jiang Xia’s car slowly approaching and hurriedly reached out to stop it.

Jiang Xia lightly pressed the brake pedal, bringing the car to a halt, and looked at Zhou Bingqiang’s wife through the window.

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife looked up at Jiang Xia with her hands on her hips. “Xiao Xia, a big owner from Hong Kong is coming to inspect the area this afternoon. He wants to build roads, a pier, and schools in our village. Every household has sent someone out to clean the pier and the streets, but as of now, not a single person from your family has come out. We’ve been at it for half the day already.”

Jiang Xia heard this and said, “I understand. Only my mother is at home looking after the children today. I’ll drive the car back and come over in a moment.”

She had to participate in community activities; she couldn’t act like she was special.

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife said, “Can’t you just park the car to the side and get out to clean right now? We’ll be almost finished by the time you come back!”

“I don’t think so. I see everyone has just started. I’m going home to use the bathroom. Besides, the whole village needs to be cleaned, right? I see there are enough people here. I’ll check which alleys have no one later and sweep those.” After saying that, Jiang Xia drove off.

They had clearly only just begun; how could they be done so soon?

A little extra time wouldn’t matter.

Watching Jiang Xia drive away without listening to her, Zhou Bingqiang’s wife’s face darkened. “She thinks she’s so great just because she has a bit of stinking money. If you’re so capable, why don’t you be like the big owner from Hong Kong and build roads, piers, and schools yourself!”

None of the villagers gathered around echoed her sentiment.

Seeing as no one spoke, Zhou Bingqiang’s wife couldn’t help but ask, “Don’t you all agree?”

Only then did someone chime in, “No matter how rich their family is, how could they compare to a big owner from Hong Kong?”

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife nodded. “Exactly! What is she so stuck up about!”

Chapter 728: Mud Is Flying!

When Jiang Xia returned home, Mother Zhou was sweeping the alley.

In the yard, Guangzong, Yaozu, and the others were each holding roasted rice cakes, teasing the triplets and trying to get them to call out “big brother,” “big sister,” “grandpa,” and “grandma.”

Jiang Xia skillfully backed the car into the garage. Getting out, she walked over and asked with a smile, “Can they say it yet?”

The siblings said excitedly, “They can! Little Sister can say ‘big sister,’ and Erbao can say ‘big brother.’ Only Dabao won’t open his mouth.”

To demonstrate for Jiang Xia, they pulled the roasted rice cakes back and coaxed the younger siblings to speak.

Little Sister stared at the rice cake, her hands and feet moving restlessly with impatience. “Big… sister.”

Zhou Wenguang asked, “Did she say it?”

Jiang Xia nodded with a smile. Although the pronunciation wasn’t very clear, it did sound like it. “Seems so.”

“It’s not ‘seems so,’ she definitely said it! They can both say ‘big brother’ and ‘big sister’ now!”

Mother Zhou walked in at that moment and said to Jiang Xia, “Xiao Xia, the village head said a big owner from Hong Kong is coming to our village to donate money for a school and a road. Everyone in the village has gone out to sweep. I’m going over to the pier to help out.”

Hearing this, Jiang Xia hurriedly said, “Mother, I’ll go do the cleaning. You stay home and watch the children!”

It was almost time for the children to nap, so they didn’t really need much supervision. Their sleep schedule had been well-established since they were small. Moreover, they could already fall asleep on their own now; once they were fed and put back in their cribs, they would drift off while playing by themselves.

This was perhaps the benefit of having triplets—the children had each other for company, making them quite easy to raise.

“No need, I’ll go. It’s a bunch of old folks out there; you’ll be at a disadvantage if you go.” Mother Zhou hadn’t seen much of how Jiang Xia interacted with the village women and knew that some of them were prone to slacking off and playing tricks.

Furthermore, every woman in the village was either an Aunt or an Eldest Aunt; they all held high generational seniority. If they pushed the dirtiest and most exhausting work onto Jiang Xia, wouldn’t she be suffering just because of her lower rank in the family tree?

Besides, which young woman wasn’t currently working at Jiang Xia’s factory?

Mother Zhou picked up the large broom she usually used to sweep the path in front of their door and headed out.

When Mother Zhou reached the pier, she saw Great-Grandma and several Aunts she got along with, so she walked toward them. They were hauling water from the sea to wash away the fish scales and bloodstains from the ground of the purchase station.

Mother Zhou joined the cleaning crew.

The village was large, and the village children tended to toss their snack wrappers onto the ground wherever they pleased. Consequently, while the areas directly in front of people’s homes were clean, the sides of the small paths throughout the village were cluttered with fallen leaves and trash.

Even though every household sent one or two people to help, it took over two hours of work. It was after twelve o’clock before the entire village was finally cleaned.

Smoke was already rising from the chimneys of every house as people prepared for lunch.

In this era, seven or eight-year-old children in rural areas already knew how to do laundry and cook. Since the children were on school break, many people would have a meal waiting for them when they got home.

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife finished an inspection of the entire village and went home to change into a fresh set of clothes before returning to the pier. She spoke to those who were preparing to head home for lunch: “Don’t go back yet. Go hoe the weeds along the road leading into the village!”

Mother Zhou asked, “Why do the weeds on the roadside need to be removed? If you remove them, there won’t even be a place to step when it rains!”

Great-Grandma chimed in, “Exactly. It rains the most during the New Year. Leaving some grass on both sides of the road means you can still walk on it when it rains. If you scrape it bare, the whole road will be impassable! Everyone will be visiting relatives soon; how are they supposed to walk?”

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife countered, “The big owner is coming to build a road, so why are you afraid of having no road to walk on? Clearing the grass makes it more convenient for them to build. When the big owner from Hong Kong sees it, won’t he think our villagers are very enthusiastic? And with the path cleared, won’t he feel embarrassed if he doesn’t build it?”

Some villagers thought this made sense. “Then let’s go clear it!”

Mother Zhou said, “Even if we clear it, let’s do it after lunch! It’s already twelve-thirty!”

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife snapped, “All you think about is eating! Is eating important right now, or is building the road important? Will you starve to death if you eat a little later? This Hong Kong owner was only invited to see our village after a lot of hard work from my old man! There are many other villages waiting for him! If he goes to another village and sees they’ve prepared better than us and decides not to build our road, can you take responsibility for that?”

Mother Zhou argued, “Since the owner is coming to look, it proves he intends to build the road and the school. Our village has a pier, and doesn’t he want to expand it too? There’s no way he wouldn’t build the road here.”

“That’s not certain. He’s rich; can’t he just build a pier somewhere else? But doesn’t your family know many big owners from Hong Kong? If this one leaves, can’t you just invite one back to build the road, the pier, and the school for our village?”

Mother Zhou: “…”

The other villagers, hearing this, said, “Let’s just go clear it! There are so many of us; it’ll be quick!”

“Yeah, with this many hands, it’ll probably be done in half an hour! This little bit of time won’t hurt.”

“Let’s go! Let’s go! Time is of the essence!”

…

And so, the crowd moved to the roadside to start weeding.

Mother Zhou had no choice but to go to the purchase station to call home. She told Jiang Xia and the children to eat first and that she would be back a bit later.

Jiang Xia had finished cooking by twelve-thirty. After waiting a while and seeing that Mother Zhou hadn’t returned, she was about to go look for her when she received the call.

She set aside some food for Mother Zhou and then sat down with the children to eat.

Jiang Xia quickly finished a bowl of rice and a bowl of soup. Seeing that the triplets were still asleep, she took her bicycle and went out to take over for Mother Zhou.

When she reached the main road heading out of the village and found Mother Zhou, Jiang Xia said, “Mother, go home and eat! I can take over from here.”

Mother Zhou was happy to see Jiang Xia, but she didn’t want her to do the work. She smiled and said, “No need, it’s almost finished. Go back and watch the kids! I’ll head back as soon as I’m done.”

Mother Zhou was pleased by Jiang Xia’s gesture, but hoeing was heavy labor. Jiang Xia wasn’t used to handling a hoe, and she would easily get blisters.

Jiang Xia had already put on gloves. She snatched the hoe away and said, “It’s fine, I can do it. Go back and eat quickly. The children haven’t woken up yet, but I’m worried they might soon.”

Jiang Xia’s appearance drew the envy of the other women, who began to praise her. “If you want to see the most filial daughter-in-law in the village, look no further than Xiao Xia!”

“A-Lei certainly knew how to pick a wife! You’re a lucky woman, Yongfu’s wife!”

…

Faced with everyone’s praise, Mother Zhou felt as sweet as if she had swallowed honey. She smiled and said, “Xiao Xia has always been filial and sensible. A good daughter-in-law is much more considerate than a son! I won’t say more; I’m going home to eat and will be back in a bit.”

Mother Zhou was also worried about the children waking up. Even though her grandchildren were at home, she hurriedly rode her bicycle back.

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife pursed her lips, instinctively glancing in the direction Mother Zhou had gone. Thinking of her own lazy daughter-in-law, Wen Wan, who hadn’t even started cooking, she felt a wave of irritation.

Seeing Jiang Xia showing off and acting so virtuous didn’t sit well with her. None of the other daughters-in-law had come out; she was the only one putting on an act! Didn’t she usually sleep until the sun was high in the sky every day at home?

“Xiao Xia, put some strength into it! Look at you, the roots aren’t even coming out! Grassy weeds like this will grow back in two days! Use some force! Did you not eat? You’ve been married into this family so long and you still don’t know how to hoe? Don’t you do any work at home?”

Jiang Xia swung the hoe with a sudden surge of power—and a clump of mud went flying!

Chapter 729: What Are You All Doing?

Mud splattered across the shoes and pants of Zhou Bingqiang’s wife.

She jumped back in a panic, shouting, “What are you doing? You did that on purpose, didn’t you!”

These were a brand-new pair of pants! And her shoes were the newest and cleanest she owned!

She usually only wore these shoes when attending wedding banquets, and she would scrub them clean and put them away as soon as she got home.

She desperately tried to shake the mud off her feet. The big owner from Hong Kong was going to arrive any minute!

She had specifically gone home just now to change into these.

Jiang Xia didn’t look sorry at all. “I’m so sorry. You told me to use a bit more strength, so I did. I didn’t expect it to end up like this! As you know, I usually don’t have to work in the fields at home; my mother-in-law can’t bear to let me. None of you have ever seen me working the land before, right?”

As Jiang Xia spoke, she swung her hoe with force again. Another clump of mud flew onto the woman’s other pant leg.

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife shrieked in rage, “You’re doing this on purpose!”

She raised her own hoe, intending to give Jiang Xia a taste of her own medicine.

Just then, two black sedans drove up close. A loud blast from a horn startled everyone.

Zhou Bingqiang was riding a bicycle behind the cars, followed by several other officials on bikes.

Everyone stopped their work and moved to the side of the road.

Someone watched the approaching cars and asked, “Is the big owner from Hong Kong here?”

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife, seeing her husband following the cars, replied, “Yes! He’s here!”

“That car looks a bit like the one belonging to the big owner from Hong Kong who came looking for Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei yesterday.”

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife scoffed, “All these little sedans look the same!”

Great-Grandma chimed in, “The license plate is the same too!”

Someone asked Jiang Xia, “Xiao Xia, is that the Hong Kong owner you know? Is he the one coming to our village to fix the road and build the school?”

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife interrupted, “How could that be? If it were the Hong Kong owner she knows, wouldn’t Zhou Yongfu’s wife know? They stayed at their house all day yesterday. I already told you, my husband worked very hard to invite this person. That’s why he’s coming to our village! It’s not the Hong Kong owner Jiang Xia knows!”

Jiang Xia didn’t say a word. The car stopped, and Elder Mai stepped out, followed by Zhou Chengsen.

Seeing Jiang Xia holding a hoe and working there, Elder Mai got out of the car.

The moment Elder Mai stepped out, the entire village turned to look at Zhou Bingqiang’s wife.

She remained stubborn. “It must be a coincidence that they showed up together. The car behind is the one with the big owner who’s coming to fix our road!”

She then turned to Jiang Xia and snapped, “Tell that person you know not to block the middle of the road! He’s blocking the big owner who’s coming to fix the road and build the school for our village!”

By then, Elder Mai had reached Jiang Xia. Jiang Xia greeted him, “Grandpa Mai.”

Elder Mai glanced at the weeds that had been hacked into a mess along the roadside, then shifted his gaze to his granddaughter’s gloved hands. He asked, “What are you all doing here?”

His son was an accomplished man; his granddaughter must have grown up without suffering any hardships. How could she possibly handle this kind of farm work?

Jiang Xia replied, “Weeding.”

Elder Mai frowned. “Why clear the weeds by the roadside? Have your hands blistered yet?”

Zhou Chengsen also found it strange. “If you remove the grass by the road, how will anyone walk when it rains?”

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife spoke up, “The whole village has come out to weed so it’s easier for the Hong Kong owner to build the road!”

Elder Mai said, “Even if a road is being built, there’s no need for you to weed. When the time comes, bulldozers will level the road before construction begins.”

Wasn’t this a completely redundant effort?

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife snapped, “If you don’t understand, don’t start giving orders! Our village head went through a lot of trouble to get the big owner from Hong Kong to come here to fix the road, build a pier, and a school. Of course we have to show our sincerity. Otherwise, if another village outperforms us and he decides not to come here, what then?”

Elder Mai: “…”

“That won’t happen. Since the word was given to fix the road, build the pier, and the school for your village, it will be done. There’s no need for the villagers to do this work. The construction crew will handle it when they arrive.”

Seeing the people from the second car getting out as well, Zhou Bingqiang’s wife tried to shoo him away. “Owner, please move your car quickly. You’re blocking the car behind you! That car belongs to the big owner from Hong Kong who is here for our road, pier, and school! Don’t stand in the way!”

Elder Mai: “…”

The officials from the second car: “…”

Where did this self-righteous village woman come from?

One of the officials spoke up, “This gentleman, Elder Mai, is the one who is providing the road for our village.”

The villagers instantly whipped their heads toward Zhou Bingqiang’s wife!

Wasn’t Elder Mai the same Hong Kong owner Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei knew?

Why did Zhou Bingqiang’s wife say her husband had worked so hard to invite him?

Zhou Bingqiang rushed up and glared at his wife. She really had no sense of situational awareness at all! “If you don’t know what you’re talking about, keep your mouth shut! Elder Mai is the Hong Kong owner who is here to fix our road, expand the pier, and donate the school.”

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife’s eyes widened. “How is that possible?”

If it was him, why hadn’t Zhou Yongfu or his wife mentioned a single word about it?

They usually bragged about everything!

Someone spoke up directly, “And didn’t you say the Hong Kong owner was brought here by the village head’s extreme efforts? It turns out Jiang Xia is the one who invited him to our village!”

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife: “…”

This was too much merit for her to take, so Jiang Xia waved it off. “It has nothing to do with me. I didn’t even know about this; it was Elder Mai’s own decision.”

Elder Mai corrected her, “I can’t say it has nothing to do with you. It’s because you brought me to see your village and because we are cooperating with your livestock farm that I thought about fixing the road, building the pier, and the school—to benefit both business and the community. To be honest, if it weren’t for you and A-Lei, I wouldn’t have come here to build anything.”

He had seen from the car that his granddaughter seemed to be having a dispute with this woman, splashing mud all over her.

This woman must have been making things difficult for his granddaughter for her to act like that!

Elder Mai couldn’t be by his granddaughter’s side all the time, but he hoped that spending this money on the road, pier, and school would bring some blessings to his descendants.

Jiang Xia: “…”

Jiang Xia didn’t know how to respond to that.

She smiled and said, “I merely introduced Grandpa Mai to our village. It is because Grandpa Mai is kind-hearted and cares for the motherland and his ancestral home that he returned to build the road and the school.”

Elder Mai smiled and said nothing more to her. He turned to the crowd. “There’s no need to hack away at the roadside weeds. When construction starts, workers will come to clear everything. Everyone, please go home and rest! For the sake of Xiao Xia and A-Lei, this road is definitely getting built, and the school will definitely be in your village. Don’t worry, everyone, go home! I will have this road finished as quickly as possible—I’ll try to have it done before the New Year.”

Hearing this, the villagers all began to thank Elder Mai.

“Thank you, Elder Mai!”

“Thank you so much!”

Great-Grandpa added, “Thank you, Elder Mai! When it’s time to fix the road and the pier, let us know. We don’t have much money, but we have plenty of strength. My son and I will both come to help with the work!”

The others quickly followed suit. “That’s right! We don’t have much of anything else, but we have plenty of muscle!”

“I’ll come help too, Elder Mai! You don’t need to hire too many people. Count me in—I don’t need wages!”

“I don’t need wages either! I’ll call my sons over to help as well.”

Chapter 730: The Meeting

Elder Mai was no stranger to the enthusiastic nature of the villagers. He smiled and accepted their warm welcome before turning to Jiang Xia. “Have you had lunch yet?”

Jiang Xia nodded. “Yes, I have.”

“Would you like to accompany Grandpa Mai to look at the potential site for the school?”

“Sure.”

And so, Jiang Xia accompanied Elder Mai and a group of town leaders to select a site for the village school and inspect the planned expansion of the pier.

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife wanted to follow along; after all, she was the village head’s wife!

However, Zhou Bingqiang pulled her back. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m going to take a look with them!” she argued. “I know better than anyone which parts of the village are suitable for a school.”

Zhou Bingqiang replied crossly, “What do you know about where a school should be built?! Stop making trouble and go home! I’ll go, and that’s enough!”

Having said that, Zhou Bingqiang hurried forward to lead the way.

His wife pursed her lips in frustration.

Because of her earlier words, some villagers had worried that the big owner from Hong Kong might not come to build the road if they weren’t diligent. They had obediently followed her instructions, working all morning without even stopping for a meal, only to find out that wasn’t the case at all!

Now, they were losing their tempers.

“Sister-in-law Qiang, you’ve gone too far! It clearly wasn’t Zhou Bingqiang who brought that big owner from Hong Kong here. You intentionally said he did just to make us work ourselves to the bone for half the day!”

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife snapped back, “What do you mean ‘for nothing’? Isn’t it more comfortable now that the village is cleaned up?”

“What’s comfortable about it? It’s more comfortable not to clean!! Did you think we had nothing better to do, so you made up work for us? Maybe you’re idle, but I have a mountain of chores waiting at home! Do you think everyone is as free as you?”

“The town leaders sent down the notice for everyone to clean up, it wasn’t my idea. Do you think I’m idle?”

“Then don’t go around saying Zhou Bingqiang went to great lengths to invite this Hong Kong owner! It’s obvious the man is only building the road and the school because of the face Xiao Xia and her husband have. Whether the village is clean or not, he would have come anyway! You made it sound like Zhou Bingqiang worked so hard to secure this. I was wondering how such a lucky break could just fall in our laps!”

“You even said he’d think we weren’t sincere if we didn’t clean, making us pull weeds on the road while starving! You’ve really caused us a lot of trouble!”

“Exactly, you’ve delayed so much of my work. Why don’t you come and help me weed my vegetable patch…”

“And come to my house and help me clear the manure out of the pigsty!”

…

Seeing everyone turn on her with their accusations, Zhou Bingqiang’s wife realized she wasn’t capable of winning a shouting match against a whole crowd of women. She threw out one last remark before running off: “Do you think my own chores weren’t delayed? Why are you blaming me? Blame Zhou Yongfu’s family for not telling everyone sooner and watching us work all morning! It was Jiang Xia who played us for fools! The big owner is her guest; don’t tell me she didn’t know he was coming to build the road!”

Great-Grandma spat on the ground. “Bah! You were clearly trying to bully everyone using powerful connections! Don’t try to pin your laziness and lies on Xiao Xia!”

“Exactly! It was obvious Jiang Xia didn’t know either…”

There weren’t many places in the village where a school could be built. Aside from requisitioning cultivated fields, the only option was the wasteland at the foot of the mountains.

Unless there was absolutely no other choice, they wouldn’t build over farmland.

Therefore, the most likely choice was the wasteland at the base of the hills.

Elder Mai also suggested looking at the village’s collective wasteland first.

As the group arrived near the barren hills, Elder Mai spotted a beehive and smiled. “Is a villager keeping bees here?”

Looking at that beehive, Jiang Xia recalled the scene when Zhou Chenglei had first brought her here to set it up. She smiled and said, “A-Lei is keeping them.”

Elder Mai surveyed the surrounding trees and asked curiously, “There aren’t many flowers on this mountain, are there?”

The trees didn’t look like the flowering variety.

Jiang Xia explained, “In a while, the green manure in the fields will bloom. By March and April, the wild fruit trees on the mountains will flower. Then there are the fruit trees every household has planted—loquats, lychees, and longans—which bloom in sequence. The bees can gather some nectar then, though it’s not a huge amount. We put out three beehives last year and only collected a few kilograms of honey in total, as we had to leave some for the bees to survive the winter.”

Although it was only about three or four kilograms of honey, it was incredibly fragrant with a rich floral scent. Jiang Xia had never tasted such aromatic honey in modern times.

Elder Mai asked, “If we build the school here, won’t it interfere with your beekeeping?”

He knew that bees preferred quiet environments.

Jiang Xia smiled. “It won’t matter. We can just move them to another spot. We don’t just have beehives here; we have some on our roof and on another hilltop as well.”

Elder Mai turned to the village head and the other leaders. “Are there any other barren hills or wastelands in the village?”

Zhou Bingqiang replied, “There’s one other spot.”

And so, the group went to another location at the foot of the hills.

Jiang Xia wanted to mention that Zhou Chenglei was keeping bees there too, but she ultimately kept quiet.

After visiting all the wasteland around the village, Elder Mai chose the piece of land closest to Jiang Xia’s home—the very spot where they had first seen the beehive.

Since that wasteland belonged to the village collective, building a school there would require a village meeting and the signed consent of all the villagers.

Furthermore, those wastelands didn’t belong solely to their village but also involved the neighboring village, so their consent was needed as well.

Elder Mai didn’t need to involve himself in those details; his responsibility was simply to provide the funding.

Those matters would be handled by Zhou Chengsen and Zhou Bingqiang.

Building a school was a great service to the community, especially since it was planned to include both a middle school and a high school.

Their village had no middle school; children had to go to town for that. As for high school, there wasn’t even one in the town; they had to go all the way to the city.

Now that there would be one right at their doorstep, no villager would object.

After all, that land couldn’t be used for crops anyway, it was collective land rather than private property, and it was currently sitting idle. Having someone willing to spend money to build a school was the best possible outcome.

Building the highway was a more complicated matter. The route from Xiaoyucun to the city crossed through two or three towns.

Since he was going to build it, Elder Mai wanted to do it properly and make it wider. The current road was too narrow, barely allowing two vehicles to pass each other.

Widening it would inevitably require land requisition, which meant the relevant departments in the city would have to step in.

Elder Mai planned to use this as a way to finally meet his son.

Once the school site was finalized, Elder Mai told the other leaders they didn’t need to entertain him further. “I’m going to find an old friend to catch up. I’ll have Comrade Chengsen drive me there.”

The leaders took the hint and departed.

Elder Mai then returned to Jiang Xia’s house with her and Zhou Chengsen.

After seeing the triplets, Elder Mai told Mother Zhou, Jiang Xia, and Zhou Chengsen that they could let him know if they had any suggestions regarding the school or the road. Then, he departed for the city.

He had to meet his son that afternoon.

He wasn’t just planning to expand the Fisherman’s Pier here; he also intended to find a location in the city to build a large-scale container terminal. Naturally, that terminal would be a profitable business venture.

That afternoon, Elder Mai succeeded in meeting Father Jiang.

When the two shook hands, Elder Mai gripped Father Jiang’s hand tightly, momentarily forgetting to let go.

No one noticed that the hands of these two men of different ages had a remarkably similar shape. The only difference was that Elder Mai’s hand was covered in age spots, while Father Jiang’s still looked youthful.

Father Jiang studied the slightly emotional old man before him. He waited patiently for him to release his grip, making polite small talk to keep the situation from becoming awkward.

When Elder Mai finally withdrew his hand, Father Jiang happened to glance down and saw the ring on the elder’s ring finger.

Father Jiang froze for a moment.

Chapter 731: You’re Quite Open-Minded

Father Jiang didn’t return home until after having dinner with Elder Mai.

The two of them had surprisingly similar tastes in food.

As soon as he got back, Father Jiang went to his room to look for something.

Mother Jiang came out after her shower and saw him rummaging through everything they had in their safe. “What are you looking for, turning the place upside down like this?” she asked.

“That ring I used to wear around my neck.”

Father Jiang didn’t own any jewelry other than that ring and his wedding band. During those difficult years when it wasn’t safe to wear such things, Mother Jiang had kept them hidden away.

Later, after they bought a safe, he saw her put all the family’s valuables inside.

“It’s kept with my jewelry,” Mother Jiang said. “I’ll find it for you. What do you need that ring for? Do you want to start wearing it again?”

Since he was a child, Father Jiang had always worn a ring on a string around his neck. It was likely something left to him by his biological mother. He only took it off and hid it during the chaotic period years ago, and he hadn’t worn it since.

In the current social climate, there was no harm in taking it out and wearing it.

“No,” Father Jiang replied. “I saw a ring with the same pattern in an old man’s hand today.”

Mother Jiang froze. “…”

She found the ring and handed it to Father Jiang.

He looked at the woman’s ring in his palm and fell silent.

“Well?” Mother Jiang asked. “Are the patterns the same?”

Father Jiang looked at the ring, which was as familiar to him as his own reflection, and nodded.

The moment he saw the ring in Elder Mai’s hand, he knew the patterns matched. One was a men’s style, and the other was a women’s.

Mother Jiang’s heart leaped into her throat as she studied her husband. “So… Elder Mai couldn’t possibly be your father, could he?”

Father Jiang’s mood was more complex than it had ever been. “Elder Mai asked if A-Dong is coming back tomorrow. He invited Xiaxia’s family and ours to have dinner together at Jufu Restaurant tomorrow.”

Mother Jiang was speechless.

It was already past eight o’clock when Elder Mai returned home. Mai Nianshan and Tan Zhiying were waiting for him in the living room, watching television.

Seeing him return, Tan Zhiying quickly stood up. “Papa, you’re back? I simmered some ginseng soup. I’ll bring it out for you right now.”

Elder Mai, still caught up in his excitement, waved a hand with a smile. “I just ate not long ago; I couldn’t fit another bite. You two have some. I’m going to wash up and rest. I’ve been walking all day.”

With that, Elder Mai headed to his room.

Seeing how happy he was, Tan Zhiying guessed that he must have met his biological son.

“Is the old man planning to invest wherever Father Jiang is stationed?”

They both understood why Elder Mai was fixing roads and building schools, piers, and ports.

He was essentially handing his biological son’s family a stellar record of political achievements on a silver platter.

He hadn’t even officially recognized his son yet, but Elder Mai was already paving the way for his son and granddaughter’s family!

Between the roads, schools, piers, and ports, 100 million wouldn’t even cover the total cost.

The family was wealthy, but even with a fortune of 10 billion, their wealth could only sustain a hundred such projects.

“It’s the money Papa earned,” Mai Nianshan said. “He can invest it wherever he wants. It’s not our place to interfere.”

Tan Zhiying’s jaw dropped. “…”

“You’re quite open-minded, aren’t you?”

He was spending hundreds of millions! Didn’t he feel any sting?

Those were investments worth hundreds of millions, not a million or two, not even ten million!

No matter how rich someone was, how many hundreds of millions could they possibly have?

“Why shouldn’t I be open-minded?” Mai Nianshan countered. “Papa is my father. He has treated me as his own since I was a child, and I consider him my biological father.”

Elder Xu’s advice had been correct: he already possessed enough. If a person gets too greedy, they risk losing everything.

It was out of kindness that his adoptive father gave him any inheritance; if he didn’t, it was his right.

His adoptive father had spent his entire life looking for his wife and child. It was only natural that he would want to make amends to his biological son.

Even if it were him, would he not think of leaving his fortune to Jinping instead of a foster son?

When he thought about it that way, he knew it was impossible!

His adoptive father owed him nothing; on the contrary, his kindness was as heavy as a mountain.

Mai Nianshan had his own company now. After he graduated from university, his adoptive father had given him a large sum of money to invest and practice running a business. Over the years, leaning on his father’s reputation and connections, the company had performed quite well.

It wasn’t as if he lacked ability. Even if his adoptive father left him nothing, he had a company that would ensure a good life for him in the future. He was luckier than most people. If he became too greedy and hurt his father’s heart, that was when he would truly end up with nothing!

The next day was Saturday. Jiang Xia went to the factory early and stayed for half the day. When she returned home at noon, Guangzong, Yaozu, and the other siblings had already returned from their closing ceremony.

Jiang Dong was coming home this afternoon, and they had an appointment to eat in the city with Elder Mai. For convenience, she hadn’t driven her car into the yard but left it parked outside.

As Jiang Xia parked and walked into the yard, a group of children rushed forward to surround her, waving their student handbooks, certificates, and prizes.

The triplets, held in their grandparents’ arms, watched curiously as their older brothers and sisters crowded around their mother.

“Auntie!” Zhou Zhou shouted. “I got first place in my whole grade! I got full marks in both Chinese and math! These are my certificates—I have six in total! Two for being a Merit Student—one for the town and one for the school—plus Outstanding Young Pioneer, Outstanding Class Monitor, Labor Activist, and Model Student! I also got notebooks and pencils!”

“Auntie, I got full marks in math!” Zhou Ying chimed in. “Ninety-eight in Chinese; I only lost two points on the essay. I also got first place in my grade! I have five certificates, plus notebooks and pencils too.”

“Auntie, I improved this time!” Zhou Wenguang said. “Top fifty in the grade…”

“Auntie, I passed English!” Zhou Wenzong added proudly.

“Auntie, I also made it into the top ten of my class!” Zhou Wenyao said.

“Auntie, I improved too!” Zhou Wenzu chimed in. “Twenty-sixth in the class! What’s my reward?”

Zhou Wenguang scoffed. “You have the nerve to ask for a reward for being twenty-sixth? There are only forty kids in your class, right?”

“But I still improved!” Zhou Wenzu insisted. “I moved up one rank! Auntie said there’s a reward as long as we improve!”

Jiang Xia laughed. “That’s right. There are rewards for improving too. Big rewards for big improvements, and small rewards for small ones! What do you all want? I’ll take you to the city this afternoon to pick something out.”

“Can we wait and pick something when we go to the capital?” Zhou Wenguang asked.

Jiang Xia nodded. “Of course.”

Zhou Wenguang pumped his fist. “Yes!”

All that hard work had truly paid off!

Hearing this, the other children quickly chimed in. “Then I’ll wait to pick mine in the capital too.”

“Me too!”

…

The game consoles in the capital had to be different from the ones in the city, right?

Mother Zhou smiled at the little sister in her arms. “When Little Bao starts school later, you have to get first place too, and Grandma will give you a reward.”

Nowadays, every household understood that it was better for children to get an education.

However, they didn’t take it extremely seriously yet; it was mostly verbal encouragement. They didn’t think to help with homework or supervise studies, largely because most parents didn’t understand the material themselves.

There were still many families who valued boys over girls and wouldn’t let the girls study too much, making them start working to earn money as soon as they finished middle school.

In Jiang Xia’s factory, there were quite a few girls who had just finished middle school.

In the afternoon, once the triplets woke up from their nap, the whole family piled into the car and drove toward the city.

Chapter 732: Recognition

The family arrived in the city, and Zhou Chengsen took Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying to find Ruan Tang.

Ruan Tang had worked the night shift last night, so she was off today and would be off tomorrow as well. Zhou Chengsen had made plans with her to take the two children to a movie.

After dropping off Zhou Chengsen and the children at the cinema entrance, Zhou Chenglei drove the car to his father-in-law’s apartment building. The family, carrying the triplets and various gifts, headed up to the Jiang family home.

As Jiang Xia took out her keys to open the door, someone from inside opened it at the same time.

It was Jiang Dong.

Elder Mai was sitting in the living room. He, Father Jiang, and Mother Jiang all looked toward the door. Everyone’s eyes were a bit red.

Father Zhou was stunned. “…”

Had they arrived at a bad time?

Jiang Xia looked at Jiang Dong, her eyes asking, What’s going on?

Father Jiang stood up and smiled. “Father-in-law, mother-in-law, A-Lei, Xiaxia, please come in.”

The family entered the house.

Jiang Xia greeted Elder Mai, “Grandpa Mai.”

Elder Mai said with a chuckle, “You should just call me Grandpa.”

Even though Father Jiang had seen many grand scenes in his life, at this moment, he didn’t quite know how to broach the subject. He decided to just be direct. “Xiaxia, this is your grandfather. He is my biological father, whom I was separated from many years ago—your real grandfather. I only realized it yesterday afternoon, and we officially recognized each other today.”

Jiang Xia was speechless. “…”

Father Jiang had spent the entire night thinking about it. Upon waking up the next morning, he called his son-in-law to ask where Elder Mai was staying. Then, taking the ring with him, he took the initiative to find him and clarify the situation.

The father and son had officially acknowledged their relationship.

Initially, a ring couldn’t prove everything, but Father Jiang had a birthmark on his hip, and Elder Mai had described it perfectly.

Jiang Xia instinctively looked at Jiang Dong.

Jiang Dong said, “It’s true. Grandpa knew about the birthmark on Papa’s hip. He said he suspected it because he saw the three babies and thought they looked exactly like Papa when he was a child.”

Jiang Dong was also in shock; he still couldn’t quite adjust his way of addressing Elder Mai.

Jiang Xia remained silent. “…”

She hadn’t known Father Jiang had a birthmark there. In fact, Jiang Dong had only found out about his father’s birthmark today as well.

Jiang Xia recalled how Elder Mai had seemed exceptionally kind to them later on, even asking her to call him Grandpa. During the Canton Fair, he had even helped watch the children every day. It felt like he was treating the triplets as his own biological grandsons!

As it turned out, it wasn’t just a feeling. Elder Mai really did consider them his biological grandsons.

Jiang Xia had known Elder Mai for a long time and was well aware that he had returned to the mainland to search for his long-lost wife and son. Whether it was Elder Mai finally finding the son he had yearned for all these years, or Father Jiang finding his biological father, Jiang Xia was happy for both of them.

She smiled and said, “Grandpa.”

Elder Mai’s eyes reddened as he nodded. “Good girl!”

Father Zhou was shocked, but having lived through the wars in his youth, he knew such occurrences weren’t unheard of. He smiled and said, “Today is a wonderful day, a day of reunion. We must celebrate properly!”

Father Zhou understood Elder Mai perfectly. Having searched for his wife and son for most of his life, finding them in his old age meant he could finally die in peace when the time came.

Elder Mai smiled. “I’ve already booked a restaurant.”

The recognition banquet that evening was a scene of total harmony.

Father Jiang and Mai Nianshan were officially introduced.

As Father Jiang shook the other man’s hand, he said gratefully, “Thank you for staying by our father’s side and taking care of him for all these years.”

Mai Nianshan looked at this elder brother, who bore only a thirty percent resemblance to their adoptive father, and smiled. “It was only right. We will fulfill our filial duties to Papa together from now on.”

“Good.”

Elder Mai was overjoyed to see the two brothers getting along. Elder Xu was also happy for his old friend.

Tan Zhiying sized up Mother Jiang. She was dressed very appropriately, had great taste, and was beautiful. Tan Zhiying hadn’t expected this “sister-in-law” of hers to be so young. With three grandchildren already, she had assumed the woman would be at least nearing fifty.

To fit in today and avoid upsetting her father-in-law, Tan Zhiying hadn’t dared to wear the clothes she brought from Hong Kong. Instead, she had gone to a mall to buy an outfit and hadn’t worn much makeup, specifically trying to match the people from this “rural” place.

If she had known this “Big Sister-in-law” was so young and beautiful, she wouldn’t have dressed so plainly and would have definitely put on more makeup. Now, she felt completely overshadowed.

Tan Zhiying smiled and said, “Big Sister-in-law, you look so young. If you and Xiaxia walked together, people would believe you were sisters. Big Brother is truly fortunate to have married such a young and beautiful wife.”

Typical men, she thought, once they have power and wealth, they love marrying young wives!

Mother Jiang smiled. “How am I young? I’m the same age as Old Jiang—forty-six already.”

Tan Zhiying froze. “…”

Forty-six? That was six years older than her, yet the woman looked much younger! She looked like she was in her early thirties!

Tan Zhiying had assumed this sister-in-law was thirty-eight at most, calculating based on Jiang Xia’s age and guessing she had married Father Jiang at sixteen and given birth at seventeen. Who would have thought she was already forty-six?

She couldn’t help but ask, “Big Sister-in-law, how do you usually maintain your looks? What skincare products do you use?”

“I use all sorts of brands.” Mother Jiang named a few skincare brands, including domestic and imported ones, ranging from expensive to cheap. Her skincare products were gifts from her husband, her children, Zhang Fuyan, and other friends, plus whatever she bought herself.

Mother Jiang looked young because her life had become increasingly comfortable over the years. Her husband was capable and treated her well. Her children were filial and successful, and no one dared to make things difficult for her at work. She did housework when she felt like it and didn’t have to when she didn’t.

Every day she went out, who didn’t envy or respect her? She had no annoying sisters-in-law to deal with and no mother-in-law issues to handle. Her days were filled with happiness and zero worries—how could she not look young?

Tan Zhiying lived a much wealthier life than Mother Jiang, but her heart was full of petty calculations and schemes. Moreover, the nightlife in Hong Kong was much more intense than on the mainland, and her social calendar was packed. With so many late nights, she naturally aged faster.

Tan Zhiying felt a deep sense of crisis. She actually couldn’t compare to a mainland woman. She was unwilling to accept that her temperament and beauty were inferior to Mother Jiang’s, especially since she was younger!

She looked away, only to see Jiang Xia.

Sensing her gaze, Jiang Xia looked away and continued talking to Elder Mai. “Grandpa, did you recognize Papa a long time ago?”

Elder Mai shook his head with a smile. “No, I only realized it after I saw the triplets. I never expected that the son and grandchildren I’ve been searching for my whole life were people I already knew.”

Elder Xu added, “They say you can wear out iron shoes searching for something, only to find it without any effort at all when the time is right.”

…

Tan Zhiying looked at Jiang Xia and then compared her to her own daughter.

Mai Xiaoan was sitting right next to Jiang Xia. Today, her daughter was also dressed plainly. Comparing the two, her daughter looked like the country girl! Jiang Xia and her mother were the ones who looked like genuine wealthy socialites and noble ladies!

Next, she looked at Jiang Dong and Mai Jinping.

Throughout the entire meal, Tan Zhiying’s entire focus was on comparing herself to Mother Jiang, her daughter to Jiang Xia, and Jiang Dong to Mai Jinping. No matter how she looked at it, the other side seemed superior.

She even forgot how Elder Mai’s assets were being distributed! Her whole mind was preoccupied with studying why the mother and daughter’s skin was so good.

Chapter 733: Cleanliness Obsession

This meal ended very late. Elder Mai was extremely happy and ended up drunk.

Zhou Chenglei, Father Jiang, and Jiang Dong escorted him home.

However, Elder Mai refused to go to his own room. In his drunken state, he insisted on sleeping with Father Jiang or Jiang Dong.

He even claimed he wanted to coax Father Jiang to sleep, saying that when Father Jiang was born, he loved it most when he held him and soothed him to sleep.

Father Jiang had no choice but to bring him back to his own place and let him sleep with Jiang Dong.

Elder Xu had brought a camcorder and recorded the whole scene!

This was enough to let him laugh at his old friend for the rest of his life!

Elder Xu sighed emotionally. “I’ve known old Mai my whole life, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen him drunk.”

Father Jiang looked at his old father on his son’s back, his heart feeling heavy and complicated.

After a lot of fussing, they finally settled Elder Mai down and got him to sleep.

Father Jiang carried out the basin of water he had used to wash his father’s face and wipe down his body.

After Jiang Dong helped Elder Mai cover up with a quilt, he followed behind his father and gently closed the bedroom door.

Zhou Chenglei stepped forward to take the basin from Father Jiang’s hands and carried it to the bathroom to pour it out.

The Jiang family home only had three rooms, and Jiang Xia expected that Elder Mai would encounter many reasons to return and visit Father Jiang in the future. She suggested, “Papa, I’ll pack up the things in my room. Let’s keep that room for Grandpa to stay in from now on!”

Hearing this, Jiang Dong immediately said, “No need. When Grandpa comes, he can just sleep with me. I want to spend more time with him anyway.”

Jiang Dong felt it was time to buy a house in the city; otherwise, there wouldn’t be enough space for everyone.

Jiang Xia added, “I already have a house in the city, and it’s not far away. I rarely stay the night here anyway. It’s a waste to leave it empty, so we might as well get it ready for Grandpa to use when he comes back.”

“I rarely come home from school during the week either,” Jiang Dong countered. “It’s the same if Grandpa stays in my room. Besides, didn’t you see how Grandpa insisted on sleeping with me even while drunk? I want to get closer to him, so don’t stop me. Besides, I’m planning to get a larger house soon. Then everyone can have their own room, right? And if we specially clear out a room for Grandpa, he might think I don’t like sleeping in the same room as him!”

Jiang Dong didn’t want to clear out his sister’s room. If they didn’t keep a single room for his sister, it would feel as if she were truly a “daughter who is spilled water.”

That wouldn’t be right!

This would always be his sister’s home!

There would always be a room for her!

Father Jiang was also reluctant to clear out his daughter’s room and leave nothing for her. Life was long, and a young couple would inevitably have arguments. If his daughter came home after a fight and found she didn’t even have a room, how could she have any sense of belonging?

“There’s no need to clear anything. Jiang Dong doesn’t come home often—even less than you. Give Jiang Dong’s room to your grandpa. When Jiang Dong returns, he can sleep in your room. If you both come back at the same time, Jiang Dong can sleep on the sofa in the living room or with your grandpa. Once Jiang Dong moves into a bigger house, everyone will have their own room.”

Once Jiang Dong got married, Father Jiang didn’t plan on living with the couple anyway, so a room would naturally open up.

At that time, he would give Jiang Dong some money to buy an apartment so the young couple could enjoy their life together. If they needed help, they could just send the children over for them to look after.

This would avoid many family conflicts.

Without elders around, it was often more convenient for a couple to live a proper life together.

Zhou Chenglei spoke up, “Wherever Jiang Dong buys a house in the future, I’ll just buy the house next door. Just like we did in the capital. That way, we can live together no matter where we are.”

Father Jiang smiled. “That works too.”

He knew he had chosen a good son-in-law.

Jiang Dong asked, “Then, Brother-in-law, should we find some time to go look at houses?”

Zhou Chenglei nodded. “Sure.”

Zhou Chenglei felt that houses in both their city and Suicheng were worth buying, and real estate was a good investment.

The next day, Father Jiang invited Mai Nianshan’s family over to their home to visit and get to know the place.

He and Mother Jiang cooked to entertain them, while Jiang Dong and Zhou Chenglei acted as assistants.

Mai Nianshan looked at the Jiang family home. The total area wasn’t even as large as the living room of their Mid-Levels villa in Hong Kong.

However, the house was decorated very warmly and was very tidy.

Empathizing with his father’s perspective, he realized that if he were an adoptive father watching his biological son live such a simple life, he too would be desperate to give him everything to make up for it.

Tan Zhiying and Mai Xiaoan, however, didn’t find it warm. They only found it shabby. Sitting on the sofa, they felt physically uncomfortable.

Both mother and daughter had a cleanliness obsession.

Of course, the two of them tried their best to endure it, not showing their discomfort or daring to let it out.

Tan Zhiying’s scalp went numb at the thought that they would likely have to visit this place frequently to see relatives in the future.

Would they have to eat New Year’s Eve dinner here as well?

Thinking of this, she immediately took the initiative to invite them. “Big Brother, Big Sister-in-law, you haven’t seen our home in Hong Kong yet. Why don’t you come to Hong Kong for the New Year holidays?”

Father Jiang smiled and replied, “I can’t during the New Year. I’ll still have work then. I’ll go visit if there’s a chance in the future.”

During the New Year, he had to go on a rural medical mission to visit those in need, and he couldn’t just go to Hong Kong whenever he wanted.

He would have to apply for permission, and the application procedures were quite troublesome.

Mother Jiang added, “That’s right, your Big Brother isn’t free at all during the New Year.”

Elder Mai intervened, “Work is important. We’ll come over here for the New Year.”

Mother Jiang smiled. “Papa, you must come stay with us then, and our whole family will have New Year’s Eve dinner together. Father-in-law, my in-law, A-Sen, you all should come as well.”

Zhou Chengsen had also brought his children over today.

Elder Mai laughed. “Good.”

Father Zhou and Mother Zhou also smiled and agreed.

Tan Zhiying felt that her upcoming New Year was going to be miserable.

Therefore, after the meal, while they were leaving in the car, she said to Mai Nianshan, “Why don’t you buy them a house? Their home is way too small.”

Mai Nianshan looked at his wife in surprise.

Tan Zhiying continued, “If you take the initiative to offer to buy Big Brother a house, Papa will surely be happy. He is Papa’s biological son, and seeing him live in such a small house, Papa will definitely want to buy one for them anyway. It’s better if you suggest it first. That will make Papa even happier.”

Mai Nianshan nodded. “It’s good that you think that way.”

However, he suspected his Big Brother wouldn’t accept a house.

But whether he accepted it was his business; whether Mai Nianshan offered was another matter entirely.

Once they returned home, Mai Nianshan raised the matter with Elder Mai. Elder Mai was naturally pleased. “It’s kind of you to think of it, but your Big Brother won’t accept it, so don’t bother. It’s not a good time to give them anything right now, so let’s leave it at that. Jiang Dong is also capable of buying a house himself, so don’t worry.”

For now, he and his son had only acknowledged each other verbally; they were not yet father and son in the eyes of the law.

Only after their legal status was sorted out would giving them a house or other gifts be appropriate.

Otherwise, he might only be causing trouble for his son.

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei’s family finished lunch at the Jiang family home and returned home.

The next day, a construction crew arrived in the village to begin building the road.

Elder Mai planned to have this road from the village to the town finished before the New Year.

Elder Mai came to the village in person to inspect and participate in the groundbreaking ceremony.

Because there were fields on both sides of the path, they also had to dig irrigation channels while building the road.

The villagers volunteered to help out of their own accord.

Zhou Chenglei and Father Zhou went to help as well.

Since Elder Mai had come to the village, Zhou Chenglei naturally invited him to their home for meals and rest.

Jiang Xia specially prepared a room for Elder Mai to rest in.

It was only then that Tian Caihua finally learned that Elder Mai was actually Jiang Xia’s biological grandfather!

Chapter 734: She Wants a Divorce

Jiang Xia was in the kitchen cooking, and while she was at it, she made some carrot rice paste for the triplets.

Zhou Chenglei had gone to clear the ditches. Every household in the village had sent out one or two men to help with the task.

Normally, this maintenance work would be done after the New Year but before the spring plowing, but it had been moved forward because of the road construction.

Mother Zhou had gone to Great-Grandma’s house to make shrimp crackers. Once the shrimp crackers were made and dried, they could be kept until the New Year. When relatives came over, they could grab a handful and deep-fry a large plate to serve them; it was both proper and delicious.

Father Zhou and Elder Mai took the triplets out to watch Zhou Chenglei and the others clear the ditches and repair the road.

When the triplets woke up that morning, Jiang Xia and Mother Zhou had already taken them to see it once. Watching their father swinging his shovel, they had been so excited they squawked and chirped, their little mouths constantly shouting “Papa,” while pointing at the others and “eeya-ing” a whole bunch of nonsense.

This amused the villagers so much that they chatted with the babies while digging the ditches.

The babies loved watching everyone work on the road, so Father Zhou and Elder Mai took them back for more in the afternoon.

Tian Caihua had originally been at Great-Grandma’s house making shrimp crackers as well. The shrimp crackers she made were quite thin, so they turned out crispy and fluffy when fried.

Tian Caihua found something strange today—whenever Elder Mai coaxed the triplets, why had his title changed to “Great-Grandpa”?

Then, the way Mother Zhou and Father Zhou addressed Elder Mai had changed too; they were calling him “Grandpa Mai” as if he were their own relative by marriage.

She thought Jiang Xia had simply adopted Elder Mai as a grandfather.

But after asking Mother Zhou, she found out that Elder Mai was actually Jiang Xia’s biological grandfather, and they had just reunited the day before!

She was so shocked she couldn’t believe it, so she ran back to confirm it for herself.

Tian Caihua pulled Jiang Xia aside and asked, “Xiao Xia, Elder Mai is your biological grandfather? Your real, biological grandfather?”

Jiang Xia nodded. “Yes.”

Even after hearing Jiang Xia admit it herself, Tian Caihua couldn’t help but be stunned.

How could Jiang Xia be so lucky?

It was one thing for her father to be a high-ranking official and her younger brother to be a money-maker, but then a biological grandfather suddenly appears, and he’s a wealthy businessman from Hong Kong!

Tian Caihua asked, “Xiao Xia, what kind of good deeds did you do in your past life? Tell me, so I can do some in this life and try to be born like you in the next!”

Jiang Xia: “…”

Now that Tian Caihua knew, it wouldn’t be long before the whole village knew.

Tian Caihua felt this news was simply too staggering!

She had to share it, so she rushed out like a whirlwind!

Elder Mai was Jiang Xia’s biological grandfather! Didn’t that mean she now had a relative who was a big owner from Hong Kong?

It would be a miracle if she could keep it to herself.

Naturally, the next day when Elder Mai and Father Zhou took the triplets out, many women asked Elder Mai if he was truly Jiang Xia’s biological grandfather.

Elder Mai never minded people knowing; on the contrary, he wished the whole world knew. He nodded with a smile and confirmed it.

Only then did everyone understand why Elder Mai had chosen their village to build roads and schools.

When Zhou Bingqiang’s wife heard the news, she watched Wen Wan pick up a shrimp during dinner. She slammed her chopsticks down. “All you know how to do every day is eat, eat, eat! What was the point of marrying you into this family?”

Every day she was lazy, doing nothing at all, yet she ate more meat than anyone else!

Zhou Bingqiang sighed. “Alright, why are you arguing during dinner?”

Zhou Guohua added, “Mom! What’s wrong now?”

Wen Wan ignored her completely and picked up another shrimp!

This act of defiance enraged Zhou Bingqiang’s wife so much that she snatched Wen Wan’s bowl and threw it directly to the floor. It shattered with a loud “Clang!”

“What’s wrong with me? Why don’t you look at what kind of trash you married! Lazy and gluttonous all day, acting like everyone owes her a fortune! You really think you’re some pampered daughter of a wealthy family? Jiang Xia, a real ‘thousand gold’ daughter, still knows how to cook and clean! But her? Every day she…”

The child sleeping in the cradle in the living room was startled and jumped, then burst into loud cries.

Zhou Guohua hurried over to pick up his daughter.

Wen Wan threw her chopsticks down, and they went flying!

“Since you like Jiang Xia so much, let’s get a divorce! Get a divorce and let your son go marry Jiang Xia! Let your son go seduce Jiang Xia, and then your family will have someone giving you boats, cars, houses, and factories! You’ll even have a high-ranking official and a big Hong Kong owner as in-laws!”

It would be best if Zhou Guohua could actually hook up with Jiang Xia so she could have Zhou Chenglei back!

Leaving those words behind, Wen Wan went straight upstairs to pack her things!

She didn’t want to live this life for another second!

She wanted a divorce!

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife spat, “Pah! Marrying anyone would be better than marrying a wretched woman like you! If you want to leave, then leave! Get the hell out of our house and don’t ever come back!”

Zhou Guohua quickly chased after her.

Zhou Bingqiang felt a massive headache coming on. “Can’t you just say less?”

Why was it so hard for him to have a peaceful home that prospers?

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife continued her tirade, “Why shouldn’t I say it? All she does is sleep and eat! Did I owe her something in a past life? I take care of her child every day, cook the meals, and bring them right to her face—the only thing left is to feed her! And you don’t even say a word to her…”

Zhou Bingqiang stopped talking and let her scold.

He sat down silently to eat.

He had been clearing ditches all day and his back ached; he just wanted to have a decent meal after coming home, but even that was impossible!

On the second floor, Wen Wan took out a travel bag and packed her clothes and her household register.

Zhou Guohua was exhausted after a full day of clearing ditches. “It’s already dark, where are you going?”

“It’s none of your business where I’m going! Just remember to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau at eight o’clock tomorrow morning for the divorce!”

Wen Wan picked up her travel bag and headed out.

Zhou Guohua held the child in one arm and grabbed her with the other. “Does it have to be like this? My mom was wrong this time, I…”

“Let go of me! I’m definitely getting a divorce! I’ve had enough of this life! I’ve had enough of you! I’ve had enough of your mother! I’ve had enough of your whole family!” Wen Wan shook off his hand and ran downstairs.

Zhou Guohua: “…”

Wen Wan hurried downstairs, ignoring Zhou Bingqiang and his wife as she walked out.

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife yelled, “Once you leave, don’t come back!”

Wen Wan rushed out the door.

Zhou Chenglei had just returned from outside, his shirt and pants covered in mud.

Wen Wan paused when she saw him, giving him a look.

Zhou Chenglei didn’t even greet her. He walked straight into the yard and closed the gate behind him.

The gate was a hollowed-out wrought iron door, so the situation inside the yard was visible.

Wen Wan watched Zhou Chenglei’s cold, tall figure.

Jiang Xia walked out from the living room holding their little sister. Seeing Zhou Chenglei, she smiled. “You’re back? I was just about to go look for you. What took so long?”

“There was only a small section left to clear. Guodong and I finished the whole thing so we don’t have to go back tomorrow.”

Jiang Xia knew he had to go to the city tomorrow for the construction company’s shareholder meeting, and after that, he had to fly to the capital for the electromagnetic factory’s meeting.

Seeing her father, the little sister reached out excitedly. “Babababa…”

It was hard to tell if she was saying “Papa” or “Hold me.”

Zhou Chenglei walked over to his wife and daughter, kissed the little girl’s cheek, and said to her, “Papa’s clothes are dirty and covered in mud. I’ll hold Little Bao after I shower.”

The little sister kept reaching for him. “Babababa…”

Jiang Xia held onto her daughter, who was straining toward her father. “Go take a shower; dinner is ready. Sweetie, let’s go get some rice paste, okay? Today it’s carrot rice paste, your favorite.”

Upon hearing there was food, the little sister forgot all about her father and pointed toward the kitchen. “Eeya eeya…”

Zhou Chenglei laughed and went inside to go upstairs and shower.

Wen Wan watched the happy family of three inside the yard.

Jiang Xia glanced at Wen Wan outside the gate and noticed the travel bag in her hand. She didn’t care; she just carried her daughter into the kitchen.

Chapter 735: Leaving

Wen Wan picked up her travel bag and left.

Lately, those dreams had started coming to her again. In them, Zhou Chenglei was her husband.

They even had two sets of adorable boy-girl twins.

She had given birth to quadruplets in a single pregnancy, surpassing Jiang Xia’s triplets.

Moreover, after graduating from university, she had become an official translator with a very prestigious job, making her the envy of everyone in the village.

Zhou Chenglei loved her deeply, driving her to and from work every day…

The two of them worked hard together, expanding from a single boat to many, eventually opening their own shipping company.

Zhou Chenglei had an exceptional eye for business and extensive connections. Later on, he invested in a construction company, an electromagnetic factory, real estate companies, electronics firms, and even film and media companies.

On the surface, he only owned a shipping company and a livestock farm, but in reality, he held numerous investments of various sizes. As long as a friend sought his investment or he saw potential in something, he would put money into it.

He acted solely as a silent investor and did not participate in management, so no one knew just how wealthy he truly was.

It wasn’t until many years later, when people began noticing Zhou Chenglei’s name on the shareholder lists of several listed companies, that they realized he was a hidden multi-billionaire!

In the dream, he handed all the money he earned over to her.

Every step of his journey to becoming the future tycoon was supported by her silent dedication!

Life in the dream was beautiful, so very beautiful!

In that dream, Jiang Xia didn’t like Zhou Chenglei at all. The one she truly loved was a man surnamed Gu. However, Father Jiang and Mother Jiang disapproved of the match, feeling he wasn’t a good fit, and instead arranged for her to marry Zhou Chenglei. Her elopement with Wu Qizhi was actually an attempt to find that other man! In the dream, after the Jiang family suffered their misfortune, that man reappeared. He returned from abroad to find Jiang Xia and seek revenge on Zhou Chenglei. He had turned dark, constantly sabotaging Zhou Chenglei at every turn.

…

Wen Wan looked around the house before her; it was completely different from her dream.

Reality was nothing like the dream!

Everything was different!

She didn’t know why she was having these dreams.

She only knew that this life had been wrong from the very start. She should never have married Zhou Guohua.

When she first came back, she should have helped Jiang Xia and Wu Qizhi elope successfully. She should have stopped Zhou Chenglei from going after them!

That way, Jiang Xia would have run off with Wu Qizhi.

The man Jiang Xia liked came from a wealthy background and loved her dearly. Later, he became quite wealthy himself, rivaling Zhou Chenglei. Even if Jiang Xia had been reborn and eloped with Wu Qizhi, knowing he was a bad egg, she could have found a way to leave him and seek out that man named Gu. Then, she could have lived a happy life with the one she loved…

Wen Wan suspected Jiang Xia didn’t know that her true love would eventually become so wealthy, which was why she hadn’t divorced Zhou Chenglei.

But dwelling on it was pointless now.

There was no going back!

She wouldn’t get another chance to be reborn.

Wen Wan retracted her gaze, pushing the thoughts aside. A dream was just a dream; no matter how beautiful, it wasn’t real. It was time to wake up!

She strode away.

This time, she was headed to Suicheng, a city where no one knew her, to start anew.

Suicheng was also a city of endless opportunities.

Countless people had made their fortunes there in the garment industry.

As Wen Wan walked away, she couldn’t help but wonder:

What will happen when that man named Gu returns from abroad to find Jiang Xia, becoming just as wealthy as Zhou Chenglei?

What will Zhou Chenglei do when he finds out Jiang Xia’s heart belonged to someone else?

Will the two of them still be so affectionate?

Early the next morning, Jiang Xia said to Zhou Chenglei, “I’ll drive you to the city before heading to the food factory.”

“No need, I can just take the bus.”

“Then have Jiang Dong drive you to the airport after your meeting.”

Zhou Chenglei had to attend a shareholder meeting for the construction company in the city before flying directly to the capital.

“Alright.” Zhou Chenglei pulled Jiang Xia into his arms for a hug. “It’ll be hard on you while I’m away for these few days. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Let Mama and Papa look after Dabao and Erbao tonight.”

Tonight was Xiaomei’s turn for breast milk.

“It’s not hard at all, the babies are very well-behaved. Don’t rush back on my account.”

“Mhm.”

He had been designing a type of transformer and generator suitable for large vessels, and in the last two days, he had finally developed a viable concept. If successful, it could improve energy efficiency for ships by ten percent compared to the most advanced foreign models. This time, he needed to discuss it with the technical team there, and he wasn’t sure how many days he would need to stay in the capital.

But he would definitely be back before the Minor New Year.

As Zhou Chenglei let her go, he noticed a faint strawberry mark on the back of her neck. It was very light, likely left unintentionally during their second round the previous night.

He adjusted the back of her collar and then selected a silk scarf, tying it around her neck to hide the mark.

The day’s events were somewhat formal, so wearing a silk scarf wouldn’t be out of place; if anything, it made her look more professional.

“Is there a mark?” She had checked carefully in the mirror this morning and hadn’t seen anything.

“Mhm.” Since it was on the back of her neck, she couldn’t see it. Zhou Chenglei gently rubbed the spot with his thumb.

Then, both of them thought back to last night.

When the stirring of their souls had reached its peak, she hadn’t been able to resist biting his shoulder.

Fortunately, out of fear of accidentally scratching the babies, she hadn’t kept long nails.

After tying the silk scarf, Zhou Chenglei kissed her and then kissed the three sleeping children. “I’m heading out.”

Otherwise, he would miss the bus.

“Okay.”

Once Zhou Chenglei left, the children woke up. After Jiang Xia fed them, she drove Elder Mai to the food factory.

Today, teams from the newspaper office’s advertising department and a famous advertising agency from Hong Kong were arriving to discuss filming commercials for the potato chips, french fries, and small dried fish.

Regarding the newspaper advertisements, Jiang Xia had asked Editor-in-Chief Fan for a recommendation.

As for the Hong Kong side, Elder Mai had learned she was planning to film commercials and arranged for a Hong Kong advertising agency to handle it. Once finished, they would be broadcast on television stations in both Hong Kong and the mainland.

Jiang Xia participated in the meetings with the advertising teams all morning, relaying her specific requirements.

Both teams carefully noted her requests and took several photographs around the factory before taking their leave.

Jiang Xia gave each person a large snack gift box—a very substantial one.

She smiled and said, “Thank you for your hard work. Take these back and try them; perhaps they’ll give you more inspiration.”

Producing a commercial took time. If they wanted them to air during the New Year period, the teams would have to work overtime to produce the proposals.

The newspaper team had it easier, as their work only involved a small space in the paper with one image and a catchy slogan.

Television commercials were more complicated, requiring both filming and post-production. Besides television spots, there were also promotional posters. However, the Hong Kong agency was much more mature and professional than mainland ones, given that their advertising industry had been established for much longer.

Jiang Xia was quite looking forward to it.

But she also told them not to rush; quality was the priority.

She was investing a lot of money, and on television, even a fraction of a second cost a fortune!

She wanted to produce something with a truly classic impact.

Besides, the remaining production lines wouldn’t be delivered until after the New Year.

As long as the newspaper ads and promotional posters were ready by the New Year, she would be satisfied.

Otherwise, she worried the factory wouldn’t be able to keep up with the demand.

As the members of the two advertising teams got into their cars to leave, they looked at the large boxes of snacks at their feet and couldn’t help but comment, “That’s the most generous owner I’ve ever seen.”

“Tell me about it. The car is almost too full to fit them all; there’s barely any legroom left.”

In the past, they had worked with owners who gave out products as gifts, and they would usually give one big box to the whole team.

Jiang Xia had given a large box to every single person, including the drivers.

Chapter 736: Having Something and Having Nothing Are Different

When Jiang Xia left the factory, shipments were still ongoing.

The factory currently had a lot of orders. Besides those from Hou, there were also several clients who had proactively approached them.

Over the past two days, Jiang Xia had received several calls inquiring about placing orders. Some were even from other provinces; they had come to Suicheng city on business, bought and tried the potato chips and french fries, found them delicious, and then contacted the factory using the address and phone number on the packaging.

Some people, unable to visit in person, simply asked for the account number, transferred the money, and requested that the goods be shipped to them.

Jiang Xia selected a few distributors whose sales regions did not overlap with Hou’s and arranged meetings with them.

She also confirmed with Hou that he currently lacked the connections or energy to open up those markets.

After all, one person’s energy and capacity were limited. With the internet and transportation not yet advanced, he had already done an excellent job.

For the markets Hou had opened, Jiang Xia would certainly make him the general distributor.

Without Hou, the Food Factory wouldn’t be where it was today.

Their cooperation had always been pleasant.

Jiang Xia would be very busy in the upcoming days, meeting new clients and filming advertisements.

Jiang Xia drove home with Elder Mai; she had to return in the afternoon to meet new clients.

Elder Mai smiled at his granddaughter and said, “Your factory is well-managed, and the rules and regulations are very comprehensive.”

She didn’t seem inexperienced at all.

He had originally been worried that his granddaughter lacked experience in running a factory and had come to observe, but to his surprise, everything was excellent, and all management aspects were well in place.

He couldn’t even find anything to offer advice on.

Jiang Xia smiled, “I learned from my peers.”

Elder Mai knew that Jiang Xia had worked as a translator and salesperson for several Food Factories at the Canton Fair. He chuckled, “It’s good to learn more from your peers. Successful experiences may not always be similar, but failed experiences are mostly alike.”

“Yes.”

Elder Mai then shared a few of his own past failures.

Over the past few decades, his businesses had seen both profits and losses, and he had even suffered significant setbacks.

Jiang Xia listened very attentively.

Afterward, Elder Mai asked Jiang Xia whether the empty plot of land next to the factory was intended for expanding the Food Factory or building a garment factory.

Jiang Xia replied, “I plan to expand the Food Factory here. For the garment factory, I intend to find a location in Suicheng city to build it.”

Suicheng city would have multiple large garment cities and textile cities in the future, making it more suitable for the development of the clothing industry.

One garment factory here was enough.

Elder Mai nodded, “Suicheng city is indeed more suitable and convenient.”

Location was also crucial for business development.

“The factory can be built earlier. If you don’t have enough money, your grandpa here has some, I…”

Jiang Xia quickly said, “It’s enough.”

Elder Mai said, “Xiaxia, don’t be shy with your grandpa.”

Jiang Xia chuckled, “It really is enough! If it wasn’t, I definitely wouldn’t be shy! Grandpa, just watch me take it one step at a time, and see how far I can go on my own. When you find that I can’t go on, that I can’t pick myself up, then it won’t be too late for you to step in. I want to see if I’ve inherited your business acumen, and how far I can go on my own. I want to try to surpass you, to be better than the one who taught me. Don’t rush to help me now, you’re my ace in the hole!”

Elder Mai felt utterly comforted and pleased by Jiang Xia’s words.

He was eager to do something for his children and grandchildren, always feeling that he owed them.

However, he was happy to see his children and grandchildren ambitious and successful.

“Good, then your grandpa will be your strong backing. My Xiaxia will surely be even more successful than Grandpa in the future.”

Elder Mai was not speaking idly; his granddaughter had caught a golden era, a time of the most opportunities.

With a thousand industries awaiting revival, even pigs could fly if they stood at the forefront of a trend!

In contrast, when the triplets grew up, all industries would have developed, and opportunities would definitely be fewer than now. Their generation would be an era of pioneering and innovation.

Pioneering and innovation always required capital.

Since his son, grandson, and granddaughter didn’t need his help, Elder Mai decided to pave the way for his great-grandchildren.

Having capital set aside was one thing; whether it was used or not was another. Having it or not was yet another matter.

Having both ability and capital was completely different from having ability but no capital.

The grandparents and granddaughter chatted all the way, and unknowingly, they arrived home.

Jiang Xia drove the car into the garage and helped Elder Mai out of the car.

Mother Zhou smiled and called them to eat.

Jiang Xia washed her hands and helped bring out the food. Just then, someone walked in.

“Relatives by marriage, are you home?”

Jiang Xia looked out from the kitchen window.

It was Tian Caihua’s Big Sister-in-law, carrying a basket of eggs, 500g of pork, and a bag of salted dry peanuts, coming to their house.

When she saw Jiang Xia, she immediately said:

“Xiao Xia, I’m A-hua’s Big Sister-in-law.”

Jiang Xia had naturally met Tian Caihua’s Big Sister-in-law before. She smiled and greeted her, then asked, “Relatives by marriage, Big Sister-in-law, isn’t my Big Sister-in-law home?”

Mother Zhou also came out, “Relatives by marriage, Big Sister-in-law, why have you come? Is A-hua not home?”

Tian Caihua’s Big Sister-in-law quickly said, “No, I don’t know if A-hua is home, I didn’t go over there. I came to find Xiao Xia.”

Mother Zhou, “…”

Why was she looking for Jiang Xia? It couldn’t be for anything good!

But since the person was already here, it was impolite to turn her away, so Mother Zhou had to say, “Looking for Xiao Xia? Then come in. Have you eaten?”

“Not yet! Are you preparing dinner? That’s great! I bought pork, let’s cook it!”

Mother Zhou, “Dinner is already ready, let’s eat together!”

Jiang Xia got another set of bowls and chopsticks.

Tian Caihua’s Big Sister-in-law took the pork into the kitchen. “Cook this pork! It’s fresh, a big fat pig, look how thick the fat is! Braised pork will be so fragrant! I picked the thickest piece! I’ll make it. I’ll make braised pork for Xiao Xia.”

Mother Zhou stopped her and pulled her into the house. “There’s enough food, really no need. Let’s eat first! We can make it another time.”

Jiang Xia also said, “Relatives by marriage, Big Sister-in-law, please eat first, otherwise the dishes will get cold.”

Tian Caihua’s Big Sister-in-law had no choice but to put the items down and follow them into the house.

Once inside, she quickly greeted Father Zhou, then enthusiastically asked Elder Mai, “This old man must be my Xiaxia’s grandpa, right?”

Elder Mai smiled and nodded, “Hello.”

Father Zhou invited her, “Relatives by marriage, Big Sister-in-law, please sit and eat!”

Tian Caihua’s Big Sister-in-law looked at the dishes on the table, her eyes widening.

She didn’t even respond when Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying greeted her.

Out of six dishes, five were meat dishes!

Steamed seabass, poached shrimp, abalone braised chicken, plain sliced duck, stir-fried beef with chili, assorted seafood and cabbage pot — even the greens were cooked in seafood broth, every dish was substantial!

Because Elder Mai was old, the meals were mainly prepared with light flavors.

Jiang Xia placed a bowl of crucian carp tofu soup in front of her. “Relatives by marriage, Big Sister-in-law, have some soup.”

People here emphasized having soup before the meal and fruit after.

Tian Caihua’s Big Sister-in-law, “There’s soup too?”

Her family didn’t have such a feast even during the New Year!

Mother Zhou replied, “Drink it while it’s hot, fish soup gets fishy when it cools.”

Tian Caihua’s Big Sister-in-law didn’t stand on ceremony, she took a sip of the savory and sweet fish soup and praised, “Sister-in-law’s soup is still the best.”

Jiang Xia was still breastfeeding, and good soup meant good breast milk. That’s why Mother Zhou had pan-fried three crucian carp, each weighing 350-400g, to make this soup. The soup was milky white and, of course, delicious.

Tian Caihua’s Big Sister-in-law quickly finished one bowl and served herself another.

She didn’t plan on eating rice; she would fill herself with dishes and soup this meal.

Chapter 737: Mother-in-Law and Daughter-in-Law Join Forces

Mother Zhou was worried that Tian Caihua’s sister-in-law would drink all of Jiang Xia’s soup. Before the woman could reach for another bowl, Mother Zhou moved the pot away. “It’s getting in the way of the other dishes; let’s put it aside for now. Sister-in-law, let me serve you some rice.”

“Oh, you shouldn’t have,” Tian Caihua’s sister-in-law replied. She hadn’t actually planned on eating much rice, intending to fill up on the expensive dishes instead, but Mother Zhou had already snatched her bowl.

Mother Zhou filled the bowl to the brim with rice, pressing it down firmly to pack it in.

It wasn’t that Mother Zhou was stingy with guests; she simply disliked this particular woman.

Tian Caihua’s sister-in-law took the bowl and offered a word of thanks.

She turned to Elder Mai and asked, “Xiao Xia’s grandfather, I heard that wages for working in Hong Kong are very high. Is that true?”

Elder Mai nodded. “It is indeed a bit higher than here in the mainland.”

Tian Caihua’s sister-in-law continued, “You came to our village to build roads and schools—you’re so wealthy, you must own a huge company in Hong Kong, right?”

Elder Mai replied, “It’s not particularly large.”

“It must be massive! Otherwise, how could you afford all those roads and schools? Your company…”

Mother Zhou already guessed what she was going to say next.

In their area, anyone with relatives in Hong Kong would do everything possible to smuggle people over there to work illegally and send money home.

Jiang Xia had only just reunited with her grandfather, yet Tian Caihua’s sister-in-law had come knocking the moment she heard the news!

How did she have the nerve?

Even if the woman wasn’t embarrassed, Mother Zhou felt humiliated for her!

Mother Zhou quickly deposited a large heap of cabbage into the woman’s bowl. “Sister-in-law, try this Napa cabbage. I grew it myself.”

Tian Caihua’s sister-in-law stared at the mountain of cabbage in her bowl. “…”

Whose Napa cabbage wasn’t homegrown around here?

Besides, she didn’t want to eat cabbage! With so much fish and meat on the table, why would she eat that? Her own family grew more cabbage than they knew what to do with!

Tian Caihua’s sister-in-law said, “In-law, I can help myself!”

Jiang Xia picked up the head of the seabass and placed it in the woman’s bowl. “I heard my sister-in-law mention that you love fish heads. This seabass is fresh today, you must try it! My mother’s steamed fish is delicious.”

Tian Caihua’s sister-in-law: “…”

Since when did she like fish heads?

She didn’t like them at all! She liked meat! Why was Tian Caihua slandering her like this?

“Xiao Xia, I can really just help myself!”

Jiang Xia smiled. “It’s fine, don’t be polite. Eat more.”

With a large seabass head perched atop her rice, there was no room left in her bowl for anything else. Since fish heads were tedious to eat, Jiang Xia and Mother Zhou left her to it for the moment.

Tian Caihua’s sister-in-law tried to speak to Elder Mai while picking at the fish head. “Xiao Xia’s grandfather, you—”

Jiang Xia interrupted, “Sister-in-law, don’t talk while eating fish. The head is full of small bones. Eat slowly and be careful not to choke on a bone.”

“…”

The sister-in-law really wanted to snap back—if she knew it was full of bones, why did she give it to her?

But since she was there to ask for a favor, she didn’t dare speak up. She could only lower her head and try to finish the fish head as quickly as possible.

Once she finally cleared the fish head, Mother Zhou immediately deposited two small, bony fish from the seafood and cabbage pot into her bowl. “Sister-in-law, Caihua says you love these fish the most. Every time she goes back to her parents’ house, she brings some for you. I didn’t know you were coming today, or I would have made more. There are only two left, so you take them both!”

Mother Zhou inwardly regretted not buying an extra 1 kg of these bony fish just to keep the woman’s mouth shut.

Jiang Xia added, “Next time you come, I’ll buy 1 kg or so of these fish specifically for you.”

Tian Caihua’s sister-in-law: “…”

She was nearly exploding with rage!

Since when did she like these?! It was just that Tian Caihua was stingy! That miserly sister-in-law of hers only ever brought back the cheapest, biniest fish whenever she visited her maiden home.

“Actually, I—”

Jiang Xia cut her off. “Sister-in-law, don’t talk while eating fish. Watch out for the bones.”

Mother Zhou chimed in, “Exactly! Eat up, Sister-in-law! Fish isn’t good once it gets cold.”

“…”

What else could she say? She could only lower her head in silence and keep picking at the fish.

The fish was indeed bony, but for someone living by the sea, that wasn’t an impossible hurdle.

The real problem was that as soon as Mother Zhou saw she was almost finished, she piled a chicken head and a chicken butt onto her bowl. “Caihua said you love chicken heads and the ‘chicken peony’ best.”

In her agitation, the woman tried to speak and immediately got a fish bone stuck in her throat!

She turned her head away and began to cough.

Seeing her distressed expression, Mother Zhou asked hurriedly, “What’s wrong? Did a bone get stuck? How could you be so careless?”

The sister-in-law nodded frantically.

Father Zhou suggested, “Take a big swallow of plain rice or some greens to push the bone down.”

Mother Zhou agreed. “Yes, hurry, take a big mouthful of rice.”

The sister-in-law knew this trick well. She shoved a huge mouthful of rice into her mouth and swallowed it whole without chewing.

It didn’t work. She tried a mouthful of vegetables and swallowed that, but it still didn’t work!

She went back to the rice.

By the time she had finished the entire large bowl of rice and a plate of greens, the bone was still there.

Jiang Xia said, “Better go to the health clinic to have it removed.”

Just then, Tian Caihua finished her meal and wandered over with nothing to do. Mother Zhou said, “Caihua, your sister-in-law has a bone stuck in her throat. Take her to the health clinic to get it out.”

Tian Caihua was surprised. “Sister-in-law? What are you doing here? If you’re here, why didn’t you go to my house? What are you doing in this house?”

The sister-in-law was in too much pain from the bone to bother answering.

Jiang Xia said, “Big Sister-in-law, take her to the health clinic first.”

Tian Caihua scoffed. “Why go to the clinic for a fish bone? I’ll get it out! Mom, where’s the flashlight?”

Mother Zhou went to get the flashlight for her.

Tian Caihua held the flashlight in one hand, shining it down her sister-in-law’s throat. Once she spotted the bone, she reached in with her hand.

However, it was a bit too deep for her fingers to reach.

She grabbed a pair of chopsticks and used them to pluck the bone out directly. Her sons—Guangzong, Yaozu, and the others—got bones stuck all the time, and this was how she always handled it.

Tian Caihua successfully extracted the bone.

Relieved, Mother Zhou continued to urge her to eat. “Sister-in-law, keep eating!”

But how could she eat anything else?

She had just been forced to swallow a huge bowl of rice and a mountain of vegetables. She was stuffed to the point of bursting!

She managed a few pieces of beef, but that was her limit.

By the time Elder Mai put down his chopsticks, she seized the moment. “Xiao Xia’s grandfather, are you full?”

“I’m full. Please, take your time,” he replied.

At that moment, the eldest brother of the triplets started crying, and Jiang Xia stood up.

The triplets had been playing quietly in their crib, but the eldest was likely crying because his diaper was wet.

Elder Mai quickly said, “I’ll go check on them. You finish your dinner.”

With that, Elder Mai walked away.

In the end, Tian Caihua’s sister-in-law never got a chance to voice her request.

After dinner, Elder Mai and Father Zhou took the triplets out for a stroll to settle them down for their nap.

Jiang Xia had to head to the food factory to meet a client.

Tian Caihua walked home with her sister-in-law.

She asked, “What were you really doing at my brother-in-law’s house?”

Her sister-in-law replied, “I wanted to ask Xiao Xia’s grandfather to find a job for your older brother in Hong Kong. I heard even a dishwasher over there can earn a thousand yuan a month!”

Tian Caihua was shocked. “You want my brother to go to Hong Kong to wash dishes? He’s so clumsy—won’t he just break every bowl in the restaurant?!”

Tian Caihua’s sister-in-law: “…”

Chapter 738: More Imaginative Than Her

Tian Caihua’s Big Sister-in-law was almost driven to madness by her sister-in-law!

“Do you look down on your Big Brother that much? Does he have to be a dishwasher if he goes to Hong Kong? Can’t he do something else? Jiang Xia’s grandfather is a big company owner; couldn’t he just casually arrange an office job for your Big Brother in the company? Why must he wash dishes? You have to help your Big Brother with this!”

Tian Caihua’s mouth twitched. “Aside from a pair of strong arms, Big Brother knows nothing. He doesn’t even know as many words as I do. What could he do in an office? Sit there and wait for his salary? Would your own father pay him a salary for doing that? Besides, if I’m going to ask Xiao Xia’s grandfather to arrange an office job for Big Brother, I might as well ask him to arrange one for me! I need a job too, you know!”

The Big Sister-in-law: “…”

The Big Sister-in-law wanted to say something more.

Tian Caihua spoke up directly, “Forget about it! I can’t help! Besides, if Big Brother goes over to Hong Kong, he won’t be a Hong Kong citizen, so he can only work under the table. An office job is impossible. He’d only be able to do jobs that are hidden away and out of the public eye, like dishwashing or cleaning. Also, if he goes there on a permit to visit relatives, he can only stay for a maximum of fourteen days each time before having to come back and go again. Isn’t that too much trouble? There’s also the risk of being caught.”

Tian Caihua’s Big Sister-in-law had actually thought quite “far ahead.” “Jiang Xia’s grandfather could help your Big Brother transfer his household registration over there!”

Tian Caihua’s eyes widened. How could she have the nerve to ask that?

“Sister-in-law, I think it would be faster if you remarried someone there and then smuggled my Big Brother over!”

“…”

“Besides, if Big Brother’s household registration gets transferred, what about you? Aren’t you afraid he’d find another woman over there and never come back?!”

The Big Sister-in-law: “…”

She really hadn’t considered that very likely possibility!

She knew exactly what kind of man her husband was. Usually, when he saw a woman with a large chest in the village, he couldn’t help but steal extra glances. Of course, he didn’t mess around because he didn’t have the money! If he had money, it might be a different story!

She thought about it and felt a bit fearful. “Then… never mind!”

Tian Caihua said, “Of course we’ll forget it. What else could you do? Don’t even think about this anymore; even I wouldn’t dare to dream of it!! I have things to do, so go on home!”

Tian Caihua stuffed the return gifts Mother Zhou had prepared for her Big Sister-in-law into her hands.

Tian Caihua felt that her sister-in-law had actually been very farsighted this time! She was even more imaginative than her! It was pure wishful thinking!

Everyone knew it was easy to make money in Hong Kong, but Jiang Xia herself hadn’t even mentioned transferring over. Why would Old Man Jiang help her brother move his registration?

There were so many people in the Jiang family and so many in the Zhou family. The line would never reach the family of the sister-in-law of a granddaughter’s husband!

However, Jiang Xia and the Jiang family probably wouldn’t move there anyway. It wasn’t like they couldn’t make money here! Isn’t it better to have power, influence, and money right here?

In Hong Kong, a monthly salary might be one thousand yuan, but when Jiang Xia’s Food Factory was still at the old house, her daily profit was more than that!

Besides, if Old Man Jiang left the company to Jiang Xia and Jiang Dong, the company would belong to them whether they moved or not!

So, she just envied Jiang Xia’s good fortune! Everything good seemed to fall right into her lap!

The Big Sister-in-law took the return gifts, which consisted of a bag of White Rabbit cream candy and a bag of roasted rice cakes.

Tian Caihua pursed her lips but didn’t dwell on it.

Now that the family ran a convenience store, she didn’t lack these things. Most importantly, now that the family was making more money, Tian Caihua wasn’t as petty and calculating as she used to be.

Her vision was no longer so narrow; her mind was full of grand plans to make money. Plans to follow Jiang Xia’s lead in wealth-building.

She had just thought of another way to make money.

The Big Sister-in-law spoke again, “Ah-Hua, that convenience store you opened in town is quite profitable. Isn’t Jiang Xia’s grandfather planning to build a school? Surely there will be a convenience store inside the school, right? Help me talk to Jiang Xia and tell her to leave that convenience store for me. When the time comes, lend me one or two thousand yuan, and I’ll open the shop in the school.”

Tian Caihua: “…”

She was actually targeting her now?

The school was right at their doorstep, just a five-minute walk away. That convenience store was the latest money-making opportunity Tian Caihua had set her sights on.

Tian Caihua said crossly, “Forget about the school convenience store too. I’m planning to open that one myself.”

The Big Sister-in-law got angry. “You won’t help with this, and you won’t help with that! Don’t forget your roots! Do you remember how you almost starved to death as a child if your Big Brother hadn’t shared half his sweet potatoes with you?”

Tian Caihua also got angry. “How have I not helped? Didn’t I hire Big Brother and Second Brother to go out to sea before? And now I’ve hired our younger brother? I can’t be biased! My two younger brothers haven’t married yet; I have to help them too! Are you saying I should hire Big Brother and ignore our younger brother?!”

The Big Sister-in-law didn’t dare say that. Previously, her father-in-law and mother-in-law wanted the brothers to pool their money to pay for the two brothers-in-law to get married. She hadn’t been willing!

Now that the brothers-in-law were working for their sister, many people were coming to the door to propose a marriage, so the matter hadn’t been brought up again.

But the Big Sister-in-law wasn’t satisfied with leaving empty-handed. “Then ask your brother-in-law or Jiang Xia to arrange a job for your Big Brother! Or you can open another convenience store in town, and we’ll partner up, just like Mom and Dad do, where we split the profits fifty-fifty.”

Tian Caihua had no desire to partner with her Big Sister-in-law. “I’ll ask Xiao Xia if her factory is still hiring.”

“Then go ask her right now.”

Tian Caihua said impatiently, “Xiao Xia needs to take a nap this afternoon and then go to the factory. Do you think other people are just idle? You head back quickly! I’ll find an opportunity to ask for you.”

In the afternoon, Jiang Xia went to the Food Factory.

She first went to the production workshop to perform an inspection. There, she spotted a male worker who was neither wearing a mask nor a hat.

Jiang Xia looked at his employee badge and reminded him, “Masks and hats are mandatory in the production workshop. This is your first warning and a 2 yuan fine. If you do it again, you will be dismissed immediately. I will inform the accountant to deduct it from your wages.”

The employee hurriedly pulled a mask out of his pocket and put it on. “Factory Director, I was just catching my breath; it’s too stuffy wearing it! It won’t happen again, please don’t deduct my pay.”

A 2 yuan fine meant a whole day’s work would be for nothing.

Jiang Xia said, “The factory rules are the rules. Just don’t do it again.”

After dropping those words, Jiang Xia continued her inspection of the other production lines.

The man glared at Jiang Xia’s retreating back.

Once Jiang Xia had left Workshop No. 1, the man couldn’t help but say to the colleagues around him, “We’re only responsible for washing, peeling, and slicing. We aren’t on the deep-fry or packaging lines. What does it matter if we wear masks and hats or not? Fining me 2 yuan just for not wearing it—I’ve never seen such a harsh boss!”

Each production line was staffed by both men and women.

Two male workers were responsible for the heavy lifting and moving, while several female employees were responsible for manual peeling and checking for spoiled potatoes.

One washing and slicing production line had a total of ten people.

Several of the female employees heard him and said, “When we joined, the group leader told us many times: you must wear masks and hats and change your clothes in the workshop. We reminded you too, but you didn’t listen. You can’t blame the Factory Director for fining you!”

Chapter 739: Just Give Me Ten Thousand Yuan and We’ll Call It Even

“You deserved it! We remind you every day to wear your mask and hat, but you never listen! Now you’ve learned your lesson. Just make sure you wear them next time.”

“It’s only a two-yuan fine; consider it the price for a lesson learned! If they didn’t fine you, you’d never follow the rules. Serves you right!”

…

The potatoes here were washed and sliced, and they wouldn’t be washed a second time. That was why the regulations required everyone to wear masks and hats.

Because people spray saliva when they talk, and hair can fall out while walking, the factory had established these rules.

Feng Yicai knew that the factory director usually didn’t come by in the afternoon and that the group leaders were busy. Generally, there would only be one surprise inspection in the workshop during the morning and one in the afternoon. Once that was over, they wouldn’t come back. Every time the group leader finished his inspection, Feng Yicai would take off his mask and hat. Even when colleagues on the same production line reminded him, he refused to listen.

The only people in the factory who didn’t need to wear masks were the warehouse and administrative staff. However, anyone entering the production workshop had to wear a mask and a hat—even the factory director himself wore them when he visited.

Since he had been caught red-handed by the factory director, wasn’t it normal for his wages to be docked?

Therefore, none of his colleagues stood up for him.

Hearing everyone’s words, Feng Yicai remained dismissive. He still felt there was no need to wear a mask and hat, viewing it as a completely redundant effort. He also felt that everyone was just gloating over his lost money.

After inspecting all the workshops, Jiang Xia finally arrived at the Personnel Department. She spoke to the department supervisor, “Feng Yicai from Production Workshop No. 1 was working on the production line without a mask or hat. He has violated the factory’s rules and regulations. Register a two-yuan deduction from his wages and transfer him to the warehouse department. He is not suited for work on the production line. If there is a next time, dismiss him immediately.”

“Understood!”

With the matter settled, Jiang Xia returned to her office.

At three o’clock, the two clients she had an appointment with arrived one after the other.

She met with the two new clients and took them on a tour of the factory’s production lines, letting them sample the products.

After touring all the production lines, both men couldn’t help but praise the facility. “This is the cleanest and most meticulously managed factory I have ever seen!”

“The ingredients in this factory are fresher than the ones my wife buys for home, and the factory is cleaner than my own kitchen! Anyone who sees this would be at ease!”

Almost every client who came for a visit said something similar. Whenever Jiang Xia heard this, she would reply with a smile, “Fresh ingredients and hygiene are the fundamental principles of our factory.”

The two naturally offered a few more words of praise.

After the tour, they urged Jiang Xia to go to the office to sign the contracts; they wanted the goods shipped as soon as possible.

Fresh raw materials, a clean production process, and great taste—products like these were easy to sell with confidence!

As the Lunar New Year was approaching, both clients wanted to ship the goods immediately and had arrived with large bags of cash for the transaction.

One brought 30,000 yuan, and the other brought 50,000 yuan, showing great sincerity.

Recently, most clients who came to the door traded in cash, but these two had brought significantly more than usual. Others typically brought 1,000 or a few thousand yuan as a deposit.

This proved that these two clients Zhou Chenglei had found were quite wealthy!

In this day and age, it wasn’t easy to produce tens of thousands of yuan in cash.

Jiang Xia inquired about the inventory and then readily agreed to prioritize shipping a portion of their goods tomorrow morning.

There weren’t too many clients yet, and the production lines were much faster than the previous manual production.

The workers were also voluntarily working overtime, wanting to seize the opportunity to earn some extra money for the New Year.

They finished work at 11:00 PM every night and started at 7:30 AM the next morning.

If Jiang Xia hadn’t set a rule that the latest they could work was 11:00 PM and that no overtime pay would be given after that, they would have wanted to work until midnight.

Even with the inventory, it was impossible to ship out 80,000 yuan worth of goods by tomorrow. Jiang Xia agreed to ship the rest in three separate installments—half before the New Year and the remaining half after. This was the fastest she could manage.

She had to leave enough production time for the factory and leave room for orders from other clients.

Straightforward people liked doing business with other straightforward people. The two men signed the contracts efficiently and departed.

By the time she finished with the clients, it was already 5:10 PM. As Jiang Xia prepared to go home, she received a call from Zhou Chenglei. She told him about the two new clients and the matter of the disciplined worker.

After chatting for a while, she said, “I’m heading off work now. I’ll see if the bank is still open; I want to deposit the money.”

80,000 yuan was a very large sum.

On the other end of the line, Zhou Chenglei glanced at the time. The bank was about to close. He urged Jiang Xia, “Give me a call as soon as you get home.”

“Okay,” Jiang Xia replied. She picked up a travel bag full of money, left the office, and walked toward her car.

As it was near closing time, Feng Yicai emerged from the workshop and saw Jiang Xia carrying a travel bag.

Intuition told him that the bag was full of money.

Over the past two days, he had seen many clients coming to place orders, followed by Jiang Xia leaving with a bag of money.

Jiang Xia got into the car, placed the travel bag on the passenger seat, and drove away.

There was a bank within the industrial zone. Jiang Xia looped around to see if it was still open.

It wouldn’t be safe to keep this much money at home.

However, when she reached the bank, the rolling shutter was already halfway down, and the armored transport vehicle was ready to leave.

Jiang Xia checked the time—5:25 PM. Forget it. The bank closed at 5:30 PM; she wouldn’t make it.

She drove directly toward home.

The industrial zone was located far from the city center in a relatively desolate area.

Since Jiang Xia was going back to the village, the route she took was even more remote than the road to the city.

A proper road had been built from the industrial zone to the city, but the way back to the village was in the opposite direction and lacked modern paving.

As Jiang Xia was passing an area with tall wild grass on both sides, someone suddenly burst out from the bushes. She slammed on the brakes.

The person who jumped out was nearly hit and fell to the ground. He immediately lay there and started screaming, “Ow, that hurts! How are you driving? Help! Someone’s been hit! Someone’s been hit!”

Jiang Xia unbuckled her seatbelt, intending to get out and check the person’s condition, but then she spotted another person in the grass.

She reached into the storage compartment of the car door and grabbed an object before stepping out and immediately locking the doors behind her.

The man in the grass emerged as soon as Jiang Xia stepped out.

He was tall and brawny with a prominent scar on his face. “You bitch! How are you driving? You hit my brother!”

The man on the ground also stood up, clutching his backside in feigned agony. “It hurts so much! My bone is broken! Well? You broke my bone! How are you going to compensate me?”

The two men stepped forward side-by-side, closing in on Jiang Xia.

Jiang Xia glanced at the man; he probably didn’t even have a scratch. “I didn’t hit you! You jumped out suddenly and fell on your own! You don’t look like you have a broken bone. How about this? I’ll give you some medical expenses. Is ten yuan enough? If not, we can call the police to handle it. You can also go to the hospital for an injury assessment, and I will pay whatever the medical bill comes to.”

“Ten yuan? Who are you trying to brush off, a beggar? You’re a factory owner from the industrial zone nearby, aren’t you? How about this—just give me ten thousand yuan, and we’ll call it even!”

Chapter 740: What is This Woman’s Identity?

One of them sized up Jiang Xia’s car with greedy eyes, while the other let his gaze wander over Jiang Xia’s body, lingering particularly on her chest. Finally, both of their stares landed on her face.

Jiang Xia wasn’t the least bit intimidated. She looked them straight in the eye, seeing their greed and lecherous intent with perfect clarity.

One was calculating and greedy, his eyes flashing with a sharp light.

The other licked his lips—lewd and disgusting!

“Ten thousand yuan? Are you sure?” Jiang Xia asked, her brow furrowed.

Seeing how calm she was, the man with the scar felt a flicker of wariness.

Shouldn’t a normal woman be terrified in a situation like this?

However, he took another look at Jiang Xia. She was delicate and well-dressed; her family was clearly wealthy. He figured she was likely a spoiled princess—the type who was fearless out of pure arrogance.

Besides, could two grown men really not handle one frail woman?

“You hit my brother. Pay him ten thousand yuan, and we’ll let you go! Otherwise…” Scarface brandished a small knife, his eyes full of menace as he glared at Jiang Xia.

Time was running out; they had to end this quickly!

The greasy man who had nearly been hit stared at Jiang Xia with a lecherous grin. “Big Brother, why waste your breath? Let’s drag her into the bushes and have our way with her first! Then the car will be ours too! This thing is worth way more than ten thousand!”

This woman was too top-tier!

Just looking at her made his blood boil with excitement!

“We only want the money!” Scarface gave him a warning look. There wasn’t enough time; plenty of people would be passing through this stretch of road once work hours ended.

The fewer complications, the better!

Otherwise, they’d end up with nothing!

Scarface pointed his knife at Jiang Xia. “Hurry up and give us the ten thousand! We know you have ten thousand yuan in the car!”

They had been loitering nearby when they overheard some workers discussing how profitable the food factory was. Apparently, people showed up every day with cash to place orders, and the goods the workers produced during overtime were sold out almost daily.

They had pretended to strike up a conversation to gather information, learning that the factory director was a woman who drove herself to and from work every day in a Jeep.

So, starting the next day, they had staked out the area near the food factory, waiting for the right moment to see if they could catch a “big fish.”

They were wanted men and needed a sum of money to smuggle themselves into Hong Kong.

To their surprise, they only had to wait two days before the perfect opportunity presented itself!

Jiang Xia glanced at the knife. Feigning terror, she backed away against the car until she had shifted right in front of the scarred man. “Is ten thousand yuan really enough? But I don’t have that much on me. Can I give you one thousand first?”

Her voice trembled slightly.

Seeing her fear, the greasy man stepped closer and peeked toward the passenger seat. “There’s a travel bag on the seat. That’s the money, isn’t it? Bring it out for us to see!”

Jiang Xia watched them—the greasy man in front, Scarface behind him, perfectly staggered. This was the spot!

She smiled. “Sure! You want ten thousand in compensation, right? Why don’t you go lie on the ground yourselves? Once I drive over you, forget ten thousand—I’ll give you a million, ten million, even a hundred million! I’ll make sure to burn plenty of spirit money for you!”

Both men’s expressions shifted instantly.

The greasy man flew into a rage. “Dead bitch! I’m giving you a chance and you’re throwing it back in my face! I’ll deal with you first! In a minute, you’ll be the one lying on the ground begging me to take your money!”

The greasy man lunged forward, reaching out to grab Jiang Xia.

Now or never!

Jiang Xia seized his reaching hand, twisted it, raised her leg, and yanked!

The entire sequence of movements was completed in under a second!

Scarface had been watching from behind, not intending to interfere. Since this woman was looking for death, he figured he’d let her learn a lesson. He stood to the side with his knife, staying on guard.

But Jiang Xia’s counterattack was too fast! By the time Scarface realized what was happening and swung his knife to stab her, he was half a second too late!

With a sharp pull, Jiang Xia dragged the greasy man directly in front of her as a shield.

Scarface’s knife plunged straight into his own partner!

The entire blade sank in!

Scarface let go in disbelief, not daring to pull the knife out. He was afraid if he pulled it out, the man would bleed to death even faster!

The greasy man collapsed to the ground, his eyes wide with shock!

Scarface looked up in a fury. “Bitch! You—” Before he could finish his threat, a handgun was pressed against the center of his forehead.

The item Jiang Xia had grabbed before getting out of the car was a gun.

Scarface: “!!!!!”

Jiang Xia stepped hard on the greasy man’s hand, ensuring the heavily injured man couldn’t cause any more trouble. “Tell me! How much money do you want? I’ll burn it for you!”

The greasy man’s arm had been dislocated by Jiang Xia, he’d been kicked, and just as the pain was registering, he’d been stabbed by his own brother. He had been trying to crawl back up when Jiang Xia’s boot heel ground into him.

Fortunately, because she was driving, she wasn’t wearing stilettos.

Even so, the pain was so agonizing he didn’t know which wound hurt more. He promptly blacked out.

Blood continued to flow, quickly staining the ground.

Scarface: “!!!”

He had hunted geese all his life, only to have his eye pecked out by one today!

He rolled his eyes upward to look at the gun pressed against his forehead, trying to judge if it was real. He didn’t dare move an inch. “Sister, please, show some mercy and let us go! we were wrong!”

It looked real!

The look in this woman’s eyes as she held the gun was far too cold, and her posture was too practiced!

It was as if she had held a gun and killed many times before!

The eyes of someone who has killed are different from someone who hasn’t.

What was this woman’s identity? Why did she have a gun?

Had he run into a policewoman?

Jiang Xia stared at him coldly, the muzzle of the gun pressing into his forehead. She said calmly, “Were you specifically waiting here for me? Who told you I would be passing through here?”

At this moment, her momentum couldn’t falter, and her heart couldn’t show any weakness. Jiang Xia was imitating the terrifying, death-chilling expression Zhou Chenglei sometimes wore.

He had truly killed enemies on the battlefield. When he was actually enraged, the look in his eyes was fundamentally different from a normal person’s anger.

Although he had never directed that look at her, Jiang Xia had seen him use it on others, and even she had been afraid at first.

Now, she naturally wasn’t afraid; she had even managed to replicate about seventy or eighty percent of it.

Jiang Xia was thinking about how to get this man to the police station. If she let him go, she was afraid he would retaliate. She hoped someone would pass by soon.

“No, we weren’t waiting for you! We were just waiting for anyone to pass by to see who was unlucky! Sister, I know I was wrong. Let me go, otherwise my brother won’t make it! If someone shows up and sees this, they’ll suspect you of murder. You’ll be dragged down with us. Why ruin your life over people like us, right?”

Scarface was trying to distract her.

At the same time, he was also waiting!

He was waiting for someone to appear. The moment Jiang Xia’s attention was diverted, he would launch a counterattack and seize the gun!

However, Jiang Xia remained unmoved, staring at him with an expressionless gaze that treated him like a dead man. “Are you going to talk? Who instructed you to wait here for me?”

Scarface: “!!”

Something was wrong!

This wasn’t a goose!

This was a hawk!

How could she not even blink?

Fear began to take root in Scarface’s heart. Could a normal person go this long without blinking?

And would a normal person in this situation ask who had “instructed” them?

Who “instructs” a roadside robbery?

This only proved that her identity was unusual and that she was likely targeted for assassination or schemes often.

The only chance now was to wait for someone to appear and catch her off guard.

Jiang Xia had no idea he was overthinking things so much. She was just putting on an act, waiting for an opportunity to knock him unconscious.

Just then, a bicycle turned the corner.

Chapter 741: A Big Shot’s Woman?

Someone had appeared!

Scarface glared at Jiang Xia, waiting for his moment to strike!

But he was destined for disappointment.

He found no opening at all.

Jiang Xia didn’t lose focus for even 0.0001 seconds. Even though someone else had arrived, she acted as if they weren’t there, pressing the gun harder against him. “Are you going to talk or not?”

Scarface: “…”

It was confirmed. This time, he had truly kicked a steel plate!

He hadn’t run into some ordinary person.

He suspected that the moment he moved, the other party would pull the trigger.

He didn’t dare budge!

If he was caught and sent to do time behind a sewing machine, he’d at least have a chance to live. If he moved now, that chance would be gone.

“Sister, really, no one sent us! I just wanted to stage a highway robbery to get some money for a boat ticket! I won’t do it again! There won’t be a next time!” Scarface looked toward the newcomer, hoping the person would save him.

The person appearing on a bicycle was the group leader of the food factory’s security office, Zhou Chenglei’s old comrade-in-arms, Yang Wanquan.

As Yang Wanquan rounded the corner on his bike, his eyes widened at the scene. He didn’t dare call out to Jiang Xia, fearing he might distract her and allow the thug to counterattack.

Because the greasy man had jumped out just as Jiang Xia’s car turned the corner, Yang Wanquan arrived in front of them almost instantly.

He ditched his bicycle and stepped forward, knocking Scarface unconscious with a swift strike without a word.

Scarface, who had been waiting to be saved: “…”

This guy was definitely a trained fighter!

“Sister-in-law, are you alright?”

Before he blacked out, Scarface heard the man call Jiang Xia “Sister-in-law.”

Damn it!

He really had kicked a steel plate!

Had he run into the woman of some underworld big shot?

Jiang Xia put the gun away and looked at Yang Wanquan. “Why are you here?”

Yang Wanquan looked her over. Seeing that her clothes weren’t even wrinkled, he felt relieved. “The boss asked me to see you home. That’s why every time you come to the factory alone, I follow your car on my bicycle until you safely reach the village entrance.”

Since Jiang Xia was driving a car and he was on a bicycle, there was naturally a distance between them.

He had arrived just a few minutes late.

He had nearly been scared to death just now!

Jiang Xia: “…”

She had no idea.

At that moment, others appeared on bicycles.

Seeing two people lying on the ground, they assumed there had been a traffic accident.

Yang Wanquan said to them, “Comrades, could you please help us report this to the police?”

Jiang Xia explained, “These two men tried to rob my car. We’ve subdued them. Please, comrades, help us call the police!”

“Alright!” Seeing the blood on the ground, the person quickly turned their bike around and pedaled away.

Whether they believed Jiang Xia’s words or not was another matter.

To prevent the men on the ground from waking up, Yang Wanquan took a leather strap from his bicycle and tied them both up.

He looked at the gun in Jiang Xia’s hand. “Sister-in-law, you should put that thing away quickly.”

Jiang Xia glanced at it. “It’s just a toy gun.”

This was a toy gun Zhou Chenglei had someone make for her. It looked exactly like the real thing—meant for bluffing. She kept it in the car just in case.

Yang Wanquan: “…”

So his sister-in-law had used a toy gun to scare these two into submission?

Yang Wanquan looked at the two men on the ground. “Sister-in-law, you are amazing!”

“No, I was actually very scared at the time. But since these two had no guard up against me, I managed to bluff them!” Jiang Xia had indeed been afraid, but she was used to staying calm in a crisis. No matter how scared she was, she wouldn’t show it. In fact, the more frightened she was, the faster her brain worked.

She knew she couldn’t win in a physical fight, so she could only rely on her wits. She had also been afraid they would see through her.

“Sister-in-law, don’t be modest. Fear is only human. To be able to stay calm in the midst of fear is a true skill!”

These two were large and armed with knives. Anyone who wasn’t a strong fighter would have been terrified.

Furthermore, he had seen that Jiang Xia didn’t look scared at all earlier. The “act” was real; the fear was fake.

If she was scared, it probably only lasted for half a second!

It didn’t take long before the police officers arrived.

The moment the officers arrived, they recognized the two men as wanted criminals.

Yang Wanquan: “…”

So this counted as his sister-in-law earning merit?!

“Sister-in-law, you and the boss really are two of a kind! You can earn merit just by catching a random person on the road!”

Birds of a feather really did flock together!

“This is some damn good luck. Back then, the boss even sat next to a special agent on a train. It was like the guy was hand-delivering merit to him.”

Jiang Xia: “…”

He called that good luck?

Yang Wanquan and Jiang Xia went together to give a statement.

Jiang Xia was worried Zhou Chenglei would be anxious, so she took the opportunity to call him and say she was home.

In the end, as soon as Zhou Chenglei heard her, he said, “You aren’t calling from the home phone?”

Though it was a question, Zhou Chenglei sounded certain.

Jiang Xia: “…”

“How can you tell?”

There wasn’t even caller ID.

“I can hear the footsteps of strangers walking.”

Besides that, Jiang Xia’s tone of voice was also a bit different.

“…”

Jiang Xia glanced at the staff members walking by.

He could actually hear that?

Zhou Chenglei asked again, “Where are you?”

Jiang Xia had no choice but to answer honestly. She spoke nonchalantly, making sure to mention that Yang Wanquan had appeared in time to knock the men out.

After listening, Zhou Chenglei simply said, “Let Wanquan take the phone.”

“…”

Jiang Xia had to hand the phone to Yang Wanquan, giving him a meaningful look.

But Yang Wanquan didn’t dare lie to Zhou Chenglei; he told him everything in detail.

Consequently, Zhou Chenglei arrived home at two in the morning.

Jiang Xia was already asleep. She had always been a heavy sleeper.

By two or three in the morning, she was in a state of deep sleep; unless a child cried, even thunder couldn’t wake her.

So she didn’t even notice when Zhou Chenglei finished his shower and lay down on the bed.

It wasn’t until after six in the morning when the eldest brother woke up. He didn’t cry; instead, he reached out to grab his mother, “eeya-ing” in an attempt to wake her up.

Jiang Xia opened her eyes and was about to sit up when Zhou Chenglei had already sat up. “I’ve got him. You sleep a bit longer.”

Hearing this, Jiang Xia closed her eyes. “Check if his diaper is wet.”

Since starting solid foods, the children were slowly able to sleep through the night. During the two nights Zhou Chenglei was away, she didn’t even need to do night feedings; they could sleep until six or seven in the morning.

Thinking of this, Jiang Xia realized something was wrong. She snapped her eyes open. “When did you get back?”

“Two o’clock last night.” Zhou Chenglei climbed over Jiang Xia to get to the child’s side.

Hearing this, Jiang Xia quickly sat up. “I’ll change the eldest brother’s diaper. You go back to sleep for a bit.”

She knew that if she told him, he would immediately book a plane ticket back.

However, Jiang Xia thought the earliest he could return would be tomorrow morning. She hadn’t expected him to be home in the middle of the night.

“No need, the diaper isn’t wet.” Zhou Chenglei picked up the eldest brother and took him to the toilet to help him pee.

They had started pottying the triplets since they were six months old, and now the number of diapers they had to wash had decreased significantly.

Faint light filtered through the gaps in the curtains from outside. Jiang Xia pulled the watch from under her pillow; it was already half past six.

Zhou Chenglei brought the eldest brother back and placed him on the bed so Jiang Xia could breastfeed him.

The little sister and younger brother had slept with Father Zhou and Mother Zhou last night, as they were afraid Jiang Xia would be too tired taking care of three children alone at night.

Zhou Chenglei lay back on the bed. “I’m going to the factory with you today.”

Jiang Xia: “No need. The men have been caught, and besides, I don’t need to go to the factory today.”

Zhou Chenglei: “I don’t know if they had other accomplices.”

“Where would so many accomplices come from? Besides, didn’t you have Comrade Yang escort me after work?”

Zhou Chenglei: “How about I hire a driver for you?”

When Jiang Xia drove and Yang Wanquan followed on a bicycle, there would be a distance between them.

If Jiang Xia hadn’t been clever yesterday, Zhou Chenglei couldn’t imagine what might have happened.

After all, the move Jiang Xia knew only worked when the opponent was caught off guard, and she could only subdue one person at a time.

If she encountered two or three bad men at once, it would be completely useless.

Jiang Xia refused. “Let’s talk about that later. We’re moving back to the capital after the New Year anyway, so I won’t be going to the factory much. However, we should remind the accountant to have Yang Wanquan accompany her whenever she goes to deposit or withdraw money.”

Zhou Chenglei decided to buy a motorcycle and keep it at the factory.

No one else in the family knew about this until a few days later, when some staff members arrived at the door.

Chapter 742: The Furniture Arrives

The staff members had come to deliver the reward money to Jiang Xia and Yang Wanquan.

They weren’t wearing uniforms, using the excuse of buying seafood at the pier to ask for directions until they found the house.

The reward was two hundred yuan—not a massive amount, but not small either. They also gave Yang Wanquan an award pennant for his bravery.

Hearing about “reward money” gave Elder Mai a bit of a fright.

“They don’t have any accomplices, do they?” Elder Mai asked the staff, feeling uneasy.

Elder Mai tended to think ahead. He had heard plenty of stories about kidnappings and extortions in Hong Kong. While he hadn’t experienced it himself, Elder Xu had. In fact, Elder Xu’s driver was actually his bodyguard.

The staff replied, “Don’t worry, as far as we know, they don’t.”

After the staff left, Elder Mai asked about what had happened.

Jiang Xia kept her account brief and downplayed the danger, shifting all the merit onto Yang Wanquan. She made it sound as if she hadn’t done a thing. “I only got a share of the reward because I happened to run into them with Comrade Yang, who was the one who actually caught them. That’s why he received the pennant for bravery. I really didn’t do much, and I don’t even want the money.”

Zhou Chenglei glanced at her but said nothing.

Elder Mai was still worried. “Grandpa will arrange a driver for you who knows how to fight.”

He had the same idea as Zhou Chenglei.

Jiang Xia repeated what she had told Zhou Chenglei. “Besides, once the road is fixed, I won’t be taking that route anymore.”

Jiang Xia hadn’t taken that path before; she had only switched to that secluded route recently because the village roads were under construction.

Zhou Chenglei added, “Grandpa, don’t worry. I’ve arranged for someone to follow Xiaxia when she gets off work. I’ve also had people look into it—they don’t have any accomplices.”

Zhou Chenglei had asked around. The two men were originally wanted for rape and murder in another province. They had committed multiple thefts, robberies, and murders along the way. They had come here planning to flee to Hong Kong. So far, no local accomplices had been found, though it was unclear if they had contacts in Hong Kong.

Regardless, those two wouldn’t be seeing the light of day ever again.

Father Zhou remarked, “No wonder you took the motorcycle to the factory and bought a new one.”

Zhou Chenglei had driven the family motorcycle to the food factory a few days ago so that Yang Wanquan could use it. The next day, he went to the city and bought a new Honda motorcycle for the house, making it easier for Father Zhou to get around.

That afternoon, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei went to the food factory to give the pennant and the reward money to Yang Wanquan.

Yang Wanquan didn’t hang the pennant up; he simply put it away.

Father Jiang was the last to find out. When he heard the news several days later, he specifically made a few calls to investigate and even treated someone to dinner to ensure there would be no lingering trouble for his daughter.

During the meal, the other man laughed and said to Father Jiang, “The way you and that boy A-Lei handle things is exactly the same! You really are father-in-law and son-in-law! He already came to see me about this!”

Father Jiang smiled. He had chosen this son-in-law for his daughter precisely because he appreciated the man’s character.

He and his son-in-law were the same kind of men, which was why Father Jiang knew his daughter would be happy married to him.

In this world, couples who come together purely for passion aren’t necessarily happy. But a good man—a responsible, capable man—will surely make his wife and children happy.

As for affection, it is something that grows through living together. Father Jiang believed that any woman who spent time with a man like Zhou Chenglei would find it impossible not to fall for him.

He and his own wife had been a traditional introduction marriage. They hadn’t started with much affection; they weren’t even familiar with each other. He still remembered how awkward and full of strangers their wedding night had felt.

Their bond had been built over many years.

After all this time, he couldn’t distinguish whether his feelings for his wife were familial affection or romantic love, nor did he need to. He only knew that they were indispensable parts of each other’s lives, and wherever she was, that was home.

Father Jiang felt that romantic love was something for the dating phase; once married, it became familial love.

Romance can fade, cool, or shift, but the bond of family does not. A home is a place filled with that enduring familial bond.

A few more days passed, and the road from the village to the town was finally completed and opened for traffic.

The official opening ceremony was set for tomorrow, which was also the Minor New Year. Zhou Chengsen’s housewarming for his new house would be tomorrow as well.

After breakfast, Tian Caihua came over to find Jiang Xia. “Xiao Xia, Second Brother is having his housewarming. How much gift money are you planning to give?”

Jiang Xia asked, “I’ll follow your lead, Big Sister-in-law. Whatever you give, I’ll give.”

When Jiang Xia had her housewarming, the two brothers, Zhou Chengxin and Zhou Chengsen, had each given a large red envelope of one thousand yuan. Since Jiang Xia had two houses joining together, they had each contributed a thousand.

Zhou Chenglei had given those envelopes to her, saying they were from Big Brother and Second Brother.

Jiang Xia didn’t know if Tian Caihua was aware of this, because back then, the baskets brought by Tian Caihua and Li Xiuxian had also contained hundred-yuan envelopes.

Tian Caihua said, “Then let’s do one hundred! I gave one hundred when you had your housewarming.”

Before Jiang Xia’s housewarming, she and Li Xiuxian had agreed on one hundred yuan. The envelopes they put in the baskets were indeed one hundred yuan. However, Jiang Xia hadn’t actually kept the money then; she had returned a hundred and ten yuan as a gift back.

Jiang Xia agreed, “Alright.”

She would just tell Zhou Chenglei later so he could give Zhou Chengsen a larger red envelope privately.

Tian Caihua added, “Let’s go over and see how the sofas look in Second Brother’s house.”

“Have they arrived?”

“Yes, I saw the delivery trucks when I was walking over. Two of them.”

Because the road hadn’t been finished until today, the sofas were only just being delivered.

The two sisters-in-law walked over to the house next door to see the furniture. They didn’t know what kind of sofas Zhou Chengsen had bought.

Zhou Chengsen had originally planned to buy ordinary solid wood furniture, but he changed his mind after getting together with Ruan Tang. Later, he took her and Yingying to pick out a style they both liked and asked Jiang Xia to help place the order.

As Jiang Xia and Tian Caihua stepped out of the house, they saw Zhou Chengsen and Zhou Chenglei at the entrance of the alley, directing a heavy truck as it backed in.

Ruan Tang stood to the side, holding the hands of Zhou Ying and Zhou Zhou, watching the move.

Zhou Ying had dragged Zhou Zhou along early this morning to help her decorate her new room.

Ruan Tang had swapped shifts with a colleague; she had finished a night shift this morning and would be off tomorrow, followed by another night shift the day after, effectively giving her a three-day break.

Zhou Chengsen had picked her up early this morning so she could help decorate the new home with Yingying. This would be Ruan Tang’s new home in the future, too, so he wanted it arranged exactly how they liked it to make them feel comfortable.

He didn’t have any strong opinions on the decor; as long as they were happy, he was happy.

Jiang Xia stood beside Ruan Tang and asked, “What color is the sofa?”

“It’s a reddish-brown,” Ruan Tang replied.

Jiang Xia smiled. “Reddish-brown is lovely. It’s a festive color, perfect for a wedding house.”

Ruan Tang blushed. After she had picked it out, A-Sen had said the exact same thing. “I didn’t think too much about it when I chose it. I just liked the style the most; it wasn’t because of the color.”

Jiang Xia laughed. “Well, isn’t that perfect? You got the style you like and a color that fits the occasion.”

Meanwhile, Li Xiuxian had only been in her postpartum recovery for half a month when Liao Ruixiang’s mother washed her hands of the situation. The older woman had run off to the livestock farm, dumping all the housework on Li Xiuxian, claiming that since many people were slaughtering pigs for the end of the year, the farm was too busy to handle!

She expected Li Xiuxian to cook for the whole family and look after her newborn daughter despite not even being out of her confinement month!

When Li Xiuxian had given birth to Yingying, she had a fifty-two-day recovery period. During that time, even in the heat of summer, Mother Zhou and Zhou Chengsen would boil water and let it cool to a lukewarm temperature specifically for her to wash her hands.

Now, in the dead of winter, she didn’t even have hot water to use!

If one doesn’t recover well during the postpartum month, it can lead to lifelong health problems.

Liao Ruixiang didn’t care either. He was busy at the farm every day, and his patience for her had worn thin since the daughter was born. Fortunately, the girl looked exactly like him; otherwise, he probably would have doubted she was even his.

The entire Liao family was heartless!

Fed up, Li Xiuxian picked up her young daughter and headed back to her mother’s house. It was on her way out that she crossed paths with the large trucks delivering the new furniture.

Chapter 743: Reddened Eyes

Li Xiuxian knew that Zhou Chengsen was moving into his new house tomorrow, and she guessed that the heavy truck was delivering furniture for it.

She couldn’t help but take the small path over to have a look, never expecting to see Ruan Tang there as well.

Seeing Ruan Tang holding Zhou Ying’s hand, looking every bit the affectionate mother and daughter, made her blood boil with rage!

The heavy truck backed in, and two movers began unloading the sofas.

Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengsen also stepped in to help.

Zhou Chengsen said to Ruan Tang and Zhou Ying, “Xiao Tang, Yingying, go inside and see how things should be arranged. Fourth Sister-in-law, Big Sister-in-law, you all should go in too and help give some suggestions.”

In truth, the layout of the living room was the same as the one in Jiang Xia’s house, and the sofa placement would likely be similar, but Zhou Chengsen said this out of respect for them.

The group walked into the yard happily.

Li Xiuxian couldn’t help but roll her eyes. How shameless! She isn’t even married yet, but she has the nerve to come over and decorate the house.

She had never seen a woman so desperate to get married!

The first thing brought down was a headboard. The movers stripped off the outer packaging before carrying it inside.

The villagers loved a good spectacle, and many women and children had come out to watch the excitement. When they saw the European-style retro brown leather headboard, they naturally broke into a round of praise. “A-Sen, is that a headboard? It’s beautiful!”

“Are you setting up the new house? When are you marrying Dr. Ruan?”

“Don’t ask such nonsense! Of course he has to set up the house before he can marry a wife! Otherwise, why would he buy such a nice big bed just to sleep in it alone?”

“A-Sen, if this is the wedding bed, don’t sleep in it yet! Sleep in a different bed for now. When the newlyweds move in, everything should be brand new for good luck.”

Although he had indeed bought such a nice bed for the sake of his marriage, Zhou Chengsen only smiled and replied, “I just bought some new furniture because I’m moving house; I’m not setting up a wedding room,” fearing the villagers would tease Ruan Tang too much.

“It’s the perfect time to set it up for the wedding! Dr. Ruan is such a wonderful girl; if you don’t set up the house well, her parents won’t be able to bear to marry their daughter off to you!”

…

Li Xiuxian watched as Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengsen carried the high-end leather headboard into the yard, feeling a pang of bitterness in her heart.

She knew Zhou Chengsen.

He didn’t have high demands for material things; he wouldn’t even complain if he had to sleep on a bed made of two wooden planks pushed together.

Buying such a high-end bed must have been Ruan Tang’s choice, and it was certainly bought for the wedding!

They really were getting married soon.

The other bed was also European-style—a cream-colored princess bed. It was smaller, measuring 1.5 meters.

After the headboards, bed frames, mattresses, and other parts of the two beds were moved down, they began unloading the coffee table, dining table, and TV cabinet.

The sofas were on another truck because they couldn’t fit.

Watching the high-end furniture being brought down piece by piece, Li Xiuxian looked up at the tall house.

This large, beautiful house, these high-end pieces of furniture—it should have been her living there, she should have been the envy of the entire village.

Back when Jiang Xia moved into her new house, she had imagined this day; she had pictured this scene!

That day had finally arrived, and the scene was playing out!

Yet she was still just a spectator, an outsider, standing on the sidelines watching someone else live a happy life.

How did things end up like this?

Li Xiuxian’s eyes turned red.

Why was her life so bitter?

At that moment, someone noticed Li Xiuxian.

Li Xiuxian still cherished her health; she knew she couldn’t be exposed to the wind during her postpartum recovery. She had wrapped herself tightly from head to toe, even wearing a scarf to cover most of her face, leaving only her eyes exposed.

Someone squinted at her. “Li Xiuxian?”

Hearing this, everyone else turned to look at her.

Chapter 744: This Method is Good

Having been spotted, Li Xiuxian said nothing and hurriedly walked away, clutching her daughter to her chest.

The people in the village always loved a good spectacle. Li Xiuxian, being extremely prideful, feared being interrogated and didn’t want anyone from the Zhou family to see her.

If Tian Caihua caught her, wouldn’t she be mocked mercilessly?

When she arrived back at her maternal home, Li Xiuxian’s sister-in-law’s expression shifted the moment she saw her. “Xiuxian? Aren’t you supposed to be in your postpartum recovery? Why are you back?”

Mother Li was also surprised. “The wind is strong today; why have you come back? You aren’t supposed to be out in the wind during your recovery month.”

Li Xiuxian replied, “My mother-in-law was too busy to help, so I came back. Sister-in-law, I haven’t had breakfast yet. Could you whip up a bowl of ginger and egg soup for me?”

Li Xiuxian’s sister-in-law’s face darkened.

She came back just because her mother-in-law was busy? Since when was it proper for someone to return to their maternal home for their postpartum confinement?

And she expected her, the sister-in-law, to serve her through it?

What a lovely dream she was having!

It wasn’t even her own grandson!

Li Xiuxian’s sister-in-law said, “No matter how busy they are, they should take care of their daughter-in-law during her confinement. How could you just run back like this? If you stay, who knows how that family will try to manipulate you in the future! Come on, I’ll take you back!”

“The whole family has gone to the livestock farm. No one is home, so there’s no point in going back. There are a lot of people buying pigs at the end of the year, so I didn’t want to deal with the commotion. Just make some breakfast for me! I’m going to my room to sleep for a bit.” Li Xiuxian headed straight for her old bedroom.

Mother Li could only sigh and say, “Just boil some egg soup for her.”

Li Xiuxian’s sister-in-law was unhappy, but a scheme soon formed in her mind. She whispered, “Mom, she needs to recover well so her body stays healthy, that way she can give my brother-in-law a big, fat son later! What good food do we even have in the house? The hens aren’t laying much in winter, and we only have a few eggs and a couple of chickens. I’ll go find her mother-in-law and ask for some things to supplement Xiuxian’s health. It makes no sense for us to serve her during her confinement while we also have to provide the money and the nourishing food!”

Mother Li thought this made sense. “You’re right. Go ahead!”

Li Xiuxian’s sister-in-law happily ran off to the livestock farm to get some pork!

If there was pork to eat every day, what did it matter if she had to wait on her sister-in-law?

At Zhou Chengsen’s new house.

The furniture on the first floor had already been arranged. Jiang Xia and Tian Caihua were helping hang the curtains.

A craftsman was upstairs assembling the beds on the second floor.

The master bedroom and the children’s room were both on the second floor, offering a very beautiful view of the sea.

Tian Caihua said to Ruan Tang and Jiang Xia, “How is it that the way you two decorate your houses always looks so good? It feels completely different from my place.”

Tian Caihua had also bought a sofa, which had been delivered long ago, but it didn’t feel nearly as cozy as Jiang Xia’s home.

Now, even the house Ruan Tang was decorating felt cozier than hers.

“Sister-in-law, why didn’t you buy a whole set when you bought the sofa?” Ruan Tang had been to the Zhou family home many times and had eaten at Tian Caihua’s place, so she had seen their setup.

The layout of that house wasn’t great to begin with, and the furniture was a mismatched jumble of old and new.

The sofa was new, leather, and Western-style, but the coffee table was an old, very ordinary wooden table. The styles clashed completely.

Ruan Tang liked the styles of curtains and bedsheets at Jiang Xia’s place—simple, elegant, and high-quality—so she had bought the fabric and sewn them herself.

She had even used the leftover scraps to make several throw pillows for the sofa. She had also purchased many vases, oil paintings, and other ornaments to decorate, along with a very exquisite set of tableware.

It had cost her a fair bit of money. Zhou Chengsen had given her his savings book and told her to buy whatever she wanted, but she hadn’t touched his money.

Jiang Xia suggested, “Sister-in-law, if you get rid of the old furniture—like the TV cabinet, the chest of drawers, and the coffee table—and replace them with new ones to unify the style, it would look much better.”

Hearing she should throw away old furniture, Tian Caihua immediately said, “Forget it then. Those cabinets aren’t broken yet; it would be a shame to toss them! I’ll replace them once they’re worn out.”

Jiang Xia knew there was no arguing with her frugality, so she said, “That works too. By the time the wooden table is worn out, the sofa will probably be worn out as well. Then you can buy a brand-new set, measure the living room dimensions first, and it will look much better. Besides, Big Brother might have another new house after the New Year, and you can buy everything new then.”

Tian Caihua loved hearing that. “I want to build a new house too, right here in this area, but there’s no land left.”

Jiang Xia knew she was still eyeing Zhou Zhou’s land, which was absolutely out of the question. She said, “You already have a house in the village, Sister-in-law. Why not consider saving some money to buy a house in the city or in town?”

“Buy a house there for what? The village has a high school now! The kids won’t even need to go to the city for school later.”

“House prices in the city go up every year. They’ll be worth a lot later.”

Tian Caihua was dismissive. “How much can they really go up? It’s useless to buy in the city.”

Jiang Xia insisted, “It increases year after year. I don’t think it’s a losing investment.”

Jiang Xia then suggested to Ruan Tang and Zhou Chengsen, “Second Brother, Xiao Tang, you two should also buy a house in the city.”

Jiang Xia felt that Zhou Chengsen would likely be transferred to work in the city within three years.

Ruan Tang glanced at Zhou Chengsen. He happened to be looking at her as well, so he said, “Xiao Tang and I do have that intention.”

Ruan Tang then added, “My work unit has employee housing under construction. It’s almost finished, and we plan to apply for a unit then.”

Zhou Chengsen was planning to buy a house in the city, and it just so happened that her unit was building employee housing and a cadre sanatorium.

The savings book Zhou Chengsen gave her had 7,000 yuan, and she had about 6,000 to 7,000 yuan in savings of her own, which she had saved from her salary and the red envelopes given by elders for New Year and birthdays.

Combined, the two savings books totaled over 10,000 yuan.

Ruan Tang’s salary wasn’t low, currently around 120 yuan a month. In previous years, she had barely spent any money except for food and rent.

She mostly ate in the cafeteria, only cooking for herself when she finished a night shift or only worked half a day. Her auntie would also frequently call her over for dinner.

During those years, she didn’t care much for dressing up and rarely bought clothes. Many of her beautiful clothes had been bought for her by her mother and auntie, who couldn’t stand seeing her so plain.

Her unit’s benefits were also excellent. In addition to bonuses, they distributed supplies every holiday and every quarter. She received more rice, flour, and oil than she could eat, so she would always bring the extra to her auntie’s family.

Thus, after working for a few years, Ruan Tang had several thousand yuan in savings.

Jiang Xia nodded. “That’s good. Buying employee housing is the most cost-effective, and your neighbors will be colleagues from your unit, so the general conduct and quality of people will be relatively high.”

Tian Caihua then asked, “Xiao Xia, what about those stalls in the seafood market? Still no one renting them?”

Jiang Xia replied, “Soon.”

The City Pier was about to be expanded and renovated. Once the project began, people would no longer be allowed to set up stalls to sell fish nearby.

Market supervision would also force everyone to move into the market to sell. In the book, this happened right after the New Year.

Tian Caihua worried, “Those stalls won’t just get stuck on our hands, will they?”

They had been vacant for several months now, and no one had rented them.

Jiang Xia said, “They won’t. Didn’t you mention before that your brother and sister-in-law were looking for work? They could rent your stalls to sell seafood or dried seafood. They could open after the New Year. If they think your stalls aren’t good enough, tell them to rent some of the better ones now while they’re still available.”

When Tian Caihua had asked before, Jiang Xia had used the excuse of not needing more people to refuse.

Jiang Xia would never hire relatives who lacked a sense of boundaries.

Hiring such people was just asking for trouble.

When she was originally hiring, Jiang Xia had specifically instructed He Xinghuan on which relatives must not be recruited.

She couldn’t bring them into her own factory, but Jiang Xia could certainly offer some advice.

Sometimes, when relatives were doing well for themselves, it also reduced trouble for her.

Therefore, Jiang Xia was never stingy about giving others ways to make money.

Tian Caihua trusted Jiang Xia implicitly. “Why rent from someone else? Wouldn’t that just be benefiting strangers? Of course they’ll rent mine! I’ll tell them as soon as I get back!”

Jiang Xia didn’t care about the details. “That works too.”

Tian Caihua only felt awkward about not helping her own brother, but she was afraid of losing out if she had to give him money to help.

After all, she had been burned before.

Tian Caihua added, “This method is good!”

Jiang Xia’s ideas always suited her perfectly!

The stalls would be rented out, so she could make money, and she’d also be helping her brother.

As for whether they made money after renting the stalls, that was none of her business. As long as she collected the rent, she would consider it helping them if she lowered the price a bit.

Currently, Zhou Chengsen had a house in town that he rented out, collecting ten yuan a month. She didn’t know how many times she had envied that.

Ten yuan was enough for their family of six’s living expenses for a month. All the money they earned could be saved up.

Since they grew their own grain and vegetables and didn’t need to buy meat—as they could just eat seafood—their daily costs were minimal.

Usually, they only needed to buy salt, soy sauce, fertilizer, and other basic necessities.

They were essentially self-sufficient.

Tian Caihua was so frugal that she could save five yuan out of a ten-yuan monthly budget!

This was something Jiang Xia truly admired about her.

When Tian Caihua’s sandals or flip-flops broke, she would cut a piece of rubber from her children’s outgrown sandals and patch them up to keep wearing them!

Her shoe-repairing skills were masterful. She would heat a pair of iron pliers, press them against the break, and then press the salvaged rubber piece onto it. Once the pliers were pulled away, the shoe was fixed!

Not a single pair of flip-flops, sandals, or boots worn by the first branch of the family was in perfect condition.

Those shoes were never thrown away until they were absolutely beyond repair!

Actually, even when they were beyond repair, she wouldn’t throw them away. She kept them to use as material for future repairs.

Fortunately, when going out to town or visiting relatives, Tian Caihua would bring out “new shoes” for the whole family to wear.

The next day was the opening ceremony for Qizhi Road and the groundbreaking ceremony for Maishan Middle School.

Father Jiang, other city leaders, town leaders, Zhou Chengsen, Elder Mai, the village chief, and others participated in the ribbon-cutting.

The City Daily had even sent a reporter to cover the event.

Father Zhou stood next to the reporter with his camera, snapping photos vigorously. After he was done, he said to the reporter, “Comrade, could you send me a couple of those photos once you develop them? I’ll pay you.”

The reporter glanced at the camera in his hands. “Didn’t you take some yourself?”

The camera Father Zhou was holding wasn’t bad at all!

Though it wasn’t as professional as his own.

Father Zhou said, “The ones I take aren’t as good as yours! Your camera looks much more powerful than mine!”

Then Father Zhou pulled out five yuan. “The person who donated the money to build the school and the road is my youngest daughter-in-law’s grandfather, so I’d like a better quality photo. Could you help me out, comrade?”

Father Zhou was being low-profile and didn’t tell the reporter that the man standing in the center was his youngest daughter-in-law’s father, or that another person there was his son.

But he still couldn’t help but flex a little.

He couldn’t easily brag about Father Jiang’s or Zhou Chengsen’s status, so he could only use Elder Mai to show off!

The reporter was stunned. “…”

There was actually such a connection?

“Alright, I’ll send you a few when the time comes. No need for money. Should I send them to your village’s production brigade office?”

Father Zhou said happily, “Yes, just send them to the production brigade. Thank you, young comrade!”

The reporter smiled. “You’re very welcome.”

Zhou Bingqiang watched Father Zhou snapping photos and getting cozy with the reporter, his heart full of complex emotions.

He knew even without thinking that Zhou Yongfu was showing off to the reporter again!

Although he had the chance to be in the photos because of his status as village chief, that opportunity had been given to him by Father Zhou’s in-law.

Furthermore, three of the people being photographed with him were closely related to Father Zhou! Very closely!

At this moment, he completely gave up. He wouldn’t try to compete with Father Zhou anymore!

Truly, even on a rocket, he wouldn’t be able to catch up!

Chapter 745: A Well-Calculated Scheme

After Father Zhou finished taking the photos, he hurried to start his motorcycle. He needed to ride it along the road so the reporters could capture him in action.

Those photos would be published in the newspaper and seen by people all across the country!

This was Father Zhou’s second opportunity to appear in the newspaper—another highlight of his life!

As the ribbon-cutting ceremony concluded, Zhou Chenglei drove the Jeep through, followed by the production brigade’s tractor, Father Zhou’s motorcycle, Father Jiang’s car, the vehicles of various leaders, the heavy trucks from the purchase station, the villagers’ bicycles, and all sorts of passersby…

The reporters captured the scene, already having formulated the closing lines for their news reports: The morning sun shines down on this new, bustling road as the people walk toward prosperity with happy smiles!

Many people had come today just to see the excitement. Folks from nearby villages and the town had all gathered.

Many intentionally walked along the newly paved road to feel its smoothness. Some headed toward the pier, while others went to toward the school.

In a short while, the groundbreaking ceremony for the school would also take place.

Jiang Xia and Ruan Tang also pushed the triplets along the road to soak in the festive and lively atmosphere.

The reporters followed along, capturing the bustling scene and the many happy faces.

As the people walked on the brand-new highway, they discussed the road with beaming smiles:

“This is wonderful. It’ll be so convenient to come to the pier to buy seafood now.”

“Exactly! The old road was so bad that sometimes I didn’t even want to make the trip.”

“Especially on rainy days—every step was a muddy mess.”

“This road goes all the way from the town to the middle school, right?”

“I heard it does. It’ll be so much easier for the kids to get to school then. They won’t have to worry about slipping and getting covered in mud, then having to go home and change before going back to class.”

“It leads to the school, but the section near the school isn’t finished yet. For now, it only goes as far as the pier. Construction will resume after the New Year.”

“Reaching the pier is already great; it makes things so much easier.”

“Indeed! Being able to get to the pier is enough. And this road even has designated pedestrian paths! Those small paths on both sides are for walking. They said it’s because there are so many vehicles coming to and from the pier, so they built the pedestrian lanes to ensure the children’s safety. Only people can walk there; cars aren’t allowed.”

“I’ve never heard of a sidewalk before. The owners from Hong Kong are really different—they think of everything.”

…

For the stretch of road from the town to the pier, Elder Mai had spent a bit more money. With the relevant departments handling the requisition of some farmland, they expanded the road from a path barely wide enough for one heavy truck into a two-way lane with sidewalks.

However, the internal road from the village to the school was a different story. One side was the sea and the other side was lined with houses, making it too narrow to add sidewalks. That section remained its original width, just enough for one heavy truck to pass through.

That said, there wouldn’t be much traffic on the internal village road anyway.

The villagers weren’t picky. They were overjoyed just to have a single road running through the entire village to the school.

Those with houses right along the road were especially pleased.

Currently, Qizhi Road only reached the area in front of Jiang Xia’s house. The remaining stretch to the school would be completed after the school was finished after the New Year.

Father Jiang had chosen the name “Qizhi Road,” while Elder Mai had named the school “Maishan Middle School.”

All the schools he donated were named “Maishan.”

Maishan was the name of Jiang Xia’s grandmother.

As Jiang Xia and Ruan Tang pushed the children along the road, they ran into Liao’s mother—Li Xiuxian’s current mother-in-law.

Liao’s mother glanced at Ruan Tang and compared her to Li Xiuxian. She thought to herself: No wonder Zhou Chengsen didn’t want Li Xiuxian. This doctor indeed looks much more capable. I heard she’s a head doctor at a major city hospital, probably earning about 150 yuan a month.

She then looked at the triplets in the baby stroller. The three children looked like the celestial infants from traditional New Year paintings! They were simply too adorable!

She was truly a bit envious.

If only Li Xiuxian could give birth to triplets!

She had waited on the woman for over six months, listening to her talk about her “son” every day as an excuse to avoid work, only for her to give birth to just a girl!

Liao’s mother was eager to strike up a conversation with Jiang Xia. The main reason was that the road leading to their livestock farm had been chewed up by the tractors transporting pigs, making it incredibly muddy whenever it rained. The villagers had a lot of complaints about their livestock farm, saying the pig transport trucks were ruining the roads. Plus, the smell from the livestock farm became unbearable when it rained, reaching the entire village. People were demanding they move the farm.

In reality, the villagers were just jealous that her son was making so much money!

She was thinking that if they got the village road paved and gave the villagers some benefits, people would be too embarrassed to ask them to move the farm.

She looked at the triplets and praised, “These three children are growing so well! They’re so chubby and healthy, just like fortune dolls!”

Jiang Xia: “…”

Since when were their families on speaking terms?

Liao’s mother continued, “Xiao Xia, is the person building the road really your biological grandfather?”

Jiang Xia nodded. “No, the construction crew is building it.”

Liao’s mother: “…”

This girl has a truly annoying mouth!

“I mean, was it your grandfather who paid for it?” Liao’s mother followed up. “Xiao Xia, could you ask your grandfather to pave a road for our village as well, connecting to the pier? Our village road gets all potholed every time it rains! Just from the livestock farm all the way to the pier would be enough! It’s not very far, only about a kilometer or so. It’s very short!”

Jiang Xia refused outright. “No!”

Liao Ruixiang’s eldest sister chimed in, “A-Lei’s wife, just have your grandfather pave our village road while he’s at it! He’s already built such a big road; what’s one more little stretch for our village? It wouldn’t cost that much money!”

Jiang Xia smiled. “If it doesn’t cost much money, then you pay for it! Why ask my grandfather?”

Liao’s eldest sister said, “We aren’t as rich as your grandfather!”

Jiang Xia laughed. “Every family has money; it’s just a matter of whether you’re willing to spend it! Your family’s livestock farm makes so much money every year, so why aren’t you willing to spend some to fix the road?”

“And as far as I know, that road is ruined because your livestock farm’s trucks are always driving over it. Isn’t it only right that you spend some money to fix it? Paving such a short distance wouldn’t cost much; your farm could make that much back in a year!”

Liao Ruixiang’s sister argued, “Isn’t your grandfather supposed to be doing good deeds? We’re giving him a chance to accumulate merit and blessings.”

“My grandfather has plenty of blessings already. He has children and grandchildren, and he’s living with four generations under one roof. He’s overflowing with good fortune! You people run a livestock farm and slaughter so many pigs, and you even hook up with other people’s wives and destroy families. You’re the ones with heavy sins. You should accumulate some merit for yourselves! Do you know why I was able to have triplets? It’s because of the blessings brought by my grandfather’s merit in paving roads and building schools! If you pave the roads for the entire production brigade, maybe you’ll end up with a house full of grandchildren too!”

After saying her piece, Jiang Xia and Ruan Tang immediately pushed the children away at a brisk pace.

She couldn’t be bothered with them.

Liao’s eldest sister spat at their retreating figures. “Pah! Their family goes out to sea to fish—that’s where the real sin is! The pigs we slaughter are raised by ourselves, how is that a heavy sin? No wonder Li Xiuxian says she’s insufferable and loves playing the saint! Paving the road is just for their own convenience, but they act like it’s for the villagers! Like that could accumulate any damn blessings!”

However, Liao’s mother took Jiang Xia’s words to heart. She had heard that Elder Mai had paved roads and built schools in many places. Could it be true that because he accumulated so much merit, Jiang Xia’s luck was so good that she had both a son and daughters in one birth?

“Do you think if I pave that road, I’ll be able to have a grandson?”

Liao’s eldest sister’s eyes widened. “Ma! Are you crazy? Do you have any idea how much it costs to pave a road? Paving that stretch would probably cost ten or twenty thousand yuan! If you have that much money, you’d be better off giving it to me to build a house!”

Liao’s mother was thinking that if spending ten or twenty thousand yuan would get her a grandson, or even triplets, it would be worth it!

Money can always be earned again.

But if her son didn’t have a son of his own, then no matter how much money they made, it would just end up going to outsiders!

Besides, the people in the village were currently pressuring them to move the livestock farm!

Paving the road would shut everyone up, save the livestock farm, and maybe even get her a grandson!

It was worth it!

Jiang Xia never imagined that her casual remarks would be taken so seriously by Liao’s mother!

Chapter 746: Secretary Zhou Online

Liao’s mother wasn’t surprised by the suggestion. When people run out of options, they tend to pin their hopes on the supernatural.

Since ancient times, there has been the saying that doing good deeds accumulates merit. Liao’s mother couldn’t even count how many times she had gone to pray and worship.

But she still hadn’t been able to hold a grandson!

Most importantly, her son didn’t just have one wife, Li Xiuxian.

Liao’s mother knew that her son had been seeing a young widow in the village secretly for several years, yet there was no news from her either.

Lately, there had been a woman in town who had been with him for over six months, and her belly showed no sign of movement either!

Recently, her son had been using the excuse of selling pigs in the city every few days to stay the night there. She suspected he had met someone in the city as well.

With so many women, only Li Xiuxian had given birth to a child, and it was just a scrawny little girl.

Liao’s mother knew her son had taken inspiration from Li Xiuxian—he was casting a wide net to see if he could produce a son.

Liao’s mother supported this. Her son could make money anyway, so it wasn’t like he couldn’t afford them. What did it matter if he had a few more wives, as long as he could produce a grandson?

Whoever could give birth to a grandson was the only daughter-in-law she would recognize!

The problem was that none of these women could get pregnant. Maybe she should take some money out to build the road and give it a try?

The more Liao’s mother thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. She decided to go back and discuss it with Liao Ruixiang.

Originally, the villagers had complained about their livestock farm and wanted them to move. Liao Ruixiang had considered building a small section of the road to shut them up. After all, the livestock farm had just been expanded last year; moving would be a much larger investment than building a road.

Liao’s mother had been reluctant to spend the money, which was why she wanted to find Jiang Xia’s grandfather to contribute more to help them.

But now, for the sake of a grandson, she didn’t need anyone else’s help!

Liao’s mother left in a hurry.

The sooner they built it, the sooner she’d hold a grandson!

Liao Dajie watched her go, filled with worry. She actually believed that? Was her mother so desperate for a grandson that she’d gone mad?

Wasn’t a grandson from a daughter still a grandson?

Today was a big day for the village. After the groundbreaking ceremony for the school ended, Zhou Bingqiang organized a moving banquet of ten tables at the Zhou ancestral hall to host the whole village and the officials for a meal.

Mother Zhou had originally thought that because of this, aside from their own relatives, no villagers would come to her younger son’s new house for the feast.

To her surprise, every household in the village shifted their families into two groups: half went to the ancestral hall for the banquet, while the other half came to Zhou Chengsen’s house.

Father Jiang and Elder Mai also chose to attend the feast at Zhou Chengsen’s home.

This was their daughter’s (or granddaughter’s) brother-in-law’s home; how could they not show their support?

Father Jiang and Elder Mai stayed at the ancestral hall for a short while, said a few words to the villagers, and then left the other officials and villagers to eat at the hall while they went to Zhou Chengsen’s house together.

After taking photos at the hall, the reporter was also warmly invited to the house by Father Zhou.

Father Zhou pointed at the two houses and said, “This is my second son’s house, and this is my youngest son’s house. We are just small-time fishermen; in the past, we were so poor we could only eat fish.”

The reporter: “…”

Thinking back to the years when people ate tree bark, what was he complaining about?

“Ever since the spring breeze of the Reform and Opening-up began to blow a few years ago, our lives have become more prosperous by the day! Look, this is our old house. My younger son and his wife lived here right after they got married. Back then, we had nothing. When it rained heavily outside this broken house, it rained lightly inside. A single typhoon even blew the roof off. Later, my son and his wife went out to sea for fishing, and life gradually got better… My daughter-in-law is a city person…”

Father Zhou began to boast!

He spoke with great emotion!

He spoke with vivid detail!

He spoke with a sense of triumph!

“…After we built the new house, my daughter-in-law set up a small workshop in the old house. she would collect small fried fish and miscellaneous dried fish from the villagers to make flavored small fried fish to sell! Later, the business grew bigger and bigger, and they bought a big ship…”

Great-Grandma and Aunt Dong also chimed in after hearing this, “Our family was able to build a new house because we followed Xiaxia to make a fortune. Xiaxia taught us how to open a convenience store…”

“I work in Xiao Xia’s food workshop. When my old man was slaughtering a pig, he accidentally got kicked by the pig and injured his head. It was Xiao Xia’s family who lent us the money…”

The journalist listened, finding the story soul-stirring and inspiring!

Hiring over a hundred people from the entire production brigade to work in the food factory? Solving the livelihood problems of over a hundred families?

And the house next door was also built because the daughter-in-law taught them to open a convenience store at the school, took them out to sea to fish, and taught them how to farm mussels to make money? Allowing the neighbors to quickly achieve moderate prosperity?

Lending money to villagers to save a life, providing them with a job, and leading them in mussel farming…

Wasn’t this a perfect example of someone getting rich first and then leading others to wealth?

Wasn’t this a classic case of leading the people toward prosperity and a better life?

The reporter was excited; he wouldn’t have to worry about news material for the next few days.

“Uncle, can I visit the small workshop in your old house and your daughter-in-law’s factory? Also, your deep-sea sea-cage aquaculture and the mussel farms—I want to see them all!”

Father Zhou chuckled and said, “You can, of course you can! Come, come and see! Our flavored small fried fish started right here in this old house. Two stoves and one chimney…”

Father Zhou pushed open the courtyard gate of the old house and enthusiastically invited the reporter inside, giving a detailed introduction.

Didn’t Wealth-bringer want to spend money to hire people from the newspaper office to make an advertisement?

Why waste that money?

Look! By bringing a reporter over and getting a feature report written, wouldn’t they have a free advertisement?

Why spend all that unnecessary money?

After touring the old house, Father Zhou took the reporter to the pier to see the family’s boat.

On this day, Father Zhou decided he would personally look after this reporter the whole time to save on advertising costs.

In the end, Father Zhou even asked for the reporter’s office number and gave the reporter his home phone number.

His family would surely have many more news stories in the future!

He also made an appointment with the reporter to go out to sea tomorrow to see the deep-sea net cages and the mussel farms.

The day after tomorrow, they would visit the food processing factory.

Then the day after that, they’d go to the garment factory.

On the twenty-ninth day of the lunar month, the reporter would come to the village to see the pulling of the large net and the mussel harvest!

On New Year’s Eve, he could watch them harvest the fish from the net cages to sell to Hong Kong.

“Secretary Zhou” had already arranged Jiang Xia’s work schedule for the next few days perfectly.

The reporter was also very satisfied. With a full itinerary, he didn’t have to worry about lacking news every day until the end of the year.

Even during the New Year, he would have reports to file.

It was simply perfect!

It wasn’t until evening, as the sun dipped low and the banquet dispersed, that the lively fishing village finally returned to tranquility.

At the Zhou family home, only the relatives from Great-Uncle’s family and Grandpa and Grandma’s family remained.

Because Grandpa and Grandma’s family lived far away, they were staying the night.

The reason Great-Uncle’s family hadn’t left was because the Eldest Cousin’s wife had something she wanted to say to Jiang Xia.

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei carried the triplets back to their own house. The couple was getting ready to bathe the triplets so they could go to sleep early.

Ruan Tang hadn’t married into the family yet, so it wasn’t appropriate for her to host guests. Today, Jiang Xia had been busy either helping with the guests or taking care of the triplets.

Moreover, it had been too noisy and lively today, with too many people playing with the triplets. The three children had only slept for one hour all day.

Now that things had quieted down, the three babies’ eyelids were drooping!

As the couple walked back to their house, the Eldest Cousin’s wife followed them into the yard.

“A-Lei, Xiao Xia.”

The two of them turned around together.

Zhou Chenglei, holding two of the babies, said to Jiang Xia in front of the Eldest Cousin’s wife, “Take little sister upstairs first and give her a bath. She’s about to fall asleep.”

“Then you be quick too; Dabao and Erbao want to sleep as well.” After Jiang Xia finished speaking, she greeted the Eldest Cousin’s wife and headed upstairs with her daughter first.

Zhou Chenglei looked at the woman. “Did you need something, Eldest Cousin’s wife?”

She looked toward Jiang Xia; she actually preferred to talk to her, but talking to Zhou Chenglei was fine too.

“It’s like this: is Xiao Xia’s factory still hiring? Yuzhen was just released.”

Chapter 747: A Very Special Secret

Zhou Chenglei asked, “Why hire her? To have her team up with outsiders again to frame the factory?”

Eldest Cousin’s wife stammered, “I…”

“A-Lei, don’t say it like that. Your cousin was tricked by someone else; she didn’t do it on purpose.”

Zhou Chenglei countered, “Right. How could someone with a heart do something so treacherous, biting the hand that feeds them? She has no heart, and certainly no conscience.”

Eldest Cousin’s wife was stunned.

His words were incredibly blunt, offering no courtesy and showing no regard for their family ties. It was ruthless!

Eldest Cousin’s wife took a deep breath. “A-Lei, you’re being far too cold. We’re all relatives. Yuzhen was deceived back then; it’s not like she meant for it to happen. That man lied to her, and she’s already paid the price for it! Now that she’s out of prison, if you don’t help her, where is she supposed to find a job?”

Zhou Chenglei fixed her with a sharp, piercing gaze. “We showed you consideration, but what did you show us? A stab in the back? False accusations? Once unfaithful, never trusted! Whatever family sentiment we had was exhausted the moment Lei Yuzhen and her man conspired to harm my father-in-law. Right now, I don’t consider her a relative, and there is no courtesy to speak of. All I have for her is disgust and hatred. You should be thanking the heavens that I haven’t gone looking for trouble with her myself!”

“And don’t even think about getting Great-Uncle and Great-Aunt to speak for her. It won’t work, no matter who asks! Furthermore, do not go to Jiang Xia. If you bother Xiao Xia or my parents with Lei Yuzhen’s nonsense again, you’ll see exactly what I’m capable of.”

Eldest Cousin’s wife was left speechless.

Having said his piece, Zhou Chenglei carried his two sleeping sons upstairs.

If he hadn’t been afraid that she would stubbornly go and pester Jiang Xia, he wouldn’t have bothered wasting so many words on her.

Eldest Cousin’s wife had also been hoping to ask Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia to introduce a potential suitor for her daughter, but Zhou Chenglei’s expression and tone were so terrifying that she didn’t dare make a sound.

In truth, she had always been somewhat afraid of Zhou Chenglei and had rarely spoken to him in the past.

Just then, Second Cousin’s wife came over to find her. “Sister-in-law, it’s time to go home!”

“I know!” Eldest Cousin’s wife walked out with a dark expression, not even sparing a glance for Second Cousin’s wife.

Eldest Cousin’s wife was feeling quite a bit of regret. During the New Year, when Mother Zhou had suggested introducing Zhou Guodong to her daughter, she shouldn’t have been so dismissive.

How wonderful it would have been if her daughter had married Zhou Guodong! None of this would have happened.

Now, Xu Ling and Zhou Guodong were clearly living better and better lives!

The Xu family wasn’t poor anymore, either. Xu Ling’s younger brother was helping Zhou Chenglei out at sea, earning over a hundred yuan every month.

She had heard that Xu Ling was a supervisor at the food processing factory and earned even more!

Now, even Xu Ling’s mother had started working at Jiang Xia’s food factory.

It was truly a case of one person’s success bringing prosperity to the whole clan!

Even her own sister-in-law’s family—the second branch—was running the canteen at the food factory.

Only her own family remained destitute, not benefiting from any of the family’s success.

Zhou Chenglei had even become distant with them, only staying close with the second branch.

One wrong move had led to a string of failures.

She didn’t even know how to begin repairing the relationship.

Seeing everyone in the second branch getting jobs and their lives improving day by day, she was filled with agonizing regret.

Now that her daughter was out of prison, it wasn’t just finding a job that was hard—finding a husband was difficult too!

After all, who in these ten miles and eight villages didn’t know that she had been pregnant out of wedlock and had served time in prison?

The next day, Zhou Chenglei and Father Zhou intentionally delayed their departure to sea to wait for the reporter’s arrival.

Breakfast today was held at Zhou Chengsen’s house.

There had been many pastries left over from yesterday’s banquet. Zhou Chengsen had woken up early to heat them, and Ruan Tang had come over to help after she got up.

Last night, Ruan Tang had still slept at Jiang Xia’s other house to avoid any idle gossip.

Mother Zhou rose early and brewed a pot of white congee at home to bring over.

After eating so much rich food yesterday, Jiang Xia wanted something lighter today.

Besides, the three children could drink a bit of the rice water from the white congee, so every three or four days, the family would prepare white congee for breakfast.

Jiang Xia said, “I’ll go out to sea with you all today.”

There were no client appointments today, so she didn’t need to be at the food factory.

Hearing this, Ruan Tang felt a bit like going out to sea as well, but she had the night shift and needed to return to the city in the afternoon.

Zhou Chengsen saw Ruan Tang’s interest and said, “You can come along. When it’s time, I’ll steer the boat to the City Pier to drop you off.”

Ruan Tang looked at him. “Won’t that delay your work?”

Father Zhou chimed in, “Not at all. We’re just taking the reporter to see our net cages today. It’s no trouble to drop the reporter off at the City Pier at the same time.”

Only then did Ruan Tang agree.

The reporter arrived around nine o’clock, bringing along the photos and newspapers Father Zhou had requested.

The reporter had even specifically chosen a photo of the ribbon-cutting ceremony where Father Zhou appeared in the frame to include in the newspaper.

The whole family gathered around to look at the paper.

It was an article praising patriotic overseas Chinese, with Elder Mai as the main subject.

Seeing himself in the photograph, Father Zhou was finally satisfied. “Young man, let’s go! First, I’ll take you to see the mussels we’re raising, and then I’ll show you the net cages.”

In the next newspaper, I’ll be the main character! Father Zhou thought to himself.

The group headed to the pier to take the boat to the mussel cultivation beach.

The tide was high, so the mussels were submerged and not visible above the surface. However, as they drew closer, one could faintly see their dark shapes beneath the water.

The reporter took out his camera, wanting to take a photo.

Jiang Xia said, “It won’t look like much in a photo right now. They only peek out during a major ebb tide. If you want to take pictures, you can come back on the twenty-eighth or twenty-ninth of the lunar month. That’s when we’ll be harvesting the mussels.”

Father Zhou added, “I’ll give you a call then.”

The reporter smiled. “I’ll definitely come. For now, I’ll just take some shots of these floats.”

The 6.6 hectares of the sea area used for mussel cultivation were all marked and cordoned off with floats.

This way, passing boats would know there was something beneath the surface here.

After checking the mussels, Zhou Chenglei steered the boat away toward Abalone Island.

The reporter asked, “Can I see how you usually catch fish?”

Father Zhou immediately replied, “Of course. We usually use a trawl net. A-Lei, Xiao Xia, you two cast the net together. Let the reporter see what it looks like to have a bursting net.”

Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia walked over to cast the net.

Father Zhou chuckled. “When my younger daughter-in-law and younger son cast the net together, it’s a bursting net every single time. There’s actually a secret to it!”

The reporter’s curiosity was instantly piqued. A “secret” was the perfect sort of thing to include in a report.

He asked curiously, “What secret? Is it that their net-casting technique is superior to others?”

Father Zhou replied, “No, there’s not much technical skill involved in casting a net. You just have to be careful not to get dragged into the sea by the net. The secret is marital harmony! As the saying goes, when a husband and wife work together with one heart, their strength is enough for breaking luck! That’s why whenever those two cast the net together, every single haul is a bursting net!”

The reporter was speechless.

What a peculiar secret!

It was the first time he had ever heard of such a thing.

He felt like he was being taken for a ride!

The reporter changed the subject. “I know fishermen have many methods, like using a gillnet, a seine net, or longline fishing, right? Could you tell me more about those, Uncle Zhou?”

“Yes, there are many ways to catch fish. Usually, it’s categorized by the gear used. For longline fishing, you can tell just by the name that it’s a long line with many hooks attached to it…” Father Zhou explained seriously to the reporter as he steered the boat.

An hour later, as Abalone Island came into view, Zhou Chenglei heard a slight change in the sound of the old engine. He turned to Zhou Chengsen and said, “Second Brother, we can pull in the net now!”

Chapter 748: Bursting Net

Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengsen went over together to pull up the net.

Jiang Xia and Ruan Tang watched from the side.

The reporter held up his camera, ready to take photos.

The two brothers strained to pull the fishing net up. Zhou Chengsen remarked, “It’s very heavy.”

Father Zhou took it as a matter of course. “Of course it is!”

Zhou Chengsen added, “I can’t quite move it.”

Father Zhou immediately stepped forward to help.

The father and his two sons gritted their teeth and pulled with all their might, the veins on their hands bulging.

All three of them were struggling under the weight!

Slowly, through their combined efforts, a large bundle of fish finally broke the surface.

Jiang Xia took a glance; most of them were Spanish mackerel.

They had run into a school of them.

Moreover, they looked like Narrow-barred Spanish Mackerel—a more expensive and delicious variety.

However, they weren’t very common in these local waters, certainly not as common as they were near the Southern Islands.

Although the oceans were all connected, every species of fish had its own preferred habitat.

It was just like humans living on Earth.

Some people never left their province their entire lives, while others traveled the world.

Fish were the same.

The reporter’s eyes widened. “Such a huge haul! This must be 500 kilograms?”

Father Zhou’s veins were bulging at his temples from the exertion, but he said with a chuckle, “Not quite that much, around 250 to 300 kilograms. Didn’t I tell you? Isn’t this a bursting net?”

The reporter: “…”

He still felt that a bursting net had nothing to do with whether a couple was affectionate or if they cast the net together.

It was just a coincidence!

However, the reporter was tactful enough not to say anything. Instead, he smiled and agreed, “Uncle Zhou is right. It’s just like what we Chinese say: harmony breeds wealth, and a peaceful home prospers.”

Father Zhou agreed wholeheartedly. “Exactly! That’s the idea. A peaceful home prospers. No matter what job you do, this is the magic formula for getting rich.”

The reporter smiled and said nothing more. He held up his camera and snapped a photo of the three men struggling to drag the fish onto the boat. Then, he quickly tucked the camera away and stepped forward to help.

The four of them worked together and finally managed to drag the massive bundle of fish onto the deck.

Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengsen untied the net together, and the fish poured out.

A mountain of fish instantly occupied the entire deck.

Most were Spanish Mackerel, and they were very large.

There were also various miscellaneous fish, shrimp, and crabs.

Father Zhou happily picked up the largest Spanish Mackerel and laughed. “Haha! We caught a Mackerel King! We’re rich! We’re rich!”

The fish was nearly as long as half of Father Zhou’s height!

He loved going out to sea with Wealth-bringer the most.

Constant surprises!

There were always unexpected harvests.

The reporter had never seen such a large Spanish Mackerel before and quickly pulled out his camera to capture the scene of Father Zhou hugging the Mackerel King.

Jiang Xia put on gloves and started picking up a few “gold bars” with Zhou Chenglei before their color faded.

Zhou Chenglei moved two small stools, giving one to Jiang Xia, and then sat down beside her.

Ruan Tang helped out as well. This wasn’t her first time going out to sea with Zhou Chengsen, and she had helped sort fish before.

Zhou Chengsen handed her a pair of gloves and a small stool, then sat down beside her to pick through the fish.

Father Zhou looked at the four of them and smiled. Double the marital bliss meant double the fortune!

In a little while, he would have both couples cast a net together to see the results.

Today, he was going to earn more than he could carry!

The reporter put away his camera and helped pick shrimp into the crates. “Uncle Zhou, how much can you make from this one net of fish?”

Father Zhou looked at the Spanish Mackerel and the assorted seafood, grinning from ear to ear. “It’s the end of the year, so fish prices have gone up. This kind of Spanish Mackerel can sell for 1.5 yuan per jin. This net has at least 250 to 300 kilograms! Look, these are red-legged shrimp! There are probably 5 to 10 kilograms of them. Red-legged shrimp are expensive; they should go for 2 yuan per jin. This single net will bring in at least 700 or 800 yuan.”

The reporter watched Jiang Xia sorting the fish, secretly marveling at her speed. “Fish prices are getting more expensive every year. I remember a few years ago these Large Yellow Croakers were only a few mao per jin. This year they’ve risen to over 2 yuan per jin. We’re almost at the point where we can’t afford to eat them.”

Father Zhou walked over to steer the boat. “There’s no helping it. The Large Yellow Croakers in the sea have almost been fished out. It’s hard to find a school of them these days, especially this year.”

The reporter remarked, “No wonder they’re so much more expensive this year.”

Father Zhou added, “The price of every kind of fish has gone up this year. Fishing boats have gotten more expensive too, and buying one isn’t cheap.”

The reporter asked, “But if one net can earn 700 or 800 yuan, wouldn’t you make your money back in a year?”

Father Zhou replied, “It depends on luck. If your luck is good, then yes. If not, it’s only enough to keep food on the table. Today, I have a secret! Other families take a month to earn what my family gets in one net!”

The reporter chuckled.

Father Zhou said, “You don’t believe me? In a bit, I’ll let my second son and his fiancée, and my younger son and his wife cast a net together. It’ll definitely be an even bigger haul than this one!!”

“…”

The reporter couldn’t help but look around to see if this small fishing boat had a fish finder or some kind of lure equipment to attract schools of fish.

Otherwise, why was he so certain?!

Before the reporter could find any fish-luring equipment, they reached the sea area for deep-sea sea-cage aquaculture.

The well-traveled reporter had heard of deep-sea farming before, but this was his first time seeing it.

He took several photos in a row to help him when writing his article later.

This kind of news could be published in a featured event section and could even have follow-up stories.

Since much time would pass, he took many photos to ensure he didn’t forget the details.

After inspecting the deep-sea net cages, Zhou Chenglei scooped up two fish and put them in a bucket of water to keep them alive, planning to give them to the reporter later.

Jiang Xia checked the time; it was only around noon. The group had a meal on the island before heading back out to fish.

This time, the fishing boat headed toward the City Pier while fishing along the way.

When it came time to cast the net, Father Zhou asked the reporter to check if the net was just an ordinary one.

The reporter looked; the net was indeed ordinary, even somewhat worn, with many visible repairs.

After all, a trawl net wasn’t cheap, so they were patched until they were unusable. The reporter knew many fishermen lived this way—three days of fishing followed by two days of drying nets, and drying nets meant repairing them.

Father Zhou directed them, “Xiao Tang, you and Xiao Xia go cast the net. A-Sen, protect Xiao Tang like A-Lei does, don’t let her slip or fall into the sea.”

Father Zhou directly arranged them into affectionate poses. Only by being affectionate would wealth come rolling in!

His second son was a real blockhead, far behind Old Fourth. He had no idea how to nurture feelings with his own wife.

Back in the day, to get close to his wife, Old Fourth had nearly been willing to throw his own father overboard.

Ruan Tang glanced at Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia.

Zhou Chenglei had one hand held out for Jiang Xia to lean on so she could steady herself, while his other hand was on her waist, shielding her as they walked.

Ruan Tang thought to herself: Zhou Chengsen definitely couldn’t do that. He only dared to hold her hand; he would never take the initiative to hold her waist!

Every time he came to the city to pick her up, she was the one who initiated things and jumped at him. He would instinctively catch her, give her a quick hug, and then let go.

So, for any more intimate gestures, she probably had to wait until after meeting the parents.

Zhou Chengsen was indeed as Ruan Tang expected. He only held her hand. Holding her waist was impossible unless there was an emergency.

Although Zhou Chengsen went to see her every week and brought her home to visit, he had never made any overly intimate gestures.

For one, most people’s thinking in this era was still quite conservative. More importantly, Zhou Chengsen wanted to protect Ruan Tang’s reputation and didn’t want gossip to hurt her.

The women in the village had sharp tongues.

Thus, even when there was no one around and Ruan Tang threw herself into his arms, he would only hug her back briefly to show he cared before quickly pulling away, out of concern for her.

…

Chapter 749: It Was Torn Down

An hour later, the five of them had almost finished sorting the fish on the deck. Zhou Chenglei stood up as the unusual rattling from the engine grew louder. “Time to pull up the net.”

Besides, they would reach the City Pier in about twenty minutes.

Father Zhou said cheerily, “Pull it up, pull it up!”

The reporter was full of anticipation, though he wasn’t quite sure what he was expecting.

The two brothers first tried to see if they could haul it up themselves. The answer was that it was even more strenuous than the previous net.

Consequently, both Father Zhou and the reporter stepped forward to help. The reporter could clearly feel that this net was significantly heavier than the last one.

It took all four men every ounce of strength to drag the fish onto the boat. This haul was once again dominated by Spanish mackerel.

As the reporter took photos, he asked, “Why are there so many Spanish mackerel? Is it a mass migration?”

Father Zhou replied, “It’s not the season for Spanish mackerel migration right now. It’s just luck!”

Many schools of fish exhibit migration patterns, some active and some passive. There are overwintering migrations, reproductive migrations, and feeding migrations. For instance, anchovies swim from the Bohai Sea to the Yellow Sea to overwinter, ribbonfish migrate north in the spring to spawn, and tuna cross oceans in pursuit of bait.

Spanish mackerel also migrate every year during summer and autumn, but it wasn’t that season yet.

Aside from certain fixed migratory habits, encountering a school of fish at any other time was simply a matter of chance. There was no scientific explanation for why they hit the jackpot; the best explanation was luck.

The reporter: “…”

Uncle Zhou was great in every way—warm, generous, hardworking, and kind—but he was a bit of a superstitious idealist!

Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengsen emptied the net. It was obvious that this haul was piled even higher than the last one.

Father Zhou said triumphantly, “Didn’t I tell you? This net was bound to be an even bigger bursting net than the last! This haul is definitely between 350 and 400 kilograms!”

Looking at the mountain of fish on the deck, the reporter nodded repeatedly. “Impressive! I’m truly amazed! Your secret technique is really something!”

Father Zhou said, “Of course. The saying ‘a peaceful home prospers’ is a piece of wisdom our ancestors distilled from five thousand years of history. It’s absolutely true.”

The reporter agreed with the sentiment, though his understanding of the phrase differed from Father Zhou’s. However, he didn’t argue. The older generation held stubborn beliefs, and arguing wouldn’t change their minds. It was better to just go along with them.

The group hurried to sort the fish. The reporter helped while continuing to learn about the habits of the fish in these waters. “I’ve seen many fishing boats around here using light attraction fishing for squid in April and May, and then there are plenty of jellyfish in the sea in June and July…”

“That’s right. April and May are the fishing season for squid. Squid have phototaxis, so fishermen go out at night and use lights to lure and catch them. The light reflecting on the water attracts them. As for jellyfish, you can just scoop them up directly with mesh bags…”

Ruan Tang couldn’t help but whisper to Jiang Xia, “Xiao Xia, is that really how it works?”

Could a husband and wife casting a net together really result in a bursting net? If so, why were people in the fishing village generally not fond of women going out to sea to fish?

Zhou Chengsen overheard and joked, “It might not be that way for other families, but it is for ours. It’s our family’s secret to success!”

Ruan Tang: “…”

Jiang Xia chuckled inwardly. “Yes, it’s only like that for our family.”

Ruan Tang: “…”

“I understand now.”

The mountain of fish separated the two couples.

Zhou Chengsen arched an eyebrow and asked in an even lower voice, “What do you understand?”

Ruan Tang glanced at him and leaned in to whisper her answer, “I understand that a couple needs to be affectionate. So, you have to love me well from now on.”

Zhou Chengsen looked at the smile in her eyes. Being so close, he could smell the faint, clean scent of honey locust soap on her. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly. “Mm.”

It was a low, raspy, and charming sound.

Ruan Tang’s smile widened.

Zhou Chengsen smiled too.

Jiang Xia glanced at the couple across from them, who were radiating sweetness. With a smile in her own eyes, she whispered, “So sweet.”

Zhou Chenglei looked at her. “What’s sweet?”

She hadn’t eaten anything!

Jiang Xia looked toward the other side and whispered, “The couple in the throes of passion!”

“…”

Zhou Chenglei looked over at the couple talking softly with sweet smiles.

Second Brother went to see Ruan Tang every week. He would accompany her for coffee in the city, see movies, and go shopping. He would take her beachcombing and out to sea…

After he and Jiang Xia got engaged, he had been in the military and only had one long leave a year. One leave was to come back and get engaged to her. The second was to visit her family, but he hadn’t even seen her then because she was at the movies with a classmate. And then they got married.

They had never properly dated before they wed.

Zhou Chenglei decided to make up for it. What others had, she shouldn’t lack. From now on, he would take a day or two every month to spend time with her—just the two of them, ignoring work and the children.

Just them.

Half an hour later, the fishing boat docked.

The three of them disembarked. Zhou Chengsen hailed a taxi to take Ruan Tang home and give the reporter a lift as well.

Jiang Xia, Zhou Chenglei, and Father Zhou stayed on the boat to continue sorting and selling the fish while waiting for Zhou Chengsen to return.

Father Zhou spotted a wooden sign on the pier with a piece of red paper posted on it. It was a notice about the pier’s expansion after the New Year, reminding citizens to go to the seafood market to buy fish.

Father Zhou said, “It looks like our stalls at the seafood market will be rented out soon.”

According to the date on the notice, the expansion would begin right after the Lantern Festival. There were still twenty days until the Lantern Festival, so people were likely still observing the situation, but some should have started looking for stalls.

Their stalls were in such a prime location; it was impossible that they hadn’t received a single phone call!

The market management office was responsible for this, but they had also posted their own red papers with their phone number on the stalls.

Jiang Xia said to Zhou Chenglei, “Go and see if the phone numbers we posted on the stalls are still there.”

Father Zhou added hurriedly, “Right. Maybe they weren’t glued on well and the wind blew them off.”

“Okay,” Zhou Chenglei agreed and walked over to check. It wasn’t very far anyway.

When Zhou Chenglei reached their stalls in the seafood market, he discovered that the red papers they had previously posted were all gone.

They had bought so many stalls; it was impossible for every single one to have blown away. Furthermore, some stalls still showed remnants where the paper had been torn off.

He walked over to the market management office and asked, “Comrade, did you see anyone tearing down the red papers on those front-row stalls in the East District?”

The staff member on duty was listening to a story on the radio. He looked up at Zhou Chenglei. “Didn’t see anything. I’m not on duty twenty-four hours a day. Maybe the wind blew them off? I saw some that looked like they were blown off by the wind. I just didn’t know which stall they came from, so I didn’t dare try to stick them back on.”

Zhou Chenglei looked at him. “Do you have any red paper and a brush here? I’ll write new ones and post them. I’ll pay you for the materials.”

Chapter 750: Refusal to Mend His Ways

One test, and the truth was out!

Zhou Chenglei glanced at him indifferently. “Are you truly certain you don’t know who tore off the red paper from my stall?”

The administrator replied, “I don’t know. I didn’t see anything. It was probably torn off after I finished my shift. Comrade, do you want me to help you find a tenant or not? It’s only one yuan per stall. I guarantee I can find someone to rent it! By the time you buy red paper, brushes, ink, and paste, it’ll cost you more than a yuan! I’m trying to save you money. Besides, even if you paste it back up, the wind will just blow it off again. Who knows when you’ll finally rent out that shop? The sooner it’s rented, the sooner you collect rent! Stalls here are currently going for fifty to a hundred yuan a month! Rent it out early, and you start making money early. Otherwise, for every extra day it sits empty, you’re losing more than just one yuan!”

He had indeed been the one to tear off the red paper, and his motive was naturally to make a quick buck.

Ever since the beginning of this month, people had been coming every day looking for stalls to rent, and that was when he hit upon this scheme!

The market was huge, with a total of one thousand units including storefronts. If he made one yuan per stall and five yuan per shop, he could make over a thousand yuan once everything was rented out!

It was too easy!

He had already made over a hundred yuan during this period.

“No need!” Zhou Chenglei gave him a look and turned to leave.

The administrator watched his retreating back and pursed his lips. “Won’t even part with a single yuan? With that kind of stinginess, it’s a wonder if you ever strike it rich! You deserve to be a fisherman for the rest of your life!”

He stopped worrying about Zhou Chenglei, turned up the volume on his radio, and went back to listening to his stories. “Honestly! Wasting my time while I’m trying to listen to the show.”

Zhou Chenglei found a nearby shop to make a phone call, then bought a sheet of red paper, a brush, ink, and paste before returning to the seafood market.

He personally cut a piece of red paper, wrote down the phone number and contact name, and pasted it onto Zhou Chengsen’s stall.

This stall was the one closest to the management office.

He didn’t paste notices on all the stalls; he only puts one on this particular stall. Once finished, he strode out of the market.

The administrator watched Zhou Chenglei’s handiwork from his office without saying a word. Only after Zhou Chenglei had been gone for a while did he step out of the office. He scanned the area in Zhou Chenglei’s direction, and seeing no sign of him, he walked over.

He tore off the red paper that had just been pasted, crumpled it, threw it on the ground, and headed back toward his office.

Zhou Chenglei, watching from a distance, saw the entire scene.

He stepped out and walked toward the man.

The administrator was whistling as he went back to his stories, completely unaware that Zhou Chenglei was approaching.

Zhou Chenglei arrived at the office window.

The administrator was already sitting there leisurely, sipping tea and listening to the radio.

Sensing someone at the window, he looked up and was so startled he choked on his tea!

He subconsciously glanced at the stall. Since it was several stalls away, he couldn’t see it from his seat. He breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. “Comrade, changed your mind? Want me to find you a tenant? Just give me one yuan! I guarantee I’ll find someone within three days! How much are you planning to charge for rent?”

Zhou Chenglei sneered. “You tear down my sign and then expect to make money off me?”

The administrator’s eyes darted around. “What are you talking about? Who tore down your sign? Where’s your proof? Don’t go talking nonse—”

Zhou Chenglei’s hand shot through the window, grabbed the man by his clothes, and hoisted him bodily right out through the window frame!

The administrator’s face turned white with terror!

“What are you doing? Let go of me! I’m calling the police!”

“Help! Help!”

But the market was vast and empty; there wasn’t a soul around at this hour. His shouting was in vain!

Zhou Chenglei dropped him onto the ground but kept a firm grip on his clothes, dragging him forward.

The administrator struggled violently. “Let go! What do you think you’re doing? Let go! Believe it or not, I’ll call the police!”

The administrator wasn’t truly afraid of him. Seeing the man dressed like a fisherman, he assumed he was just some common laborer.

Zhou Chenglei dragged him all the way to Zhou Chengsen’s stall.

The newly pasted red paper was still lying on the ground, and the paste on the stall hadn’t even dried yet.

He pointed at the paper on the ground. “There’s the proof. I saw you tear it down with my own eyes!”

The administrator remained stubborn. “I didn’t! You didn’t paste it properly, it fell off on its own! Ah—!”

Zhou Chenglei twisted the man’s hand, revealing the red ink stains left from tearing the paper. “It fell off on its own? It seems you don’t want this job anymore.”

With his hand being twisted, the administrator broke out in a cold sweat from the pain!

Even so, he wasn’t afraid. It wasn’t this man who had hired him, so his job wasn’t for this guy to decide.

Besides, looking at this man’s fisherman attire, he was certain he was just a fisherman.

“Let go! Whether I have this job or not is none of your damn business! You aren’t the one paying my salary! I’m telling you, let go, or I’m calling the police!”

He wouldn’t learn until he was staring death in the face! A flash of cold severity crossed Zhou Chenglei’s eyes. “Then call them!”

Crack!

“Ah!”

Crack!

Crack!

“Ah!”

“Aaaargh!”

…

Just then, Li Zhihua came rushing over.

Seeing him, the administrator immediately screamed, “Help! Help! Brother Zhihua, save me!”

Zhou Chenglei had dislocated every single joint in the man’s limbs and tossed him onto the ground!

The administrator was in so much pain that tears were streaming down his face!

He wanted to curl into a ball, but the slightest movement brought agonizing pain!

Li Zhihua hurried over to the two of them.

The administrator gasped through the pain, “Brother Zhihua, this man assaulted me! He broke my arms and legs! I want to report this! Go call the police! I want to report him!”

Li Zhihua glared at him. “What exactly did you do?”

If it wasn’t something egregious, would a man like Zhou Chenglei bother to dwell on a petty market administrator?

Li Zhihua turned to Zhou Chenglei. “Comrade Zhou, I’m very sorry. Did our staff member fail to host you properly?”

Zhou Chenglei replied, “Have him tell you himself!”

Li Zhihua looked back at the administrator. “What did you do this time?”

Seeing how polite Li Zhihua was being toward Zhou Chenglei, the administrator realized the man’s identity was likely far from ordinary. He quickly changed his tune. “It’s a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding! I didn’t know he was an acquaintance. I was just trying to help Comrade Zhou rent out his stall. Since we’re all friends, I’ll help you rent it out for free! I’ll even paste the red paper back up for you!”

Zhou Chenglei sneered. The man simply refused to mend his ways!

“You weren’t trying to help me! You deliberately tore down the contact information I posted so that I would be forced to ask for your help! The nature of those two situations is completely different!”

If the man had approached him and offered to help rent the stall for a one-yuan fee, Zhou Chenglei wouldn’t have had an issue with it. He would have found it normal, perhaps even thinking the man was clever and had a good business mind.

But to deliberately sabotage his contact information for personal gain?

In Zhou Chenglei’s eyes, that was an unpardonable offense!

Zhou Chenglei said to Li Zhihua, “If this market is managed by people who have no moral bottom line and only seek personal gain, then I seriously doubt whether such a large market can ever truly succeed.”

With that, Zhou Chenglei turned and walked away.

Elder Mai held shares in this market—in fact, he was a major shareholder—and Li Zhihua knew exactly who Zhou Chenglei was. Zhou Chenglei was confident in leaving the matter to him.

This man was definitely getting fired!

As for the contact information that had been torn down, Zhou Chenglei believed Li Zhihua would arrange for someone to paste it all back up.

Chapter 751: Mud Can’t Support a Wall

After Zhou Chenglei left, Li Zhihua looked at the man lying on the ground and shouted, “Get up already!”

The administrator groaned, “I can’t! Every joint in my hands and feet is dislocated! Zhihua, brother, you have to carry me to the doctor! I can’t walk, I can’t even crawl.”

“…”

Li Zhihua sighed. “What on earth were you doing? How did you make him that angry?”

Given Zhou Chenglei’s status, he wouldn’t usually stoop to dwell on things with a mere market administrator.

The administrator felt quite wronged. “I just tore down the red paper on his stall. He caught me, and then I didn’t admit to it. It’s not like it was some huge deal, yet he actually went and popped every joint in my limbs. He’s a total bully! I didn’t even call the police on him!”

“What goes on in that head of yours? There’s nothing wrong with helping people rent out stalls to earn a bit of commission! If you talk to the owners properly, it’s a mutually beneficial arrangement. But tearing down someone else’s contact information is forced selling—that’s crossing the line! To be caught and still refuse to admit it? That’s just a refusal to mend your ways! Even a saint would get angry!”

“I only thought of it because I saw some of the red papers blown off by the wind. Who knew I’d be so unlucky? I didn’t tear the one on his stall cleanly, and he saw it. That guy is wicked, too—he intentionally put up another red paper as a trap for me to step into!”

Li Zhihua felt that this man was truly beyond saving. He was crooked to the bone and completely unrepentant. “The man doesn’t just have one stall; he has dozens of them! He even owns several storefronts! When the red paper is missing from every single stall, do you really think he wouldn’t realize it was intentional?”

The administrator was stunned. “…”

“Isn’t he just a fisherman?”

How could he be so rich?

Li Zhihua scoffed, “A fisherman? Fishing is just a hobby for him, a bit of spice for his life! Before he was a fisherman, he was a regimental commander. He only retired from the military because of an injury! Furthermore, he’s Chairman Mai’s grandson-in-law! His father-in-law is the very ‘Clear Sky’ above our heads!”

“…”

The administrator finally felt true fear. He realized he had offended someone he absolutely shouldn’t have. “Zhihua, brother… can I still keep my job?”

The job was easy—he just had to sit in the office. It was relaxed, paid well, and allowed him to make extra money on the side. He didn’t want to lose it!

Li Zhihua sneered. “What do you think? Not even the gods could save you now.”

He shouldn’t have introduced the man for the position in the first place. He had only arranged the job because the man was the younger brother of the woman he had just started dating.

He hadn’t expected the man to be such mud that couldn’t support a wall.

As the saying goes, people of a feather flock together.

Li Zhihua realized he needed to observe whether his current girlfriend was the same kind of person.

His mother often said that marrying an unvirtuous wife would ruin three generations!

The administrator was speechless.

When Zhou Chenglei returned to the pier, Zhou Chengsen had already come back. Jiang Xia and Father Zhou had also finished selling all the fish, earning over 1,600 yuan.

Seeing the red paper in his hand, Father Zhou asked, “Why so late? Did the red paper fall off? Did you put it back up?”

Jiang Xia noticed his cold expression. “What’s wrong? Did someone tear it down?”

Zhou Chengsen added, “Nine times out of ten, that’s what happened.”

Father Zhou grumbled, “Who would be so wicked? Was it one of the owners of the neighboring stalls? No wonder no one has called for so long! How many did they tear down?”

Zhou Chenglei replied, “They tore them all down. An employee from the market management office did it.”

Father Zhou found it hard to believe. “What? Why would an administrator tear down our paper? Shouldn’t he be guarding the place to make sure no one messes with our contact info? Does he have water in his brain?”

Zhou Chengsen understood immediately. “He wanted to make money.”

Zhou Chenglei explained, “He tore them down so he could charge me one yuan per stall to help me rent them out.”

Father Zhou was stunned. “…”

One yuan per stall? That would be quite a profit, considering there were over a thousand stalls in that market!

“He’s certainly a ‘talent,’ but it’s a pity he’s gone down the wrong path! This person must be fired. If we leave him to manage the market, the whole place will fall into chaos! Who knows if he’d target our tenants in the future.”

He decided he would speak to Wealth-bringer’s grandfather about this when he got back.

Jiang Xia asked, “How did you handle it?”

“I left him for Comrade Li Zhihua to deal with,” Zhou Chenglei said.

Jiang Xia felt relieved hearing that. “He’s a reliable person.”

Zhou Chenglei went to start the boat.

The fishing boat sailed toward the blue horizon, leaving the setting sun trailing behind.

The next day, Jiang Xia took the reporter to visit the food factory.

Father Zhou and Zhou Chenglei followed along because they had to take the triplets for a physical check-up and vaccinations in the afternoon.

It was the triplets’ first time at the factory. They looked around curiously at the machines, their eyes wandering everywhere.

Jiang Xia took a few bags of snacks and offered the reporter a tasting.

The reporter didn’t stand on ceremony. He opened a bag of potato chips and tried one. “You usually only find these potato chips abroad, right? I had a colleague who went overseas for an interview and brought some back.”

“That’s right.”

Seeing the reporter eating, the little sister pointed at the snacks in his hand and let out a string of baby talk. “Eeya eeya…”

The reporter laughed, holding up a chip. “Do you want to eat some too?”

The little sister nodded her tiny head vigorously. Pointing at the bag in his hand while drooling, she continued her “Eeya eeya” speech.

Jiang Xia used a handkerchief to wipe away her drool. “Your teeth haven’t all come in yet. You can’t eat these; you won’t be able to chew them and you’ll choke.”

The three babies had started teething. Their lower middle incisors were just poking through, looking incredibly cute.

Like little rabbits.

Jiang Xia tried to carry her away, but she was unhappy about it. She looked like she was about to cry, reaching out toward the bags of chips, her whole body leaning back. “Eeya eeya…”

She wanted to eat!

She had seen her big sisters and big brothers eating them before!

The eldest brother and younger brother just watched their sister, staying silent.

They knew that if their sister successfully fought for it, they would get some too.

Zhou Chenglei pulled out a piece of roasted rice cake and pretended to take it from the potato chip bag before handing it to the little sister.

The little sister glanced at the rice cake in her father’s hand and then at the chips in the reporter’s hand.

She swatted her father’s hand away and pointed back at the reporter’s bag. “Ngh-ya!”

She wasn’t blind!

Everyone burst out laughing at her antics.

Father Zhou chuckled, “As they get older, they’re getting harder to fool.”

Jiang Xia gave her a bag of chips to hold but didn’t open it for her.

Content now that she had the bag, the little sister hugged it to her chest and began studying how to open it herself.

Jiang Xia’s arms were getting tired, so she put her in the baby stroller. This “research project” with the chips would keep her occupied for over an hour.

Zhou Chenglei and Father Zhou also put the two boys in the baby stroller and gave them each a bag of chips.

Father Zhou joked, “If you can open it, you can eat it.”

And so, the three children worked hard at trying to open the bags, even using their two tiny sprout-like teeth.

After finishing the tour of the food factory, they headed toward the hospital, dropping the reporter off at his newspaper office along the way.

After Dr. Gao finished checking the three babies, she smiled and said, “Go find the nurse or your second aunt to give them their shots. I have a patient waiting.”

Jiang Xia asked, “Isn’t Xiao Tang off after the night shift today?”

“She worked the early night shift yesterday, only until ten,” Gao Jie replied. “She’s working this afternoon.”

So, the three of them took the triplets to find Ruan Tang to help with the vaccinations.

Two days after the shots were finished, Ruan Tang was on her day off. She came to the Zhou family home, preparing to head to the capital with Zhou Chengsen.

Chapter 752: Finding a Kindred Spirit

The little sister turned her head to avoid Ruan Tang’s reaching hand. She clung to Father Zhou’s neck and then looked back at Ruan Tang, letting out a stream of “ah-oohs” and “eeyas” in baby talk. She was clearly complaining to her grandfather, her tiny expression look adorably fierce.

Ruan Tang: “…”

The whole family burst into laughter.

Zhou Chengsen was holding his little nephew, who was also clinging tightly to his neck and refusing to let Ruan Tang hold him. He patted the boy’s little bottom.

Finally, someone felt exactly the way he did.

It wasn’t that he was afraid of needles—it was just that Ruan Tang’s injections really, truly hurt!

Ruan Tang glanced at Zhou Chengsen and said dryly, “Well, it looks like you’ve finally found a kindred spirit!”

Yesterday, she had been wearing a mask and a white lab coat and had only spoken a few words, yet the triplets had still managed to recognize her!

Just how afraid of needles were these three?

Was a fear of injections a hereditary family trait?

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

Was being called a “kindred spirit” to three six-month-old babies supposed to be a compliment?

Probably! Ruan Tang was likely praising him for having a youthful heart!

Ruan Tang then pointed out his misconception. “Vaccinations aren’t given in the rear. Haven’t you ever had one? You eat in the cafeteria every day, so you must get the Hepatitis B vaccine. Have you had yours?”

Zhou Chengsen, who was still comforting his little nephew’s bottom: “…”

Zhou Chenglei, who was holding the eldest brother, added, “He definitely hasn’t.”

Zhou Chengsen glared at him!

Ruan Tang continued, “Then we’ll go to the hospital in the city tomorrow for a blood test and get you vaccinated. It works out perfectly since you’ll need a pre-marital checkup anyway. If you do the blood test now, you won’t have to do it again later.”

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

A blood test meant using a needle to draw blood, and didn’t that involve sticking the needle directly into a vein?

The mere thought of it gave Zhou Chengsen goosebumps.

He glanced around and quickly changed the subject. “The tide should be out by now. Didn’t you want to go beachcombing? Let’s go!”

Today was a major ebb tide. Beachcombing during a major ebb was Ruan Tang’s favorite; the water would recede four or five kilometers, revealing all sorts of good things on the beach.

Furthermore, the entire village was going to be pulling a large net today. Zhou Chengsen had said it would be very lively, and since Ruan Tang had never seen it, she wanted to take a look.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have come all the way to the Zhou family home just to go to the airport with Zhou Chengsen. It would have been more convenient for him to simply pick her up in the city on the way.

Their flight was tomorrow morning.

Father Zhou agreed, “It is time to head out. We need to see if the mussels are ready to be harvested.”

They had to take advantage of the major ebb tide to gather the mussels today.

Jiang Xia asked Mother Zhou, “Mama, are you coming beachcombing?”

Mother Zhou waved her hand. “I’m not going. I’ll stay home and watch the children; you all go ahead. Just put the babies on the mat on the floor.”

Mother Zhou knew the young people enjoyed beachcombing. She could go whenever the three little grandsons weren’t home, but for now, she wanted her daughter-in-law to enjoy herself.

The triplets could sit up now. If you put them on a mat with toys while you were busy, they would play by themselves without crying. They were very easy to look after.

Jiang Xia took out three safety head protectors and strapped them onto the babies’ backs.

This way, when the triplets sat and played, they wouldn’t have to worry about them toppling over and hitting the backs of their heads.

Jiang Xia had spent two nights specifically making these anti-fall head protectors for them to use while they learned to sit.

They were in cartoon shapes—all three were designed to look like giant pandas.

Mother Zhou had insisted that everything the triplets wore or used should be exactly the same. At least while they were small; they could be different when they grew up.

Ruan Tang praised them when she saw them. “These are great. This way, we don’t have to worry about them hitting their heads while they learn to sit and walk.”

Jiang Xia replied with a smile, “I made them specifically because I was worried they’d bump their heads.”

Mother Zhou also praised her, “Even though Xiao Xia is a first-time mother, she is very thoughtful and knows how to take care of children. I raised so many kids and never thought of this.”

Jiang Xia said, “It wasn’t my original idea; I saw someone else use them before.”

Jiang Xia had seen a colleague’s son use something like this in her previous life. Besides these head protectors, there were also toddler walking harnesses.

Once the children reached eleven months, she would make the harnesses.

Ruan Tang asked, “Xiaxia, do you have an extra one? I’d like to take it back to the hospital to promote it.”

“I do,” Jiang Xia replied. “I’m in the middle of making a frog-shaped one. It’s almost finished; I’ll give it to you then.”

Jiang Xia planned that after the New Year, if there were no contract manufacturing orders for clothes, she would have the garment factory produce a batch of head protectors, walking harnesses, and baby carriers.

The carriers they used at home now were just four straps tied in the front; they weren’t as convenient or secure as the ones with buckles.

However, the molds for the buckles hadn’t been designed yet. Mass production would have to wait until those were ready.

The group placed the children on the floor to let them play.

Mother Zhou sat down with them, helping the triplets play with their toys and blocks.

The triplets had already learned to push toy trains and cars around. They could only give them a single push, though, because they couldn’t crawl yet and their bodies didn’t move much beyond that.

Mother Zhou taught them how to stack blocks, simply piling them high.

The triplets picked up blocks to try and stack them as well. Their ability to imitate was very strong, but their physical coordination was still lacking. When they held a block and tried to place it on another, they often let go before it was aligned. They couldn’t stack them as high as an adult, but they were very patient and tried over and over again.

After many failed attempts, the younger brother finally gave his block to Mother Zhou. “Ah-ooh, eeya…”

“Do you want Grandma to help you?”

The younger brother nodded. “Mm-hmm.”

The little sister also handed her block to Grandma. “Eeya-eeya…”

Mother Zhou couldn’t understand exactly what they were saying, but having played blocks with them many times, she knew they wanted her to help them stack or show them how to do it again.

“If you call me ‘Grandma,’ I’ll help you…”

“Ah-ooh, eeya…”

Seeing them playing so intently, Jiang Xia and Ruan Tang got into the car once Zhou Chenglei had pulled it around and loaded the tools. They set off for the beach.

The three children were very easy to manage. They didn’t get frustrated or cry when they couldn’t figure out the blocks; they just handed them to the nearest adult or older sibling with an “ah-ooh” to ask for help.

It was hard to tell if they wanted help or just another demonstration, but as soon as you took the block and showed them again, they would laugh happily and go back to playing on their own.

After playing for a while, if they still couldn’t stack two blocks, they’d hand them back to you again.

This cycle repeated until they got tired and gave up.

Mother Zhou had never looked after such easy babies; even Zhou Zhou hadn’t been this well-behaved as an infant.

She had initially thought the family would be in a chaotic scramble once the triplets were born.

But that wasn’t the case at all. They were easier to care for than any of her other grandchildren.

She didn’t even feel overwhelmed taking care of all three by herself.

As the children grew older, this feeling only intensified.

These three children must have come to repay a debt of gratitude.

However, Mother Zhou’s sentiment wouldn’t last forever. Once they reached the age where they were “more annoying than a stray dog,” she would likely want to chase them down the street with a stick just to vent her frustration!

The group arrived at the tidal flats. The tide had receded quite a far way, but it hadn’t reached its lowest point yet. The wooden stakes used for farming mussels weren’t fully exposed, but they were halfway out.

The exposed beach was already crowded with people.

Chapter 753: Beachcombing

Ruan Tang asked curiously, “What are they picking up? It looks like they’re finding a lot of something.”

Jiang Xia grabbed a woven sack filled with beachcombing tools and took Ruan Tang’s hand. “I don’t know, but let’s hurry down and see.”

Zhou Chenglei got out of the car and still needed to grab the rest of the tools. Seeing them run off so quickly, he shouted, “Be careful going down! Don’t trip!”

Last year, Jiang Xia had taken a fall on the reefs, and it had left a faint scar on her foot.

Jiang Xia replied without looking back, “I know!”

Zhou Chengsen quickly grabbed two hoes and two buckets and chased after them.

The path down to the beach was full of reefs and sand, making it very easy to slip. However, it wasn’t the first time Jiang Xia and Ruan Tang had walked it, so they hopped down with ease.

The two of them ran toward a less crowded area.

The beach was vast, and a major ebb tide had exposed four or five kilometers of the seabed. There was really no need to crowd in with everyone else.

The family walked a long way, reaching a spot where the tide hadn’t fully receded yet, before they began gathering.

With spring approaching, many patches of green seaweed had sprouted on the beach. They weren’t very long yet—just small tufts—but they would likely be quite long by the next major ebb tide.

In the shallow water, Ruan Tang spotted two holes that looked like a pig’s snout. “I know these! These are the snail eyes of white sand snails.”

Jiang Xia took a look. “That’s right! There are a lot of white sand snails today. I bet that’s what everyone is picking up.”

She could see several white sand snail eyes right at her feet.

“Found one!” Ruan Tang bent over to dig, and a white sand snail popped out. It was quite a decent size.

Zhou Chengsen held the bucket out to her. “Put it in here.”

Ruan Tang soon spotted two more “pig snouts” nearby, as well as some blood clams. She kept her head down, busily gathering them up.

Jiang Xia noticed a crab hunkered down under the sand, with only its two eyes poking out. She used her iron tongs to pluck it up.

It was a red rock crab. As soon as the tongs touched it, it raised its two large claws and clamped onto the metal.

Zhou Chenglei moved the bucket next to Jiang Xia.

“What a strong grip!” Jiang Xia had to shake the tongs several times before the crab finally fell into the bucket.

Zhou Chenglei glanced at it. “These crabs are naturally aggressive and have very hard shells. There’s another one here.”

Zhou Chenglei used his tongs to pick it up.

Jiang Xia was the only one who really enjoyed eating crabs; in the past, they wouldn’t have even bothered picking these up. The beach was full of all sorts of sea snails and seafood, and the villagers usually found eating crabs to be too much trouble. Aside from large mud crabs, they weren’t very interested in other types.

Aside from maybe picking a few for porridge—since shrimp and crab porridge was undeniably sweet and fresh—they usually left them alone.

However, if you steamed fresh red rock crabs and peeled the meat to dry it, the resulting “crab meat crumbles” were delicious for making soup or porridge when fresh seafood wasn’t available.

Since there were so many red rock crabs now, they could catch plenty, dry them, and take them to the capital. They could add some dried crab meat whenever they made porridge or noodles in the morning.

Jiang Xia picked up a blood clam. “The blood clams are plump, too. This one’s almost as big as the triplets’ little fists.”

Ruan Tang added, “There’s a mussel here! It’s actually quite big.”

The mussel had byssal threads that were tightly anchored to a rock. It took Ruan Tang a bit of effort to pull it off.

Jiang Xia looked over. “It probably washed over from the cultivation area during the waves.”

Zhou Chenglei had hired villagers to harvest the mussels. The harvest was already underway, and Father Zhou was over there keeping an eye on things.

Fish, shrimp, and crabs often hid under the wooden stakes used for farming mussels. Father Zhou was beachcombing right there while simultaneously overseeing the villagers. He was worried they might harvest the mussels before they were fully grown.

Chapter 754: You’re Good, You’re Really Good!

Jiang Xia discovered a cluster of black things in the water, looking like small black flowers blooming beneath the surface.

“Zhou Chenglei,” Jiang Xia called out to the man bending over to dig for scallops nearby.

Zhou Chenglei, who was not far away, quickly pulled up a scallop that was larger than his face. He deposited it into his bucket and walked over to her.

Jiang Xia pointed at the black cluster on the ground. “What are these? Can we pick them up?”

Zhou Chenglei took a look. “Those are black sea anemones.”

“Sea anemones look like this?”

“Sea anemones are like fish; they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Try touching them.”

Jiang Xia reached down and gave one a poke. The black sea anemone immediately shrank back, just like a mimosa plant.

“How fun!”

“If I’d known, I would have brought the children out to see. They’d definitely love playing with these.”

Many sea anemones felt soft and squishy to the touch, making them quite pleasant to handle.

Zhou Chenglei said, “There will be plenty of chances in the future. We’ll bring them out once they can walk.”

“Mhm. That’ll be right during the summer break, so we won’t have to worry about them catching a cold while playing in the water.”

The couple continued walking forward.

This stretch of the beach was unpolluted, and the major ebb tide had left behind a wealth of seafood. One could practically close their eyes, reach down at random, and touch some kind of shellfish.

Some villagers were using rakes to comb the sand, unearthing several white sand snails with every stroke.

If this were modern times, you’d have to rake for a long distance just to find one or two.

Jiang Xia spotted a group of fan shells huddled together—five of them, all quite large.

“Are you all having a meeting here?”

She bent down and gathered them all up.

After picking up the fan shells, she spotted a scallop eye. “There’s a scallop here.”

Zhou Chenglei offered, “Let me do it.”

“No need.” It had been inconvenient when she was heavily pregnant, but now Jiang Xia found that pulling up scallops was the most satisfying part. The sound it made was a great stress reliever.

Scallops were large and delicious, making them a favorite for villagers during beachcombing.

Zhou Chenglei followed close by with the bucket, finding several fan shells of his own.

Jiang Xia remarked, “There are so many fan shells today.”

This wasn’t a common sight. Usually, while beachcombing, you might find a few fan shells, but not this many all at once.

Zhou Chenglei said, “There are likely many fan shells growing on the seabed. I’ll dive down tomorrow to take a look.”

If they picked enough to dry, they could take the dried scallops back to the capital to use in porridge or noodles. Even a handful added to steamed eggs would make them incredibly sweet and savory without needing any MSG.

The Zhou family didn’t like adding MSG to their food, especially in soups and porridges. They found that eating food with MSG made them thirsty. Consequently, dried scallops became an excellent natural flavor enhancer for their cooking.

Moreover, the Zhou family usually ate fresh seafood, mostly enjoying its original, pure flavor. Seasonings like MSG were unnecessary when salt and soy sauce were enough.

Just then, Tian Caihua ran over to join them. “Why didn’t you call me when you came out to the beach?”

She glanced over at Ruan Tang and Zhou Chengsen in the distance.

Lately, the second branch and the fourth branch were becoming closer and closer.

Tian Caihua felt like Jiang Xia was leaving her out!

She hadn’t felt this way back when Li Xiuxian was around.

Once Xiao Tang married into the family, would she, the Big Sister-in-law, be squeezed out by them?

After all, Ruan Tang and Jiang Xia were both city people, friends, and college students. She was just a village girl who barely knew her letters.

Tian Caihua felt like her status—where an eldest sister-in-law is like a mother—was under threat.

Thinking about it that way, Zhou Chengsen marrying a city girl might not be such a good thing after all.

Jiang Xia tossed a blood clam into the bucket. “I thought you were already here. Didn’t Big Brother bring people out early to collect mussels?”

Tian Caihua glanced at the bucket Zhou Chenglei was carrying. “He came, but I was still at home. You’ve already picked so many! You found this many fan shells?”

“Yeah, this part of the beach seems to have a lot of them.”

“Really? Let me look too!” Tian Caihua quickly lowered her head to search. “Did I hear A-Lei say he’s going to dive for fan shells? When? Make sure to call your Big Brother!”

Zhou Chenglei replied, “Probably around eight o’clock tomorrow morning.”

He hadn’t dived into the waters around here in a long time; there should be plenty of goods to find.

Zhou Chenglei spotted a crab buried in the sand, with only its eyes showing. He bent down and grabbed it—it was a large flower crab.

A few more of these would be enough to make a pot of shrimp and crab claypot porridge for a late-night snack.

“There’s a crab here too.” Tian Caihua saw a crab but didn’t grab it. she found them troublesome and lacking in meat.

Zhou Chenglei walked over and picked it up.

Jiang Xia had found another white sand snail, another fan shell, and another scallop, which made a loud thud as they hit the bottom of the bucket.

Tian Caihua looked over. “How come I can’t find any fan shells or scallops?”

Jiang Xia bent over to pick up a clam. “Maybe because you’re too busy talking?”

Tian Caihua: “…”

Jiang Xia spotted two fan shells tangled together in a lovers’ embrace and scooped them up!

Seeing this, Tian Caihua stopped talking and focused on picking!

…

As the tide receded further and further, they ventured deeper out.

The further they went, the more fan shells they found!

Today’s joy was definitely provided by the fan shells!

After more than an hour, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei had filled an entire woven sack.

Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang had also filled more than half a sack.

Jiang Xia’s back was starting to ache.

Seeing this, Zhou Chenglei said, “Take a rest, stop for a bit.”

At that moment, someone walked over. “A-Lei, you’ve got such a big bag. What did you catch?”

Zhou Chenglei answered, “A bit of everything.”

The woman peeked inside and gasped in surprise. “So many fan shells?”

She then turned around and shouted to her husband, son, and daughter-in-law, “Jiaxing, Guofeng, Big Sister-in-law, come over here! There are tons of fan shells here! They’re huge and fat!”

The other villagers who were digging for snails nearby heard her and came running over.

The adductor muscle inside a fan shell could be dried into dried scallops, which could sell for over ten yuan for a 500-gram bag!

Seeing so many people rushing over, Tian Caihua’s face darkened. She couldn’t help but whisper to Jiang Xia, “Why did A-Lei let her see? Look at all these people running over now.”

Jiang Xia didn’t even look up as she searched the sand for scallop eyes. “The beach is huge; we can’t pick them all anyway. Let them come. Why worry about others? Just hurry up and pick what you can, Big Sister-in-law.”

Tian Caihua still felt uneasy. “With more people, everything nearby will be picked clean. We’ll have to walk even further, we won’t get as much, and it’ll be exhausting.”

Jiang Xia then called out loudly to the approaching crowd, “Aunts and neighbors! If you find fan shells and dry them into dried scallops, you can sell them to me. I’m buying dried scallops.”

Tian Caihua: “…”

Having made her announcement, Jiang Xia turned to Tian Caihua and said, “There. Now they’re basically picking them for us.”

Tian Caihua: “…”

You’re good!

You’re really good!

One villager heard her and asked loudly, “Xiao Xia, is that true? You’re buying dried scallops?”

“Yes, I am. If you have any at home, bring them to my place. I’ll take as much as you have.”

“Then I’ll bring some over later! I’ve saved up about 250g already.”

“Great!”

The crowd quickly dispersed to start searching.

People further away who heard the news also came running.

Because the prices Jiang Xia paid were usually slightly higher than the purchase station—sometimes by a few fen, sometimes by one or two mao—everyone was more than happy to sell to her.

Chapter 755: The Surprising Tian Caihua

Ruan Tang whispered to Zhou Chengsen, “Xiao Xia is really impressive.”

With just a few words, Tian Caihua’s belly full of complaints had vanished.

Tian Caihua had been annoyed that others were rushing over to pick up the fan shells they had discovered first?

Fine, then she would simply buy all the fan shells those people collected.

That way, the others weren’t stealing; they were just helping them do the work.

“Fourth Sister-in-law has always been very clever.” Zhou Chengsen also admired Jiang Xia greatly.

At that moment, Jiang Xia lowered her voice and said to Tian Caihua, “Big Sister-in-law, when you have time, you can also collect some dried scallops from the villagers or buy some high-quality ones at the market. If you can gather enough—say, around 50 kilograms—and the quality is good enough, I’ll ask Elder Xu if he wants them. We can sell them in Hong Kong then.”

Tian Caihua’s frustration vanished instantly, and her eyes even lit up. She grinned, “Good, good, good! I’ll collect them!”

She had decided! From now on, she would go to the market every market day to buy dried scallops!

Dried scallops around here cost about a dozen yuan per 500 grams, but in Hong Kong, the price would definitely more than double.

The only problem was that it was hard to gather even 500 grams of dried scallops; it took hundreds of fan shells just to dry out that much.

However, if the scallops were dried thoroughly, they could be stored for a long time. Tian Caihua didn’t believe she couldn’t scrape together 50 kilograms in a year.

If she could earn ten yuan per 500 grams, then 50 kilograms would earn her… one thousand yuan.

If she could collect several hundred kilograms, or even five hundred kilograms in a year…

Heavens!

She had found another path to fortune!

Zhou Chenglei, who had just dug up a sand worm, added, “Big Sister-in-law, you can also collect things like dried sand worms and dried abalone while you’re at it.”

Tian Caihua immediately replied, “Dried sand worms and dried abalone? Got it!”

From March to June, there was a particular beach that was teeming with sand worms.

When the time came, she would buy dried sand worms in bulk.

Abalone was rarer, though. Those things grew deep underwater and weren’t so easy to catch.

“Is there anything else I should look for?”

Jiang Xia said, “Fish maw, shark fin, things like that. But those are a bit expensive and require a lot of capital. I’ll ask Elder Xu later what he’s looking for.”

Tian Caihua then said, “Xiao Xia, I’ll do the collecting and you take responsibility for the selling. We’ll split the profits fifty-fifty.”

Tian Caihua was delighted.

Xiao Xia was indeed still closest to her, her Big Sister-in-law!

Ruan Tang still couldn’t compare to her.

Jiang Xia was a bit surprised that Tian Caihua would say such a thing. She was actually willing to give up half the money?

But Jiang Xia shook her head. “No need, Big Sister-in-law. You can keep the profits for yourself. I don’t have the time to handle all that work anyway.”

The work of sourcing and purchasing wasn’t easy, whereas finding a buyer was just a matter of a few words for Jiang Xia. She felt embarrassed to take half of Tian Caihua’s earnings.

In this life, Jiang Xia only intended to manage the Garment Factory and the Food Factory.

Tian Caihua insisted, “No! We go halves! You don’t have to do anything; you just need to keep in touch with Elder Xu’s side. I just want to hitch a ride on your fortune so I can get rich. Otherwise, I’m afraid I’ll lose money.”

Jiang Xia: “…”

Tian Caihua: “It’s settled then. We do this together.”

It wasn’t that Tian Caihua didn’t want all the profit for herself, but she was scared!

Her own luck wasn’t great. She was afraid that if she tried to sell things alone, she wouldn’t make any money.

Business was risky, especially when buying so much inventory. It involved tying up a lot of cash, and anything could happen during storage—it could get moldy, spoil, or be eaten by pests.

Jiang Xia had good luck. Tian Caihua felt that by sticking to Jiang Xia’s good fortune, she could truly make the big bucks.

Jiang Xia didn’t want to nitpick over such small matters. “Fine then. I’ll provide the funds for the goods you buy, but I truly don’t have time to do the purchasing. If you get too busy, Big Sister-in-law, you can hire someone. If you have any problems, you can ask me.”

Tian Caihua nodded. “Sure, you don’t have to do a thing. I have the time! I’ll handle it! We’ll split the cost of the goods fifty-fifty as well.”

With Jiang Xia putting up the “investment” money, the venture was as good as gold. They were sure to profit!

“I’ll ask Ruan Tang if she wants to join us. The three sisters-in-law can work together.”

Tian Caihua: “…”

“Alright then!”

Xiao Xia was still quite close to Ruan Tang!

Jiang Xia explained, “If the dried seafood business grows, it can be very profitable. I’m usually busy and don’t have time to manage it. Big Sister-in-law, you’re good at dealing with people, but not so good at math and bookkeeping. In the beginning, we might not need records, but once it gets bigger, we’ll have to keep accounts. So, a partnership between the three of us is perfect. Big Sister-in-law finds the suppliers, I find the customers, and Xiao Tang handles the books. Once the business grows, we can hire staff.”

Tian Caihua’s eyes sparkled!

Initially, she thought Jiang Xia was just handing Ruan Tang free money, but it turned out Xiao Xia wanted to scale up!

Jiang Xia really had thought of everything!

Tian Caihua said Cheerfully, “Then let’s go over and ask her.”

Tian Caihua hurried to Ruan Tang’s side, even faster than Jiang Xia. “Xiao Tang, do you want to join us in the dried seafood business?”

Ruan Tang looked at Tian Caihua in surprise. “Me? I don’t know the first thing about it, I’m not familiar with seafood, and I have to work. I don’t have time for this.”

Jiang Xia added, “You surely know how to calculate and keep books, don’t you? If you want to earn some pocket money, you can use your time after work to record and reconcile the accounts. The three of us can do it together.”

Jiang Xia knew that Ruan Tang’s work at the hospital wasn’t particularly hectic; it could even be described as leisurely.

After all, the patients at their hospital were from a specific group, so there weren’t many of them.

Tian Caihua also Chimed in, “Exactly! I’m illiterate and can’t handle large numbers. I have to rely on you for that. Xiao Tang, let’s do this together!”

Ruan Tang couldn’t decide for a moment and instinctively looked at Zhou Chengsen.

Ruan Tang had always focused only on being a good doctor, researching medical issues, and doing what was within her professional scope.

She had never thought about doing business.

Because she wasn’t someone who was good at dealing with people, she had chosen pediatrics.

She hadn’t expected pediatrics to be even harder; besides dealing with children, she also had to deal with parents. Fortunately, those parents were family members from the military base and were quite easy to get along with.

Jiang Xia said, “No rush. Think it over carefully and discuss it with Second Brother.”

After saying that, Jiang Xia walked back to Zhou Chenglei’s side to continue beachcombing, giving them some space.

Tian Caihua said to Ruan Tang, “Join us! Trust me! We’ll make big money! Don’t you want to buy a house in the city? Maybe you’ll earn enough for a house in just one year. Besides, this is the first thing the three of us sisters-in-law will be doing together. You don’t have to do much, just the accounting; I’ll handle everything else. For the investment, just let Second Brother put up the money. You can’t be the one to break our unity!”

Ruan Tang: “…”

“You two talk it over.”

Tian Caihua also ran off after finishing her piece.

Once they had left, Zhou Chengsen said, “If you want to do it, do it. If you don’t, then don’t. Don’t feel pressured.”

Ruan Tang looked at Zhou Chengsen. “I kind of want to join them, but I’m afraid I won’t have the time.”

Mainly, she was moved by Tian Caihua’s comment about it being the first thing the three sisters-in-law would do together.

She wanted to integrate into this big family and didn’t want to be the odd one out.

“Then do it. When you’re busy, don’t you still have me?”

If she were only partnering with Tian Caihua, Zhou Chengsen would definitely have advised Ruan Tang to refuse. But with Jiang Xia involved, he felt at ease.

Ten Tian Caihuas were no match for one Jiang Xia.

Besides, Big Sister-in-law was actually quite easy to get along with because she wore her heart on her sleeve and didn’t know how to play mind games.

Though she was full of flaws, she was hardworking enough. If there was a job she was supposed to do, she would get it done right.

Chapter 756: Scared to Tears

The seawater at the mussel farm had not yet fully receded. A small section of the wooden stakes remained submerged, but the water would not drop any further; the tide had likely reached its lowest point for the day.

Jiang Xia looked at the harvested mussels arranged in crates on the beach. Each one was nearly as long and thick as three fingers, and they looked very marketable.

Tian Caihua beamed at the sight. To her, this was all money!

Many villagers had followed them to watch the harvest. They hadn’t expected these things to actually survive, let alone be so easy to raise. It didn’t seem like Zhou Yongfu’s family had done much to maintain them, yet the mussels grew in dense, thick clusters.

In contrast, when the villagers fished near the deep-sea net cages, they occasionally saw workers out there feeding the fish.

Someone asked Jiang Xia, “Xiao Xia, how much can these mussels sell for per 500 grams?”

Jiang Xia replied, “I don’t know yet. I haven’t sold them before, and as you know, seafood prices change every day.”

“Are you selling these mussels to Hong Kong?”

“Yes.”

“Having a grandfather in Hong Kong really makes a difference. You’ve managed to take your business all the way there.”

“Exactly! You lot are just waiting to strike it rich!”

Jiang Xia responded with a polite smile, not knowing what else to say.

The villagers didn’t realize that even without a grandfather in Hong Kong, Zhou Chenglei already had the connections to expand his business there. Zhou Chenglei had always intended to sell the fish from the net cages to the Hong Kong market.

Not just Hong Kong; the couple had the connections to take their business international. They had met many influential people at the Canton Fair.

Furthermore, Jiang Xia had already submitted an application for the food factory to see if they could secure a spot at the Spring Canton Fair. This was one of the reasons she had spent a large sum of money on advertising. Once their brand recognition was established, the path to wealth would broaden. Elder Mai’s true identity had been a complete surprise.

The tide was about to turn. Most of the large mussels had been harvested. Zhou Chenglei arranged for the men to carry the crates back to shore and store the mussels in the big boat’s live well for the night.

Zhou Chenglei hoisted a load of mussels onto his shoulders and said to Jiang Xia, “Xiaxia, let’s head home. The tide is coming in. We’ll come back next time.”

“Alright.” Jiang Xia gathered her beachcombing tools.

Zhou Chenglei carried a load of mussels on his shoulders, with two woven sacks from their beachcombing trip hanging from the ends of the shoulder pole. He even carried a bucket in his hand.

Zhou Chengsen, Zhou Chengxin, and the hired male laborers also carried loads of mussels toward the shore.

This time, Zhou Chenglei had harvested five loads, while Zhou Chengsen and Zhou Chengxin had over three loads between them. Zhou Guodong and Zhou Guohua had started their farming about half a month later, so they only harvested two loads.

Altogether, the total harvest exceeded 500 kilograms. Most importantly, these were only the first batch; it wasn’t even the peak harvest season yet. It was hard to imagine how many thousands of kilograms they would eventually collect!

The villagers watched them with envy in their hearts.

“These mussels grow like crazy! The wooden stakes are already completely covered!”

“They took down nearly 500 kilograms, but it feels like they haven’t even made a dent. There are still so many left on the stakes. I wonder if they’ll have tens of thousands of kilograms once everything is harvested?”

“One stake probably yields about five or six kilograms. These families planted tens of thousands of stakes together. It wouldn’t be strange if they had over a hundred thousand kilograms!”

“If I had known, I would have followed A-Lei’s suggestion to the production team back then.”

“If everyone had foresight, there would be no beggars in the world.”

…

As the tide slowly rose, everyone used their hoes to carry their beachcombing finds and headed home.

Zhou Chenglei put their collected shellfish into the car and handed the keys to Jiang Xia. “You take Big Sister-in-law, Xiao Tang, and the others back first. I’ll transport these mussels to the boat at the pier.”

He had asked the driver to bring back a tractor yesterday, and they had driven it here today.

“Alright.” Jiang Xia took the keys.

Zhou Chengxin and Zhou Chengsen also loaded their things into the car. Jiang Xia motioned for Ruan Tang, Tian Caihua, Great-Grandma, and the others to get in. Two aunts from the village wanted a ride, and Jiang Xia let them join as well.

Once everyone was inside, Jiang Xia drove home.

When they arrived at the house, Jiang Xia parked the car right at the entrance of the alley instead of pulling into the yard, as Great-Grandma and the others needed to unload their things.

Great-Grandma and the two village aunts got out to move their bags.

The two aunts thanked her with smiles. “Thank you, Xiao Xia. Having a car is so convenient. We don’t have to carry these things back. Every time we go beachcombing, we have to carry these loads for several kilometers; it nearly kills my shoulders.”

Jiang Xia helped move the items and smiled. “You’re very welcome.”

Mother Zhou walked out and saw everyone holding large bags. She asked with a laugh, “A good harvest today! What did you find?”

One of the aunts replied, “A lot! All sorts of things! There were many fan shells today. Your daughters-in-law picked the most.”

Knowing Jiang Xia wasn’t very strong, Tian Caihua helped unload a large woven sack for her and Ruan Tang. “Xiao Xia and Xiao Tang picked a lot. I didn’t get much.” She had been too busy chatting.

Mother Zhou asked, “Is this bag for our house and A-Sen’s?” She planned to take it inside to process.

Jiang Xia pointed to the two largest woven sacks. “This one is ours, and that one was picked by Second Brother and Xiao Tang.”

Mother Zhou was about to carry them inside when a sharp, incessant blaring of a car horn suddenly rang through the air.

The group in the alley looked toward the entrance.

Great-Grandma covered her ears and looked angrily at the brand-new black sedan at the end of the alley. “Who is that?! Why do they keep honking? Do they think they’re special just because they have a car?”

Inside the house, the triplets were startled awake by the piercing noise and began to cry in unison. This was the first time they had been frightened like this.

Jiang Xia and Mother Zhou rushed inside.

“Oh, Grandma’s here! Don’t be scared! Don’t be scared!”

Ruan Tang also ran inside.

The two village aunts, still covering their ears, glared at the black sedan, wanting to curse but fearing it might be someone looking for Jiang Xia.

Just then, Zhou Junjie poked his head out of the window. “Whose car is this? Move it! I want to go home!”

Pan Daidi climbed out of the back seat. “Move the car! Who is so uncivilized? Parking a car in the middle of the alley—how are other cars supposed to pass?”

Tian Caihua shouted back, “It’s mine! Would it kill you to wait a second? We’re unloading! Besides, this road doesn’t belong to your family!”

Great-Grandma added, “You’re the uncivilized one! If you need to pass, just honk once! Are you honking like that because you’re in a hurry to be reincarnated?”

The other two aunts, seeing it was Pan Daidi, couldn’t help but join in the scolding. “You plague-bearer! You nearly deafened us!”

“Are you sick in the head? What’s so great about driving a junk car? You scared me to death!”

“Can’t you wait a moment? You’ve scared the children to tears!”

Pan Daidi glanced dismissively at the Jeep, then looked at Tian Caihua with a smug expression. “It’s nothing ‘great,’ but my son’s car is an import! It’s simply more expensive than that domestic one you’re standing in front of!”

Zhou Junjie’s young wife, cradling an infant inside the car, chimed in, “Mama, why are you even arguing with them? Their car only costs a few tens of thousands. How would they know that Junjie’s car costs hundreds of thousands? Move it quickly! If you scratch our car, you won’t be able to afford the repairs!”

Pan Daidi acted with overbearing pride. “Exactly, move it now! A good dog doesn’t block the way! If our car gets scratched because we tried to drive past you, even a single scratch would cost several hundred yuan to fix. Don’t say I didn’t warn you! Don’t come crying to me when it’s time to pay up!”

“You’re the dog! Your whole family are dogs! You really are loathsome to everyone!” Tian Caihua retorted. “You think having a junk car makes you special? Who’s going to scratch what? Our car is parked perfectly fine right here. If your car gets scratched while passing, it’s because you hit our car! You’d be the ones paying us! If you don’t know how things work, don’t stand there pretending!”

Pan Daidi truly didn’t understand. She believed that if someone else’s car was blocking her car’s path, any damage caused was the other person’s fault.

Chapter 757: Venting Anger

Inside the house.

The triplets stopped crying the moment they saw their Mama and Grandma walk in.

After Jiang Xia finished soothing the children, she said to them, “Mama is going to drive the car inside first, then I’ll play with you and Grandma.”

She then turned to Mother Zhou. “Mama, I’m going out to drive the car into the yard. Keep an eye on the children.”

“Go ahead,” Mother Zhou replied.

As Jiang Xia walked out, she saw Tian Caihua and Pan Daidi in the middle of a heated argument.

Pan Daidi was wearing a pearl necklace, her hair was permed, and her clothes were high-end. In short, she was radiating a pearly luster.

It had been over a year since they last saw her.

Inside the black sedan, Zhou Junjie sized up Jiang Xia through the window. He had heard she gave birth to triplets.

Yet, she didn’t look like a woman who had just given birth at all. She lacked that worn-out “motherly” look and instead seemed to have grown even more charming.

Tian Caihua stood with her hands on her hips, shouting at Pan Daidi, “This road doesn’t belong to your family! Our family built it! We are parked in front of our own gate, and we’ll stay as long as we want! You’ll just have to wait!”

Seeing Jiang Xia come out, Pan Daidi gave her a disdainful look. “Wait for what? My son’s time is very valuable. He earns thousands of yuan every minute! Hurry up and move that car. Don’t waste my son’s time!”

Jiang Xia ignored her. Seeing that everyone’s belongings had been unloaded, she closed the trunk and got into the car to drive it into the yard.

Tian Caihua said in a sarcastic tone, “Oh wow, earning hundreds or thousands of yuan every minute? How impressive! What kind of big business is that? To earn that much every minute, you’re probably printing counterfeit bills, aren’t you?”

“You’re the one printing counterfeit bills! My Junjie is…”

Zhou Junjie retracted his gaze and shouted, “Ma! Just get in the car!”

“Pah! You’re just trying to pry into our path to fortune. I almost fell for it! I’m not telling you a thing! Now move! We’re wasting time you can’t afford to pay back!”

Leaving those words behind, Pan Daidi scurried back to her car.

Now that Jiang Xia had driven her car inside, Zhou Junjie drove his car up to their own front door.

Tian Caihua glanced at the car’s logo. She didn’t recognize the brand, but it looked similar to the one on Xiao Xia’s grandfather’s car.

Since it belonged to Xiao Xia’s grandfather, it had to be expensive.

Tian Caihua couldn’t help but grumble, “Where did this Zhou Junjie go to make so much money after being gone for a year?”

Fortunately, their family wasn’t doing poorly either!

They had boats worth hundreds of thousands, and cargo ships worth millions!

What was so special about a car worth a few hundred thousand?

Her brother-in-law was just low-key; it wasn’t as if he couldn’t afford a car like that.

Great-Grandma joked, “Who knows? Maybe they really are printing counterfeit money.”

Another Aunt examined the car. “Is that car really worth several hundred thousand yuan?”

Tian Caihua replied, “I don’t know.”

The courtyard gate of Pan Daidi’s house wasn’t as wide as Jiang Xia’s, so the car could only be parked right at the entrance.

Pan Daidi got out of the car again.

Seeing them stop there, Tian Caihua immediately snapped, “Is this road yours? What are you stopping there for? Drive the car inside already!”

Pan Daidi snapped back, “I’m parked in front of my own house, what the hell is it to you?!”

“Well then, what the hell was it to you when our car was parked in front of our house just now?!”

Pan Daidi’s family all got out of the car, ignoring Tian Caihua, and started moving their luggage into the house.

At that moment, Jiang Xia walked out holding an enamel basin and a rolling pin. She struck it with all her might!

CLANG!

The massive sound made Pan Daidi’s entire family jump.

The child in Zhou Junjie’s wife’s arms burst into tears from the fright.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! Jiang Xia kept striking the basin with full force!

The child in the arms of Zhou Junjie’s wife wailed. She hurriedly tried to soothe the kid and then screamed at Jiang Xia, “Are you insane?!”

Pan Daidi was furious and rushed forward. “What are you doing? You scared the child!”

Jiang Xia struck the enamel basin right in front of her face. CLANG!

Pan Daidi took a massive step back in fright.

Jiang Xia said fiercely, “If you ever honk your horn like that again and scare my children, I’ll make sure your child gets a scare every time I see them!”

After saying that, Jiang Xia raised the enamel basin and hammered it a few more times!

Pan Daidi was so intimidated by Jiang Xia’s ferocity that she kept backing away, terrified the wooden rolling pin might come down on her head!

This dead bitch was capable of twisting someone’s arm off, after all.

She cursed under her breath, “Crazy woman!”

Zhou Chenglei must have married a lunatic!

The entire Pan family felt like Jiang Xia was a bit unhinged and hurriedly retreated into their house.

Tian Caihua and the others finally felt a sense of satisfaction.

Great-Grandma laughed. “That’s exactly how you should handle them! They think they’re so special just because they have a car!”

One of the Aunts added, “Exactly. Xiao Xia’s family has had a car for a long time, and we’ve never heard them honk even once in the village. But the moment this guy comes back, he honks like crazy. No wonder I heard it all the way from the beach earlier.”

“They have money now and want to make sure everyone knows! That horn was so damn piercing! No wonder the children couldn’t take it; even I couldn’t stand it!”

Having vented her anger, Jiang Xia put away the basin. As she turned around, she locked eyes with her daughter. “…”

Ruan Tang was carrying the little sister out. The baby girl was looking at her mother with great curiosity.

Seeing her mother looking back, the little sister grinned. “Mama…”

Then, she pointed at the enamel basin and started “eeya-ing,” signaling Jiang Xia to keep hitting it.

Jiang Xia laughed. “Does the little sister like hearing that?”

She smiled and gently tapped the basin a few times to amuse her daughter before quickly putting the basin back in the courtyard.

She couldn’t let the child grow up with the image of her being a “tigress.”

Ruan Tang followed her inside, still carrying the girl.

The little girl leaned forward, eager to go in.

Great-Grandma called out to the people in the yard, “Xiao Xia, Xiao Tang, I’m heading home now!”

“Alright!”

“Xiao Xia, Dr. Ruan, I’m heading back too! Thanks for everything!” The two Aunts also picked up their things, said their goodbyes to Jiang Xia, and left.

Tian Caihua also said her goodbyes. As she passed the black sedan, she felt the urge to give it a kick. She muttered hatefully, “I’ve never seen such shameless people!”

One of the Aunts said, “Forget it. Dwell on someone like Pan Daidi and you’ll only make yourself sick.”

The other Aunt added, “You know what they’re like. Is there anyone in the village who hasn’t fought with them? Luckily, your mother-in-law’s house is in the front and theirs is in the back—they can’t block you in. Next time you’re in a bad mood, just park a tractor in front of your gate and block them instead.”

Tian Caihua thought about it. The other end of the alley led to a small path toward the fields that cars couldn’t pass through. If they wanted to leave, they had to pass her gate. “You’re right. If they act that arrogant again, I’ll have A-Lei park one of the factory’s tractors there to block them!”

The Aunt suggested, “You could even bring a truck back. Didn’t A-Lei buy trucks? One truck would block the road so well they’d barely be able to walk, let alone drive!”

“Great idea!”

The three of them chatted and laughed as they walked home.

In the yard.

Ruan Tang asked curiously, “Who was that family? I don’t think I’ve seen them before.”

Mother Zhou then recounted the story of how Pan Daidi and her son had come to the house to steal and nearly burned the place down. “…In the future, you don’t need to pay them any mind. If they ever try to bully you, come tell me, or tell A-Sen!”

Ruan Tang hadn’t realized there were such wicked people in the village. she nodded. “I understand.”

Chapter 758: Stumbling Upon a Scallop Nest

At half-past six in the morning, Zhou Chengsen packed some precious dried seafood and drove Ruan Tang to the airport.

For gifts, Zhou Chengsen only brought seafood such as abalone, sea cucumbers, dried scallops, and fish maw. He would buy everything else once they reached the capital.

Zhou Ying and Zhou Zhou didn’t come downstairs for breakfast until seven o’clock.

Jiang Xia was currently feeding the triplets a rice paste made from milk and vegetable juice. When she saw the girls coming down, she said, “Come and have breakfast.”

Zhou Ying and Zhou Zhou had slept together the night before.

Since Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang were leaving so early today, and it was the middle of winter, Zhou Ying certainly wouldn’t have woken up that early. To avoid her sleeping alone at home, she had come over to sleep with Zhou Zhou.

Actually, the two girls had been taking turns sleeping at both houses lately.

When Ruan Tang was there, they slept at Jiang Xia’s place. When Ruan Tang wasn’t around, they went over to Zhou Chengsen’s side, depending on their mood.

Throughout the morning, Zhou Chenglei placed two bowls of seafood soup noodles in front of them. “Careful, it’s hot.”

The seafood noodles featured various shellfish collected during yesterday’s beachcombing. The broth was sweet and fresh, and the noodles were chewy and firm.

It was delicious.

Zhou Zhou watched the triplets eating their bright green rice paste and asked, “Auntie, when can my younger brothers and little sister eat noodles?”

The younger brothers and little sister were so pitiful, eating this tasteless rice paste every day. Didn’t they get bored?

“They can eat them when they turn one year old.”

Zhou Ying added, “Isn’t that still several months away?”

Eating tasteless rice paste and egg yolks that tasted so bad they made you want to gag every day—being a baby was way too hard!

Fortunately, she was already grown up.

Jiang Xia smiled. “Yes, about four more months.”

“Auntie, what time did Papa and Sister Ruan leave? When Papa comes back, can he finally marry Sister Ruan?”

Zhou Ying knew her father was taking Sister Ruan home and visiting her parents. Only after that visit was finished could her father marry Sister Ruan.

Jiang Xia replied, “We have to wait for Sister Ruan’s parents to agree first.”

Zhou Ying grew anxious upon hearing this. “What if they don’t agree? Why wouldn’t Sister Ruan’s parents agree?”

Jiang Xia explained, “Because our home is too far from Sister Ruan’s. Her parents might not want her to move so far away from them, so they might say no. But don’t worry, your father will handle it! Are you very eager for Sister Ruan to marry into the family?”

Zhou Ying nodded. “Yes!”

Jiang Xia laughed. “Why? Why is a little girl like you worrying about this? Your father and Sister Ruan will figure it out.”

Zhou Ying said, “I want Sister Ruan to marry in quickly so she can manage the money.”

Jiang Xia was surprised. “What? Did your father forget to give you pocket money?”

“No, it’s Grandma. She told me to keep a close eye on Papa’s money.”

Hearing this, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei exchanged a look.

Jiang Xia asked her, “What exactly did your grandma say? Did she perhaps say it wrong? Why would anyone let a child manage money? She must have made a mistake!”

“No, she repeated it several times.” Zhou Ying then recounted what Li’s mother had told her. “Grandma told me to record how much money the fishing boat earns every day. She told me to take the money the boat makes from Grandma Zhou every day, give it to Papa myself, and then secretly take ten yuan for Grandma. Grandma said she would save it for me so I could use it for university later. She said Papa wouldn’t blame me even if he found out because I wasn’t wasting it…”

Her grandmother even said that if she didn’t save some money, once her father married a stepmother and had a son, all the money would be spent on the younger brother. When she grew up, she wouldn’t have money for university. Not only would she miss out on university, but she would also have to go pick sea snails to earn money to support her brother’s education.

Jiang Xia asked, “And have you told your father yet?”

“Not yet. Grandma only said it yesterday, and then I forgot to tell him.”

Jiang Xia said, “Auntie thinks your grandma is wrong. What do you think, Yingying?”

“I think she’s wrong too! Grandma is trying to trick a child!”

Although she was young, she knew her grandmother was teaching her to steal money—stealing money to give to her grandmother.

Her grandmother was clearly lying! Auntie didn’t have to spend money to go to university; she even got a living allowance every month.

So, you actually earned money by going to university!

Besides, her father and Sister Ruan constantly urged her to study hard so she could get into a university and find a good job in the future. That way, she wouldn’t have to work so hard weaving fishing nets and picking sea snails on the beach to make a living.

Her father even checked her homework regularly. How could he possibly not let her study?

In fact, she was the one who sometimes wished she didn’t have to study!

Compared to studying, she much preferred picking sea snails.

If it weren’t for the rewards for getting good grades, she really would have preferred to go out to sea and fish when she grew up.

Even Big Brother and the others didn’t like studying; they only did it because they wanted game consoles!

Which kid actually liked studying? Nobody!

Therefore, she hoped Sister Ruan would marry her father quickly and take charge of the money the family’s fishing boat earned.

Of course, Zhou Ying didn’t tell Jiang Xia about her dislike for studying.

All adults wanted children to study hard. Her younger brothers and little sister couldn’t even talk yet, but Auntie was already studying and reading ancient poems to them, wanting them to memorize them. It was terrifying!

Jiang Xia patted Zhou Ying’s head. “Yingying, you’re amazing. You can already distinguish right from wrong on your own. That’s a skill adults have, and you’ve already learned it. So now you understand that sometimes what adults say isn’t necessarily right. No matter who is speaking, we must learn to analyze it ourselves and feel with our hearts what is right and what is wrong. This goes for you too, Zhou Zhou, understood?”

The two girls nodded. “Mm-hmm.”

“Yingying, when the time comes, you should tell your father as well. Ask him if your analysis was correct and comprehensive enough, okay?”

“Okay!” Children loved being praised, and she couldn’t wait to tell her father.

Only then did Zhou Chenglei speak up. “Eat your breakfast quickly; the porridge is going to get cold. In the future, if anyone tells you something, you must tell Papa, your Uncle, or your Auntie, understood? The more someone tells you not to tell the adults in your family, the more you must tell us. Bad people only do bad things because they’re afraid of being found out. If it’s not a bad thing, there’s no need to hide it or be afraid of others knowing. Do you understand?”

“We understand.”

Zhou Chenglei didn’t say anything more. He would tell Zhou Chengsen about this and let his Second Brother handle it himself.

After breakfast, Big Brother arrived. Zhou Chenglei called Zhou Yongguo and Zhou Guodong to go out to sea together to dive and gather fan shells.

Jiang Xia and Tian Caihua also went out to sea to help.

The five men divided into two groups to dive for the shells.

Everyone persuaded Father Zhou not to go into the water, so he stayed on the boat to fish.

Even if he didn’t dive, fishing with Jiang Xia was a pleasant alternative.

Jiang Xia didn’t feel like fishing today; she wanted to see the seabed. “Papa, I’ll help you catch some bait, then you can fish. I’m going to check out the seabed in a bit.”

“Alright! Aren’t you afraid of the cold?”

“I’ll wait until ten o’clock to go in.” For the past two days, the temperature around noon had been in the low twenties, so it wasn’t particularly cold.

For now, Zhou Chenglei and Big Brother dove in first.

As Zhou Chenglei had expected, the seabed was covered in fan shells.

And they were exceptionally large!

They probably wouldn’t even be able to finish gathering them all this morning.

The two brothers worked frantically, stuffing them into their mesh bags. In less than ten minutes, they had filled a large bag. They swam to the surface and handed the heavy load up to the boat.

Zhou Yongguo and Zhou Guodong quickly hauled the bag onto the deck and emptied it into crates.

Jiang Xia saw that these fan shells were nearly as large as the rim of a bowl. She asked, “Are there a lot of fan shells down there?”

Seeing such enormous shells, Father Zhou lost all interest in fishing!

Zhou Chenglei couldn’t speak while in the water, so he simply nodded.

The two men took the empty mesh bags and dove back down again.

About five minutes later, they surfaced with another full bag.

Father Zhou chuckled with delight. “Is this a fan shell nest they’ve stumbled upon?”

Chapter 759: As Expected, Jiang Xia Had to Go Into the Sea!

The fan shells Jiang Xia usually found while beachcombing weren’t very large. She had assumed that the wild fan shells in this sea area simply didn’t grow much bigger; after all, there was more than one species of fan shell.

“I guess these fan shells have been growing on the seabed for a long time without anyone discovering them,” Jiang Xia remarked.

Tian Caihua was nearly bursting with joy. “That must be it. We’ve certainly struck it big today!”

Following the Old Fourth and his wife really was the path to fortune—it seemed she was right!

The water pressure was intense. Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengxin made five trips back and forth, bringing up a total of two crates of fan shells.

Zhou Chengxin was getting a bit tired, so the two brothers returned to the boat to rest, switching places with Zhou Guodong and Zhou Yongguo.

As the saying goes, never underestimate the sea. You aren’t a fish, so you shouldn’t push your luck in the water.

Once Zhou Chenglei’s mouth was free from the breathing apparatus, Father Zhou asked impatiently, “Are there still a lot of fan shells on the seabed?”

Zhou Chenglei replied, “Plenty. You see them everywhere.”

Zhou Chengxin added, “They’re almost covering the entire seabed, in all sizes. Since time is limited, we’re specifically picking the large ones. I doubt we’ll even finish gathering them all this morning.”

Father Zhou gave up on his fishing rod. “I’ll go down and help you gather them in a bit.”

There was strength in numbers; they would gather as many as they could.

Jiang Xia said to Zhou Chenglei, “I’ll go down into the sea with you later as well.”

It was already past ten in the morning. With the sun beating down, Jiang Xia wasn’t cold even though she was only wearing a thin long-sleeved shirt.

Without a cold front, winter in Xiaoyucun was never too harsh. When the midday sun was high, many people even wore short sleeves. Even when there was a cold front, the temperature in coastal cities remained much warmer than in inland cities. It was only the strong winds at sea and on the beach that made going out to sea feel cold.

Today, however, the wind wasn’t strong.

Zhou Chenglei wanted to refuse, but he knew that if Jiang Xia wanted to do something, his refusal wouldn’t stop her. He could only say, “If you feel too cold once you’re in the water, don’t force yourself to stay down.”

“I know, it’s not like I’m playing around,” she replied. She was wearing a dry-type diving suit which was waterproof and would keep her relatively warm.

Tian Caihua also wanted to go down and gather fan shells, but there wasn’t a single diving suit that fit her frame.

“I am definitely losing weight after the New Year!”

Zhou Chengxin interrupted, “Just leave it be! There’s no need to lose weight; it’s not good for your health.”

She said this every single month. Last month, she claimed she’d start dieting this month, then fasted for one day only to eat even more the next. Zhou Chengxin was genuinely exhausted by it!

The more she tried to lose weight, the fatter she got!

So, it was better to just give up.

Tian Caihua insisted, “No, I’m definitely losing it this time! Xiao Xia, do you have any methods for losing weight?”

Jiang Xia, having finished putting on her diving suit, stepped out. “I don’t. I’ve never had to lose weight.”

With so much farm work to do at home, Tian Caihua didn’t lack exercise. Jiang Xia wasn’t sure what else she could do to slim down. Across two lifetimes, Jiang Xia had never once needed to diet.

“I really envy you. I have to get back to the way I looked before I had kids.” Tian Caihua touched her waist, which was now thicker than a pig’s, feeling quite troubled.

Zhou Chengxin tried one last time to discourage her. “Everyone’s body is different. Being a bit plump is a sign of good fortune; there’s really no need to force a diet. Look, ever since you got a bit stouter, hasn’t life at home been getting better and better? You’re fine as you are now, as long as you don’t keep getting heavier. Maybe if you stop trying to lose weight, you’ll actually slim down naturally.”

Tian Caihua actually found that somewhat persuasive.

Just then, Zhou Guodong and Zhou Yongguo swam back up.

The brothers quickly went to receive the mesh bags, which were also filled to the brim.

Zhou Chenglei grabbed two more crates to help them pack their catch; these fan shells belonged to the two of them.

Following that, the two men also spent less than ten minutes each time to bring up a bag of fan shells. Similarly, they reached their limit after five consecutive trips.

Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengxin pulled them back onto the boat.

Then, Jiang Xia, Father Zhou, and the two brothers—the four of them—began their descent into the water.

Jiang Xia took a moment to adjust at the surface. It wasn’t too cold and was perfectly bearable, so she dived down.

Zhou Chenglei followed close behind.

Zhou Chengxin and Father Zhou dove faster. Zhou Chenglei stayed back to look after Jiang Xia, and the two of them trailed slightly behind the others.

Upon reaching the seabed, Jiang Xia realized there truly were a great deal of fan shells. They were scattered across the floor, covered in a layer of sand. The seabed in this area looked like a hazy grey expanse.

Father Zhou and Zhou Chengxin were both using iron hooks. They aimed at the mesh bags and hooked the large fan shells, letting them drop inside. Some fan shells were attached by byssus threads, and those that were stuck tightly were picked by hand.

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei swam to another spot a few meters away and began vigorously gathering fan shells. Jiang Xia had only picked up a few when she spotted several lobster antennae peeking out from under a rock.

Seeing how long and thick those antennae were, they had to be lobsters.

Jiang Xia tapped Zhou Chenglei and pointed them out to him.

Zhou Chenglei glanced in the direction she was pointing. He gestured toward Father Zhou and Zhou Chengxin, then swam over to them.

As they were gathering fan shells, Father Zhou noticed Zhou Chenglei swimming over. He quickly nudged his eldest son and swam toward him.

It had to be that the Wealth-bringer had found something even more valuable than fan shells and was calling them over.

Zhou Chenglei pointed at the rock and signaled for them to follow.

Father Zhou was thrilled!

He knew it!

He wondered what treasure the Wealth-bringer had discovered this time.

Jiang Xia didn’t just wait there; she continued picking up fan shells. Visibility underwater wasn’t as good as on land, so Father Zhou couldn’t see anything at first.

When the father and his three sons reached Jiang Xia’s side, she finally pointed at the antennae under the rock.

Father Zhou’s eyes widened when he saw those thick antennae; he nearly shouted out loud!

Zhou Chenglei patted Zhou Chengxin, signaling for him to help move the rock.

Seeing this, Father Zhou quickly waved his hands and pointed upward!

Once he saw they understood his meaning, he quickly swam toward the surface.

Jiang Xia and the others continued to gather fan shells on the seabed. Jiang Xia also found a large Melo snail, several sea cucumbers, and even caught a massive mud crab from a crevice in the rocks. The crab’s shell was even covered in barnacles.

The bounty of the seabed was truly rich.

Father Zhou soon returned, diving back down with a large fishing net.

Jiang Xia and Father Zhou each held one end of the net, waiting.

Zhou Chengxin and Zhou Chenglei worked together to heave the flat, giant rock aside.

The moment the rock was moved, countless large lobsters were exposed. Beneath the giant rock, the dense cluster of lobsters—shorn of their protective cover—hadn’t even had time to react.

Jiang Xia and Father Zhou swiftly cast the net over them!

A few lobsters were more alert and tried to bolt, but they were quickly intercepted by Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengxin with their mesh bags.

After catching those few stray lobsters, the two men hurried forward to help close the net.

Once the twenty or so lobsters were all secured in the net, the four of them swam quickly back to the surface.

On the boat, Tian Caihua was growing anxious. When Father Zhou had come up earlier to get the net and mentioned finding a lobster nest, she had been waiting in high anticipation.

As the four of them broke the surface, Zhou Chenglei and Father Zhou handed up the large bundle of lobsters. Tian Caihua’s eyes nearly bulged out of her head.

“So many?”

Father Zhou had said there was a nest, so she had imagined quite a few, but in her mind, “a lot” meant maybe four or five. After all, four or five lobsters were already quite a haul!

This huge bundle before her completely surpassed her imagination!

It really took Jiang Xia going into the sea to get results!

Several of them had been down there for half the day without seeing a single lobster, yet Jiang Xia found them the moment she went down.

Zhou Chenglei lifted Jiang Xia back onto the boat, and the others followed.

They decided to inspect the lobsters first rather than going back down for more fan shells immediately.

As they untied the fishing net, Tian Caihua couldn’t wait to start counting. “One, two… twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three! Twenty-four! Twenty-five! Twenty…”

Chapter 760: Giving Gifts

“Twenty-eight!”

Tian Caihua shouted excitedly, “A total of twenty-eight!”

She had never caught twenty-eight lobsters all at once before!

Jiang Xia pointed to three lobsters carrying eggs and a few smaller ones, saying, “Let’s put these back into the sea!”

Father Zhou smiled. “That’s right, put them back. Return them to that rock. We shouldn’t be too greedy.”

Tian Caihua felt a twinge of regret. According to Jiang Xia, they were releasing eight lobsters, but she didn’t object. Perhaps there would be another nest of lobsters there next year.

So, several of them donned their diving gear again and went back down to the seabed to the spot they had just left, releasing those few lobsters.

Once they regained their freedom, the lobsters quickly scurried away to find crevices in the rocks to hide.

The group continued picking up fan shells.

While swiftly gathering fan shells, Jiang Xia swam towards the undersides of those rocks to see if there were any more lobsters.

It seemed no one had ever dived to this part of the seabed before. Besides fan shells, there were quite a lot of other things, and Jiang Xia was having a great time gathering them.

Aside from the fan shells she passed, she also picked up a tower snail and caught several bread crabs and sea cucumbers.

Jiang Xia spotted a large hermit crab and caught it too, intending to bring it home for the children to see.

There was another large Melo snail!

Claimed!

It weighed nearly 1 kg.

With the addition of the large Melo snail, her mesh bag was full. Zhou Chenglei signaled for her to give him the bag and then swam upward.

The group swam to the surface together, handed the mesh bags onto the boat, and then went back down with empty ones.

After three round trips, Jiang Xia couldn’t take it anymore, and they all returned to the boat.

It was getting late. The fish in the net cages were to be harvested and brought to market this afternoon, and they had already arranged for the transport boat with Elder Xu. Thus, they didn’t go back into the water and steered the boat straight for home.

Zhou Guodong asked, “When are we coming back next time? Once we get to the pier today and everyone sees so many fan shells, someone is bound to figure out it’s this sea area.”

Zhou Chenglei replied, “If you’re free, you and your brothers can come over this afternoon to look. You can use our diving gear.”

Zhou Yongguo was going to help out this afternoon; he had been working for Zhou Chenglei.

Hearing this, Zhou Guodong said, “Forget about this afternoon. I’ll be with you guys today; I’ll come back tomorrow.”

Zhou Chenglei had helped his family so much that even if there were gold to be picked up this afternoon, he still had to help harvest the fish from the net cages.

Father Zhou remarked, “Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve.”

Zhou Guodong said, “It’s fine. Except for the first of the month, I go out to sea every day as long as it’s not windy or raining.”

Father Zhou chuckled. “Your brothers are the most hardworking in the whole village, going out to sea even during the New Year.”

Zhou Guodong smiled. “I have no choice. The baby is coming soon, and the house isn’t finished yet.”

Building a house meant money was flowing out like water every day. Currently, every cent the couple earned each month went into the construction.

He had to take advantage of the fact that fewer people went out to sea during the first lunar month, and fish prices were higher, to earn more money.

Jiang Xia and Tian Caihua were counting today’s harvest. There were twelve Melo snails in total.

Zhou Chengxin and Zhou Guodong had picked up two, Zhou Yongguo one, Father Zhou three, and the remaining four were gathered by Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei.

There were also over twenty sea cucumbers, twenty lobsters, two tower snails, and a dozen other large sea snails. Fan shells were the most numerous, filling five crates.

Today’s harvest was very bountiful!

Jiang Xia asked, “Do you guys want to keep a Melo snail for tomorrow’s New Year’s Eve dinner?”

Tian Caihua replied, “No!”

Zhou Yongguo and Zhou Guodong didn’t want to keep any either. Melo snails were expensive; they couldn’t bring themselves to eat something so valuable.

Zhou Guodong said, “I’ll just take a few fan shells home to steam.”

He went to pick out some of the smaller fan shells.

Zhou Yongguo did the same.

Jiang Xia kept the nine largest Melo snails. One was for their home, and the others were for her parents, Grandma’s place, Zhang Rong, Elder Xu, Editor-in-Chief Fan, Dr. Gao, Hou, and Old He.

She wasn’t sure if the one for Old He could be kept alive for that many days; if not, she would have to swap it for something else.

The lobsters were distributed the same way, keeping the largest ones as gifts. Finding such large lobsters was truly rare.

As for sea cucumbers and abalone, she would send dried ones.

Seeing Jiang Xia set so many aside, Tian Caihua asked, “Xiao Xia, why are you keeping so many lobsters and Melo snails?”

Jiang Xia weighed each Melo snail and lobster, recording the weights, and answered casually, “Gifts.”

Tian Caihua couldn’t help but grumble, “Giving all of these away? You’re really generous! And you’re keeping all the biggest ones! You and your husband are both generous; you send out so much every year. A-Lei sends out huge bag after huge bag as if they didn’t cost a cent.”

Every year-end, Zhou Chenglei would mail lots of dried seafood to many people—all of his former comrades and superior officers. When you packed various types of fried fish and dried goods together, they naturally filled big bags.

But Zhou Chenglei also received many local specialties from his comrades every year. Shouldn’t he send return gifts?

Jiang Xia just smiled. The people she intended to give gifts to were either close relatives or those who had helped her family significantly. Naturally, she wanted to give the best.

Tian Caihua added, “These lobsters and Melo snails are all very big. Even the smallest lobster is over 500 grams, which already looks huge. Lobsters over 500 grams are common in the market; sending one that size is already respectable enough. Besides, the recipients won’t know you had even bigger ones.”

Zhou Chengxin said irritably, “That’s why you don’t understand. When giving gifts, of course you give the best. It’s not just about respectability; it’s about the heart behind it.”

Gifts should indeed be respectable and generous, but the sincerity was more important.

“Isn’t a lobster over 500 grams sincere enough? And it depends on who you’re giving it to! You don’t have to give the biggest to everyone!”

Zhou Chengxin didn’t bother arguing with her.

Tian Caihua simply lacked a broad perspective and was a bit petty in her dealings.

There was a reason Jiang Xia, a woman, could open a food factory and a garment factory.

Her perspective was broader than that of many men.

Tian Caihua asked, “Xiao Xia, who do you plan to give these to?”

Jiang Xia simply said, “My Father and the others.”

Hearing this, Tian Caihua fell silent.

Jiang Xia’s side of the family had given a car, a courtyard house, and even a seafood stall!

The triplets’ 100-day celebration had already made them wealthier than her, their Big Auntie!

What did a few lobsters matter?

If her family gave so much to Guangzong and Yaozu, she would be willing to give away a hundred lobsters!

When they returned to the pier, it was lunchtime, and no other fishing boats were docking.

Zhou Chenglei weighed the catch for the others and paid them directly.

Fan shells were calculated at one yuan per jin. The purchase station was buying fan shells today; ones this size were eighty fen per 500 grams, while they usually only fetched sixty fen.

Each of them earned about forty yuan today, as the prices for Melo snails and sea cucumbers were higher.

Zhou Guodong mused, “If only we could find fan shells every day. Earning over forty yuan in half a day… working a whole day could bring in almost a hundred. That’s more than I sometimes make trawling for a whole day.”

Trawling often relied on luck. If the sea area had no fish, or if the net missed them, you could spend all day at sea and come back with nothing.

After he and Xu Ling married, the family had divided. Since their boat was shared among several brothers, his individual share was even smaller.

Father Zhou said, “This year has been much better, hasn’t it? Every time I see your boat, the catch is quite good.”

Zhou Guodong nodded. “Yes, this year is much better than previous ones.”

The group placed the fan shells and lobsters into the large boat’s live well to keep them alive. They would sell them to Elder Xu shortly, along with the mussels.

Chapter 761: The Harvest

Upon returning home, Mother Zhou said happily, “I received two more calls this morning. Both were interested in renting stalls at the seafood market and asked how much the monthly rent is.”

Jiang Xia asked as she washed her hands, “Did they say which stall numbers they wanted?”

“Both were asking about Section A, 001. I told them A001 has already been rented out, but A002 to A010 belong to our family, and we have many others in Section D as well. I told them to call back at 12:30.”

Mother Zhou remembered Jiang Xia saying that 001 wouldn’t be rented out for the time being. Jiang Xia planned to ask her second uncle during the New Year if he wanted to come here to do seafood business.

Jiang Xia glanced at the time; it was already 12:18. “Let’s eat first.”

Tian Caihua asked Mother Zhou, “Mama, did anyone call to ask about my three stalls?”

Mother Zhou replied, “Not yet. I only got two calls today, and both were asking for the prime spots. Don’t worry; if they stop people from setting up stalls at the City Pier after the New Year, someone will rent yours sooner or later.”

Tian Caihua couldn’t help but curse that market administrator again in her heart. If he hadn’t torn down their red papers, perhaps her three stalls would have been rented out long ago.

The phone rang during dinner. Zhou Chenglei told Jiang Xia to keep eating while he went to answer it.

It was from someone looking to rent a stall. Zhou Chenglei said directly, “Stall No. 2 is one hundred yuan a month.”

The person on the other end tried to bargain.

Zhou Chenglei replied, “Fifty won’t do. Stall No. 2 is a front-row spot at the east entrance; one hundred yuan is firm. We have stalls in the middle sections; those can go for fifty yuan a month.”

In the end, no deal was reached.

Mother Zhou commented, “Maybe they would have rented it if you’d lowered it slightly to ninety yuan. It’s better to rent it out early. If you rent it a month sooner, you collect an extra ninety yuan. Over a year, that averages out to about the same as charging ten yuan more per month, just thirty yuan less in total profit. Leaving it empty for half a month already loses you dozens of yuan.”

Zhou Chenglei countered, “No rush. If he wants to rent, he’ll start after the New Year anyway. Right now, people are just trying to make a verbal agreement without paying anything, just so others won’t take the spot.”

Father Zhou agreed, “Then there’s no rush. Since people are calling now, there will definitely be more calls coming in. We’ll rent to whoever offers the highest price. If someone is willing to pay one hundred yuan, that’s for the best. Has anyone rented out a front-row stall near the South Gate for one hundred yuan a month yet?”

Jiang Xia nodded. “That’s what Comrade Li Zhihua said.”

Father Zhou declared, “Then we’ll rent ours for one hundred too!”

Tian Caihua asked, “Can ours only be rented for fifty yuan?”

Jiang Xia replied, “I heard some people rented theirs for fifty-five, and some for sixty.”

Tian Caihua stood corrected. “Why is the difference so big?”

Father Zhou explained, “The inner stalls were cheaper when we bought them!”

Tian Caihua grumbled, “The price I paid wasn’t much different from what Xiao Xia and the others paid! It wasn’t that much cheaper!”

Mother Zhou retorted, “When Xiao Xia bought them, they hadn’t officially gone on sale yet, so the price hadn’t jumped. How can that be the same?”

Tian Caihua sighed, “If only I knew, we would have bought earlier! We should have bought the front stalls.”

Zhou Chengxin asked, “Did you have the money back then?”

Tian Caihua: “…”

Fine, she had learned her lesson! Being one step ahead of others with money was truly important; it allowed you to snatch up all the best resources first.

In the afternoon, Zhou Chenglei hired thirty villagers to help with the harvest.

Since it was the first harvest for the market, Jiang Xia and Tian Caihua also tagged along to watch.

Pan Daidi watched as Zhou Chenglei led such a large group of people out. Thinking something had happened, she asked her eldest daughter-in-law, “What’s going on with the family next door?”

The eldest daughter-in-law replied, “They raised Red Seabream in the sea. They’re going to harvest them today.”

“Did they raise that many? They hired so many people—is it a fish pond?”

“No, I think they call it a deep-sea net cage. I heard one cage can hold 50,000 kg. They have two cages, so that’s probably why they hired so many people.”

Pan Daidi’s voice turned shrill. “One cage can hold 50,000 kg of fish?”

“That’s what I heard from the villagers.” Because of their mother-in-law’s past behavior, the Zhou family didn’t associate with them. The eldest daughter-in-law had been rebuffed once and was tactful enough not to approach and annoy them.

“How much does Red Seabream sell for per 500g today? One and a half yuan?”

The daughter-in-law replied, “I don’t know, probably something like that! But I heard their Red Seabream is being sold to Hong Kong.”

Pan Daidi immediately looked at her younger son. “Junjie, do you know how much Red Seabream sells for per 500g in Hong Kong?”

Zhou Junjie pulled out a calculator. “It’s bound to be over ten yuan.”

Pan Daidi asked, “Then how much would 50,000 kg sell for?”

Zhou Junjie ran the numbers on his calculator. Using ten yuan as a base, he looked at the result and lost his composure. “One million?”

Pan Daidi: “…”

Only yesterday, she had mocked them for only being able to afford a car worth tens of thousands. Today, she found out Zhou Chenglei already owned several large boats! He even had a cargo ship worth over a million!

She had been feeling unbalanced and bitter all morning. Now she found out they had raised 100,000 kg of Red Seabream?

How did that bunch of rotten, black-hearted scoundrels become so rich? It must be because they stole her pearl and sold it for a fortune.

Zhou Junjie rubbed his chin. “Is fish farming really this profitable?”

Pan Daidi immediately looked at him. “Son, do you want to raise some too?”

“It’s not out of the question.” He needed a legitimate source for his money.

Pan Daidi immediately smiled. “We’ll raise more than them! Let’s get ten of those cage things and make ten million a year!”

The younger daughter-in-law smiled. “Exactly!”

The eldest daughter-in-law said nothing, but she thought to herself: Easier said than done! Do you even know how to farm fish? Even if you did, if you grow them, can you find a Hong Kong boss to buy them from you?

Far out in the deep blue sea.

Zhou Chenglei dove beneath the surface to hook the fishing nets.

Then, dozens of people pulled the nets together, gathering all the fish in one spot; otherwise, it would be impossible to bring them up.

The net cages were very deep, reaching down dozens of meters. It was an incredibly exhausting task. The facial muscles of every man were contorted with the strain.

The process was slow and arduous.

After finally pulling the net close and gathering the fish together, the hoist lowered a giant mesh bag to scoop them up.

Each scoop brought up a massive haul.

Once caught, the fish were placed into the live well of a hired fishing boat. Zhou Chenglei and the others shoveled blocks of ice into the live well to keep the water fresh and prevent the fish from dying due to overcrowding and lack of oxygen.

It was already past 7:00 PM by the time the 50,000 kg of Red Seabream were harvested.

Elder Xu prepared to return to port with the fishing boat. He said to Zhou Chenglei, “I’ll have Old Mai bring the money to you another day! These fish aren’t exceptionally large, but there hasn’t been much Red Seabream lately, so the purchase price should be good.”

The purchase price was estimated to be around eight or nine yuan per 500g. The mussels were a good size and should also fetch about one yuan per 500g.

With so many people around, Elder Xu had already discussed the details privately with Jiang Xia.

Zhou Chenglei nodded. “No rush. Give it whenever it’s convenient.”

Jiang Xia handed him the lobsters, Melo snails, and a large mesh bag of fresh abalone and sea cucumbers. “Grandpa Xu, take these home to add to your New Year’s Eve dinner!”

Zhou Chenglei took them and handed them to Elder Xu. “They were just caught today; they’re very lively.”

Elder Xu didn’t stand on ceremony. Gift-giving was a reciprocal matter; since he could afford to receive, he could afford to give back. He took them with a chuckle. “These are all my favorites. You are too kind. I won’t be polite then! I’m off!”

Chapter 762: Tian Caihua Gets Played

Once everything was settled, Zhou Chenglei set sail to take Elder Mai back to the City Pier, where Jiang Dong was already waiting.

Zhou Chenglei said to Jiang Dong, “Go back and tell Mom and Dad not to worry about preparing the seafood for tomorrow. I’ve already got it ready and will bring it over. Just come here to pick us up at ten o’clock tomorrow morning.”

“Alright.”

Elder Mai cautioned them, “Be careful on the way back. Call us when you get home.”

“We will. It’s cold out, Grandpa, get in the car quickly.”

Elder Mai didn’t want to delay his granddaughter’s return. He waved them off and, with Jiang Dong’s assistance, got into the car and left.

It was after nine in the evening by the time Jiang Xia and the others reached home.

The triplets had already fallen asleep after being fed.

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei were about to carry them upstairs, but Mother Zhou stopped them. “Don’t move them. It’s cold out, and moving them back and forth like that makes it easy to catch a chill. Your father and I will take them tonight. They don’t wake up in the middle of the night anymore, so they don’t need feeding. I’ll wake up when they do tomorrow morning; it won’t affect our sleep.”

The triplets were the grandsons she had spent the least amount of time sleeping with.

For the boys—Guangzong and Yaozu—as well as Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying, Mother Zhou and Father Zhou had slept with each of them for five or six years.

Father Zhou added, “Don’t carry them up. Let them sleep in our room tonight. The bed is already warm. If you take them upstairs and put them in a different bed, the sheets will be ice-cold and freeze the children. It’s New Year’s Eve; don’t let the kids catch a cold!”

Zhou Chenglei immediately agreed, “Then we won’t move them. Let them sleep!”

Jiang Xia hummed in agreement, also worried they might catch a chill.

They had changed the feeding routine recently. The children would eat a bowl of rice paste mixed with milk in the evening, use the toilet, and then go to sleep. They rarely woke up during the night.

Because the children weren’t by their side that night, a certain someone didn’t feel the need to restrain himself. He was, quite frankly, unrestrained.

Consequently, on the morning of New Year’s Eve, Zhou Chenglei was up early again washing the bedsheets. Jiang Xia slept straight through until eight o’clock.

When she tried to walk down the stairs, her knees nearly buckled.

Zhou Chenglei was feeding the children breakfast and moved to help her when he saw her.

Jiang Xia stopped him with a sharp glare.

She forced herself to walk downstairs as if nothing were wrong.

“Mama, mua…”

“Mama, Mama!”

“Mama, mm!”

Seeing their mother, the three children shouted happily and excitedly waved the toys in their hands.

“Auntie!” Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying also greeted her happily.

Jiang Xia walked over and patted their heads. “In a little bit, Auntie will braid your hair beautifully.”

“Okay! I’ll wait until I put on my new dress!” Zhou Ying then pulled Zhou Zhou upstairs to change.

Jiang Xia went to the three babies who were looking at her joyfully and gave each of them a kiss. “So well-behaved.”

Today, after breakfast, the whole family was heading to the city to have a reunion dinner with Father Jiang and Mother Jiang.

Jiang Xia asked, “Where are Mom and Dad?”

“Dad went out to sea to shuck some oysters and collect some mussels,” Zhou Chenglei replied. “Mom went to the garden.”

During the New Year, there wasn’t much green produce for sale in the city, so people there usually bought several days’ worth of vegetables in advance.

Since their garden was full of vegetables, Mother Zhou went to pick some to bring to the city.

Actually, they grew things on the roof of the house in the city, too. Father Jiang tended to the small rooftop garden every day, so they weren’t lacking for vegetables.

In fact, they often had more than they could eat and gave them away, as Father Jiang and Mother Jiang frequently had social dinners and didn’t eat at home.

“Have they had breakfast?”

“Yes. Only you and I haven’t eaten. It’s warming on the stove. You feed the kids; I’ll go bring it out.”

“No need, I’ll get it.”

Jiang Xia brought the breakfast to the table just as Zhou Chenglei finished feeding the triplets their rice paste.

Once the couple finished eating and Jiang Xia had finished braiding the two girls’ hair, Mother Zhou returned carrying two large bamboo trays filled with greens.

Seeing this, Jiang Xia asked, “Mom, why did you pick so many?”

“It’s fine. We need to save some for ourselves to eat on the first of the month as well.”

Mother Zhou took a woven sack and picked out the best-looking vegetables to put inside, leaving the less perfect ones for the family.

Not long after, Father Zhou and Zhou Chengxin returned from the sea. “Is everything ready? It’s about time to leave. We shouldn’t keep the in-laws waiting too long.”

Jiang Xia noted, “Sister-in-law and the others haven’t come over yet.”

“I’ll go call her,” Zhou Chengxin said. “I’ll take the chance to wash up and change my clothes while I’m at it.”

As he spoke, Tian Caihua arrived with the children.

The mother and sons were all carrying things.

Tian Caihua had a chicken cage in each hand. One held a goose and a duck, while the other held a rooster and a hen.

Zhou Wenguang was carrying a bottle of Moutai, while the other three brothers carried dried seafood, pork, and various homemade cakes and snacks.

She smiled and said, “Xiaxia, bring these to your parents. I’ve already brought abalone and fish maw, so you don’t need to pack any.”

She had brought out the family’s prized abalone and fish maw. Since she was bringing so much, she definitely had to let Jiang Xia know!

She took her role as the Big Sister-in-law very seriously!

Tian Caihua had truly brought out the best items in her house.

Zhou Chengxin had told her that Jiang Xia had great vision and class, that she knew how to treat people, and that she always offered her best and showed the utmost sincerity. That was why, as a woman, she was more capable than many men and could open a factory at such a young age.

When Hou was collecting goods at the pier, many people must have tried to do business with him. Why was it that he and Jiang Xia could partner up and grow the business so large? Besides her small dried fish being delicious, Jiang Xia must have been generous enough for Hou to feel she was an honest person worth partnering with.

Tian Caihua thought Zhou Chengxin was right!

She felt she could have vision and class just like Jiang Xia!

Wasn’t it just about being generous with gifts?

For the sake of opening a factory in the future, she could be generous too!

So, for this reunion dinner at the Jiang family home, she showed the greatest sincerity by bringing out the absolute best things she had.

Looking at the gifts she had packed, Zhou Chengxin felt that his earnest talk last night hadn’t been in vain!

Zhou Chengxin realized that now, as long as he used Jiang Xia as a reference and hinted to Tian Caihua how she should act, she would follow suit.

She was practically taking Jiang Xia as a role model to emulate!

She was certainly much less of a headache than before.

Jiang Xia was startled by the mountain of bags and cages the first branch’s family was carrying. “There’s no need to bring so much. I’ve already prepared everything. Big Brother, Sister-in-law, you just need to come for the meal. Don’t bring so many things.”

Tian Caihua insisted, “We must, we must! This is the first reunion dinner since you reconnected with your grandfather. It’s rare that they don’t look down on our family and even invited us. Besides, this is all stuff from home; it’s not worth much, just a token of our sincerity.”

Once Father Zhou and Zhou Chengxin had changed their clothes, the family set off with their many bags of gifts.

They didn’t have a car, so they took the boat; the whole family could fit.

Zhou Chengsen’s flight was due to land at 9:30 AM. He had already been told to head straight from the airport to the Jiang family home.

It was New Year’s Eve, and the pier was bustling. Many bicycles were parked there, and the crowd was thick.

Aside from the villagers from nearby, there were people from the town and even from the city.

Chapter 763: New Year

Since the road was repaired, the pier had become significantly more bustling this year.

Some fishermen no longer had to sell their catch to the purchase station at low prices. They could sell out by setting up their own stalls, and a single boatload of seafood could net them an extra dozen yuan or more.

Not only did many people from town come to buy fish, but cars also started showing up to collect seafood directly from the fishermen.

The villagers truly and deeply experienced the meaning of the saying, “When the roads are open, wealth flows!”

They had originally thought that repairing a road was just for the convenience of getting to town, but they hadn’t expected it to actually open up a path to wealth.

Watching the bustling pier, Zhou Chenglei considered suggesting to the village committee that they build a small seafood market near the pier.

The village committee had money now, between the profits from the purchase station and the money he had paid to lease the beach.

However, the committee had discussed plans to pave all the roads in the village first for the convenience of the residents.

He decided that after the New Year was over, he would bring it up and see whether everyone would rather have a small seafood market or more paved roads.

Paving roads benefited every household’s travel, while building a seafood market could bring more income to the villagers, though not necessarily all of them.

Someone saw the Zhou family approaching and asked, “A-Lei, are your mussels for sale?”

It was someone from the neighboring village whom Jiang Xia didn’t recognize.

Seeing that Zhou Chenglei didn’t respond, Jiang Xia looked up at him and tugged on his sleeve. “Someone is asking if your mussels are for sale.”

It was too crowded and noisy; with his poor hearing and the fact that he had been lost in thought, he truly hadn’t heard. Zhou Chenglei looked over. “Sorry, I was just thinking about something. We only caught seven or eight kilograms today, and they’re all for the family to eat. You should ask Guodong or Yongguo.”

The man replied, “Right, I’ll ask them then. I just saw Uncle Yongfu carrying a large bag of mussels, so I thought I’d ask. By the way, are the mussels you’re raising for the Hong Kong market? How much do they sell for per 500 grams?”

“The ones my Papa brought were collected early this morning for us to eat at home. They’re about one yuan or so.”

The man clicked his tongue in surprise. “That expensive! That’s almost as much as the largest fan shells.”

Zhou Chenglei smiled. “They are from overseas, after all; we don’t have them locally. We have to head to the city now, let’s chat next time.”

“Alright, go ahead with your business. When you’re free next time, I’ll stop by your house for tea.”

“Sure.”

The Zhou family continued walking toward their fishing boat.

The man went to find Zhou Guodong to buy mussels.

Before dawn today, Zhou Guodong and Zhou Yongguo had agreed to go out to sea together to gather fan shells and collect some of the larger mussels to sell at the pier and make some money.

Pan Daidi asked the man, “Dalin, you just asked Zhou Chenglei about the mussels. How much did he say they were per 500 grams?”

Pan Dalin replied, “He didn’t say exactly, he said theirs aren’t for sale. I’m going to ask Zhou Guodong.”

Someone nearby heard and remarked, “Didn’t A-Lei just say about one yuan per 500 grams? That stuff is so heavy; to think it sells for one yuan per 500 grams—that’s way too expensive!”

Pan Dalin countered, “That’s the price for selling to Hong Kong. Can the prices in our fishing village even be compared to Hong Kong prices?”

“Selling to Hong Kong for one yuan per 500 grams? Since they’ve raised so many, aren’t they making a fortune?”

“Of course they’re making money! I reckon a single wooden stake can yield ten kilograms of mussels. If I’d known, I would have joined in the farming back then! The village committee asked everyone if they wanted to follow his lead and farm them, but hardly anyone dared to try. How stupid!”

Pan Daidi chimed in, “It’s not too late to start now! If you start raising them now, you can sell them next year!”

She was already thinking of telling her son to lease a stretch of beach for farming.

Her son knew big owners in Hong Kong; he had far better connections than Zhou Chenglei!

“What’s the point of starting now? They’ve leased all the beach already!” Someone had seen how well the mussels were growing a while back and had gone to the production brigade to ask.

“Exactly. All the beach areas that can be leased have been taken. The remaining beach can’t be leased out; the people from the production brigade said it has to be kept so the villagers have a place for beachcombing.”

Pan Daidi snapped, “No way! On what grounds do they lease to them and not us?”

Everyone in the production brigade knew Pan Daidi had returned driving a sedan worth hundreds of thousands.

“Your family has money, you should go ask the production brigade if there’s anything left to lease. We want to farm them too!”

Pan Daidi declared, “I’m definitely going to ask! This beach belongs to the village; why should only those few families be allowed to farm there? Everyone, come with me to ask! There’s strength in numbers! If we can’t lease any, they’ll have to give up part of their beach for us to lease!”

“Asking won’t do any good. Back then, the production brigade asked the villagers if they wanted to farm alongside Zhou Chenglei and turn it into a village-wide industry. No one was willing. Only those few families went through with it. Now that people see them making money, they want to take back the leased beach—who would agree to that? Those people spent a lot of money on those wooden stakes!”

“I’m going to ask anyway! Make them clear out the beach so we can farm. We can even pay them for those wooden stakes!”

“You’re dreaming! People worked hard to plant those wooden stakes and they’re just starting to make money! You think they’ll sell to you?”

“I don’t care! When the production brigade asked everyone to join in at the start, they didn’t ask me personally!” Pan Daidi marched aggressively toward the old production team office, which had now become the Longkou Production Brigade office.

Jiang Xia had already steered the boat out, unaware that people were envious of their large mussel farm and wanted a piece of the pie.

After sailing for about an hour, the family arrived at the City Pier.

Jiang Dong, Zhou Chengsen, and Elder Mai’s driver were already waiting at the pier.

A total of three cars had come to pick them up.

Once the boat was docked, the family loaded a large pile of gifts into the cars and drove to the Jiang family home.

The family arrived at the Jiang family home in a grand fashion. When Father Jiang saw the sheer amount of things they had brought, he frowned. “Why did you buy so much?”

Jiang Xia smiled. “Much of it was prepared by my Big Brother, Big Sister-in-law, and Second Brother.”

Hearing this, Father Jiang hurriedly said to them, “Big Brother, Big Sister-in-law, Second Brother—you are truly too kind! It gives us a lot of face just by having you come over for dinner on New Year’s Eve; that alone makes me very happy. We are all one family; you should treat this as your own home. You don’t need to bring gifts in the future. Really, there’s no need to be so formal.”

Elder Mai motioned for everyone to sit down.

Jiang Dong served everyone tea.

Mother Jiang and Father Jiang began putting away the items the Zhou family had brought.

The live poultry—chickens and geese—had to be kept on the balcony for the time being. Father Jiang laid down several layers of newspaper on the floor and then carried the two cages out. The stench emanating from the feathers of the live birds was so strong that it made Mai Xiaoan, who was outside on the balcony getting some fresh air, feel nauseous!

She quickly covered her nose and mouth.

Complete country bumpkins!

To give live chickens, geese, and ducks as gifts!

It stank to high heaven!

Just then, one of the chickens squirted a glob of droppings onto the floor tiles!

She couldn’t help but cover her mouth and retch.

Mai Jinping quickly led her back into the living room.

They had originally gone out to the balcony because the living room felt old and cramped, but they hadn’t expected the Zhou family to be so disgusting!

To bring such rustic, country things!

When Mai Xiaoan returned to the living room and saw so many people, she felt as though she could smell a fishy odor everywhere. She hurried to the kitchen to find Tan Zhiying.

“Mama! I can’t stay here any longer! I want to go home!”

Chapter 764: The “Joyful Atmosphere” of the Kitchen

Tan Zhiying quickly glanced outside. “What are you talking about? Just bear with it. Even if you don’t like it, don’t let it show on your face. This is the first year your grandfather has acknowledged his biological son; we have to eat this reunion dinner. We won’t have to next year. I’ll find an excuse to skip it then. We can eat at your grandma’s place or go traveling abroad instead of coming here. But today, you must endure.”

Mai Xiaoan pouted, looking aggrieved.

At that moment, Mother Jiang, Mother Zhou, Tian Caihua, and Auntie Feng walked in, carrying the seafood and meat the Zhou family had brought.

Tan Zhiying immediately smiled at her daughter. “No need for your help, go on out!”

Hearing this, Mother Jiang also smiled. “Xiaoan, go sit in the living room. I’ll handle everything here. You too, Sister-in-law, go out and sit with An-An. You’ve been busy all morning.”

Tan Zhiying actually wanted to leave, but she forced a smile. “It’s fine, I’ll stay and help. An-An can go out; she doesn’t know how to do anything and would only cause trouble.”

Seeing Tian Caihua and Mother Zhou carrying in bags of seafood and meat, Mai Xiaoan hurried out of the room.

Tian Caihua watched the girl dodge her and shot a glare at her back. Pah! What a piece of work. Eating from Xiaxia’s grandfather, living in Xiaxia’s grandfather’s house, using Xiaxia’s grandfather’s things—an adoptee, and yet she’s acting all stuck-up?

Just earlier, when her father-in-law had taken the chicken and goose she’d brought with such sincere intentions out to the balcony, she had seen the two siblings hiding away in disgust.

Pah! Does an adoptee really think they’re a real rich young lady and a real young master?

Every time her father-in-law saw her, he affectionately called her “Sister-in-law.” He would even say how hard she and her husband worked to take care of the elderly and the home while Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei were away.

Really!

What was that idiom again? It described exactly these kinds of people! Tian Caihua hadn’t gone to school much; she’d heard the kids say it before, but she couldn’t remember it.

Mother Jiang also urged Mother Zhou and Tian Caihua to go sit outside. “Auntie Feng and I can handle the work. You two go out, sit down, and have a chat. The kitchen is small; it can’t hold this many people.”

Tian Caihua replied, “It’s fine, I’ll help. Making a meal for this many people is no easy task.”

Mother Zhou added, “It’s such a happy occasion today; I want to show off my cooking skills, too.”

The kitchen wasn’t large, but it was connected to a small balcony. Washing and chopping vegetables could be done out there, which made things convenient.

Tan Zhiying remarked with a smile, “I’m sure the in-laws must be very good at cooking seafood.”

Mother Zhou waved her hand. “I was just joking. I only know how to poach and steam. Those are very light dishes; you young people probably won’t like them.”

“I’m not exactly young anymore,” Tan Zhiying replied.

Tian Caihua then turned to Tan Zhiying. “Aunt Tan, do you know how to cook too? It smells delicious. What are you making?”

Tan Zhiying answered, “I’m making Shark Fin in Golden Soup.”

In reality, the family chef had already prepared it; she had just brought it over to heat up.

Besides the shark fin, there were also abalone and sea cucumbers. The chef had prepared those too, and she had packed them to bring along, intending to just “symbolically” heat them up. Her main concern was that her two children wouldn’t be used to the food here.

Now that those items were heated, Tan Zhiying was looking for an excuse to leave the kitchen. “Sister-in-law, the dishes I needed to make are all finished. What are you making? You can start now.”

Mother Zhou said, “I’ll clean the fish. Where’s the cutting board?”

Tian Caihua chimed in, “Mama, your poached chicken is delicious. Why don’t you steam the chicken? Aunt Tan, since you’re done with your cooking, why don’t you clean the fish? My mother-in-law is getting on in years and her eyesight isn’t great, so it’s hard for her to clean fish. I’m going to prepare a braised goose.”

Tian Caihua placed a bucket of fish directly in front of her.

It wasn’t many fish—just two Leopard Coral Groupers and two Mouse Groupers, all raised in the net cages on their family’s seabed.

Tan Zhiying stammered, “…I’ve never cleaned a fish before.”

Tian Caihua raised an eyebrow. “Never cleaned a fish? Even Xiaxia, a real rich young lady, knows how to clean fish!”

Tan Zhiying: “…”

What does she mean by “real rich young lady”?

Is she mocking us for being an adopted branch of the family?

Even if her family’s company wasn’t as large as the Mai family’s, the Tan family was still a wealthy and prominent family in Hong Kong!

Tan Zhiying didn’t want to lower herself to argue with such an ignorant village woman. She smiled and said, “Xiaxia is truly impressive! Xiaxia and A-Dong can do everything and are so smart. To think the two siblings started a company at such a young age—you really taught your children well, Sister-in-law. I’ll go out and learn a thing or two from Xiaxia…”

Tian Caihua grabbed her. “You don’t need to learn from Xiaxia to clean a fish. It’s simple! I’ll teach you!”

Tan Zhiying: “…”

Someone who has been mooching off the family’s food, housing, and inheritance for so many years thinks she can avoid doing a lick of work?

Tian Caihua would never indulge someone like that!

Think you can eat for free without working? Not a chance!

Tian Caihua pulled her to the counter, grabbed a fish, threw it onto the cutting board, and shoved a cleaver into her hand. “First, scale it.”

Tan Zhiying protested, “…Sister-in-law, I don’t know how!”

“You don’t even know how to scale a fish? The old master really must have held you in the palm of his hand! Even his biological son and daughter-in-law didn’t get that treatment! You’re so lucky! It’s okay if you don’t know; I’ll teach you. You can show the old master some proper filial respect tonight.”

Tan Zhiying: “…”

“Just hold the knife and scrape against the scales!” Tian Caihua demonstrated. “Now your turn!”

“I still can’t do it.”

“It’s fine, I’ll hold your hand and show you!”

Tan Zhiying: “…”

Tian Caihua made her hold the knife, gripped her hand, and forced her to scrape off the scales!

By the time they were finally finished, Tan Zhiying was completely disoriented.

Tian Caihua then ran a finger along the fish’s belly. “Now, just use the knife to lightly slit it open here and pull out the guts!”

Tan Zhiying felt like she wanted to die.

“Sister-in-law, I wouldn’t dare! I’ve never killed a fish in my life!”

Tian Caihua replied, “It’s fine. If Xiaxia can do it, why wouldn’t you dare? I’ll hold your hand and teach you this time, and you’ll be brave enough for the next one. We brought quite a few fish today; there’s enough for you to practice until you’ve mastered it.”

Tan Zhiying: “…”

What kind of person is this?

Does she have no concept of social distance at all? No sense of boundaries!

Are we even that close?

Tan Zhiying swore she would never come here again!

At that moment, Jiang Xia walked in. “Mama, Sister-in-law, it was hard for you to make the trip here, why don’t you go sit down? I’ll handle the seafood.”

Mother Jiang immediately tried to usher her out. “No need for you! Go talk to your grandfather and your father. You’ll be heading back to the capital in a few days anyway.”

Tian Caihua added, “That’s right! Xiaxia, we don’t need you! The kitchen isn’t big enough for so many people. Your aunt is already handling it! She said she wanted to learn how to clean fish, so I’m teaching her. She insisted on personally preparing the New Year’s dinner for everyone!”

Tan Zhiying: “…”

When did I ever say that?

When did I ever want to learn?

I have absolutely no need to learn how to clean fish!

Mother Jiang also disliked Tan Zhiying, but Mother Jiang cared about her “face” and, given her position, couldn’t bring herself to act like Tian Caihua.

Now that Jiang Xia’s sister-in-law was here to put her in her place, Mother Jiang was more than happy to see it happen.

She quickly pushed Jiang Xia out. “Don’t come in!”

Don’t come in and ruin this “joyful atmosphere” in the kitchen!

After Tian Caihua guided Tan Zhiying’s hand to slit the fish’s belly, she first located the dark green gallbladder among the internal organs and pulled it out. Then she said, “Now just reach in and pull the rest of the guts out. I’ve already removed the gallbladder, so you can poke around however you like.”

“If the gallbladder isn’t removed and it breaks, the whole fish will be bitter. The hardest part of cleaning a fish is not breaking that. No need to worry now! Get to digging!”

…

And so, for that New Year’s Eve reunion dinner, everyone was happy.

Everyone except Tan Zhiying and her two children.

Tian Caihua had nearly worked Tan Zhiying to death.

Even while she was eating, Tan Zhiying felt like her hands reeked of raw fish.

Chapter 765: Elder Mai’s New Year’s Money

On the way back after the reunion dinner, while only the family of four was in the car, Tan Zhiying could finally no longer contain herself.

“That country woman is a total freak! A psycho! She kept dragging me to clean fish! Washing shrimp, shucking oysters, opening fan shells and mussels! She made me do whatever was filthiest! Does she think I’m a domestic helper?”

Mai Xiaoan sniffed her own clothes, feeling a lingering stench. “That whole family is so unrefined! Who gives chickens, geese, and ducks as gifts? It’s disgusting! Everything smells like a coop!”

These clothes were ruined!

Mai Nianshan tried to comfort them. “She was probably just being enthusiastic. She saw you didn’t know how to clean fish and thought you wanted to learn, so she taught you.”

The comfort only made Tan Zhiying angrier.

“She was not! She was targeting me on purpose! I’m dying of anger here, and you’re still taking their side! Next time there’s a dinner like this, don’t bring me!”

Every word she spoke was sharp and heavy.

“Dad, don’t bring me either! I really can’t stand it!” Mai Xiaoan added.

Mai Jinping, however, remained silent. He knew things were different now; they couldn’t act or speak the way they used to.

Seeing the emotional state of his wife and daughter, Mai Nianshan could only say, “Fine, next time you two can find an excuse to decline.”

It was a real headache.

They were so disdainful, but what would his adoptive father think?

They were currently living in a large villa provided by his adoptive father, yet his father’s biological son was living in an old, dilapidated house they looked down upon!

Tan Zhiying wasn’t the only one talking; Tian Caihua was also venting about them. She talked the whole way and continued even after they reached home.

“Honestly, what kind of people are they? The young one’s mouth was so twisted in disgust she looked like she’d had a stroke! And the mother in the kitchen with all that affectation! What is there to look down on? The house they live in belongs to Xiaxia’s grandfather! Everything he owns should belong to Xiao Xia’s father! If it weren’t for the fact that father-in-law and the old master were separated for so many years, would it ever be their turn to live such a good life? Disdainful my foot!”

Zhou Chengxin interrupted, “That’s enough! Don’t push them too far and start a fight. It would ruin the spirit of the reunion dinner. Xiao Xia’s grandfather has looked forward to this dinner for many years.”

Tian Caihua retorted, “Would she dare? Would she dare make a scene? If she does, she can kiss everything she has goodbye! Hmph, living and eating for free and still finding things to complain about? Wanting to do nothing at all? Dream on! I had to put her in her place!”

How dare she look down on the poultry she brought?

Did she have any idea how hard it was to raise a chick for over two hundred days until it was delicious?

A goose had to be raised for over a hundred days before it could be slaughtered without having peach fuzz.

Ducks also needed over a hundred days of care to taste good!

Was it easy for her to raise those chickens, geese, and ducks? She put more heart into them than she did her own mother!

When she was angry, she’d sooner break her son’s leg than strike one of those birds!

To look down on her gifts? She wouldn’t be called Tian Caihua if she didn’t teach that woman a lesson!

Truly classless!

Mother Zhou chimed in, “Well, Caihua didn’t actually do anything wrong, and our in-law seemed quite happy about it.”

Tian Caihua beamed with pride. “Exactly! My in-law wanted to put her in her place too! I was helping my in-law and Xiao Xia’s family deal with them. Who do they think they are?”

Jiang Xia smiled. “Thank you, Big Sister-in-law.”

Tian Caihua grew even more smug. “Don’t mention it! We’re family. If I don’t help you, who will I help?”

In Tian Caihua’s worldview, within the family, the individual households obviously looked out for themselves first. When it came to competing for benefits, one had to work hard for their own.

But when facing outsiders, the brothers were one family! Naturally, they had to unite to deal with outsiders and ensure their family’s interests weren’t harmed.

Tian Caihua felt that everything Elder Mai owned would eventually go to Father Jiang, and Jiang Xia would have a share of Father Jiang’s things. Since Jiang Xia was the Zhou family’s wife, it might even benefit her own sons if Jiang Xia inherited the Hong Kong company in the future. In short, rounding up and down, that adopted son’s family was profiting off Jiang Xia—which meant they were profiting off her!

This wasn’t just Tian Caihua’s thinking; everyone in the village was like this. No matter how much brothers fought at home, they stood united against outsiders.

When villagers faced outsiders encroaching on the village’s interests, all the brothers in the village would unite as one family.

This was why Jiang Xia had heard of several instances where one village fought another, sometimes even resulting in fatalities.

Tian Caihua was about to continue recounting her “glorious achievements” for the day.

At that moment, Zhou Wenzu secretly opened the red envelope Elder Mai had given him. “Mom, what kind of money is this? Is it fake?”

Tian Caihua glanced at it. “Oh, that’s not fake! That’s currency from Hong Kong!”

She took it and looked. Good heavens!

Was this a hundred-yuan bill?

And there were ten of them?

Wasn’t that one thousand yuan?

Gosh!

Elder Mai was truly generous!

Didn’t that mean her four sons got four thousand yuan?

Wait, as the eldest elder, Elder Mai had given envelopes to everyone. She and Zhou Chengxin each had one too, and they were quite thick. She had assumed they were filled with several ten-yuan “Great Unity” bills.

She hadn’t expected them to be filled with several hundred-dollar Hong Kong banknotes.

Did that mean their household had received six thousand yuan?

Truly, having more children was the way to get more New Year’s red envelope money.

They had hit the jackpot this time!

Tian Caihua immediately tried to collect her sons’ money. “Give me those red envelopes! Hurry! Don’t lose them!”

“No! Every time we give them to you, you won’t even give us 0.50 yuan when we ask!”

“Mom, how can you take our money every single year?”

…

“Hand them over! What do you mean ‘your’ money? If I didn’t give money out, would anyone give it to you? It’s all my money, hand it over!”

“No, we’re keeping it ourselves!” The boys quickly hid their envelopes.

“You can’t buy anything with those anyway. You have to take that money to the bank to exchange it for Chinese currency before you can use it. Give it here! I’ll… help you exchange it at the bank.”

“Then I’ll give you this envelope, but not the others!”

Every envelope today was very generous. Even the smallest one contained a ten-yuan “Great Unity” bill.

“Quit the nonsense, give them all to me!”

…

Tian Caihua began chasing the brothers for their red envelopes.

The reason Elder Mai used Hong Kong currency for the New Year’s money was that the largest denomination in the mainland was ten yuan. If he wanted to give a thousand yuan, the envelope would have been too bulky to carry.

Jiang Xia’s family of five also received red envelopes from Elder Mai, but she hadn’t opened them yet and didn’t know the amount.

However, Elder Mai had mentioned when handing them out that he was making up for all the years of New Year’s money he had missed, so it was likely a significant amount.

Besides Elder Mai’s gifts, Father Jiang, Mother Jiang, Father Zhou, and Mother Zhou had also given the couple red envelopes.

As for the children’s money, Jiang Xia placed it all in a new envelope and tucked it under their pillows. She wouldn’t collect it properly until the next day, and she planned to wait until after the Lantern Festival to open them.

Of course, Jiang Xia also had an extra envelope from Zhou Chenglei.

When she woke up this morning, there was a red envelope by her pillow—Zhou Chenglei’s gift to her.

Elder Mai had also delivered a check and a red envelope that Elder Xu had prepared for her.

The acquisition price for those Red Seabream in Hong Kong this morning was eight yuan per 500g. There was a total of 49,934 kg of Red Seabream, plus 500 kg of mussels, 100 kg of fan shells, and over 50 kg of various precious groupers from the seabed net cages.

And so, the amount written on the check was…

Chapter 766: Remembering

802,800 yuan.

Although she had expected that selling to Hong Kong would surely earn more than selling locally, Jiang Xia’s heart still couldn’t help but skip a beat when Elder Mai handed her the check and she saw the figures written on it!

If those 50,000 kg of fish had been sold locally, they would have made 160,000 to 170,000 yuan at most, which wouldn’t even have covered the initial investment.

Not only were the deep-sea net cages expensive, but the process of raising those fish to maturity also cost a significant amount of money.

But now!

They had earned it all back.

They had earned it back several times over!

So, how could Jiang Xia not be excited when she actually received such a large sum of money?

Zhou Chenglei had ordered a total of thirty net cages for this year.

His procurement plan was to install ten after the Lunar New Year, another ten in May, and the final ten in November.

This schedule was primarily designed with finances in mind. The Spring Canton Fair would end in May, so he could make a profit from the fair in April. October was the Autumn Canton Fair, so he could use the earnings from the November fair to pay for the net cages then.

Once all thirty net cages were installed, haha, the “money-making prospects” would be incredibly bright!

Of course, the risks of offshore aquaculture were also high.

Tian Caihua finally managed to pocket all the New Year’s red envelope money from Guangzong, Yaozu, and her other sons!

She opened them one by one to check and saw two red envelopes containing Hong Kong dollar bills; one was for 100 dollars, and the other was for 500 dollars.

There was no need to guess; she knew they were from Mai Nianshan and his wife.

Upon seeing the red envelopes from Mai Nianshan’s couple, Tian Caihua said to Jiang Xia, “If I had known, I would have let your Second Aunt clean fewer fish. I wonder if she’ll be too scared to come back next year? You must invite her! Xiao Xia, you tell her that I won’t make her clean fish next year!”

Each child got 600 dollars total from them; with four children, that was 2,400. If Tan Zhiying didn’t come next year, wouldn’t she be losing out big time?

She wouldn’t make her clean fish next year—she’d just let her provide the money!

Tian Caihua decided to change her strategy.

Jiang Xia laughed and changed the subject, handing her the money from the groupers raised on the seabed.

Out on the balcony, Zhou Chenglei, Big Brother, and Second Brother were also talking.

He and Jiang Xia had discussed it and decided to give 10,000 yuan each to the first branch and the second branch from the profits of the deep-sea net cages.

Because they were usually in the capital, it was Zhou Chengxin and Zhou Chengsen who helped them keep an eye on the net cages.

Strictly speaking, Zhou Chengxin looked after the net cages more, while Zhou Chengsen helped Jiang Xia watch over the city garment factory and the food factory.

As for the money from the fish in the seabed cages, that was split fifty-fifty with Zhou Chengxin and was not included in this 10,000 yuan.

Zhou Chengxin said, “I don’t want this ten thousand. What’s wrong with brothers helping each other? I have to go out to sea anyway, so I just take a look while I’m there. You already hired people to raise them; I don’t even go that often.”

Zhou Chengsen also refused. “If you do this, you’re not treating us like your Big Brother and Second Brother.”

Zhou Chenglei replied, “But I can’t keep troubling you like this.”

Zhou Chengsen said, “It’s not trouble. Your business is our business. Even if it were trouble, you could keep troubling us forever; we’re happy to do it!”

Zhou Chengxin nodded. “Exactly! We’re brothers for life. If we took money just for doing a bit of work, what would that make us?”

Zhou Chenglei said, “How about this? Since you won’t take the cash, I’ll treat it as if you’re investing this 10,000 yuan as shareholders. I’ve ordered thirty more net cages, and the future profits will be distributed as dividends based on this 10,000 yuan investment.”

The two wanted to say more, but Zhou Chenglei interrupted them. “Don’t refuse. Things are different now than they used to be. We all have wives and children to support, and we have to consider our wives’ feelings in how we do things. Ten thousand yuan isn’t that much, and this was actually Xiao Xia’s suggestion—women understand women better. It’s settled. I’ll have Xiao Xia give the annual dividends to Big Sister-in-law and Second Sister-in-law instead of you. Xiao Xia should be talking to Big Sister-in-law about this right now.”

Jiang Xia was indeed mentioning it to Tian Caihua.

Tian Caihua’s eyes widened with excitement as she held a file bag full of money. “Give me and your Big Brother ten thousand yuan, or let us buy in?”

Jiang Xia nodded. “Does Big Sister-in-law want to invest this ten thousand yuan into fish farming?”

Tian Caihua nodded frantically. “Yes! Of course I do!”

Jiang Xia added, “You should think it over, Big Sister-in-law. Deep-sea fish farming is risky—very risky! A single typhoon could wipe everything out. If I give you the ten thousand now, you can take it and start another business. If you invest it, there’s a chance you could lose it all.”

“No need! I’ll just raise fish! I’ll follow you in raising fish! Put the ten thousand in!”

By following Jiang Xia, she believed even typhoons would take a detour!

Even if they did encounter a destructive typhoon in the future, it would only be after they had already made a fortune.

Tian Caihua felt that her fortune in the new year would surely be excellent!

Wealth was already rolling in on New Year’s Eve!

The next day was the first day of the Lunar New Year. There was no need to visit relatives, and they didn’t have to do anything except prepare the three daily meals. It was arguably the most leisurely day of the year. Father Zhou and Mother Zhou happily took the triplets for walks around the village. Jiang Xia stayed home designing clothes, while Zhou Chenglei was dragged away by Zhou Yongguo to attend a classmate reunion.

Since joining the military, Zhou Chenglei rarely had leave to come home for the New Year, so he had never attended a reunion. Last year, Jiang Xia was heavily pregnant, so there was no way he would have gone out. This year, when Yongguo came for him, Jiang Xia encouraged him to go, so he went.

When he returned home after dark, he smelled of cigarettes and alcohol!

The little sister originally reached out for her Papa to hold her, but as Zhou Chenglei approached, she turned away in disgust and buried her face in Jiang Xia’s neck!

Jiang Xia smiled and asked him, “Did you drink a lot? Did you run into your first love?”

Zhou Chenglei took some clothes from the wardrobe to go shower, afraid the unpleasant smell on his body would bother her and the children. “What first love could I have? From the moment I was born until now, you’re the only woman I’ve ever had by my side. You are my first love, middle love, late love, and future-life love.”

Jiang Xia: “…”

What on earth were “middle love,” “late love,” and “future-life love”?

“You’re inventing vocabulary now? Please explain.”

Zhou Chenglei said, “Isn’t first love the love of one’s youth? Then middle love is love in middle age, late love is love in old age, and future-life love is love in the next life. We’re going to stay together in our next life too.”

Jiang Xia complained while holding the little sister, “Who knows if we’ll even meet in the next life, let alone an afterlife love?”

Zhou Chenglei looked at her seriously. “I will find you.”

Jiang Xia said, “There’s a seven-year age gap between us—nine years according to the household register. I don’t even know if your age was really recorded as two years older. In the next life, by the time I’m born, you’ll probably be an old fossil!”

Zhou Chenglei: “…”

It wasn’t just women who feared getting old; men also feared being looked down upon for their age!

To prove he could live long enough to accompany her into old age, Jiang Xia realized that night that all his previous talk about being “restrained and temperate” had actually been true!

The next morning, Jiang Xia didn’t want to get out of bed at all. Zhou Chenglei gave her a pediatric massage to relieve her soreness and exhaustion.

Today was the day to return to the bride’s maiden home. After feeling much more comfortable, Jiang Xia gave Zhou Chenglei a light nip and climbed out of bed.

After breakfast, the couple took the triplets along with Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying back to the Jiang family home.

When they arrived at the Jiang house, Jiang Dong picked up the little sister, and she immediately pointed at the front door. “Eeya-eeya.”

Jiang Dong walked toward the door. “Does sister want to go out?”

The little sister pointed at the lock on the door. “Eeya-eeya.”

Jiang Dong opened the door and asked patiently, “And then?”

He had a guess in his heart, but he didn’t act on it directly.

The little sister then pointed to the stairs and made “un-un-ah-ah” noises, gesturing for Jiang Dong to take her down.

The eldest brother and the younger brother were originally in the arms of Father Jiang and Elder Mai, but when the two boys saw their uncle carrying their sister out, they immediately pointed at the door and made “un-un-ah-ah” sounds too.

They wanted to go as well.

Mother Jiang said in surprise, “These three kids… they couldn’t possibly still remember what happened the day before yesterday, could they?”

Can babies this small already start taking note of things?

Chapter 767: Why Are You Here?

“They have excellent memories,” Zhou Chenglei remarked.

Elder Mai asked the eldest great-grandson in his arms, “Does Dabao want to go to the slide?”

On the night of the reunion dinner, the three Jiang men had taken the triplets, Zhou Zhou, Zhou Ying, and the brothers Guangzong and Yaozu to the slide. The triplets had enjoyed themselves so much they didn’t want to leave; the little sister had even cried when it was time to go home.

The eldest brother nodded his little head.

Mother Jiang laughed. “He really does remember!”

Father Jiang and Elder Mai stood up with the two boys, chuckling. “Let’s go! Grandpa and Great-Grandpa will take you to the slide! Zhou Zhou, Yingying, you come along too! Come!”

As a result, the three Jiang men led the triplets, Zhou Zhou, and Zhou Ying toward the slide.

Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying were quite fond of it as well.

The little sister reached the ground and pointed toward the family compound’s gate.

Jiang Dong carried her to the gate and waited for her to give directions.

To everyone’s surprise, she truly “eeya-ed” her way along, pointing out the path until they reached their destination. Upon seeing the slide, her little body lunged forward in anticipation!

Her sense of direction was truly impressive!

Back at the house, only Jiang Xia, Mother Jiang, and Auntie Feng remained.

Zhou Chenglei had gone to the airport to pick up Zhang Rui, who was coming for a visit.

Jiang Xia was in the kitchen helping with the cooking, and she took the opportunity to bring up the garment factory with her mother. “Mom, after the New Year, why don’t you guys reform the garment factory? Maybe focus on producing leather jackets? I’ve noticed that leather jackets are selling very well as exports to Russia.”

For many years to come, quite a few people would make their fortunes by exporting leather jackets to Russia.

“I know,” Mother Jiang replied. “I’ve been planning to make some changes myself. I’ll discuss it with the comrades at the factory.”

If they didn’t change soon, the factory would likely face restructuring, and the workers might face layoffs.

If Jiang Xia hadn’t helped clear out all the inventory last year to turn their losses into profits, and if Old Jiang hadn’t been there, their factory would likely have been on this year’s restructuring list.

After all, their city was a pioneer in the “spring breeze of reform,” and the clothing industry was not the city’s primary focus for development.

Old Jiang had also reminded her that it was time to adapt and keep up with the trends of the times.

Sticking to the old ways would only lead to ruin.

However, the veterans at the factory weren’t fans of leather jackets, and the factory wasn’t her one-person show; the deputy factory director also had a significant say in things.

Still, they all knew now that if they didn’t change, it would be their own jobs on the line.

Jiang Xia didn’t say much more. Mother Jiang wasn’t the type who liked being lectured by her children, so Jiang Xia offered her advice and left it at that; pushing further would only cause irritation.

Before lunch, Zhou Chenglei returned from the airport with Zhang Rui and brought him over for a visit.

Father Jiang had initially felt suspicious when he saw Zhang Rui around. If he hadn’t known any better, he would have suspected the boy had designs on his daughter. If the Jiang family didn’t already have a daughter who was married, Zhang Rui wouldn’t have the courage to try and move in on Zhou Chenglei’s territory even if you gave him the heart of a lion.

Though Father Jiang was surprised, he wasn’t entirely shocked by the visit; after all, he himself made time every New Year to visit Elder Zhang and other former leaders and teachers in the capital.

When they finished eating, Zhang Rui said to Jiang Dong, “Jiang Dong, lend me your car. I’ll drive your brother-in-law and his family to visit their grandparents.”

Zhang Rong had also returned, and during the New Year period, he needed the car to visit various contacts, which left Zhang Rui without a vehicle.

Jiang Xia’s family was going to visit Grandma and Grandpa’s place this afternoon and would return on the fourth day of the New Year. After that, they would visit Great-Uncle, and on the fifth, they would take the children to the capital to play.

Jiang Dong understood his motive and nodded, handing over the keys. “Sure.”

Thus, Zhang Rui drove Jiang Dong’s car and followed the couple home.

Elder Mai had been staying at the Jiang family home for the past few days, but he was returning to Hong Kong today.

There were many connections in Hong Kong that required his attention during the New Year as well.

After seeing off his daughter and her grandfather, Father Jiang finally asked Jiang Dong, “What’s the deal with young Rui?”

“He likely has his eye on Brother-in-law’s Little Cousin,” Jiang Dong replied.

Father Jiang understood immediately. “No wonder.”

This ought to put Elder Zhang’s mind at ease.

At 1:00 PM, the two cars left the village and headed straight for Grandma and Grandpa’s place.

This time, Jiang Xia wasn’t pregnant, so they could drive a bit faster, arriving at Grandma’s place by 5:30 PM.

Zhang Rui hopped out, carrying bags and boxes of gifts, and greeted everyone enthusiastically. “Grandpa, Grandma, First Uncle, Second Uncle…”

He basically called everyone exactly what Zhou Chenglei called them.

Finally, he approached Li Qiufeng with a beaming smile. “Little Cousin!”

Li Qiufeng’s eyes widened. “Why are you here?”

Chapter 768: He’s Here to Formally Propose

Zhang Rui didn’t even look at Li Qiuying. He only spoke to Li Qiufeng. “Little Cousin, is this comrade your sister?”

Li Qiufeng nodded. “Yes, she’s my cousin.”

Zhang Rui knew Li Qiufeng had two cousins; one was already married, and the other was still single. He gave Li Qiuying a polite, brief glance. “Hello, Cousin. I’m Zhang Rui. Zhou Chenglei is my Fourth Brother.”

Li Qiuying’s heart hammered against her ribs. “H-hello.”

After the greeting, Zhang Rui stopped looking at her. He lowered his head to look at Li Qiufeng and asked with a smile, “Little Cousin, didn’t you say the mountains back in your hometown are full of bamboo shoots and mushrooms? When are you going to take me up there to dig for shoots and pick mushrooms?”

Li Qiufeng replied, “Is that all you came for? To dig for shoots and pick mushrooms? It’s the Lunar New Year—aren’t you supposed to be visiting relatives?”

Zhang Rui gazed at Li Qiufeng’s face, which was as fresh and beautiful as a flower. “No, I came to pick a flower—a Phoenix flower.”

Li Qiufeng was speechless.

She had mentioned to him once that she was born during the season when the Phoenix flowers bloom, which was why she was named Qiufeng.

Her face betrayed her again, flushing a deep red. “Phoenix flowers don’t bloom now. You have to wait until May for that.”

Zhang Rui laughed as he watched her shy expression. “Is that so? Then I can just come back when they bloom. Are there any pheasants, wild rabbits, or birds to hunt on your mountains?”

He had come this time to make their relationship official.

He just wanted to establish their status. As for marrying her and bringing her home, she had said she wanted to continue her studies and didn’t want to marry so early, so he was willing to wait.

He just felt they couldn’t go on without a formal understanding!

Li Qiuying interjected eagerly, “There are! Comrade Zhang Rui, I can take you tomorrow. My family has an air gun.”

In this era, hunting birds was not yet prohibited, and guns were not yet banned. Some villagers owned air rifles and would go into the mountains to hunt small game, mostly birds.

Air rifles could even be purchased in some state-owned stores.

Zhang Rui replied, “I won’t trouble you, Cousin. It’s fine if Little Cousin takes me. We’re very familiar with each other.”

Li Qiufeng was at a loss for words.

Just then, Second Auntie walked out of the kitchen with a smile. “Time to eat! Dinner is ready!”

When she saw Zhang Rui, her smile grew even brighter. “Oh, young Rui, why are you here?”

“I came to pay a visit to you, Second Uncle, and Grandpa and Grandma.”

Second Auntie’s smile widened. “Quick, come in and sit down for dinner. Try some of our local home-cooked dishes. Come, follow me inside.”

“Alright,” Zhang Rui agreed with a smile.

For the past few days in the capital, Zhang Rui had been picking up and dropping off the mother and daughter from their night shifts every single day. Second Auntie understood his intentions perfectly.

Moreover, he had already confessed his feelings to her daughter. Qiufeng hadn’t agreed yet, saying she needed to think about it.

Zhang Rui’s family background was too prestigious. It was only natural for her daughter to feel she wasn’t a good enough match and needed to reconsider.

Second Auntie also had her own worries about his family background being too high.

However, as a mother, she naturally hoped her daughter would marry well.

So, while she was genuinely happy, she also had her concerns. After all, if a match was not of equal social standing, the one marrying “up” often had to endure hidden grievances.

In an unequal relationship, the weaker party is the one who always has to yield and suffer in silence.

But a life of poverty brought even more worries and pain.

Besides, Second Auntie had asked Zhou Chenglei about him.

Zhou Chenglei had only said: The man is worthy of trust, and his immediate relatives over three generations are all decent people, though the Zhang clan is very large.

Second Auntie understood the unspoken implication: a large clan meant complex family dynamics that would be hard to navigate.

However, after marriage, she could follow him to the military. In the barracks, it would just be the two of them living their lives. It would be simple, and they would only have to deal with the extended family during holidays.

And when there was no leave, they wouldn’t even have to go home for the New Year.

Looking at Zhou Chenglei, he had been in the military for many years and had only been able to come home for the New Year once.

This meant there would be no mother-in-law conflicts and no difficult relationships with sisters-in-law. The man had a bright future ahead of him—it was practically perfect!

As a mother, she didn’t want her daughter to miss out on such a stroke of fortune.

Who wouldn’t she have to marry eventually? Would marrying someone of equal social standing guarantee no suffering? Would there be no complex family dynamics to handle then?

A poor couple finds everything difficult, and their hardships are even greater!

If there was a good option, why not take it?

So, while Second Auntie had her worries, she was mostly happy.

She would be far more worried if her daughter married a poor man!

One had to be practical, especially when choosing a partner. It truly determined a lifetime of happiness; one couldn’t let their emotions run wild.

Second Auntie was someone who had lived through it. She knew that if you married a poor man, no matter how well he treated you, life would be bitter most of the time.

Therefore, when there was a choice, one must choose the best. Having no choice was a different story altogether.

During the meal, Second Auntie arranged for Zhang Rui to sit next to Zhou Chenglei.

Li Qiuying wanted to sit next to Zhang Rui.

Second Auntie immediately pulled her away. “Xiao Ying, that’s Xiao Feng’s seat. You aren’t familiar with Comrade Zhang Rui; let Xiao Feng look after him.”

Li Qiuying was stunned.

Second Auntie pulled her own “silly” daughter over and pressed her into the chair.

Then she sat down next to her daughter, leaving Li Qiuyet with no choice but to sit next to Second Auntie.

Grandpa and Grandma greeted Zhang Rui with smiles. “Young Rui, try our local dishes. I don’t know if you’ll be used to it; our food here is quite light. Food in the capital is saltier, while ours tends to be a bit sweet.”

Zhang Rui smiled and said, “It looks delicious just by looking at it. I used to eat at your place in the capital all the time, so I’ve long since gotten used to it. Little Cousin and Second Auntie’s cooking is excellent. In fact, I missed it so much that I followed Fourth Brother here. I assume Second Auntie’s cooking will be even more authentic here on her home turf?”

Grandpa laughed heartily. “Then eat more!”

Second Auntie also smiled. “See if you can guess which dishes were made by me and Xiao Feng.”

Zhang Rui laughed and pointed them out directly, not getting a single one wrong.

Most people who reached his rank were exceptionally observant and detail-oriented.

Big Cousin-in-law was sitting next to Jiang Xia; she had intentionally taken that spot earlier.

Wasn’t the second branch just helping Jiang Xia look after her child? To think that after coming home, they were already planning to build a new house after the New Year!

Just how much money had they made?

She had originally thought they were really just babysitting. When her mother-in-law told her to go babysit, she hadn’t been willing. She never imagined that it involved more than just childcare—it turned out they were partners with Jiang Xia in a clothing store.

If she had known, she would have gone with her sister-in-law.

She sat next to Jiang Xia because she wanted to ask if she and her daughter could follow them back to the capital after the New Year.

However, it wasn’t the right time to bring it up during dinner. She was just trying to get close to Jiang Xia first.

Now she saw that not only had Li Qiufeng found a job selling clothes, but she also seemed to have found a very good match.

But this man didn’t look like an inexperienced twenty-year-old; he must be at least twenty-five, right?

At twenty-five, shouldn’t he be married already?

She whispered, “Xiao Xia, is this young Rui a comrade-in-arms of A-Lei’s?”

Jiang Xia nodded. “Mhm.”

Big Cousin-in-law asked again, “Is he still in the military?”

Jiang Xia didn’t particularly like this Big Cousin-in-law and replied very coldly, “Mhm.”

“His rank must be quite high?”

“Regimental commander.”

Big Cousin-in-law gasped. “Is he married?”

Could this be another Zhou Chenglei? Marrying only when he was nearly thirty?

Jiang Xia said, “Not yet.”

Jiang Xia knew exactly what she was thinking, and she had also noticed Li Qiuying’s little schemes.

She decided to nip the sister-in-law duo’s fantasies in the bud. “Xiao Feng and him are currently in a courtship. He came today specifically to formally propose.”

Big Cousin-in-law was speechless.

Chapter 769: Absolutely Do Not Agree

After the meal, there wasn’t enough room at Grandpa and Grandma’s place for everyone to stay, so the Zhou family members had to return to the guesthouse in town.

Second Auntie said to Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenlei, “Since you two have the children with you, don’t stay at the guesthouse. It’s inconvenient. I’ve tidied up Qiufeng’s room and pushed two beds together; it’s enough for you and the children for one night. I’ve washed the blankets and dried them in the sun. How could guesthouse blankets be as clean as the ones at home?”

Zhou Chenlei looked at Jiang Xia. Although Jiang Xia had brought her own bedding, staying at a home was certainly better than staying at a guesthouse.

Jiang Xia didn’t refuse Second Auntie’s kindness. “Then we will be troubling you tonight, Second Auntie.”

Second Auntie was very happy, pretending to be annoyed. “Don’t say such things to me!”

Since it wouldn’t be right for Zhang Rui to stay at the guesthouse alone while the rest of the Zhou family was there, Jiang Xia said to Zhou Chenlei, “The kids and I will stay at Second Uncle’s house tonight. Why don’t you go stay at the guesthouse? The children won’t wake up during the night anyway.”

Zhou Chenlei felt a bit uneasy.

Second Auntie chimed in, “Don’t worry. If the babies wake up, I can help take care of them. With you gone, Xiao Feng can sleep with Xiao Xia. That way you won’t have to worry, right?”

Mother Zhou added, “If you’re still worried, I’ll stay behind as well and share a bed with the children.”

Jiang Xia said, “No need, what is there to worry about? Mother, you should go back to the guesthouse and get a good night’s sleep too.”

Zhou Chenlei had no choice but to hand the car keys to Zhou Chengsen. “Second Brother, you all head back first. I’ll go over after the children are asleep.”

Zhang Rui then said, “Fourth Brother, I’ll come back to pick you up in a bit.”

Hearing this, Father Zhou said, “We can just leave in a little while; there’s no need for Xiao Zhang to make an extra trip. A-Sen, you take Ah Xin and the others to the guesthouse first. Yingying and Zhou Zhou can stay with us for now.”

Thus, Zhou Chengsen led the family of the first branch back to the guesthouse to rest first.

The city where Grandpa and Grandma lived was surrounded by mountains.

In the mountainous regions, the weather was much colder than in the fishing village. They wouldn’t give the three children a full bath tonight; they simply washed their faces, wiped their bodies and bottoms, and then coaxed them to sleep.

The three children had been traveling around since they were a month old, so they didn’t have trouble sleeping in a new environment. Once they fell asleep in their parents’ arms, they could be placed on the bed without issue.

Moreover, Jiang Xia had brought their small pillows and blankets, so they slept even more soundly.

The three children were soon fast asleep.

Zhou Chenlei waited until Jiang Xia had finished her bath before preparing to leave.

Big Cousin-in-law walked over at that moment. “There isn’t enough room to stay here, is there? Young Rui, I’ve tidied up my son’s room. Why don’t you go sleep there?”

Zhang Rui politely declined. “Thank you, Big Cousin-in-law, but I’ve already booked a room. I’m going to the guesthouse now.”

Turning to Li Qiufeng, he added, “Little Cousin, don’t forget our agreement. See you tomorrow.”

Li Qiufeng nodded.

Zhou Chenlei urged Jiang Xia to go to bed early and then led Father Zhou and Mother Zhou back to the guesthouse.

Once everyone had left, Jiang Xia prepared to go to her room to sleep.

Big Cousin-in-law called out to her, “Xiao Xia, are you returning to the capital on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year?”

Jiang Xia turned back. “Yes.”

“It’s like this: when you go back to the capital this time, why don’t Qiuying and I go with you to help take care of the children? Grandpa and Grandma are getting older, and we were thinking they should stay home and enjoy their retirement. Qiuying and I can go and take care of the children for you.”

Second Auntie grew anxious upon hearing this.

She would rather First Auntie go than have this eldest niece-in-law and Li Qiuying go to the capital.

Jiang Xia refused directly, “That won’t be necessary. If Grandpa and Grandma don’t go, I’ll just find someone else to help me with the children.”

Second Auntie quickly cut in, “That’s not it at all; Father-in-law and Mother-in-law are definitely going. For them, not having to do farm work in the capital is exactly what enjoying retirement means! The three little ones are very easy to mind, and I usually handle most of the cooking and housework. Both of them think they have too much free time—they’re always saying they’re living the good life.”

Big Cousin-in-law shot a look at Second Auntie. “Second Aunt, the grandparents just aren’t saying it out loud. Being so far from their home village, they’re bound to be unhappy in their hearts! Where could possibly be more comfortable than home?”

She turned back to Jiang Xia. “Xiao Xia, rather than hiring a stranger, it’s better to hire Qiuying and me. We are the triplets’ own cousin-in-law and aunt; we would certainly be more dedicated to caring for them than anyone else.”

Jiang Xia didn’t even bother looking for an excuse, saying directly, “No, I will not hire you or Cousin Qiuying. I’m afraid the children might wake up, so I’m going to my room to sleep now.”

Big Cousin-in-law’s face darkened immediately.

Jiang Xia went straight to her room after speaking, not caring in the least about Big Cousin-in-law’s reaction.

Big Cousin-in-law felt slighted but didn’t dare say anything to Jiang Xia’s face, only fuming inwardly.

She had also hoped Jiang Xia would help find a partner for her sister-in-law, someone like Zhang Rui.

However, Jiang Xia was incredibly petty; she probably still held a grudge over what happened during the housewarming and wouldn’t help them anyway.

Second Auntie was relieved to see Jiang Xia’s attitude. She smiled and said, “It’s late, Yudai. You should go back and get some rest too!”

Big Cousin-in-law asked Second Auntie, “A-Lei must have many comrades like young Rui, right?”

Second Auntie replied, “I wouldn’t know about that. Out of sight, out of mind; even if there are, they rarely keep in touch now. Regardless, I’ve only ever seen young Rui and his brothers come looking for A-Lei.”

Of course there were many. While they were in the capital, quite a few people had come to visit Zhou Chenlei—sometimes with Zhang Rui, sometimes on their own. Not to mention the frequent packages of local specialties arriving from all over the country.

“Second Aunt, Qiuying is older than Qiufeng. If anyone is to marry, she should be first. Second Aunt, please keep an eye out for Qiuying, or perhaps you could persuade Xiao Xia to take Qiuying to the capital to find a husband. Isn’t Qiufeng running a clothing store with Xiao Xia? Didn’t you say several people aren’t enough to handle the business? It would be fine to take her along to help!”

Second Auntie said, “The reason we couldn’t handle it was because it was the end of the year and everyone wanted to buy new clothes for the New Year. Once the holiday is over, it’ll be the off-season. How could we not handle it? Besides, hiring people is Jiang Xia’s business. She already said she won’t hire you. Since she’s spoken, it wouldn’t be right for me to try and persuade her. If I did, she might not even hire me anymore.”

Hmph, she wasn’t going to play matchmaker. If she picked a good husband for Li Qiuying, that would be one thing, but if the match turned out poorly, the girl would resent her for the rest of her life!

If it was a good match, they wouldn’t necessarily be grateful, but if it was bad, they’d blame her forever. Why would she ever take on such a thankless task?

“One is my aunt, the other is my cousin-in-law, yet I’ve been begging you both for ages and neither of you will agree to this one small request! Is this how you act as an aunt?”

Seeing that no one would grant her request after all that talking, Tan Yudai left with a darkened face.

She went to find the grandparents and her parents-in-law, intending to have them persuade Zhou Chenlei and his parents.

She wouldn’t bother with Jiang Xia, who had her eyes on top of her head!

Every time she spoke with Jiang Xia, the woman acted so superior. What was so great about her?

Chapter 770: Digging Bamboo Shoots

Seeing Second Auntie’s anxiety, Jiang Xia comforted her, “Second Auntie, don’t worry. Since I’ve already refused, Grandpa and Grandma won’t agree to it. Even if they did, I have my ways of declining.”

Second Auntie regained her composure. Once Jiang Xia had refused, her parents-in-law indeed wouldn’t agree to the request.

They weren’t the type of people to be muddled about such things, and they were well aware of the temperaments of both Tan Yudai and Li Qiuying.

Besides, when the grandparents went to help look after the children, they didn’t ask for a salary; they simply wanted to help their young grandchildren.

Of course, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei wouldn’t let them lose out. While they didn’t give them a fixed monthly wage, the money they gave the elders as a sign of filial piety during festivals was far more than any salary.

Once she calmed down, Second Auntie felt a bit uneasy about her attitude toward her niece-in-law and her niece. She worried Jiang Xia might misunderstand and think she only cared about her own family making money, ignoring her kin.

She didn’t want to speak ill of the two younger women, but without an explanation, she felt she seemed selfish. “Xiao Xia, I don’t want your Big Cousin-in-law and Li Qiuying to go to the capital because our personalities don’t mesh. If you…”

Jiang Xia interrupted her, “Second Auntie, you have it wrong. I don’t want them to go; it’s not your problem. Even A-Lei and my parents can’t force me to do things I don’t like, let alone anyone else. So, it has nothing to do with you. If anyone asks about this, just say I didn’t want to hire them. You don’t know anything about it.”

Second Auntie felt that Jiang Xia really knew how to speak, and she had a very strong character.

Hearing Jiang Xia say this made her feel much more at ease.

For Jiang Xia, choosing someone to look after her children was a very serious matter. Their character had to be beyond reproach. Beyond caring for the kids diligently, there was also the fact that children have a strong ability to imitate. An adult’s personality and way of doing things would inevitably influence a child through subtle, long-term exposure.

The next morning, around seven o’clock, the Zhou family members arrived at Second Uncle’s house for breakfast.

Zhou Chenglei glanced at the area under Jiang Xia’s eyes. There were no dark circles, which proved she had slept well.

“Did the babies wake up last night?”

Jiang Xia replied, “No, they didn’t wake up until six this morning.”

Only after hearing that did Zhou Chenglei go to help carry a large enamel basin of goose glutinous rice balls into the house.

Second Auntie and Grandma had gotten up early to cook goose glutinous rice balls and chicken soup knife-cut rice cakes.

The goose glutinous rice balls were made from glutinous rice flour, while the knife-cut rice cakes were made from regular rice flour.

Some people didn’t like the sticky texture of the glutinous rice balls, so Second Auntie had made the knife-cut rice cakes as well.

Li Qiufeng helped fry radish cakes, taro silk cakes, mugwort rice cakes, and prosperity cakes. She also deep-fried beef patties and savory fried puffs and made chive and shrimp dumplings along with pork and cabbage dumplings.

The cakes had all been steamed the previous afternoon; this morning, they only needed to be sliced and pan-fried.

The beef patties and savory fried puffs were freshly fried, as they were best eaten that way.

The dumplings were also freshly wrapped; Jiang Xia and Li Qiufeng had made them together.

Zhang Rui looked at the lavish breakfast spread in surprise. “Why did you make so much? This is way too generous!”

Second Auntie brought out a tray of sugar rings, fried rice cakes, and oil dumplings. These had been prepared before the New Year. She smiled and said, “It’s rare for you all to visit, so please try them. These are common things we eat during the New Year here in the countryside.”

Jiang Xia smiled. “Second Auntie and Little Cousin got up at four to start making breakfast. You’re in for a treat this New Year. These dumplings were wrapped specifically for you by Little Cousin. We didn’t have dumplings when we visited last year.”

Li Qiufeng: “…”

Zhang Rui glanced at Li Qiufeng. Sure enough, her face had turned red again!

He smiled and said, “I’ll definitely eat a lot.”

Li Qiufeng: “…”

Her face turned even redder!

Li Qiufeng glared at him. “Then hurry up and eat! Why are you talking so much?!”

She finally dared to be fierce with him!

Quite a rarity!

Zhang Rui teased her, raising his hand in a mock salute. “At your command!”

Li Qiufeng: “…”

Could he not just talk like a normal person?

Zhang Rui smiled as he picked up a dumpling that was shaped rather poorly.

He could tell that this was the one she had wrapped while still learning.

He also knew that Li Qiufeng had made the dumplings because she had heard him mention that they ate dumplings for the New Year back home.

Li Qiufeng had once told him that they didn’t grow wheat in this area, only rice. They didn’t have wheat flour, only rice flour and glutinous rice flour. Therefore, the village never ate dumplings for the New Year, and the villagers didn’t know how to wrap them.

The snacks passed down through generations in the village were all made from rice or glutinous rice flour.

The villagers didn’t just lack the skill to make dumplings; they couldn’t make buns or steamed bread either. They were almost entirely ignorant of any food made from wheat flour.

Li Qiufeng had only learned how to wrap dumplings and buns after going to the capital and being taught by Jiang Xia.

Of course, Second Auntie often visited her neighbors and shared her snacks; through that, she had naturally learned how to make many Northern dishes from them.

Now, both mother and daughter knew how to make dumplings, buns, and steamed bread.

After breakfast, the young people headed up the mountain to dig for bamboo shoots.

It wasn’t the season for picking mushrooms yet; they usually didn’t start appearing until March, and the New Year was early this year.

While there were no mushrooms, there were winter bamboo shoots—though finding them required experience.

The group reached a bamboo grove on the mountain. Zhang Rui carried a hoe but couldn’t see a single shoot. He knew winter bamboo shoots were hidden underground, so he asked Li Qiufeng, “Little Cousin, teach me how to dig them.”

Li Qiufeng replied, “I’m not very good at it either. Every year, it’s my dad and my brothers who dig them. My mom and I usually go pick camellias. Ask my cousin to teach you; he’s an expert at digging bamboo shoots.”

Digging for shoots was too much of a back-breaking labor. She knew how in theory, but Li Qiufeng had been pampered by her parents and older siblings; she had never really done the hard work of digging for shoots.

The chores she usually did at home were things like washing clothes, cooking, gardening, transplanting rice seedlings, harvesting, and drying rice.

Unless they were incredibly busy, she was always given the lightest tasks.

Zhang Rui: “…”

He had been hoping to bond with his Little Cousin while digging bamboo shoots.

Li Qiufeng said to Jiang Xia, “Big Sister-in-law, let’s go to that hillside over there to pick camellias.”

There were wild camellias on the mountain, and they were in bloom.

“Alright.” Jiang Xia didn’t have the strength to dig for shoots, nor did she know how. Winter bamboo shoots hadn’t sprouted above ground yet, so one had to judge where they were based on experience.

She would learn later after they finished picking flowers.

Jiang Xia said to Zhou Chenglei, “Dig a few more to take back.”

“Okay.” Zhou Chenglei knew Jiang Xia intended to use the bamboo shoots to develop a new product for the food factory.

Since Zhang Rui had plenty of brute force with nowhere to spend it, Zhou Chenglei said to him, “Come here, I’ll teach you how to dig.”

Second Uncle and Zhou Chenglei were both experts, so they stayed behind to teach Zhang Rui.

Jiang Xia, Li Qiufeng, and Second Auntie went to pick camellias.

These were the edible variety.

Camellias could be made into flower tea. Usually, the people in their village would use dried camellias to make tea for guests.

However, there weren’t many flowers left. Every household had gone up the mountain before the New Year to pick and dry them for gifts or for hosting, so the supply was low.

Whatever was there had mostly bloomed in the last couple of days.

The three of them picked enough to fill a basket before heading back to where the men were digging bamboo shoots.

Chapter 771: Waiting Slowly

Following the bamboo runner, Zhou Chenlei dug up twelve bamboo shoots.

Jiang Xia watched as the plump shoots of various sizes were unhearted one by one, her face filled with surprise. “So many? Did they all come from just one bamboo plant?”

Zhang Rui, who had been digging for a long time and only found three, couldn’t help but chime in, “Sister-in-law, you really need to lecture Fourth Brother. He’s rounding up the bamboo’s entire family line. Isn’t he afraid of digging them all up and leaving no bamboo for the future?”

Jiang Xia also felt that the pun about being “wicked” had truly taken physical form at this moment!

Second Uncle chuckled. “No, winter bamboo shoots generally don’t grow into full bamboo. As long as you don’t damage the bamboo runner while digging, it’s fine. It’s the spring shoots that grow into mature bamboo. If digging up winter shoots meant no more bamboo would grow, we’d be worried too! Many people in the village rely on selling bamboo and bamboo products for a living; they wouldn’t do something like that.”

In reality, winter bamboo shoots served as the bamboo forest’s “backup plan.”

The moso bamboo would produce a large number of winter shoots to ensure that at least a few could survive the harsh winter to supplement the spring crop.

In contrast, spring shoots were the “main force.” Once the ground temperature rose, they would sprout en masse, relying on the abundant spring rain and sunlight to grow rapidly into mature bamboo.

Villagers digging up winter shoots—especially those buried deep or the weaker ones—actually reduced the waste of nutrients from the bamboo runner. This allowed the remaining spring shoots to receive more resources, resulting in higher-quality bamboo.

It was the same principle as thinning out seedlings for vegetables or thinning fruit on a tree.

Zhou Chenlei had mainly wanted to show Jiang Xia, knowing she hadn’t seen it before. Now that she had seen enough, he used his hoe to carefully sever the roots, ensuring the runner remained unharmed.

Jiang Xia immediately stepped forward to collect the shoots, showing no hesitation at all.

Once all the shoots were collected, Zhou Chenlei filled the holes back in with mud.

Zhang Rui had been searching for a while without success, so he waved to Li Qiufeng. “Little Cousin, you come find the shoots and I’ll dig. I’m not nearly as accurate as Fourth Brother or Uncle Li. They’ve already filled half a crate, and I’ve only got two.”

Seeing that his haul was indeed pitifully small, Li Qiufeng began to teach him.

Jiang Xia also followed Zhou Chenlei’s lead, learning how to find winter shoots that hadn’t broken the surface yet. Whether she would actually dig them was one thing, but knowing how was another.

What if she transmigrated again one day and needed the skill?

The group spent half the day digging. Zhou Chenlei filled two large crates, and with Li Qiufeng’s guidance, Zhang Rui managed to fill one as well.

Second Uncle and Second Auntie also filled two large crates.

As it was getting late and they had enough shoots, the group happily headed down the mountain toward home.

Zhou Chenlei and Zhang Rui each carried a load of bamboo shoots on their shoulders, while Second Uncle carried a crate on his back as they returned to the village.

On the way, they ran into some fellow villagers.

A woman smiled and greeted Zhou Chenlei, “A-Lei, is Xiao Xia back to visit Grandpa and Grandma again?”

Zhou Chenlei gave an affirmative grunt.

Jiang Xia also smiled and called out, “Second Aunt.”

Most people in the village knew Zhou Chenlei. After all, when he was a child, he would often stay at Grandma’s place for a month at a time.

The entire village recognized him, and Zhou Chenlei even had close friends in this village whom he had played with since childhood.

Whenever he came to visit Grandpa and Grandma, he would gather with his old playmates.

Last year, Zhou Chenlei had introduced Jiang Xia to many of his buddies.

However, since most of them were married and some even had children in elementary school, they had all gathered as families back then. At that time, Zhou Chenlei was the only one whose child hadn’t been born yet.

Today at noon, Zhou Chenlei was going to have lunch with his friends here. Jiang Xia wasn’t going to join them, as it would be inconvenient to bring three babies along. He was taking Zhang Rui instead.

Second Aunt glanced at Zhang Rui and asked Second Auntie with a smile, “Is this your Qiufeng’s partner? He’s quite handsome and tall! Where is he from?”

Second Auntie looked at Zhang Rui, who was steadily carrying a load of bamboo shoots, and felt very satisfied. She didn’t deny it and replied with a smile, “He’s from the capital.”

Zhang Rui had found another opportunity yesterday to ask Li Qiufeng how her considerations were going, and she had essentially agreed.

Subsequently, Zhang Rui had made his intentions clear to the two elders, stating that his family also approved. He planned to take Li Qiufeng back to his home on the sixth day of the first lunar month after they returned to the capital on the fifth.

Once the parents on both sides had met, the two of them would be considered officially dating.

Zhang Rui couldn’t understand the local dialect, but he understood the words “the capital.”

He glanced at Li Qiufeng beside him. Sure enough, her face had turned red again.

He could roughly guess what the woman was saying.

He asked Li Qiufeng, “How should I address this lady? Won’t you introduce me?”

Li Qiufeng had no choice but to say, “She’s an aunt from the village. You can just call her Second Aunt.”

Zhang Rui immediately greeted her, “Second Aunt, I’m Zhang Rui. You can just call me young Rui.”

Villagers always liked such enthusiastic people. Second Aunt smiled and said, “Young Rui? Xiao Feng is a good girl—hardworking and filial. You have good taste, and Xiao Feng has good eyes too. You look like a fine comrade! Just like A-Lei, you’re a veteran, aren’t you?”

Zhang Rui nodded with a smile. “Yes, Brother Lei and I were brothers-in-arms.”

“Soldiers are good. They’re all good people.”

Zhang Rui smiled.

Second Auntie said with a laugh, “We’ll be heading back now.”

On the way back, they encountered villagers the whole way. Whenever they saw Zhang Rui and Li Qiufeng walking together, they would ask a question. Some close friends even insisted Li Qiufeng bring Zhang Rui to their house for a meal.

Anyone slightly more shy would have been too embarrassed to handle it.

Fortunately, Zhang Rui had an outgoing personality.

By this point, Li Qiufeng had grown accustomed to it. She went from blushing to generously replying, “That’s right.”

Zhang Rui was very happy with Li Qiufeng’s acknowledgment. “The people in the village are so warm,” he noted with a smile.

“Most people in our village share the same surname, so almost everyone is related in some way.”

Jiang Xia laughed. “It was the same when I came last year. Everyone I saw would ask a question.”

Zhang Rui asked, “Was last year the first time you came, Sister-in-law?”

Jiang Xia nodded. “Yeah, I only came once during the New Year last year.”

Zhang Rui remarked, “You’re still impressive, Sister-in-law. You’ve only been here once, but you can greet everyone you see now.”

He then said to Li Qiufeng, “I don’t have Sister-in-law’s talent for recognizing people. When I come next time, remember to remind me who everyone is.”

Li Qiufeng nodded. “Mhm. I’ll greet them first, and you just follow my lead.”

Zhang Rui smiled. “Alright.”

She didn’t even realize she had already accepted his “next time.”

…

At noon, Zhou Chenlei took Zhang Rui to a friend’s house for the gathering.

Jiang Xia handed him a thick stack of red envelopes. “It’s the New Year. Remember to give the kids red envelopes when you see them. Don’t drink too much.”

Last year, when Jiang Xia went with him, she was the one who handed them out.

Zhou Chenlei took the envelopes. “I won’t drink. Aren’t we going home this afternoon?”

They had to visit Great-Uncle’s house tomorrow, and after that, they would be done visiting relatives. Any remaining visits would be others coming to their house.

Zhang Rui looked at the thick stack of red envelopes and asked Li Qiufeng, “When will you be able to give me a stack of New Year’s red envelope money to go out and hand it out?”

He also wanted to be someone who could give out red envelopes.

Li Qiufeng: “…”

“Just keep waiting!”

“Fair enough!”

In the afternoon, Jiang Xia waited until the children were napping before taking the opportunity to ask Second Uncle if he wanted to go to the city to do business. “A new seafood market has opened over there. A-Lei and I have stalls in the market. Selling seafood or dried seafood there would definitely earn much more than weaving crates in the village.”

Chapter 772: Not Interested

Jiang Xia said, “Isn’t Second Uncle selling crates also doing business? Selling the chickens you raise at home, or the peanuts and sweet potatoes you grow at the market—isn’t that also doing business? Selling seafood at the market is exactly the same.”

“That’s not the same. How can that be considered doing business?” Second Uncle hesitated. “Besides, if I leave, who will farm the fields at home? You can’t just not farm. We have to pay a lot of public grain tax every year. If we don’t farm, we won’t have the grain to pay it.”

Second Uncle was afraid that if he went out to do business and failed to make money, he wouldn’t even be able to afford the public grain tax.

He was well aware that doing business came with risks.

Jiang Xia replied, “The fields can be farmed by hiring someone else, or you can let other villagers till the land in exchange for them paying your public grain tax. I believe many people would be willing to farm it under those terms. If you’re willing to take a chance, Second Uncle, you can work with my cousins, or even with First Uncle. Your two families could share a stall, or each have your own.”

Jiang Xia explained the details to them; whether they listened or not was up to them.

Second Auntie’s perspective had shifted. She had previously worried about the fields being left untended and the inability to pay the public grain tax without farming.

She hadn’t realized they could hire someone or let someone else use the land as long as they covered the tax.

She immediately spoke up, “Old man, let’s go! Let’s do business! Xiao Xia is right. Honestly, farming doesn’t really make any money—it just keeps you from starving. We’ve farmed our whole lives and still can’t afford to build a multi-story building. Doing business is different; the profits are much higher. If you go to the city and make money, we can even buy a house there and transfer our household registration. Then we’ll be eating state-supplied grain and won’t have to pay a public grain tax anymore.”

The more Second Auntie thought about it, the more it made sense. “Go! Take our two sons and do it. We’ll hire someone for the fields or let someone else have them. Don’t worry, there’s no way we won’t make enough to cover the grain tax. Just look at how much Xiao Feng and I earned selling clothes!”

Second Uncle thought it over before saying, “Xiao Xia, thank you for thinking so highly of me. I’ll discuss it with your Second Auntie and First Uncle. I also need to think about whether I’m cut out for this.”

Jiang Xia smiled. “Alright, you all discuss it. Take your time, Second Uncle. It won’t be too late to give me an answer in a few days. I’ll keep the stalls reserved for you for now. If you decide not to do it, I’ll rent them out after the Lantern Festival. Those stalls are in the front row. I can’t say for sure how much you’ll make once the market gets busy, but I can guarantee you’ll earn more than enough to keep yourselves fed. If you aren’t comfortable with cleaning fish, you could sell dry goods. There are stalls in the dry goods section too, though they aren’t in the front row.”

“Okay. Xiao Xia, I’ll talk it over with your Second Uncle about what to sell,” Second Auntie said, immediately pulling Second Uncle into their room.

Although First Uncle and First Auntie were good people, Tan Yudai was there, and Second Auntie didn’t want to partner with the first branch.

It was better for each family to work separately. That way, there would be no complaints about who was doing more or less work.

Recalling Tan Yudai and Li Qiuying’s laziness before the family division, Second Auntie was genuinely wary of them.

The couple discussed it thoroughly, analyzed the risks, and then consulted their sons and daughters-in-law.

In the end, the father and two sons decided to go for it. The two daughters-in-law would stay in the village with the children for the time being to look after the farm, as the children still had school.

During the busy farming season, they would hire help. Only when the seafood business proved to be truly profitable would they give up farming entirely.

This way, they didn’t have to worry about failing to make money and being unable to pay the grain tax.

Once the family had reached an agreement, Second Uncle and Second Auntie went to talk to First Uncle and First Auntie, sharing their plan. “Brother, I’ve decided to rent one of A-Lei’s seafood stalls. Do you want to join in? Xiao Xia said she reserved a couple of stalls for our families.”

Upon hearing this, Tan Yudai cut in, “Is this her way of dismissing us with some random seafood stall because she doesn’t want to take me and Qiuying to the capital? When we were heading home after the housewarming for Second Cousin’s new house, didn’t we pass by that seafood market? There wasn’t even a single fly there. She’s just trying to scam her own relatives because she can’t get those stalls rented out!”

First Auntie snapped, “Stop talking such nonsense! If you don’t have anything good to say, keep your mouth shut! A-Lei and Xiao Xia aren’t that kind of people.”

First Uncle also trusted his nephew. “If they’re telling us to do it, there must be money to be made.”

Tan Yudai huffed, “Fine, if you won’t listen to reason and don’t believe me, so be it. Regardless, the two of us aren’t doing it. Don’t count us in.”

The second branch got to sell clothes while they were expected to sell fish? And they wanted her to stay home to mind the kids and farm?

Whoever wanted to go could go; she didn’t care for it!

First Auntie said to her eldest daughter-in-law, “If you won’t do it, your father and I will go with the second branch. Don’t regret it later when we make money! And don’t say we’re being partial.”

“Don’t worry, Mother, we won’t,” Tan Yudai replied. She thought to herself: That market doesn’t even have a fly. If the fish don’t sell and they rot, they’ll lose everything.

After discussing it with Second Uncle for over an hour, First Uncle gave Jiang Xia his answer. The two families would rent a total of three stalls: two for seafood and one for dry goods.

Second Uncle would work with his two sons, renting two stalls. First Uncle would work with his younger son and rent only one stall.

Jiang Xia wasn’t surprised that Big Brother and Big Cousin-in-law declined.

Big Brother was the type who listened to everything his wife said.

In the afternoon, around three o’clock, Zhou Chenglei and Zhang Rui returned.

Zhou Chenglei pulled out a thick stack of red envelopes and gave them to Jiang Xia; they were gifts from his brothers for the triplets.

Seeing this, Zhang Rui once again wished he were someone who could help a child collect New Year’s red envelope money.

However, he likely wouldn’t be as impressive as Fourth Brother, having three children all at once.

He said to Li Qiufeng, “In the future, we can only have one child. Do you mind?”

Because of his job, they were only allowed to have one child, regardless of whether it was a boy or a girl.

Li Qiufeng was stunned for a moment; she hadn’t considered the issue.

Seeing her silence, Zhang Rui continued, “But it’s not set in stone. I’ll pick Fourth Brother’s brain; maybe we’ll end up with quadruplets in one go.”

“…”

Li Qiufeng’s face turned bright red. She glared at him, her eyes clearly saying, Have you lost your mind?

She couldn’t help but snap, “Do you take me for a pig?”

Zhang Rui chuckled. “I’m just joking. One is perfectly fine.”

Li Qiufeng asked, “What if it’s a girl?”

Zhang Rui replied, “That would be fantastic! Our daughter would definitely be the little princess of the whole family. My family hasn’t had a girl for several generations. Both my brother and my cousin want daughters. When my sisters-in-law were pregnant, my grandmother and grand-aunt even went to the temple to pray for granddaughters, but they all turned out to be boys.”

Li Qiufeng was speechless.

She had only ever seen women in the village praying to the gods for a boy; she had never seen anyone pray for a girl.

Zhang Rui added, “But don’t worry, boy or girl, it doesn’t matter. Don’t feel pressured. I’ll love whoever you give birth to. My family isn’t the type to value boys over girls; they’re very open-minded. My mother has always wanted a daughter and treats both my sisters-in-law like her own. They’ll love whoever I love.”

Li Qiufeng blushed. “I’m not feeling pressured! Hurry up and move the things to the car. If we don’t leave now, it’ll be dark!”

Zhang Rui smiled and went to help move the items. They were local specialties prepared by Grandpa, Grandma, and Second Auntie. Even the bamboo shoots dug up that morning were packed into burlap bags and loaded onto the car.

Jiang Xia helped Grandpa and Grandma into the front passenger seats of the two respective cars.

Last night, Big Cousin-in-law had gone to see Grandpa and Grandma, complaining that her family didn’t have money to build a house while the second branch was already preparing to do so. She also mentioned wanting Li Qiuying to go to the capital to find a partner.

She had said a lot to garner sympathy, hoping the two elders would take the initiative to tell Jiang Xia that they weren’t going to the capital, so that she and Li Qiuying could go instead.

However, Grandma had flatly refused.

Grandma wasn’t foolish; the two elders knew the character of every child in the family.

Tan Yudai and Li Qiuying didn’t want to go to look after the children; they wanted to go to make money and find husbands. How could they possibly have the heart to mind the children?

Chapter 773: The Competition Between Three Old Men

It was already very late by the time they returned to Xiaoyucun from the maternal grandparents’ home.

Since Grandpa, Grandma, Second Auntie, and Li Qiufeng were all staying at Jiang Xia’s house, Zhang Rui decided not to return to the city. He had so little time to spend with Li Qiufeng that he wanted to stay as close to her as possible whenever he could to nurture their relationship. He said to Zhou Chenglei, “I’m not going back to the city either. I’ll stay here for the night. Fourth Brother, arrange a room for me.”

Zhou Chenglei replied, “There are no rooms left. Go sleep at my Second Brother’s place.”

Zhang Rui wasn’t picky; as long as he could see Li Qiufeng when he woke up the next morning, it was fine.

Despite what he said, Zhou Chenglei still managed to arrange a room for Zhang Rui on the ground floor.

The next morning, Zhou Chenglei got up at five o’clock to go for a run. Zhang Rui did the same. As the two of them were heading out, Zhou Chengsen happened to be leaving his house next door as well.

Zhang Rui greeted him with a smile and asked, “Second Brother, so you have a habit of running too?”

Zhou Chengsen replied, “Mm.”

Zhou Chenglei added, “He didn’t used to, but he started recently. He’s afraid he’s aging too fast.”

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

He had only started running after he began dating Ruan Tang. Being several years older than her, he was afraid of growing old too soon and leaving her alone in this world.

Zhang Rui recalled, “I remember Second Brother is only three or four years older than you, Fourth Brother?”

Zhou Chengsen emphasized, “It’s only three years.”

Zhang Rui then asked, “Fourth Brother, are you turning thirty after the New Year?”

Zhou Chenglei gave him a cold look. “The point isn’t how old you are after the New Year; the point is how much older you are than your wife.”

Zhang Rui: “…”

Run!

He had to run!

From now on, he would run an extra thirty minutes every day!

And so, the three “old men” gave it their absolute all.

None of them wanted to lose to the others.

Each wanted to prove they were still young and strong!

Early-rising fishermen heading out to sea saw the three of them chasing each other, running down the beach as if their lives depended on it.

At first, people thought they were chasing a thief!

Otherwise, why would they be running so desperately?

As they got closer, they recognized Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengsen.

Zhou Chenglei ran every day, and Zhou Chengsen had been running daily recently, so the villagers were used to it. However, everyone was still struck by the competitive intensity of the three men today.

Eventually, Zhou Chengsen was the first to give up. He truly couldn’t run any further. Comparing himself to these two who exercised every day was practically suicide.

Zhou Chenglei and Zhang Rui were still neck and neck.

Another ten minutes passed. The sun had risen, and more people were appearing on the beach. Zhang Rui was so out of breath he felt like he was dying, yet he still couldn’t overtake Chenglei, remaining just one step behind.

Zhang Rui finally stopped, bending over with his hands on his knees, gasping for air. “I’m done! I can’t do it!”

Only then did Zhou Chenglei stop, also breathing heavily.

Zhang Rui was a bit frustrated. Despite his daily military-style training, he still couldn’t match Zhou Chenglei, who had been discharged from the military for over a year!

“Fourth Brother, shall we go again?”

Zhou Chenglei looked at him indifferently. “Are you sure?”

Zhang Rui: “…”

“Not sure.”

Never mind, no need to make a fool of himself.

By the time the three returned, Jiang Xia was already awake.

Zhou Chenglei asked, “Why are you up so early?”

“I need to make sour bamboo shoots. I’m going down to eat breakfast first. The children haven’t woken up yet, so keep an eye on them.”

After speaking, Jiang Xia hurried downstairs. After breakfast, she went to the old house to teach He Xinghuan and Aunt Fen how to make sour bamboo shoots and sour and spicy bamboo shoots.

He Xinghuan and Aunt Fen also knew how to make these, so the three of them each prepared two flavors to see whose tasted best. They would then use that recipe for production.

Jiang Xia said to He Xinghuan, “We’ll need to order some large jars for the pickling.”

He Xinghuan replied, “I know someone who fires water vats and jars. I’ll go place an order.”

Jiang Xia said, “Good. Order five hundred to start with. I’ll check how much bamboo Hou can source.”

Jiang Xia finished her work by 9:00 AM. Then the whole family visited Great-Uncle’s house, had lunch, and returned home.

Once back, they started packing their luggage.

Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying were extremely excited, learning to pack their own bags.

The two sisters were going to sleep together tonight.

Jiang Xia went upstairs to help them check their luggage, reminding the two sisters, “You don’t need to bring too many clothes. Pack some thick ones, as the capital is much colder than here. We can buy more clothes once we get to the capital.”

Zhou Zhou asked Jiang Xia, “Auntie, is it snowing in the capital?”

“It’s not snowing right now. If it were snowing, our flight might get canceled.” Jiang Xia had checked the weather forecast and had also called Zhang Fuyan to ask about the weather in the capital.

Zhou Zhou said, “Then it’s better if it doesn’t snow yet. Wait until we get to the capital!”

Zhou Ying added, “I really want to see snow. Auntie, will we be able to see it?”

Jiang Xia replied, “We should. It looks like a cold spell is coming in a couple of days.”

Zhou Zhou sighed, “I really want to get to the capital quickly.”

After checking the two girls’ suitcases and adding a thick sweater for each, Jiang Xia told them to go to bed early.

Just then, Zhou Chengsen came over. Jiang Xia asked him, “Second Brother, what dried seafood have you prepared for the Ruan family? I have some four-head abalone and sea cucumbers here, and some high-quality fish maw too.”

As for other things, there were several boxes of bird’s nest, some imported spirits, and some imported chocolates and snacks at the courtyard house in the capital. They could just get those once they arrived.

Zhou Chengsen replied, “No need to bring anything; I’ve prepared enough.”

When he had escorted Ruan Tang home last time and met her family, the Ruans hadn’t been very accepting of him.

However, the Ruan family were refined people. They hadn’t said anything nasty, but they had expressed their views quite tactfully.

Zhou Chengsen could understand their dislike. It wasn’t that they didn’t like him as a person; they simply weren’t happy with him being a divorcee with a child.

If Zhou Ying wanted to marry a man who was already divorced with a child in the future, even if that man was excellent, Zhou Chengsen imagined he would feel the same way as Ruan Tang’s family.

The next morning at 6:00 AM, the family drove to the city to meet Father Jiang, and then they all drove together to the airport.

Father Jiang was going to the capital to visit old friends.

Mother Jiang and Jiang Dong would drive the two Jeeps back home.

Jiang Dong would stay home to keep Mother Jiang company and wouldn’t return to the capital until the tenth day of the New Year.

Once they boarded the plane, the boys—Guangzong, Yaozu, and their brothers—along with Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying, were all incredibly excited.

With their elder brothers and sisters with them, the triplets were also very excited. They were held by their older siblings, “chirping” away and talking to them. The little sister excitedly patted the plane’s window.

One couldn’t tell if she was trying to describe something to her older brother and sister.

The triplets had flown many times. Sometimes they would wake up mid-flight or hadn’t fallen asleep before boarding. As long as Jiang Xia or Zhou Chenglei sat by the window, they would hold the children to look at the sea of clouds or the land below, speaking softly to them throughout the journey, doing everything they could to soothe them so they wouldn’t cry and disturb others.

As the plane prepared for takeoff, Jiang Xia, Zhou Chenglei, and Father Jiang took the triplets back, not letting the older children hold them.

Zhou Zhou sat by the window, and Jiang Xia sat next to her. Fearing that Zhou Zhou might be scared during her first takeoff, Jiang Xia held the little sister with one hand and took Zhou Zhou’s small hand with the other.

Seeing her mother holding her sister’s hand, the little sister also reached out to grab her sister’s hand, “babbling” away to her.

Chapter 774: Asking the Obvious

It was already 12:30 PM when the plane touched down.

As they stepped off the plane, the children finally understood exactly what Uncle and Auntie meant when they constantly talked about how cold winter in the capital was!

The temperature difference between here and Xiaoyucun was like night and day.

Everyone hurried to button up their coats or pull up their zippers.

A gust of icy wind swept past, making Tian Caihua shrink her neck into her collar. “It’s so cold! How many quilts will we need to sleep under tonight? Xiao Xia, is there enough bedding at home?”

She felt like she might need two thick cotton quilts to survive the night.

Jiang Xia smiled. “Don’t worry, Big Sister-in-law. The courtyard house has heating, so it won’t be cold indoors. In fact, it’ll be even warmer than our house back in Xiaoyucun.”

Only then did Tian Caihua feel relieved.

Zhang Fuyan and Ruan Tang had come to the airport together to meet them.

As the family walked out of the exit, Zhou Ying spotted Ruan Tang and Zhang Fuyan immediately. She let go of Zhou Chengsen’s hand and ran toward them, pulling Zhou Zhou along. “Sister Ruan! Sister Xiao Yan!”

Ruan Tang leaned down and opened her arms with a smile to catch her.

Zhang Fuyan responded with a grin, patted Zhou Zhou on the head, and took his hand.

The rest of the family walked over to join them.

Zhang Fuyan smiled and reached out to hold the hand of the little sister Jiang Xia was carrying. “Want Sister to hold you?”

Whether the baby still remembered Zhang Fuyan or was simply not shy around strangers, she immediately smiled and reached out her arms toward her.

Zhang Fuyan took the baby, Jiang Xia took hold of Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying, and they all began to walk out together.

Other passengers from the same flight were also filtering out.

Two people recognized Ruan Tang and walked over to greet her. “Ruan Tang?”

One of them, Kong Ning, exclaimed, “Xiao Tang, it really is you!”

Ruan Tang looked over and realized they were her high school classmates, Kong Ning and Xu Yan. She greeted them politely, “Long time no see.”

Xu Yan smiled. “It really has been a long time.”

The two then glanced at Zhou Ying, before shifting their gaze to Zhou Chengsen.

Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang were currently walking on either side of Zhou Ying, each holding one of her hands.

To an outsider, they looked exactly like a family of three.

Kong Ning asked, clearly knowing the answer already, “Is this your husband and child? Hello, I’m Kong Ning, Xiao Tang’s high school classmate.”

“Xiao Tang, I didn’t realize your child was already this big! I heard just before the New Year that you weren’t even married yet!”

Kong Ning was an acquaintance of Feng Bing; in fact, Feng Bing was her cousin.

Ruan Tang knew she was saying this on purpose!

Zhou Chengsen started to say something, but Ruan Tang beat him to it, speaking generously. “She is my partner’s child. Let me introduce you—this is my partner, Zhou Chengsen, and this is Yingying.”

She would likely encounter scenes like this countless times in the future, and Ruan Tang didn’t feel there was anything to hide.

She wanted to admit it openly. She hadn’t stolen or snatched anything; why should her relationship be kept in the shadows? Why should she allow others to mock her?

Zhou Chengsen glanced at Ruan Tang, his heart feeling a heavy tightness.

Ruan Tang looked at Zhou Chengsen and introduced the other woman with a smile. “Chengsen, this is my high school classmate, Xu Yan.”

Zhou Chengsen gave a slight nod. “Hello.”

Xu Yan studied Zhou Chengsen. She felt he had a powerful aura; he was handsome and had a somewhat refined, scholarly air about him. He looked like someone who had been in a leadership position for a long time—gentle and approachable, yet possessing an innate command. She smiled and said, “Hello. We’re having a class reunion in a couple of days. Have Ruan Tang bring you along.”

Zhou Chengsen didn’t agree immediately. This was up to Ruan Tang; he merely gave a non-committal reply. “I’ll try to make it if I’m free.”

Xu Yan added, “Ruan Tang, you should bring Comrade Zhou to the reunion. You haven’t attended one in years.”

“We’ll go if we have time.” Ruan Tang hadn’t been to a class reunion in years and had no intention of starting now.

She then introduced the other woman. “This is Kong Ning. She’s also Feng Bing’s cousin.”

The family had stopped behind them. Having heard Kong Ning’s earlier remarks, everyone was feeling quite displeased.

“The cousin of that mental patient?” Zhou Chengsen’s brother, Zhou Chenglei, spoke up. He looked at Jiang Xia as if trying to confirm. “Wasn’t that mental patient who assaulted Comrade Ruan Tang named Feng Bing?”

Jiang Xia nodded. “Yes. I’ve heard that mental illness can have a hereditary component. Is that right, Xiao Tang?”

Ruan Tang almost laughed. “It seems so.”

Mother Zhou chimed in, “Is it really that terrifying?”

Tian Caihua took a scared step back. “That woman just now was contradicting herself left and right; she didn’t even have the logic of a normal person. Has she seen a doctor? Can mental patients in the capital just wander the streets freely? They can even fly on planes?”

Kong Ning’s face turned black with rage. “What are you saying? Who are you calling a mental patient?”

Tian Caihua replied, “We didn’t say you were a mental patient! Why are you jumping to claim the title? Being so sensitive… you’re not actually one, are you?”

Kong Ning: “…”

Seeing Kong Ning’s face twisted with fury, Ruan Tang felt much better. She smiled and said, “Alright, now. Kong Ning doesn’t have a mental illness! Everyone, please don’t misunderstand!”

Zhou Chengsen added, “Right. The one with the mental illness is her cousin. There might be a family history, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it was passed down to her.”

Kong Ning: “…”

Ruan Tang smiled. “To be honest, I really should thank Kong Ning. Back then, if she hadn’t said her cousin was such a great guy, I wouldn’t have dated Feng Bing. And if I hadn’t dated him, I probably wouldn’t have been scared into moving far away, where I met someone as wonderful as you.”

Ruan Tang looked at Zhou Chengsen as she finished.

Zhou Chengsen nodded. “In that case, we really should thank her properly!”

He looked at Kong Ning, his gaze much sharper than the one he’d given Xu Yan. “Comrade Kong Ning, has your cousin been discharged from the hospital yet? I haven’t had the chance to visit the Feng family. Since I’m in the capital, I’ll make a point to drop by one of these days. While I’m at it, I’ll visit your house as well. Since you helped Xiao Tang so much, I should thank you in person. Xiao Tang, do you know where Comrade Kong Ning lives?”

Kong Ning: “…”

Ruan Tang smiled. “I do!”

Zhou Chengsen looked at her with a chilling intensity. “Ruan Tang and I will come to your door another day to thank you for the care you’ve shown her—every bit of it, including the ‘care’ in your every word and action. We’ll be seeing more of you; let’s stay in touch.”

Kong Ning: “…”

It was a threat—a blatant, naked threat!

Despite knowing it was a threat, Kong Ning was thoroughly intimidated. She was so frightened she didn’t dare make a sound.

Ruan Tang felt that was enough. She said, “Classmate Kong Ning, Classmate Xu Yan, Chengsen and I will treat you to dinner another day! My partner’s family just got off a flight and we have children with us, so we won’t chat any longer. We’ll be going now!”

Zhou Chengsen nodded to the two of them. “We’ll visit soon!”

With that, the group pulled their trolley suitcases and marched past the two women.

Xu Yan watched as they each pulled one or two suitcases. The sheer spectacle made passersby in the airport turn their heads.

Xu Yan had a trolley suitcase herself, but she could see that theirs ranged from one or two hundred yuan to several hundred—some even looked like they cost over a thousand!

She even spotted two of the latest limited-edition models.

A dozen or so suitcases… added up, that was thousands of yuan!

“What kind of family background does Ruan Tang’s partner actually have?”

Kong Ning was nearly dying of anger, mixed with a growing sense of fear. She was afraid Zhou Chengsen really would show up at her door; she felt he was the one who was a psychopath.

“I don’t know. All I know is he’s remarried with a kid! It feels like the whole family is crazy!”

Xu Yan watched the group walk toward a fleet of Jeeps and sedans. Everyone was dressed fashionably and looked polished.

“Even if he’s remarried, being able to marry into such a wealthy family isn’t bad. After all, Ruan Tang isn’t exactly young anymore.”

Looking at the group, Kong Ning also realized the family’s background was definitely impressive.

Why? Why did Ruan Tang get to marry so well after she was the one who caused her cousin to end up in a psychiatric hospital?

Kong Ning turned to leave. “Let’s go!”

She was going to the Feng house to tell her cousin that Ruan Tang was getting married!

Chapter 775: You Are More Important

After leaving the airport, the family went to have lunch before heading home to rest.

They had been visiting relatives for several days and were all exhausted. Even Tian Caihua was too drained to care about touring the courtyard house; she desperately needed sleep.

On the way home, Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying both fell asleep in the car.

The two girls had been so excited the night before that they hadn’t slept until nearly two in the morning, chatting away. They had remained energetic throughout the flight, but once they were full and back in the car, they could no longer keep their eyes open.

They didn’t even realize it when Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengsen carried them out of the car.

Knowing the family needed to rest, Zhang Rui, Ruan Tang, and Zhang Fuyan bid their farewells once they saw everyone home.

Zhou Chenglei said, “Tell the old man that Xiaxia and I will come to see him in a couple of days.”

“Alright, no need to be so formal,” Zhang Rui replied. “Grandpa said there’s no rush. It’s a rare occasion to have your whole family in the capital, so take your time and show them around.”

Elder Zhang knew the family was arriving in the capital today and had arranged for a car to pick them up from the airport.

Zhang Fuyan left her Jeep for Jiang Xia to use. “Ruan Tang and I will head back in Zhang Rui’s car.”

Ruan Tang’s family didn’t have a car, so she had taken Zhang Fuyan’s ride to the airport.

Zhou Chengsen knew Ruan Tang missed him; he had been feeling restless all day. He spoke up, “Ah Rui, take Comrade Xiao Yan home. I’ll see Xiao Tang back later.”

Hearing this, Ruan Tang looked at him sharply.

Zhou Chengsen looked back at her. “Yingying brought a gift for you.”

Zhang Fuyan handed the car keys to Zhou Chengsen. “In that case, you drive Sister Xiao Tang home later. We’ll head off first.”

“Alright, drive safely.”

Zhang Rui added, “See you tomorrow, Little Cousin.”

Then, Zhang Rui and Zhang Fuyan tactfully made their exit.

With no one else left in the yard, Ruan Tang asked Zhou Chengsen, “What gift did Yingying bring me?”

Zhou Chengsen replied, “Wait until Yingying wakes up and let her give it to you herself. Come on, I’ll take you home.”

The two of them left the courtyard house together and got into the car.

Ruan Tang said to Zhou Chengsen, “I don’t want to go home so early. Shall we go for a stroll?”

Zhou Chengsen rested his hands on the steering wheel and started the engine. Hearing this, he turned to her. “Where do you want to go?”

Ruan Tang thought about where they could find some privacy.

“To Mingyuan.”

Zhou Chengsen glanced at her. “Can we get in?”

“Yes. There used to be production teams growing vegetables inside.”

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

“They stopped allowing that a couple of years ago, and they’ve started managing it more strictly.”

At this time, Mingyuan had not been officially restored, but people could freely wander through the ruined archways. On nice days, people would fly kites near the ruins of the Western-style house, and no one would stop them.

It was cold today, so there shouldn’t be many people there.

It was the quietest, most undisturbed place Ruan Tang could think of.

Zhou Chengsen wasn’t very familiar with the capital, but he had visited a few times. He had a good sense of direction and recognized some of the roads.

Ruan Tang warned him, “You took a wrong turn.”

“We’re not going there. We’re going to Xiangshan Park.”

Ruan Tang thought about it and decided that was fine too.

She just wanted to find somewhere secluded. Xiangshan Park was huge; she didn’t believe they wouldn’t be able to find a spot with no one around.

He drove near Xiangshan Park and found a place to park.

The parking spot was deserted.

Zhou Chengsen turned off the engine, walked over to the passenger side, opened the door, and lifted her straight out of the car.

Ruan Tang: “…”

Zhou Chengsen held her in his arms as if he were carrying a large child, his arms supporting her so she sat comfortably against him, her head resting on his chest.

Ruan Tang clung to him tightly, and tears began to flow uncontrollably. In this moment, she felt exceptionally satisfied and at peace.

He had always kept his distance from her, not even daring to be slightly intimate. Because of that, she felt as if he was always ready to end their relationship, leaving her feeling very insecure.

She knew it was out of respect, but she couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

Especially after he had left the capital alone after meeting her family.

During the New Year, they had only spoken on the phone on New Year’s Eve and the first of the month. After that, he had to go visit relatives. Her grandpa and grandma lived in a mountainous area where there were no telephones, and the village didn’t even have electric lights yet.

They hadn’t been in contact for two days, and her family had been pestering her every day, showing nothing but disdain for Zhou Chengsen. She had gotten into a huge argument with them.

She didn’t dare tell him, and since she couldn’t reach him, her anxiety grew.

During those days, she couldn’t help but worry that if her family still didn’t approve this time—or if they said even harsher things to him—he might not be able to resist breaking up with her.

Even though she knew he avoided intimacy out of respect, during those few days, it felt like he was intentionally distancing himself, ready to pull away and give up on her at any second!

Zhou Chengsen supported her with one hand and gently wiped the tears from her face with the other. “Don’t cry.”

His voice was husky.

Ruan Tang’s tears only fell faster.

“Can you please not talk! You’re making it so I can’t stop!” Ruan Tang snapped in a fit of embarasment, raising her hand to wipe her own eyes.

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

He leaned down to kiss away her tears.

Ruan Tang: “…”

It wasn’t until her tears stopped flowing that he kissed her lips.

He didn’t let go until she was breathless.

Ruan Tang’s face was flushed as she held him tight, burying her face in his chest.

Zhou Chengsen held her close, stroking the back of her head. “Once you’re back at work, give them a push. As soon as your marriage report is approved, we’ll go register the marriage.”

Ruan Tang looked up at him. “You’re not going to wait for my family’s approval?”

Zhou Chengsen looked at her slightly swollen lips. His Adam’s apple bobbed. He pressed her head back against his chest and looked away. “I’m not waiting anymore. You are more important.”

Ruan Tang hugged him tight again, her face buried in his chest.

Zhou Chengsen rubbed his chin against the top of her head. “I simply wanted to get your family’s consent; I didn’t mean it was mandatory to wait for it. Meeting them first was out of respect. I’ve shown that respect, but I can’t control whether they agree or are happy about it.”

Zhou Chengsen continued, “I’m going to marry you whether they agree or not. Marriage is between the two of us. As long as you are willing, it has nothing to do with anyone else.”

Ruan Tang gripped his waist tightly.

Finally, she felt completely at ease.

Zhou Chengsen tightened his hold on her with one arm and gently stroked her head with the other. “Do you want to walk around?”

Going back now was out of the question; her lips were far too red.

“I don’t want to move.”

She just wanted to be held by him like this.

Zhou Chengsen understood her meaning. Without a word, he held her firmly, his jawline and the side of his face pressed against her head.

The scent of her hair filled his nostrils.

The two of them embraced in silence.

This time, he didn’t let go until she felt she had held him long enough and pushed him away.

After releasing him, Ruan Tang said, “I want you to carry me on your back while we walk around.”

“…”

He turned his back to her and bent down.

Ruan Tang jumped onto his back with a smile.

Zhou Chengsen carried her forward just like that.

They had dinner out—it was hotpot. Ruan Tang’s lips were still swollen, so she couldn’t head home just yet.

Chapter 776: I’m here to go register the marriage with Ruan Tang!

The Jeep pulled up outside the Ruan family home.

Zhou Chengsen had originally intended to go inside and greet Ruan Tang’s family, fearing her grandfather might scold her.

But Ruan Tang wouldn’t allow it, blocking the courtyard gate. “Are you going to listen to me or not? Am I more important, or is my family more important?”

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

“Then I’ll head back first. Get some sleep.”

Ruan Tang: “That’s it?”

“…”

Zhou Chengsen took a step forward, pulled her into his arms, and placed a kiss on her forehead. “Go inside. I’ll come to pick you up tomorrow morning. I’ll head back once I see you’ve gone in.”

Ruan Tang went home, feeling thoroughly satisfied.

She walked happily into the living room, where the rest of the family was either watching television or reading the newspaper.

Elder Ruan set down his paper and looked at her over his reading glasses. “Home this late? Where have you been?”

Mother Ruan shot her daughter a meaningful look.

Ruan Tang had no intention of hiding it. “Zhou Chengsen’s family has arrived in the capital. Xiao Yan and I went to pick them up from the airport. We had dinner before I came back.”

Mother Ruan covered her face. She had already told the old man that Ruan Tang was out having fun with Zhang Fuyan. Why was her daughter being so honest?

Elder Ruan slammed his newspaper onto the table in anger. “I do not agree to this marriage. I told you to break up with him. Are you refusing to listen to me now? Are you trying to make our Ruan family lose every shred of dignity we have?”

Ruan Tang also grew angry and couldn’t help but snap back, “How am I losing the family’s dignity?”

Elder Ruan shouted, “You want to marry a man who is remarried with children! Isn’t that embarrassing enough? I’m ashamed to even step out of the house!”

Father Ruan immediately moved to soothe his elderly father. “Papa, Xiao Tang only went to the airport with Xiao Yan. Xiao Tang must have made things clear with him tonight.”

Father Ruan signaled to his daughter with his eyes.

Ruan Tang replied, “Things have been made clear.”

What Ruan Tang didn’t say was that they had cleared up exactly when they were getting married.

Her grandfather was old and in poor health; she didn’t want to actually provoke him. Once it was a done deal, he would eventually accept it.

Only then did Elder Ruan’s expression soften slightly.

Mother Ruan immediately cut in, “It’s late, Papa. Xiao Tang and I will help you back to your room to rest.”

Mother Ruan signaled to her daughter again.

Since her grandfather had doted on her since she was a child, Ruan Tang stepped forward to support him.

Elder Ruan’s tone softened as well. “Grandpa is doing this for your own good. Marrying a man who is remarried with children is not as easy as you imagine it to be.”

Fearing that Ruan Tang might lose her temper and argue with the old man again—they had already argued countless times during the Lunar New Year—Mother Ruan hurriedly said, “Papa, Xiao Tang has already made things clear. She knows.”

Ruan Tang echoed, “Mhm, I know.”

She knew it wouldn’t be easy, of course, because people would mock her both behind her back and to her face. But had she not been mocked before?

She had stopped caring long ago.

It was enough for her to know that marrying Zhou Chengsen would bring her future happiness.

The next morning, the Zhou family members were out of bed before dawn.

Today, they planned to take the children to Tiananmen to see the flag-raising ceremony, then head to the Great Wall for a walk.

At this time, Badaling was the only section that was fully developed and open to the public. The other sections were still closed, but there were direct buses to Badaling.

Zhou Chenglei returned from his six o’clock run and said to Jiang Xia, “You don’t need to get up. Stay home and sleep with the babies. It’s very cold outside; I’ll take the others.”

While running, Zhou Chenglei had felt that the weather was even colder today; it seemed the cold spell had arrived.

Jiang Xia replied, “It’s fine. We should take the three little ones to see the flag-raising ceremony too. We’ll just dress them warmly, put them in the baby stroller, and cover them with a small quilt. Or we can carry them on our backs and wrap a quilt around us. That way they won’t get cold.”

Today’s flag-raising ceremony would be held around seven o’clock. The babies usually woke up by seven anyway, so it was perfect for them to see it.

Hearing this, Zhou Chenglei didn’t argue further.

By then, Zhang Rui had also arrived with the car.

The family set off without even eating breakfast. The courtyard house wasn’t far from Tiananmen, so they could just walk there. Afterward, they would return home for breakfast before taking a bus to the Great Wall.

As they were departing, Zhang Rui noticed Zhou Chengsen was missing and asked, “Where’s Second Brother?”

Zhou Ying replied, “My Papa went to pick up Sister Ruan!”

Zhou Chengsen had just driven off to get Ruan Tang. He didn’t plan on watching the flag-raising; he would pick up Ruan Tang and meet everyone else later for the trip to the Great Wall.

Ruan Tang had told him that Elder Ruan went out for a walk at seven o’clock every day, so she told Zhou Chengsen to appear after 7:10 AM.

7:00 AM.

The Ruan Residence.

The family sat at the dining table eating breakfast.

Ruan Tang sat there, glancing at the clock and then at her grandfather, who was reading the newspaper on the sofa.

When the old-fashioned pendulum clock on the wall chimed.

Elder Ruan set down his paper and said to those at the table, “I’m going out for a walk.”

As long as the weather was good, he would go out every morning to practice Tai Chi for his morning exercises.

Ruan Tang breathed a sigh of relief.

Elder Ruan had just stepped out of the house and hadn’t gone far when a figure rushed out. “Grandpa!”

Elder Ruan saw Feng Bing, and his face instantly darkened. “What are you doing here?”

“Today is the day Xiao Tang and I register the marriage! I’ve come to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau with her!”

He was going crazy again!

Elder Ruan started walking back toward the house. “Ruan Tang isn’t home. Go away!”

Just as Elder Ruan was about to quickly shut the door, Feng Bing dashed forward and shoved him aside. “You’re lying to me! Xiao Tang is home! I saw the lights in her room go on this morning! I’ve been guarding this spot, and she hasn’t left once!”

Elder Ruan stumbled from the push.

Feng Bing rushed inside, pulled a small knife from his coat pocket, and grabbed Elder Ruan, pressing the blade against his neck.

Elder Ruan: “…”

Ruan Tang, her father, and her mother all jumped up in terror.

Mother Ruan quickly pulled Ruan Tang close.

Father Ruan shielded his wife and daughter behind him. “Bing, why are you here? Put the knife down first. Let’s talk things over calmly.”

The whole family was afraid to provoke him.

Feng Bing gripped Elder Ruan tight. “I’ve come to find Xiao Tang to register the marriage.”

Feng Bing glared at Ruan Tang. “Xiao Tang, come with me to register the marriage! Otherwise, I’ll kill you all!”

Ruan Tang looked at the pendulum clock on the wall, forcing herself to stay calm. “Put the knife down, and I’ll go to the Civil Affairs Bureau with you.”

Feng Bing became extremely agitated. “No! I won’t! You’re lying to me! Are you going or not? Come over here right now, we’re going to register the marriage!”

Ruan Tang watched as Feng Bing held the knife against Elder Ruan’s neck, right where the carotid artery was.

She couldn’t provoke him!

She tried to stall for time. “Do you have your household register?”

Feng Bing blinked. “What do I need the household register for?”

“You need a household register to register the marriage. You didn’t bring it, did you? Why don’t you go back and get it first? Once you have it, we’ll go to the Civil Affairs Bureau.”

“Go back? No! Are you lying to me again? You’re lying to me again! Come over here right now and go with me to register the marriage!” In his excitement, a thin line of blood appeared on Elder Ruan’s neck.

Elder Ruan felt the pain but didn’t dare move. One wrong move and the knife would slice his throat!

Ruan Tang stared at the blood on her grandfather’s neck. “I’m not lying to you. They need the household register for registration. Otherwise, how can the people at the Civil Affairs Bureau record it? Didn’t anyone tell you that you need a household register to register a marriage? If you don’t believe me, you can ask someone else.”

“Right… Cousin said… I need the household register. I brought it!” Feng Bing seemed to remember something and pulled a household register out from his heavy coat. “I brought it! I have the household register! Let’s go! Let’s go register the marriage!”

Chapter 777: Fast and Ruthless

Hearing Ruan Tang’s words, Feng Bing looked at Mother Ruan. “Auntie, go get the household register. You, come to my side, and I’ll let the old man go.”

It was then he realized Father Ruan had been creeping closer without him noticing.

He was mentally unstable, but he wasn’t stupid.

He immediately shouted, “Don’t come any closer! Let Xiao Tang come over!”

In his agitation, the knife drew another thin cut on Elder Ruan’s neck.

Father Ruan was forced to stop. He had intended to sneak up behind him and knock him unconscious.

“Alright, I’m coming,” Ruan Tang said. “I’m coming over right now.”

Elder Ruan gave his granddaughter a subtle wave of his hand, signaling her not to. He was just an old bag of bones; if he died, he died. He wasn’t afraid.

Ruan Tang turned and gave Mother Ruan a pointed look. “Mama, I’m going to the Civil Affairs Bureau with Feng Bing. Go help me get the household register!”

“Alright, I’ll get it! I’ll get it!” Mother Ruan replied.

Thinking back to Ruan Tang’s earlier words, Mother Ruan asked, “Dad, did you lock the household register in your bedroom drawer? Where did you put the key to the drawer?”

Elder Ruan answered, “Something as important as the household register is obviously locked in the cabinet!”

As Ruan Tang approached Feng Bing, Mother Ruan grabbed her, refusing to let go, and shook her head urgently. “Don’t go over there!”

Ruan Tang patted her hand and whispered, “Mama, go back to the room and lock the door. Chengsen will be here soon. I’m just trying to keep him calm for now.”

Then, she raised her voice. “Mama, I’ll get the key and give you the register.”

It was still five minutes until 7:10 AM.

A lot could happen in five minutes!

She could only try to stall for time, keep him stable, and attempt to lead him outside in hopes of getting help from others.

Ruan Tang pulled her hand away and walked forward. She intentionally spoke to guide Elder Ruan while distracting Feng Bing. “Grandpa, you have the keys on you, don’t you? Hurry and take them out! I need to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau with Feng Bing! We have to get there as soon as they open!”

Ruan Tang shouted the last two sentences especially loudly.

It wasn’t 7:10 AM yet; she hoped someone outside might hear and call the police.

Feng Bing couldn’t handle even the slightest provocation, but hearing Ruan Tang agree to marry him made him ecstatic. He also shouted, “Yes, hurry up and take them out! we’re going to get married the moment they open!”

Taking advantage of Feng Bing’s diverted attention, Father Ruan quietly moved again.

Seeing his son move, Elder Ruan hurriedly said, “Yes, the keys are on me! They’re tied to my waistband! I can’t reach them. Bing, let me go first so I can give you the keys, alright? Let me go…”

The words “let me go” triggered him again. Feng Bing shouted hysterically, “Let you go? You want to run again, don’t you? You want to run off and find that other man, right? No! You’re lying to me again! No! I won’t let go! We’re going to register the marriage!”

“Xiao Tang, come here! Hurry! Come here so we can go register!”

“I’ll only let him go once you’re here! Where’s the key? I’ll get it myself. Where is it? Tell me!”

Another bloody mark appeared on Elder Ruan’s neck!

“I’m coming, don’t hurt my grandpa!” Ruan Tang cried out.

“It’s… it’s right on my waistband,” Elder Ruan stammered.

Feng Bing reached out to feel his waist. “Where?”

Feng Bing felt a ring of keys.

Ruan Tang had also drawn close by then.

Elder Ruan’s keys were tightly tied to his belt loop with a piece of black cloth cord.

Feng Bing tugged but couldn’t pull them off. He looked down for a split second, and in that moment, the hand holding the knife moved slightly away from Elder Ruan’s neck.

Father Ruan lunged forward, grabbing his hand and pinning his neck.

Ruan Tang was lightning fast, pulling Elder Ruan away. “Grandpa, run!”

Elder Ruan was dragged along by Ruan Tang. “You run! Don’t worry about me!”

But with his old bones, how could he possibly run fast?

On the other side, Father Ruan gripped Feng Bing’s knife-hand tightly and bit down hard!

Pain flared, and Feng Bing dropped the small knife.

Father Ruan tried to kick the knife away.

However, Feng Bing was very strong and had quick reactions. He stepped on the knife and bent down to retrieve it.

Father Ruan wrapped his arms around Feng Bing’s waist in a death grip, roaring, “Run!”

Today, he was going to fight this bastard to the end! The man had destroyed their family’s peace!

Seeing Ruan Tang running away, Feng Bing panicked. He began punching and kicking Father Ruan, who refused to let go.

The two scrambled and fought.

Father Ruan was almost entirely on the receiving end of the beating.

For every several punches Feng Bing landed, Father Ruan could barely manage one in return.

Feng Bing’s ancestors had run a martial arts hall. He had studied martial arts with his grandfather since childhood. The Feng family had once wanted to send him into the military, but it never happened. Father Ruan had once asked Feng Bing’s father why; the father said Feng Bing had applied for the Air Force, but he was too tall to fit in the fighter jets and failed the physical exam.

Father Ruan was an intellectual who had never done heavy labor in his life. He lacked strength and was getting old; he was being systematically beaten down by the young, strong, and tall Feng Bing.

With a final kick, Father Ruan was tossed aside.

Feng Bing snatched the knife from the ground and chased after them.

Father Ruan’s face paled as he scrambled up, grabbed a chair, and ran out after him.

Zhou Chengsen had just parked his car when he spotted Kong Ning acting suspiciously, peeking around.

A bad premonition rose in his heart, and he rushed inside.

Seeing Zhou Chengsen appear, Kong Ning felt that things were about to go south and couldn’t help but run forward to see.

Just as Zhou Chengsen reached the Ruan family’s gate, he saw Feng Bing charging out with a knife, stabbing toward Ruan Tang as she pulled Elder Ruan along. His gaze turned sharp and cold as he lunged forward.

“Run! You lied to me again! You lied! You want to run! I’ll make sure you can’t run!”

Elder Ruan looked back in terror and pushed his granddaughter away, throwing his old body toward the attacker.

Feng Bing, filled with resentment, swung the knife toward him.

“Ah!” Kong Ning screamed in terror, covering her face.

He’s gone mad!

Suddenly, a dark shadow flashed forward and sent him flying with a single kick!

The force of Zhou Chengsen’s kick sent Feng Bing flying more than a meter away, and the knife skittered across the ground.

Feng Bing scrambled to get up.

But Zhou Chengsen didn’t wait for him to stand. He delivered another kick.

Feng Bing fell again!

Zhou Chengsen rained down kick after kick, each one delivered with full strength.

Every time Feng Bing tried to rise, he was kicked back down, his body hitting the ground with heavy thuds.

Even from a distance, Kong Ning could hear those low, muffled “thuds,” making her heart skip a beat with every impact.

Zhou Chengsen was not like Father Ruan.

He had been cooking since he was five, often with his younger brother strapped to his back. By age six, he was carrying buckets of water to the vegetable patch with his Big Brother, still carrying his younger brother. He started with half-buckets; back then, half a bucket of water felt heavier than he was!

He had tripped in the vegetable patch time and time again until he could finally carry a full bucket.

By the age of ten or eleven, he could carry a 50 kg sack of rice.

In a fishing village, there were no idle days. The adults were often out at sea, his younger brother was small, and his mother had to earn work points.

Summers in the fishing village were rainy. Passing showers would come without warning, and the early rice that had been set out to dry would have to be gathered and moved back into the granary in a frantic rush. If it got wet and sprouted, they would have nothing to eat.

Once the rain passed and the sun came out to dry the ground, they had to move everything back out to dry again.

When he grew older and went out to sea, he frequently hauled in loads of 50 kg or even hundreds of kilograms. He often carried a load of fish on a shoulder pole for several kilometers to sell them.

During his childhood beachcombing, he would walk several kilometers whenever there was a major ebb tide.

As one of the two oldest children in the family, he and his Big Brother had done the most housework since they were little, and his strength had been forged through that labor.

Now, Zhou Chengsen was unleashing all that lifetime of strength onto Feng Bing’s body!

He was fast, and he was ruthless.

Chapter 778: This Is Simply Too Much Bullying!

Just as Feng Bing was being kicked until he was curled into a ball on the ground with his head in his hands, Feng Bing’s parents finally found their way over after realizing he had vanished.

Kong Ning cried out, “Maternal Aunt, they’re going to kill Cousin!”

Mother Feng screamed as she rushed forward, “Stop hitting him!”

Kong Ning hurriedly followed to help. Her job had been secured with her Maternal Aunt’s help, so she couldn’t just stand by.

Zhou Chengsen only stopped once he saw Kong Ning and Mother Feng arrive.

It was enough for now.

Mother Feng threw herself onto Feng Bing, wailing, “Bing, are you okay? Bing! Bing!”

Zhou Chengsen glanced at Feng Bing, then looked at Kong Ning and smiled at her. “Xiao Tang, let’s go register the marriage.”

Kong Ning only felt that his gaze was sinister and terrifying. She instinctively took a step back.

At that moment, it was as if a switch had been flipped inside Feng Bing.

With a sudden “whoosh,” he scrambled up, grabbed Kong Ning by the hair, and began to beat her!

“Ah!”

Feng Bing’s fists rained down on her head and body. “You dare to go register the marriage with this other man? I’ll kill you! Let’s see if you still dare! Do you still dare?!”

Kong Ning struggled desperately. “Cousin, stop hitting me! I’m Kong Ning! I’m your cousin! Ah! Help!”

“Lying to me again? I’ll break your legs! That’ll teach you to lie to me! That’ll teach you to run off with some other man! You want to run? Run then!”

Fist after fist slammed into her!

Kick after kick landed!

Kong Ning felt like she was being beaten to death. The blows came one after another, so fast she couldn’t even scream!

Mother Feng and Father Feng rushed forward to pull him off.

Zhou Chengsen stood to the side, his expression cold and indifferent.

Ruan Tang came to his side. He looked at her, his cold expression melting away. He took her hand in his, his thumb gently rubbing her palm. “Are you hurt?” he asked, his voice tender.

Ruan Tang shook her head.

Mother Feng and Father Feng each grabbed one of Feng Bing’s arms to pull him away.

“Bing, stop hitting her! That’s Kong Ning!”

“Bing, that’s your cousin, Ning! It’s not Ruan Tang! Stop hitting her, it’s not Ruan Tang, it’s Cousin Ning! She’s your cousin!”

Zhou Chengsen’s eyes snapped toward them, his gaze exceptionally cold.

So, as long as it wasn’t Ruan Tang, he shouldn’t hit her?

Zhou Chengsen pulled Ruan Tang behind him to shield her, then shouted loudly to Mother Feng, “Xiao Tang, come with me!”

Then he said to Father Feng, “Xiao Tang, let’s go! We’re going to go register the marriage.”

Feng Bing went mad again!

This time, his violence was indiscriminate. After hitting Mother Feng, he turned on Father Feng who was trying to pull him away, and then kicked Kong Ning again as she struggled to get up.

The three of them were beaten until they were jumping around like headless chickens, howling in pain.

“Stop hitting me! I’m your Mother!”

“Stop hitting! You bastard! I’m your Father!”

“Stop hitting… I’m going to die…”

…

Zhou Chengsen pulled Ruan Tang shared a distance away and continued to watch.

The neighbors had all come out to see the commotion.

Elder Ruan, Father Ruan, and Mother Ruan watched the three of them fighting in a tangled mess, their mouths agape with astonishment.

But looking at them now, it felt incredibly satisfying!

Father Ruan bared his teeth. “Hit them! Hit them harder!”

Having been beaten by Feng Bing himself, Father Ruan finally knew how much it hurt! He could only imagine how much pain his daughter had been in after being beaten by him so many times in the past.

The spectating neighbors were also buzzing with discussion.

“He’s really gone mad, hasn’t he? He’s even hitting his own parents.”

“I used to see Ruan Tang with a swollen face. I had no idea this man was so vicious when he fights!”

“It’s terrifying! Poor Xiao Tang had to deal with someone like this. No wonder she was too scared to even come home for the last few years.”

“Is that Ruan Tang’s boyfriend? He looked like quite the fighter just now.”

“They’re holding hands, so he must be her boyfriend!”

“She should find a boyfriend who’s that tough. Otherwise, with a guy like Feng Bing hanging around, who would dare marry her? Who wouldn’t be afraid of him showing up at the door to pick a fight!”

“He even brought a knife this time! She could have lost her life!”

“So terrifying!”

…

Ignoring the pointing and whispering of the crowd, Zhou Chengsen kept a firm grip on Ruan Tang’s hand and didn’t let go, watching the three-way battle continue.

Law enforcement officers arrived shortly after.

It was unclear which neighbor had called the police.

“Stop!”

“Stop right there!”

Several law enforcement officers immediately stepped forward to subdue Feng Bing, and even the officers took a few punches in the process.

By the time they left the government unit, it was nearly ten o’clock.

Mother Ruan stayed with Elder Ruan and Father Ruan at the hospital to get their wounds treated.

Ruan Tang and Zhou Chengsen had gone to give their statements.

Zhou Chengsen held Ruan Tang’s hand as they walked to the car. He opened the door, shielded her head as she got in, and only then closed the door and walked around to the driver’s seat.

By the time he got in, Ruan Tang had already buckled her seatbelt. She asked, “Can you take me to the hospital? I want to check on my grandfather and my father.”

“Okay.”

Zhou Chengsen started the car and drove toward the hospital.

When they arrived, they happened to see the three members of the Feng family coming out.

Father Feng, Mother Feng, and Kong Ning had all been treated.

All three of them had faces bruised blue like a mussel and swollen lips, looking exactly like a trio of “Pig-head Bings.”

Kong Ning’s face was so swollen that her eyes were almost squeezed shut. When she saw Ruan Tang, she glared at her with pure hatred.

Zhou Chengsen swept his gaze over her.

Kong Ning: “…”

Ruan Tang walked up to Kong Ning. “Were you the one who instigated Feng Bing?”

Kong Ning’s eyes darted around, and her speech was slurred because of her injuries. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Her voice was extremely muffled and indistinct.

Mother Feng, whose one eye was swollen shut, snapped her head toward Kong Ning upon hearing this.

Slap! Ruan Tang delivered a sharp blow to her face!

Kong Ning clutched her face, her features contorted in pain. “You…”

Because her mouth hurt so much, she couldn’t even get the words out. She wanted to curse, but after saying “You,” she couldn’t continue.

In a fit of rage, Kong Ning raised her hand to swing at Ruan Tang!

Zhou Chengsen instantly caught her wrist.

Slap! Ruan Tang took the opportunity to land another blow. “That slap was for my grandfather! This slap is for my father!”

Kong Ning was about to go insane with rage. She struggled with all her might but couldn’t break free.

“Ruan Tang, are you crazy?! What does this have to do with me! I’m calling the police! Why are you holding me, let go!”

Ruan Tang was clearly bullying her because she had backup!

But in her anger, her mouth was so painful and swollen that her words were a garbled mess that no one could understand.

Zhou Chengsen didn’t let go. He looked at Ruan Tang and said, “You’re still two slaps short.”

Ruan Tang looked at him.

Zhou Chengsen said coldly and ruthlessly, “One for yourself, and one for me. Give her two more slaps! Just two isn’t enough!”

Kong Ning was utterly stunned.

Was he even speaking human language?

This was simply too much bullying!

“You dare—!”

Slap! Slap!

Ruan Tang put a great deal of strength into those last two slaps!

Her own hand even stung from the impact.

Only then did Zhou Chengsen release Kong Ning.

He took Ruan Tang’s hand and rubbed it with his thumb.

Zhou Chengsen looked at Father and Mother Feng and smiled. “I trust you two have been well.”

He then proceeded to recite the Feng family’s home address.

“That’s the right address, isn’t it? I’ll be visiting your home quite frequently from now on. You should bring Feng Bing home more often.”

The two elders: “…”

Was this man a devil?

Zhou Chengsen then looked at Kong Ning. “It seems that yesterday at the airport, you thought I was joking? Well then, I’ll see you another day.”

Having said that, Zhou Chengsen pulled Ruan Tang toward the emergency room.

Kong Ning: “…”

Once the two had walked away, Mother Feng grabbed Kong Ning. “What did you say to Bing last night?”

Kong Ning shook her head. After four slaps, her face was even more swollen and her speech even more slurred. “I didn’t say anything! Maternal Aunt, don’t listen to their nonsense!”

Slap! Mother Feng slapped her!

“Did you intentionally provoke Bing by telling him Ruan Tang was getting married? Did you tell him to go find Ruan Tang to register the marriage?”

This time Feng Bing had come out and hurt people again, even carrying a knife. Did she have any idea that from now on, even if they used their connections, no one would dare release him again?

It was all because she had provoked Feng Bing!

Feng Bing had almost forgotten about Ruan Tang after being out for a few days!

Kong Ning clutched her face and shook her head.

Slap! Mother Feng slapped her yet again!

Chapter 779: He Will Surely Give His All

After threatening the Feng family members, Zhou Chengsen carried the gifts in one hand and held Ruan Tang’s hand with the other as they headed to the surgical emergency room.

The wound on Elder Ruan’s neck had already been bandaged, but Father Ruan’s face was swollen like a pig’s head.

A doctor was currently applying medicine to Father Ruan.

Ruan Tang placed the gifts Zhou Chengsen was carrying next to the office desk and asked the doctor, “Senior, I brought you some local specialties.”

“Why are you being so formal? You’re treating me like a stranger!”

“My boyfriend brought them. It’s all seafood. His family is from a fishing village and they have their own boat to go out to sea. It didn’t cost anything, so I wanted you to have a taste. Are the tests for my grandfather and father finished?”

The tests were mainly to see if Father Ruan had been beaten badly enough to cause internal bleeding.

However, one look at Father Ruan’s expression told Ruan Tang that he was fine; otherwise, he wouldn’t look so relaxed.

Regardless, the Feng family was paying for the tests, not them, so they might as well do a comprehensive check-up.

The doctor had written the orders for Father Ruan and Elder Ruan to have a full-body examination.

The Feng family members, unwilling to spend the money, hadn’t had any tests done.

“Senior,” Zhou Chengsen greeted him smoothly.

The doctor took a moment to glance at him and smiled. “Sorry, please wait a moment.”

He then said to Ruan Tang, “Alright, there are no major problems. Just make sure the old gentleman’s wound doesn’t get wet for the next few days. Just change the dressing regularly. You know all this, so I won’t say more.”

The doctor threw the cotton ball into the trash can and tossed the forceps into the biohazard bin for recycling and disinfection.

He looked at Zhou Chengsen and asked Ruan Tang with a smile, “Aren’t you going to officially introduce us?”

“I was just about to, but weren’t you busy?” Ruan Tang linked her arm with Zhou Chengsen’s and formally introduced them. “This is my boyfriend, Zhou Chengsen. This is my Senior, Zhang Peng. He’s Xiao Yan’s cousin. Senior, Chengsen is Jiang Dong’s brother-in-law’s second brother.”

Jiang Dong was already very familiar with all of Zhang Fuyan’s relatives, as he often accompanied her home for dinner during holidays.

Everyone in the Zhang family felt that Jiang Dong was a model of a devoted man; it would be hard to find a second one like him in this world.

Zhou Chengsen reached out his hand. “Senior, it’s a pleasure to meet you!”

Zhang Peng smiled and shook his hand, then patted Zhou Chengsen on the shoulder. “So we’re all family after all! Go see the Mentor with Xiao Tang in a bit. The old man has always been worried about her.”

Zhou Chengsen smiled. “Alright. Xiao Tang also said that she wanted to take me to visit her mentor and seniors during the New Year. I didn’t expect to meet you ahead of schedule today.”

…

After talking with her senior for a while, Ruan Tang and Zhou Chengsen first sent the three Ruan elders to the car to wait.

Since they were already at the hospital, they had to stop by Ruan Tang’s mentor’s office to pay their respects; otherwise, it would be too impolite.

Today’s events had been sudden, but Zhou Chengsen had gifts prepared in the car. He had originally intended to bring them to the Ruan family home, but now they served perfectly for visiting Ruan Tang’s mentor.

Inside the car, Elder Ruan held his stiff neck and watched their departing figures, letting out a sigh.

Mother Ruan quietly nudged her husband’s waist.

Father Ruan winced in pain; Feng Bing had kicked him several times there!

He endured the pain and said, “Papa, don’t worry about the matter between Xiao Tang and Comrade Zhou anymore.”

Elder Ruan sighed. “It’s all your fault!”

All the face they could lose had been lost today!

And with a ticking time bomb like Feng Bing around, who in the capital would dare to marry his granddaughter?

At this thought, Elder Ruan couldn’t help but slap Father Ruan on the back. “It’s all because you didn’t investigate properly back then and introduced such a worthless piece of trash to Xiao Tang! He’s lower than a beast! A man who is healthy and strong but wasn’t even wanted by the army—what did you want with him? There had to be something wrong! It’s all your fault!”

Father Ruan gasped from the pain. He was covered in bruises; it hurt!

But he took it.

If he hadn’t failed to screen the man properly, his daughter wouldn’t have been held back until today.

His daughter had been hardworking, filial, and well-behaved since she was a child, never giving him cause for concern.

When she was little, he used to carry her on his shoulders and play horsey all over the yard. He thought she would have a smooth, carefree life.

Who would have known…

It was all his fault!

Mother Ruan said, “Papa, that’s why we shouldn’t interfere with the child’s business this time. Let her choose for herself. I think Comrade Zhou Chengsen is a good man. His divorce wasn’t his fault either. Didn’t A-Jie say their whole family is full of virtuous people?”

She had come to terms with it over these past few days. Just as her sister-in-law had said, face wasn’t important; her daughter’s happiness was what mattered most.

Elder Ruan didn’t insist further. “Let’s set a day to meet his family. Didn’t Xiao Tang say their whole family came to the capital?”

Mother Ruan smiled. “Alright.”

Father Ruan asked, “Can we wait until the injuries on my body have healed before we meet?”

Mother Ruan replied, “Your injuries won’t heal in ten days or a half-month, and Xiao Tang has to go back to work in two days. You can just not show up when the time comes.”

Father Ruan: “…”

When Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang returned to the car, Mother Ruan said to Zhou Chengsen, “Chengsen, your parents are in the capital too, right? Ask them if they’re free tomorrow. We’d like to invite them to our home for a meal.”

Ruan Tang’s eyes instantly lit up like a galaxy of stars!

Zhou Chengsen glanced at Ruan Tang and smiled. “I’ll arrange it. It should be me inviting Grandpa, Uncle, and Auntie to dinner instead.”

Father Ruan still wanted to save some face. “It doesn’t matter who hosts, but can we wait until my face looks a bit better before the invitation?”

Mother Ruan said, “Didn’t I say you just don’t have to attend? Your face won’t look better for another eight or ten days! Xiao Tang and Chengsen have to go to work after tomorrow! Chengsen, tomorrow it is!”

Father Ruan: “…”

“Alright.”

Ruan Tang couldn’t help but smile.

The joy in her heart was beyond words.

It was like sunlight piercing through layers of clouds, refracting into ten thousand rays of light, illuminating her entire life.

In that once barren land, seeds began to sprout, leaves grew, and in an instant, it was full of flowers swaying in the wind.

Zhou Chengsen looked at Ruan Tang and let out a small smile.

From now on, the rest of her life would have no regrets, no darkness, and would be bathed in sunlight!

He would surely give his all!

To make her happy!

After Zhou Chengsen dropped Father Ruan and the others home, Mother Ruan said considerately, “You two planned to go out and play today, right? Go on! Don’t worry about us. You’ll be back at work soon, so enjoy these two days.”

It was almost noon by now. Zhou Chengsen guessed that his family should have finished touring the Great Wall and returned home, so he took Ruan Tang back to the courtyard house.

The Zhou family had indeed returned to the courtyard house.

When Zhou Ying saw the two of them return, she immediately ran toward them. “Papa, Sister Ruan, why are you so late? The Great Wall was so much fun!”

Zhou Chengsen bent down to catch his daughter as she lunged at him. “We ran into some bad people and had to deal with it. Since you like it, Papa will take you there again another day.”

Zhou Ying was startled. “What bad people? Did you call the police? Were they caught?”

Ruan Tang knelt down and stroked Zhou Ying’s head, taking her hand with a smile. “Just bad people who trick girls. We reported them, and they were taken away. It’s been a very long time since I’ve been to the Great Wall. What did you do there, Yingying?”

“We climbed the Great Wall and took pictures at the stone tablet that says ‘He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man.’ We even rented military overcoats for the photos!”

“They even have military overcoats for rent?”

“Yes, it was 0.50 yuan an hour. We took lots of pictures wearing them. We also stood at that… what is it, that fire tower, to take pictures.”

“Beacon tower.”

“Right, the beacon tower! There were foreigners too, and we took pictures with them. We also bought lots of delicious food…”

Zhou Ying happily shared everything with Ruan Tang.

Zhou Chenglei asked Zhou Chengsen, “Is it handled?”

They had went home to eat breakfast after watching the flag-raising ceremony, waiting for Zhou Chengsen to pick up Ruan Tang so they could all set out together. However, they had received a call from him telling them to go ahead first, saying that Feng Bing had gone to the Ruan family home to cause trouble.

“It’s handled,” Zhou Chengsen replied, and then he mentioned the plan for the two families to have dinner together.

Chapter 780: Putting it on the Agenda

In the afternoon, the whole family took the children to Wangfujing Street for a stroll.

For children, going shopping was an incredibly exciting event. Living in the village, they rarely had the opportunity to go shopping, aside from going to town on market days.

The hustle and bustle of the capital was incomparable to the town markets. It was as if the children had stepped into a whole new world, wide-eyed and dazzled by the splendor.

Tian Caihua remarked, “Even during the New Year, our city doesn’t have this many people.”

Mother Zhou added, “But it seems the high-rises in our city are a bit taller.”

“That’s different,” Tian Caihua replied. “The skyscrapers in our city were all built recently to receive foreigners.”

…

While the adults discussed the city’s architecture, the children couldn’t care less. They had zero interest in buildings and only kept their eyes peeled for things to buy. Whenever they saw something they had never seen before, they wanted it.

They even wanted to buy gifts for their playmates back in the village.

If Mama wouldn’t buy it, they’d go to Papa. If Papa refused, they’d find Second Uncle. After Second Uncle, there was Uncle, then Auntie, then Grandpa and Grandma, and even Sister Ruan. Today, there were simply too many people who could help them foot the bill.

The children were shrewd little operators; if one person said no, they would just move on to the next.

Seeing their older brothers and sisters buying things, the triplets also leaned out from their strollers, pointing and making “ungh-ungh, ah-ah” noises to indicate they wanted to play too.

Jiang Xia picked out a few suitable toys for them.

By the end of the walk, the children were loaded down with all sorts of items.

The most eye-catching things were the Black Cat Detective dolls—each child had one. It made the other children on the street look on with envy, and some even started throwing tantrums, demanding one for themselves.

It was a rare visit to the capital, so even someone as frugal as Tian Caihua was willing to splurge a bit. She bought a few pieces of clothing for the family.

After all, wearing clothes bought from the capital to a wedding feast back home—how much “face” would that bring?

She bought clothes for everyone: Father Zhou, Mother Zhou, and even for Zhou Zhou, Zhou Ying, and the triplets.

This was something unprecedented in the last dozen or so years.

Of course, she also had more money now than she had ever had in those dozen years. Even the most frugal person becomes a bit more generous when they actually have money.

That evening, Zhou Chengsen invited the whole family to dinner at the Beijing Grand Hotel.

The Zhou family found the food to be excellent. Zhou Chengsen then booked a private room and, together with Ruan Tang, pre-selected the dishes for the two families to have a joint meal the following day.

The next day at noon, the two families gathered at the Beijing Grand Hotel.

During this meal, the two families got along famously. As long as both sides were sincere, there was nothing that couldn’t be settled.

Truthfully, the Ruan family had no complaints about the Zhou family’s circumstances. Zhou Chengsen was already second-in-command in his town at just over thirty years old, with broad future prospects, and the family owned a boat. He earned more on his own than the entire Ruan family combined.

Their only hesitation had been that he was remarried with a child.

However, seeing that Zhou Ying was well-raised—cheerful, polite, filial, and particularly close to Ruan Tang—they felt much more at ease.

Children don’t know how to fake things the way adults do. Over the course of the meal, Elder Ruan could tell that the girl truly liked Ruan Tang and was very clingy toward her. This reassured him even more. At the very least, his daughter wouldn’t face difficulties from the child after marrying into the family.

Elder Ruan took the initiative and said, “A-Sen, Xiao Tang, neither of you is getting any younger. Since you’ve both made up your minds about each other, let’s start preparing the wedding. Let’s pick a date to register the marriage and hold the banquet.”

When Zhou Chengsen had first come to visit, Elder Ruan had been difficult. Now, he felt he had to be proactive to ensure there were no hard feelings. He didn’t want his initial coldness to become a thorn that would affect their future relationship.

Ruan Tang looked at Zhou Chengsen with a smile.

Zhou Chengsen smiled back and replied, “As soon as Xiao Tang’s marriage application report is approved, we will register. As for the date of the banquet, I’ll have to trouble my mother to help find a lucky day.”

…

By the time the meal ended, the wedding was essentially on the agenda.

Ruan Tang had a great appetite that night and ate half a bowl of rice more than usual.

Mother Ruan asked, “Are you very hungry?”

“No,” Ruan Tang replied, “it’s just that I think the food at the Beijing Grand Hotel is really delicious.”

Zhou Chengsen chuckled. “Then we’ll hold the wedding banquet here as well.”

After the meal, Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang had to rush to the airport. Their flight back was at 5:30 PM, as they both had to work the next day.

Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang had specifically requested only one day of leave. They were the only ones returning early; the rest of the family wouldn’t head back until the tenth day of the first lunar month.

On the plane, Ruan Tang held Zhou Chengsen’s hand, unwilling to let go. “I was worried my Grandpa would be passive-aggressive at the table! Luckily, he wasn’t!”

Zhou Chengsen squeezed her hand. “Grandpa was just concerned for you.”

He understood why Elder Ruan had taken the initiative to be friendly; it was all for Ruan Tang’s sake. He could understand and wasn’t so petty as to hold a grudge.

“I know. I wonder when the report will be approved.”

The corners of Zhou Chengsen’s mouth lifted slightly. “Maybe it will be approved as soon as you get to work tomorrow. Do you want to take a nap?”

“No, I want to talk to you.”

Zhou Chengsen took the initiative to ask, “What are the wedding customs in your area?”

Ruan Tang hadn’t been married before and didn’t know everything, so she only told him what she knew.

Once Zhou Chengsen realized she really didn’t know much—guessing that she had rarely even attended the weddings of classmates or friends in the past few years—he stopped asking about customs. Instead, he asked about her preferences for their wedding. “Do you want me to come and fetch you as a bride from the capital?”

Ruan Tang turned her head in surprise. “You mean fetching the bride from the capital? How would that work? It’s so far! Wouldn’t it take a whole day just to bring the bride home?”

Zhou Chengsen said, “Time isn’t an issue. It all depends on where you want to be married from. There’s a way to do it from the capital, and a way to do it from the city. I’ve thought about it and even came up with a plan.”

Hearing that Zhou Chengsen had actually thought through how to fetch the bride made Ruan Tang feel incredibly fulfilled. Suddenly, she had no specific requirements for the procession; she was simply filled with anticipation for the wedding.

“What else have you thought about?”

Zhou Chengsen replied, “The wedding, our future… I’ve thought about everything.”

“Then tell me everything you’ve thought of,” Ruan Tang said. “If we fetch the bride from the capital, what are you planning?”

“There are two options for fetching the bride from the capital…” Zhou Chengsen began.

The two of them discussed the wedding until they landed. Even after Zhou Chengsen escorted her back to her door, Ruan Tang still felt like they hadn’t talked enough.

She loved hearing his plans for their wedding and their future.

Zhou Chengsen carried her luggage inside and noticed a layer of dust had settled in the house. He took off his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and headed toward the bathroom. “Go take a shower first. I’ll clean up for you before I head back.”

Ruan Tang said, “No need. It’s so late; I can just clean it tomorrow.”

“It’s fine,” Zhou Chengsen replied. “Aren’t you prone to dust allergies?”

Ruan Tang was startled. “How did you know?”

She had never told him. She did indeed have a dust allergy; it wasn’t respiratory, but rather her skin would easily break out in a red rash if it touched dust, though it wasn’t overly severe.

Zhou Chengsen explained, “Once, I saw you wipe away some dust and a bump appeared on your arm shortly after.”

“Go take your shower. It won’t take me long to clean.”

Zhou Chengsen came to this house almost every week and was familiar with everything. He brought out a basin of water from the bathroom and began wiping down the furniture.

He started from her bedroom, then moved to the living room and kitchen.

When he was finished, he washed his hands and even changed her bedsheets for her.

Chapter 781: Let’s Sleep Here Tonight

Ruan Tang stepped forward and hugged him from behind. “Thank you.”

He worked meticulously and quickly; not only had he cleaned the house, but he had also neatly put away all the luggage she had brought back from the capital.

Suddenly being embraced, a wave of fresh soap fragrance washed over him—the scent he often smelled on her.

Zhou Chengsen tried his best to remain calm as he positioned the two pillows. He turned around to return her hug and kissed her forehead. “All right, you should get some sleep. I’m heading back.”

This wasn’t the capital; there was no central heating. On a bitter winter night, the warmest thing to do was crawl straight into bed after a shower.

Ruan Tang glanced at the alarm clock on the table; it was almost eleven o’clock. She tightened her arms around his waist, tilting her head back to look at him. “Why don’t you sleep here tonight? My bed is big enough for us to each take a side.”

It was too late. If he spent all that time traveling back and forth, he wouldn’t get any sleep at all.

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

Was she perhaps overestimating his self-control?

Seeing his expression, Ruan Tang realized her words might be ambiguous. Her face flushed, and she blurted out, “I just mean strictly sleeping! Don’t overthink it. I’m just worried you’ll be so busy traveling back and forth that you won’t have time to sleep. If you want to go, then go! Just help me close the door! I’m going to sleep!”

After saying that, she let go of him and scurried into bed, pulling the covers over her head.

Seeing her pull the duvet so high that she was completely hidden, Zhou Chengsen couldn’t help but find it amusing.

He didn’t say anything. He took one last look at the lump under the covers, let out a soft laugh, and walked out into the living room.

Ruan Tang listened as his footsteps left the room. Only then did she pull down the covers. She felt a bit disappointed, yet also relieved.

She truly felt for him, worrying about him commuting back and forth, and of course, she also wanted him to spend more time with her.

After all, they always had so little time together.

Ruan Tang didn’t know what had come over her or why she had become so clingy.

She was clearly quite an independent person, yet she constantly found herself wanting to spend just a little more time with him—just a little longer.

In the living room, Zhou Chengsen opened his suitcase, found a change of clothes, and went to the bathroom.

Ruan Tang didn’t hear the front door open; instead, she heard the sound of running water from the bathroom. She couldn’t help but pull the covers back up to hide the corners of her mouth, which were curling into an uncontrollable smile.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhou Chengsen dried his hair and returned to the room. He saw that Ruan Tang was still huddled under the covers, but she had left a space for him on the outside of the bed.

He turned off the light, lifted the covers, and lay down. “Aren’t you afraid of suffocating in there?”

With the lights out, Ruan Tang felt brave enough to face him. “I thought you were leaving?”

Zhou Chengsen replied, “If I left, you would have been disappointed again.”

Ruan Tang insisted stubbornly, “I would not!”

Zhou Chengsen didn’t argue. He extended his arm. “Do you want to come into my arms?”

Ruan Tang lifted her head.

Zhou Chengsen slid his arm under her head and shifted closer, pulling her into his embrace. He lowered his head and kissed the crown of her hair. “Sleep.”

Ruan Tang found a comfortable spot on his arm. She closed her eyes and didn’t dare move, even though she wanted to kiss him.

For a while, neither of them could fall asleep.

After a long silence, Ruan Tang whispered from his arms, “I can’t sleep.”

Zhou Chengsen couldn’t sleep either. He lowered his head to kiss her.

He didn’t stop until he was on the verge of losing control. Releasing her slightly, he said, “Go to sleep. If I keep holding you, I’ll never fall asleep.”

“Then just stay close to me.”

Ruan Tang felt that this man’s self-restraint was truly incredible!

Zhou Chengsen pulled her back into his arms.

This time, smelling his crisp, clean scent and listening to his steady, powerful heartbeat, Ruan Tang felt exceptionally safe. Her fluttering thoughts soon gave way to drowsiness.

In her half-asleep state, she felt as though his aura had changed lately, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on how. She was too tired to think about it further and soon drifted off.

Zhou Chengsen adjusted his breathing. Once Ruan Tang was sound asleep, he quietly got up and took a cold shower. When he returned, he lay beside her, listening to her rhythmic breathing. He cleared his mind and gradually fell asleep as well.

The next morning, when Ruan Tang was woken by her alarm, it was already seven o’clock. Zhou Chengsen had already left, leaving a note on the table: I’ve gone back to work. There’s breakfast in the pot. If it’s cold, just heat it up.

Ruan Tang felt a bit annoyed with herself. How could she have slept so soundly?

He had gotten up and made breakfast without her even knowing!

And there, hanging on the balcony, were their clothes from yesterday!

Just how early had he gotten up?

Seeing their clothes hanging together, she felt an inexplicable sense of warmth. This was what life was supposed to be.

Ruan Tang ran into the kitchen. She saw dried scallop lean pork porridge in the ceramic pot and fried dough sticks and steamed buns in the iron wok. He had actually gone out early to buy fresh pork to make porridge?

The fried dough sticks and buns were obviously bought as well.

The porridge was still warm, so she didn’t need to heat it. She rushed into the bathroom to brush her teeth, only to see her messy “bird’s nest” hair in the mirror.

Ruan Tang: “…”

It must have still been dark when Chengsen got up!

He surely hadn’t turned on the lights, so he definitely hadn’t seen her looking like this!

Ruan Tang arrived at the hospital for work promptly at 8:30 AM.

When her colleagues saw her, they all greeted her:

“Xiao Tang, Happy New Year! You’ve become even prettier after the holiday!”

“Xiao Tang, your complexion looks great today! Is there some good news?”

…

Ruan Tang smiled and returned their well-wishes. Then, Gao Jie came looking for her.

Back in her office, Ruan Tang asked with a smile, “Aunt Jie, did you need something?”

Gao Jie looked at her niece, who seemed to be glowing, and felt truly happy for her. It seemed the clouds had finally parted to reveal the moon.

She smiled and said, “Your marriage report has been approved. You weren’t here yesterday, so the Hospital Director gave it to me. Congratulations! Your grandfather gave his consent too, right?”

“He did.”

Ruan Tang felt that today was truly a wonderful day.

As soon as Gao Jie left, Ruan Tang ran to call Zhou Chengsen.

However, Zhou Chengsen was in a meeting; he had been in sessions since the start of the workday.

After a morning of meetings, he finally found a moment after eleven o’clock to return Ruan Tang’s call.

Ruan Tang said excitedly, “I have good news!”

Zhou Chengsen chuckled. “The report was approved?”

Ruan Tang nodded. “Yes.”

Zhou Chengsen said, “I have to go to the city for a meeting tomorrow afternoon. Let’s find time tomorrow morning to register the marriage. I have to attend a meeting at my work unit in the morning first, and then I’ll head out. I should arrive in the city around eleven.”

The Civil Affairs Bureau wouldn’t be closed for lunch by eleven.

Ruan Tang couldn’t stop smiling. “Okay. I’ll see if I can swap shifts with a colleague and take the night shift tonight. That way, I won’t have to work tomorrow.”

Since Zhou Chengsen had undergone a blood test and physical during his last check-up and everything was fine, there shouldn’t be any issues with the marriage requirements.

“Won’t you be tired working a whole day followed by a night shift? You could just ask for an hour of leave.”

“I won’t be tired! There aren’t many patients today, and there are even fewer during the night shift.”

When there were no patients, she could sleep; it wasn’t as if she spent the entire night seeing people.

“Alright then, see you tomorrow. I have to get back to work.”

“See you tomorrow.”

After hanging up, Ruan Tang immediately called Jiang Xia to share the news.

Jiang Xia laughed upon hearing it. “Welcome to the family! This is a great joyful occasion for the Zhou family. Congratulations! Congratulations!”

The two spoke and laughed for a while longer before hanging up.

Soon enough, everyone in the Zhou family knew that the two were getting married tomorrow.

Chapter 782: Registering the Marriage

It was unclear if there were any spirit mediums around, but there were certainly people who knew how to pick auspicious dates. Second Auntie was well-acquainted with the neighbors, and she quickly helped them find someone. That afternoon, Zhou Chengsen received a phone call from Mother Zhou.

“There are three auspicious dates suitable for your wedding this year: May 20th, September 11th, and December 2nd. The master said May 20th is the best, but it might be a bit of a rush.”

Zhou Chengsen replied, “It’s not a rush. There are still four months until then; let’s go with May 20th. I’ll check with Xiao Tang.”

Even without asking, he knew Ruan Tang would certainly choose May 20th.

If it was both the best date and the earliest one, it was obviously the best choice.

When Zhou Chengsen called Ruan Tang, she indeed chose May 20th as well.

Ruan Tang called her family to tell them the wedding date had been set. She mentioned all three options, but confirmed that they had settled on May 20th.

Then, Ruan Tang called Jiang Xia.

Jiang Xia had already said she wanted to design the wedding dress for Ruan Tang’s big day.

Ruan Tang wondered if four months would be enough time.

Jiang Xia laughed and said, “It’s plenty of time. May 20th is a wonderful date. 5-2-0—it sounds like ‘I love you!’”

Ruan Tang hadn’t expected that interpretation!

So the homophone for that date was that good?

She felt even better about the choice now.

“Then it’s settled!”

Meanwhile, Zhou Chenglei was on the floor making wooden blocks for the children.

He was working from sketches Jiang Xia had drawn.

Since the triplets loved playing with building blocks, Jiang Xia had remembered various geometric educational toys she’d seen when picking out gifts for colleagues’ babies in her previous life. She drew them for Zhou Chenglei to make.

She had drawn several different sets in total.

All the men in the Zhou family knew a bit of carpentry, so they had bought tools and lumber to make them at home.

The children gathered around to watch the adults work. The older one tried to help, while the younger ones mostly just caused trouble.

Having overheard Jiang Xia’s words, Zhou Chenglei started thinking about the dates they had registered their marriage and held their wedding.

They had registered on the fourteenth day of the second lunar month. In their local dialect, the numbers for 2-1-4 sounded like: “Easy to die?”

Zhou Chenglei’s face darkened!

The day they held their wedding feast was the fourteenth day of the sixth lunar month.

6-1-4? “Dying one after another?”

Zhou Chenglei’s face turned even blacker!

After Jiang Xia hung up the phone, she noticed Zhou Chenglei’s dark expression and frustrated aura.

“What’s wrong?”

“I want to find another auspicious day to go register again and hold another wedding feast.”

Jiang Xia: “…”

Father Zhou was also helping sand the toys for the triplets. Hearing this, he tossed a small wooden block at him. “Quit talking nonsense! If you dare try that, don’t even bother coming home. Xiao Xia will always be my daughter-in-law, but you don’t have to be my son!”

Zhou Chenglei: “…”

Jiang Xia laughed. She wasn’t angry; as soon as Zhou Chenglei started acting up, she knew exactly what he was thinking!

He just heard that May 20th was a romantic homophone and wanted a catchy anniversary for himself, didn’t he?

The next day, Zhou Chenglei didn’t stay home to look after the kids. If he did it every day, he’d turn into a full-time nanny!

Today, he wanted to spend time with his wife!

Thus, starting from the night before, Zhou Chenglei had Jiang Xia prepare a full day’s supply of milk.

Leaving the three children with Mother Zhou, he pulled Jiang Xia out the door for a private date.

The ninth day of the first lunar month, 11:30 AM.

Ruan Tang and Zhou Chengsen walked out of the Civil Affairs Bureau holding their marriage certificates.

He had driven himself there, which was the only reason he could spare the time to register; if he had taken the bus, there wouldn’t have been enough time.

At this moment, both had rings on their ring fingers—a surprise Zhou Chengsen had prepared for Ruan Tang.

Ruan Tang was indeed surprised and very happy.

Zhou Chengsen had promised they would go register as soon as the marriage report was approved.

He had kept his word!

And he had done it even better than Ruan Tang had imagined.

“When did you prepare the ring?” Ruan Tang asked, admiring the gold ring on her hand.

The design was a begonia flower with a hollowed-out pattern, and both sides of the band were also decorated with hollowed-out designs.

This flower-shaped ring was the most popular style of the era.

Zhou Chengsen explained, “After you filed the marriage report, I came to the city on a business trip and ordered it through Zhang Rong. I designed the pattern myself and crafted it by hand. It’s a begonia flower. My skill isn’t as good as a master jeweler’s, so it’s a bit rough. Do you like it? If not, we can go to the store and buy a pair. Pick whatever you like, and you can wear it on the day of the wedding feast.”

Ruan Tang hadn’t expected that he had designed and made it himself, which made it incredibly precious.

“I like it, I love it,” Ruan Tang couldn’t help but give him a hug. “Was it hard to make a ring yourself?”

She suddenly wanted to make one for him with her own hands, too.

“It wasn’t hard.” Zhou Chengsen took the marriage certificate from Ruan Tang’s hand to put it away safely, then took her hand in his. “Let’s go. Time for lunch.”

Ruan Tang asked, “What time does your meeting finish this afternoon? After it’s over, are you going back to the village or staying the night in the city?”

“It should be over around five o’clock. I’m not going back; I’ll stay in the city to be with you tonight.”

On the first day of their marriage, how could he let her spend it alone?

Besides, he planned to take her to a photo studio after his meeting.

Ruan Tang felt deeply satisfied. “Let’s eat at home tonight. I’ll cook personally. I don’t know many dishes, so don’t be disappointed.”

“I won’t be, but after I finish work, we’re going to the photo studio to take pictures. We won’t have enough time to eat at home.”

Ruan Tang hadn’t expected him to think of taking photos; even she hadn’t considered it.

Since they were going to take photos, she needed to dress up, which meant she wouldn’t have much time to prepare dinner.

Her cooking skills weren’t great to begin with, and she had planned to spend the whole afternoon getting tonight’s dinner ready.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have swapped her shift.

But Ruan Tang still wanted to eat at home; this was their first dinner as a registered couple.

They were having lunch at a Western restaurant, which felt very ritualistic and atmospheric. For dinner, she wanted to be home with him, just the two of them.

“We’ll come home and have hot pot after the photos. I’ll just prepare the ingredients in advance, so we don’t need to go out. Hot pot is good anyway—it symbolizes a flourishing and prosperous life!”

Ruan Tang thought her idea was brilliant!

Zhou Chengsen naturally deferred to her. “Alright. After we finish lunch, we’ll go get everything ready. We still have a bit of time.”

Zhou Chengsen’s meeting wasn’t until two in the afternoon. After lunch, they went grocery shopping and returned to Ruan Tang’s place to prepare the hot pot ingredients.

Since it was just the two of them, they didn’t prepare a massive amount, but the variety was rich. By the time everything was ready, it was 1:45 PM. Zhou Chengsen untied his apron. “Go take a nap. I’m heading to my meeting.”

After Zhou Chengsen left, Ruan Tang didn’t sleep. She started looking for clothes in her wardrobe.

She had already gone through her wardrobe once this morning, and now she was doing it again!

She tried on almost every relatively new outfit she owned before finally picking out two sets she was somewhat satisfied with.

At that moment, she truly felt like she didn’t have enough clothes.

At 5:00 PM, when Zhou Chengsen finished work and returned, he saw a beautiful wife wearing a qipao.

He stared at her, unable to look away.

Ruan Tang felt a bit shy under his gaze. “Do I look good?”

Zhou Chengsen pulled her into his arms, resting his hand on her slender waist, and kissed her. “You look beautiful. Very beautiful.”

Ruan Tang beamed. “Let’s go!”

Zhou Chengsen took her hand, and the two headed out to take their photos.

With such a handsome man and beautiful woman, the owner of the photo studio couldn’t help but suggest they take several different sets. Some of the outfits were even provided by the studio for free.

After the photoshoot, the two went home to a steaming, “flourishing” hot pot. When they finished, Zhou Chengsen cleared the table and told Ruan Tang to go shower first.

Ruan Tang took quite a while in the shower tonight. After Zhou Chengsen finished with the dishes, he worried about carbon monoxide poisoning from the gas heater and called out, “Xiao Tang, are you finished?”

“I’m done.”

Ruan Tang walked out. “Your turn.”

Zhou Chengsen glanced at her flushed face and damp hair. “Do you want me to help you blow-dry your hair?”

“No need, go take your shower!”

Zhou Chengsen followed her into the bedroom to grab his change of clothes before heading to the bathroom.

Chapter 783: The Taste of Happiness

After finishing his shower, Zhou Chengsen returned to the bedroom to find Ruan Tang still drying her hair.

“Do you wash your hair every single night?”

She had washed it the previous night as well.

It didn’t seem particularly good for a girl to wash her hair every day. There was an old saying that it led to migraines later in life.

Ruan Tang switched off the hair dryer. “No, but we had hot pot tonight, and I smell like it from head to toe. Do you want to dry yours?”

“Give it a try.” Zhou Chengsen stepped forward to take the hair dryer.

Ruan Tang didn’t hand it over. She stood up and offered him her seat. “I’ll do it for you. Sit down.”

Zhou Chengsen didn’t refuse and sat down obediently.

Ruan Tang flipped the switch. Amidst the loud roar of the dryer, she quickly dried his soft, short hair in just a few strokes.

Being a man was so convenient!

Ruan Tang set the dryer down and unplugged it.

As soon as she finished, Zhou Chengsen reached out with his long arms, circling her waist and pulling her onto his lap.

Startled, Ruan Tang felt a flutter in her heart, and her body subconsciously stiffened.

He lifted her up horizontally, carried her to the bed, and pressed himself over her.

Ruan Tang’s heart thrashed against her ribs as she looked up at him.

Tonight was their wedding night.

Zhou Chengsen looked down at her from above. “Which night do you want to be our wedding night? Tonight, or May 20th?”

Back in the village, registering the marriage wasn’t considered a real wedding; only hosting a banquet counted.

According to his original thoughts, he hadn’t planned on having their wedding night tonight. He had intended for it to be the night of the wedding banquet—the conventional way of doing things.

She had also mentioned that May 20th was a perfect, auspicious date. He had wanted to make that day even more perfect.

But Ruan Tang had been so full of anticipation today, having carefully dressed up twice.

When he had come over at noon to move some clothes, he noticed the wardrobe wasn’t as he had left it the night before. Tonight, when he went to get a change of clothes, he saw that the arrangement had completely changed again.

Clearly, she had put a lot of thought into today, trying on almost everything in her wardrobe twice.

In her heart, today was the day they truly became husband and wife.

So, he had to ask.

Ruan Tang: “…”

How was she supposed to answer that?

Zhou Chengsen quickly made the decision for her; she didn’t need to answer.

He lowered his head to kiss her.

She had said May 20th was a perfect date. On that night, he would inevitably give her a perfect wedding night.

But she also cherished the day they registered their marriage so much.

In the moment he asked the question, he had already figured out how to make both dates perfect.

Tonight, he would give her a unique wedding night.

And on the night of May 20th, he would give her one that was absolutely flawless.

…

She had thought he was forceful enough that day at Xiangshan Park. Her lips were still a bruised purple even today, to the point where she didn’t dare leave the room without applying lipstick.

Compared to now, however, that previous kiss could actually be considered gentle.

…

Sensing his intentions, Ruan Tang gasped in surprise and tried to stop him. “No, you don’t have to…”

Zhou Chengsen said nothing and continued.

Soon, Ruan Tang was unable to speak at all, her voice breaking into soft, fragmented breaths.

…

Late into the night.

Wrapped in his white shirt, Zhou Chengsen carried Ruan Tang—who looked like a perfectly cooked, flushed shrimp—from the bathroom back to the bedroom.

He tucked her in under the covers. “I’m going to take another shower. You go to sleep first.”

He had to take a cold shower to calm down; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to sleep at all tonight.

Ruan Tang grabbed his hand. “I’ll help you.”

When he had been holding her just now, his entire body had felt like a furnace, and his palms were scorchingly hot.

Zhou Chengsen watched as her face grew visibly redder.

How much courage did it take for her to say those three words?

“No… need,” he declined with great difficulty.

His voice was incredibly raspy, almost failing him.

He was happy to please her, but he couldn’t bear the thought of her exerting herself for him.

Ruan Tang didn’t let go. Without a word, she simply gave his hand a firm tug.

…

The night grew deep as the cold wind whistled outside.

The two fell asleep in each other’s arms, lingering in the afterglow of a bliss they had never experienced before.

Even in sleep, the corners of their mouths were slightly upturned.

Ruan Tang would never forget this wedding night for the rest of her life.

And neither would Zhou Chengsen.

Neither of them would ever forget it.

The next morning, when Ruan Tang woke up, Zhou Chengsen had already left for work.

Since he had to rush back from the city to get to work, he had to wake up very early.

He hadn’t wanted to wake her.

Just like before, Ruan Tang found a note on the bedside table. In his bold and fluid handwriting, it read: I’ve gone to work. Breakfast is in the pot. I’ll be home as soon as I finish the morning shift, so don’t wait for me for lunch.

Today was Saturday, so he only had to work half a day and would have the afternoon off.

With a sweet smile, Ruan Tang tucked the note into her drawer, slipping it into the latest page of her diary. She then got out of bed, brushed her teeth, washed her face, and ate her “heart-filled” breakfast. Afterward, she took the wedding candy she and Zhou Chengsen had bought together to work.

She intentionally arrived fifteen minutes early to hand out the candy.

Her colleagues were all genuinely happy for her when they received it.

In their hospital, Ruan Tang was considered something of an “older” single woman.

One colleague asked with a smile, “When are you treating us to the wedding banquet?”

Ruan Tang smiled back. “I’m inviting everyone to Jufu Restaurant for dinner tomorrow night.”

Someone immediately lamented, “Oh no, I’m on the night shift tomorrow! I won’t be able to make it!”

Ruan Tang chuckled. “It’s okay, there will be other opportunities if you can’t make it tomorrow. My parents are in the capital, I work here in the city, and my husband’s family is in the village. So, we plan to hold several banquets to make it convenient for our respective relatives and friends. That way, nobody has to travel too far.”

“We’ll have one banquet in the capital and another in the village later on. If you can’t make it tomorrow, anyone who’s free is welcome to join us in the village or come with me to the capital. Even if you’re too busy for those, there will definitely be a ‘return-to-bride’s-home’ banquet back here in the city. You all are my maiden family, after all.”

It was only after Jiang Xia had asked her if she’d be giving out wedding candy now that they had registered that Ruan Tang thought of distributing it early.

Generally, wedding candy is handed out when the banquet invitation is given, but there was no harm in sharing the joy early.

Furthermore, Zhou Chengsen had considered that the actual banquet was still several months away. The gap between registering the marriage and the ceremony was too long.

From now on, whenever he came to the city to see her, he would definitely be staying at her place.

Even though they were legally married, since they hadn’t held a banquet yet, people wouldn’t know. If he were seen coming and going or staying the night, he was worried it might negatively affect her reputation. People might think they were involved in an improper relationship.

Therefore, Zhou Chengsen had suggested handing out the candy this morning and treating her hospital colleagues to dinner tomorrow. Since tomorrow was the tenth day of the Lunar New Year and her family was returning from the capital, it was the perfect time for a small-scale banquet to celebrate their registration and let everyone know they were married.

Hearing this, her colleagues said enviously, “Wow, your husband is so thoughtful!”

…

After chatting for a bit, it was time to start the shift.

Today, even the little children coming for checkups could tell Dr. Ruan was in a particularly good mood.

“Doctor Sister, you look so happy today!”

Ruan Tang happily took out some wedding candy to share with her. “I am!”

The child’s mother asked with a smile, “Dr. Ruan, is this wedding candy?”

Ruan Tang admitted it openly. “Yes, it is!”

“Congratulations, congratulations!”

…

By lunchtime, when Ruan Tang went to the hospital cafeteria to get some food to take home, the entire hospital knew she was married. Even the cafeteria lady knew and asked for wedding candy.

So many people asked for it that Ruan Tang ran out of the candy she had brought. “I’ll owe you for now and bring more this afternoon! I’m treating everyone to wedding drinks tomorrow night.”

After exchanging a few more words with her colleagues, she packed two dishes into her lunchbox and hurriedly cycled home to cook.

Two dishes certainly weren’t enough, but there were still plenty of ingredients Zhou Chengsen had stocked in the refrigerator yesterday.

Zhou Chengsen arrived home around one in the afternoon. As soon as he opened the door, he was greeted by the aroma of home-cooked food, mixed with a faint scent of something charred.

Ruan Tang threw herself into his arms, stood on her tiptoes, and gave him a quick kiss. “You’re back! Lunch is ready. Though, I accidentally scorched the fish—the one you like.”

Among the few dishes Ruan Tang was good at, fish was not one of them.

But it was Zhou Chengsen’s favorite.

“It doesn’t matter. I love scorched fish too; it’s even more fragrant that way.” Zhou Chengsen pulled her close, embracing her fully, and lowered his head to give her a deep kiss.

So, this was what the taste of happiness was like.

Chapter 784: Wedding Photos

In the afternoon, Zhou Chengsen didn’t have to work, but Ruan Tang did.

He went to the mall to buy Ruan Tang some clothes, as well as some wedding candy and wedding cakes. Back at home, he began to pack the wedding candy, cakes, and red envelopes into individual gift bags.

He intended to give a portion of wedding candy to each of Ruan Tang’s colleagues when they treated them to dinner the next day.

By the time he finished packing everything, it was nearly five o’clock, so he started cooking.

When Ruan Tang returned, he was still busy in the kitchen.

Ruan Tang changed her shoes and saw the coffee table covered with the gift bags he had prepared and the new clothes.

She walked into the kitchen, hugged him from behind, and peered over his shoulder at the golden threadfin he was frying in the pan.

It was golden-brown and looked very appetizing.

It was one of her favorite fish.

“It looks much better than when I fry it.”

“I’ve been eating fish since I was a kid; practice makes perfect, that’s all. Careful, don’t let the oil splatter on your face. Go wash your hands and let’s eat.” Zhou Chengsen was still busy with the fish and didn’t have a free hand to return her hug.

“Okay.” Ruan Tang let go of him, washed her hands in the washbasin nearby, then washed the dishes and chopsticks before helping carry the food to the living room.

Zhou Chengsen had prepared three dishes and a soup.

There was the plain sliced duck he made, which Ruan Tang loved, the fried fish, a vegetable dish, and a duck and yam soup.

While eating, Ruan Tang asked, “What time does the plane with Mom and Papa land tomorrow?”

Hearing this, Zhou Chengsen glanced at her. “Eleven in the morning.”

Without him having to say a word, she had taken the initiative to change how she addressed them.

And she called them “Mom and Papa,” not “your mom and your dad.”

Ruan Tang continued, “Then I’ll go to the airport with you to pick them up. We really should have invited them here for a meal, but this apartment is just too small.”

“There’s no rush. We can host them when we go back to the village. The house there is much bigger.” Zhou Chengsen placed a piece of fish into her bowl.

“Mm.” Ruan Tang reciprocated by placing a piece of duck into his bowl.

The two shared a smile.

Zhou Chengsen added, “I bought some clothes for you. Try them on in a bit.”

Ruan Tang asked, “More? Didn’t we buy several outfits when we were shopping in the capital?”

“We can pack some to keep at the house in the village so you don’t have to carry a bag every time we go back.”

“Alright,” Ruan Tang agreed with a smile.

Zhou Chengsen had also brought a lot of his clothes over, and now their clothes hung side-by-side in the wardrobe.

After dinner, as Ruan Tang went to clear the table, Zhou Chengsen said, “I’ll do it. You go try on the clothes to see if they fit. I made an arrangement with the salesclerk; if they don’t fit, we can exchange them for a different size.”

“She actually let you exchange them? I’ve never received that kind of treatment when I buy clothes! Usually, it’s no returns and no exchanges once you buy, and the service is terrible! Was the salesclerk a pretty young girl? Did you two hit it off?”

Ruan Tang teased him as she headed into the bedroom to try on the clothes.

Zhou Chengsen laughed. “It was an older woman. I told her I was buying them for my wife and was afraid I’d get scolded if they didn’t fit. She laughed and said she’d let me exchange them if they weren’t right.”

“…”

Ruan Tang turned back to glare at him. She’d settle the score with him later!

Zhou Chengsen smiled and took the dishes into the kitchen to wash.

The next day, before picking up the family, Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang went to the photo studio to collect their photos.

The photos had turned out exceptionally well and were very beautiful. The owner asked if he could blow one up and display it in the studio for promotion.

If they agreed, he wouldn’t charge them for this set of photos and would also gift them a 16-inch print and a 40x50 cm canvas oil portrait.

“Sixteen inches is the largest size any photo studio in the country can develop right now. It’s the limit of current technology; anything larger requires piecing multiple prints together. Previously, only top-tier shops in centrally administered municipalities could produce these. Now, our shop is the only one in the entire city that can do it! A single 16-inch photo costs over 25 yuan! And it’s much larger than the 12-inch enlargement you were planning. Since you look so good in these, you should definitely have a larger one.”

Zhou Chengsen asked him, “Can’t we just pay you directly to develop a 16-inch photo and paint an oil portrait for us?”

The owner had wised up this time. “No. All the photos added together would cost over a hundred yuan—nearly two hundred yuan. I’m just displaying one photo, and it saves you two hundred yuan. Isn’t that great? Do you really have so much money that it’s burning a hole in your pocket?”

Zhou Chengsen wasn’t used to having his photos admired by the public, so he looked at Ruan Tang. “Do you want the 16-inch photo and the oil painting?”

The oil painting would look quite nice hanging in the study.

Ruan Tang felt that the painter at this photo studio was very skilled at making portraits look lifelike.

She had two photos she wanted turned into oil paintings, so she said to the owner, “Can you paint two oil paintings for us?”

The owner replied, “I can, but you’ll have to pay for the second one. The artist charges fifty yuan per painting.”

Ruan Tang said, “Then never mind!”

She grabbed Zhou Chengsen’s hand to leave.

The owner: “…”

Whatever happened to playing fair?!

That man was clearly willing to spend the money.

“Alright, alright! I’ll give you an extra one for free!”

He was the one painting them anyway.

Ruan Tang smiled. “Thank you, boss!”

“The 16-inch photo and the oil paintings will take a month to be ready.”

“Okay.” Ruan Tang then told the owner which two photos she wanted painted.

Since they had taken so many photos, the two happily left with a photo album and several frames, headed for the airport.

The Airport

Jiang Xia and the rest of the group walked out of the exit at 11:20 AM.

The triplets were each sitting on the shoulders of their father, oldest brother, and grandfather.

Ever since the last time they went to see the flag-raising ceremony and Zhou Chenglei let his little sister sit on his shoulders to ride “piggyback,” the little girl insisted on climbing onto an adult’s shoulders whenever they went out.

When Zhou Ying saw Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang, she immediately grabbed Zhou Zhou and ran over. She threw herself into Zhou Chengsen’s arms. “Papa! Sister Ruan!”

Zhou Chengsen ruffled his daughter’s hair. “Was the capital fun?”

Ruan Tang also gave Zhou Zhou a hug. “Did you have a good time, Zhou Zhou?”

The two girls nodded excitedly and began talking about all the fun places in the capital. Over the past few days, they had gone to the zoo, the Summer Palace, Xiangshan Park, and even took a boat… it was all so much fun!

The two sisters chattered away excitedly.

When the little sister saw her two older sisters rushing toward Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang, she also started “eeya-ing” and tried to pounce forward.

She was still sitting on Zhou Chenglei’s shoulders!

Luckily, Zhou Chenglei had quick reflexes and a steady grip.

Zhou Chengsen stepped forward and took his little niece into his arms.

The whole family walked outside together.

One car wasn’t enough, so Elder Mai had arranged for a driver to come as well.

Zhou Chengsen took the opportunity to mention the plan to treat Ruan Tang’s colleagues to dinner that evening.

Mother Zhou smiled and said, “It’s only right that we do.”

After getting into the car, Jiang Xia noticed the photo album. “Are these the photos you two took?”

Ruan Tang, sitting next to Jiang Xia, nodded. “Yes. I think this photo studio does a great job. Have a look.”

Jiang Xia took it and looked through while asking if it was the same place she and Zhou Chenglei had gone to develop photos before.

“No, it’s a new place. It’s only been open about a month, and it’s right near my house.”

Jiang Xia commented, “These are great. Are the clothes from the studio? They’re very pretty too.”

“Yes, they’re from the studio. I thought they were lovely as well! We also had several photos enlarged, and they can even be turned into oil paintings.”

Ruan Tang then told her about the owner wanting to hang their photo for promotion.

Zhou Chenglei sat next to Jiang Xia, holding his daughter. As he looked at the photos in the album, he noticed that most were couple shots in various poses.

It occurred to him that he and Jiang Xia had many albums—there was even a whole album from when Jiang Xia was pregnant—but they didn’t have a single album dedicated solely to the two of them!

He wanted to take a set of wedding photos with Jiang Xia too!

A photoset featuring just the two of them as a couple!

Furthermore, Zhou Chenglei suddenly realized he wasn’t nearly as savvy or romantic as his second brother!

He really needed to think more about how to create a bit of romance in the future.

Chapter 785: Collecting Rent

Once they returned to their home in the city, the three children were already fast asleep.

After the couple settled the triplets in, they also lay down on the bed to rest for a while.

Zhou Chenglei pulled Jiang Xia into his arms. “We should go to that photo studio and take some pictures too.”

Jiang Xia had the same idea. “Sure, let’s bring our parents along and take a family photo while we’re at it.”

Zhou Chenglei: “…”

He wanted to take couple photos, but she was thinking about a family photo!

They had already taken family photos during the New Year’s reunion dinner!

They had photos of the extended family and their own small family already!

“We can take the family photo later. First, let’s take our wedding portraits.”

Jiang Xia looked at him, surprised he had such a romantic streak. “You want to take wedding dress photos?”

Zhou Chenglei hadn’t heard the specific term “wedding dress photos” before, but it wasn’t hard to understand literally. He held her tighter and nodded. “Yes! Wedding photos. There are too few pictures of just you and me.”

Jiang Xia thought taking wedding photos was a great idea. “Alright.”

Zhou Chenglei had already planned it out. “From now on, we should make time every year to take a set of photos—just the two of us. We’ll take them in spring, summer, autumn, and winter. We’ll take them by the beach, on the boat, at the courtyard house, at the school, in the park… We’ll take a set in every city we visit. In the future, we can even go abroad and take a set in every country.”

As Zhou Chenglei spoke, Jiang Xia began to imagine many scenes for their wedding photography.

In truth, they had many photo albums at home, but they were mostly records of the children’s growth and the family’s daily life.

There were also many photos of Jiang Xia alone, all taken by Zhou Chenglei.

There were plenty of photos of Zhou Chenglei with the children, but very few of just the two of them together, capturing their quiet moments.

This was because, most of the time, either he was behind the camera recording her, or she was recording him.

In an era before cloud storage, the physical photos in albums were the best way to preserve memories.

Jiang Xia nodded in his arms. “Okay. We can record how we slowly grow old year by year. When we’re old and can’t walk much anymore, when we can’t go anywhere, we can sit in the yard and flip through the albums one by one to pass the time. It’ll keep us from being bored.”

Zhou Chenglei pictured their future: the two of them sitting on lounge chairs, basking in the sun and looking through old photos. It was a beautiful thought.

The two stopped talking, both lost in thoughts of their future together, and eventually drifted off to sleep.

Zhou Chenglei only slept for about fifteen minutes before waking up. He climbed out of bed quietly.

He needed to head over to the seafood market to handle the stall rental contracts.

He didn’t wake Jiang Xia to go with him. They had been taking the children out to play almost every day recently.

Last night, she had been busy making Ruan Tang’s wedding dress until eleven o’clock, yet she still insisted on getting up early today. She must be exhausted.

Walking into the living room, Zhou Chenglei said to Zhou Chengxin and Zhou Chengsen, “Let’s head to the market in a bit to sign the contracts.”

Since he had just woken up, he went to wash his face and brush his teeth first.

Tian Caihua stood up. “Isn’t Xiao Xia going?”

“No, she’s asleep.”

“Oh, then let’s go!” Tian Caihua said expectantly.

All three of her stalls had been rented out. Her eldest brother had said he didn’t want to do the business, so they were all leased to others.

Second Uncle said each stall went for a hundred yuan a month; three stalls meant three hundred yuan every month.

The rent from these three stalls alone was enough to support their entire family. It was almost too good to be true.

By the time Zhou Chenglei finished washing up and came out, Jiang Xia had also woken up.

“I’ll go with you guys.” She also wanted to see how the seafood market was doing.

And so, the group headed to the seafood market together.

At around four o’clock in the afternoon, the seafood market was already starting to get lively.

At a glance, every stall was open; there wasn’t a single empty spot.

Tian Caihua said in surprise, “All the stalls opened up this quickly?”

Second Uncle replied, “They’ve been open for a while! When I got here on the sixth day of the first lunar month, most of them were already up and running. Only the ones like yours that hadn’t been rented out yet were still closed.”

Construction had begun at the pier on the eighth day. Starting from the fifth day, the entire pier had been fenced off. Fishermen and vendors were no longer allowed to set up stalls there at will; only the entrance and exit for fishing boats to unload cargo were left open.

If fishmongers and fishermen wanted to continue selling, they had no choice but to rent a stall in the market.

This led to a scramble for stalls, reaching a point where they were hard to come by.

As a result, in just two or three days, Second Uncle and Jiang Dong had helped all three families rent out all their stalls.

The two of them had prioritized getting the tenants settled in first, allowing them to use the stalls while waiting for the owners to return from the capital to sign the official contracts.

Since the sixth day, Second Uncle had been at the market every day, so he was very familiar with the rental price trends.

Rental prices had soared because everyone was desperate for a spot toward the end.

The front-row stalls that Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia had bought were now renting for one hundred and sixty yuan a month.

Before the New Year, the front-row stalls near the South Gate had only rented for a hundred yuan.

Now, those stall owners were regretting renting them out so early.

The shops Jiang Xia bought—the ones where lofts and cold storage could be built—had rented for three hundred to three hundred and fifty yuan a month before the New Year, depending on the location.

Now, the minimum rent for those shops was five hundred yuan, even for the remote spots.

The locations Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei had bought were all prime spots. Their shops had been rented out for six hundred yuan each.

Even the shop they bought for Jiang Dong had been rented for six hundred yuan a month.

There were shops in even better positions than theirs that were fetching seven hundred yuan in rent.

Tian Caihua’s three stalls were each rented for a hundred yuan, and the stalls Zhou Chengsen and Jiang Dong had bought for the triplets were also a hundred yuan a month.

Second Uncle said, “For those middle stalls, some people tried to offer eighty yuan a month. I didn’t even bother talking to them; I told them straight up—one hundred yuan, not a fen less! So many people are looking for stalls. We aren’t in a hurry if we wait a day or two, but they are! For every day they aren’t open, they’re losing dozens of yuan in potential profit. If they don’t open for three days, they’ve already lost more than the rent difference! A guy came to ask in the morning, and as soon as he left, someone else came. The second person rented it immediately! I actually wanted to hold out until the very end; I’m sure someone would have paid a hundred and twenty.”

Jiang Xia smiled. “Second Uncle, you really have a head for business!”

Tian Caihua added, “Then we should have waited until the end to rent them!”

Jiang Xia explained, “Getting a hundred and twenty might have required leaving them empty for a few months until the market got even busier. It’s better to rent them out early and start collecting rent; this price is already fair.”

Second Uncle didn’t bother arguing with Tian Caihua and said to Jiang Xia, “When you sign the contracts, only sign for one year. I estimate the rent will double next year. Some stall owners signed for three or five years with their tenants, and now they’re regretting it so much their faces have turned blue! They come to me every day crying about how they missed out. Three years from now, their fixed rent won’t even be as high as what you’re getting today.”

Everyone knew Second Uncle had dozens of stalls for rent. Because he had rented them out later, his rates were much higher than others’, so many stall owners liked to come and talk to him.

Partly because they thought he was shrewd, and partly because they saw him as a man of great means—someone with dozens of stalls and several shops was essentially a major landlord!

“Alright, we’ll listen to Second Uncle!” Jiang Xia had intended to do that anyway. In three to five years, it would already be the nineties.

The city’s economic development was accelerating at an unimaginable pace, getting faster every year. There was no need to lock into long-term contracts.

While the Zhou brothers went to sign the contracts with the tenants, the three sisters-in-law stayed behind to talk with Second Uncle.

Jiang Xia asked her uncles, “First Uncle, Second Uncle, how do you feel? Is business good?”

Second Uncle said excitedly, “It’s good! Very good! Especially in the mornings and evenings, your cousin and I can barely keep up with the rush!”

The fish Second Uncle was selling was provided by Zhou Chenglei’s fishing boat.

In any case, everyone was earning their own share, and their businesses complemented each other.

Second Uncle would also source and sell goods from other fishing boats.

Chapter 786: New Goals

Second Uncle didn’t answer Tian Caihua directly. “It’s still the New Year period, so I can sell 100 to 150 kg of fish and shrimp a day. I think selling 200 kg is doable, but I didn’t dare take too much at the start. I’d take 5 to 10 kg of each variety, maybe 15 kg at most, but I try to carry a wider variety.”

“Look at this small stall of mine. How many kinds of fish do I have? At least eight or ten! I even have some displayed on the ground. This front-row stall has a bit more space on the side than the others, so I make use of every inch.”

“And I try to coordinate with your First Uncle to carry different types of fish. Since our two stalls are side-by-side, we figured this would help us keep more customers.”

First Uncle added, “On the first day, we only took about 50 kg of stock and sold out instantly. It was only on the second day that we dared to take another 50 kg, and that sold out quickly too. We saw the person at the stall next to us taking 150 to 200 kg of fish every day, so today we finally took a bit more—over 150 kg of stock.”

Neither First Uncle nor Second Uncle had done this kind of work before. They were both crossing the river by feeling the stones, so they were being conservative.

However, many others in the market were experienced.

Tian Caihua asked again, “You can sell 150 to 200 kg? Then you must be making a lot in a day! Can you make 0.50 yuan profit per 500-gram?”

Second Uncle replied, “For the expensive or rare fish, yes. For the cheap ones that are all over the market, no. But even with the cheapest fish, you have to make at least five cents per 500-gram. Most of the time, we make 0.10 or 0.20 yuan. Otherwise, after paying the rent, there’s no profit left. Also, if the fish sits for too long, it spoils or loses its freshness. If it’s not fresh, you can’t sell it and you lose money. All of that has to be factored into the costs.”

The profit margin for each type of fish was definitely different. Regardless, they sold at whatever the market price was. They wouldn’t go higher or lower than others to avoid drawing any resentment.

Jiang Xia suggested, “When you have time, pay more attention to which fish sell well and what size is most popular. There’s definitely a pattern to it.”

Second Uncle nodded. “Yes, we’ve been keeping an eye on that! Every time someone passes the stall, we can’t help but peek at what kind of fish they bought. We just didn’t realize we should also be looking at the size.”

Jiang Xia then shared a simple trick for turning passersby into regular customers: “You can give away some of the less valuable miscellaneous fish to customers. If there’s a small change of one or two cents, just round it down and don’t collect it. And when you waive those one or two cents, you must make sure to tell them… That’s one way to turn them into regulars. You have to give a little to gain a lot.”

Second Uncle’s eyes lit up. “That’s a great idea!”

If you waived a few cents every time or threw in a few unsellable small fish, who wouldn’t come back to you next time?

“Basically, it’s the same group of people coming to the market every day. Once they get used to a certain stall, they’ll keep buying from there. Of course, the fish must be fresh. If it’s not fresh, people won’t take it even if you give it away for free.”

Jiang Xia couldn’t offer too much specific advice, so she could only give these reminders.

Knowing which fish sold well, how much stock to take daily, what the preferred size was—whether it was 500 grams or a few hundred grams—and how to arrange the display to be more attractive were all things they had to observe and learn through experience.

It was the same when she sold vegetables as a child; even the size of the potatoes affected sales! Some vegetables didn’t sell well, but you still had to carry a small amount to attract customers or make it more convenient for those who did want them.

The items that sold well during holidays were different too. You had to be clear about which vegetables sold best during which festival.

In any case, selling things at a wet market might look simple, but it required experience. You definitely had to “pay your tuition” at the start.

No matter how much others taught you, it wasn’t as practical as the experience you gained from your own observations and summaries.

Most importantly, Jiang Xia had never sold seafood in this specific market herself, so she didn’t know the local nuances and didn’t want to say too much.

Tian Caihua couldn’t help but remark, “You talk like you’ve actually sold fish before!”

Second Uncle said, “Business tactics are often universal. Xiao Xia started with dried fish, went from a small workshop to a big factory. Her advice is very practical.”

Tian Caihua then remembered that when Jiang Xia first started selling seasoned small dried fish, she really did give out many samples. She had even heard He Xinghuan mention that for the food factory’s new products, several hundred boxes of sample packs had already been sent out.

So, Jiang Xia was able to grow her business so large because she often gave things to customers for free?

“Xiao Xia, do you think I can use your method to keep regulars at my convenience store?”

Jiang Xia replied, “You can. When female customers come by, you can give them a handful of melon seeds to snack on. If someone brings a child to buy things, you can give the child a piece of candy when they check out. If you do this a few times, people will know you’re generous and will definitely patronize your shop in the future. As for male customers, they mostly buy cigarettes and alcohol and don’t care much for snacks, so you could give them a box of matches or something like that.”

Tian Caihua slapped her thigh. “Right! You’re right! Why didn’t I think of that?”

If she went to two convenience stores and one gave her a handful of melon seeds while the other gave her nothing, she would definitely only support the one that gave her seeds—she’d even tell others to go there too!

Tian Caihua decided that when she went back, she would tell her parents to be more generous. They shouldn’t be so stingy that they wouldn’t waive a single cent or allow for any credit. Her mother had said business wasn’t as good lately and people were going to the other convenience store; it must be because her mother was too miserly!

It was the Lunar New Year, a time when so many people needed to buy gifts and children had New Year’s red envelope money, yet business wasn’t good? It had to be because her parents weren’t generous enough in their business dealings!

Her parents were just too stingy; they didn’t want to suffer even the slightest loss!

She was going to teach them to be more generous so that everyone in town would go to their convenience store!

Jiang Xia then said to First and Second Uncle, “This is a seafood wholesale market, the largest in the city. If you encounter middlemen coming to buy seafood in bulk, you should…”

…

As they were talking, Zhou Chenglei and his two brothers returned.

Tian Caihua noticed that the bag Zhou Chenglei was holding had become bulging.

Thinking about the fact that he and Jiang Xia owned over twenty stalls and several shops…

She silently calculated how much rental income Jiang Xia could collect every month.

A front-row stall cost 160 yuan a month. They had ten of them, so that was 1,600 yuan.

Then the other stalls were 100 yuan a month. Jiang Dong seemed to have given a total of eighteen stalls to the triplets, so that was 1,800 yuan a month.

They had five shops in good locations that could rent for 600 yuan a month. The three shops Jiang Dong gave the triplets were bought later and were in more remote locations, but they could still rent for 400 to 500 yuan!

As Tian Caihua calculated, she started to lose track!

Regardless, Jiang Xia probably collected seven or eight thousand yuan in rent every month!

Sob, did they even need to work anymore?

Just from collecting rent, Jiang Xia wouldn’t have to do a thing for the rest of her life and would never lack for food or drink!

That included the triplets!

When the triplets grew up, with so many stalls and shops, they wouldn’t have to do anything either!

Tian Caihua felt immense regret. “If I had known, I would have bought more stalls! I realize now that buying anything is worse than buying shops and stalls. With a few more shops and stalls, you’re set for life!”

Jiang Xia smiled. “As the saying goes, ‘one shop supports three generations.’ You can’t go wrong with buying shops. If there’s an opportunity in the future, Big Sister-in-law, you should buy more.”

Tian Caihua had a new goal. “Starting from today, I’m saving money to buy shops! I’m not buying anything else! Xiao Xia, if you see a shop you like and want to buy, remember to tell me. From today on, being a landlady is my goal! I want to buy thirty shops. When I’m old, my job will be to go door-to-door collecting rent every day! One shop per day.”

Chapter 787: The Banquet

The market was becoming increasingly crowded. After collecting the rent and signing the contracts, Zhou Chenglei and the others prepared to leave, making sure not to disrupt Second Uncle, First Uncle, and the two cousins while they were busy.

Zhou Chengsen said, “First Uncle, Second Uncle, cousins—once you close up your stall, come to Dachang Restaurant for dinner.”

They had originally planned to go to Fuman Restaurant, but colleagues from the hospital mentioned that a newly opened place called Dachang Restaurant had a great atmosphere and was closer to the hospital. Moreover, it had massive tables that could accommodate twenty or even thirty people, so Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang decided to host the banquet there instead.

The relatives quickly tried to decline.

First Uncle said, “We won’t go. We won’t be finished here until nearly eight o’clock. You go ahead and eat! we’ve already had a little something to eat beforehand.”

Zhou Chengsen replied, “No rush, we’ll wait for you at the restaurant.”

“There’s no need, truly! You should eat!”

Zhou Chengxin added, “Please come! Today is the day A-Sen and Xiao Tang registered their marriage. We should all celebrate together.”

Upon hearing this, the uncles immediately offered their blessings to the couple.

First Uncle beamed. “In that case, we must go. we’ll close up early and head over.”

Second Uncle added, “This is a major happy occasion! We have to be there! We’ll sell everything a bit cheaper today to finish up sooner. What time does the feast start?”

Zhou Chengsen replied, “Between six-thirty and seven. We have to wait for Xiao Tang’s colleagues to finish work.”

Zhou Chenglei said, “I’ll come to pick you up at seven.”

Second Uncle countered, “Make it six!”

“Alright.”

With the plans settled, they departed.

As soon as they left, First Uncle and Second Uncle began shouting to the crowd, “Family celebration today! Everything must go at a discount! Help us finish up so we can go have a wedding drink!”

A passing middle-aged woman immediately asked, “How much for a 500-gram portion of this golden threadfin?”

“1.20 yuan. That’s exactly what I paid for the stock… I’m not making a profit…”

That evening, the banquet occupied two massive tables, each seating over twenty people.

When Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang made the reservation, they had planned it out carefully: the Zhou family, the Jiang family, First Uncle, Second Uncle, and the two cousins would sit at one large table.

The other table was for Ruan Tang’s colleagues.

The entire family stood at the entrance to welcome the guests, while Zhou Chenglei drove off to pick up the uncles.

Ruan Tang’s colleagues began to arrive one after another.

When the doctors and nurses from the obstetrics and gynecology department saw Jiang Xia accompanying Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang—who were holding the triplets—at the door, they greeted everyone warmly and played with the babies.

Wherever the triplets went, they were always the center of attention.

Gao Jie happily squeezed the triplets’ little hands. “Oh my, our hospital’s triplet babies have grown taller and chubbier again! Look at those rolls, they’re so cute! When you come for your check-up in a few days, we’ll see exactly how much they’ve grown.”

“These three children are developing so well!”

Someone couldn’t resist pinching the triplets’ chubby cheeks. “The skin on these three babies is even whiter than my lab coat! What are they eating? How is their skin so good? It’s so supple!”

“They have such a healthy glow. I’m so jealous!”

“All three babies took after their mother’s complexion. Their mother has beautiful skin.”

“They also look just like their parents. Beautiful features and great skin! They picked only the best traits from their Mom and Papa. They’re so smart at growing! I’m so envious! These are definitely the most beautiful babies ever born at our hospital!”

“Can they talk yet? Come on, babies, say ‘Auntie’! Auntie!”

Ruan Tang laughed. “I don’t think they can say ‘Auntie’ yet, but they can already say Papa, Mama, Grandpa, Grandma, Big Sister, and Eldest Brother.”

Jiang Xia added, “They can say Grandpa and Grandma for my parents too, though it’s just the double sounds.”

Jiang Xia coaxed the little sister in her arms, “Little Bao, say Auntie. Aun-tie.”

The little sister was in a very good mood today. “Yie~”

She managed a single syllable and couldn’t quite get the rest out, but it counted as a success.

“Hey! She really can say Auntie! How wonderful!” The woman immediately reached out to take the little sister. “Let Auntie carry you off to play, okay?”

The little sister wasn’t shy at all; she smiled and reached out to the woman.

Gao Jie and the others from the department also took the eldest brother and the younger brother into their arms.

Jiang Xia followed them inside to show them to their seats.

Soon after, colleagues from pediatrics and other departments arrived.

As Zhou Chengsen was leading Ruan Tang’s colleagues inside, Zhou Ying ran over. “Papa, I want to drink Jianlibao.”

Zhou Chengsen stroked his daughter’s head. “Sure, ask the waitress to pour some for you.”

Zhou Ying ran off happily.

However, that single word “Papa” caused the expressions of several colleagues to shift slightly, though it wasn’t overt.

Only two colleagues couldn’t help but look back at Zhou Ying.

Zhou Chengsen continued leading the group to their table. After a few polite words and an apology for his temporary absence, he returned to the entrance to continue welcoming guests.

The hospital colleagues soon arrived in full. Almost every doctor, nurse, and administrator who wasn’t on duty was present.

Zhou Chengsen told Ruan Tang and Jiang Xia to go inside first. “I’ll wait here.”

Zhou Chenglei hadn’t returned with the uncles yet, and Father Jiang hadn’t arrived either, so he decided to wait a bit longer.

Jiang Xia said to Zhou Chengsen, “Second Brother, you should go in and stay with Second Sister-in-law. I’ll wait here. We’re all family; there’s no need to be so formal.”

Just then, Father Jiang’s car arrived.

Father Jiang had a major meeting today and was running a bit late. Before he even got out of the car, he saw Jiang Xia waiting at the entrance.

The north wind was howling today, and her nose was red from the cold, her hair blown into a mess.

Before the car had even come to a complete stop, Father Jiang grabbed the scarf draped over the seat and pushed open the door.

In winter, he always kept a scarf or an extra coat in the car—a habit he had developed after his daughter was born.

He reached them in just a few strides.

Jiang Xia and the others greeted him.

“Is everyone not here yet?” Father Jiang took his daughter’s hand and gave it a squeeze. Fortunately, it wasn’t icy cold.

“A-Lei went to pick up the uncles; he should be back soon. Papa, you go inside first. Grandpa and Mama are already there.”

Zhou Chengsen added, “Xiao Xia, Xiao Tang, you two go in with our Relative-in-law. I’ll wait.”

Father Jiang replied, “It’s fine. I can go in by myself. I’m not a stranger, so don’t be so formal with me.”

As the saying goes, “The Thunder God rules the heavens, but the maternal uncle rules the earth.” It was only right to wait for them.

Father Jiang draped the scarf around his daughter’s neck and tied it snug.

Just then, Zhou Chenglei’s car arrived.

Soon, everyone got out of the car, and after exchanging greetings, they all headed inside together.

Father Jiang deliberately walked at the very back to avoid overshadowing the hosts.

Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia walked beside him at the rear.

The two uncles and the cousins were walking at the very front, completely blocking Father Jiang from view.

Consequently, by the time the entire group was seated and Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang had gone over to the other table to greet their colleagues, the people at that table hadn’t even noticed Father Jiang.

The meal was a joyous affair, and both hosts and guests were thoroughly satisfied.

It was only when the banquet ended and people were leaving that the hospital leadership spotted Father Jiang and stepped forward to greet him.

Some colleagues who didn’t recognize Jiang Xia were curious about the relationship between Father Jiang and the man Ruan Tang had married, but no one was tactless enough to bring it up at that moment.

After dinner, Zhou Chenglei, Jiang Dong, and Elder Mai’s driver took the initiative to drive the colleagues who had walked there back to their homes or the hospital dormitories.

Elder Mai had come over from Hong Kong again a couple of days ago. He asked Jiang Xia, “The house won’t fit this many people, will it? Do you want to stay at my place? Or perhaps let your Big Brother and Sister-in-law take the children there?”

Mai Nianshan and his family weren’t around. Jiang Xia didn’t refuse—mainly because she didn’t want Elder Mai to think she was treating him like a stranger or for him to feel left out. She smiled and said, “It is a bit cramped. A-Lei and I will take the children and stay over at your place.”

Elder Mai was delighted. “Good.”

Jiang Xia then said to Zhou Chenglei, “Tonight, we’ll take Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying to Grandpa’s house so that Papa, Mama, and Big Brother’s family can sleep more comfortably.”

Zhou Chenglei naturally had no objection. “Alright, let me drop them off first, and then I’ll head over.”

“Mhm, I’ll take the babies to Grandpa’s place first.”

Chapter 788: A Sharp Retort

Elder Mai owned both villas and high-rise apartments in this area. As one of the developers, he was currently overseeing the near-completion of the Phase II villas and the start of the landscaping work.

He had reserved three villas in the best locations, standing side-by-side. One was for Jiang Dong, one for Jiang Xia, and one for his son, so they could all live close together in the future.

With paternity testing technology available abroad, Elder Mai had already arranged for a test. This DNA evidence would prove his biological relationship with Father Jiang.

Now, Elder Mai was acting with a completely free hand.

He had the driver pull over and pointed out the three villas to them. “It’s these three. They’re all identical, so you can pick which one you want later.”

Father Jiang didn’t know what to say. Refusing would hurt his elderly father’s feelings, especially knowing this was his way of making amends. Yet, accepting felt unearned, as he had never done anything for his father.

However, rejecting everything wasn’t right either. Father Jiang spoke carefully, “Papa, my work might be reassigned. I might not stay in this city forever, so you don’t need to save one for me. I’m at an age where one apartment here is enough. A-Dong will most likely stay in the capital, and Xiaxia already has a house in the village. There’s no need to save them for them. Just keep one; that way, the whole family can stay together like we are tonight.”

Elder Mai looked displeased. “A job transfer doesn’t mean you can’t have a villa here. What do you mean by ‘one is enough’? When A-Dong and Xiaxia’s children grow up, one house won’t be nearly enough! Just look at Xiaxia’s family now—they’re split across several different places!”

Father Jiang replied, “It’ll be twenty years before their children are grown! When the time comes and they need more space, they can worry about it themselves. Papa, let’s not worry so much. Children and grandchildren will find their own way.”

“If you won’t worry, I will. Don’t try to stop me. A-Dong, Xiao Xia, which one do you two want?”

Jiang Dong said pragmatically, “Let my sister have the middle one. I’ll live next to her.”

Jiang Xia asked, “Why should I live in the middle?”

Jiang Dong explained, “Aren’t you sensitive to noise? If your neighbors on both sides are family, they won’t bother you. That way, when the triplets are running around and playing, they won’t disturb the other neighbors, either.”

Jiang Xia: “…”

She had never heard of someone being worried about noise while living in a detached villa!

Elder Mai chuckled. “A-Dong is right. Let Xiaxia have the middle one.”

Jiang Dong nodded. “Fine by me!”

Why would he refuse something from his biological grandfather?

Since he was a child, Jiang Dong had taken it for granted that he would spend his parents’ and his sister’s money. Once he had a brother-in-law, he spent his money too. He never refused, because he knew they loved him.

Now he could spend his grandfather’s money as well—it was truly wonderful!

If he enjoyed the care of his elders now, he could simply repay them in the future. What was there to refuse?

Elder Mai then turned to Jiang Xia. “A-Lei’s second brother and Xiao Tang are married now. They’ll need to buy a house in the city, won’t they? Tell him and Xiao Tang to come and pick one. This development is about to open for sales, and I’ll sell it to them at my personal discount as a wedding gift. If A-Lei’s big brother wants to buy one, it’s the same deal. If they don’t have enough money, they can pay a portion upfront and pay the rest back to me slowly.”

Jiang Xia replied, “I’ll ask them when I get back.”

Elder Mai’s discount was bound to be incredibly generous.

Early the next morning, everyone at the hospital was discussing Ruan Tang’s marriage.

A female nurse couldn’t help but whisper to a doctor, “Dr. Zou, did you hear what that little girl called Dr. Ruan’s husband yesterday?”

Zou Min replied, “I heard. She called him Papa.”

Yesterday, she had made a point of going to see what kind of man Ruan Tang had married.

Finding out he was a remarried man with a child was deeply satisfying to her.

After Ruan Tang had transferred over, she had relied on having an Auntie in the hospital to snatch away the opportunity to become an Attending Physician.

Last year, she and Ruan Tang had applied for the Attending position together, but only Ruan Tang had passed!

If Ruan Tang hadn’t transferred here, that Attending Physician position would have definitely been hers!

Ruan Tang didn’t even have as much seniority as she did!

Having missed that chance, she still hadn’t become an Attending Physician to this day!

In two years, the Director would retire. The current Deputy Director would likely be promoted to Chief Physician, leaving the Associate Chief Physician position vacant!

If she failed to become an Attending Physician this year, Ruan Tang, who was already an Attending, would likely be promoted to Associate Chief Physician.

The Associate Chief position had been her goal; she had expected to reach it by the time she was thirty-five!

But then Ruan Tang, a graduate of the Military Medical University, had shown up!

The nurse said, “I thought I misheard. So, the man Dr. Ruan married is a divorcé with a child?”

Zou Min sneered, “What else could it be? The child certainly isn’t Dr. Ruan’s. She’s only twenty-six or twenty-seven—how could she have an eight or nine-year-old child? Even if she could, everyone in the hospital knows she was single when she transferred here. Director Gao said so himself. Didn’t your husband try to pursue Dr. Ruan back then?”

Nurse: “…”

That was exactly why she disliked Ruan Tang a little.

She was also curious about how impressive the man Ruan Tang married must be for someone as haughty as her to take an interest.

“I just find it strange. Dr. Ruan has such good qualities and high standards. She didn’t look twice at anyone before. I didn’t expect her to end up marrying a remarried man with a kid.”

Zou Min said, “What’s so strange about it? She was still somewhat young when she transferred here. But at her age now, who else can she choose besides a remarried man? Most people her age are already married. There aren’t many options left for her.”

“In the past, many doctors and patients here pursued her, but she turned them all down. I wonder what she sees in that man to choose someone who’s already been married and has a child.”

Zou Min continued, “She’s after money! Or power! What else could it be? Is she after his old age? I’ve seen that man drive her to work twice. The family has a car—do you know how much money that implies? And didn’t you see who showed up last night?”

Ruan Tang walked up to the two of them and asked calmly, “Who showed up? And who is getting old?”

The nurse’s expression shifted instantly, and she hurried away!

Zou Min, however, wasn’t afraid of Ruan Tang. She was older and had worked at the hospital longer, giving her more seniority. “Can’t I say that I’m getting old?”

Ruan Tang replied, “Well, you certainly are quite old. Even older than my husband. Compared to you, my husband is still considered a young man.”

Zou Min: “…”

She was fuming!

In her anger, Zou Min spoke without thinking. “By the way, how many children does that ‘young’ husband of yours have?”

Ruan Tang retorted sharply, “I finally understand why Dr. Zou is thirty-five and still hasn’t become an Attending. You’ve put your heart into everything except improving your medical skills and qualifications. It’s no wonder you never make the cut.”

Zou Min: “…”

That hit her right where it hurt.

Ruan Tang turned and walked away without giving her another glance.

She went to her office, changed into her white lab coat, and poured herself a glass of hot water. As she sat down, her mood settled.

She wasn’t particularly angry; she had expected there to be gossip.

Since there were no patients yet, she rolled up her sleeves, preparing to study a medical journal. Then, she caught sight of the marks left by a certain someone on her arm last night and quickly pulled her sleeves back down.

He had gone back to work early this morning. They wouldn’t see each other again until Wednesday, after her night shift, when she could go back home.

After thinking about him for a moment, a faint smile touched her lips, and she opened the journal to begin her research.

The Associate Chief Physician position was something she was determined to get!

On the other side, Jiang Xia went to the garment factory early that morning to hold a meeting and organize the day’s work.

Chapter 789: Unfair

Before the meeting, Jiang Xia had the administration manager distribute New Year’s red envelopes to everyone. Management staff at the group leader level and above received twenty yuan, while regular employees received five yuan each.

As a result, when Jiang Xia walked into the conference room, everyone was beaming with smiles. One after another, they thanked her for the “lucky start” red envelopes.

This was the first time anyone had received twenty yuan as a start-of-work bonus. In their previous factories, there were either no red envelopes at all or only a token amount of one yuan or even fifty cents.

Being able to receive a one-yuan red envelope was already something to be happy about!

A twenty-yuan red envelope meant their happiness had been multiplied twenty-fold.

Jiang Xia smiled and exchanged a few pleasantries before getting straight to work. “Goods shipped from the capital will arrive at the city train station at ten o’clock this morning and nine o’clock tomorrow morning. Remember to arrange vehicles to pick up the cargo, and don’t forget to call the capital side to double-check the piece count.”

The warehouse supervisor immediately replied, “I’ll arrange for someone to contact the vehicles for the pickup right away.”

Jiang Xia continued, “I’ve brought some samples for baby carriers and developmental walking harnesses. I need the procurement department to find some fabric and trimmings samples for me to choose from. You don’t need to source the buckles separately; I’ll give you a phone number. Director Feng, you can order those directly from that factory.”

“Understood,” the procurement manager responded quickly, noting it down.

Jiang Xia asked, “Is two days enough to find the color swatches and samples?”

“That’s enough. I’ll send someone to look for them immediately.”

“Bring back color swatches and sample fabrics of various qualities and price points. Bring plenty. I plan to take these walking harnesses and baby carriers to the Canton Fair.”

The production supervisor asked, “Should we set up two production lines?”

Jiang Xia nodded. “Yes, we’ll arrange two lines. One for high-end products and one for more economical, mid-to-low-end ones. Therefore, the procurement department needs to find both high-end fabric swatches and more affordable ones. Try to bring back as many swatches and fabric samples as possible for my selection. When cutting fabric samples, make them two meters long, not one; one meter isn’t enough. Focus on pinks, blues, or bright patterns suitable for children. Don’t pick anything dark or gloomy. I’ll be here the day after tomorrow in the morning to finalize the fabrics and color sets for mass production.”

“Understood.”

Jiang Xia continued to outline the work plans and arrangements.

For the first half of this year, the garment factory would still focus primarily on contract manufacturing. It wouldn’t be until the second half of the year that they would officially begin designing and producing their own brand of clothing.

During the New Year, Jiang Xia had received New Year’s greetings calls from several factory directors in the capital. Some directors, unable to reach her because she was visiting relatives at her Grandma’s place, didn’t just call once; they tried several times until they finally got through.

They were truly being very sincere.

So, while she was in the capital for those few days, she had invited them out for a meal.

During the meal, they discussed the Spring Canton Fair. Jiang Xia would still act as their translator, and she even took the opportunity to pick up several contract manufacturing orders for the garment factory.

Some of the designs were obviously going to be hit styles, so they could start preparing inventory in advance.

She also took over their inventory of winter clothes. The clothing store in the capital had also reopened on the eighth day of the first lunar month, though business was a bit slow right after the New Year.

With the work for the garment factory settled for the first half of the year, Jiang Xia would be able to free up time in the second half to assemble a design team.

This semester, Professor Ji’s health had recovered, and he could return to the school to resume teaching. Jiang Xia did not intend to continue as a teacher. This way, she wouldn’t have to prepare lessons or teach classes, allowing her to devote more time to her own studies.

Jiang Xia planned to finish all her courses within these few months and apply to the school early to take the graduation exams for her major.

After settling the work plan for the first half of the year and informing everyone of the plans for the second half, Jiang Xia adjourned the meeting. “Production supervisor and pattern room supervisor, please come to my office for a moment.”

“Yes!” The two followed Jiang Xia to her office.

After finishing her tasks at the garment factory, Jiang Xia drove straight to the food factory.

The food factory’s application to participate in the Canton Fair had also been approved.

Because they didn’t have many products and exhibition hall space was tight, they weren’t assigned their own booth. Instead, their food products would be placed alongside products from other food factories.

Being able to participate was enough. Jiang Xia didn’t dwell on the fact that they didn’t have their own booth; that would come in time.

During the New Year period, Jiang Xia had run advertisements, and that reporter had specifically written a report about their food factory. The report was excellently written and was even reprinted by the Citizens’ Daily.

Over the New Year, potato chips and french fries had become massive hits!

The suppliers had all sold out early and were now regretting not stocking up more.

Consequently, as soon as the factory opened, they received a flood of orders. There were additional orders from old customers, but even more from new customers who had reached out on their own initiative.

In the future, more and more new customers would come knocking. Jiang Xia couldn’t possibly meet with every single one of them, so she needed to delegate this to her subordinates.

Cultivating an excellent sales team and a merchandising team was crucial.

Jiang Xia went to the food factory today not only to meet some new clients but also to provide training for the sales department and the merchandising team.

For the next few days, both husband and wife were busy. Zhou Chenglei sometimes had to attend shareholder meetings for the construction company, and other times Zhang Rong and Elder Mai would seek him out for project investments.

Jiang Xia, meanwhile, went to the food factory and the garment factory every day. She needed to organize the work for both factories before returning to the capital.

The food factory had added several production lines before the New Year, so they also needed to hire more workers.

Mbusy right up until the Lantern Festival, they finally managed to get everything in order.

Jiang Xia only came in today for a morning meeting and to see one client. She was able to get off work by eleven o’clock. She planned to pick up Ruan Tang from the city to head home for the Lantern Festival.

When she arrived at the hospital, Ruan Tang hadn’t come out yet. Jiang Xia needed to use the restroom, so she headed inside.

Ruan Tang had finished changing and had picked up the things she’d bought for the children and her family. As she passed the Director’s office on her way out, she intended to step in to give an update on a hospitalized child’s condition. However, she stopped when she heard Zou Min complaining to the Director.

“Director, isn’t this shift schedule unreasonable? Ruan Tang finished a night shift today, she’s off tomorrow and the day after, and she doesn’t start until Monday afternoon—that’s basically three and a half days off in a row! I ignored it when it happened frequently last year, but the schedule for March is the same way. There’s another week in March scheduled like this, and she had so many days off during the New Year. Don’t you think this is a bit unfair?”

The Director replied, “How is it unfair? Didn’t you use to have schedules like this all the time? When you were asking me to schedule you like this every month back then, why didn’t you say it was unfair?”

“How can that be the same? I have a child at home and elderly parents to care for. I needed that kind of schedule, and I didn’t do it that often—only once a month.”

“You only requested it once a month! But every single week you were swapping shifts with Ruan Tang and other colleagues! And for the last two or three years, whenever you were unavailable or had a sudden emergency, I always arranged for Ruan Tang to cover for you. In fact, whenever anyone in this department had something come up, they called Ruan Tang to help out with their shift.”

The Director continued, “And was Ruan Tang always there whenever she was called? In all these years, Ruan Tang has never once complained about unfairness! She worked hard without complaint! Now that Ruan Tang is a newlywed, I’m showing her some consideration with the scheduling so she and her husband can spend more time together, and you call it unfair?”

Zou Min felt the Director was being biased toward Ruan Tang. “My child was small back then; I had no choice. Ruan Tang doesn’t even have a child yet.”

The Director waved a hand dismissal. “Precisely because Ruan Tang doesn’t have a child yet, I need to take care of her in the scheduling so she can get pregnant and have one soon. Otherwise, she’ll become an older mother.”

Ruan Tang, standing outside the door: “…”

I’m not that old yet!

Chapter 790: Driving Her Crazy

The Director continued, “Taking care of colleagues with specific needs when scheduling shifts is a common practice in every department, not just ours. You’ve been benefiting from this for years; now it’s someone else’s turn. Don’t come to me crying about unfairness! If you want to talk about fairness, however many times you’ve taken breaks like this in the past, I’ll grant every other colleague the same amount of time off to make up for it. Would that satisfy your sense of fairness?”

Zou Min: “…”

Jiang Xia came over after using the restroom and saw Ruan Tang standing there motionless. She didn’t call out but walked closer, overhearing a few lines of the conversation from the office.

Seeing her arrive, Ruan Tang said, “Wait a moment. I just need to brief the Director on a few things, and then we can go.”

With that, Ruan Tang stepped forward and knocked on the office door.

“Come in.”

Hearing Ruan Tang’s voice outside, Zou Min looked toward the office door.

Ruan Tang walked in casually, acting as if nothing had happened.

Zou Min shot a glance at Ruan Tang, unsure if she had heard anything.

But what if she had? Zou Min actually hoped Ruan Tang had heard, so she might take the initiative to stop being so selfish and stop taking every weekend off.

Ruan Tang taking regular leave like this affected the workload and rest of her colleagues.

Especially since March and April were just around the corner—the plum rain season—the hospital would be swamped with patients and become incredibly busy!

She had only just registered her marriage and was already taking leave like this. It would be a long time before she got pregnant and had a child; was the entire department supposed to look after her until then?

Back when Zou Min had just gotten married, she hadn’t taken leave like this. She only started doing so after she had children.

The Director said to Zou Min, “If there’s nothing else, you may go.”

Then, he asked Ruan Tang with a smile, “Not off yet? What’s the matter?”

As Zou Min passed by Ruan Tang, she glared at her.

Ruan Tang ignored her completely and began reporting the patients’ conditions to the Director.

On the drive back, Jiang Xia finally asked, “Does that colleague always give you a hard time? It feels like she’s targeting you.”

Ruan Tang shook her head. “Not really, she isn’t making life difficult for me; she’s just resentful that I get so many days off. Previously, I was single and had too much free time. When I didn’t have to work, I had nothing better to do at home, so if a colleague was busy, I’d fill in for them. Now that I’m married, the Director is looking out for me. He tries to schedule my shifts so I can have two or three consecutive days off as compensation for all those times I covered for others. This means she can’t have weekends off like I do, and she’s just unhappy about it.”

Their hospital was not open to the general public, so patient numbers weren’t high. There were five doctors in pediatrics, and they rotated through the outpatient clinic, emergency room, and inpatient department. The other colleagues all accommodated her; knowing she had just registered her marriage and that her partner didn’t live in the city, they didn’t object to the Director’s scheduling. After all, during the two or three years since Ruan Tang transferred there, she had indeed covered many shifts for her colleagues. She would even take their shifts directly without asking for a swap.

Although Ruan Tang had always been rather cool and distant and didn’t often socialize with her colleagues, she would help any nurse or doctor who asked for a hand—she could even perform a nurse’s duties if necessary.

She even helped colleagues from the internal medicine department if she had the expertise.

Therefore, no one else had an issue with Ruan Tang’s time-off arrangements.

Only Zou Min had a problem with it.

“Her having an issue is her business. I’ll take my leave regardless of what she thinks. Even if she has an opinion, she has to keep it to herself; our hospital values absolute obedience to superior arrangements.” Ruan Tang decided that next month, she would ask the Director to schedule her for night shifts on two consecutive Fridays, take Sundays off, and then work the night shift again on Mondays!

That would really make her fume!

“You’re right, there’s no need to pay her any mind,” Jiang Xia agreed.

Chapter 791: Almost Crashed into Her

No one was on the road, and there were no cars, so the vehicle wasn’t moving slowly. Suddenly, a figure dashed out from a guesthouse and onto the road.

“Careful! Someone’s there!” Ruan Tang’s heart tightened, and she subconsciously cried out.

It was too late to brake! Jiang Xia slammed the steering wheel to the side, swerving to avoid the person, and then stomped on the brakes. She nearly crashed into the utility pole on the opposite side!

Jiang Xia hadn’t been driving extremely fast, but she wasn’t slow either. With the sudden hard brake, the tires screeched sharply against the ground.

Two black skid marks were left on the cement road.

Ruan Tang grabbed the handle on the car ceiling, her heart nearly leaping out of her chest!

After Jiang Xia came to a stop, she broke out in a cold sweat.

The figure who had run out was also startled and stood frozen in the middle of the road.

Damn it, if you want to die, don’t drag others into it! Jiang Xia was fuming!

She forcefully unbuckled her seatbelt, pushed the car door open, and glanced back.

Jiang Xia had originally intended to get out of the car, but once she saw the situation clearly, she decided against it.

She had avoided the person, hadn’t hit her, and the woman hadn’t even fallen down from the shock. Since the person wasn’t injured, there was no absolute need to step out.

Ruan Tang also rolled down the window to look at what was happening behind them.

At that moment, the figure from behind caught up and grabbed the woman who was still standing dazed in the middle of the road. “Smack, smack, smack!” Several slaps were delivered.

It was Li Xiuxian! Ruan Tang recognized her.

“I’ll kill you, you slut! How dare you seduce my husband! You tramp…”

After being slapped several times by Li Xiuxian, the other woman grew defiant. She grabbed Li Xiuxian’s hair, and the two began brawling right in the middle of the street, pulling at each other’s hair.

Just then, a man ran out of the guesthouse. He pulled Li Xiuxian away and shielded the younger woman. “Enough! Haven’t you embarrassed yourself enough?!”

Jiang Xia arched an eyebrow. She hadn’t expected them to be acquaintances.

Broadly speaking, two were acquaintances, and one was not.

She didn’t know who the woman who was almost hit was.

Regardless, Jiang Xia thought she looked quite young and pretty, likely only eighteen or nineteen, with a very pure appearance.

Unless something unexpected had happened, she was likely Liao Ruixiang’s new flame.

Jiang Xia had been driving to the city frequently over the past few days and had encountered Liao Ruixiang twice. Each time, he was riding his motorcycle early in the morning with a woman on the back. The woman would be hugging his waist, looking very intimate.

The point was, the woman on the back hadn’t been the same person either time; it wasn’t Li Xiuxian, and it wasn’t this young girl currently in the street.

Pulling away from Liao Ruixiang, Li Xiuxian swung her hand to hit him. “I’m the one embarrassing myself? You’re the embarrassment! Liao Ruixiang, you’re shameless!”

Liao Ruixiang caught her swinging hand and slapped her twice. “Enough!”

After being slapped twice by Liao Ruixiang, Li Xiuxian went completely hysterical. She began hitting him frantically. “Liao Ruixiang! You dared to hit me! After everything I’ve done for you! I just gave birth to your child and I’m still in my postpartum recovery, yet you’re fooling around with other women! You don’t even care that your daughter has a fever…”

…

Jiang Xia watched for a few moments but lost interest. She started the car and drove away.

Ruan Tang also withdrew her gaze.

The two continued the conversation they had been having halfway through, not mentioning Li Xiuxian again.

To them, Li Xiuxian was now an insignificant person.

It was nearly 1:00 PM by the time they returned to the town.

Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengsen had been waiting at the pier since 12:30 PM, having arrived on their bicycles.

After waiting another ten minutes, Zhou Chenglei pushed off on his bicycle pedals and said, “I’ll go take a look.”

He couldn’t wait any longer. Jiang Xia had called home from the factory at 10:30 AM saying she would pick up Ruan Tang and head back.

Judging by her usual driving time, she should have arrived before 12:30 PM.

Zhou Chengsen also pedaled his bike to follow.

The two had just reached the town when they spotted the Jeep.

Jiang Xia saw them as well and pulled over beside them. “Where are you going?”

“To find you,” Zhou Chenglei replied, his eyes reflexively scanning the car body and wheels.

Since they were late, he was worried that something had gone wrong with the car on the way.

He then noticed new abrasion marks on the tires.

He was very familiar with this vehicle and spotted it at a glance.

He frowned.

Zhou Chengsen was met with a somewhat complicated look from Ruan Tang. He paused for a moment and then said, “Let’s go home first.”

Jiang Xia started the car, and the two men turned their bicycles around to follow behind.

Zhou Chenglei said to Zhou Chengsen, “There are emergency brake marks on the tires. They probably ran into some trouble.”

Zhou Chengsen had only been looking at Ruan Tang and hadn’t noticed. Recalling her expression, he figured she must have been frightened.

Both men instinctively quickened their pace.

They arrived home quickly.

The rest of the family was still waiting for them to eat lunch.

Jiang Xia and Ruan Tang both felt embarrassed.

“It’s so late, why didn’t you all eat first?”

“I got off work a bit late, so we returned late. Don’t wait for us next time.”

Mother Zhou smiled as she brought out the food. “It’s not late. I just finished cooking the dishes.”

Jiang Xia and Ruan Tang washed their hands and hurried to help carry the food.

It wasn’t until they were eating that Zhou Chenglei asked, “What happened on the way? The tires are all scuffed up.”

Upon hearing this, Father Zhou asked idly, “Did a chicken or dog suddenly run out and nearly get hit?”

Jiang Xia: “…”

Ruan Tang: “…”

Father Zhou often encountered chickens or dogs running out when he rode his motorcycle; once, it nearly caused him to crash.

Mother Zhou chimed in, “When driving through the villages, you have to be careful. Don’t hit people’s chickens, ducks, or dogs. If you kill one, the whole village will come out and surround your car.”

Jiang Xia replied, “No, it was a person who suddenly ran onto the road.”

Since Zhou Ying was present, she didn’t mention who it was.

Ruan Tang didn’t say anything either.

Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengsen both looked at their respective wives. “Did you get bumped?”

Jiang Xia: “No, I had my seatbelt on. I was just startled.”

Ruan Tang: “No.”

Zhou Chengsen glanced at the unusually quiet Ruan Tang.

Mother Zhou was startled. “No wonder you’re so late. Did that person cause trouble for you?”

Jiang Xia: “No, I swerved and didn’t hit her. No one caused us trouble.”

Fearing Mother Zhou would keep digging for details, Ruan Tang added, “The reason we’re back late is because I finished work a bit late.”

Mother Zhou said, “That’s terrifying! Was it a child who ran out? Some children have no sense of safety and often run out suddenly. Parents really should teach them better.”

Father Zhou added, “Children don’t listen to instructions. They forget as soon as you tell them. In any case, don’t drive too fast and be sure to be careful yourself.”

Jiang Xia didn’t deny it. “Papa is right. I’ll definitely be more careful in the future.”

Mother Zhou then lectured Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying not to run around near the road.

Now that the roads were paved, there were more vehicles going to and from the pier—especially bicycles.

Being hit by a bicycle could also cause injury.

After lunch, the children went to school, and Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang returned to the house next door for a nap.

Ruan Tang had worked the night shift last night and needed to catch up on sleep.

Once back in the room with the door closed, Zhou Chengsen pulled her into his arms. “Who did you almost hit?”

Ruan Tang liked it when he initiated a hug.

Lately, he was always the one to initiate the embrace.

She leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his solid waist, and looked up at him.

“How did you know the person we almost hit was someone I knew?”

Zhou Chengsen replied, “When Xiao Xia was talking about it, you were a bit too quiet.”

Ruan Tang then said, “It was Yingying’s mother.”

Zhou Chengsen immediately lost interest. He held her tighter, his forehead against hers. “Did you miss me?”

Ruan Tang nodded and didn’t mention another word about the incident. Their time together was limited; there was no need to waste it discussing others.

She raised her hands to hook around his neck and looked at him with a smile. “I did. What about you?”

If she didn’t miss him, would she have swapped shifts with a colleague for half a morning just to stay one more night with him after her night shift?

“I did.” Zhou Chengsen lowered his head to kiss her.

He used his actions to let her feel exactly how much he had missed her.

…

On the other side, Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia took the triplets to their room for a nap.

After putting the triplets on the bed, Jiang Xia changed into her pajamas, washed her face, and began breastfeeding the little sister to coax her to sleep.

As soon as the little girl lay beside her mother to nurse, her little legs kicked up, and her chubby hands liked to grab her own toes to play.

Those little elephant legs were swinging back and forth! She was far more active than her two brothers.

Jiang Xia felt that she certainly wouldn’t grow up to be a reserved lady.

Zhou Chenglei gave a bottle of milk to each of the boys; they would fall asleep once they finished.

Zhou Chenglei changed his clothes and lay down on the bed next to Jiang Xia. He moved the little sister’s hands and legs, trying to settle her down.

As soon as Zhou Chenglei let go, the little girl lifted her legs again, grabbed her toes, and swung them.

She was mischievous as anything!

Zhou Chenglei helped move her limbs back to their original positions again.

The little sister lifted her legs again to play with her toes!

Zhou Chenglei pried them apart again and gave them a light, firm press.

She lifted them again!

While nursing, she even opened those eyes that were charming enough to steal anyone’s soul, glanced at her father, and let out a soft laugh with the nipple still in her mouth.

Zhou Chenglei wasn’t completely overwhelmed by his daughter’s cuteness. He pried them apart again, holding down those naughty little hands and feet. “No lifting!”

His daughter was clearly so bright and lovely; why did she seem to be developing a bit of a tomboyish streak?

Her movements were becoming more and more like a little ruffian!

The little sister pulled her limbs free and continued to lift them, even smiling at her father. “Mmm.”

Those rolling big eyes on her chubby, rosy-white face were glowing with beauty.

Jiang Xia watched the father and daughter pair, both as stubborn as the other, and felt quite speechless.

“Just let her be! She thinks you’re playing with her! This is actually better; a few days ago, she was kicking her legs while nursing!”

In the end, it was Zhou Chenglei who compromised.

His daughter’s little elephant legs never seemed to rest. Even when he held her to feed her, she insisted on letting one leg hang down!

Usually, when sitting in the baby stroller, she would rest her feet on the guardrail as if doing the splits.

Such movements looked cute on a small child, but it wouldn’t do if she made it a habit when she grew up.

Zhou Chenglei lay down and let Jiang Xia lean her back against him to make her more comfortable. Only then did he ask, “Who did you almost hit on the way back? Someone you know?”

Jiang Xia felt it was a waste of Zhou Chenglei’s sharp intuition that he didn’t become a detective!

Jiang Xia told him what happened.

Zhou Chenglei wasn’t surprised at all. Liao Ruixiang had liked flirting with girls since he was young; a man’s basic nature was hard to change.

Now that he had money, he would only become more egregious in the future.

But he just listened; he wouldn’t offer an evaluation of an insignificant person.

The two didn’t discuss it further. After Jiang Xia finished talking, she asked about him and Zhang Rong going to see a former brother-in-arms.

Zhou Chenglei said, “He wasn’t exactly my brother-in-arms. He was an infrastructure engineering soldier before. Now he’s planning to open an electronics factory and doesn’t have enough money, so he came to Second Brother and me for an investment…”

An infrastructure soldier, an electronics factory? Jiang Xia’s heart skipped a beat as a thought occurred to her. She turned to look at him. “Did you two agree?”

The little sister was almost asleep but was woken up by her mother’s sudden movement. She opened her eyes, glanced at her mother, then closed them again and continued to work her little mouth.

Chapter 792: He’s Becoming a Resentful Husband!

Seeing that his daughter had fallen asleep, Zhou Chenglei lowered the “little elephant legs” she had been holding high in the air. At the same time, he answered Jiang Xia’s question. “I agreed. Second Brother and I think the prospects are good, so we discussed each putting some money in. We won’t manage the operations, just collect the dividends…”

Once her father lowered her legs, the little girl let go of Jiang Xia. She lay flat on her back, but her mouth continued to make little sucking motions in her sleep, looking incredibly adorable.

While talking to Jiang Xia, Zhou Chenglei picked her up to move her to the small bed so she could sleep with her two older brothers, rather than getting in the way on the big bed. “…I also spoke with Grandpa. He thinks it’s a good idea too, so he’s going to invest as well—and he’s putting in even more than us.”

After Zhou Chenglei settled his daughter, he saw that the boys had finished their milk and fallen asleep as well. He took away their baby bottles and tucked all three children in under the quilt. Sliding back into bed, he gently pulled Jiang Xia into his arms and took the opportunity to lightly kiss her earlobe, continuing his trail of kisses down from her forehead.

He always showed immense endurance once he started from the forehead. Jiang Xia, afraid she would be too exhausted afterward to remember anything, pushed him and tried to shoo him out of bed. “Stop messing around. We should invest a bit more money too. Go quickly and calculate how much cash we have available to invest.”

Zhou Chenglei: “…”

During the day, she went to the factory, and when she came home in the evening, she was preoccupied with making Ruan Tang’s dowry. He had finally managed to get a free afternoon with her, only for her to tell him to go count money?

After being a “nursery dad,” he was about to become a resentful husband!

In her eyes, everything was more important than him!

Jiang Xia coaxed him, “We don’t have much time; the kids will wake up soon. Let’s get some sleep early tonight.”

Only then was Zhou Chenglei satisfied. He gave her a tight squeeze before finally letting her go.

Jiang Xia escaped the ordeal in the afternoon, but she had to repay it doubly that night.

They had gone to bed at eight o’clock in the evening, and Jiang Xia had no idea when it finally ended. It was definitely past midnight, though, because she had glanced at her watch around then.

Zhou Chenglei was always complaining that her stamina was too poor and wanted her to start running for exercise. Jiang Xia felt that all the exercise she had done in her entire previous life combined wouldn’t equal the amount she did in a single day now.

The only exception was middle school, as the physical education component of the high school entrance exam required some pretty intense training back then. Jiang Xia grumbled internally that even running four laps around the Sports Field hadn’t been this exhausting. Soon, she drifted into a heavy sleep.

At four o’clock the next morning, she was awakened by the sound of barking dogs and the “beachcombing army.”

Still dazed in Zhou Chenglei’s arms, Jiang Xia instinctively pulled her head under the quilt, trying to block out the noise. “Why is it so loud?”

Zhou Chenglei reached out to cover her ears. “The villagers are going out for beachcombing.”

Was it daylight already?

Hearing “beachcombing” cleared Jiang Xia’s mind a bit. Beachcombing during a major ebb tide was one of her greatest pleasures.

Moreover, usually no one had time to go beachcombing during the New Year period. Now that a month had passed, the sea must be full of bounty. Those sea snails and such should have grown quite a bit.

Jiang Xia patted Zhou Chenglei’s arm, signaling for him to loosen his grip. “I want to go beachcombing.”

Zhou Chenglei didn’t let go. Instead, he clamped onto her like an octopus, burying his face in the crook of her neck. He mumbled, “Didn’t you say you were tired? Sleep a little longer.”

He’d had enough exercise last night. Today he had to turn the seedling beds to prepare for the seedling nursery, and it was also time to plant the peanuts and corn. He decided skip his morning run to sleep in with her for a while.

Jiang Xia patted his arm again. “I’m not tired anymore. I made plans with Second Sister-in-law to go beachcombing.”

Zhou Chenglei grumbled with dissatisfaction, “You never feel tired when you’re doing anything else. It’s only when we’re in bed that you cry about being tired every single time.”

Jiang Xia: “…”

Jiang Xia felt both annoyed and amused. Did he ever consider if the problem was him?

Who could handle him?

She had heard from colleagues in the past that after getting married and having children, a certain “interest” would gradually fade, sometimes even losing all the preamble.

But not him!

His interest hadn’t diminished at all; if anything, it was getting stronger.

She really couldn’t take it anymore and couldn’t help saying, “Then shouldn’t you reflect on whether you’re being too… you know?”

Zhou Chenglei asked, “Too what?”

“Too much?” Jiang Xia wrapped her arms around him and kissed his chin. His stubble had grown out a bit, feeling prickly.

“…”

The corners of Zhou Chenglei’s mouth curled up. He gave her a firm kiss and resigned himself to getting up to accompany her to the beach.

When the two of them went downstairs, Father Zhou and Mother Zhou were already awake.

Seeing Jiang Xia up so early, Mother Zhou asked, “Going beachcombing?”

Jiang Xia nodded. “I made plans with Second Sister-in-law.”

Mother Zhou had originally wanted to go too. Yesterday, someone had dug up a lot of sand worms, and she had planned to go dig for some herself. Hearing this, she said, “Then you go ahead! I’ll stay home and watch the children.”

Then Mother Zhou turned to Zhou Chenglei. “Yesterday afternoon, many people dug up sand worms at the tidal flats. There should still be some today. You should go take a look once it’s light out.”

Jiang Xia didn’t really dare to dig for sand worms. She was a bit afraid of any soft-bodied creatures; she didn’t even dare to touch earthworms or loaches. However, Zhou Chenglei still grunted in response. “Mhm.”

He would just go dig for them himself once the sun was up.

Mother Zhou handed them a few boiled eggs to eat on the way.

Just then, Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang arrived. The family from the first branch along with Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa also came out. So, the families drove together to go beachcombing.

The beach in the early morning was dotted with lights. Many people had come out with flashlights to search the shores.

This was Ruan Tang’s first time beachcombing before dawn. “There are so many people out here in the middle of the night?”

Zhou Chengsen explained, “Sometimes you can actually find more things just before daybreak.”

Jiang Xia added, “Many fish like to come out to feed at night. Let’s see if we can catch more squid tonight.”

Ruan Tang said, “I love eating squid.”

“I like it too. And mantis shrimp—they’re very sweet. Mantis shrimp are starting to become more common this season as well.”

Tian Caihua couldn’t hold back anymore. “Then let’s hurry up!”

With that, Jiang Xia, Ruan Tang, and Tian Caihua hurried toward the beach.

Tian Caihua, as always, followed wherever Jiang Xia went. Jiang Xia preferred going to places where there weren’t many people.

The three Zhou brothers followed behind the three women.

The tide hadn’t fully receded yet, reaching roughly to their calves. As Jiang Xia swept her flashlight over the water, she saw a school of shrimp swimming! There were more than a dozen of them!

“So many shrimp tonight!”

Tian Caihua and Ruan Tang saw several of them too and reached out directly with their hands to catch them!

Tian Caihua caught one every time she reached out!

Ruan Tang failed every time she reached out!

Prawns had fast reflexes. When they were in the water like this, Jiang Xia couldn’t catch a single one, let alone a whole group. She could only pick them up when they were buried in the sand.

“Zhou Chenglei, did you bring a dip net? There are lots of prawns. You come scoop them up.”

“I have it.” Zhou Chenglei stepped forward with the dip net. With a swift movement, he scooped them up. Out of the dozen or so prawns, only two or three managed to escape!

Jiang Xia spotted a few more. “Zhou Chenglei, over here! Hurry!”

Zhou Chenglei dumped the shrimp into the bucket and walked over.

Ruan Tang had been chasing a shrimp for a while but couldn’t catch it. She turned back to look at Zhou Chengsen. “I can’t catch a single one. Do we have a dip net?”

“…I’ll catch them. Just tell me when you see them.” Zhou Chengsen hadn’t brought one. Coming to the beach wasn’t the same as going out to sea; who would be like Zhou Chenglei and bring everything imaginable?

But he understood now! In the future, he would just bring whatever Zhou Chenglei brought.

Wherever Jiang Xia’s flashlight beam passed, she spotted more. “Here!”

Zhou Chenglei walked over.

Ruan Tang also discovered some. “There’s one here! Another one here! And here! Quick!”

Zhou Chengsen rushed over.

But he wasn’t as good at catching fish and shrimp by hand as Zhou Chenglei, nor was he as good as Tian Caihua. After a lot of splashing around, he didn’t manage to catch a single one of the shrimp!

Ruan Tang had thought he would be very capable. She hadn’t watched him catch them, focusing only on searching. “There’s another one here, and here too!…”

When she finally turned around, he hadn’t caught anything!

Ruan Tang: “…”

Zhou Chengsen: “…The shrimp are a bit lively tonight.”

In truth, among the brothers, he was the least skilled at catching fish and shrimp with his bare hands—he was even worse than his sister-in-law.

He called out to Zhou Chenglei, “A-Lei, give me the dip net!”

Zhou Chenglei was suddenly hard of hearing and didn’t hear a thing. He pulled Jiang Xia along and quickly moved further away.

He moved so fast that one might suspect he was worried people wouldn’t notice he was “unable to hear.”

Chapter 793: Music to the Ears

The tide had completely receded, and the shrimp had vanished along with the water.

Some were too slow to follow the tide back to the sea, burying themselves in the sand instead, but those were much harder to spot.

Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia caught over 500 grams—nearly a kilogram altogether.

Tian Caihua and Zhou Chengxin also managed to catch about 250 grams of shrimp with their bare hands.

That was no easy feat!

Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang caught a total of precisely four shrimp.

This was even more of a struggle! The two of them had been splashing all over the beach just to catch those four.

Their jackets were soaked through.

Zhou Chenglei passed by them and deliberately placed his bucket next to Zhou Chengsen’s for a comparison.

In one bucket sat four lonely shrimp and a single octopus; the other bucket was brimming with shrimp, several octopuses, and a pile of white sand clams, blood clams, and scallops.

Zhou Chenglei had scooped up the shrimp, while Jiang Xia had gathered everything else.

The contrast was stark, and the “damage” was immense.

Zhou Chenglei couldn’t help but jab at him. “Not bad, Second Brother. You’ve broken a record!”

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

Hearing about a record, Zhou Chengxin asked, “How many did you catch?”

Zhou Chenglei replied, “Four!”

Zhou Chengxin nodded. “Oh, that is a record. You broke a single digit. Not bad.”

Zhou Chenglei added, “You should be able to get five next time. Keep working hard, Second Brother.”

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

If you don’t have anything nice to say, you can just stay quiet.

His image as a wise and omnipotent man was completely shattered!

Jiang Xia and Ruan Tang both stifled their laughter.

Zhou Chengsen pulled Ruan Tang away, refusing to stay with them any longer. “We’re going to catch mantis shrimp.”

Zhou Chenglei called out again, “Second Brother, catch more mantis shrimp. With your reaction speed, that’s really all you’re good for. We’ll leave all the mantis shrimp to you today; we won’t compete!”

After saying that, Zhou Chenglei carried the bucket back to Jiang Xia and pulled her along into a quick run, afraid his second brother might actually try to hit him.

Laughing, Jiang Xia looked down to continue her search and quickly spotted a mantis shrimp burrow.

She stomped on the sand several times. Sure enough, a mantis shrimp crawled out from another hole.

Zhou Chenglei adeptly grabbed it and tossed it into the bucket, then pointed nearby. “There’s another burrow here.”

Jiang Xia walked over and stomped again.

While Jiang Xia was busy stomping burrows, Zhou Chenglei wasn’t idling either. Spotting a large flower crab hidden beneath the sand, he snatched it up and threw it into the bucket.

Whenever a mantis shrimp emerged from its hole, he would grab it immediately so Jiang Xia didn’t have to get her hands dirty.

“There’s another one here,” Zhou Chenglei said.

“There are quite a few mantis shrimp today.” Jiang Xia went to stomp again.

“They’re fat, too.”

“Mhm, let’s gather more.”

“Alright.” Zhou Chenglei knew Jiang Xia loved mantis shrimp.

They were a hassle to eat, but the meat was incredibly fresh and sweet.

The two focused specifically on finding mantis shrimp burrows. Of course, if they saw anything else along the way, they picked it up as well.

Essentially, they took whatever they saw.

There really were many mantis shrimp today; they saw a burrow every few meters. Jiang Xia had a great time stomping them out.

Some mantis shrimp wouldn’t jump out even with stomping, so Zhou Chenglei would dig them out by hand.

…

Before they knew it, the sky began to brighten, and the tide slowly started to rise.

The two of them had collected between one and one and a half kilograms of mantis shrimp, and with the other finds, they had a full bucket. They also had a large mesh bag filled with scallops, fan shells, and oysters.

As they headed back to shore, the people scattered across the beach converged into a group.

Jiang Xia glanced at everyone’s buckets and mesh bags; most were filled with various bivalves.

Tian Caihua was well-liked in the village. A woman spotted her and immediately walked over. “Ah Hua!”

Tian Caihua was walking with Jiang Xia and Ruan Tang. Hearing her name, she looked back and asked with a smile, “What’s up? You had a good harvest today! You picked up so many scallops.”

“Are you buying? If you are, I’ll give them all to you.”

Tian Caihua replied, “I’m buying. Why wouldn’t I?”

She wanted to dry more scallops to sell to Elder Xu later.

The woman smiled upon hearing this. “Then I’ll bring them straight to your house for weighing.”

Tian Caihua agreed. “Sure.”

The woman glanced at Ruan Tang and Zhou Chengsen walking ahead, then whispered, “Have you heard about Li Xiuxian?”

Tian Caihua also looked ahead and whispered back, “No. Isn’t she in her post-birth confinement? What happened?”

Seeing that even Tian Caihua hadn’t heard, the woman got excited:

“She finished her confinement ages ago! Liao Ruixiang has a woman on the side. Yesterday, Li Xiuxian went to catch them in the act and it turned into a scene at the police station. Last night, her mother-in-law kicked her out and she went back to her parents’ house! The Li brothers went to the Liao family home last night to stir up a huge fuss!”

Tian Caihua’s eyes widened. “Tell me the details! How did she catch them? How did it end up at the police station? What happened after the fuss?”

Tian Caihua was frustrated!

How could she have missed such a spectacular scene?

It was all because she wanted to wake up early for beachcombing today, so she had gone to bed too early! Otherwise, if she had known, she definitely would have gone to watch the drama.

“I heard Li Xiuxian had some gynecological issue and took a bus to the city to see a doctor. Halfway there, she saw Liao Ruixiang pulling a woman into a guesthouse. Li Xiuxian got off the bus right then and there, chased them down, and gave that woman a beating. Later, someone called the police, and they all ended up at the police station…”

The woman’s voice grew louder as she spoke. Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang were walking right in front of her; it was impossible not to hear.

Even Zhou Chenglei, who usually didn’t pay attention to gossip, heard it clearly.

Other village women nearby heard the topic and crowded around to get the scoop. Everyone loved hearing and discussing gossip.

The walk back to the shore was about three or four kilometers. Through the back-and-forth of the crowd, the details of Liao Ruixiang and Li Xiuxian’s situation were dissected and embellished until everything was laid bare.

The crowd had even tallied up how many mistresses Liao Ruixiang supposedly had.

“Li Xiuxian really jumped into a fire pit! That illness of hers… it was probably given to her by Liao Ruixiang, right?”

“Ten to one, it was!”

“So what happens now?”

“Now Li Xiuxian has completely fallen out with the Liao family. she went home by herself and didn’t even want the baby; she left it with the Liaos.”

“Li Xiuxian wants a divorce again? What a sin. The baby is so small, what’s going to happen?”

“Divorce? What divorce? They never even registered their marriage! There wasn’t even a wedding banquet, so what’s there to divorce? She just packed her bags and went home!”

The villagers didn’t actually care much about marriage certificates. Seven or eight out of ten couples in the village hadn’t registered their marriage. As long as a banquet was held and friends and relatives witnessed it, it was considered a marriage.

“The Liao family said they’d wait for the baby to be born to hold the Full Moon banquet and the wedding banquet together. In the end, she gave birth to a daughter, so they didn’t even have the Full Moon banquet.”

“Her mother-in-law was too much, too. She didn’t look after her during her postpartum recovery and wouldn’t even wash the baby’s diapers in the dead of winter.”

“Li Xiuxian isn’t one to take things lying down, though. She stuffed the baby’s dirty diapers into her mother-in-law’s wardrobe and used her parents-in-law’s clothes as diapers for the baby, forcing the mother-in-law to wash them…”

“I heard Li Xiuxian wants to break up with Liao Ruixiang. She’ll leave the child to the Liao family, but Liao Ruixiang has to give her 100,000 yuan! Paid over three years.”

“100,000 yuan? Does Liao Ruixiang even have that much? Even if he did, he’d never be willing to part with it, right?”

“Of course he isn’t willing. Liao Ruixiang isn’t an idiot.”

“Say, now that Li Xiuxian is effectively divorced, will she come back looking for your Brother-in-law?”

Tian Caihua snapped, “Would she have the nerve? Besides, my Brother-in-law is already married to Xiao Tang. They’re going to register the marriage right after the New Year!”

“Registering the marriage” meant getting the certificate. In the village, people didn’t say “register”; they said “writing the marriage document.”

Chapter 794: Going to the Fields

Zhou Chengsen was just thinking about how to let the villagers know that he and Ruan Tang had already registered their marriage. He had planned to go around and hand out wedding candy in a little while, but he hadn’t expected Tian Caihua to just come out and say it.

She had said it so naturally, and her timing was impeccable!

The village women were shocked when they heard this. They all began calling out to Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang ahead of them. “Chengsen, Dr. Ruan, you two got married?”

“Are you not going to hold a wedding banquet?”

“Did you only register the marriage? Aren’t you going to invite us all for a drink to celebrate?”

Zhou Chengsen turned back with a smile. “We were just about to hand out the wedding candy. We’ve already picked a date, so we will definitely invite everyone for a banquet then.”

“When is the banquet?”

“You’re not planning to hold the Full Moon banquet and the wedding banquet together, are you?”

Zhou Chengsen replied, “No, it’s on May 20th. Since it’s still four months away, we didn’t tell everyone in advance.”

“May 20th? That’s a great day! My nephew on my mother’s side is also getting married that day. When they were looking for a date, the spirit medium said that day is an auspicious one, the kind you only see once every sixty years!”

“A lot of people are getting married or holding celebrations on that day. I’ve already heard of three families.”

“With such a good day, everyone planning to get married this year has picked the same date.”

Zhou Chengsen laughed. “Yeah, I heard it’s a very auspicious day.”

By the time they returned from the beach, it was just past seven o’clock.

The triplets were sitting on the floor, playing with blocks and eating their rice paste.

Zhou Ying and Zhou Zhou were at the dining table having breakfast. When they saw everyone return, they quickly greeted them.

Seeing their parents come back, the triplets also chirped, “Papa, Mama, Uncle, Auntie.”

Their pronunciation was already quite clear.

They just happened to address Zhou Chengsen incorrectly.

Jiang Xia accepted the greeting with a smile.

Mother Zhou was feeding the triplets their rice paste. Seeing them return, she said, “Breakfast is keeping warm in the pot; go and get it yourselves. I cooked some white congee. What seafood did you catch? We can put some in to make seafood congee.”

Jiang Xia said, “We caught a lot of prawns today. I’ll go make the seafood congee.”

The two brothers, Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengsen, went to process the crabs, scallops, oysters, clams, and other catch.

Seafood congee naturally needed plenty of seafood to be sweet and fresh.

The whole family loved seafood, so they added even more.

When the congee was ready, Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengsen both served their wives a bowl overflowing with seafood.

There was more seafood than congee.

Ruan Tang was scooping the poached seafood from the pot onto a plate. Seeing the bowl, she asked, “Did you give me all of it? Is there any left for Papa and Mama?”

Zhou Chengsen picked up a prawn and began peeling it. “There’s still plenty in the clay pot. The bowl A-Lei gave Fourth Sister-in-law has even more. You usually eat at the school cafeteria and rarely get seafood congee with this much variety and freshness. Eat up.”

Zhou Chenglei served bowls for Father Zhou and Mother Zhou as well, similarly packed with seafood, before moving them into the house.

Jiang Xia and Ruan Tang brought in the stir-fried rice vermicelli and a large plate of poached seafood.

The family began their breakfast.

Zhou Chenglei’s bowl had more prawns, and he started peeling them for Jiang Xia, placing each one into her bowl as he finished.

Zhou Chengsen glanced over and realized he had been outmaneuvered. The bowl Zhou Chenglei had served Jiang Xia didn’t have any prawns or crabs with shells; it was all seafood that could be eaten directly.

To peel prawns for Ruan Tang, he had to pick them out of her bowl first.

“I have enough. You eat; no need to peel more for me. I can’t eat that much.” Jiang Xia picked up two oysters from her bowl and put them into Zhou Chenglei’s bowl.

Seeing this, Father Zhou was reminded of something and scooped all the oysters from his own bowl into Zhou Chengsen’s.

When his younger son had first gotten married, Father Zhou had also urged him to eat more oysters.

Look at the result—three such adorable triplets!

Now that his second son was a newlywed, he should eat more too!

The oysters were very plump this season, each one white, tender, and chubby.

He hoped that next year, he would be holding another chubby little grandson.

Seeing this, Zhou Chenglei took a shell-on oyster from the plate, shucked it, and gave it to Zhou Chengsen. He was naturally unwilling to give away the ones Jiang Xia had given him.

“Second Brother, eat more. Bolster your health.”

He then gave him a meaningful look, hinting that since he was older, he needed the extra nourishment.

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

Ruan Tang rarely saw Zhou Chengsen eat oysters, but since everyone was giving them to him, she assumed he loved them. Since she didn’t care for them herself, she gave all the oysters in her bowl to Zhou Chengsen as well.

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

He actually didn’t like oysters very much; he felt they were full of secretions.

Furthermore, he and Ruan Tang hadn’t reached that stage yet. There was no need to “bolster” things so early.

However, even if he didn’t like them, he wouldn’t refuse them.

After breakfast, Zhou Chenglei had to plow the seedling bed.

Mother Zhou planned to go with him, but Jiang Xia said, “I’ll go! Mama, you stay home and look after the children.”

And so, the husband and wife went to plow the land together.

Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang went to hand out the wedding candy first.

Ruan Tang asked him, “When did you prepare all this?”

Zhou Chengsen replied, “I prepared it at home in the evenings after work over the last few days.”

Hearing this, Zhou Ying immediately said, “Zhou Zhou and I helped too!”

Ruan Tang smiled and patted her head. “Really? Yingying is so helpful!”

Zhou Ying added, “Papa, Sister Ruan, can I give some wedding candy to Xiao Yi and the others? I also want to take some to school to give to my classmates.”

Zhou Chengsen said, “Of course. Papa prepared a lot; we won’t be able to give it all away.”

Zhou Ying was relieved. She and Zhou Zhou happily took some candy and went out to share it with their little friends.

Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang also headed out to hand out wedding candy.

They only needed to give it to people in their own village, not the entire production team.

There were about forty households in their village, so they finished quickly.

Soon, everyone in the village knew that the two had registered their marriage.

As it was time to prepare for spring plowing, Zhou Chengsen went to the seedling bed as soon as they finished handing out the candy and returned home.

He said to Ruan Tang, “You and Fourth Sister-in-law stay home. I’ll go turn the soil in the seedling bed.”

He wanted to get it done now so he wouldn’t have to worry about it when he was back at work.

Ruan Tang replied, “I’ll go with you. I want to take a walk in the fields.”

Ruan Tang had never farmed before, but since the family had land and was currently planting, she felt she should take notes and learn.

Thus, the husband and wife headed to the fields together.

Every household had a seedling bed, all located in the same area. This was the patch of paddy field closest to the village, making it easy to manage.

The Zhou brothers shared a single seedling bed. Technically, after the family division, it could have been split into three plots for each to manage individually, but none of the brothers had done so.

Big Brother Zhou Chengxin had already brought out the family’s ox and was plowing the field.

Zhou Chenglei, Jiang Xia, and Tian Caihua followed behind him. As the ox plowed the field, they broke apart the turned-over clods of mud and then organized the soil into neat rows.

This was Jiang Xia’s first time doing this kind of work, but she was practical and a quick learner.

Soon, Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang joined them.

Tian Caihua was very happy!

Finally, she had two sisters-in-law who would actually come down to the fields with her.

It wasn’t like previous years where she was the only daughter-in-law doing the work.

Although Ruan Tang was a bit clumsy and couldn’t be expected to do much, at least her attitude was right. Like Jiang Xia, she was earnestly trying to learn.

In the past, Li Xiuxian was never like this; she always found excuses to avoid work. Tian Caihua didn’t mind doing a bit of extra work—it wasn’t like it would kill her—but she couldn’t stand being plotted against or treated like a fool.

Chapter 795: Going All Out

Li Xiuxian was feeling restless, so she went out to the fields for a walk.

The fields were in full bloom with green manure flowers, covering large swathes of land in a vibrant carpet. She had come out just to take a look.

That was when she spotted the three Zhou brothers busy working in the seedling bed.

Li Xiuxian already knew that Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang had been handing out wedding candy to the villagers since early that morning.

She had heard it from her own sister-in-law.

Her sister-in-law had run into them while returning from beachcombing and heard that they had already registered their marriage and received their certificate.

The moment Li Xiuxian found out, she felt a wave of agitation and needed to get out of the house.

She hadn’t expected to stumble upon Zhou Chengsen teaching Ruan Tang how to plow.

The doctor clearly didn’t know the first thing about tilling the soil; she was incredibly clumsy.

Every now and then, Zhou Chengsen would glance at her and offer a pointer or two. Their interaction felt incredibly intimate.

After a field has been plowed by an ox, some of the mud clods remain quite large. If you strike them firmly with a hoe once or twice, then give them a few more chops and taps, they crumble.

Ruan Tang thought it looked simple enough. She tried to mimic Zhou Chengsen’s movements, but her footwork was off. She swung with too much force and accidentally caught the side of her own calf with the hoe.

Zhou Chengsen was startled. “Did you hurt your leg?”

“No, luckily you made me wear these rubber boots.”

The boots had high shafts that protected her, though the blade had left a visible scuff on the rubber. Her leg stung a little from the impact, but that was it. She wasn’t injured; she was fine.

Zhou Chengsen bent over and pulled up her pant leg to check for himself. Only after confirming she was unharmed did he relax. He then reached out and tucked her pant leg back into the boot for her.

“Stop plowing for now. Go take a rest.”

Seeing Li Xiuxian watching from a distance, Tian Caihua intentionally raised her voice. “That’s right, Sister-in-law! You don’t know how to do this, so there’s no need to push yourself. The rest of us will have this finished in no time! Xiao Xia, you should stop too. You two are true city people, real intellectuals. How could you possibly understand how to hoe the earth? It’s not like those people who grew up in a village, graduated only from junior high school, and then spent their lives pretending to be high-status intellectuals!”

Li Xiuxian: “…”

Tian Caihua was clearly mocking her!

During her first year after marrying into the family, she hadn’t wanted to work in the fields. She had claimed she hadn’t farmed much at her own home and didn’t know how.

Instead, she offered to cook for everyone.

Even then, she hadn’t actually wanted to cook. She had intentionally scorched a massive pot of sweet potato rice and made the side dishes incredibly salty.

She said she was the youngest at home, and with several older brothers and sisters-in-law to do the work, she never had to lift a finger and rarely cooked. Burnt rice, she claimed, was just an accident.

Back then, the Zhou family hadn’t blamed her. Zhou Chengsen had even comforted her.

The Zhou family had silently eaten that smoke-filled rice and those bitter, salty vegetables. Father Zhou’s throat had even become inflamed the next day after that meal.

But she hadn’t cared. On the contrary, she felt the Zhou family was easy to manipulate, so she became even more brazen.

It wasn’t until one autumn harvest when she was heavily pregnant and near her due date. The Zhou family didn’t expect her to work in the fields or cook during that time. Bored, she had gone back to her parents’ house. No one was home, but she saw some cured meat and craved it. She proceeded to make a whole pot of claypot rice with cured meat and even stir-fried two side dishes. Zhou Chengsen, who had come to pick her up, saw everything.

She claimed she was practicing her cooking skills at her mother’s house.

Zhou Chengsen hadn’t believed her. She could feel his skepticism even then, but he didn’t call her out—mostly because she was about to give birth and he didn’t want to upset her.

Back then, she had thought Zhou Chengsen was a fool who was easy to deceive. After the child was born, her behavior only grew worse.

…

The sound of Ruan Tang’s voice in the distance pulled Li Xiuxian back to reality.

“No need. I just learned. I’ll just be more careful; I won’t hit my foot again.”

Jiang Xia added, “I don’t need to stop either. I’m not tired.”

For Tian Caihua, who had done farm work for most of her life, plowing was exhausting and grueling labor. But for people like Ruan Tang and Jiang Xia, who only did it occasionally, it was an experience—a bit of fun.

Zhou Chengsen saw that Ruan Tang was in high spirits, so he let her be. He picked up a military canteen, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to her. “Drink some water before you continue.”

Ruan Tang took it and took small sips.

Noticing a smudge of mud on her face, Zhou Chengsen reached out and wiped it away with his sleeve.

After two sips, Ruan Tang handed the canteen back to him.

Zhou Chengsen took it and tilted his head back to take a few gulps himself. It was only as he looked up that he spotted Li Xiuxian standing not far away.

He withdrew his gaze, finished his drink, screwed the cap back on, and set it aside. Then he picked up his hoe and continued teaching Ruan Tang.

The events of the past and the person from his past now felt very distant to him. Seeing her was like seeing any other villager; his heart remained calm, without a single ripple of emotion or thought.

The fact that they shared a canteen was a sign of great intimacy! Li Xiuxian couldn’t bear the sight.

Her heart felt constricted with bitterness. She turned her head away and hurried down the small path leading toward the hills, leaving without looking back.

She couldn’t watch anymore; it made her eyes sting.

Behind her, Zhou Chengsen’s voice drifted faintly through the air: “Be careful, there’s no rush. Strike and tap like this. When you’re leveling it out, don’t use too much force. Just lightly break the clods and push them aside…”

“Mhm, I know. It’s just that sometimes my aim is off with the hoe.” She had intended to hit a small clod of mud, but the hoe hadn’t followed her lead.

“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t swing too hard. Otherwise, it’s very easy to hit your own foot.”

…

Li Xiuxian circled around the other side of the path to leave, her eyes stinging more and more.

Did she regret it?

She did.

Only after remarrying did she realize how good Zhou Chengsen had been, and how kind the Zhou family was.

Back then, why had she chosen to pick a fight with him and end up with Liao Ruixiang after having a bit too much to drink?

And when exactly had she and Zhou Chengsen started fighting all the time?

How had they reached that point?

Was it after the child was born?

She knew Zhou Chengsen adored the child, and the whole Zhou family doted on her. She had constantly used the baby as an excuse, finding every possible way to slack off. Was that when he started getting angry?

Actually, it didn’t seem so. At that time, Zhou Chengsen hadn’t minded her laziness; he had been very tolerant of her. The child was young, and if she didn’t want to work, he would just do it himself.

What was their first real argument about?

The first time was when their daughter had a fever. Zhou Chengsen had a meeting he couldn’t miss and couldn’t get leave. He had given her money, telling her to take time off and bring their daughter to the doctor. But she hadn’t gone. she had planned to wait for Mother Zhou to come home and ask her for money instead. After all, Zhou Chengsen handed his monthly salary over to his parents; why should she have to spend her own money on the doctor?

Who would have guessed the daughter’s fever would become so severe that she started having convulsions?

After more than a year of marriage, that was the first time they had truly fought.

…

Tian Caihua watched as Li Xiuxian slunk away in defeat.

Hmph. Seeing Ruan Tang and the second brother so lovey-dovey must have made her chest tight.

The more choked up Li Xiuxian felt, the more satisfied Tian Caihua became.

Having feuded with Li Xiuxian for nearly ten years, she felt like a victorious rooster in this moment.

Jiang Xia was right next to Tian Caihua. She couldn’t help but whisper, “Do you think she regrets it?”

Jiang Xia wasn’t paying any attention to Li Xiuxian at all; she was too busy pitting her wits and strength against the soil. “Who?”

“Li Xiuxian! She was just here, and now she’s slinking off!”

Jiang Xia didn’t even turn her head; turning around would be too obvious. “Probably.”

Tian Caihua got the answer she wanted. “I think so too! She deserves it!”

Tian Caihua looked toward the retreating figure of Li Xiuxian and shouted at the top of her lungs, “Oh, by the way, Second Brother! When you and Sister-in-law have your wedding banquet in May, I’m going to gift you two bicycles! You won’t need to buy any yourselves!”

To spite Li Xiuxian, she was truly sparing no expense!

Li Xiuxian: “…”

Chapter 796: Regret

Preparing those four-fen seedling beds went quickly. Zhou Chengsen, Zhou Chenglei, and Tian Caihua were all expert farmers. Once Zhou Chengxin finished plowing the field, he also grabbed a hoe and joined in. With the four of them working and two others assisting, they had the seedling beds ready and the base fertilizer applied by ten o’clock.

The irrigation system would start releasing water tonight. Tomorrow night, once the grain had sprouted, they could sow the seeds into the beds.

The group shouldered their hoes and headed back together.

Li Xiuxian had been sitting on the hilltop for half the morning. As the sun grew stronger, she prepared to head back. Walking down the hill, she happened to see the group ahead of her, chatting and laughing on their way home.

She didn’t purposely try to avoid them, instead following a short distance behind.

Up ahead, Ruan Tang said, “Big Sister-in-law, Xiao Xia, come over to our place for dinner tonight. Chengsen and I have already registered our marriage, but we haven’t even had a proper family meal at home yet.”

The day they returned had been the Lantern Festival, so the reunion dinner was held at Jiang Xia’s. Before they were married, Chengsen had been eating at Jiang Xia’s every day anyway. It was nearly eleven o’clock now, and Mother Zhou had likely started cooking; lunch today would almost certainly be at Jiang Xia’s as well.

Ruan Tang was heading back to the city for work tomorrow morning, so this meal had to be hosted tonight.

Jiang Xia agreed, “Alright, I’ll come over to help after my afternoon nap.”

Ruan Tang replied, “No need. Chengsen and I can handle it. Just come over to eat.”

Tian Caihua added, “Tell Mama not to slaughter a chicken. I’ll slaughter a chicken and a duck this afternoon and bring them over.”

“No need for a duck, Big Sister-in-law,” Ruan Tang said. “I’m planning on making hot pot tonight.”

“Hot pot sounds good,” Tian Caihua said. “It’s been a long time since we’ve had hot pot at home. In that case, I’ll slaughter two chickens.”

Jiang Xia chimed in, “No, one chicken is enough. I’ll buy some mutton.”

“Better make it two,” Tian Caihua insisted. “With one chicken, the meat is gone after everyone takes a single piece. Those boys of mine have been incredibly greedy for meat lately; it’s like they can never get full…”

…

Li Xiuxian listened to their conversation and pursed her lips.

This Dr. Ruan certainly understood Zhou Chengsen and knew how to cater to his preferences.

Now, everyone in the Zhou family had been won over by her, including Li Xiuxian’s own daughter.

Li Xiuxian couldn’t help but remember a time when Zhou Chengsen had also suggested hosting a dinner for the family. She had been unwilling, and in the end, the meal never happened. Now, she would never have the chance again.

She couldn’t stop wondering: if she had agreed to that one meal back then, would she and Zhou Chengsen have reconciled? Would they have ended up where they were today?

Zhou Chengsen had always placed great importance on his parents and brothers. After they married, nearly every argument they had was because of them.

Normally, Zhou Chengsen was very patient and yielded to her, but whenever it involved his parents or brothers, it was like someone had stepped on his tail!

Li Xiuxian remembered their second argument after marriage, which had been over a cotton quilt.

Back then, the family was poor. Everyone worked for work points in the production team. Only she and her husband had jobs and earned a salary. However, because the family hadn’t undergone a family division yet, everyone’s earnings had to be handed over to their parents-in-law. She didn’t want to hand over her salary, and Zhou Chengsen hadn’t forced her. He, however, handed over almost his entire monthly salary to the household, keeping only five yuan for emergencies.

With those five yuan, aside from buying cigarettes, he would sometimes buy things for his parents, his nephews, or his brothers.

She felt it was wrong. Since his salary was already going to the household, why was he still buying things for them?

She wanted to save some money. After all, who knew how much they would get when the family eventually divided? How could they get by without money in their own hands?

The two elders clearly favored Zhou Chenglei.

So, when Zhou Chengsen received a bonus once, he gave her the money and coupons and asked her to buy his parents a new cotton quilt. He said their old one was too thin and didn’t keep them warm. She felt that the old quilt just needed to be taken to be re-fluffed to become warm again—why waste money on a new one? So, she took the elders’ old quilt and had it re-fluffed instead.

The elders were very happy that she had helped them refurbish the old quilt, but Zhou Chengsen was furious and picked a fight with her!

Later, the arguments became more frequent. She couldn’t remember them all, but she remembered one time when Father Zhou had a sore back. Zhou Chengsen planned to buy him some medicated patches. Since she had errands to run, she said she would buy them in town. He gave her the money, but the patches were too expensive. She knew that the medicated oil Zhou Chenglei sent back would arrive in a few days, so she bought a bottle of Wanhua oil instead. She figured Wanhua oil served a similar purpose; he could apply it for a few days until the oil from the army arrived. Couldn’t he just endure it for a few days? Wasn’t it better to save the money?

As a result, Zhou Chengsen had fought with her again!

Then there was the matter of Zhou Chenglei. Every year, he sent a lot of dried seafood and farm products to his brothers-in-arms and superiors. Most of it was dried at home or bought from villagers. Every year, Zhou Chengsen used his year-end bonus to buy dried seafood to send to Chenglei for those gifts.

Zhou Chenglei did send money home, but that money went to Father Zhou, not into their hands. Father Zhou had tried to give the money to Zhou Chengsen, but Chengsen refused it, saying he had his bonus.

Doing this year after year—who could stand it?

So, one time, she took the initiative to mail the package. She kept the expensive items for herself and mailed several items fewer than intended.

When Zhou Chenglei came home for the New Year, Tian Caihua somehow asked about it, and the truth came out. Zhou Chengsen fought with her once more.

From then on, the couple fought constantly. Sometimes it was because she hadn’t taken good care of the children; sometimes it was because of his family.

The memories were a blur, but she remembered the fiercest fights clearly.

One was when Zhou Chenglei got married. By then, the family had divided, and they lived in town. Chengsen took out six hundred yuan to give to Zhou Chenglei for the wedding, worrying that Chenglei wouldn’t have enough for the banquet after paying the three thousand yuan gift money.

She was livid. That six hundred yuan was their entire life savings accumulated since the family division!

What did Zhou Chenglei’s wedding have to do with him? If he didn’t have the money, he shouldn’t have given such a high gift! No one in the entire village gave that much.

They had a massive row over that.

Another time was when Zhou Chenglei was building his house. Chengsen wanted to contribute money again, saying it was his duty and that Big Brother was contributing too.

He claimed that the family had helped them with money when they bought their house.

Then, another massive row!

The more they fought, the colder Zhou Chengsen became toward her. He grew increasingly intolerant, snapping at her over everything.

Finally, out of spite, she got drunk and ended up sleeping with Liao Ruixiang.

…

Li Xiuxian had been replaying these events every day.

She was full of regret. If only she hadn’t pretended to be unable to do farmwork or chores when they first married, she wouldn’t have lost his trust so early on.

She also regretted not taking Yingying to the doctor sooner when she had a fever. She hadn’t known that high fevers could cause convulsions, and that once a child has a febrile seizure, it’s easy for it to happen again.

And that new cotton quilt…

She regretted so many things. Looking back now, they weren’t even major issues. Why had she been so unwilling to do them at the time?

At four o’clock in the afternoon, the three sisters-in-law—Jiang Xia, Ruan Tang, and Tian Caihua—were at Zhou Chengsen’s house washing vegetables and meat and preparing the hot pot base. Zhou Chengsen went to the pier to see if there was any fresh seafood.

The Zhou family hadn’t officially gone out to sea yet, but the family’s fishing boat was already out. This year, many people in the village had gone to sea during the first lunar month.

Zhou Chengsen took some tiger prawns, squid, octopuses, and two Black Sea Breams from the family boat. He also bought some oysters, clams, white clams, and sand worms.

Carrying bags in both hands, he was walking back when he ran into Li Xiuxian.

Li Xiuxian called out to him, “Zhou Chengsen, I have something to say to you.”

Zhou Chengsen felt that anything she had to say was meaningless and useless to hear. He was even afraid that if Ruan Tang found out, she would be unhappy. He didn’t even pause his steps and walked straight past her.

Chapter 797: Strangers

Li Xiuxian never imagined Zhou Chengsen could be so cold-blooded, not even giving her a glance, let alone a response.

She watched him continue forward as if nothing had happened, a bucket in one hand and a mesh bag in the other.

Li Xiuxian couldn’t help but chase after him, blocking his path. Urgently, she said, “I have something to tell you. Whether you believe it or not, the first time with Liao Ruixiang, I was truly drunk. It wasn’t intentional, it wasn’t on purpose, I’m sorry!”

Blocked, Zhou Chengsen spared her a glance, said nothing, then sidestepped her and continued walking.

Li Xiuxian stood frozen.

His gaze just now was so calm and unfamiliar, like looking at a stranger—casual, indifferent, and foreign.

It was as if he was walking down the street and a stranger suddenly blocked his path, saying something irrelevant to him. He’d simply glance over, find the person inexplicable, and bypass them without even needing to clearly see their face.

Li Xiuxian watched Zhou Chengsen’s retreating back, every strand of his hair exuding indifference, completely unconcerned.

Li Xiuxian suddenly understood!

To Zhou Chengsen, she was a stranger.

Zhou Chengsen was not one to dwell on the past. She had countless arguments with him, but each time, he would only address the current issue, never bringing up old grievances. What was in the past stayed in the past for him. Only she was the one who would dig up old things with him.

So now, everything between him and her had been turned over a new leaf in his mind.

No hatred, no resentment, no regret, no emotion, no love.

To him, she was now just a stranger.

What feelings could you have for a stranger?

None!

Would you listen to a stranger speak?

No!

A stranger is someone you wouldn’t even pay attention to as you pass them by.

This time, Li Xiuxian guessed correctly.

The past had indeed been turned over a new leaf for Zhou Chengsen, and everything before he got together with Ruan Tang had been turned over.

If he still harbored any emotions for Li Xiuxian, he wouldn’t have gotten together with Ruan Tang. That would be disrespectful and unfair to Ruan Tang.

Now, he would pay even less attention to her.

How could he bear to let a girl who disregarded rumors, didn’t mind him being remarried with children, and loved him wholeheartedly, have a chance to feel upset?

So, Zhou Chengsen had no thoughts about Li Xiuxian’s words. At that moment, he was thinking about telling Zhou Chenglei to shuck the oysters when he got home, and he would peel the shrimp, using only shrimp for hot pot, making it easy for Ruan Tang to pick up and eat directly.

The crabs today were also very plump. They should be steamed directly when they got back; if cooked in hot pot, they wouldn’t be as fresh and sweet.

Ruan Tang and Jiang Xia both loved crabs, and they were the only two in the family who did.

But eating too many crabs was cold in nature and not very friendly to women.

As Zhou Chengsen walked, he saw a lot of new perilla growing by the roadside.

He set down the bucket and mesh bag again, walked over, and bent down to pick it.

Perilla warms the middle and dispels cold, which can alleviate the cold nature of crabs.

It could be made into perilla paste and used to mix with rice.

He also picked some newly grown mugwort leaves.

Mugwort is also good for women.

He had seen Ruan Tang use mugwort floss for hot compresses during her period, and she said it could relieve abdominal discomfort.

She said she didn’t have menstrual cramps, but occasionally felt a bit uncomfortable.

Of course, Zhou Chengsen couldn’t make mugwort floss, but he could make mugwort glutinous rice dumplings. These were freshly grown mugwort leaves, tender, and perfect for making mugwort glutinous rice dumplings.

He would make some tonight for Ruan Tang to take back to the city for breakfast tomorrow.

Zhou Chengsen thought: Hot compress, wouldn’t eating it be more direct?

And more convenient!

Back home, Zhou Chengsen handed a large mesh bag of oysters to Zhou Chenglei: “Shuck them and clean them thoroughly.”

Zhou Chenglei took them. “Got it, that many? I’ll shuck them well, I won’t fight you for them tonight.”

“…”

Zhou Chengsen couldn’t resist raising his foot to kick him, but Zhou Chenglei nimbly dodged.

Ruan Tang saw that he had picked so much perilla and mugwort. She came forward to take them, smiling, “No wonder you took so long. We all thought you took the boat out to fish yourself.”

Zhou Chengsen: “I was delayed picking some mugwort and perilla. Tomorrow I’ll make some mugwort glutinous rice dumplings for you to take to the city to eat.”

It was cold now, so they would keep.

Ruan Tang glanced at the green mugwort leaves: “But I don’t like the taste of mugwort.”

Zhou Chengsen: “Maybe you’ll like the ones I make.”

Ruan Tang became a little expectant: “Are the ones you make very delicious?”

Zhou Chengsen: “I think they’re pretty good.”

…

Father Zhou, with nothing to do, happily took out his camera and snapped photos!

He took pictures of his eldest grandson and granddaughter teaching the triplets to crawl in the living room.

He photographed the busy couple in the kitchen and courtyard.

He took pictures of each prepared ingredient.

He captured the family gathered around the steaming hot pot.

He photographed his youngest granddaughter pointing at the hot pot, wanting to eat.

…

This morning, he had also taken photos of the brothers and their wives plowing the fields together.

What a day of unity, striving forward, flourishing and prosperous, and harmonious atmosphere!

It must be well documented!

Strive!

Strive!

Forward!

Forward!

Charge!

Charge!

Charge!

…

Going further and further on the path to prosperity through hard work!

After taking photos, Father Zhou sat down, happily gnawing on a chicken leg, watching the triplets gnawing on chicken feet with great relish, chuckling.

Now, during mealtime, the triplets no longer slept. They wanted to eat too, always pointing at the dishes on the table.

Especially the little sister, her mouth wide open, pointing at the food and calling out “Ah ah ah,” “meme.”

Tonight was the same. Jiang Xia gave each of them a chicken foot, letting them chew on it slowly.

The whole world was quiet!

The three children sat in their father’s specially made high chairs, having a battle of wits with the chicken feet.

These free-range chickens Tian Caihua had raised for over a year. Their chicken feet were very tough, only boiled, not stewed until tender. They couldn’t bite through them, so they just chewed for the flavor.

Seeing Grandpa look at her, the little sister grinned at Father Zhou, handing him the chicken foot, which she had been gnawing on for a long time without even scuffing the skin. “Grandpa, mua~”

“Little Bao wants to give it to Grandpa?”

The little sister nodded: “Mua~”

Father Zhou was content and smiled, “Little Bao, you eat it yourself, Grandpa doesn’t want it.”

The little sister then continued her battle of wits against the chicken foot with her four tiny teeth.

Early the next morning, the ten net cages Zhou Chenglei ordered arrived.

On the beach, workers were installing the net cages.

The beach on Abalone Island wasn’t big enough; there was only space for one net cage at a time. So, the ten net cages had to be installed on the village beach and then pulled over by boat.

Everyone in the village who wasn’t out at sea came out to watch the excitement.

Zhou Chenglei’s entire family came out, except for Zhou Chengsen, who was at work, and the children, who were at school.

The weather was good, so Jiang Xia also brought the triplets out. She found a corner, spread out a cloth and a mat, and sat on the mat with Ruan Tang, letting the babies play in the sand.

This stretch of sand was the beach right outside their homes, not the beachcombing area. The sand was finer and cleaner.

It was the children’s paradise in the village.

Elder Mai and Elder Xu had taken a liking to it the last time they visited, and it was estimated they would come to discuss land acquisition this year.

They didn’t know when development would start after acquisition, but it was always better to secure the land sooner. Having been in the business world for many years, they wouldn’t be unaware of this principle.

Jiang Xia and Ruan Tang sat on the sand, playing with the children.

The triplets were playing in the sand for the first time and were having a wonderful time.

Everyone else went to look at the net cages.

Chapter 798: Net Cages

Someone saw Tian Caihua’s eyes shining as she grinned from ear to ear and asked, “Ah Hua, does your family have a stake in these net cages too?”

Tian Caihua smiled. “Of course. Our family invested money as well.”

In truth, compared to the millions her brother-in-law had invested, their ten thousand yuan wasn’t even enough to buy the fish fry.

However, Big Brother Zhou Chengxin had told her that Zhou Chenglei was giving twenty percent of the dividends to them and Zhou Chengsen. In exchange, they were to help manage these eleven net cages and the ones ordered for later.

It was called “management,” but there wasn’t actually much physical labor involved.

Zhou Chenglei had already hired and organized people to handle the daily tasks like guarding the cages, feeding the fish, and changing the nets.

Zhou Chengxin’s role was merely to supervise and provide reminders if a typhoon was coming.

To put it bluntly, they didn’t have to do much of anything; they could just go and take a look every day and wait for the money to come in.

Zhou Chengsen’s job was to help keep the accounts, distribute wages, and handle any issues that arose.

It was essentially a gift of money to them.

Tian Caihua didn’t know exactly how much a twenty percent dividend would amount to, so she asked her eldest son.

Her son explained that if they earned one hundred yuan, they would get twenty; if they earned one thousand, they would get two hundred, and so on.

Tian Caihua did the math from there: if they earned ten thousand yuan, they’d get two thousand; if they earned one hundred thousand, they’d get twenty thousand; and if they earned a million, they’d get two hundred thousand…

Tian Caihua knew that for the single net cage they had last year, after deducting all costs and expenses, she guessed they had made about seven hundred thousand yuan.

If they earned as much as that cage did last year, the two families combined could receive about one hundred and forty thousand yuan per cage.

With one hundred and forty thousand per cage, ten cages would bring in 1.4 million yuan.

Divided equally between the two families, that was seven hundred thousand yuan each.

Was Zhou Chenglei not just handing them money?

Of course, with so many fish, the question was whether all of them could be sold to Hong Kong.

If they weren’t sold there, they might not even make back their costs in the first year.

Someone else asked, “Ah Hua, how much does a net cage this big cost?”

Tian Caihua replied, “Eighty to a hundred thousand yuan or so!”

The crowd around her gasped.

It would be impossible for them to follow suit and buy net cages for fish farming.

They counted the cages the workers were currently installing.

Ten in total!

Didn’t that mean they cost over a million yuan?

Zhou Chenglei was truly wealthy!

“Ah Hua, tell us the truth. How much did your brother-in-law really make selling those fifty thousand kilograms of fish to Hong Kong last year? Was it a lot?”

How could Tian Caihua tell them? She didn’t know the exact profit herself because she didn’t know the specific costs.

Tian Caihua simply said, “It was quite a bit. Anyway, he made back his investment in a year and still had a profit. You all know things in Hong Kong are more expensive than here.”

“I heard Red Seabream sells for over ten yuan per jin in Hong Kong, is that right?”

Tian Caihua said “humbly,” “Something like that! But when we sell it over there, the price definitely isn’t that high! If it were that expensive, we would have been rich long ago!”

“You’re already rich! Even if you sell it at half price, you’re still making a fortune!”

“Selling it at five yuan per jin, fifty thousand kilograms would still earn five hundred thousand yuan.”

“No wonder your family ordered ten more cages.”

Tian Caihua added, “The risk is very high. These cages can only withstand a Level 12 typhoon. If a major typhoon hits by accident, millions of yuan will go down the drain.”

Fortunately, her family didn’t have to put up the money and only had to help with management; otherwise, Tian Caihua really wouldn’t have dared to do it.

The power of a typhoon was truly no joke.

“Typhoons above Level 12 are rare! They don’t even happen once a decade.”

“That’s true.”

“By the way, when are you selling those mussels? I saw they’d grown a lot during the low tide yesterday.”

Mentioning this made Tian Caihua’s mood even better. “We plan to sell them next month.”

Those mussels could be sold during the major ebb tide next month. Zhou Chengxin estimated that the mussels they were raising would yield about fifty thousand kilograms.

When the time came to sell them to Hong Kong, even if they only sold for a bit over one yuan per jin, over a hundred thousand yuan would be in their hands.

How could Tian Caihua not be in a good mood?

Zhou Chengxin said she had been laughing in her sleep lately.

Once the mussels were sold, she would have the money to buy a house in the city.

Zhou Chengsen planned to buy a house in the city, and Zhou Chenglei already had one there; Tian Caihua felt she had to have a house in the city as well.

Most importantly, it was a house built by Jiang Xia’s grandfather, and he had personally offered to sell it to them at a discount.

If there was a bargain to be had and she didn’t take it, she wouldn’t be Tian Caihua!

She would buy the house first; even if she sold it later, she’d make a profit.

And if she didn’t sell it, she could make money by renting it out.

Her goal was to become a landlady.

The few stalls in the seafood market had given Tian Caihua immense confidence in investing in urban property.

Pan Daidi had also come to see the net cages today, and she kept asking the installation workers questions.

Seeing her interest in the cages, Zhou Bingqiang’s wife leaned in. “Daidi, is your family planning to order net cages for fish farming too?”

Everyone knew about Pan Daidi going to the production brigade to cause a scene earlier, demanding to farm mussels and wanting the brigade to force Zhou Chenglei and the others to vacate 6.6 hectares of the beach for her.

However, her request was so unreasonable that it had ultimately failed.

Pan Daidi glanced at her. “I have that intention. My son Junjie has many connections in Hong Kong, so he wants to raise some fish to sell there.”

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife asked, “Sea-cage aquaculture requires leasing a sea area. Have you leased one yet?”

Pan Daidi replied, “Not yet. I haven’t even ordered the cages; why would I lease a sea area so soon?”

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife immediately said, “Then you don’t know! It’s very hard to lease a sea area! My family almost didn’t get that patch of sea…”

She then went on to describe how difficult it had been to get their lease approved back then.

“Our family only got it by pulling strings. Even then, we had to make concessions to certain people. The area we wanted was taken by someone else. I had to wait half a year and make a scene several times before they finally approved it for us.”

Pan Daidi asked, “Really? Is it that hard to lease?”

“Of course! But there’s nothing we can do. Some people married a good wife with a powerful background. They’re afraid the fish we raise will be better than theirs and steal their business, so they don’t even want us to lease the sea area…”

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife embellished the truth, mixing fact and fiction as she told the story of leasing the sea area.

“So, if you want to order net cages, I suggest you lease a sea area first. Otherwise, if you can’t get one, the cages will be useless once they arrive! Don’t end up like our family with nothing to show for it. Although we have a sea area now, we didn’t expect the cages to be so expensive. Since we don’t have the money to order them, that sea area is just sitting empty. You can’t cook a meal without rice, after all. We can only wait until we’ve earned enough money to order the cages.”

Pan Daidi thought about how Jiang Xia truly did have a powerful background. Over a small matter, Jiang Xia had sent her to do time behind a sewing machine for so long—not a single day was reduced.

If she went to lease a sea area herself, she probably wouldn’t get one. She said, “How about your family leases that sea area to me?”

This was exactly the result Zhou Bingqiang’s wife wanted!

Chapter 799: No Need to See Each Other in May

Jiang Xia watched Pan Daidi and Zhou Bingqiang’s wife whispering to each other and guessed that Zhou Bingqiang’s wife was going to transfer that leased sea area to Pan Daidi.

Currently, Pan Daidi’s younger son was making money; he had bought a Mercedes-Benz and was building a house in the village.

Word was the house they were planning to build was even larger and taller than Jiang Xia’s, supposedly reaching four stories high.

The villagers were all saying that their family had surpassed Zhou Chenglei and become the village’s future tycoons.

Of course, Jiang Xia didn’t care about any of that. She was actually secretly relieved that once Pan Daidi’s family built their new house, they would be further away from her home.

Pan Daidi and Zhou Bingqiang’s wife left together on very friendly terms.

It was almost ten o’clock, and the children had played enough; it was time to go back and sleep.

Jiang Xia and Ruan Tang took the triplets to the pier to buy some seafood before heading home to cook.

Ruan Tang didn’t stay for lunch at Jiang Xia’s house.

Now that she was married, it wasn’t right to always eat over there.

She prepared a simple three-course meal at home: steamed fish, poached shrimp, and stir-fried greens.

During the meal, Ruan Tang asked, “Does it taste good? I’m not very good at frying fish, so I can only do it steamed.”

When no one came to the fishing village to sell pork, they had to go to the town to buy it if they wanted some. Otherwise, they only had seafood to eat.

Zhou Ying nodded. “It’s delicious!”

She loved eating fish and shrimp.

Zhou Chengsen also said, “It tastes great.”

Fresh fish and shrimp were delicious no matter how they were cooked; they didn’t require much culinary skill. Frying fish just made it a bit more fragrant, but steaming and poaching allowed one to taste the original freshness.

The family of three finished all the food.

After eating with her husband and daughter, Ruan Tang needed to head back to the city for work.

Jiang Xia happened to be going to the local food factory to meet a client and also wanted to check on the garment factory, so she gave Ruan Tang a ride back to save her from taking the bus.

After finishing their meal, the two prepared to set off.

The little sister had just finished eating and was sitting on the floor playing with blocks. Seeing her mother grab the car keys, she immediately picked up the socks she had pulled off and tried to pull them back onto her feet. However, she couldn’t get them on. Because of her movement, she couldn’t even sit steadily. Anxious, she started shouting, “Papa, Papa…”

Then she handed the socks to her father.

Zhou Chenglei helped his daughter put on her socks.

He had just returned from eating with the workers and started playing with blocks on the floor with the triplets as soon as he got home.

the younger brother had already started crawling toward Jiang Xia.

The eldest brother had been playing with the blocks very seriously, but he suddenly looked up, appearing a bit dazed. Seeing the younger brother crawling toward Mama, he didn’t quite know what was happening since he had been so focused, but he quickly started crawling over as well.

Unlike the little sister, the two brothers wouldn’t pull off their socks the moment they sat down to play.

A few days ago, the older sisters and brothers had taught the triplets how to crawl once, and after that single lesson, they learned how to do it.

Now, if they were left on the floor to play without supervision while the adults worked, they would crawl out to the yard to pick flowers or eat strawberries if one wasn’t careful.

They didn’t even care if the strawberries were ripe or not.

Seeing her two brothers crawling over, the little sister grew even more anxious: “Mama, Mama…”

She wanted to follow them, but she didn’t know how to say it yet, so she could only keep calling for Mama.

Without waiting for her father to finish putting on her socks, she started crawling toward Jiang Xia.

Jiang Xia knelt down and coaxed the three children as they crawled over. “Mama has to go to work, I can’t take you with me.”

The three children couldn’t understand her. They grabbed Jiang Xia’s arms, their knees trying to climb up onto her body.

Zhou Chenglei picked up his daughter. He had always been indulgent with the children, so he said, “I’ll take them along. I’ll take them to the slides later, and you can pick us up after work.”

Jiang Xia glanced at him.

Zhou Chenglei: “…On second thought, never mind. I’ll take them upstairs to sleep. Dabao, Erbao, Little Bao, go upstairs with Papa to sleep.”

He picked up the younger brother as well.

“Second Sister-in-law, I’ll take them up to sleep first and come back down in a moment,” Jiang Xia said to Ruan Tang as she picked up the eldest brother.

Ruan Tang replied, “No rush.”

There was still plenty of time.

“Babies, let’s go upstairs to sleep!”

Jiang Xia adored the children but would not spoil them. Zhou Chenglei had to oversee the net cage installation in the afternoon and host a dinner for Boss Yu and the installation workers in the evening; how would he have time to look after the kids?

Zhou Chengsen asked Jiang Xia for the car keys. “I’ll pull the car out first.”

Jiang Xia gave him the keys. The couple carried the children upstairs and gave them each a bottle of milk. While Zhou Chenglei lay on the bed with them, Jiang Xia slipped away quietly, and none of them noticed.

It took several days for the ten net cages to be installed. Once finished, they were towed by boat over to Abalone Island.

Zhou Chenglei and Boss Yu stood on the boat, watching the net cages being towed through the water.

Boss Yu asked, “Why do you call that small island Abalone Island?”

Zhou Chenglei answered, “We found quite a lot of abalone on that island before.”

Boss Yu had already suspected as much. Being a businessman, he immediately said, “It seems that area is suitable for abalone growth. Do you want to try farming them? Farming abalone is even more profitable. I have abalone fry and the necessary equipment, and I even guarantee to teach you how to raise them.”

Zhou Chenglei looked at him. “Is it difficult?”

“What’s difficult about it? It’s not hard at all! Just feed them some kelp and seaweed. It just takes a fair amount of money to build an abalone farm, and you’ll need quite a few workers… I have a client who is already farming them. If you have time to go north, you can come with me to visit his livestock farm. He’s been doing it for over a year. Farming abalone is actually less risky than farming fish.”

After hearing this, Zhou Chenglei said, “I’ll visit when I have the time.”

Zhou Chenglei originally planned to farm abalone, but that would have to wait until all thirty net cages were installed and the boats he ordered with his brothers were delivered.

Currently, they didn’t have the funds for orders; all their money was invested in the electronics factory.

The ten net cages were finally installed in the sea ten days later.

Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia saw Boss Yu and his team off.

Jiang Xia smiled and shook hands with Boss Yu. “I wish you smooth sailing and prosperity. See you in May.”

Boss Yu smiled as he shook her hand. “No need to wait until May. Someone else in your village ordered two net cages from me; I’ll be back here in mid-March.”

Jiang Xia laughed and said, “That will still be seeing you in May then. In mid-March, we will be in the capital.”

Boss Yu asked casually, “You have business in the capital too?”

Father Zhou said with a beaming smile, “She’s going there to study. My daughter-in-law is a student at Jingda.”

Boss Yu’s eyes widened in surprise, and he gave a thumbs up. “That’s not a school just any student can get into! I’m impressed! Truly impressed!”

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Boss Yu started the boat and left with his workers.

As the family walked home from the pier, Father Zhou asked, “Who else in our village ordered net cages? Could it be Zhou Bingqiang?”

But did Zhou Bingqiang have that much money?

Now that the family had a large ocean-going vessel and were making more money, Father Zhou himself had a hundred thousand in savings, but that didn’t mean he thought a hundred thousand was easy to earn.

Saving up a hundred thousand was very difficult!

Hearing this, Jiang Xia said, “It’s likely Pan Daidi’s son. Their family probably leased the sea area from Uncle Qiang’s family.”

Father Zhou: “…”

Old Qiang’s family is acting less and less like decent people!

He wasn’t like this before!

Tian Caihua chimed in, “We’re in for a show now.”

Both women had feisty personalities. If Pan Daidi found out that Zhou Bingqiang’s wife had cheated her, they would likely end up in a fight.

When the family reached home, they found the alley in front of their house crowded with people.

Chapter 800: Robbery

Father Zhou was stunned and hurriedly asked the villagers next to him, “What happened?”

“They’re here to arrest Zhou Junjie. No one knows why yet.”

At that moment, the crowd automatically parted as two officials came out, flanking Zhou Junjie and holding him by the arms.

Pan Daidi wailed, “Why are you arresting my son? Have you made a mistake?”

The officials had already said all they could and shared what was permitted; they wouldn’t breathe a single word about anything else. Ignoring her, they led him to the car and drove away.

Pan Daidi didn’t dare to stop them, fearing she might be locked up again herself.

Seeing the situation, Zhou Junjie’s wife quickly ran back into her room.

Only after the car had driven off did the villagers dare to approach Pan Daidi and ask questions.

“A-Di, what did your Junjie do to get arrested?”

Pan Daidi remained stubborn. “My Junjie didn’t do anything! Stop talking nonsense! He was just invited back to assist with an investigation!”

With that, she slammed the courtyard gate shut.

The villagers clearly didn’t believe her, and a flurry of hushed discussions broke out.

“What do you think he did to get caught?”

“It must be some shady business. No wonder he made so much money.”

“What kind of shady business?”

“Didn’t Pan Daidi say he had connections in Hong Kong? It’s probably smuggling.”

“To make that much money, it’s either smuggling or selling drugs.”

“Smuggling really is lucrative. No wonder he could buy a car and build such a big house after being gone for just over a year.”

“He really has some guts to do that!”

…

As the crowd dispersed, Jiang Xia’s family returned to their own home.

Mother Zhou had been home the whole time. Seeing them return, she hurriedly said, “Zhou Junjie was arrested.”

Jiang Xia went to wash her hands. “We saw.”

Mother Zhou asked, “I wonder what for. A-Lei, do you know why?”

“I don’t know,” Zhou Chenglei replied. He actually did know—he was the one who had noticed something was wrong—but he didn’t say anything.

He washed his hands and went to pick up his younger son, who was zooming toward him in a walker.

The little bun was munching on a roasted rice cake, his hands and mouth covered in crumbs.

Zhou Chenglei lifted him up and wiped his mouth clean.

Mother Zhou remarked, “With all that money he suddenly made, I figured he wasn’t running a legitimate business.”

Father Zhou washed his hands and picked up his eldest grandson. “Whatever business he was doing is none of our concern, right, Dabao?”

Tian Caihua had followed them in after watching the spectacle. Her primary concern was those two net cages. “Then what about the two net cages they ordered?”

Father Zhou looked at Zhou Chenglei. “Should you call Boss Yu and ask if they were the ones who ordered them?”

Zhou Chenglei replied, “I can ask, but if they’ve already paid the deposit and haven’t canceled the order, Boss Yu will still deliver them.”

Tian Caihua asked, “If they’ve paid a deposit but cancel the order, will the deposit be refunded?”

Zhou Chenglei said, “I’m not sure; that depends on Boss Yu. Usually, deposits aren’t refundable.”

Hearing this, Tian Caihua said, “I think it’s better not to remind Boss Yu. If they don’t cancel but can’t pay the remaining balance when they arrive, do you think we could take the opportunity to buy those net cages ourselves? That way, we’d save on the deposit, wouldn’t we?”

Mother Zhou immediately countered, “I wouldn’t want those net cages even if they were free. I’m afraid of bringing on endless trouble!”

Tian Caihua argued, “If we really don’t have to pay the deposit, why not? We’d be buying them directly from Boss Yu. What does it have to do with her?”

Zhou Chengxin said irritably, “Stop always trying to take advantage of things. You know some people are completely unreasonable. If we take over those net cages, she’ll claim she paid the deposit and put money into them. Once we start making a profit, she’ll demand a cut. It’ll be a local nightmare!”

Tian Caihua snapped back, “If she asks for a cut, I have to give it? In her dreams!”

Zhou Chengxin couldn’t be bothered to argue with her.

The rest of the family didn’t want to discuss it further either.

Next door, the same topic was being discussed at Zhou Bingqiang’s house.

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife had just collected over 5,000 yuan in rent from Pan Daidi a few days ago.

Right now, she was in her room, taking that 5,000 yuan out of her locked cabinet. She paced around, looking for a hidden spot to stash the money. But the house was made of red brick with concrete floors; she couldn’t even dig a hole.

Feeling that no place was safe, she thought about putting it in the bank.

She grabbed the money and hurried out.

Seeing her frantic state, Zhou Bingqiang asked, “Where are you going? Aren’t you going to cook?”

“I have something to do in town. You cook!”

“I just got back from the sea and need to shower!” Zhou Bingqiang said, heading into the bathroom with his clothes.

“Then I’ll cook when I get back.” Zhou Bingqiang’s wife hurried out and opened the courtyard gate, only to find Pan Daidi standing there.

Pan Daidi smiled at her and said, “Sister-in-law Qiang, I’m not renting that sea area anymore. Give me my money back!”

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife’s expression shifted instantly. She gripped the money in her pocket tightly and forced a smile. “Why not? Your Junjie will surely be fine. Once the investigation is over and he’s out, you can go back to raising fish! I leased you that sea area for a year and a half but only charged you for one year. It’s a great deal. If you back out now and I rent it to someone else, you won’t find such a cheap sea area again when Junjie gets back.”

Pan Daidi insisted, “I’m not renting it. I’m about to call to cancel the net cages too. Give me my money!”

Her son was arrested, the money was gone, and she wouldn’t have the cash for the final payment when the net cages arrived. What was the point of the lease?

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife argued, “The contract is signed! You’re saying you won’t rent it now? How can you do that? Isn’t that breaking your word? It’s impossible to refund the money. Besides, you can use that sea area however you want. I can’t return the money; I’ve already spent it all. I don’t have any!”

Pan Daidi flew into a rage. She saw how tightly Zhou Bingqiang’s wife was clutching her pocket and guessed the rent money was right there. She lunged forward. “Give me my money back! I haven’t used your sea area for a single day! I was waiting for the net cages to arrive before starting the lease. Why can’t you refund me?!”

“Even if you buy a piece of clothing at the department store, you can’t return it! The contract is signed and the money is paid. That sea area has been yours for ten days already. Of course I won’t refund you!”

…

Hearing the commotion next door, Tian Caihua immediately pulled Jiang Xia up to the second floor to watch the spectacle.

Mother Zhou followed them upstairs.

The three of them reached the balcony just in time to see Pan Daidi desperately trying to pry open Zhou Bingqiang’s wife’s hand, which was clamped over her pocket.

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife screamed at the top of her lungs, “Help! Robbery! Help! Zhou Bingqiang! Old man!”

During the struggle, Pan Daidi wrenched the woman’s hand away and snatched the stack of cash wrapped in a black plastic bag from the pocket.

Seeing her money taken, Zhou Bingqiang’s wife grabbed Pan Daidi’s hair, trying to claw it back. “Give it back! That’s my money!”

At that moment, Pan Daidi’s younger daughter-in-law stepped out of the courtyard with her son. Pan Daidi immediately shoved the money toward her. “Take it and hide it! Quick!”

The younger daughter-in-law grabbed the stack of cash and ran off with the child!

Seeing this, Zhou Bingqiang’s wife let go of Pan Daidi and tried to chase after the money.

Pan Daidi reached out and yanked her back by her hair.

Chapter 801: The Little Boy

Jiang Xia watched as Zhou Junjie’s wife clutched her money and hurried away with her son.

She carried a duffel bag with her, looking as though she had no intention of ever returning.

Jiang Xia wondered if Pan Daidi had seen her.

Zhou Bingqiang was in the middle of a shower when he heard the commotion outside. He hurriedly threw on some clothes and came out.

When he saw the two women scuffling and the neighbors coming out to watch the spectacle, his head began to throb.

He was a man who cared deeply about his face and was terrified of such scandalous public displays.

All his face and dignity had been completely thrown away by this woman of his!

He rushed forward to pull them apart. “Enough! Stop fighting!”

Even after being pulled away, Zhou Bingqiang’s wife tried to kick Pan Daidi. “Why are you stopping me? This wretched woman stole our family’s money! Why aren’t you taking it back?”

“Bah! You old hag! That’s my money! I’m not leasing that sea area anymore! I haven’t used your family’s sea area for a single day, and you still don’t want to give me my money back? You’re more vicious than Huaxiu’s dog!”

“The contract is already signed! It clearly states that if you terminate the lease halfway, the rent is non-refundable. You wouldn’t even win if you took me to court. Give me back the money, or I’ll call the police! You dare rob me? I’ll have them throw you in jail!” Zhou Bingqiang’s wife shouted as she kept trying to kick her.

Zhou Bingqiang held her tight and dragged her back into the yard. “That’s enough. If she doesn’t want to lease it, let it go. Just give her the money back. With the way Junjie is now, how are we supposed to raise fish anyway? We’re all fellow villagers; don’t make things look so ugly.”

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife was furious. “Why should I give it back? The contract is signed! It’s precisely because we’re fellow villagers that I leased that sea area to her for a year and a half but gave her half a year for free! It’s not my concern if she can’t raise fish…”

“Enough! Just give it back. We’re neighbors; don’t be someone who kicks others when they’re down!”

“How am I kicking her when she’s down? This is reasonable and legal! Why are you pulling me? You’re infuriating me…”

They had to pay several thousand yuan in rent every year to maintain that useless stretch of sea. All the money they had saved from fishing went into that rent. They had finally found a sucker to take it over, yet this man of hers was making trouble by playing the good person!

…

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife dragged him back into the house, and as the couple began arguing inside, the public dispute finally came to an end.

Pan Daidi hurried to find her second daughter-in-law to get back the five thousand yuan.

But after searching the entire village, she couldn’t find her anywhere!

When she returned home, Pan Daidi’s eldest daughter-in-law said, “I saw Second Sister-in-law packing a bag. Did she go back to her parents’ house?”

Pan Daidi immediately set off for the woman’s natal home to find her.

At the Zhou family home.

Father Zhou also felt that Zhou Bingqiang was having a run of bad luck. He asked Zhou Chenglei, “Our deep-sea net cages can withstand Level 12 typhoons. Can they raise fish in that sea area of theirs too? After all, typhoons above Level 12 are rare.”

Zhou Chenglei replied, “They can, but the risk is too high.”

As far as Zhou Chenglei knew, even with typhoons below Level 12, the wind gusts could often reach or even exceed Level 12.

Furthermore, deep-sea net cages were best placed in inner bay areas where the water flow was smooth and the wind and waves were relatively small.

Smooth water flow ensured the exchange of water and dissolved oxygen within the cages and helped the netting maintain its proper shape.

Thus, the layout of the net cages had to be consistent with the water current.

If the seawater flow was too fast or the waves were too large, the fish would consume too much energy swimming against the current, which would hinder their normal growth. If they consumed more than they ate, it would be difficult for them to grow large.

Humans prefer to live in safe and comfortable environments, and animals are no different.

However, that didn’t mean they couldn’t survive in harsh conditions.

So, one never knew.

It often came down to luck.

Once the net cages were installed and the fish fry were released, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei prepared to return to the capital.

Before leaving, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei took the three babies to the hospital for their vaccinations and a physical checkup.

Zhou Chengsen drove them and planned to pick up Ruan Tang to take her home afterward.

It was Ruan Tang’s day off again; this time she had a day and a half.

The three adults carried the triplets into the hospital. After completing their checkups with Dr. Gao, they went to the vaccination room.

Father Jiang had left work half an hour early and rushed to the hospital to see his daughter and three grandchildren.

He took Little Bao from Jiang Xia’s arms. “Grandpa’s got you. Little sister isn’t afraid of the needle, right?”

Little Bao didn’t understand, but she smiled and nodded. “Mm.”

Father Jiang laughed. “Grandpa knew our Little Bao is the bravest and isn’t afraid of shots. So you won’t cry when you get the shot later, right?”

Little Bao nodded again. “Mm.”

As they walked toward the injection room, they ran into Ruan Tang, who was wearing her white lab coat and getting ready to change out of her uniform after her shift.

Ruan Tang asked, “Going for vaccinations?”

Zhou Chengsen was holding Eldest Brother in his arms. He instinctively turned his body to shield the baby from her. “We’re just heading over. Go ahead and change! We’ll just find a nurse to give the shots!”

Ruan Tang gave him a deep, meaningful look. “Fine, then I’ll go change first.”

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

Why did he have a bad feeling?

He looked at the boy in his arms.

To prevent his nephew and niece from developing a lifelong trauma regarding needles, Zhou Chengsen felt he was making a huge sacrifice—he had even offended his own wife!

But Ruan Tang’s injections really were painful!

When they reached the injection room, there was a boy of about four or five preparing for his shot. Before the needle even touched him, he was bawling his eyes out and struggling wildly in his mother’s arms. “I don’t want a shot! I don’t want it!”

The three siblings watched him curiously.

Little Bao was a bit scared and pointed toward the door, wanting to leave. “Grandpa, Grandpa, nng-ya…”

Father Jiang understood. He carried her to the doorway and pretended not to know what she wanted. “Where does Little Bao want to go?”

Little Bao continued pointing in the direction they had come from. “Nng nng, ah ah!”

Regardless, she didn’t want to stay here.

She definitely didn’t want to stay here!

Seeing how violently the other child was struggling, Zhou Chengsen worried that his eldest nephew might start struggling too. If he couldn’t hold him steady, the needle might end up in his own arm. He handed Eldest Brother to Jiang Xia. “Fourth Sister-in-law, you hold Eldest Brother for his shot in a bit.”

Zhou Chenglei, who was holding Younger Brother and coordinating with the nurse, said, “You hold him for now. Younger Brother goes first, then it’ll be Eldest Brother’s turn.”

Father Jiang walked back and said to Zhou Chengsen, “I’ll hold Eldest Brother for the shot. You hold Little Bao for a while.”

So, the two of them swapped children.

Little Bao was still pointing outside, wanting to leave.

Zhou Chengsen carried his little niece out; the uncle and niece were truly of one mind. “I’ll take her outside for a bit. I’ll bring her back in when it’s her turn.”

He walked out quickly with Little Bao in his arms.

The other boy, after being held down by his mother and given the shot, continued to wail loudly.

His mother soothed him while helping him fix his clothes.

Eldest Brother and Younger Brother watched him cry the whole time.

Younger Brother looked at him and said to his father, “Gegge (Big Brother).”

Zhou Chenglei replied, “That’s right, he’s a big brother.”

Hearing this, the boy’s mother laughed. “Stop crying. Look, your little younger brother is laughing at you.”

Then she praised Younger Brother’s intelligence. “Your child is so smart.”

The boy, who had been crying at the top of his lungs, suddenly went quiet upon hearing this. He looked at Younger Brother with tear-filled eyes.

“Gegge,” Younger Brother said again.

The boy’s mother picked him up and stood. “Oh my, this little younger brother is so cute! He’s so handsome! How can a baby be this adorable? He’s so young but already so polite, greeting people on his own. How old is he? Is he a year old yet?”

Jiang Xia smiled and said, “No, he’s just over eight months.”

“Only eight months and he can already say ‘Big Brother’! My son only started saying Papa and Mama at one year old. He’s so smart!”

Younger Brother spoke up again. “Yi~ (Auntie).”

The boy’s mother was even more pleasantly surprised. “Wow, too smart! So polite! How do you teach them?”

While Jiang Xia exchanged a few words with her, it was the triplets’ turn for their shots.

The boy’s mother didn’t leave the injection room immediately. She held her son and watched.

At that moment, Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang walked in with Little Bao.

The little boy looked at Little Bao, who looked like a porcelain doll, and suddenly said, “Mama, I want this little sister to be my little sister.”

Zhou Chenglei: “…”

Chapter 802: She’s Not Your Sister

The little boy’s mother looked embarrassed and snapped, “In your dreams!”

The little boy puffed out his cheeks. “Then give birth to a sister as cute and pretty as her for me.”

“You think I don’t want to? Forget about it for this lifetime. Maybe when you grow up, you can marry a wife and have a daughter of your own; that’s your only chance.”

The little boy looked at the baby girl. “Then I want to marry this little sister!”

Zhou Chenglei: “…”

Father Jiang: “…”

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

Seeing the three men suddenly exuding a murderous aura, the little boy’s mother felt she couldn’t stay a second longer. She quickly covered her son’s mouth. “Stop talking nonsense!”

Then, she turned to Jiang Xia and the others, apologizing profusely, “I’m so sorry, so sorry!”

She followed up with an explanation: “He’s the only child in the house. One of his playmates is part of a pair of boy-girl twins, and since that boy has a sister at home, my son begs for one every single day.”

Jiang Xia smiled and replied, “Children say the darndest things. You can’t take a child’s words seriously.”

“Are these triplets?”

“Yes.”

“That’s amazing! I’m so envious. With the family planning policy in place now, I can’t even have a second one if I wanted to.”

Jiang Xia simply smiled in response.

Just then, the nurse called out, “Alright, triplets, it’s time for your vaccinations.”

Father Jiang sat on the wooden stool first, holding the eldest brother. As he unbuttoned Dabao’s clothes, he coaxed him, “Dabao is the eldest brother, so you’re the bravest, right?”

Dabao looked at his Grandpa but didn’t say anything.

What was “brave”? He didn’t understand yet.

Father Jiang continued, “Let’s set a good example for your younger brother and sister, okay?”

He understood “younger brother” and “little sister.” He turned his head to look at his brother, then looked toward the door for his sister. He pointed his finger in her direction and said, “Sister.”

He was telling Grandpa that his little sister was over there.

Father Jiang laughed. His eldest grandson was truly sharp. He continued coaxing, “That’s right. Your younger brother and little sister also need to get their shots, so Dabao has to set an example for them, okay?”

Dabao nodded.

As the nurse disinfected his small arm, she smiled. “The eldest brother is very brave; he never cries when he gets his shots.”

As she finished speaking, the needle went in.

Dabao only knitted his tiny brows slightly and glanced at the nurse.

Meeting his dissatisfied little gaze, the nurse teased, “Dabao is so good! It didn’t hurt, right?”

Father Jiang also praised him, “Dabao is amazing, so brave!”

Children need plenty of praise. Jiang Xia also smiled. “Eldest brother is so impressive! He didn’t even cry during his shot. Wonderful!”

The nurse pulled out the needle, pressed down with a cotton ball, and smiled. “All done! Eldest brother is very brave!”

Seeing this, the other boy’s mother immediately said to her son, “Look at that. He’s several years younger than you and didn’t even cry. You won’t cry next time either, right?”

The boy’s face turned red with embarrassment as he nodded.

Does this little brother not feel pain?

The nurse called out, “Next is the younger brother!”

The little boy turned his head again to see if this younger brother would cry.

Father Jiang stood up with Dabao, and Zhou Chenglei sat down. “It’s Erbao’s turn for his vaccinations. Erbao is also an older brother, so you have to set a good example for your little sister, understand?”

Erbao had long since forgotten about the needle and didn’t really understand what his father was saying, but he figured nodding was the right response. “Mm.”

The nurse praised, “So well-behaved!”

Then, Erbao felt a coolness on his arm, followed by a sharp sting. He turned his head to look, and his mouth began to pout.

Jiang Xia quickly crouched down and held Erbao’s feet, coaxing him, “Mama’s Erbao is the bravest, isn’t he? Our Erbao won’t cry for a little shot, right?”

Erbao looked at his mother. His lip trembled several times as he fought back tears. In the end, even after the needle was withdrawn, he didn’t make a sound.

Jiang Xia praised, “So good! Our Erbao is the best!”

She leaned in, took Erbao from his father’s arms, and gave him a kiss.

This time, Erbao smiled.

The nurse laughed and added, “The little brother is very brave too!”

The other boy’s mother took the opportunity to educate her son again. “Did you see that? Everyone is getting their vaccinations without crying. You have to be just as brave next time, you hear?”

The little boy didn’t say anything. He was staring at the little sister, who was even cuter than Fu Lüheng’s sister.

Nurse: “It’s the little sister’s turn!”

Zhou Chengsen handed Little Bao to Zhou Chenglei.

Ruan Tang glanced at her husband. He doesn’t even dare to hold the child for a vaccination?

Zhou Chenglei took his daughter and unbuttoned her sleeve to reveal her small arm. “Little Bao is even braver than her brothers. You aren’t afraid of the needle, are you?”

The nurse smiled at the baby girl. “Of course, the little sister is very brave!”

Little Bao, who loved to smile, didn’t understand what was happening. Seeing both her brothers behave like this, she grinned widely. “Mm-ah!”

However, when the needle pierced her skin, her expression froze for a moment, and her mouth opened wide.

Jiang Xia was prepared; last time, only the little sister had cried.

She immediately popped a lollipop into her daughter’s mouth.

Little Bao: “…”

The moment she tasted the sweetness, the cry that hadn’t even escaped her throat vanished.

Jiang Xia took the candy out for a moment.

Little Bao smacked her lips, staring eagerly at the lollipop in her mother’s hand.

This was the first time she had tasted something so sweet.

Once the shot was finished, she pointed at the candy in Jiang Xia’s hand. “Mama…”

Then, she wiggled her bottom on her father’s lap, wanting Jiang Xia to hold her!

Jiang Xia gave her the candy and also gave one to Dabao and Erbao.

The little boy’s mother said, “Look, even the baby sister didn’t cry.”

The little boy replied, “I won’t cry next time either. I just wasn’t mentally prepared this time.”

After speaking, the little boy rushed over to Little Bao, pulled out his own White Rabbit Creamy Candy, and offered it to her. “Here, little sister!”

Little Bao took one look and tried to grab it.

Zhou Chenglei caught his daughter’s hand. “Thank you, little friend, but she’s still too small to eat this kind of candy. She might choke.”

The little boy: “…”

Jiang Xia took out a fresh lollipop and gave it to the boy. “Thank you. Here, take this from Auntie.”

The little boy had never seen this kind of lollipop before. He took it and said, “Thank you, Auntie! My name is Zou Zhengyang. Give this to her anyway; she can eat it when she grows up.”

Jiang Xia accepted the White Rabbit Creamy Candy. “Alright, thank you.”

The little boy happily ran back to his mother’s side.

The mother said her goodbyes to Jiang Xia, Ruan Tang, and the nurse before leading her son away.

Just then, another woman walked in, leading a very handsome little boy and a very cute little girl.

When the first boy saw them, he immediately pointed at the baby girl in Zhou Chenglei’s arms. “Fu Lüheng, I have a sister now too!”

Zhou Chenglei: “…”

Young Fu Lüheng glanced at Little Bao. “She’s not your sister.”

“She is! I just claimed her!”

“No, claiming doesn’t count.”

“She is!”

“Fine, if you say so,” Fu Lüheng replied, too lazy to argue with him.

Zou Zhengyang felt victorious. He was about to brag that his “sister” didn’t cry during her shot, only to realize that Jiang Xia and the others had already carried the children far away.

Fu Lüheng asked, “Then why isn’t your sister going home with you?”

Zou Zhengyang: “…”

This was merely a small interlude that no one took to heart.

After leaving the hospital, the group went to have lunch.

After eating with Father and Mother Jiang, Jiang Xia took a flight back to the capital.

Chapter 803: Like-Minded

Back in the capital, Jiang Xia was incredibly busy. Her schedule remained packed until mid-April, as they were set to depart for Suicheng the following day to participate in the Spring Canton Fair.

Jiang Xia was currently packing their luggage, which included quite a lot of items for the three babies.

Seeing this, Elder Mai said, “There’s no need to bring too much. The house over there has everything—clothes, powdered milk, diapers—I’ve already had the staff prepare them.”

Elder Mai had also come to the capital; he had arrived a few days prior.

In early April, Elder Mai had invited a Feng Shui master from Hong Kong to the mainland to find a treasure trove of Feng Shui. There, he had established a cenotaph for his late wife.

Her remains had not yet been found, and his son had been too young at the time to have any memories of the location.

He instructed Father Jiang that he, too, should be buried there after he passed away.

Because of this matter, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei had also made a trip back.

Seeing that Elder Mai was in low spirits, Jiang Xia invited him to the capital to help look after the children, suggesting they all fly to Suicheng together for the Canton Fair.

That was how Elder Mai ended up in the capital.

“It’s not much,” Jiang Xia replied. “I only packed a few changes of clothes and things we might need on the plane. It all fits into one suitcase.”

It only looked like a lot because she had to pack for three children at once.

Elder Mai didn’t say anything more about the luggage and instead asked, “Have the arrangements for the studio been finalized?”

During his few days in the capital, Elder Mai had seen Jiang Xia working day in and day out. It wasn’t just her; Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Dong were just as busy.

These youngsters were working incredibly hard.

“Everything is arranged.”

This semester, Jiang Xia was prioritizing her studies. She had politely declined the enthusiastic invitations from the principals of Jingda and Q University to continue as a foreign language teacher, only agreeing to give an occasional lecture or two. She poured all her energy into her studies, preparing for the Canton Fair, and setting up her fashion design studio.

The studio was located on the second floor of the clothing store. Recently, she had recruited several seniors from the university to serve as designers and pattern makers.

Jiang Xia made time every day to go to the studio to teach them, even taking them to several garment factories in the capital to learn.

She personally taught them how to coordinate outfits, how to prepare for a fashion show, and how to organize a trade fair.

There was a gap between what was learned in books and actual practice; the material in textbooks wasn’t very in-depth, which was why Jiang Xia was so busy.

Zhou Chenglei was busy as well. Now that the children were nearly a year old, they didn’t require his constant presence at home. He spent his time working on matters regarding the electromagnetic factory and the electronics factory, mostly driven by personal interest.

Consequently, after returning to the capital, Zhou Chenglei went to the university with Jiang Xia every day.

While Jiang Xia attended classes, he immersed himself in the library, researching various professional books.

He also sought out Jiang Dong for discussions. The two of them often debated in the yard next door until eight or nine o’clock at night.

They finished so early only because Zhou Chenglei had to coax the children to sleep.

Once the children were asleep, if Jiang Xia was still busy, he would head back next door to find Jiang Dong and didn’t return until the middle of the night. He was practically living with Jiang Dong at that point!

Coincidentally, China had begun to focus on the development of the electronic information industry and had established a microelectronics research institute. Jiang Dong had the honor of becoming one of the researchers there.

The more Zhou Chenglei learned, the more he felt that this industry had a great future and was of vital importance.

The two of them were truly like-minded and full of enthusiasm.

Recently, Zhou Chenglei had met two high-potential students in the library. He had already recruited them for the company; they would start working there once they graduated this semester.

In the evening, Jiang Dong and Zhou Chenglei returned home.

Even as the family ate dinner, the two were still discussing integrated circuits, semiconductors, and chips.

After Jiang Dong started his postgraduate studies, his professor’s research direction was also in this field, so he knew much more than Zhou Chenglei.

It was a difficult path, but one worth taking. Jiang Xia didn’t understand the technical details, but she knew some industry information, so she reminded them, “I think research into chip design software and technology should be conducted simultaneously. It would be best to achieve independent research and development for the entire production line.”

That way, they wouldn’t be subject to a bottleneck strategy at any stage.

Starting research now wasn’t too late at all.

Their nation had over a billion people, and talent emerged in every generation; there were actually many outstanding individuals.

Jiang Dong suddenly looked up at Jiang Xia. “Sis, you have such great foresight! Didn’t you say you know a few students who are very gifted in software design? Why don’t you ask if they’re interested in doing research? If they develop anything, I’ll pay a high price to buy it.”

Jiang Xia nodded. “Alright, I’ll ask for you.”

Having served as a foreign language teacher for a semester, Jiang Xia had met many students from different majors and made connections with many future industry leaders. This would greatly facilitate her professional development in the future.

Whether in life or work, networking was sometimes truly vital.

Hearing Jiang Dong’s words, Elder Mai spoke up, “Grandpa happens to be planning to invest in a software development company. Xiaxia, once I have the company up and running, introduce those students you know to it. I guarantee their salary and benefits will satisfy them.”

The company would be opened in Jiang Dong and Jiang Xia’s names, though Elder Mai didn’t plan to tell them that just yet.

Elder Mai was currently looking for every possible opportunity to ensure his grandchildren inherited his wealth and could tread the paths they desired.

Jiang Xia nodded. “Okay, I’ll ask them when I get back.”

Jiang Dong grinned. “Grandpa, you’re so generous! Don’t worry, Grandpa, I won’t let you down. We will definitely succeed in our research!”

Elder Mai laughed. “Haha, Grandpa believes in you.”

While Jiang Dong and Zhou Chenglei had some talent and the money they earned was considered a lot by mainland standards, the road of semiconductors and chips they wanted to research was a massive money sink. They were thinking too simply.

This matter would not be easy!

However, with his funding and connections to support them, the two children would surely be able to go much further.

Elder Mai decided to try and “poach” some talent in this field from abroad to mentor them, though talent of that caliber was not easy to hire.

The next day, the family rushed to the airport early in the morning. They landed in Suicheng by half-past one in the afternoon.

Lunch had been eaten on the plane.

This time, Old He didn’t need to arrange accommodations. Elder Mai owned property in Suicheng; it was a commercial residential project he had invested in with others—his first real estate investment upon returning to the mainland.

Elder Mai had already purchased two penthouse duplexes, one for Jiang Xia and one for Jiang Dong, as their birthday presents for this year. They were still being renovated and would be presented to Jiang Xia in June on her birthday, which fell on the summer solstice.

For now, they were staying in a property Elder Mai had acquired years ago. It was also a penthouse duplex and was the height of luxury.

The apartment was enormous. In a building with four units per floor sharing one elevator, the top floor consisted of only a single unit—and a duplex at that. One could only imagine the scale.

Elder Mai placed the little sister into a baby walker he had prepared. She immediately began to toddle around in it.

Jiang Dong and Zhou Chenglei also put the eldest brother and the younger brother into their respective walkers.

There was more than enough space here for the three of them to roam.

“Pick whichever rooms you like. Uncle Nianshan and his family don’t live here; I’m the only one who stays here,” Elder Mai said.

His adopted son’s family had never lived in this apartment; they had their own unit in the neighboring building.

Elder Mai had always felt that he would eventually find his biological son, so he had prepared two apartments here back then.

The duplex had two bedrooms downstairs and three upstairs. There were also two bathrooms downstairs and a room for the domestic staff.

“You young people take the rooms upstairs! Your Grandpa and Grandma and I will stay downstairs. We’re getting older and don’t want to bother with climbing up and down.”

Thus, Jiang Dong, Zhang Fuyan, Jiang Xia, and Zhou Chenglei stayed on the upper floor.

Second Auntie hadn’t come this time; only Jiang Xia’s maternal Grandpa and Grandma had made the trip. Elder Mai mentioned there were staff here to cook, so there was no need for too many people to come along.

After resting at home for half the day, Jiang Xia went to the Hongmian Hotel near the exhibition hall in the evening to check on the workers from their factory. She gave them a few simple instructions and arranged to meet at the exhibition hall entrance at eight o’clock the next morning.

Chapter 804: A Sense of Mission Arises Spontaneously!

Early the next morning, Jiang Xia and the others headed to the exhibition venue.

Since the fair had not officially started yet, Elder Mai did not go. He stayed at home with Grandpa and Grandma to help look after the children.

Upon arriving at the main entrance of the exhibition hall, Jiang Xia separated from Zhou Chenglei, Jiang Dong, and Zhang Fuyan. Each of them had their own responsibilities to attend to.

Jiang Xia met up with He Xinghuan and the teams from the marketing and sales departments, and together they headed toward the food exhibition area.

“I’ll take you to the food exhibition area to set up our product display first. Once that’s finished, you can explore the place. You have these next two days to familiarize yourselves with the entire exhibition hall. Make sure you memorize the locations of the service desks.”

Jiang Xia had arrived at the exhibition hall three days early specifically to set up the site. Since they were already using someone else’s booth, it would have been going too far to expect them to handle the display as well.

The group responded in unison, “Understood!”

When they reached the food exhibition area, the people already there waved enthusiastically the moment they saw Jiang Xia.

“Xiao Xia! Come over here for a second! Help me see if there’s any problem with how I’ve arranged this.”

“Xiao Xia, come to my side first! I’m setting it up according to the photos from last year, but we have a few more products this year, and no matter how I place them, it just doesn’t feel right.”

“Comrade Xiao Xia, over here! Please help me, I can’t seem to get the layout right!”

Wherever Jiang Xia went, people were waving and calling her over.

Because the last food showcase had been so successful, another special tasting event was being held this time. Everyone had witnessed Jiang Xia’s translation skills and sales ability firsthand, so they were naturally very welcoming.

Jiang Xia responded with a smile, telling them she would come over to help each booth one by one as soon as she finished her own tasks.

The sales supervisor, He Xinghuan, and the others followed behind Jiang Xia. Seeing how everyone in the exhibition hall greeted her and asked for her help, they couldn’t help but whisper among themselves. “Our factory director is incredible!”

The others nodded in agreement. “Truly incredible!”

“It feels like our factory director is a top-level leader visiting for an inspection!”

Everyone nodded silently. With people at every booth greeting her so warmly, someone who didn’t know better would probably think Jiang Xia was indeed a high-ranking official.

The marketing supervisor took the opportunity to quietly instruct his subordinates. “Not every factory gets the chance to participate in the Canton Fair, and not everyone has the opportunity to attend. You were all handpicked by the factory director; you are the elites of our factory! You must seize this opportunity to study hard and learn about the products and marketing strategies of other factories. Let’s strive to have our own independent booth next year.”

the marketing team members nodded vigorously!

The sales supervisor also whispered to his team, “The factory director brought us to the Canton Fair because she thinks highly of us. Such a rare opportunity means we must observe more, learn more, and think more! Look at how people from other factories promote and display their products. Think about which aspects we can apply to our own factory—adopt the best parts and discard the rest.”

Everyone nodded one after another!

To be honest, being able to participate in the Canton Fair was something that made them and their families feel immensely proud!

Now, walking behind Jiang Xia, they felt even more prestigious. Each of them unconsciously stood taller, walking with heads held high and a brisk pace!

A sense of mission arose spontaneously!

They had a brilliant factory director, and they absolutely could not let her down or hold the factory back!

Jiang Xia led them to the booth occupied by Fang Aiyuan.

Fang Aiyuan hadn’t started her display yet; she had been waiting for Jiang Xia to arrive so they could set up together. After the two groups greeted each other, Fang Aiyuan said with a smile, “You have fewer products, so you display yours first. Once you’re done, we’ll do ours. If you need any help, just give the word. You’re already familiar with everyone from our factory.”

The workers from Fang Aiyuan’s factory chimed in, “Comrade Xiao Xia, if there’s any work, just tell us what to do.”

Jiang Xia smiled and said, “I’m really troubling everyone, making you all wait for me.”

Fang Aiyuan laughed. “What kind of talk is that? It’s only right. You’ve helped our food factory plenty of times. Besides, we didn’t wait intentionally; we only arrived today ourselves.”

She then pointed to several boxes on the floor. “These boxes contain your factory’s products. Tell us how you want them displayed, and we’ll help.”

Jiang Xia replied, “No need to trouble yourselves, let’s all set up together. I don’t have many products, so I don’t need much space. We can start displaying from both ends, and I’ll make adjustments once everything is out.”

“That works too!” Fang Aiyuan agreed.

And so, the staff from both factories began opening boxes and taking out their products.

The items Jiang Xia’s food factory brought for the exhibition included various flavors of potato chips, french fries, and shrimp crackers; seasoned small dried fish, seasoned fish chunks, seasoned small squid, and seasoned Small Yellow Croaker; two flavors of sour bamboo shoots and two flavors of kelp knots; and two flavors each of eel and cod sausages.

After the Lunar New Year, the food factory had established a new product research and development department. He Xinghuan had led several newly hired chefs to develop new products. These chefs included specialists in both Northern and Southern Chinese cuisines. In the future, new products would be launched every month or every quarter.

Since time had been limited, they had focused on developing the shrimp crackers, seasoned Small Yellow Croaker, seasoned fish chunks, and the eel and cod sausages over the last two months, following Jiang Xia’s requirements.

Jiang Xia had returned in early April to taste the new varieties, and after finalizing the flavors, she had brought them here for the exhibition.

With many hands making light work, Jiang Xia’s products were soon displayed. Then, she led her team to help Fang Aiyuan set up her side.

Once the products from both factories were ready, Jiang Xia took her staff to help the capital’s Food Factory with their display. She continued helping each booth along the way, offering advice and personally adjusting layouts, remaining busy for the entire morning.

In the afternoon, Jiang Xia had to go to the clothing exhibition area. She gave her factory workers some free time. “The fair doesn’t start until the day after tomorrow. This afternoon, you can wander around and get to know the exhibition hall. You’ll have the next two days off to walk around Suicheng and relax. Once the fair starts, it will be very busy for nearly a month.”

“Understood.” The group agreed and began to explore the exhibition hall.

They were all model workers with a high level of awareness. Leaving one person to watch the booth, the sales and marketing supervisors led their teams around the various exhibition areas, notebooks in hand, studying diligently.

They returned early the next day to continue learning, realizing that product display was a science in itself.

So, even though Jiang Xia told them to sightsee and have fun, none of the factory staff went out to play. Instead, they came to the exhibition area every day to study.

After two more busy days, the Canton Fair finally began!

Jiang Xia kept two staff members at the booth while the rest were stationed at the various entrances and exits. Every entrance had one staff member.

This was for one reason: giving out gifts!

Every person who walked into the exhibition hall would be given a large snack gift bundle.

This gift bundle contained not only products from Jiang Xia’s factory but also star products from the capital’s Food Factory and Fang Aiyuan’s food factory.

Jiang Xia had shared her marketing strategy with the other factories; whether they chose to participate was up to them. After all, unlike Jiang Xia’s private factory, the state-owned factories had to apply for permission to give away products.

Chapter 805: This is Their Factory Director

The snack gift bundles Jiang Xia handed out contained one bag of potato chips, one bag of french fries, one bag of shrimp crackers, one bag of small fried fish, one bag of eel sausages, and one bag of kelp shreds. The flavors for each were random.

Other factories also contributed one or two of their star products, including instant noodles, canned ham, candies, biscuits, and more.

With over a dozen items in total, the variety in the snack gift bundle was quite impressive.

Included in the gift bundle were also the product manuals of several factories.

Jiang Xia had designed them herself and then consulted several masters from the Design Institute for their opinions. Elder Mai had even taken them to Hong Kong to get advice and revisions from advertising design masters there.

As a result, the product manuals for several factories were exquisitely made.

Printing these manuals had also cost a significant amount of money. To ensure they were high-quality and realistic, all the manuals were printed in Hong Kong.

The cost was as high as ten yuan per copy, and Jiang Xia had printed fifty thousand copies in one go.

It could be said that even before a single order from the Canton Fair had been finalized, Jiang Xia had already invested hundreds of thousands of yuan.

News of this had already spread throughout the food exhibition area, and people were discussing it privately:

“Comrade Jiang Xia has such boldness! She’s already invested hundreds of thousands before even securing an order! Who else would dare to do that?”

“It’s more than hundreds of thousands; it’s likely over a million. I saw that the gift bundle has several products inside; it should be worth about ten US dollars. And she prepared fifty thousand of them.”

“If the value is ten dollars, the cost shouldn’t be that high. The cost is probably around five yuan.”

“Five yuan isn’t cheap either! That still adds up to two hundred and fifty thousand yuan!”

Every year, the foot traffic at the Canton Fair increases. This year, it was estimated to be around forty to fifty thousand visitors.

Jiang Xia intended to give a snack gift bundle to every guest entering the exhibition hall. This meant she wasn’t just giving them to foreign businessmen in the food industry, but to everyone. This required giving out forty to fifty thousand gift bundles.

This was why many factories were afraid to participate. Giving out fifty thousand gift bundles, even at one yuan each, would still cost fifty thousand yuan!

That was a huge sum!

“I wonder if Xiao Xia can make it back? With an investment of over a million, how many products will she have to sell to recoup that? Xiao Xia is far too bold.”

“She can definitely make it back! Haven’t you tasted the snacks in Xiao Xia’s gift bundle? Once those potato chips and french fries are put on the shelves of the Supply and Marketing Cooperatives and department stores in our area, they’re snatched up within two days!”

“Same in our area! They sell incredibly well! They’re so delicious; the kids in my family absolutely love them.”

…

Amidst the discussions, a few scattered foreign businessmen and overseas Chinese businessmen finally arrived at the exhibition hall.

Jiang Xia was stationed at the main entrance. The first person to approach appeared to be an overseas Chinese businessman. She smiled and handed over a snack gift bundle: “Hello, welcome to Suicheng to participate in our country’s 57th Canton Fair. This is a small token of appreciation prepared by the Canton Fair officials.”

The man had come from Taiwan. He happily accepted the gift bundle and smiled: “There are gifts this year? This bundle’s packaging design is excellent. Our country is putting more and more heart into organizing the Canton Fair.”

Jiang Xia smiled: “Thank you. I hope we can make you even more satisfied in the future. May I ask which area you are heading to, sir? Would you like me to lead the way?”

Jiang Xia asked this of everyone who entered to understand which industry they were in.

If they were in the textile or clothing industry, Jiang Xia would also give them an invitation to the fashion show. If they were in the food industry, she would remind them about the tasting activities in the exhibition area.

“No need, I’ve been here many times. I’ll go to the agricultural products section myself. Which floor is it on this year?”

“This year, agricultural products are on the second floor of the West Zone. We have many new agricultural products this year… I hope you can find products that satisfy you.” Jiang Xia gave a brief introduction to build his anticipation.

“Is that so? Good thing I came early. Thank you, I’ll head in now.”

“Of course, please have a pleasant visit, sir!” Jiang Xia politely made a standard “after you” gesture. The food factory’s sales manager watched from the side, clicking his tongue in secret amazement.

This was their factory director!

She could run a factory, serve as a greeter, hold her own in the kitchen, and shine in any social setting—she was capable of anything!

Another foreign businessman arrived. After Jiang Xia handed out a gift bundle, she spoke with him in English for a while and then asked a staff member to lead him to the agricultural machinery area.

Several guests arrived in succession, and the sales manager witnessed Jiang Xia switching between several languages without any obstacles. She spoke even more fluently than the translation volunteers at the entrance!

During a lull, he couldn’t help but ask, “Director, did you study foreign languages in university?”

The people at the factory knew Jiang Xia was attending Q University, but they didn’t know what her major was.

A volunteer from Q University was nearby and, hearing this, intervened: “Comrade, you’ve got it wrong! Teacher Jiang is a teacher from our university’s Foreign Languages Department and is currently a consultant for the department. Her major is Fashion Design!”

The sales manager: “…”

What did that mean?

She studied Fashion Design, but she was an English teacher and a consultant?

Why did he understand every single word, yet the sentence as a whole made no sense to him?

Jiang Xia didn’t have time to explain because the first overseas Chinese businessman who had entered earlier came back out.

“Miss, where is the booth for these potato chips?”

When that overseas Chinese businessman had walked in, he’d glanced casually at the snack gift bundle and spotted the potato chips immediately.

He was a bit surprised. Was there actually a food factory in the mainland producing potato chips?

Disregarding social grace and with a “give it a try” attitude, he had torn open a bag of potato chips on the spot and started eating!

Crispy, fragrant, and crunchy!

The texture and flavor were simply superb!

They were even better than the ones he had eaten abroad or in Taiwan.

So, he quickly turned back to find Jiang Xia.

Jiang Xia smiled and said, “I’ll have our staff lead you there.”

The sales manager was quick on his feet; otherwise, he wouldn’t be a manager. Without needing instructions from Jiang Xia, he immediately said, “Sir, those potato chips are produced by my food factory! This is Director Jiang of our food factory. Thank you for your recognition of our products. I’ll take you to our booth to have a look right now!”

Hearing this, the businessman looked at Jiang Xia in surprise. The factory director had personally come to the entrance to hand out products?

And giving away so many? He hadn’t expected someone so young to have such boldness and be so adaptable. She was clearly someone meant for great things!

He smiled and reached out his hand, introducing himself: “My surname is Bao. To be a factory director at such a young age, Director Jiang, you are very impressive. Truly, the youth are to be commended!”

Jiang Xia smiled: “Thank you. We’ve just opened the factory and lack experience, so I still have much to learn from seniors like yourself. I’ll have my colleague take you to learn more about our products. Our factory has many items, and all are available for tasting. I hope you can give us some feedback after trying them. I have more guests to receive here, so I’ll head over in a bit.”

The sales manager immediately made a respectful “after you” gesture: “This way, sir!”

Mr. Bao smiled and replied, “I’ll go take a look first! The taste of the potato chips is very good!”

Hearing this, Jiang Xia instructed the sales manager again, “Give this gentleman more of our factory’s products to try, and tell him about our discount intensity. This is the first time our factory is participating in the Canton Fair, so our discounts are quite significant.”

“Understood,” the sales manager replied before leading Mr. Bao away.

Chapter 806: Buying Spree

Building on their previous experience, these two busloads of foreign merchants were also from the food industry.

As the people disembarked one after another, Jiang Xia surveyed them. Indeed, they were all from the food industry.

Many were regular customers, and Jiang Xia already recognized several of them.

She walked forward with a smile, greeting each of them with a handshake.

They all remembered her as well, asking with smiles, “Is Xia doing the presentation for us again this time?”

“Yes, I’ll be the one to give everyone the initial walkthrough again.”

“Fantastic! I like your presentations the most. They’re excellent and very clear.”

“Me too. I love listening to you introduce the products.”

“Xia, I’m sticking with you.”

…

Jiang Xia glanced at the two buses. Seeing that everyone had stepped off, she made a welcoming gesture and smiled. “Then, any friends who wish to hear my introduction to the products in our food exhibition area, please follow me!”

Quite a few merchants from Europe and the United States had arrived this year. Seeing their colleagues follow a Chinese woman as soon as they got off the bus, they inquired with those around them.

Upon learning that her translation skills were formidable—she was fluent in English, French, German, and Russian—they decided to follow along as well.

As Jiang Xia led more than eighty people into the exhibition hall, staff and volunteers began distributing snack gift bundles to the group.

Jiang Xia deliberately slowed her pace, waiting for them to receive their gifts while explaining, “This snack gift bundle is a small token of appreciation prepared by the Canton Fair organizers. Inside, you’ll find some of our new products for this session, as well as several star snacks that have sold extremely well in the past. Don’t miss out! You can take these back and savor them slowly, though every booth in the food exhibition area offers on-site tastings as well.”

The merchants glanced at the products in the bundles. Spotting potato chips, they immediately asked Jiang Xia, “Are these potato chips? Do they taste good?”

“They are delicious! I personally oversaw the development of the production line and the chips themselves. Everyone who has tried them says they’re excellent.”

“You made these chips, Xia? Did you open a factory?”

“Yes, these are my own potato chips, and french fries too.”

“Then we absolutely must try them.”

…

Food Exhibition Area

The fair had only been open for about fifteen minutes, but the booth where Fang Aiyuan was stationed was already surrounded by over twenty people. Everyone was participating in the tasting, and those who tried the samples were all praises: “Good! These chips are great! They’ll definitely sell well!”

“Delicious, simply exquisite!”

“These chips, fries, and shrimp crackers will definitely be loved by men, women, young and old alike. How much are these?”

“What kind of discounts are there for new products?”

These twenty or so people had entered through other entrances. Upon receiving the gift bundles, they had been drawn in by the potato chips inside.

Once they arrived, they began tasting every flavor of potato chips and french fries. With every flavor they tried, their praise grew, followed immediately by inquiries about the price.

The employees from Jiang Xia’s food factory were answering their questions loudly: “Yes, we have a new product promotion. Potato chips are fifty cents a bag, french fries are forty-five cents, and shrimp crackers are fifty-five cents… For all our factory’s products, if you order a hundred cases, you get ten for free. This offer is exclusive to this Canton Fair. Once it’s over, they will return to the original price—fifty-five cents for chips and fifty cents for fries—and the ‘buy ten get one free’ offer will end.”

“That’s right, the earlier you place your order, the sooner we ship. Orders for a full shipping container will also be given priority shipping.”

“These are kelp knots; they’re only five cents a bag. These are also very delicious. Yes, please, have a taste.”

“These small fried fish are also excellent; every flavor is very aromatic…”

There were too many people, and the booth was packed. Naturally, some people asked about the products on Fang Aiyuan’s side: “These are instant noodles. Yes, these are also very tasty; many of our old customers already know them.”

…

After finishing the tasting, some foreign merchants couldn’t wait to place their orders. “I want ten thousand cases of each flavor for the potato chips, french fries, and shrimp crackers. Three thousand cases for each flavor of kelp knots, and two thousand for each flavor of seasoned small dried fish…”

“I want twenty thousand cases per flavor of the chips, fries, and shrimp crackers. For the fish sausages, seasoned small dried fish, seasoned fish chunks, and seasoned squid, I want one thousand cases per flavor…”

…

Sending goods by air freight was too expensive, so they had to stick to the cheaper sea freight. However, sea freight took a long time, so when the merchants knew a product would sell well, they placed large bulk orders all at once.

After all, time was also a cost.

Furthermore, for light but bulky packaged food like this, shipping was usually done by the container. Anything less than a full container was handled as a Less-than-Container Load (LCL) shipment.

When placing orders, they calculated carefully to fill exactly one container, which was more convenient than dealing with LCL.

Many foreign merchants preferred ordering enough goods to fill one or several full containers. They disliked LCL shipments.

Consolidated shipping was more troublesome, especially if the goods in the container weren’t headed for the same destination port. It might require unloading and repacking at an intermediate stop or even transferring ships, which led to longer transit times and sometimes even higher freight charges.

Jiang Xia had taken this into account. When she ordered the box specifications, she had factored in the dimensions of shipping containers. The goal was to make it easy for foreign merchants to order full containers, ensuring that every detail was perfected.

It wasn’t even 8:15 AM yet; the Canton Fair had only been open for fifteen minutes. In the entire food exhibition area, except for Jiang Xia’s booth, there wasn’t a single person in front of the stalls belonging to other provincial and municipal food factories.

Everyone who arrived had been lured away by the potato chips and french fries.

Other food factory representatives couldn’t help but feel envious as they watched the scene.

“In less than fifteen minutes, a hundred thousand cases have been ordered! And we were worried if that one million investment would be recouped? At this rate, they’ll probably make it back in half an hour!”

“If we’d known, we would have also brought out a few items to give away for free.”

“Giving away gifts really does make a difference; it attracted everyone instantly.”

“It’s not just about the gifts; it’s because those potato chips and fries are genuinely attractive! I’ve tasted them; they’re very good!”

“As soon as I tasted those chips and fries, I knew they would be the biggest hits of this Canton Fair! They perfectly match the tastes of foreigners!”

…

When Jiang Xia finally arrived at the food exhibition area, she found a dozen people already gathered at her factory’s booth.

Before she had even decided to give away the snack bundles, she knew that anyone in the food industry who tasted those chips and fries would surely place bulk orders.

This was definitely a snack that would be a global bestseller!

“Xia, where is your food factory’s booth? Take us there quickly.”

“Yes, Xia, hurry and let us try your potato chips.”

…

Many people were impatiently urging Jiang Xia.

However, Jiang Xia still bore the responsibility of promoting the entire food exhibition area.

If she started promoting her own factory as soon as she arrived, someone would surely complain. Besides, looking at her booth, it was already too crowded to fit another person.

Jiang Xia smiled and said, “Everyone, please don’t be in such a huddle. Many factories have new products and promotions this year. I’ll take you from booth to booth and introduce them one by one.”

But the crowd wouldn’t hear of it. They had already seen the buying frenzy underway. “The other new products can wait! Let’s see the chips and fries first!”

Early orders meant early shipping!

If the immediate stock ran out, they would have to wait again.

Chapter 807: Did You Hear That?

The buyers Jiang Xia brought in were not only foreign merchants but also a large number of overseas Chinese businessmen.

The other food factory staff in the exhibition hall overheard the foreign and overseas Chinese merchants demanding to purchase potato chips and french fries first.

Everyone began to feel anxious.

Some couldn’t hold back anymore. Seeing Old He, they hurried to his side and said, “Leader, Jiang Xia brought so many people in. If they all go straight to her booth first, wouldn’t that be unfair to the rest of our food factories?”

Old He knew the first batch of buyers for the food industry had arrived and had come specifically to take a look. Hearing this, he glanced at the speaker. “How is that unfair? If you have the skill and the methods, you can also attract buyers to your own booths.”

The person was speechless. “…”

At that moment, Jiang Xia was soothing the excited crowd who were demanding to see the potato chips and french fries first. “Please don’t worry, everyone. There are a lot of people at the booth right now, and we’d just have to wait in line if we went over there. Why don’t we look at the new products from the other booths first? We have many food factories with new products at this Canton Fair. I’ve tasted them all, and the flavors are excellent. Plus, there are plenty of discounts. I’m sure you’ll be satisfied.”

After hearing this, Old He looked at the person who had complained. “Did you hear that?”

“…”

The person’s face flushed bright red.

She had truly been judging a noble person’s heart with the mind of a villain!

Over there, some foreign merchants still insisted on seeing the potato chips first. “Xia, we can look at the other factories’ new products later. Let’s see the potato chips first! We want to place our orders for potato chips early so they can be shipped early.”

Others chimed in:

“That’s right! The other products aren’t urgent, but we want the potato chips shipped as soon as possible. If we order now, can your factory arrange for shipment this afternoon?”

“Xiao Xia, let’s look at the chips first. I can place an order immediately if you can arrange for the factory warehouse to ship them out right away!”

Jiang Xia knew they were anxious, so she replied, “Don’t worry, everyone. I’ve prepared plenty of stock; our inventory is sufficient. I can guarantee that for any orders placed today, one to two shipping containers worth of goods will be prioritized for shipment tonight. All orders placed today will be shipped out within a week. This only applies to orders placed today; tomorrow won’t count.”

For this Canton Fair, Jiang Xia had long since arranged for the factory to stock up. She had even rented a large warehouse at the container pier specifically to store those goods.

This way, shipping would be very fast!

It was true that Jiang Xia had invested a lot of money into this Canton Fair.

Hearing this, the crowd finally felt at ease and stopped making a fuss.

Two shipping containers’ worth of goods was not a small amount.

Of course, making a scene wouldn’t have worked anyway!

Even if they had requested it repeatedly, Jiang Xia wouldn’t have agreed.

She had to maintain control; she couldn’t let the customers lead her by the nose.

Going to her own booth immediately might have caused her some trouble. While Jiang Xia wasn’t afraid of trouble, satisfying their demands at the very end meant that the longer the wait, the higher the anticipation—and the more explosive the sales would be when the time finally came.

Jiang Xia always believed that there was a solution for everything in this world, but the effectiveness of each solution varied.

This was why the terms “twice the result with half the effort” and “half the result with twice the effort” existed.

Thus, Jiang Xia liked to use her head before taking action, striving for maximum efficiency.

Even if she couldn’t achieve twice the result with half the effort, she at least wanted a fair return for her labor.

And so, Jiang Xia began introducing the products, starting from the very first booth.

Originally, the people from the other food factories were worried that since Jiang Xia had opened her own factory, she wouldn’t be as dedicated when introducing their products.

But their worries were in vain!

Jiang Xia was even more diligent this time than the last. She was already familiar with the older products and introduced them with ease, focusing on detailed explanations for the first-time foreign buyers. She had also done her homework on the new products. Her familiarity with them was no less than that of their own employees; she could even explain the benefits of certain raw ingredients—things even the staff didn’t know.

By the time they finished the loop, Jiang Xia’s throat was dry. When it was finally her booth’s turn, she still gave a detailed introduction of the products from Fang Aiyuan’s food factory.

When it came to her own factory’s products, Jiang Xia joked, “Everyone, please try some samples first! I personally think every product from my factory is delicious, but to avoid being accused of tooting my own horn, taste them for yourselves. If you like them, place an order! I’ll help you fill out the forms!”

Everyone laughed at her words.

Jiang Xia didn’t want to talk anymore; she just wanted to relax.

Her voice had gone hoarse!

She picked up the order forms, striking a pose as if ready to help everyone. “Come on! Throw your orders at me! Big or small, it’s all love! Give me all your love!”

The crowd was amused by Jiang Xia once again!

Instead of thinking she was being lazy, they felt she was incredibly confident in her products.

After all, she had put her heart and soul into introducing the other factories’ products, but when it came to her own, she didn’t even bother with a sales pitch. She simply let them taste the food and told them to order if they liked it.

What did this represent?

It represented unparalleled confidence!

Of course, Jiang Xia was indeed confident; otherwise, even if she were mute, she would have forced out a few words.

In a single morning, the potato chips, french fries, and shrimp crackers from Jiang Xia Food Factory shattered the single-product sales records for the food exhibition area!

Furthermore, the records weren’t just broken; they were doubled!

The transaction value for each of these three products exceeded 100 million.

Among the merchants who came to the food area, not a single one failed to place an order.

The minimum order quantity was 10,000 cases!

A true sales legend had been born.

In the afternoon, Jiang Xia didn’t stay in the food area; she went over to the textile exhibition area.

There was a fashion show tonight.

In the previous exhibition, the goods the buyers had ordered had sold very well, with several hit styles being reordered again and again.

This time, those buyers had arrived early. They planned to check out the styles at the booths before the fashion show started.

The buyers had expected to see Jiang Xia, but they learned she wouldn’t arrive until the afternoon. They looked over the clothing at the booth and left, but by afternoon, they all appeared at the booth simultaneously to wait for her.

“Xiao Xia, which ones do you think will be the hit styles this year?”

“Xiao Xia, come and recommend a few for us. I’ll place my order right now.”

…

Jiang Xia pointed out a few designs she believed would be hits. “I think these will be the bestsellers. You might want to order a bit more of these.”

Someone noticed that the styles Jiang Xia picked were exactly the ones they liked and laughed. “I knew asking you was the right move! I also think these are the most beautiful.”

“I had my eye on these as well. They look the best in the catalog too!”

“Xia, can you try them on for us?”

Jiang Xia smiled and said, “Sure, I’ll try them on for everyone.”

…

In one afternoon, Jiang Xia tried on over forty outfits!

In the evening, she hosted a fashion show. By the end of the day, Jiang Xia had been standing for nearly fifteen hours.

From seven in the morning until ten-thirty at night, there wasn’t a moment of rest except for eating and using the restroom.

When she finally returned home that night, her feet were swollen.

Chapter 808: The Triplets Go to Work

Zhou Chenglei brought a basin of hot water to soak Jiang Xia’s feet and began to massage them for her.

Fortunately, the high heels she wore today weren’t very high and the leather was soft and comfortable, so her skin hadn’t blistered.

It was already past eleven o’clock. After Zhou Chenglei massaged her for a while, Jiang Xia felt much better. She pulled her feet back. “That’s enough massaging. Let’s sleep. You’ve had a long day too.”

Zhou Chenglei had also been standing for over a dozen hours today, but he had excellent physical stamina and didn’t mind it at all.

Zhou Chenglei grasped her feet, not letting her pull them back. If he didn’t massage them more, she would be too tired to sleep tonight. “Aren’t there models? You can leave things like trying on clothes to the models. There’s no need to do everything yourself.”

He was a bit dissatisfied with how hard Jiang Xia pushed herself, always working until she was exhausted.

Jiang Xia replied, “The models did try them on, but they also have to do the runway shows in the evening.”

Zhou Chenglei didn’t say much more. He wouldn’t be able to convince her anyway, and talking wouldn’t make her less tired. It was better to let her get some rest.

What she needed right now wasn’t a lecture, but sleep.

“How many transformers did you sell today?”

Zhou Chenglei didn’t answer. It was too late for a business discussion. He picked up a towel and helped her dry her feet. “Lie down on the bed. I’ll massage you some more.”

Jiang Xia obediently lifted her legs and lay back on the bed.

Zhou Chenglei emptied the water first before returning to continue the massage.

In the few dozen seconds it took him to pour out the water, Jiang Xia had already fallen asleep.

Zhou Chenglei continued to massage her feet. Once the swelling subsided, he moved to her legs and then her whole body. He didn’t lie down to sleep until her muscles and bones were completely relaxed.

The next morning at six o’clock, the couple got out of bed.

The children weren’t awake yet, but with Elder Mai and Grandpa and Grandma there, they weren’t worried.

The couple, along with Jiang Dong and Zhang Fuyan, ate breakfast and headed out at 6:45 AM.

At seven, they held a meeting in the office at the exhibition hall.

During the meeting, Jiang Xia’s food factory, the electromagnetic factory Zhou Chenglei invested in, Jiang Dong’s bag factory, and the machinery factory Jiang Dong partnered with were all given special commendations. Others praised included various food factories, several garment factories, and a plastic factory. Essentially, every factory related to Jiang Xia received praise.

Needless to say, Jiang Xia’s food factory had broken its own sales record from the previous two sessions in just one morning.

The large marine transformers developed by the electromagnetic factory Zhou Chenglei invested in had signed orders for one hundred and six units on the first day!

This was a first in history.

Most importantly, since last year, marine transformers had become duty-free, and a certain brand’s imported 10MVA transformer had dropped in price from 1.2 million US dollars to 950,000 US dollars!

Under such circumstances, their newly developed large marine transformers had still secured over a hundred orders in a single day!

This represented the recognition from foreign and overseas Chinese merchants regarding the technical breakthroughs in China’s transformer technology.

In terms of stability, durability, high-efficiency conversion, and energy-saving, this transformer had reached the level of the most famous international transformers of the same grade. Some of its technologies were even more advanced.

First was its low noise level—the noise was ≤45dB. This was an improvement Zhou Chenglei had adapted from submarine silencing technology.

Second was the insulation performance, heat resistance, and stability of the insulation materials, which were superior to those of a well-known international brand.

These were all backed by internationally recognized testing reports.

Then there was the service life. Previously, Chinese transformers only lasted about eight to ten years, with a quality complaint rate as high as sixty-eight percent.

Essentially, once the total costs were factored in, the imported ones were superior despite the price advantage of domestic models.

Imported transformers had a service life of over twenty-five years and better stability.

Now, their newly developed transformer also reached a service life of over twenty-five years.

Moreover, the price advantage remained. Even though their product was more advanced, it was five percent cheaper than the same grade of transformers from world-famous brands.

After all, famous brands carry a brand premium.

They chose to price it slightly cheaper rather than more expensive to build brand awareness.

A transformer isn’t like a Kent ring; you can’t see the quality just by looking at the craftsmanship. You have to actually use a transformer to know if it’s stable.

Even with technical test reports, people might not be convinced. Only through practical application, when people find it truly good, will they be won over.

So, the first year was for building brand reputation; the price would increase in the second year.

Currently, one large marine transformer sold for 1.22 million US dollars with a profit margin of thirty-eight percent. This meant the company’s profit per unit was around 460,000 US dollars, which was already very lucrative.

Of course, Zhou Chenglei only received dividends; he didn’t personally earn 460,000 US dollars per unit.

However, Zhou Chenglei could earn royalties. Three of the technical breakthroughs in this transformer were developed by him and had been patented. Anyone who wanted to use them had to pay.

Just like the several types of swivel wheels Jiang Dong made, he received so much in patent fees every year that his hands were tired from counting the money.

After the meeting, Jiang Xia, Zhou Chenglei, and Jiang Dong went to the platform on the third floor.

Today, there was a children’s clothing runway show and an exhibition for children’s products on the third floor.

Elder Mai and Grandpa and Grandma had brought the triplets over.

Jiang Xia needed the triplets to help demonstrate the effects of the walking harness and the baby carrier.

The triplets were nearly ten months old now. They could usually pull themselves up by holding onto the edge of a coffee table.

However, they couldn’t walk yet. Jiang Xia hadn’t taught them how to walk early because she was afraid their leg bones hadn’t developed properly. Learning to walk too early could lead to bowed legs.

But today was a special case. She needed the triplets to show how convenient the walking harness was for teaching children to walk. They didn’t need to walk much.

Sitting in their baby stroller, the triplets saw their Mama and Papa coming and reached out excitedly. “Mama, Papa.”

They hadn’t seen their Mama before bed last night, and they hadn’t seen her when they woke up this morning, so they missed her dearly.

Jiang Xia and the other two stepped forward to pick the children up.

Jiang Dong held the eldest brother and asked, “Aren’t you going to call me Uncle?”

The eldest brother chirped, “Un-cle~”

At that moment, the director and staff of the children’s clothing factory walked over. “Comrade Xiao Xia, are these three your children? When I saw them wearing our factory’s clothes earlier, I guessed they might be yours. These three are so good-looking; they’re too cute.”

The three little ones wearing their factory’s clothes made the garments look much more high-end and stylish.

Jiang Xia had specially taken a few sets of clothes home to wash before letting the children wear them for the show.

“These three kids have grown so well. They specifically inherited the best traits from both of you.”

Hearing everyone’s praise, Jiang Xia smiled and said, “Babies, say hello to the uncles and aunties.”

The little sister had the liveliest personality. She understood what Jiang Xia meant and called out, “Auntie, Uncle.”

After Jiang Xia coaxed them a couple more times, the eldest brother and the younger brother followed suit.

“Oh my! They can already greet people? How wonderful! Auntie will give you some candy.”

The staff for today’s children’s clothing show had prepared plenty of candy and snacks to coax the children.

The group chatted for a while longer, and Jiang Xia took her little sister backstage to check on the preparations.

Today’s event was primarily a children’s clothing runway show, with the walking harnesses, baby strollers, and baby walkers interspersed throughout.

Chapter 809: A Sudden Shift in Atmosphere

The children’s fashion show began. One by one, little girls and boys stepped out to the music, walking with confident strides.

Every step exuded the vitality and vigor of childhood.

Every turn showcased the agility and innocence of a child.

Every gaze,

Every movement,

Every smile,

Vividly interpreted the coexistence of presence and energy, where cuteness and fashion took flight together.

Their tender faces mimicked the “cool” expressions of adults, instantly melting the hearts of everyone present!

The buyers in the audience watched the group of little cuties in silence.

They were full of life,

They were precious and innocent,

They held infinite possibilities,

They were the most striking sight in the entire exhibition hall!

Just as everyone was immersed in this visual feast, a toddler suddenly burst out using a baby walker!

“Sister! Sister…!”

Little Bao held her hands up in the air, pedaling her feet rapidly in the baby walker as she chased after one of the older girls on the runway.

The atmosphere shifted so abruptly that everyone blanked for a moment before breaking into laughter!

The “sister” Little Bao was chasing had already walked far away, but an older boy was approaching.

Little Bao then lunged toward the boy: “Brother! Brother…!”

Considering the safety of the children, no raised platform had been built. Instead, canvas had been laid across the floor, giving the visual impression of a runway.

Jiang Xia was perfectly comfortable letting Little Bao run around in the baby walker.

Little Bao had become quite skilled in the walker, and she chased the little male model all the way to the backstage area.

Though she appeared only briefly before vanishing, her adorable image left a deep impression on everyone.

“That little girl looks like she’s only one year old, right? How cute! The clothes she’s wearing are beautiful!”

“That baby walker she’s in moves so smoothly; it looks very easy to steer.”

“The walker looks good too, very cute design!”

…

The buyers all lowered their heads to place their orders.

Not long after the toddler in the baby walker disappeared, two more little boys came trotting out eagerly.

“Brother! Brother…!”

One of the little boys was wearing a small half-vest with straps on the back. An adult held the straps from behind, allowing the toddler, who was still learning to walk, to move forward steadily on his own.

The other little boy was being held by an adult who gripped his arms, supporting him as he walked. He was trotting along, trying to catch up to the boy using the walking harness.

It was painfully obvious that the adult bent over, clutching the boy’s arms to help him walk, was exhausted.

In contrast, the adult holding the lead of the walking harness looked completely relaxed.

The message was clear to everyone; many buyers immediately looked down to find the serial number for the walking harness to place their orders.

This was merely an interlude, and the fashion show continued afterward.

Once the three children had finished their “task,” Jiang Xia, Zhou Chenglei, and Jiang Dong carried them away from the backstage.

The social-loving Little Bao and her younger brother were unwilling to leave.

The two kids pointed at the children still on the runway, their mouths moving non-stop as they shouted, “Brother! Sister…!”

Little Bao wanted to play with the older kids, but she didn’t know how to express it clearly.

Jiang Xia coaxed her, “Yes, those are brothers and sisters. Does Little Bao want to play with them?”

Little Bao nodded her head vigorously in Jiang Xia’s arms and pointed again. “Brother… Sister… Bao… Bao play.”

Jiang Xia smiled. “The big brothers and sisters are doing a show; they don’t have time to play with our baby.”

“Brother, Sister.” Little Bao still refused to give up, pointing at the children on the runway.

She really wanted to play with them.

Zhou Chenglei also spoke up, “No more playing. Let’s go find Great-Grandpa and eat strawberries, okay?”

“Brother, Sister.” Even strawberries weren’t tempting enough; Little Bao insisted on pointing at the runway models.

“They’re busy. Let’s have Great-Grandpa take you to the slide; there are other brothers and sisters there too.”

The three adults carried the children over to Elder Mai and their Grandpa and Grandma before heading back to work.

Elder Mai and the grandparents took the kids back to the residential area to use the slide.

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei stayed in Suicheng until the end of April before departing.

At that point, there were still five days left before the end of the Canton Fair, but Jiang Xia left early to return to the fishing village for May Day.

Of course, when Jiang Xia spoke of “spending May Day,” she didn’t mean taking a holiday.

The second batch of net cages was being delivered during the May Day period, and Jiang Xia also needed to return to arrange factory production and contract manufacturing.

The order volume for potato chips and french fries had far exceeded expectations; Jiang Xia had to return to the factory to organize the production schedule.

Orders for potato chips, french fries, and shrimp crackers placed in the latter days of the fair would have to have their shipping dates pushed back by a month.

Additionally, they had made money from this Canton Fair, so it was time to arrange for the construction on the remaining plot of land.

Jiang Xia needed to consult with the construction company on how to build it.

She planned to build several factory buildings to produce biscuits and beverages.

During this Canton Fair, Jiang Xia had met many foreign businessmen and overseas Chinese merchants. She planned to import raw materials such as butter, cheese, cocoa, coffee, potatoes, and pineapples to develop new products.

By the time summer vacation arrived, the children would be a year old and could be weaned. After weaning, she planned to go abroad to personally inspect the origins of these raw materials.

Upon her return this time, Jiang Xia brought back many imported snacks, clothes, toys, and watches. These were gifts given to her by the foreign and overseas Chinese merchants she had met; they had specifically brought them for her.

This was because sometimes, when they had urgent matters or problems while abroad that the factory staff couldn’t resolve, they would call Jiang Xia to ask for help.

Jiang Xia would always help them coordinate with the factory directors to solve the issues, so these were tokens of gratitude.

As a matter of courtesy, Jiang Xia had also given return gifts of equal value to them.

She had received four ladies’ watches this time. Jiang Xia kept one for herself, gave one to Tian Caihua, one to Ruan Tang, and gave the last one to Zhang Fuyan.

Tian Caihua glanced at the watch in her hand, then looked at Ruan Tang’s.

She felt that Ruan Tang’s watch looked a bit more youthful and beautiful. It was encrusted with tiny diamonds that sparkled, very similar to the one Jiang Xia was wearing.

Of course, the watch in her own hand was also beautiful.

She couldn’t help but ask, “Xiao Xia, these two watches must be very expensive, right?”

Jiang Xia replied, “I’m not sure. They were all gifts.”

Jiang Xia knew what Tian Caihua was thinking. She also knew that Ruan Tang’s was indeed more expensive, but that style suited Ruan Tang’s temperament better.

Jiang Xia then took out two outfits and gave them to Ruan Tang. “Second Sister-in-law, these two outfits were also gifts from friends. I think they suit your temperament well, and they match the style you usually wear. See if they fit.”

Tian Caihua took a look. “These two dresses are too beautiful! You can tell just by looking that the fabric is high quality!”

Was there a share for her too?

Jiang Xia said to Tian Caihua, “Big Sister-in-law, the clothes were all gifts. The other person probably bought them according to my size. Take a look and see if there’s anything that fits you.”

Hearing this, Tian Caihua started rummaging through Jiang Xia’s travel bag.

Ruan Tang took the clothes and saw the brand logo on them. “These clothes are too valuable; I can’t take them.”

Jiang Xia said, “I didn’t spend any money; they were gifts from foreign merchants. They don’t fit me, so it would be a waste to just leave them. They should fit you perfectly.”

Although Jiang Xia was thin, she was still breastfeeding, so her bust was relatively large. she had tried these two dresses on, and they were a bit tight in the chest.

Ruan Tang said, “I’ll just take one. Give one to Xiao Yan!”

Jiang Xia replied, “No need. I’ve already set aside two sets for Xiao Yan as well. I think you’ll like these two more.”

Jiang Xia then pulled out the two sets she had reserved for Zhang Fuyan. “See if you like these two sets.”

Ruan Tang took one look and smiled. “At a glance, this is exactly Xiao Yan’s style.”

Zhang Fuyan’s style leaned toward sweet and feminine, while Ruan Tang preferred a cooler, more professional look.

Jiang Xia smiled. “I thought so too.”

When she first opened these two outfits, she knew Zhang Fuyan would like them.

She hadn’t even tried them on; she had set them aside for her immediately.

Chapter 810: Determination

Tian Caihua glanced at the several sets of clothes in the travel bag, and not one of them was an XXXL!

She felt like she would have to chop herself in half to squeeze into any of them.

Since they didn’t fit, she was too embarrassed to ask for them.

After the family finished their meal and were on the way back, Tian Caihua said to Zhou Chengxin, “Accompany me for a run on the beach.”

Zhou Chengxin asked, “What’s gotten into you now?”

Tian Caihua pinched the fat on her waist. “I need to lose weight. Otherwise, in the future, when people give Xiao Xia clothes she can’t wear, Ruan Tang will get them all for cheap.”

Zhou Chengxin was speechless; she was always afraid of losing out!

He felt compelled to remind her, “What size clothes did you wear before we got married?”

“Large!” Tian Caihua replied.

“And what size do Fourth Sister-in-law and Second Sister-in-law wear?”

“Medium!”

“Do you really think you can get as thin as you were before marriage?”

In his memory, Tian Caihua had always been quite sturdy. He didn’t mean it in a derogatory way; she had been doing farm work since she was a child, and her frame was clearly twice as large as Jiang Xia’s or Ruan Tang’s.

So, even if she did lose weight, did she really think she could fit into their clothes?

Tian Caihua was at a loss for words for a moment. “Don’t discourage me. I can definitely get as thin as Xiao Xia!”

Seeing she wouldn’t give up, Zhou Chengxin said, “If you want to run, go by yourself tomorrow during the day. I have to go out to sea early tomorrow morning, so I need to go back and sleep.”

This time, Tian Caihua was determined to lose weight by running.

Seeing such beautiful clothes and not getting a single set made her feel uncomfortable all over.

She went off to run by herself!

Early the next morning, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei got up together to go out to sea.

Today was May Day, a factory holiday. Jiang Xia had mandated that except for the security personnel on duty, all factory employees would have the day off, and no overtime was allowed.

Those willing to work the following day could do so, but it wasn’t mandatory.

In truth, the factory employees didn’t want the holiday at all; they wished they could work overtime every single day. This was because the wages on May Day were triple the usual rate.

They would rather take time off after the May Day holiday than have the day itself off.

However, Jiang Xia wouldn’t allow it. Everyone had been working overtime for the past month, with many people refusing to take a day off. That simply wouldn’t do.

Therefore, Jiang Xia ruled that the entire factory would be closed on May Day. No workers were permitted to work overtime, and no overtime pay would be given.

Jiang Xia was also taking a day of rest; she had been continuously busy for over two months.

Since Ruan Tang happened to be off as well, they agreed to go out to sea together.

Today’s trip was mainly for Jiang Xia to check on the pearl shells.

April and May are the peak seasons for pearl shell larvae to reproduce. Today, they were going out to sea to deploy spat collectors to gather the spats.

They had already deployed a batch in early April, and today they were deploying the second batch.

A little after five in the morning, Zhou Chenglei steered the boat to Pearl Island.

It was a major ebb tide today. At five o’clock, the sky was just starting to brighten, and much more of the island was exposed than usual.

Zhou Chenglei found a place to dock and jumped off the boat. He caught Jiang Xia as she jumped down, carrying her across the beach before setting her down.

Zhou Chengsen did the same, carrying Ruan Tang off the boat.

Tian Caihua looked at Zhou Chengxin.

Zhou Chengxin really didn’t want to say it, but Tian Caihua lacked self-awareness. “If you aren’t afraid of us both falling into the water, I’ll catch you.”

At over 65 kilograms, if she jumped down directly, he knew he couldn’t handle the impact!

Tian Caihua: “…”

She definitely had to lose weight!

Zhou Chengxin reached out. “Jump down, I’ll give you a hand.”

That was the only way.

Tian Caihua jumped straight down.

On the boat, Father Zhou was gathering some beachcombing tools to hand to his eldest son. Seeing this, he hurriedly shouted, “Wait! Wait until I move further away!”

But Father Zhou’s warning came too late. Tian Caihua had already jumped!

The “thud” was exceptionally solid!

The resulting splash soaked both Zhou Chengxin and Father Zhou on the boat.

Father Zhou: “…”

Even a fat pig falling into the water probably wouldn’t have that much of an effect!!

Once the three sisters-in-law were off the boat, the three Zhou brothers brought the beachcombing tools to the beach for them to use.

Then, the father and his three sons changed into diving suits and dove down to check on the spats collected by the collectors they had submerged last month.

If the shells of the spats had grown to about 3mm, they needed to be moved into spat cages for cultivation.

Meanwhile, Jiang Xia and the other two women carried their buckets, searching for snail eyes as they made their way toward the reefs.

Chapter 811: I Wish I Hadn’t Told Ruan Tang

Ruan Tang looked at Jiang Xia in surprise. “You can actually find silver?”

They were on a stretch of the beach that was usually submerged. Jiang Xia bent down to pick up a white clam and tossed it into her bucket. “I was quite lucky back then.”

Tian Caihua also spotted a white clam and picked it up. “Quite lucky? She was incredibly lucky! She finds good things every other day.”

Tian Caihua then began to vividly describe exactly how many treasures Jiang Xia had found in the sea.

“…The only reason those two could buy a big boat so quickly is because of that luck.”

Hearing this, Ruan Tang also felt that Jiang Xia was exceptionally fortunate. She smiled and said, “I didn’t expect the sea to have so many treasures! I’ll have to come to the island to go beachcombing more often from now on.”

Tian Caihua shook her head. “The sea has plenty of treasures! It’s just that not everyone can find them! Coming here often won’t help; it all depends on luck! I’ve lived by the beach for over thirty years and deal with the sea almost every day, yet I haven’t found as much as Xiao Xia has in the thirty-odd months she’s lived here. Forget gold and silver—I haven’t even found a single fen. Talk about rotten luck!”

Ruan Tang couldn’t help but laugh.

Jiang Xia bent down to pick up a pearl shell. This pearl shell wasn’t very large, so she planned to put it back in the sea to farm later. She joked, “So, Big Sister-in-law, let’s hurry up and pick things up! You’re so busy talking that you’re missing all the good stuff! Look, the sea level is about to rise from all the saliva you’re watering it with!”

Ruan Tang stifled a laugh.

Tian Caihua laughed too, picking up a white sand snail and tossing it into her bucket. “If only I were that capable! If I were that powerful, I’d suck the sea dry immediately so we could pick up treasures from the seabed! But I don’t have that skill, nor do I have the luck. I can only leech off your luck and catch some small fish and shrimp to earn a bit of pocket money. Second Sister-in-law, let me tell you a secret: following Xiao Xia can actually improve your luck. From now on, just do whatever Xiao Xia does! I don’t tell just anyone that!”

Ruan Tang thought Tian Caihua was just joking and played along with a smile. “Really?”

Tian Caihua nodded. “Of course it’s real! I’ve personally verified it many times! She’s so lucky that we can become fortunate just by being near her!”

Ruan Tang smiled and reached out to rub Jiang Xia’s arm. “Let me rub off some of your fortune! Let me find some gold, silver, pearls, or jade too.”

Jiang Xia laughed. “Rub away! Rubbing brings a great fortune!”

No sooner had Jiang Xia finished speaking than Ruan Tang stepped on something hard.

She looked down and saw a silvery edge protruding from the sand.

Ruan Tang thought she had stepped on an aluminum lunch box and joked, “It seems it’s true; I’ve found some silver.”

Ruan Tang knelt and started digging with her shovel.

As the sand was pushed aside, a large piece of silver was revealed underneath.

Eh? It didn’t look like an aluminum lunch box.

Tian Caihua and Jiang Xia took a look.

Jiang Xia: “…”

It looked very similar to the silver disk she had found before.

Tian Caihua immediately rushed over!

“No way? Silver? Even you found silver?”

If she had known, she wouldn’t have told Ruan Tang!

Ruan Tang was still digging, but Tian Caihua, annoyed by her slow progress, used both hands to vigorously shove the sand aside.

Soon, a solid, silver object roughly the shape and size of a plate was revealed.

Tian Caihua picked up the solid silver disk, her hands trembling. “Xiao Xia, was the silver disk you found before like this?”

Jiang Xia knelt and took a look, then nodded. “Mhm, the shape is almost the same. The size is a bit different.”

The one Jiang Xia found was thicker; this one of Ruan Tang’s was a bit smaller.

Ruan Tang couldn’t hide her shock. “Is it really silver?”

Jiang Xia took it, weighed it in her hand, and looked it over. “Most likely. It should weigh about 3.5 to 4 kilograms.”

Tian Caihua: “…”

What gives?

They were all daughters-in-law of the Zhou family!

Why did they both find silver disks while she found nothing?

Ruan Tang was a bit confused. “But why is it this shape?”

Shouldn’t it be silver bars or silver coins?

Jiang Xia explained, “This was likely smelted from discarded electronics or film. They must have poured it into a pan during the refining process, so it took this shape.”

Ruan Tang knew that some electronics and photographic film contained silver. She took it back. “I wonder how much this is worth? I think I heard that silver prices have been falling since last year?”

Jiang Xia nodded. “Yes, it’s been falling since last year, and it will continue to drop. It’ll drop even harder next year. So if you want to sell it, do it as soon as possible. If not, just put it away for now and wait until the price goes back up.”

Jiang Xia remembered from the book that silver prices would plunge below the cost of mining next year. They would recover slightly the year after that, but start falling again the following year.

Tian Caihua looked longingly at the silver disk in Ruan Tang’s hand. “Even if it drops, it’s still silver! This must be worth several thousand yuan, right?”

Jiang Xia nodded and added, “Of course. Gold and silver both hold their value. If you aren’t short on money, sell it later. I expect it will rise a little bit the year after next.”

Jiang Xia had sold hers the year before last, when silver prices were at their peak. They started falling shortly after. Now the price was eighty fen per gram; next year it would drop even further, perhaps to sixty fen per gram. Some people hoarded silver and made a 300% profit when they eventually sold it.

“Hurry and put it away!” Jiang Xia reminded Ruan Tang.

Ruan Tang quickly stuffed it into her woven sack. “I wonder if there are more?”

Hearing this, Tian Caihua immediately imitated Ruan Tang and rubbed Jiang Xia’s arm. “You both found silver disks; surely it’s my turn now? Xiao Xia, say something quick.”

Jiang Xia said jokingly, “Big Sister-in-law is bound to make a fortune!”

Tian Caihua was satisfied and began to lower her head, seriously searching for gold or silver disks!

Jiang Xia asked her, “Big Sister-in-law, we’re going over to the reefs. Are you coming?”

Tian Caihua waved them off. “I’m not going. I’ll stay here and see if I can find a silver disk.”

Please, Heavens, open your eyes!

Wasn’t it finally her turn to strike it rich?

So, Jiang Xia and Ruan Tang continued toward the reefs.

As soon as they arrived at the reefs, Jiang Xia spotted a black fish hiding in a crevice of a tide pool.

“There’s a fish! Second Sister-in-law, help me flush it out. I’ll wait on this side with the mesh bag.”

“Okay!”

The two of them worked together. One took the iron tongs to drive the fish out of the crevice, while the other held the mesh bag ready to scoop it up.

The fish was clever; it squeezed deeper into the crevice, refusing to swim out.

It only bolted when Ruan Tang poked it with the iron tongs.

Jiang Xia scooped it up with lightning speed.

Ruan Tang looked at the black fish. “What kind of fish is this? A Yellowfin Seabream?”

“Yes, a Yellowfin Seabream. This one weighs about 1.5 kilograms. These are delicious.”

The fish was indeed a Yellowfin Seabream. This was the first time Jiang Xia had encountered one so large.

Jiang Xia put some water into the bucket and placed the fish inside to keep it alive.

This tide pool was quite large. Jiang Xia used the tongs to poke around the crevices again, checking for more fish, shrimp, or crabs.

Suddenly, a crab claw poked out.

“There’s a crab too! That claw is huge!” Ruan Tang said excitedly.

“It’s just a bit hard to pull out.” Jiang Xia changed her angle, lay down, and reached in with the tongs. She even broke off a claw before finally pulling it out.

Ruan Tang laughed. “This mud crab is so big! I’ve never seen one this size before. It must be very old, right? Its shell is covered in barnacles.”

Jiang Xia was also surprised. “This crab weighs about 1.5 to 2 kilograms. It probably took many years to grow this large.”

Jiang Xia had heard from Zhou Chenglei that mud crabs could live for twenty years.

This mud crab was likely at least ten years old, if not twenty. It felt like the ancestor of all mud crabs!

She tossed the crab into the bucket.

The two continued forward.

Then, in a gully among the reefs, Jiang Xia discovered a cluster of fan shells and two fish swimming in the water.

Ruan Tang said excitedly, “So many fan shells!”

The shells were all open in the seawater.

The two quickly put down their tools and knelt, using their mesh bags and tongs to gather them.

Jiang Xia had a complete set of beachcombing tools: large and small mesh bags.

Zhou Chenglei had made them specifically for her use.

The large bags were for big fish, while the small bags were perfect for scooping fan shells out of crevices like this.

These fan shells didn’t have byssus threads, so they were easy to collect with the tongs and bags.

Jiang Xia was much more skilled than Ruan Tang and soon had a bag full, which she emptied into the woven sack.

The two had a great time gathering fan shells.

By the time they finished picking the larger shells from the gully, they had filled half a woven sack.

Jiang Xia lifted it to gauge the weight and smiled. “That’s about 15 to 20 kilograms.”

It was Ruan Tang’s first time finding so much while beachcombing, and she felt very satisfied. “This is a real harvest! Let’s keep going.”

Jiang Xia said, “Let’s leave the woven sack here! It’s too heavy to carry.”

There were only a few of them on the entire island, so they didn’t have to worry about anything being stolen.

The two continued forward with only the empty bucket and their tools.

Jiang Xia reminded Ruan Tang, “Be careful, don’t slip.”

The reefs were submerged for much of the year, making them slippery, and many of the crevices were encrusted with sharp barnacles.

After walking for a while, they came across a shallow tide pool. The rock walls around it were covered in spicy snails and barnacles.

They were growing in dense clusters.

The two of them picked all the large spicy snails.

They collected over 5 kilograms of them.

Ruan Tang remarked, “The harvest here on the island is much better than on the beach back home.”

Jiang Xia replied, “This place is far from the shore, so few people come here. Those reef walls over there have lots of oysters too. Usually, the oysters we eat at home are shucked from here. But it’s hot now, so the oysters aren’t very fat.”

In these waters, oysters were at their best during winter and spring.

After finishing with the spicy snails, they moved on and spotted two stone crabs in a small gully.

Stone crabs aren’t very tasty, and Jiang Xia didn’t care for them, so they let them be.

Continuing on, Jiang Xia discovered a patch of goose barnacles, also known as goose-neck barnacles.

Jiang Xia knelt and pried one off to confirm. Indeed, they were goose barnacles.

“I’ve heard these barnacles are very delicious.”

Ruan Tang looked at them, and the meat reminded her of a claw. “They’re edible? They look too scary to eat.”

“They are. They sell for a lot of money abroad.”

“Should we pry some off to take back?”

Jiang Xia shook her head. “Forget it, I don’t dare eat them either.”

They both laughed.

Further ahead, they found the rock walls covered in black snails.

Chapter 812: This Stingy Guy

Jiang Xia took a glance. “These should be screw snails, also known as turret snails.”

There were so many types of sea snails; even turret snails had many varieties. Jiang Xia couldn’t distinguish them all. They all looked similar anyway, just varying in length.

Ruan Tang asked, “Should we pick them up? They’re so small; I feel like there won’t be much meat.”

Jiang Xia looked at the sky. “No, we’ve already picked up a lot of sea snails today. The tide is likely about to come in. Let’s see what else is further ahead.”

The two continued walking. After a while, they discovered a grouper in a large tide pool.

Working together, they scooped it up. Jiang Xia then pried open a reef rock and found several octopuses hiding underneath, each of them quite large.

They quickly put them into the bucket.

Ruan Tang smiled. “This is enough for a meal!”

Jiang Xia laughed. “Exactly. We’ll use them to make seafood soup noodles in a bit.”

As the tide began to rise, Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengsen came over to find them.

Zhou Chenglei walked to Jiang Xia’s side and took the bucket and beachcombing tools from her. Carrying them in one hand, he took her hand with the other. “The tide is coming in. Let’s head back to the boat.”

Zhou Chengsen also took the things from Ruan Tang’s hands and led her away.

On the way back, Jiang Xia spotted a large mud crab.

What’s more, it was a soft-shell crab.

Ruan Tang asked, “Is this mud crab sick? Is it still edible?”

Zhou Chenglei caught it and put it in the bucket.

Zhou Chengsen explained to Ruan Tang, “It’s edible. The crab isn’t sick; it just finished molting. Crabs that have just molted are the most delicious, and you can eat the entire thing…”

A crab molts a dozen times throughout its life.

Each molting is a transformation for growth. During this process, they also shed their gills, stomach lining, and internal organs.

“At this stage, the crab hasn’t a speck of dirt on it. The whole body is edible, even the shell. It’s usually quite rare to encounter a molting crab.”

“Is it good?”

“It’s delicious. The meat of a soft-shell crab is even more tender than usual, and the crab flavor is intense. Since the whole thing is edible, it’s incredibly satisfying to eat. When we get back…”

Zhou Chenglei interrupted him and said to Jiang Xia, “When we get back, I’ll cook it for you.”

Then he turned to Zhou Chengsen. “Second Brother, keep looking. Find a soft-shell crab for Second Sister-in-law too.”

Jiang Xia had never even eaten a soft-shell crab before!

Zhou Chengsen was speechless. “…”

What a stingy guy!

As if soft-shell crabs were that easy to find!

However, he didn’t say anything. Everyone in the family knew that Jiang Xia loved eating crab.

He held Ruan Tang’s hand and looked down, earnestly searching the crevices of the reefs to see if there were any more crabs.

But soft-shell crabs were indeed hard to find. Zhou Chengsen searched until they left the reef area without finding another one.

The two men carried their wives back onto the boat and then handed the gear up.

When Tian Caihua saw that they had gathered nearly a whole woven sack of things, she asked, “Did you go pry oysters? Oysters aren’t fat this time of year.”

Jiang Xia replied, “They’re not oysters. We picked up some fan shells and spicy snails.”

Ruan Tang asked, “Big Sister-in-law, did you find any silver?”

“Don’t even mention it! I’ve searched the whole beach and found nothing!” Hearing this, Tian Caihua opened the woven sack. Spicy snails of this size could sell for one yuan and seventy or eighty fen per 500 grams!

This bag must weigh 25 to 30 kg!

Selling it would bring in another thirty or forty yuan!

Plus, there was a yellowfin seabream and a grouper; those would sell for fifteen yuan.

“If I had known, I would have just picked snails too! I spent half the day and only gathered 500 grams of white clams.”

Zhou Chengxin said, “You say that every time.”

Every time they went beachcombing, whenever she saw Jiang Xia find something good, did she ever actually focus on her own work?

Only when it was over and she hadn’t found any treasures or much seafood would she stand there and regret it.

A half-hearted person would never get anything done.

Tian Caihua was silent. “…”

It did seem that way!

The pearl attachment devices were all hung. Since it was still early, Father Zhou steered the boat to start trawling.

“We’ll do three hauls today before going home. A-Lei, Xiao Xia, you two go cast the net first. For the second haul, it’ll be Second Brother and his wife’s turn. The last haul will be for the eldest couple.”

Today was the first time the three sons had brought their wives out to sea together.

They had to do three hauls; perhaps they could even earn enough for the second son’s wedding banquet next month!

Tian Caihua asked, “Why are we last?”

Father Zhou replied, “You can cast the first net if you want. I just thought that since it’s early, there are more fish in the sea. I was afraid your luck wouldn’t be as good and you’d miss the schools! I figured Old Fourth and his wife have the best luck at sea. By capturing the right time, the right place, and the right people, we can make more money. If you want to go first, go ahead.”

Tian Caihua was stumped. “…”

That actually made a lot of sense!

“Let Old Fourth and his wife cast the first net then! I’ll go cook some seafood noodles for everyone.” The money earned from fishing together was split equally among the three families. Tian Caihua wasn’t so foolish as to fight for the turn when fish were most plentiful.

She wished Old Fourth’s couple would cast and haul the net for all three rounds.

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei walked over to cast the net.

Ruan Tang went to help Tian Caihua prepare the seafood and cook the seafood noodles.

Zhou Chengxin called out to Zhou Chengsen, “A-Sen, shall we fish together?”

Seeing Ruan Tang about to clean several octopuses and squids, Zhou Chengsen said, “Wait a moment. We’ll fish after eating breakfast.”

He walked over to Ruan Tang and took the scissors. “I’ll handle this. You go wash the greens.”

Ruan Tang said, “No need. Go open the fan shells instead! Let’s put some fan shell meat in.”

Jiang Xia had brought some greens and eggs onto the boat before they left. Adding them to the noodles would make them even tastier.

Mother Zhou had already washed the greens twice, cleaning off all the mud. Now they just needed one more quick rinse.

As Zhou Chenglei was casting the net, he said, “Let’s eat that lobster too.”

Zhou Chenglei had just caught a green spiny lobster weighing about 500 grams underwater.

Zhou Chengxin couldn’t be bothered to fish alone, so he went to chop the lobster into pieces. The soup would be even sweeter and more savory when cooked that way.

Half an hour later, a pot of lobster seafood soup noodles was ready.

Each bowl of noodles contained octopus, lobster meat, white clams, sea snail meat, fan shell meat, flower clam meat, half an egg, and a few stalks of greens.

The surface of the noodles was completely covered in seafood, making everyone’s appetite surge.

Ruan Tang loved noodles. “Eating a bowl of seafood noodles like this every day really makes me want to live by the beach forever.”

The fish and shrimp Ruan Tang usually ate in the hospital cafeteria weren’t as fresh as what she had at home.

Ever since she started eating the family’s seafood, she had lost all interest in the cafeteria’s offerings. Before this, she had actually thought their cafeteria’s seafood was quite fresh.

Once the family finished their noodles, Zhou Chenglei heard the sound of the boat’s engine change. He said, “Time to haul the net.”

Thus, Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia went to pull the net first.

Even if Jiang Xia was the one “hauling,” she wouldn’t be able to pull that net up regardless of whether it was a bursting net or not. Even an empty fishing net was very heavy.

Jiang Xia stepped aside to let the father and three sons haul the net.

The boat they took today didn’t have a winch; the boats with winches had been taken out to sea by the hired crew.

The four men strained with the effort.

The more they struggled, the happier Father Zhou became!

Tian Caihua was quite strong. Seeing them struggle for so long without bringing it up, she also stepped forward to help.

Jiang Xia and Ruan Tang didn’t get in the way. They didn’t have much strength, and crowding in would only hinder the others’ movements.

Chapter 813: A Net-Bursting Catch

The four of them hauled the net onto the boat, untying it to let a massive pile of ribbonfish, Spanish mackerel, and mackerel scad spill out.

These three types of fish were the most numerous, but there were also others in shades of red, yellow, black, and green—virtually every color was represented.

As they poured out, the catch covered the entire deck. The pile grew so high that several fish actually tumbled over the side and back into the sea.

Jiang Xia was quick, managing to intercept a large Greater Amberjack before it could slide off.

This Greater Amberjack looked to weigh at least 10 kg; a single fish like this was worth thirty yuan.

Father Zhou said with a beaming smile, “This single haul has to be nearly 500 kg. It’s been a long time since we’ve had such a huge, net-bursting catch.”

Their luck out at sea in the coastal waters hadn’t been bad these past six months, but a typical “bursting net” usually only yielded around 250 to 300 kg.

Tian Caihua looked at the mountain of fish and said happily, “Let’s sort them, sort them! Second Brother, Ruan Tang, you two go quickly and set the second net.”

While Ruan Tang and Zhou Chengsen went to cast the net, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei grabbed small stools and began sorting the fish.

With so many fish, they had to be sorted and iced down as quickly as possible to maintain freshness.

Jiang Xia remarked, “There are so many ribbonfish this year.”

Father Zhou held up a large Greater Amberjack. “We’re still in the peak of the spring fishing season. This is when the schools of mackerel scad, Pacific mackerel, ribbonfish, and Spanish mackerel are at their largest. You just weren’t out here trawling last year during this time.”

Jiang Xia realized she had been too focused on lighting for squid last year.

Tian Caihua picked up a ribbonfish as wide as her arm, its scales shimmering like silver. “The ribbonfish are fat this year! You rarely see them this big.”

Most ribbonfish sold at the pier weighed around 500g, but in this haul, many were between 1 to 1.5 kg.

The price difference between a 500g ribbonfish and one weighing over 1 kg was massive.

The smaller ones went for about 0.60 to 0.70 yuan per 500g, while those over 1 kg fetched around 1.50 yuan per 500g.

The price more than doubled.

Not only were there many ribbonfish, but there was also a large quantity of Spanish mackerel, though they weren’t particularly big, mostly averaging 0.5 to 1 kg.

Aside from those, mackerel scad was the most abundant.

However, mackerel scad was relatively cheap, selling for 0.30 to 0.40 yuan per 500g. Smaller ones went for 0.10 to 0.20 yuan, or sometimes even just a few fen.

As it was currently the peak season for mackerel scad, the market was flooded with them. Some processing factories bought them in bulk to produce fish meal.

Zhou Chengxin would also buy small mackerel scad to feed the fish in his net cages.

The family chatted as they worked.

Aside from Ruan Tang, who was slower, everyone else was an expert at sorting. They spent over two hours working tirelessly to finish sorting nearly 500 kg of fish.

Because there were many large fish, the process went relatively quickly.

This haul included about 150 kg of ribbonfish, 50 kg of which were around 500g each. There were 200 kg of Spanish mackerel, and mackerel scad made up the largest portion at over 200 kg.

Among the larger species, they had been lucky enough to catch a 10 kg Greater Amberjack and two Yellowfin Tuna—one weighing about 10 kg and the other 15 kg.

There were also about 5 to 10 kg of large squid, 1.5 to 2 kg of tiger prawns, four or five Large Yellow Croakers, about 4 kg of Small Yellow Croaker, and another 20 to 25 kg of miscellaneous fish.

Altogether, it would likely sell for nearly one thousand yuan.

Once the sorting was done, it was time to haul in the second net.

This net wasn’t as heavy as the first, but it was still substantial.

When they pulled it up, it was again mostly ribbonfish, Spanish mackerel, and mackerel scad.

Ruan Tang looked at the fish on the deck and felt a bit embarrassed. “This haul is a bit small, isn’t it?”

It was only half the size of the previous one!

Tian Caihua had already expected this. “See? Did you think the secret I told you was a lie?”

Father Zhou laughed. “It’s not bad; it looks to be over 250 kg! It’s midday now, the time when there are the fewest fish in the water. Getting 250 to 300 kg is actually quite a lot. Ah Xin, Ah Hua, it’s your turn to set the net!”

Tian Caihua thought to herself that there was a huge difference between 500 kg and 250 kg.

She was afraid that if she and Zhou Chengxin—that “Wealth-Dispersing Boy”—set the net together, they might only catch 50 to 100 kg.

It was a rare occasion for Jiang Xia and Old Fourth to be out fishing with them, and their family would get a share of the profits from the fish sold.

She wasn’t stupid; she wasn’t going to turn her nose up at money just to insist on setting the net herself!

Tian Caihua pulled Jiang Xia along. “Xiao Xia, come and set the net with us.”

“Okay.” Jiang Xia was sitting on her small stool and was nearly pulled over by Tian Caihua’s sudden tug! Fortunately, Zhou Chenglei was right beside her and reached out to support her back.

Jiang Xia stood up.

Seeing his wife, who was as strong as an ox, nearly knock over his sister-in-law, Zhou Chengxin said irritably, “Why are you dragging Fourth Sister-in-law into it? If you don’t want to set it with me, I’ll do it myself.”

Tian Caihua quickly stopped him. “Don’t you dare! Don’t you know you’re a jinx for wealth? If just the two of us set the net, I’m afraid we won’t even get 50 kg!”

“…”

Zhou Chengxin snapped, “Stop being such a jinx!”

Tian Caihua didn’t care at all. “Don’t worry, even if I am a jinx, I’m no match for Xiao Xia’s blessed wealth-attracting hands! This next net will definitely be a bumper catch!”

With fish scattered all over the deck, Zhou Chenglei was worried Jiang Xia might get bumped by Tian Caihua and fall overboard, so he stood up and helped her walk to the bow.

Tian Caihua was even happier. “Fourth Brother, you come and help too!”

These two had such strong luck that even a “loser” like Zhou Chengxin couldn’t ruin it.

Zhou Chenglei agreed, “Alright.”

Otherwise, he really wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving Jiang Xia standing next to Tian Caihua.

Thus, the third net was set by the four of them together.

After the net was cast, they continued sorting the fish.

This haul was sorted faster. There were over 50 kg of ribbonfish, 100 kg of Spanish mackerel, over 100 kg of mackerel scad, and about 25 to 30 kg of miscellaneous fish.

It would fetch about 300 to 400 yuan, which was still very good.

Once the sorting was done, the three sisters-in-law cooked a round of seafood rice noodles to eat. They had soup noodles in the morning, but this time they were tossed noodles.

It was a different kind of delicious, but equally mouth-watering and appetizing.

After working hard for most of the day, the whole family was starving.

Ruan Tang remarked, “This is even better than the ones made at the seafood rice noodle shop in town!”

Jiang Xia had figured out the secret to the sauce from that shop in town and had even improved upon it, making her version much tastier.

The rice noodles were Wozai noodles made by Mother Zhou and dried in the sun. The rice milk was made from late-season rice, which was far more fragrant and sweet than anything produced by a machine.

Every time Zhou Chenglei returned to Xiaoyucun, he would take a bag of them back to the capital.

Jiang Xia joked, “When I’m old and can’t work anymore, I’ll open a shop to support myself in retirement.”

Tian Caihua immediately chimed in, “Then I’ll be your chef!”

Ruan Tang smiled and added, “Then I’ll be the dishwasher.”

Tian Caihua said, “You’ll have a pension when you’re old; you won’t need to work!”

Ruan Tang replied, “Why wouldn’t I work? The pension won’t be that much, right? My current monthly salary isn’t even as much as we made from one net of fish today.”

Tian Caihua thought about how the couple lived in different places and only saw each other once or twice a week. She said, “Maybe you should quit too. You could earn more opening a convenience store in town, or you could transfer to the town health clinic! Otherwise, if you stay separated like this, what will you do when you have children in the future?”

Jiang Xia advised, “I wouldn’t suggest transferring back here. If anyone should transfer, it should be Second Brother moving to the city.”

Transferring back to a township health clinic would mean worse benefits and a heavier workload, and the future pension wouldn’t be the same.

In the future, the monthly pensions for Ruan Tang and Zhou Chengsen would be measured in the tens of thousands of yuan, which would be more than enough for them to live on.

Now that the family was making money from the fishing boat and the livestock farm, there was no need to quit. Once they had extra money, they could just keep buying boats or shops as stable investments.

“Yeah, I don’t plan on transferring,” Ruan Tang admitted. She had indeed thought about transferring to the town health clinic, but Zhou Chengsen had told her not to. He said he would be able to transfer his job to the city by next year at the latest. He didn’t want her to lower her professional standing to accommodate him; instead, he wanted to work hard to elevate himself so he could be by her side.

Chapter 814: Surrounding the Fish Shoal

As the father and his three sons began to haul in the net, Tian Caihua stood by their side, her fists clenched as she cheered them on. “A bursting net! Let it be a bursting net!”

This haul was a struggle to pull in. When it was finally dragged onto the deck, Tian Caihua let out a cheer. “Yes! A bursting net!”

It wasn’t quite as large as the first haul of the day, but it was noticeably more substantial than the second—estimated to be about 100 kg more.

She slapped Ruan Tang on the shoulder. “I told you, didn’t I?”

Ruan Tang was nearly knocked off her feet by the force of it.

Zhou Chengsen reached out to steady her.

Their Big Sister-in-law’s hands were truly powerful!

Father Zhou stood with his hands on his hips, watching his two sons pour out the fish.

“This net should be at least 350 kg!”

Tian Caihua smiled so broadly her eyes practically disappeared. “The 350 kg isn’t the main point! The main point is that all 350 kg are premium fish!”

This haul consisted mostly of Red Seabream and Spanish mackerel. There was also a good amount of mackerel scad and quite a few ribbonfish.

The key was that, aside from the mackerel scad, these were all high-value species!

Tian Caihua turned to Jiang Xia and asked, “Xiao Xia, today’s catch is all top-quality. Do you want to ask if the owner, Elder Xu, is buying?”

Fish that only fetched a bit over one yuan per jin here could be sold to Elder Xu for seven or eight yuan per jin!

Jiang Xia replied, “Then let’s head toward the City Pier. We’ll see if we run into Elder Xu’s transport boat. I’ll make a call and ask.”

Elder Xu owned a fish transport vessel and was now collecting fish every day, either out at sea or at the pier.

Father Zhou suggested, “Then let’s trawl one more net on the way to the City Pier. All six of you, go cast the net together!”

Hearing this, the three brothers called over their wives to help set the net.

Most of the time, the three brothers were quite obedient to their parents, especially in matters of little consequence.

After all, if they refused, they would only be subjected to their elderly father’s nagging.

Since a little physical labor could buy them peace and quiet, they preferred to work rather than listen to Father Zhou drone on about how “a peaceful home prospers” or how “a family only flourishes when brothers stand united.”

Their father was even more talkative than their mother. Having been lectured by him since they were children, they had developed calluses on their ears!

As Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengxin finished straightening the fishing nets and were about to cast them, Jiang Xia noticed something unusual on the distant surface of the sea. She immediately shouted, “Wait, don’t cast yet! There seems to be a fish shoal over there!”

Jiang Xia pointed toward the distance. “One o’clock direction.”

Everyone looked over.

Father Zhou grew excited. “It’s a shoal! Swap to the other net, the new one we just bought! I’ll steer us around to surround them!”

Zhou Chengsen had already gone to retrieve the other fishing net, and Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengxin hurried over to help.

Father Zhou pulled out his binoculars to observe the direction the shoal was swimming.

Once he determined their path, he knew which way to steer the boat.

This was a major test of a captain’s experience.

Finding the right moment, Father Zhou alerted his sons, “Start casting! Start casting! Hurry!”

Zhou Chenglei cast the net into the water.

Father Zhou increased the horsepower, pushing the boat’s speed to nine knots.

The weather was clear today and the sea was transparent. In such conditions, fish could easily see the nets and buoys and would swim around them.

Therefore, the boat had to move faster than the shoal.

Ruan Tang watched for a long while but couldn’t see where the fish were. she asked, “How can you tell there’s a shoal?”

To her, the deep blue surface of the sea looked exactly the same everywhere. The only difference was that some areas had slightly larger whitecaps that shimmered under the sunlight.

Tian Caihua pointed toward the shoal to teach her. “Look, doesn’t that patch of water look a bit different? The fish are bursting the surface there.”

Despite Tian Caihua’s long explanation, Ruan Tang couldn’t see it until the shoal drew closer.

“Is our net surrounding them now?” Ruan Tang asked.

“They’re surrounded! Haul it in! Haul it in!” Father Zhou shouted happily.

the three brothers began to draw the net closer.

This also required skill; otherwise, the fish could easily escape from the bottom of the net.

Because their equipment was outdated—or rather, they had no mechanical equipment at all—they had to rely on manual labor to pull the net. This particular net was a kilometer long, and it took the father and his three sons nearly two hours to pull it to the side of the boat.

Once the net was drawn tight, they had to use large mesh bags to scoop the fish out.

All seven members of the family grabbed mesh bags and began scooping.

When Tian Caihua saw the fish, she said disappointedly, “Why is it this kind of fish?”

This variety was cheap!

It was rare to encounter a whole shoal; why couldn’t it have been Chinese Bahaba or at least Spanish mackerel?

Ruan Tang asked, “Is this Skipjack Tuna?”

Zhou Chengsen nodded. “Yes, it’s Skipjack. Its scientific name is Oriental Bonito or Frigate Tuna. Fishermen also call it Bullet Tuna, Bomb Fish, or Cannonball Fish. The names vary from place to place.”

Skipjack Tuna looked similar to Spanish mackerel, but it didn’t taste nearly as good. Its meat was very dry and stringy.

The hospital cafeteria often served this fish, and Ruan Tang disliked it the most, which was why she recognized it.

Tian Caihua added, “This fish doesn’t taste good; the meat is too dry! Hardly anyone likes it, so it’s very cheap—only about 0.20 or 0.30 yuan per jin! It’s a waste of a good look, resembling Spanish mackerel so much. If only it were Spanish mackerel!”

Jiang Xia interjected, “While it’s cheap, this net should yield about 1,500 kg. If we sell it in Hong Kong, it should be worth more—maybe over one yuan per jin.”

Jiang Xia knew that Skipjack Tuna was also cheap in Hong Kong.

She remembered a line from an old television drama, The Yang’s Saga, where a fisherman character said, “I could catch two loads of Skipjack Tuna and still not afford half a piece of ginseng!”

That proved the fish was inexpensive there as well.

Tian Caihua was stunned. “…”

1,500 kg at over one yuan per jin? My god, wouldn’t this one net be worth 3,000 or 4,000 yuan? This was today’s God of Wealth!

In an instant, Tian Caihua stopped complaining. Her enthusiasm for scooping fish returned, and her tone shifted as she began to heap praise on the Skipjack. “Actually, if it’s prepared well, Skipjack is quite tasty! We people by the sea are spoiled by too many kinds of fish, which is why we think it’s bad. But if you make it into salted fish to eat with rice or white congee, it has a unique flavor. I actually quite like it!”

Seeing Zhou Chengxin being a bit rough and scuffing the skin of the fish, she snapped at him, “Be careful! Don’t ruin the skin!”

Fish had to look good to sell well; poor appearance would affect the price.

If the scales were rubbed off, people would think the fish wasn’t fresh.

By the time they finished scooping all 1,500 kg of fish, the sun was nearly setting. They didn’t trawl any more nets, and the family hurriedly steered the boat toward the City Pier.

Halfway there, they encountered several other fishing boats from their village also heading home, so they called out for them to join them at the City Pier.

When the several boats arrived at the City Pier together, they found countless fishing boats lining up to dock and trade.

Because the fisherman’s pier was undergoing expansion, only one temporary docking area remained, resulting in daily queues for the fishing boats.

Zhou Chenglei’s sharp eyes spotted Elder Xu’s fish transport vessel also waiting in line.

He said to Father Zhou, “Papa, Elder Xu’s boat is over there. Let me take the wheel.”

Father Zhou had been steering while the others sorted the fish.

Now that everything was packed, and since Zhou Chenglei’s handling of the boat was superior to his father’s, he took over the task.

Zhou Chengxin and Zhou Chengsen signaled the other family boats to back out and maneuver alongside Elder Xu’s vessel.

Chapter 815: Striking It Rich

The deckhands on Elder Xu’s fish transport ship all recognized Zhou Chenglei and knew he was Elder Mai’s grandson-in-law. Someone on the ship spotted him and shouted, “Lei, do you have seafood to sell?”

Zhou Chenglei nodded. “Yes, caught quite a bit of good stuff today. Are you buying?”

“Of course! Why wouldn’t we? I’ll come down and see what kind of good fish you’ve got. Find a spot to moor the boat properly.”

They were currently queuing to dock, and there was no telling how long it would take. They decided to find an empty area away from the main pier to moor their boats so they could unload Zhou Chenglei’s catch first.

With that, the several boats steered away from the pier.

By the time they finished selling the catch, it was already seven o’clock in the evening.

On the way back, Tian Caihua sat under the boat’s lights, counting the money bill by bill.

They had truly struck it rich today!

A single boatload of fish had sold for over ten thousand yuan.

She estimated that each family would get more than five thousand yuan.

Tian Caihua had never experienced making over five thousand yuan from a single day of fishing—and this wasn’t even counting the fish and mussels from the net cages.

Back in mid-April, selling those mussels had brought in 110,000 yuan! She had been so excited that she couldn’t sleep for an entire week.

Having finished counting a stack of money and finding it correct, Tian Caihua set it aside and said, “From now on, all the fish from our family’s boats should be taken to the City Pier and sold to Elder Xu!”

Jiang Xia shook her head. “That’s not a good idea. Doing it once in a while is fine, but doing it often would be taking advantage of Elder Xu’s kindness.”

Father Zhou agreed. “She’s right. When Elder Xu’s ship comes to the mainland piers to buy fish, he usually pays local prices. He does it to earn the price difference; otherwise, why would anyone spend so much money on a transport ship? That imported vessel of his cost over ten million yuan!”

Today, Elder Xu had paid them Hong Kong prices for their catch. Large ribbonfish with intact silver scales (over 60 cm long) were bought at 4 yuan per 500 grams, whereas at the City Pier, they only fetched 1.30 yuan.

The smaller ribbonfish were bought by Elder Xu for 2.80 yuan per 500 grams, compared to 0.70 yuan at the local pier.

Today, the ribbonfish from their boat alone sold for 1,742 yuan.

Spanish mackerel was even more expensive. In this era, there was a popular song in Hong Kong with lyrics that went, “Beautiful Spanish mackerel costs twenty dollars a jin,” which showed how popular the fish was there. However, that specific price was for white-bellied Spanish mackerel; not all varieties were valued the same.

Fortunately, their catch today consisted entirely of white-bellied Spanish mackerel, which was the most common type in these waters.

White-bellied Spanish mackerel weighing over 5 kg sold for 15 yuan per 500 grams; those between 3-4 kg sold for 8 yuan; even the 0.5-1 kg ones sold for 4 yuan per 500 grams.

The crew on Elder Xu’s ship mentioned that because the self-operating export of fish had opened up this year, the supply of white-bellied Spanish mackerel to Hong Kong had increased by 150%, an addition of 8,000 tons! This caused the wholesale price to drop to 15 Hong Kong dollars per 500 grams. Last year, the wholesale price had still been 22 yuan.

Tian Caihua felt a pang of regret for three seconds upon hearing that!

Nevertheless, their Spanish mackerel sold for 6,440 yuan today!

Mackerel scad was cheaper, and prices for large ones had also dropped this year. Large mackerel scad (over 20 cm) had a wholesale price of 0.80 to 1.20 yuan per 500 grams.

They had a lot of mackerel scad, totaling 541.5 kg. The large ones accounted for 328 kg, while the rest were small.

Because their mackerel scad was very fresh with clear eyes, the purchase price was 1.20 yuan per 500 grams for the large ones and 0.70 yuan for the small ones.

The mackerel scad sold for a total of 1,086 yuan.

Skipjack tuna (over 5 kg) had a purchase price between 1.80 and 2.50 yuan per 500 grams. They had 1,500 kg, but since not all the fish were over 5 kg and there wasn’t enough time to sort them, the ship’s captain saw that most were large and offered 1.70 yuan per 500 grams for the whole lot.

The 1,484 kg of skipjack tuna sold for a total of 5,045 yuan.

There wasn’t much Red Seabream—only 50 kg—but it was still bought at the Lunar New Year price, totaling 800 yuan.

The single Greater Amberjack sold for 400 yuan. Yellowfin tuna was high-priced at 25 yuan per 500 grams, bringing in 1,400 yuan.

Additionally, there were several kilograms of squid, a few kilograms of shrimp, about 5 kg of Large Yellow Croaker, and over 20 kg of Small Yellow Croaker, which added another several hundred yuan.

All in all, they had made a massive profit today.

However, this was only because the crew had given them the Hong Kong pier acquisition price. The acquisition price at the local pier would not have been so high. To get these prices regularly, they would need to sail their fishing boats directly to the Hong Kong docks.

That was why Jiang Xia felt embarrassed about the prospect of always transporting their goods to sell to Elder Xu.

However, many local fishing boats were already secretly selling their fish there. But with the new policies this year, there was no need for secrecy; once the proper permits were obtained, they could sell directly.

After the policy was released during the Canton Fair, Zhou Chenglei had already ordered two fish transport ships. In the future, they would collect fish at sea and sell them to Hong Kong.

Transport ships required higher technical standards, so Zhou Chenglei hadn’t ordered them from the local shipyard but from the shipyard in Shanghai. They were 500-ton capacity vessels.

One was a domestic refrigerated ship, and the other was a joint-venture model. The domestic one cost 5.8 million yuan, while the joint-venture one was 12 million yuan.

The domestic ship would take fourteen months to deliver, while the joint-venture one would take ten months. If they had bought a fully imported ship, it could have been delivered in eight months, but imported ships didn’t qualify for subsidies.

The domestic ship came with a 30% purchase subsidy.

In any case, the money he earned at the Canton Fair had been fully committed to these ship orders.

Part of the money Jiang Xia earned was slated for investment in the electronics factory and the container terminal, and the rest was for building factory workshops.

In other words, as soon as that money arrived, it would be entirely spent!

It took Tian Caihua nearly half an hour to finish counting all the money. It totaled 17,500 yuan; they had waived the small change.

Father Zhou only wanted 1,000 yuan, as he already had more money than he could spend.

Thus, the three families each received 5,500 yuan.

And that was only the money earned from this boat. The other boats had also made between one and two thousand yuan each.

Zhou Chenglei’s other two boats together earned 4,800 yuan, Zhou Chengxin’s boat earned 1,600 yuan, and Zhou Chengsen’s earned 2,000 yuan, with the small change waived in each case.

Father Zhou said with a wide grin, “This time, we haven’t just earned enough for the wedding banquet; we’ve made much more.”

In the village, hosting a wedding banquet wouldn’t even cost a thousand yuan.

By the time they reached home, it was 8:30 PM. The triplets were already asleep. Zhou Chenglei had called home from the pier, so Mother Zhou wasn’t worried.

Mother Zhou asked Ruan Tang, “Xiao Tang, what time are your parents arriving tomorrow? About how many people are coming?”

Tomorrow, Ruan Tang’s family was coming for the custom of “observing the family style.” Mother Zhou would have to go out early to buy groceries and cook.

Ruan Tang replied, “My parents will land at ten o’clock tomorrow morning. There will be my parents and grandparents, my uncle’s family of six, and my husband’s sister’s family of four. A total of about fourteen people.”

That meant they needed to prepare four tables’ worth of food.

The next day, Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengxin took the small wooden boat out at four o’clock to fish and gather some abalone from Abalone Island to prepare for the noon meal.

Zhou Chengsen woke up at five and went to town to buy pork and pig’s trotters to stew braised pork belly and make sand ginger pig’s trotters. Later, he would go to the city with Ruan Tang to pick everyone up.

Father Zhou and Mother Zhou stayed home to clean the chickens and geese.

Jiang Xia, Tian Caihua, and Ruan Tang washed the vegetables and prepared the cold appetizers.

At eight o’clock in the morning, Jiang Xia estimated that Zhou Chenglei should be back from the sea. She and Tian Caihua went to the pier to see what fish they had caught and to see if any other seafood needed to be bought.

A single boat’s catch would certainly not have enough variety.

The family boat hadn’t caught any shrimp today, and most of the boats coming in didn’t have much shrimp either.

Jiang Xia had to go to several fishing boats before she managed to collect 5 kg.

Seeing them buy so much shrimp, someone asked, “Xiao Xia, Ah Hua, what’s the special occasion today? Is it the old man’s birthday? Are you hosting a banquet?”

Tian Caihua, the resident blabbermouth, replied, “No, today my second sister-in-law’s family is coming over to observe the family style!”

Chapter 816: Truly Extraordinary

Li Xiuxian lived in a state of constant regret these days. Unable to bear hearing others discuss Ruan Tang and Zhou Chengsen, she turned and walked away, planning to come back later to buy her fish.

Jiang Xia and Tian Caihua bought 5 kg of shrimp, three sea eels, 5 kg of clams, and thirty scallops.

Once Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengxin finished selling their haul, they came over to take the heavy bags from the two women.

Jiang Xia said to Zhou Chenglei, “Let’s buy some jellyfish to make a cold salad, and that should be about enough.”

Zhou Chenglei and Zhou Chengxin set aside some General Armor fish, Large Yellow Croakers, Small Yellow Croakers, Yellowfin Seabream, squid, baby cuttlefish, abalone, and lobsters for themselves.

They also had the spicy snails and fan shells they had set aside yesterday, along with some white clams; these had been kept in the sea to stay fresh and were only brought back this morning.

“I’ll go get it.” Zhou Chenglei handed the items he was carrying to Zhou Chengxin and went to buy the jellyfish.

Zhou Chengxin loaded everything onto the handcart.

Since the tractor had been left at the Food Factory, the family was back to using the handcart for the time being.

Once Zhou Chenglei returned with the jellyfish, the group pushed the handcart home to prepare lunch.

There was a lot to cook—twenty dishes in total—so they were going to be quite busy.

Fortunately, Great-Grandma, Aunt Dong, and Second Great-Aunt were all coming to help. With so many hands, they would be able to manage.

Still, preparing such a large feast would take time.

On the other side of town, Li Xiuxian’s sister-in-law saw her return empty-handed, and her face darkened instantly. “Where’s the fish?”

All the way home, Li Xiuxian had been ruminating on how good Zhou Chengsen and the Zhou family had treated her in the past, compared to how awful Liao Ruixiang’s family was and how much her own maiden family looked down on her.

She was consumed by remorse, mentally exhausted, and felt utterly drained.

“I’ll go back and buy it in a while. The pier was too crowded; I couldn’t push my way in. If I go a bit later, it might even be cheaper.”

Li’s sister-in-law’s expression grew even more sour. “Buy it later? All the fresh fish and shrimp will be picked clean by then! You lounge around the house all day with nothing to do; what would it have hurt to wait at the pier for a bit? Since you’re back, you might as well wash Mom and Dad’s clothes!”

As she spoke, she threw a pile of clothes at Li Xiuxian and turned to head back to her room, her tongue as sharp as ever. “Every day you eat my food, use my things, and live in my house, and I haven’t said a word. Yet you try to pinch pennies when it comes to buying a single fish!”

Li Xiuxian was hit in the face by the sour-smelling dirty laundry. The garments tumbled to the floor, and a pair of underwear actually landed on her head.

A foul stench hit her full force. Li Xiuxian gagged and, with a dark face, tore the underwear off her head.

The floor was covered in clothes!

How were these just her parents’ clothes? Her elder brother and sister-in-law’s clothes—the clothes of the entire household—were in the pile!

Resigned to her fate, Li Xiuxian bent down to pick them up. The more she gathered, the more wronged she felt, and tears began to stream down her face.

She thought about the years she had spent married into the Zhou family. She had never had to wash this much laundry.

Father and Mother Zhou never required their daughters-in-law to wash their clothes.

As for her and her daughter’s clothes, Zhou Chengsen had usually been the one to wash them.

In the ten-plus years she was married to Zhou Chengsen, she probably hadn’t washed clothes more than thirty times. Unless Zhou Chengsen was sick or genuinely busy, she never had to touch the laundry.

It had only been a few months since she left the Liao family and returned to her parents’ home, and already both families couldn’t stand her. Her sister-in-law constantly hinted that she was a freeloading “white-eater,” and even her parents complained she was lazy, telling her to help her sister-in-law with the housework!

She was the one who bought the meat! She was the one who cooked the meals! And yet they still said she was living off them!

Now she had to do the laundry too. But Li Xiuxian had no choice; if she left her parents’ home, she had nowhere else to go.

Liao Ruixiang had gone back on his word and refused to give her money. The house they had lived in wasn’t in his name, so she couldn’t get a share of it.

Currently, she didn’t have enough money to buy even a single room in town, so she was forced to stay with her family.

After crying for a while, Li Xiuxian silently finished the laundry. By the time she had washed the clothes for the entire household of over a dozen people, it was already past ten o’clock.

Her back was so sore she could hardly stand straight. Just as she sat down, Li’s sister-in-law walked out. “Haven’t you gone to buy the fish yet? It’s almost eleven! Are we going to eat today or not?!”

Li Xiuxian had no choice but to stand up and head back to the pier.

The sister-in-law called after her, “Buy a fish and some shrimp too! Your eldest nephew was dreaming about eating shrimp last night. You don’t need to buy too much—1 kg will do!”

Li Xiuxian’s face darkened. At the pier this morning, she had heard everyone saying that many boats hadn’t caught any shrimp today, so the price was incredibly high—two yuan per jin.

They were really pushing it!

And they wanted a whole kilogram!

Li Xiuxian arrived at the pier in a huff, only to see a Jeep and two black sedans passing by in a line.

In the lead Jeep, she saw Zhou Chengsen driving and Ruan Tang in the passenger seat.

Ruan Tang was saying something, and Zhou Chengsen’s face was glowing with a smile.

Li Xiuxian felt a daze come over her.

Was Zhou Chengsen that happy being with Ruan Tang?

At the very least, when he was with her, he had never smiled like that.

It was past ten, and the pier was no longer bustling. Only the purchase station still had fish for sale.

Under the large tree, several women were mending fishing nets.

Unless it was raining, there were usually people mending nets near the pier every day.

The women started gossiping as they watched the three vehicles pass.

“Dr. Ruan’s family is here.”

“Are those two black sedans from Dr. Ruan’s family?”

“Maybe they’re cars Xiao Xia borrowed from her own maiden family?”

“Doesn’t look like it. I recognize the cars from Xiao Xia’s family; the brand is different. And didn’t you see the red flags hanging inside?”

“Then they must belong to Dr. Ruan’s family. Looking at this display, I suspect Dr. Ruan’s family is truly extraordinary!”

“I asked Dr. Ruan before; she said she’s from the capital.”

“Tian Caihua said Dr. Ruan’s parents are office workers, and she has an uncle and aunt who work in the city. That’s why she transferred from the capital to be a doctor here. Her uncle is apparently a military officer, and word is his rank is even higher than Zhou Chenglei’s used to be.”

“Right, and her aunt is a Director at the military hospital—the one who helped Xiao Xia deliver. That Director’s medical skills are incredible. So many twins and triplets don’t survive, but look at Zhou Chenglei’s triplets; they’re healthier than full-term babies. I heard they’re almost a year old and have only had a fever once. Their health is excellent. It was because Jiang Xia gave birth that Dr. Ruan and Zhou Chengsen met.”

“Zhou Chengsen is certainly capable, managing to marry a wife from such a good family background.”

“All the children Zhou Yongfu raised are capable. The couple knows how to teach their kids; their family has a good moral character.”

“It’s not just that they’re capable; they cherish their wives. In this whole village, the men in their family are the best to their wives. They even wash their wives’ underwear.”

“Zhou Yongfu was famous for ‘fearing’ his wife back in the day. The Zhou brothers all take after him.”

“Only men who respect their wives will prosper. Back then, Zhou Yongfu even helped his wife wash her menstrual belts. I always said he’d strike it rich sooner or later, but back then my man just acted like I was talking nonsense! My mother-in-law even scolded me! Now look, the man is enjoying his blessings in his old age.”

“A family that accumulates goodness will have surplus blessings; that’s carved right on the pillars of the ancestral hall! Yongfu and his wife have helped so many people over the years. When my mother-in-law didn’t have money for a doctor, it was Aunt Yongfu who lent it to us without a second thought.”

“And when my old man fainted in the fields, it was Zhou Yongfu who carried him on his back and ran all the way to the hospital to save his life.”

Chapter 817: Deeply Shocked

Li Xiuxian couldn’t stand hearing such talk; every time she did, her chest would ache with such distress that she couldn’t sleep at night.

She hurriedly went to the purchase station and randomly bought 1 kg of miscellaneous small fish at 0.1 yuan per 500 grams before leaving.

Someone spotted her figure as she bought the fish and whispered, “Li Xiuxian really let a treasure slip through her fingers this time. Zhou Chengsen is tall, handsome, has a respectable job, and makes good money. His parents aren’t harsh people either. I really don’t know what she was thinking! Even that Liao Ruixiang wasn’t as good-looking as A-Sen!”

“But Liao Ruixiang was running a livestock farm back then; he made way more money than Zhou Chengsen!”

“What use is having money if it’s all gone? Isn’t he divorced again now?! If she had just lived a proper life with A-Sen back then, both of them being employees, they wouldn’t have had to worry about food or drink for the rest of their lives. Wouldn’t that stability have been good? Besides, A-Sen earns plenty now too. I heard that batch of mussels he had earned him over a hundred thousand yuan. That’s no worse than raising pigs!”

“In the end, it’s just that Li Xiuxian wasn’t destined for wealth or good fortune! She just doesn’t have the life for enjoying blessings!”

“She deserves it! She married well twice and didn’t know how to cherish either one.”

“Liao Ruixiang wasn’t that good, was he?”

“How was he not? He was so rich! If my man were that rich, I wouldn’t care how many vixens he had outside, as long as he gave me my living expenses every month!”

Three cars drove along the coastal road toward the village. On both sides of the road were coconut trees, and in the distance were white sands and the deep blue sea.

A few white clouds hung in the sky, and countless seagulls soared over the water.

The scene, where the sea and sky met in a single color, was so beautiful it refreshed the soul!

The members of the Ruan family were all shocked.

This was the countryside?

Since when was the countryside this beautiful?

Since when were the roads in the countryside built this well?

Inside the car, Elder Ruan saw that the route from the city to the town, and then to the village, was all paved with concrete. He couldn’t help but remark, “Your village has developed quite well!”

Father Ruan and Mother Ruan were also somewhat surprised. This completely refreshed their perception of the countryside.

The roads in this village were cleaner than the ones in their city!

Ruan Tang’s aunt was also amazed. “It’s only been a few years since the Reform and Opening-up began. How has development here been so fast?”

Gao Jie replied, “The development here is indeed fast. Haven’t you seen how many skyscrapers are standing in the city? And how many more are under construction? When the tallest building topped out last year, the newspapers reported that they could build one floor every three days. The whole thing was finished in just over thirty months.”

That tallest building was the very one Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia had invested in previously, and it had been completed this year. On the day Zhou Chenglei returned, he had even attended the completion ceremony.

Elder Ruan asked again, “The roads in this village are all concrete. Has this village already been urbanized? Is it no longer the countryside?”

In Elder Ruan’s memory, most rural roads were primitive dirt paths. How could every household have a concrete road right in front of their door?

Ruan Tang explained, “No, the main road was built by Xiao Xia’s grandfather. The other smaller paths were funded by the production brigade, which is why every house has concrete in front. This is a fishing village, and the production team is quite wealthy.”

Gu Ling, the daughter of Ruan Tang’s aunt, heard this and asked, “What does your future sister-in-law’s grandfather do?”

He actually paid out of his own pocket to build roads for the village? How much money must he have?

Didn’t they say her father was a city leader?

Ruan Tang replied, “He does business in Hong Kong.”

Gu Ling thought to herself: No wonder. He’s a big owner from Hong Kong.

However, the fact that her sister-in-law’s family was wealthy didn’t have much to do with Ruan Tang.

She felt a little more at ease.

She knew one of Ruan Tang’s sisters-in-law had a very good family background and was willing to marry into the countryside.

Of course, she also knew the woman was willing because when they got engaged, Ruan Tang’s brother-in-law hadn’t been discharged from the military yet and had a limitless future in the army.

Later, he became deaf. The girl’s father was a major leader, and for the sake of his reputation, he couldn’t easily break off the engagement once it was made. After all, the marriage report had already been submitted and was waiting for approval. Breaking it off then would have had a very negative impact and wasn’t something that could be done just because they wanted to.

Soon, the cars arrived at the Zhou family home.

Since there were several cars, they didn’t drive into the alley but parked in an open space by the road instead.

Once the cars were parked and the large Ruan family got out, Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang led them to two brand-new multi-story buildings.

Only then did they truly believe Ruan Tang when she said Zhou Chengsen’s family was well-off. They had built houses in the village, and living here was even more comfortable than living in the city.

This feeling intensified after Ruan Tang and Zhou Chengsen took the family inside to tour the house.

Currently, the whole family was on the second floor.

Looking at the room full of European-style leather furniture, Gu Ling thought: Ruan Tang said Zhou Chengsen’s family was doing ‘well.’ This is more than just ‘well’!

A single set of this furniture and these appliances must cost over ten thousand yuan, right?

And the Zhou family home didn’t just have one set!

They weren’t just a ten-thousand-yuan household anymore.

A while ago, Zhou Chengsen had filled the second-floor living room with sofas, so she saw two sets of them.

The weather was beautiful today, and the sea was as blue as a glassy sea. Looking out from the second-floor balcony, the scenery was as beautiful as a painting.

Grandma Ruan exclaimed, “This house is so comfortable! The view is wonderful! Waking up to such beautiful scenery every day would chase away all one’s worries! And the air is so good. With the windows open in the summer and the sea breeze blowing in, it’s not hot at all.”

It was practically Grandma Ruan’s dream home.

Grandma Ruan didn’t have a good nose; she suffered from rhinitis and always felt uncomfortable living in the capital. She loved environments with clean air the most.

Because of this, she often came to stay with her younger daughter-in-law, Gao Jie.

Whenever there was willow down or sandstorms in the capital, she would immediately pack her bags and head over to her younger son’s place.

Ruan Tang smiled and said, “It is quite comfortable. Even on midsummer nights, it’s not hot if you sleep with the windows open, and it doesn’t get very cold in the winter.”

Zhou Chengsen added, “If Grandma likes the environment here, you’re welcome to stay often. We have plenty of rooms.”

Ruan Tang also laughed. “That’s right. If Grandma likes it, she can come and stay anytime. You can even go beachcombing while you’re here. Beachcombing is very fun; there are so many seafood items to pick up. When the time comes, I’ll teach you how to recognize snail eyes.”

Grandma Ruan smiled. “Alright, I’ll definitely come and stay for a bit when I have time to try some beachcombing.”

Some people went up to the rooftop; the view of the sea from there was bound to be even more beautiful.

While everyone was heading up the stairs, Gu Ling asked, “Xiao Tang, is going out to sea on a boat to fish really that profitable?”

Ruan Tang knew this cousin had loved competing with her since they were children. After learning Ruan Tang had a boyfriend, Gu Ling had been pestering her with questions, practically wanting to investigate eighteen generations of Zhou Chengsen’s ancestors.

When she found out Zhou Chengsen was a grassroots cadre from a rural family, was remarried with a child, and his parents and brothers were all fishermen, she had looked down on him.

Of course, she had also been happy in her heart because she felt Ruan Tang had married “down” compared to her.

Today, this house had likely shocked her, so she said, “It depends on luck. If your luck is good, you earn a lot. If your luck is bad, it’s just average.”

“That’s like not answering at all. Can you be more specific? How much can you earn if luck is good, and how about when it’s bad?”

Ruan Tang replied, “The luck was quite good yesterday; they earned over seven thousand yuan. When luck is bad, it might only be one hundred or two hundred yuan.”

Gu Ling: “…”

Seven thousand?

Chapter 818: It’s Enough to Discourage Her

Gu Ling was deeply shocked!

She hardly spoke for a long time after that.

Over seven thousand yuan in a single day?

She had been working for nearly ten years, and she hadn’t even saved seven thousand yuan.

No! It was more accurate to say that in ten years of work, she hadn’t even earned a total of seven thousand yuan.

After all, during her first few years of working, her salary was only twenty or thirty yuan. It had only increased slightly each year since then, and the raises hadn’t been much.

It was only this year that it had risen to over a hundred yuan a month.

She had thought her salary was very high.

It was forty yuan higher than Ruan Tang’s.

But now, she only earned a little over a thousand yuan a year!

A fisherman going out to sea for one day earned more than she had in ten years?

Gu Ling was utterly discouraged!

Her own husband had committed an error and was suspended. Originally, seeing Ruan Tang marry a remarried old man with a child, she had felt secretly smug.

She felt that Ruan Tang’s partner wasn’t even as good as her own husband!

Her husband had only been caught in a “honey trap” by mistake, which led to his suspension.

But Zhou Chengsen was too handsome; he didn’t look old at all. In fact, he had an excellent temperament—refined, mature, and clearly a very steady person.

Most importantly, he was rich!

Too rich!

His job wasn’t bad, either.

And he was a good person.

Gu Ling was left speechless.

Ruan Tang felt relieved to see that she had finally fallen silent.

She had been afraid that her cousin, who always looked down on everyone, would say something disappointing and ruin the atmosphere of such a wonderful day.

At that moment, Mother Zhou came up with a smile and called everyone down for dinner. “My in-laws, dinner is ready. Let’s head downstairs.”

Everyone agreed with smiles and made their way down.

The house they had built themselves had a large yard, and two large tables were set up there.

They were the kind of large round tables that could seat twenty people.

As the family grew larger, they could no longer fit at a single standard table for meals. When Zhou Chengsen went to town to buy groceries this morning, he saw a furniture shop moving out a large round table meant for twenty people to be delivered to a restaurant. It even had a lazy Susan. He specifically bought two of them.

He figured they could use them today, and in the future, when the whole family ate together during holidays, they could all sit at one table instead of being split into two.

The Ruan family members were astonished when they saw the table laden with food.

Gu Ling became even quieter as she looked at the spread of seafood.

She remembered when she got married and her family went to the groom’s house; although her mother-in-law had prepared ten dishes, five of them were vegetarian.

Looking at Ruan Tang’s in-laws, she silently counted how many dishes were there…

Twenty!

There were only two vegetarian dishes, and even those had seafood in them, so they didn’t really count as vegetarian.

Grandma Ruan felt quite embarrassed. “My in-law, A-Sen, this is far too lavish! How long did it take you to prepare so many dishes? This must have been so expensive! We’re all family; something simple would have been fine. We don’t eat that much.”

The others chimed in with their agreement.

Mother Zhou smiled and said, “There are many dishes, but the portions of each aren’t that huge. Since this is your first time here, we wanted you to try more of our local seafood.”

Father Zhou also warmly invited everyone to sit down, adding an explanation: “Most of this was caught by our own fishing boat, so it didn’t cost much. Since we live by the beach, this fish isn’t expensive here—it’s not like the prices in the capital. It’s no trouble at all. It’s a rare happy occasion! Everyone, please sit!”

Gao Jie had seen Jiang Xia and Tian Caihua taking the lead in the kitchen when she arrived, so she remarked with a smile, “Xiao Xia, did you and Xiao Tang’s sister-in-law make all of this? I didn’t realize your cooking was so good! This rivals the chefs in big restaurants!”

Jiang Xia laughed. “My Great-Grandma and several aunts helped out too.”

Then Jiang Xia pointed out which dishes she had made herself, encouraging Gao Jie to try her handiwork.

Today’s meal was indeed magnificent. Jiang Xia had led the team in preparing a total of twenty dishes.

There was braised General Armor fish, steamed Large Yellow Croaker, pan-fried Small Yellow Croaker, Yellowfin Seabream and mixed fish stew, stir-fried squid with green peppers, sizzling baby cuttlefish, braised chicken with abalone, steamed lobsters with minced garlic, poached chicken, poached shrimp, braised sea eel, steamed scallops with minced garlic and vermicelli, poached spicy snails, steamed scallops with black bean sauce (spicy), steamed fan shell with minced garlic and vermicelli, braised pork belly, sand ginger pig’s trotters, jellyfish salad, steamed white clams with silk squash, clams and mustard greens in superior broth, and silkie chicken soup stewed in a whole coconut.

The large table, capable of seating twenty, was packed with food. Moreover, the silkie chicken soup was served individually, with each person receiving a whole coconut containing the stewed soup.

The families enjoyed a lively and bustling meal together.

Throughout the entire process, Gu Ling was the only one who remained quiet.

By the end of the meal, Elder Ruan realized he had overeaten. When he looked at the table, his old face turned red: the twenty dishes had been completely cleaned out!

His Ruan family had actually finished off all twenty dishes!

If someone didn’t know better, they would think the Ruans had never eaten anything good before.

He felt a bit self-conscious!

The portions of the twenty dishes hadn’t even been small; the food was simply too delicious!

Father Ruan and Mother Ruan also realized this and felt a bit embarrassed.

They looked over at the next table, where the son-in-law’s relatives and their children were sitting. That table was also cleared, which allowed them to relax a little.

Ruan Tang noticed her cousin putting down her chopsticks and asked, “Cousin, are you full?”

Gu Ling, who felt stifled but had accidentally stuffed herself, replied, “…”

Except for a few minor awkward moments, the meal was a total success for both hosts and guests.

The custom of “observing the family style” involved staying for the entire day and leaving only after dinner.

So, after the meal, Ruan Tang and Zhou Chengsen took the Ruan family out to sea for some fishing.

In the evening, they had another sumptuous dinner at the Zhou family home.

After finishing dinner, since Ruan Tang and Gao Jie both had to work the next day, Zhou Chengsen drove them back to the city.

After Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang had dropped everyone off and departed, Grandma Ruan finally spoke up. “The Zhou family has a very good family style.”

Grandma Ruan hadn’t been in the capital during the New Year, so today was her first time meeting the Zhou family.

During the meal, she had noticed more than once how the Zhou men peeled shrimp and served food to their wives and children. Furthermore, when the meal was being prepared, they had helped with cleaning the chickens, geese, and fish—essentially, the men handled all the messy tasks.

The Zhou children were also very sensible and polite, looking after their younger siblings during dinner.

Gao Jie smiled. “Didn’t I tell you they were good?”

Grandma Ruan nodded. “Indeed. You can see the kindness of the parents, the filial piety of the children, the respect between brothers, and the harmony between sisters-in-law. It’s a very peaceful atmosphere. A-Sen’s mother also seems very kind. The whole family carries themselves with generosity and proper etiquette.”

Ruan Tang smiled slightly upon hearing this.

Ruan Tang’s Little Uncle remarked, “The Zhou family’s financial situation seems quite impressive.”

No wonder Ruan Tang chose a man who was remarried with a child.

Even her own brother didn’t object!

If his own daughter dared to marry a remarried man with a child, he would break her legs!

Gu Ling added, “They earn over seven thousand yuan a day! How could their situation be bad?”

Little Aunt asked in surprise, “Seven thousand a day? That much?”

Little Uncle thought for a moment and said, “Could Zhou Chengsen be secretly selling fish to Hong Kong? I’ve heard of fishing boats carrying extra cargo to smuggle it over there. A single trip for one boat can bring in over ten thousand yuan in profit.”

Gu Ling looked at Ruan Tang in shock: Was that it? Did Ruan Tang know?

Chapter 819: Who Are You Being Snide To?

Mother Ruan looked at them and said, “Little Uncle, A-Sen’s fish are indeed sold to Hong Kong, but there’s no smuggling involved. It’s all perfectly legal. The current policies allow for direct sales to Hong Kong now; you just have to handle the paperwork properly.”

Little Uncle countered, “The policy only came out this year. He’s had that house built for more than a year, hasn’t he?”

Ruan Tang’s Second Uncle couldn’t listen to this anymore and cut in, “Their family owns ocean-going fishing vessels! A single trip out to sea on those large boats can bring in tens of thousands of yuan. Most of those million-yuan vessels pay for themselves in just a year or two. I’ve heard plenty about these things. You aren’t from around here, so maybe you haven’t heard.”

Gu Ling’s husband was so shocked that he blurted out, “No wonder Xiao Tang was willing to marry an old, twice-married man with a kid!”

Mother Ruan flared up in anger. “That’s still better than marrying a deadbeat who has affairs and lives off his wife.”

Gu Ling’s husband grew angry as well. “Who are you calling a deadbeat?”

He had only been suspended from his job for three years—how did that make him a deadbeat?

Mother Ruan replied coolly, “Whoever fits the description is the one I’m talking about!”

“You’re clearly being passive-aggressive!” Gu Ling’s husband snapped.

“I didn’t mention you by name. If you want to take it personally, that’s your business!” Mother Ruan retorted.

Gu Ling’s husband wanted to say more. “Don’t deny it. You were obviously—”

Elder Ruan finally lost his patience. “Enough!”

As soon as his temper flared, the rest of the words died in Gu Ling’s husband’s throat.

Mother Ruan added, “I don’t want to hear another nasty word from now on. Otherwise, we can just consider this family tie severed!”

Today was her daughter’s big day, and Mother Ruan hadn’t intended to lose her temper. But some people just had loose tongues, and they were getting worse by the minute.

She really couldn’t take it anymore. It was one thing to talk like that before the wedding, but now that her daughter had already registered her marriage, continuing to speak this way suggested they didn’t want to remain relatives.

On the day of her daughter’s wedding banquet, she definitely wouldn’t invite him!

If her sister-in-law dared to bring him again, then when Ruan Tang returned to visit her side of the family, she wouldn’t bother visiting her aunt either.

One visited relatives to maintain family bonds, not to be insulted. If she had to endure such treatment, she’d rather cut ties entirely!

The day after the Ruan family came to visit, the second batch of fish cages arrived.

Whenever the net cages were being installed, many villagers gathered to watch the excitement.

Seeing Mother Zhou out with the children, the villagers couldn’t help but ask, “Just how many cages did your family order?”

Mother Zhou smiled. “Not many, I think it’s thirty.”

The villagers were speechless.

Thirty cages was “not many”?

Jiang Xia watched for a while before leaving. She still had to check on the food factory and the garment factory.

So, while Zhou Chenglei stayed home to supervise the installation of the net cages, Jiang Xia went to the food factory and garment factory to organize work.

At Jiang Xia’s factories, overtime always came with extra pay—specifically, triple wages.

The lure of triple wages brought most employees back to the factory on the second day of the May Day holiday. Fewer than ten workers chose to continue their break. Those who stayed away either lived quite far or had urgent family matters to attend to.

By May 3rd, the entire workforce had returned.

As soon as Jiang Xia arrived at the food factory, she held a production meeting.

For several days, she shuttled between the food factory, the garment factory, and the construction company to manage affairs. It wasn’t until May 8th that she and Zhou Chenglei finally flew back to the capital.

Back in the capital, Jiang Xia busied herself with her studies and her fashion design studio.

The studio was currently designing this year’s winter collection and next year’s spring collection, primarily preparing for the next Canton Fair.

Every day after her classes, Jiang Xia went to the studio to review design drafts and try on sample garments.

The designers were currently focused on spring wear. For the winter collection, a total of one hundred and fifty styles had been developed into samples. The next step was adjusting the silhouettes and weeding out designs that looked good on paper but didn’t translate well in reality.

Once there were no issues with the patterns, they could schedule mass production.

If Jiang Xia was busy, Zhou Chenglei was even busier.

Before the net cages were fully installed, he accompanied Jiang Xia and the triplets back to the capital for two days before flying back to the fishing village to oversee the work.

It was already typhoon season. He wouldn’t feel at peace unless he saw the cages securely installed in the sea with his own eyes.

After the ten cages were installed, there were still the abalone and pearl cultivation farms waiting to be built.

Over on Pearl Island, they had started building housing for the workers. Next month, a large shipment of juvenile pearl shells would be delivered.

May was a month where the couple spent more time apart than together. Throughout the entire month, Zhou Chenglei spent roughly four days in the capital and three days in the fishing village.

It wasn’t until the end of May that Zhou Chenglei finally managed to wrap up the bulk of the work. From then on, he wouldn’t need to fly back and forth as much; the rest could be handled over the phone.

On the last day of May, Zhou Chenglei returned to the capital from the fishing village. The rest of the Zhou family came with him. Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang’s wedding date was approaching, and the family had come to deliver the betrothal gifts.

This time, Zhou Chenglei had stayed in the fishing village for five days, the longest stretch yet.

When he returned to the courtyard house, his daughter demanded to be held the moment she saw him. She clung to him and refused to let go, unwilling to be held by anyone else.

The two brothers watched their father longingly, their eyes filled with yearning. However, boys weren’t naturally as inclined to act spoiled as their sister, so they simply stared at him.

Even if they didn’t act spoiled, Zhou Chenglei could tell his sons missed him. Since his daughter wouldn’t let go, he simply picked up all three children at once!

Mother Zhou laughed. “You were gone for too many days this time; they really missed you.”

Grandma added with a smile, “Every time the day after A-Lei leaves, the three children wake up and crawl all over the house, constantly calling ‘Papa, Papa.’ They won’t stop until they’ve searched both courtyard houses. Once they can’t find Papa, they look for Mama. When they can’t find either, they want to go outside. Every night, they have to wait for A-Lei’s phone call and chat with him for a bit before they’re willing to sleep.”

Hearing this, Zhou Chenglei kissed all three children.

After he had held them for a while, Father Zhou reached out to his little granddaughter again. “Let Grandpa hold you.”

The little girl shook her head, turned away, and clung to her father’s shoulder and her brothers’ backs. “Papa, hold me.”

Father Zhou tried again, “Shall Grandpa give Little Bao a piggyback ride?”

She shook her little head again.

“If Little Bao won’t let Grandpa hold her, then Grandpa will give the brothers a ride.”

Zhou Chengsen and Big Brother also chimed in, “Uncle will give you a ride too!”

With that, Zhou Chengsen and Big Brother took the two boys from Zhou Chenglei’s arms and hoisted them onto their shoulders, playing “horsey” with their little nephews.

Seeing this, the daughter wanted to play too. She finally let go of her father and allowed Father Zhou to give her a piggyback ride.

In the evening, when Jiang Xia returned from class, the house was filled with the children’s giggles.

The whole family went out for dinner that evening, returning to the courtyard house at eight o’clock. By the time they bathed the children and coaxed them to sleep, it was already nine.

Zhou Chenglei pulled Jiang Xia into his arms, holding her tightly.

He had missed her. He just wanted to hold her properly. He didn’t want to do anything else.

The two stood in the room, embracing quietly for a long time.

Only then did Zhou Chenglei lower his head to kiss her.

That night, they broke a record.

Chapter 820: The Betrothal Gift

On the morning of June 1st, the family woke up early to hang big red flowers and stick “Double Happiness” characters onto the refrigerator, the electric washing machine, and the motorcycle.

These were all betrothal gifts to be delivered to the Ruan family.

By now, the “Three Revolutions and one Sound”—namely the bicycle, sewing machine, watch, and radio—were no longer the height of fashion. They had been replaced by the “New Three Large Items”: the television, refrigerator, and washing machine.

Since Ruan Tang’s family already had a bicycle, a sewing machine, and a radio, Zhou Chengsen hadn’t prepared those.

However, he did prepare watches—both men’s and women’s styles.

Gold rings, necklaces, and bracelets were also ready.

Just as the “Double Happiness” stickers were in place, the truck arrived.

Second Auntie had long since helped rent a truck to transport the betrothal gifts.

The family began loading the items onto the truck.

Zhou Chengsen had personally purchased these betrothal gifts during his time off, flying to the capital to get everything ready.

Jiang Xia and Second Auntie had both offered to handle it for him if he just provided a list, but he had refused. He wanted to handle these things himself.

It took him two separate flights to the capital to get everything sorted.

Second Auntie asked Zhou Chengsen, “How much gift money have you prepared? I’ve looked into it for you; most betrothal gifts in the capital nowadays are around 1,200 yuan, and very few are lower than a thousand.”

In their village, giving a betrothal gift of 888 yuan was already considered very prestigious!

Second Auntie felt that marrying a wife from the capital was truly no easy feat.

They favored imported appliances here, which were exceptionally expensive!

A Sharp color television alone cost 2,150 yuan. Adding the refrigerator and washing machine brought the total to nearly five thousand yuan.

Fortunately, her nephew had earned some money; otherwise, how could he afford a wife?

Zhou Chengsen replied, “3,999 yuan.”

Second Auntie’s breath hitched for a moment before she nodded. “Not bad. That gift money has a good meaning—a long life together.”

Zhou Chenglei, who was currently moving the washing machine onto the truck, went silent.

Why hadn’t he thought of giving a betrothal gift like that back then?

Feeling a bit morose, Zhou Chenglei continued helping his second brother move things onto the truck.

At 8:30 AM, everything was loaded.

Zhou Chenglei washed his hands. “Can we head out now?”

Zhou Chengsen poured a cup of honey tea for the truck driver and then checked his watch. “We depart at 8:39 AM. We’ll arrive there exactly at nine.”

The driver happily took the honey tea and smiled. “I guarantee we’ll arrive at nine on the dot!”

The driver was more than willing to wait! This family was generous; they had just given him an 88-yuan red envelope!

Forget waiting a few minutes—he’d be happy to wait all day!

In all his years of hauling freight, he had never received such a large red envelope. It was almost as much as he earned in half a month.

Even the tea was different! It wasn’t brown sugar water, but honey tea with the scent of flowers.

“Let’s arrive at 8:59 AM. I’ll step through the door at exactly nine.”

The driver readily agreed. “You got it!”

Zhou Chenglei: “…”

He couldn’t listen to this anymore and turned back into the house to find his wife.

Jiang Xia had just finished changing her clothes and stepped out.

Zhou Chenglei’s footsteps faltered.

Tian Caihua also glanced at Jiang Xia.

Today, Jiang Xia was wearing an orange sleeveless belted shirt paired with a white A-line pencil skirt featuring black polka dots and strappy high-heeled sandals.

She looked exceptionally dignified, elegant, and movingly beautiful.

Honestly, she was beautiful right down to her toes!

Tian Caihua looked at herself. She was also wearing new clothes today. She asked, “Xiao Xia, help me see if I look good in this?”

Tian Caihua was wearing a dress; the top half was a red shirt, and the bottom was a black skirt.

Jiang Xia looked her over and nodded with a smile. “It looks good. This skirt makes you look slimmer and brings out your complexion. Big Sister-in-law, you’ve lost a lot of weight this month.”

Tian Caihua smiled. “I lost 5 kg! I’ll keep working hard next month and lose another 5 kg.”

Zhou Chengxin frowned, looking disapproving. “Don’t ruin your health; it’s not worth the loss. Look at you—you only eat half a bowl of rice a day now. You’re starving until you’re dizzy every day!”

In the past, she could eat three bowls of rice per meal. How could she stand eating only half a bowl now?

This month, Tian Caihua had been running every day—once in the morning and once in the evening.

She was also eating less, only half a bowl of rice per meal, and not nearly as much meat. If she got hungry, she ate green vegetables. She didn’t even dare eat fruit because of the high sugar content. Zhou Chengxin was terrified she would starve herself into a faint.

For breakfast, she only had green vegetables and a single egg.

Jiang Xia said, “Being overweight isn’t good for your health, but you shouldn’t overdo the dieting either. Insufficient nutrition isn’t good.”

Tian Caihua replied, “Did you hear that? Both Xiao Xia and Xiao Tang said being too fat isn’t good for the body! I’ll stop once I hit 50 kg. I’m not over-dieting.”

Being too thin didn’t look “blessed” either, so Tian Caihua only aimed to reach 50 kg.

Although Jiang Xia weighed 48 kg in the morning and 49 kg in the evening, she was slim where she should be slim and had curves where they belonged, so she didn’t look skeletal.

At 8:59 AM, the truck arrived precisely outside the Ruan family home’s residential compound.

The family got out of the vehicle. At exactly nine o’clock, Zhou Chengsen and the members of the Zhou family, carrying the lighter items, stepped through the Ruan family’s gate. Soon after, members of the Ruan family came out to help move the larger items.

The entire family compound came out to watch the excitement.

The neighbors watched as one large appliance after another was moved into the house, clicking their tongues in secret amazement and whispering among themselves:

“That refrigerator is a Panasonic. When I wanted to buy a fridge before, I had my eye on it but couldn’t bear the price. It’s nearly two thousand yuan.”

“That Sharp color TV is over two thousand. My nephew wanted one when he got married, but he couldn’t justify the cost and bought a Peony brand one instead.”

“That washing machine is fully automatic. Those are way more expensive.”

“There’s even a motorcycle! Those Honda motorcycles aren’t cheap at all.”

With so many major appliances, they had even sent a motorcycle.

“All these betrothal gifts together must be worth ten thousand yuan, right?”

“If not, it’s pretty close.”

“Xiao Tang’s partner’s family is really rich. Wonder what they do?”

“Fishing. Xiao Tang’s grandmother said they’re fishermen with several large fishing boats. The fish they catch are sold to Hong Kong.”

“Really? Then Ruan Tang has really struck gold this time! I heard that some fishing boats in the south sell fish to Hong Kong and can make tens of thousands from a single haul!”

Everyone’s eyes widened. “That much? For real?!”

“In Hong Kong, a 500-gram fish can sell for dozens of yuan, while it’s only one or two yuan here. You tell me if they can make that much? Money is easy to come by over there; even dishwashers earn one or two thousand yuan.”

“Ruan Tang’s clouds have finally parted to reveal the moon. She earns a high salary as a doctor herself, and her husband is even better at making money. She won’t have to worry about the future.”

“Wealthy or not, he’s still remarried with a child. Being a stepmother is hard. And if he’s so rich, why only a motorcycle? Shouldn’t he have sent a sedan?”

“A sedan would be too extravagant.”

“Extravagant? He’s just stingy! If my son-in-law were that rich, I’d definitely make him send a sedan!”

No one paid any attention to her.

“I don’t think being remarried with a kid is a big deal. Having money is enough. That kid is just a girl, and she looks to be around eleven years old. She’ll be married off in a few years. Once Ruan Tang marries in and has a son, won’t all the money be hers? Her good days are ahead of her!”

“It doesn’t always work like that. It’s not easy being a wife in a rich family. That man is divorced; who knows if he has a good temper? I saw him hit someone last time, and he was brutal…”

…

Amidst the envy and jealousy of the neighbors, all the betrothal gifts were moved inside.

Father Ruan and Mother Ruan had guessed that the gifts Zhou Chengsen provided wouldn’t be poor, but they never imagined he would send such a substantial offering. This “substantial” wasn’t just about the monetary value; it was about the sheer weight of his sincerity.

Chapter 821: Forget It, Don’t Mess With Him!

Zhou Chengsen was puzzled. “What’s going on?”

How could giving betrothal gifts lead to being reported?

“A few days ago, the son of a high-ranking official got married…” Ruan Tang began to explain.

As it turned out, while Elder Ruan was on his way back from his morning exercise at eight o’clock that morning, he overheard several gossiping women on the roadside discussing a certain official. This official had held a wedding banquet at a major hotel and was subsequently reported.

After hearing the rumor, Elder Ruan asked for more details. He learned that the official had hosted eight tables for his son’s wedding, serving luxury dishes like lobster and sea cucumbers—every kind of delicacy imaginable. The very next day, someone reported him. Following an investigation, he faced disciplinary action and was demoted.

Fearful, Elder Ruan rushed home and told Ruan Tang to call Zhou Chengsen, but it was Grandma who picked up, saying they had already set out.

The whole family was worried that the betrothal gifts Zhou Chengsen was bringing were so extravagant that someone might report him.

Following this, Grandma Ruan specifically went out to wait at the entrance of the residential compound.

Since it was morning, the compound was bustling with people going to buy groceries or heading to work. When people asked why she was standing there, she told them her granddaughter’s fiancé was coming to deliver the betrothal gifts and she was looking out for him. She “incidentally” mentioned that Zhou Chengsen was a fisherman and that his family’s boat was very profitable.

Given Grandma Ruan’s usual personality, she wouldn’t normally show off like this.

Her goal was to let everyone know the Zhou family was wealthy. She wanted to set high expectations for the betrothal gifts so that when they arrived, people wouldn’t be shocked or make a scene.

Zhou Chengsen hadn’t expected such a coincidence, especially since many policies had been loosened recently.

He tried to reassure Ruan Tang. “I was careless. I should have delivered them before dawn so no one would see. Most people won’t report others for no reason; everyone has children who will get married eventually. If you’re afraid the Feng family will report us, I’ll go take another stroll downstairs at their place tonight.”

Ruan Tang: “…”

He’s going again?

“Actually, I doubt they’d dare.”

The last time Zhou Chengsen came to the capital to arrange the betrothal gifts, he ran into Mother Feng and Feng Bing’s cousin on the road. When they saw him appearing near their home, their faces turned pale with fright. They had intended to go home but immediately changed their route, claiming they were going to the department store.

Ruan Tang said, “It might not be their family doing the reporting. Who knows if someone else might get jealous?”

There were always competitors at work, and everyone lived in the same compound.

“Even if they report us, we don’t need to be afraid. A straight shadow doesn’t fear a crooked light. Every bit of income from our fishing boat is recorded at the purchase station. Moreover, every month I go to pay taxes with the receipts and the income certification issued by the production brigade. All our income is legal and compliant; a report wouldn’t stick. Besides, the gifts I brought aren’t that much—just an extra motorcycle. It’s not like I brought a sedan. Surely others do the same?”

Ruan Tang knew about the tax payments, so she wasn’t overly worried herself. It was mostly her grandfather. He was a man of pride, and in his eyes, being reported or investigated was a shameful thing.

“My mother said you bought so many appliances that when the time comes to send them back by train as my dowry, they’ll need several trishaw trips just to move them.”

Zhou Chengsen replied, “No need to take them back as a dowry. Keep them for your grandparents to use; the house is lacking those appliances anyway. Our home already has everything. I bought two motorcycles back home as well—I’ll leave a lady’s model in the city so you can ride it to work. I’ll keep the men’s model for the village. When you’re off duty, I can pick you up and take you home.”

Once he had more money at the end of the year, he planned to buy a Jeep. Then he could drive her back to the village.

Ruan Tang said to Zhou Chengsen again, “My mother also asked, since your betrothal gifts are so valuable, why did you give so much gift money as well? She’s worried you’ll run out of money.”

Zhou Chengsen took her by the waist and pulled her toward him. “Didn’t I say I wanted to show the utmost sincerity in marrying you? To me, no amount of gift money is as precious as you are.”

“…”

Hearing his sudden profession of love made Ruan Tang’s heart pound. Unable to think of a reply, she hurriedly changed the subject. “The betrothal gifts must have cost more than ten thousand yuan, right? Do you still have any money left?”

Ruan Tang knew he had used the money from selling mussels to buy a four-bedroom, two-living-room apartment in the city, and the property deed was in her name alone.

Zhou Chengsen looked at her blushing face. “Don’t worry, I still have enough to pay for the wedding banquet.”

Ruan Tang glared at him. Was she really worried about the banquet money?

Zhou Chengsen leaned down and kissed her. It had been a few days since they last saw each other, and though they met yesterday, the family was around, so they hadn’t been able to do anything. Just as he was about to deepen the kiss, a voice called out from outside.

“A-Sen, Xiao Tang, time to eat!”

Ruan Tang jumped, quickly pulling away. “Coming!”

Due to time constraints, Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang had to return to work and couldn’t take many days off. The day after the betrothal gifts were delivered, they held a simple wedding in the capital.

It was truly simple.

Currently, most people held wedding banquets at state-run canteens, set up tents in alley courtyards, or held them in their work unit’s auditorium. Some factories even offered subsidies for hosting weddings on-site, though not every unit had such perks.

Since Ruan Tang and Zhou Chengsen’s work units weren’t in the capital, that wasn’t an option.

Thus, Zhou Chengsen had long ago booked tables at a state-run canteen.

As luck would have it, Elder Ruan was adamant about not inviting too many people. To avoid the risk of being reported, they ended up holding only two tables.

Each table cost sixty yuan, including cigarettes and alcohol, plus grain coupons, meat coupons, and oil coupons.

With only two tables, it was essentially just the two families sitting down for a meal together.

If Zhou Chengsen hadn’t already booked six tables that couldn’t be refunded, Elder Ruan would have preferred just setting up a few tables in the residential compound.

Now, they had no choice but to invite guests in three separate shifts. The rest of the relatives would be invited for morning or evening meals the next time the couple returned for a visit.

Jiang Xia remembered that in about two years, the capital would abolish foreign exchange certificates. After that, ordinary citizens would be able to host banquets in major hotels. However, the costs would be very high—not something an average wage earner could afford.

When the family was leaving the private room at the restaurant after the banquet, they ran into Kong Ning, who had come there to eat.

Kong Ning froze when she saw Ruan Tang in a red dress and Zhou Chengsen in a suit, looking exactly like a pair of newlyweds.

Her first instinct was to look toward the private room to see how many tables they had set.

Yesterday, there had been a major incident that shocked the whole city, yet they still dared to defy the trend and host a banquet at a restaurant?

In that moment of hesitation, Zhou Chengsen saw her. Kong Ning wanted to hide, but it was too late, though she still instinctively recoiled.

This man was a freak; he had followed her twice when she was getting off work!

Zhou Chengsen called out to her, “Comrade Kong, today is Ruan Tang’s and my big day. Please have some wedding candy on behalf of your cousin and his family. I’ll have to trouble you to deliver it to them. If you won’t, I can always deliver it myself.”

Zhou Chengsen took several bags of wedding candy from his bag and handed them to her.

Kong Ning’s face went white. “No… no need!”

Zhou Chengsen smiled, his tone gentle yet brook no refusal. “It’s necessary. Take them. Wouldn’t it be better if everyone lived a proper life in harmony after accepting the candy? Isn’t that right?”

Terrified, Kong Ning instinctively reached out and took them. “Right!”

Zhou Chengsen added, “By the way, did you see clearly how many tables were in that room? If not, let me tell you: there were two tables, costing about sixty yuan each. Go ahead and report us if you like.”

“…”

“Who said anything about reporting!” Kong Ning denied it vehemently.

This lunatic was even more insane than her cousin!

Leaving those words behind, Kong Ning hurried away with the wedding candy.

Once she was out of the restaurant and saw a trash can, she threw all the candy inside.

In that instant just now, she had indeed considered the thought of reporting them.

But now that Zhou Chengsen had put it that way, how would she dare?

Besides, having only two tables meant a report would be useless. Even a large family going out for dinner might use two tables.

The Ruan family wasn’t stupid enough to flagrantly violate the current atmosphere.

She thought again about Zhou Chengsen—that madman was crazier than her cousin. Moreover, he was a calculated lunatic, unlike her cousin who lost his mind and logic when he went into a frenzy.

If Zhou Chengsen snapped and killed her, the police probably wouldn’t even be able to find any evidence.

Thinking of this, Kong Ning completely abandoned any idea of reporting them.

Forget it, don’t mess with him!

Lest she end up dead without even knowing how it happened.

Chapter 822: Pre-wedding Preparations

After the banquet in Beijing concluded, the Zhou family returned to Xiaoyucun early the next morning.

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei only returned a week later. One had to attend classes, while the other needed to study at the library and consult with professors.

On the eighteenth day of the fifth lunar month, the family of five, along with Grandpa, Grandma, Second Auntie, and Little Cousin, returned to Xiaoyucun together.

They arrived home in the evening and rested for the night.

The next morning, Jiang Xia got up and immediately began helping with the preparations for Zhou Chengsen’s wedding.

Some were cleaning, some were borrowing tables and bowls, and others were decorating the bridal room.

Mother Zhou also had to find people to help fetch the bride the next day and assist with the moving banquet.

Carrying a stack of red envelopes, Mother Zhou happily headed out to find help.

Zhou Chengsen took several children with him to decorate the new house, sticking Double Happiness symbols on the windows and doors.

Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying joyfully held the Double Happiness characters against the windows to show them off. “Auntie, is it straight like this?”

Jiang Xia, Tian Caihua, Great-Grandma, and others were in the yard with the tables, bowls, and chopsticks that Zhou Chenglei and Big Brother had borrowed.

They needed to wash everything in advance for the next day, as there would be too much to do then.

Hearing the girls, Jiang Xia looked up. “It’s straight. You two have great eyesight.”

The two girls beamed and began positioning the symbols. They applied a bit of paste to the Double Happiness characters, stepped onto stools, and pressed them onto the glass.

With the couplets and Double Happiness symbols up, the house looked exceptionally festive.

In the afternoon, Jiang Xia and the other women began making various pastries: oil puffs, prosperity cakes, radish cakes, glutinous rice cakes, savory fried puffs, beef patties, and more.

In the small yard of Zhou Chengsen’s home, some were using a stone mill to grind rice milk, some were shredding radishes, some were kneading dough, some were frying peanuts, and others were cleaning pig trotters.

Some dishes needed to be prepared in advance, such as the White Cloud Pork Trotters. They had to be boiled and soaked in white vinegar ahead of time; otherwise, they wouldn’t be flavorful enough the next day.

An Eldest Aunt from the village was grinding rice milk for radish cakes. She looked at Jiang Xia and asked with a smile, “Xiao Xia, you’re so capable, do you know how to make oil puffs too?”

“Not really. I’m learning, but it’s so difficult.”

“Your mother-in-law and sister-in-law are the best at making oil puffs in the village. Theirs are always big and round. Whenever anyone in the village needs to make them, they invite those two to help. You should let them teach you.”

“They’ve tried, I just can’t seem to learn. I’m clumsy with my hands,” Jiang Xia laughed.

She clearly saw everyone taking a piece of dough, rotating and pinching it between their thumb and forefinger to instantly create a hollow sphere. It looked easy, but doing it herself was another story.

When others pinched the dough, the oil puffs were round and plump. When she did it, they were wrinkled like buns—specifically, the kind of thin-skinned soup buns that failed to rise. Hollow soup buns.

Mother Zhou gave her another demonstration. “Keep your strength and speed steady as you pinch. Once you have the shape, let the dough hang down naturally. When it gets this big, start closing the opening. Once it’s closed, just a little pinch like this is enough. These two little peaks will flatten out once they’re fried.”

“Okay.” Jiang Xia practiced patience, observing the speed and hand movements of Mother Zhou and the others. It took about a dozen tries before she finally got the hang of it, and each one after that became more beautiful.

By the time all one hundred and ninety oil puffs were shaped, Jiang Xia had finally succeeded in making one that was round and plump rather than wrinkled like a bun!

This thing was truly hard to learn—much harder than dumplings.

It wasn’t easy to knead a piece of glutinous rice dough into a hollow, thin-skinned, perfectly smooth sphere without a single wrinkle. it required real technique.

She remembered when she first learned to wrap dumplings; she had mastered it on the first try.

Seeing that Jiang Xia had finally learned, the others smiled and said, “As expected of someone who runs a food factory. You learn things so fast.”

Jiang Xia smiled back, though she felt this was definitely the pastry that had taken her the longest to master.

When it came time to fry the oil puffs, the first batch consisted of only three.

The three oil puffs were placed into the hot oil and gently turned with a slotted spoon. The white, plump puffs gradually grew larger and turned yellow. Once they stopped growing and the surface became golden-brown, they were finished.

The oil puffs Mother Zhou made were as large as muskmelons, with skin so thin it was almost translucent.

She scooped up the three puffs, placed them in a wide-mouthed bowl, and set them before the Kitchen God. She told Jiang Xia, “The first batch must be offered to the Kitchen God first so that the rest of the oil puffs fry up nice and big.”

Jiang Xia smiled and agreed, “Alright.”

The village aunties found Jiang Xia to be quite sensible and clever. Regardless of whether she believed in the tradition or not, she went along with it obediently. She wasn’t like their own daughters-in-law, who would call them superstitious and talk back!

For people living by the sea, who had made their living fishing for generations, life and death often depended on luck. Consequently, they were very devoted to their beliefs, showing great piety when praying to the gods or their ancestors.

Unsurprisingly, the oil puffs Jiang Xia had made initially failed to puff up. Unlike the others’ large, round puffs, only her very last one matched the quality of the rest.

However, oil puffs tend to collapse shortly after leaving the frying pan. By then, all the puffs would be flattened, so it didn’t matter. Her earlier attempts just looked like they had thicker skins.

Oil puffs are best right out of the pan. Jiang Xia ate three in one go.

As it turned out, the thin-skinned ones were indeed softer and more delicious.

Zhou Chenglei walked in and glanced at the freshly fried oil puffs. He picked up one with the thickest skin—one that was fried nearly dark.

Jiang Xia said, “Those big golden ones are the tasty ones.”

Zhou Chenglei replied, “It’s fine. I want to try the ones you made.”

He wasn’t particularly fond of these things; if Jiang Xia hadn’t made them, he wouldn’t have eaten any at all.

“…”

How was he so sure the ugliest ones were hers?

Jiang Xia pointed to a large, round one. “That one was my final success.”

Zhou Chenglei decisively picked it up to give the children a small taste.

The family stayed busy until ten o’clock that night before finally going to bed. The next morning, Jiang Xia was up before five.

Today was the big day to fetch the bride, and it was going to be even busier.

Jiang Xia first picked some red roses and orange and pink Chinese roses from the yard. She then took Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying with her to decorate the wedding car.

Tian Caihua had cut all the Chinese roses and roses from her own yard and brought them over for Jiang Xia to use.

The two sisters knew Jiang Xia would be up early to decorate the car, so they had set their alarms to help.

Jiang Xia taught the sisters how to cut the roses to decorate the car. “Be careful, roses have thorns. Don’t prick your hands.”

Zhou Ying asked, “Auntie, do I cut it like this?”

“Yes, just like that. Don’t cut your fingers.” Jiang Xia was busy assembling a bridal bouquet.

Soon, the roses and Chinese roses from both yards were all clipped.

At five-thirty, just before dawn, Tian Caihua arrived with another large armful of flowers cut from her home.

“I’ve cut all the roses and Chinese roses you wanted. Is this enough?”

Jiang Xia took a look. “It should be about enough.”

Since the red roses were needed for the wedding car and Jiang Xia was worried there wouldn’t be enough, she used freshly bloomed pink Chinese roses and champagne-gold Chinese roses for the bridal bouquet, tying them together with a pale gold ribbon.

The two yards at the house were planted with many varieties of roses and Chinese roses. Zhou Chengsen and Tian Caihua’s yard had them as well.

Some of the roses in the yard had been brought back by Jiang Xia from the gardening exhibition at the Canton Fair. Others had been bought for her by Zhou Chenglei, Father Jiang, Jiang Dong, Zhang Fuyan, and Elder Mai, knowing her love for flowers—especially roses and Chinese roses.

For instance, the apricot-pink “Princess de Monaco” used in the bridal bouquet had been brought back by Zhou Chenglei after he saw it at the Canton Fair’s gardening exhibition. It had cost one hundred and twenty yuan at the time, and he even had to get a department-level authorization note from Old He to purchase it.

The champagne-gold “Gold Medal” had been brought from abroad by Zhang Fuyan’s mother as a gift for her.

There was also a light purple “Blue Moon” in the yard that Elder Mai had brought for her to plant. However, it had only two blossoms, which wasn’t enough to use, so they were left to beautify the yard.

Chapter 823: The Motorcade

Jiang Xia said, “Decorating with fresh flowers is much prettier. You’ll see in a bit, Big Sister-in-law.”

Tian Caihua asked Jiang Xia again, “Do you need any help?”

The aunts and uncles from the village wouldn’t arrive to start working until around eight o’clock. Jiang Xia had specifically woken up early to decorate the wedding car. “No need, I can handle it with the girls. Why don’t you go have breakfast first, Big Sister-in-law?”

There were various pastries at home. Mother Zhou had steamed some prosperity cakes and fried some radish cakes and glutinous rice cakes for breakfast.

“Then I’ll go eat first.”

Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying’s eyes widened when they saw the bridal bouquet Jiang Xia had finished.

Zhou Zhou gently touched the bouquet. “It’s so beautiful! Auntie, I want one too.”

Zhou Ying added, “I want one too.”

Jiang Xia smiled and said, “I’ll give you both one another day when the flowers are in bloom. I’ve cut all the flowers in the yard for today.”

Zhou Ying said, “There are still some in my papa’s yard. The flowers in his yard haven’t been cut yet.”

Jiang Xia found it amusing. “Guests are coming to your house for the banquet today. If we cut all the flowers in that yard, it won’t look good anymore. Let’s wait a while before we cut those.”

Zhou Ying thought about it and agreed, “Alright then!”

“Okay, let’s go decorate the car.”

The two sisters grew excited again. “How do we decorate it?”

Jiang Xia picked up a big red flower woven from red silk. “First, we’ll hang this on the front of the car.”

Zhou Zhou saw some small red flowers left over. “What about these small ones?”

Jiang Xia glanced down. “For the small ones, Auntie will tie two flowers together later and then fasten them to the door handles.”

She had also bought a pair of dolls dressed in wedding attire from the Friendship Store to decorate the hood. The dolls would stand right in the middle of a sea of flowers.

Once the entire wedding car was decorated, Tian Caihua walked around it once and said enviously, “I almost want to get married all over again!”

Zhou Chengxin happened to overhear this and shot Tian Caihua a look.

She wants to get married again? To whom?

Tian Caihua glared back at him.

Of the three sisters-in-law, she was the only one who had been brought over on the back of a bicycle! On her wedding day, people had looked at her like a monkey on display the whole way. Back then, she felt only embarrassment, not the joy of getting married.

When Jiang Xia married into the family, she at least came in a sedan, even if there was only one. Ruan Tang’s wedding was on a whole other level—the wedding party was a full motorcade!

There were exactly twelve vehicles: two jeeps, eight small sedans, one bus, and one small truck.

The vehicles had been arranged by Elder Mai, and he had sent people to drive them over the night before.

A bus and a small truck would also be coming. The bus was a factory shuttle from a factory Elder Mai had invested in, specifically meant to pick up Ruan Tang’s relatives and colleagues for the banquet. This way, the couple wouldn’t have to host another separate banquet in the city.

The small truck was for transporting Ruan Tang’s dowry.

At exactly eight o’clock, the team from the village ready to fetch the bride had all gathered.

Father Zhou handed out a red envelope and a pack of cigarettes to everyone.

The motorcade set off toward the city in a grand procession. The small truck for the dowry led the way.

Many people in the village came out to watch the spectacle. Children chattered about how beautiful the flowers on the cars were, while the adults gossiped amongst themselves.

“Aside from on the television, this is the first time I’ve seen so many cars fetching a bride.”

“I’ve seen it in the city. That motorcade was even longer, with sixteen cars.”

“Well, you said it yourself—that’s the city. There are so many Hong Kong businessmen there. But this is our village.”

“Zhou Yongfu’s family is truly remarkable. This wedding is definitely a first for our village!”

“It’s a first for several production brigades! It’s the first time in ten miles and eight villages that a bride has been picked up by so many sedans.”

“Before, when A-Si from the neighboring village got married, he used a few motorcycles to fetch the bride and was so proud and boastful about it!”

…

Li’s mother knew Zhou Chengsen was getting married today and couldn’t help but come out to watch.

Seeing the grand, flower-adorned motorcade, she couldn’t help but curse Li Xiuxian in her heart for being so brainless as to get involved with Liao Ruixiang. She had ruined a perfectly good son-in-law!

How good was Zhou Chengsen? In the past, every time his work unit distributed welfare goods, he would give half to honor the two elders. During holidays, he would give them some money. He would send them fish whenever he caught some, come to help with farm work during the busy farming season when he was free, and even take leave to bring them to see a doctor if they were sick.

When it came to filial piety, he was beyond reproach; one couldn’t find a single fault in him. He wasn’t like Liao Ruixiang, who was only slightly decent at the very beginning and later wouldn’t even share a piece of pork with them!

It was all that “worthless girl’s” fault for not knowing how to cherish him! And that bastard Liao Ruixiang had ruined her daughter and cost her a good son-in-law like Zhou Chengsen!

That massive field of mussels! It earns over a hundred thousand yuan a year, and now it’s all gone to outsiders!

Li’s mother felt her heart ache at the thought of those hundreds of thousands. No, she had to go back and give her daughter a piece of her mind; she was absolutely furious.

The motorcade left at eight to fetch the bride and returned around ten. The vehicles parked outside the alley.

A red carpet had been laid out in the alley.

After Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang got out of the car, he walked around to take Ruan Tang’s hand and led her down the red carpet toward the house. Zhou Yongguo and He Xinghuan held umbrellas over the couple.

The alley was crowded with onlookers, and Ruan Tang heard many people praising her:

“The bride is so beautiful!”

“She’s stunning!”

“The dress she’s wearing is so beautiful too!”

“The bride is wearing so much gold jewelry—gold necklace, gold earrings, gold ring, and gold bracelets. She has the whole set.”

“There’s also a pearl necklace, a pearl bracelet, a jade necklace, and a jade bracelet.”

“She has two gold bracelets and two gold necklaces.”

“I wonder if they’re solid or hollow. Those gold bracelets look very thick.”

“Judging by the way the bracelets move, they look heavy, like they’re solid gold. I wonder if her parents bought them or if the groom’s side did.”

“Most of them must be gifts from her family. Dr. Ruan’s family is very well-off too.”

“The qipao she’s wearing is also very beautiful. That fabric looks very high-end. You can tell it was made by an old tailor from the capital! And her shoes are lovely too; that brand is very expensive.”

“Dr. Ruan looks beautiful in a qipao. I didn’t realize she had such a great figure.”

“She usually wears loose clothes, so you couldn’t tell. Looking at her now, she looks like she’d be very fertile. Based on my experience, her figure says she’ll definitely give birth to sons. When I looked at A-Lei’s wife, I said she’d be easy to conceive with, and Dr. Ruan looks much the same as A-Lei’s wife.”

“I think Dr. Ruan looks fertile too. She has wide hips. Just you wait, she’ll definitely be pregnant this year.”

“Wedding wine this year, Full Moon banquet next year.”

…

Ruan Tang vaguely overheard the discussion. They were really critiquing her from head to toe, saying whatever came to mind.

Zhou Chengsen must have heard it too, right?

Ruan Tang’s face turned bright red, but because she was wearing makeup and blush, it wasn’t obvious. Ruan Tang really wanted to check her own backside. How are my hips wide? What nonsense!

The two finally reached the front door.

Great-Grandma had prepared a brazier and said with a beaming smile, “New bride, cross the brazier.”

Ruan Tang saw that the fire in the ceramic basin was burning quite vigorously. She was wearing a qipao; it was going to be a bit difficult to lift her leg high enough to step over it!

Chapter 824: Forcing Their Way In

Zhou Chengsen carried Ruan Tang across the brazier, and someone couldn’t help but let out a whistle.

By the time Zhou Chengsen set her down, Ruan Tang’s face was beet red, and she didn’t dare look at the people around them.

Zhou Chengsen then led Ruan Tang to the new room on the second floor. Previously, he had slept in the master bedroom on the first floor, but the view on the second floor was better. Now that they were married, the master bedroom was arranged for the second floor.

As the two entered the room, a younger paternal cousin from the village who wasn’t married yet smilingly brought a stool for Ruan Tang to sit on. “Second Sister-in-law, please have a seat.”

“Thank you.” Ruan Tang sat down with a smile and gave her a red envelope.

Another little cousin brought a cup of tea to Ruan Tang with both hands. “Second Sister-in-law, please have some tea.”

“Thank you.” Ruan Tang accepted it with both hands, took a sip, and gave the girl a red envelope as well.

The two cousins, having completed their tasks, stood to the side giggling.

Zhou Chengsen said to Ruan Tang, “Rest for a bit. I’m going to go greet the guests, and I’ll call you when it’s time to eat.”

Then, speaking to the others in the room, he added, “Please keep Xiao Tang company.”

With so many female comrades present, it wasn’t appropriate for Zhou Chengsen to stay too long.

The room was still full of people—some were Ruan Tang’s colleagues, cousins, and bridesmaids; others were paternal cousins and nieces from the village. Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying were there too, staying specifically to ensure Ruan Tang wouldn’t feel lonely.

Everyone urged him to go tend to his duties.

The room was already packed, and the weather was hot; even two fans weren’t enough. Seeing that Ruan Tang had plenty of company, the village cousins went to the living room to fetch fruit, pastries, candy, melon seeds, and the like to entertain everyone. They poured tea for everyone and then stepped out to give the women space to talk.

Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying stayed obediently by Ruan Tang’s side, going nowhere! Their mission today was to accompany her.

Moreover, they were the flower girls today. They had been scattering flower petals the whole way as Ruan Tang entered the house!

Zhang Fuyan and Ou Minhua were the bridesmaids. They had been here before and had long since witnessed the scenery of this sea-view house.

However, many of Ruan Tang’s colleagues had never seen it, and they were stunned by the ocean view outside.

“Xiao Tang, the view from your home is too beautiful. If it were me, no matter how tired I was after work, I would definitely come home.”

“It really is too beautiful. I absolutely love this house!”

“This is the most beautiful house I’ve ever seen; it’s practically a dream! Dr. Ruan, does your husband have any brothers who aren’t married yet? Introduce me! I want to marry into this area and be your neighbor and sister-in-law!”

Everyone laughed.

While there was laughter and joy in the new room, the scene downstairs was also extraordinarily lively.

The two large iron woks in the kitchen hadn’t stopped all morning, and large aluminum pots were stewing dishes over two coal stoves in the yard.

The courtyard was filled with people washing vegetables and chopping meat.

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei were busy hosting, pouring tea and water for the guests, and recording the gift money.

Elder Mai, Father Jiang, and Mother Jiang were in the yard next door looking after the triplets.

The triplets had just learned to walk but were still unsteady. They spent their days stumbling and tottering after the family dog. Even when they fell, they weren’t afraid of the pain and didn’t cry; they just climbed back up and continued the chase, shouting “Woof woof! Woof woof!”

They wouldn’t let the adults help them up, insisting on walking themselves even though they couldn’t stay upright.

Just yesterday, the younger brother had gotten a bump on his head.

The three seniors followed behind them with extreme care.

Elder Mai was bent over, hovering his hands near Little Bao as he followed her. He didn’t quite dare to touch her, and it felt like his old back could hardly straighten up!

Because there were too many people and the yard was too chaotic, Jiang Xia had asked them to take the triplets to play next door.

Today, many uncles, brothers, and aunts from the village had come over to help prepare the banquet.

Marriage is a major life event, and the entire village must be invited.

By hosting the banquet in the village, they didn’t have to worry about being reported.

The entire village shared the surname Zhou; they were all descendants of the same great-great-grandfather. Anyone you met outside was a relative.

In recent years, every family that had a child getting married invited the whole village.

If others invited you and you didn’t invite them back, people might get angry, and that’s when they would report you.

However, considering the incident in the capital, Father Zhou had made the menu much more low-profile this time.

Originally, Father Zhou had planned to buy lobsters to serve one large lobster per table, along with abalone, fish maw, shark fin, and so on.

Now, he only kept the lobster and abalone, omitting the shark fin and fish maw. The dishes were similar to those at a typical village banquet—twelve bowls of food—but some of the fish and shrimp were replaced with more expensive varieties, and the portions were much larger. He ensured every dish was plentiful so everyone could eat to their heart’s content.

When hosting a banquet in the village, if there were leftovers, the villagers would pack them up and take them home, so there was no fear of waste.

The banquet began, and Zhou Chengsen went upstairs to invite the bridesmaids down to eat.

He also needed to join Ruan Tang in offering tea and toasts to the guests.

Ruan Tang had changed into another outfit. She had removed the jewelry gifted by her elders when she entered the house, keeping only the set of pearl jewelry Zhou Chengsen had bought for her.

A total of twenty tables had been prepared for today’s moving banquet.

The village relatives took up about ten tables, and the family relatives, Zhou Chengsen’s colleagues, and Ruan Tang’s colleagues added up to another ten.

When the feast was served, arrangements were made for the relatives to eat first. Since most of them were not from this village, they needed to walk home afterward, and there were concerns about them traveling at night if it got too late.

This included Ruan Tang’s and Zhou Chengsen’s colleagues; they were all scheduled to eat first so the bus could take them back.

Only after the relatives and colleagues finished would it be the village relatives’ turn.

The last group to eat consisted of Ruan Tang’s family, Jiang Xia’s family, the maternal grandfather’s family, and their own household.

The maternal grandfather’s family lived quite far away and was going to stay the night, so they ate last.

Ruan Tang’s and Jiang Xia’s families weren’t in a hurry either, since they had their own cars and could return later.

During the meal, Jiang Xia sat with her family. Also at the table were Zhang Rong, Zhang Rui, and Li Qiufeng.

Zhang Rui and Zhang Rong had also come, though they arrived just before the meal started.

Jiang Xia’s table already had ten people. Counting Zhang Fuyan, there were five people from her side of the family, plus herself and Zhou Chenglei, making seven. With Zhang Rong, Zhang Rui, and Li Qiufeng, it was exactly ten.

Tan Yudai insisted on dragging Li Qiuyue over to squeeze in, specifically trying to wedge into a spot next to Zhang Rui.

Zhou Chenglei, who was holding his younger daughter and pulling her small hand away from the dishes she was pointing at, saw this and said, “Big Cousin-in-law, there’s still room at my big brother’s table. No need to squeeze.”

First Auntie also came over just in time to pull at her senseless daughter-in-law and daughter. “I saved spots for you! Come sit over with me. It’s full here, no need to squeeze.”

Tan Yudai dodged her mother-in-law’s hand. “It’s fine, I’ll just squeeze in here. I have something to ask Xiao Zhang.”

First Auntie was nearly fuming. Even after putting it that way, some people were just so thick-skinned.

Ruan Tang’s family and Jiang Xia’s family were all there, yet Tan Yudai wasn’t afraid of embarrassing herself.

People at the other tables were starting to look over, and some even called out that they had empty seats.

With everyone watching, First Auntie couldn’t very well drag them away by force, so she whispered a warning: “Are you coming over to sit or not? Don’t make me lose my temper!”

Zhang Rui knew this type of person wouldn’t give up until they got what they wanted. Of course, he didn’t want to be squeezed in with them either, so he said, “Eating is more important. If Big Sister-in-law has something to say, you can tell me later.”

Only then did Tan Yudai let it go. “Then we’ll talk in a bit.”

Zhang Rui nodded.

The two women finally left with First Auntie.

Once they were gone, Li Qiufeng whispered to Zhang Rui, “Leave quickly as soon as you finish eating. Don’t bother with them; nothing good ever comes from it.”

Chapter 825: Rituals Completed

After finishing the meal, Father Jiang said his goodbyes and left. His daughter had been busy all day, and by leaving early, he knew she would be able to rest sooner.

Li Qiufeng also urged Zhang Rui to leave. “You should get going too.”

She planed to stay the night here.

Zhang Rui said helplessly, “My brother still has things to discuss with Fourth Brother.”

Zhou Chenglei said to Zhang Rong and Zhang Rui, “Come over to my place for some tea first.”

The two of them had many overlapping business interests, and there was quite a bit to discuss.

He also needed to see his father-in-law and mother-in-law off.

Zhang Rong replied, “No rush. I’ll help see Grandpa Mai, Uncle, and Auntie out.”

And so, several of them walked out together to see Elder Mai, Father Jiang, and Mother Jiang to the door.

Ruan Tang’s family saw this and prepared to leave as well; it was already nearly seven in the evening.

Father Zhou, Mother Zhou, Zhou Chengsen, and Ruan Tang also stood up to see everyone off.

Jiang Xia reminded Jiang Dong to drive carefully.

Jiang Dong retorted, “Are you still worried about my driving?”

Jiang Xia nodded. “I really am.”

Father Jiang added, “Your skills aren’t even as good as your sister’s.”

Jiang Dong: “…”

Xiao Yan was right there; couldn’t they leave him some face?

Father Jiang first bid farewell to Father and Mother Zhou, then waved to his daughter and son-in-law. “Go back inside. We’re heading out.”

The triplets had already learned how to say “Bye-bye.” Seeing their maternal grandparents waving, they waved back from their parents’ arms. “Grandpa, bye-bye!”

Father Jiang’s heart practically melted. He waved back vigorously. “Dabao, Erbao, Little Bao, bye-bye! Grandpa and Grandma are going home now. See you later.”

Jiang Dong also waved hard at his nephews and niece. “Babies, bye-bye! We’ll see each other in a couple of days. You have to miss your uncle, okay?”

Little Bao bobbed his small head. “Mm-hmm.”

“Then bye-bye, Little Bao!”

The little girl chimed in, “Un-cle, bye-bye!”

“Dabao, Erbao, what about you? Aren’t you going to say bye-bye to Uncle?”

Dabao and Erbao followed suit. “Un-cle, bye-bye.”

“You have to miss me too!”

Seeing how Jiang Dong hadn’t helped with the kids at all during the day, focusing only on his romance, but was now putting on the act of a reluctant-to-leave, doting uncle, Father Jiang said crossly, “Are you quite finished? Are you done saying goodbye? Are we leaving or not?”

Didn’t he see his sister had been standing there holding the children for a long time?

Everyone else had been in the car for ages. By not starting the engine, how much longer did he want Xiaxia to stand there holding the babies?!

Hadn’t he considered that his sister had been busy all day and was exhausted?

“Sis, Brother-in-law, I’m off!” Jiang Dong said hurriedly, then quickly stepped on the gas and drove away.

Father Jiang grumbled, “You brat, why are you driving so fast? I haven’t even finished saying goodbye to our relatives.”

Jiang Dong: “…”

After seeing everyone off, Zhou Chenglei, holding two of the children, said to the Zhang brothers, “Come over to my place and sit for a while.”

Tan Yudai took the opportunity to pull Li Qiuying over. “Comrade Zhang, finished with dinner? Do you have a moment? We have something to ask you.”

Li Qiufeng interjected, “They have business to discuss with Cousin A-Lei.”

“It’s fine,” Zhang Rui first reassured his fiancée. He knew they wouldn’t give up, so he asked, “Sister-in-law, what is it?”

Tan Yudai said, “It’s like this. There must be many comrades in your army who aren’t married yet, right? Could you introduce one to Qiuying? If everyone joins the military together in the future, Xiao Feng won’t be lonely.”

“Our requirements aren’t high. At the very least, he should be a company commander. After marriage, he must take Xiao Ying to live with the military so she can take the military university entrance exam just like Xiao Feng. It would be best if he had a family background similar to yours—or if not, he should at least be a city person with parents who are both state employees.”

After the New Year, when Second Aunt called the village from the capital and asked her mother-in-law to help write letters of certification from the production brigade and the town, Tan Yudai found out that Li Qiufeng was going to register her marriage. It was said that once she became a military dependent, she could join the army and then take the military university entrance exam.

Everyone knew being a female soldier was a great opportunity! If her mother-in-law wouldn’t fight for it, Tan Yudai would take the initiative to fight for her sister-in-law. If her sister-in-law became a female officer in the future, she could help pull up the sister-in-law who had been so good to her.

Zhang Rui smiled thinly. These requirements weren’t high? Did she really think becoming a company commander was that easy?

“There are no company commanders in the unit who meet your requirements; everyone I know is already married. Besides, I don’t do that sort of thing.”

He hadn’t expected them to be harboring such designs.

During the New Year, Li Qiufeng had mentioned she was afraid she wouldn’t pass the entrance exam for the normal school this year, as normal schools were notoriously difficult to get into. Zhang Rui then thought of the option of enlisting and then taking the university entrance exam.

Recruitment happened to be in October. Although the number of female soldiers recruited was small, if she was a military dependent and had excellent physical conditions, her chances of being selected were quite high.

Once she enlisted, she could take the university entrance exam within the military.

Of course, this was a backup plan. If she got into the normal school in July, she wouldn’t have to enlist; it would be up to her.

He simply felt that once they registered their marriage, Li Qiufeng would be a military dependent and would have more options.

In Zhang Rui’s view, a university degree would definitely be more valuable than a certificate from a normal school in the future. Currently, the country was in a special period of development and desperately needed a large amount of knowledgeable and cultured talent.

Every industry was severely lacking in talent, which was why secondary specialized schools and normal schools had appeared.

However, universities were different from secondary or normal schools. To put it simply, if you graduated from a university, you could still become a teacher, but you could also work in other departments. If you went to a normal school, your path was much narrower.

Fortunately, Li Qiufeng was someone who listened to advice and felt he was right. So, Zhang Rui had specifically taken leave this time to bring her to the unit to register their marriage.

Their political background checks had passed, the marriage report was approved, the medical reports were clear, and they had the letters of introduction and the marriage permits. He had already applied for a wedding house; although it hadn’t been approved yet, there was no rush.

In short, all the documents were ready for them to get married.

After getting the consent of Li Qiufeng and Second Auntie after the New Year, he had returned to the unit to file the marriage report.

His marriage background check was quite strict. It took the whole process until recently to get all the documents ready.

Tan Yudai still wouldn’t give up. “Then you could introduce someone with a good family background, someone who looks like they have a bright future. Even if they aren’t a company commander, it’s fine.”

Zhang Rui replied, “I’m sorry, I’m not a matchmaker. I don’t do things like setting people up. You should find a professional matchmaker. I have business to attend to. Excuse me.”

With that, Zhang Rui took Li Qiufeng’s hand and walked into the yard next door.

Tan Yudai: “…”

If you won’t do it, you won’t do it. Why be so arrogant?

And “excuse me”!

Acting like he’s so polite!

Mother Zhou stepped forward. “Tan, you and Xiao Ying go sleep at the old house. The room has already been prepared.”

Tan Yudai grumbled, “The old house again?”

Last time, they had slept in the storage room of the old house.

First Auntie snapped, “Where else? Do you want to sleep on the streets?”

Tan Yudai: “…”

Once all the guests were settled and the house was cleaned up, it was already eleven at night by the time Zhou Chengsen and his wife had finished their showers and lay down in bed.

Everything that followed happened naturally.

For the first time, Ruan Tang accepted him in every sense of the word.

The unfamiliar sensations made her instinctively tense up.

She held him tightly.

Zhou Chengsen coaxed her with gentle words.

…

By the time the rites were completed, the night was deep, and all was quiet. Only the two people held in a tight embrace were still calming their racing hearts.

The sea breeze was strong tonight, blowing the curtains open. Moonlight flooded half the room, leaving the space in a state of half-light and half-shadow.

The wind quickly dispersed the lingering scents in the room, but before long, a new warmth began to gather and linger once more.

Chapter 826: How Much Was Your Red Envelope Back Then?

The next morning at eight-thirty, Ruan Tang was woken up by Zhou Chengsen. He kissed her and whispered, “Time to get up. We’ll come back and sleep more after the formal greetings.”

He knew she was exhausted, but at nine o’clock this morning, they had to pay their respects to his parents and the elders of their family branch. After that, they needed to go to the ancestral hall to offer sacrifices to the ancestors. Once they were finished with all that, she could come back and catch up on her sleep.

Ruan Tang nodded and sat up. Her body felt sore and weak, almost as if he hadn’t left her yet.

Zhou Chengsen supported her. “How about I go tell Mother to move it to the afternoon? I’ll have them come over then instead?”

He figured he might have had a bit too much to drink yesterday. Once the alcohol hit his head, he hadn’t been able to control himself. He had never tried to drink so much before; though he wasn’t completely drunk, he had been close.

Ruan Tang blurted out, “No need.”

If they moved it to the afternoon, what would everyone think?

“I’m fine.” She was a doctor; she knew her own body. However, they would have to be more moderate in the future so they didn’t both end up with a kidney deficiency. It seemed she would have to regularly prepare some Chinese herbal medicine for him.

Zhou Chengsen helped her to the washroom, having already squeezed the toothpaste for her. Once the couple finished washing up, they went downstairs for breakfast.

After breakfast, the elders from their family branch began to arrive one by one. Then, the tea ceremony began. They offered tea to their elders and presented them with the sweaters and shoes they had prepared. In return, the elders gave each of them a large red envelope.

Father and Mother Zhou gave them each a massive red envelope containing one thousand yuan—a thick stack of bills.

Tian Caihua’s eyes nearly bulged out of her head. She couldn’t help but whisper to Jiang Xia, “My red envelope for changing how I addressed them was fifty yuan back then. How much was yours?”

How was Jiang Xia supposed to know?

Before Jiang Xia could answer, Tian Caihua added, “Oh, right. You were making a fuss about wanting a divorce the very next day, so you didn’t even get to this step.”

Jiang Xia: “…”

Tian Caihua continued, “But Papa and Mama definitely must have given you those red envelopes later to make up for it. How much did they give?”

Jiang Xia recalled that Zhou Chenglei had mentioned two red envelopes given by their parents. He probably hadn’t specified what they were for because he didn’t want to bring up bad memories. Those two red envelopes had been one hundred and sixty yuan each, totaling over three hundred yuan. For the family’s financial situation at the time, that had been a lot.

“I don’t really remember,” Jiang Xia said. “A-Lei probably took them and didn’t tell me.”

Tian Caihua figured it was likely more than what she had received. She glanced at Jiang Xia’s expression. It seemed fine, as if she wasn’t angry.

As the saying goes, “One does not worry about scarcity but about inequality; one does not worry about poverty but about injustice.” It was normal for Tian Caihua to feel a bit uncomfortable.

Jiang Xia couldn’t deny that the two elders were more biased toward them as a couple, but she also couldn’t deny that the elders had once given everything they had for each of their sons; it was just that the timing and circumstances differed.

Tian Caihua was also busy convincing herself: Forget it!

The two elders had always been more biased toward the younger sons—the younger they were, the more they were favored. It wasn’t that they were bad to their other sons; they tried their best to be fair. It was just that the one they loved most was definitely Zhou Chenglei. After all, he had left home at fourteen and truly almost lost his life several times, scaring them half to death.

Moreover, without her brother-in-law, her own family wouldn’t be having such good days now. Besides, Li Xiuxian had only received fifty yuan when she married into the family years ago.

Furthermore, times were different now. The family was wealthy now; giving fifty yuan would indeed be unseemly. She and Zhou Chengxin had even prepared five hundred yuan as their gift for the formal change of address!

She had originally planned to give two hundred yuan, but Zhou Chengxin wouldn’t hear of it. And the fifty yuan from over a decade ago had been almost the elders’ entire savings. Now, their savings likely amounted to over a hundred thousand. Giving a one thousand yuan red envelope—rather than fifty thousand—wasn’t something she needed to dwell on.

Thinking this way made her feel much better.

“It’s still better to be the younger one; the eldest has it too hard,” Tian Caihua said to Jiang Xia. “As the sister-in-law, you don’t even have to give a red envelope for the change of address.”

Tian Caihua now realized that being born into the right family was important, but the year of one’s birth was also crucial. She had been born too early, during a bad era. Her childhood memories were nothing but hunger, hunger, and more hunger—no clothes to wear, no shoes to put on, nothing to eat, and no school to attend.

After getting married, it was endless labor. She had endured for over a decade before finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Now, both of her brothers-in-law were living better lives, having received more education and being more cultured than her and her husband.

Like Jiang Xia, who had married in over a decade later; the family wasn’t that poor anymore, so she hadn’t really lived through the hard times.

Jiang Xia replied, “Each has its own benefits. You and Big Brother married early and have many children—your blessings will come later! When Guangzong and Yaozu grow up and become successful, who will be able to compare to you?”

It had to be said—Jiang Xia really knew how to comfort people!

Her four sons were Tian Caihua’s pride and joy. The best thing about her and her husband was that they had children early, before the family planning policy was implemented. Out of all the brothers, she had the most sons. This was a point of great pride for Tian Caihua.

Jiang Xia only had two sons, and Zhou Chengsen might have one or might have none. But Tian Caihua still hoped the second branch could have a son; she hoped Ruan Tang could give birth to a son. That would show Li Xiuxian!

In the future, surely one of her four sons would be more successful than theirs?

In her eyes, it didn’t count whether a daughter was successful because daughters married out and belonged to other families. You could only hope a daughter lived a good life, but you couldn’t expect her to constantly support her maiden home and bring honor to the ancestors of her birth family. Only sons belonged to your own family!

The tide would turn eventually!

Luck would rotate, and when it came to the younger generation, it would finally be the first branch’s turn for the ancestors to bless them, wouldn’t it?

In a moment, when they went to the ancestral hall, she would have to pray properly and remind the ancestors.

Thinking of this, Tian Caihua chased her group of rascals home to do their homework. “Get back there and do your homework right now! If you don’t get into university, I’ll break your legs!”

Whether her life over the next thirty years could surpass her two sisters-in-law would depend on these four little rascals!

Guangzong, Yaozu, and their brothers looked at their mother in terror. What had triggered her this time? Doing homework at a time like this?

After Ruan Tang’s formal post-wedding visit to her parents’ house, Jiang Xia and the others returned to the capital with Father and Mother Ruan. Everyone had to get back to work or classes.

Once they arrived back in the capital, Li Qiufeng and Zhang Rui went to the military base to register their marriage. After getting their marriage certificate, Zhang Rui accompanied her back.

Second Auntie happily asked the two of them to show her the certificate. She could never have dreamed that her daughter would marry so well!

“Congratulations,” Jiang Xia said with a smile. “When do you plan to hold the wedding banquet?”

Zhang Rui looked at Li Qiufeng. He would follow her lead; they would hold it whenever she wanted. He would wait for her.

Li Qiufeng said, “There’s no rush. We’ll talk about it after I finish my exams.”

Second Auntie laughed. “Right, focus on the exams. It’ll be a double celebration if you pass.”

Her son-in-law’s family background was so good; if her daughter got into the normal school, it would give her a lot of face when the groom’s relatives asked about her. Even if she didn’t get in, she would join the army and become a female soldier, which meant she’d be in the same line of work as her husband. No one would be able to look down on her then.

It had to be said that her son-in-law was truly forward-thinking. This way, her daughter had options no matter what happened. A good partner was exactly like this—someone who would lead you toward progress.

That evening, Zhang Rui invited everyone to the Jianguo Hotel for dinner, and the two families had a simple celebration.

Old Mr. Zhang was delighted. His youngest grandson had finally settled down and started his own family!

Chapter 827: Here She Goes Again

Having had a few extra drinks, Old Mr. Zhang dropped his usual stern demeanor and became quite talkative. He said to Li Qiufeng, “Live a good life with young Rui from now on. If Zhang Rui ever treats you badly, tell Grandpa. I’ll give him a piece of my mind.”

“Don’t let yourself suffer. The daughters-in-law of our family are brought home to be cherished, not to be mistreated! If anyone bullies you, you can tell Grandpa, and I’ll stand up for you. If I’m not around, there’s your grandmother. If she’s not here, there’s your father-in-law and mother-in-law, your Big Brother, your Second Brother, and the rest. Any one of them can settle matters for you, do you understand?”

The others also chimed in one after another: “As members of the Zhang family, we don’t bully others, but we certainly won’t tolerate being bullied ourselves. Xiao Feng, if anyone dares to target you, feel free to give them a taste of their own medicine. Big Brother will have your back!”

“That’s right. If Big Brother can’t handle it, there’s Grandpa and me! We don’t use our status to oppress people, but we won’t take being bullied lying down, no matter who the other person is! If someone gives you trouble, just tell any one of us.”

Deeply moved, Li Qiufeng nodded. “Thank you, Grandpa. Thank you, Big Brother and Second Brother.”

“We’re family, there’s no need for thanks.”

Li Qiufeng nodded again. “I won’t be so polite next time.”

Seeing his wife’s eyes reddened with emotion, Zhang Rui quietly squeezed her small hand.

She was still so simple and easily touched.

She’d be so easy to deceive!

Embarrassed, Li Qiufeng pulled her hand back. “Let’s eat.”

Tonight, Grandma had given her an ancestral jade bracelet, her mother-in-law had given her a jade necklace passed down from Grandma, and her father-in-law had given her a thick red envelope.

Big Brother and Sister-in-law, as well as Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law, had all given her gifts as well.

It wasn’t that she was greedy for these gifts—now that she was earning money, it wasn’t as if she couldn’t afford to buy them herself.

Rather, it was because the whole family was welcoming her into their fold with genuine sincerity, and she could feel it.

She didn’t know what kind of luck she had to marry into such a family.

She vowed to work hard to improve herself in the future so she wouldn’t hold them back.

The next day, upon returning to school, Jiang Xia went to the principal’s office. “Principal.”

The principal was very happy to see her. “Comrade Xiao Xia, would you like to become a foreign language teacher next semester? We have new students enrolling, and Senior Professor Ji is getting on in years; he can’t teach so many classes. Besides, the Foreign Languages Department is expanding its enrollment this year.”

Jiang Xia smiled and shook her head. “I’m really stretched too thin for that.”

The principal glared at her. “Then what did you come to see me for?”

Jiang Xia replied, “I came to ask for a ‘green channel.’ I want to take the senior year graduation exams. If I pass, can I receive my graduation certificate early?”

The principal: “…”

Here she goes again!

Was she trying to leave early?

He had been hoping she would stay at the school as a teacher.

However, the principal also wanted to see if such a genius really existed—someone who could learn things so quickly that they could finish four years of knowledge in just one.

The principal said, “It’s possible, but you can’t just take the senior exams. If you can pass all four sets of exams for the first, second, third, and fourth years, then I can make an exception and let you get your graduation certificate early. If you take the postgraduate exams and pass every single one, you can get a postgraduate graduation certificate too.”

He wanted to see where Jiang Xia’s limit was.

After all, she had already obtained a postgraduate graduation certificate in foreign language translation from Jingda; Jiang Xia didn’t really need another one.

Jiang Xia smiled. “Thank you, Principal. It’s a deal!”

After settling things with the principal, Jiang Xia left the office.

On her way out, she ran into a senior professor.

Jiang Xia greeted him and then went on her way.

The principal couldn’t help but say to the senior professor, “The youth are truly to be feared!”

Hearing this, the senior professor asked, “What do you mean ‘the youth are to be feared’? What has Comrade Xiao Xia done now?”

The principal told him about the agreement he had just reached with Jiang Xia.

The senior professor was a stickler for rules and shook his head upon hearing the news.

“What do you mean ‘the youth are to be feared’? It’s more like ‘biting off more than one can chew’! With the way she studies—on-and-off like someone fishing for three days and drying nets for two—she expects to graduate? Does she really think our school’s exams are that easy to pass? If she can’t settle down to study properly, why did she even come to university?”

The principal replied, “Don’t worry, Comrade Xiao Xia isn’t the type to reach for more than she can handle. I, for one, want to see what else she’s capable of. She’s simply the type of child who excels at studying without any effort!”

The senior professor: “…”

June was the season of exams and graduation. For the following period, aside from going to her studio to test prototypes, Jiang Xia spent the rest of her time focusing on revision, completing her graduation design and thesis, and preparing for her exams.

Jiang Xia first took the senior graduation exams and completed the professional graduation design and thesis because those exams were scheduled earlier. Then, she went on to take the sophomore and junior exams, finally finishing with the freshman final exams.

Fortunately, undergraduate graduation designs were currently focused on the final product, and a thesis defense wasn’t required yet—only postgraduates had to defend their theses. This saved her some trouble; otherwise, she would have been even busier.

After finishing the four years of exams for the Fashion Design major, Jiang Xia ran off to take the postgraduate exams for Economics.

She was just doing it with a “trial” mindset to see if she could pass.

Since the schedules didn’t overlap, she decided to attend.

In her previous life, her postgraduate degree had been in Economics, but she still went to the library to flip through several economics books from this era. Although her memory was excellent, several years had passed, after all.

In truth, collecting so many graduation certificates didn’t have much practical use at the moment, but in the future, there would always come a moment where they could grant an unexpected opportunity—this was something Jiang Xia knew from experience.

In any case, there was no harm in trying; it didn’t matter if she failed.

Jiang Xia remained busy until the end of June and the beginning of July, when all the exams finally concluded.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Jiang Xia felt she would be able to pass; at the very least, she should get her undergraduate certificate.

Jiang Xia didn’t need to wait for the grade reports and could have gone home immediately. However, Zhou Chenglei needed to look up information in the library and had some professional questions to ask the school’s professors. Therefore, the couple decided to simply wait for the results to come out before returning to Xiaoyucun.

With the exams over, Jiang Xia had more time to dedicate to her fashion design studio.

Today, the deputy factory director, production supervisor, finishing supervisor, and purchasing supervisor from the garment factory arrived in the capital.

Jiang Xia personally went to pick them up from the airport and then brought them to the studio. “These are all the prototypes for the winter clothes. You can take them back to arrange for mass production.”

Jiang Xia and the designers explained the production details for each style of clothing to them one by one.

“The paper pattern for each style is inside these bags. The patterns for different sizes have all been prepared and placed in separate bags. Each pattern piece has the style number, size, and corresponding part written on it, so there won’t be any confusion. Ensure the workers are careful when cutting the patterns as well; don’t let them make mistakes. I have photocopied backups of all the patterns here. If any get lost, just call us, and we’ll send them over.”

The production supervisor and finishing supervisor looked at the overall illustrations on the pattern bags and the organized pieces of patterns, feeling that Jiang Xia was exceptionally meticulous.

The deputy factory director said admiringly, “As expected of a university student; these details are handled so well. This way, even if someone picks up a single piece of pattern from the floor, they’ll know exactly which style and size it belongs to. And since every piece is numbered, it won’t be easy to cut them wrong.”

The designers in the studio blushed. “Teacher Jiang taught us how to do this. We didn’t come up with it ourselves.”

Chapter 828: Resigning Together

Hearing the deputy factory director’s praise, the other two designers added, “Exactly. When we first arrived, we knew how to draw designs and make a single garment, but we knew nothing about the actual production side. We learned everything from Teacher Jiang.”

“That’s right. When we first started at the studio, we couldn’t even operate the sewing machines properly.”

These university students had originally taken the part-time jobs to earn some living expenses because their families were poor. It was only after joining that they realized despite nearly four years of study, they only had a vague understanding of factory production processes. They hadn’t realized how much work was required to ensure production went smoothly without errors.

To be honest, they had learned a great deal from Jiang Xia. It felt as if their formal education had only covered half of what they needed to know; the other half they had only begun to learn here.

Normally, even if they had to personally design and produce a garment at school, they did it all by themselves. They had never considered the myriad of tedious details involved in handing a design over for mass production.

Teacher Jiang was truly wonderful. She took them on tours of the factory so they could understand the entire production workflow of a garment factory.

She didn’t just want them to do the work; she wanted them to understand the “why” behind her requirements for their design tasks and additional duties.

By participating in the entire process from design to production, they felt they had truly gained a wealth of knowledge.

It was a highly standardized workflow from conception to manufacturing.

Now that their official job assignments had been finalized and they were about to leave, they couldn’t yet fully grasp how the lessons Jiang Xia taught them would change their fates.

Later, once they were at their new posts and applied what they had learned from Jiang Xia, they would quickly gain the appreciation of their superiors. In fact, simply mentioning they had worked with Jiang Xia would make their factory leaders look at them with newfound respect. They would become the fastest among their classmates to receive promotions and raises.

Of course, that was a story for the future; they didn’t know it yet.

For now, they had already agreed among themselves to hand in their resignation letters to Jiang Xia shortly.

The group listened intently as Jiang Xia handed over the work to the factory staff.

Jiang Xia handed a set of procurement data to the purchasing supervisor. “I’ve already ordered the fabrics for the winter clothes. You’ll need to contact each factory one by one to see when they can ship and when they’ll arrive. Then, arrange for a vehicle to pick up the goods from the train station and bring them back to the factory.”

“Have the warehouse supervisor inspect and receive the goods according to the fabric list. Remember to use the color cards to cross-check the color of every fabric and ensure the quantities are correct. Once they’re in the warehouse, arrange production according to the style numbers.”

“For the trimmings, have the procurement staff look through the market according to the trimmings list. For anything they can’t find, the trimmings cards have the manufacturers’ phone numbers and shop addresses. Don’t let them order the wrong thing, and the quality must be up to standard.”

This was essentially handing the procurement department an opportunity for some side perks.

“Understood. I’ll make sure the mass production materials are thoroughly checked,” the purchasing supervisor promised.

Jiang Xia then moved on to the workshop supervisor.

“…I’ve already marked the production sequence and quantities for each style. Just follow that order. All styles must be produced in the required quantities before September, as the spring collection will follow immediately after.”

The workshop supervisor looked at the quantities for each style and expressed some concern. “Isn’t this a bit much?”

“It’s not too much. You can proceed with production with confidence.”

After Jiang Xia finished her detailed instructions, it was getting late. she invited them to a restaurant for a meal. She chose a place near the hotel where the deputy factory director and the others were staying for their convenience.

After dinner, Jiang Xia drove the six designers back to school.

As they got out of the car, four of them handed over resignation letters. “Teacher Jiang, we’ve received news about our official job assignments. Tomorrow will be our last day. Thank you for all your guidance during this time.”

Jiang Xia was momentarily stunned. She had asked them just a few days ago, and they had said it wouldn’t be so soon—that they would work until their final grades came out and would definitely give her advance notice. She hadn’t expected “advance notice” to mean only one day.

Liu Weizhen frowned upon hearing this, her voice unintentionally sharp. “Didn’t you say you’d wait until the results were out before quitting?”

All four looked a bit embarrassed. One of them said, “Teacher Jiang, we’re very sorry! We only found out today that our job assignments are settled. There’s a strict deadline for reporting in, and we have to rush there. If we’re late, it counts as voluntarily giving up the job opportunity.”

The other three apologized as well. “We’re sorry, Teacher Jiang. We also just received notice today.”

“I’m sorry, Teacher Jiang. If the reporting deadline wasn’t so tight, we definitely would have finished the remaining work.”

“That’s right. If we weren’t afraid of missing the deadline and losing our assigned jobs, we would have stayed to finish everything.”

Liu Weizhen: “…”

What could she say? There was simply nothing that could be done about it.

She looked at Jiang Xia.

Although the winter clothes had been sent to production and the design department’s work there was done, the spring collection had only recently been finalized. Only half of the sample garments were finished, and they still needed revisions. There was still so much to do.

With their sudden departure, only three or four people would be left in the studio. Who would follow through on the designs they had created?

Jiang Xia took the resignation letters without making things difficult for them. She replied, “Congratulations. Come to the studio tomorrow and I’ll settle your wages. I wish you all a bright and successful future.”

“Thank you, Teacher Jiang! We also wish you success in your work and happiness in your life. We’ll head in now!”

After the four said their thanks and goodbyes, they happily headed back into the school.

Jiang Xia then looked at the remaining two who hadn’t left.

“Wanmei, Xu Ping, do you have news about your job assignments?”

The two nodded.

Tan Wanmei said, “Teacher Jiang, I’m giving up my assignment. I want to work with you!”

Xu Ping added, “Teacher Jiang, I want to follow you too.”

Jiang Xia asked, “Are you sure? Government-assigned jobs come with a pension when you’re old. Won’t you regret giving that up? I don’t offer a state pension here.”

Tan Wanmei shook her head. “I won’t regret it! My assignment was to my hometown’s county seat, and I don’t want to go back.”

Xu Ping said, “I’m not going back either. I only want to work with Teacher Jiang.”

Jiang Xia didn’t say much else, only noting, “Alright. I’ll discuss the salary and benefits with you in detail tomorrow. Get some rest tonight.”

After Jiang Xia said her goodbyes to the three of them, she drove away.

Liu Weizhen walked back to the school with them and asked casually, “Why did you choose to give up your assigned jobs to follow Teacher Jiang? You don’t have to say if you don’t want to, I’m just curious.”

She wanted to know if they were truly committed to working with Jiang Xia long-term.

Tan Wanmei was the first to speak. “There’s nothing to hide. My hometown is in…”

Her hometown was in a remote mountainous area. Her mother had suffered complications during her birth that left her unable to have more children. Her father had abandoned her mother the following year to marry a stepmother who gave birth to a younger brother. Her father was incredibly sexist, favoring boys over girls. Every time she went back, her father and grandmother told her that once she finished university and started working, she had to send all her money home to pay for her younger brother’s education and support them in their old age.

Though she had technically been raised by her father’s family, her education was funded by her mother secretly selling mountain products. Whenever she had enough to eat, it was also thanks to her mother.

Now her mother’s health was failing; she was ill and had no money for treatment, and the local township hospital couldn’t help her anyway.

Tan Wanmei wanted to put down roots in the big city and bring her mother here for treatment and a better life.

Therefore, she wouldn’t go back home to work. If she worked in her hometown, she would be forced to hand over her earnings. If she didn’t, the villagers would call her unfilial. But if she did, she wouldn’t have any money left for her mother’s medical bills.

She wasn’t just refusing to go back to her hometown; she even planned to follow Teacher Jiang back to work at the factory in Jiang Xia’s hometown.

That way, her father would never know where she and her mother were living.

Chapter 829: Earning Enough to Build a House in One Winter Break?

Xu Ping had actually been assigned a decent job at a National Cotton Factory in his hometown, but he felt he could earn more by following Jiang Xia.

He was the eldest son in his family, and it hadn’t been easy for them to support him through university. He had a twin brother below him, as well as four other younger siblings.

With so many brothers and sisters, his parents had struggled to raise them.

His younger siblings had also been very bright students since they were young, but the family only had enough money to support one child. His twin brother had given up on school after graduating from middle school just so he could go to university and become the family’s first college graduate.

Therefore, he wanted to earn more money so his younger brothers and sisters would also have the chance to study.

Working at the National Cotton Factory offered a fixed salary, but it wasn’t enough.

He just wanted to make more money quickly!

Hearing this, Liu Weizhen was deeply moved; every family truly had their own cross to bear.

She also told them the reason why she followed Jiang Xia.

“Work hard for Teacher Jiang! My mother’s illness is cured now, and our family has even built the first new house in our village—two and a half stories tall. I’ve only worked for Teacher Jiang for two semesters! I earned enough to build that house in just one winter break.”

The two of them were profoundly shocked. Earning enough to build a house in a single winter break? Their determination to follow Jiang Xia became even firmer.

If they could earn that much, would they even need to worry about not having a pension when they grew old?

When Jiang Xia returned home, the three children were being bathed in the yard.

Second Auntie was helping the little sister, while Zhou Chenglei was washing the two sons.

Since the weather was hot, there was no fear of them catching a cold by bathing outside.

Jiang Xia greeted the family and then the children.

The three little ones loved playing with water. When Jiang Xia spoke to them, they simply picked up their toys and responded to their mother in “baby talk,” acknowledging her presence.

Usually, as soon as Jiang Xia returned, they would clamor for her to hold them.

Zhou Chenglei glanced at Jiang Xia. “Have you eaten?”

“I have,” Jiang Xia replied with a smile, playfully squeezing the little rubber duck the little sister handed her.

Zhou Chenglei wrapped both sons together in a large towel and picked them up.

There was pigeon soup simmering in the kitchen that he had saved for Jiang Xia. He planned to get the children dressed and then bring the soup out for her to drink.

Bundled together in the large towel by their father, the younger brother and elder brother were giggling uncontrollably.

Second Auntie tried to pick up the little sister, but she was still playing with her duck and refused to move, waving her hands and shaking her head vigorously. “No, no, no, no…”

Droplets of water from her hair and hands splashed all over Second Auntie’s face.

Recently, the little sister had learned to say “no.” Whenever she was unhappy with something, she would wave her hands and shake her head, saying, “No, no, no…”

“Auntie, let me do it!” Jiang Xia laughed as she stepped forward and took the towel from Second Auntie’s hands. “Baby, time to get up. Let’s go drink some milk and go to sleep.”

The allure of milk was quite strong; the little sister obediently allowed Second Auntie to pick her up.

Jiang Xia wrapped her daughter’s fair, chubby body in the towel and carried her into the house.

The couple dressed the children together, gave them each a bottle of powdered milk, and let them sleep on their own.

The three children had been weaned around their first birthday a short while ago and hadn’t made much of a fuss. After all, they usually drank breast milk from a baby bottle anyway, so they were used to holding a bottle when their mother was busy.

On their first birthday, Elder Mai and Father Jiang had specifically come over to hold a “one-year-old catch” ceremony for the children.

The eldest brother grabbed a toy air gun, the younger brother grabbed an abacus, and the little sister grabbed a small golden scale weight.

As Jiang Xia watched the children drink their milk and fall asleep, Zhou Chenglei placed the pigeon soup on the table. “Drink some soup.”

While sipping the soup, Jiang Xia said to Zhou Chenglei, “I plan to hire some students to draw more summer set design sketches. Now that the job assignments for those students in the studio have come out, most of them will be leaving.”

Zhou Chenglei knew it wasn’t easy to train people and that Jiang Xia had put a lot of effort into it. “How many are willing to stay?”

Jiang Xia replied, “Only two are willing to stay.”

Nowadays, university graduation still came with a guaranteed job assignment. It was too difficult to retain educated talent.

After all, it wasn’t easy for a whole family to support one university student; people went to university specifically to be assigned to a good work unit. Jiang Xia could understand that.

While Jiang Xia could certainly offer them a higher salary than a work unit, she absolutely couldn’t provide a pension.

In the future, she could help them pay into social security, but that was a matter for the future; no one would believe it if she brought it up now.

Besides, the money received from social security after retirement wouldn’t compare to a pension.

University students of this generation would receive quite a lot in pensions once they retired.

Zhou Chenglei said, “You’ll always be able to find people. If you can’t hire them full-time, then just pay the school’s students for their design sketches. Buy their designs and hire other people who can work long-term to handle the rest of the work.”

Zhou Chenglei felt that design required talent, whereas other tasks did not.

Jiang Xia nodded. “That’s what I was thinking too.”

So, Jiang Xia intended to ask some of the students who were staying behind to wait for their results to produce design sketches.

Many graduates from the countryside wanted to wait for their results to come out before leaving the school. However, staying in the city to wait for results cost about 2.50 yuan a day in expenses, which was more than everyone could afford.

But if they didn’t wait and asked classmates who stayed behind to mail the results back, there was the risk of them being sent to the wrong address, causing them to miss their job assignment.

Such incidents had happened before, and everyone was afraid of it.

Jiang Xia planned to offer 5 yuan for a single design sketch. She believed many would be willing to do it.

Of course, they couldn’t just draw any piece of clothing and get 5 yuan; they would only get the money if the design met her standards.

Jiang Xia planned to ask her classmates to spread the news tomorrow.

Zhou Chenglei added, “After the Canton Fair, the factory will have a reputation. It will attract more talent, so don’t worry.”

“Mhm.”

People were choosing to leave without hesitation now because her factory was a private enterprise; no one could guarantee that it would last long-term.

Furthermore, people in this era took pride in having an “iron rice bowl.” A government job in this era even allowed family members to cover shifts or take over the position after retirement.

So, it was very difficult for Jiang Xia to retain university graduates.

But that was okay. If they weren’t staying, it was because she wasn’t offering enough money. For those with true ability, she was willing to pay a bit more to keep them.

The few who had just chosen to leave had some talent and ability, but not to the extent that Jiang Xia was willing to go out of her way to keep them.

As a business owner, one would inevitably experience numerous people resigning suddenly or even being “stabbed in the back,” so Jiang Xia didn’t take it too heart.

It was just that with several people leaving at once, only three designers were left in the studio, which meant she would have to get busy again.

She had finally thought she could relax and spend more time with the children.

It seemed that in the future, she should hire fewer designers and more design assistants.

Having the four of them act as the primary designers would be enough.

If a design assistant resigned, she could simply hire another; the impact wouldn’t be as significant.

Remembering that summer break was approaching, Jiang Xia added, “Zhou Zhou and the others should be having their summer break soon. I’ll call and ask if they want to come to the capital to visit. We can have Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law bring them. Didn’t Second Sister-in-law say they would be coming to the capital in mid-July for her father’s birthday?”

Zhou Chenglei said, “The kids will definitely want to come, but we won’t have much time to take them out to play.”

“I should be finished with my busy work in about a week, which is right when their break starts. And even if I’m not done, I can still squeeze out a day or two to accompany them.”

Even though they were busy now, every weekend, she and Zhou Chenglei would take the triplets to the park for a day and set aside half a day for just the two of them to have some private time, ignoring everything else.

Jiang Xia glanced at the time; it was only eight-thirty and Zhou Zhou didn’t go to sleep until nine, so she went out to the hall to make the call.

Chapter 830: Promotion

The phone call was from Mother Zhou.

Mother Zhou’s voice was thick with excitement she couldn’t hide. “Xiao Xia, your Second Brother has been promoted! He’s being transferred to work in the city this month. I heard it’s as a Division Chief.”

Zhou Chengsen had a dinner engagement that night and returned home a bit late. As soon as he walked through the door, he shared the good news with his parents.

Jiang Xia smiled. “Mom, please give Second Brother my congratulations.”

Zhou Chenglei had also come out of the room. He sat down next to Jiang Xia, leaning close to her with his arm wrapped around her waist.

Grandpa, Grandma, and Second Auntie, who had been watching Jiang Xia talk on the phone, habitually and silently averted their gaze to the television.

This natural intimacy was etched into their daily lives. He didn’t think twice about it, and neither did she. After seeing it every day, the four elders had long since grown accustomed to it.

Zhou Chenglei was thinking to himself: I wonder if those congratulations are for Second Brother becoming a father again, or for his transfer and promotion.

His father-in-law was scheduled to take office in a neighboring province by August at the latest. He would likely take a few capable colleagues with him when he left, which would create vacancies.

Thinking of this, Zhou Chenglei felt certain it was a promotion through a transfer.

He waited patiently by Jiang Xia’s side until she finished the call with his mother, and then he confirmed his suspicion.

Grandpa, Grandma, and Second Auntie were all delighted to hear the news!

Li Qiufeng was inside the house reading, but she came out when she heard the laughter.

After the family shared in the joy, Grandma said, “When the time comes, will Yingying go to school in the city or stay in the village? If Yingying goes to the city, your mother will have to go there to help with the children, right? Otherwise, both husband and wife have to work—how will they manage the school runs? If Yingying goes to the city for school, then Zhou Zhou should be transferred there as well. Otherwise, if they’re split between two places, how can your mother look after everyone?”

Zhou Chenglei replied, “We’ll wait for the children to come over for summer vacation, then ask for their opinions and discuss it.”

Jiang Xia nodded. “It doesn’t matter if Zhou Zhou transfers or not. Once I get my graduation certificate, we can head back too.”

When that time came, she would move the design studio back as well.

The shops would remain open, managed by Liu Weizhen and Li Qiufeng. Most of the work was done by hired help anyway.

Liu Weizhen still had three years until her university graduation, so she would definitely want to keep the shop running.

Whether Li Qiufeng went to normal school or joined the military to take the university entrance exam, having the shop would provide her with an extra source of income.

From then on, Jiang Xia wouldn’t take a cut of the shop’s profits; they would also take over the rent payments. Jiang Xia would simply help them secure clearance stock from the factory.

Currently, the clothes in their shop were selling well. Several other clothing stores had opened on that same street, also helping factories clear their inventory.

Competition was starting to increase, but their business remained the best. After all, not everyone could get clearance stock at such low prices like Jiang Xia could, and the shop already had a loyal customer base.

Grandma said, “If your mother has to go to the city to help with the kids, your grandpa and I will continue to help you with your children. Don’t worry about them; you two just focus on your work.”

Grandpa nodded in agreement. “Right. Your grandma and I can still manage for a few more years. You’re at the age where you should be building your careers. Work hard and don’t worry about the kids at home. If you don’t strive while you’re young, you won’t get the chance when you’re old!”

Second Auntie added, “Xiao Xia, don’t worry. If there’s no one to watch them, I’ll keep helping!”

Without Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei, her daughter could never have married so well, and their family wouldn’t be living such a good life now. Out of gratitude for this kindness, Second Auntie was determined to help raise the triplets.

Jiang Xia smiled and said, “Thank you, Grandpa, Grandma, and Second Auntie. But Second Uncle’s seafood stall is doing so well now that he’s having to hire people. Don’t you need to go back and help at the stall, Second Auntie? We can just hire someone.”

Grandpa countered, “It’s not good to hire outsiders to raise children. Who knows what kind of people they are? We don’t want them teaching the children bad habits.”

Grandma added, “Why hire anyone? We can handle it. I wouldn’t feel right leaving them with a stranger.”

Second Auntie agreed, “We can just hire someone for the seafood stall. Anyone can handle the job of cleaning fish, but you can’t just hire any random person to look after children. If the person has a bad heart and mistreats the kids, the children wouldn’t even know how to tell us. I just wouldn’t be at ease.”

Second Auntie had been looking after the triplets since they were a month old. She truly treated them as her own grandsons. As the three children grew more mischievous, Second Auntie was even more protective of them than their own parents.

Grandpa and Grandma doted on the triplets even more, practically granting their every whim.

Grandma mentioned, “And Second Auntie can help you until Qiufeng has her own baby.”

Li Qiufeng’s face turned red instantly. “I’m in no rush. It won’t be that soon for me.”

The whole family laughed.

Jiang Xia was very moved. “Thank you, Grandpa, Grandma, Second Auntie.”

Grandma waved it off. “What’s there to thank? Don’t be so formal! Staying with you two, we’re the ones enjoying a life of luxury.”

Second Auntie laughed as well. “That’s the truth! It really is a blessing. Mom and Dad have been here for a year and they look ten years younger! When I go back to the village, everyone says I look younger too.”

Caring for children was nowhere near as grueling as farm work. They had gained a bit of healthy weight and didn’t have to toil under the sun, so their skin had become fairer. Being fair and well-nourished naturally made one look younger.

As people age, they shouldn’t be too thin; having a bit of meat on the bones and a full face makes one look youthful and distinguished.

A week later, Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang arrived with the group of children.

This time, Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang had specifically taken ten days of family visit leave. They had already taken seven days when they got married.

The couple used this holiday to host dinners for the remaining relatives. For someone like Ruan Tang, who wasn’t fond of socializing, a single wedding celebration split into several rounds of banquets was incredibly exhausting.

However, Father Ruan and Mother Ruan were exceptionally happy this time.

With Zhou Chengsen transferred to the city, the couple wouldn’t have to live apart. Furthermore, the fact that their son-in-law could work in the city proved his capability. He was still so young; his future looked very promising.

By the time the couple finished their social duties and Jiang Xia finished her work, Zhou Chenglei was still busy.

So, Jiang Xia took the triplets and, along with Zhou Chengsen’s family, led the group of children through every sight worth seeing in the capital, eating at every delicious restaurant and small eatery they could find.

They played for five days straight. By then, Zhou Chenglei had finished his work, and Jiang Xia’s grades were finally out.

That day, Zhou Chenglei took his nephews and nieces along with Jiang Xia to the school to check her results. He wanted the children to experience the academic atmosphere of a century-old, prestigious university.

There was no need to bring the triplets; they had been there many times and were still too young to understand anything.

The two of them led the nephews and nieces onto the campus.

Zhou Zhou looked around. “Auntie, your school is so huge! It feels like I could walk forever and never reach the end.”

Zhou Ying added, “And it’s so beautiful! The school gate is so special, like an ornamental archway.”

Zhou Wenyao said, “Of course it’s big. Why else would it be called a ‘Great School’?”

Zhou Wenzu chimed in, “I get it now! Our elementary school is small, so it’s called ‘Small School.’ My big brother’s middle school is a bit bigger than elementary, so it’s ‘Middle School.’ High school is a bit bigger and higher than middle school, so it’s ‘High School.’ And university is the biggest of all, so it’s ‘Great School’! Uncle, am I right? What’s my reward?”

Zhou Wenguang’s mouth twitched. How did I end up with such a dim-witted younger brother?

Zhou Chenglei curled his finger and “rewarded” him with a sharp rap on the head with his knuckles. “You tell me if you’re right! When you get back, you’d better study hard!”

Zhou Wenzu was angry but dared not speak out. How was he not studying hard? He had made progress again this semester. Auntie had even given him a reward just a few days ago!

Chapter 831: Is Jiang Xia Lopsided?

Not long after Jiang Xia’s group walked into the university, they noticed a large crowd gathered around the school bulletin board.

Those stuck on the outside were asking the people in front, “What are you all looking at?”

“Is this where they posted the unit assignments for the graduates?”

“No, you have to go check your unit assignment yourself. We’re looking at Teacher Jiang Xia’s thesis.”

“Teacher Jiang Xia published a thesis? What kind of thesis?”

“A graduation thesis. It’s written so well! As expected of Teacher Jiang Xia—she’s amazing!”

“A graduation thesis? Isn’t Teacher Jiang Xia only a freshman? How did she publish a graduation thesis?”

“That’s why I said she’s amazing! She finished four years of professional knowledge in her first year and graduated. Not only did she take the undergraduate graduation exams, but she also sat for the postgraduate exams in Economics.”

“This thesis is incredible. I’m an Economics major, yet I can’t even understand a thesis written by someone from the Fashion Design department!”

“Did Teacher Jiang Xia double major in Economics? I’ve never seen her attend any of our classes!”

“I haven’t seen her in our department either, but near the end of the term, I saw her in the library reading Economics books. I was sitting right next to her, and she reads so fast! In the time it took me to read a single paragraph, she’d already finished a whole page and was flipping it. I thought she was just looking for references, but it turns out she was preparing for exams.”

“I saw her in the library reading Economics books too. She was there for several days straight. I even saw her borrow one or two books every time she left and return them the very next day.”

“Teacher Jiang Xia couldn’t have passed the postgraduate Economics exams after only studying for a few days, right?!”

“Probably not. She likely self-studied in private for a long time, just like she did with foreign languages.”

“How long could it have been? She’s only a freshman this year.”

The crowd fell into a brief silence.

“I’ve realized that Teacher Jiang Xia is a student who doesn’t focus on her ‘proper’ business. Her official major is clearly Fashion Design, yet it can’t compare to the two subjects she’s dabbling in. Her Fashion Design degree is only an undergraduate one, while her side subjects are at a postgraduate level.”

“Now that you mention it, it’s true. This just proves that our Fashion Design major is incredibly difficult to learn. Even Teacher Jiang Xia couldn’t master it! No wonder I did so poorly this time; I almost failed a course.”

“Bullshit! Economics is the hard one!”

“Compared to your two subjects, English is the hardest. You have to memorize words until you start questioning your life. And that English pronunciation—it’s nothing but ‘s’ sounds all day long! When I was at home practicing my ‘s’ sounds, my mom thought I was wishing death on her!”

“I’ve got it. Teacher Jiang Xia must be a lopsided student. She’s naturally better at the two subjects she’s dabbling in, and Fashion Design is just a hobby. After all, girls love to dress up.”

“It’s over for me. Even Teacher Jiang Xia’s ‘weaker’ subjects are better than my best scores!”

…

Jiang Xia overheard everyone discussing her thesis, so she didn’t bother squeezing through the crowd to look.

She wasn’t a lopsided student. Strictly speaking, Fashion Design was the elective for her.

She had spent a great deal of time and effort studying the other two subjects in her previous life.

That postgraduate Economics thesis was also something she had spent significant time and effort researching and writing in her past life; because of that effort, she remembered it vividly.

However, times had changed, so she had made some modifications. But she was someone who had witnessed rapid economic development—she was standing on the shoulders of giants. That was why her thesis was so stunning to everyone.

Zhou Zhou asked Zhou Chenglei, “Uncle, are they talking about Auntie?”

Zhou Chenglei nodded. “Yes.”

Zhou Zhou couldn’t help but look at the crowd and then at the university before her.

She was determined to study hard so that one day she could become an amazing university student like her auntie.

Jiang Xia said to Zhou Chenglei, “I’m going to the principal’s office for a bit. You take the children for a walk around.”

“We’ll wait for you outside the principal’s office.”

Jiang Xia then walked toward the principal’s office alone.

Her graduation certificate was with the principal.

Jiang Xia stayed in the principal’s office for fifteen minutes before coming out.

If Zhou Chenglei hadn’t been waiting outside with the children, the principal wouldn’t have let her go so quickly.

The principal had been pulling her aside, trying to convince her to stay and become a teacher.

Naturally, Jiang Xia did not agree. Right now, she only wanted to manage the food factory and the garment factory well.

After Jiang Xia received her graduation certificate, the family flew back to the fishing village the following day.

The day after returning to Xiaoyucun, Jiang Xia went to the garment factory to check on the production of winter clothes.

Jiang Xia first went to the warehouse to check. “How much of the fabric for mass production has arrived?”

The warehouse supervisor replied, “There are still five types of fabric that haven’t arrived. I’ve called to confirm each one, and they will all be here by the twentieth.”

Jiang Xia nodded. “Have you conducted shrinkage tests on the fabrics as they arrived?”

“Yes, we’ve tested everything. So far, none of the fabrics have significant shrinkage. The quality of these fabrics is excellent, and they don’t bleed much color.”

Jiang Xia nodded.

When they were making the sample garments, they had sourced high-end fabrics. They were more expensive, but since this was the first batch of clothes produced after the garment factory’s restructuring, she needed to make a big name for them right away.

Jiang Xia did a round through the warehouse, then went to the workshop and the finishing section. She checked the workmanship of the mass production items and looked over the finishing section to see if the threads were trimmed cleanly and if the buttons were sewn on securely. Seeing that everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion, she felt relieved enough to head over to the food factory.

The food factory had new products waiting for Jiang Xia to taste-test.

The new products this time were soda crackers and spicy strips.

The soda crackers currently came in three flavors: original, sea salt sesame, and scallion.

The scallion flavor was the most fragrant. There wasn’t a huge difference between the sea salt sesame and the original, but those with sensitive palates could still detect a hint of sesame aroma.

Jiang Xia remarked, “Try adjusting the recipe for the sea salt sesame ones. Add a little more sesame, but don’t overdo it.”

Thinking about how they were near the coast, she added, “We can try making a seaweed flavor for the soda crackers.”

As for the spicy strips, they were made according to the recipe Jiang Xia had provided, and both the chewiness and the flavor were excellent.

Since the baking equipment had already been ordered and arrived, Jiang Xia decided to stay at the factory to make cookies.

She had specifically brought butter, eggs, milk, chocolate, and other raw materials.

Jiang Xia spent the entire afternoon at the food factory and made two flavors of cookies.

Everyone who tasted them thought they were delicious.

“So fragrant and sweet, they melt in your mouth!”

“These cookies are even better than the soda crackers.”

“They have different flavors and textures, so you can’t really compare them. People who like savory things will definitely prefer the soda crackers; the more you chew them, the more fragrant they become—that’s the natural scent of wheat. These cookies have the fragrance of butter and milk.”

Jiang Xia instructed, “Following our usual practice, once the new products are manufactured, send some to our regular customers. Ship them out along with their existing orders.”

“Understood.”

Jiang Xia gave a few more instructions before heading home with a large bag of the new products.

When she got home, she had everyone try them. The children all said the cookies were better, while Mother Zhou and Great-Grandma preferred the soda crackers.

As for the spicy strips, no one could stop eating them.

Chapter 832: Showing Up at the Door

Just as the house was bustling with everyone tasting the new products, someone came to the door.

Outside the yard, He Xiuhui stood tentatively, peeking tentatively through the entrance.

Hearing the laughter from inside, she felt a bit afraid to enter.

Inside, several children were eating spicy strips, sticking out their tongues and huffing, “So spicy! So spicy!”

“It’s too spicy!”

…

Even though it was spicy, they couldn’t stop. They ate one after another.

Zhou Zhou finally couldn’t take it anymore. She poured a glass of water and gulped it down desperately.

Seeing this, the other children also went looking for water.

It really was too spicy!

Great-Grandma and the others laughed at the sight.

The triplets were munching on butter cookies. They picked up a pack of spicy strips and handed it to their mother and grandmother, asking them to help tear open the packaging.

Jiang Xia took it and pretended she couldn’t pull it open.

Great-Grandma remarked, “These spicy strips are delicious. The more you eat, the more you want, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to handle too many.”

Great-Grandpa added, “Just drink some herbal tea and you’ll be fine.”

Mother Zhou countered, “It’s not good for children to drink too much herbal tea. These spicy strips would be top-tier for you men to have with wine, but you can’t let the children eat too many. You lot are only allowed one pack each.”

Great-Grandma agreed, “They’re tasty, but way too spicy. Eating too much isn’t good; even I can’t handle it, let alone the kids.”

After drinking her water, Zhou Ying saw that Zhou Zhou’s lips were swollen. She burst out laughing. “Ah, Zhou Zhou! Your lips are all swollen! They look like sausages! Haha…”

“Whoa, Zhou Zhou, your mouth is so red and swollen!”

…

He Xiuhui hadn’t expected so many people to be inside. She had been hesitating for a long time, unable to work up the courage to enter, but when she heard someone say Zhou Zhou’s mouth was swollen, she forgot everything else and rushed in.

Zhou Zhou covered her mouth and looked at her older siblings. “Your mouths are swollen too!”

“What happened to Zhou Zhou? Is she okay?”

He Xiuhui burst into the room, startling everyone. They looked at her in surprise, and it took a few seconds for them to recognize who she was.

He Xiuhui glanced at Zhou Ying, then at Zhou Zhou, before finally identifying which one was her daughter. She pulled Zhou Zhou over and forced her hand down. “How did your mouth get so swollen? If you can’t handle spice, don’t eat it. You’re still so young—who gave you something this spicy?”

Mother Zhou’s face darkened. “I gave it to her. What? Is there a problem?”

He Xiuhui jumped in fright and lowered her head, her grip on Zhou Zhou’s shoulders tightening. “No, that’s not what I meant.”

“If that’s not what you meant, then what did you mean?”

Mother Zhou didn’t blame this former daughter-in-law for remarrying before her late husband’s body was even cold; after all, remarrying was normal.

But she hadn’t come back to see her granddaughter once in these past six or seven years. Now, the moment she stepped inside, she was acting all passive-aggressive, and her words were full of barbs!

What was her angle?

These snacks were brought back by her younger daughter-in-law. If she spoke like that, what would Xiao Xia think?

Xiao Xia’s treatment of Zhou Zhou was beyond reproach—far better than this biological mother’s. If she kept talking like that, people who didn’t know better might think Xiao Xia was mistreating Zhou Zhou!

Jiang Xia stepped forward and brushed He Xiuhui’s hands away. “You’re hurting my daughter. Please let go!”

Zhou Zhou’s shoulders were actually hurting. She quickly pushed He Xiuhui away and retreated directly behind Jiang Xia. “Auntie, who are you? What business is it of yours what I eat?”

She was already in the third grade; what was wrong with eating spicy strips?

He Xiuhui: “…”

Auntie?

Daughter?

Zhou Ying also looked at He Xiuhui with a bewildered expression. “Yeah, Auntie, who are you? Why are you grabbing my little sister?”

Great-Grandma spoke up with a sarcastic tone, “Exactly! Who are you? Who even remembers you anymore? To think someone could have the heart to just abandon and ignore their child when they were so small…”

“…”

Faced with the overbearing presence of Mother Zhou and Great-Grandma, He Xiuhui withered instantly. She knew she was in the wrong for what happened back then.

She couldn’t hold her head up in front of them.

But she’d had no choice at the time!

She was so young; was she supposed to never remarry?

Just now, she had simply been worried about her daughter and spoke without thinking; she hadn’t intended to target anyone.

He Xiuhui had a weak personality, and she immediately apologized, “I’m sorry, I misspoke just now.”

Jiang Xia turned to the children. “Guangzong, Yaozu, Zhou Zhou, Yingying—why don’t you help me distribute these snacks to the other kids in the village? See which ones they like best, okay?”

“Okay!” The group of children responded happily, grabbed the snacks, and ran out!

The triplets tilted their heads back, watching their big brothers and sisters run out one by one. They also hurried to grab a pack of snacks from the table and followed, waddling out after them.

Great-Grandma, Grandpa, Grandma, and the others took the opportunity to follow them out, leaving the room clear.

Only then did Mother Zhou ask, “What are you doing here?”

Seeing that everyone else had left, He Xiuhui finally spoke. “Mom, thank you for your hard work raising Zhou Zhou all these years. You and Dad are getting older now, and my situation has become more convenient. I’d like to take Zhou Zhou back to live with me.”

Last year, she had taken some medicine from Dr. Gao to regulate her body and managed to get pregnant. However, she had been bumped by her husband’s child from his previous marriage, suffered a fall, and lost the baby. This time, Dr. Gao said she had damaged her constitution and it would be very difficult for her to conceive again.

Her husband and mother-in-law felt they were in the wrong, so they agreed to let her bring her own daughter to live with them.

So, she could finally bring Zhou Zhou back to her side!

Jiang Xia wasn’t surprised. What was bound to happen had finally arrived.

Mother Zhou looked as if she had heard the world’s biggest joke. “Are you kidding me? Absolutely not! Don’t even talk about it!”

Zhou Zhou was Old Third’s only bloodline. How could she possibly give her up?

“Don’t worry, Zhou Zhou will still be Chenyan’s child. She won’t change her last name. I just want to bring her to my side so she can go to school in town. The schools in town are better than the ones in the village. I’m Zhou Zhou’s mother, and I only want what’s best for her. I won’t fail to love her. I’ve always wanted to have Zhou Zhou with me, but I didn’t have the means before. Now, I finally have the chance.”

She could finally reunite with her daughter, even if the price was losing another child.

Furthermore, her husband’s children from his first wife didn’t like her and weren’t close to her. She was afraid that when she got old, she would have no children to provide for her.

She wanted to take Zhou Zhou back now while she was still young and raise her properly. Otherwise, if she waited until Zhou Zhou was grown, she wouldn’t have the heart to ask Zhou Zhou to support her in her old age since she hadn’t raised her.

Mother Zhou snapped, “No, don’t even think about it! Get out! This is not up for discussion! Besides, Zhou Zhou has already forgotten who you are!”

“Mom, do you not trust me? My current husband has his own children; I won’t make Zhou Zhou change her name. I just want to make it up to her.”

Jiang Xia spoke up, “Comrade He Xiuhui, have you forgotten that Zhou Zhou is my daughter now? Legally, she is my daughter. You can’t just take her away whenever you feel like it.”

Mother Zhou realized this was true. She had almost forgotten that detail. “Right! Zhou Zhou has been adopted by Old Fourth and his wife. You can’t take her!”

He Xiuhui replied, “That doesn’t matter. I’m really not here to ‘steal’ Zhou Zhou. Her household registration doesn’t need to be moved; it can stay with the Zhou family. I’ll just take her to live with me and raise her, but she will still be a child of the Zhou family. I just want to fulfill my duty as a mother.”

She truly didn’t think of it as stealing. She was just afraid that if she didn’t raise Zhou Zhou now, the girl would have no feelings for her.

He Xiuhui felt that by putting it this way, Jiang Xia would surely agree. After all, who would want to help raise someone else’s daughter?

Chapter 833: Rebuking Her

He Xiuhui looked at Jiang Xia, waiting for her to agree.

Jiang Xia countered, “If you wanted to fulfill your responsibilities as a mother, you should have done it sooner! Even if it wasn’t convenient to take Zhou Zhou with you when you left, couldn’t you have come back to see her every now and then? You’ve left her in a position where she has a mother, yet it’s as if she has none at all. Besides, you say you want to be a mother now—is it because you actually care, or are you worried about who will provide for you in your old age? Are you trying to cultivate a relationship now just so your daughter will support you later?”

Mother Zhou nodded vigorously. Exactly!

Where had she been all this time? Even if she remarried, she could have come back to visit Zhou Zhou. Their family hadn’t stopped her from remarrying, nor had they stopped her from visiting.

He Xiuhui was speechless. “…”

“You say you want to fulfill your duty and take Zhou Zhou away, but can you guarantee she won’t be mistreated in your new home? From what I can see, your life at your in-laws’ isn’t exactly easy, is it? If you can’t even protect yourself, how are you going to protect Zhou Zhou?”

Mother Zhou again nodded with all her might.

In this entire town, very few families were better off than theirs!

He Xiuhui remained silent. “…”

“Furthermore, if you take Zhou Zhou away, can you provide her with a better life? What guarantee do you have that she’ll be better off than she is now? If she goes to your house, she probably won’t even have her own room, will she?”

Mother Zhou continued to nod emphatically!

He Xiuhui bit her lip. “…”

There were only three rooms in her house: one for her stepson, one for her and her husband, and one for her parents-in-law. There truly wasn’t a separate room for Zhou Zhou, but she thought they could perhaps partition the stepson’s room.

Following her thoughts, He Xiuhui argued, “The school in town is better than the one in the village…”

Jiang Xia interrupted, “You say the learning environment in town is better, but as long as Zhou Zhou is willing, we can send her to school in the city, let alone the town.”

Mother Zhou nodded again!

Jiang Xia continued, “I won’t stop you from fulfilling your responsibilities as a mother. You can come back and see Zhou Zhou more often. But taking her away is absolutely out of the question; there’s no room for negotiation. I am now Zhou Zhou’s legal adoptive mother, and I am responsible for her future. If I don’t raise her, I’d be breaking the law. Therefore, I will not allow you to take her. We signed that contract before—you haven’t forgotten, have you?”

Jiang Xia would never let her take Zhou Zhou away. Taking her back would just mean Zhou Zhou would have to do housework and serve a whole family, only to be married off for profit after graduating middle school!

He Xiuhui had no retort. “…”

Mother Zhou chimed in, “That’s right! No one is stopping you from being a mother. If you want to fulfill your duties, you can visit often, but taking her away is impossible!”

He Xiuhui finally spoke up, “Of course I haven’t forgotten the contract, but I am Zhou Zhou’s biological mother! Why can’t I take her back?”

“So what? As her biological mother, you didn’t even visit her once in all these years. Would it have been so hard to show a little concern? To put it bluntly, you’re just selfish. You were afraid Zhou Zhou would affect your current life. You’re only back now because you’re afraid of having no one to provide for you in your old age. It’s not because you want to raise her or because you love her; the only person you love is yourself.”

Jiang Xia rarely spoke so harshly, but she knew that if she didn’t humiliate the woman now, she would keep showing up at their door.

He Xiuhui stammered, “I…”

“Come with me and see,” Jiang Xia said.

She led He Xiuhui to Zhou Zhou’s room.

He Xiuhui was stunned by the sight of the luxurious, princess-style bedroom.

It was no less grand than the rooms of wealthy heiresses seen on Hong Kong television dramas.

The chest of drawers was covered with various dolls and plush toys.

Zhou Zhou must have forgotten to close the wardrobe after picking out her clothes; it was filled with outfits, every single one of them looking brand new.

Jiang Xia reached out and closed the wardrobe door.

“This is Zhou Zhou’s room. If you truly loved her instead of just thinking of your own interests, you would know whether it’s better for her to stay here or go with you. You’d know where she would receive more love.”

He Xiuhui was left speechless once more. “…”

In the end, He Xiuhui left, utterly mortified by Jiang Xia’s words.

She also realized from Jiang Xia’s attitude that she would never be able to take her daughter away. Jiang Xia had even threatened to call the police if she tried to take the girl by force.

She couldn’t understand why a biological mother couldn’t take her own child back. It wasn’t as if she had sold her daughter back then.

Shortly after He Xiuhui left, Tian Caihua arrived with a large watermelon, intending to share it with the children.

Since it was the holidays, the kids were over at Jiang Xia’s place every day to play.

Besides, Jiang Xia’s house had a refrigerator, and the watermelon tasted much better chilled.

On her way, Tian Caihua had run into some village women who prodded for gossip. “Ah Hua, did He Xiuhui come back to take Zhou Zhou away?”

Tian Caihua’s eyes widened in surprise. “She’s back?”

Tian Caihua’s eyes seemed larger these days; she had lost another 2.5 kg this month and now weighed 57.5 kg, looking much slimmer.

“Yeah! I saw her go into your brother-in-law’s house and stay there for a long time before coming out. I heard she can’t have children anymore, so she’s probably here to take Zhou Zhou. You’d better be careful.”

“Take Zhou Zhou? In her dreams! After we’ve raised Zhou Zhou to this age, she thinks she can just take her? But what do you mean she can’t have children?”

“My niece lives near the street where she moved to, and she told me…”

After soaking up the gossip, Tian Caihua hurried into Jiang Xia’s house clutching the watermelon.

The triplets’ eyes lit up at the sight of the fruit.

The little sister, a total foodie, waddled over, poked the watermelon with a finger, and looked up at Jiang Xia. “Mama, melon.”

Jiang Xia smiled. “That’s right, watermelon. Do you want some?”

The little sister nodded. “Mhm!”

“We already had some at noon. You can’t have too much, or your tummy will hurt tonight.”

Watermelon was cold in nature, so children shouldn’t eat too much of it.

However, the three children absolutely loved it.

Back when they turned one, Father Jiang had picked two of the best early melons from his roof garden and specifically brought them to the capital so his daughter and grandchildren could taste his homegrown fruit.

That had been the triplets’ first time eating watermelon.

The little sister and the younger brother, both little foodies, had squinted their eyes in delight as they held their slices, their little feet tapping the floor in satisfaction.

They looked incredibly smug and content.

The eldest brother, as usual, remained calm and composed. He ate his portion neatly and seriously, not letting a single drop of juice touch his clothes. However, once finished, he actually asked Jiang Xia for a second piece—which was very rare for him.

When they returned yesterday, they had first eaten at the Jiang family home. Father Jiang had picked two more watermelons; they had cut one there and brought the other back, which they had just finished at noon today.

The three children had indeed been eating quite a bit of watermelon lately.

“Let’s put it in the fridge to chill first,” Tian Caihua said.

Then she turned to Jiang Xia and asked, “I heard He Xiuhui is back to take Zhou Zhou?”

Mother Zhou rolled her eyes at her. “Your news is always so fast!”

Just then, Father Zhou and his sons returned from the sea.

Father Zhou asked, “What news?”

Tian Caihua couldn’t wait to recount the whole story.

Father Zhou snorted. “She’s dreaming!”

He continued, “Fortunately, Zhou Zhou’s household registration is under A-Lei’s name. She couldn’t take her even if she sued. But we must remember to tell Zhou Zhou not to leave with anyone else.”

“Of course!” Mother Zhou agreed.

The whole family felt incredibly lucky that Jiang Xia had arranged for Zhou Zhou’s legal registration to be with the couple back then.

After discussing the matter for a while, Father Zhou shared some good news. “Old lady, we went to the shipyard today. Our big fishing boat is finished! It’s ready for its launch test. Factory Director Zhou was just about to notify us when we arrived.”

Chapter 834: Only That Much

The day the new fishing boat was to be launched was a Sunday. Mother Zhou and Tian Caihua had specifically looked for an auspicious date, so they had waited over ten days before going to collect the vessel.

Ruan Tang had also specifically taken time off to return home.

The entire family drove the Jeep and a tractor toward the shipyard.

As they were preparing to depart, the triplets saw their older brothers and sisters climbing onto the tractor. They also pointed at the tractor and cried out, “Papa!”

“Mama!”

They meant they wanted to go up as well.

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei placed the three toddlers on the tractor to play for a while.

However, when it was time to leave and Zhou Chenglei went to carry them off, they refused to come down.

“Go sit in the car with Mama,” Zhou Chenglei said, reaching out to pick up his daughter.

Little Bao pushed her father’s hand away and pointed at her older brothers and sisters. “Brothers, sisters!”

She meant she wanted to stay with them.

Although the triplets couldn’t speak in full sentences yet, they were already very good at expressing themselves through body language.

Anyone could understand them.

Both Dr. Gao and Ruan Tang remarked that they were much smarter than many children their age.

Both women worked in maternal and child healthcare and had seen countless children; the triplets were among the smartest and most beautiful they had ever encountered.

Jiang Xia said, “Let them be! I’ll keep an eye on them here; you go drive the Jeep.”

As she spoke, she climbed onto the tractor.

Zhou Chenglei quickly reached out to steady her.

Dabao watched them.

When Jiang Xia sat down next to Dabao, the little boy also reached out a hand to steady his mother.

Jiang Xia smiled and gave Dabao a kiss.

He really was her sturdy little suit of armor!

Zhou Chenglei didn’t see this, as Father Zhou was also climbing onto the tractor to watch his grandsons. Chenglei helped his elderly father up.

Then, Zhou Chenglei said to Zhou Chengsen, “Second Brother, you drive. I’ll watch the children.”

He tossed the car keys to him.

“Alright,” Zhou Chengsen replied, catching the keys.

He happened to feel like driving as well.

Zhou Chengsen went to help Ruan Tang into the car.

He remembered that Ruan Tang’s period should have arrived two days ago, but it hadn’t.

He wanted her to get a checkup, but Ruan Tang said it was possible for it to be a few days early or late. She occasionally had irregular cycles, and if she got checked too soon and wasn’t pregnant, her colleagues would laugh at her for making a fuss over nothing.

Father Zhou said to his eldest grandson, “Wenguang, you watch Dabao. Grandpa will take photos for you all.”

Zhou Wenguang pulled his little brother close, sitting behind Dabao to protect him.

Wenguang unwrapped a lollipop and gave it to Dabao.

Dabao looked at his eldest brother, took the candy, and then fed it into his little sister’s mouth.

He didn’t like sweets, but his sister did.

Little Bao opened her mouth and took it. Then she picked up a bag of French fries that her brother liked and handed it to him.

Dabao took them and handed the bag to the eldest brother behind him, gesturing for Wenguang to open it for him.

Jiang Xia sat behind Little Bao, smiling as she watched the scene. She reached out and patted Dabao’s head.

Just then, Erbao handed a butter cookie to his mother. “Mama, mua~”

Jiang Xia took a bite and said with a mouthful of cookie, “Erbao is such a good boy.”

Father Zhou sat in a corner of the tractor, clicking his camera away, capturing these moments of maternal love and sibling harmony.

They had many photo albums at home. Whenever he went out to the distant seas, he would bring one or two along to flip through whenever he was free.

He remembered exactly when every photo was taken and what had happened at the time. He was always telling stories to the crew members on the boat.

As a result, the crew members became intimately familiar with the story behind every single photograph.

Most of them were Zhou Chenglei’s former brothers-in-arms. Even those who weren’t had heard stories about him, and they found it completely impossible to imagine that their once impartial, cold-hearted regimental commander could be so gentle with children.

Looking at those warm photos, Jiang Yang had once remarked, “The commander’s impartiality, cold-bloodedness, and ferocity were all given to us and the enemy. All his tenderness was saved for his wife and children!”

Father Zhou would have new stories to share with everyone during his next voyage.

A Jeep and a tractor traveled one after the other down the village road.

Early morning was the busiest time for the villagers, and they encountered many people along the way.

Seeing the entire Zhou family heading out, the villagers asked curiously, “Yongfu, where is your whole family going?”

Father Zhou said with a beaming smile, “Ah Xin and the three brothers went in together to order a fishing boat a while back. The new ship is being launched today, so we’re taking the kids along to join the excitement.”

Whenever someone asked along the way, Father Zhou gave the same answer, leaving behind a trail of envious and shocked villagers watching their vehicles disappear into the distance.

When the vehicles reached the pier, there were even more people.

The crowd was so thick it blocked the road, forcing the vehicles to slow down, which gave people more time to talk.

“Your family bought another boat? Another big fishing boat?”

Father Zhou replied, “It’s not that big, only sixty-four meters.”

Villagers: “…”

Only sixty-four meters?!

Good heavens! Their boats were only a few meters or maybe a dozen meters long!

And he called a sixty-four-meter ship “only that much”!

“Yongfu, you have to host a few tables for a banquet when you get back to celebrate!”

Father Zhou agreed readily with a laugh. “Alright. Come over to my place for two cups when the time comes.”

Someone heard this and ran alongside the tractor. “Uncle Yongfu, you’re going to the shipyard? Can you give me a lift? I want to go see the boat too.”

“Sure, hop on!”

The tractor wasn’t moving fast, so it didn’t even need to stop.

Zhou Wencai grabbed the iron frame of the tractor and climbed up.

Father Zhou took the opportunity to give him a hand.

The road had cleared, and the tractor passed through the pier.

As the crowd watched the tractor move away, they continued to chatter.

“Zhou Yongfu’s wealth has grown to an incomprehensible level!”

“Incomprehensible indeed! No one knows exactly how much money that family has.”

“The money that food factory makes every day must be uncountable!”

“The food factory belongs to A-Lei and his wife. This time, it’s the three brothers who partnered up to buy the big fishing boat.”

An old man sighed. “Zhou Yongfu knows how to raise his sons. They’re united. Once one son became wealthy, he didn’t forget to help his two brothers. Not like the little troublemakers in my house—always bickering and feuding, each wishing their own brother was doing worse than them.”

“My two brats are the same. They drive me to death with anger, arguing every day they’re out at sea. When they were little, the two brothers clearly had a great relationship. After they got married, everything changed!”

“My sons too. When they were young, the brothers would share the same pair of pants. After marriage, it all changed. They were all led astray by their wives! Before marriage, the brothers would go to sea on one boat and split the money equally without any complaints. Now that the eldest and second have married, one wife says the other guy does less work, and the other says her husband’s brother isn’t putting in any effort! They argue every day! Can you make money when the house is in constant turmoil? I don’t believe it for a second!”

“Just divide the family! If you argue too much, the affection disappears…”

…

On the tractor, Jiang Xia greeted Zhou Wencai. “Brother Wencai, are you going to order a boat too?”

Zhou Wencai was Zhou Wenchao’s elder brother. Zhou Wenchao had always been helping the Zhou family with their fishing.

Zhou Wencai smiled and said, “I’m just going to take a look. I’m not sure if ordering a boat is expensive right now.”

Father Zhou added, “The prices have gone up compared to last year—quite significantly, in fact. But if you don’t order this year, it’ll be even more expensive next year. The earlier you decide, the better the deal. How big of a boat are you planning to get?”

“I’m thinking of something around ten meters. I’m not sure if a trawl net or a seine net would be better, and I don’t know how much it will cost.”

Father Zhou said, “You should check it out at the shipyard later. Prices vary depending on the configuration.”

Chapter 835: Double Blessings at the Door

Zhou Wencai expressed his thanks to Zhou Chenglei.

He had heard that Zhou Chenglei was very familiar with the people at the shipyard. With him speaking up, it would surely be a bit cheaper.

He also knew that holding a certificate for relatives of overseas Chinese offered discounts. His eldest aunt had even chipped in a bit for the boat; otherwise, they wouldn’t have had enough money.

Zhou Wencai continued, “I heard that for around 30,000 yuan, one can build a ten-meter fiberglass fishing boat. Apparently, there’s a thirty percent subsidy on materials. That kind of boat can go to the rocky reef areas to fish for Grouper. I heard it’s very profitable.”

Zhou Chenglei replied, “I don’t recommend those. After long exposure to the sun, the glue on the shuttering tends to crack, and the hull itself might become brittle.”

Hearing this, Jiang Xia couldn’t help but glance at Zhou Chenglei. She suddenly remembered reading some data on fiberglass materials in her past life. When used in shipbuilding back then, there was a major pain point: because the locally produced resin of this era was of poor quality, the hulls would become brittle within three years.

Sea waves could sometimes exert tremendous force. Small cracks in the shuttering glue or a brittle hull could lead to fatal impacts.

Zhou Chenglei had already spotted the drawbacks so quickly.

“Is that so! It’s a good thing I asked you. I think I’ll just stick to ordering a wooden boat! A lot of people are ordering those fiberglass ones now, and I was planning to get one too. Forget it then.”

Father Zhou added, “Wooden boats are good too. All the small boats our family owns are wooden.”

Although wooden boats carried the risk of woodworms and were generally said to last only about five years, they could last several more if maintained well.

Their family’s first boat was a perfect example; it had been in use for nearly ten years, lasting year after year with constant repairs. However, it was going to be retired next year as it could no longer be used.

Life was more important; they couldn’t take risks.

They had earned so much money, and the family’s rise to prosperity had started with that boat. Father Zhou felt that the 3,000 yuan spent on it back then was worth every fen! They had made back more than ten times their investment.

Thinking of this, the second brother also had an old boat that was nearly ready for the scrap heap. It looked like their family would be ordering a new ship soon as well!

……

While the group was discussing boats, Father Zhou suddenly noticed that the tractor was moving a bit slowly.

He leaned his head out and looked at the Jeep crawling along in front of them. He couldn’t help but mutter, “What is the second brother doing? He’s driving slower than a tractor!”

Zhou Chenglei glanced ahead but said nothing. He lowered his head to watch his little sister eat a banana.

The triplets now had twelve teeth between them. They could eat fruit like bananas, watermelon, and strawberries on their own.

Jiang Xia also felt the driving speed was a bit slow today. Then, she remembered when she was pregnant with the triplets—Zhou Chenglei had driven at a snail’s pace!

Of course, the roads were better now, so there was no need for such a crawl. Back then, the roads were so full of potholes that she could feel how carefully Zhou Chenglei was driving.

Now that Zhou Chengsen was driving so slowly, could it be that Ruan Tang was pregnant?

Arriving at the shipyard, the preparations for the new ship’s launch were nearly complete.

The family boarded the vessel for a tour.

The triplets ran around happily on the ship’s shuttering.

Watching the triplets playing so joyfully on the boat, Father Zhou beamed. With these three little Wealth-bringers having such a good time, this ship was destined for smooth sailing and prosperity!

The little sister and the younger brother ran happily across the shuttering.

The eldest brother looked around curiously and then headed toward the cabin.

Seeing this, Father Zhou scooped up his grandson. “Dabao, where do you want to go? Grandpa will take you.”

The eldest brother pointed toward the cabin.

Father Zhou carried his grandson inside. “How about Grandpa teaches you how to steer the boat?”

The eldest brother nodded.

Upon reaching the bridge, Father Zhou first let the eldest brother touch the helm and give it a turn. Then, he taught him how to touch the fishfinder…

He let the boy touch every piece of equipment in the bridge to invite some good fortune.

After Dabao had summoned a wave of wealth, he went to fetch Erbao.

Another wave of luck invited.

Finally, it was the turn of the little sister.

He called out to Jiang Xia, the big Wealth-bringer, “Xiao Xia, hold the little sister and introduce the equipment on the ship to her.”

“Oh, okay,” Jiang Xia replied. She picked up the little sister and began explaining the equipment on the bridge to her.

Father Zhou then ushered the other grandchildren in for a turn.

Tian Caihua walked into the bridge at that moment.

She looked around and remarked, “This bridge is so big and bright! The view is excellent!”

Father Zhou replied, “Of course it is!”

“The sleeping quarters are also quite large and comfortable.”

Zhou Chengxin added, “You need to rest well to have the energy to work.”

A ship this size would stay out at sea for three to four months at a time, so getting good rest was vital.

Zhou Wencai said enviously, “This ship is massive. The cold storage is bigger than the bedroom I sleep in at home!”

Father Zhou chuckled. “Don’t worry, you’ll be buying a ship this big soon enough.”

Just then, Factory Director Zhou came in and said, “Alright, everything is ready. The ship can be launched. Anyone not staying on board should head back down now.”

A new ship launch carried some risk. Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei took the triplets off the ship, and then Zhou Chenglei returned to the vessel.

Zhou Chengxin and Zhou Chengsen stayed on the ship for the sea trials.

Zhou Wencai went along too; he had never seen such a large fishing boat undergo its launch and testing.

Father Zhou and Zhou Chenglei were there to take delivery of the ship. The bulk carrier’s testing was finished, and they could officially sign for it today.

All the men of the Zhou family were busy today. Mother Zhou and the three sisters-in-law took the children to the city for a meal before heading home.

Tian Caihua drove the tractor, as she had already learned how to operate it.

The weather was hot. During the meal, Tian Caihua ordered a plate of stir-fried pig large intestines with pickled vegetables, thinking the sourness would help stimulate their appetites.

As soon as the pungent scent of the pig intestines wafted over, Ruan Tang felt a surge of nausea.

She stood up abruptly and ran toward the bathroom.

Jiang Xia quickly handed the little sister to Zhou Wenguang, who was beside her, and followed Ruan Tang, worried she might accidentally trip.

Mother Zhou was holding the eldest brother. Seeing this, she handed him to Tian Caihua—letting her hold two children at once—and followed them.

Given Ruan Tang’s reaction, she might be pregnant!

Tian Caihua watched them leave, sharing the same suspicion.

Zhou Ying asked worriedly, “Auntie, what happened to Auntie Ruan?”

Tian Caihua smiled. “It’s nothing. Even if it’s something, it’s a good thing! Don’t ask so many questions, child.”

She quickly asked the server to take away the plate of pickled vegetables and pig intestines. “Don’t throw it away. I have lunch boxes on my tractor. I’ll take it out to pack it in a moment. Please help me swap this for a light lean meat porridge. No green onions or cilantro, please.”

“Certainly,” the server replied politely, removing the dish.

Ruan Tang dry-heaved in the bathroom for a while but didn’t actually vomit anything.

Jiang Xia and Mother Zhou stood on either side of her, gently patting her back. “Are you feeling any better?”

Although Mother Zhou had her suspicions, she didn’t dare ask directly.

Ruan Tang was a doctor; she would certainly know her own condition. Mother Zhou asked, “Do you feel unwell anywhere? Is it seasickness? Do you want to go to the hospital for a check-up?”

Ruan Tang shook her head. “I’m fine now, no more discomfort. I’ll go to the hospital for a look after we finish eating. Let’s go back to the meal first.”

Ruan Tang felt a flicker of joy in her heart. It seemed it was true!

Hearing this, Mother Zhou felt relieved. It looked like today was a day of double blessings.

She was delighted, but she didn’t let it show on her face as she supported Ruan Tang. “Alright, let’s go eat quickly. After that, we’ll head to the hospital.”

The two of them helped Ruan Tang walk back out.

Chapter 836: How Can a Son and a Daughter Be the Same?

During the meal, Ruan Tang didn’t have much of an appetite. It was mainly because she had been dry heaving for a while earlier, and her stomach still felt unsettled, making it difficult to eat.

Fortunately, Tian Caihua had ordered a bowl of lean meat porridge, so she forced herself to finish a bowl.

If she truly had a child, she couldn’t afford not to eat.

Mother Zhou didn’t have much of a mind for eating either.

The ones least affected were the group of children and the carefree Tian Caihua, who ate with great gusto.

Ruan Tang finished quickly and went to settle the bill. By the time she returned, the children had polished off every dish on the table, and each of the little ones had a stomach as round as a ball.

“Half-grown boys eat their fathers out of house and home”—the saying was certainly true!

Ruan Tang looked at the children rubbing their round bellies and asked with a smile, “Are you all full? If you are, let’s head out. If not, I’ll take you to get some sweet soup in a bit.”

Zhou Wenguang and his brothers immediately shouted, “We’re not full yet! We can still have sweet soup!”

Tian Caihua stood up, holding one of the boys. “They’re full! Let’s go, let’s go! Their stomachs are about to burst, yet they still claim they’re not full! Sweet soup outside is outrageously expensive! Why drink it? If you want some, I’ll cook it for you when we get home. We still have to go back today to pray to the gods…”

Accompanied by Tian Caihua’s incessant nagging, the family left the restaurant and drove to the hospital.

When the car parked and they got out, the little sister saw they were at the hospital again and began squirming in Jiang Xia’s arms. “No, no, no… Mama, Mama…”

She pointed toward the exit, kicking her legs in agitation and calling out for her mother repeatedly.

She didn’t want to come here!

Jiang Xia said, “We’re not here for shots today. We’re just accompanying your Second Aunt.”

They had brought them for vaccinations only a few days ago, and the little girl still remembered.

The little sister didn’t understand. She pointed at the car and twisted her body to escape. When Jiang Xia wouldn’t let her go, she kept crying out, “Mama…”

Ruan Tang smiled and said, “How about you all stay in the car? I can go in by myself.”

How could they let her go in alone? Hearing this, Mother Zhou said, “I’ll go in with you. Wenguang, you hold Dabao.”

Jiang Xia said, “Mama, stay in the car and watch the kids. I’ll accompany Second Sister-in-law.”

Mother Zhou was older; there was no need for her to be walking back and forth.

“Alright then, you two go ahead!” Mother Zhou was prone to getting lost in the hospital anyway.

So, Jiang Xia put the little sister back in the car and accompanied Ruan Tang inside, while Mother Zhou and Tian Caihua stayed behind to look after the children.

About half an hour later, the two emerged.

Seeing the shy smile on Ruan Tang’s face, Mother Zhou smiled as well. “You’re expecting?”

Ruan Tang’s face heated up, and she gave a small nod.

Mother Zhou’s smile grew even more radiant, and she pressed her hands together. “Bodhisattva be praised.”

Ruan Tang touched her abdomen, feeling a bit dazed.

It had only been a little over two months since she and Zhou Chengsen truly started to share a room, and they were apart more often than they were together. Most of the time, they only saw each other once or twice a week. In a month, they only shared a room for about eight to ten days. She hadn’t expected it to happen so easily.

It must have happened during those few days they went to the capital; that was her ovulation period.

Luckily, Zhou Chengsen had insisted on holding back after they got their marriage certificate. Otherwise, she might have been pregnant before they even held the wedding banquet.

Tian Caihua couldn’t help but ask, “Did you have a scan?”

She meant to ask if it was a boy or a girl.

Zhou Chengsen already had a daughter. If Ruan Tang was carrying a girl, it would be best not to have it and wait for a son in the next pregnancy.

Ruan Tang shook her head. “No, it’s too early to see anything.”

Tian Caihua said, “Then wait until four or five months and get a scan to see if it’s a boy or a girl.”

Ruan Tang’s heart tightened.

Mother Zhou was displeased upon hearing this. She knew Tian Caihua harbored the mindset of valuing boys over girls. Tian Caihua had been pregnant four times, and every single time she had been praying to gods and Buddhas for a son.

When Ah Xin mentioned wanting a daughter, Tian Caihua would always ask what the point of having a daughter was. Once she married into another family, she wouldn’t belong to them anymore. She might even suffer, working like a slave in someone else’s house while they worried about her for the rest of their lives.

“What’s there to scan? There’s no need. If a check-up requires it, then scan; otherwise, don’t.”

Tian Caihua fell silent. She felt she was offering well-intentioned advice.

How could a son and a daughter be the same?

If she were Ruan Tang, she would definitely want only a son; that was the only way to have security. It wasn’t as if Zhou Chengsen didn’t already have a daughter!

Besides, so many people went into hiding and even gave up their jobs just to have an extra son.

Mother Zhou patted Ruan Tang’s hand. “A child is a blessing from heaven. There must be a reason they came to us. Whether boy or girl, they are destined to be ours, and we should accept them wholeheartedly. Your Papa, A-Sen, and I don’t care if the child is a boy or a girl; they are our own flesh and blood either way. Daughters are actually more thoughtful! Look at Yingying, Zhou Zhou, and the little sister—how thoughtful and cute they are!”

A woman becomes sensitive after getting pregnant. Mother Zhou was truly afraid that one sentence from Tian Caihua would make Ruan Tang feel uncomfortable or start worrying about this and that.

Mother Zhou always believed that if a mother’s mood was good, the child would be born smart and cheerful—just look at the triplets!

She had been pregnant many times, and even when life was hard back then, her old man always found ways to make her laugh and keep her spirit high.

Tian Caihua also realized she had spoken out of turn and tried to smooth things over. “That’s true. Papa and Mama are the best parents-in-law I’ve ever seen; they don’t care about valuing boys over girls. Second Brother truly doesn’t care about those things either. Times are different now; whatever you have is the same. You public officials can only have one child anyway, so it really doesn’t matter.”

Ruan Tang nodded. “It really is the same.”

Jiang Xia changed the subject. “Second Sister-in-law, I have many cassette tapes of piano music. When you’re free, you can play them. It’s good for prenatal education. Do you want them? If you do, I’ll sort them out for you when we get back.”

“Sure, I like listening to piano music too.” Ruan Tang knew how to play the piano, but she hadn’t played in many years and her hands were rusty. It seemed she would have to start practicing again.

“Xiao Xia, you didn’t seem to have any morning sickness, did you?”

“No, when I was pregnant, I just had hypersomnia and was greedy for food—typical lazy behavior. I was worried I’d give birth to three lazy babies.”

Everyone was amused by her words.

Tian Caihua added, “I think Xiao Xia’s pregnancy looked so easy. Her belly was so big it scared me just looking at it, but she acted as if nothing was wrong…”

On the way back, Jiang Xia drove very carefully, even more so than when she was pregnant herself.

As the others talked, she didn’t listen much, focusing entirely on the road.

By the time Zhou Chenglei and Father Zhou returned home, it was already four thirty in the afternoon. Zhou Chengsen and Ah Xin had not yet returned.

In the yard, several women were washing vegetables and cooking, talking and laughing.

Since both boats had returned today, they had to celebrate properly.

Seeing them return, Mother Zhou said happily, “Is the boat docked?”

Father Zhou turned on the tap to wash his hands. “It’s docked. The feeling of driving a big boat is really different. I’m not quite used to it yet; I’ll have to study it carefully.”

After washing his hands, Father Zhou went to change his clothes so he could hold his grandchildren. He had been out all day and was covered in sweat.

“You’ll learn slowly.” Mother Zhou didn’t care about that. She washed her hands, stood up, and followed the old man into the house. Closing the door, she whispered to Father Zhou with a smile, “Xiao Tang is expecting!”

In the yard, Jiang Xia also shared the good news of Ruan Tang’s pregnancy with Zhou Chenglei, asking him to sort out those cassette tapes for Ruan Tang.

The cassette tapes were at the old house, in their former room. Zhou Chenglei took the triplets back to the old house.

There were still people working at the old house, but they were no longer making deep-fried foods; they were doing pickled items instead.

He led the three children into the house, unlocked the room door, carried them onto the bed, and helped them off with their shoes so they could play on the bed.

He began rummaging through the cupboards. Back when Jiang Xia was pregnant, he hadn’t just collected cassette tapes; he had also sought a lot of advice from Dr. Gao. He had taken many notes on how to care for a pregnant woman.

Chapter 837: Immature

Zhou Chenglei glanced back at the children from time to time. Seeing them trying to get off the bed, he didn’t stop them, only watched.

He had taught them how to get off the bed when they first learned to crawl, and they had mastered it after just one lesson.

The triplets crawled to the edge of the bed and lay flat on their stomachs. Then they turned around, heads facing inward and bottoms facing out. One leg dangled off first, followed by the second. With both legs hanging in mid-air, they skillfully lowered their bodies until their center of gravity dropped suddenly, their feet hit the ground, and their little bottoms plopped onto the floor.

The three little rascals all landed on the floor together.

Because the height wasn’t much, it didn’t hurt. The three of them even looked up at their father and smiled.

Zhou Chenglei gave them a thumbs-up. “Good job!”

The triplets quickly scrambled up and trotted over to their father’s side, beginning to help him rummage through the boxes and cabinets.

Zhou Chenglei let them rummage as they pleased. There were no sharp objects that could hurt them, so he allowed it. He could always tidy up the mess later.

This room was where he and Jiang Xia had their first night together and where the triplets were born. It held too many memories, so he came over regularly to clean. He had just cleaned it two days ago, so the floor was spotless, and the triplets just sat there and played.

When Zhou Chenglei came to clean, he didn’t just dust and sweep. He also frequently washed the mosquito nets, quilts, and mats to maintain the room’s original appearance. Because of this, Jiang Xia often said he was just looking for work because he had too much energy.

Jiang Xia was the type who loved to throw out old things.

In contrast to Jiang Xia’s “out with the old, in with the new” mentality, Zhou Chenglei was very sentimental.

This was why, even when this entire area eventually became a high-end residential district, the Zhou family’s houses remained standing.

It was just that as times changed, the exteriors were renovated to be more beautiful and consistent with the overall style of the neighborhood. The old house itself would become the most unique existence in the entire complex, featuring gardens designed by international masters, filled with poetic charm.

But that was for the future. Zhou Chenglei quickly organized a box of items and then sat back to watch the kids play.

Only when the room grew dark did he help the children tidy up the old things they had messed up. Carrying a box and pulling a string of kids behind him, he headed out.

Just as he stepped out of the old house, he saw Zhou Chengxin and Zhou Chengsen returning.

Zhou Chenglei shoved the box directly into his second brother’s arms. “Don’t break anything. They need to be returned.”

Zhou Chengsen looked at the notebook on top of the box, which had “Precautions During Pregnancy” written in bold and fluid handwriting.

Zhou Chengsen: “…”

Zhou Chengsen never would have imagined that he would be the last person in the family to find out he was going to be a father again.

That evening, after the whole family celebrated together, the couple saw their daughter and Zhou Zhou off to bed before returning to their own room.

Tonight, Zhou Zhou was sleeping over with Yingying.

After Zhou Chengsen closed the door, having held it in for several hours, he picked Ruan Tang up and spun her around.

Ruan Tang let out a startled cry and hugged him tightly.

Zhou Chengsen slowly completed a rotation before setting her down, but he kept her in a tight embrace.

“If I had known, I wouldn’t have gone with the ship for testing. Did you feel like throwing up during dinner tonight?”

Ruan Tang shook her head with a smile. “No.”

Zhou Chengsen lowered his head and kissed her. “If you feel uncomfortable, you must tell me. If you want to eat something, tell me that too. No matter what time it is, even in the middle of the night, wake me up.”

Ruan Tang smiled and nodded. “I know.”

“Thankfully, I’ve been transferred to work in the city now. Otherwise, I really wouldn’t feel at ease.”

“What’s there to worry about? I work at the hospital. If anything happens, I can go straight to Aunt Jie. It’s very convenient.”

“What do you mean ‘if anything happens’? Nothing is going to happen!”

Ruan Tang burst out laughing.

Zhou Chengsen crouched down, holding Ruan Tang’s waist, and kissed her abdomen. “Hello, baby. I’m your daddy.”

Ruan Tang ruffled his hair. “Aren’t you being a bit immature?”

Zhou Chengsen took her hand and stood up. “How is greeting my child immature?”

Ruan Tang remembered something and asked, “Do you want a boy or a girl?”

Zhou Chengsen glanced at her. “Did someone say something?”

His parents wouldn’t say anything, and Old Fourth and his wife wouldn’t either. That only left Big Sister-in-law.

Tian Caihua sometimes spoke without thinking, and her views were quite old-fashioned.

Ruan Tang shook her head. “I was just curious.”

Zhou Chengsen cupped her face and leaned his forehead against hers. “Either is fine with me. I’ll love a boy or a girl just the same; I’m not picky. Don’t stress over this, okay? It’s not like you wouldn’t give birth if it wasn’t a boy. I wouldn’t allow that anyway! To me, they are the same—they are both my flesh and blood.”

Ruan Tang shook her head. “Of course not. If it’s a girl and you don’t want her, I’ll divorce you!”

Zhou Chengsen laughed in exasperation and gave her nose a playful pinch. “Am I that kind of person, hmm?”

“Who knows!” Ruan Tang teased.

Zhou Chengsen was both annoyed and amused, so he pulled her closer. “I don’t care if the child is a boy or a girl. What I care about is you. Only you. To me, you are the most important person; the child comes second. So don’t carry any mental burdens.”

“Mhm.” Ruan Tang stood on her tiptoes to give him a rewarding kiss.

Zhou Chengsen caught her kiss and deepened it.

It wasn’t until they both felt the heat rising that Ruan Tang felt him pressing against her and pulled away. “Not right now.”

“I know.” He wasn’t so lacking in self-control.

He didn’t want anything more; he just wanted to kiss her.

He continued to kiss her, only letting go when he was on the verge of losing control.

“Go take a shower first. I’ll find your clothes. From now on, you need to go to bed early.”

“Mhm.” Ruan Tang leaned into his chest, unwilling to move.

She loved leaning against him and the feeling of being held. No matter how much he held her, it never felt like enough.

Zhou Chengsen simply gave her a princess carry and headed into the bathroom.

The next day, Zhou Chenglei went to the city to register a shipping company.

Jiang Xia headed back to the garment factory to prepare for the Canton Fair in October.

The sample garments for the spring collection needed to be fitted, and once finalized, they had to begin preparations for mass production.

Then, the catalog for the winter clothes needed to be shot. They were hiring an advertising agency from Hong Kong, and she had to select the models.

Consequently, Jiang Xia was very busy. Fortunately, the two designers from the design studio had followed her here and were staying in the factory dormitories.

After a month of observation, Jiang Xia selected a few employees from the garment factory floor to move to the design department as design assistants.

The monthly salary for a design assistant was twenty yuan higher.

Furthermore, they could try their hand at designing clothes. For every design that went into production, they would receive a commission of one mao for each summer set and two jiao for each winter garment.

In other words, selling a hundred pieces would earn them ten yuan; a thousand pieces meant a hundred yuan. That commission was substantial!

For the clothes produced by this factory, selling a few thousand of each style was no problem at all.

If they designed a few successful items, wouldn’t their commission amount to hundreds of yuan?

Jiang Xia had chosen these design assistants from the pattern room, the workshop, and the finishing section!

When the people in these departments realized that doing a good job could actually lead to a promotion to the fifth-floor design department as an assistant with commissions, their enthusiasm reached an all-time high.

The production efficiency of the entire factory improved. Every employee in the garment factory knew that those working in the fifth-floor office were management, earned high wages, and got commissions. Everyone wanted to earn that promotion.

Chapter 838: Bamboo Popguns

A design assistant’s role was to support the designer by handling everything other than the actual design work.

While it involved many trivial tasks, it was precisely through these duties that one could learn a great deal. By constantly observing how a designer crafted clothes, they would eventually pick up the skills through osmosis.

The few people Jiang Xia had selected were those who usually dressed with good coordination and were diligent and hardworking; she considered them all promising talents.

With the Canton Fair approaching, the other two designers had been overwhelmed. Besides following their own designs, they also had to oversee the production of the pieces Jiang Xia designed. They were simply too busy.

Now that several design assistants had been promoted, their workload was significantly lightened.

Each designer now had two assistants, while Jiang Xia had three—one for her winter collection, one for her spring collection, and one to handle miscellaneous matters.

Jiang Xia worked at the garment factory until four thirty in the afternoon. Afterward, she drove to the city to pick up Zhou Chenglei so they could head home together.

On the way back, Zhou Chenglei took the wheel while Jiang Xia sat in the passenger seat. “It looks like we need to buy another car.”

Today, Zhou Chenglei had finished his work by four o’clock and had been waiting in his father-in-law’s office for nearly an hour.

After finishing his shifts this week, Father Jiang would be heading to the neighboring province to take up his new post.

Hearing this, Zhou Chenglei asked, “What kind of car do you want to buy?”

“Let’s get a commercial sedan.”

It would be better for Zhou Chenglei to drive a commercial vehicle when meeting clients. Since they already had a Jeep at home, there was no need for another one like it.

She had heard Ruan Tang mention that Zhou Chengsen also planned to buy a car by the end of the year.

“Alright.”

A commercial car would be more comfortable. Having air conditioning would make traveling in the peak of summer much less of an ordeal. This time, Zhou Chenglei intended to buy an imported model.

It would be good to get one to study as well.

China’s automotive manufacturing standards were still quite lagging behind.

The road to the city had been repaired, so it now took only a little over half an hour to return to the village.

When they arrived home, the triplets were sitting in the yard, watching their eldest and second-oldest cousins make bamboo popguns for the other older siblings.

The adults had repeatedly warned the children that things like bamboo sticks and rods were off-limits for the triplets, fearing they might accidentally poke their eyes.

Consequently, the triplets could only watch. They observed their young cousins and older sisters firing the popguns, which made loud “crack, crack” sounds.

The older kids refused to let them play with the toys.

The triplets didn’t try to snatch them; they just watched with intense curiosity.

The little sister circled around the older children, leaning on their backs one by one. She pointed at the bamboo popguns, “eeya-ing” and calling out “Brother” this and “Sister” that, but no one gave her one. They even tried to distract her with other things.

Dabao watched without even blinking.

Seeing his parents return, Dabao immediately pushed himself up from the ground with his hands, stood up, and walked toward Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei.

Zhou Chenglei reached out and scooped up his eldest son.

Dabao turned around and pointed at the older kids. “Papa, crack!”

He wanted one too.

Jiang Xia gently squeezed her son’s chubby hand, which was resting on Zhou Chenglei’s shoulder. “Dabao, little kids can’t play with those yet! It’s easy to poke your eye, and then you won’t be able to see.”

Dabao looked back at his mother and gripped her finger. “Mama, crack! Crack!”

“Dabao wants one?”

“Mm.”

“How about we play with it next year, okay?”

“It’s fine, I’ll watch over him while he plays,” Zhou Chenglei intervened. “Papa will make one for you and play with you for a bit.”

Dabao rarely made requests, so his obvious eagerness showed how much he liked it.

So, Zhou Chenglei carried his eldest son over to his nephews and nieces and picked up some bamboo to make a popgun for the boy.

By then, the younger brother and little sister also realized their father was back. They both stood up and hurried to his side.

Papa was definitely more reliable; their older cousins were no good at all!

Jiang Xia watched the father and his three children, smiled, and went into the kitchen to help with dinner.

Zhou Chenglei always had great patience when making various things for the children.

He was a very patient father. Every day after finishing work, he would come home and look after the kids, all because Jiang Xia had once mentioned that children raised and educated by their fathers turned out better.

“Mama, Grandma, are there any dishes left to cook? I’ll do them,” Jiang Xia said as she entered the kitchen.

During the summer, the sun didn’t set until after seven, so dinner was usually served a bit later.

Grandma, who was tending the fire, said with a chuckle, “No need, everything is almost finished.”

Since her sons and daughter were all here, Grandpa and Grandma hadn’t returned home. They stayed at the Zhou family home to help look after the children and do some housework.

Meanwhile, Second Auntie was in the city helping Second Uncle sell fish.

Mother Zhou was frying fish. “We don’t need you here. You’ve been busy all day, go rest. We can eat as soon as your father and the others get back.”

Father Zhou and Zhou Chengxin had gone to town today to buy some grain, fruit, and vegetables in preparation for taking the new fishing boat out for a distant seas voyage.

Tian Caihua had also been very proactive, running through several villages to collect winter melons.

After all, this was a large ocean-going vessel that her family had a stake in! An ocean freighter that could earn tens of thousands of yuan in a single trip!

Tian Caihua returned alone, pulling a handcart full of winter melons. “Are this many enough? There are fifty of them.”

Zhou Chengxin replied, “It’s enough. We can’t only eat winter melons. Dad and I also bought some potatoes, taro, pumpkins, jicama, radishes, and things like that in town.”

Father Zhou asked, “Ah Hua, how much did you spend on the winter melons? I’ll pay you back.”

Tian Caihua waved it off. “No need, it wasn’t much. Winter melons are cheap.”

They still owed their fourth brother over a hundred thousand yuan for this large fishing boat. The boat was simply too expensive; even with the first and second branches each contributing a third of the cost, they couldn’t afford it.

Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia had told them they would cover the difference first and that the others could pay them back slowly over time.

This was why Tian Caihua was so proactive. Since the others had put up so much money, she naturally had to contribute more effort.

Jiang Xia was so generous; how could she be stingy and ask for money for a cart of winter melons?

It was over a hundred thousand yuan. If that money were put in the bank, the interest alone would probably be worth more than a cart of melons.

Besides, it was the peak season for winter melons, and there was a bumper crop this year. They didn’t even cost one jiao per 500g; they were only one or two cents per 500g. A whole handcart of winter melons only cost about twenty yuan.

“Dinner’s ready! Wash your hands and let’s eat!” Mother Zhou and Jiang Xia carried the dishes out of the kitchen and called everyone to eat.

While they were eating, the weather forecast happened to come on the television. It announced that a typhoon had formed and was expected to make landfall in their area in three days.

Tian Caihua frowned. “Why are there so many typhoons this summer? How are we supposed to make a living!”

Every time a typhoon hit, they lived in fear. They had eleven net cages full of fish!

Not to mention the rafts for raising abalone and pearl shells.

Zhou Chengxin added, “The weather just isn’t cooperating. We’ve got almost everything ready to go, and now there’s a typhoon. I wonder what category it will be.”

He hadn’t been on a distant seas voyage yet. Since Zhou Chenglei was home for this period and he didn’t have to watch the livestock farm, he had wanted to go out and try his luck on the open sea. He had even gone to get his certification for it last year.

Mother Zhou said, “Even though there are many typhoons, luckily none of them have made landfall here lately, so the impact hasn’t been big. This one will probably change course too.”

Chapter 839: Typhoon

Jiang Xia fed a small bite of fish to the younger brother and said, “As long as it’s not a super typhoon, it’ll be fine. We can just wait a few days before going back out to sea. The bigger the wind and waves, the greater the catch. Everything I bought today is storable, like rice, flour, winter melon, pumpkin, and sweet potatoes. We don’t have to worry about them spoiling.”

Father Zhou agreed, “Xiao Xia is right. There’s a better catch to be had after a typhoon! What’s the rush? Just wait a few more days. It’s almost September anyway; the typhoons will start to taper off then.”

Father Zhou loved Jiang Xia’s way with words; everything she said sounded so auspicious and “Wealth-bringing.”

After living with a “Wealth-bringer” for a few years, Father Zhou felt like his own life might be extended. He might even live to be a hundred, seeing the triplets get married and have triplets of their own.

He imagined seeing his grandsons all become successful—some as leaders, some as bosses. Ideally, one of them would be as smart as their maternal uncle and become a scientist or an inventor!

He wanted to see the whole family prosper!

Even though Father Zhou was a fisherman, he didn’t want his grandsons to follow in his footsteps. It was too hard, too exhausting, and far too dangerous.

That was money earned at the risk of one’s life.

They should all go to school and make something of themselves!

Early the next morning, the Zhou father and sons went out to sea to inspect the net cages and prepare for the typhoon. They also notified the workers on the island to return to shore.

The broadcast announced that the typhoon was expected to make landfall in their area. Except for essential industries, the entire city was to suspend work and navigation.

Jiang Xia had to go to the garment factory and the food factory to organize typhoon prevention measures.

Mother Zhou was worried about Ruan Tang, so she said to Jiang Xia, “When you’re finished with work, pick up Ruan Tang on your way home.”

Jiang Xia replied, “I’ll call and ask if she’s off today.”

She called the hospital.

Ruan Tang couldn’t take time off; she had to be on duty at the hospital. Zhou Chengsen couldn’t rest either.

He had to evacuate the residents and ensure the safety of the public.

Mother Zhou had no choice but to urge Ruan Tang to take care of herself and not take any risks during the storm.

Ruan Tang reassured her, saying the hospital leadership knew she was pregnant and wouldn’t assign her to any external rescue teams.

After Jiang Xia hung up the phone, she headed out.

She went to the factories to ensure everyone was prepared for the storm and แล้ว then notified the employees of both factories that they were dismissed to go home.

Those who weren’t going home and were staying in the factory dormitories had to register with the administration department, and the cafeteria had to prepare enough food.

She instructed the security captain on duty that employees were not allowed to wander around during the typhoon to avoid any accidents occurring on factory grounds.

Once everything at the factories was settled, Jiang Xia visited Father Jiang’s office.

However, Father Jiang had also gone out to evacuate residents from potential disaster areas to safer locations.

Technically, he didn’t need to do this personally as he had already completed his job handover, but he insisted on standing his last watch. He led his staff in performing the same duties he had carried out countless times since taking office in this city.

Not finding Father Jiang, Jiang Xia drove to his home. She placed the dried seafood, fruit, and vegetables she had brought into the refrigerator and left a note urging her parents to stay safe during the typhoon. Then, she locked the door and drove back to the Zhou family home.

Once the typhoon passed, she and Jiang Dong would escort Father Jiang to the neighboring province.

The three men of the Zhou family were busy at sea for two days.

They had more net cages now, and they had also built rafts for abalone and pearl shell cultivation.

If a single net cage or raft was blown away or destroyed, they would lose over 100,000 yuan!

Furthermore, if one was vulnerable enough to be swept away, the others wouldn’t fare much better.

Therefore, no one dared to be careless. The father and sons handled everything personally, checking every single net cage. It took them two full days to finish.

Because of the typhoon, all of the Zhou family’s fishing boats returned to harbor that evening.

The four men steered the ships into the typhoon shelter and moored them securely.

The three large ships stood like behemoths among the numerous smaller boats, each one larger than the last!

They were incredibly eye-catching.

All the other fishermen looked on with envy, wishing they owned even one.

But the ships were too expensive; most couldn’t say when they would ever be able to afford such a thing, leaving them only to gaze at the vessels and sigh.

The typhoon made landfall in the neighboring city at around four o’clock the following afternoon.

In the morning, Zhou Chenglei and Father Zhou had taken the time to reinforce the roof tiles of the old house.

Seeing their father and grandfather climbing onto the roof, the three children shouted “Papa!” in excitement. They tried to climb the bamboo ladder themselves, so Jiang Xia took turns holding them as they practiced.

When the typhoon made landfall that afternoon, the wind howled, the sea roared, and the rain thundered.

The wind knocked over the fruit trees in the yard, and trees along the roadside were snapped in half!

Rain lashed against the windowpanes with a sharp pitter-patter.

The triplets stood on the chaise longue, leaning against the windowsill to watch the sea outside.

When the wind first started gusting, a door inside the house was blown shut with a loud “Bang!” which frightened them.

The triplets, who had been playing with toys, jumped in surprise and immediately reached out to be held.

This was the first time they were awake and aware during a typhoon.

When the typhoon hit last year, they were newborns who understood nothing. Since returning for the holidays this year, they had only experienced one other typhoon, which had occurred at night while they were asleep; by the time they woke up, it had passed.

Seeing their fear, Jiang Xia held them by the window to let them watch.

Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying had nothing to do, so they came to Jiang Xia’s room to keep the triplets company during the storm.

Even though they had seen many typhoons, they watched every time because the power of a typhoon was truly incredible!

Jiang Xia stood beside them and gave a brief explanation of how typhoons formed.

The two older children didn’t quite understand, and the triplets understood even less, but they still gained something from it.

The little sister pointed out the window: “Mama, wind-wind, bang!”

She had learned two new words: “wind-wind” and “bang.”

Jiang Xia smiled, “That’s right, the wind is so strong it made the door go bang. Is baby scared?”

“Baby, baby… scared-scared.” The little sister spoke slowly and couldn’t help repeating herself, but she had managed to say a full sentence.

Jiang Xia was delighted and turned to ask the eldest brother and the younger brother.

“Is eldest brother scared?”

The eldest brother shook his head but remained silent.

He usually didn’t speak unless he had to.

Jiang Xia knew the eldest brother was actually better at speaking than his sister, but since he didn’t like to talk, she didn’t force him. She smiled and said, “Eldest brother is so brave!”

“Is younger brother scared?” Jiang Xia asked.

The younger brother nodded: “Scared.”

The little sister then patted the second brother’s back, mimicking her mother: “Brother, scared-scared!”

Jiang Xia laughed, “No, it’s ‘Brother is not afraid.’”

“Brother… no-no-no… scared-scared!” The little sister couldn’t quite wrap her tongue around the pronunciation of the negative. After “no-ing” for a while, she just blurted out “scared-scared” again.

“Not afraid, not afraid… Brother is not afraid,” Jiang Xia coached her patiently.

…

In the next door room, Father Zhou also went upstairs to check the situation.

Seeing the fruit trees in the yard blown over and many roadside trees snapped in half, he grew uneasy.

This typhoon was too powerful!

He wondered if the net cages and rafts in the sea could hold out.

At dinner that evening, Father Zhou had no appetite.

Seeing this, Jiang Xia said, “Papa, don’t worry, it’ll be fine. Eat your fill. Once the typhoon passes tonight, you’ll need your strength to go beachcombing. With waves this big, a lot of things are bound to be washed ashore.”

Upon hearing this, Father Zhou stopped worrying.

Since this blessed “Wealth-bringer” mouth said it would be fine, then it definitely would be!

He had to eat his fill so he could fight through the night until dawn!

Father Zhou went from having no appetite to eating three bowls of rice.

At nine o’clock that night, the wind stopped, and the rain ceased!

Chapter 840: Hard to See What It Is

In the Zhou household, everyone was awake except for the sleeping triplets, all waiting for the typhoon to pass so they could go beachcombing.

In fact, almost everyone in the entire fishing village—excluding infants under three—was wide awake, waiting for this exact moment.

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei carried the triplets to Zhou Zhou’s room, leaving Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying to sleep alongside them. This way, they wouldn’t have to worry if the triplets woke up.

The two sisters were now old enough to watch the children for a while, and with Grandpa and Grandma also at home, Jiang Xia felt perfectly at ease.

Once the children were settled, Jiang Xia’s family grabbed their gear and headed out. They immediately encountered group after group of villagers, moving in family units, rushing toward the beach with flashlights and beachcombing tools.

The people of the fishing village feared typhoons—they feared their roofs being ripped off—but they loved the beach in the aftermath. The storms always washed up a bounty of shellfish.

Families who didn’t own boats especially relied on the aftermath of a typhoon to make some extra money.

A woman saw Jiang Xia’s family and called out with a smile, “Auntie Fu, your family is already so wealthy. Why are you still heading out to the beach so late at night?”

Mother Zhou replied, “Wealthy? Since when? We just ordered a large boat and spent every cent we had!”

“Don’t be so modest. With the amount of products Xiao Xia’s food factory sells in a day, you could probably buy a large ship! Who would believe your money is gone?”

Mother Zhou countered, “Believe it or not, the money earned by Xiao Xia’s food factory has to go back into expanding the plant, buying equipment, purchasing delivery trucks, and buying buses to transport the workers. The money is spent as soon as it’s earned; it’s never quite enough.”

“Besides, do you think the food produced at the factory doesn’t require ingredients? We don’t make that much profit! All the money goes right back out. It’s barely enough!”

Hearing this, the villagers actually believed her.

Many people in the village worked at Jiang Xia’s food factory and knew she was indeed expanding. New production lines were added frequently, and just this month, she had purchased a large bus and a heavy truck.

The truck was for deliveries, while the bus was specifically for shuttling workers to and from work.

As the factory expanded its recruitment, the dormitories were no longer sufficient. To make the commute easier and safer for the workers, Jiang Xia had specifically bought a bus.

The villagers continued chatting with Mother Zhou, praising Jiang Xia for her capability and Mother Zhou for her luck in finding such talented daughters-in-law.

Tian Caihua was well-liked and a leader among the gossiping women. Jiang Xia was essentially the village’s provider; anyone working in her factory earned more than enough to support an entire family. Ruan Tang, being a doctor, never turned anyone away when a child or adult felt unwell.

Truly, every daughter-in-law they married into the family was incredibly capable.

Mother Zhou was deeply satisfied with her daughters-in-law as well.

Zhou Chenglei pulled Jiang Xia down toward the beach.

With a sweep of their flashlights, the couple dashed toward a specific spot.

The other villagers were doing the same, running toward whatever their beams caught.

It was Red Snails!

A large number of Red Snails had been blown ashore.

These snails were named by the villagers for their red meat. Once dried, they were excellent for making flavorful soups.

Wearing gloves, Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia scooped the snails into their mesh bags, not worrying about the sand for now.

After clearing a pile of Red Snails, they moved further along.

This time, they found a small cluster of white clams. There weren’t as many as the snails, but they were quite large.

They took those too!

Including the sand, they had gathered over 1.5 kg.

Jiang Xia’s flashlight caught something big. She ran over and picked it up—it was a Melo snail, a massive one!

It weighed 1.5 kg!

“There’s another one up ahead!”

Jiang Xia hurried over and picked it up.

This one was over 500 grams, with about 200 grams of meat. Not bad!

Melo snails are usually found in the deep sea and are quite rare to find like this. Their meat tastes similar to abalone.

“And another one!”

Jiang Xia ran over again. This one was also over 500 grams.

She swept her flashlight around again but found nothing else. Carrying the three Melo snails, she ran back to Zhou Chenglei and placed them in the bucket.

Zhou Chenglei had found a cluster of blood clams and was picking them up. He glanced at her haul. “Good luck.”

“You bet!”

Jiang Xia knelt down to help him pack the blood clams into a mesh bag; there was over 500 grams of them.

The couple continued forward.

They came across a cluster of spotted snails, all exceptionally large.

Into the bag they went!

They had only been there a short while and already had half a mesh bag full, weighing over 10 kg!

They pressed on.

They stopped picking up individual blood clams, clams, or Red Snails scattered across the sand, focusing only on the large clusters.

The other villagers did the same.

At this moment, the lights of ten thousand households seemed to have congregated on the shore. The beach was dotted with starlight from everyone’s flashlights.

Zhou Chenglei’s flashlight swept over a Coconut Snail. Jiang Xia immediately ran to fetch it.

He was carrying over 10 kg of catch, so it wasn’t convenient for him to move quickly.

“This Coconut Snail looks quite tender. I wonder if there’s a Melo pearl inside.”

Zhou Chenglei glanced at it. “Who knows? It’s possible.”

Finding a Coconut Snail once a year—their luck really was something else!

The couple continued, but they didn’t find any more large clusters of shellfish.

“Should we turn back?” Zhou Chenglei asked.

The area ahead was the reef zone. He didn’t really want to go there, fearing Jiang Xia might trip and hurt herself.

The only scar Jiang Xia had on her body was from a fall in the reefs the year before last. Now, the scar on her knee was almost the color of her skin, invisible unless one looked closely.

“Let’s go to the reefs and see if there’s anything good in the crevices.”

They had already gathered plenty of shellfish; they couldn’t possibly eat it all. Later, they could just buy some dried red snail meat from the villagers to keep at home. For now, it was better to try their luck for something special in the reefs.

And so, the couple headed toward the reef area.

Along the way, they spotted a Green Wrasse that had been washed up and died on the sand.

Zhou Chenglei shone his light on it; the gills were still bright red, so he picked it up.

As they walked on, they saw many sea urchins.

Zhou Chenglei illuminated them. “This variety of sea urchin is particularly delicious. Let’s gather some to make steamed egg custard for the kids tomorrow.”

This was the only type of sea urchin Zhou Chenglei enjoyed; he wasn’t interested in the others.

“Alright.” Zhou Zhou and the three little ones all loved steamed egg custard.

The triplets hadn’t tried sea urchin steamed egg custard yet! Usually, it was made with milk, as sea urchins weren’t something they could find every day, even living by the sea.

Jiang Xia personally preferred sea urchin sashimi. She used a pair of iron tongs to pick one up. “Is this one still alive?”

“Yes.” Zhou Chenglei looked. “Dead sea urchins are softer; don’t pick those up.”

Jiang Xia felt the sea urchin flinch slightly and felt reassured.

They used the tongs to toss the sea urchins into the bucket, eventually gathering half a bucketful!

They finally reached the reef area.

Since it was late at night and there were plenty of shellfish to pick up on the open beach, there was no one else here.

Zhou Chenglei set their catch aside, taking only a single bucket containing the tongs and mesh bags.

With the bucket in one hand and Jiang Xia’s hand in the other, he led her carefully through the reef zone.

Jiang Xia swept her flashlight around, spotting two large mud crabs fighting in a tide pool.

Next month was the Mid-Autumn Festival; the crabs were starting to get fat.

Zhou Chenglei grabbed both crabs and tossed them into the bucket.

“Zhou Chenglei!” Jiang Xia’s flashlight beam shifted randomly and caught a massive black object ahead. It was mostly obscured by a reef, with only a small section visible.

She couldn’t see it clearly; it looked like the back of a large fish, but it also resembled a person.

Chapter 841: What Is It?

Jiang Xia was a little frightened and instinctively grabbed Zhou Chenglei’s sleeve.

Zhou Chenglei took her hand. “Don’t be afraid. I’ll go take a look. Don’t come over; wait for me here.”

“Okay.” Jiang Xia had only been startled for a moment. Now that she was mentally prepared, she was no longer afraid and let go of his arm.

While she wasn’t lacking in courage, she didn’t want to see anything unpleasant that might give her nightmares, so she stayed back.

Without having to look after Jiang Xia, Zhou Chenglei moved nimbly among the reefs. He soon approached the large black object.

As he got closer, he saw it clearly. It wasn’t a person, but a fish that had been washed ashore by the waves and left stranded.

He walked further until he was certain. It was a shark, and it was already dead.

To prevent Jiang Xia from worrying, he immediately turned and called out to her as soon as he confirmed it, “It’s a shark.”

Jiang Xia breathed a sigh of relief. It had really given her a fright! From a distance, it had looked like the lower half of a human body, from the buttocks to the thighs.

She lifted her feet to walk toward him.

Zhou Chenglei quickly warned, “Don’t come over. It’s hard to walk in the dark, and you might fall. I’ll carry the fish over.”

The shark was still fresh, so they might as well take it home.

The terrain was indeed treacherous. Jiang Xia didn’t want Zhou Chenglei to worry about her, as he might trip in his haste to bring the fish back.

She stayed where she was, shining her flashlight from a distance to provide him with light.

Zhou Chenglei picked up the shark, which weighed about 50 kg. Guided by the light from Jiang Xia’s torch, he made a few leaps across the rocks and returned to her side, setting the fish down.

“Put it in a woven sack, and search later. We can carry it back with a pole,” Jiang Xia said, pulling out a sack.

Zhou Chenglei placed the shark on the woven sack. The shark was over a meter long, and the sack wasn’t big enough to hold it all.

However, covering part of it was enough. Once they were done beachcombing, they could tie the mouth of the bag with a rope and carry it back.

The couple set the shark aside and continued their search.

There were shellfish on the sand, and some here as well, but the reef area was where the crabs hid the most.

Water puddles and crevices between rocks were their favorite hiding spots.

During the typhoon, the crabs had preferred to stay tucked away in those cracks. Now that the storm had passed, many had come out to forage.

Consequently, it didn’t take long for Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia to catch a good number of crabs.

They also picked up some fish and shrimp from the tide pools, all of which were still alive.

Once they had enough crabs, fish, and shrimp, Jiang Xia said, “Let’s head back, lest the children wake up.”

“Alright, let’s go back and make some seafood congee.”

Since the seafood was fresh, he wanted to cook some shrimp and crab congee for Jiang Xia as a late-night snack.

Ever since the children were weaned, Jiang Xia hadn’t been eating late-night snacks, and her overall appetite had decreased.

She had been busy lately and had lost some weight recently.

“Okay.” They had eaten dinner quite early today, and Jiang Xia was indeed feeling a bit hungry.

And so, the couple left the reef area. Zhou Chenglei used a shoulder pole to carry their haul back.

There were still many people on the beach. No one wanted to leave so early since there were still many things to be found!

When the people saw the couple heading back, they couldn’t help but ask, “A-Lei, Xiao Xia, you’re heading back so soon? What did you find? Is that a shark? It’s so big!”

Zhou Chenglei nodded. “Yes, we found a shark over in the reef area. We’re going back to process it before it loses its freshness.”

A shark!

A shark that size must weigh at least 50 kg, right?

With a shark that large, the shark fins would be worth a fortune.

If they had known there was a shark in the reef area, they would have gone there themselves.

Based on past experience, gathering shellfish on the sand usually yielded more than searching the reefs, especially since the reef area was so difficult to navigate.

Father Zhou saw the Wealth-bringer couple heading home and saw that his fourth son was carrying a large load, so he stopped his own gathering.

“Old woman, let’s go home! A-Lei found a big fish. Let’s go help him process it.”

Mother Zhou stopped as soon as she heard. She was getting on in years, and after bending over to gather things for two hours, her back was aching!

The two elders followed Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei back.

Tian Caihua saw them leaving and ran over quickly. “You’re going back already?”

“Yes, we’re worried the children might wake up.”

Tian Caihua shone her flashlight on the items on Zhou Chenglei’s shoulder pole. When she recognized the fish, her eyes widened. “A shark? You found a shark in the reef area? If I had known, I would have gone there too.”

She had seen them go that way and wanted to follow, but she had been held back by pile after pile of Red Snails.

A shark that big would have very valuable shark fins, though the meat was usually too poor to eat and no one wanted it.

“Is Big Sister-in-law coming back? We’re heading out first.”

Zhou Chenglei was carrying a load of over 50 kg, and it was getting heavy.

“I won’t go back yet. I’ll keep gathering for a while longer.”

She had to at least earn enough to match the value of those shark fins before she’d go home.

She didn’t have their luck, so she would rely on her diligence to make up the difference!

Jiang Xia replied, “Alright then, we’ll head back first. I’m going to make some seafood congee. If you and Big Brother get hungry, come over and have some.”

“Okay.”

Once the four of them reached home, Zhou Chenglei prepared to cook the shrimp and crab congee for Jiang Xia.

Jiang Xia said, “You process the fish first so it stays fresh. I’ll do the cooking.”

Everyone had been busy all night and was hungry.

There was already white congee on the coal stove, which Mother Zhou had put on earlier to simmer for tomorrow’s breakfast.

Mother Zhou offered, “I’ll handle the crabs.”

“No need, Mama. You go take a shower, I can do it. Doesn’t your back hurt? Making seafood congee is very fast; I can do it alone,” Jiang Xia insisted.

Father Zhou also felt for his wife. “That’s right. Go shower first, and I’ll rub some medicated oil on your back.”

Zhou Chenglei also urged the two elders to go bathe and just wait to eat the congee when they were done.

Mother Zhou’s back was indeed uncomfortable, so she went to shower.

Thus, the couple went to work—one processing the shark, the other cooking the congee.

Jiang Xia first transferred the existing congee into a clay pot, then added more rice to start a new batch of white congee for the next morning.

Zhou Chenglei began by cutting off the fins and other parts that could be made into shark fin. It was too late to fully process them now, so he put them in the freezer to keep them fresh until tomorrow.

Then he moved on to the meat. Shark meat didn’t taste good and had an ammonia-like urine smell, but it couldn’t be wasted. It could still be sold for a bit of money, even if it wasn’t much.

When Zhou Chenglei cut open the shark’s belly, he noticed a bulge in its stomach. He pressed it—it felt hard.

He pulled it out and found a small, black cloth bag of very high quality.

Jiang Xia was right next to him cleaning the crabs. Seeing him find a bag inside the shark’s belly, she asked curiously, “Quick, see what’s inside!”

Just then, Father Zhou walked out. “See what’s inside what? A-Lei, what’s that in your hand?”

“Found it in the shark’s stomach,” Jiang Xia explained.

Father Zhou’s interest was instantly piqued. “Quick, open it up and see what’s in there!”

As Zhou Chenglei reached to untie the bag and Father Zhou leaned in to look…

Bang! Bang! Bang! Someone knocked loudly on the courtyard gate.

Father Zhou jumped in surprise!

Tian Caihua and Zhou Chengxin had just returned from beachcombing as well, thinking they would have a bowl of congee here before going home.

Chapter 842: Surprisingly none

“Coming!” Father Zhou answered grumpily. He couldn’t help but peek into the bag first, and he sucked in a sharp breath!

If he wasn’t mistaken, these were…

Father Zhou signaled Zhou Chenglei to put them away immediately!

It wouldn’t matter if his eldest son saw them, but his eldest daughter-in-law had a loose tongue. If she found out, there was no telling when she might accidentally blurt it out, and then they would be in serious trouble.

Zhou Chenglei handed the items to Jiang Xia, who took them directly into the kitchen and stored them safely.

Father Zhou walked over to open the gate and said to the two people outside, “It’s the middle of the night. Why are you shouting so loudly?”

Tian Caihua was speechless. Was she being that loud? She thought she was using her normal voice!

“Come in!” Father Zhou stepped aside to let them in, then quickly shut the courtyard gate behind them.

Tian Caihua rolled her eyes inwardly. Was all this secrecy really necessary? It was just a shark they’d caught; the whole village had seen it.

Wait, had they found more treasure?

With that thought, she spotted the coconut snail and several Melo snails on the ground!

Tian Caihua rushed over and whispered, “You found another coconut snail? Have you opened it yet? Why haven’t you opened it!”

Zhou Chenglei was still busy with the shark. “I haven’t finished processing the fish. I’ll open it after I’ve handled all this meat.”

“Let me help you!” Tian Caihua reached for the snail.

Father Zhou snatched it back instantly. “No need. Xiao Xia will open it in a bit!”

If he let his eldest daughter-in-law do it, a pearl might just disappear into thin air, or a good pearl might turn into a bad one. Father Zhou hadn’t forgotten the time years ago when they were opening pearl shells and she hadn’t found a single pearl.

Father Zhou wasn’t willing to take that gamble!

Tian Caihua was stunned. “Where’s Xiao Xia?”

“I’m here! It’ll be ready to eat soon.” Jiang Xia poured the shrimp, crab, and other seafood into the porridge. She had also sliced some lean pork into it, making the porridge sweeter and more delicious.

Tian Caihua thought Jiang Xia was incredibly nonchalant! How could she have the heart to cook porridge while leaving that sea snail sitting there?

If Tian Caihua had found a coconut snail, what porridge would she be cooking? If she found a pearl, she wouldn’t even need to eat; she’d be full just from the joy!

Tian Caihua walked into the kitchen and took the ladle from Jiang Xia’s hand. “Go open that snail. I’ll take over here.”

Jiang Xia turned off the stove. “The porridge is done, and the bowls are washed. Just dish it out.”

“Fine.”

Jiang Xia walked out and removed the meat from the coconut snail. If she didn’t do it, Tian Caihua probably wouldn’t even be able to taste the porridge.

The meat was removed, but no pearl was found.

Tian Caihua carried out several bowls of porridge, looking disappointed. “There’s actually no pearl?”

Father Zhou couldn’t help but grumble inwardly: It’s all your fault for being so meddlesome! Xiao Xia and Lei have never failed to find a pearl in the snails they pick up!

Jiang Xia, however, wasn’t surprised. “Isn’t this normal? People in the village find these snails all the time and don’t get pearls. The chances of this snail having a pearl are very low, which is why the pearls are so expensive.”

Tian Caihua remarked, “It’s normal for others not to find one, but for you not to find one… I think that’s quite abnormal.”

Jiang Xia: “…”

Father Zhou thought: It’s just that some people lack self-awareness.

But Father Zhou wasn’t too disappointed. After all, the family’s fortune was packed inside that bag! The things in that bag were definitely worth more than a single pearl.

He packed the fish meat Zhou Chenglei had prepared into the freezer and said to everyone, “Alright, let’s eat the porridge first!”

After the porridge, they still had dozens of kilograms of sea snails to process. If they didn’t, they would stink by tomorrow.

So the family ate their porridge first. Afterward, they washed the gathered snails, blanched them in boiling water, picked out the meat, and took it to the drying room at the old house to be dehydrated.

By the time they finished all this, it was nearly four o’clock in the morning. Tian Caihua and Zhou Chengxin went home to sleep.

Father Zhou closed the courtyard gate tightly and whispered to Jiang Xia, “Where’s that bag of stuff?”

Jiang Xia brought it out from the kitchen.

Father Zhou took it and said, “Let’s go inside the house to look.”

The group entered the house together.

Once in the living room, Father Zhou pulled all the curtains shut and locked the front door before saying, “Hurry, pour it out and let’s see what’s inside.”

Mother Zhou was bewildered. “Pour what out? Why are you being so mysterious?”

Father Zhou hushed her. “Shh, you’ll know in a second.”

Jiang Xia brought out a tray, and Zhou Chenglei carefully emptied the contents of the black cloth bag onto it.

It was a heap of raw gemstone crystals.

There were red, yellow, blue, green, pink, and white ones. The white ones were the most numerous. There were two yellow ones and two pink ones, while the blue, green, and red ones had only one each. Every single one was quite large, though Jiang Xia didn’t know how big they would be once they were cut and processed.

Jiang Xia only knew that these were likely raw gemstones and diamonds.

The white diamond crystals were the most numerous; Jiang Xia counted thirty-nine of them. They varied in size, with the largest being slightly bigger than her thumb, while the colored gemstones were even larger than that.

She guessed this bag must have been thrown into the sea by smugglers when they were about to be caught, only to be swallowed by the shark.

Of course, this was just Jiang Xia’s theory; she had no way of knowing the truth.

Father Zhou also picked up the largest blue stone to examine it. “Could these be unprocessed sapphires, rubies, and diamonds?”

Although these stones weren’t sparkling or brilliant, and he had never seen what those things looked like in their raw form, he could guess easily enough. Even if he had never eaten pork, he had seen a pig run.

Zhou Chenglei gave a firm answer: “Yes.”

Mother Zhou gently touched the smallest diamond. “Even this tiny one must be worth a lot, right?”

She had seen the ring worn by Elder Mai’s daughter-in-law from Hong Kong. It seemed to be a diamond ring. When Tian Caihua had asked how much it cost, the woman said it was over thirty thousand US dollars.

A single ring worth thirty thousand US dollars! When Mother Zhou saw her washing her hands at the tap, she had been terrified the ring would be washed away by the water!

Mother Zhou thought that diamond ring was an astronomical price, unaware that the woman had actually chosen one of her most understated pieces to wear.

Father Zhou said, “Of course they’re valuable. Since they were packed like this, they must be smuggled goods. Who would risk smuggling them if they weren’t high quality?”

Mother Zhou nodded. The old man was right!

“Alright, put them away quickly. We can’t estimate their value anyway. Hide them for now, and in the future, if we’re short on money, we can sell them one by one. Never sell them all at once.”

Father Zhou felt that selling this pile could easily buy one or two ten-thousand-ton cargo ships!

Old Fourth wanted to start a shipping company. When he’d gone to collect a boat a couple of days ago, he’d ordered several more from the shipyard—three container ships, two bulk carriers, and one medium-sized fishing boat. Father Zhou had been worried that ordering so many at once would leave them short of cash when it came time to pay.

Now, he wasn’t worried at all!

With so many treasures to back them up, what was there for the couple to fear?

Right now, even if they took them to Zhang Rong, he wouldn’t be able to give an accurate value. These things depended on clarity, carat weight, color, and cut—they would need to be taken to a professional institution for appraisal.

However, whatever they were worth was just a number. Unless they were desperate for money, Jiang Xia didn’t plan on selling them. She wanted to keep them and have them made into sets for the triplets and Zhou Zhou as an inheritance.

Though, she could take a few out now to have a custom wedding ring made for Jiang Dong.

Zhou Chenglei picked up the tray, and the couple went upstairs to wash up and go to sleep.

While Jiang Xia went to shower, Zhou Chenglei rinsed the small stones. He left them to dry on a towel so he could put them back into the safe in the morning.

When Jiang Xia finished her shower and saw the stones drying on the towel, she remembered that Zhang Fuyan liked pink. She picked out one of the pink ones and set it aside.

The two pink ones were about the same size, and since she didn’t know which one was better, she just picked one at random.

Chapter 843: The First Piece of Business

Jiang Xia picked out two white stones for Jiang Dong, telling him to use them for a custom-made set of matching wedding bands.

Between them lay a very large pink stone. Once cut, it would likely be several carats, if not ten. She planned to have Elder Mai use it for a custom necklace to give to Zhang Fuyan as a wedding gift.

She would design it personally and purchase the necessary accent diamonds separately.

Zhou Chenglei came out from his shower. Seeing Jiang Xia setting aside three stones, he asked while drying his hair, “What are you planning?”

Jiang Xia was already lying in bed, but since it was past her usual sleeping time, she found herself unable to drift off. “Wedding gifts for Jiang Dong. I want him to design a pair of rings to surprise Xiao Yan.”

Zhou Chenglei paused, looking at the simple wedding ring he was wearing. He had bought theirs in a hurry back then, simply picking the most expensive one available.

Comparison brought a sense of regret; the more he compared, the more Zhou Chenglei wanted to redo their wedding.

He decided that he would also personally design a pair of rings.

In fact, he wouldn’t stop at one pair; he would design a new set for every wedding anniversary from now on.

He was even wondering if they should hold another wedding ceremony when they reached their fifth anniversary.

After the typhoon passed, it rained for another two days. By the third day, the weather finally cleared, and Father Jiang was ready to depart for F Province.

Early that morning, Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei brought the triplets to the Jiang family home.

When the couple arrived, they saw two suitcases in the living room, both packed by Mother Jiang for her husband.

Mother Jiang still had to work here for now, so Father Jiang was heading out alone.

She would have to finish her term this year before she could be transferred to the garment factory there.

A factory director of a National Cotton Factory in that area was retiring next year, which would finally create a vacancy.

Seeing his daughter and son-in-law, Father Jiang immediately stepped forward to take his granddaughter from Jiang Xia’s arms. “Didn’t I say I could head over by myself? It’s so much trouble for you to bring the children here!”

Father Jiang noticed the bangs on his daughter’s forehead were slightly damp with sweat and turned on the ceiling fan.

He carried his granddaughter away from the direct draft of the fan, checking her back to ensure she wasn’t sweaty.

Jiang Xia changed her shoes and smiled. “It’s no trouble at all. It’s a good chance to get out. When I told the kids we were going to Grandpa’s house, the triplets were so excited.”

Father Jiang knew his daughter simply wanted to see him off personally, even if it meant the hassle of traveling with children. This realization filled him with joy.

Jiang Dong and Elder Mai took the elder and younger brothers from Zhou Chenglei’s arms.

Father Jiang reminded Jiang Dong and his father, “Check if the clothes on Dabao and Erbao’s backs are damp. If they are, change them; otherwise, they’ll catch a cold from the fan.”

The two men felt the children’s backs.

Little sister saw a variety of fruit on the table and pointed at a watermelon. “Grandpa, melon-melon.”

Father Jiang laughed. “Does Little Bao want watermelon? Grandpa will slice some for you. Your Great-grandfather just picked this fresh this morning.”

Jiang Xia intervened, “Dad, there’s no need. We’re about to leave; don’t cut it.”

“There’s no rush. We don’t leave for another hour.”

Mother Jiang was still in the house packing some of Father Jiang’s everyday items. Jiang Xia walked in. “Mom, do you need any help?”

“No, I’m just checking to see if I missed anything your father usually uses.”

Mother Jiang was worried her husband wouldn’t take proper care of himself alone, so she packed as many of his familiar belongings as possible. She also planned to prepare a second set of everything for their home here so he could use them when he returned for visits.

Seeing that she wasn’t needed, Jiang Xia took out the three “stones” she had brought and gave them to Jiang Dong and Elder Mai.

Jiang Dong intended to design the wedding rings himself and had already sketched several versions. He had been quite confident, but after seeing the necklace Jiang Xia designed, he felt his own ring designs looked tacky.

He couldn’t help but say, “Sister, why don’t you design the wedding rings for us?”

He realized he simply didn’t have the talent for this!

Jiang Xia refused. “Wedding rings are only meaningful if you design them yourself. You can work on the design with Xiao Yan. That way, you don’t have to worry about her not liking them.”

“But then there’s no surprise,” Jiang Dong argued.

“It’s not that there’s no surprise; it’s just that the surprise might be different. When you tell her you want to design your wedding rings together, that moment is a surprise in itself. Besides, isn’t it meaningful for both of you to be involved in the design process?”

Jiang Dong thought his sister was right. “Alright, then I’ll design our rings with Xiao Yan.”

Zhang Fuyan wouldn’t graduate until next year, so they wouldn’t marry until after her graduation at the earliest.

However, custom rings took time, which was why Jiang Dong wanted to start early.

After feeding the triplets some fruit, the whole family headed to the airport.

Today, everyone was accompanying Father Jiang to his new post, including Elder Mai.

Elder Mai had already bought and renovated a house there, so he could just move right in.

Father Jiang was supposed to have housing provided by his job, but his father had gone ahead to set everything up. Moreover, the house Elder Mai arranged was larger and big enough for the whole family, so they decided to stay there.

Father Jiang was very busy; he only had time to walk around with his family on the first day. By the second day (Monday), he went straight to work.

Jiang Xia and the others flew back on Sunday night, leaving only Elder Mai to stay a few more days with Father Jiang.

Elder Mai also wanted to scout the area with the intention of bringing a team there to invest. This would assist his son’s career and allow them to see each other more often.

Jiang Dong had also wanted to stay, but Father Jiang told him to return and keep Mother Jiang company, worried she wouldn’t be used to being home alone.

Upon returning from F Province, Zhou Chenglei received a phone call. The cargo ship had secured its first piece of business: transporting river sand to Hong Kong.

The next day, Zhou Chenglei sailed the ship to the destination to load the river sand. They spent eight hours just waiting in line to load; the queue was long, and the loading process itself was slow.

Fortunately, Zhou Chenglei was the type of person who could find peace anywhere. He spent the waiting time reading on the ship.

This shipment consisted of 1,000 cubic meters of river sand, weighing roughly 1,500 tons. The freight charge for the trip was 43,500 yuan. However, they had to pay about 9,000 yuan in pier fees and over 7,000 yuan in fuel surcharges, plus the bidding price had cost 5,000 yuan. After deducting crew wages and other miscellaneous expenses, the estimated profit was 20,000 yuan.

Zhou Chenglei was away for a day and a half before returning home. When he got back, Tian Caihua asked curiously, “Fourth Brother, how much did you make on this trip?”

Zhou Chenglei didn’t hide the truth. “A little over 20,000 yuan—about seventy or eighty yuan more.”

They could have made an extra 900 yuan, but due to a lack of experience, they had to pay 900 yuan in port demurrage fees.

That wouldn’t happen next time!

Tian Caihua gasped. “20,000 yuan? That much?”

Making 20,000 yuan in one trip was more than what the big ship made on a distant seas voyage!

Zhou Chengxin had also set off on the big ship for the distant seas the day before yesterday. He wouldn’t even be home for the Mid-Autumn Festival and was expected back in three months. There was no telling how much he would earn.

Since Zhou Chengxin was taking the big ship out this time, Father Zhou stayed behind to manage things at home, including the livestock farm.

Seeing Tian Caihua’s shock, Father Zhou said, “20,000 yuan isn’t actually that much. It works out to about twenty yuan per cubic meter. Do you know how heavy a cubic meter of sand is? It’s about 1.5 tons. That means for every 1,500 kilograms of sand, the freight is only twenty yuan. That’s less than one cent per 500 grams! The freight is only about six li per 500 grams.”

It sounded like a lot of profit, but Zhou Chenglei had calculated that they needed to secure 18 such orders a month just to break even.

Maintaining a ship was expensive. Crew wages, repair costs, and depreciation were all significant.

After all, a ship had a limited lifespan, so depreciation had to be factored in.

Overall, however, it was still very profitable. Ships were scarce in this era, and there was plenty of business. As long as you were willing to work, you could stay busy non-stop.

Currently, there were many jobs but few cargo ships.

Zhou Chenglei made three trips with the crew. Once the workers were familiar with the routine, he handed the operations over to the hired crew, as he didn’t have time to keep running it himself.

The people he hired were all people he trusted: his former brothers-in-arms, brothers from the village, and his Great-Uncle’s Second Cousin. He had no worries leaving it in their hands.

Chapter 844: Looking Especially Beautiful Today

In mid-October, the Canton Fair arrived as scheduled.

Jiang Xia woke up at five-thirty in the morning and sat before the mirror, applying an incredibly exquisite layer of makeup.

The process took her an entire hour!

Once she was finished, Zhou Chenglei stared fixedly at her, unable to look away for several seconds.

Seeing him staring without even blinking, Jiang Xia smiled and struck a pose. “Am I pretty?” she asked.

Zhou Chenglei looked at her lips, as red and enticing as a blooming rose. He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her into his embrace, and leaned down to kiss her. He wanted to show her with his actions.

It wasn’t just that she was pretty; she was exceptionally captivating!

Jiang Xia quickly dodged him. “Don’t! Don’t wrinkle my clothes or ruin my makeup!”

Zhou Chenglei didn’t press the matter, knowing she had put a lot of effort into her look.

He lowered his gaze to her fair, straight, and slender legs. “Aren’t those shorts a bit too short? Maybe you should change. The wind is quite strong today.”

Jiang Xia looked down. “Short? This length is just right. Don’t you think the length of these shorts, paired with my top, makes my proportions look perfect?”

That was undeniable. In fact, Zhou Chenglei thought they looked too perfect!

He couldn’t take his eyes off her, so how would others be any different?

He felt a twinge of regret for not leaving a few marks on her skin last night.

“How about wearing some long socks? If you leave your legs exposed like that, you’ll end up with aching joints when you get older.”

Jiang Xia glanced at him. “You said it!”

Then, she put on a pair of black stockings.

Zhou Chenglei: “…”

His Adam’s apple bobbed. He glanced out the window. “The weather looks pretty good today. It’ll probably be hot by noon. Maybe you shouldn’t wear stockings after all?”

Jiang Xia couldn’t be bothered to entertain his whims. She picked up several gift boxes and bags she had prepared for her clients. “Let’s go!”

Zhou Chenglei watched her walk away, then picked up the remaining gift boxes and followed.

After a few steps, he turned back to the wardrobe, grabbed a long coat, and quickly caught up to drape it over her shoulders.

Jiang Xia gave him a look but obediently wore it. Regardless, once they reached the venue and he got busy, she intended to take it off anyway.

It wasn’t that people didn’t wear shorts or skirts in this era, but Jiang Xia rarely did, mainly because she was afraid of getting a tan.

But today was different.

The outfit she was wearing had been personally designed, cut, and sewn by her, stitch by stitch. The fabrics and trimmings were all custom-ordered from abroad; China didn’t have materials of this quality yet.

Everything about this outfit, from the craftsmanship to the materials, was done to the highest standards.

As such, this wasn’t a piece the Garment Factory would be selling at the exhibition.

This outfit was a foot in the door—a stepping stone she had created to build a top-tier luxury brand and secure a place for Chinese clothing in the international fashion world.

Jiang Xia had prepared dozens of these high-end custom outfits. She planned to change two or three times a day, acting as a walking advertisement.

She had also prepared a few sets to give to buyers she had a good relationship with, asking them to help spread the word.

Jiang Xia didn’t know if it would be successful, but she wanted to try starting with private commissions and then providing costumes for famous movies and television shows to carve out a grand path for herself.

If it didn’t work in one year, she’d try for two; if not two, then three…

She would keep trying until she was ready to give up.

With her knowledge from her previous life, she was familiar with European, American, Japanese, and Korean styles. She felt it was worth a shot.

The two of them arrived at the exhibition hall registration desk.

The staff members all knew Jiang Xia, and their eyes lit up when they saw her outfit!

“Comrade Xiao Xia, you look so beautiful today!”

“Comrade Xiao Xia, you’re wearing makeup? It’s stunning! You’re so beautiful I almost didn’t recognize you!”

“You were already beautiful without it, but with makeup, you look like a big star from the television!”

“Stars on television aren’t even as beautiful as Xiao Xia. I think she’s prettier than any of them!”

Hearing this, Feng Zhaojun looked up at Jiang Xia. She, too, was stunned by the woman’s appearance.

“Comrade Xiao Xia, was this outfit made by your Garment Factory? It’s gorgeous! I want to buy a set too.”

“Exactly! That outfit is too beautiful! Is it stock from your factory? How much is it? It looks so good, I want one as well.”

Feng Zhaojun pricked up her ears; she wanted a set too.

Someone reached out to touch the fabric. “Xiao Xia, the material your factory uses is incredible! This must be very expensive, right? It feels even better than the clothes in the Friendship Store.”

Jiang Xia held up a finger to her lips in a “shushing” motion and then joked, “To tell you the truth, this outfit is specifically designed to fleece the wealthy. We don’t trick our own people.”

The crowd burst into laughter at her words.

Feng Zhaojun’s expression soured as she glared at Jiang Xia. What did she mean by that? Did she think they couldn’t afford the clothes she was wearing? Who did she think she was looking down on?

Jiang Xia smiled and added, “This is a private custom piece, so the value for money isn’t great. If you want to buy something, come visit my booth when you have time. We have many beautiful styles there. If you see something you like, let me know. I’ll give you a discount and sell it to you at cost price. You definitely won’t find prices like that anywhere else.”

Hearing this, everyone chimed in, “That’s great! When I’m free, I’ll go up and have a look. You have to give me some recommendations!”

“Call me when you go; I want to pick out a few sets too.”

One after another, they expressed their intention to visit.

Jiang Xia chatted with them for a few more moments, returned the sign-in sheet, and headed toward the Food Factory’s booth.

This year, the Food Factory finally had its own dedicated booth and didn’t have to share tables with other factories.

The staff at the registration desk watched Jiang Xia leave. Her outfit made even her silhouette look beautiful. Someone couldn’t help but remark, “Comrade Xiao Xia’s clothes are really nice! She even looks good from behind. I love it.”

That outfit looked so elegant on her. Even her back gave off an air of… immense nobility.

They truly liked it.

“It’s because Xiao Xia has great poise. Even her back looks good. She looks good in anything.”

“True, but I feel like I’d look good in that outfit too.”

Feng Zhaojun remarked in a sarcastic tone, “Forget about it. Didn’t she just say those are for rich people? She thinks you can’t afford them! And calling them ‘custom pieces’—if I didn’t know better, I’d think they were major foreign brands. Her ego has grown too large! She’s becoming more and more superficial!”

So what if she had salvaged a failing, broken factory to make a few clothes? Did she really think she could compete with famous international brands?

Hmph, she looked forward to seeing if Jiang Xia could actually sell any of those clothes!

Jiang Xia actually had a good reputation among the staff here. After all, she had taught them many things, so no one chimed in to agree with Feng Zhaojun.

Many people knew Feng Zhaojun looked down on Jiang Xia. Last year, Feng Zhaojun hadn’t participated in the Canton Fair because she was on maternity leave, and Jiang Xia had handled their training.

But this year, even though Feng Zhaojun had returned from leave, Old He had still asked Jiang Xia to conduct the training. Even Feng Zhaojun had to attend Jiang Xia’s sessions. Furthermore, Feng Zhaojun had lost her previous position as group leader. Everyone knew she was unhappy and didn’t want to provoke her, so they stayed silent.

Mostly, they were afraid that if they started an argument in such an inappropriate setting, they would face disciplinary action.

Chapter 845: Division of Labor

Seeing that everyone had stopped talking, Feng Zhaojun glanced at the time. “Alright, it’s almost eight o’clock. Get back to your posts. We can’t have foreign merchants arriving and not a single translator in sight.”

With that, Feng Zhaojun hurried away.

She was determined to perform well at this Canton Fair, to do better than Jiang Xia and strive to reclaim her position as group leader next year.

After she left, someone couldn’t help but whisper, “Tsk, does she still think she’s the group leader?”

A newcomer asked, “I heard she knows three languages, is that true?”

“It’s true, but I think her translation skills are nowhere near Xiao Xia’s level. When Xiao Xia provided the training, she even looked disgruntled.”

“Who can possibly compare to Comrade Jiang Xia?”

Jiang Xia didn’t know she had upset Feng Zhaojun again, but even if she had known, she wouldn’t have cared.

Indeed, Jiang Xia had once again accepted Old He’s invitation to conduct training.

Furthermore, this time it wasn’t just for the team from the capital; she was training the entire translation team for the Canton Fair.

She had arrived in Suicheng half a month early specifically to provide this training.

These translators were elite personnel selected after working multiple sessions of the Canton Fair.

Old He hoped Jiang Xia could train them to be more professional and skilled, allowing them to shine across various industries at the fair. This would help Chinese enterprises secure more orders and generate more foreign exchange for the country.

The nation was currently undergoing rapid development, and every industry needed foreign exchange to import advanced equipment from abroad.

The times were progressing, and the Canton Fair was evolving. Because Feng Zhaojun had a difficult pregnancy and required bed rest, she had been on maternity leave for over a year and had fallen behind.

Worried that she was out of touch, Old He had encouraged her to learn from Jiang Xia. It wasn’t just Feng Zhaojun; many translators even more senior than her attended Jiang Xia’s training sessions.

This society was one where strength of ability spoke loudest, especially in the translation industry.

In the face of absolute skill, if you weren’t capable enough, you had no choice but to bow your head.

After Jiang Xia dropped off her gifts at her food factory’s stall, she headed to the main entrance of the exhibition hall to wait for the first busload of foreign merchants from the food industry.

In truth, her food factory was not short on orders. Many foreign buyers had even placed orders in advance to lock in discounts.

However, Jiang Xia still performed her duties as a translator and sales consultant for several factories. Regardless, it was a way to earn money while maintaining good relationships.

Moreover, as the reputation of China’s Canton Fair grew internationally, more foreign merchants and overseas Chinese businessmen arrived every year. She still needed to develop new clients.

She hoped to open several more factories and sell potato chips all over the world before the new millennium.

Feng Zhaojun arrived at the main entrance a step ahead of Jiang Xia. Seeing Jiang Xia approach, she said, “Comrade Jiang Xia, Old He put us both in charge of the food exhibition area. Once the foreign merchants arrive, let’s each take half of them and handle the explanations separately.”

Feng Zhaojun had suggested to Old He that she assist Jiang Xia in hosting the food industry merchant groups, and Old He had agreed.

Jiang Xia glanced at her. “We’ll see.”

Feng Zhaojun pressed, “What do you mean ‘we’ll see’? Do you agree or not?”

Jiang Xia replied, “I don’t have a problem with it, of course, but everyone else has to agree.”

Jiang Xia actually wanted things to be a bit easier. There were so many manufacturers in the food exhibition area, and she didn’t get a commission from all of them.

Feng Zhaojun frowned. “Who wouldn’t agree?”

“The factory owners and the buyers.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. I’m very familiar with many of the manufacturers; they won’t object. As for the buyers, what does it matter who greets them or translates for them? You can’t look after so many people by yourself anyway!”

They both knew that nearly two hundred buyers from the food industry were arriving that morning.

Jiang Xia conceded, “Fine. Once we get the guests to the exhibition area, you can bring it up.”

Just then, six buses arrived simultaneously. More buses had been arranged for transportation this year; four were for food industry merchants, while the other two were for those in the agricultural products sector.

The translators responsible for the agricultural area immediately went to meet them.

Jiang Xia also stepped forward, though Feng Zhaojun moved even faster.

By the time they reached the buses, the passengers were just stepping off.

Feng Zhaojun smiled and addressed the group, “Welcome to China! I am your translator, Feng Zhaojun. Today, I will be—”

Before she could finish, the foreign merchants and overseas Chinese who recognized Jiang Xia bypassed her, waving. “Jiang Xia, long time no see!”

“Xia, we meet again!”

“Xia, I brought you some treats!”

“Xia, you look so beautiful today! I almost didn’t recognize you.”

In an instant, Jiang Xia was surrounded by a crowd. Quite a few people even gave her a hug.

Feng Zhaojun, ignored and marginalized, stood frozen. “…”

Jiang Xia smiled as she greeted everyone, hugging familiar clients before inviting them inside.

Consequently, everyone followed Jiang Xia.

Among them were people attending the Canton Fair for the first time, some of whom had specifically come for the potato chips and french fries.

Seeing everyone following Jiang Xia, Feng Zhaojun hurried to her side. “Jiang Xia, didn’t we agree to divide the work and each take half of the clients? Tell them to have half the people follow me so I can translate for them. Otherwise, with so many people following you, those in the back won’t be able to hear.”

Jiang Xia nodded. “Alright, let’s talk about it once we reach the exhibition area.”

Jiang Xia certainly wasn’t going to say anything now; otherwise, the other manufacturers might think she was unwilling to translate for them.

Feng Zhaojun could only continue to endure it.

Once Jiang Xia led the group into the food exhibition area, the staff at every stall went into high alert, each wearing a smile.

The orders were coming!

As Jiang Xia led the group toward the first stall, Feng Zhaojun saw that Jiang Xia had no intention of handing over half the guests. She grew angry and stepped up beside her. “Xiao Xia, didn’t we agree I would serve half the people? With so many foreign merchants here today, you can’t handle them all alone. If some guests lose their patience and leave, can you bear the loss? Old He let me join you in the food exhibition area precisely because he was afraid you’d be overwhelmed.”

Only then did Jiang Xia introduce Feng Zhaojun to everyone. She explained that because there were so many people today, some of them could follow Feng Zhaojun to hear her translations and explanations, which would provide a more efficient service.

Jiang Xia spoke in English, and Feng Zhaojun understood her perfectly. When Jiang Xia finished, Feng Zhaojun smiled and introduced herself to the buyers again.

Then she added, “Since my colleague, Comrade Xiao Xia, has her own food factory and needs to promote her own products, I will be the one to introduce the other products to you today! Now, let me start by introducing the products of the Jiangnan Food Factory from the first stall.”

Chapter 846: Eager for Quick Success

The factory director of Jiangnan Food Factory was instantly displeased upon hearing this. His factory had finally drawn the first booth this year, and he was waiting to spread his wings!

What was this Feng Zhaojun trying to do?

“Comrade Feng Zhaojun, you haven’t been involved in this work for many years. It’s better to let Comrade Jiang Xia do the explaining!”

Feng Zhaojun: “…”

What did he mean by saying she hadn’t worked for many years?

She had only been out of work for a little over a year, missing only three sessions of the Canton Fair in total.

The directors of the other factories also spoke up one after another, “Director Xiang is right! Comrade Feng Zhaojun, it’s better to let Comrade Jiang Xia do the translating! If Comrade Jiang Xia gets too busy, then you can step in to help.”

“Comrade Feng, Comrade Jiang Xia is highly experienced. Let her handle the presentation this time! Once she finishes explaining everything to everyone, you can add any supplementary details!”

“Comrade Feng, let Comrade Jiang Xia do it. If she’s too busy to answer all the questions from our foreign friends, you can assist her from the side!”

“This morning’s presentation is of critical importance. Comrade Jiang Xia has cooperated with us for many years and is very familiar with our products. It’s better to let her do it! We don’t feel at ease with anyone else!”

“That’s right, we don’t trust anyone else; we only believe in Comrade Jiang Xia.”

Was she joking? A procurement team of over two hundred people, and they should hand the presentation over to her?

If she didn’t do a good job, wouldn’t this year’s orders just fall through?

Feng Zhaojun hadn’t expected all the manufacturers to oppose her giving the presentation. She turned toward the foreign merchants, hoping to find a breakthrough there. “Ladies and gentlemen, would you like me to give you the presentation? Comrade Jiang Xia also has her own factory’s affairs to attend to.”

Foreigners were generally polite. Since she had put it that way, they wouldn’t refuse, right? After all, it was just a translator—didn’t it matter who did the translating?

Besides, she wasn’t lying. Jiang Xia had her own factory, and she didn’t believe Jiang Xia wouldn’t want to focus on her own business.

As it turned out, most of the people shook their heads. “I want Jiang Xia to give us the presentation.”

“Xia’s explanations are very vivid and interesting. I like Xia to explain it to us.”

“Xia introduces products exceptionally well. The products she recommends to us always sell very well. I want Xia to do the presentation.”

…

Feng Zhaojun’s expression froze.

Director Xiang immediately said, “Comrade Feng Zhaojun, then we’ll have to trouble you to assist Comrade Jiang Xia this time.”

Then he beckoned to Jiang Xia, “Comrade Jiang Xia, don’t keep our friends waiting. Let’s begin!”

“Comrade Feng Zhaojun, please step aside and let Comrade Jiang Xia introduce our products to everyone!”

With a darkened face, Feng Zhaojun retreated to the side and shot a glance at Jiang Xia.

Jiang Xia hadn’t said a word the entire time, nor had she looked at her. Neither of them liked the sight of the other, so why bother looking?

She reclaimed the floor and said to the crowd with a smile, “It’s getting late, so I will proceed with the introduction! Today, I would like to give a grand introduction to the new products launched by our Jiangnan Food Factory…”

Old He arrived as usual to take a look and witnessed the entire process. He said to the person beside him, “Call Xiao Yan and Minjun over to assist Jiang Xia.”

“Yes!” The staff member immediately left to call them.

Old He walked up to Feng Zhaojun. “Xiao Feng, go help out at the service desk. They’re short-handed over there.”

“Okay.” Feng Zhaojun’s face turned pale when she saw Old He, and she fled the scene after responding.

She only wanted to prove that she could do better than Jiang Xia so she could take back the position of group leader!

What was Jiang Xia compared to her?

When she was the group leader two years ago, Jiang Xia was just a part-time translator!

It wasn’t as if she was the only one who spoke a foreign language well!

She was just relying on her good looks and a sweet tongue to coax so many people.

Old He watched her retreating back and shook his head secretly.

Jiang Xia had mentioned that she might not be free to attend every Canton Fair in the future and suggested he find someone to learn from her. She would train someone so that they could handle the reception when she was unavailable.

Of course, Jiang Xia also said that unless there were special circumstances, she would attend every fair; training someone was just to avoid issues should an emergency arise.

He had thought Xiao Feng was a hard-working and ambitious child, so he let her stay by Jiang Xia’s side to learn, intending for Feng Zhaojun to take charge whenever Jiang Xia couldn’t attend the Canton Fair.

But what had this Xiao Feng just done?

She tried to take over the lead and push Jiang Xia aside the moment she arrived?

What kind of behavior was that?

This child used to seem quite down-to-earth and hardworking!

How had she become so eager for quick success?

Looking at it today, compared to Jiang Xia’s vision and class, this Xiao Feng was truly too petty!

Look at how many training classes Jiang Xia had held—had she ever not taught everything she knew with total sincerity and effort?

Zhang Fuyan and He Minjun arrived quickly. Old He asked the two of them to learn from Jiang Xia while assisting her in completing the procurement work for this large wave of customers.

Zhang Fuyan came to Jiang Xia’s side and, taking advantage of a brief gap in Jiang Xia’s schedule, asked, “What did Feng Zhaojun do?”

Jiang Xia: “I’ll tell you when we get home.”

At noon, Jiang Xia had to have lunch with some buyers.

The two of them only managed that one sentence of small talk before becoming so busy they didn’t even have time to drink water.

There were techniques to promotion, especially when there were many people; that was the easiest time to make a sale.

Unsurprisingly, the factories in the food area broke last year’s sales records again this morning, with sales figures exceeding last year’s by $250 million!

Although more customers had come to place orders this year, the orders from many old customers were also larger than last year’s.

This time, Jiang Xia also received many gifts from the customers.

Jiang Xia, in turn, gave them the gift boxes she had prepared in advance.

“I have founded a clothing brand, and these are clothes I designed. I hope you like them.”

The people who received the gifts were extremely surprised. “Xia, you’ve also founded a clothing brand? Are the clothes you’re wearing designed by you?”

“Yes, the clothes I’m wearing were designed and handmade by me personally. Do they look beautiful?”

“Very beautiful! I thought you looked stunning in those clothes the moment I saw you!”

“Oh, my goodness! Xia, you are incredible! The clothes you design are so beautiful! I really love them!”

Facing everyone’s praise, Jiang Xia smiled and thanked them. “The clothes I gave you were also designed based on your individual temperaments. You can go back to your hotel and try them on to see if they fit. If they don’t, you can bring them to me tomorrow, and I’ll help you alter them.”

“Great, I’ll definitely try it on when I get back. I’ll wear it tomorrow!”

Someone else asked, “Xia, are the clothes from your clothing store on display this time? I’d like to go see them.”

“Yes, it’s on the fourth floor. However, the clothes I gave you are the private custom line from our factory. The clothes on display on the fourth floor are from another brand, mainly focused on commuting and daily wear. They are also very beautiful. There’s a fashion show at seven o’clock tonight; if you’re interested, you can go check it out.”

Jiang Xia told them the location of the booth.

“We will definitely go take a look. Will you be there tonight?”

“Yes, I’ll be there this afternoon.”

Thus, everyone expressed that they would go take a look either tonight or this afternoon.

Partly out of respect for their friendship, and partly because they truly felt the clothes Jiang Xia was wearing were beautiful.

Chapter 847: Under Immense Pressure

After finishing lunch with the buyers from the food industry, Jiang Xia headed back to the exhibition hall to see how the clothes from her factory were selling. She also needed to prepare for the fashion show scheduled for that evening.

The female buyers, upon hearing that she was returning to her garment booth, decided to tag along to take a look.

Thus, Jiang Xia led a group of over a dozen people up to the fourth floor.

In the fourth-floor exhibition area, there wasn’t a soul who didn’t recognize Jiang Xia.

As they saw her, people greeted her one after another. “Xiao Xia, your garment factory signed a ton of orders this morning!”

“I haven’t seen a single person spend less than half an hour in there! Everyone coming out has an order form in their hand.”

“Comrade Xiao Xia, your orders are exploding! Do you have enough inventory ready?”

“Xiao Xia, you don’t even need to hold the fashion show tonight! You’ve already hit peak orders this morning! You’re breaking records! Forget the runway show and give that slot to our factory instead!”

“Xiao Xia, I saw a big client at your booth this morning. They ordered no less than a thousand pieces for every style! Hundreds of pieces per color, one order after another!”

“Xiao Xia, hurry up! Your booth is packed with customers, and your employees can’t keep up!”

…

The comments were all well-intentioned, and Jiang Xia responded to each with a smile.

Seeing people warmly greeting Jiang Xia all along the way, the foreign friends beside her laughed. “Xia, you have so many friends.”

In the food exhibition area, Jiang Xia knew every food factory director and employee; she had good relationships with everyone. In the garment exhibition area, it was the same—everyone went out of their way to say hello.

Jiang Xia smiled and explained, “Before I opened my factory, I worked as a part-time translator at the Canton Fair. Besides the food factories, I also translated for several garment factories, shipyards, and plastic factories. That’s why I know so many people.”

Hearing this, they couldn’t help but offer more praise. “You are incredible!”

“You are the most independent woman I’ve ever met!”

…

Jiang Xia had to deal with so many people that by the time she reached her factory’s booth, she was thirsty again.

The booth was indeed crowded, with about a dozen people gathered around. If it was this busy during the lunch hour, it must have been even more hectic during the morning.

When the old factory director saw Jiang Xia appear, he said excitedly, “Xiao Xia, you’re finally here! It’s been too busy! I can’t understand a word they’re saying. Hurry and help out.”

For today, Jiang Xia had arranged for the factory director, the deputy factory director, two designers, half the sales department staff, and three translators to be present. Even Elder Mai had come to help, as his English was quite good.

Despite having so many people, they were still struggling to keep up, mainly because they were short on translators and the others faced language barriers.

Now that Jiang Xia had brought another dozen or so people with her, the space became even more cramped.

However, the dozen people Jiang Xia brought weren’t there to place wholesale orders; they were there to buy clothes for themselves. As they looked at the displayed outfits, they couldn’t help but praise them. “Xia, did you design all of these? They are beautiful.”

“Xia, recommend a few sets that would suit me.”

“Xia, do you think I look good in this one?”

…

In addition to the people Jiang Xia brought, some of the people already at the booth recognized her and said happily, “Xia, you’re here! Quick, tell me more about these clothes!”

Jiang Xia drank half a bottle of water and immediately threw herself into the work.

Although the dozen women she brought weren’t in the garment trade and were just retail customers, every single one of them was wealthy. They were potential clients for her private custom business.

Tailoring her suggestions to their temperament and style, Jiang Xia recommended one or two outfits to each of them. “You can go try them on and see if you like them.”

Generally, wholesale buyers don’t try on clothes because they are there to place orders for their businesses, not to buy for themselves. Furthermore, the majority of wholesale buyers were men, so most people didn’t need a fitting room.

However, Jiang Xia had specifically set up a small fitting room.

The women took turns going inside to try on the clothes.

Meanwhile, Jiang Xia promoted the designs she was most confident in—the ones she believed would become hit styles—to the wholesale clients.

Someone noticed that the clothes Jiang Xia was wearing looked excellent, both in terms of craftsmanship and fabric. They asked, “Xia, what size are you wearing? Is what you’re wearing also from this brand?”

Jiang Xia explained, “The clothes I’m wearing aren’t from this brand. It’s from another high-end brand I founded called Geisha. I design them personally, and for now, it only accepts private custom orders. We don’t have samples here, but there is a showroom over at the Baiyun Hotel. There will also be about a dozen styles showcased during the fashion show tonight.”

Jiang Xia kept her explanation brief and didn’t focus too much on it. The path of private custom was not an easy one; she planned to take it slow and wasn’t in a hurry. Moving from private custom to haute couture would be even harder!

Her main focus remained on introducing the clothes displayed at the booth.

At that moment, someone came out after changing. Everyone looked over and offered sincere praise:

“It looks great!”

“Very beautiful!”

“So stunning! This outfit suits your temperament perfectly. You look like a different person in it! Absolutely beautiful!”

“I’m going to try on the one Xia picked for me too!”

…

One after another, they ran to try on the clothes. Each outfit looked great on them, and for a few women with exceptional figures and features, the effect was nothing short of breathtaking!

Witnessing this, the wholesale buyers immediately increased their orders.

Jiang Xia was busy until four o’clock, at which point she had to go backstage to eat with the models. After eating, they had to start on makeup to prepare for the seven o’clock fashion show.

For this Canton Fair, a total of twelve garment factories had successfully applied to hold a fashion show. To ensure fairness, the order of the shows was determined by drawing lots.

Jiang Xia was the last to draw, yet she ended up with the slot for the very first fashion show.

It was quite lucky!

The other eleven factories who drew lots with her were incredibly envious.

While they were envious, they were also worried. After all, Jiang Xia was the one who had spearheaded the idea of the fashion show. They had long since witnessed her keen sense of fashion trends and coordination.

Just looking at the endless stream of orders at her booth throughout the day, they knew exactly how formidable Comrade Jiang Xia’s garment factory was.

They were afraid that because Jiang Xia’s factory was the first to hold a show, they would set the sales record so high that those following would be under immense pressure!

At the meeting tomorrow morning, the leaders above would certainly tell them to work hard to keep up.

Although everyone felt the pressure, several garment factories still sent people over to help Jiang Xia prepare for the show. After all, Jiang Xia had helped them so much in the past.

Several factory directors couldn’t help but joke with her, semi-seriously. “Comrade Xiao Xia, please show some mercy! Otherwise, how are we supposed to get through tomorrow?”

“You guys have it easy! Our factory is walking the runway tomorrow. If the gap in sales is too large, I won’t even dare show my face at the meeting the day after tomorrow! At least you guys have me as a buffer since you’re behind me!”

…

Chapter 848: It’s Impossible for There to Be No Orders!

The fashion show came to a successful conclusion at midnight.

As the crowd departed, their minds were filled with images of the models showcasing one outfit after another on the runway. Those images were deeply etched into their memories, impossible to shake off.

It felt like every single set was beautiful; it felt like every single set was destined to be a hit style!

This caused everyone’s planned order quantities to severely exceed their budgets. They wanted to cut back on the numbers but didn’t know where to start—they couldn’t decide which style should be ordered in smaller quantities.

After all, winter was fast approaching. If the first batch wasn’t large enough, there wouldn’t be enough time to restock. Winter clothes were thick, but they were also the most profitable items of the four seasons!

This led to a scene where, even as they left, everyone was still agonising over exactly how much of each style to order. They discussed it with close friends, asking how much others had ordered and which styles they were most optimistic about.

Early the next morning, Jiang Xia went backstage to check on the previous night’s sales figures.

As it turned out, not a single buyer had submitted their order materials the previous night.

The staff member smiled and said, “It was too late last night; I expect everyone will place their orders this morning. Although no one from the garment factory submitted order materials last night, the order statistics for the Food factory are out, and they’re excellent! Another record has been broken!”

Jiang Xia had expected as much. She smiled, thanked them, and left after signing the check-in sheet.

After she departed, Feng Zhaojun couldn’t help but remark, “The clothes her garment factory sells are practically priced at astronomical levels. Who would dare order her goods? Isn’t it perfectly normal that there are no orders?”

Feng Zhaojun had been primarily responsible for the agricultural and sideline products section yesterday and hadn’t attended the fashion show, so she didn’t know the situation at the scene. However, she had seen the order materials for Jiang Xia’s garment factory. The prices listed were far more expensive than those of any other garment factory!

There were actually clothes priced at over a hundred thousand, or even several hundred thousand yuan!

Did she think those foreign buyers were fools who were easily swindled?

Jiang Xia had created too many sales myths, and besides, it was only that there were no orders last night, not that there were no orders at all. One staff member couldn’t help but say, “They are expensive, but Xiao Xia is very capable. Often, the more expensive the items, the better they sell! Her garment factory received many orders during the day yesterday!”

Another staff member added, “It must be because the fashion show ended too late last night, and everyone didn’t have time to place their orders. Just wait; there will definitely be many orders this morning! I went to see them before—the clothes from Xiao Xia’s factory are incredibly beautiful. They look just like what the lead actresses wear in foreign movies. Those foreigners should love them.”

Hearing everyone defend Jiang Xia so strongly, Feng Zhaojun stopped speaking. If she said too much, it might look like she wasn’t being a team player or that she didn’t want the garment factory to earn more foreign exchange.

So, she said, “That’s likely it. In any case, it’s impossible for there to be zero orders. Let’s wait and see! Maybe a lot of people will come to place orders in a little while.”

Just wait and see!

Let’s see which idiot dares to order such expensive clothes!

Even if they do, they will probably only order a few pieces to test the waters and see if they sell well.

After eight o’clock, the entire exhibition hall began to bustle with activity again. The service desk remained quite idle, as it was still too early for many people to come and place orders.

Quite a few factory directors came by to ask about the sales situation of Jiang Xia’s garment factory from the previous night. Upon learning that no one had placed an order yet, they left without saying much.

By nine o’clock, Feng Zhaojun still hadn’t seen any orders for the garment factory, even though they had already received several for other businesses.

She frowned and said with a worried expression, “Why are there still no orders for Comrade Jiang Xia’s garment factory?”

The other staff members were also starting to worry. “Could it really be because the clothes are too expensive and no one is ordering?”

“That’s impossible; it’s unlikely there wouldn’t be a single order! Perhaps they aren’t sure of the quantities and went back to the exhibition booth this morning to confirm!”

Feng Zhaojun said, “Truly, for such expensive clothes, one would need to double-check. Which factory in our Chinese garment industry didn’t start with a strategy of small profits, high volume? This is Comrade Jiang Xia’s first time running a garment factory; she likely lacks experience. She probably thought that because she helped several garment factories in the capital hold fashion shows and the clothes sold well—creating sales miracles—her own factory’s designs would also sell well.”

“She doesn’t realize that other garment factories have many regular customers, and the clothes they produce have been sold for years. Those styles have long been accepted by foreign buyers, who already know which ones sell well. Comrade Jiang Xia is a newcomer and set her prices so high right out of the gate; who would dare place an order?”

Just as she finished speaking, a foreign buyer walked over to submit their order materials. “Hello, I’d like to place an order. Here is my order form.”

Feng Zhaojun immediately smiled and accepted the two orders with both hands. “I will process the order for you right away!”

Feng Zhaojun took the order, looked down, and froze. “Sir, have you made a mistake?”

Had he added an extra zero to the order quantity for every single style?

The foreign buyer was confused. “What is wrong?”

The other staff members leaned in to take a look, and their eyes lit up!

The orders for Xiao Xia’s garment factory had arrived!

They knew it was impossible for there to be no orders!

A staff member hurriedly said, “I’ll handle this!”

Feng Zhaojun didn’t hand it over. “Are you sure you want to order this much?”

The buyer nodded. “Quite certain! I thought about it all night, and I re-confirmed everything several times this morning. There’s no mistake. Please place the order for me; I want the goods shipped as soon as possible.”

Feng Zhaojun: “…”

This foreigner must be crazy!

Is he not afraid he won’t be able to sell them?

He was ordering dozens of pieces for every style, and for some, even over a hundred! With clothes this expensive, who would he even find to buy them?

Seeing her dazed, the other staff member nudged her. “What are you doing? Hurry up and process the order! Or let me handle it!”

Feng Zhaojun snapped back to reality and hurriedly began calculating the total for the buyer.

At that moment, several more foreign buyers arrived to place orders.

They were all orders for Jiang Xia’s garment factory.

The quantities listed in everyone’s order materials were roughly the same. They were all ordering dozens or hundreds of pieces per style! Not a single order was in the single digits!

…

For the rest of the morning, half of the backend staff were occupied with processing orders for Jiang Xia’s garment factory.

Because the volume of data was so massive, the calculation time for each order was very slow! Not a single buyer had a total order quantity of less than two thousand sets.

There were 126 styles in the winter collection, and each style had at least two colors and three sizes. This meant that each buyer ordered, on average, at least thirty pieces of each garment.

And that didn’t even count the spring collection. The unit price for the spring collection was cheaper than the winter clothes, and they could serve as an inner layer for winter outfits or be worn in autumn. Since they were also in stock, those who ordered early could have them shipped with the winter clothes, making the total sales figure even higher!

The total sales for the spring collection were fifty percent higher than those for the winter collection!

During lunch, Jiang Xia came by again to inquire.

Upon hearing the answer, Jiang Xia tried her best to suppress the corners of her mouth, but the smile kept peeking through.

The staff member smiled and congratulated her. “Congratulations, Xiao Xia! Your garment factory is an instant hit!”

“It’s more than just an instant hit; it’s a double lucky start!”

“Comrade Xiao Xia, since the sales for both the garment factory and the food factory are so good, shouldn’t we celebrate?”

Chapter 849: Every Single Item is a Hit Style

Feng Zhaojun’s heart was a whirlpool of complex emotions. All morning, she had felt like she was walking on clouds; it all felt a bit surreal.

Faced with the chatter around her, Jiang Xia smiled and said, “Alright, after the Canton Fair ends, I’ll treat everyone to a meal.”

Just then, more factory directors walked in.

It wasn’t just Jiang Xia who wanted to check yesterday’s sales figures. The other garment factory directors had been holding back all morning, and by now, they couldn’t resist coming over to see for themselves.

Thus, they had all arrived at the same time by pure coincidence.

Soon, the entire backstage office was filled with garment factory directors.

They all greeted Jiang Xia one after another:

“Xiao Xia, yesterday’s sales were great, weren’t they? You’re already offering to treat everyone to dinner!”

“Just looking at the smile on Xiao Xia’s face, you can tell they were excellent!”

The factory director of the capital’s garment factory laughed. “What was the sales total for yesterday? Let me see if I can catch up to you tonight by taking a train.”

The staff members handed the sales reports directly to them, letting them see for themselves.

After seeing the sales figures, the hearts of the factory directors turned colder than a Suicheng autumn!

Even the style from Jiang Xia’s Garment Factory with the fewest orders was enough to be called a hit style compared to their own factories’ volumes!

Out of her 120-plus styles, every single one was a hit; not a single one was redundant!

“Comrade Xiao Xia, you’ve really handed us a difficult problem!”

The heart of the capital’s garment factory director trembled. He looked at Jiang Xia and said through gritted teeth, “This one day’s sales volume is more than our factory’s total sales for the entire Canton Fair last year, including restocks! Xiao Xia, how are we supposed to catch up? We couldn’t catch up even if we took a train!”

And there were still nineteen days left until the end of the Canton Fair!

Of course, he wasn’t actually angry; he just felt immense pressure.

He was genuinely happy that Jiang Xia’s garment factory could set such a sales record, and it ignited a fierce fighting spirit within him.

He had to work harder!

So, it turned out that the high-end international market was actually this large!

“If he can’t catch up by train, he can take a plane! As for me, I couldn’t catch up even if I was on a rocket! It’s all over for me!”

“I don’t want to attend tomorrow’s morning meeting! I managed to escape by a hair this morning, but I won’t be able to dodge it tomorrow.”

“I suddenly feel dizzy. No, I need to take a leave of absence! I need to rest tomorrow. You guys have to be my witnesses.”

…

The office was filled with wails of mock despair. None of them wanted to face tomorrow’s morning meeting.

The targets the leaders would set for them tomorrow would undoubtedly be very heavy!

At that moment, Old He walked in with a beaming smile. “Oh? So everyone is here?”

Old He had been paying special attention to yesterday’s sales situation. Someone had already delivered the data to him, and he had looked it over while eating.

He smiled at Jiang Xia and said, “Yesterday’s fashion show was well-organized, and the sales were excellent!”

Jiang Xia smiled back. “It was all thanks to everyone’s hard work.”

Old He then addressed the crowd. “Since you’re all here, follow me to the conference room. Let’s have a brief meeting to summarize yesterday’s sales performance and, while we’re at it, readjust our targets!”

Everyone: “…”

Their “death sentences” had arrived so quickly; there was no dodging them now.

At the fashion show, the nineteen sets of high-end clothes Jiang Xia had promoted—each priced no lower than 500,000 yuan, with some reaching as high as a million—had all been purchased.

In addition, they had received twenty-one private commissions.

This gave Old He a massive boost in confidence!

China’s domestic garment brands could also attempt to move upscale, just like Jiang Xia. As long as they worked hard, it wasn’t impossible for international major brands to emerge in the future.

However, Old He didn’t know that out of those twenty-one orders, twenty were placed by Jiang Xia’s foreign friends and overseas Chinese business associates.

Even those nineteen sets from the runway had been bought by her acquaintances!

To a greater or lesser extent, this was their way of showing friendship and support for Jiang Xia, as she was always helping them out back home.

Only one order had been placed by a complete stranger.

Though there was only one such order, Jiang Xia was very satisfied.

This single order represents pure, simple appreciation and validation.

It was free of any social obligations!

This time, she had given out thirty-nine custom-made gowns, sold nineteen on the runway, and then received twenty-one new custom orders.

Jiang Xia only hoped that these seventy-nine gowns would be worn to various social occasions. If they were seen and asked about, her reputation would gradually spread.

However, Old He’s desire for other garment factories to follow this path was very difficult for the time being!

In this era, the internet was not developed, and even traveling abroad was difficult. Domestic designers didn’t have a window into the wider world. Without that, how could they understand the international market and trending elements?

They could only rely on television and magazines, which provided far too little information.

Jiang Xia was different. She was a reborn person; she had already learned about these things in her past life and had seen far more than any of them.

She possessed a wealth of fashion elements and aesthetic accumulation, which was why she could design such pieces.

This time, Jiang Xia only operated in the exhibition hall for ten days. For the remaining five days, she took her designers to the fabric market to prepare for next year’s summer sets.

Although the most famous international light textile city in Suicheng had not yet been built, the export of ready-made clothes was a vital source for earning foreign exchange. As the host city of the Canton Fair, Suicheng’s textile industry was already flourishing.

Most owners of garment factories, large and small, from all over the south came here to source raw materials.

Of course, there were plenty of fabrics inside the exhibition hall as well. The group had already looked through them all before the Canton Fair started and had taken all the necessary sample fabrics. Now, it was time to look outside.

Jiang Xia led the designers and the purchasing supervisor to a simple fabric market covering over 10,000 square meters.

The stalls here were still temporary structures made of steel frames and asbestos tiles.

Since it was during the Canton Fair, the fabric market was crowded. Jiang Xia reminded those with her, “Keep your bags in front of you and watch your personal property.”

Hearing this, they all hurriedly reached out to clutch their bags.

They moved from stall to stall. Whenever they saw a fabric they liked, they would take some sample fabrics and color cards back.

Browsing fabric markets and ready-made clothes markets is part of every fashion designer’s job.

Only by browsing the market can you grasp the current trends, and the market itself is a fountain of inspiration.

It was a pity they couldn’t travel abroad to see international markets; otherwise, they could learn even more.

There was no need to look at basic fabrics; they only needed to focus on new patterns and innovative textures.

Jiang Xia told the two designers, “If you see a fabric suitable for your designs, or something you find beautiful that gives you inspiration, don’t hesitate to cut a meter or two to take back. It’s rare for us to make a trip here, so get more sample fabrics. Don’t worry about picking the wrong thing. Even if you don’t have inspiration immediately, maybe just looking at it back at the office will spark something.”

So, the group went into stall after stall. When they found an inspiring fabric, they took a color card and occasionally cut a meter or two to bring back.

Because Jiang Xia, the big owner, was right there to pay for everything immediately, the two designers didn’t have to pay out of pocket or apply for funds from the accountant. This made them quite happy and bold in their selections.

Usually, when they browsed markets for samples, they had to pay themselves and seek reimbursement later. This meant they sometimes didn’t dare cut expensive fabrics or didn’t have enough cash on hand.

Jiang Xia also bought a lot. In every stall she entered, if she saw a beautiful or new fabric, she would cut several meters.

Consequently, after visiting only a dozen or so stalls, everyone was carrying two large bags of sample fabrics. They were becoming too heavy to carry, so they had to take them back to the car before continuing.

The purchasing supervisor took the initiative to suggest taking the sample fabrics back to the car while letting them continue browsing.

The group bundled their large bags into one giant sack, which the purchasing supervisor then hauled back to the car.

Chapter 850: An Acquaintance

Before Jiang Xia could even step into the stall, the two designers had already walked inside.

Tan Wanmei felt a roll of black floral chiffon. “Teacher Jiang, the chiffon patterns in this stall are quite lovely!”

Xu Ping also touched a roll of solid-colored chiffon and noted, “The quality seems good too.”

Only then did Jiang Xia walk in.

“Welcome!” Wen Wan was attending to some customers. Hearing someone enter, she greeted them reflexively, but when she turned around and saw Jiang Xia, she froze.

Her voice turned significantly colder. “Feel free to look around!”

Leaving it at that, she ignored Jiang Xia’s trio and continued explaining things to the other customers. She didn’t think Jiang Xia would actually support her business, so she didn’t bother playing the host.

Jiang Xia glanced around the stall. It exclusively sold chiffon fabrics. Truth be told, the quality was decent, and many of the patterns were indeed quite attractive.

Both designers had their eyes on two or three different patterns.

Tan Wanmei asked, “Teacher Jiang, what do you think of this pattern?”

Jiang Xia nodded. “It’s good. If you like it, get some cut to take back.”

She didn’t let the fact that this was Wen Wan’s stall stop her from making a purchase. The clothes the designers made with these fabrics would eventually earn her money; Jiang Xia wasn’t one to let personal feelings get in the way of profit.

Wen Wan watched them, inwardly speculating about the relationship between the three.

Jiang Xia also selected a piece. Together, the three of them had twelve meters of fabric cut.

When it came time to settle the bill, Wen Wan said to Jiang Xia, “I’ll give you a discount if you can help me take some things back to my daughter. But please, don’t tell Zhou Guohua or my Papa that I’m here.”

Jiang Xia had zero interest in meddling in other people’s business. Carrying things back while also helping her hide? How was she supposed to keep that up?

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife was currently searching everywhere for a match for Zhou Guohua. She wanted to find him a young virgin bride, but such women were put off by the fact that he already had a daughter—a daughter who was also somewhat developmentally delayed.

Zhou Bingqiang’s wife wanted to send the granddaughter away, back to the Wen house, but the Wen house refused. They tried to send her back to Wen Wan, but Wen Wan couldn’t be found.

Jiang Xia was not about to wade into those muddy waters. It was a thankless task that would likely end with her offending everyone involved.

Jiang Xia wasn’t afraid of trouble, but she didn’t go looking for it either. She simply said, “If you want me to take the stuff, this fabric should be free.”

Then, she turned to the two designers. “Go ahead and cut more fabric samples. The boss’s wife wants me to do something for her and plans to give these to us for free. Cut another hundred meters or so! Ten meters or so of every single pattern.”

Wen Wan: “…”

This damned woman was as mercenary as ever!

If she cut ten meters of every pattern, she might as well just hand the whole stall over!

“Never mind then! I don’t need your help!” Wen Wan lowered her head and began flicking the beads on her abacus. She inflated the price of every fabric by thirty to fifty fen. “That will be fifty-two yuan and sixty fen!”

She was buying over fifty yuan worth of fabric and expecting not to pay a single cent! And she wanted to take even more! Fifty yuan was more than enough to mail the items back with money to spare.

She hadn’t strictly needed to send things to her daughter; she just felt a rare twinge of guilt and thought she’d ask Jiang Xia for a favor since she was there.

But she was also terrified of Zhou Guohua and her Papa finding out she was here and showing up at her door.

She had already found a new partner. His family background was good—both his parents were public officials, and she heard his father held a high-ranking position. The man himself had partnered with a friend to open a large restaurant, and business was booming.

He was a bit older at thirty-six and had been married once before. His wife couldn’t conceive, so they divorced, but otherwise, his conditions were excellent. He was the best catch she had ever found—even better than Zhou Chenglei!

In fact, he was the one who helped her open this stall. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to secure a spot in such a prime location, nor would she have had the capital to stock so much inventory.

Wen Wan didn’t want any complications.

“I don’t need you to bring anything back, but please act like you never saw me. Don’t tell Zhou Guohua or my Papa that I’m here.”

Jiang Xia replied, “Twenty yuan.”

Did Wen Wan think she didn’t notice? Wen Wan had hiked up the unit prices, adding a yuan or so to every meter. Over a dozen meters, she was trying to squeeze an extra ten-plus yuan out of her!

Asking for a favor and intentionally raising the price? If Jiang Xia didn’t fleece her, who would she fleece?

Wen Wan: “…”

“Why don’t you just rob me? For the sake of our past acquaintance, I didn’t even quote you a high price. I gave you the mass production price! You should know that buying sample lengths is usually more expensive. This isn’t my stall, I’m just an employee. If I take twenty yuan, I’ll have to pay the difference out of my own pocket. Absolutely not!”

Wen Wan felt there was nothing wrong with raising the price. When she saw people who were particularly well-dressed coming to buy fabric, she always quoted them a higher price.

In this market, every merchant set their prices based on the customer. It was a sales tactic—start high to give the customer room to negotiate. She had bet on a cheapskate like Jiang Xia haggling.

She just hadn’t expected Jiang Xia to be so ruthless as to slash the price by more than half. She might as well be a highwayman!

If she sold all that fabric for twenty yuan, she really would lose money!

Jiang Xia didn’t say a word. She simply pulled out fifty-two yuan and sixty fen in cash.

Wen Wan: “…”

A threat. A blatant, naked threat!

She was absolutely fuming!

Wen Wan glared at Jiang Xia. She was truly afraid that Jiang Xia would talk. Swallowing her anger, she only dared to pull away two Great Unity bills. “Fine. I’ll only take twenty yuan. You are not allowed to say a word!”

Jiang Xia turned to the two designers behind her. “Is there anything else you like? The fabric in this shop is quite cheap.”

Jiang Xia was certain that the price was now truly cheap—likely close to the factory-gate price.

Wen Wan: “…”

She was really pushing her luck!

The two designers weren’t sure if Jiang Xia was serious or joking, so they remained silent. If Jiang Xia wanted to buy more, she could pick it herself. While they didn’t speak, they made a show of continuing to browse, which served as their response to Jiang Xia.

Wen Wan grew anxious. “Don’t push it! I won’t go any lower. This price is already below cost! I’m taking a huge loss!”

She wasn’t actually losing money, but there was absolutely no profit left. The wholesale price was exactly what she was charging now.

Jiang Xia asked, “Are you sure it’s money you’re losing, and not your conscience?”

Wen Wan: “…”

Jiang Xia then said to the designers, “Nothing else caught your eye? Then let’s go.”

The two designers immediately picked up the large bag of fabric they had just purchased. The three of them left the stall and headed to the next one.

Wen Wan was nearly dead from rage! How was she losing her conscience? She just wasn’t as good at acting as Jiang Xia was.

She had never seen someone as greedy and profit-driven as Jiang Xia. She was the most two-faced, sinister, and cunning person alive! Zhou Chenglei must have been blind to fall for her and treat a woman like that like a treasure!

Just as Jiang Xia and the designers entered the stall next door, a middle-aged man dressed in a suit and leather shoes walked into Wen Wan’s stall.

Seeing him, Wen Wan panicked, fearing Jiang Xia might see him. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to pick you up. Shall we have dinner tonight?” The man reached for Wen Wan’s hand.

Wen Wan pulled her hand back. “I haven’t finished yet. Wait a moment.”

The man put his arm around her waist. “There’s no one here now. Close up early. Half an hour won’t make a difference.”

There were still people passing by outside, though most were finished with their shopping and leaving.

Wen Wan was about to agree when a very wealthy-looking middle-aged woman walked in.

The man’s face paled, and he immediately let go of her waist.

Wen Wan didn’t notice anything amiss. Since a customer had arrived, it was natural for him to let go. She smiled and said, “Welcome!”

Slap! Slap!

Without a word, the woman stepped forward and delivered two sharp slaps to Wen Wan’s face!

Wen Wan clutched her face, looking at the woman in fury. “Who do you think you are? Why did you hit me? You’re crazy! I’ll call the police!”

“You bitch! I’m warning you, get the hell out of my stall! And stay the hell away from my husband!”

Chapter 851: A Bountiful Harvest (End of Main Story)

The commotion at the neighboring stall was so loud that it startled the people in the surrounding stalls and drew a crowd of passersby who stopped to watch the drama.

Jiang Xia heard it too, but she wasn’t particularly interested in other people’s stories, so she didn’t linger.

Finding nothing suitable at that stall, she led the two designers toward the next one.

Time was precious, and there was no need to waste it on insignificant people. The future was full of hope, and they had to choose the right path and walk it with determination.

The purchasing supervisor soon caught up, and the four of them continued their mission: buying sample fabrics, trimmings, and sample garments.

Actually, they weren’t just buying fabric, trimmings, or garments.

They were buying the bricks and mortar of socialist construction; they were buying hope, dreams, and the future!

As evening approached, Zhou Chenglei arrived at the fabric market to find Jiang Xia.

Since it was closing time, he didn’t go inside. He figured she would be coming out soon anyway, and he didn’t want to miss her. Spotting their Jeep, he leaned against it, pulled out a book, and began to wait.

The sun was sinking in the west like molten gold, casting its glow over him. The shadows of the man and the car stretched across the road, which was carpeted with fallen banyan leaves.

The people passing by—the “clothing industry souls” busy with their trade—couldn’t help but steal glances at him. This included Wen Wan, who had just fled the market in an embarrassing state, her eyes red from crying.

Zhou Chenglei remained completely unmoved. To him, the world around him seemed to stand still; there was only him, quietly turning the pages of his book.

He knew people were looking, but he simply didn’t care.

Twenty minutes later, Jiang Xia appeared, with all four of them lugging heavy bags.

Sensing her presence, Zhou Chenglei turned his head and saw Jiang Xia walking toward him through the sunset glow.

He closed his book, tucked it into his briefcase, and strode forward to take the two large bags of fabric from her hands.

Jiang Xia’s palms and fingers had been pinched purple by the heavy straps. She rubbed her fingers and asked with a smile, “How did you find your way here? Have you been waiting long?”

“I came to pick you up. Not long.”

Zhou Chenglei effortlessly hoisted the two large bags with one hand, while his other naturally took Jiang Xia’s hand, shielding her on his right side as they walked toward the Jeep.

The two designers and the purchasing supervisor, carrying even larger bundles, followed behind with heavy footsteps.

Tan Wanmei watched the tall figure who had taken all the weight and was now protecting his wife, and whispered to Xu Ping, “Teacher Jiang’s husband is probably the best husband in the world. I want to find someone just like him in the future.”

Xu Ping: “…”

Purchasing Supervisor: “…”

Was Tan Wanmei planning on staying single forever?

Even as men, they felt that men like him were a rare species on this planet!

Back when they were in the capital, Jiang Xia would lead them in the studio until the early hours of the morning. Her husband would always arrive punctually at 9:30 PM. They heard he only came to the studio after he had coaxed the children to sleep. Seeing that Jiang Xia wasn’t finished, he would sit on the sofa with a thick book or lean over the coffee table to sketch and write, waiting until Teacher Jiang was done in the early morning.

Back then, no matter how harsh the wind, frost, rain, or snow, he never missed a single night.

Only much later did they realize it wasn’t just then—it was For the rest of his life. As long as he was free, he would pick her up and drop her off regardless of the weather, never missing a single time.

Jiang Xia spent two consecutive days with the designers scouring the fabric market, buying a mountain of sample fabrics. Then, they spent another two days exploring the clothing markets and Friendship Department Stores, purchasing a heap of sample garments.

After finishing with the markets, there was only one day left before the Canton Fair ended. The four of them returned to the exhibition hall to stand their final shift.

The victory banquet was held that evening, and Jiang Xia was essentially the guest of honor. Through her own efforts alone, she had conquered a significant portion of the food and garment industries!

Thanks to her, these sectors had become some of the top-selling industries across all fields at this Canton Fair.

At the summary meeting, many factory directors from the food and garment factories received praise from the leaders.

The director of the capital’s garment factory stood up. “Comrade Xiao Xia, I want to propose a toast to you. I thank you for the help you’ve given our factory over the past two years. Without you, we wouldn’t have achieved these great results! Although we were defeated by your factory this year, we will work harder next year. You have to keep helping us!”

Other factory directors also stood up one after another, raising their glasses. “Comrade Xiao Xia, I also toast you. Over these past two years, our factory’s sales have reached new heights year after year. Much of the merit goes to you. You’ve worked hard! Come, a toast to our continued cooperation and to even greater success next year!”

Jiang Xia smiled and raised her glass. “To our happy cooperation and even greater success in the coming year! Cheers!”

Everyone shouted in unison, “To happy cooperation and greater success!”

The leaders of over a dozen factories raised their glasses to toast Jiang Xia, to toast each other, to toast the future, and to toast this hardworking yet vibrant life!

Everyone drained their glasses heartily.

The room was filled with laughter and the aroma of wine.

As the saying goes, when drinking with soulmates, a thousand cups are not enough!

One must enjoy life’s successes to the fullest while they last!

With this, the current Canton Fair came to a perfect conclusion.

By the time the victory banquet ended, Jiang Xia was a bit tipsy.

Zhou Chenglei carried her home on his back.

During the dinner, so many people had offered toasts that even Zhou Chenglei couldn’t block them all.

Jiang Xia had also taken the initiative to toast many people; since he was there, he let her do as she pleased.

Drunk as she was, Jiang Xia didn’t make a fuss while lying on Zhou Chenglei’s back. She only kept calling his name: “Zhou Chenglei.”

“Mm.”

“Zhou Chenglei.”

“I’m here.”

“Zhou Chenglei.”

“Still here.”

“Zhou Chenglei.”

“I’m right here.”

…

Every time she called, he answered with tireless patience.

Back at home, Zhou Chenglei carefully placed Jiang Xia on the bed.

Jiang Xia wrapped her arms around his neck, looking at his “blurry” face. “Zhou Chenglei.”

“Mm?” Zhou Chenglei propped himself up with his hands on either side of her, looking down at her dazed face. He coaxed, “Let go of me first, okay? I’ll go run the bath for you.”

“No.”

“Alright, I won’t then.” Zhou Chenglei patiently humored her, lying down on his side next to her.

“Zhou Chenglei.” Jiang Xia suddenly climbed on top of him, staring at him.

“Hm?”

“I love you.”

Then, she leaned down and kissed him.

Zhou Chenglei’s heart skipped a beat. He cradled her head, flipped her over, and pressed her beneath him.

…

By the time Zhou Chenglei lifted her out of the bathtub, the sky was already turning white in the east.

He kissed the woman who had fallen into a deep sleep from exhaustion and whispered, “I love you too.”

Jiang Xia snuggled into his chest, her limbs climbing onto him like an octopus.

Just like their very first night.

On the way back to the fishing village, Elder Mai was at the wheel.

Elder Mai held the younger brother by the window, teaching him to recognize things in the passing landscape.

The Jeep crossed rolling hills, and the road gave way to endless fields of gold.

The sun was setting, and farmers were swinging their sickles in the fields.

It was the autumn harvest!

Jiang Xia sat by another window holding her little sister, mother and daughter watching the harvest scene outside together.

The little sister pointed outside, occasionally chirping, “Mountain, mountain,” “White, white,” or “Squeak, squeak.”

Jiang Xia echoed her daughter, but her mind was on the balances in the bank accounts of her two factories.

The fields had a bumper harvest!

Her savings book had a mini-harvest too!

She had finally achieved a “small goal”!

She was one step closer to becoming Jiang, the future tycoon.

Jiang Xia couldn’t help but hum a tune.

Zhou Chenglei, who was holding the eldest brother and looking at a picture book, glanced at his wife.

Jiang Xia turned to look back at him.

Husband and wife shared a smile.

Just then, the Jeep drove through the fields, and the boundless sea came into view.

The sea was quiet, and the sky was a heart-piercing shade of blue.

One by one, the fishing boats were slowly returning to the harbor.

It was a harvest!

Chapter 852: Awaiting Delivery (Side Story)

Upon returning to Xiaoyucun, Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia had no time to rest.

The autumn harvest had arrived. The rice in the fields and the sweet potatoes, peanuts, sesame seeds, and beans in the ground all needed to be gathered.

They harvested the rice first, then the sesame and beans, and finally the sweet potatoes and peanuts.

After a week of hard work, the whole family was now harvesting peanuts; everything else had already been brought in.

Father Zhou stood with his hands on his hips, looking over the lush green peanut field. “The fields in our village are being requisitioned this year. Next year, even if we want to farm, there won’t be any land left.”

Because of this, Father Zhou didn’t hire any help this time, preferring the family to handle it themselves with the children.

In the Zhou family, every child had to go down to the fields to learn farm work during the busy season starting from the age of five.

Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang also took advantage of the weekends to come home and help.

Aside from Zhou Chengxin, who was away on a distant seas voyage, even the triplets were out in the field.

Jiang Xia was busy picking peanuts. “There should still be time to plant one more crop next year.”

In their region, they could manage two crops a year. Even with the requisition, the land development process took time.

“Requisition is a process. There are too many people and matters to coordinate. Even if it’s requisitioned, as long as construction hasn’t started, we can still plant some fast-growing vegetables or tender corn to eat. Planting rice is risky, though; the land might be cleared for construction before it ripens,” Zhou Chengsen said as he pulled up peanut plants. Every few plants, he would turn back to look at Ruan Tang.

She was sitting there picking peanuts, her belly already slightly showing.

Ruan Tang had only recently started showing, and her morning sickness had finally disappeared. Before, her pregnancy reactions had been very intense; the slightest thing would make her vomit. Something she could eat yesterday might make her sick today just by the smell. The main problem was that there was no way to know what she could eat on any given day without vomiting.

As clever and sharp as Zhou Chengsen was, he couldn’t figure out the pattern of Ruan Tang’s diet. He could only find different ways to make various dishes for her.

He would make several types of food every day. He’d bring one plate out first, and if Ruan Tang felt the smell was wrong, he would immediately take it back to the kitchen and bring out another.

After finally making it through the first trimester, both husband and wife had lost a significant amount of weight.

Once November arrived, all the pregnancy symptoms miraculously vanished, making Ruan Tang feel just as she had before getting pregnant.

In just one week under Zhou Chengsen’s care, Ruan Tang had gained the weight back, and she finally began to show.

Only then did Zhou Chengsen breathe a sigh of relief!

Mother Zhou pulled up a peanut plant and stood up straight. “In the past, I didn’t like farming. I wished I could be like those city people who just buy their grain. Now that the chance to stop farming is here, I actually feel a bit reluctant to let it go.”

Tian Caihua was incredibly fast at harvesting peanuts, her hands moving like lightning as she pulled up plant after plant. “You guys actually like farming?! I’ve had more than enough of it! Isn’t it better to be like city people who don’t farm but have jobs to earn money?”

In any case, she was quite happy that the land was being requisitioned. From now on, they would have shares and dividends.

Zhou Chenglei was also pulling peanuts with both hands. “In the future, we’ll be city people too.”

The villagers were “washing their feet and leaving the fields.” The village would become a joint-stock company. They wouldn’t have to farm and wouldn’t have their own grain, but they would receive annual dividends.

Mother Zhou laughed. “People are just like that—fickle. They don’t cherish what they have, but once they lose it, they start getting all sentimental about it.”

Ruan Tang smiled. “People are indeed like that. But farming is quite fun.”

Jiang Xia agreed, “I think so too.”

Tian Caihua was covered in sweat. She had lost a lot of weight and said irritably, “You two have only been in the fields a few times, of course you think it’s fun! Work the land every single day for no money, and let’s see if you still think it’s fun then!”

Ruan Tang and Jiang Xia laughed. “That’s true.”

Ruan Tang couldn’t handle heavy labor, and Jiang Xia wasn’t good at it either. Zhou Chenglei couldn’t bear to let her work hard anyway, so she and Ruan Tang sat on small stools with the children, picking peanuts off the pulled plants.

It didn’t matter how much the children did or how well they did it; what mattered was that they learned how to work and understood that every meal was hard-earned.

The triplets were also in the field “picking” peanuts. They weren’t strong enough, but seeing their older brothers and sisters picking, they tried to copy them.

Erbao and Little Bao were mostly playing, but Dabao was picking very seriously. His front was covered in mud, and his chubby little hands used all his strength to pluck the peanuts one by one, placing them into the small basket Jiang Xia had prepared for him.

There were already a dozen or so peanuts in that basket, the result of the boy sitting there for an hour of hard work.

Ruan Tang couldn’t help but say to Jiang Xia again, “Dabao is definitely going to do great things in the future. His focus is incredible!”

Jiang Xia smiled. “You’ve said that many times already.”

Ruan Tang laughed. “I’m just telling the truth.”

The other older cousins had long since lost their patience and were playing in the field.

Some were digging out mouse holes, some were “helping” in other people’s fields, and others were starting a fire to roast sweet potatoes. None of them could sit still.

Erbao and Little Bao followed their older cousins around like little shadows.

Ruan Tang really liked the triplets’ personalities. The three siblings were all different, yet each was adorable in their own way.

She really hoped hers and Zhou Chengsen’s child would be just as cute.

That evening, lying in bed and feeling the fetal movement, Ruan Tang said to Zhou Chengsen, “I wonder what our child’s personality will be like?”

Zhou Chengsen’s large palm was resting on Ruan Tang’s abdomen, feeling the movement. “It would be best if the personality is like yours. I like your personality.”

Ruan Tang smiled, her heart full of contentment. “It would be better if the child is like you. I like your personality more.”

Zhou Chengsen turned on his side, looking at the smile on his wife’s lips, and leaned down to kiss her.

Ruan Tang responded passionately.

After a good while, Zhou Chengsen reluctantly let her go, intending to go to the bathroom.

Ruan Tang pulled him back, her face flushing. “It’s okay now. Just be careful; don’t be too rough.”

Zhou Chengsen lay back down and kissed her very gently.

He didn’t go all the way, but he satisfied her.

In the end, he still went to take a cold shower.

He had always been the type to never take a risk he couldn’t afford.

If anything happened to her or the child, it would be a loss he couldn’t bear.

After the autumn harvest, the footsteps of winter drew near. Days passed in the routine of commuting to and from work.

Before they knew it, the New Year had passed, and the Qingming Festival had passed as well. The newly planted rice in the fields had begun to sprout leaves.

Ruan Tang’s due date had passed, but the child had not yet been born.

Zhou Chengsen was anxious, so worried he couldn’t sleep at night. In just a few days, mouth sores from the stress had broken out on his lips.

In his life, there weren’t many things that could make him this anxious. He was usually able to handle everything and adjust his emotions in a timely manner. This was the first time he had been so worried he got mouth sores.

Though he was worried, he didn’t dare show it, fearing it would affect Ruan Tang.

Every day, he acted as if nothing was wrong, taking care of her meals as usual, washing her hair and helping her bathe, taking her to and from work, and keeping her spirits up.

But his anxiety would still occasionally leak out.

Tonight, after dinner, while Zhou Chengsen was accompanying Ruan Tang for a walk in the neighborhood, he asked again, “How about taking a break and staying home to await delivery? Could it be that you’re too tired from work?”

A while ago, many children had come down with fevers. In their family, it started with Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying, and soon everyone was sick.

Even the triplets had caught it. With a group of children sick at once, the whole family was overwhelmed.

Because of the flu, Ruan Tang had been very busy at work.

Zhou Chengsen had considered every possible reason and felt that Ruan Tang was simply exhausted from work, which was why the due date had come and gone without the baby arriving.

“No, it’s not busy anymore. I’m not tired at work.” Aside from the initial morning sickness, Ruan Tang hadn’t experienced much physical discomfort later on, so she insisted on working every day. She wanted to save her leave to have a longer break after the birth.

Ruan Tang wasn’t blind to Zhou Chengsen’s worry. “You don’t need to worry. I work at the hospital. When I go into labor, I can just walk straight to the delivery room. Isn’t that safer and more convenient than waiting at home?”

“…”

She made too much sense; Zhou Chengsen was left speechless.

He just couldn’t feel at ease.

But Ruan Tang was a doctor. She gave herself an ultrasound every day. The baby was perfectly fine, the fetal position was normal, the fetal movement was normal, and the amniotic fluid levels were normal. With everything being normal, she truly didn’t feel that giving birth was a particularly dangerous ordeal.

She felt that when the time was right, the child would naturally be born.

Being ten or so days late is considered normal; there was no need to be overly tense.

Mother Zhou had also come to the city to help take care of Ruan Tang. The mother and son were both secretly worried, while Ruan Tang was the only one who remained exceedingly calm.

When it had been delayed for twelve days, it truly was getting late. Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang discussed whether she should have a C-section.

Ruan Tang nodded. “If it’s still not born by May Day, we’ll do the C-section.”

It wouldn’t be good to wait too long.

Chapter 853: Happiness Has No Upper Limit (Extra)

Ruan Tang went into labor at one o’clock in the morning.

Since the next day was the May Day holiday, and Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei had recently returned from the Spring Canton Fair, the couple decided to take the children to their villa in the city for the holiday, knowing that Ruan Tang was due soon.

The villa was the one Elder Mai had gifted to Jiang Xia. It had just been renovated, and they had recently held a housewarming party.

The two villas next door had also been renovated. They were intended to be wedding houses for Jiang Dong when he got married on October 1st.

The entire Zhou family had come to the city, and Ruan Tang’s parents had also traveled from the capital.

The whole family was having a barbecue in the villa’s garden, while the children were downstairs in the basement singing karaoke.

A high-quality sound system had been installed there.

Guangzong, Yaozu, and their brothers were currently singing “Friend” by Principal Tam.

“Life is like a dream, friends are like the mist, a kindred spirit is hard to find, after weathering so many storms…”

The basement was well-insulated; only a faint sound leaked out, so there was no fear of disturbing the neighbors.

This song had been extremely popular recently, and even Little Bao could sing a few lines.

By one in the morning, only the triplets, Ruan Tang, and Zhou Chengsen had gone back to sleep.

Since having children, Ruan Tang stopped staying up late unless she was on a night shift at the hospital. Zhou Chengsen had accompanied her back to their room to sleep at eleven o’clock.

Having just fallen asleep, Ruan Tang was woken up by the pain of contractions.

Zhou Chengsen had been so worried these past few days that he found it hard to sleep soundly. Sensing Ruan Tang move, he nervously opened his eyes. He didn’t dare wake her abruptly, instead silently watching her in the darkness.

At that moment, Ruan Tang took his hand. “Chengsen, I think it’s time. I’m going into labor.”

Zhou Chengsen jolted and sat up instantly. “Don’t panic, I’ll take you to the hospital right now.”

Ruan Tang: “…”

She wasn’t panicking at all, alright?

Zhou Chengsen quickly turned on the light and helped Ruan Tang out of bed. Just as they left the room, he was about to shout for Zhou Chenglei to help with the driving.

But Zhou Chenglei, ever alert, had already noticed them and stood up. “I’ll go get the car.”

Jiang Xia looked up and said to everyone, “Second Sister-in-law is about to give birth.”

The whole family stood up, hurrying in a flurry of activity to get Ruan Tang to the hospital.

Ruan Tang had already left her awaiting delivery bag at the hospital, so they could go directly.

Zhou Chenglei drove. No one in the family was a better driver than him—he was both fast and steady.

They arrived at the hospital at 1:45 AM.

Gao Jie was already waiting there; Jiang Xia had called her before they set off.

Ruan Tang had another ultrasound to confirm the fetal position was normal and that there were no issues like the umbilical cord being wrapped around the neck. Feeling reassured, she began walking up and down the hallway outside the delivery room to help the process along.

Tian Caihua watched as Zhou Chengsen supported Ruan Tang during her walk and whispered to Jiang Xia, “As expected of a doctor, she isn’t panicking at all. When I had my first, the pain was so unbearable I couldn’t even dream of walking.”

Jiang Xia hadn’t felt panicked when she had the triplets either. “Second Sister-in-law is a doctor; she knows more than we do, so she has less reason to worry.”

After walking for half an hour, Ruan Tang’s water broke, and she was taken into the delivery room.

Zhou Chengsen went in to accompany her while the rest of the family waited outside.

Zhou Chenglei suggested Jiang Xia lean on his shoulder for a nap.

Jiang Xia leaned over and closed her eyes to rest, though she couldn’t actually fall asleep.

There was a small, thin blanket in the car. Zhou Chenglei had grabbed it when they arrived, and he now unfolded it and draped it over her.

Ruan Tang remained in the delivery room for five more hours. At dawn, she gave birth to a chubby baby boy weighing 3.75 kg.

Dr. Gao Jie carried the baby out of the delivery room. Zhou Chengsen stayed inside to be with Ruan Tang.

The baby was quite large, so an episiotomy had been necessary, and the doctors were still stitching Ruan Tang up.

Father Zhou thanked Dr. Gao with a beaming smile and took the baby in his arms.

The whole family crowded around.

Jiang Xia took a look and laughed. “He looks just like Second Brother. But his eyes are like Second Sister-in-law’s—large and bright. He’ll definitely be a handsome little guy when he grows up.”

Everyone else agreed that the child was the spitting image of his father.

It was afternoon by the time Ruan Tang woke up. The baby was sleeping beside her.

Zhou Chengsen was asleep as well, leaning against the edge of the bed while holding her hand.

Even in his sleep, he held her hand with one of his and the baby’s hand with the other.

Ruan Tang looked at the father and son. Seeing the baby’s face, which was identical to Zhou Chengsen’s, she felt a wave of pleasant surprise: she had actually given birth to a mini version of Zhou Chengsen!

At this moment, her heart was filled with satisfaction and happiness.

She used to think that marrying Zhou Chengsen was the height of happiness, but now she realized that happiness had no upper limit. There was no “happiest,” only “happier”!

Ruan Tang’s heart softened as she reached out to touch her son.

Zhou Chengsen felt Ruan Tang move and immediately woke up.

Seeing her awake, he sat up straight. “Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?”

Ruan Tang shook her head with a smile. “No.”

In truth, there was some discomfort—the wound was sore, and the post-birth contractions were painful—but seeing them there made the pain fade away.

As long as the child was safe and healthy, these minor pains were nothing.

Ruan Tang looked at her son, and Zhou Chengsen looked at Ruan Tang.

Ruan Tang smiled. “He looks just like you. It’s wonderful.”

She loved that the child looked like him.

Zhou Chengsen glanced at his son. “He looks like you too. He has your eyes. It’s better if he looks like you.”

He really wanted a daughter who looked just like Ruan Tang.

Ruan Tang smiled gently. “His eyes are closed; you can’t tell they look like mine.”

“You’ll see when he wakes up.” The image of the son being born was already etched into Zhou Chengsen’s mind.

So was the memory of the pain Ruan Tang endured during labor.

He would never forget it as long as he lived.

“Thank you, wife.” Zhou Chengsen held her close and kissed her.

Ruan Tang smiled and put her arms around him. “What are you thanking me for? The baby is half mine; he doesn’t just belong to you. I should be the one thanking you. Thank you for marrying me and giving me a child. You’ve made me so happy.”

Zhou Chengsen kissed her again. “I’ll make you even happier in the future.”

Ruan Tang laughed and kissed his stubbly jaw. “I’ll make you even happier too.”

Zhou Chengsen kissed the top of her head. “Mhm, we’ll be happy together.”

“My hair is dirty, and I’m covered in sweat. I probably smell sour, don’t I?” Ruan Tang smelled something and tried to pull away.

The scent was strong enough that she could notice it herself.

“It’s fine, I don’t mind.” Zhou Chengsen kissed her again.

Ruan Tang teased, “Then why aren’t you kissing my lips? Are you avoiding it because I haven’t brushed my teeth?”

Zhou Chengsen didn’t say a word. He captured her lips, parted her jaw, and gave her a deep, lingering kiss.

The infant sleeping between them opened his eyes at some point, staring at his mother and father with curiosity.

After watching for a long while, he seemingly lost patience. His mouth puckered, and he began to cry.

Ruan Tang and Zhou Chengsen pulled apart quickly.

Zhou Chengsen remarked, “This kid definitely likes to be where the action is.”

He had been reluctant to be born, but as soon as things got lively last night, out he came. And now he suddenly woke up again!

Zhou Chengsen picked up his son to check if his diaper was wet.

Ruan Tang smiled as she watched them. “He might be hungry. Let’s make some powdered milk to feed him. Give him to me while you prepare the milk.”

She didn’t have milk yet, so they had to use formula for now.

“No need to hold him, I’ll put him on the bed.” Ruan Tang was still weak and had stitches, making it difficult to sit up, so Zhou Chengsen placed the baby beside her.

Ruan Tang gently patted and cooed to him.

Just as Zhou Chengsen finished feeding his son, Jiang Xia, Tian Caihua, Mother Zhou, Father Zhou, and Ruan Tang’s parents arrived with a group of children.

The children hadn’t come the night before; they had been looked after at home by their grandparents and the nanny.

When Zhou Ying saw Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang in the hospital room, she ran inside immediately. “Auntie Ruan, Papa, where’s my little brother? I want to hold him!”

Zhou Chengsen pulled his daughter close, putting an arm around her shoulder as they walked to the bedside. “He’s right here. He looks a lot like you did when you were little.”

He picked up his son and let his daughter hold him.

Zhou Ying was already very good at holding babies, having had plenty of practice with the triplets.

Listening to her father, she curiously studied her little brother and then wrinkled her nose. “Papa, was I this ugly when I was little?”

Then she remembered that the triplets were even uglier when they were born, and look how cute they were now!

She added, “Don’t be afraid, little brother. It’s okay to be a bit ugly now; you’ll get more and more handsome as you grow up!”

The whole room erupted in laughter.

Father Zhou held up his camera and—click—captured the very first picture of the family of four together, a scene of pure happiness.

It was truly wonderful.

Chapter 854: Turns Out He Was Like This to His Wife Too (Extra)

During Ruan Tang’s hospital stay, Jiang Xia brought the triplets, Zhou Zhou, and Zhou Ying to deliver meals to her every day.

As soon as the triplets woke up, they would look for their younger brother. Little Bao, in particular, clamored to see him every day. The little girl seemed to realize she was no longer the youngest in the family, and she would often say in front of the baby, “Little brother, when you grow up, you have to listen to your big sister, okay? Sister will give you candy.”

Little Bao figured that since all her older brothers and sisters said that to her, she should say the same to the only person younger than her.

Finally, the day came when Ruan Tang could be discharged. She had a natural birth and originally only needed to stay for three days. However, after a wound check, it was determined that her stitches wouldn’t be removed until the fifth day. Although she could have been discharged and returned to the hospital later for the removal, Zhou Chengsen decided she should stay for two more days. He didn’t want her moving around too much, fearing it would be bad for the healing process. Since the hospital had plenty of beds, Ruan Tang stayed a couple of extra days and only went home after the stitches were removed.

Zhou Chenglei went up to help carry the luggage while Jiang Xia waited downstairs with the children.

The little girl, Little Bao, found an ant nest in the grass, and the children were all squatting on the ground watching the ants move their home.

Coincidentally, Zou Zhengyang and Fu Lüheng were back at the hospital today for their vaccinations.

Zou Zhengyang recognized the triplets—who never cried during shots—at a glance and immediately dragged Fu Lüheng over.

He asked happily, “Little sister, are you all here for vaccinations again?”

This time, he promised himself he wouldn’t cry in front of her!

Little Bao glanced at them. “No, we’re not getting shots. We’re here to see my little brother. Are you getting shots?”

Hearing this, Zou Zhengyang felt envious and said aggrievedly, “Yes, we’re here for vaccinations and deworming medicine. But this time, we promise not to cry.”

Fu Lüheng gave him a look. “Isn’t it true that you’re the only one who cries every time?”

Zou Zhengyang: “…”

Little Bao felt very sympathetic toward them. Injections were terrifying! And medicine was so bitter!

She reached into the small bag her mother had prepared for her and pulled out two lollipops to share with them. “Big Brother, if you eat the candy after the medicine, it won’t be bitter. And if you keep a lollipop in your mouth after the shot, you won’t be able to cry.”

Zou Zhengyang felt it was time to show off his manhood. He waved his hand hurriedly. “No need! I’m not afraid of bitterness, and I won’t cry. I’m a manly man, very brave! Besides, candy is bad for you; it causes cavities. Children shouldn’t eat too much sugar!”

Fu Lüheng reached out and took one. “Thank you.”

Zou Zhengyang: “…”

He looked at Fu Lüheng. “Don’t you usually hate candy?”

Young Fu Lüheng replied, “You aren’t me, how would you know if I like it or not?”

Zou Zhengyang: “…”

Every time he offered him candy before, he had refused!

Fu Lüheng pulled a whistle out of his trousers and gave it to Little Bao. “This is for you. You can blow it.”

Little Bao had a whistle like that too, given to her by her papa. Her papa would blow a whistle in the morning when he took her older brothers and sisters to exercise.

Little Bao accepted it happily. “Thank you, Big Brother! Big Brother, my name is Lele, and also Little Bao. What’s your name?”

“Fu Lüheng.”

Little Bao was a baby who loved to share. Seeing that Fu Lüheng had given her a whistle, she happily gave him the other lollipop as well. “Big Brother Heng, this one is for you too. It’s a different flavor.”

Zou Zhengyang: “…”

Wasn’t that one supposed to be for him?

Little Bao continued to pull things out of her bag one by one. Her mama had packed many delicious snacks for her. “Big Brother Heng, this is chocolate, this is lard cake, these are potato chips, these are french fries, these are soda crackers, these are cookies, these are non-spicy spicy strips, and these are small fried fish…”

Jiang Xia prepared the snacks for the children in small, individual portions, fearing they would eat too much junk food and skip their meals. She had specially ordered small packaging for the children at home.

Little Bao pulled them out one by one and stuffed them all into Fu Lüheng’s arms. “They’re all for you! These are all my favorites. They’re super yummy!”

Seeing Little Bao empty her entire bag of snacks for Fu Lüheng, Zou Zhengyang panicked. “Little Bao, what about me?”

How did this little sister have so many good things to eat?

Hearing him, Little Bao gave him the very last pack of cookies. “Big Brother, didn’t you say you’re a manly man and don’t eat snacks? There’s no more; this is the only one left.”

Papa, Eldest Uncle, and Second Uncle were all manly men, and they didn’t like snacks.

“…”

Zou Zhengyang took it, looking at the mountain of snacks in Fu Lüheng’s arms while he only had one tiny pack of cookies. It was so small that he could tell there was only one single biscuit inside.

He regretted it!

Why did he have to act like a manly man?

Were snacks not delicious?

At that moment, Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang came out. Jiang Xia had watched the entire interaction with a smile, not wanting to interrupt the children’s socializing. Only now did she speak up. “Little Bao, say goodbye to the two brothers. Little brother is out now; it’s time to go.”

Little Bao immediately waved to the two boys. “Big Brother Heng, bye-bye Big Brother! My little brother is here, so I have to go now! Bye-bye!”

Jiang Xia asked the two boys, “Where are your parents? Do you need me to take you to find them?”

Fu Lüheng replied, “My grandmother works at the hospital. We know where her office is.”

Zou Zhengyang added, “Don’t worry, Auntie. Grandma Fu is the Hospital Director. We come here to play all the time; we won’t get lost.”

Jiang Xia felt relieved. “Then, goodbye.”

Little Bao also waved. “Goodbye!”

Jiang Xia led the children away.

On the day of Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang’s baby’s Full Moon banquet, Mother Zhou, Jiang Xia, and Tian Caihua delivered red eggs and chicken soup to the entire village.

They had done the same when the triplets were born—Mother Zhou and Tian Caihua had delivered them then, but this time Jiang Xia helped as well.

The Full Moon banquet was held in the village with twenty tables laid out. The entire village was invited, along with the couple’s relatives, friends, and colleagues.

That day, the entire village was filled with the aroma of chicken wine and Pig’s Trotters in Vinegar.

The news was so widespread that even Li Xiuxian in the neighboring village heard that Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang had a big, healthy baby boy.

During Ruan Tang’s pregnancy, Li Xiuxian had seen Zhou Chengsen accompanying her for walks on the beach. He had supported her and protected her the whole way, whispering things to her. Ruan Tang had looked incredibly happy.

That kind of happiness was supposed to be hers.

She had accidentally lost it!

Li Xiuxian couldn’t help but let her eyes redden, her heart full of bitterness. She couldn’t think about it anymore; every time she did, it was agonizing. Because there was no going back. Li Xiuxian wept silently.

“Bang, bang, bang!” After a few knocks, the door was pushed open. Li Xiuxian’s sister-in-law walked in. “Xiuxian, Liao Ruixiang is here to see you again. You should just go back with him this time!”

“I’m saying this for your own good. Liao Ruixiang might be a bit of a playboy, but he has money! Who cares if he’s unfaithful as long as he has money?”

“Think about it. If you don’t go back now, all his money will eventually go to someone else! Besides, you have a daughter in the Liao family home. Aren’t you afraid that if Liao Ruixiang marries someone else, she’ll mistreat your daughter?”

“And in the future, if Liao Ruixiang actually has a son with another woman, you’ll have nothing! Of course, it’s also possible he can’t father any more. If he never has another son and your daughter is his only child, wouldn’t you be the one in charge once you go back to the Liao family?”

Li Xiuxian didn’t say anything, so the woman continued: “Didn’t you reject the other matches I found for you, saying they were old, ugly, and poor? To be honest, this is your third marriage; other people are picky too! You might as well go back to the Liao family. Men can’t be relied on, but at least you’ll have money in your hands. You’ll have security, right?”

“If you have money, you won’t have to work. You can hire a helper. With money, what kind of man can’t you find? Right? I heard Liao Ruixiang went to see a master who told him only one woman can bear him children, which is why he came back for you. While he still thinks only you can give him a son and wants to reconcile, you have to seize the opportunity! Don’t let your pride get in the way of money!”

It was unclear which sentence moved Li Xiuxian, but she said calmly, “Let him in. I’ll talk to him.”

Life was too bitter; she really couldn’t hold on much longer. Being with Liao Ruixiang meant at least she would have money and wouldn’t have to deal with her sister-in-law’s daily disdain in her mother’s house. If Liao Ruixiang needed her to have a son to carry on the family line, then she would be the one holding the power over the Liao family!

Li Xiuxian’s sister-in-law reminded her, “Make sure you get the marriage certificate first this time!”

Otherwise, she would be sleeping with him for nothing, lose any potential lawsuit, and end up crawling back to her mother’s house again!

Li Xiuxian remained silent.

The next time Li Xiuxian saw Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang was during a major ebb tide in August.

That day, the tide receded around five in the morning, and people from several nearby villages came out for beachcombing.

The tide hadn’t completely gone out yet, and there were many small fish and shrimp in the shallows. Ruan Tang was excitedly catching them in the water.

Suddenly, it seemed she had been stung by a venomous fish. Li Xiuxian saw Zhou Chengsen grab Ruan Tang’s finger and put it in his mouth.

In the past, whenever Zhou Ying’s hand was stung by a venomous fish, Zhou Chengsen would always be the first to suck the toxin out for his daughter.

Li Xiuxian had thought he was only like that with his daughter.

As it turned out, he was like this to his wife too.

Chapter 855: Jiang Dong and Zhang Fuyan

Jiang Dong and Zhang Fuyan didn’t get married until the second year after Zhang Fuyan graduated.

This was because Zhang Fuyan’s grandmother had suddenly fallen ill the previous year and underwent a major surgery. After the operation, she was bedridden for over six months before she could finally get out of bed.

Zhang’s grandmother was very fond of Jiang Dong, and both of them hoped she could attend their wedding.

The grandmother constantly told them not to worry about her and urged them to get married and hold the banquet as soon as possible.

However, they were both afraid that once they got married and the grandmother’s worries were settled, she might lose her will to hold on. So, they kept delaying it.

Finally, in July of this year, Zhang’s grandmother recovered enough to walk and attend their wedding.

It was the morning of September 9th in the capital, and the sky was a brilliant, clear blue.

Jiang Dong got up early and tried on no fewer than ten outfits in front of the mirror. Every time he changed, he ran next door to the courtyard house to ask Jiang Xia which one looked best.

Jiang Xia had only arrived in the capital two days ago, after waiting for Zhou Zhou to start school.

She had primarily come to meet with the Zhang family to discuss the arrangements for Jiang Dong and Zhang Fuyan’s wedding in October.

Zhou Chenglei had arrived in the capital a week earlier. He was working with engineers to test a newly developed transformer, specifically designed for large fish transport ships.

The refrigeration systems on these ships had much higher requirements for transformers.

Zhou Chenglei was currently developing a specific transformer with his company team, intending to use it on one of the fish transport ships he had ordered for himself. This would make it easier to compare parameters and see the difference between imported and domestic products.

Because of this, he had been traveling to the capital for business every few days throughout the year.

Jiang Xia let out a yawn and glanced at Jiang Dong. “This set looks the best.”

Jiang Dong was dissatisfied. “Sis, you’re not taking this seriously at all! Can you be real for a moment? Which one actually looks best? You’ve said ‘this one looks best’ for every single set!”

Jiang Xia became equally exasperated. “I can’t help it! Who told my brother to be so handsome? You look good in everything! I genuinely think every set looks great on you, and they keep getting better one after another. How am I supposed to choose? If you don’t believe me, go out on the streets and ask people if you look good!”

“…”

Perfect!

Jiang Dong was satisfied. The corners of his mouth curled up, and he couldn’t suppress his grin. “Then this set it is?”

There were still ten more sets of new clothes in his wardrobe, all bought by his sister. They hadn’t been tried on yet, but he decided to save them for the actual wedding.

Jiang Xia nodded her groggy head. “Just go with that one! Isn’t that the one Xiao Yan bought for you? It’s more meaningful. She’ll definitely be happy to see you wearing it when you go to register your marriage. Also, go pick her up early. Even if it’s a bit early, she’ll be happy knowing you’re waiting for her.”

She decided she was never buying this kid so many new clothes again!

Zhou Chenglei never wasted time trying on clothes like this. He could change and be fully dressed in less than a minute, regardless of the season.

“Alright!” Jiang Dong was successfully coaxed by Jiang Xia. He finally stopped changing, hurriedly grabbed his car keys, and headed out to Zhang Fuyan’s place.

It was only half-past six in the morning. Zhou Chenglei had gone out for a run, so Jiang Xia went back to her room to continue sleeping.

She had been kept up late the night before by Zhou Chenglei, mainly because Little Bao had been pestering her recently, demanding a little sister.

Little Bao wanted to be a big sister, saying she wanted to be a sister who had both a little brother and a little sister. Her reasoning was that both of her older sisters had both brothers and sisters, while she only had one little brother.

Giving birth was out of the question; three children were enough, and besides, Zhou Chenglei had already undergone surgery.

Having been nagged by her daughter for so long, Jiang Xia had tried explaining it many times, but the girl always had new questions. Eventually, not knowing how else to explain, Jiang Xia had said, “Bao, go ask your Papa for a sister. Mama can’t make the final call on this.”

Then, Zhou Chenglei had used that as an excuse to entangle her all night. She hadn’t fallen asleep until three in the morning, only to be woken by Jiang Dong at six.

Exhausted from lack of sleep, Jiang Xia peeked into the children’s room to see the triplets still asleep. Seeing they hadn’t kicked off their blankets, she returned to her room to sleep some more.

Lately, Jiang Xia had grown afraid of being apart from Zhou Chenglei for too long.

He was not a man who liked to lose out; whenever they spent time apart, he always found ways to make up for the “deficit” several times over.

Jiang Dong and Zhang Fuyan’s wedding was held on the second day of the National Day holiday.

This year, the capital had lifted the foreign exchange restrictions on dining, allowing ordinary citizens to hold banquets in certain restaurants.

However, it was expensive. A wedding banquet could easily cost over ten thousand yuan, an amount an ordinary person could hardly afford.

But to Jiang Dong, ten thousand yuan—or even a hundred thousand—wasn’t a problem at all.

That said, Jiang Dong didn’t pay for the banquet; his brother-in-law, Zhou Chenglei, covered everything.

The wedding was also planned by Jiang Xia.

Zhang Fuyan was different from Ruan Tang. While Ruan Tang preferred traditional Chinese bridal gowns, Zhang Fuyan loved Western wedding dresses and was bold enough to wear one. Thus, she walked down the aisle in a wedding dress designed by Jiang Xia.

The triplets served as her flower girls and page boys.

The eldest brother walked in front scattering flower petals, while the younger brother and little sister helped carry the long train of her dress.

Accompanied by her father, Zhang Fuyan walked slowly toward Jiang Dong, who stood at the other end.

As Jiang Dong watched her approach, his back became soaked with sweat.

Zhang’s father placed his daughter’s hand into Jiang Dong’s. Without much talk, he simply patted Jiang Dong’s shoulder. “I’m entrusting her to you now.”

Four years had passed. They had seen Jiang Dong’s kindness and his devotion to their daughter with their own eyes.

No more words were needed.

Jiang Dong nodded solemnly.

Zhang Fuyan felt that Jiang Dong’s palms were damp. “Are you hot?”

The weather today wasn’t hot at all. In fact, she felt a bit chilly in her wedding dress.

Jiang Dong replied, “A little.”

“Hot” was a lie; he was nervous!

They had been dating for four years, and today, his girl was finally becoming his wife.

When it came time to exchange rings, Zhang Fuyan noticed that the hand Jiang Dong used to hold the ring was trembling slightly.

Only then did she realize just how nervous he was.

During the wedding vows, Jiang Dong had originally prepared a long speech, but his mind suddenly went blank.

After trying to remember for a long time to no avail, he looked down at the audience and saw Zhou Chenglei draping his jacket over Jiang Xia’s shoulders.

The temperature was dropping today, and Jiang Xia was wearing a formal dress; he was afraid she would get cold.

Jiang Dong blurted out, “I love you. I will treat you well in the future—even better than my brother-in-law treats my sister!”

Zhang Fuyan couldn’t help but laugh.

A wave of laughter also erupted from the guests.

Everyone instinctively looked toward Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia, only to see Zhou Chenglei in the middle of draping the jacket.

Hearing Jiang Dong’s words, Zhou Chenglei paused momentarily before calmly finishing the task under everyone’s gaze.

Father Jiang was very satisfied; he had also been worried that his daughter might be cold.

With everyone laughing, Jiang Dong actually relaxed. He continued, looking at Zhang Fuyan, “Promises and oaths of eternal love are just empty words. I won’t say much; I will just do. Watch how I act for the rest of my life. If I ever treat you poorly or make you feel the slightest bit wronged, go find my Papa. I’m most afraid of my Papa’s discipline ruler! If you complain to him, I guarantee I won’t dare do it again!”

The guests laughed again.

The atmosphere of the wedding remained wonderful until the very end.

It was past nine in the evening by the time they returned to their wedding room in the courtyard house.

They were the only two in the room. Both were a bit nervous and a bit expectant.

Jiang Dong found Zhang Fuyan’s pajamas and said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, “Do you want to shower first?”

Zhang Fuyan nodded. “Okay.”

She stayed in the shower for a long time. When she finally came out, Jiang Dong had already finished showering in another bathroom and was leaning against the bed, reading a book.

The only problem was, the book was upside down.

Zhang Fuyan: “…”

Smiling, she stepped forward, took the book from his hands, and flipped it right-side up for him.

Jiang Dong: “…”

Chapter 856: Triplets Edition

When the triplets were four years old, they went out to play with their four older brothers—including Guangzong and Yaozu—and each brought home a large mud crab they had caught in the tidal flats.

The price they paid was being covered in mud from head to toe. Except for their gleaming eyes, no part of them was clean!

If they hadn’t spoken, and if their silhouettes weren’t somewhat recognizable, Jiang Xia wouldn’t have even known they were her own children.

Dabao said, “Mama, I caught a big mud crab for you to eat!”

Erbao added, “Mama, I caught one too! Mama, my crab has a pair of huge pincers! Big Brother helped us tie them up.”

Little Bao chimed in, “Mama, my crab is the biggest! Mama, look!”

Jiang Xia looked at the three mud monkeys, unsure whether it was better to scold them or give them a good swat!

She really wanted to hit someone!

Jiang Xia adjusted her breathing, then crouched down and spoke gently to the three children. “My babies are so wonderful! You knew Mama liked eating crabs, so you went to catch them. Mama is so happy. My babies are so thoughtful, Mama loves you. Thank you, darlings.”

Hearing their mother’s praise and affirmation, the three children were satisfied. They knew Mama would like it.

“Mama, cook them and eat them.”

“Alright, Mama will cook them in a little while,” Jiang Xia continued. “But do you think Mama likes mud crabs more, or does she like you more?”

Little Bao shouted, “Mama likes me most!”

Erbao countered, “Mama likes me most!”

Dabao said, “Mama likes us most.”

Jiang Xia nodded. “That’s right. Although Mama likes mud crabs, Mama likes you the most. The beach is dangerous; one mistake and you could be swept away by the waves. If that happened, you wouldn’t be able to see Mama anymore, and Mama wouldn’t be able to see you. Mama would be very, very sad! So, if you want to catch mud crabs for Mama to eat, wait until Papa and Mama can take you, alright?”

Dabao argued, “Mama, the place we went didn’t have waves. It was all mud.”

Erbao nodded. “We didn’t go where the water is.”

Little Bao agreed. “Big Brother doesn’t take us to the beach. That was the tidal flats; there’s no water.”

Jiang Xia said, “Yes, you’re very good! It’s right not to go to the beach! But the tidal flats are also dangerous. You’re still small, and in some parts of the tidal flats, the mud is as deep as Mama’s knees. If you fall in, wouldn’t you be unable to climb out? If your whole body got submerged in the mud…”

Jiang Xia lectured them for a while until they promised not to go to the tidal flats again without their parents.

As long as they promised, Jiang Xia could feel a bit more at ease.

The elder brothers were very sensible; they would definitely remember and keep their promises.

But children were children, after all. No matter how sensible they were, she couldn’t be one hundred percent at ease.

Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei discussed it and decided to send them to the city government kindergarten.

The three kids were getting more and more mischievous lately, playing all over the village every day. Second Auntie was busy taking care of Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang’s children in the city and couldn’t handle them.

Mother Zhou had a lot of housework, and Grandpa and Grandma were getting older every year, so they didn’t have enough energy to watch over them.

The main issue was that they were too naughty. The three kids were incredibly bold, and their ways of playing changed every single day!

It was impossible to guard against!

Today they followed their older brothers to the tidal flats to catch crabs; yesterday they imitated their father and used a bamboo pole to poke a hornets’ nest; the day before that, they went to the bamboo grove with their brothers to catch bugs to roast; and the day before that, they caught a snake in the fields to play with, scaring Jiang Xia half to death…

Regardless, their way of playing was different every day, but the one constant was that they turned themselves into mud monkeys every single time.

They would secretly follow their older brothers out to play every day.

The three of them also ran very fast. They would slip out the moment the adults weren’t looking, and the adults would have to search the entire village to find them.

Father Zhou and Mother Zhou were constantly worried during these searches.

Mother Zhou couldn’t bring herself to hit or scold the triplets, so she scolded Zhou Chenglei instead. “They are exactly like you were as a child! Even more mischievous than you! At least you knew to come home for dinner; they just wander into anyone’s house when it’s time to eat. We can’t even find them at mealtimes! They take after you ninety-nine percent! They’re incredibly naughty!”

Zhou Chenglei felt his mother was being quite unreasonable. She scolded him when he was a child, and she was still scolding him now that he was grown.

Zhou Chenglei said, “If they don’t listen, you can hit them. They’ll listen after a few hits.”

Father Zhou barked, “Hit them? Are children meant to be hit? They are meant to be taught! The more you hit them, the naughtier they get, and the less they listen! Do you even know how to raise children?”

Zhou Chenglei replied, “As a child, wasn’t I chased and beaten by you with a shoulder pole? You used to chase me through several villages.”

Mother Zhou countered, “Are you the same as Dabao and the others? You wouldn’t listen no matter how much we taught you! You were asking for a beating every day! Dabao and the others are much better than you; they are well-behaved and listen to reason!”

It was just that after being taught today that they couldn’t do certain things, the triplets would come up with something new tomorrow, making it impossible to stay ahead of them.

Father Zhou added, “It took searching through several villages to find you, but we only have to search one village for Dabao and the others. They’re much better than you! Tell me, shouldn’t you be the one hit? Besides, Dabao and the others are naughty because they take after you! If the upper beam is crooked, the lower ones will be askew. You should reflect on yourself and set a good example!”

“…”

Zhou Chenglei really wanted to say that his “upper beams” were actually them, and if anyone needed to reflect, it was the two elders.

But he didn’t dare say it!

His parents’ scolding skills were profound, and their lung capacity was even better than his from his daily running.

Zhou Chenglei gave up talking to them; there was no reasoning with them. His parents simply believed that if he made a mistake, it was his fault; if the triplets made a mistake, it was also his fault because the triplets were his and they were like him, so it was all his fault.

However, living by the beach, if the children were too mischievous, the danger was significant.

So, after discussing it, Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia decided to send them to kindergarten.

On the first day of school, Little Bao was very excited. “Mama, is kindergarten fun?”

“You have to have classes, but there are fun things too. There are slides inside, and many other children to play with you.”

Erbao and Little Bao were particularly looking forward to it. They loved the slides most of all.

Dabao’s expression didn’t change much, still maintaining a calm and indifferent air. Whether it was fun or not wasn’t for Mama to decide; he had to judge for himself.

However, in kindergarten, he could study and learn characters like his older brothers and sisters. Dabao felt he would probably like it, but he wasn’t so sure about his younger brother and sister.

Thus, when school started, the family of five arrived at the city government kindergarten hand-in-hand.

On the first day of the term, the kindergarten entrance was extremely rowdy.

“Waaa… I don’t want to go to kindergarten!”

“Waaa… I want to go home!”

“I don’t want to go to kindergarten, I want to go home! Waaa…”

…

Little Bao was speechless.

Is this the “fun” Mama talked about?

If it’s fun, why are they crying?

Erbao felt that this scene was even more terrifying than the site where they got their vaccinations!

Dabao thought: He knew it would be like this!

Zou Zhengyang was the one crying the loudest on the scene. He was sitting on the ground, kicking his legs and refusing to get up. “I don’t want to, I don’t want to go to kindergarten! I want to go home! I want to go home…”

Mother Zou was trying her best to pull him up. “You’ll go home after school is over. All children have to go to kindergarten. Look, Xiao Heng is going too, and he isn’t crying.”

Fu Lüheng was being held by Mother Fu, looking expressionlessly at Zou Zhengyang who was acting out on the floor. His expression seemed to say: So stupid.

Mother Fu was also helping to coax him.

Zou Zhengyang kept his eyes closed, ignoring their words as if they were background noise, and wailed. “I don’t care! I just don’t want to! I won’t go to kindergarten, I want to go home!”

Little Bao felt something was very wrong and immediately turned to leave. “Mama, I don’t want to go to kindergarten anymore. Let’s go home!”

Since so many children were crying and refusing to go in, it definitely wasn’t fun!

Could it be that they were going to get shots?

Jiang Xia picked up her daughter. “We’ve already signed up. You have to go.”

Fu Lüheng heard a familiar milky voice and turned to see that the triplets had also arrived.

He let go of his mother’s hand and ran to Jiang Xia. “Auntie, Little Bao.”

Seeing her familiar friend, Little Bao immediately wanted to get down. “Mama, put me down, it’s Brother Heng.”

Naturally, Jiang Xia recognized the boy, she just hadn’t expected Little Bao to recognize him as well.

Jiang Xia set her down.

Little Bao immediately began pulling snacks out of her bag. “Brother Heng, I have something tasty! You definitely haven’t tried this; it’s a new product my Mama made.”

Little Bao unceremoniously stuffed the snacks into Fu Lüheng’s arms.

Fu Lüheng was silent.

Next time, he would also bring some toys and tasty things for Little Bao.

Erbao asked Fu Lüheng, “Brother Fu Lüheng, have you been to kindergarten before? Is it fun?”

Fu Lüheng replied, “There are classes, but it’s fun when it’s playtime.”

What he didn’t say was: There was more time when they weren’t playing.

Erbao said, “Mama also said there would be classes.”

Zou Zhengyang stopped crying the moment he saw Little Bao giving out snacks. He scrambled up and ran to the triplets. “Little Bao, you guys are coming to kindergarten too?”

Little Bao nodded her small head. “Yes. You were crying so hard; is kindergarten not fun?”

“…”

Zou Zhengyang cared about his pride. He didn’t want to cry in front of Little Bao every time, and he felt that if Little Bao was at this kindergarten too, then going to school didn’t seem so bad. So, he said, “No, there’s a slide inside. Sliding down is quite fun. I was crying just to get my mom to buy me candy. Crying was just a strategy, I wasn’t really crying!”

His mother’s heart was as hard as iron; she was determined to make him attend kindergarten without missing a single day. So, he absolutely couldn’t tell Little Bao that kindergarten wasn’t fun at all.

There was very little playtime!

Most of the time was spent sitting in the classroom listening to lessons!

You had to sit very straight.

And you couldn’t talk!

If you talked, the teacher would scold you!

You also had to write!

And if you didn’t write well, your mom would scold you!

Mother Zou was speechless.

Zhou Chenglei was equally silent.

He suddenly wanted to switch his three children to a different kindergarten.

Hearing that Zou Zhengyang had to cry to get candy, Little Bao generously gave him two pieces of candy from her bag. “I’ll give you candy so you don’t have to cry. A true hero knows when to retreat and when to advance; you can’t cry.”

Zou Zhengyang was utterly embarrassed!

Why did the heavens always make Little Bao see him every time he cried?

“Little Bao, which class are you in?”

“Class Large-1!”

Zou Zhengyang was delighted. “That’s the same class as us.”

Fu Lüheng was surprised. “You’re younger than us; why are you in the same class?”

He had thought Little Bao and the others would be in the middle class.

Little Bao knew the answer to this. “Because we can read and do math. Mama said we can be in the senior class. The teacher tested us too and said we are smart, so we can be in the senior class!”

Zou Zhengyang assumed Little Bao knew as many characters as he did and didn’t think much of it. Instead, he was very happy to be in the same class as the three siblings!

“That’s great! Fu Lüheng is also in Class Large-1. We’ll be in the same class from now on! We’ll be in the same class all the way until university!”

“Okay!” Little Bao nodded and agreed!

And so, the children began their journey through the sea of learning, using diligence as their boat.

Strictly speaking, the only one who found it a struggle was Zou Zhengyang. The triplets and Fu Lüheng didn’t find it hard at all.

Because in primary school and middle school, they were constantly skipping grades.

UNTITLED

Chapter 601: You Guys Are the Ones Who Are Amazing

Chapter 602: Disdain
Chapter 603: The Watch
Chapter 604: Dr. Ruan is a Devil
Chapter 605: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
Chapter 606: How Much Was Paid?
Chapter 607: Immortality Peaches?
Chapter 608
Chapter 609: Occupying the Privy
Chapter 610: She Didn’t Believe It
Chapter 611: One Would Never Have Guessed
Chapter 612: The Poor Child
Chapter 613: The Rivalry
Chapter 614: The Weakling
Chapter 615: Why Do You Do Everything?
Chapter 616: Adopted Son
Chapter 617: The Garment Factory
Chapter 618: Cheap Calligraphy
Chapter 619: Tian Caihua Is Shocked Again
Chapter 620: Stalking
Chapter 621: Hospitalized for Observation

Chapter 622: Here to Experience Life Among the Commoners?

Chapter 623: Beautiful
Chapter 624: Couple Outfits?
Chapter 625: Beyond Expectations

Chapter 626: A Chance Meeting is Better Than a Formal Invitation

Chapter 627: A Magnet for Trouble

Chapter 628: Soothing the Liver and Relieving Depression

Chapter 629: Who’s Afraid of Whom
Chapter 630: General Agent
Chapter 631: Her Perspective Had Changed
Chapter 632: All Old Cows
Chapter 633: Scheming Woman

Chapter 634: The Factory Director Was Losing His Cool

Chapter 635: Giving It Away Just Like That
Chapter 636: My Granddaughter is Amazing
Chapter 637: Ready
Chapter 638: A Perfect Proposal
Chapter 639: Unfairness
Chapter 640: Coming to Terms
Chapter 641: Shocked
Chapter 642: A Sweeping Victory
Chapter 643: Nemesis

Chapter 644: Making Money is Better Than Winning Arguments

Chapter 645: A Hit Style Emerges
Chapter 646: Everyone Was Delighted
Chapter 647: A Perfect Conclusion
Chapter 648: Friends?
Chapter 649: Suspicion
Chapter 650: Liquidated Damages
Chapter 651: A Thorn in the Side
Chapter 652: Changing Tracks
Chapter 653: The Secret is Out
Chapter 654: Who Is the One Going Too Far?
Chapter 655: Good News

Chapter 656: Chance Encounter at a Dinner Party

Chapter 657: Beachcombing
Chapter 658: Harmony
Chapter 659: I Don’t Mind
Chapter 660: All Stubborn Blockheads!
Chapter 661: What Is This Woman Up To Now?
Chapter 662: Sprayed
Chapter 663: What’s This?
Chapter 664: Jiang Xia Has That Talent
Chapter 665: Village Enthusiasm
Chapter 666: Great-Grandma is Up to Something
Chapter 667: She Knew
Chapter 668: An Accident
Chapter 669: Don’t Touch My Daughter
Chapter 670: Can’t Refuse
Chapter 671: Feeling a Little Bit Better
Chapter 672: The Vacancy
Chapter 673: The Goods Arrive
Chapter 674: The Telephone
Chapter 675: Doesn’t Bother With Her Anymore
Chapter 676: Really Good at Planning
Chapter 677: Someone Is Looking for You
Chapter 678: What Do You Mean?
Chapter 679: Otherwise, what did you think?
Chapter 680: No Match for Her Words
Chapter 681: Truly Leaves One Speechless
Chapter 682: Father Jiang is Scared
Chapter 683: Confirmed
Chapter 684: How Ruthless
Chapter 685: Flight Delay

Chapter 686: The More They Heard, The More Scared They Became

Chapter 687: Surprise
Chapter 688: So Good!
Chapter 689: Welcome to the Family
Chapter 690: Like Her Mother?
Chapter 691: Enemies Meet on a Narrow Path

Chapter 692: Are You Even Going to Let Others Live?

Chapter 693: A Guilty Conscience
Chapter 694: The Lesson
Chapter 695: New Shop Opens, Big Sales
Chapter 696: Beyond Reach
Chapter 697: Hideously Ugly
Chapter 698: It Hurts, It Hurts, It Hurts!

Chapter 699: The One Hit Was Her, and the One Apologizing Was Also Her

Chapter 700: Not Satisfied

Chapter 701: Dad is the Most Biased

Chapter 702: Is This Any Way to Treat a Brother?

Chapter 703: The Ideal Partner

Chapter 704: Can We Chat About Something Else?

Chapter 705: Great-Grandma’s High Praise
Chapter 706: It Looks Very Prosperous
Chapter 707: Had His Fill of Bragging

Chapter 708: More Profitable than Fishing Boats?

Chapter 709: Smooth Sailing

Chapter 710: Furious

Chapter 711: A One-in-Ten-Thousand Chance is for Other People

Chapter 712: The Pearl King
Chapter 713: She’s Given Birth
Chapter 714: New Products
Chapter 715: The Plan
Chapter 716: Visiting Early in the Morning
Chapter 717: Me?
Chapter 718: So Frumpy
Chapter 719: Feeling Frustrated
Chapter 720: Such a Sudden Surprise
Chapter 721: Anxiety
Chapter 722: So Fast?
Chapter 723: The Letter
Chapter 724: This Once, and Only This Once
Chapter 725: Feeling Swindled
Chapter 726: Good News
Chapter 727: What Day Is It Today?
Chapter 728: Mud Is Flying!
Chapter 729: What Are You All Doing?
Chapter 730: The Meeting
Chapter 731: You’re Quite Open-Minded
Chapter 732: Recognition
Chapter 733: Cleanliness Obsession
Chapter 734: She Wants a Divorce
Chapter 735: Leaving

Chapter 736: Having Something and Having Nothing Are Different

Chapter 737: Mother-in-Law and Daughter-in-Law Join Forces

Chapter 738: More Imaginative Than Her

Chapter 739: Just Give Me Ten Thousand Yuan and We’ll Call It Even

Chapter 740: What is This Woman’s Identity?
Chapter 741: A Big Shot’s Woman?
Chapter 742: The Furniture Arrives
Chapter 743: Reddened Eyes
Chapter 744: This Method is Good
Chapter 745: A Well-Calculated Scheme
Chapter 746: Secretary Zhou Online
Chapter 747: A Very Special Secret
Chapter 748: Bursting Net
Chapter 749: It Was Torn Down
Chapter 750: Refusal to Mend His Ways
Chapter 751: Mud Can’t Support a Wall
Chapter 752: Finding a Kindred Spirit
Chapter 753: Beachcombing
Chapter 754: You’re Good, You’re Really Good!
Chapter 755: The Surprising Tian Caihua
Chapter 756: Scared to Tears
Chapter 757: Venting Anger
Chapter 758: Stumbling Upon a Scallop Nest

Chapter 759: As Expected, Jiang Xia Had to Go Into the Sea!

Chapter 760: Giving Gifts
Chapter 761: The Harvest
Chapter 762: Tian Caihua Gets Played
Chapter 763: New Year

Chapter 764: The “Joyful Atmosphere” of the Kitchen

Chapter 765: Elder Mai’s New Year’s Money
Chapter 766: Remembering
Chapter 767: Why Are You Here?
Chapter 768: He’s Here to Formally Propose
Chapter 769: Absolutely Do Not Agree
Chapter 770: Digging Bamboo Shoots
Chapter 771: Waiting Slowly
Chapter 772: Not Interested

Chapter 773: The Competition Between Three Old Men

Chapter 774: Asking the Obvious

Chapter 775: You Are More Important

Chapter 776: I’m here to go register the marriage with Ruan Tang!

Chapter 777: Fast and Ruthless

Chapter 778: This Is Simply Too Much Bullying!

Chapter 779: He Will Surely Give His All
Chapter 780: Putting it on the Agenda
Chapter 781: Let’s Sleep Here Tonight
Chapter 782: Registering the Marriage
Chapter 783: The Taste of Happiness
Chapter 784: Wedding Photos
Chapter 785: Collecting Rent
Chapter 786: New Goals
Chapter 787: The Banquet
Chapter 788: A Sharp Retort
Chapter 789: Unfair
Chapter 790: Driving Her Crazy
Chapter 791: Almost Crashed into Her

Chapter 792: He’s Becoming a Resentful Husband!

Chapter 793: Music to the Ears
Chapter 794: Going to the Fields
Chapter 795: Going All Out
Chapter 796: Regret
Chapter 797: Strangers
Chapter 798: Net Cages
Chapter 799: No Need to See Each Other in May
Chapter 800: Robbery
Chapter 801: The Little Boy
Chapter 802: She’s Not Your Sister
Chapter 803: Like-Minded

Chapter 804: A Sense of Mission Arises Spontaneously!

Chapter 805: This is Their Factory Director
Chapter 806: Buying Spree
Chapter 807: Did You Hear That?
Chapter 808: The Triplets Go to Work
Chapter 809: A Sudden Shift in Atmosphere
Chapter 810: Determination
Chapter 811: I Wish I Hadn’t Told Ruan Tang
Chapter 812: This Stingy Guy
Chapter 813: A Net-Bursting Catch
Chapter 814: Surrounding the Fish Shoal
Chapter 815: Striking It Rich
Chapter 816: Truly Extraordinary
Chapter 817: Deeply Shocked
Chapter 818: It’s Enough to Discourage Her
Chapter 819: Who Are You Being Snide To?
Chapter 820: The Betrothal Gift
Chapter 821: Forget It, Don’t Mess With Him!
Chapter 822: Pre-wedding Preparations
Chapter 823: The Motorcade
Chapter 824: Forcing Their Way In
Chapter 825: Rituals Completed

Chapter 826: How Much Was Your Red Envelope Back Then?

Chapter 827: Here She Goes Again

Chapter 828: Resigning Together

Chapter 829: Earning Enough to Build a House in One Winter Break?

Chapter 830: Promotion
Chapter 831: Is Jiang Xia Lopsided?
Chapter 832: Showing Up at the Door
Chapter 833: Rebuking Her
Chapter 834: Only That Much
Chapter 835: Double Blessings at the Door

Chapter 836: How Can a Son and a Daughter Be the Same?

Chapter 837: Immature
Chapter 838: Bamboo Popguns
Chapter 839: Typhoon
Chapter 840: Hard to See What It Is
Chapter 841: What Is It?
Chapter 842: Surprisingly none
Chapter 843: The First Piece of Business

Chapter 844: Looking Especially Beautiful Today

Chapter 845: Division of Labor
Chapter 846: Eager for Quick Success
Chapter 847: Under Immense Pressure

Chapter 848: It’s Impossible for There to Be No Orders!

Chapter 849: Every Single Item is a Hit Style

Chapter 850: An Acquaintance

Chapter 851: A Bountiful Harvest (End of Main Story)

Chapter 852: Awaiting Delivery (Side Story)

Chapter 853: Happiness Has No Upper Limit (Extra)

Chapter 854: Turns Out He Was Like This to His Wife Too (Extra)

Chapter 855: Jiang Dong and Zhang Fuyan

Chapter 856: Triplets Edition