This was the first time Shen Qing had ever seen what a "small tent in the morning" was.

I had only heard my college roommates talk about it, but I had never actually seen it.

Today, Cheng Zhiwen has broadened her horizons.

It was so embarrassing. She turned her face to the side, stood up, lifted the curtain, and got out of the car.

The carriage stopped in an abandoned temple. Old Xu put the chair that he usually used as a step stool for them far away and sat on it, closing his eyes to rest.

Therefore, Lao Xu not only knew that she and Cheng Zhiwen were sleeping in the car, but also consciously sat far away to avoid hearing the noise inside the car.

Shen Qing immediately understood.

Like Chunju, Lao Xu could see that she and Cheng Zhiwen were getting too close.

Shen Qing was too embarrassed to face anyone.

Old Xu and Chunju both know that "she" was dumped by Cheng Zhiwen before, and now she's having an ambiguous relationship with Cheng Zhiwen again. What are they supposed to think of her...?

People might think that she still has feelings for Cheng Zhiwen and even after becoming a widow, she still dreams of marrying him.

However, since Lao Xu and Chunju are family, it doesn't matter what they think; outsiders shouldn't think that way.

Shen Qing secretly told herself that she should be careful about her interactions with Cheng Zhiwen in the future, so as not to give others cause for gossip.

She turned and got into the carriage, holding the duck in her arms as she waited.

Cheng Zhiwen also got up and sat back down in her original seat.

The two slept together for one night. Although nothing was done, Shen Qing felt awkward and didn't speak, occasionally teasing the duck in her arms.

Cheng Zhiwen, however, asked naturally, "You didn't come home last night. Will the Gao family make things difficult for you?"

"My mother-in-law will nag about it."

Are the Gao family members good to you?

He had already forgotten that he had asked Shen Qing this question before, and that Shen Qing had answered him.

It wasn't that he had a bad memory; it seemed that he was overly concerned about Shen Qing's situation in the Gao family, constantly worrying about it.

Shen Qing replied indifferently, "It's fine as it is, it's all just a matter of mutual benefit."

He nodded, remained silent for a while, and then asked, "How does your husband... treat you?"

Shen Qing frowned.

They quickly realized what was going on.

Perhaps Cheng Zhiwen wanted to know how the original owner of this body felt about her relationship with her husband?

She had never really paid attention to this issue, so she had never searched for related memories in her memory bank.

But since Cheng Zhiwen asked, she kindly helped him find these memories.

"Hmm... he's alright. He has a mild and easygoing personality, so he won't swear or hit people. We're just very respectful to each other."

Cheng Zhiwen listened without reacting, then repeated, "How have you treated me?"

After thinking for a moment, Shen Qing said without much emotion, "Let's just leave it at that, treat each other with respect."

It wasn't that she didn't want to talk about it, but rather that these weren't things that happened to her. She had never even met the original owner's husband. She was simply relaying the story of another couple's relationship, so the description was naturally rather bland.

Cheng Zhiwen didn't ask any more questions.

The carriage sped towards Jiangzhou County. Shen Qing leaned to one side, holding a duck, pondering how to solve the duck feather problem.

Cheng Zhiwen timely reminded him: "Yesterday, the owner of the duck farm told me that as we enter the third month of the lunar calendar, everyone will start collecting spring ducks. We need to reply to him no later than the second day of the lunar calendar whether we want this batch of spring ducks, otherwise he will go to the pharmaceutical company."

"The second day of the third month? That's three days from now."

Cheng Zhiwen nodded.

This timeframe caused Shen Qing great anxiety.

In such a short time, how can she decide whether to take all the wool?

She's penniless and can't afford to hire workers, so how can she collect all the raw wool?

Are we really going to rely on her and Chunju to choose?

Even if you search like that for a whole year, you still wouldn't be able to find 100 jin (50 kg).

For the sample from two days ago, she still didn't carefully pick out the duck armpit hairs; she just picked out all the small downy hairs that looked usable, which took her most of the day.

Picking out the duck's armpit hairs from a mountain of whole feathers is truly a task that takes a whole year to complete.

If this continues, by the time she accumulates enough for exports, World War II will probably be over.

He leaned to the side, saying angrily, "I can't afford to hire workers right now, so I can't pick the feathers. Either I buy duck armpit feathers directly, and I'll try to raise some money to buy them! Or I won't buy them at all, and I'll quit this business!"

After saying that, he even punched the duck in his arms: "Your boss is really mean!"

"quack……"

"So rigid! There's absolutely no room for negotiation!"

"quack……"

Cheng Zhiwen was amused by her and said, "Anyway, you have three days. Think it over carefully. I believe you have a way."

Shen Qing sighed, no longer wanting to say anything.

Even if there's another way, it's useless if you don't have money to buy all the raw meat.

The first time, she was able to ask her relatives in the Gao family for some investment funds, but the rayon business has never really taken off, and she has never received any dividends.

Who would dare to invest money in her this second time?

She originally thought duck feathers were cheap, a lot for ten coins, and she would spend tens of taels to buy several hundred catties, and then use rayon and real silk to make the inner lining and outer fabric of the down vest respectively.

After deducting losses, several hundred kilograms of duck feathers can make at least a thousand down vests.

A down vest sells for seven hundred coins, and the first batch of goods can earn a little over a thousand taels of silver.

More than ten times the profit.

If mass production were to occur, the profits would be staggering.

It turns out she had oversimplified things.

First of all, the ten-cent pile of duck feathers was just a token gesture from the vendor to get rid of her while she collected garbage; it didn't mean that duck feathers were that cheap.

The feathers of white-feathered ducks from the farm are even more expensive, costing 200 yuan per kilogram.

She could accept 200 coins, but the problem was that in addition to the 200 coins, there was also the labor cost of picking the feathers.

She simply couldn't afford the labor costs anymore.

It's too difficult.

Upon returning to Jiangzhou, the carriage first took Shen Qing back to the Gao family.

She was about to get off the bus with the duck in her arms when Cheng Zhiwen grabbed her wrist.

She turned to look at him: "?"

His deep eyes were fixed on her: "I'll buy this batch of duck feathers, and I'll pay the workers for picking them."

Shen Qing frowned: "You want to be my investor?"

He was still surprised by the English words she blurted out.

Coming to her senses, she said, "I told you, you don't have to work so hard."

Shen Qing smiled wryly: "Have you ever heard this saying while you were in America?"

"What did you say?"

“the investor relationship is akin to marriage.”

The relationship between investors is like a marriage.

The fire in Cheng Zhiwen's eyes dimmed instantly, slowly returning to its usual deep calm.

He released her hand, looked away, and said coldly, "I'm not a suitable person to get married."

Shen Qing was speechless: "You said you wanted to marry me? I was just telling you—once it becomes an investment relationship, it will be as entangled and difficult to sever as a marriage! So I don't want your investment!"

She left those words behind, then got off the carriage carrying the duck.

As she entered the Gao family's residence, the gatekeeper noticed the mud on her legs and exclaimed in surprise, "Young Madam, did you fall into the field last night? And you even picked up a duck?"

Shen Qing smiled and casually said, "I went to the countryside and stole a duck to lay eggs for you to eat."

The servant was amused by her and chuckled.

Shen Qing, carrying the duck, was heading back to the courtyard to wash her feet and change her clothes. As she passed through the living room, she saw Gao Liushi playing with her three grandsons.

She originally planned to pretend she hadn't seen her and slip back to her own courtyard, but Gao Liushi saw her and came out to call her back.

She turned around, still holding the duck, and asked, "Have you eaten?"

Gao Liu glared at her with a displeased expression: "Where did you spend the night last night?"