Chapter 23 We arrived home amidst laughter and conversation, and at the front door…

They arrived home amidst laughter and conversation. The front door was unlocked, and Jiang Can pushed it open and entered, turning on the light bulb in the yard.

At first glance, the yard looked brand new. The bricks on the ground had been brushed and washed clean, revealing their original color.

The soil at the base of the wall had been renovated, and no trace of blood could be seen. The broken glass had been re-attached, denser and sharper.

Jiang Can went back into the house and turned on all the lights. The tiles were intact and undamaged, the plaster on the walls had been repainted, the furniture was polished to a shine, and the bedding and other items were spotless.

It's clear that those thugs were terrified of Shen Lang, and they put 200% effort into renovating the house.

Jiang Can was very satisfied; there was nothing to complain about.

She placed both of their money on the table and counted them one by one. The money was really substantial; it took her quite a while to count it all!

After putting the two piles of money together, they counted them twice more.

The total is 21,167 yuan.

Shen Lang leaned against the headboard and watched Jiang Can count money. He liked the way she counted money; it looked especially beautiful.

Jiang Can put the money away, this time not in a box, but by lifting a brick on the wall. Inside was a small box full of money, which most people wouldn't find.

This is Shen Lang's secret hiding place for his money.

She asked, "You've been busy selling goods lately, how are you going to buy a house for the enamel factory? How about I close the restaurant for a couple of days and go look for houses?"

Shen Lang: "You should continue with your business as usual. I remember this matter. Making money is important, but buying a house is even more important. If I can't even handle the demolition compensation, I deserve to be poor for the rest of my life. I met with Secretary Chen today and sounded out his opinion; the house at the enamel factory is available for purchase."

Secretary Chen was the deputy secretary of the county party committee whom Shen Lang had previously rescued. Of course, he didn't ask whether the enamel factory's buildings would be demolished. When he chatted with Secretary Chen, he mentioned that his yard had been vandalized, and living there was unsafe; he wanted to move into an apartment building. The houses in Ruyi City were quite nice, but he was short of money. So he planned to buy a house in the enamel factory's staff quarters first. He had recently found one he liked, but hadn't made up his mind yet.

Secretary Chen said, "Since we don't have enough money, let's buy a house in the enamel factory's residential compound first. The location of the enamel factory's residential compound is quite good."

Nowadays, it's possible to get a loan to buy a commercial apartment. If you're short of money, you can get a bank loan. Secretary Chen didn't suggest that Shen Lang take out a loan; instead, he suggested that Shen Lang buy a tenement building directly.

He also subtly warned Shen Lang to be careful, saying that Shen Boxiong himself was not a threat, but his younger brother Shen Boyang was a high-ranking official and his teacher was a member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee.

The Shen family is at the height of their power; a direct confrontation now is futile. This time they hired thugs to cause trouble; who knows what they'll do next? Shen Lang's retaliatory methods are insufficient to threaten Shen Boxiong. A wise person should choose to give up and live a humble life.

If they refuse to give up, we can only outsmart them.

Shen Boyang is exceptionally capable and has accomplished a great deal in the past two years, all in an effort to become a member of the Standing Committee. The only person who can rival him is Liang Yi, the Director of the Provincial Public Security Department.

Of course, Secretary Chen didn't have Director Liang's contact information, let alone be able to make connections with Shen Lang. All he could do was offer a few words of advice out of consideration for Shen Lang's life-saving grace.

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Shen Lang didn't mention any of that. Did he expect him to persuade Jiang Can not repeat the year or take the college entrance exam? He only mentioned the news about the demolition.

Jiang Can was even happier to hear this, her heart finally at ease. "I have 40,000 yuan in my savings account, plus today's 21,000, that's a total of 61,000 yuan. Enough to buy two more apartments! I really have money to burn!" She clasped her hands together, praying, "Gods of Wealth, this faithful woman sincerely prays for a house! Please send a house quickly, please send a house quickly!!!"

Shen Lang: "How about we kowtow three times? That would show more sincerity."

Jiang Can thought it made sense, so she took some snacks and fruits as offerings. Since there was no incense at home, she lit the two red candles used at her wedding. She kowtowed respectfully and solemnly promised, "May the God of Wealth bless our family so that we can buy two more apartments in the enamel factory's residential compound this week. On the first day of next month, I will offer the God of Wealth a pig's head, a pork knuckle, and a roast chicken."

Shen Lang chuckled, laughing so hard he almost fell over. "Wife, how can you be so cute?"

He doesn't believe in the God of Wealth or any other deities; he only believes in himself.

Jiang Can glared at Shen Lang and pulled him over to kowtow as well, saying, "Our family's property depends on the God of Wealth."

Shen Lang was forced to kowtow three times.

Jiang Can asked contentedly, "Are you hungry? What would you like to eat?"

Shen Lang was indeed quite hungry, not for food, but for his wife. He picked Jiang Can up and carried her to the bed.

Jiang Can: "You haven't washed up or taken a shower yet! I've been fighting all day, I'm covered in sweat. You've been running around all day too, you're filthy."

She was completely uncooperative, so Shen Lang had no choice but to take a shower first. However, he still complained, "Can a beauty's sweat be considered sweat? Even I, who never went to school, know there's an idiom called 'sweating profusely.'"

Jiang Can was amused by the idiom: "The sheets and blankets look new, but who knows how many people have touched them? Aren't you uncomfortable sleeping on them?"

Shen Lang: !!!

He didn't really care whether Jiang Can took a bath or not; even though she was covered in sweat, she still smelled nice. But as soon as he thought about Jiang Can lying naked on bedding that someone else had touched, he immediately stopped himself. Absolutely not.

He's a rough, unrefined man; he'll do anything, but not his wife.

"It's disgusting, it's definitely disgusting. I'll change it now, I'll take a shower later." He lowered his head and kissed Jiang Can's lips. "My wife is so smart, clean and hygienic."

He opened the box, took out a set of red sheets and duvet covers, and changed into them with Jiang Can.

Shen Lang: "I'll go turn on the stove and boil some water." The two went out to wash up together. After washing up, Shen Lang took a cold shower. He washed his hair and dried it casually with a towel, but his hair was still dripping wet.

The weather had already turned cold, but luckily he was hot-tempered and wasn't afraid of the cold at all.

Jiang Can took a towel and covered his head, telling him to dry his hair, "It's too cold, don't catch a cold."

Shen Lang: "I can swim in the river in winter, so this is nothing."

The kettle on the coal stove had boiled, and Shen Lang helped to add warm water so Jiang Can could take a bath.

He didn't leave after mixing the water; he just stared at Jiang Can.

Jiang Can found it difficult to take off her clothes under such scrutiny. Seeing that she wasn't moving, Shen Lang came over and helped her take them off. "What are you daydreaming about? The water's getting cold. Do you want me to help you wash? I'm the best at that."

Jiang Can's cheeks flushed red instantly. "I can do it myself."

Shen Lang: "We're an old married couple, why are you still so shy? It's clear we haven't done enough." He quickly took off her clothes and carried Jiang Can to the bathtub.

It was washed very carefully, inside and out.

Jiang Can wished he could close his eyes and play dead. Shen Lang breathed on the back of Jiang Can's neck, making Jiang Can's hair stand on end. He tried to back away, but Shen Lang pulled him back...

Finally, after taking a shower, the battlefield moved from the bathtub to the bed.

In this respect, whether it was from watching movies or from being self-taught, Shen Lang was no match for Jiang Can. Jiang Can was always exhausted, his eyes red, sobbing and crying, and his voice hoarse.

In the end, she didn't want to move a single finger. Shen Lang pulled her nightgown down and placed it under her bottom before getting up to pour her some water.

First, I fed her water. Jiang Can had been calling for more than two hours, and her throat was extremely dry.

As soon as she sat up, water seeped into her nightgown, which was probably soaked through.

She glared fiercely at Shen Lang.

Shen Lang reached out and touched it, then put his own pajamas underneath. When the nightgown was pulled out, it was wet.

Shen Lang: "I'll find some absorbent cotton fabric tomorrow."

The cotton mill doesn't need these things.

Jiang Can ignored him, "Is that all you've got on your mind?"

Shen Lang hugged Jiang Can and kissed her deeply: "The most important things in my life are money and you." He prepared a basin of water for her to wash up, and this time Jiang Can washed herself. He really wanted to help her, but Jiang Can refused.

In the middle of the night, Shen Lang went out and woke Jiang Can up, telling her to lock the door. He was thinking that he should replace the door with one that could be locked from the inside, otherwise it would disturb Jiang Can's sleep too much.

I'll get a big wolfhound in the yard later; it'll be safe if Jiang Can is home alone.

Jiang Can locked the door and lay back on the bed. She was so sleepy that she fell asleep as soon as she closed her eyes.

The next morning, Jiang Can still didn't see Shen Lang. After getting ready, he heated up three meat buns, ate one for himself, and took the other two with him, riding his bicycle straight to the morning market.

When they arrived, it was not yet six o'clock, and Fang Yuan was already waiting outside the morning market. Upon seeing Jiang Can, he respectfully greeted him as "Master."

Jiang Can: "What time did you arrive?"

Fang Yuan: "Just arrived."

Jiang Can handed him two meat buns, "Didn't you have breakfast? Eat as you walk, I'll teach you how to choose meat and vegetables."

Fang Yuan let out a sound of agreement and followed Jiang Can on his tricycle.

There's a lot to know about buying meat. Take pork for example: it's divided into pork belly, pork shoulder, tenderloin, shoulder, and hind leg. Good pork belly has four or five layers of fat and lean meat, making it suitable for stewing, boiling, and grilling. Pork shoulder is the upper shoulder meat of the pig, which is tender, fragrant, and not greasy. There are only five or six pounds of it on each pig. Tenderloin also comes in large and small tenderloin...

These are things you have to learn gradually.

Fang Yuan studied very diligently, never knowing there were so many techniques involved in cooking.

He thought his master was just like Brother Lang—amazing! He knew everything!

After strolling around the morning market for a while, and with the tricycle's cargo bed full of things, I went straight back to the shop.

Before even entering the store, I saw a woman in her twenties standing at the door. She was wearing a cotton sunflower seed coat, had a headscarf wrapped around her head, and was fidgeting with her hands from time to time, looking very uneasy.

Seeing Jiang Can open the door, she hesitated before stepping forward. "Are you the boss? I heard they're hiring. I can do all the housework. Do you think I'm suitable?"

Jiang Can invited her into the store and asked her a few simple questions, such as where she was from, how many people were in her family, how many children she had, where her husband worked, and what she did before.

Her name is Huang Xiaoling. She is a local and recently got divorced and returned to her parents' home. She has no children. Her brother and sister-in-law found a matchmaker to arrange blind dates for her, but she didn't want to remarry, so she came out to look for work. She heard that there were job openings here, so she came over.

Jiang Can had a very good first impression of Huang Xiaoling. In this day and age, a woman who dares to get a divorce is very brave! She has a lot of her own opinions.

Since she could make her own decisions, Jiang Can immediately assigned her some work, asking her to pick vegetables and peel garlic, to see how well she could do the job.

Those who can work will stay.

As Huang Xiaoling said, she was used to housework and was very efficient at picking vegetables and peeling garlic, and she was also very good at chopping vegetables.

This greatly reduced Jiang Can's workload; he no longer needed to prepare side dishes, he only needed to cook.

After a busy morning, I made six dishes for the fast food restaurant: four meat dishes and two vegetable dishes. The meat dishes were braised pork, boiled beef, spicy fish chunks, and dry-fried pork intestines. The vegetable dishes were scrambled eggs with tomatoes and hot and sour shredded potatoes.

We're just waiting for the steel rolling mill to finish work.

The workday bell had just rung, and before the workers had even come out, they heard the sound of gongs and drums outside.

'Clang clang clang'

'Knock knock knock'

The drum and gong sounds were quite rhythmic and powerful.

Jiang Can went outside and saw that it was Zhang Kui and his wife.

Zhang Kui held a gong in both hands and struck it with a "clang clang clang," while his wife carried a waist drum on her back and beat it with a "thump thump thump," while also twisting her waist to dance.

Both of them were aggressive, as if they were holding back a lot of anger.

Both of them looked haggard, with messy hair and dirty clothes covered in dirt, just like they were yesterday.

Zhang Kui shouted, "Come on, take a look! Director Wen of the steel rolling mill's publicity department is quite something."

Zhang Kui's wife also joined in, banging the waist drum and dancing as she did so.

A large crowd quickly gathered around.

Jiang Can quickly went over to see what was going on. "Tsk tsk, what's wrong with Zhang Kui and his wife? Did something really happen last night?"

Zhang Kui began to sing, drawing out the words: "Director Wen Ming is like a wolf at night, never satisfied, draining my essence. During the day, she makes me go through fire and water, pretending to be poisoned, to risk my life for her."

Zhang Kui's wife pounded the drum with a "thump, thump, thump," as if she wanted to break it, and danced even more energetically.

Zhang Kui: "I failed in my mission. I didn't put the rat poison in the food, which angered Director Wen. That heartless Sai Jinlian burned down my house and even tried to kill me." As he sang this, Zhang Kui was already crying with snot and tears streaming down his face. "Oh dear, if it weren't for God's mercy in letting me escape this calamity, I would have been burned to death in that thatched hut."

Zhang Kui's wife became angrier and angrier as she jumped, her anger rising rapidly, until her house was burned down.