Chapter 15

Tao Zhi woke up and came to his senses, and was inadvertently changed the subject by the old man.

She smiled knowingly and accepted the kindness.

In the morning, Jin He and Ming Ming sat side by side in two children's high chairs. Ming Ming was particularly happy to see Cheng Hui and said, "Dad, you're here too."

Cheng Hui tapped his forehead: "Dad, this is called going home."

Mingming covered his head with his little hands and his eyes narrowed with laughter.

When Tao Zhi saw the father and son, she remembered something she had forgotten: "Where is Jin He's household registration now?"

Cheng Xing was also dumbfounded: "I'm still at Zhao's house. I forgot to move."

Tao Zhi pressed his solar plexus, "How could you forget such an important thing?"

Cheng Xiangqian comforted her: "We were so busy at the time. It's normal for us not to remember things in such a hurry."

Tao Zhi said to Cheng Xing, "Tomorrow is Monday. Go ask for leave and go to the village to take care of this."

"Mom, will you go with me?"

Cheng Jun interrupted: "Mom, go ahead, I'll drive you there."

Tao Zhi glanced at him: "Are you so kind?"

Cheng Jun complained: "I was planning to send Cheng Xing away."

"That's fine too. I'll help take care of Jin He."

Cheng Xiangqian said, "Then don't send me off today. Stay alert and drive well tomorrow."

Cheng Jun turned his gaze to Tao Zhi.

Tao Zhi thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement with the old man: "Let's do it."

In the afternoon, the old man was going back, and after dinner he took Tao Zhi aside to talk.

Tao Zhi asked, "What do you think about Cheng Hui's situation?"

"We've already divorced, what else can we think about?"

"Don't you feel bad about the money?"

"If you lose money, you can earn it again. But if you don't educate your children well, that will be a lifelong problem."

Tao Zhi patted the old man: "You still understand me."

Cheng Xiangqian continued, "In my opinion, Li Min can't keep the money. This is what you should be on guard against."

"Could it be possible that she could come to our house?"

"I'm not afraid of him coming to my door, I'm just afraid that Cheng Hui will soften his heart and come back."

Tao Zhi said firmly: "My son is not that stupid."

Cheng Xiangqian smiled, picked up the tea and sipped it slowly.

Tao Zhi thought carefully and said with certainty: "Really, Cheng Hui has changed now. He has started to have his own ideas and opinions, although I don't know what happened."

"If you don't know something, then I won't know it either. He doesn't tell me when he has something wrong."

"That's right, no one knows a child better than his mother."

Thinking of this, she asked half distressed and half unwillingly: "Tell me, who does Cheng Hui look like?"

Cheng Xiangqian replied: "Looks like my dad."

Tao Zhi thought about her father-in-law's temper, then thought about her mother-in-law's behavior. It was indeed a family tradition. Okay, she had completely given up.

"So, what should we do just in case?"

"It's very simple. Just detain him in the city and don't let him go back."

"What about his job?"

"It doesn't matter whether he's in the factory or not."

Tao Zhi looked at the old man in surprise.

Cheng Xiangqian quickly explained, "I'm not disparaging him. I'm telling the truth. Cheng Hui isn't suited to the mechanical industry, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to let him start a new business."

"Just like Cheng Jun?"

Speaking of his youngest son, the old man was also full of smiles: "Cheng Jun's brain is really good, better than you and me."

He paused and said, "Here's what I'm thinking. I'm going to nominate someone to be the manager and have him take care of all the factory's affairs. Now that the factory is on track, I don't need to keep an eye on it all the time, and I can take a break."

"You're only in your fifties and you want to retire?"

Cheng Xiangqian was angry: "Tao Zhi, I'm retired."

Tao Zhi smiled and said, "Brother Cheng, you've worked hard. It's time for you to retire and enjoy your grandchildren."

"That's exactly what I meant."

Tao Zhi coaxed him out of it, as the old couple didn't play games. "Whatever you say. Let's talk about Cheng Hui. Is his money enough to start a business?"

"Why don't you ask Cheng Jun how much he started with?"

Tao Zhi said awkwardly: "Don't I understand?"

"There are big things to do, and there are small things to do. As long as you find the way, you can start from scratch even if you have no money."

"You help him?"

"Let him try it out first. He'll become stupid if he stays stuck in the factory every day without socializing."

Tao Zhi glanced at him: "I thought you didn't want to care about him."

"What are you talking about? After all, he is my son."

Tao Zhi really wanted to talk about her past life, but the plot was completely different now, so she should just try to live in the present.

"Okay, I'll talk to him first."

The old man took the bus back to the county town by himself.

Tao Zhi called Cheng Hui: "Let's go find a school for Mingming."

Cheng Hui was very surprised: "Don't you want to wait until the end of this semester?"

Tao Zhi glared at him: "Why are you waiting? Aren't you tired of running back and forth? Don't bother my grandson."

"No wonder my dad didn't wait for me." Cheng Hui muttered.

Tao Zhi raised his hand and slapped him several times.

Cheng Hui cried out in pain, "Mom, why did you hit me?"

"I've wanted to hit you for a long time."

Cheng Hui felt really wronged, "Mom, I'm already this old."

"Yes, he only grows in age but not in wisdom. He makes me angry when he sees me."

He rubbed his shoulders and back, feeling the burning pain, but he dared not say a word. He was really grateful for his kindness.

Tao Zhi turned around and walked out the door, "Follow me."

Cheng Hui followed his mother and walked for most of the day before finally deciding on a kindergarten.

As long as Cheng Hui doesn't have to make decisions, he always adapts quickly and well.

Tao Zhi thought he had stood up, but he just kept repeating what others said, and all he could say was "yes, yes, yes" when asked. This made Tao Zhi so angry that on the way back, she didn't even want to look at him.

In the evening, Cheng Jun came knocking on the door.

"Mom, is my eldest brother divorced?"

"Ghost elf, I knew I couldn't hide it from you."

"So what's his plan?"

Tao Zhi was furious. "By the time he figures it out, I might already be buried in the ground."

"Pah, pah, pah, mom, please spit. Don't say such things casually."

"Your brother's procrastination makes me anxious for him."

"Mom, don't worry, I have a way."

"Could you elaborate?"

"I've been running around a lot lately, and whenever I come across any building materials, decorative materials, or furniture stores, I'll go in and take a look. Then I discovered that there's a lot of potential in plywood."

"If you go out and about, you should be able to see that many places are under construction. Currently, most of them are hotels and shopping malls, and residential buildings will undoubtedly follow in the future. Because most people are still determined to move to the city, the demand for housing will increase. It is foreseeable that the real estate industry will soon usher in its own spring."

"And plywood can be used not only as building material, but also for decoration and furniture. Mom, with the real estate market recovering and booming, just imagine how big this market is."

Tao Zhi's blood boiled at Cheng Jun's words, for Cheng Jun had truly foreseen the country's upcoming development plans, making us the undisputed infrastructure enthusiasts. Over the next twenty years, anyone involved in real estate, as long as they didn't resort to drastic measures or leverage themselves for personal gain, would generally make a killing.

Tao Zhi was proud of her youngest son; no wonder the old man loved him the most.

She asked Cheng Jun, "Does it require a lot of money?"

Cheng Jun scratched his head: "I can't even come up with a fraction."

Tao Zhi was both happy and sad. She also felt that to run a factory like this, the funds needed would probably not be a small amount.

"Thank you, son. Let me discuss this with your dad. By the way, how is your photo studio business?"

Cheng Jun chuckled, "We've become famous, and many people come here to visit us. We're seriously short of staff now. But good photographers are hard to find. Yu Sifei even asked me to sign up for photography lessons."

Tao Zhi was happy for him, "Work hard, maybe your dad and I will depend on you for our retirement in the future."

Cheng Jun patted his chest and said, "No problem, I will work hard to make money so that you always have money to spend."

These words successfully pleased Tao Zhi. She was in high spirits all night, and even her dreams were pink.

The next day, Cheng Jun got up early and took Tao Zhi, Cheng Xing and Jin He to Zhao Jun's hometown, feeling refreshed.

Halfway through the drive, we started onto a dirt road. The road was bumpy and shaking, and everyone lost their spirits.

At a three-way intersection, Cheng Jun asked Cheng Xing again: "Which way are you going?"

Cheng Xing looked left and right, but couldn't make up his mind.

She looked at Cheng Jun innocently. Cheng Jun took a few deep breaths and suppressed his anger. "Even if you have to call on the troops and generals, at least show me a way out."

Cheng Xing looked at his mother, and Tao Zhi said, "There's no point looking at me. I haven't even been to his house."

She had to force herself to recall, but the more anxious she was, the less she could remember. Seeing someone herding cattle in the distance, she quickly got out of the car and ran over, "Hey, little brother, how do I get to Zhaojia Village?"

The cowherd boy raised his head, his eyebrows were handsome and his eyes were bright. Cheng Xing was dazzled by his beauty.

He stopped pulling the cow and asked her carefully, "Which Zhaojia Village?"

Cheng Xing was embarrassed: "There is a century-old banyan tree at the entrance of the village."

"That's the road on the left. Go straight for more than ten miles and you'll arrive."

"Thank you." Cheng Xing thanked him sincerely.

"Zhao Ergou, I told you to herd cattle, but you are being lazy here. Don't you want to eat today?" A strong woman came over angrily and twisted the young man's ear.

Cheng Xing took a closer look and realized that the young man was as thin as a stick of firewood, with his cheeks almost sunken, but fortunately his eyebrows and eyes remained handsome.

Zhao Ergou pried the woman's hands apart and quickly pulled away from her. He stood still and looked at her coldly: "If I can't eat, then your son can't eat either."

"You bastard." The woman wanted to rush over.

Zhao Ergou ran away without even caring about the cow.

The woman grabbed some clods of earth and threw them at his back, and some of them actually hit him.

Cheng Xing couldn't bear to watch it anymore and stopped her, "Why are you hitting people?"

Cheng Xing was wearing a dress, small leather shoes, and a headband on her head. She had red lips and white teeth, and was clean and tidy. She looked like a city girl.

The woman didn't dare to act rashly. She looked at Cheng Xing, then at Zhao Ergou, glared at her fiercely, and left.

Cheng Xing was confused for a long time. Cheng Jun saw that she had not returned yet, so he simply got out of the car and came to look for her. He happened to see the woman glaring at Cheng Xing.

Cheng Jun asked, "What's wrong?"

"That aunt bullied him." Cheng Xing pointed at Zhao Ergou and said.

Cheng Jun couldn't help but hold his forehead. His sister's damn kindness was always shown at the wrong time.