Chapter 154 IF Time Travel (Dog Chasing Wife) 9: Construction workers have almost no rest throughout the year, except for the Lunar New Year...

Construction workers have little rest throughout the year, except for the Spring Festival, which they cannot miss or make do with. They work hard away from home all year so that they can get their wages and go home for the Spring Festival.

The day before the Lunar New Year, Shen Wanqing brought several pigs for the projects she was in charge of, one pig for each project, and cooked them as a pork stew in the construction site canteen.

After finishing the pork stew, the year's work was considered over. Apart from the necessary staff and workers on duty, everyone else on the construction site began preparing to return to their hometowns for the Spring Festival, like migratory birds.

The group's own construction units are large, so there are naturally many migrant workers. Since mobile ticketing gradually replaced paper tickets, the group has also started to help migrant workers on various projects buy train tickets back to their hometowns.

This matter has always been managed by the project manager. Yu Lang was originally a new intern, and also Qing Zong's boyfriend. So, this kind of work that could build relationships with the workers and was not difficult at all except for trivial matters was naturally assigned to him.

"Teacher Fang, I heard that you and Ms. Qing from our region are dating. Is it true?"

"real."

"Nah Qing is older than you, isn't she?"

"There's an old saying that a woman three years older than you is like a golden brick, and I just like women who are older than me."

The person who asked this question was the foreman who was helping Yulang check the list. In just a few months, Yulang had already been promoted from Xiao Fang to Teacher Fang.

Yu Lang first collected the workers' information and, after confirming there were no problems, directly contacted the train station staff to purchase tickets in bulk.

Now, tickets are issued by scanning ID cards to enter the station. Just like how some people don't bring a pen or admission ticket when taking the college entrance exam, every year there are people who arrive at the station and say that their ticket or time is wrong.

Shen Wanqing had warned Yulang to be careful about this, but Yulang initially thought it was nothing serious. They were all adults; how could they make such a mistake?

Shen Wanqing just gave a cold laugh and pulled out a photo she had taken several years ago from her phone. That year was her first year as a project manager, and also the second year that the company started buying train tickets home for its workers.

Shen Wanqing thought she had already reminded them several times and there shouldn't be any mistakes. Who knew that during the days when everyone was returning home, one problem after another arose. Either they remembered the wrong departure date and train number, or the time they reported their return home was wrong.

Two other couples reported the correct information, and they themselves didn't misremember. However, the work on the construction site ended early, and they didn't want to stay another day, so they took their luggage and went to the station on their own.

Normally, changing train numbers isn't difficult, but during the Spring Festival travel rush, every train is full. The hard sleeper and soft seat tickets they have are all arranged in advance, so it's impossible to change to a sleeper ticket for the same day at the last minute.

Unable to exchange their tickets and wanting to get home as soon as possible, the crowds at the train station were already making them irritable. After going back and forth trying to resolve the ticket issue, the group started arguing with the station staff.

It was already 10 p.m. when the call reached Shen Wanqing's cell phone, and by the time Shen Wanqing arrived at the station it was 11:30 p.m. They couldn't get a hard sleeper on an earlier train, and they refused to go back to their construction site dormitory to rest for another half a day, so they were stuck in this stalemate, waiting for Shen Wanqing to arrive.

Shen Wanqing almost laughed in anger. She knew why she had been called over: they wanted her to pay extra or find someone to pull strings and get them on the train early, preferably in a sleeper or even a soft sleeper berth.

"They just think that because I'm a woman, I'm usually generous with money, so they want to get me to pay without me even realizing it."

How could Shen Wanqing possibly back down like that? She really couldn't leave. If they really caused trouble, she, as the project leader, wouldn't be able to escape.

But it's impossible to pay out of my own pocket and use connections to get a train ticket. Once you start something, you'll start doing it again. These two companies treat company benefits like a free lunch, and after they've taken it all, they keep finding fault with it. If I give in to their demands, I won't be able to live next year.

There really wasn't a good solution at the time. As a newly promoted leader, Shen Wanqing had to consider her reputation, so she could only grit her teeth and endure the ordeal with them at the station.

She waited from the early hours of that night until 3 p.m. the next day. When it was time for lunch, Shen Wanqing still had to buy them boxed lunches. Even so, before they entered the station, they made sarcastic remarks about her being a bad leader. Shen Wanqing was so angry that after seeing them off, she cried as she left the station, and even took a selfie as she walked out.

From then on, Shen Wanqing made paper records and backups even more ingrained in her mind, no matter what she did. No matter how nicely she talked about it, it was useless. She had to put every stroke on paper so that if any problems arose, at least she would have something to reconcile the accounts.

People over a hundred years old come in all shapes and sizes. Without the so-called "master" or "servant" status that suppresses them, whether they are rich, ordinary or poor, they will all unleash their most inexhaustible vitality for their future and prospects.

There are good people and bad people in this world, some innocent and some corrupt. As long as things don't escalate or cross the line, you often have to compromise and be meticulous until you've built a solid defense to minimize losses.

Yu Lang knew about Shen Wanqing's habit of leaving paper marks, and after hearing this story, when it was his turn to do the job, he was even less afraid of trouble.

Collect the information on the projects that require purchasing train tickets, compile it into an electronic file, and confirm it repeatedly before purchasing the tickets.

Once the tickets are booked, I check them against the information I collected beforehand. Then I make each ticket the size of a traditional paper ticket, print them out, cut them out, and then have someone from the project come and pick up the ticket they made.

Once they receive the information, they can review it themselves. The information written on paper is clearer to them, and once it's confirmed, it's good. If there are any errors, they can be corrected later. But if it's confirmed to be correct now, then whatever changes they want to make later are no longer relevant to the project.

While Yu Lang was doing all this, the engineer, who was nearly sixty years old and sitting across from him in the office, smiled kindly. The man was only two years away from retirement, and now watching Yu Lang do these things was like watching a child playing house.

He happened to be the mentor that Shen Wanqing found for Yu Lang on the project. Yu Lang, who was old-fashioned at heart, was happy to pretend to be young. Every day at work, he would call him "Master" so attentively that the old man would pass on all his best-kept secrets to him.

Sitting to the side watching Yulang give out invoices while seriously saying that he only likes women older than himself, I couldn't help but laugh and interject: "Xiao Qing is capable, but don't you think she's too capable?"

"Isn't being too capable a good thing?"

Yu Lang was truly dumbfounded. You see, after Shen Wanqing married into the Hesheli family, no matter if it was the West Courtyard, Fu Xuan, or Niu Hulu and Tong Jia, even if they had all suffered at her hands, even if they all thought she was too powerful, no one ever thought that the marriage was bad.

Even years later, when Shumulu returned to the capital with her second uncle, who had retired from officialdom, the two families could eat and chat together as relatives. Shumulu still instructed Tu Nan and his wife that if they were to find a wife for her grandson, they must find a capable and competent woman like Shen Wanqing.

"You must feel pressured if you're too capable."

"How pathetic must I be to argue with my wife every day about who's more capable and who's more competent?"

Yu Lang finally understood what people meant. Wouldn't a wife who was too capable make the man seem weak and the woman strong? But he still didn't understand why people would think that way. A family should naturally work together to face outsiders. One's ambitions should be directed outwards. It's crazy to just focus on being better than one's wife.

Feeling that he was no longer ill, Yu Lang stopped discussing his relationship with Shen Wanqing with others. After all, there were some things that only he knew, and as for how outsiders viewed things, he couldn't convince them even if he talked himself hoarse.

On the 26th day of the twelfth lunar month, after having an early dinner with the middle-level leaders under her region, Shen Wanqing finally brought her boyfriend home early for the first time to prepare for the New Year.

This time when he went back, Yulang was driving. In addition to a batch of cured fish, chicken and duck that he had someone smoke with pine wood, he also brought home a lot of cigarettes and alcohol that he had asked someone to buy, as well as various health products and beauty products with fancy packaging that looked quite expensive.

The money for cigarettes, alcohol, and skincare products was borrowed from Shen Wanqing. After all, Yu Lang had emptied his pockets to prepare those gold items for Shen Wanqing for the New Year, and even his living expenses for January were given by Shen Wanqing.

Shen Wanqing laughed at him for putting on a brave face, while Yu Lang argued that everything he had was managed by his madam, so if he needed money now, should he go out and borrow it instead of asking his madam?

As for those so-called credit card loans, Yu Lang absolutely refused to touch them. His wife was right there; it would be too shameful for him to use that kind of thing instead of asking her for money.

Looking at the pile of things that filled almost half the living room, Wu Juan's first thought was whether her daughter had changed cars, otherwise how did she bring so much stuff back?

"I told him eight hundred times that he would definitely buy cured fish and cured meat, but he just wouldn't listen to me. All these cured meats were put on the back seat of my car. I'm going to be smoky all the way back!"

"We'll be back by the sixth day of the new year at the latest. I'm wondering how we'll manage to finish all this food. Our fridge is already full, and all this meat will get moldy if it rains in the spring."

As the two drove back, Shen Wanqing was really suffering from a headache from the smell of various cured meats. She felt like even the strands of her hair smelled of cured fish, which was absolutely awful.

"Look at your bad temper. People went all the way to smoke so much cured meat and drove all the way here, and you get angry instead of saying something nice. What's wrong with you?"

When Wu Juan saw her daughter sitting on the sofa scolding Yu Lang, and Yu Lang not only didn't get angry but also sat obediently next to her and listened attentively, she immediately sided with her future son-in-law.

"It's nothing, it's nothing, she's just being affectionate with me. I'll have Qingqing take me to wash the car later, and she can go wash her hair at the same time."

Yu Lang's original intention was to curry favor with his mother-in-law, but he really couldn't offer her any money right now, so he had to show his sincerity.

Before going home, Shen Wanqing suggested packing everything up and having it shipped back directly, so the two of them wouldn't even need to drive. Yu Lang, however, felt that doing so wouldn't show his competence as a prospective son-in-law and his respect for his mother-in-law, so he insisted on driving back himself.

Then, as soon as he got in the car, Yulang regretted it, but there was no use in regretting it; he still had to bite the bullet and drive back. The two of them had the air conditioning on and the windows open the whole way back, and the sound of the wind blowing all the way back was so infuriating that it made him laugh in exasperation.

"Mom, I'll take him out to get his hair washed first. You can separate the cigarettes and alcohol. I'll take him to visit his uncle and aunt in the next couple of days."

"Go on, go on, I can handle this little thing, don't worry about it."

Yulang came back this time to meet his parents, not only Wu Juan, but also Shen Wanqing's several uncles and aunts, as well as his grandparents and maternal grandparents.

These relatives are going too far by just sending cured meat; they should also bring cigarettes, alcohol, and health products before they visit. This kind of thing applies in both modern and ancient times: showing courtesy before respecting the person is always true.

Qingqing found a boyfriend younger than her, and the Shen and Wu families, who were supposed to know, already knew about it.

Everyone is waiting to see if Shen Wanqing will bring her young boyfriend home for the Chinese New Year this year. If she does, the marriage might be on the horizon; if she doesn't, it might just be a casual relationship between young people.

So not only was Wu Juan very satisfied with Yu Lang's attitude, but after Shen Wanqing took Yu Lang to visit the homes of his grandparents and maternal grandparents, the biggest event for the Shen and Wu families this year was how to properly entertain their new son-in-law.

Knowing that Yu Lang would be going home on New Year's Eve, Shen Wanqing's eldest uncle took the lead in hosting a banquet before the New Year.

His family didn't live in the city, but rather in a rural-style house they built themselves on their own land on the outskirts of the city. Uncle Wu always believed in the saying "the maternal uncle is the most important person in one's mother's family," and in the years since Shen Wanqing's father passed away, this uncle had been the one who took the lead in caring for Shen Wanqing the most.

Yu Lang liked Shen Wanqing's small three-bedroom apartment because of Shen Wanqing. He thought the house that the Fang family bought for him was just so-so. Anyway, you could see the whole thing at a glance, so it wasn't anything special.

But when he arrived at Uncle Wu's house with Shen Wanqing, he immediately fell in love with it. Especially the vegetable garden behind the house. Yu Lang led Shen Wanqing back and forth in the garden many times until they called for dinner, and only then did he follow Shen Wanqing into the house.

"Kids from the city probably find this kind of vegetable garden quite unusual."

"Yes, it's rare, I really like it."

Uncle Wu thought Yu Lang was a country bumpkin who didn't know anything after coming to the countryside, but only Shen Wanqing knew that he missed his home.

Later, as Hongxi and Yi'an gradually gained a foothold in the court, Yulang slowly stepped down from the top. In those years, in order to retire cleanly and not leave any trouble for his son, Yulang and Shen Wanqing didn't even spend much time in the capital.

In winter, they mostly stayed at the hot spring estate given to them by Yinreng, and in summer they would go to the estate closest to Changchun Garden. Yinreng had no immediate plans for Yuanmingyuan after ascending the throne, so he still habitually took Shi Qionghua to Changchun Garden to escape the summer heat.

After all, they had been emperor and subject, and the way Yulang chose to end his life was already quite dignified. Yinreng always felt a sense of guilt towards him that he couldn't quite explain.

Sometimes, a monarch's feelings of guilt towards someone are more dramatic than his favoritism, and every few days the palace would bestow gifts upon Yu Lang. When Yinreng bestowed gifts upon Shi Qionghua, she had to follow suit, and to make it easier to express her gratitude, she had to stay closer to the powerful emperor.

Having lived on the estates for a long time, Yu Lang had genuinely come to love them. Later, if it weren't for Yi An, who was now an old man, having to take the helm, he wouldn't even want to go back to the manor.

This person, who had spent his entire life surrounded by wealth, first lived in a dormitory after arriving in this world, then rented a house alone, and finally lived in his own place after reuniting with himself.

It's not that my house is bad, but it's an apartment building with an elevator and it's on a mid-to-high floor. For someone like Yulang, who is an old-fashioned person from hundreds of years ago, it's just too out of touch with reality.

He had never said this to her before, so Shen Wanqing could guess a little. That's why she was considering going to Southeast Asia for a few years in two years. There, whether renting or buying, there would be more detached houses with yards like Uncle Wu's, and the two of them would probably be happier then.

"Qingqing has loved playing in this vegetable garden since she was little. I like fishing, and she would help me catch earthworms in there. She could catch a whole box of them in an afternoon."

"Really? Then I'll go fishing with my uncle this afternoon if I'm free."

Shen Wanqing's heartache was almost palpable. Yu Lang knew what she truly longed for, and she knew it too. Naturally, she couldn't help but feel a surge of joy, and she became even more obedient and attentive to Wu Juan's family.

She knew he was flattering his uncle, but Shen Wanqing still chuckled when he said he would go fishing with Uncle Wu.

For a man like him, who grew up on horseback, leading men into the forest to hunt is no problem, but to ask him to patiently sit by the reservoir for two or three hours is a scene that Shen Wanqing finds ridiculous.

"Hey, hey, don't laugh! Your uncle is definitely not going to miss out today."

"I'm not laughing at you, Air Force. Do you expect me to laugh at you, Air Force? Is that right, Auntie?"

“I’m worried that you’ll make him get tanned again. I prefer him to be a little fair-skinned. Don’t lead him astray.”

This remark made everyone at the table laugh so hard they almost lifted the roof off. Uncle Wu touched his tanned face and laughed along. His niece was obsessed with looks, so he really couldn't let his nephew-in-law ruin his good appearance.

If they weren't going fishing, they'd drink. Yu Lang's alcohol tolerance was frighteningly high; his two uncles and one cousin took turns drinking with him, but they couldn't get him drunk. Instead, the three of them went back to their rooms to sleep after dinner, their snoring so loud it was deafening even through the door.

Yu Lang sat on the sofa and slowly drank two cups of tea. He then listened to Wu Juan, several aunts, and Shen Wanqing chat for half the afternoon. By the time he got up to walk back at four o'clock, he showed no signs of being drunk.