Li Yuzhu asked, "You're asking how much money our mother's family has. If I'm not mistaken, the company is broke, isn't it? If they had money, you wouldn't be asking."

Dongqing said, "I went to my second sister's office this afternoon. She said that the advertising spending on TV stations across the country is huge, and this money has to be spent. The company's funds are already depleted; even the 1.52 million yuan that Mom lent us isn't enough."

"You're not planning to take out another loan, are you?"

Li Yuzhu is terrified whenever she hears about loans. She has borrowed 20 million yuan so far, and she has no idea what will happen after the department store wholesale market opens. She is almost driven crazy by worry and fear.

Dongqing knows best how much pressure his wife is under. He doesn't tell her many things, mainly because he doesn't want to add too much debt burden to her. He can't say he's not worried; he lacks nothing except money.

Dongqing said, "We won't take out loans or buy land for now. So many of our businesses are making money every day. The money Mom gave us should be enough to last until both markets open. We'll talk about it again when things look promising."

Once both markets are booming, it won't matter how you make money. Seeing hope in the money you've invested will put your wife at ease. Even if you take out a loan, at least you'll have something to look forward to. As long as you have something to look forward to, nothing else matters.

The mother-in-law quickly brought the bankbook from home and handed it to her daughter, saying, "You can take it and use it."

Li Yuzhu said, "Thank you, Mother."

The mother said, "We're mother and daughter, why are you thanking me? Your mother isn't confused. If it weren't for you taking care of this family, we wouldn't be in this situation today."

Dongqing spoke with his mother-in-law for a while, then said, "Mom, let's take the three children back home for a couple of days."

My mother-in-law said, "That's fine. If you're busy, just bring the child over to me."

Dong Qing and his wife had just returned home with their three children when Fang Lin came home from get off work. She said, "I quit my job this afternoon, and I can go back to work tomorrow."

Dongqing said, "Thank you, sister. Gu Yurou should have bought the motorcycle back this afternoon. It will be more convenient for you to ride her motorcycle to and from get off work every day, since you live together."

I have other things to do tomorrow, so I won't be going to the company. I'll have Gu Yurou take you there. I'll talk to my second sister later and have them announce your appointment as deputy manager tomorrow. Your monthly salary will be the same as Gu Yurou's, 3000 yuan a month.

Fang Lin said, "I don't need that much money by myself, you don't need to set such a high salary for me."

Dong Qing said, "That's enough, it's settled then. Focus on your work, and ask your second sister and Manager Gu if you don't understand anything. Develop yourself at work, and I'll promote you in the future."

As the company grew stronger day by day, Dong Qing needed to place his trusted confidants in the branch offices, and Fang Lin was one of them.

She trusts Gu Yurou very much and will arrange for her to work in the southern branch in the future.

In a while, I will arrange for my eldest and third sisters to work at the company. They are both college graduates. Once they have been in the company for a period of time, either of them will be able to work independently. In the future, I will train them to become branch general managers.

After Fang Lin left, Dong Qing went to his second sister's house. It looked like she had just gotten off work; she hadn't changed out of her work clothes yet. She said, "Little brother's here, please have a seat."

Dong Qing walked to the sofa and sat down. He said, "Second Sister, Fang Lin resigned from her job this afternoon. I'll have her start her new position at the company tomorrow as the deputy manager. Please hold a company-wide meeting tomorrow morning to announce her appointment."

Dong Ermei said, "Fang Lin is a good leader. You don't need to worry about these things; I'll arrange them tomorrow."

Dongqing said, "My niece is five years old this year. You should bring her to the city to attend kindergarten."

Dong Ermei said, "Mainly because your brother-in-law and I don't have time to take care of the child, let's bring her here when she goes to junior high school."

Dongqing chatted with her second sister for a while longer before standing up and leaving the house.

After leaving my second sister's house, I saw that my third sister's door was open. I stepped into my third sister's house. That's the good thing about living close by; I can go visit her anytime.

Dong Sanmei is now more than seven months pregnant, which makes it difficult for her to move around, and she looks very clumsy.

Dong Sanmei had just gotten home from get off work, while her brother-in-law hadn't. The two siblings sat down on the sofa, and he asked, "Third sister, have you gone for your prenatal checkup recently?"

Dong Sanmei said, "I went. I have a prenatal checkup every month, and the doctor said the fetus is normal."

Dongqing said, "It's inconvenient for you to go to work like this. If you really can't manage, you should stay home and rest for a while. Your younger brother can support you."

Dong Sanmei laughed and said, "Third Sister doesn't need you to support her. It's a long way off. There are regulations for maternity leave; it only lasts for half a month before the due date. Third Sister works in an office, not doing manual labor. It's not easy for her to earn a living, so she should go to work if she can."

Dong Qingyao nodded without saying anything more. The company has its own rules, and it's not up to Third Sister to decide. He stood up, said goodbye to Third Sister, and went home.

Back home, her son was clamoring for lamb skewers, so Li Yuzhu said, "We haven't taken the kids out to play in a long time. Let's go to the city tonight for night market barbecue."

Now both daughters can walk and call out "Mom and Dad." The twins look somewhat different, but the two sisters look so alike that if it weren't for the marks on their bodies, Dongqing and his wife wouldn't be able to tell which one is the older one and which one is the younger one.

Li Yuzhu bought two jade pendants for her daughters. The older one was engraved with "Dong Yurou" and the younger one with "Dong Yumeng". The two children never took off their jade pendants from their necks, because she was afraid that if they took them off, she wouldn't be able to tell which one was the older one and which one was the younger one.

Of course, children will recognize each other better when they grow up; at that point, you really won't be able to tell them apart. Just ask their sisters, and they'll know; they'll know their own names after they turn two.

Dongqing said, "Okay, let's go out for barbecue tonight."

Li Yuzhu went into the bedroom to change her clothes, then took her children to the yard to get into the car. Dong Qing drove the car to the gate, Li Yuzhu locked the gate, and then walked to the car and got in.

The Su Village area is a newly developed urban area with no night market at all; you have to go to the old town to eat barbecue.

Dong Qing drove to the city cinema. In front of the cinema was a large square, which turned into a night market every night, where snacks and barbecues would gather.

Dongqing turned the car around and parked on the side of the road. The family got out of the car, and the couple led their children toward the night market.

Each night market stall has several tables in front of it. The couple took their child and sat down at a table in front of a barbecue stall.

Li Yuzhu ordered dozens of lamb skewers and mushroom skewers. The owner said to wait a moment and then started grilling them for them.

The meat skewers were grilled in no time, and the proprietress brought them to their table before continuing her work.

Li Yuzhu handed each of her daughters a skewer of meat. Her son, however, was a different story; he was faster than a monkey, grabbing the skewer as soon as it was placed on the table, popping it into his mouth, and devouring half of it in one go. Dongqing said, "Eat slowly, no one's going to take it from you."