The girl said thank you, picked up a large bag from the ground, and walked out of the market with the staff.

After the girl left, Dongqing asked, "Have the merchants been raising prices arbitrarily these past few days?"

Dong Ermei said, "The merchants are all very law-abiding, and no one is raising prices arbitrarily."

After walking around the market and leaving the wholesale market, Dong Qing led his men to the temporary parking lot and said, "The customer's suggestion is indeed good. In the future, there will be more and more buses. Let's tear down this wall, take out fifty acres of land, harden the ground and build a large square to facilitate parking for buses from other places. It's not good to park on the ground for a long time. What if the buses can't drive out when it rains? Deputy Manager Fang will handle this matter."

Fang Lin said, "Okay, I'll start arranging the construction this afternoon."

Dong Qing led his team back to the company, entered the conference room, summarized the existing problems, and then held a meeting with all levels of the company. The meeting lasted for more than an hour before it ended.

After the meeting, Dongqing followed his second sister into the office. The two siblings sat down on the sofa, and he said, "Second sister, I've already told eldest sister that neither of you should go back for lunch. It's such a big restaurant, it won't make a difference if there are just two more people eating there. Just go over for a bowl of noodles every day."

They were siblings, and it wouldn't be good to be too formal. Dong Ermei nodded in agreement after hearing her brother's words.

Just then, his wife called and said that his third uncle had arrived and that if he wasn't busy, he should go to the restaurant immediately.

Dongqing said he would be right back, stood up, said goodbye to his second sister, and left the office.

When Dong Qing returned to the hotel, Li Yuzhu's cousin also arrived. The cousin was only sixteen years old this year, and his mother-in-law was talking with his third uncle.

Dongqing said, "Third Uncle is here."

My third uncle said, "I just arrived."

Dongqing sat down and chatted with his third uncle for a while. He said, "There's no vacant land here anymore. There's some land not far from here, next to the agricultural wholesale market. It would be a good place to open a restaurant. I'll take you there to take a look."

Third Uncle said, "Thank you, but I can't use your land for free. I'll buy it with money."

Dongqing laughed and said, "Third Uncle, aren't you slapping your nephew in the face by saying that? You never charge a penny no matter how much land you use, but did you charge my cousin for helping you open a restaurant at home? We're all relatives, let's not be so formal, okay?"

My third uncle smiled and said, "Alright, if you put it that way, I'll accept it."

The mother-in-law said, "Third brother, your wife is no longer here; you should have come back long ago."

In the 1960s, with many brothers in the family, it was difficult for them to find wives. Through an introduction, Li Yuzhu's third uncle married into a family in Yingcheng, 300 miles away. If it weren't for the fact that they couldn't find wives at home, no one would have gone so far to marry into a family. Now, she longs for her younger brother to bring his nephews and nieces back.

The third uncle said, "Okay, this time I'll listen to my eldest sister and bring my children back to develop our business."

They sat at home and talked for a while. Dongqing and his wife followed their third uncle to the gate of the agricultural wholesale market. Although there were no restaurants here, the market was packed with people buying snacks. It was almost noon, and all the snack stalls were doing very well.

My third uncle was very pleased after seeing it. He said, "There's quite a lot of foot traffic here. I've decided to build a restaurant here."

Dong Qing pointed to a plot of land on one side of the wholesale market and said, "You can build whatever you want on this land. Build a storefront in the front and a villa in the back. After all, this is your home, and I hope you can come back and develop your business here."

My third uncle said, "Now that your aunt is gone, I've been wanting to come back and develop my business. Okay, I've decided to build a restaurant here and settle down here too."

After Li Yuzhu's third uncle married into the family, he no longer had a home in his hometown. The family originally only had a few rooms, and when the family divided the property, he was not given a room. No matter when he came back, he had to build a house himself.

The matter of Li Yuzhu's third uncle was thus settled.

The third uncle had lunch at the shop. Li Wanting didn't have anything to do there for the time being, so she took her children back to Yingcheng in the afternoon.

Yingcheng is more than 300 miles away from my hometown, so opening a branch there is not realistic. I will go back, transfer the restaurant there, and bring my children back.

Su Wei's week-long leave expires today, and she has to go back to work tomorrow. However, the restaurant is too busy right now, her parents are getting old, and her younger sister is only nineteen years old. She doesn't feel comfortable leaving the entire restaurant to her.

She returned to her in-laws' house at noon, and her mother-in-law said, "You're back?"

Su Wei nodded, sat down, and told her mother-in-law her thoughts. She said, "My parents are getting old, and my mother has to take care of the children. My father isn't good at business, and my younger sister is still young. I'm not comfortable leaving the restaurant entirely to her. I'd like to ask if it's okay to take a year's sick leave?"

If someone is genuinely ill and needs to take a year's sick leave, it's not impossible for the parents-in-law to say so, given their current status. However, it's much more difficult to get sick leave if one isn't actually sick.

The key issue is that Su Wei doesn't meet the requirements for sick leave. Even if she were truly sick, there are regulations for taking sick leave, requiring a certain number of years of service. Su Wei has only been working for a year, so she is not eligible for sick leave at all.

My mother-in-law said, "You haven't started working yet, so you don't qualify for sick leave. This afternoon, I'll talk to Director Sun and get you a leave of absence without pay. That means you're still an employee of the office, but you're temporarily staying home to rest."

Su Wei isn't looking at those few dollars in wages anymore; she really doesn't care about a few dozen yuan a month. She said, "It'll just cause trouble for Mom."

The mother-in-law smiled and said, "You're my daughter-in-law, if I don't help you, who will? I'll handle this for you. Just go to the office tomorrow morning and find Director Sun to process your resignation."

The mother-in-law could easily see that her daughter-in-law wouldn't be able to hold down this job for long and could only take it one step at a time.

Su Wei returned to the shop, and her younger sister, Su Ying, said, "Sister's back. Uncle just arrived and is waiting for you upstairs."

Su Wei said "I understand" and turned to walk upstairs.

Back upstairs, her second uncle was sitting in the living room talking to her father. Su Wei said, "Second Uncle is here."

"I just got here." My second uncle opened the land sale contract on the table and said, "The contract was finished this morning. Please sign it."

Su Wei glanced at the contract briefly, then picked up a pen and signed her name, Su Wei. From then on, the ten acres of land next to the restaurant belonged to her.

This plot of land wasn't far from the train and bus stations. Many people wanted to buy it at a high price, but no one could get their hands on it. In the end, Su Wei bought it for the cheapest price of 6,000 yuan per mu (approximately 0.16 acres). Without her second uncle, she wouldn't have even dreamed of it. He said, "Thank you, Second Uncle."

My second uncle said, "You're my niece, I should help you. You go ahead with your work, I should go back now."

Su Wei escorted her second uncle downstairs. After he left, she turned and walked towards Li Yuzhu's family restaurant.

Su Wei entered the restaurant. It was past lunchtime, and there weren't many customers. She saw Dong Qing sitting at a table eating. She asked, "Why are you eating so late?"

Dong Qing said, "I just got back from taking care of some business at the company. Please have a seat."

Su Wei nodded and sat down opposite Dong Qing. Dong Qing asked, "Yu Zhu just took three children back to the villa. You must be looking for her, right?"

Su Wei said, "I came here specifically to see you. Eat first, and I'll talk to you afterwards."