Zhou Yue was in tears; her small eyes were swollen shut, and tears kept streaming down her face.

In contrast, Zhou Xing's mother was much stronger, still taking meticulous care of her younger sister and gently protecting Qin Xiaoyu as usual. She would only occasionally space out, her eyes vacant, seemingly staring into nowhere.

Because Zhou Xing already knew the general outcome before he left, they were mentally prepared.

Perhaps even earlier, when Zhou Xing returned from the south, he had already made preparations for a final farewell.

She has already lost two children, and she can't afford to lose any more. She wants to be an even better mother.

Qin Xiaoyu felt sorry for her from the bottom of her heart, so she handed over all her work and stayed at home every day.

Commander Zhou's reaction was to withdraw into himself. He locked himself in his room, submitted his resignation, and no one was allowed to enter his room except for Hanhan.

During this time, Hanhan took good care of him, bringing him water and meals, and going to his room to stay with him after school. No one knew what the old man and the young girl talked about.

It was completely quiet from the doorway.

"Take good care of them." These were Zhou Xing's last words to Qin Xiaoyu.

She decided to first cheer herself up and get her life back to normal.

If Commander Zhou retires, his life will change drastically. He will likely move out of this villa and into a smaller house, and his bodyguards will also have to leave.

Although stepping down from a high position is something they will have to go through sooner or later, now is not a good time. Commander Zhou was a bit hasty. Perhaps after his mental breakdown, he wanted to escape completely. The shadow of Zhou Xing is everywhere in this house. They think of him every day when they see things. It's better to have a short pain than a long one.

With the family's pillar collapsing, Qin Xiaoyu had to step up and prepare for the worst.

She hadn't been to the garment factory for nearly ten days since Zhou Xing's accident. She knocked on the door and brought Zhou Yue out.

"Sister Xiaoyue, I know you're sad, but there are people in your family who are even sadder. You have to hold on. If you collapse first, what will happen to the two elderly people?" Qin Xiaoyu gripped the steering wheel tightly, staring at the road ahead, while Zhou Yue sobbed beside her.

Xie Lanhua knew that Qin Xiaoyu's family had encountered trouble, but she hadn't contacted her. Fortunately, her cousin-in-law was able to manage the Riyue Clothing business, so nothing major went wrong.

"Xiaoyu, you're here. You've lost so much weight." Xie Lanhua's eyes reddened when she saw Qin Xiaoyu, so she quickly poured her a glass of water and handed it to her. "This is Hangzhou white chrysanthemum, it's good for clearing heat. I'll pack a bag for you later, drink some every day. And Zhou Yue, I'll get some for you too."

"Director Xie, thank you for your hard work these past few days. I'm ready to get back to work."

"This is great news, wonderful!" Xie Lanhua was clearly relieved.

"Sister Xiaoyue, stop daydreaming, go check out the design studio?" Qin Xiaoyu reminded Zhou Yue when she saw that she was distracted.

“Xiaoyu, I understand your pain. When my husband passed away, my world collapsed too. But the most painful thing was seeing my daughter widowed. I have never said to her that I would rather give up my own to bring her husband back. I don’t want her to follow in my footsteps. Over the years, we have never been able to cross that chasm. She hates me…” Xie Lanhua was moved by the scene and couldn’t help but burst into tears.

"Aunt Xie, let time do its work. Time is a wonderful thing." Qin Xiaoyu held the chrysanthemum tea in her hands, the white petals swirling up and down, the steam slowly rising, and she felt her life force returning little by little.

Time is a wonderful thing. In the 21st century, we were sick of this kind of inspirational quote, but now we see it as a profound truth.

"This is our Factory Director Xie! Ah! Factory Director Qin is here too!" A worker said with delight upon seeing Qin Xiaoyu as he brought the guests up.

"Yes, I'm back at work. Thank you for your concern."

"I'm from the provincial capital, the manager of the clothing department at Xinxin Department Store. My surname is Li." Manager Li was a woman in her forties, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, with fair skin, and dressed in a beige trench coat. She had an elegant demeanor.

"Hello, please have a seat." Qin Xiaoyu had certainly heard of Xinxin Department Store in the provincial capital, which was the place where Zhou Yue shopped the most. It could be said to be the trendsetter of fashion in the entire province. At the forefront of fashion, why did she come to such a small clothing factory?

"I've long admired your factory. I'm here for a meeting, so I thought I'd pay you a visit." Manager Chen also had a cup of chrysanthemum tea in his hand.

"I haven't heard of any trade fairs recently?" Qin Xiaoyu was a little surprised, because the secondary stations sometimes hold trade fairs and send invitations to all the lower-level distributors in advance.

Although she didn't go to Hengchang, her cousin-in-law would call every two days to report on the main situation. Since she hadn't heard her cousin-in-law mention this matter, Qin Xiaoyu drew a question mark.

"It's not a trade fair, it's a small meeting, a small meeting," Manager Chen said somewhat awkwardly.

Qin Xiaoyu suddenly realized that this was a ruse; it seemed they had come for a favor.

"Manager Chen must have something to say to come here, right?"

"I've heard that Riyue Apparel has already established a strong brand, and I've visited their store. It's really good. I'd like to discuss a potential collaboration and see if we can stock some inventory," Manager Chen said conservatively.

Xie Lanhua could no longer contain her excitement; her eyes darted around, constantly giving Qin Xiaoyu meaningful glances.

You have to understand, even at its peak, the Little Sun Children's Clothing Factory had to put in a lot of effort to get its products listed in department stores in the provincial capital. It required persistent pleading and even then, success wasn't guaranteed. Let alone a large department store like Xinxin Department Store—it was simply out of the question.

First, Xinxin Department Store has sources of goods from Shanghai and Guangzhou; second, there are countless clothing manufacturers in the province, so how could a small collective enterprise in a small city like theirs possibly compete?

Having Xin Xin Department Store representatives come to our door to purchase goods is a fantastic opportunity.

"Manager Chen, I've thought about it, but it's not appropriate," Qin Xiaoyu said with a smile, declining the offer.

Xie Lanhua was so anxious that she wanted to drag her out and ask her why.

"Manager Chen, have some tea, haha." Xie Lanhua tried to smooth things over.

"Our production capacity is limited, so we don't have any plans to export yet. I'm sorry." Qin Xiaoyu's rejection this time was even more thorough.

"Okay, I just wanted to ask, I don't have any purchasing tasks. Then I'll take my leave." Manager Chen stood up, but didn't leave immediately.

"It's almost noon, let's have a simple meal," Xie Lanhua suggested.

"No need, I have arrangements on my end," Manager Chen said politely, but he couldn't resist Xie Lanhua's enthusiasm.

Qin Xiaoyu accompanied Manager Chen on a walk around the workshop before taking her to the canteen.

Because Qin Xiaoyu hadn't appeared for about ten days, the factory workers probably knew something had happened to her family and were all very worried. This short woman, although beautiful enough to inspire envy, was decisive and their lucky charm; there was no reason not to like her, and the female workers were all very close to her.

Upon arriving at the cafeteria, Qin Xiaoyu did not take Manager Chen to a private room, but instead found a table to sit down at.

Xie Lanhua has calmed down now. She roughly understands what kind of person Qin Xiaoyu is: she's very shrewd and perceptive. She must have her reasons for rejecting Xin Xin, so she just needs to cooperate with her.