"Oh, yes! I've kept them all safe." The older sister-in-law readily agreed, turned around and went into the house, and soon came out with a stack of textbooks.

Qin Xiaoyu quickly flipped through the book and understood why Tang Hu's grades were so bad. He was using the book too sparingly; apart from a few pages with occasional scribbles, it was practically a brand new book.

Judging from the few strokes of his graffiti, Tang Hu seemed to have some talent in painting. However, his usual behavior was too annoying, so Qin Xiaoyu didn't plan to investigate further.

Seeing her return with her textbooks, Hanhan happily picked them up and went to read them. He knew many characters and could almost read an entire book. Qin Xiaoyu couldn't help but worry again; keeping Hanhan at home was limiting his development.

"Hanhan, do you want to go to school?"

"Yes!" Hanhan said without hesitation, but then regretted it. She bit her lip and hesitated, saying, "If I go to school, what will happen to my little sister?"

"Yes, let me think about it some more."

"That's why I advised you to go to another place. Raising a child isn't a one-person job. Right now, you're busy from dawn till dusk every day, and when you come home at night, you barely have time to say a few words to the child before going to sleep. When the child gets older, there will be so many more things to take care of. What will you do then?"

Master Wang talked on and on like a mother, but Qin Xiaoyu didn't get angry.

Let's make money! Who says money isn't everything? Money is everything! Didn't she solve many problems with money? Now she wants to make even more money.

She had done the math and realized that working with Master Wang for a year would bring in a considerable income. After deducting expenses and living costs, she could still save some money. However, this was far from her goal. She needed to find a way to make money that would free her up and make full use of the people around her.

Qin Xiaoyu had a plan in mind, but it wasn't quite ready, so she didn't tell Master Wang. She wanted to figure out the plan herself.

She had a lot of work to do on Sunday, and it was already past nine o'clock when she got back. The lights weren't on in the house, and her sister-in-law came out to greet her when she heard the door open.

"My wife has a bit of a cold and went to bed early. Hanhan and the others are in my room."

"Hurry inside, you're not dressed warmly enough, don't catch a cold." Qin Xiaoyu said, and she and her cousin-in-law jogged into the house. Inside, a strange girl was talking to Xiuqin. When they saw them come in, they both stood up.

"Second Aunt, this is my cousin, Tian Tian," Xiuqin eagerly introduced. Qin Xiaoyu then noticed that they did indeed have some resemblance in their features, although Tian Tian wasn't as beautiful as Xiuqin; at most, she could be described as pretty.

“This is my eldest sister’s child. He didn’t get into university and isn’t happy with his job. I was thinking, why don’t you let him learn a trade from me?” My cousin-in-law spoke frankly and without mincing words.

"Okay, then come over." Qin Xiaoyu had no reason to refuse.

"Your brother won't be back tonight. The factory needs too much stock, so they're all working overtime. I've let Tian Tian stay here, and she'll go to the store with you tomorrow." My sister-in-law has made all the arrangements.

Seeing that her younger sister was already asleep, Qin Xiaoyu wrapped her in a blanket, carried her back to the room, and her sister-in-law helped with the shoes and followed.

"Sister-in-law, please don't say things like 'didn't get into university' in front of the child in the future. It hurts the child's self-esteem," Qin Xiaoyu complained.

"Oh dear, this is really worrying. When I went back that day, my older brother was worried about it. He said he got her a spot at the textile factory, but she didn't want to go. I said that it's a lousy place, she'd just be stuck there for the rest of her life, what future would she have? She should learn a trade instead, and that's how I brought her back."

"But I gave up my job at the textile factory." After settling her younger sister in, Qin Xiaoyu sat down on the kang (a heated brick bed) and started chatting with her cousin-in-law.

“Nowadays, girls don’t necessarily have to work. They can find a husband, marry into a family, have two kids in three to five years, stay home to take care of the children and cook, and get by, just like me. But I don’t want my niece to live like that.”

Qin Xiaoyu understood the grievance in her cousin's words. A family like her cousin's, who at least considered their daughter's future and got her a job, was far better than those families who simply found a son-in-law and then abandoned her.

The next morning, Qin Xiaoyu took Tian Tian to the shop. Master Wang had already prepared to open the shop, and it was bright and clean.

"Master, you're here so early. Oh, you already have work to do?" Qin Xiaoyu was a little surprised to see a young woman in the house. She had come way too early.

"This is an apprentice, my former neighbor, Xiao Zhang, whose name is Master Qin."

Qin Xiaoyu was a little surprised. It was as if she had no apprentices, but now she had a pair. The house was too small to fit them all.

Sure enough, the first thing the customers said when they came in today was, "There's a lot of work to do." Qin Xiaoyu and Master Wang were getting tired of explaining.

"Sister-in-law, you're always so busy." Tang Wenwen also came. I don't know what's wrong with her lately. She used to love dressing up, but today she's just wearing a military overcoat. Her face has lost its baby fat, and she's become pale and thin. Her big eyes always seem to hold a secret.

"Why did you come here? Where's Jing Tian?" Qin Xiaoyu asked worriedly.

"He had something to do, so I came out for a walk to clear my head. My job transfer has been arranged, and I'll officially start tomorrow."

"Congratulations! You've got an office job now, no matter what."

"It's nothing special, the smell in the lab is too strong, we need to find a way to move it." Tang Wenwen's tone was quite assertive, and Qin Xiaoyu was a little taken aback.

"We have a lot of work to do today. How long will it take?" Commander Wang led Director Feng in, and Tang Wenwen jumped up from the bench, looking very nervous.

"Not many, this is my sister-in-law, and those two are apprentices," Qin Xiaoyu had to explain again.

"That's alright, I thought it would take a long time. Your sister-in-law? Is she with Xiao Lei?" Commander Wang turned to look at Tang Wenwen, remembering something.

"Hello, Auntie." Tang Wenwen greeted her shyly and then timidly stepped aside.

"Where do you work?" Commander Wang, always a gossip, couldn't help but pay more attention when he saw that it was his son's classmate and that she had a similar hairstyle to his own.

"I work at a chemical plant."

"Oh, I see. Was it Jingtian who asked the classmate who helped him transfer jobs to the lab?"

“Yes, Auntie.” Tang Wenwen’s throat tightened, and she could barely speak. She looked at Qin Xiaoyu for help.

"You two have a good relationship?" Commander Wang asked first.

"We're all classmates, we just hang out together." Qin Xiaoyu smoothed things over.

This was the first time she had seen Director Feng and Commander Wang together. Actually, it was easy to understand after thinking about it. There weren't many people in this small city, and their social circles were pretty much fixed. The number of well-off families could be counted on one hand. If they didn't make friends, who would they make friends with?

"I just remembered something. Jingtian mentioned it, and it seems your Xiaolei beat up Zhou Xing, pretty badly. Why? Oh dear!"

Director Feng finally managed to shift his attention away from Tang Wenwen, but those words were too damaging. Qin Xiaoyu was washing her hair when she pinched her hard, making her cry out.