"Don't be stubborn," Yao Shiling said.

"Don't be reckless." Wen Qing smiled. "Mom, hold on tight, I'm turning."

"Wait a minute, I'll get off first," Yao Shiling said quickly.

"No need to get off." Wen Qing smiled, slowed down her pedaling speed, smoothly turned a corner, and rode straight to her own yard.

"Big sister!"

"Sister! Mom!"

"Wen Qing".

Wen Peng, Wen Liang, Aunt Wang, and others in the courtyard warmly welcomed them.

Wen Qing smiled at everyone, reached out and patted Wen Peng's head, and then, without staying in the yard for long, went to the home of the second team leader, demonstrating through his actions his sincere desire to make the entire Shuiwan Village prosperous.

Now everyone in Shuiwan Village knows that Wen Qing is capable. Not only has she made money herself, but she has also helped Aunt Wang, Sister Zhou, and Da Dao Ma to make money. Everyone praises her.

The village chief and team leader treated Wen Qing and her family differently.

When Wen Qing arrived at the captain's place, the captain and his wife immediately offered him a seat and poured him water.

Wen Qing quickly said, "Captain, Captain, no need to rush, no need to rush. I just had some water at home."

The captain then stopped and sat down opposite Wen Qing. Wen Qing succinctly explained his purpose to the captain and introduced matters related to shoe making.

The team leader stared in disbelief and said, "You mean you want me to take over the shoes under Feng Qing's name?"

Wen Qing: "Yes."

"No, no, that won't do." The captain waved his hands repeatedly: "I'm just a roughneck, I don't know anything."

Wen Qing smiled and said, "Captain, don't underestimate yourself. You are the most educated person in our class. Besides, our second team is superior to the other teams in every aspect. Doesn't that just prove your ability?"

"That's different."

Wen Qing laughed: "How is it different? You're still managing the men and women of our Shuiwan Village, it's just that the fields have been replaced by shoes, right?"

The captain pondered these words. Who doesn't want to make money? Who doesn't want to live a good life? Everyone knew that Wen Qing was making money, and he also believed that Wen Qing would definitely be successful in the future. He didn't expect that success would come so quickly.

Most importantly, Wen Qing was so accomplished, yet he had taken a liking to him; this was an immense honor. The captain felt both apprehensive and delighted. Apprehensive about whether he could manage the position well, delighted because once he took on this role, his life would be different.

"Captain, why don't you think about it? I'll pay you fifty yuan a month for now, and it will increase when the business is doing better."

Fifty yuan?

The team leader and his wife were stunned. The wages in the city were only thirty-odd yuan, but Wen Qing actually offered fifty yuan.

"No need to think about it anymore, it's settled!" the captain's wife replied directly.

"What nonsense are you talking about!" the captain snapped.

The captain's wife dared not speak.

The team leader directly expressed his thoughts: "Wen Qing, I'm afraid I won't be able to manage this well."

Wen Qing smiled and said, "Don't worry, Captain, you can definitely manage it well. You and the village chief have always said that you're working together to achieve a moderately prosperous society. Who knows what a moderately prosperous society is like? We're all feeling our way across the river, taking it one step at a time. No one is born knowing how to do it."

The captain looked at Wen Qing, feeling a pang of guilt. As the captain, he hadn't even shown Wen Qing the same level of understanding; it was utterly inexcusable. Wen Qing was right. Who knew what a moderately prosperous society would look like? Didn't it all come step by step?

Upon thinking this, a fire ignited in the captain's chest, stirring his emotions. He immediately replied, "Okay, I'll take the job!"

Wen Qing immediately smiled and said, "Thank you for your support, Captain. I'll have to go to the village chief's house with you tomorrow to talk to him about this."

"no problem."

"Thank you, Captain."

"Wen Qing, you're too kind."

"Then I'll go home first."

"Have dinner before you leave," the captain and his wife urged him to stay.

"No, no, my mom knew I was coming back today, so she specially prepared a lot of dishes," Wen Qing said with a smile, waved to the team leader and his wife, and walked out of the team leader's yard.

Even if Wen Qing ate at the team leader's house, the team leader wouldn't have much to offer in return. The team leader had two half-grown sons, and it's said that half-grown sons eat their fathers out of house and home. The two half-grown sons were almost enough to feed the team leader's family.

"That's great! We'll have fifty yuan a month now!" The team leader's wife's face was slightly flushed, and she was very excited. "I never thought that Wen Qing, who used to be like that, would have such great abilities now. Not only is he rich himself, but he also wants to lead the whole village to prosperity. He is truly a great benefactor to the village."

The captain nodded, then turned to his wife and said, "Don't mention Wen Qing's past anymore. Everyone makes mistakes when they're young. Don't bring up Wen Qing's bad deeds anymore."

The captain's wife was not angry when she was scolded by the team members. Instead, she smiled and said, "Okay, okay, I know, I know Wen Qing is doing very well now."

The team leader didn't say anything, but he was secretly rubbing his hands together, ready to work hard with Wen Qing and lead the whole village to prosperity.

Thinking this, the captain felt more relaxed than ever before, and even ate the hard-to-chew sweet potato pancakes for dinner with relish.

Meanwhile, smoke began to rise from the chimneys of every household in Shuiwan Village, including Wen Qing's house.

As soon as Wen Qing entered the yard, she smelled the aroma of meat. She ran into the kitchen with a smile and asked, "Mom, what are you making for dinner tonight?"

"Cold noodles with braised pork!" Wen Peng said, as he sat in front of the earthen stove, adding firewood to the stove hole.

"Cold noodles? Mom, it's getting cold now, why are you still eating cold noodles?" Wen Qing asked.

"Rinse it with warm water, it won't be cold," Yao Shiling said.

“That’s right,” Wen Peng said. “Big sister, Mom knows you love cold noodles, so she made them especially for you.”

Wen Qing laughed and patted Wen Peng, saying, "Get out of the way, get out of the way, I'll cook the pot, you go play somewhere else."

"Then I'll go to the main road to find Big Sword to play with."

"Go ahead, just don't forget to come back for dinner," Wen Qing said.

Wen Peng disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Wen Qing asked with a smile, "Mom, where's Liangliang?"

“Didn’t you say you wanted to use your second uncle’s yard to make shoes? He’s gone to tidy it up,” Yao Shiling said.

"Oh." Wen Qing added firewood into the stove hole.

As Yao Shiling stirred the vegetables with a spatula, she asked, "How did it go with what you said to the team leader?"

"The captain has agreed."

"You agreed so easily?"

Wen Qing nodded: "Yes, I told the captain that I've contracted out all the shoe production to him."

"Contract it to the team leader?" Yao Shiling paused in her movements.

Wen Qing: "Yes, from now on I only need to provide shoe patterns, and the team leader will arrange everything else."

Yao Shiling continued cooking and asked, "Why?"

While adding firewood, Wen Qing explained to Yao Shiling, "Mom, it doesn't really matter to me how much money I make from shoes. I want the people of Shuiwan Village to live a better life. My main source of income is clothing. Also, it's the off-season now, and Aunt Wang and the others are willing to sit down and make shoes. But when it's busy season, there will definitely be people eyeing the fields. I'm young and you're gentle, so we don't know what to do when something like this happens. But the team leader is different. He's experienced and can definitely coordinate with the village chief on both sides, so the shoe business won't be delayed at all, right?"

Yao Shiling glanced at Wen Qing and nodded in approval of Wen Qing's thoughtful idea.

"So, Mom, we can just wait to receive the money every month," Wen Qing said with a smile.

"You think you're so capable?" Yao Shiling laughed. "Alright, we can eat now."

"Um."

The family sat in the center of the courtyard, and the round moon illuminated the entire courtyard without needing to turn on any lights.

The Wen family no longer had to sneak around eating meat, keeping the courtyard and main room doors tightly shut, as they used to. Now they could eat openly and honestly.

When neighbors came over with their rice bowls, Yao Shiling would give them a piece of fatty meat. No one in the village would say anything derogatory like "Wen Qing's family actually eats meat." Instead, they thought it was perfectly normal for Wen Qing to eat meat. After all, Wen Qing was capable and wealthy, so they could only be envious.

The next morning, just after Wen Qing had finished breakfast, the team leader came to work wearing a worn but very neat Zhongshan suit.

Wen Qing almost laughed at first glance, but it would be a bit unkind to laugh, so she formally discussed the specifics with the captain.

Wen Qing had already told the team leader what needed to be said last night. The current situation is that Wen Qing wants to move the shoe-making location from his own yard to his second uncle's place. Also, since Fengqing Shoes is just starting out and all the workers hired are neighbors, Wen Qing intends to ask the team leader to standardize Fengqing Shoes.

"No problem, I guarantee it will be finished in one day," the team leader said seriously.

Wen Qing smiled and said, "There's no need to rush."

"Just one day," the captain said.

Wen Qing chuckled twice. The captain was indeed the captain; his word was law. So he said, "Okay."

Wen Qing immediately handed Feng Qing's shoes to the team leader. So when Aunt Wang, Sister Zhou, Da Dao's mother and others came to Wen Qing's house again, Wen Peng stood at the door and pointed the way, saying, "Go to my second uncle's yard."

So a group of people went to Uncle Wenqing's second courtyard to work.

The courtyard in Wenqing suddenly became empty. Yao Shiling asked, "What about me?"

Wen Qing smiled and said, "Mom, do you want to make shoes too?"

“I’m willing to do anything,” Yao Shiling said.

Wen Qing smiled and said, "Then you should rest for a couple of days. Once I've figured out what you need to do, you can start working again, okay?"

"OK."

Wen Qing didn't stay at home for long. She took the shoes that Aunt Wang had made and rode her bicycle to Fengqing Clothing Factory in the county town. After supervising everyone to finish making all the Dacron white shirts and plain trousers in the morning, Aunt Xiao and Bao Hong took the county town bus to deliver the clothes to the bus stop.

When Aunt Xiao and Bao Hong returned from the county town, Wen Qing took the six thousand yuan and took out a newly made winter double-breasted wool coat from the cloth bag to show to everyone at Feng Qing Garment Shop.

"nice."

"This coat is beautiful."

"..."

Almost everyone praised it.

Wen Qing smiled, disassembled the garment, and then had twenty tailors divide the work among themselves. She then went to the city with Aunt Xiao and bought eight ounces of brown sugar. One reason was to fulfill what Wen Qing had said to the cloth shop owner, and the other was to ask the cloth shop owner if the price of woolen fabric could be reduced.

After asking around, Wen Qing wandered around the city with Aunt Xiao. Relying on her memories from her previous life, Wen Qing spent 1,200 yuan to buy three storefronts in Damo Plaza.

"Wen Qing, if you want to buy a shop to sell clothes, of course you should buy one in the pedestrian street area. There are more people there, and the clothes will sell better," Aunt Xiao said.

Wen Qing smiled. She couldn't explain to Aunt Xiao that Damo Plaza would become the most prosperous area in Nanzhou City, bar none. Buying a shop here would only result in a profit.

However, Wen Qing smiled and said, "If I buy a storefront on the pedestrian street to do business, wouldn't I be going against Zhang Xiuying? Don't you think so?"

Aunt Xiao stopped talking, feeling that spending 1,200 yuan to buy three storefronts in Damo Plaza was a bad idea. However, Wen Qing's vision had always been unique, and Aunt Xiao had a vague feeling that Wen Qing was right.

The two did not stay in the city for long before returning to the county town.

As soon as I arrived in the county town, I saw twenty tailors making ten sets of double-breasted ponytail coats.

"Hmm, not bad, not bad, it'll definitely sell well on the market," Wen Qing said with a smile.

Just then, the phone rang in the store.

Bao Hong quickly answered, "Hello?"

Wen Qing was about to talk about the clothes when she heard Bao Hong call out, "Sister Wen Qing, she's looking for you."

"Is this Sister Zhang?" Wen Qing asked.

"No, I don't know who it is either?" Bao Hong stood at the counter near the backyard. Because there was the sound of sewing machines in the hall every day, she deliberately placed the phone near the backyard to avoid any noise.

“Okay, I’ll take over.” Wen Qing put down his double-breasted wool coat and said, “Master Yan, you’ve done a great job. You can continue.”

The twenty tailors breathed a sigh of relief. They all knew that although the young boss always had a smiling face, he was actually a very meticulous and strict person.

Hearing the young boss say that they could continue, everyone was happy to varying degrees and sat down to make clothes.

At this moment, Wen Qing walked to the backyard gate, took the phone, and said to Bao Hong, "There's a pile of strips of cloth at the gate, go and tidy them up."

"Okay, Sister Wenqing." Bao Hong quickly ran into the hall and began tidying up the strips of cloth.

Wen Qing then put the phone to her ear: "Hello, who is this?"

The other party did not answer immediately.

Wen Qing's heart skipped a beat, as if she had a premonition of something. Sure enough, the next moment she heard Ji Yanjun's deep, slightly tired voice: "Wen Qing, it's me."

Wen Qing's heart tightened, and even her throat tightened, leaving her speechless.

The person on the other end also seemed unsure what to say, and remained silent.

The sound of a sewing machine filled Wen Qing's ears, and before her eyes lay withered yellow leaves on the backyard floor. Suddenly, this familiar sound evoked a sense of desolation amidst the noise. Memories from her past life were truly harmful. She lowered her head and asked, "Where are you?"

Ji Yanjun: "Xia City."

Wen Qing: "Oh."

"Wen Qing".

"Um."

"I think……"

"Is there anything else?" Wen Qing interrupted, "I'm pretty busy here, I'm hanging up."

"Wait a minute," Ji Yanjun called out, coughing on the other end of the line.

Wen Qing held the phone, her face expressionless: "What is it?"

"...I'll tell you when we meet."

“There’s no need. I think there’s nothing left between us,” Wen Qing said calmly.

"green……"

With a "click," Wen Qing hung up the phone. The call didn't ring again. She stood in front of the phone, lost in thought for a moment. She'd been foolish in her past life; how could she possibly be foolish again in this one? Wen Qing took a deep breath and threw herself back into her work.

Over the next two days, besides paying the tailor and Aunt Wang their wages, Wen Qing was thinking about the competition artwork and the decoration of the Feng Qing store in Da Mo Plaza.

She was drawing the sketch.

The store is currently under renovation.

However, Feng Qing's double-breasted wool coats had already started selling. Ever since Zhang Xiuying learned that Wen Qing had started making winter clothes, she would come to the county town every now and then. She took a liking to the double-breasted wool coats at first sight and insisted on buying fifty of them.

The products sold out as soon as they returned to the city; they were extremely popular. Zhang Xiuying was overjoyed and called Wen Qing two or three times a day to urge her to hurry up and produce more work.

Wen Qing, having been pressured by her to no end, had no choice but to have twenty tailors work overtime.

"Ring ring, ring ring..." The phone rang again.

Bao Hong was about to answer the call when Aunt Xiao stopped her, saying with a smile, "Bao Hong, don't answer it. It's definitely looking for Wen Qing again. It's probably Zhang Xiuying. She's here again to urge us to finish the clothes and ask how many pieces have been made."

Wen Qing put down her pen and said, "Bao Hong, you're busy, I'll take over."

"Okay." Bao Hong went off to do her work.

Wen Qing answered the phone, and it was indeed Zhang Xiuying. However, she wasn't calling to urge Wen Qing about the clothes, but to inquire about Wen Qing's situation.

Zhang Xiu asked in a serious and anxious tone, "Wen Qing, what happened?"

Wen Qing asked, puzzled, "What? What happened?"

"You don't know?" Zhang Xiuying asked.

Wen Qing retorted, "Don't you know that there are people selling Feng Qing clothing now?"

"What happened?" Now it was Wen Qing's turn to ask this question.

Zhang Xiuying said, "Suddenly, a storefront appeared on the pedestrian street, specializing in selling Feng Qing's clothes, and it sold extremely well!"

Wen Qing was taken aback.

Zhang Xiuying continued, "A white shirt with a wide hem made of polyester, straight-leg trousers made of plain fabric, khaki wide-leg trousers with a high waist, white leather-soled buckle cloth shoes, corduroy foam-soled shoes, a double-breasted wool coat... If you hadn't told me beforehand that you bought a storefront in DaMo Plaza, I would have thought you deliberately bought a storefront on the pedestrian street to squeeze out my business!"