Shi Zhenxian took Guan Baiyu to the newly built factory of Huaguang Stationery Factory.

The basic structure of the factory building is already visible, and it should be completed in another month.

The factory requires almost no renovation. Once the machines are purchased, installed, and debugged, production can begin.

In the future, in addition to producing ballpoint pen casings, we also plan to produce plastic rulers here.

In addition, they used to import the entire pen refill for ballpoint pens, but now they plan to only import the pen tips, while producing the ink and other components themselves.

This will lower the cost.

In order to build a factory and buy machines, Liang's father took out a lot of loans from the bank. But if nothing unexpected happens, once the factory is built, cheap ballpoint pens will be mass-produced...

In the future, Huaguang will definitely become another money-making machine, just like Liang's father's glass factory.

Shi Zhen and Guan Baiyu met Liang Qinxuan at Huaguang.

The college entrance examination is currently scheduled for July 8th and 9th, but Liang Qinxuan has not yet taken the exam.

He was waiting here because he knew Guan Baiyu would come.

"Xiaoyu, shall we go out for dinner together today? Sigh, it's probably going to be hard for us to see each other again. I'm going back to school tomorrow. After I finish the college entrance exam, you'll have to take extra classes. And later, I'll go to university in another place..." Liang Qinxuan said sadly.

"Where should we eat? It's settled, my brother's coming too," Guan Baiyu said.

"You rascal, you're prioritizing your brother over your friends again! Alright, alright, let's go! I'll treat you to barbecue!" Liang Qinxuan's sadness only lasted a quarter of an hour before he was cheerful again: "A new barbecue restaurant recently opened, and their lamb skewers are especially delicious. They put that... oh right, it's called cumin! I've never had this kind of seasoning before!"

Shi Zhen followed them slowly.

Guan Baiyu really liked the cumin-sprinkled roasted meat, but in his previous life, it would have taken him several years to eat it for the first time.

Guanjia Village.

As July arrives, the weather becomes very hot, and typhoons occasionally strike.

The river in front of Guan Baiyu's house swells dramatically during typhoons and heavy rains.

As for days without rain... everyone loves to go swimming in the river.

Although the school tells the children not to swim in the river every day, swimming is still the children's favorite activity in the summer in the countryside.

Some children, neglected by their parents, spend almost all their time soaking in the river.

Some parents are strict, so their children either go swimming secretly or only when their parents are around, accompanied by their parents.

At this point, there wasn't a single child in the village who hadn't been across the river.

Around four o'clock in the afternoon, the river is usually the most crowded. Children who can use colorful swimming rings are the coolest. Many children who don't have swimming rings will swim with a door latch or an old car inner tube that they have patched up and inflated to use as a swimming ring.

Guan Jianguo's daughter was floating in the river with a car inner tube that was a bit too big for her.

Fang Miyan and Shi Xingxing were washing clothes together by the river.

While washing clothes, Shi Xingxing said, "When the house is built in the future, I will definitely buy a washing machine." She really hates washing clothes!

Fang Miyan blinked. Washing machines are so expensive! Why buy one when you have nothing else to do? Isn't washing clothes just a matter of rubbing them?

"I wonder if there's a dishwasher. It would be great if there were," Shi Xingxing said again.

Fang Miyan: "..."

Fang Miyan silently washed the clothes.

Shi Xingxing felt that her sister-in-law was such a good person that she didn't know why she was blind to fall for her stingy brother.

Her sister-in-law is very obedient to her brother. She does whatever her brother tells her to do. Her brother doesn't allow her to spend money, and her sister-in-law actually doesn't spend any money!

Shi Xingxing advised her sister-in-law: "Sister-in-law, you should treat yourself better. Buy whatever you need. Don't listen to my brother and not buy anything."

Fang Miyan smiled at Shi Xingxing but didn't say anything.

She was actually stingy and didn't want to buy anything... but Shi Xingchao was afraid that her being like this would cause conflict with his family, so he took all the blame upon himself, saying that he was stingy and didn't want her to spend money, which was why she was like this.

Fang Miyan initially married Shi Xingchao mainly because she wanted a stable life, but now that time has passed, she's starting to think Shi Xingchao is quite nice.

Shi Xingchao's family is also nice.

His parents are both reasonable, his older brother is always smiling and seems very happy, and his younger sister is also sensible.

After Fang Miyan finished washing the clothes, she went home.

The house that Shi Dashan was renting was filled with the rich aroma of meat... The stew that Fang Miyan had been cooking was ready.

She packed the vegetables into several large buckets, put them on a tricycle, and rode to a nearby construction site to sell them.

This tricycle belongs to Shi Dashan. Shi Dashan can't ride a bicycle, so he bought a tricycle, but he doesn't use it much. Fang Miyan uses it most of the time.

Recently, Shi Zhen has been focusing on Changxi City. In Anshan Town, there are no large projects, only some small projects where he has hired local bricklayers.

In this way, Fang Miyan wouldn't need to cook.

Shi Zhen's construction site in Changxi City does need someone to cook, but Changxi City is too far away, and Fang Miyan felt it was inconvenient, so she didn't go.

The woman now in charge of cooking in Changxi City is the wife of one of the first people who came to work in the city with Shi Zhen from his hometown.

After Shi Daniu brought his wife and children out, others were envious, and Shi Duofu was the first to call his wife over.

He didn't bring his child with him, only his wife came to keep him company. Following the example of Shi Daniu and Shi Duofu, others also called their wives, but most of them didn't bring their children.

Some children are too young and it's difficult to take care of them when they come out, while others are too old and in school to come out.

Most importantly, they are used to having the elderly help take care of their children.

Of the three women who came out, one found a job in Anshan Town, and the other two were responsible for cooking at a construction site in Changxi City.

Their skills couldn't compare to Fang Miyan's, but at that time, migrant workers weren't too picky about the taste of food.

All those who can bring their wives along are the envy of others whose wives and children are still in their hometowns, or who are not yet married. When they shout "wife" at the construction site, they can attract a lot of envious glances.

Unfortunately, many people are working away from home for the first time this year and haven't saved much money, so they don't have the courage to bring their wives with them.

They work on construction sites and live together in makeshift shacks next to the site. If they don't have the money to rent a place here, their wives won't have anywhere to stay when they come to visit.

Of course, Shi Zhen rented a small house nearby for the women who were responsible for cooking on the construction site. But even on a construction site with hundreds of people working, two women cooking was enough. It wasn't like any wife could stay on the construction site.

Fang Miyan didn't go to Changxi City; recently, she's been focusing on selling vegetables in the area where the road is being repaired in Anshan Town.

After doing this for a while, now her customers aren't just construction workers anymore, but also people living nearby.

Some nearby factories even order vegetables directly from her, asking her to cook them and deliver some to them—that saves them money compared to hiring someone to cook them.

If it weren't for Shi Xingchao's help, Fang Miyan wouldn't have been able to cook so many dishes.

However, as soon as Fang Miyan rode her tricycle out, she was stopped by someone: "Miyan!"

Blocking Fang Miyan's way was her mother, who looked much older than last year, with many more gray hairs on her head. Tears welled up in her eyes when she saw Fang Miyan.

Fang Miyan stopped the car and asked her, "Mom, what's wrong now?"

After Fang Miyan and Shi Xingchao got married in their hometown, they returned here. Chen Xiaofen prepared gifts for the two of them and asked them to visit relatives in Fang's family.

Although Fang Miyan insisted on getting married, she didn't intend to cut off all ties with her family. So the two of them visited Fang Miyan's close relatives to let them know that Fang Miyan was married.

Although the Fang family didn't hold a wedding, which led to some gossip... the fact that Fang Miyan's younger brother lost money gambling was far more serious than the fact that their family didn't hold a wedding banquet for Fang Miyan's marriage... when people from their side talked about Fang Miyan, they actually felt quite sorry for her.

In the past six months, the Fang family has contacted Fang Miyan many times.

Every time Fang Miyan's father or brother came over, Fang Miyan and Shi Xingchao would find some excuse to scare them away. Only when Fang Miyan's mother avoided Shi Xingchao and went to see Fang Miyan alone would Fang Miyan speak to her properly.

Fang Miyan's father didn't treat her well, and her younger brother looked down on her and treated her badly, but her mother was okay to her.

Several times, Fang's mother would come to Fang Miyan when she was doing business, and Fang Miyan would give her some of her own cooking and a few yuan.

She knew her mother didn't have any money, and the money she gave her was just so she could buy some food or something.

However, she felt that if she actually bought something, it would most likely not end up in her mother's mouth.

Her mother would proactively give out the best food.

“Mi Yan, please help your brother, they’re going to cut off his hand…” Fang’s mother cried.

Fang Miyan was stunned.

She took a deep breath before saying, "I'm running out of time to sell vegetables. If you have anything to say to me, come find me at our usual spot."

Fang Miyan rode her bicycle to her usual vegetable stall and started doing business.

Nowadays, construction sites are basically paid by the day. Unskilled workers earn 15 to 20 yuan a day, while the wages of other workers depend on their skills.

Because it's not always sunny and there's work every day, most workers don't earn much.

Even so, it's still not a problem to spend 50 cents to buy some vegetables from Fang Miyan.

As soon as Fang Miyan stopped her bicycle, a lot of people gathered around and asked her to serve them food... Fang Miyan was busy for a while before her mother came to her side.

Then she didn't say anything, just silently shed tears.

Fang Miyan ignored her and continued working. The people who came to buy groceries glanced at her curiously, but no one cared about Fang's mother.

Fang's mother felt even more pitiful.

—Only when there were fewer people around did Fang Miyan ask, "Mom, does my brother owe money again?" There were basically no other questions.

"Yes..." Fang's mother said, crying. Fang Miyan's younger brother had incurred another 20,000 yuan in debt.

Fang Miyan felt utterly powerless after hearing what her mother said.

She knew her younger brother might lose control and continue gambling, so she privately told her mother and father not to give her brother any money and to keep an eye on him.

At first, they did indeed do that.

In the first few months of the year, his younger brother lost money gambling and felt ashamed. He stayed at home all day, had no money, and behaved himself.

Where is her mother? She bought some pig feed on credit, and then sold the pigs before they were fully grown, only raising them to about 100 pounds... so the family's finances weren't so tight.

Not long ago, the first batch of silkworms was raised. Because her mother raised a lot, she sold them for two thousand yuan. Although after deducting some costs, she didn't earn that much, but it was still pretty good.

Her parents definitely didn't intend to pay back her money, but they could also postpone paying back the money from her sister. So, the total amount their family owed was only around six or seven thousand.

The whole family tightened their belts and worked hard to raise more silkworms; they could pay it back in one or two years.

But I don't know what her parents were thinking. Instead of paying back the money they earned, they used it to help her younger brother "start a business".

Her brother took the money and went to the casino, hoping to win it back.

It is said that he won some at first, then started losing, and then borrowed money to try to win back his losses, eventually borrowing more than 10,000 yuan.

This was a loan shark's loan; the lender came to our door demanding the money, asking for 20,000 yuan right away.

"Mi Yan, only you can save your brother..." Fang's mother cried and pleaded.

Fang Miyan said, "Where would I get so much money?"

“Isn’t your husband a big earner? He also has a big boss brother, so your in-laws must earn quite a bit too, right?” Fang’s mother said.

"That's their money, don't even think about it, I don't have a single penny." Fang Miyan took out a plastic lunchbox, filled it with some vegetables for her mother: "I'm out here selling these in the middle of summer, selling them for five cents at a time, how much can I earn?"

Given his brother's character, if we actually pay him back, he'll probably borrow again next time.

She's heard about this kind of thing before.

"Mi Yan, how could you be so heartless? That's your younger brother!" Fang's mother cried. "You cold-hearted wretch!"

"What's wrong?" People around saw it and quickly asked.

Fang Miyan wasn't much of a talker, but now that Shi Xingchao had told her to speak, she absolutely had to... "My younger brother gambled away 40,000 yuan and finally managed to borrow money to pay it off, but now he owes another 20,000 yuan. My mom wants me to come up with the money... Where am I supposed to get that kind of money?"

Fang Miyan is a woman who comes to sell such large buckets of vegetables every day, so everyone assumes that her family is not well-off.

Otherwise, who would do this hard work?

Especially since she was cooking at the construction site while selling this...

The young girl has already worked hard enough; she can't keep being dragged down by her younger brother.

Instead of showing sympathy for Fang's mother, the crowd scolded her.

Fang's mother had no choice but to leave.

Shi Zhen learned about Fang Miyan's family situation that evening.

Recently, many people like to ask him for advice.

However, he couldn't offer any advice on this matter: "The loan sharks aren't going to actually cut off his hand, so just let him be."

He remembered that something similar had happened in his past life.

The security here is not bad. Those debt collectors don't dare to do anything illegal. They just go to the Fang family every day to harass Fang's parents and Fang Miliang and eat at their house.

Then Fang Miliang ran away, leaving his parents to face the creditors.

The two had no choice but to work hard to earn money to help Fang Miliang pay off his debts. They managed to pay back about seven or eight thousand yuan. Then the loan shark was arrested, so they no longer had to pay back the money.

After some time, Fang Miliang returned dejectedly.

He didn't know what happened after that.

After Fang Miyan finished asking her question, Shi Xingchao said to Shi Zhen, "Zhen, don't worry, the job of building our house is definitely yours."

"How did you know?" Shi Zhen asked.

Shi Xingchao said, "Last night, I had a meeting with the families who were building houses. Everyone was worried that the quality of the houses would not be good, so I told them about your situation."

Compared to people of unknown origin... the contractors who bought land like them are obviously more trustworthy.

"Thank you," Shi Zhen said with a smile. He had originally planned to use this as an advantage when bidding, but he didn't expect Shi Xingchao to speak up for him directly.

This will be more effective.

The newly built road, running from south to north, required the construction of many houses on both sides, and was therefore divided into four sections for bidding.

At that time, there weren't many construction teams in Anshan Town, and Shi Zhen won the bid for one section very smoothly.

There are about eight houses along this road, built together, and then a section is left open, leaving a road leading to the back of the houses, and then another eight houses are built... In total, Shi Zhen wants to build thirty-two houses.

This is already a huge project. Shi Zhen and the professionals he just hired did a detailed budget together. The cost price is about 70,000 per house.

Of course, he couldn't possibly accept only this small amount of money.

First, construction is prone to exceeding the budget; second, this type of project... is prone to delays in receiving payment for building the house.

In his past life, when he took on such projects, he was often infuriated by people who owed him money and refused to pay. In some cases, he never received the money even before he died.

Of course, he didn't go back to ask for it back.

Therefore, when Shi Zhen put out the tender, the price he offered was 100,000.

As it turned out, among all the prices, his wasn't the lowest, but it wasn't high either.

He took on the project himself, without any middlemen. It's unlikely he'll earn 30,000 from each house, but if all goes well, he can earn 20,000 from each building. Once all 32 houses are built, he can earn 640,000.

This is definitely the project with the best profit potential that Shi Zhen has taken on so far.

The problem is that 32 houses need to be built, and some of them are jointly purchased by two families... so collecting money will be quite troublesome.

While keeping the exterior of the house unchanged, Shi Zhen offered three different apartment layouts for people to choose from.

His favorite layout was a well-ventilated apartment with three bedrooms, two living rooms, two bathrooms, and a kitchen. The Shi family listened to him and chose this layout.

However, everyone has different preferences, and many people chose the other two apartment types.

Honestly, because the road runs from south to north, the houses along the road are all oriented east to west. They're not exactly great, but the location is good. This will be one of the most bustling streets in Anshan Town in the future, with all kinds of shops lining both sides. The shop rents are very high, and even the town's kindergarten will move behind their houses.

Of course, traffic jams will happen frequently in the future.

There were four construction teams in total. While the other three teams were still negotiating with the homeowners, Shi Zhen had already written a contract based on his past experience and signed it with the people.

He also stated that as long as each household gives him 20,000 yuan, he will start work immediately upon receiving the money.

For this kind of project, the money is usually paid in installments.

People were more cautious at that time than when Shi Zhen did similar projects a few years later. Most people only dared to build houses when they had money in their hands.

So the first batch of money arrived quite quickly, and as soon as Shi Zhen received the money, the construction site started on time!

Meanwhile, the people of Guanjia Village finally learned that the Shi family was going to build a house in town—Shi Xing hadn't told them about it before, as the matter hadn't been finalized.