Chapter 35 Chapter 35 New Business Opportunities

Even though Liu Mianmian had never seen her before, she could guess that the girl in front of her should be Jiang Yingxue, the heroine of the original book.

Glancing at her resentful eyes, Liu Mianmian inexplicably had the illusion that she was an unforgivable criminal who broke up lovers. She thought to herself, in the original book, wasn't this heroine described as a heroine who dared to love and hate and had outstanding abilities? Why did she look a little strange now?

On second thought, in the original novel, Shen Weihong was a scientist with excellent character and ability. Isn't he a scheming villain in this world? And then there's the original protagonist's well-educated and polite mother, and the calm and capable father... Liu Mianmian thought back to Wu Shuhua and Shen Wenshan and thought, forget it, who knows which idiot wrote that book.

No matter what, it was a bit awkward for her, the current nominal wife, to stand aside when the old lovers met.

Liu Mianmian hummed silently in her heart, "I should be under the car, not in the car", turned around, and prepared to walk away and not be a 250-watt light bulb.

As a result, she had just taken a small step when her wrist felt tight and Shen Weizhou grabbed her, "Where are you going?"

Liu Mianmian turned her head to look at him: "Ah, you, don't you want to...?" Don't you want to chat?

Shen Weizhuo stared at her with his dark eyes. There seemed to be a fire in his usually deep eyes. Liu Mianmian was so glared at that she couldn't continue speaking. She pursed her lips and stopped.

Fine, since he himself felt it was unnecessary, she didn't have to be so "considerate".

"Brother Weizhou, I went to Guangzhou and heard when I came back..." Watching the interaction between the two, Jiang Yingxue clenched her fists and gave a sad smile. "I didn't expect you... I wish you all the best."

Shen Weizhou frowned and said, "You are going to look for Shen Weihong, right? Hurry up, or you won't be able to see him if you're late."

Jiang Yingxue's smile froze on her face, and she looked bewildered: "Ah, what happened to Weihong?"

Shen Weizhou didn't answer, but dragged Liu Mianmian's hand and walked away. Jiang Yingxue reacted, chased after him for a few steps, and asked loudly: "Brother Weizhou, I'll go to Qiuzhi Lane to see you another day."

Shen Weizhou didn't even turn his head: "I'm not familiar with you, so there's no need."

Liu Mianmian: “…”

She couldn't help but look at Shen Weizhuo, and then looked at Shen Weizhuo again.

What Shen Weizhuo has is not white moonlight at all, it is clearly frost on the ground, the kind that is frozen hard.

It was not until Shen Weizhuo dragged her all the way to the bus stop that Liu Mianmian realized that he had been holding her wrist tightly.

His fingers were long and his palms were twice as big as hers. He held her wrist like a chicken, with incredible ease.

Liu Mianmian felt that she didn't walk all the way here, but more like she was dragged here by him. She couldn't help but look at him. He was thin... still thin, but seemed to be a little fatter than when she first came here. In short, she didn't expect that he looked so thin, but he was so strong.

"Let me go, my wrist must be red from your pulling." Liu Mianmian felt a little uncomfortable and wanted to break free from his hand, but Shen Weizhuo seemed to have taken the wrong medicine today. No matter how she struggled, he refused to let go.

And he said confidently: "There will be a lot of people on the bus later."

What's wrong with a lot of people? Are you afraid that I'll get lost even if there are so many people? Liu Mianmian complained in her heart, but her hands stopped struggling.

"That person just now was Shen Weihong's classmate." Shen Weizhou suddenly said, "When I was about ten years old, my parents were sent down to the countryside because of my grandmother's problems. My sister was still young at the time, and I was in poor health, so they had no choice but to send me to the military district. I lived in the military district compound for a few years, and I have some impression of people around my age, but I'm not familiar with them."

Liu Mianmian frowned: "Living with which family?"

Shen Weizhou glanced at her, a hint of smile in his eyes. He thought for a moment, and his tone suddenly became a little gloomy: "Yes, live with that family."

"Everyone in that family is so cunning. They must be very considerate of you in front of the old man, but they will make things difficult for you the next time they turn around, right? You are only ten years old and in poor health. You..." How difficult it must be for a ten-year-old child to live with that family who are sweet on the outside but miserable on the inside! The image of the skinny and miserable little boy emerged in Liu Mianmian's mind, and she felt very distressed.

Until something felt wrong.

She looked up at Shen Weizhou and saw the smile on his lips. She was immediately furious: "Are you lying?"

Shen Weizhou smiled and said, "I'm not lying. I really live with that family." He paused and continued, "But Aunt Liu was worried about me, so she asked Grandpa to come over and be a nanny. She comes over for three meals a day."

If Aunt Liu's own children were not young at that time and her family conditions were not poor, she would rather take Shen Weizhuo back to her own home.

During that time, Aunt Liu often muttered behind people's backs, "What should we do now that Xiaozhou has fallen into this den of tigers and wolves?" Shen Weizhuo actually heard it all secretly.

But in fact, Shen Weihong and Shen Feifei, brother and sister, Shen Weizhou really didn't care much. At first, they were trying to be clever and wanted to unite with other children in the compound to bully Shen Weizhou, but after being disciplined by Shen Weizhou a few times, they dared not do anything tricky again.

Shen Wenshan and Wu Shuhua were still young at that time and not as cunning as they are now. In addition, they were both very concerned about their reputation and would not easily fall out with others. Therefore, Shen Weizhuo did not suffer much at their hands.

As for Fang Meiyu... Shen Weizhuo frowned and temporarily suppressed his thoughts.

Soon the bus arrived. There were not many people on the bus, so the two of them found an empty seat and sat down.

Shen Weizhuo finally let go of his hand. Liu Mianmian sat by the window and rubbed her wrist uncomfortably. Before Shen Weizhuo looked over, she retracted her hand and turned to look out the window.

Shen Weizhuo looked at her small, red ears and rubbed his fingers subconsciously.

On the other side, Jiang Yingxue entered the Shen family's small red building.

Mr. Shen and Fang Meiyu were not in the living room, leaving only the family of four, each looking uglier than the other.

Seeing Jiang Yingxue, Shen Wenshan simply nodded: "Yingxue is here."

He later investigated the fertilizer plant incident and discovered that it also involved Jiang Yingxue. He knew his son had feelings for her, but he wasn't entirely happy about Jiang Yingxue, an orphan who'd lost both her parents and was fostered in the Hou family, wanting to be his daughter-in-law. Now that the fertilizer plant incident had come up, he was even more unhappy.

I just don’t know how this little girl caught his mother’s eye, but his mother actually likes her quite a bit.

Jiang Yingxue looked at Shen Weihong, who lowered his head and said nothing, and forced a smile: "Uncle and aunt, I have something I want to talk to Weihong about."

Shen Wenshan and Wu Shuhua looked at each other, then stood up. Wu Shuhua smiled and said, "You young people, chat."

When the two walked out of the living room, they called Shen Feifei away as well.

Shen Feifei was so shocked by the series of mishaps that she couldn't recover. She followed her parents back to the bedroom and murmured, "Dad, Mom, is what Grandpa said true? He was just saying it in anger, right?"

Shen Wenshan said nothing, lit a cigarette, sat in front of the desk and took two puffs silently.

Wu Shuhua felt exhausted. She held her daughter's hand and said, "With your grandfather's temper, would he say anything in anger? He did say that he had already informed the school and the Northwest. I'm afraid your brother will have no choice but to go to the Northwest."

"As for your father's demobilization," she paused, "I'm afraid he's been thinking about it since the news of the large-scale military downsizing came out."

The old man is upright and stubborn. When the top leader proposed a large-scale military reduction, the pressure and resistance in the army were very great. Given the old man's character, he would definitely take the lead and set an example at this time.

Don’t even think about what era it is now.

"So, we really have to move out of the Little Red Building?"

"It's just a matter of time."

Shen Feifei suddenly became dispirited.

Living in the Little Red Building was the thing she was most proud of since she was a child. Of course, because of living in the Little Red Building, she also received a lot of preferential treatment and admiration at school. Shen Feifei couldn't imagine what would happen if her classmates and friends knew that she no longer lived in the Little Red Building.

"How could this happen? How could this happen? Wuu ...

In the living room, Jiang Yingxue was also stunned by the news one after another.

"Are you going to the northwest?" She suddenly realized what Brother Weizhou meant when he said that they would not be able to see each other if they were late.

Uncle Shen wants to retire, and Grandpa Shen wants to return the Little Red Building to the army. In this way, the Shen family is almost withdrawing from the military and political circles of Nancheng. Once they are away from the core of power, they will be marginalized within a few years.

Shen Weihong rubbed his face, looked up at Jiang Yingxue, and mustered up the courage to ask, "Yingxue, are you willing to go to the northwest with me? Don't worry, I won't stay in the northwest forever. I am confident that within five years, no, within three years, I can bring you back to South City."

Jiang Yingxue didn't dare meet his gaze. She lowered her eyes to look at her fingers resting on her knees. Her voice was gentle but clear: "Weihong, right now is the time when the whole country is catching up with the economic tide. I just got the news that there's a problem at the garment factory warehouse. A batch of fabrics has become damp and spotted. They're going to sell it off at a very low price. As long as I can get this batch of fabrics, I'll be able to save enough capital."

Shen Weihong opened his mouth for a moment before asking, "Is it just because of the fabric, not because of... my brother?"

Jiang Yingxue clenched her fingers and shook her head: "No, your brother is already married. Besides, there's nothing between him and me."

Thinking of Shen Weizhou's aloof look not long ago, Jiang Yingxue blinked and a tear fell on the back of her hand.

She thought that Brother Weizhou was just like that, always cold and rude to everyone, but just now, the way he looked at that woman... She could hardly believe that the person was Shen Weizhou, and that Shen Weizhou would actually look at someone with such gentle eyes.

Shen Weihong stared at her blankly, then hummed after a moment and asked, "How much does the fabric for the garment factory cost?"

He lost all the money Jiang Yingxue gave him last time. He knew that that money should be all that Jiang Yingxue had left, and she probably didn't have much money left.

"At least two thousand yuan." Jiang Yingxue said.

"Well, I'll think of a solution in the next two days," said Shen Weihong.

Back in Qiuzhi Lane, Liu Mianmian happily shared the bustle in the military industrial compound with Aunt Liu and Shen Weiyun.

After hearing about Mr. Shen's arrangements for the family, even Aunt Liu, who usually grumbled about the old man, said that Shen Zhibang was indeed a man.

Shen Weiyun also sighed: "Chen Feifei is proud of the fact that her family lives in the Little Red Building at school. I wonder if those people around her will continue to flatter her." In fact, many people in their school are military families, and Shen Feifei's family is not the only one living in the Little Red Building. But she loves to show off, so she made it known to everyone.

After chatting about gossip for a while, the three of them started discussing what to eat for lunch.

Aunt Liu said that she had snatched a little rooster from the educated youth vegetable market this morning. Liu Mianmian swallowed her saliva and said that she really missed the fried chicken in the future!

Kaifeng cuisine didn't enter China until 1987, and even then, the restaurants were opened in the capital. It was really too much to travel thousands of miles to the capital just to eat fried chicken.

In order to satisfy her appetite in the next few years, Liu Mianmian decided to persuade Aunt Liu to make fried chicken.

Anyway, the main ingredients are starch, flour, baking soda, white pepper, eggs, etc. Most seasonings are available at home, and those that are not available can be found in Western restaurants.

At noon, Aunt Liu simply made a mixed noodle dish, with thinly shredded carrots, cucumbers, and eggs, and stir-fried minced meat with fried sauce. It tasted rich yet refreshing and not greasy.

By mid-afternoon, Aunt Liu chopped the little rooster into chicken nuggets according to Liu Mianmian's request, and prepared the coating and marinade herself. She marinated the chicken for a while before frying the nuggets.

The aroma of fried chicken attracted Shen Weizhuo and his son who were working in the study, and Yu Wan who was resting in the bedroom.

Shen Weiyun ate a piece with a hissing laugh and immediately raised his arms and shouted, "Delicious, delicious, so delicious! Dad, Mom, and Big Brother, come and eat!"

Yu Wan took a small piece and tasted it: "It's crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, really good. The flour layer on the outside is also delicious, crispy and fragrant."

Shen Bokang nodded as he ate. "Well, this way of eating is quite fresh. It's a bit like Western food. Did Mianmian learn this in a Western restaurant?"

Liu Mianmian responded vaguely, thinking that our restaurant mainly serves steak and extremely hard bread, and we don’t have down-to-earth food like fried chicken and fried pork chops. But to be honest, these things should have a much wider audience than steak and bread.

"Oh, this is so delicious. When my two monkeys come back, I will make it like this for them," said Aunt Liu.

"Are they both coming back?" Liu Mianmian asked. She knew the old couple had been discussing this matter recently, but she didn't know the outcome. She had originally thought they would let their youngest son transfer to a new job, but she didn't expect them to let both of them come back?

"Shen Wenshan has already been demobilized, so my two family members must be demobilized as well. We've discussed it and decided that they have to be demobilized sooner or later. Oh, so why not do it sooner?" Aunt Liu was also very open-minded. "When their leader saw that they took the initiative to demobilize, he said he would find a way to get them back to South City."

Liu Mianmian was also happy for her. A mother worries when her child is away from home. It would be great if she could return to South City. "That's great."

At this time, someone knocked on the door. Uncle Wang, who had secretly poured a bowl of wine at some point, happily went to open the door with the bowl in his hand.

"Oh, it smells so good."

The person who came was Xu Haitang, who had not been seen for a long time. It was because of Liu Mianmian's words "there is a thief" that Uncle Wang and his men arrested Zhu Yongqi. Because of the commotion caused by them, Xu Haitang checked her dowry and discovered that her gold and silver jewelry had been stolen. Later, she and her mother Aunt Luo came to No. 9 Courtyard to thank Liu Mianmian.

Both mother and daughter were very nice. Liu Mianmian had a good impression of them. After receiving their gifts, she had been thinking about giving them a gift in return. A few days ago, the Yu family sent some more things over. Liu Mianmian took some mushrooms, wild vegetables, and some canned food, snacks, etc., and sent them to Maoer Hutong.

But she happened to be back to her parents' home that day, so the two of them didn't meet.

Seeing her carrying something, Liu Mianmian sighed helplessly and said, "My relatives in the countryside sent some dry goods over. I thought they were good, so I gave them to you. Are you coming to return the favor again?"

Xu Haitang smiled shyly and said, "I didn't buy this on purpose. There was a problem in our factory's warehouse. A batch of fabrics got moldy and spotted. The factory processed some of it internally. It didn't cost much. I was just afraid you would dislike it..."

Liu Mianmian stuffed a bowl into her hand, which contained three golden nuggets of chicken: "Eat it first, while it's hot, it's delicious."

He took the bag from Xu Haitang and took out a piece of cloth to take a look: "The mildew spots are indeed quite obvious."

Without waiting for Xu Haitang to say anything, she suddenly asked with sparkling eyes, "Does your factory still have a lot of this kind of fabric? You've processed some of it internally, but do you have some left to process externally? Who should I contact if I want to buy some?"

Xu Haitang originally thought she disliked the strong mildew stains on the fabric, but she didn't know that she wanted to buy it herself: "...Sure, if it's not too much, I can buy it for you."

Liu Mianmian smiled: "What if there are more?"

Xu Haitang: "...I, I can help you too."