Chapter 111 He Pan's Sudden Proposal

As Molly strolled around the house with her six children in a pushcart, Li Xiaoju followed along, watching with a look of fascination.

"Panpan, how about we let your mom have such a cute little brother too?" Li Xiaoju really loved these children. They were chubby, fair-skinned, and their eyes were like grapes, round and black. She had never seen such cute children before.

Six of them came at once!

Molly is really amazing; no wonder she was able to marry into such a wealthy family!

Zhao Pan was also looking at her younger cousins. She nodded and said, "Panpan likes her younger brother too."

Mo He gently touched her belly, without saying whether she wanted a boy or a girl.

Molly looked at Mohe and said, "Big sister, you're too thin. You need to eat more; it'll be good for you and the baby."

Mo He nodded, "I know. Second sister, when will your shop open?"

She always felt uneasy when she was idle every day.

Molly wasn't oblivious to Mohe's anxiety; her intention was for Mohe to rest more, take good care of her health, and focus on her pregnancy. However, it seemed that if Mohe wasn't allowed to work, her anxiety and unease would persist and might even intensify, which would be more detrimental to her.

Molly: "I'll call and ask in a bit. If the renovations are done, let's open for business as soon as possible."

Grandma Ji and Grandpa Ji didn't return until the afternoon. The two elderly people looked exhausted, but they still went to greet Li Xiaoju and Mo He before returning to their own courtyard.

"Grandpa and Grandma don't look well. Are they feeling unwell?" Molly frowned, her face showing concern.

Grandpa Ji shook his head. "It's nothing."

Grandma Ji sighed, "Your eldest uncle is so worried that he has fallen ill."

In the past, seventy or eighty thousand wouldn't have mattered to the Ji family, but now, that's almost half of the eldest son's family's fortune. The eldest son is a strong-willed and competitive person who always wanted to surpass his younger brother. He had finally seen hope, but now this mess has happened.

Grandma Ji shook her head, wondering if he could let it go. If he couldn't—

"Doing business is inherently about gains and losses. As long as no one is hurt, there's always another chance." Grandpa Ji's eyes showed disappointment. "The eldest son's mentality isn't as good as it was when he was younger."

Molly, however, thought it might not be so. When she was young, she had her family to support her, so she was naturally more 'open-minded'.

"Is Uncle's illness serious?" Logically speaking, when an elder is sick, the younger generation should show up.

“It’s just a bout of anger, nothing serious, don’t worry about it.” After saying that, Grandpa Ji earnestly advised Molly, “Your cake shop will be opening in a few days. Don’t be like your uncle, if you lose money, so be it, don’t get upset. If the cake shop doesn’t succeed, we’ll try something else, we’ll figure it out slowly.”

Molly nodded. "I'll listen to Grandpa."

He Pan introduced Molly to a shop owner, a middle-aged man with a slender build, a pair of intelligent eyes that gleamed with shrewdness, and a sincere and approachable demeanor when he smiled.

“He’s been with me for many years. I’m lending him to you for a while. Once our factory is up and running, he’ll come back to help,” He Pan said.

Molly: "......."

I didn't expect him to still be thinking about the factory.

He Pan was in low spirits. "We don't have the technology. To put it nicely, we're importing advanced foreign technology, but in reality, it's all outdated technology that others have discarded. Even though it's outdated technology, we still have to pay a high price to beg them to sell it to us."

Molly fell silent, something she hadn't expected.

“This is temporary,” Molly stated, not to comfort He Pan, but to state the facts. “We will catch up soon, and we will surpass them soon.”

Her confident words made He Pan chuckle, "Sister-in-law, you're right."

Molly: "I'm telling the truth."

"Sister-in-law, let's build a university. I'll be in charge of recruiting people from abroad, you can have Fengzi get the land for us, and I'll pay for the school." He Pan thought it was feasible more and more.

Molly paused for a moment, then said, "Brother He, were you aware that I never went to school?"

“That’s even better. Someone who never went to school built a university that’s famous both at home and abroad. How inspiring! I’ve decided, you’ll be the principal. No one else can take the job.” He Pan quickly calculated his funds in his mind and secretly decided that if he didn’t have enough money, he would go and plead poverty with his uncles and elders abroad. It was time to get them to contribute money and effort to the country.

When Molly realized that He Pan wasn't joking, she felt a wave of dizziness. Could something as simple as starting a university be done so hastily?

Molly frowned during dinner.

"Molly, what happened? Why do you look so serious?" Grandma Ji asked with concern.

The others had also noticed Molly's expression long ago. It was the first time they had seen such an expression on Molly's face, and they all couldn't help but feel nervous, especially the three younger ones, Mo An, Lu Lu, and Mo Chuyang, who were so worried that they couldn't even eat.

“He Pan said he wanted to start a university and wanted me to be the principal,” Molly said.

Upon hearing this, the people at the table wondered if they had misheard.

After a long pause, Lu Lu asked, "Mom, what does it mean to be a school principal?"

Molly shook her head. "I don't know either."

Grandpa Ji was more concerned about, "What kind of university should we establish?"

Molly shook her head again. "He Pan didn't mention this either. He mentioned setting up a factory, and that we would have to spend a lot of money to buy outdated technology from others. He felt upset about it, so he casually mentioned wanting to set up a university."

Grandpa Ji looked pleased. "That child has a good idea. But it's not an easy thing. Do you have teachers? Can you get the necessary qualifications? There are a lot of things involved, much more troublesome than setting up a factory."

Molly nodded repeatedly, "It's not easy at all."

She even felt that He Pan was being a bit delusional.

“But Grandpa thinks it’s worth a try.” Grandpa Ji smiled. “You can take your time to consider it.”

After dinner, Mo An, Lu Lu, and Mo Chuyang went back to their room with Mo Li.

"Second sister, I want to go abroad," Mo An suddenly said.

Molly was stunned. "You're not going to take the military academy entrance exam? You're not going to join the army?"

Mo An touched her nose and smiled, "But I'd rather follow you, sister. I'll study abroad and come back to be your teacher."

"I'm not sure if my school will even be able to open." Molly herself wasn't sure.

"That's alright. I'll help you open it when I get back." Mo An straightened his back. "I'll go abroad to learn technical skills and recruit people for you, sister."

Molly's nose stung with tears. She had only mentioned it casually, yet Mo An had changed his life plans. This sentiment felt so heavy it was almost suffocating. But the boy's gaze was intense and unwavering, and she suddenly didn't want to refuse.

“Okay, I’ll go study abroad,” Molly said.

"Mom, I want to go too." Lu Lu clenched his fist.

“Me too, Mom,” Mo Chuyang retorted.

Molly's eyes welled up with tears. "Have you thought it all through?"

"We've thought it all out!" the three children said in unison.

"It will be tough and tiring, and you might even get bullied. Aren't you afraid?" Molly was reluctant to let them go.

"Don't worry, we will definitely not let Mom down." A loud voice echoed in the room.

Molly held back her tears. "Okay, Mom will take you to meet someone tomorrow."

Wu Guyu was somewhat surprised when he heard that Molly was looking for him.

He was even more surprised when he learned of Molly's purpose for coming, and was so shocked that he couldn't speak for a long time.

His eyes were slightly moist as he patted the three children on the shoulders in turn, saying, "You are all good children."

He then looked at Molly with a serious expression, "I'll call He Pan first. I need to confirm something with him."

Molly naturally had no objections and waited patiently with the three children.

Wu Guyu made the call in front of them. During the call, she also mentioned how much money He Pan could contribute to set up the school. He Pan gave a rough figure, saying that he would give two million yuan upfront and continue to add more later.

The money was already prepared, which shows that He Pan wasn't joking.

“I’ll put up a million,” Molly said. Although she didn’t have a million left, there was a daily income from Hong Kong. She would invest a portion initially and add more later.

"Can you come up with a million?" Wu Guyu himself couldn't even come up with 100,000, but wasn't Molly a country girl? Where would she get the money?

“Yes,” Molly affirmed. “Ji Hefeng has business in Hong Kong.”

Wu Guyu paused for a moment, then smiled, "As expected of him, when it comes to shrewdness, none of us can compare to him."

“Those businesses are now in my name,” Molly added.

Wu Guyu wasn't surprised at all. "Given his current status, it's indeed not suitable for him to do those things. How about this, I'll contribute 80,000 yuan to support your school. I'll also handle the arrangements for the three children to go abroad. Once the school is built, I'll help you find teachers."

"Do you also think starting a school is feasible?" Molly was unsure.

Wu Guyu smiled, "It's all about human effort. Let's all work together. These three children can stay home from school for a while and come to me every day. I'll personally teach them."

Molly was overjoyed. "That would be perfect. I'll bring them over first thing every morning. I just don't know if it will bother you."

“No problem. Even if I’m busy, my wife can teach them.” Wu Guyu smiled. “Such good kids deserve our attention. It’s a pity your six are too young, otherwise we could send them all here. Their father went to university at fifteen, so they will surely surpass him. They can go to university at twelve without any problem.”

Molly: "...Your expectations of them are a bit too high."

On the day the cake shop opened, none of the three of them, including Mo An, were present, let alone come to the cake shop to "learn the ropes".

Mo He was heavily pregnant, and Molly was worried that she would be bumped into, so she let her sit at the cashier's counter.

Molly lit a string of firecrackers, and a cake shop called "Sweet" opened for business. There was no one shouting, not even a greeter. Molly was tasting various cakes and breads, being introduced by the shop manager, Shen Yu. She had been too busy lately; Shen Yu had practically taken over all the shop's affairs, and she didn't even know what kinds and flavors of cakes and bread the shop would sell.

After trying them all, Molly found them all delicious and couldn't tell which one was better.

Mohe, behind the counter, was diligently memorizing the prices of all kinds of cakes without even looking up.

On the first day of the new store's opening, it seemed that no one was worried about not having any customers.

In Shen Yu's words, "There's a lot of foot traffic nearby, and there's only one cake shop. Master Zhang's skills are excellent, so it would be a miracle if business wasn't good."