"That's what I think too. It will be a great help to you in the future, and besides, Old Zheng is her defeated opponent."

Zhang Shouyi thought to himself, "This silly girl, they're afraid you'll steal their grandson-in-law."

The two played two more rounds. Looking at the energetic Zhang Hongmei, Zhang Shouyi felt that this girl was essentially competitive.

"Brother Zhang, do you think I'll get into trouble?" Zhang Hongmei thought about the shaved head, the pointed hat, and being paraded through the streets, and her body trembled.

Zhang Shouyi finally understood why the girl was so timid; it turned out she knew about what happened in her past life, which was why she was afraid.

Zhang Shouyi stood up, his long legs sweeping across the chessboard, and sat down next to Zhang Hongmei. He picked her up and scooped her up on his lap.

"Don't overthink it. I'm here for you. How can I not give you a sense of security after all my hard work? How can I not protect you? No one, no one can hurt you. Even if it's just for a moment, I will make them pay for it for a lifetime."

Zhang Hongmei only thought of historical pictures she had seen before; she hadn't experienced them herself, so she didn't have any profound understanding.

"Let me go! I'm not a child, am I? Do you think I'm taking advantage of you?" Zhang Hongmei slid off Zhang Shouyi's lap and glared at him.

"Hehe, isn't this just to give you a sense of security? Why aren't you grateful?"

Zhang Hongmei rolled her eyes. That old fox.

"I'm just a little scared. The school is pretty peaceful now. Besides, do you think I'm easy to bully?"

"Yes, yes, you're amazing. My Hongmei isn't someone anyone can bully. Remember, no matter how much trouble you get into, I'll protect you."

"Hehe, this sounds like a protective parent telling their child not to be a coward and not to get bullied."

Zhang Shouyi's face darkened. This infuriating girl! If she were older, he would never let her off the hook.

Zhang Shouyi calmed himself down, feeling both annoyed and amused by the clueless girl.

"Brother Zhang, let's stop playing. It's almost ten o'clock. Do you have to go to work tomorrow?"

"Come on, Hongmei, will you come back to the compound with me? That way I can see you every day." It's really inconvenient for me to live outside; there are at least ten people on duty outside in shifts. It's too much trouble.

"No, it's like being in prison, and besides, going to and from school every day is too much trouble."

"I'll pick you up Friday night and bring you back Sunday night."

"No, there's no freedom. I'd like to take a stroll on the beach during my holiday."

"Then I'll pick you up on Friday, and if you want to come back on Saturday, I'll take you back?"

"Too much trouble."

Zhang Shouyi thought to himself, "How could I possibly cause any trouble?" "Pity me, I'm all alone. My dad went to the border, and I'm all alone at home," Zhang Shouyi said pitifully.

"Okay, okay! I'll cook for you every Friday."

Zhang Shouyi smiled, a satisfied smile.

Zhang Shouyi left before dawn the next day. Zhang Hongmei felt sorry for him for a second, then went back to sleep.

But my biological clock is already set, and I can't just fall asleep whenever I want. Frustrated, I got up and thought, "Fine, I'll just go run a couple of laps on the school track."

Liu Jingze was startled to see Zhang Hongmei running, and followed her pace. "Hongmei, why are you up so early?"

“Jingze, you’re up early too. I stayed at Xinyuan yesterday. I woke up and had nothing to do, so I got up and went for a run to get some exercise.”

"Yeah, I'm fine too. Are you coming to school this afternoon?"

"Okay, let's finalize the printing of the study newspaper. Jingze, go ahead and do your work. I'll head back in a bit. Shall we go over for lunch early?"

"No need, we have a gathering at noon. I have to attend."

After running two laps, Zhang Hongmei felt her whole body stretch and felt incredibly comfortable.

"Brother Jingze, I'm going back." Zhang Hongmei walked away gracefully, but the people behind her stared at her back for a long time.

When I got home, I carried a thermos as a cover-up.

I took a comfortable shower in the room, changed my clothes, and then went to have breakfast.

"Aunt Li, where's Uncle Li?"

“He went to buy groceries, knowing you don’t like eating only meat. So he rode his bike to the countryside to buy groceries.”

"Hehe, that's great. You go ahead with your work, I'll go to the building to buy some stationery."

Zhang Hongmei only bought a few bottles of fountain pen ink, more than ten notebooks, and a lot of blank paper before going home.

The rest of the time was spent reading and organizing notes. Afterwards, I took out a blank sheet of paper and wrote down a math problem.

Feeling it wasn't enough, I made up another one, and finally wrote down the answers. Looking at the three math papers, I felt that this first attempt should be a success.

"Hongmei, dinner's ready," Aunt Li reminded Zhang Hongmei from outside the study.

Lunch was quite good: steamed buns with dried cabbage and pork.

"Sigh! Your Uncle Li went to the countryside and thought the farmers here would have a better life than those elsewhere, but it turns out they're all the same."

"Don't worry, Aunt Li, you'll see that this year's wheat harvest is sure to be bountiful, and life will get better."

"Yes, life is something we make, and it will definitely get better and better."

"Yes, this gives us hope."

"That's right. But it will take at least three more years to recover."

Zhang Hongmei was impressed by this rural woman; she hadn't expected her to have such insight.

After finishing her meal, Zhang Hongmei packed her things and put four vegetable buns in Liu Jingze's lunchbox for him to eat that evening. Luckily, he was just a fellow villager; otherwise, cooking alone would have been exhausting.

There were already several people in the office when she entered. Yu Hongxia saw Zhang Hongmei come in and came over excitedly.

"Vice Chairman, my uncle came to see me this morning, urging me to deliver the goods when?"

"Hehe, it's okay. We'll make the final decision today. I'll go deliver the money and sign the contract this afternoon."

At this moment, Hao Dan also came in with a big smile. "Vice Chairman, it's settled. My family helped me draft a contract. Please take a look."

Then they all arrived one after another. Zhang Hongmei also finished reading the contract and thought it was particularly feasible.

"Everyone is here. Both of our projects today are final decisions. Yu, you'll still be in charge of taking meeting minutes. From now on, this task will be yours whenever we have a meeting."

"Yes, Vice Chairman."

"First, there was the matter of the garment factory. After the meeting, Cheng Guangxu and I went to the garment factory together."

At this moment, Shan Mianzhi knocked on the door and came in, followed by Liu Jingze and Liu Jingzhang.

“Vice Chairman, I’m sorry to bother you. I’ve come to get the shareholding agreement and the share capital. You can also reserve ten slots for your finance department.”

Liu Jingzhang: "Those of you who have invested, come over quickly to sign the contract and pay the money."

Zhang Hongmei rolled her eyes inwardly; they really know how to pick their time.

"Cheng Guangxu, do you want to invest?" Zhang Hongmei asked the math whiz next to her.

"Yes, yes, I always carry money with me."

"Okay, you go first. Then go to the school's accounting office and see if you can get the money today. If not, come back on Monday to get it done."