It would be best if she didn't have to go back to her hometown. Shu Yan first told her aunt that she wouldn't be going back, and then immediately called Fang Zeyu.

"Thankfully he's alright, so I don't have to go back. I've already told my cousin to give him 1,000 yuan so he can eat or buy whatever he wants." Of course, the rest will be shared by the three sons: building houses, helping them get married, raising children, and paying for medical expenses.

"It's good that you're alright." A pang of regret flashed through Fang Zeyu's mind, but he immediately realized that he shouldn't have thought that way.

After hanging up the phone, Shu Yan put the clothes she had packed back. Although she disliked the original owner's parents for favoring boys over girls, he was still the original owner's father, and she still hoped that he could live a healthy life.

Another day passed in this way. The next day, Shu Yan rushed to the company, and Hu Ruixue asked her, "The company held a Lantern Festival party yesterday. Why didn't you come? The performances were wonderful, and there were many big prizes. It was a real pity that you didn't come."

"Don't even mention it. My dad fell off the roof while trying to get some tiles. He was in the hospital for four or five hours. I was even packing up to go home when my cousin told me he was saved, so I didn't leave." Shu Yan rubbed her temples, looking somewhat tired.

"Are you alright? Honestly, why didn't you call and tell me if we should transfer to Nancheng for treatment? After all, the hospitals here are more advanced," Hu Ruixue asked with concern.

"No. If it's really serious and requires treatment at a major hospital, I'll ask my cousin to help send me to a big hospital in Beijing. I'll pay for whatever it costs. The important thing is that they absolutely can't know I'm here. What will my child and I do then?" As for paying for everything, that's impossible. She's not that saintly. Her parents are practically begging to be ripped off, and she's offering them that. Not counting her second sister, none of her three brothers can escape either. If it's 10,000, she'll pay 2,500 each; if it's 20,000, she'll pay 5,000 each.

Hu Ruixue slapped her forehead, only then remembering what Shu Yan had said during the housewarming party: her parents were extremely sexist. "Your parents are really pitiful, yet there's no way to feel sorry for them."

"Let's not talk about them anymore. Didn't you say the day before yesterday that Duoduo wanted to drink the sweet soup I made? I cooked a big pot this morning, and you can have the driver take it back later." Shu Yan didn't want to mention the messy things that happened in the original owner's family at all.

"Then I'll thank Duoduo's godmother on her behalf."

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Hu Ruixue brought her children to Shu Yan's house to pay New Year's respects. Hu Ruixue noticed that Duoduo was particularly quiet when she stayed with Shu Yan, in a very comfortable way. She also didn't seem to be particularly resistant to Jingjing and Tianbao. Hu Ruixue then asked Shu Yan to recognize her as her godmother, and Shu Yan's two children also recognized Hu Ruixue as their godmother.

Originally, Hu Ruixue had said she wanted to hold a banquet, but Shu Yan refused. Although she was friends with Hu Ruixue, she didn't really like her brother Hu Ruiyang, and she didn't really want to get to know Hu Ruixue's parents either.

Hu Ruixue respected her choice; there would be plenty of time in the future, and they would always have a chance to meet.

The company's affairs are neither too many nor too few, and Hu Ruixue manages most of them.

The second batch of 100 franchisees were opened, and there are now 62 franchise stores. Many others are still observing. The rapid growth of franchise stores means that the company's production capacity must be increased as soon as possible. If each store sells 100 pieces of clothing, then 100 stores would need 10,000 pieces, not to mention that it is far more than 100 pieces.

Importantly, Shu Yan thought that with spring approaching, orders for thermal underwear would decrease, but instead they increased. This was because someone had opened up a route to Russia, and large quantities of fleece-lined thermal underwear were being sold there, where they were said to be very popular.

Today, Hu Ruixue wanted to talk to Shu Yan about buying a piece of land to build a factory.

Do we have that much money?

Shu Yan was naturally tempted. Many areas in Nancheng are still in the suburbs, and land prices are not particularly high. If they could acquire these properties, their future returns would undoubtedly be enormous.

"Are you crazy? Using bank money?" Who would use their own money to buy land? With their company's current size and reputation, they don't even need to go to the bank. The bank people have already come knocking on their door. "Since we opened on the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, do you know how many banks have come to us? Seven of them, all the ones we can name, just wanting us to take out a loan. If we apply now, we're guaranteed to get approved."

"The amount of money spent on land purchases is substantial." How could the bank approve such a large sum?

“Of course I can. I’ll bid for the land first, and then use it as collateral. How could the bank not approve it?” Hu Ruixue said confidently.

"The problem is that you take the land first and then pay, can the government..." Shu Yan realized that as long as she could pull some strings, why not? As long as GTZYJ could receive the money, it wouldn't matter if it was delayed for a day or two. And with such a large company here, the bank wouldn't be worried about Hu Ruixue not being able to repay, and it would definitely approve the loan very quickly.

Shu Yan didn't quite understand the specifics of the procedure, but since Hu Ruixue said so, she was sure she could do it, and listening to her was always the right thing to do.

"Have you decided on a location yet?" She could help with that. Although they were different worlds, the general direction of development was the same. They could choose a place that would become very prosperous in the future. If the area was to be demolished, the government would definitely choose a piece of land for them to build a factory, given their large tract of land, and there would also be huge compensation.

"This is what I wanted to tell you too." Hu Ruixue took out a map, opened it, and pointed to the places circled in red. "These are the ones I carefully selected. Take a look and see what you think. If you're not satisfied, we can choose another one."

She drew four circles in total. After seeing them, Shu Yan couldn't help but admire Hu Ruixue. Some people are just born with a good eye. The places she chose will become very prosperous places in the future.

"So? Which place do you think is better?" Hu Ruixue asked with a confident smile, believing that Shu Yan would definitely like the place she had chosen.

"I think any of these places is great. If I had the money, I would really like to take over all four of them." Shu Yan's eyes lit up.

“Great minds think alike. See this place? A large logistics hub will be built here. If our factory is located next to it, shipping will be much easier in the future, and we'll save a lot on transportation costs.” Hu Ruixue poked at one of the circles.

"Logistics?" Well, I overestimated Hu Ruixue just now. Having good judgment is one thing, but having access to information channels is the most important.

“That’s right. Last year, the country planned to establish its own logistics system and set up two pilot sites in Nancheng and Yangcheng. Our Nancheng site was chosen, but finding land in the surrounding area will be difficult. There are many interested parties, so it will take some effort to secure it.” Hu Ruixue stroked her chin. “The other three locations are also good. Although they are a bit remote, they have the advantage of being large. I think if we’re going to build one, we should build a large factory, one that won’t need to be expanded for at least five years.”

Who can say for sure? In the next few years, the country will experience rapid development, and they will naturally follow suit. Perhaps they won't have enough space? Of course, that would be the best-case scenario. If they really run out of factory space, it just means their business is booming.

Anyway, it doesn't matter which piece of land it is; we'll take whichever one we can get.

"I understand," Hu Ruixue nodded.

Shu Yan had a meeting in the morning, and since there wasn't much else to do, she went back to her shop. As soon as she entered, she noticed that Zhang Huaxiu and Yingying didn't seem very happy, especially Yingying, who was turned to the side, though her eyes were clearly red and swollen.

"What happened?" Shu Yan walked closer and saw that Yingying's other face was slightly swollen, and there were bruises on the corners of her mouth and eyes, clearly indicating that she had been hit.

"What happened? Who hit you?" Shu Yan pulled her hand and looked closely at her face. Her eyes were bloodshot. How badly was she hit?

"Boss lady, my dad... wants me to marry a cripple. Just because he can afford the 50,000 yuan dowry, he's going to sell me. I disagreed, and he beat me. He even locked me up and wouldn't let me come to work. I lied to my mom and said I agreed, and that's how he let me go out for breakfast. I ran away while she was at work. How could he do this? How could he sell me for my brother? Am I even his biological child?" Yingying couldn't help but cry when she saw Shuyan.

"Don't cry, tell me slowly what happened." Shu Yan pulled her to sit down and asked Zhang Huaxiu to pour her a glass of water.

“My brother is getting married, and the bride’s family says I have to have a house. They asked me to give them 10,000 yuan before, but I told them I didn’t have any and I would give them 150 yuan a month. My parents haven’t said anything to me for the past two months, which I found strange. But then they started spreading the word that whoever can afford the bride price, regardless of height, weight, or age, will marry me off to them,” Yingying said, sobbing.

"They're so biased!" Zhang Huaxiu poured her a glass of water, furious. "You absolutely can't agree to this. It's a new society now, free love. There's no such thing as arranged marriages."

“They don’t care about that. They just think that they raised me all these years and then sold me to pay for their brother’s wedding.” Yingying sobbed a few times and said to Shuyan, “Boss, can I sleep on the floor in the shop for the next few days? I dare not go back to that home, and I can’t go back.”

"That's no problem, but it's not safe for a girl like you to live here alone. Why don't you stay at my place for now? You can commute to work with Xiuxiu. As for your parents? Yingying, as someone who's been through this, I have to tell you, you can't let your parents do whatever they want. If you don't stand up for yourself, they'll keep pressuring you. Being filial to your parents doesn't mean sacrificing yourself. Your parents are still young. Live your own life well, and when you have money and ability, and they're old, it'll be enough for you to be filial to them." Shuyan genuinely hoped that this girl, who had a similar experience to the original owner, would be alright.

"I...I will not marry that cripple, I would rather die than marry him."

Her house has three rooms in total, or four if you include the one her aunt lives in. There wouldn't be enough room for Yingying, so Shuyan let her sleep in Jingjing's room, while Jingjing slept with her.

"Aunt Yingying will stay at our house for the next few days. She can sleep in your room first, and you can sleep with Mom, okay?"

Before Jingjing could even nod, Tianbao called out from the side, "Mommy, my room is for Aunt Yingying, I want to sleep with you."

"No, Tianbao is a little man and needs to sleep by himself. Besides, boys' and girls' rooms are different, you know?"

Since there were no male elders in the family, Shu Yan tried her best to instill the idea that men and women are different, especially Tianbao. Shu Yan consciously encouraged him to be more independent so that he wouldn't become too dependent on her and end up as a mama's boy, which was not what she wanted to see.

"Thank you, ma'am."

"Don't think about it too much, go to sleep," Shu Yan said softly.

The next day, when the three of them went to work at the store, they saw several people gathered at the door. Just as Shu Yan was about to go over, Ying Ying pulled her back and whispered, "Those are my parents."

Just as Shu Yan was about to say something, Yingying's parents rushed over.