"Why are you still arguing with me? Didn't I get enough criticism just now?" Shen Xiuzhu said dejectedly.

"I don't think that's enough. If you're truly repentant, you should be working on the design drafts now, instead of going against Deputy Factory Director Shen's wishes." Lin Xiaoyu was someone Shen Mingzhi had trained; how could she possibly help him?

Shen Xiuzhu thought she was right. If he didn't finish the design soon, Shen Mingzhi would beat him to death.

"Hurry up, this new product is very important to our factory," Lin Xiaoyu urged him.

Shen Xiuzhu waved his hand, "I know, I'll go to a big department store to look at European and American products for inspiration."

After he finished speaking, he left with the paper and pen.

Lin Xiaoyu was very anxious... Could it be that they went out to play again?

But she still has to process order forms, so she can't leave at all.

Shen Xiuzhu didn't give her a chance to hesitate and left directly.

Shen Mingzhi had just returned home when Lin Xiaoyu called.

"What's wrong?" she asked Xiaoyu, propping herself up on her elbow.

"Shen Xiuzhu ran away, saying he went to a big shopping mall to find inspiration. I have things to do here, so I can't keep an eye on him," Lin Xiaoyu said helplessly.

"I'll come find him when you're almost off work. If he doesn't finish the design, I'll keep him at the factory." Shen Mingzhi's tone was filled with suppressed anger.

Lin Xiaoyu said in a low voice, "Then don't tell him that I told on him."

"Okay." Shen Mingzhi's voice was filled with a hint of doting.

After hanging up the phone, she turned around and saw Zhouzhou and Niannian playing in the yard, and immediately went over to them.

Niannian and Zhouzhou can walk a little bit now, but they still need someone to watch over them.

Shen Mingzhi walked up to Niannian and saw her twisting the Rubik's Cube haphazardly.

"Do you want Mommy to teach you how to play?" She squatted down in front of Niannian and asked with a smile.

Niannian handed the Rubik's Cube to her.

Shen Mingzhi first taught her to recognize colors: "Look, this is white. White should be paired with white, and yellow should be paired with yellow."

She spoke while twisting the Rubik's Cube.

A moment later, the Rubik's Cube was back to its original colors. She handed it to Niannian, who frowned, "Mommy... I don't know how..."

“It’s okay if he doesn’t know how. He can just play around with it. Maybe he’ll find the trick if he tries a few more times,” Shen Mingzhi said. Although the Rubik’s Cube she bought was already very simple, her child was still too young.

Niannian didn't want to play, so she put down the Rubik's Cube, pouted, and didn't say a word.

Shen Mingzhi sighed, "Don't you like playing?"

"Mmm," Niannian said softly.

Shen Mingzhi finally understood: this child didn't like playing educational games; he just loved being mischievous.

Her brother always had a lot of fun playing the nine-linked rings game, even if he wasn't good at it.

Shen Mingzhi had no choice but to put the Rubik's Cube away and asked her, "So what does Niannian like to play with?"

“I like Mommy…” Niannian looked at her and said happily.

Shen Mingzhi smiled slightly, knowing that she would say that, but she was still very happy inside.

"How about Mommy tells you a story?" she said gently, pinching her little girl's cheek.

Seeing that she had grown into a talkative little girl, Shen Mingzhi felt quite accomplished. She held her and sat down next to Zhouzhou, who was playing with the Nine Linked Rings, and began to tell stories from the Four Great Classical Novels.

Shen Mingzhi read it slowly, and Niannian hugged her happily, her face full of satisfaction.

It was almost five o'clock when I finished telling the story, and Jiang Shaochen returned.

"So early today?" Shen Mingzhi was a little surprised to see him come in carrying a helmet.

He was also carrying a bag in his hand.

“Today is a good day.” Jiang Shaozhen said, gesturing for Shen Mingzhi to bring the child into the house with him. “Help me carry them into the room.”

"Okay." Shen Mingzhi took it and found it heavy... she didn't know what it was.

She held Niannian in her arms, waiting for Zhouzhou to grab her trouser leg, and slowly entered the room.

Niannian was also curious about what her father had brought back.

She placed it on the table and patted the dust off the bag.

"Mommy...what?" Zhouzhou wanted to see, but he was too small.

Even standing on tiptoe, you can't see clearly.

"I don't know, let's wait for Dad to come in and see, okay?" Shen Mingzhi said with a smile.

Zhouzhou responded with an "oh".

After a while, Jiang Shaozhen came in from outside. Seeing that the mother and her two children hadn't opened the bag, he couldn't help but ask with a smile, "Why don't you open it and take a look?"

"Your things are yours, come and open them when you want." Shen Mingzhi sat down at the table with Nian Nian in her arms.

Jiang Shaozhen walked to the table and opened the bag.

It was full of ten-yuan bills, bundled together in bunches.

Shen Mingzhi asked in surprise, "How come there's so much money?"

"Several projects have been completed, totaling two thousand five hundred. Can you count them?" Jiang Shaozhen said with a smile.

“Sure, I’ll count it.” Shen Mingzhi’s face immediately lit up with a smile. Counting money was her favorite thing to do.

Seeing how happy she was, Niannian and Zhouzhou became happy too.

Jiang Shaozhen gave each of them a stack to play with.

Niannian and Zhouzhou didn't recognize it, so they held it in their hands and played with it for a while. When Shen Mingzhi asked them for it, they gave it to her.

After Shen Mingzhi finished counting, she said to him, "It is indeed two thousand five. You are much better than the average worker."

“Actually, we’re just earning hard-earned money, and I still think it’s too little… After all, we’ve only earned 2,500 since last September.” Jiang Shaozhen felt that it had been almost a year, and this amount of money was far less than what Shen Mingzhi had earned.

"Think about how many people earn a thousand yuan a year these days? You've earned two thousand five hundred in less than a year, and you still think it's too little?" Shen Mingzhi said, putting the money back into the bag.

“I can’t compare to you,” Jiang Shaozhen said. “But I will work hard and strive to earn more one day so that you can live a better life.”

“Okay,” Shen Mingzhi replied immediately. “But I can accept whatever you earn, as long as we can support this family, that’s good enough.”

"You're so good to me, my wife," Jiang Shaochen couldn't help but praise.

"Come on, take this money and deposit it later. Give some to Sister Wang so she can buy something nice to reward my husband." Shen Mingzhi put the bag into the closet where their clothes were kept and then locked it.

Jiang Shaozhen smiled and picked up Niannian. He said to Shen Mingzhi, "It's still early, shall we go for a walk?"

As summer approaches, it gets dark later.

Shen Mingzhi picked up Zhouzhou and nodded, "Sure."

"Let's see if we can still buy meat," Jiang Shaozhen said to Shen Mingzhi behind him as he carried Nian Nian out the door.

Although the Chiang family ate meat quite often, meat was a scarce commodity in that era.

The two women, carrying the child, had just entered the yard when Aunt Wang came out of the house and asked, "Why are you going out so late?"

"Let's go for a walk," Jiang Shaozhen said.

"Okay, then don't stay out too late. Make sure dinner is ready," Aunt Wang instructed them.

"Mm," Jiang Shaozhen replied.

In summer, the streets of Kyoto are filled with groups of people riding bicycles.

As the evening breeze blew gently, Shen Mingzhi and Jiang Shaozhen said, "If our goods clear customs this time, we'll be different from other factories."