At five o'clock in the afternoon, there were many parents picking up their children at the gate of Nanxi Kindergarten. Su Qingmeng was one of them. "Ms. Su." A parent from the same apartment came to say hello. Her child and Kang Kang were in the same big class, and they usually played together in the small garden of the apartment. The two children quickly became good friends.

The two parents started to get to know each other. The child's mother was a TV announcer with a very pleasant voice. "Ms. Li, are you here to pick up the child today?"

Li Qi said softly, "His father is on a business trip, and I've been picking him up lately."

When the school bell rang, the children lined up and shouted, "Mom," "Mom." Kang Kang and his friend A Xu ran to their mothers, and the four of them walked home together.

Kang Kang shared his life with his mother as usual, "Mom, I made a little chicken today in the handicraft class. It's made of leaves. I'll show it to you when I get home."

Su Qingmeng listened with a smile, "Okay, Mom is looking forward to it."

"Also, I learned a new song today..."

Watching the intimate interaction between mother and son, Li Qi felt envious. A Xu was raised by his grandmother when he was a child, and after going to school, he was closer to his father and never pestered him to act coquettishly.

Back downstairs of the apartment building, Kang Kang said goodbye to his friend, "Axu, see you tomorrow." Axu nodded, "See you tomorrow." This kid is quite aloof.

For dinner, Su Qingmeng heated up the steamed buns that Wei Jie had prepared and made a beef and carrot soup. When the meal was ready, Lin Xiuyao walked into the room. He hugged Su Qingmeng and said, "Thank you for your hard work, my dear. I'll be free starting next month."

Lin Xiuyao's new company in Shanghai has been established for four months. He has opened three retail stores locally and also has stalls in various wholesale markets. He has been busy building his reputation recently and usually doesn't get home until after six in the evening.

Su Qingmeng was helpless. "You go ahead and do your thing. I don't have anything to do every day except reading and writing. I consider doing housework and picking up Kang Kang as exercise." She felt that Lin Xiuyao wanted to turn her into a spoiled young lady who had nothing to do but to have everything handed to her.

Kang Kang poked his little head out of the kitchen door and said, "Mom, I'm hungry." Mom and Dad love hugs so much.

Su Qingmeng blushed, "Okay, bring the food out."

Su Qingmeng's custom-made cheongsam was ready. She took it home and put it on to show the father and son. She chose two sets, one with a white background embroidered with red flowers, and one with sky blue lace. Zhou Wenxi praised her for looking like a lady from the Republic of China era in the cheongsam, dignified and elegant.

She changed into the white one, and Kang Kang said with bright eyes, "Mom, you look so beautiful."

Lin Xiuyao's eyes were burning with passion. His wife looked slim and graceful in the cheongsam with perfect curves. Considering their son was around, he just said it looked good.

Su Qingmeng looked in the mirror and said, "I also think this shop has good craftsmanship. They can also make custom suits. I'll take you two there next time."

At night, Kang Kang went to sleep in his own little room. Lin Xiuyao pestered Su Qingmeng: "Wife, please change into a cheongsam."

"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking," Su Qingmeng refused. "I want to wear it to take photos tomorrow."

Lin Xiuyao was even more excited. He couldn't imagine how eye-catching Su Qingmeng would be in this dress. "I'll go with you. I have two." Lin Xiuyao was thick-skinned. He took out the sky blue one and said, "Here, wear this."

Su Qingmeng had no way to deal with him, so she changed her clothes reluctantly. As expected, she was tossed around until midnight.

When Kang Kang woke up the next day, he was ready to go out. Lin Xiuyao said, "I'll go take photos with you this afternoon. You can rest at home this morning."

Su Qingmeng glared at him and said, "I understand."

After lunch, they sent Kang Kang to kindergarten and went to the Bund to take pictures. The temperature in Shanghai was quite high in May. Su Qingmeng held a big black umbrella to block the sun. She was not the only one holding an umbrella on the street. The women in Shanghai are fashionable and love beauty, and they usually use sunscreen.

The two of them spent the entire afternoon taking photos and having afternoon tea. Su Qingmeng received a promotional flyer for a beauty salon. She had no idea that there were beauty salons in Shanghai in 1989. She dragged Lin Xiuyao to the store to inquire about the services. This private beauty salon provided hairdressing, eyebrow trimming, massage, manicure, and skin care. There were only three beds in the store, so it was a private workshop.

Su Qingmeng was not very satisfied with the environment and products. "Let's go. I'd better wait a little longer." The beauty industry would not develop vigorously until the 1990s.

Lin Xiuyao: "Wife, you are naturally beautiful. You are already beautiful without any beauty treatments."

Su Qingmeng said: "I'm already thirty, I need to start taking care of myself."

"I can't tell at all," Lin Xiuyao said sweetly, "Honey, you look less than 20 years old."

Su Qingmeng was also quite satisfied with her skin. It was worth it that she took good care of her skin every day and even applied a facial mask at night. "Okay, let's go back. Kang Kang will be out of school soon."

Passing by a pager store, Su Qingmeng was curious, "Don't you need to buy one?" She didn't have enough at home, and modern people who had used mobile phones were not interested in such simple communication equipment, but Lin Xiuyao could use it.

Lin Xiuyao: "Actually, I don't need it. I have phones at home and at work."

"Why don't you buy one? You can use it while you're patrolling the store. I think all the big bosses have them. It'll be a few years before 'mobile phones' become common. They're available now, but there's often no signal."

Lin Xiuyao went into the store and bought a regular model, which cost 1,800 yuan including the network access fee. At that time, it was still a digital pager that could not display Chinese characters, and he had to translate the messages by referring to the code book.

Coming out of the store, Su Qingmeng complained, "It's expensive and impractical."

Lin Xiuyao: "But compared to a 20,000 yuan mobile phone, it's not so bad."

Su Qingmeng: "It's still more cost-effective to buy a house. When you have some free time, let's go to Pudong to look at houses."

Today, Kang Kang was very excited to see his parents after school. "I want to perform on Children's Day!"

"What's the show?"

Kang Kang said: "The teacher arranged for me to participate in the chorus program. She said I sang well and asked me to lead the singing."

"Wow, my son is so awesome!" Su Qingmeng felt that Kang Kang's good looks also added points to him.

In June, Lin Xiuyao was free and was responsible for picking up and dropping off Kang Kang every day. Su Qingmeng no longer had to prepare dinner. During the day, he had time to take her to see houses on his motorcycle.

At that time, the saying "I would rather have a bed in Puxi than a room in Pudong" was popular in Shanghai. There was only one bridge, the Cheting Bridge, across the Huangpu River, and transportation between the two sides was inconvenient. Most people had to take a ferry to travel back and forth.

The two came to Pudong. At that time, the Pudong New Area had not yet been established. This place was called Chuansha County. Most of the area was still farmland, and there were few large factories in the entire Pudong.

The Nanpu Bridge and the Oriental Pearl Tower had not yet been built, and Pudong still had a long way to go before it could become an international financial center. Su Qingmeng took a camera to take pictures of Pudong at that time. The two of them came to Chuansha County, and Lin Xiuyao asked a local and found a peddler who was said to be well-informed.

Lin Xiuyao explained his purpose, "I want to buy a house here. Please help me find some houses. I will pay you after I find them."

The vendor was surprised that someone would be interested in such a shabby place, but he agreed without further questioning. Lin Xiuyao gave him fifty as a deposit and left his contact information, asking him to call if he had any news.