Chapter 114 Business
The mother and daughter's faces burned with embarrassment. Lu Xiaohui stammered, "We were just worried that there might be something wrong with the recipe, so we thought we'd try it out first..."
"Didn't you just say that Zhang Xiuying's lock in the drawer couldn't possibly be fake?"
Gu Mansheng rolled her eyes to the sky: "Now that the Shen family has also obtained the recipe, they must be working day and night. Three companies are competing for one market. We're already late, if we dawdle any longer, we won't even get a taste of the soup!"
She took two ten-yuan bills out of her bag and slapped them into Lu Xiaohui's hand.
"Take this! Buy more raw materials and jars, and make it on a large scale! I'll take care of the sales; I happen to know the head of the newly opened black market."
Lu Xiaohui held the twenty yuan, her eyes wide with amazement.
"Okay! Sister-in-law, I'll listen to you!"
After saying that, he grabbed the money and ran out.
Li Xuemei followed along eagerly, complaining as she went, "You brat, slow down! Even your own mother has to run errands for you!"
On the way, Lu Xiaohui exclaimed with delight, "Mom, I think my sister-in-law is a nice person, and she's really generous."
"Not bad my foot!" Li Xuemei cursed. "You'll only know how powerful you are when we give you some money and treat you like a maid!"
Lu Xiaohui sneered inwardly but didn't respond.
At home, who doesn't treat her like a maid? It's only natural for Li Xuemei to order her around, and she doesn't even give her a kind look; Gu Mansheng at least pays her real money when she orders her around.
After comparing them like this, even a fool would know which one is better.
The mother and daughter were walking when they noticed that there were suddenly more people on the road.
Looking up, they saw Liu Xuejun walking ahead, and then they realized: today was the day for the elementary school teacher recruitment interviews.
Li Xuemei gritted her teeth: "If it weren't for that little bitch coming back to cause trouble, it would have been your brother taking the exam today! It would be so glorious for him to become a teacher in the future!"
Lu Xiaohui pursed her lips and didn't respond, but looking at Liu Xuejun's high-spirited appearance, she felt unhappy.
Just then, Lu Xiaohui caught sight of Shen Hongmei and her two siblings approaching from not far away. Her eyes darted around, and she deliberately raised her voice to shout:
"Hey, Xuejun! Going to take an exam today?"
Liu Xuejun turned around and saw Lu Xiaohui. Although he knew she wasn't a good person, he couldn't refuse a smiling face, so he smiled politely and said, "Okay, go give it a try."
Lu Xiaohui smiled broadly: "Look at how confident you are, you'll definitely pass the exam! The children in our brigade are all counting on you!"
Liu Xuejun scratched his head shyly: "I will definitely try my best."
"Study hard! You are the hope of the Liu family. It's not easy to produce a cultured person. Now the Liu family is accomplished in both literature and martial arts! When you become successful in the future, don't forget to find a good wife for your older brother. That will make those blind fools jealous!"
Lu Xiaohui's words were pointed, and she spoke so loudly that she seemed afraid others wouldn't hear her.
Not far away, Shen Hongmei clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug into her flesh.
Old Master Shen glanced at her gloatingly: "Did you hear that? You just got out, and the Liu family is about to rise to prominence. What a jinx!"
Shen Lao Er sneered, "Once Liu Xiangyang marries a city woman, he'll trample us into the mud even more. Right now, the whole brigade is laughing at our family."
Shen Hongmei's eyes were bloodshot as she stared at Liu Xuejun's retreating figure with venomous resentment: "This good-for-nothing who only knows how to study wants to be a teacher? Dream on! I'll ruin his chances!"
After saying that, she rushed forward aggressively and grabbed Liu Xuejun.
"Study military!"
When Liu Xuejun saw it was his former sister-in-law, his expression stiffened slightly: "...Sister-in-law, is something the matter?"
Shen Hongmei said anxiously, "Something's happened! I just saw Xu Zhiqing running towards the river crying, like she's having some kind of mental breakdown. You have to go check on her!"
"What?!"
Liu Xuejun was shocked: "The interview is about to start, why is she running towards the river?"
"That's why I'm so anxious!" Shen Hongmei stamped her feet in frustration. "Something must have happened at home. She won't answer when I call her and just runs away as fast as she can. You need to go and persuade her; it would be such a waste if she missed such an important exam! Go and bring her back!"
Upon hearing this, Liu Xuejun was extremely anxious and didn't have time to think further.
"Okay! Sister-in-law, please tell my mother!"
After saying that, he took off running towards the river.
Watching Liu Xuejun's departing figure, the anxious look on Shen Hongmei's face vanished instantly, replaced by a sinister smugness.
Boss Shen leaned closer, a wicked grin on his face: "Big sister, what's next?"
A glint of malice flashed in Shen Hongmei's eyes: "Of course, I want to make sure he fails the exam completely! I want the Liu family to know that without me, Shen Hongmei, they will only get worse every day!"
The three siblings exchanged glances and quietly followed Liu Xuejun.
Liu Zhixia and Zhang Xiuying arrived late with their child.
The two stood at the school gate, craning their necks and looking around.
Zhang Xiuying looked puzzled: "Didn't Fourth Brother say he wanted to come early to familiarize himself with the surroundings? Why haven't we seen a single person?"
Liu Zhixia comforted him, "Perhaps he was afraid of being late, so he went into the examination room first?"
Just then, Xu Zhihong and Zhao Dongmei walked over together.
"Xu, you're here too? Zhao, the educated youth, is taking the exam as well?"
Zhao Dongmei quickly waved her hand: "I'm not taking the exam. I was always thinking about going back to the city, so I didn't prepare for this."
Xu Zhihong, on the other hand, was full of confidence and patted her chest to assure Zhang Xiuying: "Don't worry, Auntie! We've been working hard these past few days. The written test is definitely no problem, and the interview is sure to be a success! Your fourth son has a good foundation, so he'll definitely do well."
Zhang Xiuying looked at the girl with increasing satisfaction, beaming from ear to ear: "We owe a lot to Xu Zhiqing's help this time. After the exams, you must come to our house for dinner! Auntie will cook you a nice meal!"
Xu Zhihong was a little embarrassed: "How could I accept this? I come to your house every other day..."
"Don't mention it! Xuejun wasn't a youth training program; you guys were a huge help. We had to come!"
Xu Zhihong stopped being coy and agreed with a smile. Then she looked around and asked in confusion, "Huh? Where are the four old men, Liu? I don't see them. Could they have backed out at the last minute and not come yet?"
A sense of unease rose in Liu Zhixia's heart: "He left a long time ago. We've been looking for him too, and we thought he had gone in first."
The smile on Xu Zhihong's face vanished instantly.
"That's impossible. It's not time yet, the exam hall doors aren't even open, he can't get in. Then...could something have happened to him?"
Liu Zhixia's heart skipped a beat, and the unease grew stronger.
Without hesitation, she handed the child in her arms to Zhang Xiuying: "Mother, you watch the child, I'll go look for him nearby. The village is just a short walk away, maybe he got delayed on the way."
After saying that, he turned and ran.
Zhang Xiuying was so anxious that she kept stamping her feet: "What could possibly happen? He was walking ahead of us. If something had happened, we would have run into him along the way!"
Zhao Dongmei, who had been silent all along, suddenly turned pale and whispered, "On our way here... we thought we saw Shen Hongmei running that way with two men, looking flustered... Could it be her doing?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiuying's mind went blank, and her eyes instantly turned red: "That damned woman! If she dares to touch my son, I'll fight her to the death!"
She grabbed Zhao Dongmei's hand, her voice trembling, "Zhao Zhiqing, you don't have an exam today, can you do me a favor? Take the child back with you."
"Okay! Let's go back to the village and entrust the child to our neighbors first, and then we'll look for him together!"
Although Xu Zhihong was also anxious, she still had to guard the examination room. She could only shout at the backs of the group, "Auntie! I'll stay here! If Lao Si comes, I'll immediately send someone to inform you!"
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