In the months following Cheng Ran's disappearance, the military continued to send people to search for him, but without exception, all the reports they brought back were of no news.
Jiang Jianguo and Xue He knew that their son-in-law's fate was unknown and that he was probably dead. Although they were heartbroken, they dared not leave easily for fear that their daughter would do something rash. So they stayed to take care of the mother and daughter.
Their family also moved from the family compound to the courtyard house that Jiang Wanqing had bought, since Cheng Ran was no longer in the army and they could not continue to live there.
When they left, Sister Song was very sad and gave them many gifts, holding Jiang Wanqing's hand tightly and refusing to let go.
"Wanqing, please accept my condolences. I know you must be heartbroken to lose such a good person as Comrade Cheng Ran, but you still have to live your lives. You are so capable, you will definitely live a brilliant life in the future, I believe in you."
Jiang Wanqing sniffed and hugged Sister Song.
"Thank you, sister-in-law. I will live well."
She has already died once. In this life, even if the sky falls, she won't care about dying. She has a daughter, parents, and several factories waiting for her to manage. If she dies, everything will fall apart.
"If you need anything, just tell us. You've been so good to us, we'll definitely help you without hesitation. Don't be shy."
"Okay, thank you, sister-in-law. We'll be going now."
Hung Hing helped them load their luggage into the car and drove them to the courtyard house.
Even after half a year had passed and the child was about to be weaned, Jiang Wanqing still believed that Cheng Ran was still alive.
However, the military stopped contacting him, provided him with a condolence payment, recognized him as a martyr, and promised to give his family special care within the bounds of the law.
Jiang Wanqing continued her normal life every day, as if nothing had happened.
Gu Yu rushed over after hearing the news.
This was the first time the two had met since they joined forces to deal with Jiang Xiu.
She has already sent Ye Luo abroad and, with the help of the Ye family's influence, has restarted her factory. Ye Yu's health has been deteriorating due to several accidents at home, and now Gu Yu is basically in charge.
Her words of comfort to Jiang Wanqing were simply astonishing.
"Comrade Wanqing, I know it's inappropriate to say this now, but I still have to say it. Losing a man isn't the end of the world. You have to pull yourself together, run the factory well, and make your life wonderful."
As she said this, Jiang Wanqing was working in her office. She looked up and forced a smile.
"Am I not energized enough now?"
Gu Yu shook her head: "You can fool others, but you can't fool me. I'm a woman too, I understand you. If my old man passed away, I wouldn't shed a single tear. But you're different. You and your Cheng Ran were inseparable. If he were to pass away, your grief would last a lifetime. You can only numb yourself with work."
She truly understood Jiang Wanqing. After she said this, the other woman couldn't help but feel a lump in her throat, swallowed hard, and shook her head.
"I am fine."
"Sigh." Gu Yu sighed and took a document out of her bag: "This is for you."
"What's this?"
Jiang Wanqing took the document and frowned.
"It's a market expansion contract. I heard you still firmly believe that Cheng Ran is not dead. Staying in the Beijing area like this isn't a solution. Once this contract is signed, your factory's products can be expanded to all parts of the country. It's not just about dumping products like before, but about jointly setting up factories with local companies. You can take this opportunity to travel around and see if there are any surprises."
"You're entrusting me with such an important contract?"
Jiang Wanqing frowned. It must have taken Gu Yu a lot of effort to come up with this contract, and it was surprising that she would just hand it over like that.
“I’m too old to run anymore, so you can run. I’m sure you won’t forget me when you get the benefits. I’ll just have a little soup. I don’t need too much money, just enough for me to live comfortably for the rest of my life.”
She spoke sincerely, and Jiang Wanqing couldn't refuse. Right now, she really needed an opportunity to ease her emotions.
"I'll send someone to investigate the market first, and then I'll go and explore it myself after I graduate."
"Okay, do it at your own pace."
...
Two years have passed in the blink of an eye. Jiang Wanqing and Mo Li have both graduated and are now fully committed to their work.
Molly and Hung Hing had a frank conversation, but with their parents getting involved, the two made no progress. Yue Shuzhen went to manage the branch factory, while Shen Huan and Qin Meng, who were a bit timid, partnered to manage a newly acquired small factory.
Basically, Jiang Wanqing didn't need to do anything herself, so she started running around the country, busy with distribution, setting up factories, and even cooperating with local governments on the business, as stipulated in Gu Yu's contract.
In addition, Huanren was also assigned to manage affairs in a certain county and would write letters to Jiang Wanqing from time to time.
In order to boost the local economy, he wrote her a letter asking if she could set up a factory there to help create jobs and stimulate the economy.
Jiang Wanqing had no reason to refuse; it was helping others as well as herself, so she went without hesitation.
She traveled to the area by train, and Huanren personally went to the train station to meet her.
At her request, the entourage should not be too extravagant; he only brought a few trusted colleagues.
The moment they met, a sense of familiarity washed over them. If it weren't for their genders and the inconvenience, they would definitely have hugged.
In the end, they only shook hands, but Huanren's eyes were full of emotion.
"Wanqing, it's been a long time."
"Long time no see, Huanren. You've become a high-ranking official now. That's great."
He used to be very timid in school, but now he has developed leadership qualities.
"I'm nowhere near as good as you. I still have a lot to learn from you. Let's go, I've reserved a table at the restaurant, let's go get something to eat."
"good."
They came to pick her up in a car. Along the way, she saw that the surrounding area was very backward, with only tiled houses and dirt roads.
By this time, it was already the 1980s, and the economy was booming in various places, but no factory had moved in here yet. Either there was no prospect of development, or there was local power to obstruct it. Now it seems that the former is more likely, which explains why Huanren contacted her.
"Wanqing, as you can see, our county is very poor right now, and it's also a place where ethnic minorities live in large numbers, so it's really not easy to manage. This time you'll probably have to stay for a while to do a good job of investigating."
"Okay, now that I'm here, I'll definitely do my best."
"That's great, I knew you would always take everything seriously."
Huanren pushed up his glasses, smiled shyly, and some mischievous comrades teased him.
"Comrade Huanren hasn't had a girlfriend all these years, so it turns out he knows someone as outstanding as Comrade Jiang, hahaha..."
"Don't talk nonsense, Wanqing has been married before," Huanren rebuked, frowning.
When her marriage was mentioned, she gave a slight smirk but said little.
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