Luo Qianyu glanced at the window and found that it was not yet completely light. He asked lazily in a half-awake state:

"Are you in a hurry?"

Most of the courage that Lu Jiuchuan had just mustered was gone:

"No, there's no hurry."

"Then I'll sleep for a while, we'll talk later."

While speaking, Luo Qianyu turned over and lay on the pillow, and seemed to fall asleep again after he finished speaking.

Lu Jiuchuan's remaining courage disappeared, and he returned to the kitchen with his lips tightly pursed.

Without saying a word, he sat back opposite Zhang Guifen and pulled the chicken feathers hard.

Zhang Guifen glanced at him and guessed about 70% of it, with a sneer on her face:

"You pulled so hard that the skin was peeled off. If you failed to express your feelings, you won't take it out on a chicken, right?"

His hand paused, he glanced at his mother, then lowered his head and moved more gently.

Zhang Guifen was so disappointed that she began to teach him:

"You ran away without even listening to what I said. It's no wonder you failed! There's a lot of knowledge in this matter."

"I'll stew the chicken later. Come back to my room with me and I'll get you something good. You..."

Luo Qianyu slept soundly, completely unaware that her mother-in-law and husband were planning a confession for her.

When we went to have breakfast at dawn, we excitedly took out the gifts to share.

Mother-in-law and He Nian gave her new clothes and shoes for the New Year, and Lu Dingyu, Lu Xuezhou and Lu Siman each received a pen and a new school bag.

The whole family was very happy to receive the gifts, except Zhang Guifen who seemed a little dissatisfied:

"Achuan, do you have a gift too? What did you buy?"

Luo Qianyu was combing He Sui's hair and answered casually:

"He bought a pair of leather shoes, and he collected them earlier than you did."

Zhang Guifen's face wrinkled like a bitter gourd:

"Oh, Lu Jiuchuan, you have one too? Does your wife have one?"

"Everyone in the family got a gift, but I don't seem to notice what your wife got. Do you feel comfortable wearing those leather shoes?"

Lu Jiuchuan realized belatedly that Luo Qianyu had bought things for everyone except herself.

But the few dollars he had left were the spare money and pocket money given to him by Luo Qianyu.

He said in a muffled voice:

"Ayu didn't buy it for herself. The money was all with her. I listened to her."

Luo Qianyu held Hesui and sat on the side watching the show. Her mother-in-law was teaching the child, which seemed to be in her favor, so she would not be stupid enough to interrupt.

Zhang Guifen indeed criticized Lu Jiuchuan:

"It's true that the money is with her, but if she doesn't buy it for herself when you're with her, you have to ask for it."

"You have a mouth but don't know how to speak? Did I give you a mouth for nothing?"

Lu Siman and her two siblings stood beside Luo Qianyu, carrying new army green schoolbags on their backs, all covering their mouths with their hands and laughing.

Before the eldest sister-in-law came into the family, the eldest brother did everything well, and most of his criticism was directed at the three of them.

Now they can finally see their eldest brother being humiliated, and they can't help but gloat over his misfortune.

Lu Siman was still fanning the flames:

"That's right, big brother, our sister-in-law is smart and capable, and she's very kind to us, so you should love her a little more."

As a result, after Lu Jiuchuan glanced at them, they immediately became obedient and found excuses to run away.

They are also very sentimental and take away some ignorant New Year greetings.

After they left, Lu Jiuchuan admitted his mistake in a low voice:

"Got it. I'll be more careful next time. Ayu, I'm sorry!"

Seeing that he was sincere in admitting his mistake, Luo Qianyu smiled generously and said:

"It's okay. Mom, I don't want anything this time. I'll buy it if I see something I like next time."

"Okay, I..." Zhang Guifen was about to say something when she was interrupted by a knock on the door.

When they looked in the direction of the sound, they saw Aunt Jin'e standing outside the courtyard gate carrying a bamboo basket, smiling, and her husband Yu Fengliang was beside her.

"Sister-in-law Guifen, Qianyu, Achuan, have you had breakfast? I made some buns this morning and brought them over for you to try."

Hearing this, Luo Qianyu knew that the decoration was basically done.

People in the South seldom cook pasta at home, so making dumplings early in the morning must have taken a lot of effort.

Zhang Guifen was also a smart person. She smiled and took two steps forward:

"Old Yu is here too? Come in and sit down. I'll go get you some soy milk."

"We've all eaten! But your buns are really good. They can be stuffed even when we're full. Thank you."

Luo Qianyu and Lu Jiuchuan also pulled chairs for the two of them and greeted them warmly.

Soon the two sides started chatting, mainly Luo Qianyu and Yu Fengliang.

Yu Fengliang is a relatively honest person and doesn't talk much, but he knows a lot about several types of work related to decoration, except for electrical aspects.

Luo Qianyu raised several requests, and he was able to quickly respond by stating whether he could do it or where there were difficulties.

After a few interactions, Luo Qianyu was very satisfied and started talking to him about the issue of salary.

"Uncle Fengliang, I wonder how much you usually get paid for helping people build houses?"

"Sometimes I cook for people I know, and they provide me with three meals a day. When I leave, I get some meat, vegetables, food coupons, etc. There's no fixed amount."

As soon as Yu Fengliang finished speaking, Jin'e stepped on his foot under the table.

Luo Qianyu just pretended not to see it:

"If you come with me to work in the county, you must not just take this. The county leaders are watching from above. We need to sign a formal contract and ask you to guarantee the time and quality."

"I'll pay you $3.50 a day, and I'll provide the materials. If you bring your son to help, he'll get half of your salary."

"If you agree, we will discuss the contract this afternoon and go to see the captain together. You should also pack up and follow me to the county tomorrow."

With such good conditions offered, Luo Qianyu has longer-term plans in mind. She also intends to get involved in the real estate and decoration industries.

It is definitely not possible to do everything by herself, so Yu Fengliang is the partner she is considering.

Jin'e calculated the salary she was offered in her mind. It turned out that she would not only get several times more money a month, but almost ten times more. She immediately said to Yu Fengliang:

"There's no need to hesitate about this condition. You have to deliver on time and ensure quality regardless of whether you sign the contract or not."

"You work for others for free, but they still ask you to work faster, just to prevent you from having an extra meal."

With Jin'e's push, the matter was quickly finalized.

Zhang Guifen put some bean curd into their vegetable baskets and sent them out.

Luo Qianyu was going back to his room to draft a contract.

Zhang Guifen winked at Lu Jiuchuan, and Lu Jiuchuan called Luo Qianyu from behind:

"Ayu, I'll be back soon."

Luo Qianyu didn't care and just responded casually and left.

However, before she started writing the contract, she accidentally saw Lu Jiuchuan outside the wall from the back window.

"What are you doing running to Niuwei Mountain?"

She was a little curious and stood there watching for a long time. Lu Jiuchuan did not go up the mountain, but just wandered around the foot of the mountain, bending down from time to time, and no one knew what he was picking up.

Unable to understand, she simply stopped looking and sat back at her desk to start writing the contract.

An unknown amount of time had passed, and she had written half of the contract when Lu Jiuchuan suddenly walked into the room with his hands behind his back:

"Ayu, have you finished writing?"

"No." She didn't even look up, the pen in her hand kept writing, "What's wrong? Or is it what you wanted to tell me this morning? Go ahead and talk, I'm listening."

Lu Jiuchuan quickly took out a bunch of wild flowers and grass from his back and held them in front of her, but he turned his face slightly away, not daring to look at her:

"Ayu, this is for you. Mom said that women should be paired with flowers."