Tang Xiaoling was so angry that she almost couldn't catch her breath. She knew she had wronged the child a lot and wanted to be good to him.
But every time I see Duoduo looking like she wants to run far away from me, all my love vanishes.
Back home, after unpacking his luggage, he said to his mother, "Mom, go to the village chief to get a letter of introduction. We'll buy train tickets to Beijing. You must be missing Dad."
Tang's mother looked at her in astonishment and said, "Xiaoling, you don't want to go to the capital by yourself, do you? Let me tell you, just live a peaceful life here and don't mess with the Southwest. Wait until he calms down before you talk about it."
"Mom, listen to me. If I can't win back Southwest's heart this time, then we'll have to get a divorce. I'm all alone here. What will people think of me? I'm not a widow." Tang Xiaoling was also heartbroken.
After thinking about it, Mrs. Tang decided that if things really couldn't work out, they should just get a divorce. Living apart like this was truly meaningless.
Seeing Tang's mother running towards the village committee, Tang Xiaoling happily went to the kitchen to make sure she had enough food and drinks for the journey, otherwise it would cost a lot of money to buy them.
Village Chief Ma was so shocked he couldn't speak. "If you want to go to the capital, why don't you leave with Southwest? You know, it's so inconvenient for Southwest to travel alone with two children."
Mrs. Tang blushed; the Tang family's illustrious reputation had been ruined by this daughter.
Village Chief Ma, being an old and shrewd man, saw through the mother and daughter's scheme at a glance. He coldly said, "I will not issue you a letter of introduction. I will call him when I arrive in the capital. Only if he agrees will I issue it."
When Tang Xiaoling found out, she was furious and ran to Village Chief Ma to argue her case: "Uncle Village Chief, I'm not going to see the Southwest. My mother misses my father, and I miss my father too. We're going to see my father."
Village Chief Ma narrowed his eyes. He had long noticed that something was off about the couple. Every time he saw Southwest, she was living in the old house with her child, while Tang's mother and Tang Xiaoling lived in the backyard.
What could be more telling than a couple refusing to share a bed? Village Chief Ma was unwilling to interfere in their family affairs, and he firmly shook his head, insisting that the decision rest with Southwest, no matter the reason.
A week later, Village Chief Ma contacted Southwest and told them about Tang's mother and Tang Xiaoling wanting to get their own letters of introduction to go to the capital.
Southwest closed his eyes, ashamed of his wavering heart after the college entrance examination. He calculated the dates and found that Beinan would arrive in Beijing at the end of November, so he decided to have Tang Xiaoling come over at the end of November.
Village Chief Ma counted on his fingers. It was July now, so he would wait until the end of November to issue the letter of introduction to the mother and daughter.
Southwest hung up the phone and went straight to the factory. He hadn't been back for several months and missed it terribly.
Seeing Tang Jianjun pondering over a piece of wood, Yan Xinan walked over and took out a bag of fine tobacco from his pocket: "Master, this is for you. Smoke a little less every day."
"You're back. How's the logging team doing?" Tang Jianjun was happy to see Southwest.
"Master, we have enough people in the logging team now, but we'll probably need to hire more as our factory grows." Southwest had already estimated the amount of raw materials needed.
Tang Jianjun nodded. He couldn't manage the recruitment himself, but he was sure that Village Chief Ma would be happy to see so many people suddenly added to the small Mushroom Village.
"In the Southwest, if we recruit more people, won't the logging team turn into a logging factory?" Tang Jianjun found an open space and started smoking his pipe.
Seeing how well-behaved Tang Jianjun was, Southwest couldn't help but nod, thinking, "Master is truly a good person."
“Master, no matter what happens to my marriage with Tang Xiaoling, you will always be my master, and the two children will always be your grandchildren,” Southwest said firmly.
Tang Jianjun smiled and nodded. He knew the Southwest region quite well: "Apprentice, if we can't make it, we just won't. It's not a big deal. Don't take it to heart. Come and see the furniture I've been working on these past few months."
After finishing a bag of cigarettes, Tang Jianjun pulled Southwest into the workshop. Sure enough, the showroom had many more small and exquisite gadgets.
They used scrap wood to carve out thin strips, polished them until smooth and delicate, and then made them into tea trays, jewelry boxes, and small bookshelves.
Some people hollow out rotten wood and make it into shapes such as vases, rice bowls, and sugar jars, then paint it with various colors of paint, making it irresistible.
Yan Xinan took a maroon and blue jewelry box, an orange vase, two small bookshelves, and a rice bowl.
He muttered to himself, "Give the jewelry box to my grandma and mom, the vase to Nan Nan, the bookshelf to Wu Jin and Liu Jin, and just give Duo Duo a rice bowl."
Tang Jianjun felt that there was something wrong with Southwest's last sentence, but even if he were to explain it in detail, he couldn't quite put his finger on it; he just felt something was off.
Although Yan Xiaonan and Ye Chenming were both on summer vacation, they were both extremely busy. Ye Chenming was in charge of the club's affairs, while Yan Xiaonan had to plant cotton and rice and plan recruitment matters.
Fortunately, Ye Chen'er and Sheng Lijuan were at the furniture factory, and Southwest had returned. Cuihua and Grandma Wang were at the clothing store, and now even Xuemei was helping out. This gave Yan Xiaonan time to focus on her studies, and she aimed to finish her third-grade course before the Lunar New Year.
The two even had to squeeze in time for their romance. They could only go up the mountain together every week when Yan Xiaonan was planting cotton and rice, eat some wild game, and discuss the development of the club. Time passed by just like that.
August arrived in the blink of an eye, the day for Southwest to register at the university. Although Beijing University of Technology was not well-known, it was still a legitimate university.
As is customary, freshmen must live on campus during their first year. Southwest was a little anxious, so he revealed that he was the director of a furniture factory in Beijing. He wondered what would happen to the furniture factory if he lived on campus.
As luck would have it, many teachers at the school had bought furniture from furniture factories in Beijing. They were overjoyed to learn that their student was actually the factory manager.
Now that the Beijing Furniture Factory has been recognized by the state as an advanced unit and a major taxpayer, the school leaders should grant special privileges to the factory director.
Several school leaders held an emergency meeting and unanimously agreed that Yan Xinan could stay at the school, but if there was an emergency at the factory, he could return to the factory to be assigned a job, provided that his studies were up to standard.
Southwest was overjoyed and quickly filled out the forms, submitted the materials, and received the books and student ID according to the school's requirements.
Then, with the certificate, he went to the household registration management center and transferred his own household registration, as well as the household registrations of Wujinban and Duoduo, to the house that Southwest had given him.
With his household registration in place, and after reviewing Wu Jinban's exam results, the school happily accepted him as a student. From then on, Wu Jinban, like Liu Jin, was a true Beijing resident.
Southeast took Duo Duo's supporting documents to the factory-run nursery, paid a small fee, and sent the child in, instructing Fu Bao to take good care of the older boy.
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