The two walked further and further away, leaving Ye Jianguo standing there, his face flushed red.
Ye Jianguo was filled with hatred, gritting his teeth. This damned old man dared to coax Xiulan to go against me!
If it weren't for the two children, would Xiulan have softened her heart?
My child must never call anyone else "Dad"!
A ruthless glint flashed in Ye Jianguo's eyes. He turned and headed straight for the steel factory, intending to find someone to deal with Xie Lin'an.
He wanted to see how this man could act so arrogantly in front of him without a job.
A laborer dares to act tough in front of him!
"Hmph, they look down on people! When I'm rich, I'll open a shop across from the state-run restaurant and steal all their business!" Su Xiulan said angrily.
Upon hearing this, Xie Lin'an calmly replied, "If you want to open a shop, I happen to have a shop across the street that I can rent to you."
"Huh? What's your family background? You even have shops across from the state-run restaurant!" Su Xiulan exclaimed in surprise.
Xie Lin'an remained calm and explained in a gentle manner, "This is the business left by my father's generation. I'm not good at business, and the shop is losing money every year under my management."
Su Xiulan tentatively asked, "Teacher Xie, could you sublet your bookstore to me? I'm genuinely interested in discussing this with you."
Even if the deal didn't go through in the end, she still tried her best.
“If I were to rent it to you, that would be no problem, but I’d need to find a suitable place first and move the books from the shop there.” Xie Lin’an looked at her with a smile in his eyes.
Upon hearing this, Su Xiulan perked up and quickly leaned closer, rattling off all the suitable shop locations she had recently been eyeing: "I know a place that's perfect for a bookstore, right near the school. If we open the bookstore there, more students will see it..."
...
When Meng Shuyun went to pick up the sisters Xiaoli and Xiaojuan, she saw Su Xiumei looking absent-minded as soon as she entered the house.
Su Xiumei was cooking, her eyes glazed over, and she mistook sugar for salt. If Meng Shuyun hadn't been watching over her, dinner would have been completely ruined.
Meng Shuyun's lips curled up slightly, and she said with a hint of teasing, "Zhou Xianye has only been gone for a few days, and you're already missing him so much that you've even mistaken salt for sugar when you're cooking."
Su Xiumei suddenly came to her senses and realized that she was holding a sugar jar. An embarrassed blush immediately appeared on her face, and she gave an awkward smile.
“He’s been gone for two days now, and I don’t know how he is doing. Xianye has never traveled this far before, and I’m really worried about him.”
Su Xiumei didn't intend to hide anything and spoke frankly about her concerns.
Xiaoli and Xiaojuan skipped and hopped over to Meng Shuyun, standing close to her.
While skillfully adding firewood to the pot, Meng Shuyun took a moment to pick up a handkerchief and wipe Minghui and Mingyue's little hands and faces.
These two little ones had been running off to play somewhere, their faces and hands were covered in dust, and they were still babbling away, drool dripping down their faces.
"Grandma, when is Daddy coming back? I miss him a little," Xiaoli asked expectantly, blinking her big, watery eyes.
"Yes, Grandma, when will Dad come back? We've almost run out of firewood, and we're waiting for him to come back and chop some more." Xiao Juan chimed in, her face full of innocent joy.
Su Xiumei was amused by the sisters' words and laughed heartily. She reached out and gently tapped their noses, pretending to scold them, "You two clever little devils, I thought you were genuinely worried about your father being away for so long. I never imagined you were just worried about not having any firewood at home."
"Hmph, you lot are no longer like warm, comforting cotton-padded jackets; you're practically like leaky cotton-padded jackets."
As they were talking, Su Xiulan rushed in, carrying a roast chicken in her hand.
Before she even stepped into the kitchen, a hearty laugh and cheerful shouts rang out: "Big Sister, I'm back! I have some amazing news to tell you!"
Su Xiulan stepped into the kitchen, handed the roast chicken to Su Xiumei, then picked up one child in each arm and kissed Mingyue and Minghui several times on the cheeks, excitedly saying:
"Let's have an extra treat tonight—roast chicken! And let me tell you, I finally met the owner of that shop I had my eye on, and he even agreed to rent it to me! You'd never guess who the owner of that shop is!"
Su Xiulan's words instantly acted like a magnet, drawing everyone's attention to her.
"The bookstore owner is actually Xie Lin'an, Teacher Xie! Who would have thought!"
"Oh my, I really didn't expect it to be Xie Lin'an. He's a teacher, so it makes sense for him to open a bookstore," everyone remarked.
The family finished their dinner in a lively atmosphere, and then it gradually got dark.
At this moment, Meng Kangshun hurriedly returned on his bicycle with Su Xiuju on the back.
As soon as Su Xiuju got off her bicycle, she asked anxiously, "Mom! Teacher Xie didn't come to tutor us today. Did he tell you beforehand?"
Meng Shuyun was sitting to the side, carefully arranging the number of hair accessories. When she heard the two ask such a sudden question, she was also surprised and had not expected it to be like this.
“No, Teacher Xie is not the kind of person who would stand someone up easily. Maybe something urgent happened at home.” Meng Shuyun frowned, her mind also starting to wander.
"Don't worry, I'll go to Teacher Xie's house tomorrow to ask about the situation." Meng Shuyun quickly reassured the two of them, and then noticed that they hadn't eaten yet, so she asked Su Xiumei to cook two more bowls of noodles.
Meanwhile, in the courtyard of the county town.
Su Xiangyang sat there, waiting and waiting, but Meng Kangshun and Su Xiuju did not return.
His impatience grew stronger. He had only gone to ask a question, so why had it taken so long? Did he not intend to come back?
He was eagerly waiting for Su Xiuju to come back and cook, because Deng Jiaqi couldn't cook at all.
Deng Jiaqi was so hungry that she was dizzy and her vision was blurry. She could barely see Su Xiangyang in front of her. She said weakly, "Xiangyang, why don't we go out and get something to eat? I'm so hungry that I feel dizzy. If I don't eat something soon, I feel like I won't be able to hold on any longer."
Upon hearing this, Su Xiangyang frowned even more deeply, turned his head impatiently, and was about to lash out when he saw Deng Jiaqi swaying precariously, her hand on her forehead, looking as if she was about to faint.
"Deng Jiaqi, please don't faint! I don't have any money to take you to the hospital!" Su Xiangyang shouted, his eyes wide.
As soon as she finished speaking, Deng Jiaqi's vision went black, and she couldn't hold on any longer, collapsing headfirst onto Su Xiangyang.
She felt extremely thirsty and uncomfortable.
In a daze, she felt a slightly sweet water slowly enter her mouth.
Deng Jiaqi weakly opened her eyes and saw Su Xiangyang's anxious face. There was a bowl of noodles on the table with a few egg flowers floating in the soup.
"You're finally awake! Get up and eat your noodles. Don't faint again, or I really don't have the money to take you to the hospital."
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