Upon hearing the voice, Shu Yan was stunned for a moment before recognizing it as the older sister who had helped her in Hangzhou.
"Oh, it's you, big sister. I thought you'd forgotten my phone number and that's why you took so long to call me."
After their second meeting, Shu Yan went to Hangzhou to buy goods and never saw her older sister again. Later, Shu Yan stopped running her own shop and never went to Hangzhou again, so she never saw her again.
When Shuyan exchanged phone numbers with her older sister, the sister said the shop was relocating and the phone hadn't been installed yet. Shuyan left her her number and told her to contact her if she had any difficulties. Whether the sister wasn't having any problems or had simply forgotten about her, she never called.
"I..." The older sister hesitated for a long time before stammering, "Do all the Qianxue lingerie stores in Wen County have them?"
Wenxian is equivalent to a second-tier city with a very good economy. When the franchise program was opened to second-tier cities in its second year, people from Wenxian were among the first to join, and in considerable numbers.
"Sorry, all the spots over there are full. Ma'am, are you interested in opening a lingerie franchise?"
The last time I saw my older sister, she said her landlord was going to demolish the property, so she found a new shop and reopened a clothing store, but business wasn't as good as before. Shuyan then suggested that she join her lingerie brand, but she refused.
The older woman bit her lip in utter frustration, but her tone remained largely unchanged. "Yes, I didn't know your innerwear brand was so successful. By the time I found out, it was too late; the shop next door had already been taken over. I heard you've launched a new clothing brand. Are you recruiting franchisees for that one?"
"We sell clothing through department stores, we don't franchise." But I remember your clothing store was doing quite well, why the sudden urge to open a lingerie store? By the way, where are you now? Why is your number showing as being from the south of the city?
"I'm in the South City."
Upon hearing that her older sister was in Nancheng, Shu Yan said angrily, "Didn't I tell you to let me know when you got to Nancheng? Why didn't you call me? Where are you now? I'll come pick you up."
About an hour later, Shu Yan successfully picked up her eldest sister. Seeing her again, Shu Yan felt as if she had been through a lifetime. Her eldest sister looked even more haggard than last time, much thinner, and her skin was sallow.
"What on earth happened? How could things change so drastically all of a sudden?"
The older woman sighed, "Now that things have come to this, I won't hide it from you anymore. My ex-husband came to my door causing trouble, demanding that I return the house and our son to him. Isn't that like trying to kill me? I resolutely refused, neither the house nor our son was an option. He kept coming to my shop to cause trouble, making it impossible for me to do business. I had no choice but to close the shop, but he still came back to cause trouble, and now I can't open it anymore."
"Why?" Shu Yan remembered her older sister saying that her ex-husband was willing to leave with nothing, even abandoning their son, in order to be with that woman.
Speaking of this, the eldest sister trembled with anger, her eyes slightly red as she told Shu Yan the reason.
The reason for the quick divorce was that the other woman got pregnant. Later, for some reason, the child was lost. She hasn't been able to conceive since. It's said she can't get pregnant, so she's set her sights on her older sister's son.
"These two are so shameless."
The older sister shook her head. "He's trying every possible way to drive me crazy so he can have a reason to take my child away."
Shu Yan sighed. You really do meet all sorts of people.
People from Wen County are known for their daring, enterprising spirit, and shrewd business acumen. The fact that my eldest sister persisted in divorcing at that time and successfully obtained the house and her son shows she is a very capable person. After listening to everyone's advice, she made her decision immediately.
“I plan to leave Wen County with my child. I feel that things can’t go on like this. It’s better to leave with the child and find a more remote place. I don’t believe he can find it right away.” The older sister was really driven to desperation by her ex-husband. She would rather take her child and leave than stay.
"Are you willing to go to Hujiang Province?" Shu Yan asked after hearing her question. "I know there's a region that's missing a franchise store. If you go there, I can leave the franchise rights for that region to you. Don't worry about the money; you can pay me back when you've made some."
"No need for that. I plan to sell the house in my hometown and buy a house in Hujiang Province. We'll stay there until my son goes to university. Then I'll go back to my hometown."
...Replace it immediately, mwah...
"Yes. Hello, I couldn't come yesterday because of something. Why did you enclose this balcony?" Her balcony is the secondary bedroom's balcony. If it's completely enclosed, how can the lighting be good?
"My family is large, so we're planning to enclose the balcony and create another room." The woman next door moved closer to Shu Yan. "My surname is Zhang, and I'm probably a few years older than you. If you don't mind, you can call me Sister Zhang. What's your name, little sister?"
"My name is Shu Yan, you can just call me Xiao Yan." Shu Yan was confused. "If you want an extra room, wouldn't it be better to just buy a 90-square-meter apartment?" Four rooms would be just right, and you wouldn't need to enclose the balcony.
“I have four children, three daughters and one son. The smaller secondary bedroom is for my son, and this larger secondary bedroom will be converted into three rooms for my three daughters. When my daughters get married, we can just demolish these rooms and turn it into a large suite with three bedrooms and two living rooms. It will be a respectable wedding room for my son.” Sister Zhang smiled happily, as if she was imagining what her son would look like after his wedding.
Shu Yan was at a loss for words. The other party had given birth to three daughters and still wanted a son. Clearly, she was desperate for a son and there was no reasoning with her. Besides, it was a family matter, so Shu Yan couldn't say anything.
"Xiao Yan, how many children do you have?" Sister Zhang asked with a smile as she came to her senses.
"I have two children, an older daughter and a younger son," Shu Yan said with a light smile.
"It's just right, truly wonderful," Sister Zhang said enviously.
"You're the lucky one, you'll have four children who will take good care of you." Shu Yan didn't want to talk to her about her husband and children anymore, so she made an excuse and went back inside.
Sister Zhang next door is generally easy to talk to. It's always better to have an easy-going neighbor than an unpleasant one. After wandering around for a while, Shu Yan went straight to the hair salon.
Her hair was naturally curly, and no matter how she combed it, it was always a mess, full of stray hairs. This hair was exactly the same as her own, which was incredibly frustrating.
I went into a decent-looking hair salon and asked, "Do you offer perms here?"
"Okay, what kind of perm do you want?" The hairdresser quickly got up.
"Cut it shorter for me, to this point." Shu Yan gestured, then asked, "Can I straighten it?"
"Sure, but perms are all the rage now. Look at all the actresses in Hong Kong movies, they all have big waves, they look so beautiful," the hairdresser suggested as he led Shu Yan to get her hair washed.
"My hair is no good, I'll just straighten it." Doesn't Shu Yan know her own hair? It looks nice when it's permed, but the problem is that after washing it at home and letting it dry, it looks like it's been struck by lightning, and she can't even tie it into a ponytail.
"You can't do it without hair, but you can't do it with skill alone. Have you had it permed before? Don't worry, it will definitely look good if you get it permed here. I've been learning for many years, and I guarantee I can do it well for you," the hairdresser kept saying.
Shu Yan frowned. This was why she didn't really like going to the hair salon. She said bluntly, "I just want my hair straightened. If it doesn't work out, I'll go to another salon."
The barber fell silent for a moment, then after about a minute, he started talking to Shu Yan about other things, such as where she was from, whether she was married, and what she did in Nancheng...
Shu Yan: ...
With a few snips, the hair that the original owner had been growing for several years was cut to just below her shoulders, which was considered a medium-short haircut. After straightening it, paired with Shu Yan's current large face, emmmm, it really looked ugly.
The hairdresser looked at Shu Yan with a somewhat resentful expression, as if to say, "See? It really doesn't look good."
"Thank you, I'm very satisfied." She was indeed very satisfied with how straight it was; it was as straight as a steel bar.
With her hair tied in a ponytail, she looked much more refreshed and energetic. Shu Yan paid and left.
Her hair was really hard to straighten; it would only take others three hours, but for her it would take at least five. She missed lunch, so Shu Yan simply made herself some rice porridge and ate it. Half an hour later, she continued doing burpees for ten minutes, then took a shower, changed clothes, went grocery shopping, and went home. She was almost ready to pick up her child.
Ye Tianbao didn't cause any trouble. When he went to pick up Ye Jingjing, Shu Yan had been kept at school by the teacher.
She always knew her parents would be called in, but she never expected it to be Ye Jingjing.
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