Unexpectedly, the young girl was quite enthusiastic. The next day, she brought the folk remedy to the store and carefully explained to Shuyan how to use it.
"Thank you so much. I'll use it when I get home." Shu Yan really thought she was just saying it casually and would forget about it as soon as she turned around, or that she would remember it when she came to buy clothes later. She didn't expect her to make a special trip.
To express her gratitude, Shu Yan originally wanted to give the girl a set of clothes, but the girl refused to accept them. So Shu Yan gave her a membership card instead, and the girl said she would come to her store to buy clothes often in the future.
In the afternoon, Shu Yan went to look at apartments across the street again. Others had already heard about it and came to look at the apartments, but everyone was hesitant because of the price. Shu Yan was a little anxious. As the old saying goes, "One shop can support three generations." As long as the descendants don't produce spendthrift heirs, even the least capable can make a living from the rent. If they happen to be capable, they can even turn their lives around with the shop. So, apartments on Chengnan West Road really don't have trouble selling.
If she misses this opportunity, she doesn't know when she'll be able to buy it again. Shu Yan plans to ask Lao Hu, and if all else fails, she'll buy it even if it's more expensive.
Unfortunately, Lao Hu wasn't home, and it was still early to pick up the kids, so Shu Yan decided to go check on how the new house was being renovated.
As Shu Yan passed by the kindergarten, she bumped into Tian Bao's teacher.
"Tianbao's mom, you've come at the perfect time. I was wondering how to get in touch with you." The teacher knew Shuyan's capabilities; she was the one who had led a group of parents to cause trouble at the property management office and brought down both the principal and the vice-principal. The teacher spoke to her with exceptional politeness.
"What's wrong? Did Tianbao get into trouble at school?" The teacher must be looking for her because of the child. Ye Tianbao has been behaving quite well lately, and Shu Yan isn't as attentive to him as before. Could something have gone wrong again?
"Today, Tianbao made another child cry. I've already called his parents, and they should be here soon." The teacher led Shuyan to the office.
In the past, Shu Yan would have immediately blamed Tian Bao without hesitation. However, Tian Bao has been behaving very well lately, so Shu Yan decided to find out the situation first.
Two children were standing in the teacher's office. Tianbao was leaning against the wall, occasionally giving the crying child a fierce look.
"Tianbao," Shuyan called out to him.
"Mom." Upon seeing Shu Yan, Tianbao quickly lowered his head. After waiting for a while without being hit or scolded, Tianbao cautiously looked up at Shu Yan.
"Tell Mom why you hit someone?" Shu Yan squatted down and asked in as calm a tone as possible.
Tianbao glanced at Shuyan, and seeing that she really wasn't angry, he said angrily, "He was the one who insulted me by saying I didn't have a father first."
"You never had a father!" the little boy, who had been sobbing, shouted.
"You still dare to talk back." With that, Tianbao raised his little fist and was about to rush forward, but Shuyan grabbed him and pulled him back.
"Yangyang, how can you talk like that? Apologize to this child right now." The person who came to the door heard his son's shout and scolded his son first, "Although my son said something wrong, your son can't hit people. Look at his face, it's all bruised."
Shu Yan glanced at it and saw that the bruise was just dust he had gotten while playing. However, this mother was reasonable and not the type to argue unreasonably, otherwise Shu Yan would have had a real headache.
“A good child is one who admits their mistakes and corrects them. Yangyang, can you tell Auntie why you said that about Tianbao?” Shu Yan felt a little heavy-hearted. As a single mother with two children, she was well aware that she would attract a lot of attention, but she didn’t expect it to happen so quickly, and that her children would be the first to be affected.
“I’m not wrong. Tianbao doesn’t have a father, Mom said so, right, Mom?” Yangyang was hit by his mother.
"This child, talking nonsense. How could I say such a thing? Besides, we don't even know each other. How could I say such a thing about you?" Yangyang's mother glanced at Shuyan somewhat awkwardly.
"It's what you said, you told Grandma that Tianbao's mother was kicked out by her husband, and that Tianbao is a child without a father. I heard it all." Then Yangyang was hit by his mother again.
Shu Yan looked at Yangyang's mother with a half-smile. This was no longer just a fight between two children. "Children don't lie. Since your son said it was you who told him, he must have heard it from you. Gossiping about others behind their backs is not good upbringing. And I'm very curious, where did you hear all this nonsense?"
Yangyang's mother looked Shuyan up and down. She was indeed as unattractive as the rumors suggested, but not as ugly as they said. In fact, she knew Shuyan. Last time, when Shuyan talked to Grandma Wu about the kindergarten kitchen, she was there. However, she never took the lead. In any case, if it weren't for her, Yangyang wouldn't be able to eat a safe lunch right now, so she was quite grateful to her.
“There have been some unpleasant things said these past few days, that you… were kicked out of your home because of your indiscretions, which is why you're now raising two… children alone in Nancheng to make a living. I only said a few words to the children's grandmother, I really didn't say anything to anyone else, but the children might have overheard. Yangyang, hurry up and apologize to Tianbao.” Yangyang's mother pulled Yangyang aside to ease the awkwardness.
She spoke haltingly, and Shu Yan believed that the original words must have been even more difficult to say. Her eyes narrowed slightly. Very well, which scoundrel is spreading rumors behind her back now?
"I want to know who said that?" Shu Yan asked directly.
"this……"
"Don't worry, I will never say that you told me. I just want to know who is spreading rumors about me behind my back." Several names flashed through Shu Yan's mind, but she felt that none of them were likely.
"Then don't say I told you. Do you know Zhu Hong? Her family lives in our neighborhood. She told her mother when she came back, and now... the people around her know too." Yangyang's mother checked Yangyang's body and found that he was indeed not injured. After Shu Yan also asked Tianbao to apologize, she took the child and left.
After Ah Le was gone, Zhu Hong appeared. These three are truly birds of a feather, disgusting enough to make one vomit.
Tianbao was quiet the whole way. After picking up Ye Jingjing, he asked in a low voice, "Mom, where's Dad? He hasn't come to see me in a long time."
Children forget things easily. I told Tianbao about divorce, separation, and things like that, but he doesn't remember any of it. Even if he did, he wouldn't understand.
“Dad is in Xicheng. When you’re older… Mom will take you to see him.” Shu Yan didn’t know how to explain this to such a young child, so she could only put it off for now. When he was older and knew that his parents were divorced and could not be together anymore, he would naturally stop thinking about looking for his father.
Ye Jingjing remained silent. Unlike Tianbao, she was old enough to remember things and knew a little about what divorce meant and what it meant for her father to abandon her mother. Moreover, Ye Zhiqiang had really treated his daughter Ye Jingjing badly, so she didn't miss her father at all. On the contrary, she hoped she would never see him again.
Taking the child home, she dug out the information Lao Hu had given her before. She had focused mainly on A-Le and hadn't looked at Zhu Hong's information carefully; now she needed to examine it closely. Zhu Hong's current apartment complex was on Chengbei Road, a fairly nice area. Her husband was a junior manager at a garment factory. The factory's name sounded familiar? Shu Yan thought for a long time—wasn't that Zhang Baizong's factory? So, Zhu Hong's husband got into the garment factory through A-Le?
Old Hu is really amazing. He not only found out the relationship between Ah Le and Zhang Baizong, but also found evidence that Zhu Hong's husband was embezzling money. He deliberately disposed of some good clothes as defective products. The person who took the disposal goods was Zhu Hong's brother. The clothes eventually entered Zhu Hong's shop and were sold as mid-to-high-end men's clothing.
She said, "How could a low-level manager in a factory afford to buy a new house and open a shop for his wife? So that's how he got his money."
Originally, she hadn't looked at these materials before, nor did she intend to. After all, her main target was Ah Le, and she didn't have much to do with Zhu Hong and the others. But they just had to come at her. Since that was the case, she would make her bleed a little, otherwise they would continue to treat her like a pushover.
While it was still early, Shu Yan asked Ye Jingjing to take her younger brother to take a bath, and then she went downstairs to call Hu Ruixue.
"That's rare. Why did you think of calling me?" Hu Ruixue chuckled. She thought Shu Yan would call her soon after learning about her background, but there had been no response.
"Have you taken over your ex-husband's factory yet?" Shu Yan asked bluntly.
"The handover is underway, what's going on?" Hu Ruixue asked curiously.
“There’s someone in your factory who got in with A-Le’s help. I don’t know if you remember his wife, but the one on Chengnan West Road who asked A-Le for help and said she was blind.” Shu Yan didn’t finish her sentence. “I have some evidence that her husband is embezzling money.”
“I understand what you mean.” Hu Ruixue didn’t continue on this matter. “I’m almost done with the handover here. I plan to run the factory myself from now on. The clothing factory used to make men’s clothing, but I plan to make women’s clothing. I’m more interested in that. I don’t think I’ve told you this before, but I used to study painting and have always been interested in fashion design. So, how about it? Are you interested in cooperating with me?”
Shu Yan was taken aback by her sudden change of topic. She thought Shu Yan was excitedly talking to her about her ideals, but why did she turn around and talk about cooperation?
"What's the meaning?"
“Zhang Baizong’s garment factory is doing quite well, with twenty or thirty workers now. I plan to expand it and then set up my own brand. I saw the clothes in your store last time, and they were styled quite nicely. How about we cooperate?” Hu Ruixue said with a smile.
Creating her own brand? Hu Ruixue's suggestion really appealed to Shu Yan. In this day and age, it's impossible not to have some ambition for a career. However, having two children limited Shu Yan's ideas.
"I have two children, and I'm already so busy running a clothing store. If I were to start a factory with you, I'd be even busier. Let's forget it. Besides, you don't need to cooperate with me. With your family's resources, I'm sure you have plenty of designers and stylists waiting for you to choose from." After calming down, Shu Yan couldn't help but wonder why Hu Ruixue wanted to cooperate with her. Besides, she didn't have the funds to play along with her.
“I want to start my own business. I’ve always relied on my family before, and I haven’t cared about anything outside of marriage. When Zhang Baizong first came back and talked to me about things outside, I couldn’t keep up with him. It’s not to prove anything, it’s just that compared to you, I feel like I’m too decadent. You may not know, but I’ve felt a lot of energy from you.” Hu Ruixue wasn’t lying to Shu Yan. She really did decide to dump Zhang Baizong because of Shu Yan’s situation.
“The idea is good, and I believe you can do it too, but I… creating my own brand requires time, energy, and capital. I have limited funds and two children to support, so I can’t meet those requirements…” Shu Yan politely declined.
"Then why did you open a clothing store as soon as you settled in Nancheng? Saying you didn't have time is just an excuse. You don't need to worry about funds either, you won't need them for the time being. Here's what I'm thinking: I'll contribute the factory, and you contribute your clothing store as an investment. We'll split the shares 50/50. What do you think?"
Shu Yan was immediately at a loss for words, "Of course not, how can my clothing store compare to your clothing factory?"
“Your clothing store is certainly not worth much, but you are worth this price.” Hu Ruixue paused for a moment. “The event you held for your opening was so well-received that even my older brother praised it highly, saying that if you had been educated and trained, you would definitely be a business elite.”
Shu Yan felt embarrassed; she was simply parroting someone else's words, and the praise made her blush.
"I'm just a little bit clever." I can't say I learned it from others; I can only gloss over it.
"How can you call that cleverness? There aren't many people who can earn my brother's praise. Shuyan, I'm genuinely interested in cooperating with you. It's hard to explain over the phone. How about this, let's go out for dinner tomorrow and talk face-to-face. As for that Zhu Hong, I'll handle her."
Back home, Shu Yan lost all interest in her freckle removal project. She quickly took a shower and lay in bed thinking about collaborating with Hu Ruixue.
Everyone has ambitions. When she graduated from university, she was also full of ambition, wanting to make her own way in the world. She didn't even bother to look at small companies when sending out resumes; they were all for foreign companies and listed companies. She sent out more than thirty resumes, but not a single one came back. It was a slap in the face that woke her up. She slunk back to her hometown and found a job, ostensibly to prepare for the civil service exam. At first, she thought about what she would do if she passed the exam, but she failed for two years in a row. At that time, her family was pressuring her to get married, so she dragged her luggage back to Nancheng and found an ordinary white-collar job at an ordinary company.
In her own world, society taught her how to be a person, so after she transmigrated here, her thoughts were very simple. She was not a very capable person. A dragon is a dragon wherever it goes. She was just an ordinary person who relied on her decades of more experience than others to get a share of the profits in this era full of opportunities.
The problem is that an opportunity is now in front of her. Hu Ruixue has connections and money, and cooperating with her would be twice as effective with half the effort. It seems a pity to give it up.
Never mind, we'll talk about it when we meet tomorrow. We'll also take care of Zhu Hong while we're at it. Why can't she be a decent person instead of causing trouble?
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