As the weather gradually warmed up, people switched to spring clothes, and naturally, the thermal underwear sold by Lao Zhang stopped selling well. Meanwhile, Hu Ruixue's business was booming. She expanded her factory again and again, but still couldn't keep up with demand. Just then, Lao Zhang had some free time, so Shu Yan arranged for some of her products to be processed there.
"This is a real lifesaver! You have no idea how anxious I've been lately, my mouth is practically chapped from worry." He was blinded by the profits from last winter and hired too many people at the beginning of this year. Now that there are so many workers in the factory, they'll definitely leave if there's no work. When it's time to start construction in the second half of the year, he won't be able to find workers again. He's been trying to find friends to do contract manufacturing, even if it doesn't make money, as long as he can keep these workers.
But everyone's business was so-so in the first half of the year, so whoever had orders to give him.
"You're too kind. I'm also a shareholder in the factory," Shu Yan said with a smile.
With Lao Zhang taking the lead, and several contract manufacturers being found, Yan Xue's production pressure was greatly relieved in a short time.
"Do you have time tomorrow?" Hu Ruixue asked, putting away the contract.
"What's wrong? Getting ready to go out for a spring outing?" Shu Yan glanced out the window. "The weather is still a bit chilly. Don't let the child catch a cold."
In March, the southern part of the city was still quite cold, mainly due to the high humidity; the lawn was simply unsuitable for sitting.
"No, come to my house for a visit. We've known each other for so long, and I even went to your house to wish you a Happy New Year, but you never come to my house for a visit." Hu Ruixue invited Shu Yan to her home.
"I just haven't had the time." Shu Yan felt a bit embarrassed about this. Hu Ruixue had come to visit on the second day of the Lunar New Year because she valued her. She had planned to visit her home that afternoon to wish her a Happy New Year, but Hu Ruixue wasn't home. Her plane ticket for the third day of the Lunar New Year had been booked long ago, and she had asked Hu Ruixue to help her book it. If she missed it, she would have to take the train, which was something she couldn't help.
“An excuse.” Hu Ruixue rolled her eyes at her. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to my parents’ house, I’m going to my own house. I didn’t go back to my parents’ house after the divorce, mainly because I thought my mom was too nagging. What do you think she’s thinking? I just went through a failed marriage, and now she wants me to go on blind dates and get married? Does she think I can’t live without a man? I have no intention of remarrying.”
Unlike Shu Yan, Hu Ruixue was genuinely hurt and truly had no intention of remarrying.
"Didn't you say that Duoduo was raised by your mother?" So Shuyan always thought they were at the Hu family's house.
"It was mainly the experts and the nanny who took care of her. That nanny had been taking care of Duoduo since she was born, and she was even closer to her than I was as her mother." She also blamed herself for this, saying that she should have done everything herself.
"Okay, I'll bring the kids to visit you tomorrow." There aren't so many formalities when having dinner at Hu Ruixue's house.
Even though Hu Ruixue's family had everything, Shu Yan couldn't go empty-handed. But deciding what to bring was a bit of a hassle. After thinking about it, she simply brought two large bags of fruit and ingredients for making sweet soup.
"Honestly, you have so much fruit at home that you can't finish it all. Isn't it hard to carry it all?" Hu Ruixue glared at Shu Yan.
"It's embarrassing to come to eat empty-handed." Shu Yan laughed. "Duo Duo, your godmother is here, aren't you going to greet her?"
"Stop shouting, he just fell asleep."
Shu Yan glanced at her watch. "It's already 9 o'clock. Shall we go back to sleep?"
"Around 3 a.m., someone set off firecrackers, which startled her awake. She cried and fussed, and only just fell asleep again," Hu Ruixue said, sounding slightly tired.
Shu Yan noticed the dark circles under her eyes and frowned, saying, "Why didn't you call me? I won't come over today. Can't we eat sometime?"
"It's nothing. It's not the first time, it happens all the time. Jingjing, Tianbao, come over to your godmother quickly, I've prepared a lot of cakes for you, come and eat." Hu Ruixue had someone bring out the prepared cakes, at least a dozen kinds.
"You should give them less sweets. Jingjing is losing her baby teeth, and if she gets cavities, it'll all be your fault." Shu Yan picked up a piece without hesitation and took a bite. It was sweet but not cloying, and melted in her mouth. It was delicious.
"It's okay, godmother has money. Godmother will take you abroad to get a fully porcelain-coated baby." Hu Ruixue joked.
"Even the best teeth can't compare to your own goodness. Jingjing, you should eat less, and Tianbao, you too. Don't cry when your teeth hurt later." Shuyan put away all the cakes. Tianbao's teeth were already a bit decayed at such a young age, and Jingjing's teeth weren't much better either, so Shuyan didn't let them eat sweets much.
"Okay, okay, what do you want for lunch? Tell Auntie and she'll make it for you." Hu Ruixue didn't actually let the child eat whatever he wanted.
"You invited me over, I thought you were going to cook for me yourself," Shu Yan joked.
"If you're not afraid of being poisoned by me, then let me cook," Hu Ruixue joked.
"You didn't sleep well last night, go get some sleep first. I'll make some sweet soup, so Duoduo can eat it when she wakes up." I'll also prepare two of my specialty dishes, and get everything ready first.
"Then I'll thank you on behalf of Duoduo, your godmother. I'm so tired, I'm going to take a nap. Just make yourself at home here. Oh, by the way, there's a small playroom over there, you can take the kids there to play." Hu Ruixue yawned and went back to her room. Given her relationship with Shuyan, there was really no need for such formalities.
It was called a small playroom, but it was actually quite large inside, with a slide, sandpit, swings, and seesaws. Shu Yan let the two of them go inside to play while she went to the kitchen to make soup.
Shu Yan heard a noise outside and turned her head to look. She saw Hu Ruiyang carrying two bottles of red wine.
Although she didn't say it explicitly, Hu Ruixue must have realized that she didn't like Hu Ruiyang. Therefore, when she was making plans with her, Hu Ruixue probably wouldn't have made plans with Hu Ruiyang.
"Where's Xiaoxue?" Hu Ruiyang was genuinely unaware that Shu Yan was here, and was quite surprised to see her busy in the kitchen.
“Duoduo was a bit fussy yesterday. She didn’t sleep all night. She’s going to take a nap.” Seeing Hu Ruiyang looking at the spoon in her hand, he smiled. “Duoduo loves my sweet soup. I’m cooking it now.”
Hu Ruiyang put the red wine away himself and asked, "Is there anything I can help you with?"
"No need." Shu Yan thought to herself, a young master like this probably has never been in the kitchen before. It would be good enough if he didn't make a mess.
As it turned out, he actually took off his coat, rolled up his sleeves, and helped pick vegetables. He did a pretty good job, at least much better than Hu Ruixue.
"Have you ever cooked?"
Hu Ruiyang smiled at her upon hearing this, "In your eyes, are we people who are detached from worldly affairs?"
"Pretty much, right?" Shu Yan nodded.
"Then you're wrong. I know quite a few people who can cook. When I was in college, I lived alone and would occasionally cook for myself. My skills weren't great, but they were definitely edible."
"Hmm, pretty impressive." Shu Yan gave a soulless compliment.
Hu Ruiyang raised an eyebrow. "You don't like me?"
Shu Yan paused in her vegetable-picking, unable to resist glancing at him. Was she being that obvious? And even if she had seen it, shouldn't he have said something? Didn't he feel awkward?
"Of course I have to wear a mask when I'm working. I'm more direct in front of people I know well. Guessing each other will only deepen the misunderstanding. I think the reason you dislike me is because of my aggressive attitude towards you when we first met, right?"
"Nothing of the sort, don't make wild guesses." Shu Yan smiled awkwardly.
"Xiaoxue is our only daughter. We overprotected her when she was little, so she's a bit naive, which is why she was deceived by Zhang Baizhong. I really didn't know anything about Zhang Baizhong's past, but I did know about his reconciliation with that nanny. The reason I didn't tell Xiaoxue was because I was afraid she wouldn't be able to handle it. When I found out someone had told Xiaoxue about Zhang Baizhong, I was furious. But later I realized that Xiaoxue wasn't as fragile as we thought. She's incredibly strong and decisive; I was the one who was too presumptuous."
"Shouldn't these words be said to Ruixue?" Shuyan asked, puzzled.
Hu Ruiyang gave an irrelevant answer: "I'm very curious how someone who didn't even graduate from elementary school could write such a good advertising plan. His speech and behavior don't seem like those of a country woman who has never seen the world."
"I've always been smart. I always got first place when I was little. If my family hadn't been so sexist and wouldn't have let me study, I definitely would have gotten into university." Shu Yan knew she would be questioned about this, but she didn't try to hide it.
However, the original owner's grades were indeed excellent; he was first in every subject in his first and second years.
Hu Ruiyang's lips twitched. There were only a dozen or so students in total. Scoring in the seventies in math and Chinese would make her the top student in their school. Where did she get the confidence that she could get into university?
Let's just assume she's naturally intelligent; otherwise, it doesn't make sense. You can't really dream of being guided by a fairy in Wonderland, can you? He's an atheist and never believes in such things.
Shu Yan had almost finished preparing the dishes. She glanced at the time and saw that it was already past 10 o'clock. She made an excuse to go to the playroom to play with the children. At 11 o'clock, Hu Ruixue got up and saw Hu Ruiyang in the living room. She looked puzzled and asked, "Why is Big Brother here?"
"I got two bottles of good wine from Adelaide and brought them over especially for you." Hu Ruiyang led her to the wine cabinet to see the two newly acquired bottles of red wine.
"Ade's back? When did he get back?"
"Yes, they even asked about you, saying when they could have dinner together."
Hu Ruixue looked at Hu Ruiyang suspiciously, "Are you two up to something again?"
"What kind of scheme am I plotting?" Hu Ruiyang said with a serious face. "It's just that we haven't seen each other for too long, so I invited you all to get together."
"It's best if you don't have any plans. I've told you before, I consider Ade my older brother, so please don't try to set me up with anyone. Right now, I just want to focus on my career and raise Duoduo. By the way, did you see Yan Yan when you came in?" Hu Ruixue really didn't plan to remarry, but her mother always found ways to get her to go on blind dates.
“I saw her, and we even talked for a while. She was playing with the children in the playroom.” Hu Ruiyang raised his chin.
Hu Ruixue: "Then why are you still sitting here?"
"What do you mean? Are you kicking me out?" Hu Ruiyang had never seen guests treated like this before.
Hu Ruixue snorted, "I don't believe you can't tell. It's Yan Yan's first time visiting. Don't scare her away so much that she won't come back next time."
"Alright, I'm leaving. Please tell Shu Yan for me."
"Bye-bye." Hu Ruixue waved.
Shu Yan came out but didn't see Hu Ruiyang. She glanced at the kitchen, but he wasn't there either.
"Stop looking, my brother had to leave first." Hu Ruixue's voice was tinged with laughter. "Is it really necessary? My brother isn't some monster."
"How could it not be? Your brother is so imposing, I'm just a commoner, I can't stand being scared." Shu Yan felt like she had to think several times before she could speak to him, it was exhausting.
These words made Hu Ruixue laugh uncontrollably.
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