Director Du waved his hand and said, "Whether you are outstanding or not, we all know. You don't need to be modest."
Su Xiaotian: "..."
I'm really not being modest.
However, Director Du didn't give her a chance to speak and chattered on, telling Su Xiaotian to be careful at all times.
Finally, Director Du concluded, "Although you only want to stay in the Translation Department for two years, I still have to protect you. If anything happens to you during your time here, those old guys won't let me off easily."
Hmph, he was the only one Su Xiaotian was willing to stay with for two years, and those old guys were very envious.
Su Xiaotian watched a smile bloom on Director Du's lips, and she was deeply speechless.
He was so old, yet he acted like a child.
In the following days, Su Xiaotian continued to spend her time busily, just like before.
However, Su Xiaotian was very focused on cultivating her successors. She trained several young people in the Translation Department, and these young people progressed rapidly under her guidance.
In the blink of an eye, Su Xiaotian's two years in the Translation Department were up. When Su Xiaotian submitted her resignation, Director Du was extremely reluctant to let her go.
"Xiaotian, although I'm about to leave the Translation Department, I still sincerely hope you can stay," Director Du said during his final earnest conversation with Su Xiaotian.
However, Su Xiaotian had made up her mind to leave.
"Director Du, I am deeply grateful for your care over the past two years, but I have my own plans for the future."
"Do you have any plans to join the Ministry of Agriculture or the Ministry of Commerce?" Director Du asked, hearing Su Xiaotian's firm refusal to stay in the Translation Department, and decided to settle for the next best thing.
It was best for such capable people to remain within the system.
Su Xiaotian smiled and said, "I don't have such thoughts. Director Du, I've thought it through clearly. My several companies are currently doing very well, and I plan to focus more on this area."
Director Du felt a great sense of regret. Why would such a talented person abandon politics for business?
If she could remain in politics, her future development would surely be very good.
"I am developing my own industries for a better future. Uncle Shen's research funding has always been tight, so I plan to invest twenty thousand yuan annually in the research institute. Additionally, I plan to establish a foreign language vocational college."
Hearing Su Xiaotian's words, Director Du's spirits immediately lifted.
This young girl had aspirations.
Twenty thousand yuan a year, plus a foreign language vocational college, these were not small sums. If they were to be truly operational, the required funds would be immense.
"Are you serious about what you said?" Director Du asked.
"Naturally, I am serious," Su Xiaotian nodded solemnly. "In the future, as my ventures develop better, I will gradually increase my investment. After all, agriculture is the foundation of the nation, and as we move towards globalization, the importance of foreign languages will become increasingly evident."
Director Du burst into laughter. After laughing, he said, "You are indeed a rare and precious child. Go ahead, and if you encounter any difficulties, you can come to me. I will definitely help you wherever I can!"
"Then I won't be polite. Perhaps, in the future, I will indeed need your help," Su Xiaotian said, not being polite at all.
After handling her resignation, when Su Xiaotian returned home, she was greeted with news of four joyous occasions at her family's home.
Her second and third brothers were going to be fathers, and her fourth and fifth brothers were getting married.
Such news suddenly bombarding her ears made Su Xiaotian almost unable to believe it.
What she found most unbelievable was that her future fifth sister-in-law was Chu Yue, who had shared a dormitory with her for four years.
"You actually kept the news completely secret." Su Xiaotian was displeased. Looking at the two figures in green standing before her, Su Xiaotian felt infinitely struck.
How could they do this?
Clearly, she was the person closest to them.
There was no love in this world anymore, sob sob sob...
Chu Yue smiled and stepped forward. "Your brother and I only decided to be together last month. We originally wanted to tell you, but we were out on a mission and didn't have the chance."
Su Xiaotian's eyes darted around. "Anyway, I don't care. You have to give me a big red envelope to soothe my wounded heart."
Su Xiaotian's words were laced with childish pouting and playful demands, which made Grandma Su helpless.
"You girl, really. Is it easy for your brothers to find a partner? If you don't help, you might as well not cause trouble."
Su Xiaotian said, "I knew it, Grandma doesn't want me anymore now that she has a granddaughter-in-law!"
Everyone was amused and exasperated by Su Xiaotian's antics.
However, the atmosphere became even more pleasant.
Su Xiao Wu said to Chu Yue, "Our family only has this one daughter, and we all dote on her like a precious gem, which is why we let her be so unrestrained. Don't mind her."
Chu Yue glanced at her future husband and said, "I understand Xiaotian. She's definitely not that kind of person. Besides, we should give Xiaotian a big red envelope."
Su Xiao Wu: "..."
Has he lost favor already?
How come his future wife is like his sisters-in-law?
This is clearly a case of the sister-in-law being treated as family, and the husband being an afterthought?
Oh well, it's difficult to have a good relationship between sisters-in-law, and at least there will be fewer conflicts.
In the following days, the Su family busied themselves with preparing for the weddings of the two mischievous boys.
Compared to the previous years, the past two years had been much more relaxed, and the Su family dared to bring out more treasures.
Everyone knew that the Su family was wealthy, so no one found it strange that the Su family was displaying some treasures.
The weddings of Su Xiao Si and Su Xiao Wu were scheduled for the same day, at their own restaurant.
Many people came to offer their congratulations, their faces beaming with smiles.
However, the brightest smile belonged to Fan Shufang, who had retired and was now doting on her grandson.
The old lady had longed for her unpromising son to give her a grandson, and she had immediately decided to retire and return home to take care of him.
After all, her son and daughter-in-law were in the military and were extremely busy.
With a grandson, everything was perfect. Fan Shufang's smile was incredibly radiant as she held her eldest grandson and introduced him to everyone.
Just as Fan Shufang was happily bragging about her grandson to others, Su Taohua also arrived.
In Su Taohua's arms was also a grandson, the child of her son Liang.
After joining the army, Su Xiao Liang had worked very hard and even enrolled in military school. Now, after graduation, he was an officer, had found a wife, and had a child. His life was going very well.
Su Taohua handed over the factory she had established to her eldest daughter-in-law to manage, and she herself devoted all her time to taking care of her grandson and husband. The family lived together in great harmony.
The two children, who were of similar age, babbled in a language unintelligible to others, looking very happy, even more so than the adults chatting.
The people around them watched the two little rascals and burst into laughter.
"What are these two little fellows giggling about?" Fan Shufang couldn't help but say.
"Whether adults or children, everyone has their own happiness," Grandma Su sighed. "In recent years, life has become much easier, and people's smiles have increased."
"Speaking of which, you are truly blessed, old lady. Look at this family, how well they are living. Many people envy your good fortune," Su Taohua said with a smile.
"Your fortune is also considerable. You suffered early on, but you've endured it all, haven't you?" Grandma Su said. "The older generation was right, a person's suffering is predetermined. If you suffer in the first half of your life, you can enjoy blessings in the second half."
Listening to the elders' reflections, everyone else nodded in agreement. They had all suffered in the past and cherished their current happy lives even more.
"What I wish for now is for the remaining few to get married and have children soon. Then, I, an old woman, will have no other desires, especially for this child Xiaotian."
Grandma Su's words were overheard by several of the Su brothers, and their ears perked up instantly.
What was going on?
Grandma was already thinking about Xiaotian getting married?
How old was Xiaotian?
This wouldn't do!
"Grandma, that's not right. We haven't gotten married yet. We can't have the younger sister getting married before her older brothers, can we?" Su Xiao Qi immediately stepped forward to speak.
"That's true. You few rascals, hurry up and find a girlfriend to bring home."
There was indeed such a saying in their hometown that the older siblings must be married before the younger ones could. Of course, there were exceptions for special circumstances.
But the Su children had no flaws, so they didn't fall under special circumstances.
They still had to follow the rules.
Especially since their own brother, Xiao Ba, was not married, Xiaotian absolutely could not get married.
Chi Yiyuan, who was just entering, heard this news and instantly felt his future was in jeopardy.
He could clearly see the gleam in the eyes of his future brothers-in-law. He felt that marrying a wife would be a long and arduous journey.
Things indeed turned out exactly as Chi Yiyuan had predicted.
Su Xiao Ba didn't get married until he was twenty-eight, and by then, Su Xiaotian was already twenty-five.
This was only after Grandma Su insisted that if Su Xiao Ba didn't get married soon, the family wouldn't want him, which finally led to his marriage.
By the time he got married, Su Xiaotian was already a renowned successful entrepreneur.
A successful entrepreneur at twenty-five, she consistently engaged in charity work every year, especially investing a considerable amount of money in agricultural seed research, which was unique in the country.
At this time, the foreign language vocational college founded by Su Xiaotian had become a renowned foreign language education base in the country, receiving praise from many national leaders.
This vocational college had trained a large number of translation talents for the country, resolving the shortage of translation talent faced by the nation.
Finally, at the end of Su Xiaotian's twenty-fifth year, Chi Yiyuan successfully married his beautiful bride.
By this time, Chi Yiyuan had also grown into a successful businessman, capable of matching Su Xiaotian.
"Xiaotian, last night I had a dream. In my dream, the life we were living was completely different from now."
Three days after their wedding, upon waking up, Chi Yiyuan suddenly said to Su Xiaotian with great solemnity, "Although I know it was just a dream, for some reason, I feel that everything in the dream was incredibly real, as if it had actually happened."
Su Xiaotian tensed up upon hearing this.
"What did you dream about?"
"I dreamt that I never got married, and you got married but divorced early, and your life was very difficult."
Su Xiaotian looked at Chi Yiyuan in surprise. She never expected Chi Yiyuan to dream about their past lives on their wedding day.
She forced a smile and said, "It's just a dream. It's enough that we are living well now. Why should you believe in a dream?"
Chi Yiyuan's expression became even more serious. "I feel like it was something that happened before. Just thinking about it makes me very upset. Xiaotian, are you saying we're not in a dream right now?"
He was truly worried that everything they had now was just a dream.
Su Xiaotian hugged him and said, "No, this is not a dream. It's real. Look, aren't I standing right in front of you?"
Chi Yiyuan seemed to be persuaded by Su Xiaotian.
"Perhaps it was our past lives. Because we both suffered greatly in our past lives, we have this good life in this life," Su Xiaotian said with emotion.
Weren't their past lives very difficult?
If Chi Yiyuan said he didn't get married in his dream, it meant he wasn't happy in that life either.
"In your dream, were your parents there?" Su Xiaotian asked.
When they got married this time, Chi Yiyuan's parents did not attend. In the previous life, Chi Yiyuan's parents also seemed to have left no trace anywhere.
"They weren't there, Xiaotian. They didn't attend our wedding. You don't need to feel regret. Perhaps it's better that they didn't attend."
With such parents, Chi Yiyuan was truly afraid they would show up at his wedding and cause trouble.
In his opinion, these parents were nominal, almost nonexistent.
They lived their own lives abroad, while he lived a happy life with Xiaotian in China. That was enough.
Su Xiaotian wanted to say that she never felt regret.
The way Chi Yiyuan's parents treated him back then had always left a bad impression on her.
Even at the wedding, Su Xiaotian hadn't expected their appearance.
After all, the appearance of this couple might ruin their wedding.
Grandpa Chi was there, and that was enough.
In any case, the person Chi Yiyuan relied on in this world was Grandpa Chi.
In the future, they would take good care of Grandpa Chi and let him live a few more years. That was their greatest wish.
As for anything else, there was no need to consider it for now.
"By the way, Xiaotian, I recently met some people who said they came to China looking for someone. I think the person they are looking for is you!"
Chi Yiyuan suddenly remembered this matter and said it casually.
"Oh?"
"They said that their brother was sent to prison by a Chinese woman back then. They went to great lengths to get to China, and then they searched for several years in China. I remember you seemed to have such a glorious deed back then."
Su Xiaotian was truly embarrassed. How many years had passed since then?
These people were still thinking about it?
"I'll go see them later. I suspect they won't recognize me!" Su Xiaotian thought for a moment and said.
Her words were not unfounded. It was originally a blurry photograph, and so many years had passed. It would be strange if they recognized her.
Chi Yiyuan smiled and said, "You can try. If they show any sign of recognizing you, I will find a way to ensure they never return to China."
He couldn't let Su Xiaotian be exposed to any risk.
As expected, when Su Xiaotian stood opposite them, the men only busied themselves calling her "boss lady" and didn't recognize her. Chi Yiyuan was only relieved after repeatedly confirming that these men truly didn't recognize her.
Back then, he had kept these men around because he suspected the person they were looking for was Su Xiaotian, and he didn't want any potential danger to threaten her.
The foreigners had long forgotten what the person they were looking for looked like. They only knew that their boss lady was beautiful, and they decided that they too would find a beautiful Chinese woman and live a happy life like their boss.
End of the story.