"My family will help, because I'm pregnant," Qian Li said. Although she didn't like Li Qi much, she had just discovered she was pregnant and needed to marry into the Li family as soon as possible.
"What? You're pregnant?" Whose child was it then? The old man's, or Li Qi's?
Noticing Qian Fei's thoughts, Qian Xueli shifted the topic uncomfortably. "Come on, let's go!"
The moon was bright and the stars were sparse outside. Zhang Liunian stood by the window in the room, holding Su Ruyi's body, and looked out at the moonlight. "I didn't have Su Jie come over. Will you be upset?"
Yesterday, they had moved to the county town and temporarily left Su Jie with his younger sister. Zhang Liunian hadn't had a chance to ask his wife's thoughts yet.
Jiang Qingqing shook her head and placed her small hand on Zhang Liunian's large one. "I trust my sister, and besides, she's recovering and shouldn't be exposed to the wind."
More importantly, ever since the incident of being bitten on the chest, she had started paying attention to Su Jie, feeling that she seemed somewhat different from the Su Jie she knew.
She couldn't quite explain it, but she instinctively didn't want her to be there, which was why she hadn't brought it up herself.
"Mm, when she's feeling better, we can have her join the factory in the village and continue living in the educated youth dormitory." Zhang Liunian didn't want Jiang Qingqing to focus too much on others; he wanted his woman to only look at him.
Thinking this, Zhang Liunian suddenly lowered his head and kissed his wife's neck, causing Jiang Qingqing to tremble.
"Don't mess around." My belly is getting bigger and bigger, and I'm about to give birth. Jiang Qingqing's body was even more sensitive. Even a kiss from Zhang Liunian could make her surrender.
"We rarely have some alone time. Don't you really want it?" Zhang Liunian caught her reaching hand, turned her around and pulled her into his arms, lifted Jiang Qingqing's chin, and pressed down.
"No... Mmph!"
With their sleeping daughter not in the room, Zhang Liunian and Jiang Qingqing were much bolder.
Moving around naked was just the appetizer; the real thrill was the friction and heat. However, due to Jiang Qingqing's advanced pregnancy, they didn't go all out directly.
The next day, Zhang Liunian woke up early and returned to the village to chat with eighteen uncles, informing them of his intention to start a construction company and inviting them to continue working with him.
The salary and benefits were naturally doubled, with full board and lodging provided.
Upon learning of such good treatment, not a single one of the eighteen uncles disagreed; on the contrary, they were all very happy.
They had been helping Zhang Liunian build houses for the past two months and had become accustomed to the comfortable life of receiving a salary every day. They also weren't too keen on farming anymore.
Now that Zhang Liunian had brought them another opportunity, why would they let it slip away?
"Alright, once my permits are processed, I'll find a storefront in South City and establish our construction company." After speaking with them, Zhang Liunian went to the pickled vegetable factory.
"Yours is one hundred and fifty jin."
"Uncle's is eighty jin."
"Auntie's is two hundred and forty jin."
"..."
As soon as he arrived at the pickled vegetable factory, Zhang Liunian saw Zhang Shan collecting pickles and counting money. Quite a few people had come.
Most of them were women and elderly people; the main labor force had clearly gone to the fields.
"Liunian's here?"
"Good morning, Liunian!"
"Are you getting used to living in the county town, Liunian?"
The villagers, noticing Zhang Liunian's return from the county town, greeted him enthusiastically.
Zhang Liunian replied to each of them one by one, then went into the factory to observe everyone's work. Everything was developing in an orderly manner, and Zhang Liunian breathed a sigh of relief.
The demand for pickled vegetables would only increase, and they had to work diligently to ensure a stable supply.
Back in the office, he made a few phone calls, and Zhang Shan soon arrived, presenting Zhang Liunian with the accounts of expenditures and income from the past few days.
After reviewing them, Zhang Liunian instructed, "Don't worry about the money. Collect as much glutinous rice paste as you can. If you're short, call me, and I'll deliver it myself."
"I will."
Then, they discussed matters concerning the factory. Afterward, Zhang Liunian went to meet Zhang Hao.
"You mean you want to recruit people to help you build construction sites?" Zhang Hao hadn't expected Zhang Liunian to give him such a big surprise today.
However, he began to worry about their farming tasks. If everyone wanted to be a worker, how would their Zhangjia Village fulfill its grain quota and complete its tasks next year?
"Although we now have household contract responsibility, each household must still pay a certain amount of grain. If the entire village goes to work, there might be no one to farm the land next year."
Zhang Hao suddenly became troubled about the land, as his two sons were currently working for Zhang Liunian, leaving all the farm work to him and his wife. It was impossible to say it wasn't tiring.
Fortunately, autumn harvest was approaching. Once they were done with the harvest, everyone would be idle.
"If not, I can find people from other villages. I'll start with our brigade anyway." Zhang Liunian still wanted to prioritize his own villagers. If there were no people in the village, he would look for them in the brigade.
Zhang Hao understood his intentions. He pondered for a moment. "Autumn harvest is coming soon, and after we finish harvesting, we won't have much else to do.
The job you're offering has good pay and benefits, and I think everyone will like it.
As for next year, I'll remind everyone then. As long as the land isn't left idle, we'll always find a way."
At worst, they could rent out the land to people from other villages and then buy grain from them when it was time to pay the quota.
This way, they would have completed their task and earned money, killing two birds with one stone.
"That's a good idea," Zhang Liunian agreed. As for paying the grain quota, as long as they had money, they wouldn't have to worry.
With the matter settled, Zhang Liunian then went to the educated youth dormitory.
Now, only the mute girl and a dozen or so people led by his younger sister remained in the female educated youth dormitory. These people were the workforce for stir-frying crayfish.
After confirming the arrangements, Zhang Liunian planned to leave. However, before he could depart, he turned around and saw Su Jie suddenly appear, hesitatingly asking, "When will Qingqing be back?"
"Probably in one or two weeks, by the time we move into the new house." Zhang Liunian didn't notice that Su Jie harbored feelings for him.
"So long?" Su Jie swayed her body as if she were a delicate willow, as if she might fall to the ground at any moment.
This time, Zhang Liunian didn't help her up, because he remembered what he had said: he wouldn't help any woman except his wife.
Seeing that Zhang Liunian didn't offer a hand, Su Jie could only force herself to remain steady and then retreated into her room dejectedly.
Zhang Liunian didn't pay much attention to this matter. He returned to South City, registered Zhang Family Construction Company, and then went to the food factory to find Fang Yan.
Coincidentally, when he arrived, he happened to catch Tang Shikang storming out angrily. "Just you wait."
The two bumped into each other, and Tang Shikang completely ignored Zhang Liunian.
Zhang Liunian didn't strike up a conversation with him either. He walked to Fang Yan's office.
"You ran into the Tang family?" Fang Yan stood up and personally poured Zhang Liunian a glass of water before sitting down again, making a joke.
"It seems the Tang family hasn't made things too difficult for you," Zhang Liunian said, taking the water glass and looking at Fang Yan.
Fang Yan's expression stiffened. "They threatened me yesterday, and today they've decided to make a move. You have to protect me well. To give this project to you, I'm facing pressure from the giants of South City."
"..."