Chapter 470: Chapter 463: Pregnant
The school in Liu Village was built in less than two months, and they didn’t even spend all of the ten thousand yuan, there was still a considerable amount left. Secretary Liu wanted to return the remaining money to Sisi. Sisi declined and suggested that Secretary Liu use the funds to make some sturdy desks and benches. Additionally, she took out another five thousand yuan for Secretary Liu to keep for purchasing sports equipment like basketballs and footballs for the school. If there was still money left over, they could buy stationery like paper, brushes, ink, and inkstones for the children.
The cost of setting up the primary school turned out to be much less than Sisi’s initial budget. In fact, she could have built an even better school, but considering that "the nail that sticks out gets hammered down", it was wiser to keep a low profile.
Liu Village Primary School was named Sisi Primary School by Secretary Liu. When Sisi learned of this name, she couldn’t help but laugh silently to herself. She hadn’t expected Secretary Liu to concur with the heroic Mu Xiulan in such matters. She did not request a name change, deciding to stick with this name. She believed that in the future there would be more Sisi Primary Schools.
Not long after, the funds for Mu Xiulan’s school construction were transferred too, a total of two hundred thousand yuan from two counties.
Mu Xiulan had grown to love this kind of charitable activity, beyond just boosting the prospects for her daughter and son-in-law, and planned to continue it as a long-term endeavor.
At that time, there were not many overseas charitable contributors coming to the Mainland, so a person like Mu Xiulan stood out even more prominently. She had even become known by the higher-ups and had made a name for herself there.
After the construction of Liu Village Primary School was completed, Sisi initially planned to attend the celebration, where there would be a waist drum performance. However, she ended up not going because—she was pregnant!
A year after her marriage, Sisi finally got pregnant, which was unbeknownst to her due to a complete lack of pregnancy symptoms; she could eat, sleep, and play as usual. It was one evening when Tian Xinhua noted that Sisi’s period seemed to have been absent for quite some time and casually mentioned it, which is when Sisi realized the possibility.
The absence of a period meant only one thing – something every woman knew!
Consequently, Sisi decisively refused Tian Xinhua’s advances that night, and early the next day, she rushed to the county hospital’s gynecology department for an examination. It was confirmed she was six weeks pregnant, about a month and a half along.
Happiness is best shared with others. Sisi immediately called Tian Xinhua to share the joyous news. Thus, everyone in the County Committee found out that Vice Secretary Tian was behaving oddly that day, noticeably overexcited to the extent of breaking three pens.
Following that, Sisi began her blissful pregnancy, with no clothes to wash, no meals to cook, no housework to do, and no need to serve a certain man at night.
Truly, she was living the life of the gods!
The happiest about Sisi’s pregnancy were Mr. Yun and He Xuewen. Mr. Yun was thrilled because he would soon have a new toy to play with, and He Xuewen, of course, was ecstatic about having a successor.
The Tian Family was certainly delighted as well. Although there were already many grandchildren in the family, no one would complain about having too many. A thriving family meant a flourishing lineage!
Tian Manjin and He Xuewen were once again comparing notes, sending remittance slips one after the other, and on the phone, they were adamant: Sisi should buy whatever she craved and not to try to save money.
Since finding out their precious granddaughter was expecting, Old Man and Granny Zhao were mixed with sentiment and concern, pacing restlessly at home. The next day, they decided to personally go to Huang Yuan to care for Ah Nan, as seeing her with their own eyes would be the only way to have peace of mind.
And so, the two elders arrived in Huang Yuan with big and small bags in tow, startling Sisi and Tian Xinhua so much that they nearly dropped their eyes out of their sockets, and they hurried to tidy up rooms for them.
With Granny Zhao in charge, Sisi led a life of absolute comfort; even double chins became visible, but Granny Zhao still thought her too thin and zealously cooked delicious food to feed her every day.
The people in the County Committee Building finally found a reason for the Deputy Secretary’s Wife’s pampering; it was the elder’s doting from the previous year, arriving with bags bulging, almost as if they were bringing the mountains with them. This time it was even better – just getting pregnant was reason enough for the grandparents to hurry over, attending to the Deputy Secretary’s Wife as if she were royalty, just shy of worship.
Being pregnant, what’s so precious about that? Why all the fuss?
Sisi didn’t care about these sour words; in her view, those who spoke them must surely be envious of her, envious that her life was more comfortable than theirs.
Time flew, and it was May already. Sisi was three months into her pregnancy, her belly slightly protruding, though it was barely noticeable if you weren’t looking closely. Besides, since she became pregnant, Sisi mostly wore loose-fitting clothes, and with her tall and slim figure, she still looked like a young girl rather than a pregnant woman.
That morning, after finishing her class, Sisi drove to the winery. The roads in Huangyuan County were rather smooth, as she would never dare to drive on those in the suburbs otherwise.
Yuan Jin had called her yesterday asking her to visit the factory when she had the time, saying that there was something urgent to discuss.
Sisi went straight to the general manager’s office, where Yuan Jin was sitting at his desk with a troubled frown, a pile of papers spread out in front of him, their contents unknown.
"Brother Yuan, what happened? Why the long face?" Sisi teased from the doorway.
Yuan Jin, hearing the sound, quickly stood up and carefully helped her sit down, then pushed those papers across the desk towards her.
"Take a look."
Sisi picked up a document; it was an IOU from Huayi Mall in some province, owing He Family Winery twenty thousand yuan, with the mall’s official seal and the manager’s signature. The next one was an IOU for five thousand yuan, also stamped with the seal. She didn’t need to continue looking to know that they were all just empty promises.
In a past life, after the economic reforms, there was indeed a period when issuing IOUs was the norm, and many factories collapsed because they failed to recover their debts.
These debt relationships were delicate - A owed B, B owed C, C owed D, but D owed A - it was a vicious cycle, creating a demonic net that dragged all the trapped factories down with it.
She hadn’t expected her own family’s winery to fall victim to IOUs as well. Sisi shook her head; it seemed she needed to discuss with Yuan Jin about insisting on cash transactions from now on. Exchange goods for money on the spot, or else it was better not to do business at all.
However, the most pressing issue was to recover these debts. The debtor is the father, the creditor the child; thinking of the difficulties in debt collection, Sisi couldn’t help but sigh.
"How much is the total?" she asked.
"Eight hundred and fifty-six thousand, some from last year’s accounts, all of which we’ve pressed for several times already."
Yuan Jin replied, frowning. He had personally called these accounts to demand payment, but all these organizations claimed poverty, asking him to grant them more time.
"It seems these units are deliberately defaulting. We need to send someone to collect the debts in person." Sisi said coldly.
"Duofu has been sent to collect, to no avail," Yuan Jin sighed.
"Jin Duofu is not up to it; we need to assign someone else."
"Who should we send?" Yuan Jin asked again. If Jin Duofu wasn’t suitable, who was?
"Post a talent list in the factory; whoever can recover the debts will receive a two percent commission. Those who excel may also be promoted to an official post," said Sisi calmly.
Collecting debts is a skill of its own, completely different from sales. Jin Duofu might be successful in sales, but that didn’t mean he was cut out for debt collection.
High rewards will surely lead to brave men; Sisi absolutely believed in this time-honored truth.