Chapter 139: She Is a Career Woman

By the time he returned from depositing his money at the rural credit cooperative, it was already dark.

Seeing that the market street was deserted with barely a soul in sight, Liu Xing promptly closed the front doors of the shoe shop.

Noticing that his eldest sister and brother-in-law had not yet returned from transplanting rice seedlings, he rolled up his sleeves, walked into the kitchen, and started a fire to cook dinner.

Attracted by the appetizing aroma of the cooking, the little ones—Little Dot, Lanlan, and Guazi—came scurrying out from the backyard, blocking the kitchen doorway and stretching their necks to peer inside. When they saw that there were pork ribs for dinner, they were overjoyed.

Seeing that Liu Xing was too busy to manage everything by himself, Guazi quickly dragged a small stool over, sat down in front of the earthen stove, and began feeding firewood into it. However, because the firewood was not dry enough, thick smoke suddenly billowed out.

Lanlan, who had been watching from the sidelines like a spectator, was caught off guard and choked by the smoke. Coughing, she quickly covered her tear-filled eyes and ran away.

Little Dot followed right behind her. Just as she was about to call Guazi to run out with them, the thick smoke quickly dissipated.

It turned out that Liu Xing, realizing something was wrong, had quickly pulled the two damp pieces of firewood out of the earthen stove.

Poor Guazi, however, did not escape the smoke's embrace unscathed; when Liu Xing picked her up and carried her out, her entire little face was blackened with soot.

This sight left Lanlan unable to hold back her giggles and caused Little Dot to burst into loud laughter.

Liu Xing smiled as well. "Hurry off to the backyard and wash your face. I don't need your help with the cooking."

"Mm-hmm! Mm-hmm!" Guazi nodded repeatedly.

Taking advantage of the moment when Lanlan was not paying attention, she smeared the soot from her own face onto Lanlan's cheek and dashed toward the backyard.

"Don't run!" Realizing in an instant that her own face had become a mess, Lanlan immediately gave chase. Instead of being angry, however, a sweet smile bloomed across her pretty face.

Seeing this, Little Dot followed behind them, and in no time, the three little ones were playfully chasing each other in the backyard.

Their joyous laughter carried far, far away.

Even Zhao Dongkui, who was busy transplanting rice seedlings in the paddy field, heard it.

Realizing how late it was, he turned to Liu Jiuju, who was bending over and working diligently behind him, and said, "Wife, you should head back and cook dinner! Whatever seedlings are left can be planted tomorrow!"

"There's no rush to cook; my younger brother is back, and he'll take care of it," Liu Jiuju replied, raising a hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead. "Don't forget, my family has also been transplanting rice these past two days. If we finish up our work here quickly, we can go back and help them out later."

There was no helping it; during the days Liu Xing had spent at their home, he had practically built them a brick-paved flat-roofed house with his own hands.

If they didn't return to help with the rice planting, the other villagers in Xiaoshi Village would undoubtedly start gossiping behind their backs.

And so... even if it meant working a little harder now, they had to go back to shut the mouths of those gossipy villagers.

How could Zhao Dongkui not know what was on Liu Jiuju's mind? Hearing this, he couldn't help but smile. "You don't need to worry about your family's paddy fields this time. Didn't you hear earlier when that Manager Li and Manager Liu both said they were going to help plant rice? If they really show up, there won't even be any work left for us."

"You actually believe what they say?" Liu Jiuju glanced at Zhao Dongkui. "If they come, they come, but don't count on them too much."

"That's true, or they wouldn't have tried to scheme against Liu Xing before," Zhao Dongkui agreed with a nod.

"Stop chatting and get back to planting," Liu Jiuju said upon seeing the moon rising in the sky. She quickly picked up a bundle of rice seedlings from the water, shook off the excess water, untied the straw rope, and resumed her work with total concentration.

Seeing that there were no seedlings left behind him, Zhao Dongkui was about to walk over to the seedling bed to fetch some more when he suddenly froze in place.

It turned out that his father, Zhao Geng, along with his younger brother, Zhao Wuliang, had rolled up their trouser legs and stepped into the paddy field to help plant the seedlings.

Zhao Gou and Zhao Liang arrived shortly after, and without a second word, began carrying bundles of seedlings.

"Brother, I'm just here to freeload a meal at your place," Zhao Liang said with a smile.

"You rascal," Zhao Dongkui chuckled along.

Hearing this, Liu Jiuju felt a flicker of genuine happiness.

After all, in the past, it would have been impossible for so many people to come and help her family with the farming.

Seeing her mother-in-law, Li Qing, step into the paddy field as well, she stood frozen for a moment before scrambling back up onto the ridge. "Dongkui, I'm heading back to cook. When you're done, remember to tell Dad, Mom, and Wuliang to come over to our house for dinner."

As for the names of Zhao Gou and Zhao Liang, she didn't mention them.

Of course, there was no need to; standing on ceremony with them was entirely unnecessary.

"Got it! Understood," Zhao Dongkui replied hastily.

Seeing how tactful and considerate Liu Jiuju was, Li Qing and Zhao Geng couldn't help smiling, and the speed at which their hands planted the seedlings increased noticeably.

Zhao Wuliang, however, was as dense as ever. The moment he heard that Liu Jiuju was going back to cook, he immediately called out, "Sister-in-law, I've been craving your braised pork belly. Do you think there'll be any tonight?"

"There will!" Liu Jiuju answered with a smile, washed her hands and feet, and left.

Hearing this, Zhao Wuliang was ecstatic.

Li Qing, on the other hand, was exasperated. She stepped forward and gave him a smack on the arm. "Did I ever starve you when you were at home? The moment you open your mouth, you're asking Jiuju for braised pork belly. Have you no shame?"

"Mom, it's not that you starved me, but your braised pork belly just doesn't taste as good as Sister-in-law's," Zhao Wuliang retorted unabashedly.

As soon as those words left his mouth, Zhao Gou—who was carrying seedlings—along with Zhao Liang and Zhao Geng, burst into hearty laughter.

With a dark expression, Li Qing longed to curse him out, but ultimately held her tongue.

She knew in her heart that everything Zhao Wuliang said was true; her daughter-in-law's culinary skills were indeed far superior to her own.

It was just that she couldn't quite fathom why she had always looked down on Liu Jiuju in the past.

Thinking about it now, she really must have been blinded by prejudice.

Sensing Li Qing's thoughts, Zhao Geng let out a soft sigh and said, "Stop messing around in the field. It's already dark; hurry up to the kitchen and help with the stir-frying, or else when on earth are we going to eat?"

"Eat, eat, eat! All you ever think about is eating!" Reluctant to go to the kitchen and face Liu Jiuju, Li Qing muttered a curse under her breath and buried her head back into planting seedlings.

Zhao Geng could only shake his head helplessly, not daring to say another word.

...

Half an hour later.

Little Dot appeared on the ridge of the field, toddling along on her short legs. "Grandpa! Grandma! Time to eat, hurry up and come ashore."

"You silly little girl, we haven't even finished planting these seedlings yet!" Zhao Liang teased with a chuckle.

"I wasn't calling you to eat," Little Dot tilted her little head and replied with a smile.

"Hahaha... That's right, she was calling me." Overjoyed at the sight of Little Dot, Zhao Geng washed his hands and feet and clambered up onto the ridge.

This left Zhao Liang feeling rather awkward, though he didn't say anything.

After all, he didn't really need a formal invitation to eat at Zhao Dongkui's place; he was shameless enough to show up either way.

Seeing Little Dot's adorable expression, Li Qing's face softened into a smile. "You go on ahead with Grandpa, and Grandma will come as soon as I'm done here."

"You're lying! Every time we eat at my house, you always sneak away afterward," Little Dot pounced into a squat on the ridge. "Mom said that if you don't come eat, I can't go back either."

"You child," Li Qing said, feeling both amused and helpless.

Seeing that Zhao Geng, Zhao Liang, Zhao Dongkui, and Zhao Gou had all climbed up onto the ridge and were waiting for her, Li Qing had no choice but to wash her hands and feet and make her way up as well.

"Grandma, hurry!" Little Dot grabbed Li Qing's right hand and began trotting toward the kitchen.

"Don't run so fast!" Seeing Little Dot stumble a few times, Li Qing quickly reached down and scooped her up into her arms.

It was only then that she realized that during the few days she hadn't seen Little Dot, the little girl had actually put on quite a bit of weight; holding her in her arms, she felt substantial and pleasingly plump.

"Grandma! Grandma! My house has pork ribs for dinner tonight, walk faster or there won't be any left!" Little Dot wrapped her arms around Li Qing's neck and chattered in her sweet, baby voice.

"All right, all right!" Li Qing pinched Little Dot's chubby little cheek, a happy smile spreading across her face.

It was at that moment she discovered that young girls weren't useless after all—at least they knew how to be considerate.

Unlike her youngest son, Zhao Wuliang, who knew nothing from morning till night except asking her for money and never doing an honest day's work.

...

In front of the shoe shop.

Liu Xing had already set out the wooden table.

Lanlan and Guazi were busy arranging bowls, chopsticks, and moving stools into place.

Inside the kitchen, Liu Jiuju finished the last dish and carried a large basin of boiled fish in chili oil out to the wooden table.

As for the rest of the dishes, without needing her to ask, Zhao Dongkui, Zhao Gou, and the others stepped in and carried them all out.

Seeing such an opulent spread covering the entire table, Li Qing felt so out of place that she didn't even dare to sit down.

After all, she had only come to help out after dark; sitting down to such a lavish meal made her feel deeply ashamed of herself.

Zhao Geng, however, didn't care about any of that. He took Little Dot and pulled up a chair. "Dongkui! Where's your corn liquor? Hurry up and bring it out."

"Right away," Zhao Dongkui responded, hurrying off toward the backyard.

"Mom, you sit down too! The food might not be much, but I hope you won't turn your nose up at it."

Liu Jiuju pulled Li Qing down to sit right beside Zhao Geng.

Since her mother-in-law had taken the initiative to help with the rice planting today, the unpleasantness from the previous family division was naturally swept aside and best left unmentioned. No matter what, Li Qing was her husband's biological mother; if she kept a sour face and targeted her at every turn, it would only show that she lacked basic decency.

"This boiled fish and sweet and sour ribs were made by my uncle! Who dares say they aren't good?" Little Dot climbed onto a bench, grabbed a rib with her little hand, and popped it straight into Li Qing's mouth. "Grandma, hurry up and eat, or it'll all be gone!"

"Okay, okay! I'll eat." Deeply moved, Li Qing felt her eyes suddenly sting with hot tears, though she couldn't quite explain why.

She truly hadn't expected that after treating Liu Jiuju and Little Dot so poorly during the family split, not only did they harbor no resentment toward her, but they were treating her this warmly. It completely caught her off guard.

"Oh? Jiuju... has your cooking improved this much lately?" Li Qing asked with sudden astonishment after swallowing the pork rib.

"Mom, most of these dishes today weren't made by me; they were made by my younger brother," Liu Jiuju replied with a smile. "Didn't you hear Little Dot?"

"His cooking is this good?" Li Qing turned her head to look at Liu Xing, who was sitting quietly to one side with his head down, eating his meal, shock written all over her face.

"My older sister taught me everything I know; it's nothing worth mentioning," Liu Xing deflected with a modest smile.

Before getting married, Liu Jiuju had indeed taught Liu Xing the basics of cooking and stir-frying, so his statement wasn't technically untrue.

"Don't be so modest." Li Qing smiled along. For some reason, the awkward restraint she had felt earlier completely vanished. "By the way! Dongkui mentioned that the entire market is under your management now?"

"That's right," Liu Xing nodded.

By now, most of the villagers in Old House Village probably knew about this, so there was no point in hiding it.

"Then let me ask you something. My Wuliang wants to buy and sell loaches and swamp eels at the market—do you think that's doable?" Li Qing asked in a hushed voice. Fearing that Liu Xing might refuse, a look of immediate regret crossed her face the moment the words left her mouth.

"Of course it's doable!" Liu Xing gave his answer without a moment's hesitation.

From his perspective, engaging in the loach and eel business in the 1980s—as long as one maintained integrity and worked hard—would likely yield profits comparable to selling pork.

"As long as it's doable, that's fine." Li Qing smiled, a radiant, joyful smile.

Liu Jiuju, who was busy holding a bowl and eating nearby, sensed that something was amiss when she saw that smile. "Mom, didn't Wuliang always say he hated doing business? Why is he suddenly thinking about trading loaches and eels?"

"That's right! Don't tell me you're letting him fool you again. Wuliang is no businessman," Zhao Dongkui chimed in.

In the past, Zhao Wuliang had occasionally talked about doing business at the market to make money for a wife, but every single time, he ended up squandering the capital. Not once had he succeeded—no, to be precise, not once had he managed to stick with it for even a full month.

Hearing him talk about starting an eel and loach business now, to be honest, none of them could bring themselves to believe it.

Naturally, Li Qing understood the underlying meaning behind Liu Jiuju and Zhao Dongkui's words. Seeing that there were no outsiders around, she gave a light cough and explained with a smile, "He won't be fooling me this time. Three days ago, Sister Yang, the village matchmaker, introduced a prospective match to Wuliang. The woman didn't make any outrageous demands; she only had one condition: that he be able to make an honest living doing business at the market in the future."

"Really?" Liu Jiuju asked, thinking she must have misheard.

Zhao Dongkui, Zhao Liang, and Zhao Gou, who were eating nearby, wore expressions of pure disbelief.

After all, in Old House Village—no, throughout the entire Zhangmu Township—Zhao Wuliang's reputation for being lazy and gluttonous was already common knowledge. Not a single young woman would ever willingly marry him.

Now that Li Qing was claiming a woman was willing to share her life with Zhao Wuliang, honestly, the odds of that happening were lower than the sun rising from the west.

Seeing the skeptical looks on everyone's faces, Li Qing didn't get angry; instead, she looked quite pleased. "Of course it's true! It's just that this young woman is two years older than Zhao Wuliang, and she has a three-year-old child."

At those words, Zhao Dongkui, who was in the middle of drinking soup, nearly spat it all out.

Liu Jiuju couldn't help but suppress a smile either.

So that was it; she had wondered how any seventeen- or eighteen-year-old girl could possibly take a fancy to Zhao Wuliang. It turned out he had been chosen by a widow with baggage.

Still, even so, it was quite a stroke of luck for Zhao Wuliang.

Otherwise, given his current state, probably not a single woman would be willing to marry him.

That was precisely what Li Qing was thinking. Seeing that nobody was openly mocking Zhao Wuliang, she let out a soft sigh and said, "Actually, the girl introduced to Wuliang is quite pretty, very tall, and has a good amount of education. According to her, if her family hadn't fallen on hard times, going to university would have been a walk in the park for her."

"She's that capable?" Liu Jiuju asked in mild surprise. "What's her name then? Do I know her?"

After all, in Zhangmu Township, very few people managed to attend senior high school, and an educated, highly attractive high school graduate would be an even scarcer commodity.

Zhao Dongkui, Zhao Liang, and Zhao Gou all perked up their ears to listen.

It wasn't because they were curious about what Zhao Wuliang's prospective partner looked like, but rather because the whole situation felt utterly bizarre.

Good-looking and well-educated—a woman with qualifications like that, even with a child in tow, shouldn't have had any trouble finding a husband!

Sensing what was on everyone's minds, Li Qing smiled and said, "Jiuju, you should know her. She's Nai Dezhi's daughter from Chaoyang Village, Nai Xinru!"

"It's her???" Liu Jiuju's eyes widened in shock.

"No way! The Nai widow has her eyes on Wuliang?" Zhao Dongkui looked as though he couldn't believe his own ears either.

Zhao Liang was left dumbfounded and filled with a strange sense of envy.

After all, this Nai Xinru—no, the Nai widow—was far too famous throughout Zhangmu Township.

Her notoriety didn't stem from her beauty or her academic background, but rather from the tragic coincidence that on her wedding night, her husband had suddenly and inexplicably died on the spot.

The incident had caused a massive uproar at the time, with her parents-in-law even attempting to pursue criminal charges.

In the end, however, the case fizzled out, and it was officially ruled that her husband had died of natural causes.

Whether it was truly a natural death remained unknown, but one thing was certain: the Nai widow was widely regarded as a harbinger of bad luck.

Over the subsequent few years, every suitor she took up with either ended up killed in traffic accidents or stricken with severe illnesses.

As time went on, the moniker of the Nai widow spread far and wide across Zhangmu Township.

Even people living all the way in HY City probably knew her by that infamous nickname if they had any connection to the area.

If she was willing to go on a blind date with Zhao Wuliang and even agreed to it, it was almost certainly out of sheer desperation to feed the little child by her side.

"What are those expressions supposed to mean?" Li Qing asked, noticing the disbelief plastered across everyone's faces. "To be honest, when Sister Yang first offered to play matchmaker, I didn't believe it either. But after arranging for Wuliang to meet the Nai widow in person, I realized it was entirely true."

"She doesn't want a bridal price, and we don't need to throw a wedding banquet; her only wish is to be able to do business at the market." With that, Li Qing turned her gaze to Liu Xing. "I didn't dare make any promises back then either, since nobody knows what the policies from above might look like. But the Nai widow told me to come talk to you—she said as long as you give your consent, she's willing to marry Wuliang."

The underlying implication was clear: since Liu Xing was the man in charge of the market, granting the Nai widow permission to trade there was nothing more than a word from him.

Hearing this, however, Liu Xing grew instantly vigilant. The very mention of the Nai widow's name caused tumultuous waves to crash within his heart.

The reason for his dramatic reaction was simple: prior to his rebirth, the Nai widow had been a prominent tycoon in Xiangnan Province, commanding a business empire worth several billion yuan.

Yet, he couldn't be entirely certain whether this Nai widow was the same legendary female entrepreneur he remembered from his past life. After all, the vast majority of residents in Chaoyang Village shared the surname Nai, and Zhangmu Township had more than a few widowed women bearing that name as well.

If she truly turned out to be the formidable Nai widow of his memory, then her prospective marriage to Zhao Wuliang was bound to fall apart sooner rather than later.

If his recollection served him right, this woman was an absolute titan of industry. If she weren't currently driven to a corner by sheer survival, there was simply no way she would ever cast a second glance at a lazy parasite like Zhao Wuliang.

Still, he couldn't possibly voice these thoughts to Li Qing. After all, his knowledge stemmed from the memories of his rebirth; without a plausible explanation, nobody would ever believe him, and voicing it could easily trigger unforeseen consequences.

Seeing that Li Qing was still waiting for his reply, Liu Xing snapped out of his daze and quickly responded, "The policies from above now permit all citizens to engage in commerce. As long as nobody trades in contraband, people are free to do business anywhere—whether it's at the local market or inside the city itself. So... the condition the Nai widow mentioned to you is essentially a non-issue."

"You mean you agree?" Li Qing asked, her voice trembling slightly with excitement.

"It's not a matter of whether I agree or not; it's already permitted by policy," Liu Xing replied with a smile.

Li Qing, however, viewed the matter quite differently. After rapidly finishing the remaining food in her bowl in three mouthfuls, she grabbed Zhao Wuliang by the arm and headed straight for the market street. "Son, since Liu Xing has given his approval, let's go find Sister Yang right now and lock down your marriage to the Nai widow."

"Alright, whatever you say, Mom!" Zhao Wuliang beamed, ecstatic.

Zhao Geng, on the other hand, was growing irritated. "Can you stop making such a fuss at this hour? Can't you go find Sister Yang first thing tomorrow morning? Besides, Dongkui's paddy field still has unplanted seedlings waiting to be finished!"

"Aren't you still here?" Li Qing retorted, and without another word, hurried off into the distance with Zhao Wuliang trailing behind her.

Left behind, Zhao Geng could only shake his head in utter exasperation.

Liu Jiuju and Zhao Dongkui, however, didn't look angry; instead, warm smiles surfaced on their faces.

After all, they too had been hoping that Zhao Wuliang would settle down and get married soon, thus lifting a heavy burden from their aging parents' shoulders.

Watching the scene unfold before him, Liu Xing felt a strange unease that prevented him from smiling along.

Even so, he had no intention of meddling in their affairs. People like Zhao Wuliang and Li Qing needed to run into a few walls and suffer setbacks before they would ever learn that there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

As for the Nai widow's plan to start a business at the market, he quietly filed the information away in his mind.

He firmly believed that as someone reborn with future insight, he would be more than capable of handling a powerhouse like the Nai widow should their paths cross.

...

The night passed without incident.

The following morning, after waking up, washing up, and grabbing a quick bite to eat, Liu Xing rolled up the shutters of his shoe shop and opened for business.

As for the task of planting rice seedlings at Liu Jiuju's home, with Zhao Gou, Zhao Liang, and Zhao Geng lending a hand, there was no need for him to intervene.

Moreover, because Lanlan was by his side, he no longer had to worry about the chore of herding the black calf.

However, because it wasn't a designated market day, the shoe shop's business was exceptionally sluggish.

By late morning, with lunchtime fast approaching, the total sales for the morning amounted to less than a hundred yuan.

Noticing that there were barely any pedestrians left on the street, Liu Xing was just about to pull the doors shut and head inside for lunch when he suddenly caught sight of Guazi, Lanlan, Little Dot, and Zhao Jing rushing breathlessly toward him down the market street.

Anxious expressions were etched across all their small faces, and Lanlan's complexion appeared notably pale.

"What's wrong?" Liu Xing asked, instantly stepping forward with concern.

"At the market... there's a fight going on at the market," Lanlan panted, struggling to catch her breath.

"And the person getting beaten up is Uncle," Little Dot added, her wide eyes filled with worry.

Guazi wanted to speak as well, but Liu Xing gently hushed her. Picking up Little Dot, he asked, "Which uncle are you talking about? You're telling the story halfway through."

The reason he had to ask was simple: there were dozens of men in the Zhao clan village who held the title of Little Dot's uncle.

"It's Uncle Wuliang," Little Dot replied promptly.

"That's right! Someone beat him up so badly that a huge bump formed on his head, and his prospective partner was there too," Guazi finally found her opening and eagerly offered her explanation.

"What?" Liu Xing froze in place.

Zhao Wuliang's prospective partner—wasn't that the Nai widow?

Why would they get into a fight on their very first day at the market?

This... this didn't make any sense!

Driven by curiosity, Liu Xing set Little Dot down, stepped into the kitchen to give Liu Jiuju a quick heads-up, and then strode briskly toward the market.

"Wait for me!" Fearing that Liu Xing might get dragged into a brawl, Liu Jiuju quickly instructed Lanlan to keep an eye on Guazi and Little Dot before hurrying after him.