Zhang Liunian saw the meaning in her eyes, cupped her face, and kissed her. "Qingqing, you're so good."
This wife was truly good to him, always prioritizing him and considering his needs first.
With such a wife, what more could a man ask for?
"You're good too," Jiang Qingqing leaned happily against her man's chest, feeling that as long as he was there, she would be happy no matter what the future held.
They hugged for a long time until Huabao pushed the door open, wanting to sleep, and then they immediately separated.
"Is Huabao going to sleep?" Jiang Qingqing, blushing, stepped forward and took her daughter's hand.
Huabao, however, looked longingly at Zhang Liunian and extended her little hand, wanting to be held. "I want Daddy to hold me to sleep."
Seeing his daughter's expectant eyes, Zhang Liunian bent down, picked her up, and got into bed to coax her.
When Huabao was asleep, Zhang Liunian took out the money and handed it to his wife.
Jiang Qingqing looked at the more than four hundred yuan, somewhat bewildered. How could there be so much money?
Didn't they only earn a little over a hundred yuan a day? She raised her questioning eyes and asked, "Liunian, how is there so much?"
Zhang Liunian, lying on the bed with his hands behind his head, finally remembered that he hadn't told her about the job he had obtained.
"I forgot to tell you, the director of the machinery factory not only cooperated with me but also gave me two formal jobs.
I gave one job to the village chief's family, and he gave me 350 yuan.
I've also arranged the other job with someone, and he will give me 390 yuan."
"Really?"
That meant they would earn 740 yuan from these two jobs?
My heavens, that was such a huge sum of money!
She hadn't seen such a large sum since she went down to the countryside.
Jiang Qingqing's cheeks flushed with excitement at this unexpected joy, and she clutched the money tightly.
However, she immediately thought, since he got jobs at the factory, why didn't her man think of himself working there?
"Really, all the money is in your hands!"
"You truly are my pride."
"If you're happy, then I'm happy."
Jiang Qingqing was overjoyed, her heart pounding. She suppressed the urge to rush into his arms and said, "But after getting the jobs, didn't you consider working yourself?"
Whatever her man wanted, she wholeheartedly supported.
Zhang Liunian smiled and shook his head. "Working a job doesn't earn as much as being an individual proprietor, and it's not sustainable."
Not sustainable?
This was a "iron rice bowl," a nationally recognized best and most sustainable job. How could it be considered not sustainable?
"How could it not be sustainable? Everyone is proud to be a factory worker?" Even she used to think that way. How glorious it was to be a worker!
Why did her man say it wasn't sustainable?
"Qingqing, do you know why the higher-ups suddenly allowed individual proprietorship? It's because the factory didn't have enough positions to accommodate the large number of educated youths returning to the city. So, they came up with a solution: allowing individuals to start their own businesses and solve their own survival problems.
Individual proprietorship emerged in this way; it is a product of the times..."
Zhang Liunian carefully explained how they were currently at a rare opportunity and how giving up a more promising path for a factory job was a mistake.
Jiang Qingqing was an educated youth and quickly understood his meaning.
However, she hadn't experienced the future and didn't know the ultimate destination of individual proprietorship.
But since her man was determined to pursue individual proprietorship to the end, she would unhesitatingly stand by him and support him.
"I'll listen to you. Whatever you want to do, I'll support it." Ever since she married Zhang Liunian, her stance had been clear: Zhang Liunian was her life's direction.
Zhang Liunian was deeply moved. He got up, pulled her into his arms, and said with a touch of emotion, "Qingqing, thank you."
Thank you for appearing in my life.
"I should be thanking you for making our savings grow. Now we have over five hundred yuan!" Jiang Qingqing happily hugged a wad of money, beaming.
Zhang Liunian noticed that his wife seemed to be developing a fondness for money, but he was happy to see her happy.
In this life, he would make her count money until her hands cramped. No, that would make him feel sorry for her. He'd rather let her watch others count money until their hands cramped.
He had made a happy decision.
The next day, Zhang Liunian woke up early, exercised for half an hour, then discarded shrimp shells, and finally harvested lobsters.
Due to his recent efforts, the lobsters in Daming Lake had not diminished. In an hour, he had harvested four sacks, which he covered with something and loaded onto a flatbed cart to take home.
When he returned home, Dumb, Xiao Si, and Xiao Wu had already arrived, but Dumb's face had a new injury.
Seeing this, Zhang Liunian sighed. It seemed he had to get Dumb away from his elder brother.
Once he got to the educated youth dormitory, he would have Dumb live there, saving him from returning to that den of iniquity.
With this thought, Zhang Liunian used nails to attach the straw mats he bought yesterday to the front door. This way, he wouldn't need to close the door, and it would still allow light in for work.
Getting down from the stool, Zhang Liunian moved the lobsters from the flatbed cart into the house and called Xiao Si and Xiao Wu to start working.
"Xiao Si, Xiao Wu, come quickly. Your task is to peel these lobster shells, just like Dumb."
Zhang Liunian found two stools for Xiao Si and Xiao Wu, asking them to sit and peel lobsters.
Xiao Si and Xiao Wu hadn't expected to do this kind of work, and their expressions were full of confusion.
Was this thing called a lobster?
Didn't it have poison? What did he want after peeling it?
Xiao Si nudged Xiao Wu, but Xiao Wu remained silent. Xiao Si had no choice but to speak up himself, weakly asking, "Brother Liunian, isn't this thing poisonous?"
Zhang Liunian laughed heartily. "Just do it, don't ask too many questions." After saying that, he went inside to change his clothes.
Seeing that they were like she was a few days ago, Zhang Xiaomei replied, "It's not poisonous, don't worry."
She recalled being shocked when she returned and learned her third brother was dealing with lobsters, thinking he was up to something.
But after tasting the lobster meat, she had to admit it was truly delicious.
The lobster meat was simply too tasty.
Hearing this, Xiao Si and Xiao Wu, reassured, began to work.
However, peeling lobsters was too easy, and the two brothers would occasionally glance around, their eyes fixed on the bruised and swollen Dumb. They secretly wondered how he had gotten injured.
As Zhang Liunian joined in, he noticed their gazes and followed their line of sight to Dumb. It was then that Zhang Liunian remembered he hadn't told his wife about his plan to rent the educated youth dormitory.
He got up and went to Jiang Qingqing's side, explaining his intentions. She nodded in agreement and didn't ask why he wanted to rent it.
The morning was the busiest time of the day. Zhang Liunian didn't peel many before he started stir-frying.
He needed to stir-fry four hundred jin that morning, which would take him at least three hours alone.
Therefore, he started stir-frying early, but even so, he was still struggling to keep up.