"I'm fine, not tired," Jiang Qingqing said, also reluctant to let her man work too hard, thinking that any help she could offer would count.
"Don't you worry about these things. I'll manage the work distribution. You just need to take care of yourself."
After speaking, Zhang Liunian thought of the factory matters and added, "The factory construction is set to begin tomorrow. Remember to pay them three yuan a day."
"I've noted it," Jiang Qingqing replied, her heart filled with excitement at the thought of the village factory finally starting construction. It was a thrill similar to when she was counting money earlier.
"The day after tomorrow, I'll go and pay off the four thousand five hundred that we owe."
"We really need to pay it back," Jiang Qingqing said. She hated owing money, and now that they could finally clear the debt, she felt refreshed and free of any pressure.
"Get some sleep early!"
"Mm."
At the same time, Brother Tang and Qian Fei had also just learned that Zhang Liunian was no longer cooperating with the ten distributors but had instead hired people to sell their products at the market.
The people hired were a group of shrimp soldiers and crab generals from a faction calling themselves the Huang Gang, which made them both angry and want to burst into laughter.
"This Zhang Liunian, behind our backs, hired such a cowardly bunch to help? He must be out of his mind. Take your men this afternoon and give them a good beating. I guarantee that this so-called Huang Gang won't dare to help Zhang Liunian sell lobsters."
Brother Tang, being a local bully in Nancheng, had heard of the Huang Gang. He particularly recalled the incident where more than twenty of them were scared into crying and begging for mercy by just five people, an event that always made him want to mock them.
Zhang Liunian had so many options for selling his products, why did he have to find these people? He was practically inviting his own doom.
"I'll go tomorrow. But what about his lobster shop in the county town?" Qian Fei felt immensely displeased every time he thought about Zhang Liunian opening a lobster shop in Datang County.
"Have you found out if the lobsters he's selling are from Daming Lake?" Brother Tang's family was all in Nancheng, and he didn't know much about Datang County. However, with his family's connections, wouldn't it be easy to prevent Zhang Liunian from selling lobsters?
"That's right, the lobsters he sells are indeed different from others."
"Tomorrow, I'll talk to my father and uncle and see if they know anyone responsible for Daming Lake."
"You want to disrupt his collaborations and prevent him from selling lobsters?"
"What else can we do?"
"Brother Tang, you're so clever. If this works, forget about his lobster sauce or his lobster shop; he won't be able to accomplish anything."
"..."
The next morning, Zhang Liunian and his wife woke up early together. One was helping the bride prepare, while the other was busy arranging the banquet and wedding.
Zhang Wenxue and his wife were also busy helping Zhang Liunian, which allowed Zhang Xiaomei to successfully get into the bridal sedan chair.
As Zhang Liunian had said, the bridal sedan chair circled the village twice before being carried into the dormitory for the educated youths.
The adults and children in the village gathered around to watch the excitement and wait for the feast.
Outside the courtyard, someone was helping Zhang Liunian distribute wedding candies, giving a large handful to everyone, including the children.
The day felt as lively as a New Year's celebration, with good food, candies, and pastries.
Zhang Xiaomei's wedding this time was much more grand than the previous one, with fifty tables set up, along with plenty of candies and dowry.
This made many of the unmarried men in the village green with envy, and they also admired the mute for having such good fortune.
Zhang Guangtou, standing in the crowd, watched the mute's wedding, the dowry, the banquet, and the wedding candies, his eyes growing redder with every glance.
If it weren't for Zhang Liunian sitting there, he would have wanted to snatch all the good things and take them back to his own home.
Regardless of how upset Zhang Guangtou was, the people of Zhang Village were exceptionally happy today.
The adults sat together chatting and laughing, while the children ran around.
Even Zhang Datou, who was usually not accompanied by anyone to play with, was playing with the children today, running behind them. At this moment, he truly looked like a child of a few years old.
"Ah!" As Zhang Datou and a group of children were running around, Jiang Qingqing, who was carrying a dish away, was bumped by one of the children. She lost her balance and started to fall.
The scene shocked many people. Many got up, wanting to help Jiang Qingqing, as she was Zhang Abei's wife, and today was a joyous occasion. It would be bad if something happened to Jiang Qingqing.
But just then, someone was faster than them and successfully prevented the tragedy. This person was none other than Zhang Liuxing, who was also attending Zhang Xiaomei's wedding.
He had come alone today, having argued with Fang Ru to return to the village.
"Be careful!"
Zhang Liuxing had been sitting at a nearby table chatting with Zhang Laoshi and Zhang Hao. He didn't expect to see Jiang Qingqing fall and immediately rushed over, catching her.
A strange scent filled Jiang Qingqing's nostrils, and her body was held firmly by the other person. Her heart became even more flustered. Before she could regain her balance, she tried to push him away.
She didn't want her husband to misunderstand, but she was already heavy with child and unsteady. With a push, she began to fall again.
Zhang Liuxing, of course, wouldn't let her fall to the ground and reached out again, pulling her into his embrace.
Jiang Qingqing started to struggle again, but Zhang Liuxing, afraid of her falling, wouldn't let go.
"Let go," Jiang Qingqing said. As a woman who had worked hard for years, she didn't know why she couldn't push Zhang Liuxing away.
Seeing that she didn't want to be close to him for even a moment, Zhang Liuxing felt a sinking heart. However, he still wanted to help her stand upright. "Stand still, and I'll let go."
The surrounding people, witnessing this scene, all stared at Zhang Liuxing strangely.
They had all seen Zhang Liuxing hold Jiang Qingqing twice and not let go.
This Zhang Liuxing was acting strangely? Why was he hugging his sister-in-law like that? Such behavior was inappropriate and would lead to gossip.
Even if he was trying to prevent her from falling, he didn't need to hold her and not let go.
Couldn't he have just reached out and pulled her?
Just then, Zhang Liunian noticed the situation. With his height advantage, he immediately saw his second brother holding his wife in his arms.
His eyes darkened, and he strode forward, parting the crowd, pulling his wife out, and wrapping an arm around her. "Brother, please be mindful of your boundaries."
With the embrace gone, a difficult-to-describe sense of loss filled Zhang Liuxing's eyes. He looked up at his third brother, who had a displeased expression, and sneered inwardly. He had saved Jiang Qingqing, so why was Zhang Liunian giving him such a look? He had never dared to look at him like that before. Who gave him the courage now?
"Third brother, Qingqing's belly is so big. You must take good care of her in the future," he said, implying that no one would be there to save her next time if something like this happened again.
Zhang Liunian understood the hidden meaning in his words and scoffed, "No need for second brother to worry. I will naturally protect my wife well."
Everyone around heard the underlying tension and looked at the two brothers curiously, wondering why their words carried such a strong hint of gunpowder.
These two brothers had never shown any signs of animosity before.