“...the others were all mentioned in passing, but when it came to you, they asked for incredibly detailed information. I find this whole situation extremely peculiar; someone must be targeting both of us.”
Listening to Li Zhengxing, Chen Lishu also frowned, thinking seriously. Her first thought was the Sun family, but as far as she knew, the Sun family was a mess of their own, with no energy for anything else. If not them, then who else? Chen Lishu looked up and saw the Yimin Store across the street. Suddenly remembering something, she said to Li Zhengxing, "A few days ago, Jiang Weiguo from the Yimin Store came to see me, wanting to place an order, but we couldn't agree on the price, so I refused."
When Li Zhengxing arrived, he had also seen the Yimin Store not far away. At the time, he hadn't paid much attention, but now, hearing Chen Lishu’s words, he suddenly remembered Jiang Weiguo asking him about importing cloth. His expression instantly turned somber.
Li Zhengxing was a smiling fox, usually amiable to everyone. Even when angered, his smile would only slightly dim. Those who didn't know him well always thought he had a very good temper. His current display of emotion indicated that Jiang Weiguo had thoroughly provoked him.
"Xiao Chen, you don't need to worry about this. Leave it to me." If someone wants to mess with him, Li Zhengxing, let's see how capable Jiang Weiguo is.
…
By the end of August, the renovated dormitory was successfully completed, and Chen Lishu also received the final payment from the other party.
Having been away for almost two months, and with the busy farming season approaching soon, Gu Xingguo and the others planned to return home after this job was finished.
As agreed previously, Chen Lishu paid each person sixty yuan, plus a twenty yuan bonus.
Liu Dashan looked at the fifty-five yuan in his hand while others received eighty, feeling quite disgruntled. He wanted to say something, but Chen Lishu was not Lin Qi, and he had also heard from Gu Xingmin. After much hesitation, he still didn't dare to speak up.
"Third sister-in-law, we've already bought our train tickets. The train leaves early tomorrow morning."
Gu Xingye scratched his head, revealing a large white smile somewhat sheepishly. "Since we rarely come to the provincial capital, a few of us wanted to go to the department store to buy some things. But we were afraid that Xiao Ju and the others wouldn't like what we chose. Could you possibly take us and help us pick things out?"
"Yeah, these wives are actually the most troublesome. Logically, you just hand over the money, right? But if you go back empty-handed, they'll definitely complain you're not thoughtful. If what you buy isn't to their liking, they'll definitely grumble about you wasting money. I really don't understand it, sigh!" Zhao Qi couldn't help but complain.
"Your wife has been mentioning wanting to buy a pair of sandals. I don't know what style is good. Dongzi's wife has a good eye, so it would be great if she could help us choose," Zhang Tie Zhu chimed in.
Looking at the men, tanned dark by the summer sun, their genuine smiles upon receiving the money, and the simple love that unconsciously flowed through their words as they complained about their wives, Chen Lishu couldn't help but purse her lips and smile.
"Alright, then this afternoon I'll go to the commercial street with everyone. There's a department store there with quite a complete selection."
Since she hadn't gone home during the summer break, and Gu Xingguo and the others were returning, Chen Lishu bought some things for both sets of parents and her few sisters to take back with them.
Lin Qi had also been away from the county town for quite some time. With things not being so busy in the provincial capital, Chen Lishu asked him to go back as well.
In the village on the other side, Chen Liyuan and Gu Xingping had already packed their belongings and were preparing to head to the county town to catch their train.
This year, her college entrance exam performance was relatively stable, and her score had passed the junior college admission line. With the help of the Ding couple and Ding Chen's advice, she had applied to the Electric Power Institute, located right next to Ding Chen's engineering university.
"Your third sister-in-law is busy, and it's inconvenient to eat vegetables in the city. This year, the family's private plot has been expanded by the production team. Since you're going, take more with you. These are yardlong beans and gourds. In the jar are the salted duck eggs I pickled; your third sister-in-law likes them."
Li Xiulan, while organizing, started to point out the items on the ground one by one and give instructions.
"Mom, how can I carry so much stuff by myself?" Gu Xingping looked at the luggage and a large bag at her feet, saying somewhat troubled.
"You don't need to move them. I'll have your dad take you later."
Gu Xingping had nothing to say: "Alright then."
Liu Yuemin watched Li Xiulan pack a large amount of goods, feeling a bit displeased. "Mom, you only pickled less than fifty salted duck eggs in total, and you're giving half of them to Third Brother's wife. And you're taking so much stuff, anyone would think you're emptying out the house."
"Second daughter-in-law, don't just focus on these little things all day. Didn't the eldest and second brothers get looked after by their third sister-in-law when they went over there? They are all family. We can pickle more if we run out."
"Mom, your words are quite interesting. Weren't your own father's elder brothers also working for your third sister-in-law when they went over there?"
Li Xiulan didn't bother to argue with her in detail. She straightened up and looked at her, saying irritably, "What's wrong with working? If you didn't want to, why would you have called your eldest brother from your maternal family to do it before?"
Liu Yuemin was choked and, as if sulking, hugged her child and turned back to her own room.
Soon, Li Xiulan saw that the packing was almost done. She gave Gu Xingping a few more instructions before letting Gu Shoufou push the bicycle to take the two children to the county town.
Ding Chen had been waiting at the train station entrance since early morning. Seeing Gu Xingping and the others arrive, his eyes lit up, and he quickly walked forward to help carry their things.
"Hello, Uncle."
Gu Shoufou had met Ding Chen twice when he had brought things for Gu Xingping and knew he was a steady child. He had a good impression of him and nodded with a smile, "I'll trouble you to take good care of these two girls."
"Uncle, don't worry, I will definitely escort them safely to their destination."
Gu Xingping glanced at the time and said, "Let's hurry. The train should be arriving soon, right? Dad, it's so hot, please go back quickly. There are three of us, so you can rest assured."
Gu Shoufou was still worried, but he eventually carried their things all the way and saw them onto the train before turning to leave.
Soon, the train slowly started to move, but Gu Xingping's heart was in turmoil.
She had taken this train to the provincial capital with Chen Lishu before, but this time she was going as a university student, and her heart was filled with anticipation and longing.
With school starting in less than two days, Chen Lishu handed over all the store's affairs to Wang Aixiang, and she herself began to focus on preparing for her and Rui Rui's enrollment.
One day, as she was sewing clothes for Rui Rui at home, there was a knock on the door. She quickly put down her work and went to open it. When she saw Gu Xingping, Chen Liyuan, and Ding Chen standing at the doorway, Chen Lishu was taken aback for a moment.
"Didn't you say you'd call before boarding so I could pick you up? Why did you come without a word?"
Chen Liyuan smiled, "Xingping sister insisted on giving you a surprise."
"It's hot outside, come in quickly." Chen Lishu helped with the luggage, and Zhao Qiuyue hurried to pour water for them.
"Why so much luggage?" Chen Lishu looked at the large packages on the ground, and each item was not light. She couldn't help but ask curiously.