"It doesn't matter what it is, as long as you can eat it," Zhao Guiying said with a smile.
Chen Lishu finally let out a sigh of relief.
"There are still a few pickled cabbages left in my vat. Eat as much as you like. When we go back, I'll ask my husband to buy some from the village, and I'll pickle some more for you later."
"Thank you, sister-in-law."
"Don't be so polite; it's too distant. You have no idea, Xiao Yue and I each earned over seventy yuan selling sweet potatoes before the New Year. Now we can each earn three to five yuan a day. It's all thanks to you. Since you're finally pregnant, just rest at home and recuperate. We'll take good care of you."
Lin Xiaoyue nodded. "That's right. With both of us here, you don't have to worry about food."
Listening to their words, Chen Lishu felt incredibly warm. She didn't say any more words of thanks, only keeping them in her heart.
Seeing that she was still weak, Zhao Guiying and Lin Xiaoyue didn't stay long and got up to leave not long after.
When Gu Xingdong returned, he was carrying two mesh bags, filled with a lot of oranges, apples, and bananas.
Upon learning that Chen Lishu had eaten half a piece of leavened flatbread and hadn't thrown up, he let out a long sigh of relief.
"I bought some fruit. These have a lighter flavor, so try to see if you can eat them," Gu Xingdong said, handing her an orange, and then went to wash the apples.
Chen Lishu's spirits lifted at the smell of the oranges. She liked the smell.
She tried the apples and bananas but didn't like them. It was only the oranges; she ate two in one go and wanted more, but Gu Xingdong stopped her.
"No matter how much you like them, you can't eat too many. Let's just have two a day. I'll go buy more in a couple of days."
Chen Lishu reluctantly put the oranges back upon hearing this.
Within two days, Gu Xingping arrived with two large bags of food. No matter how much Chen Lishu vomited, with so many people preparing various foods for her, there were always a couple of things that suited her. Through everyone's persistent efforts, after a few days of vomiting, although she still reacted to certain smells occasionally, she had generally improved a lot.
The foundation of the warehouse was almost complete. The construction of the house above would proceed much faster than building the foundation. During this time, the school opening date was also approaching.
The holiday was over, and Gu Xingdong was to return to his unit the next day. Therefore, he drove Chen Lishu, her child, and Gu Xingping to the city a day in advance.
At the same time, the car was loaded with a lot of food, all prepared by Lin Xiaoyue and Zhao Guiying.
"If I'm not too busy, I'll try my best to come visit you after work."
"It takes nearly an hour to drive, and I have to get up early the next day. That's too much of a strain."
Gu Xingdong's eyes dimmed slightly. "Compared to your pregnancy, I, as a father, have it easy."
He could understand his own hardship, and Chen Lishu felt quite gratified.
The rented apartment only had two bedrooms and one living room. With Xingping there now, there was no way they could all sleep there at night. So, Gu Xingdong drove back in the afternoon.
The next day, Chen Lishu wanted to check the construction progress at the warehouse and also discuss some matters with Gu Xingye. Gu Xingping, worried, accompanied her.
"Third Sister-in-law." Gu Xingye was also busy with everyone else. Seeing her arrive, he quickly stopped what he was doing and ran over.
"Xingping, when did you get back?"
"I've been back for several days, staying at Third Sister-in-law's house to keep her company."
Chen Lishu glanced at the workers who were busy and asked, "How many more days until this part is completed?"
"It should be mostly done in about a week at most."
"The weather has warmed up considerably, and the cold snaps of early spring won't last much longer. During this time, you should go to the city and inquire about any construction projects that are available for contracting, preferably those for schools. The workload wouldn't be too large, and the payments would be relatively stable."
Schools generally cared about their reputation and feared affecting student enrollment, so they were reluctant to default on payments. Moreover, school buildings or dormitories were usually not very tall and had a relatively uniform design, making construction easier.
In fact, for Hongyuan Construction Company to develop, besides machinery and equipment, it currently lacked technical talent. However, university students were still scarce, and policies stipulated that the non-public sector could not compete with state-owned enterprises for resources.
Added to this was the existing prejudice against private enterprises and individual businesses, making it unlikely for university students to 'lower themselves.'
However, Chen Lishu understood that one couldn't get rich overnight; meals were eaten one bite at a time, and money was earned step by step.
In her previous life, her starting point was low, and she might not have seen many issues clearly, perhaps even neglecting one thing for another. But there was one thing she firmly believed in: following the policies closely. Only by proceeding steadily could she avoid mistakes.
"Okay, Third Sister-in-law. I'll go out and see the situation in a moment."
When he was working at the Provincial Construction Engineering company before, he had a good relationship with Foreman Li. It would be a good opportunity to invite him out for a meal and inquire about things.
After finishing with Gu Xingye, Chen Lishu and Gu Xingping went to the shop.
On the way, Chen Lishu said to Gu Xingping, "With school about to start, Ding Chen should be arriving these days, right? I'd like to treat him to a meal."
Gu Xingping asked curiously, "Third Sister-in-law, why are you treating him to a meal? Is there something you need? You can just say it directly."
Chen Lishu looked at her and teased, "You haven't even married him yet, and you're already thinking about managing things?"
Gu Xingping's face immediately turned red. "Third Sister-in-law, what nonsense are you talking about?"
Seeing her embarrassment, Chen Lishu stopped teasing. Girls were always more sensitive about such matters. She then began to discuss serious business with her.
"Isn't Ding Chen majoring in civil engineering? The company needs talent in this field now, so I want him to help me ask if there are any students who want to do part-time work. We can negotiate the price."
As the saying goes, there are countermeasures for every policy. If she couldn't hire them full-time, she could hire them part-time for now. In a couple of years, if the policies improved and she found them suitable, she could directly hire them.
"Oh," Gu Xingping nodded. "I'll go back to school tomorrow and check the situation for you."
Everything in the shop was going smoothly. As the weather warmed up, after the fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year, Liang Chunsheng started busy with fabric processing again.
Wang Aixiang was also very happy to learn that Chen Lishu was pregnant and talked with her for a long time.
After the fifteenth, all the spring clothes Chen Lishu had brought in before the New Year were displayed. Because the styles were novel and the prices were reasonable, the shop's business was good.
Shortly after Chen Lishu sat down, several customers came in. Watching Wang Aixiang busy, and occasionally Wang Dazhu helping to find goods, Chen Lishu thought for a moment and said, "Sister Aixiang, the shop should get busier and busier from now on. During this time, please keep an eye out for hiring a sales assistant."
Since she was pregnant, she would definitely have to reduce her workload and avoid running around as much as possible. Then Wang Aixiang could also take some time to report her work to her.
After saying goodbye to Wang Aixiang and Wang Dazhu, Chen Lishu and Gu Xingping went home together.
Because she was thinking about what Chen Lishu had mentioned, Gu Xingping returned to school early the next morning.