Reborn in a small village in the 1990s

Chapter 378

Xiangzi stared wide-eyed in disbelief, “Little Aunt, you even spent money to buy employee dormitories and office space, and rented an entire second floor of that building!”

Zhao Da'e sighed and rubbed his forehead in exasperation. "Xiangzi, what's all the fuss about? Just drive your car properly."

As Xiangzi drove, he glanced at Zhao Dage in the rearview mirror and said excitedly, "No, I'm just too excited. Little Aunt, you mean that if I get tired while delivering water to the county town, I can go to your staff dormitory to rest, right?"

Zhao Da'e smiled and said, "You work under me, so why shouldn't you get a break? Not only can you rest, but Xiao Feng can rest too. I've seen that room; it's quite big, enough for all of us to rest in."

It's impossible for one person to have a room. There are only five rooms on that floor. Zhao Da'e plans to use two of the larger rooms as male and female dormitories, with bunk beds, so that there will be enough room for several people to rest and sleep.

Upon arriving at Dongtaizi Village, Zhao Da'e went to sleep at his aunt's house, while Cheng Jinxiang went back to her older brother's house to sleep.

As they were leaving, Zhao Da'e said to Cheng Jinxiang, "Mom, when you come to the county town with me tomorrow, please take Auntie with you too. You don't know, Auntie is planning to work with me in the shop to earn money. After the staff dormitory is renovated, Auntie will probably move to the county town to live."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Jinxiang sighed inwardly. She knew that Cheng Jinxiao had the idea of ​​going to the county town to work, but she didn't expect that she would go to work in her daughter's shop. But that was fine too. She knew her daughter well, and it was better for her family to earn the money than for someone else to do so.

But Cheng Jinxiang couldn't help but say, "Big Goose, your aunt is unfamiliar with the place in the county, so you need to take good care of her, you know? After all, she is your aunt."

Afterwards, Cheng Jinxiang felt conflicted. If Cheng Jinxiao didn't do well and kept asking her daughter for money, what should she do if they had a fight? Cheng Jinxiang started to worry. One was her daughter and the other was her sister. Of course, Cheng Jinxiang didn't want to see the two of them arguing, but it wasn't easy for her daughter to run the shop.

Cheng Jinxiang suddenly felt that it wasn't appropriate to let Cheng Jinxiao work in her daughter's shop, since there were some things that were inconvenient to say.

Zhao Da'e had no idea what Cheng Jinxiang was thinking. He just watched Cheng Jinxiang frown and hesitate for a while, and stood there silently for a long time.

Zhao Da'e tugged at Cheng Jinxiang's clothes and spoke first, "Mom, don't think so much. Let's go back and get some rest. We still have to work at the shop tomorrow. We'll have the energy to do all this if we're well-rested."

Cheng Jinxiang nodded, agreeing with Zhao Da'e's assessment. She felt it was most important to get some rest first, as she was quite tired after a busy day.

As Cheng Jinxiang was getting closer to the Cheng family home, she heard the sound of a baby crying from afar. Cheng Jinxiang recognized the voice as that of her second daughter and quickened her pace.

Zhu Yufeng was holding several-month-old Zhao Xiaojuan at the door, waiting for Cheng Jinxiang. When Cheng Jinxiang appeared, she couldn't help but complain, "You, as a mother, still know to come back. How can you leave such a small child like Xiaojuan at home?"

Zhu Yufeng was angry. It wasn't her obligation to take care of a baby who was only a few months old, and she wasn't the baby's biological mother. But Cheng Jinxiang was going to the city to help Zhao Da'e with his clothing business, so she left Zhao Xiaojuan to take care of.

Throughout the day, Zhao Xiaofeng, unable to find Cheng Jinxiang, began to cry and fuss. Unable to sleep due to the crying, Zhao Xiaofeng took Zhao Xiaojuan for a walk in the yard, ate dinner, and waited for Cheng Jinxiang to return.

Fortunately, the wait wasn't too long, otherwise Zhu Yufeng would have complained even more.

Cheng Jinxiang felt a little guilty and took Zhao Xiaojuan's arms.

When the little baby sensed the familiar embrace and scent, he miraculously stopped crying and clung to Cheng Jinxiang's hand, unwilling to let go, as if afraid that Cheng Jinxiang would leave at any moment.

Cheng Jinxiang felt a warm feeling in her heart and pulled the baby's hat up to keep him from catching a cold in the wind.

Zhu Yufeng felt very uncomfortable seeing Zhao Xiaojuan's differential treatment. "Look, it's still better to be a mother. No matter how I held her or tried to comfort her, she kept crying and wouldn't stop to rest. It seems she doesn't like me, her aunt."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Jinxiang quickly said, "Sister-in-law, don't talk nonsense. Xiaojuan started crying because she hadn't seen me for too long. Now that she's seen me, she's stopped crying. It's not your fault."

Then Cheng Jinxiang raised the baby a little higher, so that the baby was facing Zhu Yufeng. Cheng Jinxiang held the baby's hands and made her wave in Zhu Yufeng's direction.

"Xiaojuan, we do not dislike Auntie, do we? Auntie took such good care of us today, we should say thank you."

Zhao Xiaojuan was only a few months old, so of course she hadn't learned how to make money yet. All she could do was babble and make noises. Zhao Xiaojuan smiled at Zhu Yufeng and waved her strong hands wildly in the air, as if she wanted Zhu Yufeng to hold her.

Cheng Jinxiang looked at her and said, "Sister-in-law, look at Xiaojuan. I had only held her for a short while when she stopped wanting me to hold her and wanted you to hold her instead. It seems she still likes you."

Zhu Yufeng was overjoyed. It was definitely worth bringing Xiao Juan along; she still remembered her!

Seeing Zhao Xiaojuan making "ee-ya-ee-ya-yo" sounds and smiling, looking like she wanted to be held, Zhu Yufeng simply took the baby from Cheng Jinxiang's arms, held her, and patted the baby's back to make her more comfortable.

Seeing that Cheng Jinxiang was back so late, Zhu Yufeng asked, "How did things go with Da'e today? Will the shop be able to open? Could it be that Da'e said it on purpose?"

After all, a seven-year-old child opening a shop probably doesn't even know how to read properly. How could he be qualified to open a shop? Zhu Yufeng was genuinely unhappy about it.

But when Zhu Yufeng learned that Zhao Dage had taken a car to Jinzhou to purchase goods, she was a little confused. She seemed not to have expected that Dage would actually do it for real. Only when Cheng Jinxiang said that Dage had already rented a shop did Zhu Yufeng have to believe the reality, which is why she is emphasizing it now.

Cheng Jinxiang remembered the mindset that Zhao Dage taught her: "Don't flaunt your wealth." When someone came to ask her questions, she must never reveal her biggest assets. Otherwise, word would spread like wildfire, and when everyone knew that Zhao Dage was making money from his business, a bunch of people would come to Zhao Dage to ask for loans.

When it comes to borrowing money, Cheng Jinxiang instinctively feels resistant. In the village, it's considered good if the money is repaid; otherwise, things might fall apart. It's a thankless task. It's better to say that Zhao Da'e owes money for doing business outside and owes someone nearly 10,000 yuan. That way, no one would want to come to Zhao Da'e to borrow money.

When Zhu Yufeng asked, Cheng Jinxiang had already prepared an excuse and said, "Daige did buy a lot of goods in Jinzhou this time, and I hope to sell them for a good price. It's just that I feel sorry for my daughter. She has to borrow money everywhere to open the shop. I am her guardian, so the debt naturally falls on me. I just hope that things can get better slowly."

Zhu Yufeng was shocked and opened her mouth wide, seemingly unable to believe that Zhao Da'e would owe money.

Cheng Jinxiang couldn't help but sigh, "Sister-in-law, most of the money for Da'e's shop was earned by Da'e himself, but that's far from enough. The shop decoration, the purchase of clothes, and the hiring of employees all require money. These are all considerable expenses. What do we do when we don't have money? We definitely have to borrow it."

Cheng Jinxiang told a little lie: Zhao Da'e had never borrowed money, but she believed that this would help Zhao Da'e solve many problems in the future.

Zhu Yufeng was shocked for a while before she recovered. She couldn't help but complain, "If this goose does business and succeeds, that's fine, but if it fails, it's all for nothing, and they might not even be able to get the money back."

Cheng Jinxiang smiled wryly and said, "Sister-in-law, you can't say that. I believe Da'e can do a good job in business. I'm going to wash up now. I have to get up early tomorrow to continue working at the store. If Xiaojuan is bothering you at home, then I'll carry Xiaojuan to work at the store with me tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yufeng immediately objected, hugging Zhao Xiaojuan tighter and taking a step back, clearly not wanting to give Zhao Xiaojuan to Cheng Jinxiang.

“You can go to the shop and keep busy. You don’t need to take Xiaojuan with you. She’s only a few months old. It’s fine for her to stay at home. It’s inconvenient for you to carry her around all the time, and Xiaojuan won’t be comfortable either. So let me take care of Xiaojuan for a few days. You can come back to take care of Xiaojuan when you’re done with your work. Besides, Xiaojuan is quite easy to take care of. She’s only a bit fussy at night when she misses you. Otherwise, she’s quite well-behaved. And this child is adorable. She looks like a little girl under the seat of Guanyin. I liked Xiaojuan the moment I saw her.”

"Besides, I'm aware of the situation. Since Da'e has chosen to open a shop and start a business, there's no reason for her to give up halfway. Could you please tell Da'e that her aunt is busy and can't come to the county to help? When Da'e has some free time, her aunt can cook her a nice meal as a reward."

Zhu Yufeng held Zhao Xiaojuan in her arms, her smile never fading. She would occasionally reach out and tease Zhao Xiaojuan, making her laugh out loud.

After hearing these words, Cheng Jinxiang felt a strange mix of emotions. She hadn't expected her sister-in-law to be so considerate of her, and she had even told a little lie to her sister-in-law. She felt really guilty. But even if Cheng Jinxiang had to say it again, she wouldn't regret telling her that Zhao Da'e was in debt.

After all, walls have ears. If others heard that her daughter had money, people from all around might come up and pretend to be poor to ask her for money. They were all neighbors, and it would be embarrassing to refuse if she didn't give them money. Besides, if Wang Guixiang's family found out, who knows what kind of trouble they would cause. So Cheng Jinxiang thought it best to keep a low profile and didn't want to cause any trouble for her daughter.

On the other side, Cheng Jinxi told Zhao Da'e to wash up and then urged her to go to bed early. Looking at the dark circles under Zhao Da'e's eyes, Cheng Jinxi said with some heartache, "Da'e, have you not been sleeping well these past few days? Look at these dark circles. Go to sleep and get some rest."

Zhao Da'e shook his head helplessly, "Auntie, there's no time to rest at this crucial time. My shop is opening in two days, and there are still many things to do. I've invested all my money in the shop, so I have to do my best."

Otherwise, you'll lose money and make no profit; all your efforts will be in vain.

Cheng Jinxi gently rubbed Zhao Da'e's eyes, thinking it would make him feel better. "Oh dear, look how hard you're working. You're only seven years old and you're already working so hard to earn money. Your second cousin, Chunhong, only knew how to eat and drink when she was seven. She would say 'I'm hungry' all the time. If Chunhong could be as carefree as you, that would be great."

Zhou Chunhong walked to the door, looked at Zhao Dage and Cheng Jinxi in the yard, and couldn't help but say, "Mom, you said... bad things about me... I heard it all!"

Zhou Chunhong stammered a little, but her face was flushed, clearly because she was angry.

She's just a little greedy, is it really necessary to say that about her? How can she compare to a goose? A goose is a prodigy, she can't compare at all.

Besides, she believed that she was no less capable than the goose. She could eat a lot, and the old people in the village all said that being able to eat a lot was a blessing. She was also stronger than the average person and more robust. These were things that the goose couldn't match.

Cheng Jinxi laughed in exasperation, "You still have the nerve to talk back? Tell me how much housework you did today. I asked you to do the laundry, and you made an excuse to go play with Er Ya from the next village. After dinner, I asked you to wash the dishes, and you couldn't even do it properly. There are still some grease stains on the dishes. I've really wasted my time raising you. You can't even do housework well, and you eat so much. I get annoyed just looking at you all day long."

Zhou Chunhong pouted, clearly feeling wronged, and said, "Well... what happened... Mom... do you think I... did it or not?"

Zhou Chunhong felt wronged. She had done housework, doing whatever Cheng Jinxi told her to do. The only thing she didn't do was wash clothes because she ran too fast and didn't hear Cheng Jinxi say anything. But she did everything else she could, and yet she was still being scolded like this.

Cheng Jinxi walked over and grabbed Zhou Chunhong's ear, both angry and helpless. "You still have the nerve to talk back? How old are you? You can't do anything right. For example, a few days ago I asked you to watch the Chinese medicine that was on the ground sunbathing. I had to go out for a bit, and I told you to put it back if the weather wasn't right. But you did it! As soon as I left, you went to sleep. Then it rained. Luckily I came back in time, otherwise the Chinese medicine would have been ruined if it got wet. Look at what you've done!"

Cheng Jinxi gets furious whenever this is mentioned, and she feels like beating Zhou Chunhong up.

When Zhou Chunhong heard that Cheng Jinxi had brought it up a few days earlier, she pouted unhappily, "Mom, didn't you already... have the abortion? Why are you bringing this up again?"