After returning home, she searched for the things for the children first. In the evening, the woman she hired to close the stall came in with a bag. “Sister, there is no clothing left. The last few pieces were defective, so I sold them at the low price you asked. Several people came to ask about wholesale, and wanted to see what goods you have next.”
”Where are the people?”
”Outside, I said I would come in and check out the situation first.”
”Tell them to wait for a few minutes. Come in and help me get samples of all kinds of clothing so that it will be easier for them to choose.”
”OK.”
Autumn clothes can actually be worn in early winter, so she also bought a batch of cheap cotton-padded clothes. Large factories use machine cutting and large-scale processing to reduce costs. It is cheaper than buying cloth and cotton to make them by herself, and the styles are also beautiful. She thinks there is definitely a market for them.
She opened each package and took out the samples one by one and hung them up. After checking that everything was complete, she covered the large packages with sheets and invited those who wanted to purchase wholesale to come in and choose.
”Oh, this coat is really nice. It will go well with these blue or black and gray Decca pants. Boss Li, how much is it?”
”This cotton coat is also nice, but I don’t know the price.”
Li Xia took the purchase order and quoted prices to everyone one by one. For a moment, the room was as noisy as a vegetable market. They looked at the goods, bargained, placed orders, paid for the goods, and sent the goods away. The four of her family members had already heated up the vegetables twice.
She felt a little sorry when she saw Shen Haiyang wearing an apron. The traditional idea was that women should take on housework, at least half of it. But now she was so busy that Shen Haiyang did most of the housework every day. When she went away, she left the house to him.
”sorry,”
”It’s okay, let’s eat quickly.”
After eating, she went to wash the dishes and cleaned up the backlog in the kitchen. Shen Haiyang didn’t know how to cook before, and now he can only cook enough to eat. She was busy and wondered if she should consider finding someone to help, otherwise it would affect his health if he didn’t eat well.
”Mom, do you need me to do anything?” Huah5ua came in and asked.
”No, it will be ready soon.”
”Mom, my painting won the second prize.”
”Really?” Li Xia was very surprised, her eyes shining as she looked at her daughter.
”Really. The teacher said there might be some competitions at the end of the year, so I should prepare well during this period.”
”Oh, what do you need mom to do?”
The little girl smiled happily, “No need for anything. You bought everything I needed, and the teacher also teaches me some skills every week. I will study hard.”
”Okay,” she reached out and touched the child’s braids. “When mommy was not home, who braids your hair for you?”
”The auntie from the steamed bun shop.” The little girl laughed and leaned closer to her and said, “My dad wanted to tie my hair, but he didn’t know how. After he finished, he wasn’t satisfied. My brother said it looked like a bird’s nest and Yi Yi said it looked like an old hen. Humph, these two guys, I’ll remember them.”
Li Xia was also amused by the imagined scene. She stroked her daughter’s hair and said she would heat up water to wash her hair. “Mom will teach you how to comb your hair. You are a big kid now. You may not be able to do it well at first, but mom will help you. You will get it right after a few times. It is not a difficult task.”
”Okay. I was originally going to tell you that you should teach me.”
She boiled water to wash her daughter’s hair and feet, and called her two sons to wash them. The boys all had short hair and washed quickly. During the washing process, she found that Yi Yi’s neck was so dirty, so she simply boiled more water for the two of them to bathe.
”It’s really troublesome. It would be great if there was a water heater.”
”What did you say, Mom?”
”Nothing. You two go watch TV for a while. I’ll call you when the water is ready.”
When Li Xia came to the family, Shen Hui was seven years old. During this period, because there was no Internet, the children seemed to be slow to develop.
Before the age of 18, he had no concept of gender. Since last year, Li Xia had been bathing him. But today, the little guy started to be awkward and came in and said he wanted to bathe himself.
Li Xia also understood the little boy’s thoughts, and looked at him silently and asked him what to do. Shen Hui turned his head to look at his brother and patted his chest proudly.
”Leave it to me. I washed his clothes while you were busy sellin.”
”Okay, then you two should wash well and clean yourself.”
”I know, mom.”
After arranging for the two boys to take a bath, she went out to clean up and returned to the main room. Shen Haiyang sat at the table reading a book, with only the lamp in front of him on. The dim yellow light made his facial features even softer, and his head bowed at the desk, full of bookish air, reminded her of the ancient officials who worked by candlelight in TV dramas.
Silently, she took a spoon and made him a cup of milk, and gently placed it on a corner of his desk. She didn’t want to disturb him, but as soon as she moved, he raised his head towards her.
Because of work, he suddenly raised his eyes with a sharp look. The moment he saw her, his eyebrows curved and he smiled, first the corners of his mouth turned up, then his eyes became gentle, and a warm smile bloomed on his face. Then he stretched, picked up the cup and took a sip. The sweet milk flavor spread in his mouth, making him feel even better.
”It’s nice to have you home.”
It was just a simple sentence, but Li Xia was a little excited by the impact. In her previous life, she took good care of Fang Zhongcheng, but he never felt that what she did was meaningful.
After the divorce, she had to be both a father and a mother to raise two children. Because she was irritable and bad-tempered, the children never said to her in a gentle way to appreciate her efforts. She had been telling herself to be good and not to be stubborn since she was reborn, and now it seems to be working. The two biological children have said more than once that they like and love their mother, and Shen Hui, the stepson, also said that she is very good.
In this life, she was busy making money, wishing she could earn enough for her life at once. She knew that the next few decades would be the fastest-changing decades, and the fastest depreciating things were cash and education, so even though she had already become a rare millionaire in the 1980s, she was still busy making money.
The man thought she was worried because she had three children and he was sick, so he supported her all the time. In fact, she was full of confidence after she started making money. Her face was full of vitality and her eyes were shining with hope. She couldn’t stop on the road of making money.
Now, not to mention the cash flow and goods under her name, the real estate alone will be worth hundreds of millions in a few decades. As for the family affairs, the foundation has been laid for decades, so she doesn’t have to worry about it at all.
”Is the trip to the South going smoothly?”
”It was OK. I wore old clothes on the road and put the bag of money on my belly to pretend to be pregnant. I didn’t attract anyone’s interest along the way. You know, a person who was also going to the south encountered a thief on the road. She cried and said that all the more than 5,000 yuan she had with her was stolen. I was so scared when I heard it that I didn’t dare to sleep all night.”
“Are there many thieves on the road?”
”I don’t know. Four or five people in the same compartment said they lost money, and the train police came but couldn’t find any trace of the thief.”
”It’s still quite dangerous. Why don’t you let Xiao Liu go with you next time, so that you two can have someone to look after you on the way.”
Xiao Liu was the one she hired to help her sell goods. She nodded when she heard that. “That’s what I was planning. Even if you are alert when you sleep, it’s not as safe as two people taking turns.”
”The business is getting bigger and bigger, so we should hire a few more people.”
Li Xia nodded obediently, her bangs swaying back and forth as she did so. The man looked at her and laughed, his warm eyes making even this old lady blush.
A short absence is better than a new marriage. She had been away for nearly ten days, and when she came back, she was so tired that she lay down and fell asleep. After a few days of rest, she couldn’t help but think of other things. At night, he sent the children to bed, and she sent away the neighbors who were watching TV and closed the house door.
She tiptoed back to the living room like a kitten, and the man was already in bed. The lamp on the bedside table was on, and he looked up when he heard the noise, blinked his eyes and waved at her.
”Why do you feel a little shy?”
The man put his arm around her, “What are you mumbling about again?”
She boldly put her long arms on his shoulders, and pulled her loose hair back seductively. She blinked at him with her big eyes, and leaned forward to kiss him.
The kiss was too deep, and he seemed to be still unsatisfied after it was over. Shen Haiyang was so moved by her initiative that he forgot to turn off the lights first. Because of his emotions, his cheeks were flushed, and he was teased by his wife again.
”I said you are very delicious, and your blushing face is very tempting.”
”Li Xia,” the man was teased and couldn’t help laughing. “You are just like a female hooligan.”
”Today I will show you what a real female hooligan is.”
It’s not like I haven’t taken the initiative before. When you were not feeling well, wasn’t it me who took the initiative? Because of his gentleness and indulgence, Li Xia became more courageous in this regard.
Things that she had not dared to think about in her previous life were unlocked one by one under his indulgence. Of course, this was also related to her current self-confidence. When people are confident, they are naturally bold and feel that they can do anything, including teasing him.
Being pushed by his wife, the man’s words were somewhat helpless, but in fact he cooperated with her obediently and enjoyed it very much. When Li Xia told him that she was reborn, she thought about what to do if he disliked her mental age. Now it seems that he may not have thought of this at all. After all, she appeared in front of him in her prime.
Did Shen Haiyang think about this? He really didn’t think about it at all, or he thought it was unimportant. What he considered most every day was the future of this family.
The next day, the couple got up late and brought some buns and porridge from the bun shop. Li Xia also cooked a packet of instant noodles for Shen Haiyang.
The fried eggs, tomatoes, and spinach, in red, white, and green, looked very pretty. The three little ones were so greedy that they kept sniffing.
”Eat it quickly. I know you don’t like buns that much. I still have one pack left from the ones I bought on the way. These things taste attractive but they don’t have much nutrition. You need to add eggs or something to make them more delicious.”
Shen Haiyang looked at the three children opposite him. Li Xia handed him the chopsticks, then turned to the three children and said, “If you want to eat, wait until next time. If the supply and marketing cooperative has it, I’ll buy two bags for each of you. Let’s eat buns first. I’ll give you meat buns.”
”Okay.”
After hearing this, the three little ones bought it. They nodded and ate porridge and buns. In this period, instant noodles were a luxury item that could only be found in cities. In the countryside, they had to wait until the late 1980s to get them. It was very prestigious to cook a pack for relatives when they came.
Shen Haiyang took a bite and found the braised beef tasted really good. “Is this expensive?”
”Not cheap.” Li Xia smiled: “But it’s within our spending power. Hey, actually, you can make money by opening an instant noodle factory.”
The four of them looked at her together. This woman is really obsessed with money. She wants to make money from everything she sees. You are already very enviable now, okay?
After eating and going to work, Shen Haiyang walked a long way before he remembered that he forgot to tell her that he would go to court to deprive Murong Danling of her visitation rights. Murong Danling should receive a court order soon, so she should pay more attention to Shen Hui in the next few days, fearing that this woman would do something radical if she got angry.
”Let’s talk about it later. I’ll pick up the child in the evening.”
