CHAPTER 53

The three of them were in the backyard with the old man. They had separate meals in the front and back yards these days. Today, only Li Xia and her husband were in the front yard. The three children were in evening self-study, stayed in school to eat, and did not come back.

“When our three kids go to college and get married and start a family, we can live in peace like this every day. When we retire, we can live in Sichuan for a year. The kimchi there seems to be especially delicious.”

Shen Haiyang smiled: “There are so many delicious foods in Sichuan, but you only like kimchi?”

“Everything else is fine, but I like the sour and spicy taste of kimchi. The ones made in Sichuan are particularly authentic and taste better than those made elsewhere.”

“It should be because of the water and climate.”

The couple was eating and chatting when they suddenly heard a woman’s noise coming from the backyard. They stood up and looked towards the backyard at the same time. Just as they were about to go to see what was going on, Kevin ran out of the backyard.

“Uncle, can you arrange for us to return home right away? If we leave, grandma will naturally stop making trouble with grandpa.”

The old man had already asked someone to make the arrangements, and now it seemed that the woman was getting anxious. Li Xia accompanied Shen Haiyang to the backyard. She couldn’t keep up with the foreign language that was being spoken at such a fast pace, and she could only hear a few familiar words from it.

It seems that her guess was right. The old lady wanted to leave, but she was not satisfied with the old man’s plan. The two old people were arguing, and Shen Haiyang stood there as a peacemaker, fearing that his father would be angry.

Li Xia didn’t understand, so she just took the two children to eat. The most important thing in this matter is the child’s own wishes. Have you, as an old lady, asked your grandson?

“Kevin, would you like to live on your own or with your grandmother?”

“Myself.” Kevin was a little embarrassed.

“We shouldn’t have come, but… I’m only in junior high school. If Grandpa had given us some financial support, we wouldn’t have to go to the orphanage. In a few years, my mother will be able to raise Jimmy, and I’ll be old enough to work by myself. Grandpa said he was looking for a host family for us, and I can’t wait. Mainly, I don’t want grandma to use us as an excuse to trouble grandpa.”

The most important thing in this matter is the child’s own wishes. It seems that the old man has talked to the child. Children who have lived abroad since childhood may cause a series of problems once they change their environment. And Kevin made it very clear that he wants to get help, not stay in China with his brother. Then this matter is very simple.

“Ask your uncle to contact you as soon as possible. Don’t worry; your grandfather will take care of the tuition. You can live your life in peace.”

“Thank you, auntie.”

The two of them spoke slowly, communicating well in both Chinese and English. It would take some time to get in touch with them, but since things had been settled, there was nothing to worry about. As for the old lady in the backyard, she couldn’t hear them during the day because she was at work, so it would probably take a few days to get rid of her.

“Is the food not to your liking? Otherwise, I’ll take you to the night market.”

She talked and gestured, and Jimmy understood everything. His eyes immediately lit up like stars, and he nodded frantically. “My brother took me to the night market, where we had barbecue and popcorn.”

He couldn’t say the name for a moment, and he was scratching his head anxiously. “Anyway, there are a lot of delicious things.”

“Then let’s go together.”

Grandpa and his uncle were very kind and willing to help. Kevin was in a good mood and happily followed them to the night market. Maybe he will leave soon, and he will really miss the delicious food in China. The mountains and rivers that Grandpa described are also very desirable. He will come back to visit them after he graduates from college.

Both the food and the scenery should not be wasted.

Li Xia left a note and took the two children to the night market. Holding Jimmy’s hand on the way, she began to ask him questions.

“Jimmy, you said, took you to the night market. Which brother took you there?”

“We went together, three brothers and one sister.”

“when?”

“Just last night.”

“You’re so good, Shen Ruyi. You promised me to lose weight, but you went to the night market to eat late at night. With your good appetite, you’d be sorry for all those delicious foods if you didn’t gain two pounds.”

“What did you say, Aunt?”

Li Xia turned around and said, “No, nothing.”

The night market had just started to set up stalls, so she took the two children to a store and ordered three bowls of wontons. The wontons were stuffed with pork and shrimp, and the large wontons were considered a proper meal.

She always made sure the children had good food, and she always thought that just eating skewers was not enough. No wonder Yiyi was so chubby that he needed to lose weight.

The two children followed her obediently, and after eating wontons, the three of them began to walk slowly around the night market. Jimmy saw a small toy, and although the production was a bit primitive, the child liked it, so Li Xia paid for it without saying a word.

Kevin felt more confident and interested in going to the night market. After finishing the skewers in his hand, he covered his nose and asked Li Xia what she was selling.

“Why is it so smelly? But I see they seem to be eating. Can food really smell so bad?”

“Stinky tofu. It’s a famous Hunan snack. It smells bad but tastes delicious.”

The brothers shook their heads, not believing that this thing could be eaten. Jimmy said, “I didn’t smell this yesterday. It stinks.”

The more this happened, the more Li Xia wanted them to try it. After all, they were Chinese, so how could they not try the local specialties when they came here?

“Come on, I’ll take you to try it. I guarantee you’ll want to eat more after trying it.”

“Oh, no.”

The two brothers were obviously resisting, but Li Xia, in a playful mood, bought them some stinky tofu. Each of the three of them had a box, and the two brothers held the box as far away from themselves as possible.

Li Xia didn’t say much either. She ate the food with a bamboo stick and made an exaggerated expression as if it were delicious. The two brothers looked confused, and they hesitated whether to try it or not as they watched others eat.

“If you don’t eat it, you will regret it later.”

The two brothers hesitated for a few minutes, and when they saw that Li Xia had almost finished her box, they finally looked at each other and reached out for a bamboo stick. They stabbed a piece of tofu with sauce on it and put it into their mouths with a fearless expression.

Then they took a bite, and then another bite, and then they both opened their eyes. Jimmy said excitedly, “It turns out it’s really delicious.”

Kevin said, “It smells bad but tastes delicious.”

Li Xia proudly threw away the empty box: “I was right, it’s delicious.”

As she was walking with them while eating, she suddenly heard someone calling her. She turned around and saw Shen Haiyang. “You didn’t take me with you to the night market.”

“You came here by yourself.”

With him around, communication with the two children is smoother. Walking slowly from east to west, Li Xia saw a silk scarf she liked and turned back to ask Shen Haiyang for his opinion, only to find that he was staring at it in a daze.

“It’s Murong Danfeng’s son.” Li Xia pretended to go over and said, “Go over and see what he is saying to that person.”

“Don’t alert the enemy.” Shen Haiyang grabbed her.

“Is there any problem?”

Shen Haiyang nodded and didn’t say much to his wife. The police were paying attention to them, had already found some clues, and were investigating further. How could he stand by the river and dry his shoes all the time?

The two of them took the children home, and the three little ones also came back from their evening self-study. Jimmy happily told Yiyi that he had eaten stinky tofu today, and Yiyi asked him quietly if he had told his mother about what happened last night.

“I said, Brother is very nice.”

Yiyi Yi slapped his forehead and said, “It’s over.”

“Shen Ruyi,” his mother called out, and he turned back with a bitter face. Huihua and Shen Hui were both laughing at him. You little bastard, I let you eat secretly, and you told my mother that there is no such thing as a wall that is impenetrable.

“Mom, I will never eat it again.”

“Set a goal for yourself. Put the scale in your room and monitor yourself every day. If you are still this fat at the age of sixteen, your mother will enroll you in a weight loss camp and have you do high-intensity exercise every day.”

“No, no, I control myself. I’m over 150 now, and I want to reduce it to 120 by the end of this year. That should be fine, right?”

He is just over 1.6 meters tall, and if he weighs less than 120 to 130 grams, he is not too fat. Li Xia nodded. “You said it yourself; keep your word.”

“I will.”

There were two candies in his schoolbag, and he immediately took them out and gave them to his sister. Brush your teeth, wash your face, and go to bed. You should be more self-disciplined in managing your mouth in the future. Don’t be lazy in physical education class; otherwise, mom will have to spend money to reduce his weight.

If her son wants to do something, he still has the willpower. Li Xia decided to supervise him and let the boy try to return to a normal body shape.

Control your diet as a supplement, but don’t be too strict and don’t lack nutrition.

The main thing is to exercise. He can’t just sit there after eating. He is about to enter the second growth period. With three measures to strengthen his body, he should be able to return to normal shape soon.

Kevin and Jimmy quietly went back to their rooms to sleep. The little one was addicted to stinky tofu and told his brother as he walked that he would buy two boxes to take on the plane when he returned to the United States.

“No. Such strong-tasting food is not allowed on the plane.”

“Then I’ll eat more while I’m here.”

Li Xia smiled and thought about taking them out to the night market tomorrow. This time, she would drive farther and go to a different place. They probably didn’t have much time left on the mainland, so it was just a good meal, not a big deal.

After washing up and sleeping, she went to work the next day. Han Jun from the factory told her the news. “A Japanese company manager came to contact us and was very interested in our factory. He said he was interested in cooperating with us and that he would bring more advanced technology.”

It’s the same set of tricks that have been used before. Now many domestic companies have their own shadows, joint ventures, and use their already existing technology in exchange for such a large market.

“Would you like to meet him?”

Li Xia shook her head. The result would be the same, whether she met him or not. She would rather have a hard time than hand it over to Japanese companies as a cradle for them to make money. She had discussed this with the old man long ago, and the old man had the same idea as her. She would rather have lower profits; as long as she could get through this period, she believed that domestic products would eventually rise.

“But if other factories agree and increase their advertising, I’m afraid we will be squeezed out and have a hard time surviving.”

“I’ll find a way.”

For small home appliances, the first thing to consider is quality, and the second is price. After these two aspects are met, people will start to pay attention to appearance. Humph, you use a lot of advertising and prices to squeeze me, so I will fight back with appearance. Nowadays, when life is better and the price is not much different, appearance should be able to drive some sales.

Fans are now the most common black and white, but Li Xia decided to launch colored ones in the next batch. Fans are not very technical, so they can only focus on appearance. There are also rice cookers, which can be made small and beautiful, targeting middle-class families.

When she got home at night, she went into her daughter’s room, took her daughter’s colored pencils and paper, and started drawing in the room. The large fan is designed to be majestic and steady, with a silver-gray base and white blades. The small fan is made of color as a whole, with some cute cartoon images added to the shape.

She designed a small desktop fan in the shape of a cat, painted eyes and a mouth on the top of its head, put two erect ears on it, and decorated it with colors.

“Wow, what a beautiful fan.”

When Huihua came back from painting, she saw what her mother was drawing on the table. She immediately praised her. Li Xia looked up and smiled at her daughter, happy to have won her daughter’s heart.

“You think it looks good too?”

“Of course. Mom, how did you come up with the idea to make the fan so beautiful?”

“If it were you, would you like these fancy things?”

“Yes. They are so cute, much prettier than the monotonous ones. They seem to have life.”

Shen Hui and Yiyi followed in after hearing the noise. The two boys were not as sensitive to this as the girls. The most important thing about a fan is that it can blow air.

“If Doraemon is made into a fan, I would consider buying it.” Everyone expressed their opinions one by one.

“Then we have to buy the copyright, which increases the cost.”

She had just talked to her son about the cost in the evening, and the next day she went to the factory to show the R&D department her drawings. The department began to calculate what materials would be needed to produce something of the quality she had drawn.

After some research, it was determined that this thing could be made. However, the production line had to be adjusted, the price would be slightly higher than before, and the initial adjustment of the model would require investment. Li Xia called a meeting for everyone to express their opinions.

“It looks good, but what’s the point of a fan looking good?” Han Jun is indeed a straight man.

“Of course I buy something I like.” Xiao Liu held up the blue bear and said, “I like this one, and my son will definitely like it too.”

Li Xia looked at the third brother, who smiled innocently. “I really don’t understand this. Anyway, if it were me, I would definitely choose the one with the lowest price if I could use it.”

Several men objected, but Li Xia insisted on her own.

If the cooperation is successful, they will definitely be the first to deal with it. If you don’t find a way to break through, it will be too late when you are surrounded by them.

Fans, rice cookers, electric kettles, and water dispensers—the technology in their factory was already perfect, so she began to make a lot of improvements in appearance. Under the existing conditions, she tried to make them as beautiful as possible.

“Director, why don’t we accept Japanese companies? They have technology, and the labor costs in China are low, so we can reduce production costs. If they start a price war with us, we estimate”

When Xiao Liu spoke, everyone was shocked. But the men who just didn’t care about the appearance of the product supported Li Xia.

“We follow our own path and will never cooperate with these companies.”

“Yes, if we don’t believe it, we won’t be able to walk out of our own path.”

“That’s right. Our country can make all the gadgets, so why can’t we defeat them with these little gadgets?”

Li Xia said the ugly words first: “If we are attacked by the other party, we may face a financial crisis. If sales volume does not increase, everyone’s bonus will also not increase. I hope that everyone can still work together like this and not hinder each other.”

Han Jun spoke first: “Don’t worry. I, Han Jun, will be the first to support you. As long as we have food to eat, we will never compromise.”

Li Laosan also raised his hand and said, “I will definitely support you to the end.”

Xiao Liu said, “Count me in. As long as we have food to eat, we will stand together with the factory.”

Unwilling to be controlled, she tried to survive in this turbulent era. As long as she could maintain her current status while saving her life, after the millennium, domestic products began to gradually emerge. With the rise of the motherland, consumers have gained national confidence and will no longer think that domestic products are inferior to foreign products for no reason.

When faced with a crisis, she set herself a minimum goal: survival. As long as the factory could survive, she would not go the route of a joint venture or a controlling shareholder.

When she got home to her daughter’s room, she sat down and drew all kinds of shapes, including petals, rabbits, and even fruits.

“Knock Knock,”

Someone knocked on the door. She looked up and saw that it was the father-in-law’s ex-wife. The woman came in through the curtain and spoke in a foreign language. She was talking a lot.

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you’re saying.” Li Xia was too lazy to listen and simply said she didn’t understand. The old man is negotiating with you; why are you looking for me?

“I heard that the factory is managed by you.”

You can speak Chinese; why are you pretending to be foreign to me then? You are Chinese, and now you have come to China, but you are not willing to speak Chinese? Just for this reason, Li Xia’s impression of her dropped a lot.

“Yes.”

The woman spoke again, stuttering and intermittently, with a very strange accent, but she finally made her intention clear: she wanted Li Xia to withdraw the funds.

” No.”

“Why?”

“Because you are not my elder, I am not bound by you.”

I don’t care what you can do. Li Xia didn’t waste words with her and directly refused. The woman wanted to say more, but the old man came in with a cane.

The two chatted again, and Li Xia hurried to get some water and medicine: “Dad, don’t get too agitated. We can find a way to solve the problem. If you get angry, it will be more trouble than gain.”

Her words made the old man laugh, and he stopped arguing with the woman and took a sip of water from the cup. “I met the wrong person in my marriage. I didn’t expect that I would have to go through this trouble when I’m old.”

“As the old saying goes, the emperor has three poor relatives. It’s normal for every family to have some troubles.”

They spoke very fast with a local accent, so the woman couldn’t quite understand. She wanted to say something but couldn’t get a word in. Li Xia helped the old man out of the west room, and she followed him all the way. But no matter whether she spoke in broken Chinese or fluent foreign languages, the two just ignored her.

She was so angry that she didn’t eat at night. Qin Mu asked the old man if she should call her, but he waved his hand. After eating with his two grandsons in the backyard, he received a phone call and went to the front yard with his crutches.

The father-in-law must have come for something. Li Xia poured him some water and sat next to Shen Haiyang. The three of them sat down, and the old man spoke: “The two children’s problems have been arranged. I had an old friend of mine help me find a foster family. It is a nice family. Middle-class couple who love kids. I paid for it, and they were happy to take care of them for the time being.”

The concept in the United States is different from that on the mainland. They care more about raising children. So many families will adopt these children. Let the children return to a familiar social environment. Children are young and adapt quickly. And it is best for the two brothers to be together.

Li Xia and her husband nodded, and they agreed with the old man’s decision. They didn’t have the time or energy to raise two more children who grew up abroad, so this arrangement was good for everyone.

Shen Haiyang asked, “When will you send them off?”

“Don’t worry. Let’s do this tomorrow.”

The old man gave some instructions, and Li Xia and her husband nodded. They gave their aunt a day off in the evening. The next morning, when the old man’s ex-wife went to the bathroom, she came back to find the door locked. Her suitcase was at the door.

She was so anxious that she shouted everywhere, but the family just disappeared. Someone saw her like this and called the police. As an overseas Chinese, the police took her back to the police station.

After some investigation, it was found that except for the three children who were in school, no one else in the family could be contacted. When the eldest child, Shen Hui, was asked, the children replied that they didn’t know.

“Dad said he had to leave for something, so the three of us stayed at my third uncle’s house for the time being.”

Li Laosan(Third brother Li) also showed up to confirm this. “I don’t know what happened, but they asked me to help take care of the children. And police officer, this woman is the ex-wife of my sister’s father-in-law, and they divorced a long time ago.”

Oh, another new piece of news. It turns out that they are not a legal couple, but an ex-wife. This makes sense; no wonder they locked her out of the street.

The police wanted to contact the embassy to see what she should do. The woman also understood her situation and knew she was being kicked out.

“No, I’ll go by myself.”

As soon as the old man used his trick, she was immediately forced to leave. She took the train to Beijing, and not long after she got on the train, the old man returned home accompanied by Qin Mu.

He is nostalgic and not easy to control. His ex-wife has too many expectations about her ex-husband, who has been divorced for many years.