CHAPTER 58

The old man’s funeral went smoothly. After the helpers left, the house suddenly felt empty. Qin Mu poured some water and prepared to get the medicine, and she suddenly realized that she no longer had to do this on time every day.

He left and would never come back. She had sent her parents-in-law away, and now she was sending this old man, who treated her like a girl, away. She felt very sad.

The bracelet on her hand was given to her by the old man. The red envelopes he gave her every year accumulated to form a considerable income. After the old man passed away, the lawyer announced his will and left her a set of tea sets as a souvenir. The tea sets are antiques, and their value is hard to estimate.

Li Xia came in and patted her. She turned around and burst into tears again. “Why did he leave like that?”

Li Xia comforted her, “My condolences. It’s hard for me to accept it for the time being. When I came in and saw all this, it seemed like he would appear in the rocking chair and talk to me the next moment.”

As they said their condolences, their tears became more and more violent. The busyness of the funeral was over, and the pain of losing a loved one surged. When they walked or sat down, they thought about it and felt like needles were stabbing their hearts. Shen Haiyang is also very quiet these days.

The two of them stopped talking, sitting on the stools in silence. After the discomfort passed, Qin Mu finally talked about business.

“The old man is gone too; will you still need me in the future?”

“I’ll show you a way.” There are opportunities in every era. After being together for so long, she has shown Qin Mu a bright future. If she seizes the opportunity, her future development will be limitless.

“You are very good at stewing meat. Now is a good time to open a vacuum-packed cooked food factory. The initial investment is not large, but the profit is definitely considerable. As people travel more, there will be a great demand for this kind of convenient food. You can stew eggs, stew meat, chicken legs, duck legs, etc.”

Qin Mu was a little panicked when she heard about investing in a factory. The only time she invested was in illegal fundraising. When she thought about having to rely on herself to open a factory, she was worried about what to do if she couldn’t sell it. Li Xia could naturally see her state and patted her on the back.

“Go home and discuss this with your husband, Mr. Han. If he supports it, you can go ahead and do it.”

“But I still feel scared.”

“If you have his support, what are you afraid of? Don’t be afraid. You only have one chance in life to live up to your efforts to become a better person.
A huge business opportunity is right in front of you; it depends on whether you grab it or not. This vacuum food has great potential, and the future is limitless; it all depends on your specific operation and ability.

In a few years, my company will be listed on the stock market, and then Han Jun, as a veteran, will be able to get the original shares. Now that the timing is just right and we are all helping you, you can seize the opportunity and start your own business. As for the miscalculation at the beginning, now that we use computers, I don’t believe you can still make mistakes with this. ”

————

Three days after her father-in-law’s funeral was over, her family came to express their condolences according to etiquette. The second and third brothers and their wives, as well as the eldest brother, all three families came with gifts.

They had been there during the funeral, and now they were sitting down just to advise the couple not to feel too sad. In this kind of situation, other people’s words are superficial, and getting over the sadness of losing a loved one takes time.

They sat quietly; the silence was awkward. The second brother’s wife was now quiet and didn’t dare to say much. She had been disciplined by the second brother before, and now she was obedient. The third brother and his wife didn’t know what to say, so Shen Haiyang took the initiative to bring up other topics.

“Xuedong, have you recovered your previous investment?”

Li Xuedong, who was named, nodded quickly. “I recovered some of it.” Then he said to Li Xia, “Don’t be angry, aunt; I know I was deceived again this time. I will open my eyes when looking for a partner in the future and find a girl who is living a decent life.”

Li Xia nodded silently without saying anything. The third daughter-in-law said to her nephew, “Don’t be too ambitious. We are just old farmers. Don’t always think about those fashionable girls. How can such girls be interested in us?”

The third brother also agreed: “Your third aunt is right. It’s best to find a simple girl in the workshop. Don’t make trouble every day. It will only make your father worry and cause trouble for your aunt. A girl like that doesn’t like you, but your aunt.”

“Yes, I know.”

Li Xia’s family had lunch there and left. Shen Haiyang took a half-month leave due to his father’s funeral, and he has not yet returned to work. The two of them talked about the pyramid scheme at home, not knowing that Zhang Qiuhua, who was raising funds on the other side, had already run to the station and was about to leave by bus.

She was carrying a bag, and Murong Danling came to see her off. These two were like twins, and they had never been completely separated. At the beginning, Zhang Qiuhua took all the blame by herself, and because she didn’t expose so many goods, she was not sentenced severely. After she was released, the two got together again, and now they are at the end of their rope again.

“Here are two hundred thousand. Don’t come back once you leave.”

“Murong Danling, you have such a dark heart. I left a batch of goods for you when I was in jail, and now that you’ve made your fortune, is this how you repay me?”

Murong Danling didn’t care: “With so much money, what else do you want?”

“The amount of money raised is much more than this.”

“We were targeted. Do you think the money raised should be returned? I asked you to get Li Xia’s money, but you were arrested by the police as soon as you got in touch. Li Xia is our nemesis. She was the one who put my sister in jail.”

Zhang Qiuhua also felt a bit unlucky. How could she not be able to cheat Li Xia when so many people raised funds? She registered a company; the project had such a broad prospect, and so many nouveau riche invested in it, how could she see through it at a glance? Not only did she not cheat her money, but she also destroyed her nest. But now is not the time to be upset about this. Now is the time to ask for more money.

“Don’t try to deceive me. I and the other two were the ones who raised the funds, and you were hiding behind them. But now the money is in your hands, and you just want to keep it for yourself.”

“Why are you so stupid? Two of them have already been arrested. If they betray you, they will lead to me. I can’t run away, but you have to spit out everything.”

The two of them panted and were silent for a long time, then Murong Danling pushed her. “Hurry up and go, and start over after you get out.”

“How about you?”

“Don’t worry about me, just go away.”

As long as the money is returned, the crime is not serious, but neither of them is the kind of person who can take it and then spit it out. The car salesman escaped because of Shen Haiyang’s clothes. Zhang Qiuhua, who is in charge of fundraising, wanted to trick Li Xia again, and this time she ran into trouble.

The other party called the police without saying anything. This time, the police investigated everything thoroughly. How could a project with no trace withstand a thorough investigation? What about the retired ships from foreign countries? Private individuals cannot go to see them, so how can public security not find them?

Due to their different personalities, the high-return projects they thought were good were not reliable in the eyes of Li Xia and her friends. They did not believe in pie in the sky. If it was really that good, how could they raise funds from ordinary people?

Zhang Qiuhua fled in a car, and Murong Danling smiled contemptuously behind her. Zhang Qiuhua had always been in charge of the fundraising, and the two fake foreigners didn’t know her at all. Zhang Qiuhua ran away, so she was naturally safe. No one would know that she was the one behind the scenes.

Zhang Qiuhua sat in the car with a sneer on her face. “Murong Danling, you have to pay the price for what you have done. I took the responsibility for you back then; now it’s your turn.”

I’ve suffered a loss once; do you think I’m still so stupid? I’m working with you, so won’t I know about your background? You smuggle motorcycles, cars, and cultural relics; don’t think I don’t know. Wait, wait for the big gift I will give you. You use me to raise funds, and now that it fails, you will send me away so that you won’t be implicated. Humph, it’s not that easy.

Murong Danling drove to the location to pick up a batch of goods, calculating in her mind how much she could earn this time. While handing over the goods to the other party, the familiar scene made her feel uneasy. Her right eyelid couldn’t stop twitching, and superstitious thoughts began to run through her mind.

Left eye twitching means good fortune; right eye twitching means disaster. Could it be that something bad is going to happen?

“Hey, boss, I’ve checked the goods, and they’re all fine.”

Her assistant spoke, and she nodded dully. The goods began to be loaded, and everything seemed to be going smoothly. It was dark all around, with only the flashlights they carried flashing.

She was panicking, and her right eyelid was twitching. She put out the cigarette in her hand, got in the car, and drove away. The road on the hillside looked down at this place silently through the night.

“Don’t move”

A loud thunderclap rang through the night sky, and a flash of lightning flashed by. She saw that her people and goods were surrounded by the police. It was over; it was really over this time.

Run. This thought flashed through her mind, and she quickly got into the car. She started the car and stepped on the accelerator, and the car shot out like an arrow from a bow.

She was very familiar with the terrain and drove at full speed. If she was caught here, then the clues led to her being the one responsible. She could no longer shirk responsibility.

She felt extremely anxious and heavy inside. Where should she hide? Where could she hide? Should she flee the country with Zhang Qiuhua? But how could she be willing to do that?

She smuggled motorcycles from the Sun Country, and after accumulating funds, she started smuggling cars in the past two years. She has cars from the Sun Country in Europe and America, and that’s a huge profit. In a few months, she can make more than she did in many years of selling clothes and small commodities. She has become very arrogant in the past few years.

For this, she hooked up with Tian Mu, whose sister was selling antiques and cultural relics and also acting as a contact for smuggling cars. She thought that she would go abroad after making a few more profits and then enjoy life with handsome men in luxurious houses, but now such huge profits have nothing to do with her.

She would be arrested, her property would be confiscated, and she would be left with nothing. She would be thrown into prison and lose even her freedom, and maybe she would have to eat peanuts.

Thinking of these possibilities, she shook her head frantically while holding the steering wheel. No, it can’t be possible. Zhang Qiuhua had told her about life in there. It was hard enough to live in a dormitory without the freedom to work. The most important thing was that there was a law of the jungle, and she would be bullied and pushed to sleep next to the toilet.

No, she was a germaphobe and would never let herself fall to that level. If that really happened, she would rather die.

Eat peanuts, say that. She was really thinking about dying; how could she bear it? Her hands began to tremble while driving; the fear came late and finally surged into her heart at this moment.

She drove madly into the city and stopped in front of a bank on a familiar road. If she wanted to escape, she had to withdraw money first; otherwise, her whereabouts would be exposed. And her account would probably be frozen soon.

She stopped in front of the only bank with an ATM in the city center and inserted her bank card with shaking hands. The ATM could only withdraw 2,000 yuan at a time and a maximum of 10 transactions a day.

She withdrew again and again, and on the sixth time, the ATM showed that the balance was insufficient. She began to reduce the amount again and again, and the last withdrawal was 100 yuan.

Ten thousand and one hundred, plus the original amount, was less than thirty thousand, so this little money was not enough to spend. After coming out, she continued to wait in the car. She had to wait for the bank to open and withdraw more money. Once her account was frozen, she would have no money left.

It was still dark while she was waiting. She couldn’t help but regret that she should not have deposited the money in the bank. She should have kept it at home and just run away with the cash.

Can she run away? She didn’t know. But she had just caught those people, and it would take time to interrogate them. She had to run quickly. Why wasn’t the bank open yet?

She looked at the time; it was almost seven o’clock. Why did she keep all my money in the bank? Oh, she was afraid that if she kept the cash at home, it would be a bargain for Fang Zhongcheng.

She didn’t even have anyone she could trust, and she was on guard in everything she did. Now that she was at the end of her rope, she could only struggle on her own.

Before dawn, before the bank door opened, she sat in the car, waiting anxiously. Lying on the steering wheel, her mind was in a mess. She thought of her son, the only son in her life. She heard that he was the top student in No. 1 Middle School and the teacher’s favorite.

Her excellent son now calls Li Xia “Mom.” She feels sad when she thinks about it. How could Li Xia get all the benefits? She also wants to wait until she earns enough money to bring her son to immigrate. He is such a good student that he can go to the United States to study.

Even at this point, she still has no self-reflection. She blames the heavens, the earth, and the air, but not herself. After abandoning her husband and son, Shen Haiyang woke up and thought it was God playing tricks on her. Shen Haiyang had a rich father, which was God playing tricks on her. She didn’t want her son, but he was so outstanding, which was also a bargain for Li Xia.

She never thought about what Shen Haiyang and his son would be like if there was no Li Xia and what her son would be like under her influence.

She sat there anxiously, holding the bag of cash in her arms. Her right eyelid began to twitch again, and she was so flustered that she couldn’t control herself. She rubbed the bank card repeatedly, then drove away with gritted teeth.

————

It was dawn, and Aunt Xu had prepared dinner. Today was a workday, and Li Xia and her husband had already gotten up and washed up. The three children had breakfast at school, so they were the only ones left at home.

There were two houses in the front and back yards. It was so large that, with them the only ones there, it felt empty. Auntie chatted with Li Xia while eating and asked her when the villa she bought would be renovated.

“Now that you’re done installing it, you should move over there, right?”

Li Xia replied, “Probably.”

She didn’t say much, and the aunt didn’t ask much. After dinner, she went to work. The supplier’s payment was delayed, so she asked Han Jun to come to the office and ask him about the production situation these days. “The old man’s death didn’t have much impact. There were no orders cancelled, right?”

“No. Ever since you started the promotion of buying a heater and giving away a socket, our heaters have suppressed other brands, and sales have been rising steadily. As soon as the old man’s will was announced, the suppliers also stabilized.”

“That’s good.”

“Don’t worry. Once the court hearing and the verdict are made, this matter will be completely over.”

“Yeah. When does the trial start?”

“next week.”

“Okay, you can go there then.”

“Okay, leave it to me.”

Her job is stable now. She was in a good mood, so after getting off work, she went to buy a cake. Children like to eat this. Eating sweets can make people happy. Everyone is calm. The old man passed away, and life has to go on.

In the evening, they waited for the children to come back from their evening self-study before cutting the cake. The first piece was offered to Grandpa in the backyard. The seventh day had passed, and they didn’t know if the old man’s soul was still there. But they just assumed that he was there, and he was watching his family live a peaceful life.

Shen Hui put down the cake and kowtowed to his grandfather, remembering what his grandfather taught him. Boys should be broad-minded and compromise when necessary. They should be both firm and flexible, and remember that being too firm will lead to failure.

“Grandpa, have you seen Grandma?” If you have, tell her that I am doing well so that she can rest assured. Dad is also doing well. We have been very happy these years because of mom.”

“Brother, it’s time to eat.”

Yiyi called him from outside, and he stood up, bowed to the portrait, and left the room. The two brothers always quarreled with each other, and Yiyi was not as tall as his brother, so he jumped up and ran after his brother after he snatched his candied haws.

A week later, the lawsuit in City E went to court. Li Xia had made preparations in advance, and all the reporters from newspapers and TV were present that day.

In court, there was an official accident investigation report, which clearly showed that the accident had nothing to do with product quality. The final verdict was that neither the manufacturer nor the dealer was responsible, and it was entirely due to improper use by the consumer. However, out of humanitarianism, the manufacturer gave appropriate compensation.

After leaving the court, the reporter immediately went to interview the parties involved. “Is it true that there were wet clothes just washed on the electric heater on the day of the accident?”

“It should be. My mother is old and illiterate, so she doesn’t know much about these electrical appliances.”

Okay, the following is not important. At this point, the accident has nothing to do with product quality. Covering is strictly prohibited, and consumers know these four big words. If you don’t use it according to the instructions and buy a cheap plug board, you can only blame yourself if something goes wrong.

The lawsuit was won, and public opinion was building momentum. Rainbow Electric won, and there was no problem with the quality of its products.

“Boss, we received another order for heaters today. Most areas in the north will be very cold for half a month after the heating is turned off. Now that living conditions have improved, many people will buy heaters. Speed up production, because once the weather gets warmer, this thing will enter the off-season.”

Li Xia smiled on the phone: “It’s okay. Even if it’s the off-season, the fans should be running fast.”