Chapter 34: The Couple Discusses Starting a Business

A side note: I added some words to the previous chapter.

Seeing that Xie Qingxiao was about to get angry, Lin Xiangyi quickly suppressed a smile and said, “It’s not like that, I just saw that you can’t even cook, so I figured you probably wouldn’t be good at farm work.”

Actually, there was no need to guess. Just looking at Xie Qingxiao’s appearance, he didn’t seem like someone who would be good at farm work.

Speaking of him not knowing how to cook, Xie Qingxiao’s face flushed with a hint of awkwardness.

He was raised by his grandmother, who spoiled him, so he never had to do any work. As a result, he hadn’t even cooked a meal in his entire life.

Later, his parents realized he was spoiled and wanted to correct him.

But he didn’t think there was anything wrong with him.

His parents had his older brother and two sisters who were filial, and they would eventually be taken to the city by his brother to enjoy their later years.

The only person he needed to take care of was the grandmother who raised him, but she was unlucky and passed away before he could grow up and take care of her.

After meeting Lin Xiangyi, he did have the idea of starting a family with her and being responsible for her, but Lin Xiangyi never gave him a chance.

So he felt that he was single and didn’t need to worry about anyone else, and he lived his life as he pleased.

He never imagined that one day his dream would come true, and he would actually marry her?

“I did have a bit of a wild streak in the past, but I’ll learn slowly,” Xie Qingxiao said.

Hmm?

Lin Xiangyi asked, “Besides cooking, what else do you want to learn?”

Xie Qingxiao: “Everything!” Learn how to be responsible, how to love you, how to be responsible for you, how to start a family with you, how to make you not regret marrying me…

Lin Xiangyi didn’t pick up on his subtext, but his sincerity made her happy.

No one wants to marry a good-for-nothing.

“So you really want to learn to farm?” Lin Xiangyi brought the topic back to the main point. She still wanted to talk to him about making money.

“…” Xie Qingxiao fell into an awkward silence.

At this time, Lin Xiangyi and Xie Qingxiao were walking one behind the other on the narrow path, and Lin Xiangyi couldn’t see Xie Qingxiao’s expression, so she turned back to look at him.

She saw him looking at her with a conflicted expression.

“What’s wrong?” Lin Xiangyi asked in confusion.

“It’s not that,” Xie Qingxiao hesitated, “Lin Xiangyi, there’s something I need to discuss with you.”

Seeing his expression, Lin Xiangyi felt that it was a big deal. Yesterday, after she married him, he called her his wife, but now he was calling her by her full name… Could he have done something bad?

She glanced around, seeing that there was no one working nearby, so they shouldn’t be overheard. She pulled him down to sit on the path and said, “Tell me!”

“I want to say, I,” Xie Qingxiao looked hesitant. Her serious and solemn demeanor made him unsure of how to start.

“Just say it,” Lin Xiangyi saw his appearance and felt even more that he must have done something wrong. She urged him, “You’re a big man, why are you so hesitant? Can’t you just be straightforward!”

Xie Qingxiao!!!

“Lin Xiangyi!” He glared at Lin Xiangyi with gritted teeth, his face black as he said, “I want to discuss with you if we can start a business?”

Lin Xiangyi’s eyes lit up: “Start a business?” This was exactly what she wanted to talk to Xie Qingxiao about!

Xie Qingxiao: “…”

“You agree?” Xie Qingxiao asked with a strange expression. Nowadays, many people thought starting a business was like profiteering, and his parents were especially afraid of it.

“Of course I agree,” Lin Xiangyi said, “Actually, I was just about to tell you about this.”

Lin Xiangyi adjusted her sitting position and said with a smile, “I don’t want to farm, and you’re not good at farming either. We both don’t have jobs, but we have to support ourselves. Going out to do some small business to support ourselves is better than sitting around and waiting to die, right?”

Xie Qingxiao: “…” Yes, she had said that she often read newspapers and understood national policies and economic trends.

Previously, when they went to the city, they saw many small vendors selling things. She didn’t show any surprise at the time, so it was normal for her to accept such things.

It was him who, although he didn’t think starting a business was a bad thing, was afraid of disappointing her and was hesitant to bring it up.

“So that’s settled then?” Xie Qingxiao said.

“Of course!” Lin Xiangyi couldn’t help but laugh. She thought she would have to persuade Xie Qingxiao for a while about starting a business, but they actually agreed immediately.

However.

“What kind of business should we do?” Lin Xiangyi asked.

Xie Qingxiao: “I used to sell grain with some brothers in the city.”

Lin Xiangyi???

She turned to look at Xie Qingxiao in disbelief: “You sold grain.”

Xie Qingxiao scratched his nose: “Yeah.”

Lin Xiangyi struggled to digest this fact: “How much money did you make?”

“I didn’t calculate it specifically, because I spent a lot too. I have about a thousand yuan left.”

Actually, Xie Qingxiao could have earned more if he wanted to.

But Xie Qingxiao wasn’t a materialistic person. He did business according to his mood, and he didn’t care much about how much he earned. He mainly wanted to find something to do to pass the time.

Of course, if he knew he would marry Lin Xiangyi one day, he would definitely work hard to make money, give her more dowry, and provide her with a better life.

Lin Xiangyi: “Did you give that thousand yuan to me as a dowry?”

“Yes.”

Lin Xiangyi: “…” She knew Xie Qingxiao’s parents were farmers, so how could they give such a high dowry?

“Did you tell your parents about what you did?” Lin Xiangyi asked.

“No, if I told them they would go crazy,” Xie Qingxiao said:

“During the production team days, someone was criticized for selling things, and the scene was so horrifying that it scared them. When I was hanging around in the county, they kept telling me not to do bad things. They thought it was a bad thing, so how could I tell them?

“As for the dowry money, they probably thought it was left to me by Grandma.”

Lin Xiangyi: “…” Understandable.

The situation was too severe in the past, leaving many people with lingering shadows. Even though many people had realized that the economic conditions had improved, few dared to take that step lightly.

Especially for honest and law-abiding people like Xie Qingxiao’s parents.

“So can we still start a business?” Lin Xiangyi worried, “We live under the same roof, so we can’t hide our business from our parents!”

“We can,” Xie Qingxiao said, “They might not accept it at first, but they won’t say anything once they know it’s not going to cause any trouble.”

“Okay,” Lin Xiangyi felt relieved, “So, are you still thinking about selling grain?”

Xie Qingxiao shook his head: “I used to do it with others. We had to go to the countryside and collect grain from house to house. Most people in the countryside are honest and timid, so we could only trade secretly. I feel that there’s no need to be so cautious about trading nowadays, so I’m thinking about seeing if there are any other easier businesses to do.”

Lin Xiangyi agreed: “Then let’s do some research. How about we go to the street tomorrow and take a look?”

Xie Qingxiao: “Okay.”

“Then let’s go home now,” Lin Xiangyi said.

Xie Qingxiao stood up from the path and extended a hand to Lin Xiangyi. Lin Xiangyi placed her hand in Xie Qingxiao’s and stood up with his help.

Xie Qingxiao let her walk in front, and he followed behind her. When they reached a wider path, Xie Qingxiao walked up to her and walked beside her.

The sun shone down on them, and their shadows gradually overlapped.