Chapter 7: Willing to Support Her

Yang Xichen thought of Uncle Hai and Aunt Tong, having taken two-thirds of their savings, as well as Tangtang’s tuition and living expenses, without letting them contribute. Yet, they were still thinking of selling Tangtang for money.

If they knew about Tangtang’s writing talent, they would probably stop at nothing to make Tangtang drop out of school, then confine her to force her to write and make money.

Thinking this, Yang Xichen also changed the subject, saying, “Then you can submit your work to Huaxin Publishing House. They recently opened a new children’s section and are extremely short of high-quality fairy tales.”

“Okay.” Haitang silently noted Huaxin Publishing House, and then went to the bank with Yang Xichen.

After withdrawing the money from the bank, Haitang gave some to Yang Xichen for his high school tuition, with the understanding that any excess would be returned after completing the transfer procedures, and she would make up for any shortfall.

Coming out of the bank, Yang Xichen took Haitang to the department store, explaining to her, “Your eighteenth birthday is at the beginning of next month, not long from now, so I’m giving you a birthday present in advance. Pick out some clothes you like.”

“Brother Xichen, do you have any connections at the cotton mill? I want to get some fabric, design my favorite styles, and make them myself.”

Haitang did not refuse Yang Xichen’s birthday gift, but she made her own request, the ultimate goal of which was to save Yang Xichen money.

He had already helped her a lot, and she didn’t want him to spend too much money on her.

Of course, she made this request also because there was a sewing machine available in the house they were currently living in.

It was very strange, as he was a grown man and had no use for a sewing machine.

Haitang didn’t know that the house they were now living in was temporarily cleaned and furnished after Yang Xichen confirmed the day before that she would be returning to Beidu with him.

As for the sewing machine, it was purchased after an investigation revealed that she had been doing temporary work during the summer and winter vacations in her hometown for the past three years.

She initially worked in a tailor shop, but later, the owner of the tailor shop fell ill and closed the shop. She also worked in a pastry shop and even a small restaurant.

Therefore, Yang Xichen specifically had a sewing machine bought and placed in the house, thinking that she might need it sometime, but he didn’t expect it to be so soon.

But as long as the little girl was happy, he thought, and then asked, “Okay, then let’s go back now. You make a list of the types and colors of fabric you want, and I’ll find someone to help get the fabric.”

Haitang happily agreed. The two came out of the mall. When they passed a watermelon stand, Yang Xichen stopped the car, went down to buy a watermelon, and then took Haitang home.

After arriving home, Haitang listed the types and colors of fabric she wanted, and specified the length of the fabric, and gave it to Yang Xichen.

Yang Xichen made a phone call, confirmed that the required types and colors of fabric were available, and hung up, intending to get the fabric. The phone rang immediately afterward.

Yang Xichen quickly answered the phone. It was his childhood friend Cheng Yiyang, who knew he was back from a mission and invited him to a dinner at MK** Restaurant that night.

Yang Xichen glanced at Haitang and agreed, “I know, I’ll bring one more person tonight.”

After speaking, he hung up the phone and explained to Haitang, “Tonight, I’ll introduce my childhood friends to you. If I’m away on a mission and not in Beidu, you can ask them for help if you need anything.”

Haitang did not refuse, as it was for her sake.

Then she returned to the bedroom to write fairy tales, because the sooner she wrote them, submitted them to the publishing house, the sooner she could find out if they would be accepted.

If they were accepted, she could get the royalties sooner. If they were not accepted, she could think of other ways to earn money sooner.

Yang Xichen went out to get the fabric. A little over an hour later, he not only brought back a dozen bolts of fabric but also packed lunch from the state-owned restaurant.

Haitang, hearing the noise, came out of the bedroom and was surprised to see the fabric piled on the sofa, asking, “Brother Xichen, why did you bring back so much fabric?”

Yang Xichen said matter-of-factly, “These are fabrics with defects, and they are especially cheap.

I was thinking that you don’t have many clothes, and the weather will turn cooler after September, so you need to prepare a few sets of autumn clothes.

Among those fabrics, there are just the right materials for making coats, so I brought them back together.”

After Yang Xichen mentioned it, Haitang noticed that the light yellow fabric on top had uneven colors in some places.

This situation was very common in cotton mills. Generally, these defective fabrics were either consumed by internal staff or sold at low prices.

Then Haitang admiringly gave Yang Xichen a thumbs up.

Seeing this, Yang Xichen turned around and went to the kitchen with the insulated container, a smug smile slightly curving his lips after he turned around.

Haitang hurried into the kitchen to help transfer the food from the insulated container to porcelain plates and bowls.

However, while eating, Haitang hesitated for a moment and then suggested, “Brother Xichen, let’s start buying groceries and cooking at home from tomorrow. You can try my cooking, which is very good.”

Yang Xichen knew what the little girl was thinking. The money she had wouldn’t last long if they ate at the state-owned restaurant every day.

Although he could afford it and was willing to support her, it was on the premise that the little girl was willing to let him support her.

But obviously, the little girl wanted to be self-reliant, so he readily nodded, “Okay, and there’s no need to go out to buy groceries specifically. I’ll go to my grandma’s place tomorrow and pick some fresh vegetables.

She has a fairly large vegetable garden, and every summer there are so many vegetables that we can’t eat them all.”

Haitang quickly said, “Then I’ll go with you to visit Grandma Xu tomorrow.”

“Grandma has gone to visit her comrades in another province and will be back in a week. I’ll take you there when she gets back,” Yang Xichen said, putting a piece of pork rib into Haitang’s bowl.

Haitang nodded, secretly thinking that a week was enough time for her to prepare a gift for Grandma Xu.

After all, it would be impolite to visit an elderly person for the first time empty-handed.

After lunch, Haiwan helped Yang Xichen clean up the kitchen and returned to the bedroom.

After a nap, she continued to write fairy tales until 5:00 PM, and then went to MK** Restaurant with Yang Xichen.

Arriving at the restaurant, Yang Xichen led Haitang to a six-person table in a corner. At this moment, there were three men and one woman sitting at the table.

When Haitang saw the only female comrade among them, she thought she looked familiar, but she was very sure that she had never met this female comrade.

Yang Xichen pulled out the seat opposite the female comrade, motioning for Haitang to sit. He sat next to Haitang and introduced everyone, “This is Haitang, my sister.”

Then he said to Haitang, “Tangtang, this is Jiang Ruoni, you can call her Sister, or like me, call her Sister-in-law.

The one next to Sister-in-law is Zhang Lei, then Qi Hao, and the one next to me is Cheng Yiyang.”

Haitang greeted everyone obediently and politely, “Hello, Sister Jiang, Brother Zhang, Brother Qi, Brother Cheng.”

Jiang Ruoni and the others greeted Haitang warmly. As a female comrade, Jiang Ruoni enthusiastically introduced the specialties of MK Restaurant to Haitang.

Seeing that Haitang’s attention was drawn away by Jiang Ruoni, Zhang Yiyang and the other two winked at Yang Xichen and asked with mouth movements.

Yang Xichen understood that the mouth movements were asking him if Haitang was the one he loved, and he nodded slightly.