Chapter 27

When it was almost time for dinner, Li Nianqiu took Li Xiangdong home. The sisters took some beads to string together and hid them in a bag before leaving.

Just as they stepped out of the house, they ran into Lin Fang.

Lin Fang’s unfriendly gaze swept over the sisters twice before glancing at Wen Yue beside them. Finally, her eyes landed on the bag that concealed its contents. She muttered under her breath, “Bringing people home every day, are you trying to take things from the house to support outsiders?”

“It’s not like they came to your house, and what they took isn’t yours either. Why are you so anxious?” Wen Yue retorted quietly, “It’s like the emperor isn’t anxious but the eunuch is.”

Lin Fang’s eyes widened. “Who are you calling an eunuch? How dare you talk to your elders like that!”

Wen Yue ignored her, smiling as she waved goodbye to Li Nianqiu and Li Xiangdong, telling them to come early tomorrow if they had time. Only after they walked out of the yard did she turn back to Lin Fang, her eyes curved in a smile. “What’s wrong, are you anxious?”

“Hey, you…” Lin Fang’s face suddenly contorted with anger.

“Zhou Yao, stop sleeping,” Wen Yue called towards Zhou Yao’s room.

As soon as she shouted, Lin Fang’s half-contorted face froze completely, her chest heaving rapidly before she turned and walked into the kitchen, gritting her teeth.

Damn girl! Always using others to assert her dominance!

Wen Yue’s smile grew even brighter.

She hummed a little tune as she entered the kitchen, taking out the fish from the bucket and placing it on the chopping board. She used the cleaver to hit it several times. Once the fish stopped moving, she skillfully scaled it, removed its gills and guts, and sliced the fish into pieces for marinating.

In the corner of the kitchen, there was a jar of pickled vegetables Zhou Yao had made some time ago. Wen Yue opened the lid, tasted a bit, and felt it was just right. She used chopsticks to take some out and put it in a bowl.

“What are you making?” Zhou Yao asked, yawning as he entered the kitchen and noticed the sliced fish on the chopping board.

Wen Yue didn’t turn her head. “Pickled fish, and maybe Mapo tofu? Do you have anything you want to eat? Minced pork with eggplant?”

“Anything is fine, you decide.” Zhou Yao walked over and took the cleaver from her hand. “I’ll do the cutting. Do you want big pieces or small pieces?”

Wen Yue: “Small pieces, big pieces don’t taste good.”

Zhou Yao raised an eyebrow and agreed, “Alright.”

While washing rice, Wen Yue said, “Nianqiu mentioned that we don’t have enough people. She said she’ll have to find someone to help, but there are too many things in the house, and it feels like there’s no room for people.”

“Just to string your beads?” Zhou Yao turned to look at her and without hesitation, offered, “I’ll have Old Fang and Ye Liang come help. They’re idle with nothing to do.”

“Later, I’ll move the tables, chairs, and other things you don’t need from the room to my room. That should free up some space. If that’s not enough, we can go to Old Fang’s house, they have plenty of empty rooms.”

Wen Yue nodded thoughtfully. “We’ll also need to move the sewing machine. I want to work with them. It’s too boring to do it alone.”

“No need to move it. Just buy another one and put it there,” Zhou Yao said nonchalantly.

Spending over two hundred yuan on another sewing machine? For a typical rural family, spending that amount would require a lot of deliberation.

Wen Yue raised her eyebrows slightly and said in a soft voice, “Such a big spender, it looks like you made quite a profit this time?”

“Not bad. The thing I gave you this afternoon is selling very well.” Zhou Yao said with a hint of puzzlement. “I still don’t understand why you girls like these things so much. They sold out in less than three days.”

Lipstick is something that appeals to girls of all ages, from young girls to grandmothers. Everyone loves beauty, after all, who doesn’t want to look better?

Wen Yue muttered softly, “What do you straight guys know?”

“What? Straight what?” Zhou Yao didn’t catch it.

Wen Yue’s eyes curved into a smile as she drawled slowly, “Nothing, just do your work.”

Zhou Yao raised an eyebrow, “Alright, I’ll do my work.”

After dinner, Zhou Yao cleaned up and moved the things from Wen Yue’s room to his own, freeing up a large space.

Wen Yue tidied up a bit before taking her clothes to shower.

“Is the room tidied up?”

The next day, Li Nianqiu came over with her sister and found the room much more spacious, not as cramped as yesterday.

Wen Yue nodded, “Yes, since we’re getting people to help, we had to make some space.”

“Even with the tidying up, it might still be a bit cramped.” Li Nianqiu sat down familiarly and pulled out some beads from a basket. “We need more people to make these bow accessories. We only have one sewing machine, so hand sewing will definitely be slower than stringing beads.”

Do we need so many people?

Wen Yue frowned slightly, her clear, bright eyes full of curiosity. “Where can we find people, Nianqiu? Do you have any candidates?”

Li Nianqiu nodded, “I’ve almost got it figured out. I’ll meet with them tomorrow to see who can come.”

“Good.” Thinking of what Zhou Yao said last night, Wen Yue playfully winked, “Even if there are many people, we don’t need to worry. We can go to Grandma Fang’s place. Zhou Yao said Grandma Fang house has many empty rooms.”

There were only four people in Fang Shitao’s family. Lulu was quite clingy and slept with Grandma Fang at night. Fang Shitao and Ren Yeliang slept separately. Even so, they still had three empty rooms left.

Li Nianqiu said, “That’s good.”

While chatting, they heard rustling outside as Zhou Yao led Ren Yeliang and Fang Shitao into the house.

“Sister-in-law, we’re here to help!” Ren Yeliang shouted loudly as soon as he entered, his eyes falling on the basket filled with finished products. He exaggeratedly exclaimed, “Sister-in-law, did you make all these? They’re beautiful!”

Wen Yue, used to his slick talk, smiled slightly, “Beautiful, aren’t they? When you go back later, take a few for Lulu. She’ll definitely like them.”

“Sure, she’ll be thrilled,” Ren Yeliang said as he moved a chair, only to be stopped by Zhou Yao, who raised an eyebrow and asked, “Where are you going?”

Ren Yeliang was stunned, “I’m going to sit and see how the beads are strung.”

“Get outside and watch me,” Zhou Yao kicked him in the calf and took the chair from his hand, placing it next to Wen Yue and giving Ren Yeliang a disdainful look.

Fang Shitao silently moved a chair to sit near the door, keeping a moderate distance from Li Nianqiu to watch her work.

Ren Yeliang, feeling rejected, rubbed his nose and exclaimed, “Old Fang, you’re quick!”

Fang Shitao ignored him.

Ren Yeliang seemed clever usually, but sometimes his brain seemed to get stuck, only feeling comfortable after being scolded.

“I heard from Brother Yao that you need to hire people to help. How’s it going? Found anyone yet?” Ren Yeliang couldn’t keep his mouth shut, starting to chatter after just two minutes of silence. “Need our help? We know a lot of people.”

Wen Yue politely declined, “No need, Nianqiu is already arranging it.”

“How will you pay them?” Ren Yeliang asked curiously.

“For the simple bead stringing, one dime per string,” Wen Yue replied as she skillfully continued her work, completely relying on muscle memory, “For the slightly more complex ones, fifty cents per piece.”

“Wow, stringing beads is so simple. You could earn a few yuan a day, maybe even ten yuan if you’re fast?” Ren Yeliang exclaimed, “Sister-in-law, hire me, I’m very fast.”

Before Wen Yue could respond, Zhou Yao laughed mockingly, “Alright, I’ll hire you and even provide three meals a day. Satisfied?”

“No, no, I don’t need to be hired. Brother, as long as you and Sister-in-law ask, I’ll help for free,” Ren Yeliang replied with a grin.

Zhou Yao snorted coldly.

“By the way,” Li Nianqiu, who had been quiet, suddenly spoke up, “Wen Yue, have you decided which high school you want to attend? In the county or the city?”

Suddenly, everyone’s gaze in the room focused on Wen Yue.

Wen Yue responded, “I’ve decided. I’ll go to the same school as you.” Having a familiar face around made her feel at ease, and if that familiar face was Nianqiu, she’d be completely at ease.

“That’s good,” Li Nianqiu nodded and smiled. “With your ability, you’ll get into college no matter where you study… Your cousin is also there. She has a difficult personality and will likely target you.”

Wen Yue remembered that Wen Xiaoyu was also attending high school in the county.

Oh, Wen Xiaoyu had quite a few scenes in the early part of the original story.

Wen Xiaoyu was always looking to climb the social ladder and wanted to shed her rural identity to become a city dweller, but she found it difficult to find a way. She was extremely jealous of the original owner and envied Li Nianqiu’s popularity at school.

After all, Li Nianqiu tutored and lectured part-time, and only wealthy families could afford such services.

Wen Yue didn’t take it to heart. Her eyes curved into a smile, dimples appearing: “It doesn’t matter, I have you, don’t I? You’re so smart. If she bullies me, I’ll team up with you to bully her back!”

Zhou Yao’s bead-stringing paused for a moment as he slowly looked up, his deep, dark eyes filled with confusion: “?”

Shouldn’t she be finding him for this?

Between him and Li Nianqiu, who was her man?

Zhou Yao hummed in dissatisfaction.

“Alright, I’ll help you,” Li Nianqiu smiled, her eyes catching a glimpse of the man beside Wen Yue. His expression deepened her smile as she looked away. “I have a lot of experience dealing with people like her.”

Zhou Yao, with a sour face, tossed the finished bracelet into the basket forcefully.

He had even more experience dealing with people like her! From childhood till now! He was full of experience!

The sound was crisp and clear.

Wen Yue exclaimed, “Be gentle. What if it breaks?”

“I didn’t use much force,” Zhou Yao stubbornly replied as he grabbed another handful of beads, “These things aren’t that fragile.”

Seeing his unpleasant expression, Wen Yue thought he found the task too dull and tedious. She blinked, “If you don’t want to do it, go and take a walk. These beads aren’t stones. They can break easily, and if they do, we can’t sell them.”

Her voice was soft, without a trace of anger.

Zhou Yao almost crushed the beads in his hand, “Are you scolding me?”

Wen Yue: “?”

“Yes.”

Wen Yue made an exaggerated angry face, her beautiful little face, smaller than Zhou Yao’s palm, was still very pretty even when frowning. Her clear eyes sparkled, “If you keep throwing and hitting things, I’ll beat you up.”

She waved her fair fist.

It wasn’t threatening at all. If that little fist hit him, it would probably feel like a tickle. Maybe her hand would hurt more than him?

Zhou Yao couldn’t hold back, his long, deep eyes curved, and he let out a low laugh.