Recently, there have been some issues at the construction site.

The construction engineer, along with Qi, the project manager from the provincial university, Jiang Lin, and others, have been working day and night at the site to figure out solutions.

After a few days, they finally resolved the issue, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Su Xingyun, who needed to return to school to rest, and Jiang Lin headed home.

As they left the construction site, Su Xingyun caught up with Jiang Lin and said, “Jiang Lin, I feel like something is wrong. If this keeps going, we might face even bigger problems.”

Jiang Lin replied, “There’s nothing wrong. We can only solve the problems; we can’t prevent them entirely.”

They were only design engineers without decision-making power.

The real project leaders, who had connections, were the ones responsible.

They were motivated to cut corners to make a profit.

The current trouble arose because they had ordered a new type of reinforced concrete, but someone had sold that batch of steel and replaced it with inferior quality steel.

The site supervisor discovered this and quietly informed them.

The provincial students and faculty were adamant about not using this batch of steel.

Their designed apartment units were not ordinary narrow corridor buildings; a unit could be three bedrooms and a living room.

With large room spans, if the steel reinforcement wasn’t up to standard, the floor might collapse.

They argued their case, but the person in charge insisted that they use ordinary steel for less important structures and the best steel for the main residential buildings.

Finally, Jiang Lin and the others were so fed up that they tore up the blueprints and said, “If you can’t meet our requirements, then we’ll part ways, and you can find someone else.” This stance finally intimidated the person in charge, who agreed to use new, qualified steel.

The blueprints Jiang Lin tore up were just for show, to demonstrate their stance and bottom line, and also to indirectly warn him that if things continued like this, they would escalate the issue to the provincial government, which would lead to trouble for everyone.

This pressure finally forced the person in charge to make concessions.

He originally planned to use good materials for the provincial government’s residential complex but use inferior materials for less important ancillary buildings.

However, this was met with strong resistance from the provincial students and faculty.

Fortunately, they didn’t go directly to higher authorities.

He explained that it was his oversight and that he was deceived by others.

He promised to hold the staff responsible for purchasing the steel accountable, whether it led to dismissal or an apology, and ensure the satisfaction of the students and faculty.

Jiang Lin saw through his pretense and wasn’t interested in responding.

She just said it was a one-time exception.

Such issues are impossible to completely prevent.

Even outside the provincial government, in communes, businesses are also run by people with connections.

The economic development brought by the reform and opening-up has led to people, who were previously impoverished, seizing opportunities and trying to get ahead through connections.

The saying goes, “People die for money, birds die for food.” It’s not something one or two people can change.

What she could do was ensure that every project she handled met the standards. If she couldn’t meet the standards, she’d rather not do it at all.

She wouldn’t let herself be pressured by authority; if necessary, she could always switch to designing civilian buildings.

Su Xingyun and others chatted with her briefly and then went to find places to rest.

Jiang Lin went to take a shower at the bathhouse and then went straight home.

In the yard, Cheng Yunzhi was playing chess with some elderly people, while Yan Runzhi was playing with Baosheng and other children nearby.

There were a few two- or three-year-olds in the yard who hadn’t started preschool yet.

They played there with their grandparents or nannies.

Baosheng didn’t like playing with younger children.

She preferred watching the older kids—seeing them walk, run, talk, and even throw tantrums fascinated her.

When a child cried and threw a tantrum, Baosheng would stare intently, sometimes unconsciously mimicking their behavior.

There was a boy named Ning Ning who was particularly troublesome.

If he didn’t get his way, he would lie on the ground and throw a fit.

This happened three or four times a day.

When Jiang Lin arrived, Ning Ning was crying because he wanted candy.

His grandmother refused because he already had cavities and had lost two baby teeth.

Baosheng was crouched there, watching Ning Ning’s tantrum with great interest, looking like she might join him on the ground.

The grandmother, unable to calm her grandson, was wiping sweat in frustration. “Little ancestor, please get up. Look, your dad is coming back and won’t scold you.”

“I want candy, I want candy! I want ice cream!”

“Okay, okay, get up. Grandma will buy it for you.”

Yan Runzhi said to her, “If you keep doing this, he’ll only take advantage of you more.”

The grandmother was very helpless, “What can I do? It’s so heart-wrenching to let him cry like this. I can’t control him; he’s particularly unruly.”

Yan Runzhi wanted to say that unruly kids are usually spoiled by adults, but she kept it to herself.

When Baosheng saw Jiang Lin, she reached out her hands and called, “Papa~.”

Ning Ning’s grandmother managed to calm him down.

Hearing Baosheng call for her Papa~, he said, “That’s your Mom, not Papa, silly!”

Baosheng immediately recognized that Ning Ning was criticizing her.

Her face fell, and she gave Ning Ning a disdainful look.

She then ran into Jiang Lin’s arms, trying to call for Papa~.

Her lips quivered but didn’t make a sound; instead, she buried her face in Jiang Lin’s neck and quietly mumbled, “Papa~.”

Jiang Lin was quite helpless about the strong sense of self-esteem in such a young child.

She had to gently ask the child’s grandmother not to speak of Bao Sheng in such a way.

The grandmother laughed and said, “Ning Ning was just joking. What does such a little child know?”

Jiang Lin replied, “Auntie, children understand more than you think. If you let them roll around, they will keep doing it. Next time, they will roll around again.”

She took Bao Sheng and went home with Yan Runzhi, leaving the grandmother feeling a bit awkward. “Ning Ning, please don’t call Bao Sheng a silly. Her mother isn’t happy about it.”

Back at home, Jiang Lin entertained the child while Yan Runzhi prepared dinner.

Yan Runzhi knew that Jiang Lin had been exceptionally busy these past few days. “Bao Er’s mother, you’re home early today. Have you finished with your work?”

Jiang Lin smiled and said, “Almost, it should be a bit easier from now on.”

She lay down with Bao Sheng on the bed, playing games with her.

However, she was so exhausted that she fell asleep, while Bao Sheng continued to make various sounds.

As a result, Jiang Lin fell asleep while Bao Sheng played.

Over the past few days, Jiang Lin had been weaning Bao Sheng off breast milk and was drinking milk soup to help with the process.

However, it wasn’t very effective, likely because she had a lot of milk, and it was taking a long time to dry up.

She still needed to express milk during the day.

After nearly a year of breastfeeding, her body had developed a sort of instinct, and she felt a bit lost and uncomfortable not feeding her suddenly.

She even dreamed at night about Bao Sheng breastfeeding.

As she slept, her milk started to come back.

She was in such a deep sleep that she didn’t notice it, and some milk started to leak.

Bao Sheng, who had been playing nearby, immediately smelled the milk and crawled over, tugging at Jiang Lin’s clothing.

After some time of playing, the buttons on her shirt were partially undone.

Bao Sheng managed to open it, and with her small hands and mouth, she nuzzled and pulled until she got to the milk.

It tasted so sweet!

Bao Sheng enjoyed it thoroughly, her little body swaying back and forth as she drank until it was all gone, still looking for more.

Yan Runzhi opened the door and saw this. She exclaimed softly, “Bao Sheng, you’re up to mischief again.”

No wonder the milk soup wasn’t working! With you sneaking milk while your mother is asleep, it’s no surprise that it’s not drying up.

These days, Cheng Rushan was away for meetings, so Jiang Lin took care of Bao Sheng at night.

She was so tired that she slept soundly until morning, even half-asleep when attending to Bao Sheng’s nighttime needs.

As a result, she would often dream, sometimes about breastfeeding or other things, causing her milk to come back and attracting Bao Sheng to crawl up and nurse.

Because Jiang Lin was dreaming about Bao Sheng breastfeeding and was too exhausted to wake up fully, she didn’t realize what was happening.

She complained to Yan Runzhi that the milk-returning soup wasn’t working and went to see Dr. Lan for another recipe. Now she was trying that one.

Yan Runzhi was aware of this now.

When Baosheng was caught by Grandma, she looked a bit embarrassed, wiping her mouth with her little hand and giggling.

Yan Runzhi picked her up and affectionately pinched her little nose, “You little rascal, doing this will make Mommy sick.”

Baosheng immediately turned to look at Jiang Lin.

Yan Runzhi planned to let Baosheng sleep with her that night so Jiang Lin could continue with the milk-returning process and avoid Baosheng sneaking milk again.

Baosheng, now a bit older, wasn’t as clingy to her parents as before.

After a few days, indeed, Jiang Lin’s milk supply diminished, and she felt relieved not having to worry about overflowing milk.

Soon, the final exams were over.

One day, Jiang Lin went to the construction site and returned home around 3 PM, just as Baosheng was waking up from her nap. She decided to play with her for a while.

Jiang Lin usually didn’t tell her daughter stories because there were plenty of people in the family who could.

Instead, she would play games with her, letting Baosheng choose what she wanted to do.

Baosheng loved playing fishing games with a small stick, a piece of string, a magnet, and wooden fish with magnets.

Baosheng enjoyed it immensely, and if she didn’t catch any fish, she’d get frustrated and try to grab them with her hands.

Jiang Lin encouraged her to be patient, saying, “Don’t be impatient; we need to fish slowly. It tastes better when we catch it. Don’t use your hands, or you might get hurt.”

Baosheng kept trying but got frustrated as the magnet was too small and difficult to aim with.

She began to complain, calling for Daddy and pointing outside.

Jiang Lin translated her likely wish to wait for her brother to come back and fish with her.

Baosheng liked to delegate physical tasks to her older brothers.

If Wen Sheng, Da Bao, and Xiao Bao were around, she’d never do things herself; she’d just point and they’d do it for her.

Now, she didn’t even need to point—just a look and a sound would get them to bring things to her.

Jiang Lin wanted to teach her patience, so she kept encouraging her to continue.

Baosheng began wriggling in her lap, mumbling and humming, which made Jiang Lin feel sleepy.

Since Jiang Lin hadn’t napped, she ended up falling asleep herself, feeling very refreshed.

Baosheng gathered all the wooden fish with her feet, tapping them with a stick and making soft sounds.

In the evening, Cheng Rushan returned from his business trip and went upstairs to talk with Yan Runzhi outside.

Baosheng heard him and climbed onto the wooden slide at the end of the bed, sliding down excitedly and almost forgetting she could walk.

Yan Runzhi, who was making soup in the hallway, turned and saw her climbing out through the door crack, “Oh, Baosheng, how did you climb up there?”

Cheng Rushan picked up his daughter and carried her on his shoulder.

He had showered and changed into clean clothes at the office and was feeling refreshed.

Baosheng, thrilled, hugged his head and gave him a big, slobbery kiss.

Cheng Rushan told Yan Runzhi that he had bought a dress for Baosheng and Jiang Lin and asked her to help try it on.

Yan Runzhi happily agreed, saying, “Let’s try it on.” To avoid waking Jiang Lin, she took Baosheng to the next room for the fitting.

Cheng Rushan had bought the dresses from the imported goods section of the Capital Department Store.

Jiang Lin’s was a soft, flowing lace dress with an ethereal quality, while Baosheng’s was a little princess dress.