Chapter 3

“Oh, just now it seemed like she almost got hit…”

In the military green jeep that suddenly braked in front, the driver, clearly impatient, seemed quite startled and was swearing loudly.

Tao Yu felt annoyed too. Even if there was a mistake, it should be evenly split—she almost got hit, yet she didn’t curse.

She stood there quietly, and before she could speak, the front window of the black car in front of her rolled down. A deep, magnetic voice from the backseat sounded:

“Xiao Zhang, let Yang Gu’an in. It’s our fault, apologize to the person.”

Then Xiao Zhang, the driver, shouted at the jeep in front.

“Yang Ge, it’s no big deal, calm down. Let’s go in, President Song is waiting at home.”

Afterward, Xiao Zhang leaned out and politely apologized to Tao Yu, who was standing.

“Comrade, sorry, we didn’t watch the road. We’ll be more careful next time. Are you okay?”

Tao Yu glanced at the dark rear window, where the person in the backseat could only be heard but not seen.

She shook her head and stepped back. Then the two cars slowly drove into the compound without needing to show any passes.

Inside the car, Xiao Zhang looked at the rearview mirror, his expression awkward.

“Hey, that little comrade had her face covered by her hair, didn’t say a word. It looked kind of creepy. Lucky President Song stepped in, or with Yang Ge’s temper, I think he might’ve scared her to tears.”

The person in the backseat, Song Hecheng, didn’t say anything, just shook his head.

He undid his cufflinks, pinched the bridge of his nose, and looked a bit tired.

Meanwhile, in the compound and even in the northern city, the Song family, the most influential family in the area, had prepared a grand welcoming banquet in an old-fashioned courtyard.

The family, both young and old, was eagerly awaiting the return of the most prominent member of the Song family—Song Hecheng, who had just returned from studying abroad.

That night, at Tao Yu’s home, a dim oil lamp flickered on the crooked wooden table, with smoke rising from the lampshade, which smelled somewhat pungent.

Mother and daughter were sitting on the bed, folding paper boxes for the day’s work.

Li Juan looked at her daughter’s pale, thin face under the light and gently said,

“Yu’er, you sleep first. There aren’t many left. I can finish them myself. Starting tomorrow, we won’t be making these paper boxes anymore.”

Tao Yu looked up, her voice calm.

“Why won’t we make them?”

Tao Yu had never made paper boxes before, but over the past few days, she found that the task helped her calm her mind. It made her stop thinking about everything, and she liked it.

Hearing the hoarseness in her daughter’s voice, Li Juan became a bit emotional. This was the first time Tao Yu had spoken to her since the incident.

“It’s not that I don’t want the work, but the paper box factory doesn’t have any more. Everyone is fighting for the work. Before, everyone could get a little, but today the factory manager’s relative came, and they took all the jobs. From now on, there won’t be any more.”

“But it’s okay. If we don’t have this, I can find something else to do. Don’t worry.”

Tao Yu understood and nodded. Then, in Li Juan’s surprised gaze, she spoke again.

“Mm, tomorrow I’ll go with you to sell vegetables.”

The next day, before dawn, when it was still too dark to even be called morning, Li Juan woke up as usual, ready to go out of the city to sell vegetables.

But when she opened her eyes, she found that Tao Yu was already gone from the bed. Li Juan quickly became alert, hurriedly getting out of bed, calling Tao Yu’s name as she rushed outside.

But when she opened the door, she saw Tao Yu busy at the stove, cooking.

Li Juan sighed in relief, but was also startled.

Tao Yu turned and looked at Li Juan. Her gaze landed on her bare feet, and she silently turned back to her work.

Li Juan noticed Tao Yu looking at her feet and quickly slapped her forehead, rushing back inside to grab her shoes.

When she came out again, Tao Yu was poking sugar-coated fruit onto a stick.

Li Juan was surprised and curious, “Yu’er, why is the first one all green? How did you do it?”

“Mom, did you see? The green one even has little eyes and a mouth. It looks so cute!”

Tao Yu finished poking all the sugar-coated fruit and pointed to the leftover green syrup near the stove.

“I added vegetable juice to the syrup to make it green. I thought it might sell better.”

Without waiting for Li Juan to say anything, Tao Yu went inside to tidy herself up.

Li Juan curiously picked up the remaining syrup and tasted it.

It had a faint vegetable flavor but was still sweet. It was sweet, but a bit different from the usual. She had never tasted such syrup before.

When Tao Yu came out after getting ready, Li Juan was still holding the bowl of syrup, staring at the flame in the stove.

When Li Juan put down the bowl and turned to look at her daughter again, she froze.

Was this really her daughter? Li Juan couldn’t believe it.

She had never noticed how beautiful Tao Yu had become. As she thought about the years gone by, her eyes filled with tears.

Tao Yu had combed back the thick bangs that had been left for many years and used the red string hairpin Li Juan had bought for her many years ago. So now, Tao Yu’s smooth, fair forehead and her delicate, small face were visible. Her skin was pale because she had never been out in the sun.

Her two neat long braids completed the look, and she looked so sweet and charming.

Tao Yu was indeed beautiful. Li Juan had been beautiful when she was young, and Tao Lijun was also quite handsome. Naturally, Tao Yu couldn’t be ugly, and in fact, she was even more beautiful than expected.

Tao Yu’s current appearance resembled her former one, but now she looked more graceful and innocent, without the previous seductive charm.

That innocence was good—it saved her from needing to hide her beauty like before, making things easier.

As dawn was approaching, Li Juan didn’t have time to waste. After they were ready, the two of them pushed the cart and other supplies, the squeaking sound of the cart as they left the city.