Chapter 28: The Tempting “Performance”

Tao Yu’s eyes narrowed slightly as she coldly asked:

“What about Tao Lijun’s matter?”

He Saihua, still focused on the contents of the net bag, edged her body to the side to get a better view.

Oh! There seemed to be some kind of fancy soap in there! The wife of the commune’s brigade leader had a bar like that…

He Saihua’s greed grew, and she swallowed another mouthful of saliva, casually replying:

“It’s about Tao Lijun…”

For some reason, just as He Saihua was about to speak, she snapped back to reality, warily clamping her mouth shut.

“It’s nothing. I came to the big courtyard just to find you two,” Tao Yu said.

Seeing that she wasn’t speaking, Tao Yu casually took out a bar of soap from her bag and shook it.

“I’ll give you this bar of soap if you tell me about Tao Lijun.”

He Saihua’s eyes lit up for a moment, but they quickly dulled again. She pursed her lips, as if weighing something in her mind.

In the end, she said nothing.

Instead, she shamelessly stepped forward, attempting to grab the soap from Tao Yu’s hand.

Li Juan, not giving her a chance, swung a broom and sent He Saihua running off, cursing and shouting.

Tao Yu watched He Saihua flee, her heart cold.

No profit, no early rise.

Tao Lijun’s return wasn’t just about money.

In the evening, Li Juan brought a pot of hot water and a brand-new enamel cup, placing them on the small table by the bed.

That small table, along with the larger one in the living room, was a special piece of furniture Li Juan had brought over after setting up the home.

It was for her daughter’s convenience, so she could study in her room and eat in the living room more easily.

As for the old, limping four-legged table, Li Juan moved it to her own room.

After setting up the water bottle and enamel cup, Li Juan happily admired the peony design on the thermos.

“My daughter is really something now!” she thought to herself.

Just look at the items her daughter brought back today. Everything was stuff you couldn’t easily find in the supply store.

Take the toothpaste and toothbrush, for example. Her daughter said they were imported brands!

Not to mention all the other fine things. Even the landlords don’t have this kind of style during the New Year…

After He Saihua had been sent away by Li Juan, no one came by for the next week. The small house returned to its usual quietness.

Li Juan and Aunt Chang continued with their clothing business.

Meanwhile, during that week, Tao Yu became very busy.

Not only did she exceed the work quota set by Director Li during office hours, but after work, she got approval and took some materials home to translate.

In just a week, Tao Yu had solved a third of the translation difficulties that had been stuck in the translation room for months.

It seemed like she didn’t even feel the pain in her hands, constantly working without stopping.

In the small house, under the kerosene lamp, Tao Yu’s hands, wrapped in white cloth, moved swiftly as she focused intently on her writing.

Despite the fact that her hand injuries showed no signs of healing due to the extra workload, the white cloth wrapped around her hands allowed her to continue writing without affecting her progress.

Li Juan watched this from the side, several times wanting to say something, but when she saw the strange foreign writing in her daughter’s hands, she felt proud.

Her daughter had only attended school for a few years, but with a few English books at home, she taught herself the language and now knew foreign languages.

Her daughter was really clever. Now, because of her language skills, she had been promoted to work in the office.

She was truly a cultured person!

Li Juan felt she couldn’t be of any help, so she dared not disturb her daughter easily.

Looking at her daughter’s fair face under the light, Li Juan picked up a pair of scissors and some carbon paper and began preparing the pattern for the clothes she would make.

Li Juan silently resolved that if her daughter worked this hard, she couldn’t fall behind.

Three days later, Director Li at the office finally couldn’t bear to watch Tao Yu’s workload any longer.

Even the production team’s donkey wouldn’t be able to handle this!

After all the effort to find a talent, what would happen if she burned out? How would he explain it to the factory director when he returned?

Without saying a word, Director Li ordered Tao Yu to take a break at lunch.

Tao Yu didn’t mind; her current workload felt just right compared to her past life.

She had been much busier and more tired before.

However, since Director Li took all the files from her desk, Tao Yu had no choice but to stop and lean back in her chair to rest.

But as soon as she relaxed, she found herself thinking about something.

How long had Song Hecheng been on his business trip?

Ten days, was it?

…

Time passed quickly amidst all the busyness, and soon it was the end of the workday.

As usual, Tao Yu was the last one to leave the office building.

In the quiet office, Tao Yu sat in her chair, casually rubbing her sore back and massaging her aching wrist.

Just as she stretched lazily, Tao Yu caught the sound of a light footstep behind her, stopping not far from her.

Her outstretched hands froze in mid-air, her alertness rising.

She pretended to casually glance at the small iron mirror on her desk, given to her by Chen Jiefang.

In the small mirror, she immediately saw the familiar white shirt and, along with it, the long legs of someone standing behind her.

Tao Yu’s lips curled into a smile.

It was Song Hecheng…

The fabric of the white shirt in the mirror was exquisite and detailed—definitely not the kind of fabric everyone wore here.

Naturally, Song Hecheng had returned.

Even knowing that the person behind her was Song Hecheng, Tao Yu had no intention of turning around and breaking the silence.

In this otherwise empty office building, Tao Yu felt like she had gained a silent observer.

She smirked, stretching her body more softly than before, completing the stretch she had started earlier.

Her own white cotton and linen shirt clung to her back as she stretched, revealing her slender arms and graceful waistline from behind.

She lazily lowered her hands, seemingly continuing her previous motion of massaging her neck.

Her delicate fingers moved to her shoulder and neck, her glossy black hair being pushed to one side.

The fair skin of her neck, which seemed never to have seen the sun, was now exposed.

She gently kneaded…

Pressed…

Then, her wrapped fingers slid along the delicate line of her neck…

Down…

Just as her fingers were about to reach her tempting waistline, a soft cough sounded from behind.

Tao Yu stopped her movements and withdrew her hand from her lower back.

She still kept her back turned to the person behind her, not turning around.

What a pity.

Her tempting “performance” couldn’t continue after all…