Chapter 30: How can a man be more important than making money?

“You came on foot?”
“Yes,” Li Hongzhou replied. “I didn’t want to delay anything, so I had my boy come early — just in case you needed help with anything.”

Hearing this confirmed, Li Shuzhen felt both upset and helpless.
“This weather… morning is the coldest time of day. You two, really… Come on, don’t just stand there. Get inside and warm up.”

Jiang Peiyu was surprised too — her uncle and cousin had set out before five in the morning. She felt a pang of guilt and quickly invited them in, pouring each of them a cup of hot tea so they could warm up and rest a bit. Knowing her brother’s temperament, she figured they hadn’t eaten anything yet. Li Shuzhen, after saying a few words, went back to the kitchen and tossed a couple more handfuls of noodles into the pot.

After breakfast, Li Hongzhou hesitated, then decided to speak up.
“Shuzhen, that thing you mentioned on the phone yesterday… is it really true?”

Li Shuzhen saw that her brother still didn’t fully believe her and explained,
“Of course it’s true. Would I lie to my own family? Peipei’s right here — why don’t you ask her yourself?”

Li Hongzhou looked over to where Jiang Peiyu was sitting.

She immediately explained,
“Uncle, my mom is telling the truth.
Our family has opened a fruit shop in the city, and business has been pretty good.
We need a couple of extra hands in the store, and Mom said my cousin is a reliable and hardworking person.
I figured that it’s always better to work with family — people we know and trust.
But I’ll be upfront — even with family, accounts should be clear, right?”

“The monthly salary is thirty yuan. If he works well, the pay will increase. He’ll get two days off a month, and he can choose when — just let us know a day in advance. The shift is seven hours a day, with a half-hour lunch break. Originally, we wanted him on the morning shift, but since there’s nowhere for him to stay, and getting there early might be difficult, it’s better if he works the midday shift — from ten in the morning to five in the afternoon. Lunch is provided. He’ll mainly help with restocking and odd jobs, and occasionally accompany my brother to bring in supplies.”

“What do you think? If you agree, he can officially start work tomorrow.”

Li Junhao quickly nodded,
“Cousin, I agree! No problem at all. I’ll be at the shop by ten tomorrow, on time.
Don’t worry, I’ll work hard and never slack off!”

With everything settled, Li Hongzhou took his son and went back home.
Li Shuzhen wanted them to stay for lunch, but they firmly refused, saying they still had work to do at home and couldn’t afford to delay.

With one person hired, they still needed one more. Jiang Peiyu asked her parents to keep an eye out for anyone suitable in the village, then went back to the store.

Two days later, while she was busy at the shop, Lu Shuangyan unexpectedly showed up — asking for a job. This caught Jiang Peiyu completely off guard.

“Peiyu, I went to high school, so I can read and do math just fine,” Lu Shuangyan said.
“I can weigh produce, take payments, do chores — even cook, if needed.
As for the pay, I’m fine with less. Please…
Let me work here… I’m begging you…”

Jiang Peiyu didn’t dare to agree right away.
“Do your uncle and aunt know you came here to ask for a job?”

“I’ll tell them once you say yes. They’ll definitely support me working at your shop.”
“After graduating high school, I’ve just been sitting at home…
Haven’t found a job, still relying on my parents to support me. I don’t want to go on like this.
I want to be like you — earn my own money and be independent.
I know I can’t be a boss or anything, but I can work for you.”

“Alright then,” Jiang Peiyu said. “Your village is a bit far, so let’s put you on the midday shift.
From 10 AM to 5 PM, lunch is provided, and you get a 30-minute break.
Thirty yuan per month, with two days off each month. Can you accept that?”

Seeing that Lu Shuangyan seemed sincere and not the lazy type, Jiang Peiyu nodded and agreed to take her on.

“Yes! Yes, I can accept! Thank you, Peiyu!”
“I’ll go tell my parents now. I’ll start work tomorrow.”

Seeing Peiyu agree, Lu Shuangyan was overjoyed.
“Alright, go ahead.”

Day by day, time passed. It had already been over a month since Jiang Peiyu last received any word from Lu Huaiqin. That night, she sat at her desk, thinking about writing him a letter. She had so much to say, so much to ask — but when she picked up the pen, she didn’t know where to start. Frustrated, she threw it down and flopped onto the bed.

She didn’t even know if he was back from his mission. It had been over a month, and still no news.
What if he’s back and just hasn’t contacted her? If she wrote to him first and he ignored it — how embarrassing would that be? It would seem like she liked him a lot or something…

The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became. She punched her pillow twice in frustration.
Forget it. Sleep. Making money is more important. Who needs a man when you’ve got cash?

And with that, Jiang Peiyu fell soundly asleep without a shred of guilt.

Meanwhile, Lu Huaiqin had just returned from his mission, and all he could think about was whether Ah-Yu had written to him.
I’ve been gone so long and never replied to her — would she be mad? Would she be anxious?

It was past midnight when he got off the truck. He didn’t even eat, just ran straight to the security office.

“Ma Jidong, any letters for me?”
“Commander Lu, no… no letters for you.”

Lu Huaijin didn’t believe it — Ah-Yu hadn’t written him back for over a month? That was impossible.

“You’re sure you didn’t mess it up?” he asked.

Ma Jidong was speechless.
“Commander Lu, we check the mail every day. There’s no mistake.”

Still unconvinced, Lu Huaijin insisted, “Bring it out. I want to check for myself.”

Helpless, Ma Jidong brought out all the mail and let Lu Huaijin go through it himself.

He searched it three times — there really was nothing for him.
Lu Huaijin was disappointed. Ah-Yu truly hadn’t written him back in over a month…

Did she really not worry about him at all? Did she not miss him, even a little?

He had just seen that several of his comrades, who were also out on missions, had received letters from their girlfriends. Some even got two or three.
Could it be that Ah-Yu never received the letter he sent before the mission?
Or… was she angry at him? Angry that he didn’t keep his promise to come back and marry her during the National Day holiday?

Having thought it through, Lu Huaijin decided to return to the dorm and write her another letter.

Over the next few days, Lu Huaijin kept waiting for a reply from Jiang Peiyu.
He had already sent the letter several days ago — by all logic, her reply should’ve arrived by now. But nothing came.

The longer he waited, the more frustrated he became. And when he got frustrated, he needed something to occupy himself to stop overthinking.

In the military, there was only one real option for that: the training ground.
But no — not to train himself… to train others.
Specifically, this year’s batch of new recruits.

Lately, Lu Huaijin had been especially irritable. The recruits were terrified of him.
The moment someone made a wrong move, he would yell at them and extend the training time. If they made another mistake — double the time.

Several of the new soldiers hadn’t been able to eat dinner for a few days because of the extra training.
So hungry, some of them had to sneak out at night just to drink tap water to fill their stomachs.