Chapter 21

Shen Hongxing’s dreams were filled with Lu Jiaoyang. She dreamt of falling in love with him, marrying him, and having twins a boy and a girl who loved and cherished her, unlike her children in her previous life.  She was so happy, she didn’t want to wake up.

Xu Shuangshuang burst in, waking her. “Boss, wake up!”

Shen Hongxing, reluctant to leave her dream, lazily asked, “What time is it?”

“Seven o’clock!”

“Seven?!” She jumped out of bed, putting on her clothes. “That dream made me oversleep!”  She grabbed her toothbrush and rushed out.

Lu Jiaoyang’s car was already outside. He was leaning against the car, looking at the sea.  Shen Hongxing remembered her dream, her face flushing.

“Awake?” he turned to her.

She quickly ran to the sink, pretending to brush her teeth, to avoid him seeing her blush.  She splashed cold water on her face.  Shen Hongxing, you suffered so much in your last life. Why are you thinking about men? Focus on making money!  And remember, Lu Jiaoyang is your elder. He wouldn’t like a country girl like you. Stop thinking about him!

“Boss, what are you mumbling about?” Xu Shuangshuang entered to see Shen Hongxing talking to the sink.

“Nothing!” Shen Hongxing splashed more water on her face.  She calmed down quickly.  She walked to the car; Lu Jiaoyang had opened the door for her.  She gave Xu Shuangshuang instructions about distributing the flyers.

Xu Shuangshuang promised, “Boss, don’t worry! We’ll hand out all the flyers!”

The car drove away.

“Sister Shuang, do you think Boss and Chief Lu will fall in love?” Chen Jiayi asked.

Xu Shuangshuang turned and playfully…

He tapped her forehead, “Definitely, otherwise it would be too unfair to our painstaking matchmaking!”

Shen Hongxing got in the car and closed her eyes to sleep.

Not long after, Lu Jiaoyang’s voice rang out above her head, “Are you tired?”

Shen Hongxing pretended to be asleep.

Lu Jiaoyang took off his coat and got up to cover her.

Old Zhang in the driver’s seat saw this scene through the rearview mirror.  Remembering the special instructions from the old army commander, he smirked mischievously and slammed on the brakes.

Lu Jiaoyang fell directly onto Shen Hongxing.

Shen Hongxing opened her eyes in fright.

She met Lu Jiaoyang’s dark, bright eyes.

The air seemed to freeze instantly.

They both seemed to hear each other’s heartbeats.

Shen Hongxing felt her heart pounding wildly, as if it were about to jump out of her mouth.

This was a feeling she had never experienced before.

In her previous life, her married life with Lu Ping’an was pitifully scarce.

Lu Ping’an was either not home.

The child was conceived when he was drunk.

Years later, she learned that he had seen Shen Jiaojiao with another man that night and was deeply affected.

He got drunk and simply vented his frustration on her.

Perhaps Lu Ping’an didn’t love her, and he didn’t love their child either.

Lu Jiaoyang looked at her.

Her face had a layer of fine downy hair, her cheeks were rosy, her eyelashes long, and her lips cherry red.

The first time he saw her at the abandoned train station, he knew she was beautiful.

But today, he discovered she was even more beautiful than he imagined.

His lips unconsciously moved closer to hers.

But he was a highly educated intellectual.  Before marriage, he couldn’t do anything inappropriate with the girl he liked.

Otherwise, what was the difference between him and those hooligans paraded through the streets?

Getting up from Shen Hongxing, he covered her with his coat, “Don’t catch a cold!”

“Thank you!” Shen Hongxing murmured, her head bowed.

Lu Jiaoyang then took a slip of paper from his pocket and handed it to her, “This is the office address of the Antarctic expedition’s logistics team. If the quality of your down jackets is good enough, you should be able to win all future orders from the Antarctic expedition team!”

Shen Hongxing incredulously took the slip of paper from his hand.

She had considered that China would organize hundreds of people for their first Antarctic expedition in the early 1980s.

They would definitely need thick, warm, and reasonably priced down jackets, but she hadn’t figured out how to contact them.

Lu Jiaoyang’s act was pure timely help.

She looked up at Lu Jiaoyang and worriedly asked, “Won’t you be reported for abusing your power?”

She didn’t want to cause him any trouble.

“I didn’t help you with anything!” This time, Lu Jiaoyang closed his eyes and pretended to sleep.

Shen Hongxing didn’t speak again.

She held the slip of paper tightly in her hand.

When she returned, she would definitely find a way to invite the logistics department of the Antarctic expedition team to attend tomorrow’s down jacket fashion show.

It usually took more than two hours to reach Haicheng, but this time, thanks to Lu Jiaoyang, it only took a little over an hour.

She saved a lot of time.

Old Zhang directly took her to an old shopping mall that was being relocated, “Miss Shen, I heard that these mannequins are unwanted.  See if you can use them?”

Shen Hongxing was surprised, “These are all unwanted?”

Old Zhang nodded vigorously, “Yes, this mall has relocated to Dongpu. That area will be the focus of Haicheng’s development in the future. The mall manager thinks these mannequins are too old and discarded them! If they’re useful, Miss Shen can take them all!”

“Of course, Dongpu will be better than this old city area in the future!”

People would rather have a bed in Xipu than a house in Dongpu.

Decades later, it would be the other way around.

She decided to take them all back and dress them in down jackets, placing them at the entrance of the cold storage.

Lu Jiaoyang came to help her move the mannequins, but she stopped him, “Chief Lu, how can I let you do this kind of thing? I can do it!”

She was seen carrying one mannequin at a time, her steps light as if she were carrying cotton.

Lu Jiaoyang and Old Zhang were both stunned.

One mannequin weighs at least 100 jin (approximately 132 lbs)!

She was carrying them so easily?

Was it because she grew up in the countryside and was therefore strong?

Old Zhang was skeptical.

He went up and picked up one, weighing it.

At least a hundred jin.

And Shen Hongxing was carrying one in each hand.

Old Zhang looked at Lu Jiaoyang, “Chief, Miss Shen is really strong!”