Chapter 10

Su Wan blinked and pulled him inside before closing the door.

Under Chen Yuan’s puzzled gaze, Su Wan excitedly dragged him to the bed.

Chen Yuan coughed lightly. “It’s broad daylight… doing this kind of thing now doesn’t look good…”

Before he could finish, Su Wan interrupted him, “What’s there to worry about? I don’t mind—why should you?”

Just as she finished speaking, Chen Yuan suddenly wrapped an arm around her waist and was surprised to find that her waist had become noticeably slimmer—and her face had grown smaller too.

“You’ve lost weight,” he said, reaching out toward the drawer, but Su Wan excitedly showed him a pile of money instead.

“Look how much I made! Impressive, right?”

“Made money? What money?”

His hand was still around her waist as she proudly held up a large stack of small-denomination bills and said, “While you were gone, I’ve been stewing pork offal and selling it every day. Do you know how much I made just yesterday?”

Chen Yuan shook his head. His hand, which had been reaching for the condoms, dropped back.

Su Wan continued, “I made 200 jin of stewed meat yesterday and sold it for 178 yuan and 10 cents. The cost was under 20 yuan! If I keep this up, I’ll be able to go wholesale in no time!”

She spoke with such enthusiasm that she didn’t notice the stunned look on Chen Yuan’s face.

“You’ve… been running a business lately?”

Just after he returned, he’d already heard the sisters-in-law mention that she’d been spending a lot of time with Wang Bin and Xu Weiguo, always coming and going from the house…

“That’s right. I want to earn more and run a proper business. Now that the country is encouraging self-employment, I want to give it a try.”

Su Wan’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Chen Yuan. “We’re not rich. Our families aren’t well off. We’ll need to raise kids in the future too. I want to become self-employed and make enough to buy a house, fix up our parents’ homes back in the village, and help out your eldest brother. His back is injured—when he gets married someday, we’ll have to lend a hand…”

She went on and on, while Chen Yuan looked at her—at that moment, she seemed to shine like a star in the sky.

He let out a soft “mm,” and said, “As long as you’re happy. But being self-employed must be exhausting. I’ve only been away twenty-something days, and you’ve already lost so much weight.”

Su Wan touched her own waist and grinned proudly. “Just think of it as losing weight! I was uncomfortable when I was heavier—now I feel great. Don’t worry about me. I just want to save up some capital. When I have enough, I want to go to Guangzhou and do clothing wholesale.”

She took out all the money she had earned.

In just twenty-two days, she had made 3,153 yuan and 20 cents. When she placed it in front of Chen Yuan, he was truly stunned.

He never imagined Su Wan could make so much money in such a short time.

But when he thought of his own salary, his expression dimmed slightly.

“Are you… unhappy with how little money I give you?”

Given the current economic climate, Chen Yuan’s military salary was considered high—but compared to what Su Wan earned as a self-employed vendor, it suddenly felt like nothing.

“Why would you think that?” Su Wan looked at him, confused. “We’re husband and wife. The money you earn is for both of us, and so is the money I earn. As long as we’re not divorced, it’s all shared property.”

She said it seriously, but Chen Yuan was carefully processing her words.

Was she… thinking about divorce?

The joy he had felt just moments ago faded in an instant.

He’d noticed how much Su Wan had changed lately and had thought she was trying to build a good life together with him. But now… it seemed she was planning a separation.

His throat went dry, and he asked, “Do you want a divorce?”

“No!” Su Wan said, though with a hint of guilt. She had thought about it before—but she wasn’t about to admit that to his face.

Her hesitation made Chen Yuan even more disheartened.

He just said, “I understand,” and didn’t look at the money again. “I have the day off today. I’ll report in first, then come back to help you wash everything.”

“Wait!”

Su Wan wasn’t stupid. She could hear the sudden drop in his mood. If she didn’t get it, she’d have wasted her past life.

She grabbed his hand. “Did you misunderstand something?”

“No, don’t overthink it.”

Chen Yuan tried to pull his hand away, but Su Wan shoved him against the wall behind him, pressing one hand to his chest and the other to the wall beside him. Fiercely, she said, “I hate it when people bottle things up. Yes, I did think about divorce in the beginning, but now I feel like we’re getting along pretty well. Or what—is it you who wants a divorce? Did you fall for someone else?”

“I didn’t—!” Chen Yuan immediately denied it.

“Then that’s settled.”

Su Wan let go, patted the white wall, and said, “I’m making money so both our families can live better. As long as you don’t go messing around with other women or raise a hand to me, I’m not going to bring up divorce easily.”

Chen Yuan’s tan face turned a bit awkward, his ears flushing red.

He let out a quiet “mm” and fled the room.

Su Wan put the money away and quickly started cooking. She had saved a bowl of stewed meat for herself in the morning and had some pig’s blood she planned to fry with tofu—just enough for a bigger meal.

By the time she finished cooking, Chen Yuan had returned.

“Let’s eat first. I’ll wash everything after. Right now I can only stew about 200 jin. If I could do more, that’d be great.”

“You’re already doing amazing,” Chen Yuan said, picking up a piece of pig’s blood.

“Chen Yuan,” Su Wan called, making his heart skip a beat. He put down his chopsticks and looked at her. “What’s wrong?”

Su Wan took a deep breath and finally said, “Right now, with the reform and opening-up policy going strong, people like us from farming families rely on the land to get by—but I want our kids to live better. For the next couple of years, I want to earn more money to improve life for both of our families. Then we can have children. What do you think?”

Chen Yuan picked up his chopsticks again. “That sounds good. You’re still young. And with the current policy only allowing one child, it’s better to wait.”

Hearing that Chen Yuan wasn’t rushing to have kids made Su Wan breathe a sigh of relief.

If he had insisted on having a child now, she wouldn’t have been able to say no. But having a baby now would make running her business so much harder.

She wanted to earn more before starting a family.

“No one else is doing this kind of business yet. I’ve got a solid customer base in front of the factory. I want to keep going for a few more months. By the end of the year, I want to send 1,000 yuan each to your family and mine. We can’t go home, but I want our parents to have a joyful New Year. What do you think?”

“1,000 yuan—that’s quite a bit,” Chen Yuan said.

The Chen family didn’t have debts, and if the money were his, he wouldn’t have thought much of it.

But this money was earned by Su Wan, and he still felt a bit awkward.

Su Wan nodded seriously. “That 1,000 yuan is so our parents can live comfortably—clear any debts, and enjoy a good New Year. The rest we’ll save for me to use for business next year.”