◎ Second update ◎ 

Chen Siming had just completed another transaction with the farmers from a neighboring city for a supply of cotton and signed a two-year cotton purchase contract. Because of this deal, his pockets were now full, and he had become half of a ten-thousand-yuan household. 

The purchasing office director’s monthly salary was seventy-five yuan. Even with some petty bribes, he could only make a hundred yuan a month at most. After a few deals like this, Chen Siming realized just how foolish he had been before. 

There was so much easy money to be made out there! 

After having lunch with some people at a state-owned restaurant, he leisurely returned to the state-owned cotton factory. 

He was not afraid of being discovered about this because he had colluded with the head of the Finance Department to do the accounting. In addition, due to his father’s authority, the last time someone questioned the quality of the cotton, they were blocked by Wu Bingnian. After all, everyone had to give Chen Yong some face. 

But today, as soon as he entered the factory, he sensed something was wrong. The workers he passed by whispered among themselves when they saw him, and the way they looked at him was strange. Chen Siming checked himself over—there was nothing wrong with his clothes. He touched his face, but there was nothing on it either. 

When he reached the purchasing office, he happened to see Chen Yong’s secretary and only then learned that he had been publicly reported. 

Rushing to the factory director’s office, Chen Siming was slapped by his father and felt dizzy, but now was not the time to cry out in pain. 

“Father, someone is setting me up!” 

Chen Yong acted decisively and had already figured out everything in half a day. On the table were the fake accounts that Chen Siming had colluded with the finance department to create. 

“What’s wrong with you, taking bribes?” Chen Yong’s gaze was as sharp as a sword as he sternly questioned his disappointing son. “How much did you take? Speak clearly!” 

“Five thousand.” He answered in a very low voice. 

Chen Siming had always been cautious, and Chen Yong had thought he wasn’t bold enough to commit such a brazen act, so he hadn’t kept a close eye on him. 

Five thousand, what does that mean? Nowadays, a worker’s salary is generally a few dozen yuan. This means it would take more than ten years of not eating or drinking to save up that amount! 

“And that farmer selling cotton could give you five thousand?” It seemed almost too good to be true. 

“Father, I don’t know where that guy went to make a fortune. He said he went to the south for a few years and has a lot of money. This time he came back to supply all the cotton from their commune to the State Cotton Factory.” Chen Siming said this and forgot about his current situation. He wanted to show off to Chen Yong, “He really has a lot of money…” 

Seeing that this man refused to repent, Chen Yong slapped the table with his palm, causing the lid of the enamel cup to bounce up and then clatter back into place. 

“How dare you take his money when you don’t even know where it comes from?” Chen Yong, though involved in money dealings himself, rarely accepted bribes unless the person had gone through multiple tests and could be considered one of his own. 

He had always been cautious and yet his son was not living up to his expectations. After harshly scolding him for half an hour, he finally devised a countermeasure with him. 

“This time, several old-timers in the factory publicly reported you. It’s hard to cover this up, so we’ll have to push the blame onto someone. I’ll arrange for the finance department to get the story straight.” Seeing Chen Siming’s relief, thinking he could get away with it, Chen Yong immediately scolded him again. “Keep yourself in check! You’re not staying as the director of the purchasing department anymore. This time, I’m just keeping you out of jail. Do you think you’re still so glorious?” 

“Father! Are you going to fire me?” Chen Siming’s eyes widened as if his eyeballs were about to fall out. He was a prominent figure in the factory—how could he stand such humiliation? How would the thousands of workers look at him in the future? “Father, you’re the factory manager! You can’t just ignore me.” 

Chen Yong kicked Chen Siming in the chest, he’s fuming with anger and raised his voice, “You’ve already caused trouble with your misconduct, and now you’re involved in bribery. Are you trying to ruin the Chen family? I have already put in a lot of effort to protect you!” 

Chen Yong had to handle many people because of this issue. If it weren’t for the fact that Chen Siming was his son, he would have thrown him out long ago. 

Having said that, he looked at Chen Siming, who was slumped on the ground, and in his anger at Siming’s lack of progress, he chose to ignore him and instructed his secretary, Xiao Fang, to handle things. 

In three days, there would be an investigation meeting at the factory, and all the factory leaders would have to attend. Even though he was the factory director, he couldn’t have everything under control by himself. The best solution was to push all the blame away, find a scapegoat, have Chen Siming be dismissed for poor supervision, and then plan carefully after the storm had passed. 

As for the scapegoat, he needed to find someone from the purchasing office. 

Secretary Xiao Fang had found out the information and family situations of all the people in the purchasing office in a short while. He approached Chen Yong, “Director, there’s an employee in the purchasing office who is facing financial difficulties. His family includes a seriously ill mother, a younger sister still in middle school, and a wife without a job. The entire family relies on his salary. This person is family-oriented and can be easily manipulated.” 

Chen Yong gave an order and asked him to do it. 

With coercion or persuasion, one of them will always work. 

*** 

After watching the excitement for a whole day, Liang Baozhen went home alone after getting off work. Xu Shengjie still had to work overtime as people were needed for equipment maintenance. In addition, Chen Siming was under investigation, and the equipment workers who helped with the maintenance also had a say. 

After dinner, Liang Baozhen went to see Cheng Caili. Cheng Caili had been pregnant for a short time and had severe morning sickness. She often felt nauseous and couldn’t eat, which made Lu Yuan very anxious. 

“Sister Caili, are you home alone?” 

“Baozhen, come and sit down, let’s talk.” Cheng Caili had nothing to do at the moment, she’s currently lying on the chair, with a smile on her face. “Lu Yuan went out to buy food.” 

Speaking of this, Cheng Caili felt a little embarrassed for once. She had a poor appetite recently and didn’t feel like eating the things she used to like. Instead, she often suddenly wanted to eat something from outside. 

Thinking that his wife finally had some appetite, Lu Yuan hurriedly rode his bike to buy some. 

“I didn’t even eat two bites of dinner today, and I vomited it all up. I suddenly wanted to eat the donkey meat pies from the state-owned restaurant, so Lu Yuan went out to buy some.” 

Liang Baozhen saw that she was having a hard time being pregnant. Others gained weight when they were pregnant, but Cheng Caili looked much thinner. “Can your body handle this? Has the doctor suggested anything?”

“It’s okay. The doctor said if I can’t eat for a long time, he’ll prescribe some nutritional supplements.” 

“Milk, milk, the milk is here~” 

There was a ding-dong sound outside. Cheng Caili hurriedly tried to get up, and Liang Baozhen supported her. “Sister Caili, do you need anything?” 

A while ago, Lu Yuan went to the hospital with Cheng Caili. With the pregnancy report, he got a doctor’s certificate and went to the milk station to order milk. 

Every afternoon, someone at the milk station would ride their bikes carrying a large bucket of milk to distribute them. 

Each time it passed by Crescent Alley, a group of children would gather, drawn by the enticing smell of milk. 

However, Cheng Caili always felt that the smell was stronger. The milk station sold freshly squeezed milk. She became more sensitive to the smell after she became pregnant. But thinking that drinking milk was good for herself and her baby, she had to drink it anyway! 

After all, not everyone can drink milk, a high-end nutritional product. Only senior officials, pregnant women, and infants with certificates could order it. 

Liang Baozhen helped her carry the porcelain basin on the table and went out to get half a pound of milk from the delivery man. 

The white milk with a sweet fragrance captivated many children’s eyes. 

“Aunt Caili, does it taste good?” 

“Of course it tastes good. It smells so fragrant!” 

Biaozi ran back to the house, shouting that he wanted to drink milk, but Uncle Wei flicked his head, “What are you drinking milk for? You’re neither a pregnant woman nor a baby.” 

“Then let’s have another baby at home! Let my mom have one! It would be just right to have a little sister, Xiaowei has a younger sister, but I don’t!” Biaozi had never seen a baby being born, so he always thought it was easy. He expected it could happen just by talking about it. 

“Is that what you think?” Dong Xiufen patted her son’s head. She had lost a child earlier, who had not survived beyond four months. Afterward, she had a hard time getting pregnant again, so Biaozi was the only child in the family. “Even if we had another one, you wouldn’t get any milk. It’s definitely for the baby.” 

“Forget it, I don’t want a sister anymore.” Biaozi thought about it and felt that it wouldn’t be worth it if he couldn’t get the milk to drink! 

When Lu Yuan came back on his bike, the milk was already boiling at home. The aroma of milk wafted from the stove to the outside. He was carrying a donkey pies from the state-owned restaurant and bought some osmanthus cake on the way, and brought them all back. 

It was snowing outside, and the snowstorm got stronger in the evening. Cheng Caili saw that Lu Yuan’s hair was stained with white, as if he had aged many years. She looked at him with a smile, “Lu Yuan, is this how you’ll look when you’re fifty?” 

Shaking off the snow, Lu Yuan carried his lunch box into the house. He didn’t dare get too close to his wife, fearing that his cold air would chill her. “Even if I look old, don’t I still look handsome?” 

“Hmph~” Cheng Caili snorted through her nose, thinking that this man was really full of himself. 

After leaving Cheng Caili’s house, Liang Baozhen saw the wind howling outside, like a baby crying at night. The wind shook the window back and forth, and snowflakes danced in the air, and it turned the courtyard into a snowy wonderland. 

With a click, the two windows locked together and blocked out the cold air. Liang Baozhen looked outside. The courtyard was quiet and no one was walking around. 

It was windy and cold at night, and Xu Shengjie had not returned yet. 

The kerosene lamp in the bedroom was still on. Liang Baozhen was lying on the bed, wanting to wait for her husband to come back, but she fell asleep while waiting. 

When she woke up again, Xu Shengjie was just lifting the quilt and getting ready to go to bed. 

Xu Shengjie suddenly saw his wife open her eyes and look at him sleepily. He quickened his pace in pulling up the quilt, blew out the kerosene lamp, and got into bed. 

“Did I wake you up?” His voice was a little hoarse, the night wind was too cold after all. 

Liang Baozhen rubbed her eyes. Her throat was a bit hoarse from sleeping, “No, I don’t know why I woke up so suddenly.” 

After waking up for a moment, she reached out and check if Xu Shengjie’s arm was warm. “Did you take a shower?” 

“Yes, I was too cold; otherwise, I would have passed the cold to you if I had gotten into bed right away.” Xu Shengjie rode his bicycle back in the wind and snow, and his body was full of cold. After returning home, he rubbed his hands, filled a large kettle with hot water, and took a quick shower to wash away the coldness from his body. 

“Be careful not to catch a cold, it’s easy to get sick if you take a shower in this weather.”

“Hmm ~.” Xu Shengjie’s body was still steaming hot after taking a shower. He hugged Liang Baozhen and felt her hands and feet were cold. “Why are you so cold today?”

 

Liang Baozhen was usually like a little stove, warmer than most people. Even in winter, her hands were not particularly cold, and she radiated warmth. But today, she stayed outside for a while, and she was indeed cold. Even after lying in bed for a long time, she still couldn’t warm up. 

“It’s fine, you’re warm enough.” Liang Baozhen found a source of heat now. She went straight into Xu Shengjie’s arms, put her hands on his arms, and listened to him hissing from the cold. She giggled under the quilt because of that. 

Xu Shengjie held Liang Baozhen’s hands with both hands and rubbed them vigorously. After a while, they were warm. Then he changed to the other hand, but his wife didn’t stay still. She put her feet against his again, which were also cold. 

“Did you fix the equipment? How’s the investigation into Chen Siming going?” Liang Baozhen was looking forward to him being arrested.

“It’s almost fixed. Most of the equipment is still too old, and there are cotton quality issues. The cotton lint is accumulating and clogging it. We dismantled a lot of equipment today and cleaned it thoroughly.”

Xu Shengjie stood up and prepared to get out of bed. Liang Baozhen, who was snuggling for warmth, was surprised. “Where are you going?” 

“Your feet are too cold. I’ll get some hot water for them.” 

Late in the night, Liang Baozhen sat on the edge of the bed, watching Xu Shengjie bring a basin of steaming hot water into the room. She remembered a dream she had once in which this man washed her feet very skillfully. 

For some unknown reason, Liang Baozhen asked, “Do you want to wash my feet?” 

As soon as the words were out, she regretted them! 

What kind of request was that?! 

The author has something to say: 

Liang Baozhen: What kind of perverted request am I making? 🫣 

Xu Shengjie: It’s not impossible.