Chapter 32

Cheng Anzhi came to the car shop to check the accounts. He was planning to go home since it was getting dark, but then he got a call from the district committee office. They said Mayor Xu suddenly wanted to check on the current growth in large consumer goods and asked if he could get ready within 30 minutes.

He knew this was a rare chance to make a good impression, so he agreed right away.

Then he quickly told Manager He to have the staff clean the place again, prepare the meeting room, and even went to the flower shop next door to bring back some big green plants. In the shortest time, they redecorated the whole showroom.

By the time Mayor Xu’s car arrived, Cheng Anzhi was already waiting at the entrance.

The driver parked the car, and Zhou Zhou got out first to open the door for Mayor Xu.

As they walked up, Zhou Zhou noticed a middle-aged man standing at the door who looked about 50–60% like Cheng Yanran. She guessed he must be his father.

Manager He, noticing Zhou Zhou among the group of officials, whispered to Cheng Anzhi, “That girl in the gray coat and white sweater with shoulder-length hair is the friend who came with President Cheng last time to buy a car.”

When Cheng Anzhi stepped forward to greet them, he purposely looked at Zhou Zhou. He was busy entertaining the officials and didn’t look too long.

He had only one thought: This time, his son falling for her wasn’t for nothing.

Cheng Anzhi had been selling cars for thirty years and had served many leaders. He was calm, sincere, and spoke smoothly and professionally.

He answered clearly when Mayor Xu asked about consumer subsidies and tax cuts, which made the mayor nod in approval.

After walking around the showroom, they didn’t go into the meeting room, but from the mayor’s attitude, it was clear he was quite pleased.

Once the group had left, Cheng Anzhi finally relaxed and asked Manager He, “Are you sure that girl is the one who came with Cheng Yanran last time?”

“I’m sure. I even heard Secretary You call her Director Zhou just now. I think her name is Zhou Zhou! Yes, that’s it—Zhou Zhou.”

“Zhou… Zhou…” Cheng Anzhi thought for a moment. Remembering her gentle and calm manner, and how the mayor spoke to her with approval, he couldn’t help but smile widely.

He hadn’t expected it—his son might be picky, but he really had good taste.

Feeling re-energized, he messaged Cheng Yanran to tell him to come home for dinner that night, then happily headed home himself.

Meanwhile, Zhou Zhou messaged Chi Yao to ask her out for dinner. But Chi Yao replied that she had gone to Wuxi with Wei’s parents and told her not to worry. She had moved on and would live positively and look forward.

Zhou Zhou had no choice but to go home.

As soon as she got home, Tao Cai started pushing her to get married again.

Zhou Zhou took Yuanyuan downstairs to play and stayed out until it was almost bedtime.

But this only made Tao Cai even more upset. The next morning, she sat in the living room waiting for her and insisted she go meet the man her aunt had set her up with.

Zhou Zhou, being stubborn too, snapped back, “I’m not going. If you like him so much, you go.”

Tao Cai got really angry and told her not to come home again.

Both mother and daughter were the same—soft-hearted but not easy to push. Zhou Zhou didn’t want to argue and scare Yuanyuan, so she took her out to play.

In the elevator, she saw that Yuanyuan looked pale and tired. Her heart ached. This child was her late sister’s daughter. No matter what, she had to make sure Yuanyuan grew up happy and healthy.

“Yuanyuan, auntie is just having some disagreements with grandma. It’s not a fight, okay? Like how you like bananas, but the boy upstairs likes apples.”

She crouched down and picked Yuanyuan up, gently comforting her.

“I know. Grandma wants you to find an uncle, but you don’t want to,” Yuanyuan said in her little voice.

Zhou Zhou couldn’t help but laugh. “You little rascal, you know a lot. Want to go to the zoo today? We didn’t get to go last time.”

Yuanyuan had been wanting to go, so she was thrilled. Her little hands clapped nonstop, and her face brightened up.

They spent the whole day at the zoo, seeing elephants, pandas, tigers, and even took a picture with a sea lion. Yuanyuan got so tired she nearly fell asleep. Then they went home.

At the entrance of the neighborhood, Zhou Zhou called Zhou Feng to come take Yuanyuan upstairs.

Zhou Feng said, “Your mom just has a hot temper. If you don’t want to go, then don’t. It’s not like the guy is great or anything. She was just talking and got carried away.”

“I know. It’s too late now, and I have a meeting early tomorrow. I’ll head back.”

Seeing she didn’t want to go upstairs, Zhou Feng just told her to be careful on the road and to send him a message when she got back.

Then he added sincerely, “Don’t listen to your mom. Marriage isn’t child’s play. The two of you need to get along. Money’s not the most important thing. As long as you love each other and can live happily, it’s okay even if you’re poor. I’m old and not capable anymore, but I’ve saved some for you and Yuanyuan. I prepared dowries for both you and your sister a long time ago. That’s money I earned myself. I’ve saved all the compensation from your sister’s accident for Yuanyuan. No matter how hard things get, we won’t touch that money. Just live well and don’t treat yourself badly.”

“I know how hard you’ve worked. If it weren’t for you, Mom, and Yuanyuan, I wouldn’t have come back. I worked so hard all those years—studying and taking exams… and now…” She paused, then said softly, “I know. I’m going now.”

Zhou Feng was a quiet man, not one to interfere. He worked hard just to support his daughters and granddaughter.

Tao Cai had a sharp tongue but a soft heart. After losing her daughter late in life, she often couldn’t control her temper and said hurtful things.

Zhou Zhou understood.

But even so, on the subway ride home, her mood was still low.

She felt so wronged.

Her sister was gone, so she had to hold the whole family together.

She knew Tao Cai always got picked on by relatives for not having a son, so she and her sister worked harder than most kids.

After her sister died, some people even said their family had bad luck.

She understood it all.

But she was still human—she had feelings too. She also got tired, sad, and frustrated.

Sometimes she was so exhausted she didn’t want to move, and she had no one to talk to. At home, it would only worry Zhou Feng and get her mom nagging her about marriage again.

She had suffered a lot—from being looked down on, mocked, and treated unfairly.

When she had just come back, even someone who had only worked for one year dared to order her around. It wasn’t until Mayor Xu started to value her that people stopped looking down on her.

Getting off the subway and standing on the street outside Emerald Bay, Zhou Zhou wondered: What have I really gained?

She had spent the whole day buying things for Yuanyuan and taking pictures. For lunch, she had only eaten two bites of bread. Now, watching the crowd go by, she felt extremely hungry.

She saw a Cantonese dim sum shop and walked in with her head down.

Forget it, thinking more won’t help. Life still has to go on.

She didn’t have much of an appetite, so she only ordered a bowl of wonton noodles and waited quietly for the food.

It was already past 8 p.m., and the noodles came quickly.

But along with the noodles came a huge, colorful bouquet of flowers—bright and beautiful like a rainbow cloud.

She looked up—and saw Cheng Yanran standing in front of her.

“The boss said,” he told her, “this is called Joy Every Year.”