Chapter 57.1

As An An made more friends, she gradually began to enjoy kindergarten more and more. Even when she was at home on vacation, she wanted Jiang Rou to help her call her friends. Jiang Rou’s phone didn’t have as many contacts as An An’s. There was Zhen Zhen, Lan Lan, and recently, Hao Hao and Tang Tang joined the list.

Each phone call took a long time, and maybe because she had more friends now, An An’s speech had become increasingly fluent and clear. It wasn’t like before, when even Jiang Rou and Li Xiao had to guess half of what she was saying.

Now, the little one listened most attentively to their teacher, Teacher Yang. Jiang Rou’s words couldn’t compare to Teacher Yang’s authority. When Teacher Yang gave her a small red flower, An An could be happy for an entire day.

After school, when Jiang Rou held her hand, An An would switch to the other hand so that Jiang Rou wouldn’t accidentally lose the red flower on her left hand.

One day, while Jiang Rou was riding her bike with An An, the red flower was blown away by the wind. An An panicked and shouted from behind, “Mommy, the flower is gone, stop, help me—”

She even cried out “help” in her distress.

Jiang Rou had no choice but to laugh and stop the bike, then turn back to look for the red flower.

After finding it, Jiang Rou put it in her pocket and said, “Mommy will keep it safe for you. I’ll give it back to you when we get home.”

An An nodded obediently but soon asked again, “Mommy, where’s the flower?”

“It’s in my pocket.”

Satisfied, An An was content for a while but would soon ask again. Jiang Rou patiently answered her each time.

That evening, when Li Xiao came home, An An immediately ran up to him, showing him the red flower on the back of her hand. Li Xiao, not paying close attention, though she was displeased with her dirty hand, so he removed the red flower and threw it into the nearby trash can.

An An hurriedly squatted in front of the trash can, “The flower, my flower—”

Hearing the commotion, Jiang Rou came out of the kitchen and saw Li Xiao, looking helpless, bending over the trash can. When she heard An An’s words, she guessed what had happened and couldn’t help but laugh.

At dinner that night, Li Xiao called out to An An, but the little one replied seriously, “The teacher praised my name today and said it’s nice. From now on, I should be called Li Qingshu, not An An.”

“Then, Li Qingshu, can you eat some vegetables?”

As he spoke, Li Xiao picked up a piece of green vegetable and placed it in her bowl.

An An puffed up her cheeks but still obediently picked up a piece of vegetable and ate it.

Li Xiao watched An An eat her vegetables obediently and didn’t intervene much, occasionally adding some vegetables to her bowl and also serving Jiang Rou some ribs.

After Jiang Rou ate the ribs, she suddenly remembered something and looked up to ask him, “By the way, how is Cao Wang’s wife doing lately?”

Since Cao Wang’s wife had come last time, she hadn’t gone back. She had found a job at the factory, and their two children were attending a nearby school. However, that school wasn’t very good; it mostly served the children of nearby factory workers and only offered education up to elementary school. If their household registration wasn’t moved, the children would have to return to their hometown for middle school.

Since Cao Wang started working with Li Xiao, he had earned quite a bit of money. The price of houses near the factory was now very low, and with the money he had earned, he could have afforded a down payment. Li Xiao had advised him to buy a house, but Cao Wang hadn’t listened and sent all his money back to his hometown, which was quite regrettable.

Li Xiao frowned, remembering something. “His wife is pregnant now, but she doesn’t seem to want to keep the baby. Cao Wang thinks she should give birth and then have his mother come over to take care of the child.”

He shook his head, “I can’t say for sure about their issues, but his wife is quite efficient at work. She’s smarter than her husband, more meticulous and cautious. I was planning to find someone to train her to handle procurement in the future. But now that she’s pregnant, she’ll have to rest. Fu Fei recommended someone to me before; he said the person was quite good.”

Jiang Rou was taken aback, “Pregnant? That’s not a good time to be pregnant, given the current national policies.”

Li Xiao’s expression remained calm, “I’m not sure. It’s not my place to interfere in their family matters. It’s just a shame. I think Cao Wang’s wife is quite smart. She had previously asked me if it was possible to get a loan to buy a house near the factory and inquired about the cost. She also expressed interest in doing sales. Our factory’s sales position has a commission, and she seemed like someone with a plan, much better than her husband.”

Li Xiao continued, “At that time, Zhou Jian was also there and wondered why. She said she liked the big city and wanted her two sons to stay here. Kids who get into university back in their hometown always want to move to the city, so her sons would avoid many years of hardship.”

Li Xiao smiled as he spoke, “Cao Wang didn’t think of these things. To be blunt, I needed people, and he was honest and reliable, so I entrusted him with some simple tasks. But now that the factory is growing, and there are more capable people, his replaceability is too high. Even though I remember our past connection, if he doesn’t seek progress or change and is content with the status quo, I can’t help it. As a boss, I need to use capable and efficient people.”

This was also why Li Xiao didn’t want to deal with Cao Wang’s issues anymore; there was no benefit for him. Cao Wang was different from Zhou Jian. Zhou Jian was his brother and had always followed his advice. When Li Xiao instructed him to expand procurement, Zhou Jian took a team and traveled across the country. When Li Xiao asked him to gradually hand over procurement duties and focus on management, Zhou Jian accepted the change without hesitation.

Cao Wang didn’t have such a close relationship with Li Xiao and was resistant to others’ opinions, so Li Xiao wouldn’t interfere. He was already considering who would replace Cao Wang.

Jiang Rou was moved by this. She didn’t think Li Xiao was cold or realistic; he was a boss, and if management wasn’t fair, his subordinates wouldn’t respect him.

She felt sorry for Cao Wang’s wife, “The cost of pregnancy and childbirth for a woman is so high. If she has this baby, it might delay her for two or three years. In those two or three years, who knows how much the factory will change.”

She couldn’t help but curse, “Cao Wang is something else. With two children already, he still wants to have another. Can he even support them? He didn’t fulfill his responsibilities for the first two children. If I were his wife, I’d divorce him. It’s just too exhausting.”

Li Xiao remained silent, knowing it was best not to speak at such a moment to avoid provoking her further.

Soon, An An’s birthday arrived. The 27th of the eighth lunar month was a Saturday. Jiang Rou got up early to make many cookies for her. A few days ago, they had acquired an oven for the house.

The oven was obtained thanks to Zhou Hong. Zhou Jian’s family went out for dinner and passed by a mall where a bowl shop was holding a lottery event. The second prize was an oven. Zhou Jian thought it would be fun, so he spent five yuan to buy a few bowls and had Zhou Hong participate in the lottery. There were three chances to draw, and the first two attempts yielded only “thank you for participating” responses. By the last chance, there were no hopes left. To everyone’s surprise, Zhou Hong drew the second prize on a whim. The whole family was overjoyed, even though they didn’t know how to use the oven and thought it might waste electricity. But who wouldn’t be happy with something given for free?

In the end, they simply gave it to the family, saying they should make something delicious and share it with them.

Jiang Rou packed a bag of cookies for An An to take next door.

An An obediently took the bag and, as he walked, ate from it, scattering crumbs all the way.

Jiang Rou hurriedly said, “Don’t eat them; we still have more at home.”

The little guy, being quite clever, turned his head, smiled at her, and then quickly ran off.

Jiang Rou, amused, went back to the kitchen to prepare another batch of ribs.

Since it was An An’s birthday, Li Xiao came back earlier in the afternoon, carrying not only a cake but also a borrowed camera.

In the evening, just like last year, Zhou Jian’s family came over as well. The two families celebrated An An’s birthday together. Jiang Rou celebrated An An’s lunar birthday, so there were four small candles on the cake.

This year, life had improved a lot for both families, as could be seen from their appearances. Last year, Mother Zhou and Wang Yan carefully sipped from cups of spilled cola and ate the cake cautiously.

This year, everyone was chatting and laughing. There was a big table full of food, and they ate at a relaxed pace. What made Jiang Rou happiest was that Zhou Hong had become more confident. In a recent small exam, he ranked fifth in his class. The teacher praised his significant progress and made him a group leader.

At the end, Li Xiao took out the camera and took a big group photo. During the photo session, An An sat on Jiang Rou’s lap. Jiang Rou playfully dabbed a bit of cream on An An’s little nose. An An seemed to be stunned for a moment, instinctively looking up at her mother, and this scene was captured by her father.

Years later, whenever An An saw this photo, he couldn’t help but complain, “Why is everyone smiling so happily while I look so silly?”

His mouth was open, eyes rolled, and even his nostrils were captured in the shot.

After Li Xiao took the photos, Zhou Jian took a few more of their whole family.

That evening, after washing up, the family of three lay in bed. An An, after lying still for a while, got up and began bouncing on the bed. She knew it was her birthday and was particularly happy.

Jiang Rou lay on the bed, kicking her legs in the air. She had eaten a lot of cream tonight and needed some exercise.

Li Xiao was used to this scene and shifted his body to the side. Then, as if he remembered something, he suddenly said, “By the way, Fu Fei has returned from his hometown. I told him you would introduce him to a match. He seemed quite interested and asked when he could meet her.”

If Li Xiao hadn’t mentioned it, Jiang Rou would have almost forgotten about it. She turned her head to look at him and couldn’t help but ask, “Didn’t you say he wasn’t interested in finding a partner?”

Li Xiao suddenly saw something, his expression changed, and he jumped up, grabbing An An, who had almost fallen to the floor.

An An wasn’t afraid at all when her father caught her and hung her in the air. She turned her head and smiled at him.

Li Xiao lifted her to the middle of the bed with one hand. Jiang Rou was startled and quickly got up to hold her, then tucked her into the blankets, telling her not to jump around.

Hearing this question, Li Xiao’s face returned to calm, and he said directly, “I was just guessing before. He mentioned that he wanted to have a daughter as pretty as An An. He also heard that the other person is a police officer and thought it should be quite reliable.”

Since Li Xiao had said so, Jiang Rou couldn’t help but probe further, “You mentioned he bought a house before. Where is it? Does he still have savings?”

Li Xiao looked at her with a puzzled expression.

Jiang Rou said impatiently, “Why are you looking at me like that? If I’m introducing him to someone, I need to be clear. Otherwise, if the girl asks about him, what should I say?”

Li Xiao didn’t understand these matters and said, “He’s a smart guy. He bought a house on Wu Shan Road. The house is very nice, and prices have gone up a lot there. It’s near the First Middle School and close to the city center. He definitely has money. Even though he wasn’t happy working for Chang Yong before, if he didn’t have money, he wouldn’t have stayed that long. He’s decent, not a troublemaker, just a bit slippery.”

Jiang Rou nodded.