If there were someone to back her up, his daughter’s path would be smoother.

As a parent, he always hoped for a smooth journey for his children.

Most importantly, the economy has just opened up, and nothing is clear, he was very worried there would be a wave of fluctuations.

At that time, the energy from family friends’ children and a husband would be different.

Having experienced those ten years, Ji Qinghe now felt like a ^[1]“startled bird” typically refers to a bird that is suddenly frightened or alarmed, causing it to react instinctively, often by flying away quickly. In a metaphorical sense, it can … Continue readingstartled bird, very afraid of any mishaps. He nervously rubbed his palms together and then looked at Ji Meng, asking tentatively:

“Mengmeng, what do you think?”

Ji Meng didn’t speak, she didn’t expect her assumptions to be completely wrong.

She never thought Uncle Fu would value her so highly.

Choosing between two outstanding sons.

But could she really choose?

Fu Qiyan was the father of the male lead, the second-in-command in the provincial capital, a figure that even the reckless male lead feared.

Fu Junyan was the male lead’s uncle, a man with a paranoid lack of love, marrying him might come with its own set of troubles.

Ji Meng pressed her forehead, feeling that this matter was even more complicated than Zheng Wu confessing to her.

Forget it, just take it one step at a time.

In the novel, Fu Qiyan loved his late wife very much and never remarried, so he might not even be interested in her.

As for Fu Junyan, he probably liked her looks for now, but until he truly fell for her, if she didn’t want it, he wouldn’t force her.

Having a meal together wasn’t a big deal, after all, if it didn’t work out, they could still be brother and sister, right?

“Let’s have a meal first and see how it goes.” Finally, seeing Ji Qinghe’s eager and expectant gaze, Ji Meng replied.

“Mm, okay, you can spend some time together and get to know each other.” Ji Qinghe thought his daughter had relented and quickly agreed.

“I’ll go cook, let’s have something nice for dinner.”

After the decision was made, Ji Meng didn’t think further. She picked up the groceries she had bought and headed to the kitchen.

In March, it gets dark early, it wasn’t even six o’clock yet, and the outside was already dim.

On an overcast day, there wasn’t much moonlight, just a few scattered stars hanging in the dense clouds, making the night feel as cool as water.

At the Fu family home.

Fu Junyan was drinking beer, with no snacks to accompany it, just bottles of beer that he kept opening.

He had been feeling a bit unlucky lately, the injury on his back hadn’t healed, and regarding the batch of medicinal materials he got from Huicheng, he had heard Ji Meng mention the counterfeiting incident, so he decided to send them for inspection just in case. As a result, issues were indeed found, and he ended up suffering a heavy loss.

He was feeling frustrated, opening bottle after bottle of beer.

When Fu Yuanshan and his eldest son, Fu Qiyan, returned home, they immediately smelled the strong odor of alcohol wafting from the living room.

Upon entering, they saw the second son sulking while drinking, with several empty beer bottles scattered haphazardly on the table. Fu Yuanshan instantly felt furious and thought about hitting him but held back upon remembering that his injury hadn’t healed yet. Instead, he scolded him angrily:

“What the hell are you doing? I’m only gone for a month, and you’re already turning the place upside down.”

Fu Junyan had a good tolerance for alcohol, and beer wasn’t likely to get him drunk easily.

At this point, he had color in his face but wasn’t fully intoxicated yet.

However, alcohol emboldened him, and despite being scolded, he looked up to see his father glaring at him with eyes as ^[2]“fierce as copper bells” uses a simile to describe someone’s gaze or expression. It suggests that the person’s look is intense, piercing, or formidable, much like the striking … Continue readingfierce as copper bells, and his older brother radiating coldness beside him. He showed no signs of fear, remaining slumped in his chair while casually greeting Fu Yuanshan and Fu Qiyan with a beer bottle in hand.

“Dad, big brother.”

Fu Qiyan is calm and collected, with a much stronger capacity to handle situations than most, remained silent and rolled up his sleeves to clean up the empty beer bottles on the table.

But Fu Yuanshan couldn’t bear to see his son in such a state, he couldn’t help but scold him again:

“You pathetic coward, is it just because you lost some money that you act like this? You’re worse off than Mengmeng! She’s doing great at the small market, helping the clothing factory get through a financial crisis, and everyone around her is praising her.”

Mengmeng?

Fu Junyan sat up straight, “Have you been to Uncle Fu’s place?”

“Why not? I’m counting on you to give me updates, but look at you—no news at all.”

Fu Junyan remained silent and simply threw the beer bottle in his hand onto the table with a gentle toss, making a clattering sound.

These days, he felt weak and drained, his heart empty.

He deliberately didn’t mention anything to his father about the Ji family, thinking this would numb himself, after all, the person he was supposed to be engaged to hadn’t returned yet.

The past was all just a dream.

He tried hard to forget her.

But sometimes, the more you try to forget, the harder it becomes.

Every time he woke up from a dream, he could still picture her smiling face and how well they matched.

Then he remembered that she was married and had a child.

“Oh, I’ve been busy lately and forgot.” Seeing his father’s dissatisfied glare, Fu Junyan finally replied lightly.

“Hmph.”

In the past, Fu Yuanshan would have held this against him, but seeing his son’s dejected state, he guessed that he had taken a significant hit from the medicinal materials incident, so he shot him a cold glance and didn’t bring it up again.

After a moment, he sat down on the sofa beside him, seeing that Fu Junyan was still somewhat sober, and asked him:

“When you met Mengmeng that day, what were your thoughts?”

Fu Yuanshan went to see Ji Qinghe, who shared the situation regarding Ji Meng. However, Fu Junyan didn’t mention Ji Meng’s circumstances, leading Fu Yuanshan to misunderstand that his second son was reluctant and instead pushed his elder son forward.

The Fu family owed a lot to the Ji family. Years ago, when the Fu family faced difficulties, if Ji Qinghe hadn’t exhausted his wealth to help them, his two sons might not have survived. Back then, at the farm, Fu Yuanshan wouldn’t have made it without Ji Qinghe’s assistance.

With the Ji family’s help, the Fu family gradually got back on their feet, but as for the Ji family? Out of two children, they were left with only one unfortunate daughter.

Fu Yuanshan couldn’t bear this debt, it had to be repaid.

“What do you mean by that?” Fu Junyan felt pain in his heart when Ji Meng was mentioned.

What could he say? A beautiful and graceful woman who shared common interests, but she was a married woman, a military wife at that, which made things complicated.

Hearing this, Fu Yuanshan fell silent.

“Since you mind that Mengmeng is a widow, I won’t force you…”

“What did you say?” Fu Junyan suddenly looked up at Fu Yuanshan, his lips trembling slightly, eyes filled with concealed hope:

“Dad, did you just say Mengmeng’s husband is dead?”

“Her husband is gone?”

Fu Junyan didn’t know how to describe his feelings at that moment, speaking out might be unfair, but he felt an emotional surge rising within him.

Her husband is gone…

What does that mean? Did he have a chance now?

“You didn’t know?” Fu Yuanshan furrowed his brow, thinking his son must have not cared at all since he hadn’t asked anything.

“Yes, her husband is dead, so if you’re unwilling, it’s fine. I’ve already spoken to your elder brother, he agrees.”

“What do you mean?”

Fu Junyan hadn’t yet processed the whirlwind of emotions he was feeling when he suddenly heard this and stood up abruptly. After lying down for too long and drinking quite a bit, he felt a bit dizzy, but he didn’t care. He glanced at Fu Qiyan, who had just come back from throwing away the beer bottles, then turned back to Fu Yuanshan:

“Dad, you want my brother to be with Mengmeng…?”

He couldn’t finish the thought, just imagining it made him feel choked up.

“Elder brother, you agreed too? Haven’t you always said you didn’t intend to get married?”

Faced with his brother’s incredulous and hostile gaze, Fu Qiyan remained calm. He gradually rolled down his sleeves and replied calmly:

“Mm, I agree.”

“What the hell do you mean you agree?” A sudden sense of crisis hit Fu Junyan, and he couldn’t help but curse.

The argument in the Fu family and Fu Junyan’s turmoil were unknown to the Ji family.

Ji Meng was even less aware. The day after she agreed to Ji Qinghe’s proposal, she started getting busy again.

The textile factory had sent a reply, agreeing to let them take on the collective, but with a few conditions.

The factory leaders had already learned that Ji Meng was the one truly interested in taking on the collective, so they specifically asked her to come in for discussions.

Without hesitation, Ji Meng went to meet with Zhang Ru’s father, the deputy director of the textile factory, and Deputy Director Guo from the clothing factory, who had initially agreed to establish the collective.

There were two deputy directors: one was friendly while the other was serious and strict.

Meng Ling felt a bit anxious upon meeting them, but Ji Meng held her ground.

After about half an hour of tense negotiations, they finally settled the contracting terms.

Ji Meng and Meng Ling would jointly take on the textile factory, absorbing all the current scrap materials and some leftover fabric. They promised not to let the collective collapse within three years and to provide five to ten job positions each year.

Ji Meng and Meng Ling had the right to reassign or dismiss employees in the collective, but they had to do so legitimately, following proper procedures, while also accepting supervision from the clothing and textile factories.

In addition, the textile and clothing factories would no longer provide any sales orders to the collective, meaning Meng Ling and Ji Meng would bear all profits and losses themselves.

The textile factory will support the collective with fabric supplies on credit, allowing them to enjoy 5% of the collective’s annual profits as dividends.

Both parties were satisfied with this outcome.

The textile and clothing factories finally managed to offload a ^[3]“money-losing hot potato” refers to a situation or asset that is causing financial losses and is difficult to handle or dispose of. Just like a “hot potato” is something you … Continue readingmoney-losing hot potato and also dealt with the scrap materials.

On Ji Meng’s side, she finally had a team and secured a batch of goods at a low price that guaranteed profit.

The day after the collective was contracted, Ji Meng and Meng Ling went over to the collective.

At the collective, there were already more than 80 people, which was no small number, and the problems were significant and numerous.

Many of them were the children of long-time employees from the textile and clothing factories.

In this era, the factory second-generation kids, who were idle and needed to spend their days at the collective, were not obedient and loved to cause trouble.

Seeing the two young girls, Ji Meng and Meng Ling, who were pretty and seemed easy to bully, they whistled at them.

Meng Ling’s face turned red with anger, but she knew that this group was just like that, so she held it in.

Meng Ling held back, but Ji Meng couldn’t take it.

When the son of a deputy logistics director from the clothing factory came over for the second time, she went up, grabbed his head, yanked it back, and kneed him in the stomach, causing him to roll on the ground in pain.

No one expected Ji Meng to act this way. Seeing her cold and fierce demeanor, the troublemakers present gulped nervously, realizing that they could be hurt like that, and immediately fell silent.

Even some of the seasoned veterans, who thought they had experience, settled down and stayed at their stations, listening to Ji Meng lead the meeting.

A new leader usually brings about a lot of changes, especially with the multitude of issues at the collective.

Seizing the moment, Ji Meng launched a series of reform measures.

First was the salary reform, implementing a system of basic wage + performance + commission. Ji Meng understood that the current wages were too low, and the lack of motivation among the collective members stemmed mainly from this. Therefore, the fifteen yuan they received monthly would now only serve as their basic salary, with an additional ten yuan in performance pay, plus piecework bonuses.

Ji Meng calculated for everyone, saying that if employees worked diligently and could achieve collective performance targets, they could earn at least over 50 yuan a month.

At this time, this wage was quite high.

Once the new salary system was announced, everyone applauded and celebrated, and even some of the ^[4]“Old-timers” typically refers to people who have been around for a long time in a particular place, organization, or activity. It often conveys a sense of experience and familiarity with … Continue readingold-timers perked up.

Of course, after the ^[5]“sweetness came the stick” isn’t a common idiom, but it appears to be a variation of “you can’t have the sweet without the bitter” or “sweetness comes with a … Continue readingsweetness came the stick, as a series of rules would revolve around performance.

First was the issue of defective products. In the future, defects would be related to performance. If an individual’s defective count reached a certain level, they would be reassigned, those with severe issues could be dismissed.

The collective also implemented a joint liability system. If someone made a mistake and another person sheltered them or failed to supervise effectively, they would be punished equally. Conversely, if someone did well, their colleagues would also benefit.

The employees at the collective were well aware of the defective products during this period, after hearing all this, they remained silent but realized they needed to restrain themselves.

Various regulations were announced, including those regarding leave, tardiness, and early departures.

Ji Meng then proceeded to assign roles within the collective.

She distributed a form for the present employees to fill out and collected it for a detailed review.

Ji Meng announced the establishment of several departments: production department, sales department, quality control department, logistics department, accounting department, and purchasing department.

In these departments, some people held multiple roles, while others specialized in a single task.

Among them, the design department allowed everyone to design, and after completing a design, they would sign it and submit it to the collective’s bulletin board. Ji Meng would inspect it the same day, and those approved would receive a reward. If the produced products sold well, there would be a small commission as well.

Of course, that wasn’t enough. Ji Meng also had Meng Ling put up a notice offering a high reward for clothing designs and recruiting skilled designers and pattern makers at high salaries.

This notice caused quite a stir within the clothing factory.

Meng Ling was even called in for a discussion with the factory leaders. Ultimately, they each took a step back: the collective wouldn’t poach talent from the clothing factory, but the factory could provide part-time services to the collective, which was another way to generate income.

After resolving this matter, Ji Meng started off her first project for making money.

They sorted through the scrap materials they had taken on, classifying the fabrics—silk and chiffon would be used for hair clips, headbands, hair ties, and hairbands.

Cotton fabrics and sturdier linen would be made into tote bags, handbags, wallets, and small items like stuffed toys.

Perhaps because the wages were on the rise, the people at the collective began to see hope, there were fewer instances of troublemaking or requests for job reassignments. Ji Meng distributed the tasks and demonstrated how to make some products. The workers quickly learned and even innovated on what they produced.

Once the finished products were ready, Ji Meng sent the talkative sales team out to secure orders.

No matter where they sold—whether consignment or setting up a stall at a small market—as long as they sold the products, they would get a commission.

Most of the sales team were reluctant factory kids, but like Meng Ling, they had extensive networks, and within a week, they brought back a considerable number of orders.

Therefore, the collective began to get back on track.

At this time, it was also time for Ji Meng to have dinner with the Fu family as planned.

It was a rare occasion for the Fu family to visit, so Ji Qinghe took it seriously and went out early in the morning to buy a lot of meat and vegetables.

That day, when Ji Meng said she would cook, she wasn’t joking.

Once Ji Qinghe returned with the groceries, Ji Meng began to prepare.

Ji Qinghe didn’t want to see her daughter working so hard during her rare break, so he helped out. Qiuqiu, understanding the situation, came over after finishing the drawing task her mother had assigned and helped by picking vegetables.

At ten o’clock in the morning, the Fu family’s car arrived outside the small alley.

Fu Qiyan was driving, with his son Fu Junye and grandfather Fu Yuanshan in the back, while Fu Junyan sat in the front passenger seat. During the ride, he frequently glanced at the rearview mirror to check his hairstyle and outfit.

The weather was nice today, clear and warmer than in previous days.

He didn’t wear a jacket, just a black-and-white striped shirt, black pants, and custom-made pointed leather shoes, with his hair neatly combed back. His handsome face and graceful demeanor stood out in comparison to Fu Qiyan, who wore a simple white shirt and black pants. He was particularly serious about this dinner.

When the car stopped, he circled to the outside mirror to check again, adjusting his hair, which felt a bit stiff.

Fu Qiyan glanced at him but ignored him, while Fu Yuanshan looked away in embarrassment. Even six-year-old Fu Junye couldn’t help but laugh at him:

“Uncle, stop looking! You’re very handsome today!”

Fu Qiyan was busy with work and usually didn’t pay much attention to the child, who had grown up without a mother. For the past few years, Fu Yuanshan had been raising him. When Fu Yuanshan had to go out for meetings, he either went to his grandmother’s house or stayed with his younger uncle, Fu Junyan.

Fu Junye’s grandmother’s situation was complicated, with several uncles and aunts each having their own agendas. Many times, he didn’t want to go there, so he naturally became closer to Fu Junyan.

Hearing his little nephew’s teasing, Fu Junyan wasn’t angry but looked at him: “Isn’t your dad more handsome?”

The son, who often felt both reverence and a desire for closeness toward his seldom-present dad, hesitated at his uncle’s question and pinched his chubby fingers, “Well, Dad is a bit more handsome…”

“…Alright, you little brat, ungrateful wretch! Who takes care of you more usually, huh? You still think your dad is more handsome?”

Fu Junyan was already feeling uneasy about his elder brother coming along today, and hearing his nephew say that made him feel both sour and anxious. He walked over and lightly pinched the little guy’s neck, displeased, saying, “Where is your dad handsome? He always has a stern face.”

“Alright, how old are you? Don’t make it hard for Xiao Ye.”

Fu Yuanshan couldn’t stand his younger son bullying his eldest grandson and scolded him. After a moment’s thought, he advised him: “Since you’re so determined to be with Mengmeng, you should make an effort. Later, I will suggest that you all go see a movie together. Halfway through, your brother will take Xiao Ye away, and you should seize the opportunity.”

Upon mentioning this matter, Fu Junyan’s expression became serious as he looked toward the alley, his eyes filled with anticipation. After a moment, he replied solemnly, “Okay, I understand.”

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