The Reborn Sidekick Rejected The Male Lead-Chapter 363 - 352: Prosperity

After dozens of days away, the young girl had been very diligent, cleaning the yard spotlessly.

"Yiyi, we’re back."

Upon reaching the yard, Lu Jingqiu called out, and soon, Jiang Yiyi ran over from the backyard, still holding a hoe. Seeing them return, she hurriedly put down her things and offered to carry their bags: "Sister-in-law Jingqiu, Second Brother Shen, you’ve finally returned."

"We’re right on time, why are you covered in so much mud?"

Lu Jingqiu asked while carrying the items.

"It’s been raining continuously for years, and these past few days have finally cleared up, so I hurriedly dug up the potatoes in the backyard. In a little over a month, we can plant the spring vegetables."

Lu Jingqiu nodded, "That makes sense."

Shen Mu, following with more items, laughed and said, "Yiyi, that’s not urgent. Once we’re done unpacking, we’ll do it together."

"Okay then."

Lu Jingqiu looked at Shen Mu and the two soldiers who were helping move things into the house.

She had intended to invite the two of them to stay for tea, but they excused themselves and left.

With no alternative, Lu Jingqiu let them go, but as they were leaving, she stuffed an apple into each of their hands, saying, "Have this for the road, and thank you for today."

"Don’t mention it, Comrade Lu, this is what we should do for the families," they replied.

After seeing off the two, Lu Jingqiu began to put things away at home.

Most of them were edibles. She took a pastry out of the bag and set it on the dining table for Jiang Yiyi to try: "This is a specialty from Capital City, have a taste. Were you scared being here alone all this time?"

Jiang Yiyi shook her head: "Not long after you and Second Brother Shen left, my brother returned as well. I went back to our hometown with him for two days. Before he left, he came here and prepared lots of food for the New Year for me. He also told me not to run around when I had nothing to do. How could I run around? Sister-in-law Niannian’s shop was so busy before the New Year; Hua Hua and I were busy every day. Hua Hua’s mom took care of the accounts, and while I helped sell vegetables and grain, Hua Hua sold fruits. There was also Uncle Li who delivered goods; when some factories closed for the New Year holidays, he came to help sell meat at the shop. Starting from the 21st up to the morning of the 30th, the shop was busy. And as soon as we reopened on the tenth day of the New Year, many customers swarmed in. Sister-in-law Niannian returned yesterday and gave me a day off."

"So busy at the shop," Lu Jingqiu remarked, then her thoughts drifted back to the scenes of Capital City and said, "That’s true, I guess people must be queuing up at the agricultural market every day. Some things might not be as available as in Sister-in-law Niannian’s shop."

"Exactly, there’s fruit—apples, oranges, bananas. Before she left, Sister-in-law Niannian stored the stock she had received in her yard, and there was a lot of it. There was also pork, all stored at Hua Hua’s place; a total of twelve pigs, and all were sold out. As for various vegetables, she stocked up a lot, and all were sold out before the New Year’s season ended," Yiyi explained.

Lu Jingqiu smiled and nodded in agreement. Indeed, during the New Year, every family made large purchases. Those who did not want to line up in the morning and knew about Niannian’s grain and oil shop were willing to buy there; not only was the food tasty, but the selection was also comprehensive.

"Oh, and this year, rice sold the best—customers said the rice cooked from Sister-in-law Niannian’s shop smelled fragrant, and the rice itself had a strong aroma. Also, Sister-in-law Niannian mentioned that if there was a big order, we could provide delivery. The two uncles who delivered goods would ride their cycles to deliver orders until seven or eight in the evening.

All of Sister-in-law Xinyue’s relatives’ orders were delivered by us."

Lu Jingqiu was tidying up while listening to Yiyi’s ceaseless chatter about recent events.

The fatigue from the journey was swept away by her resonant voice.

Since there wasn’t much to tidy up, it took barely twenty minutes for Lu Jingqiu to change into home wear and put the laundry in the washing machine.

She planned to make a clear broth noodle soup to warm up.

After Shen Mu finished putting things away and came over to sit, Lu Jingqiu wouldn’t have it; Shen Mu had hardly slept during the journey, so she asked him to rest in the living room.

Yiyi assisted her in the kitchen, and as they cooked, they also boiled two kettles of water for Shen Mu to bathe with.

The clear broth noodles only required some chopped green onions and an egg. A bowl for each, and lunch was served.

After eating and taking a shower, Lu Jingqiu lay down on the bed for a two-hour rest in the afternoon.

In the afternoon, I went back to my uncle’s house in the compound with some items.

"Uncle, my aunt didn’t return with you?"

"Qiuqiu, didn’t you just arrive today? Shouldn’t you be resting at home instead of coming over?"

"I’m not tired. Dad asked me to bring you a few nice things. I was worried you might be thinking about them, so I hurried over to deliver them to you."

Yang Pinggui gave a sheepish smile, as he had actually been the one who had phoned his brother-in-law to ask for these items. He wasn’t anticipating them, but it was a bit embarrassing to have his niece point it out. He quickly changed the subject, "I spent a full three days over New Year’s there, if you count it all. Most of that time was spent travelling, and I haven’t been back for many days either. Your aunt can’t come back right now. Before leaving, she repeatedly instructed me to look after you. Moreover, she’s aware that once the child is born, we’ll need someone to help care for them.

Your aunt knows a lady comrade, a former employee at her store, who was later replaced by her sister-in-law. Because of this, their family moved out, but without a formal job, she’s just been doing temporary work every day. Her own children are young and need care, which makes it hard to take on temp work.

She specifically instructed me to come back and ask around to see if she’d be willing to look after kids."

"I was just saying I needed to find a nanny, but unfortunately, there wasn’t a suitable one. Is the person my aunt mentioned reliable?"

"The person your aunt found for you certainly can’t have bad character. Her husband works at the agricultural machinery factory, and they have two kids at home. When she was replaced, her older child was five, and the younger one was three.

By now, the kids should be in school. It’s just unknown whether they’ve had more children since, so let me look into it for you."

"Sure, uncle, you’re so busy every day, it’s not convenient for you to ask around. Where do they live, and what’s her name? I’ll have some time before school starts to go and check this out myself."

"That works. They live in the second house in the alley on West Street number three. The man’s surname is Zhang, named Zhang Lairen, and she is Li Erping, about thirty-eight or thirty-nine years old."

"Okay, I’ll find some time to go and inquire." As Lu Jingqiu spoke, she took out various items from her bag for her uncle: local cigarettes from Capital City, two bottles of wine, two boxes of cakes, and some tea leaves.

What the uncle really wanted were the cigarettes; her father had prepared several brands for him, buying a pack of each.

When she took them out, the uncle was embarrassed, "This is too much, I told your father just to buy two of each kind."

Lu Jingqiu said with a smile, "Dad was afraid there wouldn’t be enough for you, so he just bought a whole pack for you. They didn’t sell them by the pack in the supply and marketing co-op; he went to the tobacco factory in Nanzhou to purchase them."

Yang Pinggui nodded again and again, "That’s thoughtful. How is Nanzhou on that side?"

"Very nice, I’ve adapted well and made some good friends. Nanzhou also said that I shouldn’t come back often and has sent over two bottles of wine for you."

Yang Pinggui laughed, "Well, that lad is shrewder than both of your older brothers."

"Oh, and how is my elder cousin over there?"

"Not bad at all, the leaders value him a lot, and there’s hope for a promotion this year."

"I knew my elder cousin had the capability."

"Every one of you is developing well, and we as parents are delighted."

"What about my second cousin? Is he still busy?"

"Indeed, he’s so busy that he’s hardly ever at home. Before I came back, he had gone to get more stock for his car, and he’s still not back."

"...He left right after New Year’s? It looks like my second cousin’s business did well over the holiday."

"Yes, many people come to me to buy items from him." As he said this, Yang Pinggui laughed heartily, "This lad even talked to me about marketing strategies, saying I helped him attract customers. He even gave me two thousand yuan afterwards. I was shocked, can selling these things really make that much money?"

Lu Jingqiu chuckled, "Uncle, that’s just my second cousin’s way of showing his filial respect."

"Well, at least the young man has a bit of conscience."