After shopping at the fabric store and picking up the goods they were satisfied with, both of their legs were very tired. Especially Shu Ran’s… He felt that wearing a pair of old handmade cloth shoes with thousand-layer soles on his feet was definitely not enough. When he went back and took off his shoes, he found blisters on the outside of his toes.
“Let me take a look.” Xu Shen saw his wife lowering his head and looking at his feet intently, so he came over and lifted his pants, squatting down to hold Shu Ran’s feet and look at them.
Several large and red blisters came into view, making him frown instantly: “There are blisters.”
“It’s okay.” Shu Ran was not so squeamish, and it would be fine in about two days, after taking a shower.
But Xu Shen was still very concerned about it, wishing that those blisters could grow on his own feet… He really wanted to say something to his wife: “I wanted you to stay back and rest today, but you wouldn’t listen!”
In the end, of course, he didn’t dare to say it out loud… Ever since getting married, Shu Ran was the only one who could talk back in their relationship.
After Shu Ran took a bath, Xu Shen brought a basin of hot water over without saying a word.
“What?” Shu Ran was surprised.
“Let’s soak your feet for a while and then prick the blisters. It will heal faster.” Xu Shen was very experienced and knew what to do in that situation, otherwise, Shu Ran’s feet would be all burning and painful while he slept at night.
“Oh..” Shu Ran really didn’t know this… His experience with broken feet was very limited.
And it was also Xu Shen’s hand that poked the blisters for a while because Shu Ran was too timid to touch his own flesh.
Xu Shen was very amused: “It’s just skin, there are no pain-sensing nerves.”
“That’s the truth…” Shu Ran touched his nose: “But it still hurts emotionally.”
Just lower your head, take a deep breath and it’s all over… After squeezing out the water in the blisters, it would hurt for an hour or two, but it would definitely make the wound dry faster.
Xu Shen’s heart felt just like a blister that was getting poked at with sharp needles: “Stay back and have a good rest tomorrow.”
“Yeah…” Shu Ran also stopped trying to be stubborn and fell back on the bed. As Xu Shen massaged his soles and ankles, he made a long nasal sound.
That man’s hand was strong and it felt comfortable to touch.
Seeing his wife enjoying himself a lot, Xu Shen was also very considerate and not limited to taking care of only that small area. After more than half an hour, Shu Ran felt that every seam in his bones was loosening, making his face flush.
The atmosphere was really good, but it was such a pity that they were not in Nanshi… Otherwise, they could have fought a few times…
The next day, Shu Ran was left to rest in the guest house, while Xu Shen went out early in the morning, going to the job market to find experienced workers. He also inquired about the current salary levels of various positions.
Shu Ran laid down until about ten o’clock, then got up and went back to his novel, while eating the meat buns that Xu Shen had left on the table. They were carefully kept warm with a basin of hot water, still fluffy and fresh.
The steamed buns were stuffed with lotus root minced meat, and the fragrance filled his mouth in one bite, giving a very real sense of satisfaction.
After finishing the buns, there were still two boiled eggs… Shu Ran ate one and kept the remaining for later, in case he was hungry.
He didn’t know if Xu Shen would come back at noon. If he found a master successfully, he might come back. If not, he would have to wait a bit more. It wasn’t an easy task to hire people here, and then ask them to work in Nanshi… They had to offer a very high price before anyone was willing to relocate, so Shu Ran stopped Xu Shen from spending money on other random things.
Xu Shen worked cautiously and thoughtfully, selecting masters with a careful mind. But on the first day, he looked at many and was still not satisfied.
His reason was: “Good masters are not available in the market. Everyone is rushing to get them…” So, they weren’t able to find anyone good. Only novices would be waiting to be picked in the talent market…
So Shu Ran asked: “Then what should we do? Are we going to dig in someone else’s factory?!”
“That’s right!” Xu Shen said confidently: “There is no business without betrayal. If you are a businessman and you’re still so honest, your wife will lose everything.”
“No…” Shu Ran said: “Your wife only has five hundred yuan.”
Xu Shen was delighted: “Not only is it my wife’s capital on the line, but also your brother Sen’s and the others… Aren’t they all single?” Everyone really put down everything they had this time… If they lost their money, they wouldn’t even be able to afford a wife!
“Okay, then you go dig it… I really can’t do this kind of thing.” Shu Ran still couldn’t get past his reputation. He was really not a businessman at heart… However, he remembered that Xu Shen’s biological father was a successful and wealthy businessman… If nothing else, that was indeed something engraved in his DNA.
“Yeah.” Xu Shen had no intention of letting Shu Ran go. He could do many things by himself, but he admitted that he just liked the feeling that the two of them could discuss everything. He secretly hoped that Shu Ran would be even more involved in his life… It was best to be tightly intertwined and inseparable!
It was indeed a bad thing to poach the masters from someone else’s factory… Xu Shen also felt a little guilty, but he had high requirements and couldn’t easily find a master who satisfied him.
Previously, they had visited large and small garment factories, and there were a few masters who had left a deep impression on them. Xu Shen followed his memory and continued to do whatever he wanted by using his identity as a buyer for a large company.
Thanks to his cheap parents who gave him a good appearance, he stood there neatly dressed, looking like a trustworthy and good person without even opening his mouth.
Neither Chen Sen nor Chen Kai could do this… Jiang Fan was also a bit too young, so Xu Shen was indeed the most suitable.
The first person Xu Shen targeted was a master surnamed Tao, who was from Yuzhou and had very good craftsmanship. The most important thing was that Master Tao brought his whole family to work in the garment factory. His son and daughter-in-law were both skilled workers, and they also had three children. Master Tao’s old wife was responsible for taking care of the little ones, while the family worked together to earn money and build a house back in their village.
So Xu Shen opened the conversation by telling Master Tao about the salary level in Nanshi and how much he could earn with his craft.
“That much?!” Master Tao did not doubt Xu Shen’s words at all. The new wave of migrant workers had just emerged, and the relationship between bosses and their workers was still in a good era of mutual benefit and unrestrained freedom. Since the boss earns more, then the workers also earn more… That was the theory of labor exploitation.
Xu Shen nodded: “You and your family can earn about two thousand yuan in a year.” And that was a very considerable amount. Two thousand yuan was enough to build a large bungalow with a yard in anyone’s hometown, and if they already had some savings, they could even build a luxurious one… Maybe a large house with a second floor that only costs about five thousand yuan.
Even Xu Shen’s house… Since the yard was not very big, but the house was facing the street in the middle of the county town, he too only had to pay five thousand for it.
Farmers may not be able to save five thousand yuan after 20 years of farming, but working as a family of craftsmen to earn money and build a house was a very viable way out.
Water flowed to lower places, and people went to higher places… Since Master Tao dared to drag his family out to make a living, he certainly had the courage and ambition to move up.
“Boss Xu, don’t be ridiculous…” Master Tao said: “Where could I find a job like that?” Two thousand yuan a year… Wasn’t that crazy?!
Seeing that Xu Shen only smiled and said nothing, Master Tao couldn’t help swallowing his saliva and asked: “Is it really that much?”
“Yes.” Xu Shen nodded: “But it depends on whether Master Tao is willing to come to Nanshi or not.”
After going back and forth, Master Tao finally understood that this boss Xu wanted to poach his family and open up the wasteland in Nanshi…
“No, no, no…” Master Tao opened his mouth to refuse.
“Sign the contract and you will be paid three months’ salary first.” Xu Shen was particularly generous: “Then the factory will also allocate you a spacious dormitory, including food and accommodation.”
Master Tao immediately swallowed back his words, his eyes widening: “Really?!”
“Yeah.” Xu Shen directly took out a big unit bill from his pocket and waved it: “See? There’s no lack of money.”
Master Tao’s doubts disappeared immediately. The young man in front of him was handsome and looked like he was well-financed from head to toe.
“How about you think about it slowly, and I’ll go look at other factories…” Xu Shen really didn’t have to dig up masters. Today, he just tried to see if the conditions they offered were attractive or not.
“Hey, Boss Xu, wait a minute…” With two thousand yuan a year, Master Tao couldn’t give up this opportunity to others… If he didn’t do it himself, it didn’t mean that other people wouldn’t compete for it! “When do you need me to come? I still have half a month left until my next salary…”
“It’s okay. You can come after getting your pay.” Xu Shen saw the leader of the garment factory coming, so he hurriedly stuffed Master Tao with a twenty yuan bill: “There’s a phone number on the money. You can use the telephone in the train station and call me when you arrive in Nanshi.”
“What…” Master Tao hurriedly collected the money and pretended to be nonchalant in front of the garment factory’s administrator.
“Boss Xu, how was your inspection?” The factory leader spoke non-nonstandard Mandarin and greeted Xu Shen warmly, without noticing anything strange about his master.
“This master’s craftsmanship is very exquisite.” Xu Shen praised.
“The list…”
“Oh, well, I’ll call the company today and discuss the quantity with our leader in detail.” Xu Shen said.
“Okay, okay.” The factory administrator smiled: “Would you like to go to a restaurant for lunch? Do you have time?”
“That’s not necessary…” Xu Shen said: “I came here with my wife. My wife is still waiting for me to go back to the guest house. Maybe next time?”
“Ok, ok!” The factory leader was a little surprised… Such a young boy already had a wife?!
Master Tao watched the factory leader diligently send Xu Shen away, scratching his head in a complicated mood… But he would be a bastard if there were money to be made and he didn’t take the opportunity.
Working for anyone was not like running a charity… Of course, he would work for whoever paid more!
From noon to afternoon, Xu Shen went to several other factories to screen people. He didn’t want those who had an unrestrained spirit and lived a life without any worries. He also didn’t want anyone who had bad habits or extreme tempers. It was best to be like Master Tao. An honest and loyal man who took care of his family.
In the end, there were only two other people left, but Xu Shen felt that it was enough for the time being. In the future, they could take apprentices and keep everyone busy.
Xu Shen only came back after the dark. When he saw that Shu Ran was not there, he called “wife” and sat on the bed to rest.
“Are you exhausted?” Shu Ran came out of the bathroom and said with concern when he saw him: “Your body can’t stand it anymore, have a good rest tomorrow.” Then he poured a glass of cold water and sent it over, wanting to help Xu Shen take off his shoes.
“It’s okay.” Xu Shen smiled and took the water. Then he was startled by Shu Ran taking off his shoes, so he quickly stopped him: “No, no, I’ll do it myself!”
“Why are you being polite to me?” Shu Ran thought, thinking that Xu Shen had also washed his feet last night, so he wanted to reward him: “I want to be nice to you and give you a surprise.”
Xu Shen kissed his hand and said: “If you really want to touch, touch something else.”
“Shameless!” Shu Ran scolded him with a smile.
“Do your feet still hurt?” Xu Shen smiled lazily, took off his shoes and trousers, and soon felt refreshed.
“It’s scabbed already, doesn’t hurt anymore.” Shu Ran sat down on the chair.
“That’s good…” Xu Shen took a sip of water and told him about the fruits of his labor: “How many masters do you think I dug today?”
“How many?” Shu Ran said. “It’s not a lot, right? Our factory doesn’t need that many.”
“No, there are three masters and four garment workers.” Xu Shen said slowly: “A skilled worker can help a newbie, and after three to five months, we should be on the right track.”
“Absolutely.” Shu Ran nodded. It would indeed take three to five months, but it also depended on the productivity of the workers.
“Let’s not talk about this anymore.” Xu Shen said. “I missed you so much today.”
Shu Ran gave him a look.
Xu Shen has long been used to this kind of reaction. Since his wife was a tsundere1“Tsundere” (JP) is a term for a character who acts rude, cold, and hostile towards their love interest in order to conceal their warm and caring feelings., he needed to get up and ask for a kiss… A kiss that went deep to the bone.
Shu Ran was sandwiched between the chair and Xu Shen, feeling like he was about to be squeezed, and even breathing was a little difficult. But in fact, he also missed Xu Shen quite a lot, so even though he had difficulty breathing, his palms clasped Xu Shen’s shoulders and brought them towards him instead of pushing away…
Xu Shen noticed this detail and wanted to laugh, but his wife seemed to notice that he was distracted and bit him.
“Okay, I’ll focus on kissing you…” Xu Shen said softly.
After their lovesickness slowly subsided and they were satisfied with each other, Xu Shen let go of his limp wife and went to wash away the dust and sweat from his body.
Shu Ran calmed down his breathing and looked up at the calendar on the wall. Before he knew it, it had already been half a month since they came to the coast so… He and Xu Shen hadn’t been close to each other for half a month. On the one hand, he was tired from running around all day, and on the other hand, Xu Shen didn’t want to do it there. The guest house was not a comfortable environment.
Now that the search for the masters had come to an end, there was only one last task left for their trip, to visit the garment wholesale market and experience other people’s rules for handling and shipping goods.
It was also there that Shu Ran finally saw a foreigner.
Since the 1980s, European and American clothing dealers started to order large quantities of finished products from China, because domestic labor costs were very cheap for foreigners at that time, and many familiar European and American clothing brands were being processed there.
“Do you see those foreigners?” Shu Ran poked Xu Shen’s arm: “The orders in their hands are very large, so we should also do business with them!”
“How do you know?” Before he could answer, Xu Shen answered for him: “Did you read it in a book?”
Shu Ran glared at Xu Shen. Since the other party was like that, he was too lazy to deal with him: “You can see it with your own eyes… You see how enthusiastic those shopkeepers are towards foreigners. They can’t afford to leave early without profit, right? No one is willing to give such a brilliant smile if they don’t have a big order.”
Since that was the reason, Xu Shen asked: “Then don’t we need to hire a translator who can speak foreign languages?”
Otherwise, they won’t be able to communicate with each other…
Shu Ran scratched his face and wanted to say… “Hey… I can speak a foreign language… Please give me the salary of a translator!” But thinking about it, he still didn’t dare to say it. He really couldn’t explain clearly how he knew a foreign language…
“Your expression is really weird.” Xu Shen came over to look at him, narrowed his eyes, and watched him intently: “It’s like…”
“Like?! Like what?!” Shu Ran was a little nervous.
“It seems…” Xu Shen continued: “It seems like you’re hiding a huge secret from me and you’re considering whether to tell me or not.”
Shu Ran admired Xu Shen’s insight… The things that man could see… But on the surface, he still said calmly: “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“It’s up to you.” Xu Shen was calmer than him. He had always been so calm as if he had no curiosity: “Forget it if you don’t want to say it. You don’t have to force yourself. Just know that I support you.”
“Oh.” Shu Ran nodded.
He had to say that it was very easy to get along with people like Xu Shen. He didn’t interfere with his spiritual world, and he never explored what was going on. He just lived in the moment and paid attention to what was visible and tangible. It was actually quite philosophical when he thought about it…
He probably understood why he considered telling Xu Shen his secret, because he knew that Xu Shen would probably just say “oh” after hearing it, and then ask him what he wanted to eat next.
How come he felt a little… Stupid…?
Shu Ran was amused by his own imagination.
As for Xu Shen… Xu Shen didn’t know why he was laughing, but he laughed too.
“Do you even know what I’m laughing about? Just laughing along…” Shu Ran coughed gently, afraid that Xu Shen might actually ask what he was laughing about… So he awkwardly changed the subject: “Where do you want to go now?”
On their way, he kept looking at other people’s shops and what they had to offer. Usually, the clothes displayed up front were just mass-market products, relying on cheap prices to attract customers. The real good stuff, the exclusive collections, were hidden inside the store. Some shop owners even hid them behind a curtain, afraid that other peers might copy the designs. So it was a good thing that the main purpose of their visit to the coast hadn’t been discovered yet… If it had been, Shu Ran was afraid they might even get beaten!
“Speaking of hiring foreign translators…” Xu Shen had to admit that his and Shu Ran’s appearances were indeed deceptive. No matter what store they entered, the boss would never guess that they were, in fact, copy thieves.
But Shu Ran didn’t even bother to copy designs. He could draw all the popular designs of that era with his eyes closed, he just wanted to see how other people were selling their things.
There were several colors for each design… Things like what was the most popular color, what size… There were so many details to consider.
“Foreign translators… Oh, foreign translators…” Shu Ran looked ahead and pointed to a shop: “That place seems very new, let’s go and have a look.” Then he continued: “Let’s put it aside for now. Do you even want to do business with foreigners?”
If Shu Ran didn’t do it, his flesh would hurt so much… That cake was so big, he would have liked to swallow it all in one bite!
But Xu Shen might get to the bottom of things… Shu Ran had a headache thinking about it… Just forget it! We’ll talk about it later!
At a wholesale men’s clothing store, Shu Ran gestured at Xu Shen, while holding a linen jacket. Xu Shen asked: “What are you pointing at? Do you want to buy it for me, or should I buy it for you?”
Shu Ran said: “Who wants to buy it for you, I just use you as a model to see if this pattern looks good.”
The boss said on the side: “Boss, this version is selling very well! Listen to me, it will definitely sell well if you take it back! If it doesn’t, you can bring it back to me!”
Then he excitedly pointed to the mirror for Xu Shen to see for himself: “It’s really beautiful. I’m not going to lie to you, just see it for yourself, okay?”
Shu Ran secretly laughed in his heart. With Xu Shen’s condition, he would look good even while wearing a garbage bag, but he still said: “Yes, it looks pretty good.”
“Young man, it looks good on you.” The boss didn’t care whether it was wholesale or not. No matter how small the mosquito was, it was still made of meat! So he kept selling: “You can buy two colors for each person. You can also buy them for relatives and friends. They are very cheap.”
Xu Shen was a little moved and looked at Shu Ran: “Do you want to buy it?”
Shu Ran rolled his eyes: “Buy your big head.”
“Didn’t you just say it looks good?” Xu Shen wanted to buy one piece for each of them and wear it as a couple’s outfit at home… The boss’s brainwashing was quite successful! The people from the coast were really good at doing business, and they immediately knew how to capture the attention of the customers.
Shu Ran muttered in a low voice: “I meant you looked good…” The clothes were just so-so. They were going to open a garment factory soon, so what was the need to buy clothes from outside?!
To prevent Xu Shen from making impulsive purchases, Shu Ran quickly put the jacket back and took him to look at other stores.
They wanted to purely inspect the market, not boost the coastal area’s GDP!
What else could Xu Shen do?! He could only be led away by his wife…
Time flew in the afternoon, and Li Jie and the others had almost arrived. They needed to load machinery, equipment, and fabrics, so five trucks were prepared.
Xu Shen asked them to go directly to the guest house, park the trucks in the parking lot, and check in. They should have a good night’s rest and load the goods tomorrow.
After the two went back, the big guys had just arrived and were begging for water from the staff in the lobby. Xu Shen didn’t even have time to say hello to them, so he quickly asked for five rooms at the registration office. The rooms in the guest house were spacious, so there was no problem for two brothers to share one room.
“Li Jie… Everyone go back, take a shower, and rest. I will take you out for dinner tonight.” Xu Shen told them.
“Okay, Brother Shen!” The guys raised their hands and couldn’t wait to go back to their rooms.
After they all left, Xu Shen looked at the bag full of cigarettes in Shu Ran’s hand, saying: “I forgot to give it to them. Forget it, I’ll give it during dinner.”
“You’re such a good boss…” Shu Ran looked at him with deep emotion. No wonder Xu Shen was so popular.
“Everything we do is hard work, and we always have to take care of the tobacco, alcohol, and food.” Xu Shen said.
“That’s right.” Shu Ran nodded.
They also went back to their room to tidy up. They were going to have dinner with everyone later, so Shu Ran asked worriedly: “Should we sit separately later to avoid arousing suspicion?”
Xu Shen resisted that idea as soon as he heard it. Moreover, he thought: “Sitting separately will only arouse more suspicion, right?”
“Then be more honest at the table and don’t keep glancing over at me…” Shu Ran was really afraid of being seen by others. He wasn’t afraid of people making fun of them before, but now he was really afraid that something might go wrong.
Xu Shen weighed the difficulty of the task, and said: “Okay, I’ll look away.”
“Also don’t pick up food for me, keep your hands to yourself.” Shu Ran continued: “I can do it myself.”
“But I have to tell you what’s delicious…”
“No, don’t show that you treat me differently.”
Xu Shen: “My relationship with you is inherently different… We seem normal.”
“You’re too innocent.” Shu Ran reminded him: “My sister never showed up, which is equivalent to being invisible. Sooner or later, everyone will suspect her. One year, two years… Unless you don’t plan on living with me for a long time?”
“I’ve thought about it!” Xu Shen interrupted him and said hurriedly: “Then I will do as you say and listen to you.”
The room became quiet.
After half a month of living alone in this strange city where no one knew them, they were a little tired, but also very comfortable. Suddenly, they were back among familiar people… Shu Ran was fine, but Xu Shen was probably not too good at adapting.
No one spoke in the room for a long time, until Xu Shen said: “Wife, are you going to pretend not to know me from now on?”
Shu Ran looked at Xu Shen in disbelief, thinking… How could this person ask such a mentally retarded question…?!
“There’s no need.”
Xu Shen: “Then give me a kiss…” Just now, Shu Ran said, “Unless you don’t plan on spending a long time with me”… It made his heart tighten suddenly. Only then did he realize that the expression of having a heartache was not a figure of speech, but the complete truth.
His heart really broke!
Shu Ran was speechless and amused, but he still stood up, leaned over, and kissed Xu Shen on the lips: “You look like you’re scared.”
“Who says I’m not?” Xu Shen raised his head slightly and looked at him.
“?” Shu Ran sat back for a moment and reached out to touch Xu Shen’s ears: “Then let me touch you and you’ll no longer be scared.”
“It’s really effective…” Xu Shen touched his chest miraculously: “The effect was immediate, and now there is nothing wrong!”
Shu Ran smiled and said nothing, thinking that he was playing with himself. About an hour later, after the brothers had washed and rested, Li Jie came over and knocked on Xu Shen and Shu Ran’s door: “Brother Shen, are you okay?”
Xu Shen and Shu Ran came out neatly: “Is everyone here? Let’s go.”
The brothers were all very hungry. Xu Shen didn’t choose a restaurant too far away, but one that was nearby. He ordered a lot of meat, including chicken and duck, and cooked it on a small stove while eating.
“Here.” Xu Shen opened the two cigarette bundles and took two packs for each of them: “Everyone has worked hard on this trip. Eat well, go back, and have a good rest.”
“Brother Shen, you’ve worked hard too!” Li Jie didn’t know about their plan to set up a factory yet, so he thought Xu Shen was looking for business along the coast: “Where should we send tomorrow’s goods?”
Xu Shen: “It’s my own goods, so let’s go back to Nanshi.”
Everyone was quite surprised: “Your own goods?!”
“Yeah.” Xu Shen no longer hid it and officially informed everyone: “We are going to set up our own factory. From now on, we will only deliver our goods, so we won’t have to send off goods for other manufacturers.”
“Set up a factory?!” Everyone was even more shocked, and some were still surprised and excited: “Brother Shen, do you really want to set up a factory?!”
“Would I joke with you?” Xu Shen nodded: “Really!”
“Haha, that’s great!” Everyone was very happy, mainly because they wouldn’t have to deliver other people’s goods in the future… Delivering goods to others was very painful, and they were squeezed when loading and unloading the trucks. It was so much better to deliver their own goods, making them willing to work more!
“You actually want to set up a factory, haha.” Li Jie laughed and said: “Congratulations to Brother Shen! Will you cooperate with Brother Sen and the others?”
“Yes.” Xu Shen smiled. There was in fact another new shareholder, so he couldn’t help but point at Shu Ran and introduce him: “In addition to Brother Sen and the others, there is also this person who holds shares. He is the chief planner. Over the past half of a month, we’ve been running to the market together to select materials, and he has also worked hard.”
Hearing that, the atmosphere became quite strange for a moment.
Everyone looked at Shu Ran with blank eyes, unable to associate him with the word “shareholder” at all.
In everyone’s minds, Shu Ran, that brother-in-law, was actually not much different from them… They all followed Xu Shen. At most, Xu Shen would be a little bit more polite to Shu Ran.
Now Xu Shen told them that Shu Ran was also a shareholder, making him the boss above them. That…
“I’m very happy to work with you all in the future!” Shu Ran said with a polite smile. “I’m only responsible for connecting with customers and don’t care about other things…” If there were any problems, he would just ask Xu Shen to convey them, so as not to cause any interpersonal conflicts.
Xu Shen retorted in his heart… What kind of nonsense was he talking about?! He was obviously a senior manager!
However, he could understand Shu Ran’s starting point. Now no one has seen Shu Ran’s strength, so some people were dissatisfied… But they would be submissive in the future!
When the food was served, everyone no longer thought about talking and immediately started to eat, happily chatting a few words about setting up the factory. Shu Ran just focused on his plate, trying to reduce his sense of presence as much as possible.
Everyone else was taking turns talking to Xu Shen. He guessed that Xu Shen was so busy that he didn’t even have time to think about him.
Li Jie opened a pack of cigarettes and gave Xu Shen one: “Brother Shen!”
Xu Shen waved his hand: “I don’t feel like smoking.” He said that with some thought, never saying that he planned on quitting smoking. In fact, I made Shu Ran admire him again, thinking that Xu Shen was indeed a cunning person.
Since they had to drive tomorrow, nobody drank that night. They just went back to the guest house to rest early.
After entering the room, Xu Shen said worriedly: “Wife, don’t pay attention to their attitude just now. They are all a bunch of rough men. In the future, when they see how powerful you are, they will naturally be obedient to you.”
Now all talk was in vain.
“I understand, and I didn’t take it seriously.” Shu Ran was not a child, so he still said in a measured tone: “Don’t worry, I wish I could have a lower presence in front of your brothers.”
Xu Shen sighed: “You are so mature, I often forget that you are only eighteen.”
Shu Ran thought to himself… In fact, he was really more than eighteen… He was twenty-one.
“What are the arrangements for tomorrow?” Shu Ran washed his face and came back to lie down: “Should I take people to load the fabrics while you take people to carry the machines?”
Xu Shen also lay down next to him, with his arms behind his head, and thought for a moment: “Okay, then they can drive back by themselves, and we will take the green train leisurely.”
“The green train? It won’t be smoky, right?” Shu Ran turned sideways and looked at Xu Shen: “I heard that animals can also get on the train. What if we encounter a group of pigs…”
Xu Shen snorted and looked at him: “How can it be so outrageous? It’s just a bunch of chickens, ducks and geese at most.”
“Isn’t that the same thing? Do you think chicken feces and duck feces don’t stink?” Shu Ran frowned, almost imagining the scene of being surrounded by a group of chickens, ducks, and geese. The picture was too beautiful to bear to look at…
“It still doesn’t smell like pig shit…” Xu Shen didn’t know what he was thinking about, but it made him smile: “You shouldn’t worry about the animals. You should worry about the smelly feet or body odor of the people next to you.”
“Stop it!” Shu Ran kicked him and felt uncomfortable: “If you say that, I have no desire to take the green train.”
“Besides…..
“Shut up!” Shu Ran said.
“Okay.” Xu Shen suppressed his strong desire to share his previous experiences… He was afraid that if he said too much, Shu Ran might really refuse to get on the green train.
“You know so much… What famous scenes have you encountered before?” Shu Ran held it in for a while, but in the end, he was still a little curious to hear what Xu Shen had encountered.
“Famous scenes?” Those words were really interesting… Xu Shen recalled for a moment and showed an unbearable expression: “I met someone who farted all night.”
Shu Ran immediately snorted… Oh no, why should he listen to those things?!
“It’s strange, why am I disgusted but still want to hear what you say?”
“It’s strange.” Xu Shen smiled so hard that his face turned sour: “I also feel disgusted but still want to tell you.”
“I thought about it… After all, it’s better for you to be disgusted by yourself!” Shu Ran asked him to stop talking and leave some beautiful fantasies for the green train.
Early the next morning, Xu Shen gave his wife a sum of money and took three trucks to go and pick up the machines. Shu Ran took the money and the other two trucks to the fabric market, to load the fabrics and purchase some necessary trivial items, such as a fax machine, a telephone, and a printer.
Xu Shen was worried and let Li Jie accompany him, so Shu Ran took Li Jie to buy all those things.
Li Jie was really unconvinced by Shu Ran’s performance at first. In terms of age or seniority, he had been with Xu Shen longer, but Shu Ran seemed to have a transcendent status and was very popular with Xu Shen.
Wasn’t it only because Shu Ran was brave and knew how to play tricks?!
Of course, his good looks were also a reason, but Li Jie felt that it was mainly about his status as a “brother-in-law”.
Shu Ran didn’t care what Li Jie thought since he just needed someone to carry things. And so Li Jie followed him through skillfully trying out the equipment he was interested in and even bought stationery with him.
Also random things like gloves, masks and hats… Shu Ran just bought whatever he needed, whenever he saw it. His clear and neat style of doing things slowly changed Li Jie’s mind, making him feel that Shu Ran was indeed a person who knew how to do things well.
For example, all those printers and fax machines… He really couldn’t use them.
“Ahem, do you need all of these to run a factory?” Li Jie asked.
“Of course it’s necessary.” Shu Ran saw that he had taken the initiative to speak, so he said enthusiastically: “The fax machine can be used to receive orders from customers. We can print them in black and white, on both sides. The printer can also print the rest of the design drawings and information. It has many uses, including office work, so it’s necessary.”
Of course, there was also the risk of people going back on their words even when it was printed in black and white… But that depends on luck, so it is better to be cautious when screening customers.
“Oh.” Li Jie pretended to understand, but he knew that although Shu Ran understood it very well, Xu Shen might not understand those things either, so he still had a problem in his heart: “Only you who have read so many books would know this…”
Shu Ran smiled: “I’ve bought everything I need. Let’s move back.”
“Okay.” Li Jie was obviously more positive now, so he asked: “Will you go back in our truck?” He actually wanted to invite this brother-in-law to ride in his truck.
“Not by truck…” Shu Ran wanted to say that he and Xu Shen would take the green train back, but suddenly remembered Xu Shen’s art of speaking, so he changed his mind: “We still have to finish things here, so we could only go back to Nanshi later.”
“Okay.” Li Jie had no doubt that he was speaking the truth.
The big truck took Shu Ran back to the guest house and then drove away.
When Shu Ran saw Xu Shen, he quickly asked: “Did your brothers ask you if you wanted to ride the truck back?”
Xu Shen: “Asked.”
Shu Ran: “Then how did you answer?”
“What’s wrong?” Xu Shen looked at his wife: “I said there were still things left to do here, so I’ll go back later.”
Sure enough! Shu Ran showed a satisfied smile. He could still learn something from following that big shot in the future!
