"Brother Ah Zhi, you might not know yet, but Auntieâs money got stolen when it arrived. She barely has any cash now. A few days ago, Dandan flirted with one of our customers in the store. His wife found out and caused a huge scene at our place, and the customer kicked Dandan out of the store. Many of our old customers were there, and this sort of thing definitely dissatisfied them. I had no choice but to stop Dandan from working there. When I got back, I thought of having them help make clothesâtwenty cents per piece. Auntie and cousin could easily make twenty pieces a day, four bucks, no problem. But they didnât do it properly, not only ruining the clothes, they even took them yesterday, presumably to sell on their own."
"Thereâs such a thing?" Liang Zhi was furious upon hearing it. He knew his aunt wasnât reliable: "Xiao Wan, Ah Hui, if Auntie does something like this again, donât hold back. Do what needs to be done. They wonât learn unless they suffer a little."
"Brother Ah Zhi, I have it under control. But with you coming this time, I doubt you can take them away."
"If theyâre just hiding from me, I wonât bother with them either. Xiao Wan, donât trouble yourselves. Do what you need to do."
"Little Sis, look, this piece of clothing they left behind while running awayâit looks a lot like your style. Are they imitating your clothes?" Lin Yinghui worriedly asked.
Lin Wan looked at the gray large floral patterned dress in her brotherâs hands and almost burst into laughter.
Only those two could make clothes like this.
Lin Wan chuckled and said, "Donât worry, bro. I can guarantee this piece wonât sell for long." "Hm," Lin Yinghui indeed didnât worry upon seeing the clothes. Even if given to his mom to wear, he wouldnât want them.
After Little Star woke up, they all went to the hot pot restaurant. Itâs rare for the whole family to have hot pot together...
Meanwhile with Liang Weixiang and her daughter. Early in the morning, they spent the day at the market, without selling a piece, but managed to lose one.
Three bucks of cost, just gone like that.
"You tell me, knowing Brother Ah Zhi was coming, why didnât you inform me earlier?"
"Mom, I forgot all about it. Who knew heâd come looking for us?"
"If he doesnât come for us, who else? Surely your dad asked Brother Ah Zhi to come over. Mom, you know Iâve lost the familyâs money now, and even invested so much. If I return, forget Dad, even those three brothers will devour me, believe it or not."
Zhang Dandan couldnât help but roll her eyes, indifferent to it all, since it didnât concern her anyway.
"Mom, itâs not my fault you hid the money without telling me. If you gave it to me, would it have been lost?"
"Now, donât talk nonsense to me. Letâs hurry over to Qiu Hualanâs place."
The incident made Liang Weixiang realize that they couldnât make clothes well just by themselves. She spent over twenty bucks on fabric yesterday. If these clothes donât sell, this money will be wasted.
Right now, Ye Qing is their lifeline, whether itâs seventy-thirty or sixty-forty split. As long as they can earn money, the amount doesnât matter.
Just like that, with a handprint on the "seven-three" contract, the two families started their venture.
Although Ye Qing couldnât design new styles, she could imitate. Lin Wan made beautiful clothes, so Ye Qing decided to mimic hers.
Later, sell them at slightly lower prices, and letâs see how Lin Wan handles it.
Ye Qing wasnât like Liang Weixiangâs mother-daughter duo who were like headless chickens. She knew there was a Textile Street on Construction Road. She went there right after work the next day.
She found some fabrics similar to Lin Wanâs, which looked pretty decent and were priced reasonably.
Not having much money herself, Ye Qing didnât want to invest too much, so she bought two rolls of fabric for about two hundred bucks.
Upon returning, Ye Qing showed the invoice for the purchase to Liang Weixiang and her daughter, and passed them two blueprints. The rest was up to Liang Weixiang and her daughter now.
"Letâs be clear, any future matters, just come to me directly. Remember not to disturb my mom on that side."
"Your mom isnât usually busy at home, is she? With a kid in tow, she could help out a bit." It didnât feel fair to Liang Weixiang that only one person from their family was involved.
"What can one do with a kid? If the kid pees or spills and damages the fabric, would you be okay with it?" Simply put, Ye Qing didnât want too much entanglement with family, her mom included.
Ye Qing visited their yard a few times before realizing her familyâs courtyard view was completely exposed to theirs. Last year, the middle courtyard remained vacant since Yang Erni had no plans to rent it. That wall was ignored.
She would have someone build that wall over the next couple of days, avoiding their peeping actions into her family.
Liang Weixiang focused on the designs Ye Qing gave her, pondering over them for a whole day. The mother-daughter team spent all day fumbling around, wasting seven or eight feet of fabric before they managed a single cut.
After returning from the shop, Little Star was especially lively. Han Yi embraced her while lying on the bed, teasing her with his newly grown stubble, making Little Star giggle continuously.
When Lin Wan returned from tidying up outside, she saw this scene. Speaking of her daughter, itâs a wonder. Despite Han Yi being away for so long, she wasnât unfamiliar with him at allârelying on him more than anyone else.
"Where would you like to go tomorrow? Iâll take you there." Han Yi asked as Lin Wan entered, holding Little Star in one arm and pulling Lin Wan onto the bed with the other.
"Anywhere is fine, as long as youâre there." From their wedding to now, except when she was pregnant with Little Star, Han Yi hadnât been absent her side often. Most of the time, he wasnât around.
Lin Wanâs demands were simple. For as long as Han Yi was home, spending time with her was all she wished for; where they went didnât matter.
Han Yi embraced the mother-daughter pair, turned on the TV, and the family of three watched the screen, creating such a warm feeling one would want to preserve forever.
Thus, Lin Wan took out her camera, found a tripod, fiddled for a while, pressed the shutter, and hurried back to bed. A carefree yet tender photograph was captured just like that.
Speaking of the camera, Lin Wan realized it was rare for Brother Ah Zhi to visit. How could she forget to lend it to him to capture memories while they went out?
"Should we visit Mother-in-law tomorrow?" Typically, whenever Han Yi returns, he should check on her.
"No need... Letâs not bother her. When I come back next time, weâll pay her a visit."
You could sense hesitation in Han Yiâs words. Lin Wan couldnât tell if he felt awkward or uncomfortable. Since he wasnât keen on going, she said nothing.
Thankfully, Mother-in-law was happily living now. The kids had grown, and she mentioned occasionally going to the nearby park to dance.
As the weather warmed, business at Xiao Dungâs cinema improved significantly. Mother-in-law had been helping with sales these last few Sundays.
The next day, Lin Wan handed the camera to her brother, who happened to plan a fun excursion with Brother Ah Zhi in nearby areas.
With the family gathered, Lin Wan went to Shilanâs house to invite her over to help them take a family portrait.
Photos of their family with Brother Ah Zhi, the three of them, brother with mom, Han Yi with her, and solo shots of Little Starâthey took quite a few pair shots.
After her brother and Brother Ah Zhi left, Lin Wan planned to make dumplings at home this noon, inviting Shilan over too. Normally, when Han Yi wasnât around, the two of them would look out for each other during meals.
These days, with Han Yi home, Shilan felt hesitant to visit, worried about intruding on the family.
Han Yi wanted chive and egg dumplings, so Shilan and Lin Wan bought back the ingredients when suddenly Su Ling and Liu Wei arrived with their Tiger, followed by Yin Peibai and Zhang Hanfu.
"Whatâs up with you all? Formed a group knowing weâd make dumplings today?" Lin Wan curiously asked.
"Of course we grouped up. Such nice weather, why stay cooped up? Letâs go on a picnic, to row boats on the river by East District Park," Su Ling laughed.
"Row boats?" Shilan showed some interest.
"Yeah, after boating, weâll have a picnic nearby. See, weâve got everything ready." Yin Peibai showed them the bag he carried, packed with food and drinks.
Snacks, drinks, there were even two bottles of beer. Lin Wan turned to hint for Han Yiâs opinion, who, after greeting Zhang Hanfu and Liu Wei while holding Little Star, rubbed Lin Wanâs head saying, "The weatherâs nice today, a gathering with friends is great. If you want to go, letâs pack up quickly."