Chapter 513: For a Moment, He Let His Guard Down

"I don’t care what the reason is, even if Wang Tianxue had a hand in it, the loss of the Department Store was caused by your personal issue. The only chance for you now is to recoup this loss. Pack up those unsold goods and send them back the way they came; the Department Store won’t quibble over the lost freight costs."

Yang Rui opened his mouth with difficulty once again, "I...I can’t reach that person anymore. When I contacted the vendor who wholesaled the goods to us, they said there’s no reason to return the goods that were sold..."

Manager Wang slammed the desk, "What are you saying? Wasn’t it agreed in the initial contract that the goods could be exchanged if there were sales problems..."

Before he could finish, Manager Wang had already realized, and he closed his eyes dejectedly.

The original contract was signed with Wang Tianxue’s aunt by marriage, and this batch of goods they went to get from Rong City this time likely did not have such a contract signed.

Yang Rui also knew that he had caused a major blunder this time. In the past, it was Wang Tianxue and her aunt who managed everything. Over time, coupled with the aunt’s good reputation, he somehow forgot about the importance of signing the contract completely.

Lin Chuxia thought for a few days and still decided to write a letter.

In her last life, although it wasn’t her who saved that child, the family had always treated her as their child’s lifesaver.

After several exchanges, Lin Chuxia also learned the family’s address.

Writing a letter as a reminder, she thought of it as repaying the gratitude for the family’s support back then.

Lin Chuxia dropped the letter directly into the mailbox on the street, praying in her heart that the child could avoid that disaster.

She only remembered it was in October of that year, but as to which day, she really couldn’t recall.

She had just returned from the vegetable market that day when she heard a voice behind her, "Sis."

Lin Chuxia turned around in disbelief, only to see Lin Jiadong in the distance.

"Jiadong, it really is you! Why are you here? Aren’t you supposed to have class today?"

Lin Jiadong was also excited to see Lin Chuxia. The last time he came to the city to find his sister, she just happened to be out, only his brother-in-law was at home.

Although his brother-in-law was also very nice to him, for some reason, whenever he saw his taciturn brother-in-law, Lin Jiadong felt under a lot of pressure.

Today, he had also mustered up his courage to come. He didn’t expect to run into his second sister before he even reached her house.

"There’s a math competition in the city tomorrow, so I came early. Second sis, how have you been living here?"

After asking this, Lin Jiadong felt he’d asked a stupid question.

Just looking at the way his second sister dressed, he knew she was doing very well. He had never seen such a beautiful second sister.

He smiled awkwardly, "Of course, second sis must be doing well; brother-in-law is also good to second sis."

Probably any day spent away from the Lin Family was a better day for his second sister.

Lin Chuxia saw the despondence in his eyes; this silly little brother seemed to have grown up.

She patted his shoulder, "Let’s go back first. Have you had lunch yet? Tell second sis what you want for dinner tonight. You’ll stay at second sis’s place tonight, and tomorrow I’ll take you to school."

"Okay, sure," Lin Jiadong was carefree, and upon Lin Chuxia’s words, he agreed loudly.

"Second sis, I want to eat the dumplings you make, the ones with meat filling. Mom’s aren’t as tasty as yours, and the ones in the school canteen aren’t good either..."

"Alright, then we’ll make dumplings for dinner tonight."

Lin Chuxia had bought some vegetables, but not much meat, so the two of them returned to the market to buy meat.

"How long will the exam take tomorrow? If you have time after the exam, I’ll take you to buy a couple of pieces of clothing."

She noticed that Jiadong was still wearing the clothes she had bought for him last year, which were a bit worn out from washing.

The cold season is upon us, buy him two thick pieces of clothing.

Lin Jiadong quickly shook his head, "No need, Second Sister, I have clothes to wear. A few days ago, I bought a coat with the pocket money you gave me. Thinking about the coming cold, I got a cotton-padded jacket. I bought it a bit large so I can wear it for a couple more years. It’s been somewhat inconvenient to wear these past days, so I haven’t worn it. I truly have clothes to wear. After the exams tomorrow, I should be going back with my teachers and classmates. Today, I took leave in advance to come here."

Lin Chuxia sends living expenses to Lin Jiadong every month. Since she promised to support his education, she certainly won’t break her word.

Besides the tuition and book fees every term, she also sends twenty yuan for living expenses every month.

Twenty yuan a month was quite a lot in those days, even though wages for workers had gone up a bit over the years, and twenty yuan was about half a month’s salary for an ordinary worker.

She wanted Lin Jiadong to not skimp on food or drink, and money was also needed for school supplies.

She didn’t expect this lad to be able to save enough to buy clothes.

Without needing to look, Lin Chuxia knew that when he said it was big, it was not just slightly big.

These days when parents buy clothes for their children, they always go for larger sizes — new for three years, worn for another three, then patched and mended for yet another three.

Lin Jiadong was already in his second year of senior high school. Since last year, the boy hadn’t grown much taller, still buying clothes too large...

Lin Chuxia didn’t say much, just nodded her head.

This time she went back to the market and bought mutton. Jiadong liked to eat mutton, and she planned to make dumplings with pure mutton filling.

Sure enough, as soon as he saw her approaching the mutton stall, Lin Jiadong smiled foolishly.

After buying the meat, the siblings headed back to the family courtyard. Before they got home, they ran into a couple of children from the neighbors.

Hu Xingwei was as enthusiastic as ever, calling from a distance, "Aunt Lin."

His sister, Hu Yaping, only politely greeted Lin Chuxia when she came closer.

Lin Chuxia also greeted them, "Just finished school for the day?"

Hu Xingwei, the chatterbox, pointed at Hu Yaping and said, "No, we only had half a day of school today. I just went with my sister to buy school supplies. Aunt Lin, my sister is going to participate in a mathematics competition tomorrow. It’s a national event. This time it’s students from our City No.1 Middle School competing against top students from other towns and counties."

"Really? Your sister is truly impressive," Lin Chuxia said, glancing at her own brother as she spoke.

It seemed Jiadong was also participating in this competition.

A national event.

She knew her brother always did well in his studies, but she hadn’t expected him to be able to participate in a national competition in his second year of senior high.

Yan City was the provincial capital, and the competition tomorrow was the provincial round.

Hu Xingwei still looked excited, "I also think my sister is amazing. I heard that if you really place well, you could even go to the capital to compete..."

"Xingwei."

Hu Yaping called out his name in dissatisfaction, and Hu Xingwei closed his mouth.

Then, turning back, he saw the boy next to Lin Chuxia and asked curiously, "Aunt Lin, is this a relative of yours?"

Lin Chuxia pulled Lin Jiadong over to introduce him, "This is my brother, Lin Jiadong."

Hu Xingwei looked at Lin Jiadong, his face flushing red.

According to seniority, Aunt Lin’s brother should be called "Uncle" or "Uncle" by him, but the boy in front of him was only a few years older than himself.

After a moment, he extended his hand and said, "Hi."

Lin Jiadong came from the countryside. Before the reform and opening-up, there was an insurmountable gap between the countryside and the city.

Even as policies became more favorable over the years, the inherent impression still lingered, making Lin Jiadong feel somewhat inferior in front of city folks.

He also awkwardly greeted the other party.