Chapter 182: 90: A Family by the Spring Chapter 182: Female Cousin Resigns, Starts Her Own Company

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Protagonist:

Lin Xiyu

At half past five in the early morning, Uncle drove Guben and Lin Xiyu home together; the three entered the door wrapped in cold, and Grandmother was already up, cooking breakfast in the kitchen.

"Grandma, why are you up so early?"

Lin Xiyu saw the light was on, thought someone must be there, went to the kitchen, and indeed saw Grandmother's busy figure.

"Old age means less sleep; if you can't sleep, you just get up?"

Grandmother smiled affectionately, glanced toward the living room, saw Uncle had also entered with them, and her eyelid couldn't help but twitch.

"It snowed last night; I originally thought I'd stay at Guben's grandfather's place..."

Lin Xiyu smiled awkwardly and explained for Uncle: "In the middle of the night, Uncle's car had a bit of an accident, but you don't need to worry, it's nothing serious, just a minor scrape; Guben has already handled it."

"Car accident?"

Grandmother's heart jumped with fright; at first she didn't think about hitting a person.

"The car is fine."

Lin Xiyu first chose good words to say: "It won't affect use; Uncle has already called Auntie's Second Brother and asked him to come pick up the car."

"The car is fine, so you hit a person?"

How could Grandmother be so easily fooled by her; her heart clenched again.

"The person is also fine..."

Lin Xiyu, fearing Grandmother would worry and be frightened and harm her health, hurriedly added: "To be precise, it's nothing major, just a minor injury; it was settled after paying some medical fees."

"How much did you pay?"

Grandmother covered her chest, her voice carrying a slight tremble.

"500."

On the way back, Lin Xiyu had already discussed with Uncle to help him hide it from the family, not letting Auntie and Grandmother know.

"500?"

Grandmother didn't believe it, eyeing her doubtfully: "500 yuan worth calling you in the middle of the night and calling Guben over?"

"Uncle had never encountered this kind of thing; he was a bit panicked at first..."

Lin Xiyu yawned, pretended to be tired, wanting to brush it off.

"Tell Grandma the truth; exactly how much money?"

Grandmother had raised her since childhood and could see through her little thoughts at a glance.

"It's really 500..."

Lin Xiyu's eyes flickered slightly, avoiding Grandmother's gaze.

"Tell the truth!"

Grandmother's expression changed, taking on a hint of severity.

"Five thousand."

Lin Xiyu was so shocked her heart jumped, not daring to hide it anymore.

"Five thousand?!"

Grandmother's eyes went black, her body swaying uncontrollably.

"Grandma!"

Lin Xiyu cried out in alarm and reached out to support her.

"Mom!"

Uncle heard the sound and rushed over from the living room.

"You unfilial son..."

Grandmother saw it was him and was furious: "I told you not to drive a taxi, but you wouldn't listen; now look, all the money you earned is paid out; let me see how you explain it to your wife."

Uncle hung his head and said nothing, letting Grandmother pound his shoulders hard.

"Grandma, Uncle said he won't drive a taxi anymore."

Lin Xiyu couldn't bear it and advised with a bitter smile: "Calm your anger first; don't ruin your health over anger during the New Year."

"Bang."

A muffled sound came from the bedroom in the north house; Auntie was woken up, and hearing about paying money, her legs went weak; she got up from bed unsteadily, stumbled, and fell to the ground.

"Wah."

The little baby was also frightened awake, opening his mouth and wailing loudly.

The bedroom was in chaos; Grandmother didn't care to scold Uncle anymore, rushed into the room, and picked up the little baby.

【43】 Uncle followed in, helped Auntie up; soon, Auntie's sobbing sounded from the bedroom.

Uncle went in afterward, helped Aunt up, and soon the Bedroom was filled with Aunt's Crying.

Grandmother scolded Uncle again; Lin Xiyu, as a junior, couldn't go into the room to persuade; thinking Chen Xiulan should be waking up soon, she pulled Guben upstairs and told her own mother what had happened last night.

Chen Xiulan heard the gist; not bothering to comb her hair or wash her face, she rushed downstairs anxiously.

With Grandma helping to mediate, Lin Xiyu felt relieved; she and Guben hadn't slept all night and both needed to catch up on sleep.

This time Guben was not driven out of the boudoir by his fiancée to sleep on the cold sofa alone.

The two embraced and slept; after lying down for a while, they closed their eyes tiredly.

—

For the matter of transfer, the female cousin spent her own money on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year to treat her boss to a meal.

Wang Fan came to give her face, and when he heard her say she wanted to apply for a transfer to the Shanghai branch, he couldn't help but frown.

"Li Xiao and I don't get along; just seeing him annoys me......"

The female cousin complained vigorously, getting angrier the more she spoke, her emotions quite agitated: "If not Shanghai, then somewhere else; anyway, I don't want to stay here anymore."

"Li Xiao isn't as unreasonable as you say, is he?"

Wang Fan patiently listened to her nagging, and even felt he had a good temper himself.

Ding Sheng Decoration was built by him alone; how could he not know what happened at the main store?

Keeping a cat in the office and ordering subordinates to watch the shop—such an absurd thing happening in his own company truly left him in awe.

He considered himself not so easygoing; if not for the female cousin's outstanding business ability and her blood ties with Lin Xiyu, he would have slammed the table and told her to leave long ago.

"He relies on being the store manager and doesn't take me seriously......"

The female cousin didn't notice his subtle change in expression, continuing to chatter on without stopping.

"Sister Lei, it seems you've overlooked one thing."

Wang Fan really couldn't listen anymore and waved his hand to interrupt her: "I'm not only your friend, but also your boss; our positions are inherently opposed. Do you think, as the person in charge of a company, would allow his subordinates to loaf on the job and slack off? Not exploiting you is already generous enough, yet you want to run your own business on the side and make extra money—you don't take me as your boss seriously at all."

"I know I was wrong first, but Li Xiao's attitude is also too terrible."

The female cousin had never seen such a cold and stern side of Wang Fan; she lowered her eyelids somewhat embarrassedly to hide her shock.

"Sister Lei, listen to my advice......"

Seeing that she finally stopped nagging, Wang Fan breathed a sigh of relief: "Going to Shanghai isn't suitable. Although Shanghai's development momentum is strong, with Pudong development, it's exactly the golden period for the decoration industry, but Shanghainese aren't as easy to deal with as you imagine; if you can't speak Shanghainese, you lose your advantage of being eloquent, and it's hard to truly integrate into the locals' lives."

"Not everyone buying a house in Shanghai is a local."

The female cousin felt unconvinced in her heart and showed it on her face.

"What you said is correct; I admit......"

Wang Fan first nodded, then abruptly changed the subject and said: "But decoration doesn't rely only on individual customers; more importantly, it's big clients, requiring connections to be opened up and networks to be cultivated, still mainly Shanghai locals. You should understand yourself how large the profit margin of decorating a big building is—how can it compare to the meager earnings of a few individual customers?"

"The connections in Jinan are all controlled by Li Xiao."

The female cousin complained unhappily: "Even if there are big projects, it wouldn't be my turn."

"That's because he's capable."

Wang Fan coldly retorted: "As a professional manager, an MBA returned from the United States, if he doesn't even have this bit of ability, what kind of store manager would he be?"

"I can tell; you just look down on me from the bottom of your heart."

The female cousin felt discriminated against, her small heart a bit hurt: "You think I have no education, unlike Li Xiao who is a returnee from overseas. Since you look down on me so much, there's no need for me to keep working at the company; I'll quit after the New Year......"

"Hmph."

Wang Fan sneered: "Sister Lei has quite a temper during the New Year, even daring to give the boss the cold shoulder."

"It's you who look down on me; why should I still give you face?"

The female cousin's stubborn temper also came up, and she very domineeringly talked back.

"Fine."

Wang Fan's patience ran out, and he stood up displeased: "If you want to quit, then quit; no need to wait until after the New Year, you can quit right now."

"Tsk~~"

Seeing that he said he'd leave and left, giving no face at all, the female cousin also felt a stifled anger in her heart; if she didn't vent it, she wouldn't feel comfortable: "What are you putting on airs for? Quit then quit, what's so great about it? I don't want to serve you anymore anyway."

Wang Fan put on a black face and pretended not to hear, letting the assistant open the door as he left the private room.

——

Qinglong Back Street.

Uncle hit someone and paid compensation, and the female cousin quit her job at this moment; for the family, it was like adding insult to injury.

Grandma originally thought to have Uncle quit his current job and follow his niece to do decoration work, but hearing she had also quit, her eyes went black, and she almost fainted again.

"What, quit?"

Aunt Da also found it hard to believe upon hearing her daughter quit.

"Wang Fan is now a big boss; he's not as easygoing as before."

The female cousin was unhappy: "Not only did he not agree to let me transfer, he also spoke up for Li Xiao, lectured me, and I've finally understood—working for others means only taking abuse. Anyway, I was going to quit sooner or later, so I might as well seize this opportunity to start my own decoration crew and work independently."

"You child, saying one thing after another......"

Aunt Da's heart ached with anger: "Quitting is such a big matter; you didn't even discuss it with the family first. Your mom was forced into retirement, but you were doing fine and just messed things up on your own."

"How is this messing things up?"

The female cousin said righteously: "I've figured out all the ins and outs of decoration; I'm confident that doing it on my own, I'll definitely earn more money."

"Since Leilei is so confident, why not let her try......"

Chen Xiulan at this moment became the calmest person present: "It just so happens that Eldest Sister has retired; she can help keep the accounts, the younger brother can run errands, and it also gives an excuse to push aside his second uncle, so he won't drive a taxi anymore, and our mom won't have to worry about him."

"Second Maternal Aunt is absolutely right; that's exactly what I mean."

The female cousin slapped her thigh and became spirited: "Our own family partnering together, working with one heart, sharing the profits equally—I just don't believe that with my innate talent for business, I can't make money."

"I'll follow you and work too?"

Uncle was unwilling from the bottom of his heart and still wanted to drive a taxi.

"I agree."

Grandma feared he would cause trouble again and immediately nipped his idea in the bud.

"Listen to our mom."

The maternal aunt poked him from behind, her voice choked: "We still owe Xiyu ten thousand yuan; we can't mess around anymore."

"Sigh."

Uncle's gaze dimmed, and he sighed deeply.

——

Lin Xiyu had a lovely nap, and when she opened her eyes it was already one in the afternoon.

Guben was already awake, playing with a Rubik's Cube with Xu Yi in the living room.

To cultivate her son into a talent, Chen Xiulan placed great emphasis on developing intelligence; a Rubik's Cube was a fine choice, both entertaining and able to enhance the brain's calculation and reaction abilities.

Xu Yi had just started playing, in the novelty phase, and found playing alone unsatisfying, so he pestered Guben to teach him.

Guben had played since childhood; even with one hand he could produce fancy tricks.

Xu Yi watched his fingers turning click-clack, and in no time all six faces of the Rubik's Cube had become uniform colors.

The young boy worshipped him endlessly, shouting "Wow, wow" without stopping.

"Xiao Yi, what are you ghost-screaming about?"

Lin Xiyu was woken by him; helplessly rubbing her eyes, she threw off the quilt and got out of bed.

"Sister......"

Xu Yi shouted in his small voice: "Brother-in-law is so awesome, playing with the Rubik's Cube so smoothly."

Guben found the words "brother-in-law" very pleasing; the corners of his mouth rose slightly, and he gave the young boy an appreciative look.

"It's just playing with a Rubik's Cube—is it worth such loud shouting?"

Lin Xiyu dressed very casually at home, wearing a small-flowered cotton jacket with a red base and yellow flowers that her maternal grandmother had made for her by hand two years ago, her hair loose, and walked out of the bedroom.

Guben lifted his eyes, glanced at her cotton jacket, and a hint of a smile flashed in his gaze.

"What are you laughing at?"

Lin Xiyu shot him a sideways glance.

"You look like this......"

Guben joked with a smile: "It reminds me of a movie Gong Li acted in."

"Red Sorghum?"

Lin Xiyu raised her eyebrow slightly.

"No."

The smile in Guben's gaze deepened: "The Story of Qiu Ju."

"Fine, you dare laugh at me!"

Lin Xiyu got annoyed, lunged over to hit him, but unexpectedly tripped underfoot and fell straight into his arms.

Guben was very pleased with her actively throwing herself into his embrace, opened his arms, and held her close.

"You're not laughing at me as Qiu Ju, are you."

Lin Xiyu punched him unhappily: "Since I'm so ugly, why are you holding me?"

"My own wife, no matter how ugly, I still like you."

Guben smiled black-belliedly, took the opportunity to lower his head, and stole a kiss.

"Hehe."

Xu Yi watched the two of them interacting intimately, grinning stupidly happy.

"Where's our mom?"

Lin Xiyu was both shy and annoyed, glaring at her younger brother unhappily.

"Went downstairs."

Guben answered casually.

"I wasn't asking you."

Lin Xiyu gave him a white eye: "You're not qualified to call Mom yet."

"Hehe."

Xu Yi found it funny, covering his mouth and chuckling.

"Your female cousin seems to have run into trouble again."

Guben smiled good-naturedly and didn't argue with her: "The whole family is downstairs discussing things."

"Leilei Jie?"

Lin Xiyu couldn't hide her shock: "What happened to her again?"

"She quit her job."

Xu Yi reacted quickly this time, nimbly interjecting: "I heard it when I went downstairs to eat lunch."

"Is she still downstairs? I'll go take a look......"

Lin Xiyu was also anxious hearing her female cousin had quit her job, and turned to leave.

"I'll go downstairs with you."

Guben put on his outer coat and went downstairs with her.

—

The female cousin, supported by her maternal grandmother, suddenly gained confidence, envisioning a wonderful future life, speaking with flying spit, painting big pies for the whole family.

Uncle and Aunt Da were also infected by her emotions, showing smiling expressions.

When Lin Xiyu and Guben arrived at their maternal grandmother's home, the whole family was talking and laughing, chatting heatedly.