Chapter 481

By the time Si Nian came back to her senses, she realized she was already sitting in the man's lap. Zhou Yueshen was a large man, and she looked like a small ball in his arms. He could completely envelop her. Zhou Yueshen held her with one hand and picked up an English book on the side to read with the other.

"I plan to part ways with Chen Nan."

Zhou Yueshen's voice was deep. "The market here is saturated. There is no room for advancement if I stay here. The main reason is that we have some disagreements."

He told Si Nian this not to make her worry, but just to explain the current situation to her.

To tell her his future plans.

When he mentioned their disagreement, his eyes darkened slightly.

Si Nian's heart skipped a beat. "You two had a falling out."

She had always felt that doing business with others was not a very good idea. No matter how good the relationship was, once interests were involved, it would definitely be easy to have a falling out.

Therefore, when Miao Chunhua invited her to do clothing business together, Si Nian did not agree.

Instead, she chose to invest and take dividends directly.

She also didn't want to interfere with Miao Chunhua's business, much less offer any suggestions, lest they disagree and create a rift.

Just sitting at home and taking dividends was good enough.

Zhou Yueshen and Chen Nan had also been cooperating for over three years.

Things had always been pretty good.

Now Chen Nan's room for advancement was huge, and it was already the largest appliance company in the capital.

Business was booming.

"It's not a falling out, just a disagreement. He wants to do imports and expand the business overseas."

Zhou Yueshen's voice was cold.

Chen Nan had high standards but little practical ability, and he looked down on the consumption of ordinary people. So when Zhou Yueshen proposed doing mass-market business, although he didn't say anything, he felt that it lowered the brand's grade.

He felt there was no need to make cheap goods and always wanted to make high-end appliances.

This also led to the current appliances being expensive, which ordinary families couldn't afford at all.

But the rich people's market was not infinite either, so he had plans to go overseas.

He wanted to be a big international brand.

Zhou Yueshen didn't think there was anything wrong with his idea. Everyone wants to move up, and wanting fame is also good for their brand.

But what he had always wanted to do was a mass-market brand.

So the final result of the discussion was to split the shares. He would start his own company to make his own mass-market brand.

Chen Nan would make his high-end brand.

Neither of them was the type to have a falling out over a disagreement, but their ideas had already dictated that their futures would not go down the same path.

Chen Nan didn't understand why Zhou Yueshen didn't like running to the city or going abroad.

He only focused on returning to their remote hometown.

He felt the development there was too poor, and simply not many people could afford such expensive big brands.

That's why he advised Zhou Yueshen to follow him.

But Zhou Yueshen didn't listen, and he couldn't do anything about it.

He thought Zhou Yueshen hadn't tasted hardship yet, and worried about dragging down his brand's reputation, which was why they were splitting up.

Si Nian, however, agreed with Zhou Yueshen, saying, "I think this is good too. Although you make money following him, you are always working for someone else. It's better to do it yourself."

It was understandable to want to make a big brand now, but Si Nian believed that in the future, generally everyone would be able to afford these things, so Zhou Yueshen's decision was right.

The price might indeed not compare to theirs, but the market of ordinary people was much larger.

She thought Zhou Yueshen's idea was very good.

Actually, he had mentioned it before, but because of Chen Nan's disagreement, it had never materialized.

But now that they were separated, there was no need to worry about this kind of problem anymore.

Zhou Yueshen nodded slightly, but thinking that his withdrawal meant he had to leave, his brows and eyes showed a bit more helplessness.

"I have to go back first. Yu Dong has already found a venue for me, and I need to go make a decision."

Si Nian didn't expect him to be so quick. Feeling reluctant to part, she hurriedly hugged his neck: "Then you're leaving again?"

Originally, because of work, he didn't have much time to come back every day.

Now he was leaving again.

If he left, who would get up in the middle of the night to wake their son up to pee?

Si Nian's face was full of sorrow.

Little Four was already two years old, but he still couldn't wake up on his own in the middle of the night and would wet the bed.

So every night, he had to be woken up to go to the toilet before they could sleep.

Zhou Yueshen hummed in agreement. "Yes, I'll go buy tickets tomorrow."

"Once things are settled at home, I'll bring you all back."

"You still have classes. I plan to take Little Four back and let Mom take care of him."

"He's a boy, no need to raise him too delicately. It's good to be independent from a young age, we can't keep him by our side all the time."

Hearing this, Si Nian also felt it made sense and nodded. "Then I have to speed up my progress. I plan to go back to our hometown for my internship in my senior year, and just come back for graduation."

The couple made their decision, and Zhou Yueshen began to pack his things to leave.

Hearing that their father was going back to their hometown and taking their younger brother away, the older children all showed concern in their eyes.

But upon hearing that their mother was staying and only their father was leaving, they were instantly relieved.

They also wished Zhou Yueshen and their little brother a safe journey.

Little Four was still a bit confused, thinking his dad was taking him out to play, and giggled.

Si Nian put his little backpack on him and told him to listen to his dad while outside. Little Four nodded obediently before she let him go.

She was actually a bit reluctant to part, but thinking that she would be able to go home before long, Si Nian also felt quite happy in her heart.

To tell the truth, she also missed life in Xingfu Village. Although life was better now, the children had to study and she had to go to school. Truthfully, with everyone busy with their own things, it wasn't as carefree as before.

But she also knew that choosing to take the university entrance exam was not a bad thing for her. Only by making herself excellent could she have confidence in the future. The benefits outweighed the losses.

Zhou Yueshen bought tickets for the morning. Little Four could already walk on his own, but he didn't walk fast. Being led into the train by his dad, he finally realized something was wrong and tried to let go of his hand to go in Si Nian's direction.

Zhou Yueshen held onto him. People were coming and going, and the child was small; he could easily fall if they weren't careful.

Seeing that he wouldn't let go, Little Four got anxious. When he got anxious, he couldn't speak smoothly.

He pointed at Si Nian and his older brother and sister with one hand, babbling to indicate that they hadn't gotten on yet.

Zhou Yueshen lifted him into his arms and hugged him, saying in a low voice, "Mom and your brother and sister aren't going. We're going back first, and we'll come pick them up in a while. Be good."

Even his coaxing was stiff.

Watching the train doors close, Little Four cried out of anger.

"Bad Dada, I don't want to go with you, I want Mama, Mama waahhh..." He sat tiny in his seat, sobbing.

He didn't like crying loudly and rarely cried at home. He was only crying now because he was forcibly taken away by his dad, and he couldn't help it.

While wiping his tears, he complained about Zhou Yueshen separating him from his mom.

Seeing her son leave, Si Nian was also very reluctant.

But thinking that she had to attend classes and couldn't always be at home to take care of him, she couldn't bring herself to ask him to stay.

"Mom, when is little brother coming back?" Second Child asked with a sad expression.

"Your little brother won't be coming back for now, but we will go back. Once your dad settles things down over there, we'll return to our hometown."

Everything had been discussed and settled with the Xiao family. The children would stay with her for now, and after they turned eighteen, they could make their own choices.

So, returning home when the time came wouldn't be a problem.

Perhaps Grandma Xiao felt guilty about what happened to the children's parents, so she didn't visit them often, but she never fell short in providing for them.

Hearing that they could also go back home, the children were very happy.

After all, they had familiar faces waiting for them in their hometown.

Having seen the bustling outside world, they ultimately felt that there was no place like home.

After sending off the older man and the little one, Si Nian finally had some free time.

Without her youngest son around, she actually didn't have much to do.

The Eldest Child was busy studying and researching every day.

The Second Child spent all day working out and exercising.

Yaoyao was now in the first grade. Because she had been learning alongside her brothers since she was little, the first-grade curriculum was incredibly easy for her, and she became the class monitor right after starting school.

She was also great at drawing. Having loved to doodle since she was a toddler, she showed a lot of talent in this area.

Si Nian enrolled her in an art class.

Yaoyao would go to her art class every day after regular school.

Since it was near the library, Zhou Zedong would drop his sister off at her class after his own school ended, and then head to the library to read.

Once his sister's class was over, he would pick her up and take her home.

For convenience, Si Nian bought a bicycle for each of the three children.

Zhou Zedong's was black, Zhou Zehan's was red, and Yaoyao's was pink.

Yaoyao was now a very cheerful girl. As she grew, her little face wasn't as round anymore; it had developed into a classic oval shape with graceful willow-leaf eyebrows and beautiful upward-slanting eyes. Si Nian thought that when she grew up, she would be a stunning beauty like Liu Yifei.

Therefore, she especially loved dressing her daughter up and buying her little dresses.

To ​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‍accommodate this, a separate room in the house was dedicated as a walk-in closet for her and her daughter, while Zhou Yueshen and the boys only took up a single small wardrobe.

After settling the children, Si Nian went to the university to attend her classes.

She rarely came back to campus for classes nowadays because she couldn't easily step away from taking care of her son.

She only returned to submit her thesis. Unlike in the future where one could type on a computer, she had to write it all by hand, which took her quite a long time.

Her professor was still urging her to become a diplomat, even mentioning that the university could recommend her and she could start her internship the following year.

Si Nian took the university entrance exam primarily to get her diploma, figuring it would come in handy someday in the future.

She certainly hadn't done it to become a corporate slave.

So she refused on the spot, stating that she wanted to return to her hometown to develop her career and wouldn't be staying in the city.

She thought she might become an English teacher back home. Not only would she have fewer classes to teach, but she could also help improve the rural education in their area.

It would be her way of making a contribution to the people of this era, ensuring her trip to this time wasn't in vain.

Since she no longer needed to work desperately to make money, Si Nian only planned to do what she truly wanted.

Hearing this, her English professor once again adopted a tone of frustration over her wasted potential.

Lu Yao walked in just in time to hear the professor trying to persuade her.

She bit her lip. Even though she had been studying under the professor for so long, he had never offered to recommend her for any positions.

Yet Si Nian did nothing, and the professor practically begged her every single time.

The opportunities Si Nian casually dismissed were things Lu Yao couldn't even reach.

She used to feel resentful, but her professor wasn't one to offer comforting words; he simply told her that this was the gap between her and Si Nian.

Over the years, Lu Yao had gotten used to it. She handed in her thesis and left the office together with Si Nian.

Completely baffled, she asked her, Why would you turn down such a great opportunity from the professor? I really don't understand.

Si Nian replied indifferently, Isn't that a good thing? It means one less competitor for you.

Lu Yao bit her lip and said, I did plan to compete with you in the past, but I've let that go now. The professor also said my personality isn't suited for a diplomat; I'm too eager for quick success.

Si Nian looked at her in surprise. I never thought I'd see the day you actually self-reflect.

Lu Yao's mouth twitched. Si Nian's words were as infuriating as ever, but she knew that was just how straightforward she was, never beating around the bush. Although annoying, it was the truth.

So she continued, I plan to apply to study abroad next year. I want to further my education and get a master's degree.

Si Nian agreed, That's not a bad idea. I think it's very doable.

Seeing her approval, the lingering hesitation in Lu Yao's mind instantly cleared up. She smiled and said, If you say so, then I feel much more confident about it.

...

After finishing his book and seeing that it was about time, Zhou Zedong went to the art class to pick up his sister.

There were many children coming to learn drawing, of all different ages.

Just as he reached the classroom door, he saw a little boy with a greasy, heart-shaped shaved haircut leaning extremely close to his sister, whispering who knew what.

Zhou Zedong's face instantly darkened.