Chapter 902: Unfilial Descendants

"Sigh~ half my body is already in the dirt, yet I've become a treasure."

The old lady waited for everyone to finish speaking before smiling and sighing.

Seeing her children and grandchildren about to speak, she nodded and said: "Yafang is reaching her month, but Ning's body is also heavy."

She lowered her head to look at Li Shu, who was playing with toys beside her, and added: "The child is still small, and with only Qin Jingru alone, I don't know how I could be at ease."

"I know, you are worried about my health. People don't rely on their bones and muscles when they get old; I've been paying attention."

"Coming back, coming home, I dream about living at home."

The old lady smiled at Liu Yin and said: "Even if you didn't urge me, I would have had to come back; it's truly because I'm old."

"Grandma, we didn't mean this..."

Before Zhao Yafang could finish her words, she was stopped by the old lady, who pointed at her and said: "Your heart isn't as tricky as Xuewu's; can you act better than him?"

After speaking, she smiled at Li Xuewu and lectured: "When will you ever grow up~"

"Just playing around~"

Just as the eldest sister-in-law glared over, Li Xuewu let out a chuckle and dodged the kick she sent his way.

"You brat!"

Zhao Yafang was also amused to the point of laughter by him, scolding: "So you were just teasing us~"

"That's really not it~"

Li Xuewu guaranteed: "Who could have thought our old lady had eyes like torches, leaving this monkey grandson of yours with nowhere to hide."

"You really are!"

Liu Yin also pinched her son in scolding; it turned out that in this short while this morning, he had been directing this whole scene.

Everyone in the room also reacted; Li Xuewu himself hadn't intended to deceive the old lady, and if he were to deceive, he would do it himself; how could he let so many people know?

Coaxing Liu Yin and Zhao Yafang was just to deliberately let the two of them put on a show, revealing flaws to the old lady, and also letting the old lady understand his intentions.

With all this coaxing and making a scene, how could the old lady not know that her grandson was doing it for her own good? Her heart was not only not angry, but warm.

In the end, Zhao Yafang and Liu Yin were the ones caught in the middle, which was why they were kicking and pinching him again.

"My second brother is just bad!"

Ji Yuxiu also seemed to have just understood, covering her mouth and laughing: "No wonder I felt confused at the beginning; Second Brother was just doing it on purpose!"

"Hit him!"

Seeing her father being beaten by her eldest aunt and grandmother, Li Shu was also excited, standing up with her little face flushed red, shouting "Hit~ hit~"

"She's quite fond of the excitement! ~"

The old lady was also amused by the liveliness in the room, covering her mouth and laughing.

Gu Ning glared at Li Xuewu in scolding; she had also been kept in the dark.

She knew what he was going to do when she saw Li Xuewu whispering with her mother-in-law and sister-in-law outside the door.

After breakfast, seeing her sister-in-law and mother-in-law speak, she was afraid the old lady would overthink it, so she was also worried.

She didn't expect this to be all calculated by Li Xuewu early on. No wonder Ji Yuxiu said she was confused; this person never made unprepared decisions.

To say he was perfect was an exaggeration, but he was particular about layout and calculation in everything he did, so how could he hand over the decision-making power to others?

"If I go home, what about the child?"

After laughing, the old lady asked Li Xuewu: "Qin Jingru alone won't be able to handle it."

"Then let's find another..."

Before Li Xuewu could finish his words, he saw his mother already glaring at him.

"You have money to burn~"

Liu Yin really couldn't stand her son's consumption concept.

If he lacks something, buy it; if he needs something, buy it; if there's no one to do something, buy it...

Anyway, as long as he needed it, or didn't have time to do it, or didn't want to do it, he would spend money to hire someone.

She certainly didn't know how valuable her son's time was, and even if she did, she wouldn't be willing to spend it.

"If you want to spend more time with the child, I'll tell you one."

Liu Yin sat on the edge of the kang and said to Li Xuewu and Gu Ning: "When you go to work in the morning, take a detour and send the child here, and pick her up when you get off work in the evening."

"If you don't have time, or don't make it in time, then let the child stay here; it doesn't matter if it's one night or two."

"Grandma, what do you think?"

She finished speaking to her son and daughter-in-law, and then looked at the old lady, wanting to seek her opinion.

Li Xuewu wanted to say there was no need, but his mother didn't give him a chance to refute.

The old lady nodded at this moment: "If I were to say let's keep Li Shu here together, it wouldn't be appropriate. This method is good; it's the best of both worlds."

"Then let's do it this way."

Liu Yin made the final decision, waved her hand at her son, and said: "Later, pack up the old lady's things and send them over together, and pack a bag with Li Shu's daily necessities."

"Aunt Xiao Ning."

She didn't need to worry about her son's feelings, but she had to explain clearly to her daughter-in-law: "Mom said this, do you have any objections?"

What objections could Gu Ning have? Her mother-in-law and the old lady saying this was also to leave space for Qin Jingru to take care of her.

People were taking the initiative to help take care of the child; she was too grateful to have any objections.

"I have no objections; I'll listen to you."

"Done!"

Liu Yin pointed at Li Xuewu and said: "In the future, stop playing these tricks with me; you've taught the child badly!"

"I really am... very wronged."

Li Xuewu laughed: "Is it wrong for me to be afraid that you'll be tired?"

"It's my own granddaughter; I'm willing to be tired."

Liu Yin pushed him in scolding and said: "Stay away from me, go do what you need to do!"

"Fine~"

Zhao Yafang said gloatingly: "This is called tit for tat~"

"Hehe~ I'm willing~"

Li Xuewu joked with his eldest sister-in-law and told Gu Ning to come back home after dinner.

Gu Ning knew he had things to do on Sunday; not only had he been on a business trip for more than half a month, but he had to move around to handle relationships after returning, and there were some tasks she knew about but didn't understand that he needed to handle.

The family was quite wealthy, and they couldn't manage just by relying on Li Xuewu's two salaries.

Just say after autumn, the food and daily expenses sent by Shen Guodong to the house one after another—how much did that cost?

That coal was brought by truck, piled up in a large area at the foot of the courtyard wall; I'm afraid there must be six or seven tons of coal.

Anyway, that truckload of coal was unloaded; burning coal blocks was just easier to use than coal balls.

Qin Jingru filled it up before she left for work at seven or eight in the evening, and Li Xuewu would fill it up again before he went to sleep at night; covering it with a lid, it could stay hot until morning.

You just say burning this coal, whose salary could afford it?

Where did the money come from?

Gu Ning didn't care about this. Just like she joked with Ji Yuxiu, her salary was placed in the drawer anyway, and it only increased, never decreased.

Li Xuewu was the head of the family; he said he wanted to live in a big house, so he had to have the ability to live in a big house. If he didn't have the ability, she didn't care if they moved back to the back courtyard of the Sihe Academy.

This is called marrying a chicken, follow the chicken; marrying a dog, follow the dog; marrying a monkey, follow it all over the mountain.

Li Xuewu had never asked for her salary, nor had he made any constraints or requirements on the quality of life, so she had no reason or desire to interfere with or investigate where Li Xuewu's money came from.

If she had to worry about how he made money, she wouldn't have chosen Li Xuewu in the first place just to have everything go smoothly.

Therefore, Li Xuewu said he was going out to be busy, so she didn't care, and even less did she constrain him.

As long as he came home on time at night, this was the bottom line of mutual trust between the two.

What if he couldn't come home on time?

What could she do? She couldn't beat Li Xuewu, and she couldn't shoot him, could she?

If Li Xuewu couldn't come home on time, he would definitely explain to her, and the reason would definitely make her satisfied and convinced.

There was no need for her to get angry or throw a tantrum; even if it was a lie, there was a necessity to say it that way.

Li Xuewu did quite well in this regard, making her satisfied, and rarely did he come home late.

Now that Li Xuewu said he would come to pick them up to go home after dinner, she agreed, just urging him to be careful not to catch a cold.

Li Xuewu didn't care about showing affection in front of his family, but if he really made intimate movements, he was afraid Gu Ning would settle the score with him at night.

He blinked his eyes with a smile, causing Gu Ning to turn her head and ignore him, and only then did he leave the house.

"Yo, Xuewu, going out~"

"Hey, First Uncle, what are you doing?"

Yi Zhonghai gestured to the trowel in his hand and explained: "Borrowed from the neighboring courtyard; the window of the deaf old lady in the back courtyard is leaking wind, so I'm getting some mud to plaster it again."

After speaking, he looked at the Li family behind Li Xuewu and asked: "Your father hasn't come back yet?"

"Work on the mountain is busy; the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital has a medicinal herb project to do, so he can't come down."

Li Xuewu explained, gestured outside the door, and said: "Fine, you go ahead and get busy; just let me know if you need anything."

"Hey! Xuewu."

Yi Zhonghai stopped Li Xuewu, who was about to take a step, and said: "I just remembered, there really is something I want to discuss with you."

He raised his chin to gesture to the gatehouse behind him and said: "Winter is here; should the gatehouse system..."

After saying this, Yi Zhonghai hesitated a bit: "You don't come back often; by rights, I shouldn't be troubling you."

"It's fine, I'm still in the courtyard."

Li Xuewu nodded and said: "Pay the money that should be paid, and call Guodong to arrange the people that should be arranged."

While speaking, he gestured to the room behind him and said: "Yuxiu is also living in the courtyard; especially regarding the gatehouse, it's better to be tight."

"Alright, with your words, I have a bottom in my heart."

Yi Zhonghai nodded and said: "No need to rebuild the kang this year; there's no use for it, nothing more than some coal and firewood."

He was also reasonable and waved his hand: "This year, everyone will share it equally; we can't use the side room's anymore; it's unfair and easy to cause disputes."

Li Xuewu smiled and didn't feel that a little firewood was anything.

But First Uncle was also kind-hearted; last year, the firewood for the fire was provided by the side room, that was because it was the latter half of the year, and there was no place to set the rules.

After using the firewood for a winter, no one praised the side room for anything; First Uncle was also afraid Li Xuewu would say they were wasting effort and not getting any thanks.

Now it's fine, everyone shares it equally; either contribute people, contribute effort, or contribute money.

Li Xuewu, of course, chose to contribute money; the people who lived at home were all women; who should he let go to watch the gatehouse?

Liu Yin had a pile of things to do during the day, and she wasn't willing to go to the gatehouse to gossip with them; why bother making things difficult for himself for this little bit of money?

"You think about it; if you need anything, mention it to Guodong. If there's anything inappropriate, or if you need Yuxiu, you can go directly to her."

These words were nothing more than a response to First Uncle's "don't worry"; he knew what First Uncle was thinking.

As the two were talking, Qin Huairu walked out with Xiaodang and Huaihua, looking like they were about to go out.

Seeing the two standing in the courtyard talking, she said hello.

After asking clearly about the reason, Qin Huairu also agreed to continue implementing the gatehouse system this winter.

Anyway, every family in the courtyard had people, and at night, the young men slept in the gatehouse, so everyone was at ease; during the day, the women went to the gatehouse to chat, and the house was quiet.

It was nothing more than money for warmth; those who had no money contributed effort to be on duty, and those who had money contributed money for peace of mind.

Now the situation wasn't very good; if something unexpected happened, everyone would feel bad; this little bit of money didn't matter.

Li Xuewu listened to her talking, smiled, gestured to Banggeng, who was pouting at the third gate of the middle courtyard, and asked Qin Huairu: "What's wrong with this?"

"Don't bother with him."

Qin Huairu explained with a mix of anger and amusement: "Told him to do his homework, but he's just greedy for play."

"My brother's homework isn't finished."

Huaihua looked up at Li Xuewu and explained chatteringly: "Mom is taking us shopping, but not him~"

"Is that so~"

Li Xuewu looked at this little girl, smiled and responded, then beckoned to Banggeng, who was like a resentful woman on the other side: "Come here!"

"Wu Shu!"

Banggeng had finally found his organization; he ran over to Li Xuewu's side in a flash.

Li Xuewu looked at him amusedly and asked: "How are the chickens doing?"

"Ah?"

Banggeng had run over thinking Wu Shu would ask about his homework, but didn't expect him to ask about the chickens.

"They're doing great!"

He was no longer wilted, raised his big chubby face, and said: "Yesterday, that unlucky child in the neighboring courtyard was standing on the wall throwing stones, and the chicken was even scolding him!"

"Hehe~"

Li Xuewu smiled and flicked him on the forehead; this child was truly at the point where people hated him and dogs ignored him.

"I'm going to the club, are you going?"

"Going!"

Banggeng had just been restricted by his mother to the middle courtyard gate, saying he couldn't step out of the middle courtyard until his homework was finished, otherwise his butt would bloom!

Now that Wu Shu was helping him break the rules, how could he not be willing?

Not to mention that going to the club meant eating and playing, even going out to work felt better than being locked at home.

"Going where!"

Qin Huairu glared at Li Xuewu in annoyance and said: "His homework isn't finished yet, and you're teasing him!"

"His homework not being finished has nothing to do with me."

Li Xuewu smiled at Qin Huairu and said: "As long as the homework I assigned him is finished well, that's enough~"

"Go away! You're a bad guy~"

Qin Huairu scolded: "I'm responsible if he doesn't get into university?"

After speaking, she went to pull Banggeng: "Banggeng, hurry home and do your homework, don't wait for me to beat you~"

"Mom~"

Banggeng said helplessly: "How can you say that about my Wu Shu? I think he's right."

After speaking, seeing his mother really moving to pinch him, he hid behind First Uncle, sticking his head out from the side and emphasizing: "You say, you say it yourself, isn't it forcing a man to do the impossible by expecting me to get into university?!"

"Banggeng! Mom is angry!"

Qin Huairu couldn't catch him and stood in place glaring, but seeing she wasn't chasing, Banggeng ran out of the courtyard in a flash.

"Mom! Don't be angry, I'll punish myself by not coming home for a day!"

The words were still there, but the person was already gone. If he wasn't mistaken, Banggeng was already at Li Xuewu's car.

"It's all your fault!"

Qin Huairu couldn't catch her own son and was especially angry seeing First Uncle and Li Xuewu standing on the side watching the fun.

Especially Li Xuewu; it was all him who started it; without him, Banggeng would have gone home to do his homework long ago.

Actually, Qin Huairu was angry now, but the real situation was that even she herself was clear about it.

If she left, would Banggeng really do his homework obediently?

Just like what Banggeng said to her just now: Don't dream!

Li Xuewu didn't care about Qin Huairu's complaints and commented with a smile: "I think Banggeng has more business talent than you; at least he knows the principle that one shouldn't waste effort on sunk costs."

"Go away!"

Qin Huairu understood his words; wasn't he just saying her son had self-knowledge, that he definitely wouldn't get into junior high school, and that he wasn't willing to spend any effort on studying now.

"Banggeng's grades were very good before; it was those two chickens of yours that made him stop studying!"

"You really are sticky!"

Li Xuewu smiled and gestured to First Uncle: "You go and ask around in the courtyard; that young master in your house was born to be at odds with the God of Literature; stop blaming me."

Yi Zhonghai knew he was joking, pointed at him, and walked toward the back courtyard with a smile.

Qin Huairu couldn't win against Li Xuewu and scolded angrily: "Don't take him out to play; his heart is wild, and I'll have even less control over him!"

"Alright, alright, alright."

Li Xuewu agreed while walking out, his attitude very good.

But when Qin Huairu walked out of the gate, she saw Li Xuewu driving and taking her son toward the outside of the hutong.

Seeing his mother looking at him, Banggeng even waved excitedly.

Qin Huairu was both angry and amused; she really wanted to just give up on this bastard son.

And that Li Xuewu, he was also unreliable, insisting on going against her.

Huaihua looked enviously at her brother sitting in the car and leaving, turned to look at her sister, and asked: "What did our brother go do?"

"Went to play~"

Xiaodang curled her lip: "Went to the club with Wu Shu."

"What's a club?"

Huaihua didn't understand, looking blankly at her big sister.

Xiaodang hadn't been there, but she had heard her brother bragging about it, only feeling that it was like a fairyland on earth, very fun.

"It's a place for children who don't like to study to play."

"I want to go too..."

Huaihua didn't quite understand why children who didn't like to study could play so happily.

Qin Huairu heard the discussion between the two children, pulled their hands, and said: "We're not going, ah, Mom will take you to buy something delicious, not buying for your brother."

Huaihua looked up at her mother and didn't speak, but Xiaodang was staring blankly in the direction of the hutong.

There has never been fairness in this world; even if her brother doesn't study, he is still loved by his grandmother and mother at home, and even if he doesn't work hard, there are adults who like him and take him to play.

She had felt the unfairness of life more than once when she was small.

"Hi~ where is there fairness~"

Huang Gan took a hard drag on his cigarette, and while tapping the ash in the ashtray, he told Zhong Jingxue, who was sitting on the side and feeling indignant, about the importance of connections.

"Listen to Brother telling you, what is called the wind rising at the end of the duckweed, the waves forming in the ripples."

He shook his head with excitement: "First learn Brother's pair of wise eyes, learn Brother's pair of Bo Le-like eyes, learn..."

"Learn your single eyelids, right~"

Zhong Jingxue rolled his eyes and said: "You're three months younger than me; who are you acting like!"

"Hey! You don't understand this!"

Huang Gan pointed at him as if he had caught a reason: "Operating connections, if you don't understand, you have to humbly ask for advice. What's wrong with calling me Brother? I haven't even asked you to call me Teacher yet~"

"I call you Teacher?"

Zhong Jingxue grabbed the billiard cue in Li Bai's hand and was about to poke him, saying indignantly: "You're just taking advantage and acting cute in front of us!"

"Hahaha~"

Huang Gan dodged and stood behind the sofa, joking: "Sigh~ the inventory has been cleared, and the orders are lined up for next year; there's really no way~"

"I also want to be humble!"

He spread his hands and deliberately angered Zhong Jingxue of the Xicheng Third Detention Center: "It's a pity that my strength doesn't allow it~"

"Go go go~ stay on the side~ I'm annoyed by you~"

Zhong Jingxue's eyelids drooped, too lazy to pay attention to him, and he turned to look at Ma Jun: "That guy is smug and forgetful; he's not a good person!"

"Hehe~"

Ma Jun and the others watched them playing and also laughed while watching the fun.

Just now, seeing Li Xuewu's car enter the courtyard, everyone started talking about the First Detention Center receiving orders from the steel mill.

Not only clothing orders, but also various other small gadgets, including the two main products: the red-covered books and document paper.

The inventory that Li Xuewu transferred away when he went to Yangcheng had already been cashed in; this couldn't help but make Huang Gan show off in front of a few bad friends.

Zhong Jingxue was truly jealous, looking at the First Detention Center relying on the steel mill to make a fortune; they were all the same unit, so how could he sit still?

He was shouting about unfairness, but couldn't help but look at Huang Gan's smug appearance.

"Hey~ hey~ look, who's here!"

Huang Gan pointed at the entrance of the second floor with both hands and said loudly: "My God of Wealth is here!"

"Don't just talk, do it."

Li Xuewu saw him making a scene, and while greeting the classmates on the second floor, he called Huang Gan to really call him Grandpa.

Huang Gan's mouth twitched at Li Xuewu's retort, wanting to take the opportunity of shaking hands to pinch him hard, but then remembered Li Xuewu's great strength.

Looking at Li Xuewu's playful gaze, he withdrew his hand awkwardly, patted his back, and said: "Hi, we were just talking about you~"

"What were you saying about me?"

Li Xuewu greeted Ma Jun and the others, smiled at Li Bai who was on duty upstairs, and only then sat on the sofa.

"Saying you're good~"

Huang Gan gestured to Zhong Jingxue on the side and said: "Jingxue misses you, the kind of missing that makes him want to go crazy."

"Hahaha~"

Everyone thought of Zhong Jingxue's appearance just now and laughed again.

Zhong Jingxue didn't care about this and sat down beside Li Xuewu, taking the initiative to light a cigarette.

"Regimental Commander Li, brothers aren't asking for a bowl of water to be leveled, but you have to give some opportunities."

He gestured to Huang Gan on the side and said: "Seeing him smug, I feel so itchy with hatred in my heart."

"What's the situation?"

Li Xuewu looked at everyone amusedly, then looked at Zhong Jingxue, and asked: "What bowl of water, two bowls of water."

"It's the orders~"

Zhong Jingxue looked at Li Xuewu with eager eyes and said: "Didn't your factory get a lot of orders when you went to Yangcheng? There must be some you can't finish; can't you arrange some for our detention center?"

"Oh?"

Li Xuewu looked at him and asked back: "Didn't Huang Gan tell you?"

"What, tell me what?"

Zhong Jingxue looked at Li Xuewu in a daze, feeling that this matter didn't seem right.

Li Xuewu said in Huang Gan's confused gaze: "There are furniture and other orders to be distributed to your Third Detention Center; I told Huang Gan."

"When..."

Huang Gan felt that something was wrong as soon as Li Xuewu opened his mouth, and it was too late to argue.

Zhong Jingxue jumped up from the sofa like an angry bird.

"Regimental Commander Li, please wait a moment; let me kill this shameless guy first, then I'll come to accompany you!"

"Hey! Are you stupid!"

Huang Gan saw Zhong Jingxue really wanted to mess with him, so he hurriedly jumped up and ran toward the billiard table, saying as he ran: "Do you think I could know! He's lying to you!"

"Nonsense! You bad guy!"

Zhong Jingxue was also deliberately being funny: "It's too late to be stubborn, you haven't changed your nature; it's fine if you wronged others, but if you wronged my God of Wealth, I'll definitely make you eat and carry it!"

"Get lost~ get lost~"

Huang Gan saw Zhong Jingxue holding the billiard cue and wanting to poke his butt, so he ran faster, afraid of being killed.

Li Bai saw the two of them acting like children, covered his eyes and hid; that action was too spicy for the eyes.

Everyone in the room watched the two playing like treasures; grown men laughing and making a scene was just like children.

"Wu Ge, when did you come back?"

They were making a scene, and Li Xuewu was watching and laughing, when someone suddenly sat down beside him, and a crisp greeting came to his ear.

"Hehe, it's been a few days."

Li Xuewu turned his head and saw Luo Yun chattering, and Zhou Xiaobai also followed and sat on the side.

This girl's eyes were all on Li Xuewu, but when she saw Li Xuewu looking at her, she blushed and looked away.

Luo Yun looked at her; it was she who took the initiative to find Wu Ge just now, but now she was acting shy and even sat beside her.

What are you doing? Is it that you don't dare to sit on the other side?

She also knew her friend's thoughts, said a few words to Li Xuewu with a smile, and then stood up to watch Brother Huang and the others making a scene.

Zhou Xiaobai saw Luo Yun leave, glanced at the empty seat between her and Li Xuewu, and hesitated whether to sit over.

Or rather, what kind of reason to find to sit over, she was a bit conflicted.

At this moment, Li Xuewu patted the sofa beside him and asked with a smile: "Why sit so far away? Pretending not to know me?"

"Who's pretending~"

Zhou Xiaobai's mouth curled slightly, obviously happy that Li Xuewu took the initiative to greet her.

At this moment, she followed Li Xuewu's words and moved her butt to sit beside him.

"When did you come back?"

Her heart was thumping, her face trying to be calm, thinking about saying something, but she didn't know how she blurted out such a sentence.

"..."

Li Xuewu looked at her amusedly, and just when she was so embarrassed that her ears were red, he said: "It's been a few days."

"..."

Now it was Zhou Xiaobai's turn to be speechless; this answer was so familiar, as if she had heard it just now.

Yes, Li Xuewu also felt this question was so familiar; he had also heard it just now.

Zhou Xiaobai unnaturally smoothed her hair by her ear, lowered her head, and pinched her fingers; at this moment, if there was a hole in the ground, she could drill into it.

"Not playing anymore~ not playing anymore~"

Huang Gan waved his hand and hugged Zhong Jingxue, begging for mercy: "Brother was wrong, Brother won't fool you, I really didn't know."

Zhong Jingxue was pushed back to the sofa by him and curled his lip: "You're not a good person."

"I... damn..."

Huang Gan was truly speechless; he pointed at Li Xuewu sitting on the sofa and asked: "Do you think he's a good person?!"

"That's right!"

Zhong Jingxue glared at him and said: "If Wu Ge isn't a good person, could it be that you are?"

"Hey! You learned fast!"

Huang Gan was referring to the hidden rules of connections and social interaction he had taught the other party, not expecting Zhong Jingxue to use them here.

"But this attitude of yours of having milk is Mother makes me feel really uncomfortable; you've changed!"

"Joke!"

Zhong Jingxue looked at him and asked: "I'm upright and honest; how about you let me have the orders?"

"That won't work!"

Huang Gan tilted his head and said: "If I give them to you, what will I eat?"

"That's it!"

Zhong Jingxue rolled his eyes and said: "A full man doesn't know a hungry man's hunger; stop talking cool words~"

After speaking, he changed his face and looked at Li Xuewu: "Wu Ge, how many orders did you arrange for our detention center?"

"Didn't Huang Gan tell you?"

Li Xuewu was still in that tone; before he could finish speaking, Huang Gan had already pounced over, wanting to cover his mouth.

Zhou Xiaobai was sitting beside Li Xuewu and was startled by Huang Gan's sudden pounce.

When she came to her senses, Brother Huang was already in a posture of blocking the muzzle, his upper body resting on her legs.

"If you want me to die, just say so; why go through so much trouble?"

Huang Gan complained with a crying voice while reaching for Li Xuewu's arm: "Look at him, his eyes are red like a rabbit's; if you tease him again, you'll really play me to death."

"Hahaha~"

Li Xuewu laughed lightly and patted his hand, watching him being helped away by Zhou Xiaobai and the others, only then saying: "There are too many orders, I can't remember."

Just when Zhong Jingxue thought Li Xuewu was still joking, he heard the other party say: "Anyway, it's enough to keep you busy for three years."

"Aha!"

Zhong Jingxue laughed out loud like Fan Jin passing the exam, grabbed Li Xuewu's hand and shook it, thanking him repeatedly.

Li Xuewu smiled and shook off his hand in disgust, gestured to Ma Jun and asked: "What kind of problem is this? He wasn't like this before."

After speaking, he asked Zhong Jingxue: "What about your high coldness before?!"

"What high cold! In the face of actual work, that can all be changed."

Zhong Jingxue said with a full face of smiles: "Or how about you give us more orders, and I'll sing you a song?"

"Good heavens~"

Li Xuewu laughed: "Bribery didn't work, so you changed to threats, right!"

"Hahaha~"

Everyone laughed out loud at Li Xuewu's words, truly unable to imagine how ugly Zhong Jingxue's singing was.

Ma Jun sat on the side and explained with a smile: "In the past, everyone was like this, comparing who was worse, and no one was much better than anyone else."

"However, suddenly someone is raising the bar, doing labor reform, creating benefits, and self-reliance."

"Look at now, the higher-ups have started to distribute targets to each detention center, must find projects to engage in the economy and save fiscal funds."

He explained it this way and gestured to Zhong Jingxue: "He should be content; at least he still has a furniture factory in his hand; some have already started to think about running farms."

"Why should I be content?"

Zhong Jingxue gestured to Huang Gan sitting opposite and said: "Thinking that he made money while sitting at home, my heart is even more uncomfortable than if I had lost money myself!"

"Really thank you!"

Huang Gan said through gritted teeth: "You really are my good brother!"

Ma Jun commented on the side: "He's afraid his brother will suffer, but also afraid he'll suffer more than his brother."

"Truly brotherly love~"

Li Bai took the billiard cue, wiped it with a rag, disgusted that the two had just played dirty, and muttered: "You two are quite good at comparing who's worse~"

"Worse? Who is worse than Xuewu!"

Huang Gan said unconvinced: "He's just used to disguising himself with a good person's mask!"

After speaking, he pointed at Zhou Xiaobai sitting beside Li Xuewu and warned: "You stay away from him; he's not a good person; be careful of being sold by him and still helping him count the money."

"It's fine, I'm very good at counting money."

Zhou Xiaobai acted as if she didn't understand his words and was just showing off herself.

"Hehe~"

Huang Gan was amused by her and asked: "Are you bewitched by him? Why is he so good?!"

Zhou Xiaobai lowered her head and didn't speak, silently answering Huang Gan's question.

Li Xuewu smiled and patted her arm, warning: "Did you hear that? Your Brother Huang said I'm a bad guy wearing a mask."

"Hmm."

Zhou Xiaobai nodded and said: "Then don't take off the mask."

"It's over, this girl is beyond saving."

Huang Gan joked: "Completely fallen for one; in the future, she'll definitely be sold by him."

Li Xuewu smiled at Zhou Xiaobai, turned his head, and talked to Zhong Jingxue about the project.

It was already past eight o'clock when he arrived, and he had gone around the construction site in the back courtyard with Yu Li.

Because winter was here and it was frozen, civil engineering construction was restricted, and only interior decoration could be done.

Fortunately, Dou Yaozu had accurately calculated the freezing time and the amount of work; when the weather was warm, he prioritized civil engineering work, and when the weather was cold, he did interior decoration work.

The disadvantage of doing this was that the construction period was long; since June, this side had been under construction and hadn't finished.

The advantage was that it saved time and effort, saving construction costs and time.

According to the original plan, it would officially open in May next year; by then, everything here would have to be finished.

Now there was no rush to do it; it would be embarrassing if it really couldn't be finished by then.

After looking at the construction site, he went to check the management office's work, doing an inspection like a leader.

This was his first time examining Yu Li's work level after she and Following Lou Jie handed over the shift; Yu Li was naturally nervous and serious.

Fortunately, the foundation laid by Following Lou Jie and the others was good, and she had been trained at the recycling station, so she picked it up very quickly.

Lou Yu had returned, gone around the mountain, and came to the club to sit on duty.

It seemed he really recognized this club manager position; as soon as he returned, he started working.

The person sitting on duty here wasn't just him, but also the heads of the other two families.

They had a rotation system, but Lou Yu was always there.

Li Xuewu had already set the rules for the relevant work system, and on this basis, they discussed an opinion that was suitable for everyone and relatively fair.

Because they were restraining each other, Li Xuewu wasn't afraid of them playing tricks.

The key was that many important nodes were in his hands.

Finance had been officially separated, and they absolutely couldn't touch the financial power.

Personnel wasn't here either; it was in Steel City, and they didn't have personnel power.

They did have administrative power, but it was also limited; the office that Li Xuewu asked Yu Li and Su Qing to set up wasn't just for play.

He had chatted simply with Su Qing when he came today.

He didn't talk about Old Biaozi's matter, purely work.

This girl was worthy of coming out of the Finance and Economics College; although she hadn't graduated yet, she had some skills.

In an enterprise unit, she might still seem a bit immature, but in this kind of makeshift team, she truly belonged to the tall ones.

Yu Li's main work was still club management; the office still had to be handed over to professional people.

She herself was also learning, learning this way of working and intensity.

Recently, she didn't even go home to live, just staying in the club, busy day and night.

There were many rooms in this courtyard, so she didn't have to worry about having no place to live, it just wasn't as comfortable as home.

The formal conversation with Lou Yu was already in the afternoon; he came out of Yu Li's room and went directly upstairs to find him.

And Yu Li continued Following Lou Jie's tradition; the iron bed in that office was about to fall apart.

Thanks to Li Xuewu's diligence and thrift, cherishing furniture, and trying to use the bed less and the sofa and office desk more, that iron bed was spared.

Yu Li didn't expect that the sofa and office desk used for daily office work had other uses; she truly admired Li Xuewu's novel ideas in his head to the point of prostrating herself.

Truly *prostrating herself* kind of way.

Li Xuewu left, she wanted to sit down, but looked at the bed—not appropriate.

Looked at the office chair, felt even more shy, didn't even dare to look at it.

Looked at the sofa again... oh my, when did the water spill and not get wiped...

It wasn't that there was no place to sit, nor were these places dirty, but that she had unlocked some things, and her heart was dirty.

Upstairs, Lou Yu, who was still working at his desk, felt flustered when he saw Li Xuewu enter.

"Drink something?"

"Don't bother, I'll do it myself."

With Following Lou Jie not around, Li Xuewu felt a bit awkward getting along with Lou Yu.

It wasn't anything else, it was just that the person both cared about wasn't here anymore, and they were both missing her, yet couldn't open their mouths to talk about it.

So Li Xuewu brewed tea for himself, sat opposite his cheap father-in-law, and sipped tea in silence.

Lou Yu was also silent for a long while, only then raising his head to look at the slightly warm sunlight outside the window, saying: "I regret it a bit; the reason I didn't teach my youngest daughter to do business since she was small was to have her support me in my old age."

"Now, after tossing and turning, I have to rely on my youngest daughter instead."

He turned his head back, looked at Li Xuewu, and said: "Learning is good, it's just that the pressure on her is too great; I really don't know what to say."

"Keep in touch more."

Li Xuewu didn't say anything; people were gone, what was the point of saying these things now? Could he change Following Lou Jie back?

Even if he wanted to change her, I'm afraid Following Lou Jie wouldn't be willing.

Other families invested a lot of money, but the Lou family invested the most.

Father and daughter should have pondered and communicated in private; they knew that the Hong Kong side couldn't be relied upon. If Following Lou Jie didn't stand out, her father would have to be at the front.

He wasn't young anymore; management work like the club was fine, but if it were a big collective, a big enterprise, and still in Hong Kong, she was really afraid her father couldn't take it.

Her father himself wasn't in very good health; the business world is like a battlefield; if there's a setback and loved ones aren't by his side, what would he do?

Therefore, Li Xuewu respected Following Lou Jie's choice, and also hoped Lou Yu would respect a daughter's filial piety, and stop thinking about those unfilial descendants.

"I'm talking about Following Lou Jie."

He raised his head, looked at Lou Yu, and emphasized: "You should understand what I mean." ===== CHAPTER 903 =====

The father and daughter must have discussed this in private; they knew they couldn't rely on Hong Kong, and if Following Lou Jie didn't step up, her father would have to bear the brunt of it.

She wasn't young anymore, and while management work like that at the club was fine, if it were a large collective or a major enterprise—especially in Hong Kong—she really feared her father wouldn't be able to handle it.

Her father's health wasn't great to begin with, and the business world is like a battlefield; what would happen if a crisis occurred and his loved ones weren't by his side?

Therefore, Li Xuewu respected Following Lou Jie's choice, and he also hoped Father Lou would respect a daughter's filial piety and stop thinking about those unworthy descendants.

"I'm talking about Following Lou Jie."

He raised his head, looked at Lou Yu, and emphasized, "You should understand what I mean."