“Why did you come so early?”
Early in the morning, Tian Tian had come to Ye Lifeng’s garment factory to check on production progress. As for the order she’d received a couple of days ago, most of it was goods from other factories. She was just acting as a middleman, earning a bit of the price difference.
Hearing Ye Lifeng’s words, Tian Tian waved her hand. “Came to see how far along the goods are.”
Ye Lifeng wore a look that said “just as I thought.” “Good timing. Half of it’s already done.” With that, he led Tian Tian toward the warehouse.
Passing the workshop, Tian Tian felt the atmosphere was much better than last time. On her last visit, some people had still found the bikinis embarrassing. But now, looking around the whole floor, everyone was perfectly at ease. Holding bikinis with pitifully little fabric, they could chat and laugh about what to eat when they got home at noon.
Seeing this, Tian Tian nodded inwardly.
Actually, it hadn’t been many years since the market opened, and domestic customs were generally conservative. But Guangdong was close to Hong Kong, so the atmosphere was more open. So she hadn’t worried at all about causing trouble making these in the village.
Now look—wasn’t that just the case!
“The workmanship is very good.” Looking at the goods piled in the warehouse, Tian Tian reached out and picked up a bikini to examine carefully. After that, she spot-checked several more pieces, and every one passed.
“Your goods are well made!” Tian Tian gave Ye Lifeng a thumbs-up.
Ye Lifeng smiled.
But then Ye Lifeng’s assistant spoke up. “Sister Tian, the goods are good. But some people behind our backs are saying our boss is a pervert.”
“Don’t talk nonsense.” Ye Lifeng tried to stop his assistant.
Tian Tian raised an eyebrow. “It’s fine, let him talk. I want to see what kind of pervert Boss Ye is too.”
Hearing this, Ye Lifeng smiled bitterly. “Tian Tian, don’t laugh at me.”
Tian Tian spread her hands. “I don’t want to either.”
Ye Lifeng waved his hand. “Fine. Mainly, some people in the village are jealous of me. They hadn’t found an opening before. Then the bikinis were too outrageous for some people. So someone stirred up the work stoppage. You know about that too. After I handled it, the factory resumed production. Everything was smooth. Then someone started saying behind my back that I’m a pervert. Otherwise, why would I take an order like this?”
Tian Tian’s eyes went wide. “You don’t seem like someone who’d be affected by gossip.”
Ye Lifeng gave Tian Tian a thumbs-up. “You’re sharp.”
He didn’t hide it either, just sighed. “After Lizhen’s mother heard about this, she stopped letting Lizhen associate with me.”
Ever since he’d started doing business with Tian Tian, Ye Lifeng’s interactions with Qian Lizhen had increased. Although he hadn’t gotten her to agree to his pursuit yet, everything was heading in a good direction. If nothing unexpected happened, maybe after the New Year the two could have a good result.
Now it was all ruined. He didn’t know where Lizhen’s mother had heard that making these bikinis meant he was a pervert, but she’d directly stopped Lizhen from associating with him.
Ye Lifeng didn’t even know what to say. If it were anyone else, he definitely wouldn’t care. But this person was Qian Lizhen’s own mother. Ye Lifeng didn’t know what to do.
Tian Tian was shocked. Could it be that the frequent arguments between the mother and daughter next door lately were actually about Ye Lifeng?
She thought it in her head, and the words came out of her mouth.
Hearing that Qian Lizhen had argued with her own mother for his sake, Ye Lifeng felt a little secret joy. Then came a flood of worry.
For no other reason than that he understood Qian Lizhen’s feelings for her mother.
Making Qian Lizhen choose between him and her own mother wasn’t what Ye Lifeng wanted. He only wanted Qian Lizhen to always be happy.
Tian Tian listened to Ye Lifeng’s declaration and gave him another thumbs-up.
A romance saint!
No wonder in her past life he’d dared to knife someone to avenge Qian Lizhen.
“Actually, you should find a chance to make things clear with Sister Zhen.”
She’d been busy lately, but Tian Tian could still hear the mother and daughter next door arguing from time to time. Mainly because the mother wanted her daughter to work steadily at the factory. Even though Sister Zhen had made quite a bit selling clothes, her mother still felt factory work was more stable.
Meanwhile, the daughter, Qian Lizhen, had already tasted the sweetness of selling clothes. She hadn’t quit the factory yet only because she was listening to her mother.
Listening to your mother isn’t wrong, but adults need to know how to judge whether that advice is right or wrong.
This was a stage of rapid economic growth. If you didn’t seize the opportunity, working as a laborer your whole life would be foolish.
But as an outsider, it wasn’t appropriate for her to intervene too much. Ye Lifeng, though, was different.
He was Qian Lizhen’s admirer, and Qian Lizhen likely had feelings for him too. So Ye Lifeng, as the older and more experienced one, should properly guide Qian Lizhen.
Ye Lifeng heard the meaning in Tian Tian’s words and nodded. He hadn’t made things clear before simply out of fear. Fear that once he did, they wouldn’t even be friends anymore. But now, if he didn’t make it clear, there might not even be a chance to meet in the future.
That was something he didn’t want to see.
Seeing that he understood, Tian Tian didn’t say more about it. She turned back to spot-checking the goods in the warehouse.
At the current production efficiency, the goods could ship before the New Year.
Meanwhile, Ye Lifeng had made up his mind. Then he brought up another matter with Tian Tian.
“You’ve heard too, right!”
Ye Lifeng nodded. “Everyone around here knows about Granny Cui’s matter. After all these years, suddenly a distant relative pops up saying they know where her son is—anyone would find it strange.”
Tian Tian said, “Yeah! The village committee came today. The village committee will handle this.”
No one wanted Granny Cui to be scammed. But they were also afraid she’d really miss a lead. So they could only let the village committee worry about it.
And Granny Cui’s matter soon made progress.
That evening, Zhou Haoting and Tian Tian were eating out. During the meal, Zhou Haoting brought up Granny Cui’s distant relative.
“She really is a distant relative of hers. My uncle went to ask today. But what that person said wasn’t detailed. Said she ran into Granny Cui’s son. Actually, it was just a glance—she never actually had contact with him.”
Hearing this, Tian Tian was a bit speechless. Wasn’t that basically the same as fake news?
“Yeah!” Zhou Haoting sighed. “But that distant relative swore up and down that the person really looked like Granny Cui’s son. She also wasn’t really here to scam money.”
So that was what made it difficult for the village committee.
“Have you ever seen Granny Cui’s son?” Tian Tian suddenly asked.
Zhou Haoting shook his head. “Never. He seems to have gone missing around when I was born. At the time, people said he ran off to Hong Kong. But in that era, whether or not someone ran off to Hong Kong, you couldn’t say so. You could only say they went missing.”
Tian Tian figured that was how it was in that era. Like in her own village, plenty of families back then had people who swam across to the other side. At the time, no household would report it. Not for any other reason than that it wasn’t just your family—your neighbor’s family had such people or relatives too. The whole village was like that, so no one would report it.
But in that era, there was no communication. If a relative swam across to the other side, no one knew if they were alive or dead. Most of these people gradually reconnected with their families after the reforms. Some waited forever without word from their relatives.
So that was why everyone assumed Granny Cui’s son had long been dead.
“My uncle will handle this matter. Just keep an eye on it when you have time.”
“Alright, I know. By the way, any progress on the Canton Fair?”
Tian Tian changed the subject and asked about the Canton Fair.
Zhou Haoting shook his head. “Not that fast. Need to pull strings and have someone pass word along. There’s still plenty of time. It’ll be fine.”
Tian Tian figured as much and didn’t ask further. Instead, she brought up the matter of Ye Lifeng being called a pervert.
Zhou Haoting was drinking soup and nearly spat it out. But he immediately said, “No need to say it—someone’s definitely jealous of him to spread talk like that.”
Tian Tian nodded. “Exactly! But Sister Zhen’s mother is really…”
Tian Tian didn’t want to talk behind people’s backs. But this Liu Chunfen was really hard to describe. Everything she said and did came with the attitude of “it’s for your own good.” But she didn’t consider the actual situation at all. If Qian Lizhen didn’t find a way to stand on her own, her whole life would be like this.
Zhou Haoting said, “Anyway, you’ve already reminded her several times. Don’t get too involved in the mother and daughter’s business.”
Tian Tian said, “Of course! I’m not stupid. I’m an outsider, after all. Say too much, and when the mother and daughter make up, they might just turn their guns on me, the outsider!”
She laughed as she said it. It wasn’t that she was overthinking—it was just how the world worked. Be a good person, but don’t be a pushover. For many things, just giving a hint is enough. As for whether the other person listens? That’s not her concern. Respecting others’ fates isn’t just a slogan.
But this time, clearly, Tian Tian didn’t need to be disappointed.
After dinner, Zhou Haoting drove her home. When they arrived at the entrance, before even getting out of the car, they saw Qian Lizhen and her mother arguing in the courtyard.
The voices weren’t loud. But on a village road at night with no one around, the sound seemed very loud.
“Lizhen, won’t you listen to your mother? That Ye Lifeng is no good. Making those bikini things, whatever they’re called—with that little bit of fabric. Wearing them is practically indecent. They’re made for prostitutes to wear.”
Hearing this, Tian Tian rolled her eyes.
And Qian Lizhen said, “Mom, what bikini, bikini. It’s a bikini. It’s swimwear for women. Why are you so old-fashioned! Even Granny Cui says the swimwear is well made. Besides, they’re made for foreigners to wear. Why do you keep saying Brother Ye is a pervert? He’s just making goods. What did he do wrong?”
Seeing her daughter so agitated, Liu Chunfen grew even more unhappy. She felt Ye Lifeng’s visit that afternoon had brainwashed her daughter.
“I don’t care about any bikini. Anyway, this kind of man isn’t suitable to be a husband.”
“I didn’t say I wanted to marry him!”
“You didn’t say it, but you’re already defending him. Mom’s been through it. Mom knows. This kind of man can’t be relied on. You said he took this order for money. That shows he loves money like his life. Otherwise, how could a grown man have the nerve to make goods like that?”
At this point, Liu Chunfen’s face was red. Not from shyness—she just found bikinis so shameful to look at.
Tian Tian rolled her eyes again. “Say, if I jumped out right now and said the bikinis were my order, do you think this Liu Chunfen would point at me and curse me for being shameless?”
Seeing that Tian Tian still had the mood to joke, Zhou Haoting knew she hadn’t taken Liu Chunfen’s words to heart.
True. There was really no need to lower herself to argue with such a narrow-minded person.
It was just hard on Qian Lizhen as the daughter.
“Come on, I’ll walk you in.” Zhou Haoting suddenly spoke up.
Tian Tian raised an eyebrow but didn’t refuse. She got out of the car and entered the courtyard with Zhou Haoting.
Because of their appearance, the mother and daughter immediately stopped talking.
Tian Tian didn’t say anything either. She just turned and waved to Zhou Haoting. “Goodnight, see you tomorrow.”
Zhou Haoting smiled. “Goodnight. Rest early.”
Neither of them paid any attention to Liu Chunfen or Qian Lizhen. This actually made them uncomfortable.
Leave a Reply