Chapter 50: Expansion

Chapter 50: Expansion

The voice from the side was very light, but when Ji Duo looked over, he saw determination in his nephew's eyes.

Compared to the conversation in this study on the night of Xu Li's birthday, there seemed to be something beyond just determination now.

What had supported his words back then was the long-standing pressure, the longing for the future, and the desire to change everything.

Now, what supported him was the experience and confidence gained from the steady progress he had made over the past three months.

This had removed much of his impatience and brought him a lot more steadiness. Seeing Ji Duo looking over, he even smiled, "Have I caused you a lot of worry? When I was young, I always insisted on following behind you. When I grew up, I only knew how to leave my messes for you to clean up."

The last time he mentioned his mess, it was in Ji Duo's room, when he almost let something slip and was stopped by Ji Duo.

At that time, although Ji Duo had agreed to the marriage, he was still harboring some displeasure in his heart, wanting to use this matter to teach his nephew a hard lesson.

Now hearing his nephew use that description again, he found it somewhat harsh, "She is not a mess."

This statement was sudden, and there was a certain weight in his words. Ji Ze was startled, then bitterly smiled, "Yes, how could Little Aunt, who is so capable, possibly be a mess."

There were things he had always avoided admitting but had to admit—Lin Qiao was far more capable than he had thought.

Even since he took his annual leave and spent less time in the military, he occasionally met people who would say, "Lin Qiao is your aunt, right? She teaches really well." People would mention what else Lin Qiao had done at school and even ask him to arrange for their children to be placed in her class.

Not to mention that the reason his business had succeeded was thanks to Lin Qiao's formula.

Even the incident where someone tried to steal the formula had been safely navigated because Lin Qiao had been cautious enough to prepare a contingency from the start.

This girl was clearly a pearl; with just a little help, she could literally rise above the mud and shine. How could she be a problem?

Ji Ze lowered his head to continue cleaning the floor, "You're right, Uncle. I was too arrogant, too self-righteous."

Strangely, back then, when Ji Ze desperately tried to avoid this marriage, Ji Duo was displeased; now that he was acknowledging his arrogance, Ji Duo wasn't particularly happy either.

Not wanting to listen to the nonsense, he interrupted his nephew's self-reproach, "Get to the point."

Ji Ze choked, his emotions becoming a bit disordered.

But his uncle was like that—acting swiftly and decisively, hating unnecessary talk. So, he got straight to the point.

"Over the past two days, I've thought carefully about it. It's better to stick with what I'm familiar with rather than venture into something new. I already have experience in liquid soap. Instead of taking out a large loan to switch to a completely unfamiliar industry, it's better to continue expanding this one. I don't even need to invest too much; I just need to stabilize the market in Yandu first."

He shared his upcoming plans with Ji Duo, "There's no need to rush to build a factory. Renting a few large rural courtyards will be enough, primarily for warehousing. Additionally, I plan to buy several bicycles, modify the rear seats to be welded with a cart, so each trip can carry four to five hundred jin, making deliveries more convenient."

The Reform and Opening-up had just begun, and there were no ready-made tricycles available yet. To carry more goods, they had to find ways to attach bicycles to carts.

However, the cost of these vehicles wasn't low. Selling four to five hundred jin of liquid soap in one go could bring in four to five hundred yuan, so he also needed to guard against his salesmen becoming greedy.

Ji Ze was clearly prepared, "I plan to promote a few of the old employees with clean backgrounds and good conduct to management positions. I also intend to allocate half a percent of the profits to give all employees who have worked for me for more than six months a share based on their level and position."

Working for someone else wasn't as motivating as working for oneself. Compared to the profits that could be taken from future dividends, this one-time deal really wasn't worth much. He had indeed grown quite a bit.

And the timing was set quite cleverly. After working for more than six months, a person would have already become accustomed to their work environment and would be unwilling to leave their comfort zone easily.

The unstable factors would most likely either leave or be dismissed for making mistakes before reaching six months.

But his sharing so much detail with me, is it because he's afraid I won't agree and is trying to convince me?

Ji Duo glanced out the window in the direction of the living room and then turned back to his nephew, "You're still not planning to tell your aunt about this?"

Ji Ze immediately looked embarrassed, as if his inner concern had been exposed, "I just feel like I can't show my face yet. It's better to wait until I've accomplished something significant."

His feelings about Lin Qiao were complicated. The more ashamed he felt, the less capable he was of facing her. The more he acknowledged Lin Qiao's excellence, the less he wanted her to see his flaws.

It was easier when he had no secrets, but now that he had started keeping things from her, it became even harder to talk about, especially since he hadn't achieved anything yet. Only after building the factory, establishing a foothold in Yandu, and even expanding further would he have the confidence to face Lin Qiao and say he hadn't let her formula down.

He didn't know how to explain this delicate emotion to his uncle. And there was another concern—his mother.

"I don't dare let her know until I've accomplished something." A small workshop versus a large factory—obviously, the latter would carry more weight. Even if his mother might not approve of a large factory, having made a name outside might at least save her some face and reduce her complaints.

Ji Duo remained silent, watching and listening without a word. This uncertainty deepened for Ji Ze. His uncle had always been adept at concealing his emotions. Now that he suddenly stopped talking, who knew if he was angry or not?

But since he had already spoken and he did have many concerns, he could only plead, "It'll be soon, just a little more time." He even held up his fingers to show it would be a short time, with an expression and gaze just like when he used to cling to Ji Duo and ask him to take him along.

"As you wish," Ji Duo turned to leave but paused at the door, "How much funding will you need to expand production this time?"

"At least two to three tens of thousands," Ji Ze replied, "The main expenses are for building the warehouse, buying tanks, and purchasing vehicles. I have some funds, and I'll borrow a small amount from the bank. But if I proceed, all the money earned in the next few months will go back into the business, and I'll need to repay the loan, so I'm afraid I won't be able to give your aunt a share of the profits in the short term."

Ever since deciding not to buy a production line from abroad, he had become more frugal in his business, only spending when absolutely necessary and putting every penny to good use.

Ji Duo considered this for a moment, "Your aunt should have more than ten thousand. I'll ask her."

Before the wedding, he had given Lin Qiao a bankbook with over eight thousand, money he had saved over the years. The traditional gift of money given during the wedding from the elderly couple and the gifts from others had also been untouched. Including the past few months of his salary and the profits from selling soap, it should amount to about thirteen or fourteen thousand.

"Then I won't need to take a loan," Ji Ze said, but he didn't mention borrowing, "Treat it as an investment from your aunt, and I'll give her an additional 0.5% share of the profits."

As long as nothing went wrong, the invested money would return within half a year. With just that 0.5% share, Lin Qiao could earn it back within a year.

After tidying up, they returned to the living room, where Ji Ling was staring at a glass cup on the coffee table in amazement, "They're really dancing!"

A few raisins were bouncing up and down inside the glass, which was half-filled with water, and from the outside, it really looked like they were dancing.

The little girl looked at Lin Qiao with wide eyes, "How did you do that?"

Lin Qiao pointed at the glass, "It contains baking soda and vinegar. When these two substances react, they produce a gas called carbon dioxide, which attaches to the surface of the raisins and pushes them upwards. When they reach the surface, the gas sublimates into the air, and they sink again."

Ji Ling listened, only half understanding, but that didn't stop her from exclaiming, "Chemistry is so interesting! Auntie is amazing—she knows everything!"

"Your sister Song Jing also knows. She teaches chemistry," Ye Minshu couldn't help but add.

"Then why didn't she do this when she tutored me?" Ji Ling wasn't interested in hearing that and, seeing that there were no more bubbles in the cup, quickly asked Lin Qiao, "Can I try it?"

Lin Qiao took the little girl to the kitchen to do the experiment, and as they went out, they ran into the uncle and nephew. Ji Ze immediately thought of the conversation in the study and instinctively flinched.

At first, Lin Qiao didn't notice, but after returning from the kitchen, her gaze happened to meet his, and he flinched again before pretending nothing had happened and looked back calmly.

Why did that look so much like guilt? And the guilt probably had something to do with her.

Lin Qiao couldn't help but glance at Ji Duo, only to find that the man was calmly accompanying Old Master in a game of chess, his expression giving nothing away.

But after two such instances, if Lin Qiao still didn't notice, she would be a fool. And when she withdrew her gaze, the older nephew secretly glanced at her again.

Lin Qiao grew curious and, during the afternoon rest after lunch, couldn't help but ask her husband, "Did you and Xiao Ze talk bad about me behind my back?"

The remark was more teasing than questioning.

Ji Duo was carrying the quilt Xu Li had put outside and replied without even lifting his eyelids, "No."

"Then why is Xiao Ze deliberately avoiding my gaze?" Lin Qiao sat on the edge of the bed and looked up. "Every time our eyes met, he looked away."

This time, the man did look up, but his brows furrowed. "Why do you keep looking at him?"

"Don't tell me he's just shy because I'm looking at him," Lin Qiao raised an eyebrow, feeling that her husband was playing the 'the best defense is a good offense' tactic on her.

Ji Duo didn't intend to say so, but he couldn't come up with a better explanation, so he simply said, "It's not the right time yet. I'll tell you later."

When it came to doing business, he originally thought it would be better to tell Lin Qiao sooner, especially since they were planning to build a factory and conduct operations long-term. But Xiao Ze was unable to keep things hidden, which made Lin Qiao notice that something was off.

To avoid future trouble, it was better to keep it hidden for now and allow him to gain more experience in the business world.

Ji Duo waited for a moment to see if Lin Qiao would ask another question. When she just responded with an "Oh" and didn't bring it up again, he felt somewhat uneasy. He looked at her and asked, "Is there anything else you want to ask?"

His gaze was steady, and his expression was serious, as if he were asking a subordinate reporting to him, "Is there anything else?" If Lin Qiao wasn't someone who insisted on probing further, she wouldn't want to ask more after seeing him like this. "No," she said, lying down on the bed.

This made him feel even more uneasy. He looked at her closed eyes and, somewhat unusually, explained, "It's not that I don't want to tell you. It's just not the right time yet."

He rarely bothered to explain his own matters, but when it came to his nephew, he was worried she might misunderstand.

Lin Qiao opened her eyes and reassured him, "It's fine. If it's not related to me, you don't have to tell me."

Her understanding and thoughtfulness made Ji Duo feel as if something was stuck in his throat, neither going up nor down.

"Lin Qiao," he called her name in a low voice.

Was he trying to prevent her from sleeping?

Lin Qiao regretted asking the question and propped herself up on her elbow. "Yes, sir, what can I do for you?"

She had let her hair fall loose in preparation for her nap, and it draped over her shoulders. Her gaze was languid and slightly drowsy as she looked up at him. Ji Duo looked at her for a long time but couldn't think of what to say. Should he ask her to ask more about it?

This was really frustrating. Before, he was too lazy to explain, and now that he wanted to, he didn't know how to explain.

Ji Duo gazed at Lin Qiao for a long time before finally saying, "It's nothing. You can sleep." He turned and left the room, frowning as he took a cigarette from the pack.

Just as he was about to light it, Ji Ze, who was preparing to sneak away, saw him and greeted him, "Uncle, aren't you sleeping?"

Probably because he had a clear goal in mind, the young man looked full of energy, which made Ji Duo stare at him for a moment before saying, "From now on, handle your own matters."

Ji Ze was indeed full of energy. Right after the Mid-Autumn Festival, he went to negotiate cooperation with the stores he was familiar with.

The wholesale price was set at ninety cents, and the stores would retail it for one yuan, so he only needed to deliver the goods regularly, freeing up all the sales staff.

Free up for what?

Of course, to crack down on counterfeits in the remaining areas and block the father-son duo's path.

Ji Ze had put in a lot of effort, marking all the places where the Qin family father and son had sold their products on a map, speculating on a pattern, and sending people to the places they might go next to sell.

These people were all wearing red vests, with carts attached to their bicycles. On the carts, plastic oil drums were neatly arranged, making them noticeable without needing to shout.

Ji Ze had also written "Mu Zi Liquid Soap" on both the vests and the oil drums, taking a part from his and Lin Qiao's surnames to create a sort of branding.

Riding the carts around and calling out a couple of times, explaining how to distinguish the real from the fake, who would still buy the fake goods sold by those carrying poles?

The Qin family father and son had peddled around but no one bought from them.

They moved to another location and continued hawking, but their throats were almost hoarse, and still no one bought from them, receiving several disapproving looks.

Just as they were about to ask someone, a bicycle with a cart appeared ahead, saw them, and immediately turned back. Before long, it returned with two people. "Are those selling fake goods the ones who did it?"

"Yes, it's them."

Two aunts, bottles in hand, rushed forward. "You have no conscience! You even scam the elderly! Give me back my money!"

The Qin family father and son were still carrying their poles with goods and couldn't run as fast. In their attempt to escape, the barrels spilled, and they fell.

The next day, at a different location, still no one bought from them. Now everyone knew to look for the red vests and plastic drums, and they knew that diluted products were fake and unusable.

Ji Ze finally got his revenge and, following the leads, found the soap factory where Qin Chuan worked. He sent a report exposing that Qin Chuan was secretly making soap at home using the factory's formula. Since Qin Chuan had tarnished his reputation, Ji Ze would undermine Qin Chuan's foundation. It was tit-for-tat; neither could blame the other.

While the "Mu Zi Liquid Soap" craze was sweeping through Yandu, Lin Qiao's Class 4 was facing their first exam of the second year of high school.

Ji Duo had found time to discuss the additional investment with her. The man clearly wanted to expand, and she agreed since he had given her an extra 0.5% share.

Because he had abandoned his plan to drop out and join the army early, Junzi was unusually nervous this time and kept asking Qi Huaiwen, "Do you think I'll do well on this exam?"

Qi Huaiwen was asked several times before finally replying, "How do you think you'll do?"

Junzi: "..."

Wang Guoqiang, sitting across the aisle, consoled him, "It's okay if you don't do well. As Teacher Lin said, you can't drop much further."

Junzi: "..."

However, hearing these honest words, he did feel less nervous and just did what he could, even if it meant making up answers for questions he didn't know.

When Lin Qiao graded the messy script that looked like scribbles, she raised an eyebrow and checked the header. Sure enough, it was written "Liang Jun."

The kid performed well; he passed again. Although the score was similar to last time, this time there was no fortunate correct answer like when Li Xiaoqiu got a major question right.

Just as she was about to move to the next paper, the physics teachers from classes one and two "hmm"-ed and also checked the header, calling over Vice Principal Qi, "Qi Huaiwen's paper."

"Did he submit a blank exam again?" The vice principal had an immediate reaction and immediately frowned.

"No." The physics teacher had a perplexed expression and simply handed over the paper. "See for yourself."

Lin Qiao had a realization and looked over. Sure enough, she saw Vice Principal Qi's expression grow increasingly complex.

"How did he do?" Mr. Gao, unable to stand the riddles, went over to take a look. "He got everything right?" Flipping to the back, "Only two points were deducted."

Only two points were deducted, meaning Qi Huaiwen scored 98 on the physics exam that month.

For three years, ever since he started learning physics in eighth grade, he had never passed. No one expected him to score 98 this time around.

If it weren't for the fact that it was his own exam, his classmate Li Xiaoqiu only scored 96, and others in other classes scored even lower.

This turned out to be the highest score in physics for their grade in this exam.

Obviously, the child never gave up on studying physics. Everyone looked at Vice Principal Qi, wondering how he felt.

In the end, only Mr. Gao patted Vice Principal Qi on the shoulder, without saying anything more, and called out to Lin Qiao, "Pay attention to his chemistry paper; he might have done well on that too."

Qi Huaiwen's beautiful handwriting was easy to recognize. They soon graded his paper, giving him a score of 91, which was 4 points higher than last time.

These two subjects were his best, while the other subjects were somewhat lower but still above 75, except for English, which was at the bottom, scoring below 70.

However, students of this generation were generally not good at foreign languages. Passing was already considered a high score. After all, before the resumption of the national college entrance exam system, no one paid much attention to it. Even within the same school and grade, some classes taught English, some taught Japanese, and others taught Russian.

"With these scores, he should be in the top 60 of the grade, right?" Mr. Gao could hardly believe it.

Qi Huaiwen used to linger near the bottom of the grade, or at least in the last 70 to 80 positions. In this monthly exam, he moved up by nearly 100 places. If he had attended classes regularly, his rank might have been even higher.

The teachers in the science office were all unsure of what to say. Vice Principal Qi was silent for a long time before he clipped the score slip into his lesson plans.

The next day, the overall grade rankings were released, and Qi Huaiwen indeed entered the top 60, ranking 58th.

Li Xiaoqiu's scores were significantly better, ranking sixth in the grade. If it weren't for her Chinese and English holding her back, she could have ranked even higher.

Mr. Gao was most frustrated that Lin Qiao's Class 4 had overtaken his Class 1, dropping its average grade score from second to third for the year, leading Class 3, which was ranked fourth, by only 0.1 points. If just one more student had answered a question correctly, Class 1 might have ended up at the bottom.

He used to talk about feeling a sense of crisis all the time, but he didn't expect to be overtaken so quickly, and by the previously last-place Class 4, of all classes.

Lin Qiao's approach was disrupting the entire grade's learning ecosystem.

The large red notice was posted downstairs in the teaching building, and many people were surprised. Lin Qiao happened to pass by, glanced at it, and ran into Principal Zeng, who was also there to check the results.

"Well taught," Principal Zeng praised her, then asked, "Are you busy? If not, accompany me to see the newly completed chemistry laboratory."

The experimental building had been completed before the Mid-Autumn Festival, and for some time, workers had been plastering the walls and installing water and electricity inside. Since Lin Qiao had no classes at that time, she didn't refuse. They waited for a while downstairs for Vice Principal Qi and then headed to the experimental building next to the teaching building.

Given the time period, the laboratory certainly wasn't as nice as the one from Lin Qiao's previous life, but it had all the necessary equipment, including the lab benches, the sinks between the lab benches, and a row of cabinets with small glass doors at the back to store experimental instruments and reagents.

Now they were just waiting for the logistics department to finish procuring the materials. Once that was done, the new chemistry laboratory would be ready for use.

The three of them inspected everything from front to back and even tested each water faucet in the sinks. Principal Zeng, standing at the back with his hands behind his back, suddenly said to Lin Qiao, "Once the laboratory is officially in use, the Ministry of Education will send people to inspect it. Prepare yourself to teach a public demonstration class."

"A public demonstration class?" Lin Qiao hadn't expected him to say that.

Principal Zeng nodded, "The suggestion was yours, and the school became a pilot project because of you. Other than you, no one is more suited to teach the first class."

Vice Principal Qi obviously knew about this too and asked Lin Qiao with a smile, "What? Afraid you'll mess up with so many leaders present?"

"It's not that. I'm just a bit surprised."

"I thought so. When you came to the high school department for a trial class, both Xiao Gao and I, along with Old Qu, were sitting below, and we didn't see you get nervous."

Vice Principal Qi had always appreciated this young teacher whom he had personally brought up to the high school department. He rarely gave such in-depth advice, "Teach it well. Leaving a good impression on the leaders above will only benefit you in the future."

These were words of sincere advice that only close people would offer. Lin Qiao nodded seriously and thanked him, appreciating his kindness.

However, no one expected that just a few days after this conversation, before the logistics department had finished procuring the equipment, a letter of complaint was sent to the city education bureau.