Chapter 101

Chapter 101

The next day, He Xiaofeng came to the shop to find Jiang Yiwei. Seeing no signs of exhaustion or worry on her face, He Xiaofeng knew Jiang Yiwei was confident about handling Chen Songzhi’s matter.

She didn’t push Jiang Yiwei about her plans. Instead, the two went to Hong Su’s school to pick her up, and the three headed out to check out the properties.

Jiang Yiwei inspected the layout of the rooms and the surroundings outside.

One place was a two-story Western-style home, while the other was a modest single-story place of about thirty square meters.

"Mr. Ge, what’s the price for these two places?"

Mr. Ge was the seller.

As Jiang Yiwei asked, she mentally estimated the costs.

"The Western-style home is 1,700 yuan, and the small place is 1,200 yuan."

When Mr. Ge quoted the prices, Hong Su let out a small gasp.

"That’s so expensive," Hong Su gulped.

"Mr. Ge, my friend’s serious about buying your place. Any chance you could knock the price down?"

The two places combined would cost close to 3,000 yuan. He Xiaofeng worried Jiang Yiwei didn’t have that much and wanted to help negotiate.

"Miss He, when you bought those three places from me, did I cut you a deal?"

Mr. Ge smiled.

"I know, but my friend’s situation’s different." Back then, Mr. Ge hadn’t budged on price, so He Xiaofeng had figured out her budget and paid. But she feared Jiang Yiwei might come up short.

"Miss He, tons of buyers want my places."

Translation: Take it or leave it.

"Mr. Ge, 2,900 yuan total—the price works for me."

It wasn’t that Jiang Yiwei wouldn’t bargain, but Mr. Ge wasn’t having it.

If haggling were possible, He Xiaofeng would’ve tried already. If even she couldn’t negotiate, Jiang Yiwei stood no chance.

As Mr. Ge said, plenty of buyers were lining up.

Mr. Ge laughed and gave Jiang Yiwei a thumbs-up. "Miss Jiang, you’re a straight shooter."

He’d expected to go back and forth with her, but Jiang Yiwei jumped on it right away.

After finalizing payment and transfer dates, Jiang Yiwei headed back with He Xiaofeng and Hong Su.

On the way, He Xiaofeng asked, "Yi Wei, you good on cash?" She was concerned Jiang Yiwei might come up short.

"Did you try haggling with Mr. Ge because you worried I didn’t have enough?"

He Xiaofeng nodded—she did have those worries.

"Don’t worry, I have enough money."

Before opening the shop, Jiang Yiwei had sold some of the gold she’d hidden away, making several thousand yuan. Plus, the shop had already started making a profit during that time.

She had plenty of money to spare.

He Xiaofeng patted her chest, relieved. "That’s good. I was worried you might not have enough."

The three of them lounged under the tree’s shade, sipping cool sodas, when Hong Su let out a sigh.

"Seeing how well you two are doing, I wonder if I’ll ever do as well as you."

Hong Su knew business wasn’t her thing.

She’d been admitted to a technical school for nursing and was probably headed for a nursing job.

Seeing how well they were doing, Hong Su couldn’t help feeling envious, but she knew her own limits.

"If you ever want to try business, I’ll show you the ropes."

If Hong Su wanted to give it a shot, He Xiaofeng was willing to mentor her—like Jiang Yiwei did for her.

"You could also work at my shop as an apprentice for a while. Once your skills improve, you could open your own store later."

Jiang Yiwei offered to teach Hong Su how to make clothes too.

"Nah, business really isn’t for me."

"I just hope I get assigned to a good hospital, save up, and do what you did—buy a place and rent it out for extra income."

Her dream was to land a nursing job at a decent hospital.

Then she’d save money, just like He Xiaofeng and Jiang Yiwei, buy a property, and collect rent every month. Wouldn’t that be great?

That sounded like the perfect life to her.

"Wait, you want to buy a place too? Why didn’t you tell me?"

Jiang Yiwei hadn’t expected Hong Su to think that way.

"I didn’t at first, but after hearing you and Xiao Feng talk—how she rents to four or five households, pulling in thirty-four yuan a month, almost five hundred a year—it made sense."

"You make your money back fast. Isn’t that great?"

Hong Su had crunched the numbers—buying a place and renting it out later was a sure bet.

That’s why the idea stuck with her.

"Too bad I’ve only got three or four hundred saved up—nowhere near enough for a house. I’ll have to wait till my job starts in May and slowly stash away from my paycheck."

Since Mr. Ge’s small place cost a thousand yuan, Hong Su was way short. She’d have to save gradually after starting work.

"Hong Su, if you’re really set on this, Xiao Feng and I can lend you the money."

"You should know—prices go up every year. They’re only getting higher. If you’re serious about buying, the sooner the better. The sooner you buy, the less it’ll cost you."

If Hong Su is serious about this, she could borrow from me and He Xiaofeng to buy the house first, then pay us back gradually.

Because the house will only get more expensive, she worries that by the time Hong Su saves up, she won’t be able to afford it anymore.

"Yiwei’s right, Hong Su. If you’re serious about this, you should buy it as soon as possible."

He Xiaofeng nodded in agreement.

She even shared her own story about rising house prices.

"Someone wanted to sell a house before, and I went to see it. They wanted 620 yuan, but I thought it wasn’t worth that much, so I hoped they’d lower the price. They said they’d only knock off 20 yuan at most. After thinking about it, I didn’t buy it."

"Later, I ran into that person again, and they’d sold it for 700 yuan."

"The jump in price was insane."

Jiang Yiwei found the spike outrageous and even regretted not buying it. Had she bought and flipped it, she could’ve made 80 yuan.

"Really? Will houses really keep getting more expensive?"

If prices keep rising, Hong Su really needs to consider borrowing from Jiang Yiwei and He Xiaofeng first.

"Most likely." He Xiaofeng believed house prices would definitely rise.

"Then I’ll think about it."

A house isn’t cheap, so Hong Su needs to consider it carefully.

"Yeah! Take your time. If you really need the money, we can lend it to you."

If Hong Su needs to borrow, both Jiang Yiwei and He Xiaofeng would help. They trust Hong Su to repay.

"Yiwei, do your parents know you’re dating Fu Xunian?"

He Xiaofeng remembered Jiang Yiwei once saying she’d introduce him to her parents after graduation.

Now, she’d been out of school for over half a year.

Have they met Fu Xunian?

"Yeah. My parents really like Xu Nian."

Not only had they met, but Jiang Sanjie and Zhang Cuifen were both pleased with him.

"So, wedding bells soon?"

The idea of Jiang Yiwei’s wedding got He Xiaofeng oddly excited.

"Don’t get ahead of yourself! It’s way too soon. No way we’re marrying this year."

Jiang Yiwei wasn’t sure about next year, but this year was definitely off the table.

"How come? Things are good, right? Your parents already met him. Plus, you’re at that age." Hong Su asked, puzzled.

Hong Su was a whole year older than Jiang Yiwei. If she weren’t in school, she might’ve already married.

And because of her age, she got all kinds of gossip.

Luckily, her parents didn’t mind, or it’d eat at her.

"My shop is still new, and Xu Nian has already left the Third Automobile Manufacturing Plant. He wants to start his own company. We won’t even think about marriage until things settle down."

Her shop is still in its early stages, and Fu Xunian's auto parts company has just begun. They won’t even consider anything else until both their businesses are stable.

Otherwise, marriage wouldn’t even cross their minds.

"Ugh, I wish I had someone too," He Xiaofeng muttered.

"Isn’t it pretty easy for you to find one?"

Whether back then or now, it’s always been easy for women to get married, but finding a good partner is much harder.

"Don’t even get me started. You have no idea how annoying the men introduced to me are."

Just thinking about it makes He Xiaofeng want to slap them.

"Those men keep saying things like, 'Women belong at home, men belong outside.' They expect me to hand over my shop to them after marriage and just stay at home."

"What kind of crap is that? I built that shop from scratch—blood, sweat, and tears. Why should I give it to them?"

How dare they eye her shop?

Ugh, she built that shop from scratch—blood, sweat, and tears. None of them understand the hardship, yet they all just see how much money she makes.

Why should she give them her shop just because she gets married?

If they want a shop that bad, why don’t they open one themselves? Instead of drooling over hers—disgusting!

He Xiaofeng went off on a rant.

"If they’re so capable, they should open their own shop. If they can’t, then stop eyeing mine."

Ugh, what a bunch of losers.

"To them, women are nothing."

The older Hong Su gets, the more nasty comments she hears.

"Thankfully, I’m still in school, so I can put off marriage. But the gossip around me never stops." The thought made Hong Su furious.

Jiang Yiwei picked up on the tension. "Is that bastard Chen Zeshu and his mom badmouthing you again?"

"With them, you don’t need to hold back—just curse them outright."

Bet you anything it’s Chen Zeshu and his mom.

Back when Hong Su wanted to break up with Chen Zeshu, he refused and kept pestering her. But Hong Su stood firm. His mom, cut off from Hong Su’s money, often spewed nasty words at her.

Every rumor about Hong Su traces back to Chen Zeshu and his mom.

"I know they’re definitely involved."

Since Hong Su cut him off, Chen Zeshu’s broke, and without her providing their family with food, their lives became harder. Those two hate her guts.

She knows they’re behind all the rumors about her.

"Life’s so unfair—how’d a sleazebag like Chen Zeshu land a job at the Water Conservancy Company?"

Total bullshit. A nobody like Chen Zeshu waltzed into the Water Conservancy Company straight out of college.

"Landing the assignment was luck—keeping it takes real skill."

That bastard Chen Zeshu lucked into the job, but staying there’s a whole different story.

"What’s up? You know something?"

Jiang Yiwei gave Hong Su a pat.

"I have a classmate whose sister got assigned to the same unit as Chen Zeshu, just different work."

"Her sister knows Chen Zeshu and I dated."

As it happens, Hong Su had a classmate whose sister worked with Chen Zeshu. Knowing about their past, she spilled the tea on his workplace antics.

Chen Zeshu had no pull or clout. To make it there, he either had to keep his head down and wait for his shot or kiss up to the bosses.

But Chen Zeshu was too ambitious for his own good. He wasn’t about to stay some nobody clerk—he refused to wait.

Yet as a newbie, he wasn’t first in line for anything important.

So Chen Zeshu cooked up a sleazy scheme—he got cozy with a woman who had some power in their unit.

"Hong Su, about Chen Zeshu’s fling—don’t mind me asking—how old is she?"

A woman with power probably wasn’t spring chicken.

Hong Su grinned ear to ear. "Heard she’s forty-three, a mom of three."

"What?" He Xiaofeng’s mind was blown.

Did she hear that right?

"Chen Zeshu… Oh my god! I’m gonna be sick."

He Xiaofeng couldn’t process it.

Chen Zeshu was whoring himself out for his ambitions—how revolting.

"Wait, it gets worse."

Turns out, that wasn’t even the grossest part—there was more.

"That’s not the worst? What else could wreck my sanity?"

What other worldview-shattering crap had Chen Zeshu pulled?

"Someone spotted him stumbling out of a male boss’s office, looking like he’d been through a wringer."

He Xiaofeng went dead still.

She spat out her drink—

"Hack—cough—!"

Jiang Yiwei wasn’t ready for that bombshell.

She’d figured he’d suck up to some woman boss—but a dude? No way.

Here’s the revised translation incorporating the expert suggestions:

Who would’ve thought we’d hear such shocking news in such a wholesome time?

"With a man."

"Gross."

He Xiaofeng felt so disgusted that she vomited on the spot.

Hong Su calmly patted He Xiaofeng’s back.

Don’t let Hong Su’s cool act fool you.

But when she first heard it, her reaction was almost the same as Jiang Yiwei and He Xiaofeng’s—utter disgust.

Who would’ve thought Chen Zeshu would stoop this low for power?

Once she’d puked, He Xiaofeng started feeling better.

"Chen Zeshu looks so decent on the outside, yet he’s capable of such vile things."

A woman is bad enough, but a man?

"Exactly. He puts on a good act, but he’s really a monster."

Hong Su still couldn’t believe she’d been blind enough to have liked a scumbag like Chen Zeshu for so long.

After recovering for a while, Jiang Yiwei asked Hong Su, "How does Chen Zeshu even have the guts to do this? Does he really have no shame? How can he even show his face at work like nothing’s wrong?"

"And the bosses he’s sleeping with—do they even know about each other?"

Is ‘shameless’ even a strong enough word for Chen Zeshu? He acts as if it’s nothing.

Playing both sides like that—isn’t he afraid of being exposed by either side or his colleagues?

"They kept it under wraps. They just got unlucky and got caught. Nobody had the nerve to call them out to their faces, so Chen Zeshu’s dirty deeds just got whispered behind closed doors."

Nobody had the guts to call them out openly, only gossiping in private.

"But this kind of thing always gets out eventually."

Once word gets around, it spreads like wildfire—sooner or later, they won’t be able to hide it.

Sooner or later, this’ll ruin Chen Zeshu.

"No kidding."

Jiang Yiwei admitted that even if they thought they were being discreet, the gossip was already making the rounds. Eventually, they’d be exposed.

"Can you imagine Chen Zeshu’s mom’s face when she finds out?"

He Xiaofeng couldn’t wait to see the look on Mrs. Chen’s face when she learned the truth.

"We won’t hear about it right away. We’ll have to wait until the scandal breaks and Hong Su fills us in."

She and He Xiaofeng wouldn’t get the news immediately—only when everything came out would Hong Su tell them.

But one thing was certain: Mrs. Chen was gonna lose it.

"Don't worry, the moment I hear anything, I'll tell you."

Hong Su patted her chest, assuring Jiang Yiwei and He Xiaofeng that she would promptly update them on Chen Zeshu's situation.

"Hahaha! Yiwei and I are counting on you for all the Chen Zeshu gossip!"

He Xiaofeng and Jiang Yiwei were relying entirely on Hong Su.

The evening light washed over the three laughing women, their cheerful voices ringing out intermittently.

The day Chen Songzhi was due to pick up her clothes finally arrived. Jiang Yiwei stayed in the shop, waiting for Chen Songzhi and anticipating the drama about to unfold.

Unlike Jiang Yiwei's calm composure, Zhou Hongmin was as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

She couldn't even bring herself to sew.

She kept glancing anxiously at the door.

She looked at Jiang Yiwei, who sat calmly at the sewing machine, working away at a dress.

"Yiwei, how can you still concentrate on sewing?"

Jiang Yiwei smiled faintly. "What should I be doing? Wearing out the floor like you?"

"Can you blame me? I'm worried sick about you and the shop!"

Her agitation stemmed entirely from concern for Jiang Yiwei and the shop.

"Take it easy. Everything's under control. Just go about your business."

Jiang Yiwei reassured Zhou Hongmin, urging her not to fret.

But try as Jiang Yiwei might, Zhou Hongmin couldn't remain as composed as her, like everything was perfectly normal.

Finally, Chen Songzhi entered the shop.

Her smug, gloating expression didn't escape Jiang Yiwei and Zhou Hongmin.

"Jiang Yiwei, I'm here to pick up my clothes. Where are they?"

Just wait—this bitch won't be smiling for long, she thought.

"Hongmin, go get the clothes."

Zhou Hongmin scrambled to get the garments for Chen Songzhi, who snatched them without bothering to look and slapped down the money. As she turned to leave, Jiang Yiwei called out.

"Chen Songzhi, wait. You can't leave yet."

Chen Songzhi's guard went up immediately. "Why can't I leave? The money's right there."

"Our shop has a rule: customers need to check their clothes right here before taking them home."

"You need to inspect them and give it the okay before leaving."

That's been the rule here since Jiang Yiwei started tailoring—to keep customers from walking off with clothes, then coming back later with problems and demanding their money back or new outfits.

That's why we have this rule.

Here's the edited translation incorporating the expert suggestions:

"Can't I leave without checking?" Chen Songzhi was desperate to get away.

"No, it's store policy. Everyone must follow it."

No matter who you are, if you take clothes from this shop, you follow the rules.

"What a ridiculous rule."

Chen Songzhi muttered under her breath.

Seeing Jiang Yiwei's stance, there was no leaving with the clothes without inspection.

So Chen Songzhi gave them a quick once-over.

"Alright, I've checked everything. Can I leave now?"

"Everything check out, Chen Songzhi?"

Chen Songzhi shot a dirty look at Jiang Yiwei. "The clothes are fine. Can I leave now?"

Couldn't she see I was in a hurry? Still with all these questions.

"If you've checked and confirmed no issues, of course you can take them and leave."

Once you've inspected the clothes and confirmed they're fine, you're free to leave.

Hearing this, Chen Songzhi tossed the clothes in a bag and stormed out.

The moment Chen Songzhi left, the teahouse door at the back of the shop flew open.

Gu Xiaolei emerged, camera in hand.

"Yiwei, what's with photographing that woman?"

Two days ago, Jiang Yiwei had come to the newspaper office saying she had some trouble and needed Gu Xiaolei to bring a camera today.

Helping out was fine by Gu Xiaolei.

She had her own camera and could snap away as she liked.

But the moment she arrived, Jiang Yiwei pulled her over to photograph a garment from every angle—seven or eight shots—then ushered her into the teahouse, instructing her to photograph some woman inspecting clothes.

Jiang Yiwei gave a knowing smile and explained why she needed photos of Chen Songzhi checking the garments.

"Smack!"

Gu Xiaolei slammed the table hard.

"Outrageous! They actually tried to screw you over? What bastards!" They actually tried to harm Jiang Yiwei.