Chapter 107

Chapter 107

High school seniors got out later than other grades. When Xu Meng walked out of the school gate, chatting and laughing with a few students who lived off-campus, there was barely anyone left outside.

It happened to be a late spring cold snap, and the temperature was particularly chilly. Xu Meng had to get up at 5:30 every morning and was constantly groggy. So, as soon as school was over, all she wanted was to bolt home. Just as she stepped out of the school, a black car followed her, laying on the horn repeatedly.

Zhang Xiaoyu walked with Xu Meng; she was also a student who lived off-campus.

A few days ago, a boy had been following her around, so several girls in the class started walking in packs for safety. The crowd gradually grew larger, so when the car behind them honked, Xu Meng instinctively assumed their bikes were blocking the way. She called out to the girl riding in the middle, "Hey, scoot over—you're blocking the road!"

Then, the car window rolled down, revealing a striking face that called out, "Xu Meng!"

It took Xu Meng a second to recognize it was Zhang Mingqing.

She still had that same Volkswagen and had been following her from the school gate, blasting the horn a couple times along the way.

Zhang Xiaoyu asked loudly, "You know this person?"

Xu Meng hadn’t been to the shop in at least a month, and most of the updates she got were from Huang Xiaoying. She’d only heard that business was booming and the shop owner was swamped. They'd both been buried in work, leaving no time to meet.

"Yeah, she's a friend," Xu Meng said, waving at Zhang Mingqing.

Behind the wheel, Zhang Mingqing found it inconvenient to talk across the distance, so she raised her voice, "Can you get in the car? I’ll give you a ride home."

Everyone turned to look at Xu Meng. Zhang Xiaoyu asked, "Xu Meng, this is your friend?"

Xu Meng nodded but hesitated.

But what about my bike?

But if Zhang Mingqing had come to the school to find her, it must be something urgent—otherwise, she would have just waited until the weekend to visit her at home.

A girl riding tandem on someone's bike immediately called out, "Then get in the car! I’ll take your bike and pick you up tomorrow morning."

"Alright, take the bike. I’ll jog to school tomorrow."

"Don’t worry, I’ll come get you."

Xu Meng stopped her bike, and the girl hopped off, grabbing the handlebars from her. Xu Meng then climbed into the small car.

At that time, cars were still a rare sight, and everyone gawked with envy as Xu Meng drove off.

So much for Xu Jia’s tall tales—making Xu Meng out to be some charity case when she had people picking her up in cars.

Once Xu Meng was inside, Zhang Mingqing rolled up the window.

Then she heaved a sigh. The pressure had been so intense lately that she couldn’t sleep. Now, she was starting from square one again.

"What’s wrong?" Xu Meng asked. What could be important enough for her to come all the way to the school?

"The permits are approved. We can start mass production now."

Xu Meng straightened slightly in her seat, genuinely surprised it had happened so fast. She had expected it to take at least a few more months.

"Mind if I smoke?" Zhang Mingqing gestured with her left hand, pantomiming flicking a cig.

The stress had been overwhelming lately, and what had once been an occasional habit had turned into half a pack a day.

Xu Meng raised an eyebrow at her. "Then open your window."

She knew Zhang Mingqing had been under immense pressure lately—juggling childcare, managing the shop, and starting this new venture she had long dreamed of perfecting. The mounting stress had even made her start smoking.

Life’s about doing what makes you happy, as long as it doesn’t bother anyone else.

Zhang Mingqing parked the car on the side of the road, rolled down the window, and lit a cigarette. Holding it between her fingers, white smoke curled through the gaps, hardly reaching her mouth. Even when she occasionally took a drag, she didn’t let it reach her lungs. Xu Meng figured her dependence on cigarettes was more psychological than physical.

She hardly smoked any of it, letting most burn away outside. Only when the cigarette was nearly spent did she take a heavy drag.

A light puff of smoke passed her nose before dissipating quickly.

Xu Meng smiled softly, thought of someone.

Had he really been gone a month?

Xu Meng was nervous too. She hadn’t expected Zhang Mingqing to come to her for this reason—she was putting in six thousand yuan into this batch of goods.

Zhang Mingqing would provide the space and sales channels, while Xu Meng contributed the recipe and production. They’d split the profits down the middle.

At first, they weren’t planning to make a lot—the first batch’s cost was twelve thousand yuan.

Six thousand wasn’t much for Zhang Mingqing, but for Xu Meng, it was a big step.

If this succeeded, she wouldn’t just remain the owner of a small eatery. It felt like a bigger deal than when she first opened her restaurant. For Xu Meng, it was six thousand yuan.

The car moved slowly along the road. Zhang Mingqing cracked the window slightly, letting in cold air. Despite the cold, Xu Meng leaned her face against the window, thinking things over.

Grandma Huang’s house had finally sold—for thirty-eight thousand yuan.

Thirty-eight thousand—that was her target now.

By then, it might no longer be enough to buy even a small home.

But whatever.

Feng Yanwen had found her career path, and Xu Meng wanted to earn more for herself too.

This was their agreed strategy: securing distributors in several large markets, letting them take the goods first and pay later.

With Zhang Mingqing’s background in catering, she had the right contacts. She negotiated in person, and since the distributors didn’t need to stockpile inventory, they were quick to agree—though with no guarantees they’ll sell. “I’ll just display these products. No promises on sales, and payment for the last batch must be settled before the next order.”

“We’ll start small. Only when sales pick up can we negotiate terms. The first batch shouldn’t be too large—we need to distribute before summer, when hot pot sales drop.”

Business at Zhang Mingqing’s shop was still booming, and the hot pot base could also be sold there.

Some customers were students, but many were locals. Early promotions with free samples had received positive feedback.

But Zhang Mingqing needed to speak with Xu Meng to ease her nerves.

As the car neared Changchun Street, it couldn’t go further.

Zhang Mingqing parked at the closest spot and let Xu Meng out. Before leaving, Xu Meng reassured her, “Don’t worry, I’ll visit your shop this weekend.”

“Alright. I plan to start selling the first batch this weekend.”

“So soon?” Xu Meng was startled.

Zhang Mingqing laughed. “Not really. It’s been nearly a month since we sent samples for inspection, registered, and got approval. I’ve already stockpiled quite a bit. We’ll supply the market first—if sales are slow, we’ll figure something else out. Don’t worry about it too much. With such a small quantity, the shop alone can sell it.”

In truth, these words comforted not just Xu Meng, but even more so, herself.

After the divorce, that family was still watching her every move. There wasn't even the slightest connection left, and honestly, it was downright creepy.

Her ex-husband never ended up marrying Qin Huan either—they ended up splitting bitterly in the end. The Li family started introducing him to all sorts of young girls. Tuan Tuan occasionally visited her grandma’s place but thought the vibe was toxic. She didn’t dare tell her mom about it, though, and recently became much more rebellious. By the time Zhang Mingqing finally noticed something was wrong with her daughter and got called in by the teacher, Tuan Tuan was already seeing a boy in her class.

"You just don’t understand me," Tuan Tuan said to her mom.

Later, she finally admitted to her mom that she didn’t even like the boy that much—he was just willing to listen to her and let her dump her frustrations. Over time, rumors spread in class that the two were together.

Tuan Tuan didn’t care. Her dad, at his age, was still playing the field.

If her dad scolded her once, she’d snap back ten times—she held nothing back when it came to him:

"How come you’re allowed to date, but I’m not? I don’t think you’ve got better taste than mine. You get to date whoever you want, so what—I should just go find a man your age too?"

"Yeah, yeah, I won’t date now. Later, I’ll just go find some old man."

"You grown-ups are such hypocrites. No dating in middle school or high school, but the moment we graduate college, you start hounding us to tie the knot."

Her dad was fuming so hard he saw red. Looking at his baby girl, he couldn’t bring himself to hit her, and when scolding her, he had to hold back to avoid crushing her self-esteem. In the end, he only succeeded in spiking his own blood pressure—he’s still on antihypertensive meds to this day.

The women who tried to suck up to her dad didn’t fare much better either. She’d often call them "sis" all sweet and fake, then turn around and ask, "What’s it like dating a man twenty years older? Care to share, sis?"

She wasn’t afraid of offending anyone!

Anyway, her dad already had love children—it wasn’t like she could inherit the family business.

She wouldn’t be short on money, though—her grandma doted on her.

Now that her daughter had become mouthy and left no room for retreat, her grandma blamed Zhang Mingqing for "corrupting" her.

Her ex-mother-in-law even had the nerve to call her and demand she "get her under control."

Zhang Mingqing hadn’t noticed her daughter’s rebellious streak before—maybe because Tuan Tuan was more empathetic toward her mom and cut her some slack. She’d just grumble, "All you care about is work, work, work. Have you ever paid attention to me? You don’t care about me at all. I don’t even want to talk to you anymore—I’d rather talk to Chen Yuming. At least he listens to me. I barely get to say a few words to you these days."

She and Chen Yuming could chat about martial arts novels or vent about family troubles. Chen Yuming was like the chivalrous heroes in books—a stand-up guy. They bonded over literature and became best friends. Coincidentally, Chen Yuming’s family also had his own family drama, so the more they talked, the closer they grew.

Thankfully, she had a friend like him—otherwise, Tuan Tuan would’ve exploded keeping all those words locked inside.

Zhang Mingqing was stunned. "When did I ever refuse to talk to you?"

Tuan Tuan just stared at her seriously, mother and daughter locking eyes.

It was then that Zhang Mingqing realized it had been a long time since she’d had a proper conversation with Tuan Tuan.

This was the age when kids were most prone to rebellion—one careless moment, and they’d grow into someone you no longer recognized.

Adversity forces people to grow. Look at Xu Meng—now that’s what you call a poster child.

Zhang Mingqing turned to Xu Meng. "Your mom isn’t tutoring anymore, and Tuan Tuan hasn’t seen her in a long time. We should do a family hang sometime."

Xu Meng smiled and agreed. "Sure."

When she got home, Wang Shuanzhu was still there, talking to Feng Yanwen inside.

Huang Xiaoying and the three little ones were in the next room watching TV, the room buzzing with noise.

She walked to their door and knocked. All four whipped their heads around—the TV was running a DVD, showing the 1983 version of *The Legend of the Condor Heroes*.

Xu Meng stood at the door: "Not planning to sleep at all?"

The four of them were totally into the show. If she hadn’t come back, they probably would’ve pulled an all-nighter.

The three kids exchanged glances: "Can’t we just watch a bit more? We haven’t washed up yet."

Xu Meng sighed: "But if you keep watching, I’ll want to watch too. Come on, turn it off and go to bed, or none of you will wake up early tomorrow. I gotta be up at five—I’m already sleep-deprived as it is."

Just then, Wang Shuanzhu walked out from the next room. Seeing Xu Meng at the door, he nodded apologetically at her.

"You're back."

"Yeah, Uncle Wang, are you leaving?"

"You have school tomorrow, right? Get some rest early." Wang Shuanzhu still got all flustered around her.

Xu Meng bounced back inside and saw Feng Yanwen in the room, her face flushed. Looked like something good was brewing. Maybe because it was her mother, Xu Meng didn’t dare tease her. Lately, Wang Shuanzhu had been hanging around way too much, staying every night until she got home.

Was this middle-aged love working its magic?

Please. At Feng Yanwen’s age, thirty years from now, plenty of young women would still be unmarried.

So what if she’s dating? What’s the big deal?

Wang Shuanzhu was loaded, and that money aura actually made him kinda hot.

"Mom, so how’s things with Uncle Wang lately?"

Feng Yanwen flushed even deeper, and she shot her daughter a sidelong glance: "Why ask so much?"

Xu Meng dumped her bag and plopped down next to her, grinning, grabbing a pre-cut apple slice from the plate and popping it into her mouth to chew.

Lately, the place was stocked with way more fruit.

"What were you talking about?"

"Your Uncle Wang and I were discussing..." Feng Yanwen cleared her throat and hit her with a bombshell: "We’re getting married."

*Clatter—* Xu Meng’s hand loosened, and the apple fell to the floor.