Chapter 34 Scheming

Chapter 34 Scheming

Aunt Jiang said to Father Sun, "You must be misunderstanding me. I truly mean what I say. Don't you know my feelings?"

Father Sun said angrily, "What have you been up to lately? You're the one who stirred up trouble with my wife, aren't you?"

At the mention of Aunt Han, Aunt Jiang's face turned sour. She said, "That's 'cause she's dumb! You and Widow Li dated and broke up, fine. Widow Li's got some looks. But Aunt Han? What's she got? Why did you marry her instead of me? The two of us grew up in the same compound—doesn't that make us childhood sweethearts? I just don't understand. You don't love me, and you don't love her either. So why marry her and not me? Do you know that to keep living in the same compound as you, I married a man I never loved!"

Lu Yun never would've guessed there was all that history between them!

Lu Yun hid nearby, pricking up her ears.

Aunt Jiang: "Sun Zhi is your son, and he resembles you somewhat. How could I deliberately stir up trouble? I'm only speaking the truth. Haven't I always treated Sun Zhi well all these years?"

Father Sun: "Don't bring this up again, ever. I never even thought about marrying you!"

Aunt Jiang: "You never thought about marrying me, but you never thought about marrying her either! If it weren't for her, and your family being anxious for you to marry, maybe you would have married me!"

Turns out Aunt Jiang was a hopeless romantic too!

Aunt Jiang's husband treated her very well, and they had a son and a daughter. Everyone said the Jiang family lived well, but who'd have guessed Aunt Jiang still had feelings for Father Sun?

Father Sun: "Our family's affairs have nothing to do with you. And stop coming around our house so much!"

Aunt Jiang protested, "How can it have nothing to do with me? If it weren't for that Han Cuilan, I'd be your wife right now!"

Father Sun shot back, "Don't talk nonsense. I never planned to marry you!"

Father Sun turned to leave, and Aunt Jiang started sniffling quietly. Aunt Li returned and ran into the two of them. Father Sun wished he could put fifty feet between them to prove to Aunt Li that nothing was going on between him and Aunt Jiang.

Father Sun: "I just had something to talk to her about! There's nothing going on between us."

Aunt Li: "Why are you telling me whether there's anything going on? You're a married man. If something were going on between you and Aunt Jiang, shouldn't you be explaining that to your wife?"

After Lu Yun returned home, she took a big gulp of water. It was absolutely juicy—she had no idea their compound had this much drama.

It suddenly clicked for Father Lu. "No wonder. I figured Aunt Jiang hated Aunt Han so much she'd hate her husband too. I've caught her staring at Aunt Han's husband more than once!"

Lu Yun: "Even if she hates him, it's 'cause she's mad he never married her!"

Talk about messy love lives—Father Lu was also quite frustrated. He couldn't help but think of his own lovesick son. He hadn't laid eyes on his lovesick son in over ten days. He'd only heard about his son's mess at the factory—his son had thrown another fit over that woman.

Good riddance, honestly. Father Lu really didn't want to hear Lu Cheng whine about his love life anymore. Every time he heard it, he wanted to knock his head in!

Father Lu tried to comfort himself, telling himself that since his own love life had been smooth, he just couldn't relate to his son and should cut him some slack. But anyone who's dealt with a lovesick fool knows—you just can't take it. Not one bit.

Sister He had another batch of sweaters, scarves, and hats ready for Lu Yun. It was the coldest time of year, so selling them at her stall was easy—though she still froze her butt off standing there.

This time Lu Yun ordered a bigger batch and took two days off to sell it all.

As she was packing up to head home, Lu Yun bumped into Li Pandi. Li Pandi was the one in the workshop who kept track of everyone's orders for Lu Yun.

Li Pandi stared at Lu Yun's stall. Only one sweater was left—the one Lu Yun had accidentally snagged. She'd planned to sell it cheap, but nobody'd bitten. She'd have to take it back to Sister He to fix up and then sell at a discount later.

Li Pandi: "You're selling at a stall here? Sold it all, huh? How much did you rake in?"

Lu Yun: "Why are you here? Aren't you at work?"

Li Pandi: "I took the day off for my little brother's parent-teacher conference. You only have this one sweater left unsold?"

Lu Yun smiled. "It's freezing out here. I've got some stuff to do, so I'm heading back."

Father Lu had made some seaweed and winter melon soup. When Lu Yun got home and saw it, she sat down, took a few sips, and felt the warmth spread through her whole body.

Once she was warmed up, Lu Yun washed up, went to her room, and counted her cash. After two days at the stall, Lu Yun had made over thirteen hundred yuan. Added to her previous three thousand, she now had over forty-three hundred.

Sister He's knitted sweaters really fetched top dollar at the department store!

This time Lu Yun planned to buy nicer yarn. Sweaters knitted from nicer yarn could be priced higher. To avoid getting stuck with unsold stock, she wouldn't buy too much—just enough to test the waters. If there was demand, she'd buy more.

Despite having over forty-three hundred yuan, Lu Yun still hadn't finished the installment payments on the courtyard house. She needed to keep earning for capital. Once the weather warmed up, she couldn't sell sweaters anymore, and she'd need to stock other goods.

She needed to think all of this through carefully.

Father Lu came to call Lu Yun for dinner. Lu Yun ate attentively. After dinner, she chatted with her parents. They asked about Zhou Yanze, and only then did Lu Yun remember him—she hadn't had time to think about him these past few days.

The next day, Lu Yun and Chen Qiao were chatting and laughing in the office when Sister He arrived beaming, bringing Lu Yun the repaired sweater. Naturally, Lu Yun had also placed another order with Sister He for sweaters, scarves, and hats.

Sister He: "Take a look. Is this alright?"

Lu Yun: "No problem. It looks great."

Chen Pandi walked in without knocking. A male colleague in the office asked what she needed. Chen Pandi didn't answer directly—she just looked at Sister He. Seeing that everyone had noticed her, Chen Pandi smiled and said she was there to see Lu Yun.

Outside the office, Chen Pandi asked, "Are all those sweaters from Sister He? I want to try selling at a stall too. How about we partner up?"

Chen Pandi was somewhat clever, but Lu Yun felt her character was questionable. She didn't want to partner with her. She simply asked, "Is there anything else?"

Chen Pandi pursed her lips. "No."

At noon, Lu Yun and Chen Qiao went to the cafeteria together. Chen Qiao asked about Chen Pandi.

Lu Yun: "I ran into her at my stall. She seems to want to sell things too—sweaters, like me. She wants to sell Sister He's sweaters."

Chen Qiao: "Should we talk to Sister He about it?"

Lu Yun: "No need. Sister He isn't stupid. She'll know what to do."

Chen Qiao: "What if she does something stupid?"

Lu Yun: "I've asked around about Chen Pandi. She has to give part of her monthly salary to her family, and she's not particularly frugal with herself. She doesn't have much capital. Sister He won't offend me for her sake. Today she wanted to partner with me, probably because she knows she doesn't have enough money to do business on her own. I don't know what she's thinking—I'm making good money. Why would I partner with her?"

At noon, the factory cafeteria made chicken and mushroom stew with noodles. In winter, the cafeteria liked to make these dishes. Lu Yun loved the noodles in it. This time it was different from before—they used hazelnut mushrooms, and the noodles were wider instead of the thinner ones.

The noodles were soft yet chewier, and the hazelnut mushrooms made it even more savory.

Lu Yun asked Chen Qiao, "How's your stall doing lately?"

Chen Qiao sold at her stall after work. In the cold weather, she'd shiver every time she got home, but the good news was she'd made some money.

Chen Pandi kept glancing at them from across the cafeteria. The people at her table followed her gaze.

"Our factory beauty is really pretty."

"The hair clip she's wearing today is nice too. I want one."

"Pandi, how about doing what you did before—ask for us?"

Chen Pandi: "If everyone wears the same thing, it's not special at all. And that hair clip of hers—can't you see? Only people with fairer skin look good in it. People with darker skin would look darker wearing it."

The people who ate together all had a falling-out with Chen Pandi.

After finishing her work in the afternoon, Sister He started knitting. Chen Qiao looked over at her more than a dozen times, which left Sister He feeling rattled.

Chen Qiao and Lu Yun were close—not just colleagues but friends. What was Chen Qiao staring at her for?

When Sister He got home, she told her husband about Chen Qiao staring at her. The couple stopped knitting and tried to figure out what Chen Qiao meant.

Sister He: "Do you think Lu Yun said something to Chen Qiao?"

Sister He's husband: "Could be. Lu Yun can keep her composure, but Chen Qiao might not be able to hold it in. Is something wrong with our sweaters?"

Sister He: "No way. I've been knitting so much lately that my skills have improved a lot!"

The couple was busy knitting—of course their skills would improve!

They'd made good money, and Sister He was now thinking about buying a house for her son, hoping to keep working with Lu Yun in the future.

Sister He's husband: "At the end of the year, let's buy more gifts and go to the Lu family's place."

Sister He nodded. That was right—come year-end, they'd bring more gifts to the Lu family. You can't go wrong with gifts!

Chen Pandi came to find Sister He. The whole family was busy, and now that they'd made money, they got along better than ever. When Chen Pandi walked in and saw the family knitting, there was a scheming glint in her eyes.

Sister He wasn't familiar with Chen Pandi at all; she had only seen Chen Pandi come looking for Lu Yun before.

Sister He: "What do you need?"

Chen Pandi: "I wanted to talk to you about doing business. I want to set up a stall too, buying sweaters from you just like Lu Yun does."

Sister He got it now—she knew why Chen Qiao had been staring at her all day. It must be because of Chen Pandi!

Chen Pandi: "You don't need to worry about Lu Yun finding out. If you don't tell and I don't tell, how could she know? Besides, you knit sweaters to make money—it's not like you promised Lu Yun you'd only knit for her, right? I saw Lu Yun selling sweaters outside the department store at a high price. I wonder how much she pays you per sweater. It's definitely not the same five yuan she charges us, right? She must be getting a discount on each one, right?"